I felt like developing the background history of one of my character and make it more in depth. I'm mainly used to writing political papers, so fiction writing is something new for me. Here it goes, the beginning to Ace Makovich's history.



Ace was a shell of his former self. He was once regarded as one of the most brilliant men in the entirety of the Brotherhood Scribe Corp. He grew up in Lost Hills, he was the son of two paladins, and was the youngest of four boys. Unlike his family, he was timid and very recluse. Very often, he was picked on bullied by his brothers, they teased him but he never spoke out against them, and because of this they believed him to be spineless. As expected, his brothers excelled at fighting and strategy. Ace on the other hand was average in such fields, he preferred to read and study rather than learn how to shoot a laser rifle. He was more interested in what made the laser rifle function the way it did, and what the history was in its creation. His parents took notice to his educational endeavors, and although they constantly tried to push him to become a soldier, they realized it would be better if he followed the path of the scribe.

In school, due to his timid nature he was picked on just like he was at home. He found it unbearable but there was not much he could do. One day, he was in the recreation area being thrown around in a circle by the other kids. He had fallen a few times and scraqed his legs badly. The instructors that were around encouraged the bullying; it was as they said how they weed out the weak. They were calling him names, yelling rock banger, native, tribal, etc. He was about to start crying when all of a sudden a tall brunette girl, named Rachel who was his age, fought her way into the circle. She grabbed two of the kids and banged their heads against each other. She then grabbed a kid that was running at her and put him in headlock, and gave him few well-placed punches. The Instructors had enough entertainment for the day and broke up the fight. Rachel then made her way towards Ace, extended her hand, and helped him up. For some reason she felt compelled to him, and little did they realize this was just the beginning.

Ever since that day, Ace and Rachel were inseparable and did almost everything together. She taught him the arts of fighting and shooting. Although he hated such things he did them for her. She changed him in a way his parents had failed to do so. He became more outspoken and comfortable with himself. Whenever he was with her he felt whole, and enjoyed her company. Even though they were destined for different fates, they always knew they would be together. The years went by and Ace joined the ranks of scribes, while Rachel became a soldier.
The two were standing in the Hall of Heroes looking at the images of the past Maxson family members.

“Well [censored]head, you’ve made it this far” she said holding his arm as they looked at the portraits and relics of the old legends.

“Of course I made it through, what? Where you expecting me to fail,” Ace said turning to look at her eyes

“Well, if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have made it this far, admit it you need me,”

“I’ll do no such thing, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, needing nobody,” he replied with a big smile in his face getting in close and kissing her, “Besides, without me you would have probably failed all your classes.”

“Who needs calculus when you are shooting a gun, math isn’t gonna save me anytime soon. Before you met me, you couldn’t even pull yourself up, face it I made you the man you are today,” she kisses him back and grabs his hand as they continue their tour of the Hall.

“Come on, we are almost at your favorite display, the only Scribe to be placed in the hall, Master Scribe Vree,” He said knowing she liked teasing him about the fact there was only one scribe at the Hall.

“Ooh, I love Vree. I think I should cut my hair just like hers, wouldn’t you, oh… Yes,” She stopped for minute before she could reply she was too happy and excited. When they had gotten to the display, on top of one of the cases stood a ring, and without him even asking she knew the answer to the question.

Awww that's sweet! I like to learn more about Ace, but you know, when TheLoneRanger reads this, Ace will have lost is "badassery" hahaha Cool story so far! Can't wait to learn more about Ace and why he ended up an 'outcast'.

Yeah I know, that's a risk I'm willing to take. Figure while there have been no post on Nipton Rebuilt, I would go deeper in Ace's background although anyone's opinion of Ace might change once they learn more about him.

Years later

“The NCR has brought this war upon themselves by escalating the conflict in the Mojave. The last thing we need is tribals with technology they do not understand. We must hold this position regardless of the cost, Helios One must not fall. Therefore I move that we dispatch a contingent to the Mojave and aid Elijah and his Chapter,” The High Elder was adamant about the long fought war the Brotherhood had with NCR. He truly believes that in order to keep people safe technology needed to be controlled. Their belief was based on the idea that the misuse of technology brought about the end of the world. “Senior Scribe Makovich, you will accompany the Knights we are dispatching, and help the Elder discover the secrets of the facility,” The High elder informed the Scribes present. Ace, was ecstatic because he would finally get a chance to work hands on, with the facility he had studied so thoroughly from the data reports that had been sent back.

He headed to his quarters and inform Rachel of his mission and what he would be doing. “That’s great news Ace, you been waiting for so long to go there. Did they tell you how long you would be there?” she asked while putting on her power armor.

“How long I would be gone? Come on honey, you’re one of the best warriors the Brotherhood has, they are probably going to send you as well. I wouldn’t leave without you,”

“I don’t want to go to the Mojave, Ace. We need to protect Lost Hills above anything, Helios One is not a priority in my eyes. Let the natives have it, if we can’t crack its secrets what makes you think they will? You eggheads are the smartest people alive, trust me Helios One is safe from intrusion,” she said rolling her eyes at the very thought going to the Mojave.

“You can’t mean that, Helios One holds too many secrets. Father Elijah believes the place to be one giant weapon, with it we can destroy the NCR, and not have to worry about perishing at the hand of rock bangers,” He just could not believe what she said. This was a long time dream of his and she did not want to be there to share it with him.

“All I here is babble coming out of your mouth. The Brotherhood survives thanks to us Knights, and our hard fought battles allow you eggheads to play with your little toys,” she scolded Ace, wagging her finger at him.

“Yeah, but without us ‘eggheads’ you Knights wouldn’t even know how to use or maintain those weapons, you’d be using rusty armor and weapons that broke down all the time,” he was mad at the way she diminished his role in the Brotherhood. He placed his hand at his side and shook his head, he knew no matter what he said he would never win the argument. He stops to think for a minute, and looks deep into her eyes, getting close to her, “I need you by my side, without you I’d be lost. I don’t want us to fight, I want you to accompany us, don’t do it for me, do it for the Brotherhood.”

She says nothing, she just stands there motionless, the man she loves would go away for weeks perhaps months, she hated to admit it but she needed him as well. “I won’t do it for the Brotherhood, I’m going to do it for you Ace. You’re my husband and only you matter to me. Besides, you’d get yourself killed if I’m not present, and I can’t have that.”

Joy overruns Ace, he was happy she would accompany him because otherwise he would have gone alone and miss her too much to focus on his work. This way she would be with him, and he could ensure the project received the attention it deserved.

Roughly a year later


“WHY CANT I GET THIS!” A very frustrated Ace yelled at a computer monitor. The other Scribes in the room kept working ignoring his outburst, which had become quite common as of late. He had been trying to unlock the secrets of the Archimedes weapon, yet he was making no progress. He was able to increase power output, and stabilize the relays but making the weapon fire where they wanted was still impossible.

“Calm yourself, I’m getting tired of listening to you complain, I want results Senior Scribe, not excuses,” A calm Father Elijah chastised Ace once again for losing his cool. “You know what, we need a break, everyone out we’ll start up tomorrow morning,” Elijah said as everyone stood up and left the room. Ace began to gather his things, Father Elijah approached him, and said “Not you Ace, you’ll stay here and keep working. I will see you in the morning”

Ace sat back down in his chair, he knew Rachel would be pissed, but he didn’t care they been fighting a lot lately. He continued to look at the computer monitor, but nothing made sense to him, all the numbers were correct the dang thing should work. He stood up and walked around the room, checking everyone else’s projects. While he was eternally stuck working on the Archimedes, everyone else got to work on more useful projects. When he was stuck working the long shift at night, he went around improving everyone else’s project without them knowing what he did and in some cases finishing them. At least he has to kill some time doing useful things.

“Looks like another long night for you Ace,” At the door way stood a short blonde woman with brilliant blue eyes that captivated anyone that looked directly into them. Ace turned around, and a wicked grin appeared on his face, he walked over to her put his arms around her and gave her a long passionate kiss, “It’s never long when you’re around Lisa, you make it more entertaining.” Lisa had arrived a few month ago, she was a long time friend of Rachel’s. The two had graduated training together, and had become Paladin’s at the same time. Rachel and Ace had left for the Mojave before Lisa was, and she had never really caught Ace’s eye. Yet when she had arrived, they became even closer friends.

“You know, you ought to get the night shift more often, then we can spend more time together and I can show you a thing or two,” Lisa said in sultry voice as she gave him another kiss on the lips and began taking his robe off.

“I do that and Rachel might suspect something. Besides, I never asked for this assignment, Father Elijah considers it my punishment for my constant failure in trying to figure out how to guide this weapon,” he said pointing at his computer. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he no longer cared, he enjoyed it too much. He stood there, and began undressing her, slowly removing her armor and caressing her body, “Ace, just shut up and kiss me you fool.”



Next morning, Ace arrived at his quarters were Rachel was waiting for him. “So what, they are gonna have you work late everyday now? I can’t take it anymore Ace, I came here to be with you not to spend every day by myself, or fighting in a trench,” She said while sitting down on chair facing the door.

“Will you relax honey, It’s not gonna be everyday, the project I’m working is too delicate and sometimes Father Elijah believes that we have to work longer to achieve what we are looking for,” Ace replied closing the door behind him and extending his arm to help her up.

She gets up and walks with Ace towards the bedroom, “Aren’t you tired from being up all night? Let me make us some breakfast, and then you can go to sleep.”

“No I’m not tired, I just want to spend some time with my wife, preferably in bed,”

“Is that right?” she said, and then pushes Ace onto the bed and getting on top of him. She begins kissing him, but for second she thinks she smells perfume on him, but the scent was only notable for a few seconds and she decides to ignore it. After all Ace would never cheat on her, or at least that was what she hoped.

I gotta say, Its good.

“Watch the north flank, those NCR dogs are mounting for an attack. This little skirmish is just a distraction; I want the Gatling lasers along the front row of our northern wall. I want snipers at the top of this tower; I don’t care if Elijah complains we need the cover!” Rachel was in the courtyard leading the defense of the facility. There was a flurry of activity as the base came under constant attack of NCR troops. Wave after wave of soldiers were hitting their perimeters. Many fell in the battles, but much more were wounded. The NCR officers saw their troops as disposable; they could muster more and more troops as needed, while the Brotherhood had a finite number.

“Grenadiers, I want you to bombard the eastern flank, let’s get some pressure off ourselves,” She continued making her way through the encampment mustering the troops.

“Paladin Makovich, status report,” Head McNamara asked of the Paladin as he approached her. He was radiant looking, with his shined armor. Unlike Rachel and the other Paladins, McNamara cared about how his armor looked. He always took care of it made sure it shined and was spotless. His idea was if he was to fall in battle, he wanted to do so with grace.

“The ranks are holding the line, but there are just too many of them. No matter how many we kill, another one takes its place. These rock bangers are just sacrificing themselves, many not even shooting before they die. However, we have lost ten 10 knights and we have a few injured, but we’ll hold as long as it takes, Sir.”

“This is madness, every day we are losing men, and Elijah doesn’t even give a damn. He is stuck in his [censored] mentality with this hellhole. Eventually the natives are gonna kill us all, it’s only a matter of time,” he said shaking his head, the very idea that this chapter of the Brotherhood could collapse due to the ideals of single man, a madman. “I sent a request for reinforcements to Lost Hills, but they have yet to respond.”

“Don’t worry Sir, we will prevail, but if we are to fall at least we did so fighting. We just need one of those eggheads to figure something out, otherwise I’ll drag them out one by one if that what it takes to survive.”

“I’m gonna go and have another chat with Elijah, this has got to stop. That husband of yours, also needs to stop encouraging him, otherwise I’m gonna take care of him.”

“I’ll have a chat with him, but last time I talked to him he refused to listen to me.”
McNamara leaves and heads for the control room of the station. Rachel stood there motionless for a bit, but regained focus when blood splattered on her face, from a knight that was just killed next to her. It’s going to be a long day. “Don’t just stand around, move to your positions, I’m not gonna die today for you lazy louts, NOW MOVE IT!”

Meanwhile in the control room of the tower.
“Father Elijah! The NCR are about to overrun our position we need to retreat!” McNamara advises the Elder working on a computer.

“Enough, McNamara we will remain here until we discover how to unleash the power of Archimedes and guide it, otherwise the death of our Brothers would have been for nothing!” the Elder replied not even adverting his sight from the computer screen, “Now, I am trying to do my job, how bout you get out there and do yours!”

“Yes Sir!” McNamara replied as he made his way out of the control station within Helios One.

“Ace, have you checked all subroutines for the power fluctuation we keep seeing?” the Elder asked the Scribe working at a station across from his.

“I have, and I’ve checked all the numbers. From all indication the weapon is fully charged we just need to fire it, but there is nowhere on this system that will allow me direct the line of fire like you’re hoping.”

“Check again, and double check your numbers there must be something we are missing”

“I'm sorry Father Elijah, but my numbers are correct. I checked them twice and I’m not known for making mistakes. If anything all this data proves we need a catalyst to activate the weapon.”

“Don’t sass me boy, if I tell you to do something you will do it! As for the catalyst you may be right, I’m going to try and access the archives and see if there is any mention of anything within them,”

The Elder stand up and leaves Ace alone in the room. “What a [censored] he has become lately, ‘check your numbers or else’, pfft whatever. I’m never wrong on anything.” He gets up and looks at the battlefield that has become the outskirts of the facility. He can see Rachel from above, and just looks at her as she is trying to organize the men.

He stood there quietly overlooking the fight, when McNamara approached him from behind. He turned around and saw the paladin. “Head Paladin, I thought you had left, Father Elijah went to the archives to…” as he was speaking McNamara slammed Ace’s head into the rail surrounding the balcony. “What’s [censored] wrong with you, what the hell was that for,” he said as he felt as if his head was spinning, he put his hand up to his head and checked for bleeding. He was going to say something else, when the Paladin punched him.

McNamara grabs ace by the collar of his robe and makes him look at fighting scene, “You piece [censored], this is all thanks to you, you encouraged that madman, and now our brothers and sisters are dying out there! You are gonna convince Father Elijah to drop this [censored] venture, and get him to agree to a tactical retreat. Otherwise I’m gonna drop you from here and impale you to this facility!”

Ace stood there recovering from the knock to the head he had received. He just stood there motionless, and he nodded his head agreeing to his threat. There was nothing he could do, he just watched the paladin leave the room, not wanting to move from his position in case he came back.

The Next day

“Where’s Elijah? Damn it you [censored] WHERE IS HE!” McNamara said as he grabbed Ace by the collar. He was red with fury, the NCR had become unstoppable and overnight the outside perimeters had been breached.

“I don’t know, all I know is that yesterday he said he was gonna go check the archives, and today his quarters are empty and all his research is gone!” Ace replied, as he tried to get loose from the Paladin’s grip. Father Elijah had disappeared; he abandoned everyone, more importantly he abandoned the project. Ace felt betrayed, but now in the Paladin’s grip he began to get angry. “How about you let me go Nolan, I’ve had enough of you for now!” Ace said angrily at the Paladin as he breaks himself loose.

“You’ve had enough? I’ve had enough of you, you worthless piece of [censored]!” Nolan replied as he tries to punch Ace in the face but his punch is dodged and hits the wall. Ace ducks out of the way and counterpunch’s McNamara in the face causing him to lose his footing and stumble.

“You are done Ace; I’ve had enough of you! I’m gonna do, what I should have done a while back!” as soon as McNamara says that he tackles Ace to the ground where the two begin fighting. They roll around the ground hitting each other, trying to gouge their eyes, when their fight is broken up by Rachel and Lisa.

“That is enough, both of you break it up NOW!” Rachel screams at the two of them. She’s keeping Ace back as he wants to pummel McNamara’s face.

“Nolan, come on calm down! Elijah is gone, that makes you the new Elder, behave like one. I know you two don’t get along but enough is enough,” Lisa tries to calm McNamara down and it works.

McNamara shakes off the dust and clears his throat, “Very well, I’ll be the bigger man here and end this. Rachel sound the general retreat, we are heading back to the bunker as soon as it gets dark. Ace, I need you to ensure this facility is locked down, and the natives cannot do anything with the so-called weapon. Lock them out from the computers and initiate internal defenses. Also, get the scribe’s to take as much data and materials as possible with them, we don’t want to leave anything of value behind.”

“Yes… Elder, I’ll do as you command” Ace replied with clenched teeth. He knows, that with McNamara as Elder, his days in the Mojave were numbered, at least now he’ll be able to return to Lost Hills.

“Come on we got to get ready, my men and I, will remain behind covering the retreat and allowing the Scribes enough time to gather all the data they need,” Rachel said calmly looking at Ace, she would do whatever it took to protect Ace. “As soon as they are done we’ll make a push to distract the NCR and allow ya’ll enough time to escape.”

“Very well, it’s getting dark so let’s begin immediate evacuation. Lisa, I want you and your squadron to cover the retreat while Rachel distracts them with her platoon. Nothing can go wrong, otherwise we are all doomed.”

Ace looks worried as Rachel says she’ll create a distraction, “Promise me you’ll be safe, I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you.” Ace holds her hands and kisses her, forgetting for a minute that they are being watched.

“Don’t worry about me; just make sure you do your job. Otherwise you’ll end up on that wall with Vree,” Rachel said with a smile to her face remembering the day he proposed to her.

“Come on Nolan, let’s leave the love birds alone,” Lisa said to McNamara as she got close to him and gave him a kiss, “we need to get ready.”

Wow! Just finished reading your additional chapters and man, you sure can write, Red! I really love the interaction between Ace and Rachel, then a year later, how they grow apart and Ace is cheating on her! And then the whole fight between the BoS and the NCR is well executed. I always wanted to know how it went down. You give us a glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak! I also love the way you write about Elijah and how fanatic he is about Helios.

Ouch, McNamra never struck me as a violent man, to come in there and bang up Ace is not cool! LOL

Well done!

Edit: You posted your newest chapter while I replied to the others. I really like the last piece as well, but I have a bad feeling about Rachel and Lisa, covering the retreat and creating a distraction. I hope none of them dies!!!

Thanks for the comments , I like a little bit of drama. I always suspected that McNamara's calm demeanor is a front. Also, seeing people die all around him changes people so he just snapped on the person closest to him.

I love this so much. Especially what Agrona said about McNamara, I always thought of him as soft spoken and the time to stay out of an argument, this side is so different, but it shows how much he cares about his men. But I also have a bad feeling about the distraction Rachel planned....

The NCR grew more relentless that night; they began a campaign of bombardment, launching missiles and grenades at the entrenched Brotherhood Knights. There was panic among the rank, rumors were circulating that Elijah had abandoned them, never before had an Elder deserted from the Brotherhood. A flurry of chaos overtook everyone as they tried to make sense of the situation. For the first time, the mighty Brotherhood felt threatened. The one’s they had undermined for so long were making them flee. The bear had awakened, and the sword once again found itself upon a stone.

“MOVE, GET YOUR FAT [CENSORED] MOVING! GET A HOLD OF YOU [CENSORED] HEADS AND CALM THE [CENSORED] DOWN!” Rachel was yelling as people around her were panicking. Hardened soldiers laid on the grown sobbing in the fetal position, wanting everything to end. It was chaos, pure an utter chaos, she tried to remain strong but even she was beginning to crack. I shouldn’t even be here, I should be at Lost Hills, why did I listen to Ace. Next time he asks me to go somewhere I’m going to say no. She ducked as missile flew by her head and hit the wall behind her. Luckily, her armor absorbed most of the blast but her ears were ringing from the blast. Her breath became labored, and she had difficulty moving straight and began to scream in anguish. She could no longer take it, there was too much at stake. We are gonna die, I’m gonna die at the hands of natives. I always dreamed of a noble death in battle, but now I see how stupid and foolish I was being. She falls to her knees and looks around as more and more fell, it was inevitable. She start to get angry and slaps herself, “Get a hold of yourself woman, we need to hold this line.”

She motions a squire to follow her, and they make their way up the tower, all the Scribes are gone except Ace. “Ace you need to get out of here before it’s too late!”

“I’m almost done, I downloaded everything on project Archimedes to this drive. I’m just setting a timer for the internal defense system.”

“Ok, you need to leave, we are about to launch our attack, to buy you some time.”

“WHAT! You’re not taking part of that attack, it’s too dangerous!”

“I got no choice Ace, don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine”

“NO, IM NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU!”

“This is not debatable Ace, you are leaving and that’s final,” she tells him in stern voice. “Trust me I’ll be fine, this time tomorrow the two of us will be on our way to Lost Hills, making love and enjoying each other’s company.”

“I refuse to go without you, if you won’t come with me, I’ll fight alongside you.”

“Ace, you are too stubborn sometimes. Very well, I’ll go with you,” she approaches Ace, gives him a long slow kiss, and begins walking with him to the door. She then slams the back of his head with the butt of her rifle. Ace slumps forward unconscious, she approaches him and gives him a light kiss on the lips, and whispers “I’m sorry.” She then motions the squire to come forward and instructs him to get him to the Hidden Valley Bunker.


She head to the northern side of the facility, there she sees what remains of her platoon waiting for her.
“I’m not gonna lie to you today. I could tell you you’re going to live and that everything is going to be alright. I could tell you that this time tomorrow we will be dining with our brothers and sisters. I could tell you all those things, but I’d be lying. What I can tell you, is that your actions today will ensure our family will live to see another day. Our names shall ring in the halls of the Brotherhood, our stand shall be remembered. For today, our souls will be storming heavens gates cause even in death we shall fight to the bitter end, till all NCR are forever destroyed. Go on, go out and die, but as your spirits leave your bodies take as many of the bastards as you can.”

The platoon marches out and begins an assault, they begin bombarding the NCR trenches, and as they move forward they mow down row after row of NCR soldiers. Screams of agony are heard, smoke fills the air. The stench of blood is intoxicating, the soldiers walk over pile of bodies and limbs. Yet more and more soldiers attack. Hysteria overfills the ranks of NCR soldiers as they began to turn and run. The officers are forced to recall the units attacking the facility and everyone launches an attack on the advancing platoon. They find themselves surrounded yet they press on, every shot is vital, and every second precious. Regardless of their resilience, they begin falling one by one. Pools of blood form on the ground and even as they lay dying they continue their attack. One by one expire, the NCR troops begin moving in, one Knight activates a grenade taking seven troopers with him. Not wanting to take any chances, they begin putting bullets in each Knights head. Rachel lays there on floor losing blood from multiple gunshot wounds. She begins to laugh, and says “You think you’ve won? You think this is over? No my friend, this is but the beginning. Death is the beginning of a new life, and you [censored] sons of [censored] are gonna join me.” She pulls out a mini nuke she was carrying behind her back and is about to detonate it but is stopped by hit to the head by an NCR officer who barks a command at the present soldiers, “Take her alive for questioning, we are gonna make the [censored] pay for everything. Loot the armor and weapons, and burn the bodies.”

Lisa was watching from a distance with binoculars, a tear rolled down her cheek as she saw the slaughter. Luckily, the evacuation was success, but this day would be forever remembered and its consequences felt. She began the trek back to Hidden Valley, the whole way back she tried to come up with the right words to break the news. She was gonna break the heart of the man she loved.

I hope you liked last entry, sorry to disappoint some people

Wow, I had tears in my eyes after I read Rachel's speech to the troops! Beautiful words! Excellent new chapter, Red!!

Hey, at least Rachel is still alive, although in NCR custody. Maybe they can still rescue her?

“Sir, evacuees have arrived. It seems Paladin Lisa was successful in protecting the retreat,” a Knight informed McNamara as he took a seat at his new office chambers. He looked around, and could not believe it that now he was an Elder. He never thought he would see the day, he’d join such an elite rank. He looked around the room, and saw the knights standing by, he motions toward the door and the room is emptied. He looks around the room, familiarizing himself with the surroundings, when Lisa walks in. He goes to her and can see that her eyes are red as if she was crying, he softly caresses her cheek wiping off a tear and asks her, “Lisa, what’s wrong, did something happen?”

“Rachel and her platoon fulfilled their duty, Nolan. They distracted the NCR long enough to allow us to retreat in safety,” she pauses for a minute thinking back to what occurred and the horrors she had seen. She just couldn’t bring herself to informing McNamara of what had happened, but it was her duty to do so. “The full platoon fought valiantly taking down hundreds of NCR soldiers, yet in the end they found themselves surrounded and they were all killed. Then they stripped them of their armor, weapons and then they desecrated their bodies,” she said letting out a sob and whimper, “They also took Rachel with them, she was shot a few times, but it looks like they took her with them.”

McNamara just stood there; he just didn’t know what to do in this situation. He had just become the Elder and already his resolve was being tested. Regardless of his decision he would put more men at risk, he needed to decide whether Rachel is was worth the risk. He ran his fingers through his hair and gave out a loud yell. Lisa stands there just crying, unable to say anything. “Where’s Ace? Does he know what happened?” McNamara asks Lisa. She shakes her head no, and McNamara heads for the door, where outside he ask one of the knights to bring him in.

Ace walks into the room holding his hand up to his head, “I feel like a ton of rock’s fell on my head. Ugh, what do you want Nolan, I don’t have time to deal with your bull. Where’s Rachel, I got talk to her about her hitting me with a laser rifle.” He looks around the room, and the said when he saw Lisa crying, “Lisa what’s wrong, why are you crying? Wait, wait, wait where is Rachel? Why is she not here, someone ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!”

“Ace, Rachel led her platoon on a valiant fight against the NCR buying everyone time to escape. If it wasn’t for their sacrifice we would have had even heavier casualties. Rachel survived, but she was gravely injured with multiple gunshot wounds, and the NCR took her captive.”

Ace just stood there furious, he didn’t know what to say, he stopped for a second, and stammered, “Umm, what are, when , what?” He clasps his hand together and puts them up to his face, and begins just biting his index finger and thumb trying to see if this was a nightmare. He runs his hands through his hair, and begins sobbing. He slams the desk next to him, grabs the computer monitor and throws it across the room, shattering upon impact with the wall. The guards outside the room come barging in ready to shoot if they feel the Elder is threatened, but McNamara motions for them to get out.

Lisa approaches Ace and gives him a hug and the two cry together for a few minutes. Ace regains his composure and looks at McNamara, “When, when are we launching a rescue mission, sir.”

“I haven’t decided yet. You have to consider Ace, I’m in a difficult position right now, we just suffered a great loss, and an even greater loss of life. I need to think before I make any decision.”

Ace had heard enough he goes up to the Elder and grabs him by the collar, “YOU HAVE TO THINK! WHAT IS SHE NOT WORTH IT? SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR YOU, YOU MOTHER[CENSORED]!”

“I’m sorry Ace, my hands are tied in this matter, I cannot let personal feeling get in the way of duty”

“YOU PIECE OF [CENSORED] YOU, YOU AAGH!” Ace punches McNamara in the face, and throws him to the floor, and begins an assault. McNamara begins fighting back, and grabs his pistol and hits Ace across the face.

Lisa calls for the guards, and they split the two up. “Get him out of my sight! Take him to his quarters, and keep him there till he calms down!” McNamara barks his order to the guards as they take Ace away, as he continues to struggle and fight back wanting to get loose and pummel the Elder to a pulp.

A very emotional chapter! I think Ace reacted perfectly to the news! I can't see him acting any other way. He always struck me as someone who acts first and thinks later. I also think you did great with McNamara's replies. After all he has the whole brotherhood to consider now, not just one person! Very well done! Great chapter!

I can't wait for the next chapter. I can bet Ace mounts his own rescue mission though. That's what it looks like he would do, probably take Lisa with him.

That's something we'll have to wait and see, you never know what may happen

Ace was pacing back and forth in his room, screaming and yelling. He is destroying anything he could find in his room. He sees the computer, grabs it and throws into the door trying to get it open. “LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT YOU [CENSORED]! I PROMISE I WON’T DO ANYTHING DUMB, LIKE PUMMEL NOLAN’S HEAD INTO PULP, I SWEAR!” He overturns cabinets, the bed, anything that would help get the edge off. He leans against the wall, and just slides down until he is on the floor crying and cursing. He felt completely helpless, there was nothing he could, and all he wanted to do was do something, anything. While he laid there, he saw a handgun that Rachel always left on the top drawer of the cabinet. He always fought with her, due to the numerous guns, she had laying around, but perhaps it may now come in handy. He grabs the gun and just looks at it as it sits on his hand. I can’t go on, I… I can’t live without her. I need her, she always kept me in check and was there for me. If it wasn’t for her I would have never made it out of school, she has always been there to protect me, I’m just a big wimp. Ace continues crying and puts the barrel of the gun up to his mouth. DO IT YOU COWARD! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU PRESSURED HER TO COMING HERE, SHE NEVER WANTED TO BE HERE AND NOW SHE MIGHT BE GONE! COME ON, YOU [CENSORED] JUST PULL THE TRIGGER, THEY BE ALL BETTER WITHOUT YOU! YOU COULDN’T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK THE DAMN THING, HER LIFE IS LOST FOR NOTHING, YOU IDIOT, AT LEAST DO ONE THING RIGHT AND END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE. Ace just screams into the gun and puts his finger to the trigger, ready to pull it if he got the courage. Bang…

“Head Paladin, what brings you here, sir?” the guard at the door asks the Paladin that walked up to the door.

“How’s he doing in there?”

“Lots of yelling and cursing, I think he is tearing his room apart,”

“You are dismissed, you may return to your quarters,”

“But sir, Elder McNa…”

“I said dismissed, I won’t repeat myself again Knight, now LEAVE!”

Bang, that was the sound Ace expected but nothing happened. Ace yells and throws the gun at the far wall. All of a sudden the doors open up and in walks the new Head Paladin. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT RAMOS? I GOT NOTHING TO SAY TO YOU! JUST GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“Ok, I’ll leave. That’s too bad you know, I was about to launch a mission to rescue Rachel but I can see where I’m not wanted so I will leave,” Ramos says in a calm voice as he turns around and begins heading out of the room, turning his head to look at Ace as he walks out.

Ace just gets angrier, rushes the Paladin, knocks him to the ground and gives him a single punch to the face, “DON’T TOY WITH ME, YOU [censored]” Ace gets off of him, extend his hands, and helps him up, “What did you have in mind?”

“Follow me,” Ramos feels his face as he winces from the hard punch he just received. The two walk down a hallway, and head down some stairs that were behind a wall panel that Ramos opened up with a remote. Ace find himself in an area of the bunker he never knew existed, “This is a hidden are of the bunker, I think it was meant as an escape route in case the place got over run, only a few people know about it” They walk into a room, and there are few soldiers standing around.”I think you already know Paladin Lorenzo and Torres, here is also Paladin Mitchells, Mills, and Evans. We all think Rachel deserves better, and we never leave one of our own behind.”

“Where’s Lisa, I’m sure she would help”

“Can’t trust her, she is too close to Nolan, I know you like her and she’s your friend but we need people we can count on,”

“The only person I can trust here is Lisa.”

“Look, Lisa is too emotionally compromised right now. Hell, we didn’t even want to bring you along but Evans convinced me. We can’t go in force, we need a small tactical team, and that’s what we’ll be doing”

“Fine, tell me what you got in mind?”

Good, finally someone put a team together to rescue Rachel! Damn Ace, stop punching everyone! Ramos is just trying to help! LOL Good chapter! Can't wait to read about the rescue mission!

It was a dark night and seven figures stealthily moved closer to Camp McCarran. The seven Brotherhood members were there against orders, and were about to face a large enemy contingent if they were caught. They were wearing Brotherhood Combat Armor instead of their power armor. This way they could move, without detection and were easier to travel with than their usual bulky armor. They stop and survey the area, it would be difficult to infiltrate the camp, but they didn’t care. Ramos pulls out a silenced sniper rifle and looks through the scope. Luckily, there were not too many watch guards along the wall. He spots a good area to climb over. He looks at the areas guard through the scope and carefully aims. He holds his breath, steadies his aim, and fires. The shot remains true to its path, and kills the young guard. They move forward and when they reach the wall, they hear talking. Evans looks around the corner and sees two guards walking their way. Evans looks at Mills and the two slowly make their way to where the soldiers would come up when they turned. They pulled their combat knives out and the troopers get to their position. Two Paladins attack the troopers gagging them, and then they slit their throats. The two troopers die quickly and are carried off by the two Paladins, and their bodies thrown into a ditch.

Lorenzo and Torres each begin readying a hook attached to rope to climb the wall. They throw the rope and hoop over the wall and check to make sure the hook is holding on tight. They each make their way up and over the wall. They find themselves behind the airport terminal, luckily, no one had seen the trooper that Ramos had shot, and that fell off the wall into the compound. They notice a small watchtower in the middle of the expanse and make their way there; they couldn’t take any chances with being discovered, at least not yet. Mitchells moves forward and sees a young trooper sleeping. He moves closer to him grabs him by the neck. The trooper wakes up and begins struggling. Mitchells gags him and keeps him in strong chokehold. He takes out his knife and makes a small slit on the troopers throat cutting his larynx. The trooper cries in pain but no sound comes out. Mitchells releases him and the trooper begins crawling away from him. Mitchells slowly get up, walks over to him, and stomps in his head until it cracks open and brain matter begins oozing all over the floor. He wipes his knife on troopers body and heads to where the rest are. Ramos just shakes his head at him, not wanting to break silence, in a way saying ‘What the hell is wrong with you’. They make their way back to where the body is and carry it off an place it in a nearby dumpster. They do the same with the body from the watch guard.

Ace sees a circuit breaker for the nearby power generators. He runs towards it and opens it up. After carefully studying the layout and circuits, he begins disconnecting wires and reconnecting them elsewhere, causing the breaker to overload. It begins to spark and smoke, and suddenly the lights in the terminal begin to flicker on and off, until small bang comes from the breaker burning it off. The terminal is in complete darkness, and you can hear yelling, and orders being shouted. They put on night goggles, and begin making their way to the door leading inside the terminal. Right before they open the door, three engineers come running out heading towards the breaker. They left the door open, and they make their way inside. Luckily, the terminals backup generators had not kicked in and everything remained in darkness. They had an old blueprint of the terminal, but the NCR since occupying it had changed things around. They find themselves at an armory and see an officer taking a nap. Ramos points at Mitchells and he heads over to the officer and puts him in a chokehold, gagging him to ensure he remains quiet. They lock the door to the armory and Evans remains outside keeping watch. They restrain the man up to a chair and begin questioning him.

“Where do you keep prisoners?”

“James Smith, Captain, Service number 15087, born June 7^th 2234”

“I’m gonna say this one more time, where do you keep prisoners!”

“James Smith, Captain, Service number 15087, born June 7^th 2234”

“You are just gonna play games with us, is that it?”

“James Smith, Captain, Service number 15087, born June 7^th 2234”

“Mitchells, he is all yours,” Ramos motions for Mitchells to come forward and do what he is best at doing, interrogate. He gags the officer and pulls out a small pouch with some tools. He pulls up a seat and sits across from the prisoner. He pushes a crate in between them, and places the pouch on top, unravels it to display what he has, and turns on a lantern so that he can see the prisoner. He is whistling a song as he is doing so, and has a smile on his face. He puts on a pair of gloves, takes out a rag and begins cleaning all the tools showing the officer what he has, all the while whistling Ring Around the Rosie. You can see terror in the officers eye’s as he looks at the tools he has in stock. Mitchell gets up and removes the officers jacket and shirt. He ties the hands to the side bars on the chair, with the palms facing up. Mitchells yawns for a second and put his hands behind his head. “I wonder if these scalpels are sharp enough, do they look dull to you? They look a bit dull to me?” he says that while facing the others in the room.

“They don’t look that sharp, you may wanna check them out,” Lorenzo says in an innocent voice.

“You’re right, they do look dull, let’s see how dull,” he grabs a scalpel with his right hand and leans in closer to the officer, who has started moving around trying to get loose, “Now, now calm down.” He grabs the officers left arm and with the scalpel begins making small incisions into the man’s arm, cutting deep into the flesh and the muscle. He takes the scalpel and carefully cuts 2 inch piece of skin from the man’s arm. He stops, turns around, and says, “Ah, its sharp just the way it should be, thanks Ramirez, you were right in telling me to test it out.”

“No problem, Gaylord, that’s what I’m here for,” Lorenzo says about to burst laughing, but is able to control himself.

“Very well, let see what else I have here. Ah, my favorite small hammer, and my favorite rusty nail. I bet you 100 caps I can hammer trough anything with this, any takers?”

“I’ll take a piece of that action,” Torres replies. “Same here,” Ace speaks up.

Mitchells turns around to face the officer who has tears rolling down his cheek, he is horrified at what may happen. Mitchells grabs the nail and puts it up to the left arms wrist joints and begins tapping away with the hammer. Muffled screams can be heard coming from the officer, trying to plead for mercy from his captors. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, whack. Mitchells slams the hammer and you could hear the bone crunch, and blood sprays out. Unfortunately for Mitchells the nail didn’t go the whole way through, but he didn’t give up and kept hammering drawing out more and more blood. No matter how hard he hit, it still didn’t go through. “[Censored], I’m out 200 caps, you owe me buddy, this is your fault for drinking milk and having healthy bones. Oh well, you’ll make it up somehow,” he says with an evil grin on his face. The officer is screaming in pain, but no one can hear him. Mitchells grabs a hacksaw, and shows the officer, “Now this one is not sharp enough, but I ought to test out don’t you think?” He grabs the officers left shoulder and begins trying to saw. He cuts in about an 1/8 of an inch and stops as the officer convulses in pain and screams. His muffles screams say he’ll talk, looking at Ramos. Ramos motions for Mitchells to stop and to hear what the man has to say.

HOLY BLOODY CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!! If that had been a movie, I would have sat through that part with closed eyes, but since I need my eyes to READ, I couldn't close them! *shudders* That's some brutal stuff, Red! I think my whole view of the BoS just shifted... LOLOL Very well written though!

The man was given three chances to talk and he didn't, you got to do what you have to do . They are on a tight schedule

That's no excuse for torture And YOU had them gag him! How the heck can he talk? LOL Sheesh Red... meanie! I'll make sure to stay on your good side! hahaha

They get the necessary information from the officer, and Mitchells removes his gloves. The officer looks into Mitchells eyes, but all he can see is evil. Mitchells looks around the room and spots a row of combat knives, he grabs two and heads toward the restrained officer. He lunges one knife into the officers gut, and the other one he lunges into his heart. The officer screamed in pain, and just laid there bleeding, dying.

They begin exiting the room, but Mitchells stops for a second when he sees a very well kept plasma rifle, he grabs and heads out the door. “Gotta make up for the caps I lost” He says as they look at him quizzically. The power was still out, they make their way to the front entrance of the terminal. Unfortunately, there were far more people walking that area than other places within the terminal. Ramos quickly motions for them to split up and take down enemy combatants. One by one, they begin dropping. They are killed in surprise, and all you can hear is the thump of their bodies hitting the floor. No one comes looking because they figure some people are bumping into things, due to the darkness. They make their way up the stairs, and Ace can see a guard standing outside the high security interrogation area. He makes his way there and grabs the man by the neck snapping it, all you could hear was the crunching sound of the man’s death. He looks inside and can see two figures. He grabs the dead man’s key and unlocks the door. Ace sees a doctor tending to Rachel’s wounds and he is overjoyed in seeing her. Mills goes up to the doctor, and takes him out, slitting his throat.

Ace goes up to her and kisses her passionately; Rachel’s reaction was to fight back thinking it was someone trying to take advantage of her. She punches Ace, but quickly succumbs to the pain of her wounds. “Rachel, calm down it’s me, Ace!” Ace says as he grabs her keeping her from falling down.

“What the hell are you doing here? You should have left me behind, and not risk your life you idiot!” She replies as she hugs Ace happy to see him.

“Come on, we got to get you out of here before the lights come back on.”

“I can barely move, and I’m in a gown,”

“We got med-x and stimpaks to fix you up. Here I have my robe in my backpack,” Ace says as he motions for Mills to come and help her. Mills patches her up and Ace hands her the robe, she undresses and puts it on.

“Now I’m an egghead and you’re a soldier!” She says laughing at the way she currently looked. “I don’t know what to say, you all risked your life to come and save me.”

“You can make it up to us later, for now we gotta get out of here,” Ramos says offering her a plasma defender.

They make their way out of the lockup area, and begin descending the stairs. All of a sudden the lights come back on and they are exposed.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WHO DID THIS? WAIT, WHO ARE YOU GUYS!” a soldier yells as he sees all the dead bodies laying on the floor, and the odd group of soldiers descending the stairs. Ramos pulls out his silenced rifle and kills the soldier, but it was too late, the others had been alerted by his yells. Soldiers begin pouring in and firefight breaks out. Luckily, for the Brotherhood they were up high and had an advantage, they were killing soldiers like fish in a barrel. Nevertheless, they could not remain there all day, so they threw two smoke grenades and filled the room, with white smoke. Mills and Evans covered the rest as they made their way to the hallway leading to the inside of the terminal. They couldn’t go out the front and face the large contingent stationed out front. Mills and Evans shot anything that moved, but the smoke was dissipating, so they entered the hallway and barred the doors with the chain link they had for such an occasion.

They Continued running but they encounter fierce opposition. Lorenzo took point with his tri-beam laser rifle and began shooting, slowly but surely they gained ground. They made it to the large open are, but enemy troops were waiting. Lucky for them the NCR expected some sort of attack so they had sandbags stacked up facing the doors, but no soldiers had taken position. They made their way for covered but were trapped by the enemy fire. Evans looks around the corner and sees troopers making their way trying to flank them, he launches a few grenades and takes care of them unfortunately one let off a missile and it hit close to Evan. The blast launched shrapnel all over the place and a large piece lodged itself into Evans guts. He cried in pain as his life began fleeting his body.

“NO! EVANS!” Ramos yells as he sees him slump over and die. The NCR took the opportunity to riddle his body with bullets when he had fallen forward in pain.

“WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE, HE KNEW THE RISKS, COME ON” Mitchells yells as Ramos sits there paralyzed from losing one of his best friends. Mitchell unleashes a relentless attack launching all the grenades he had, causing the NCR to stop shooting as their troops began dying. They took the opportunity to head for the hallway leading to the armory and the way out. They reach the Armory and they block the door. They head outside and Mitchells is at the rear covering them when he is suddenly stabbed in the chest by the officer he had tortured. Although heavily injured, he had managed to gather his strength to free himself and wait for his captors to make their way back. Mitchells fell to one knee and slumped forward as he pulls out the knife looking at it, and the officer who stabbed him. He just starts laughing and coughing up blood, he stands up and begins making his way towards the officer. The officer knowing he was gonna die regardless pulls out a grenade, runs toward Mitchells and lodges it in his armor. Mitchells manages to pull out his gun, and shoots him in the groin. “He looks down and realizes what the officer had done, he laughs and says, “[Censored] me!” The grenade explodes and body parts fly all over. The survivors are hit by blood and flesh.

There’s nothing they can do, they had just lost two men, they quickly make their way to where their rope continues to dangle. Ace puts a harness on and tells Rachel to latch on to his back. She complies and he begins to climb the rope with all the strength he could muster. It was a difficult task, but he managed and reached the top. They make their way down, and await the rest. Yelling can be heard and more troops approach them. Another firefight breaks out, but due to the darkness, the Brotherhood members have the upper hand. They continue fighting and shooting their way, the make it to the ditch where they had dumped the one body and are startled by coyotes as they are eating the two troopers they had left there. The smell of death is noticeable as they beast continue eating ignoring the passerby’s. Lorenzo gags and throws up as he sees and smells the horrible scene. The NCR soldiers see that the attackers are escaping and begin launching missiles and bombs. Mills, uses his light machine gun and begins raining death on the NCR troopers. Unfortunately, he is shot on both legs fall to his knees, but keeps shooting, and yells to the rest,” KEEP GOING, I’LL HOLD THEM BACK, LEAVE!”

“WE ARE NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!” Torres yells as she heads over to help him, as she approaches him a trooper manages to shoot before Mills kill him. Mills limp body slumps forward as the shot hits his head and punches out the back. Torres cries as Mills dies in her arms, but is dragged away by Ramos. They manage to lose the NCR soldiers, and begin the long trek home. They all remain quiet, Ramos is just trying to figure out what he will say to McNamara once he makes it back, he had just lost three Paladins.

They are walking close to Sloan, when they are ambushed by NCR Rangers and are surrounded. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Uh, what is this Brotherhood tribal trash doing here? Perhaps coming back from an incursion to Camp McCarran?”

They remain quiet, their long trek was for nothing, cause they just managed to get surrounded and possibly captured.

“Well, I’m Captain Roberts and this is my squad, we are taking you prisoner for questioning. Oh, what’s this? Are you two a couple? How adorable!” Cpt. Roberts says as he sees Ace and Rachel holding hands. “So you’re a soldier and you must be a doctor or something if you’re wearing a robe, too bad I have no use for you!” He pulls out his magnum and shoots Rachel point blank at her heart.

“NO! RACHEL!” Ace screams as he catches Rachel as she falls, he cries and gently brushes the hair off of her face. He gently kisses her cheek, and closes her eyes after he tries feeling for a pulse and feels nothing. He just kneels beside her body and cries. “RACHEL!” he screams one more time as he continues sobbing, wishing this was just a nightmare.