14 Primm

Back outside the tent Yoruichi hurried jogged forward towards Primm not slowing down for me at all and I could tell she was upset.

I knew I messed up just spouting out her private history like that and had to apologize.

Sprinting to catch up I came to her side, and she just crossed her arms and scoffed pretending I wasn't even there.

I sighed "Look, I'm sorry for bringing up your private history like that without your permission. It was messed up and I promise to never do something stupid like that ever again."

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and seemed conflicted for a moment before sighing herself "It's fine I know I messed up back there myself and need to learn how to control my emotions better."

I let out a breath of relief and was about to relax when she continued.

"But... that being said it'll take more than a single halfhearted apology if you want me to forgive you."

"W-what do I need to do then" I asked a little worried since I knew how devious and vengeful she could be?

"Hmm, let me think" she press a finger to her lips in thought before snapping "Ah, I got it! If you want me to forgive you, you'll need to buy me dinner..."

"Well, that's not so bad-" I tried to say.

"...Every night and in every town we pass until we catch my mother's killer."

"T-that seems a bit much doesn't it" I complained.

"You DO want me to forgive you don't you" she raised an eyebrow and frowned as if daring me to refuse.

"...Fine" I eventually slouched in defeat knowing this was a fight I couldn't win.

"Yes" she smiled as her demeanor did a complete 180° "I hope Primm has some good food in it because I'm tired of Gecko meat!"

I just shook my head and wondered if she'd enjoy Ruby Nash's Radscorpion Venom Casserole. Though now that I thought of it, I was kind of curious about what Radscorpion Venom tasted like or what a Casserole even was?

That would have to wait for later though because before we could even enter Primm we had to figure out how to get passed the landmines dotting the broken overpass leading into town. We couldn't just go around either because the whole of Primm was surrounded by a massive barbwire fence. It was probably possible to climbed over if we tried but, then we'd be screwed if we needed to escape, because climbing over a razor sharp fence while taking fire seemed like a really bad idea.

So, it was simpler to just clear out the mines.

I had absolutely no idea how to disarm a mine but, was confident my system would take care of it. But, I still hesitated to step forward because even if I knew I could deal with it that didn't change the fact that BOMBS WERE SCARY!

While I was still building up my courage Yoruichi had already stepped forward onto the dilapidated bridge and began disarming the first mine.

I was shocked for a second before realizing I really shouldn't have been. She'd already shown that she was basically a master with every weapon she got her hands so why would explosives be any different? Not to mention that she managed to convince Easy Pete to dig up his stash back in Goodsprings, something she could only have done by proving to him she knew her way around a bomb.

And before I even finished my thought Yoruichi had already finished with the first mine, which she carefully stored in her backpack before carefully creeping towards the second mine. It only took a short moment for to finish with that one as well before moving on and dealing with the final mine.

"That's that" she dusted her hands and motioned for me to follow her across into town and I just shrugged and followed after her.

Once we crossed the bridge, we made for cover beside a nearby building since we were in enemy territory and had to stay out of sight as much as possible. Thankfully the town was fairly small and I could see the entrance of the Vicky and Vance casino only a couple blocks away. Though it was a bit of a problem that the casino was right in front of the convicts base the Bison Steve hotel.

As we snuck through town, I made sure to point out to Yoruichi the guards patrolling along the top of the old wooden rollercoaster that surrounded the hotel. I doubted they'd be able to get any accurate shots off on us at that distance especially if they were using scopeless Varmint Rifles like in the game but, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Hmm" I perked up and twisted around with my shotgun firing twice instantly killing the two convicts who had silently appeared behind us from inside one of the empty buildings.

"Nice shot" Yoruichi gaped in mild surprise at my lightning quick reflexes! "How did you know they were behind us?"

"Instinct" I grinned feeling a little smug as she rolled her eyes.

Of course, the real answers was that I'd been using VATS nonstop since we entered town but, there was no way I was going to tell her that.

After quickly looting the two corpses for their extra rifle ammo and sticks of dynamite we escaped back towards the bridge. Because there was no way none of the convicts heard my gunshots and we were worried we might need to escape if they noticed us.

However, it seemed like we might have given them more credit than they deserved because after more than ten minutes there were no reinforcements and the guards on the rollercoaster were still patrolling like before without a care in the world.

The only conclusion we could think of was that the convicts didn't think one or two gunshots going off every now and again was a big deal. After all one of the NCR soldiers earlier even complained about all the false alarms they were having so it must happen fairly often. The convicts probably even found it funny to fire off a round every once in a while just to mess with the NCR. Which meant as long as there wasn't an excessive amount of fire the patrolling guards probably wouldn't even notice anything wrong.

So, once we felt it was safe enough the two of us entered town once again and finally arrived at the casino. However, we didn't enter right away because we came across a bloody corpse laying propped up against a wall right next to the casino's entrance.

"Poor guy" I shook my head already knowing who he was and why he was there. And I easily spotted the crumpled-up paper in his hand and reached down to read it after wiping away the blood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mojave Express delivery order (4 of 6)

Deliver the package at the north entrance to the Vegas Strip, by way of Freeside. An agent of the recipient will meet you at the checkpoint, take possession of the package, and pay for the delivery. Bring the payment to Johnson Nash at the Mojave Express agency in Primm.

Bonus on completion: 250 caps.

MANIFEST

This package contains:

Two (2) Oversized Dice, Composed of Fuzzy Material

CONTRACT PENALTIES

You are an authorized agent of the Mojave Express Package until delivery is complete and payment has been processed, contractually obligated to complete this transaction and materially responsible for any malfeasance or loss. Failure to deliver the proper recipient may result in forfeiture of your advance and bonus, criminal charges, and/or pursuit by mercenary reclamation teams. The Mojave Express is not responsible for any injury or loss of life you experience as a result of said reclamation efforts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"How do you know he isn't one of the convicts" Yoruichi asked?

I said nothing and simply handed her the note.

"Seriously" she widened her eyes and fished out her own copy of the note from her pocket and compared the two. "Okay" she sighed after she finished reading and looked up at the casino with a determined look on her face "There is no way these were just average deliveries, something suspicious is definitely going on."

"Well, then let's go inside and see if we can find you some answers" I stepped past the unfortunate courier and held open the casino door for Yoruichi who smiled at me before confidently stepping inside.

I followed after only to come face to face with a makeshift barricade manned by about a dozen people. And a tanned elderly woman stood out and leveled her gun at us before barking out "Don't know what you think you're doing in Primm but, I suggest you high tale it back outta here before we fill you with lead!"

"Whoa" I put my hands up to show I wasn't a threat but, Yoruichi looked unimpressed and just crossed her arms.

"I'm a courier" she spoke "And I'm here to talk to someone named Johnson Nash about a job he was involved with, as well as some people who might have passed by a couple days ago."

"You're look'n for my husband" the old woman raised and eyebrow and seemed to think for a moment "...Alright you can pass, no way in hell those drugged up convicts could get a gal as pretty as you to work with them."

Yoruichi preened at the comment and smirked at me as the old woman who I recognized as Ruby Nash ordered the people to make a small hole in the barricade for us. After that she led us through the messy casino into a side room to meet with her husband.

"Ruby is that you" and elderly man lazily asked from his bed?

"Yes, honey it's me" Ruby smiled sitting down next to Johnson and gently rubbing his head.

"What happened to him" I asked? Not remembering anything like this.

Ruby sighed "The damn idiot tried to stand up to the convicts when they first arrived and caught a bullet to the side. Thankfully, it wasn't fatal but, he's still going to be laid out for the next couple weeks."

"Who're they" Johnson glanced over at us?

"This little lady over here says she's a courier and has some questions for you about a job" Ruby explained.

"Well, I don't got any work for you right now, sorry to say. What with the town being overrun by criminals and all."

"I'm not looking for work" Yoruichi shook her head. "I just want to know what you know about this" she asked while fishing the note from her pocket once again and handed it to the man.

"I see" Johnson tried to sit up to get a better look but, Ruby stopped him and grabbed the note before reading it aloud herself. "Oh" he his eye brightened "So you're want'n to know about those packages then. That job had strange written all over it" Johnson sighed "But, we couldn't turn down the caps."

"What was strange about it" Yoruichi frowned?

"That cowboy robot had us hire six different couriers, each with a different package. All small things like a pair of fuzzy dice or a chess piece, stuff like that."

"Cowboy robot" Yoruichi mumbled obviously seeing the connection to Victor. "Is there anything else you can tell us? Like who might have been the one to order the robot to hire you or anything like that?"

"Fraid not" Johnson shook his head. "Last I heard from head office it looked like payment for the five other jobs had been received and was just that poker chip you two were carrying that didn't make it. Speaking of which what happened to that other woman who was with you?"

Cringing I looked over at Yoruichi whose face darkened for a moment before she replied.

"She dead" Yoruichi stated "She was killed by some asshole in a checker suit that robbed us for that Platinum Chip we we're delivering."

"Oh, sweety" Ruby gasped.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Johnson sighed. "Too bad the first deadbeat we hired to do the job canceled on us. A nice girl like you shouldn't have had to go through something like that. We can only hope that a storm from the Divide skins your friend's murderer alive."

I shivered at the mention of Ulysses remembering that we'd have to deal with him at some point before he nukes the entire Mojave.

"That's actually why we're here" Yoruichi continued "I'm hunting that bastard down and know that he passed through here along with a group of Great Khans a couple days ago. Have you or anyone you know seen anything?"

"Now that you mention" Johnson groaned in pain while adjusting his position "A while back just before the convicts took over town a group fitting that description stopped in town and stood at the Bison Steve for a night or two before heading out."

"Do you know where they went" Yoruichi tightened her fists?

"Sorry" Johnson shook his head "They mostly kept to themselves while they were here and didn't talk to nobody, that being said Deputy Beagle might have the information your looking for. He thought they were mighty suspicious and was keeping a good bit of notes on them and might have overheard where they were head."

"Great where is he" Yoruichi grinned!?

"That the thing" Johnson frowned before continuing "Right now Beagle is the closest thing Primm has to any organized law but, unfortunately he's holed up in the Bison Steve. When the convicts rolled through the first thing, they did was murder the Sheriff and his wife in their sleep and took poor old Beagle hostage. They might have killed like the others but, the boy is about as useful as useful as tits on a Radscorpion and I guess they didn't see him as any threat.

Really the only qualification that he ever had was to be brother to the wife of the Sheriff. Still, I don't suppose he deserves what's happened to him. We would've considered paying his ransom if we had the caps to spare but, we're barely scraping by as it is."

"So, if we want that information, we somehow need to save the Deputy from an army of criminals" I slouched strongly reconsidering my decision not to just tell Yoruichi where Benny was.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out" Yoruichi slapped my shoulder!

"That's what I'm afraid of" I sighed making Ruby laugh.

"Thanks for the help" Yoruichi waved before the two of us left the old married couple alone.

We then made our way to a secluded corner of the Casino to plan our next move.

"So, what should we do next" Yoruichi asked me?

I blinked "Why are you asking me? You're, the one in charge aren't you?"

"Yes, and as your fearless leader I'm delegating you the job of coming up with a plan" she smirked and I rolled my eyes deciding to just go with it.

"Well" I said "I guess the first thing we should do is see if we can get a map of the hotel from the townspeople since at least one of them should know the general layout of the place. After that we need to find out exactly where they're keeping Beagle then find the best way to break him out without having to fight an entire army."

"Sounds good to me" she nodded.

"By the way" I thought of something "How much power does that Stealth Boy have left?"

"Around 30% why" she asked "Do you want me to sneak inside and have a look around?"

"I'd rather you not but, I don't think we have another choice" I huffed "And besides I've seen what you're capable of and trust your ability to get in and out safely without being seen."

"Awe, thanks" she punched my shoulder.

"Anyway" I continued "Like I said the first thing we should do is find a map and see if we can use that to find where they might've locked up Beagle. That way when you sneak in you won't have to look through every room individually and can just check the most likely places."

"Alright, let's get started" she said raring to go!

"No need to rush" I stopped her from running off "It's not even noon yet and we have all day to get the map since the best time for you to sneak in is after it gets dark."

Yoruichi frowned "But, that's hours from now. Who knows what those scum are doing to that Beagle guy, he might not even be alive if we wait until then!"

"If they were going to kill him they would have done it by now" I responded. "And besides the information he might have isn't worth your life. At worst we'll just go to one of the other settlements further south like the Mojave Outpost or Nipton. I refuse to belief a man who goes around wearing an obnoxious checkered suit will be hard to follow. Especially when he has no reason to hide because for all he knows you're dead in a hole and has no idea we're even hunting him down."

She just crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Your really doing this" I groaned?

"I am" she stated.

"You know your being really childish, right?"

"I know this isn't the best idea and that I should just go along with your plan and wait until night time. But, whenever I think about how my mothers killer is getting further and further away or hurting someone else while I'm just sitting here doing nothing! It just, it makes my blood boil" she grit her teeth!

Seeing the anger and indignation on her face I let out a heavy sigh "...Fine have it your way, we'll get the map and do this as soon as possible."

"Really" her eyes lit up! "Thank you" she tackled me in a bone shattering hug!

"Let go of me" I struggled to push her away as my face turned red as a tomato!

"Hehe" she snickered seeing my awkward situation before releasing her grip.

"Whatever" I turned away trying to maintain what little dignity I had left, and started heading down to the main casino floor to find someone to draw us a map.

While Yoruichi playfully smirked before following after me.