-Rosamond Blackwood-
-Journal Entry: Day 5-

I am a Nomad

I was a solider.

I am not a mercenary.

Allow me to explain...

A solider is someone who will fight for his nation, someone who will put his life on the line, rather willingly or not. The pay is not good, but the solider will not complain as he is not allowed to complain. He follows orders from a chain of command, he will not question, he is the backbone to the army.

A mercenary is like a soldier, he is proficient in the art of war, and is willing to do it over and over. He sells his skills to whoever is willing to pay the price, if the price is kept he will follow you. He will take orders, and he just might complain about them. But he'll get the job done, if just for his name sake.

The nomad is untrustworthy, it is payed and expected to do battle. Expected to follow orders, expected...But the nomad doesn't care about pay, doesn't care about the chain of command. The live most of the time broke, money is not incentive, if they're in a battle it's merely because it benefits them. They are flighty and need constant watching, less they desert.

So in that sense, I'm here as long as it suits me. My blood once pumped only for the NCR, but now, letting them burn to the ground causes no great sorrow within me. Though I would be sad to see the Enclave win, they are a vile people, and this is my motivation for fighting.

I shall not forget nor forgive their crimes, their judgment is as crooked as my leg. But we are loosing...

You can see it in the eyes of the young soldiers.

You can see it in the eyes of the hardened mercenaries.

You can see it in the eyes of the restless nomads.

All is not yet lost, though are ground is slipping. They have tanks. They have helicopters. All is not lost.

They have advanced tactics. We have the youngest of soldiers. All is not lost.

They have superior equipment. We have whatever we can pick off the ground. All is not lost.

Repetition does not help, lying does not help, the simple fact of the matter is...We're screwed.

-Rosamond Blackwood-
-Shady Sands: Three Story Building, Third Window from the Left-

The blood splashed onto the ground, red on brown, the Enclave soldier toppled over his own guts.

“Nice shot,” the voice next to my ear said.

“Thanks,” I said.

My spotter unlike me was a solider, and unlike me, was young. Seventeen at the most. Just a damn kid. Gregory was his name, he was born somewhere outside of NCR territory, but he had served most of his life under their flag and his blood boiled with patriotism.

His dark read hair and mustache were an unusual sight, and the made a great source of amusemant.

Jokes could come later, we had to focus, there was work to do.

Bang.

An Enclave's soldiers brains were splattered across his companions face, streaks of red; chunks of yellow and pink. The bits of skull and hair stuck to his paralyzed face, the fact that they were close enough for me to see that...

Bang.

The paralyzed look replaced by one of pure shock, his mouth agape, he tumbled over his friend clutching his chest. Their blood was quickly pooling onto the dry dirt, quenching it's thirst. No time to admire it now,

Bang.

“AAAAHHHHHH!”

A man's leg was blown clear off from the kneecap down, I had made a slight miscalculation, the next shot silenced him. A bloody trail, glistening a dark red in the sunlight was all that was left as the high powered rounds tore flesh and shattered bone.

Across the street the distant popping and crackling of gunfire could be hear, though I pushed out of my mind. Our defensive line was being spread thin across our entire eastern front, how long until he broke through? I should flee now and damn the consequences, I was a Nomad after all.

“TANK!”

The shout brought me back, I peered over the edge of my window, sure enough there was a tank. As I looked it;s metal surface deflected bullets, its treads crushed bodies underneath it, reducing them to a mush, a human milkshake.

Its machine gun sprayed the windows, causing me to duck as bullets richoted off walls. George was screaming something to my left, I couldn't hear over everything else,

“What! WHAT DID-”

BOOM

The building shuddered, the ceiling threatened to collapse, the tank had obviously blown through our barricaded entry.
“I've got it!”

The shout of a young man to my right, I looked over, he was holding a RPG-7 in his hands, aimed shakily at the the tank.

WHOOSH

The RPG soared through the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind it, seconds later-

KA-BOOM

The explosion could be felt inside, I could hear the dirt raining back down to earth,

“[censored]!”

Obviously the man had failed to hit the tank, even though it was such a close target. He fumbled to load another rocket into the tube, his hand were shaking badly, finally he got it in place

“Ha! Got it, you-”

The man hadn't even thought to duck while he reloaded, a line of .50 caliber bullets ripped his spinal cord in two, I saw his intestines hit the ground before his did. Even as he fell he struggled to keep them in, groping at them like they were some slimy snake.

I turned back to George, he was looking at me with a I-know-what-your-thinking-and-I-really-don't-think-you-should look in his piercing blue eyes, I just smiled and shouted

“Cover me!”

I sprinted across the building, crouching low as the machine gun fire rake through them, I dropped as soon as I got to the kid. His hands still clutched around his stomach in a futile attempt to keep everything in.

I patted him on his leg,

“Too bad kid, not your lucky day,”

I grabbed the RPG-7, it was loaded and ready to go. I nodded at George and motioned to the other men pressed down low against the windows,

“Covering fire!”

I'm not sure if they heard me entirely, but they got the message. With the Tank momentarily distracted, hoping it wouldn't blast all to hell, I leaped up. It took me three seconds to retrace it and fire the rocket, it felt like an entirety. I felt the kick follow by the

WHOOSH

As it trailed off and made direct contact with the tank, it sent shrapnel up it's metal plates and blasting it to kingdom come. There were cheers all around as the smoke and flames came billowing from it. I re-slung my M82 Barrett Sniper Rifle, and walked back to George,

“Guess that finally scared them off, huh?”

I merely nodded in response, to tired to speak. I looked down at my twisted leg, how I had ran on it...I shook my head, It was throbbing so much it would be a wonder if I could walk...George took notice

“Arthritis, huh? Looks like a [censored].”

This time I offered a weak smirk. He was right about that, my train of though was interrupted. The shrieking of bombs snapped me to attention, all of a sudden the building shook again, it was the familiar sound of artillery.

Should have fled when I had the chance.

Mary

"Do I remind you of someone?" Alex asked her. Mary stared at Alex with a piercing glance. He did remind her of some one. He reminded her of Alex. The same Alex that she wanted to kill when she lived in D.C.

"Yes, now that you ask me, you do remind me of someone. He was almost exactly like you. I met him in D.C. Yes, I use to live in D.C., I traveled here with a rogue Enclave trooper. Alex was witty, just like you, but serious nonetheless. Hopefully you're not as stupid as he was."

Alexander Evans:

"An Enclave trooper you say...." Alex paranoia set on, but he dismissed it.

"Nevermind, look, are you coming with me or not? Because NOTHING would make me happier than to spend a few days in Las Vegas with you." He said the last sentence sarcastically. "I have nothing against you, I just know that relationships are overrated, I've already lost one girl to the Enclave. I'll wait till the Revolution ends." his voice trailed off.
----------------------------------------------------------
Three Years Earlier-GolfTown

A protest erupted near the docks of GolfTown, Alexander was behind his girlfriend, Meghan, as the Enclave sent five men into the plaza. People were screaming

"REFORM!", "DEATH TO ENCLAVE!", "LEAVE!!!!", and many other things. Alexander was just a recruit in the Militia. His girlfriend, Meghan, didn't know about his dealings with the Militia, which was pretty small then. Meghan ran up to the front of the protesters, Alex traling behind. Then, to his horror, the Enclave burst into gunfire

"NO!!" He screamed as Meghan was shot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mary

"I thought you were serious about that first sentence. But I knew you knew that if you were, I would punch you in the mouth, but seriously, I would like to go with you, but if we get killed, which seems likely, I won't be able to get my revenge on the bastards that ruined my life."

OOC: I'm going to hop over the meeting with George Hale, it's not worth a post. The Las Vegas is large as the modern day Las Vegas. Also, the hotel is as large as Tenpenny Tower, and looks like Tenpenny Tower, but is renovated and looks 'new'.


Alexander Evans:

Alexander grinned

"Come with me."
-----------------------------------------
Two hours later-South Vegas:

Alexander and Mary were wearing Civilian clothes, carrying passports, and, $5,000 USD each.

"Been a while since I've been in these." He said as he and Mary entered South Las Vegas. This was south of McCarran, and the REPCONN HQ was next to the gate. They saw a large tower, which was 'The Empire Hotel'.

"I assume this is where we are staying." said Alex with a grin. They walked in, and up to the lobby

"Hello Sir!" Said the peppy girl at the counter

"What a glorious morning for America." whispered Alex to the girl

"Oh, Okay, Here, go to the top floor, the first room on the left." said the girl

"Lets go!" said Alex. He and Mary went into the Elevator, and went into the room. It had white walls with paintings of Pre-Great War things, a bathroom, a large bed, a kitchen, a dining room, and a balcony.

"Wow...." Alex said

Mary

Mary looked around, it was beautiful and vivid. She stared for a few minutes, then payed her attention to the two beds in the hotel room. Yup, that's right, two this time. She grinned and jumped on its fluffy, soft surface. She hugged it for a second and got back up. She was cheerful like a little puppy, but then Alex glanced strangely at her and she went back to her tough girl personality.

"Ahh, Las Vegas."

Alexander Evans:

Alexander walked around, he found a couch, a radio, and a phone.

He turned to Mary "You remind me so much of Meghan...." he said to her. He entered the Balcony, and looked down. He saw the bustling streets of South Las Vegas.

"Sin City...." He muttered, he then turned around, and laid on the other bed.

"Goodnight." he said, finally getting some sleep.
---------------------------------------------------
Enclave Army Command-Seattle:

"Send 10,000 men to the Mojave and Shady Sands." said the SCO

"Yes Sir!" said the assistant with glee

"We will finally crush the Rebels, and the NCR...." said the SCO, but his words meant little.

Jacob Anderson & Aron Erlichman
Location: Red Rock Canyon
Time: 2:34 A.M.

"Hold your breath when you shoot," Aron said, spotting for Jacob as he took out a nearby scouting party. "I am, I am," Jacob replied, obviously fed up with Aron's helpful "tips". Despite there constant arguing, the two actually made a pretty good team, taking out three Enclave patrol teams that night alone. "Anymore?" Jacob asked, eying Aron as he looked through his binoculars. "There's and incoming helicopter, about three miles North," Aron said, intrigued by the helicopters flight pattern. "Hold your fire, looks like its about to land," Aron asked, hoping Jacob would listen to him. He did, and observed through his scope as the helicopter began to drop off troops. "Wait for the rotors to start back up, then take out the drivers," Aron said, watching as the last of the soldiers unloaded.

Jacob took one last deep breath and pressed his sights to the pilots head, waiting, watching, listening. As soon as the rotors started back up, a .308 round pierced his and the co-pilots skull, painting the inside of the helicopter red. Jacob turned his attention to the nearby soldiers, unaware of his presence due to the rotors ear-deafening sound, and quickly picked them off one by one. "Nice job," Aron complimented, putting his binoculars in his bag and packing up the rest of his equipment. "What are you doing?" Jacob asked, wondering what he had planned. "We'll, seeing as our only ticket out of here is currently unguarded, I say we quickly make our way down before anyone shows up to investigate," He responded. Jacob, quick to catch on, packed up his equipment and the two men hastily made there way down the mountain.

_____________________________

Jacob and Aron reached the base of the mountain and rushed over to the helicopter, rotors still spinning. They pulled the bodies out of the seats and Aron took the pilot seat while Jacob looted the nearby bodies. "Do you know how to fly this thing?" Jacob yelled, hoping Aron could hear him over the spinning rotors. "How hard can it be? You just.. umm.. pull this lever here.. and.." Aron responded, still trying to figure out the controls. "I might be a while!" He yelled as Jacob loaded the soldiers equipment onto the helicopter and closed the doors. As the doors slammed shut, a bullet rang near Jacobs head and he quickly took cover. "We'll you better learn quick!" Jacob said, peeking out the window to see a platoon of soldiers running at the helicopter. "[censored]... Jacob get on the Gatling gun and buy me some time!" He said, completely lost with the button scheme now. "Gladly," Jacob responded, arming the gun. He began firing and mowed down the incoming platoon, no match for the firepower the Gatling gun was dishing out.

"svck on this mother [censored]ers!" Jacob laughed, carelessly laying waste to the soldiers. His laughter was interrupted by an explosion nearby which shook the entire helicopter. A tank emerged from the plains and began firing its machine gun, forcing Jacob into cover. "There's a [censored] tank!" Jacob yelled, scared out of his mind. "I see it, I see it!" Aron yelled back, trying his best to get the helicopter moving. The tank fired another round, this one even closer then the last, and continued spraying it's machine gun. Jacob tried to get back on the Gatling gun but the machine gun quickly caught him and he took a couple shots in the shoulder. "God dammit Aron! Get this helicopter off the ground!" He screamed in pain, crawling towards the front of the helicopter. He was immediately sent backwards as the helicopter finally took off, in an awkward leaning back motion, barely avoiding the last shot from the tank. "We have lift off!" Aron yelled in delight as he balanced out the chopper.

Mary's dreams

There was a bright, white light blinding Mary as the real world turned into the dream world, and a tall skyscraqer stood tall in front of her. A human with blue skin approached her, and she seemed to be bolted in place. The blue creature touched her gently and mumbled in her ear. Suddenly, she was transported to modern day Vegas, ruined by the war, unlike the real Vegas, which was untouched by the war. A white man strode over to her, and he reminded her of someone...Mark.

"Another chapter in your life. But if you're not careful, Mary, it can be your last. Stay out of danger, and don't trust anyone you meet. Everyone you befriend might just betray you. Be wary, or you'll end up like me."

Mary thundered awake, and it was still morning. Alex was sleeping and the hotel was quiet. She lay back and looked at the ceiling.

"Weird."

Alexander's Dreams

All Alexander saw was a bright flash, time froze, he was back at GolfTown, just as Meghan was shot.

"No...." Was all he could say. He was flashed back to the night before, on a date with Meghan

"Be on guard, Alexie, Do not let your guard down. Godspeed." She said as he woke up
-------------------------------------
"NO!" He screamed as he awoke, Mary looking at him almost odd

Mary

"Are you okay?" Mary asked him, but before he could answer, she quickly said, "Don't answer that. I don't care about your answer. It's a force of habit and I really don't care if your alright or not. I'm sorry if I'm being blunt, but I'm starting to doubt if joining you on this mission was a good idea or not." She turned over and went back to sleep.

Alexander Evans:

Alexander held himself back from shoving a knife into her neck.

"Don't do it Alex." He said to himself. His paranoia setting in yet again. He wanted to shake her up, accuse her of being a spy from the Enclave, and have her drowned in the Lake. He mumbled to himself as he walked around the room, a Uzi in his hand

"Of course me, why me? Why not Tony? Why not Nathan? Why not Luther?" He mumbled. A great shake almost ripped him apart, he felt the tower shake, he looked out the window, he saw a C-17 land.

"What the...?" He could only utter. The Enclave was coming in droves. He couldn't just wait and stand around. He shook Mary, a surprisingly heavy sleeper, awake

"Damn it, wake up girl. We need to get going." He snapped his fingers in her eyes, his gun clearly in her face. When she barely woke up, he snapped

"DAMN IT! WE NEED TO GET GOING! I NEED TO PLACE THIS BOMB IN THE TOWER SO THE ENCLAVE WON'T GET TO THE SOUTH!" He shouted, he showed her a custom made bomb "Half C4, with mixed in Mini-nuke, incendiary, and fragmentation things in it."

OOC: If I could make a real quick comment guys.

Since you two have been focusing on, well, each other and dialogue, I just thought I'd throw in my two cents about it.

You guys are writing pretty good sentences, but there run-ons. I suggest separating them up, adding more emotion into the characters, and including thoughts, so the readers can visualize how the character looks when they speak and what there thinking. Here, let me give an example.

"Are you alright?" Mary asked with a genuinely concerned look on her face. However, her expression quickly changed as she remembered what Mark had told her, "Everyone you befriend might just betray you,"

"You know what, I really don't care," She said with a stone cold tone in her voice. "I don't even know why I'm here.." She added, getting up from the bed and heading out to the balcony, her thoughts flustered with feelings and her feelings dazed with thoughts...

Just my suggestions, feel free to ignore me.

Mary

"Either you've lost your sanity or you've been crazy all along," she picked up her backpack, "But if it's really necessary, lets get the hell out of here." She looked out the window and saw droves of troopers coming. She pointed her scoped revolver out the window and unsuccessfully shot it. t bounced of the armor and all of them looked up.

"Heh, my bad."

Alexander Evans:

Alexander was furious for her shooting

"Give me that." He yanked the revolver out of her hands "You'll get it back when we get back to Bitter Springs. Now lets MOVE!" He pulled on her arm, and he saw five MP's running toward them.

"DIE MOTHER [censored]ERS!" He hollered, the MP's fell back wounded or dead. He saw a management official in the elevator. Alex smiled at him, and drove a knife in his heart. He turned to Mary

"Completely necessary." He said, the door slid open on a floor with the main base. "If we blow it up here, The foundation will collapse, if we place it in the right place, the tower will collapse onto the roads." He grinned. He ran to the center of the heating area

"Center of the tower." He said. He planted the bomb and timed it. "We have Seven Minutes." He said, trying to seem cheerful, in reality, he was scared, nervous, and anxious. "Lets leave." He yanked her arm yet again, and threw her into the elevator, he ran in. As they reached the lobby, Enclave troopers rushed up some stairs.

"Thank God." said Alex. They sprinted out of the tower, he threw her into a alleyway across the street. He stood over her as the tower exploded.

"YEHAW!" He said, actually with real cheerfulness. He flung his hat off, it flying around as the tower collapsed onto the roads

"Lets get back to Bitter Springs." He said to Mary

OOC: Drop, thanks for the suggestions

You're so right. I really need to start working on my writing skills. Thanks a bunch.

Mary

"I'd hate to be them," she turned over to Alex cheerfully, and she was surprised to be grinning, too. "What's going to be awaiting us at Bitter Springs?" she sarcastically asked while brushing off the feeling of adrenaline. She was still smiling, but deep inside, she was feeling the same feeling she had felt the day before and all the days in her life: hatred. Everything she came across she hated. Except Mark.

Everyone you befriend might just betray you. The voice of Mark's smooth, gentle, poignant voice echoed through her mind. It would be the one thing she never forgot, everyone she met might have been a spy, assassin, or bounty hunter. But she would always find out somehow...but only by flashing back to the moment in her dreams when those words were spoken by Mark.

Alexander Evans:

Alexander turned around to her question.

"You will be trained for guerrilla warfare, how to use a weapon, how to stay undetected, how to survive in the Wasteland, all that crap. I will go back, I will get my new assignment, and I leave." He said, cold as the night air. He had spent too much time in the wasteland, but that helped him, he could see a persons feelings

"Your not happy." He remarked like a robot "You miss someone right? Someone thats dead. Well, I do too." He pulled out a picture of Meghan. Her tan white skin and black hair hidden with the black and white of the photo "The love of my life, taken from me at the GolfTown Massacre."

Jacob Anderson & Aron Erlichman
Location: Approximately 7000 meters above Las Vegas
Time: 2:54 P.M.

"So can I ask where were going?" Jacob asked, patching up his shoulder with the on-board medical kit. "I'm not entirely sure.." Aron responded, starring down at the shinning city of Las Vegas. "Sin city... Looks beautiful doesn't it?" He sighed, and went back to his map, attempting to plot a course. Jacob joined him in the cockpit, and glanced down, observing the city. "Hey, hey Aron, look at that!" He pointed to a nearby tower, collapsing in a puff of smoke and ash. "God.. Damn.." Aron whispered..

_____________________

"Were almost out of fuel.." Aron yelled, waking Jacob up from his peaceful nap. "We'll what does this piece of junk run on?" Jacob asked. "Looks like.. electricity.." He mumbled, shuffling through the pilots log. "Looks like theres a refueling station at.. the El Dorado substation.. Find it on the map," Aron asked, handing Jacob the map. " We're already pretty close," Jacob said," About two miles north," As soon as he finished, the on-board radio came to life. "This is El-Dorado, Tower one, please report in," Aron and Jacob eyed each other, "Whats the name of the chopper?" Jacob asked. "I'm looking, hold on," He responded, turning through the pages of the pilots log. "I repeat, This is El-Dorado, Tower one, report in," That radio said again. "Alpha four! Helicopters name is Alpha Four!" Aron yelled. Jacob grabbed the radio and responded, "The is Alpha four, reporting in. We are requesting refuel," He said in a muffled voice. The radio went dead for a few moments, then Tower one responded, "Your clear Alpha Four, prepping you for landing," They both sighed in relief, and Jacob went in to the back. He emerged fully dressed as one of the Enclave pilots. "I'll take the wheel, go take the other bodies uniform," He said. "Throw them both out the door when your done,"

Aron touched down lightly on top of the El-Dorado substation and turned off the rotors. "So whats the plan?" Aron asked as a landing crew quickly approached the helicopter. "Let them refuel the helicopter, take them out when we have the chance," Jacob said, tossing him a knife. The doors opened and the two stepped out slowly, trying not to look suspicious. "How was the operation at Red Rock, Alpha four? Did you take out the Militia?" A single man asked, walking up to them. "Probably the officer.." Jacob thought, and looked over at Aron. "The mission was a success, sir. The team was easily disposed of, as you requested," Aron responded. "Good, good, I'll send more patrols out to secure the area," He said, looking up and down at both Jacob and Aron."Get some rest, soldiers. You earned it. Dismissed," The officer walked away and the landing crew set up the helicopter to charge. The two men walked down to the substation and found a place to talk. "That went well.." Jacob said, pulling out a cigarette and tossing one to Aron. "It did," Aron responded, catching the cigarette and allowing Jacob to light it for him. "So what do we do now?" He asked, taking a huff. "We wait until nightfall," Jacob responded, "Then we take them out,"

Mary

"No, I'm not happy." she kept walking with Alex, she didn't yet trust him, but he was the only one she could express her feelings to. Everyone that really mattered to her eventually died or went away. "I just wish I could live a worry-free life. But no." she stopped suddenly, shedding a tear. "I miss my mother. I miss my best friend. I miss my old life." Alex looked at her strangely, but she didn't care. Her mind was full of thoughts about her dream, and the outcome of her actions.

"I don't have a picture of Mark, but his life was taken by Talon Company, the corrupt "Regulators" of D.C. But I don't want to talk about that." she turned to Alex. She knew he hated her, unlike other men, but she liked that. "You have no reason to be suspicious about me, Alex. I'm just a regular girl."

Alexander Evans:

Alex and Mary walked through the desert away from Las Vegas. He could hear the sirens from Fort McCarran and Police Depots

"Look, all my friends, all my family, anyone I've been really close to, have died. My birth family, shipped to a Enclave execution camp. My friend David, hanged. My girlfriend, killed in GolfTown. I could list names till I am blue in the face, the point is, I want to keep my edge, suspicion is key." He said, his M-14 slung over his shoulder. They reached a shelled out fort like area

"Fort Saratoga. Used to be a stop on the road to Vegas. We set up here, about three hundred men total were there. All were killed." He said. He never showed any sort of emotion toward anyone. "If you want to get close to me, your barking up the wrong tree. Go try another Militiaman." He snapped at her. He kept walking as she almost stopped.

Aiden Kim - Militia Base Outskirts - Morning

Aiden awoke and it was just when the sun, no matter how bleak and depressing the sunrise was, started to rise over the horizon. He sighed; the first rays of light crept over the small mound of the blood soaked sands. As the light started to shine at his outpost, Aiden finally had the chance to start cleaning his gun.

During his cleaning session, Aiden started to look out at the Lucky 38. Was it a beacon of hope or the symbol of occupation in a fallen landscape? Either way, it was the eventual target.

Eventually, the cleaning started to become robotic in nature as Aiden's mind started to drift off into the First Revolution.

August 15th, 2285

The crowd of boisterous rebels and revolutionaries were rallied. In that crowd, as one of the main officials of the Revolution, was Aiden, surveying who else was a good addition for his infiltration squad.

One of the other main officials had stepped up to the small makeshift stage that the rebels had created in Novac. All of the crowd fell silent as the official spoke.

"Brothers and sisters of the Revolution, this is the beginning! While the revolution goes on in Novac, the remnants of Caesar's Legion, NCR, and all other surviving factions have been contacted! We will show these [censored]s that WE WILL NOT FALL! As this is going on...a small infiltration band lead by Aiden Kim will be sent to blow the Lucky 38. And here he is!"

The crowd cheered once again as the official stepped back respectfully as Aiden filed onto the makeshift stage with three men and two women behind him walking in a very precise order.

Aiden tapped the microphone once before speaking into it with a very quiet but passionate voice. "Today is August 15th. In the Pre-War country of Korea, this is the day they would celebrate their independence from the Japanese occupation. Now, 340 years later...today, we begin our first step to freedom. I am proud to serve you and serve this cause. Every man, woman, and child must do their part, and this is mine."

With the short speech, Aiden stepped off the stage.

"And then the infiltration squad died just two weeks later," Aiden finished. Nobody was around for miles and yet, Aiden felt like he had to tell the same story to himself again, to remember the better days of the Enclave occupation, where people actually fought successfully. Where it seemed like that they had a chance. And yet, just like the sands that covered the Mojave, it slipped through their fingers.

He sighed and reassembled his sniper rifle before heading off inside the Militia base for breakfast and to assemble his own fighting regime.

-Rosamond Blackwood-
-Shady Sands: The Fall-

A light flashed and for a few minutes, daylight returned to the world.

The red glare of flares illuminated the battle scene briefly, giving one adequate time to take in numerous details. The broken tanks, sunken in the mud, smoke still trailing from some. The blackened craters, the mass of bodies, toppled over or simply driven over. They lay in the moonlight, body bloated, eyes bulging. Death wasn't pretty.

Distant fires raged, flickers of light on the horizon, constantly revealing the charred remains of bombed buildings, they marked the progress of the Enclaves as they slowly pressed into the center of town. And though flares shot up in the air every few minutes, and fires blazed furiously, the night still offered a shroud.

It protected the ones it knew, covering and sheltering them from prying eyes. Nomads took this chance, the night was their best friend, and lady luck was on their side, the clouds were up. Their dark figures could be seen only if you were looking for them, as they slipped from the battle and out into the Wastes.

Everyone knew it that the battle was drawing to close, the Nomads just knew when to fold better than others.

I should be one of those guys, I don't belong here, I am no longer NCR...

Oh, shut up. If you wanted to leave you would have done it a long time ago.

The shroud of night is not , it cares not who it protects and thus didn't see the Enclave until the were almost upon us, their black painted armor taking full advantage of the shadows, of which there was plenty.

“Enclave!”

The single shout echoed through the room, that's all we needed.

I was up and moving, my sniper rifle at my shoulder in instance, George at my other one.

Bang.

The bullet svcked his face out the back of his skull, the red lights of the flares gave it an even more haunted appearance. I didn't have time for another shot, they were inside.

“There coming up!”

I switched to my M1911, the scope on my sniper rifle rendered it useless in such close ranges.

The inside of the building was a perfect rectangle, and old office building. Rows of desks lay on their side, drug to form lines of make shift barricades, the terminals and papers scattered through the room.
There were two entrances, one leading down to the next floor and one leading up to the roof.

If we had more men, we would've have them guarding the floors below. Now we could only wait...

...and wait

...and wait

Two cylindrical objects flew through the door, bouncing off the walls,

Plasma Grenades

I ducked and moments later a green light flood the room, given it an eerie glow. The howls of pain and screams of anguish also set the mood as flesh melted off the bone and clothing fused to skin.

Then they were in.

The crescendo of battle began to play.

The spread into the room, firing at all sides, there must have been about twenty-five of them and twenty-two of us.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I shot a man's eye, causing it to implode, blood and brains dripping down his eyes like chunky, red tears. My next shot clipped a man in the shoulder, he grunted as the bullet punctured through muscle and embedded it in his bone. The second one cracked his sternum sending bone splinters into this heart.

Bang .Bang. Bang.

Our shots weren't the only ones to hit, I saw one of our men have his teeth punctured by a series of rounds, blowing out the back of his throat and leaving a gruesome grimace on his face. Another had his liver burst, blood dripping down his gut as all his years of stored toxins, were released.

George was right next to me, his red hair the color of flame, an assault rifle raised up to his cheek as he let out a stream of bullets. His face, twisted into a snarl, disappeared behind a mist of blood as he took a hit.

George!

Somewhere distant my mind was screaming, but I blocked it out, jumped out behind cover and fired the last rounds of my clip.

Bang. Bang. Click.

I dropped the empty mag and slapped in a new one, knowing I only had one left. The man I had hit was writhing on the ground, I approached him, boots sticking to the blood soaked papers. He looked up at me as my shadow fell over him. He stopped struggling and threw me a snarl, blood foamed and dripped from his mouth, every breath a gurgling struggle. A lung shot.

“The...Enclave...Will...Never...Die...”

I raised my gun in response, no words necessary. The flash of light, a sound that just felt squishy, and more splatters of blood on my pants.

“Tally up the dead.”

I issued the command and it was followed, there was no clear chain of command anymore, the fact that a Nomad was giving orders didn't seem to register in their brains, not like it would've have mattered regardless.

I walked towards George, dreading what I would find. Death was nothing new, but a Death of a close friend? Something totally different. I stooped over his body, the left side of his face was covered in blood, a shade darker than his hair.

“You where a good solider, George. I'll miss you,” my voice was barely audible.

“How heartful, I'm teary eyed,” George grinned.

I looked for a minute, hands on my hips, amazed. Before realizing the bullet had only gouged a groove on the side of skull, causing no serious harm. I grabbed his harm and lifted him up,

“Lucky son of a [censored].”

But we really weren't that lucky, we had lost nine men. Nine. That was with cover, high ground, defending, and all the numerous advantages of our positions. I sighed as I was about to go to my post, before our radio man ran up to me,

“Ma'am, Captain Redfield on the line.”

I picked up the transmitter, I could hear familiar sounds: gunfire, shouts, screams, lovely.

“Captain?”

There was a moment of pure static.

“Blackwood! Blackwood is that use? Thank god, I've been trying to reach you for the past ten minutes. We need you and your men to take out their air support. It's got us pinned down and were being hammered.”

“Roger that Captain. Blackwood out.”

He had recognized me as leader of this “squad”, not surprising since I had fought with him for years. He forgot I'm no longer a solider, I have no allegiance, but still, a helicopter could prove problematic to an escape.

I called my team to attention,

“Provide us with covering fire, me and George are going up, understood.”

They offered weak confirmations, tired and worn, they returned to their posts by the windows.

George was already up, still smiling, wiping blood out of his eye every now and then,

“You know Rose, your lucky I like you, I don't think anyone else could put up with the crazy [censored] you do.”

“And your lucky I like you, no one else would stick around with someone so ugly, the bullet made an improvement though.”

“Ouch,” he said.

I was smiling know, at least when I died, I would be smiling. As I went through the other door and pushed open the door to the roof, I was met with a dismal sight. Bombings, tanks, helicopters, troops, the city was destroyed. Smoke poured from the earth like it was it's acrid blood. Fire raged across dry grassland, tanks lay broken, tanks moved slowly up the cracked streets.

The wind tossed my hair around playfully, oblivious to the torment of the humans below. As I turned around, I spotted the building Redfield was help up in. It was the most important building, as it held the bunker of the President. Aaron Kimball, the war lover, wondered if he was loving it now.

It was the most heavily guarded, and thus the Enclave wisely deduced, the most important. They knew the President was in one of the buildings, why not the most heavily defended. Six tanks and at least a hundred troops were assaulting the building, slowly gaining ground. They were greatly aided by the attack helicopter, laying down a generous spread of machine gun fire. I went prone and crawled next the railing.

George was next to me with his spotter scope, already zoning on the target. I put in a fresh mage of armor piercing rounds into my rifle and brought it up. The distant was great, maybe over six hundred yards with low visibility and the damn wind. I was going for the pilot, his head was visible, but my rifle was swaying and so was he. It was going to be a tough shot.

The only sounds I could hear were George's advice and the pounding of my blood. My palms were sweaty, my throat was dry, I suddenly didn't want to be here. I should have run. Eventually George stopped talking, I slowly pushed out all thoughts. Only my target, me, and my rifle. Hours passed and three seconds later I fired,

The rifle recoiled, my shoulder absorbing the impact as the large caliber round flew out of it, soaring threw the air, cutting it's own passage through space. The bullet missed by mere feet.

“[censored]!”

I chambered another round,

“Easy,” said George.

The helicopter had steadied itself, reducing the sway, I fired, this time I cracked the windshield and the pilots skull, painting the cabin red. It plummeted sideways out of the sky, crashed into the dirt leaving a wide, muddy trail as it's propellers chopped up the earth.

I sighed heavily and George clapped me on the back. All was not lost yet.

The air was ripped apart with the sound of thunder, all of sudden jets were streaking across their sky. Dropping their payload, the airstrike caused the very earth to shake and their building to sway...But Redfield's building crumbled in on itself, the parts not blown off by the airstrike, collapsing like a house of cards. A wave of dust blew over the tanks.

The President was dead.

James Beneteau

James siting in the old Novac ruins cooking some Mole Rat Stew with several enclave corpses pinned to the wall with pvssyr being heard over the radios on there chests. He turns and looks at the corpses and says "want some?". Obviously hearing no response from them he shrugs and says "more for me then". He smiles while cooking listening to the radios for positions and movements hoping to find more prey to hunt.

Jacob Anderson & Aron Erlichman
Location: El-Dorado Substation
Time: 1:17 A.M.

Aron and Jacob hid in the shadows as two Enclave soldiers walked by, patrolling the area. "Alright, there gone," Jacob said, pulling out his knife. "Stick to the shadows, if were spotted, we'll.." He cut his sentence off short as a single soldier approached. Jacob emerged from the shadows and slit the mans throat, then dragged his body to Aron. The two quietly sneaked farther down the station, encountering close to no resistance. Theres no one around.. I wonder why.. Jacob thought to himself as they approached the main body of the station. Two men stood on the roof, guarding the helicopter and one was guarding the entrance. Jacob motioned towards the two on the roof and Aron moved to the ladder. He slowly climbed up, attempting to not make a sound. However, he slipped up, and made a light squeak climbing. [censored].. Aron thought, quickening his pace. He looked over at Jacob who was telling him to stop, and he did, right at the top. One of the officers leaned over to observe, but before he could say a word, Aron plunged his knife into his throat and threw him off the building.

The officer guarding the entrance heard the thump of the body, and went to the back of the station to check it out. Aron climbed onto the roof while Jacob caught the approaching guard and thrust the knife into the mans eye, blood gushing, he somehow managed to let out a faint squeal. The second officer on the roof heard the squeal and spotted Jacob. He attempted to yell, but could not make out words as his mouth filled with blood. He was quickly flung off the building as well, and Aron jumped down to join Jacob. The two men entered the station and found thirteen soldiers scattered on the floor, sleeping. The two men looked at each other and nodded, proceeding to kill every single one of them.

______________________________________

The two had looted the station and stashed everything onto the helicopter, weapons, ammunition, armor, whatever they could find. Aron decided to explore further into the station and found the Officer's quarters unoccupied. A lone desk stood in the center covered in documents. He approached it and began to look them over. "Oh [censored].." He whispered, reading over a particular document. "Hey Aron, look what I found in the back," Jacob said, entering the room carrying two paint cans. Aron looked up and shook his head, "We have bigger problems then your paint job," He said, handing him the document. "The reason there was no resistance here," He continued, "Is because every soldier they can spare has been sent to Shady Sands," He finished, observing as Jacob read over the file. "So?" Jacob replied, who had no sympathy for the NCR or there so called "Capital". "So? Do you know how many innocent lives will be lost? How many soldiers will be killed? Your not heartless Jacob!" Aron yelled, "Enough with this tough guy bull [censored]! Lives are at [censored] stake!" He continued.

"What the [censored] do you want me to do Aron? Risk my life to save a bunch of idiotic pricks? We're not a two man army!" He yelled back. Aron sighed and sat down, trying to think of a plan. He took another look at the documents and a particular one peaked his interest. "They have an air support squadron on there way to Shady Sands.." He said, reading. His brain connected two and two, and an idea quickly popped into his head. "If we could catch up to them, they could lead us to Shady Sands!" He yelled, his brain rushing with thoughts. Jacob took a deep breath, "And when we get there, then what? The NCR will shoot us on sight.." He said, "Not if we paint there logo onto the chopper.." Aron smirked devilishly, eying Jacob.

"Why do you want to do this? Whats the point? There just NCR.." Jacob asked. "There still people, Jacob. If we could save just one of them from the clutches of the Enclave..." He said, hoping Jacob would see his point. "Fine.. We'll go save the NCR pricks," Jacob grumbled, "But if we live through this, I get to re-paint the chopper," He finished, picking up the paint cans. Aron smiled and nodded, escorting him to the helicopter.