Fallout: Wild Horses (Started, Open)

[Generic NPC 22]

The Church of the Lucky Rabbit's Foot:

*THUNK!*
*THUNK!*
*THUNK!*
*GULP!

Mercy didn't move a goddamn muscle, she didn't even blink. When faced with a life and death situation such as the one that her half sister put her in at that very moment, she had three options, Run, Fight, Freeze. She chose to freeze since fighting was out of the question and running would have probably ended up with her getting a new ear piercing in her ear or better yet, a new knife shaped throat piercing.

"Thank you for the present. They work lovely, by the way!" Tessa said with a smile and a wink.

"N-n-not a problem sissy." The Plasma Rabbit stuttered as she realized the demonstration of Tessa's knife work was over. She was thankful that the Wrist Mounted Throwing Knife Dispenser System worked perfectly since if it did't it might have caused the Bladed Bunny's toss to be off and again, the Plasma Bunny could have ended up with an unintended breathing hole in her throat.

"And for earlier. Nobody has cared for me like that. Nobody would ever do that. Guess we really are blood relatives now."

It was at that moment that the girl's body relaxed as some semblance of familial love came through in Tessa's voice. It was the very thing that Mercy had been craving since meeting her formerly unknown half sister.

"Tess, I really couldn't bear to lose another family member, not after losing Mom and Dad an - I just couldn't bear the thought of losing YOU after having found you. I really did always want a sister and I - I guess - for what it's worth - I love you sis." The girl admitted readily as she sat down on the couch, before Tessa, unused to the display of emotion in front of her, changed the topic.

"There never really was a contest, but now you're really the pretty one. You're gonna get all the guys and girls now!"

The comment cause a somewhat pained giggle to come out of the youngest of the Rabbit sister's mouth before she responded.

"Sis. There will never be a moment where you're not the prettier of us." The skinny Rabbit said as she tried to hide her blushing face behind her hands, though her eyes peeked through her fingers at her smiling sister.

"Voice synthesization 85% complete. Please restart systems to complete process."

*CLUNK*

"Vera?!" Mercy asked hastily as the Eyebunny went crashing to the floor, putting a dent in the rough wooden planks, running to the Eyebunny's "side" and checking her metal sister's status.

Grabbing a small flat head screw driver from her bag, Mercy gently opened up a small armored panel revealing the manual toggles that controlled Vera's various power systems. Flipping the switches into safe, Mercy reset Vera's main power, causing the microfusion power plant to start humming as it began restart itself. Next came the subsystems, which were powered on one at a time, until at last, Vera was power back on again.

"V? Are you okay?" Mercy asked, hoping that there hadn't been a power surge to any of the memory units or critical systems when Vera had powered herself off. She should have reminded Vera to place herself into a landing position before powering herself off.

Looking back to Tessa, Mercy couldn't help but smile at the fact that Tessa seemed worried about Vera as well.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Casas des Rabbits (?)

Vera hadn't expected to be turned back on so soon, she'd already had an automatic subroutine in place to wake her up again. She quietly checked her status before slowly floating back into the air at Mercy's eye level. Then, to test the voice synthesizer, Vera tried to cough.

And she did. If Vera could have, she'd have blinked. She coughed again. The sound bounced around the room.
Vera tried laughing a few times. IT WORKED!

"V? Are you okay?" Mercy asked, hoping that there hadn't been a power surge to any of the memory units or critical systems when Vera had powered herself off. She should have reminded Vera to place herself into a landing position before powering herself off.

Looking back to Tessa, Mercy couldn't help but smile at the fact that Tessa seemed worried about Vera as well.

Vera remembered seeing that as she woke up, and turned her attention back to her two wonderful sisters.

"THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU -THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!" said the iBunny as she circled her two sisters several times... her closest approximation of a group hug without the hologram, "I... I really don't know how to tell you how much this means to me."

If a robot could cry tears of joy, Vera would be doing it now. And it was now that Vera noticed that her new voice had a lot of Mercy's shyer, quieter tones to it, but it also had a bit of Tessa's hard edge as well. Curious. And it occasionally cracked and popped, but that kind of fine-tuning could be done later.

"I love you guys!" she quickly but carefully nuzzled both of her sisters in turn, "Mercy, you are an absolute genius! And Tessa, wow... Tessa... umm..." Vera broke 'eye' contact with Tessa, suddenly shy at the memory of seeing Tessa come out with her new dress, Tessa undressing in front of her as she headed for the bath, Tessa bleeding out...

Vera shook herself back to the present.

"Umm... sorry if I gave both of you a scare just now," she paused, "And... sorry if I scared you half to death back at that asshat factory."

She projected the holograhic woman again.

"I uh... was trying to give you a hug with this..." she explained before turning it off again, "I uh... never used it before. So I don't know what either of you saw but... I'm guessing it wasn't quite what I'd intended."

Vera started writing a poem in her head.

"I... I don't yet have the words to really thank both of you, I..." Vera's memory banks flashed a bit, bringing back the image of Mercy giving blood to Tessa and slowly losing consciousness. Vera gasped at how fresh the memory still felt.

She nuzzled both of her sisters again.

"You both had me so worried back there!" she said, "And... there was... almost nothing I could..."

Vera stopped.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Spoiler: Something to set the mood

Fort Laramie, Midnight

The first warning was the slow change in the vibrations beneath his sleeping bag. The Khan rolled over and sat upright. His partner was tense, his shotgun gripped tightly as he stared out into the darkness. Without saying a word, the second sentry pulled his pistol clear of its holster and doused the lamp. It took a few seconds for his vision to adjust to the pitch black.

The first intruder came swinging with a bone club, leaping out of the dark like a pale ghost, howling with an unearthly voice. The sentry fired three shots that struck the Rattler in his chest, dropping him as easily as a shot lined up by a V.A.T.S. His partner's shotgun erupted with a loud bang each time he pulled the triggers, one shot, two shot, snap open, reload, and fire again. The Rattlers were screeching fearless war cries even as they suicidally charged at the two Khans.

"This is hopeless," shouted the second sentry, "Buck, let's go. Run!"

Buck scrambled over the campfire, making a dash for the Fort's walls, about a half kilometer away. His friend took a tribal's spear in the back before he could get further than ten feet. Trying to get the Great Khans' attention, Buck began firing his last rounds into the air, hoping that somebody would hear the shots and sound the alarm. Luckily, the wall sentries got the message, and a flare was fired, illuminating the night sky in a blazing orange haze. Buck made the mistake of looking back.

The whole plain was swarming with people, so many that Buck lost count. It seemed like the ground had been replaced with a living wave. Bullets began ripping across the approach to the fort as the Khans opened up at the first sign of movement. A loud bell started ringing in the fort, and more continued to join their friends on the battlements. Buck sprinted for the rusted gate, diving in at the last second. The gate slammed shut behind him, and the Khan breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't out of the woods yet, but he was much more comfortable behind the wall than on the plains.
[hr]

Ollie was desperate to get back to camp. Their encounter with the Deathclaw had cost them more time than he realized. It was well past midnight, and they were still riding at a hard gallop under the full moon. Following the river south was the quickest way back to Laramie. The flat ground was perfect for the Nightmares, it was full speed ahead.

The rider on point suddenly called back to the group. There was smoke up ahead. The riders bounded over the crest of the shallow hill, they saw Fort Laramie in flames. The center of Khan power was burning, and the sound of gunshots could be heard even at this distance.

Ollie was trembling with a mixture of rage and desperation. "Guns out, everybody. For the Khans! Show these fuckers what happens when you mess with the best!"

"Hoo-ah!"

Ollie's voice was firm, but he doubted the words even as he spoke them. They somehow rang hollow, but they needed the morale. It was either do or die, and today had shaped up to provide for both. The group pushed their nightmares to the limit, racing towards the beleaguered fort.

[hr]

Regis waded into the growing melee with a hatchet, swinging and slashing at the raiders that were pouring over and through the walls. While the initial wave had been fended off thanks to the early alarm, some of the more ambitious thugs had thought to bring explosives, suicide bombing the rusted sheet metal and cars that made up the fortification. Now there were more flooding in with every second. And several wore the dreaded colors of the Legion.

Few of the Khans were left that had witnessed the power of the Legion in their prime, and Regis was one of them. He had always been wary of the power hungry fanatics, and his suspicions had proven true back in the Mojave. And now, here they were, twenty years later, like a bad dream come waking nightmare.

Unlike the NCR's lax training in close combat, the Khans weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. Even as Regis hacked through a pair of knuckleheads, he noticed that the Legion were still sticking to their old tactics. Eight guys, carrying a machete and a large metal shield, locked their shields together and pushed. Against organized guns, it was largely ineffective, but when they were close enough to actually charge, by that point guns didn't matter much. You were too busy getting out of the way or dodging a sword to think about using your pistol. Unless you were a Khan.

Regis leapt out of the way from the shield charge, skidding across the ground between the feet of the fighters. The Legionnaires hadn't turned, letting their momentum carry them out of position. Served them right to rely on bandits for support. Regis popped the safety on his 9mm and began firing into their backs. Three of the Legion dropped, and the others broke formation to find stronger targets on their own.

The whole camp was in chaos. Along the wall, gunfights were breaking out between Niners and Khans, Knuckleheads were boxing with anyone in their path, and the Legion were slowly gaining ground. Legionnaires in power armor carved in the face of their gods tore into the camp, wielding great flamethrowers and curved gladius blades. Khans everywhere struggled to collect their things, untie their horses, and fight back against the seemingly endless tide.

Regis struggled to get to his feet. He had twisted his ankle when he dived, and the searing pain made it hard to stand. He wasn't as young as he'd use to be, and he had overexerted himself. But as if on some unspoken order, the Khans had begun to gather around him, holding off the oppressors on all sides. There were about twenty or so, surrounded, but bravely standing between their papa and those that would do him harm. Even as their home and all they had built burned around them, the Khans stood defiant. They would be remembered for their sacrifice, finally a fight worthy of remembering.

Then he spoke. His voice drifted across the fort, booming even above the sounds of the battle. The legionnaires immediately halted fighting, quickly subduing their allies to do the same. Regis raised a hand and the Khans also obliged. "The reckoning has come at last. And here we stand, on a scorched plain, separated by years and miles, only to be reunited in an orgy of blood."

From the back of the crowd, towering above the rest, came Legate Lanius, the Monster of the East. His face hidden by a burnt mask in the image of Mars, the warrior approached the Khans. "I remember your faces. They are the same as all who would oppose the Legion. Those of the profligates, the sinners, and the ignorant."

"You're about twenty years late for any of this to be relevant, prick." said Regis.

"But you, especially, Regis," growled the Monster. "I remember you most. For it was your honeyed words that cost us Hoover Dam, cost us the Mojave, and cost me my homeland. Your betrayal destroyed world I knew. Now, you shall know the same that I have felt. You will watch your world burn and collapse around you. You shall be nailed to the cross to see the world die. And you will take the burden of my pain upon yourself. You will reap what you sow."

Regis leaned onto the Khans for support, intent on not showing fear. "You will have to kill me before I submit, Lanius. Nothing you say here will stop the future. You are a relic of the past, and you should have stayed buried there. So take your bum blasting little chucklefucks and go back to Arizona, because I would rather be shot dead this moment than take *your* option."

"You speak as though it was a choice." The Monster drew his massive blade. "It isn't. Kill them, but leave their Father alive. Burn."

The Last Legion charged.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Rabbit Preservation Facility

Overwhelmed. That was the best word to summarise Tessa's current emotional state. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, her heart had melted at what her sister had said, she was just unfamiliar with 'love' being reciprocated so easily - ...or was it the unusual feeling of familial love? Is this what siblings felt for one another?

In it's own way, it was unnerving. Where she was from, opening yourself up emotionally led straight to an avenue of weak-spots to exploit. Yet this felt...right? It felt natural and truly heartwarming. Despite her worries, she felt no need to shelter herself from these particular onslaught of emotions.

Hastily, she kissed her sister on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "I love you too, Mer-Mer." Holding her for a moment. "Truth be told, I always wanted a sister or some family...s-so...you'remywishcometrue."

At this point, the Ex-Leader of The Feral Rabbits of Freeside, had started to blush wildly.

*CLUNK!*

At that moment, the death of Vera came as a relief. However, fully grasping the situation as Mercy helped the resident robotic Rabbit, her mind quickly dashed such thoughts away and she grew reasonably worried before Vera coughed.

Wait - coughed?

Yes, it seemed that Vera had taken the sisters offer to be her voice seriously. To which she was thoroughly demonstrating by talking in rapid-fire response to her new vocal abilities. Wait - did she record everything?

"I love you guys!" The iBall flew around the sisters and nuzzled her metallic frame against them. Tessa, being on a slightly higher height than her sister, received a face-full of robot. And Tessa, wow... Tessa... umm..."

Tessa raised an eyebrow and asked quizzically. "What are you so embarassed about, hmm?" She could recognize something in her tone. She knew what a blushing girl sounded like.

Sonea...

"Wait...y-you sound like us! Just not like me and Mercy...but US as...one, y'know?" Vera's voice was baffling at first, she had a tin-like ring to her tone. Strains of Mercy could be heard alongside Tessa's own voice. "Thaaat's going to take some getting used to."

It was a little creepy. But she liked the fact that Vera could fully communicate now. "If you need more of us, feel free to record, okay?"

"I... I don't yet have the words to really thank both of you, I..."

Tessa held up her hand to indicate that she should save her words. With a chuckle. "You bashed down my door. Fine, I guess...but then you, along with Mer-Mer, saved my life. I wasn't going to walk out of that place alive."

Tessa proceeded to wrap her arms around the floating sphere. "I'm thanking you now, for the thanks you deserve...as our robotic Rabbit sister." It was cheesy, but hey, Tessa was a romantic under all the knives and leather. (That came out more kinky than intended.)

"And... there was... almost nothing I could..."

"Vera. All this worrying is going to make me stab you...again." She cracked a smile to show that her intention was anything but. "Don't beat yourself up."

Turning her attention to the sickening meatbag of cartilage, bone and FAT her squishier sister. "Do you think you can get Vera's hand-arm-thingy and laser-majiggy stuff working again?"

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she grew silent instantly. In a low whisper which grew to molerat-pet-for-your-birthday levels of excitement. "Think of all the cons we could run...!"

Giddy with excitement, she closed her eyes and pranced around their less-than-luxurious home in her robe. She could imagine the money raining from sky as she lay in a bed of caps...

 

[Ruedyn]

Markus had passed out in the street. The sun was pretty hot today, he noticed as he looked at his burned and exposed forearms.

"Ow, ow, fuck." He picked himself up, using his rifle as a crutch. He wasn't quite sure where he was, the last thing he remembered was wedgies, rage, and pain. He checked himself over, a pickax and a worrying amount of caps. His brain immediately assumed Paul had left him a going away present, and Markus was pretty intent on selling his crap.

'Am I dreaming?' He wondered, looking around the alleyway he was in. He had stuff, and didn't feel as hungry. Had someone fed him? Was the food... food? He shuddered at the thought of what could be used in its' place. He used his magnificent brain to assume he was dragged him here, stuffed his mouth, and ran without compensation.

'Well I'm certainly not going to look for him or her.' He shrugged, as he walked off, whistling. He made it two steps before collapsing in pain he couldn't imagine, clutching his stomach, and then rolling around when he realized he was pressing burned things into hot armor.

"Why does god hate me?!" He cried, as he tried to pick himself up again. Moment of startling clarity now gone, he felt he could sympathize with a Feral Ghoul. Perhaps he would live them, in subways, where sun and wedgies were scarce. He used his rifle as a walking stick as he hobbled along, further into the shady alleyways.

He wasn't really surprised when he found some punk who noticed the jingle of his pockets.

The lad smiled maliciously, the brick shithouse favored his odds when it came to fighting hobbled rich people. He flicked out the blade, pointing it at Markus, who didn't stop moving forward.

"Hey, assho-" Markus brought his rifle butt up, smashing the kids lower jaw. Pain strength was quiet nice, though he collapsed without support over the kid, his knife skittered away.

"Enjoy sweet, sweet karma." Markus brought his pickax up, and brought it down with as much force as possible. Right through the bridge of the kids nose, imagine that. He started convulsing and twitching, as one is wont to do with an ice pick whispering sweet nothings to your brain pan. Markus laughed a bit, he was always shitty with melee weapons. Today was his lucky day...

It took a full 10 minutes to get up again. The boy was now a cadaver, and proved that age old myth of emptying bowels when executed. For now, Markus would hobble.

'... Why is everything getting dark?'

___________________________________________________________
Hours later

Markus woke up, slowly, as a few people were arguing. Big bastards, certainly. Why did his surroundings look so familiar?

The smaller of the two noticed him, and sashayed towards him. Markus held back a laugh as he bent over, revealing a gap toothed grin.

"Welcome to the Knuckledragger HQ, cocksucker." Markus groaned at the crassness of the idiot, before a swift jab to the temple made things go dark again.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Rabbit Hole


Tessa raised an eyebrow and asked quizzically. "What are you so embarassed about, hmm?" She could recognize something in her tone. She knew what a blushing girl sounded like.

"Oh... nothing..." Vera replied, trying not to sound any more embarrassed than she already was.

"Wait...y-you sound like us! Just not like me and Mercy...but US as...one, y'know?" Vera's voice was baffling at first, she had a tin-like ring to her tone. Strains of Mercy could be heard alongside Tessa's own voice. "Thaaat's going to take some getting used to."

"Hmm... yes... I guess it would be a little odd to hear it," Vera said, "Hang on, I'll search my databanks."

After a few moments of searching she found it.

"Think I have something here," she said, "I think... its my... 'mother' singing, for lack of a better word. The... woman my personality matrix was originally based on. Well... I think I'm a little different from her now but... I don't know. I have her memories. All of them. Its weird. Anyway..."

Spoiler: Vera played the record.

Once the record was done playing, Vera spoke again.

"I think that's her voice anyway," Vera went on, "Its the only record I have that has no date of entry. As though... someone didn't want it found. Odd." Vera paused to think about it for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, I think I can mix in a bit of that in with the beautiful voice data you and Mercy gave me to help make my voice a little more distinct from yours... so I don't... you know, completely creep you out."

Vera entered the new data into her voice synthesizer and a few seconds later, it was fully combined into the existing data.

"Ahem. Testing, testing," Vera said, "How does it sound now? Less creepy, right?"

Her voice now had a heavy influence of the recorded singer's voice, but there were still clear traces of Tessa and Mercy in there. It almost sounded as though Vera were a kind of half-sister to the two meatbag flesh-and-bone Rabbits. Meatbag? Where had THAT come from?

Vera finally noticed that Tessa was hugging her.

"Oops. Sorry, I got wrapped up in something there. Umm... this is nice..." Vera tried to hum her embarrassment away. Not sure if it worked though.

"Vera. All this worrying is going to make me stab you...again." She cracked a smile to show that her INtention was anything but. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Thanks, sis." Vera said. If a robot could smile ear-to-ear, Vera'd be doing it right now.

Turning her attention to her sexy little sister. "Do you think you can get Vera's hand-arm-thingy and laser-majiggy stuff working again?"

"I have some ideas about that, actually," Vera said, and then proceeded to explain the two options she'd thought of earlier; followed by, "So... what do you think Mer-Mer?"

Spoiler: OOC

In case you missed that post. Here's the short version:
Either A) Longer range and longer duration flamethrowing capability (25 feet and 20 minute bursts)...

Or B) shorter range and shorter duration (8 feet at most, maybe 10, and about 5 minute bursts), BUT the cattle prod doubles as an arc projector.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Rabbitsville: Population 3

Perhaps it was the prancing of the most beautimous and awesomestness of her stab happy sister or the singing and excitement of her most wonderfullest and cuddliescent of her fire crazed sister but the tech bunny found herself grinning ear to ear when faced with the prospect of having a happy family once again.

Looking back at the situation, she hadn't been as creeped out by the hybridization of Tessa and her own voice for V's use, but then again, she had been expecting it. What she had not been expecting was the frequency shift that the iBunny had used to create such a beautiful voice. It was a voice that brought comfort to the recently troubled youngest Rabbit.

"Do you think you can get Vera's hand-arm-thingy and laser-majiggy stuff working again?" The not-fat-in-the-least sister asked the ugly duckling of a youngest sister and before you could say "Beefy Nacho Supreme" there was a jingle jangle of tools and parts being spread out on the floor.

"Why of course my beloved sister." Mercy quipped with a grin as she began looking through her bag of scrap for a couple of spare parts that could be transformed into a set of pressurized canisters and listened to V's ideas on the options that she had available to her.

"Well, Sissy V, I think that having the arc projector would be a good idea since you don't always want to kill." Mercy said, as she remembered that even Tessa didn't seem to kill any of her marks unless they put her life in danger. As she said this, she started filling the two lightweight canisters (one with the "Vodka" and the other with Nuka).

Watching as her eldest sister continued to prance with dreams of caps and loot in her eyes, the Plasma Rabbit smiled for a moment as an idea formed in her mind as she screwed the lids on the canisters and attached a length of surgical tubing to each before joining them in a mixing chamber.

"Tess? I was wondering if you could teach me how to pick a person's pocket, like you did with that one man back at the bar." The Plasma Bunny asked innocently as she attached a busted shower head to the mixing chamber and mounting that to the cattle prod.

"I was just thinking that it would be good to have more than one person that could provide for our family, you know?" She continued as she started mounting the device on V's chassis.

"I want to be able to pull my weight around here, you know?" she said as she looked at her handiwork and added a miniaturized compressor that would be used to force the liquids through the tubing, mix in the mixing chamber before being sprayed out the broken shower head mist.

Satisfied that her work was done, she turned to Vera.

"That should do it, V. You're all set for crispification duty."

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Rabbit Hole

Vera hovered close to the ceiling after Mercy finished tuning her up.

"That should do it, V. You're all set for crispification duty."

Vera projected the holographic woman again and had her salute.

"Yes m'am!" Vera said in her mock military voice, "I will serve with distinction, General Mercy of the Rabbit army!"

Vera shut off the hologram and nuzzled Mercy again.

"Thank you, sis," Vera said, still nuzzling Mercy, "I-"

Vera's praise and gratitude was cut off by a sudden burst of static, followed by a gruff, monotone voice.

"That machine still 'lives' I hear," said the voice, "And there are Giants to the north. Not my concern any longer but... a warning to whoever walks the paths with this machine, it woke the Giants of The Divide. Once, long ago, it destroyed my home. The second time, I nearly destroyed another's home with it. Beware this one, lest history repeat itself."

Vera came back to her senses and started shivering in the air, "Ugh... I hate it when he does that! Asshole!"

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Charlie's Rabbit's

"Tess? I was wondering if you could teach me how to pick a person's pocket, like you did with that one man back at the bar."

That stopped Tessa in her tracks. Did she really want to go down Tessa's path?

"Are you sure about that? I don't mind teaching you the basics, but it's tricky and it can get dangerous..." Her mind momentarily wondered to Sonea's blank stare, before the the bodybag closed over her head.

Banishing the negative thoughts from her mind, she dropped her robe without a second thought and scrounged for her leather armor on the couch. Slipping into it and adjusting her hair with bobby pins. She walked over to a giant Blamco poster that had originally resided in the house, flipped it over and grabbed a nearby black crayon for diagrams.

Giving her cute and prettier booksmart sister theories and tests seemed best.

Her diagrams mostly consisted of stick-figures, smiley faces, sad faces, rabbit ears and dancing flowers. All her examples were illustrated in blocks with various acronyms attached to them. Pulling a blade from the wall, she used it as a makeshift pointer, while absent-mindedly twirling a second blade with her free hand.

Mercy may have known her lot about technology, medicine and science, but Tessa knew people, she understood their behavior.

"Alright! Both of you sit down...-or one can hover...and pay attention!" It wasn't difficult to channel her authoritative tone from not too long ago. "Vera, record this in case she has to recap."

"My techniques rely on Positioning, Observation, Decisions and staying Sharp."

- She pointed at a 'P'. "Positioning is crucial. You have to give yourself a reason to be in the mark's presence. If you're close: Bump into them, help them, pretend you're browsing nearby supplies...make yourself seem accepted in close proximity. If you're planning a surprise: Mind your own business, keep attention off of you until you choose to interact with the mark and get out quickly...end of the day, minimize your presence."

- Following with a flourish to the 'O'. "Observation: Keep in mind what you're trying to steal. Can you conceal it? Will it make a noise? How much will the mark notice? Is the item more useful as a distraction to work towards another item? Can your physical movements be made to look natural? Are people watching? How vigilant are the eyes on you?"

- Poking at a 'D'. "Decisions: Have multiple entry and exit strategies on hand. Entry: If a silent approach fails, go loud, confuse them, throw up a physical or emotional smokescreen, back away, find an easier target and...preserve the plan as much as possible. Exit: If you kept the above in mind, you'll be able to slip away. However, people can get the jump on you. So you can own up, bullshit your way out, cause a distraction...either way, simply get out of there. I like to keep the attacks to a minimum, we aren't bandits."

- Finally, she waved a blade at an 'S': "Stay sharp and don't be stupid."

She stopped spinning her blade and pointed at the three of them. "The core rules of the Rabbit PODS work best when we work in a team. One on cover and one on distraction while we protect the thief." She winked at her sister mischievously. "But you're going to be practising taking caps off me first, before you even try it out there."

She secured a little bag of caps hanging off her waist, put a few in her pockets and threw one down her top. "If you can get these off me in various ways, then we have another thief available."

She smiled and concluded that the lesson was over. "Unless we deal with the Knucklehead situation, we aren't thieving in the market anymore. Instead, we're going to the more...luxurious area's of Cheyton and going 'house-hunting'...We're scouting for a spontaneous break-in. Tomorrow."

Vera suddenly burst out loud with a male voice, the static grating her ears as the recording played.

"Ugh... I hate it when he does that! Asshole!"

Shocked as she was and massaging her ears, Tessa finally laid a hand on her hip. "Care to explain just what the hell that was all about? Ouch..."

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Rabbit Hole

"Just a complete and utter dickbag from my past," Vera said, "Sort of."

Vera searched her memory banks, looking for a way to explain it.

"Well, crap," she said finally, "My memory banks seem to be fairly incomplete from the time before I was well... me." Vera was aware that Tessa and Mercy were staring at her now, "I used to be a very different eyebot. I didn't really have a personality until about fifteen years ago. I think. Its kinda sketchy past that point. Anyway, I used to hang with some courier a while back. I can't remember her name though... she seemed nice enough, from what I remember... seemed very preoccupied with a poker chip of all things... oh well. Not about her, not anymore. The guy that just hacked me to speak with you, his name is... uh... starts with a Uly... uh... Oh! Ulysses! Right. Anyway... he lured my friend into a trap, tried to use me to blow up the Mojave... for some reason."

Then, as if someone had hit a switch, Vera remembered having all control being taken away from her in the Divide. She shivered in the air again.

"Tessa, Mercy," she said, her voice raising to a kind of squeak of angry fear, "Whatever you do, don't let him use me again. If it comes down to it, shoot me."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Rabbit Hole a.k.a. The Fortress of Bunnitude

As the Leader of Cheyton's new Rabbit Triad lectured on the finer points of acquiring items off a person's person, the youngest of the Rabbit sisters sat there in obvious open mouthed awe at her sister's knowledge and as her brain absorbed Tess' 4 Commandments, Mercy's heart swelled and swelled and swelled and swelled to the point of bursting that her much more experienced sister would share this information with her and give her the opportunity to contribute to the Rabbit Household.

It's not that Mercy couldn't contribute in her own ways, as she had proven on a couple of occasions, but she wanted to be more than a blood bank for Tessa when she got hurt or a mechanic that could tinker on Vera when she got hurt. As valuable as a medic is on the battlefield, The Plasma Rabbit wanted to be able to contribute to the the household. She wanted to keep the Rabbit family in the black and she definitely wanted to repay Tessy for the kindness that she had shown.

It wasn't until the Bladed Rabbit concluded her lecture with "Unless we deal with the Knucklehead situation, we aren't thieving in the market anymore. Instead, we're going to the more...luxurious area's of Cheyton and going 'house-hunting'...We're scouting for a spontaneous break-in. Tomorrow." that Mercy had found herself daydreaming about what she would be doing with her share of the loot. For her Flesh and Blood sister, she would blow the bag of caps on a night on the town. There would be drinks, food, shopping, perhaps a nice warm bath with purified water (something that Mercy had heard of rich people doing with their hordes of caps) and perhaps there would be a boy or two to help scrub their backs. As for her Chrome Sister, she would splurge on a full oil lubrication, a power wash, a polish and if they Mercy had enough caps by the end of the spree, she would -

"And there are Giants to the north. Not my concern any longer but... a warning to whoever walks the paths with this machine, it woke the Giants of The Divide. Once, long ago, it destroyed my home. The second time, I nearly destroyed another's home with it. Beware this one, lest history repeat itself."

"Wha?" The Youngest Rabbit asked as her dreams of warm water and warm hands imploded upon itself at the sound of the gruff male voice.

"Ugh... I hate it when he does that! Asshole!" V continued as she started explaining just who was stuck inside her spherical chassis with her, explaining her history with said asshat stuck in the chassis with her and the significance of said asshat stuck in the chassis with her.

"Tessa, Mercy," she said, her voice raising to a kind of squeak of angry fear, "Whatever you do, don't let him use me again. If it comes down to it, shoot me."

"No way, Sissy V. There's no way that I'm going to shoot you, but there also no way I'm going to let some asshole from your past ruin your life. As far as I'm concerned, you're as much apart of my family as Tessy is and I'll be damned if I'm going to let your past get to you... and same goes with you Tess." The Youngest of the Rabbit Triad said looking at her sisters while she hugged a pillow and brought her legs up to her chest.

"Give me a bit of time and I think I can figure out how to permanently erase Ulysses from your memory banks... I'll probably have to get some new tools also since it'll require a fine touch to do so." The Tech Bunny added as she got to the point of the matter.

"Sissy Tessy. Do you think it'll be safe to go 'House Hunting' tomorrow with those Knuckle Cretins around? I'm sure they're not happy about us killing their men and giving away a portion of their Chem stash to that guy." The Brainy Bunny said as she looked around the hovel and tried to put a plan together.

"I know that we don't have the numbers to win face to face but maybe if we do something... like destroy their main hideout somehow." Mercy said as she spotted a number of copper wires, a radio receiver and the left over Nuka Cola and Vodka bottles. A few dozen microfusion batteries, a radio detonator a cart and disguises.

"Sis. Have you ever heard of the Trojan Horse?"

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The Rabbit Hole: These Rabbit's chew on everything

"Whatever you do, don't let him use me again. If it comes down to it, shoot me."

Tessa crossed her arms and fixed a stern look on Vera. "Not gonna happen, I'm with Mercy on this one. We protect each other and we'll fight off any of our demons."

"... and same goes with you Tess." Her kind little sister muttered from behind a pillow.

The Freeside NCR and Blamco-knows who else found out by now? "That's a tall order, but thank you." Her tone indicated a measure of pride in her previous handiwork.

"Sissy Tessy. Do you think it'll be safe to go 'House Hunting' tomorrow with those Knuckle Cretins around? I'm sure they're not happy about us killing their men and giving away a portion of their Chem stash to that guy."

This brought Tessa finger to her lip, dancing along as her mind raced through what she picked up at the safehouse. "What we encountered earlier were not Knuckleheads, they were chem-runners that simply ran trade for the main gang." Laying her hands on the table, she directed her attention to her sisters sternly. "They're a gang operating somewhere in the slums, they have no business in more affluent areas with more local security. So we'll be safe if we're on the opposite end of the town. All witnesses were eliminated, we're still unknown for now...except for that guy from earlier...So we shop in the market, but no stealing. They're looking for illegal activity, not normal behaviour."

"... like destroy their main hideout somehow."

"I see where you're going, but no, not now." An uncharacteristically bloodthirsty grin grew on Tessa's face. "We need to fight them according to the numbers we have now." She continued with a savage glint in her eye. "We cripple their supply lines."

She drew up some more diagrams, this time with more stick-figures, sad-faces and three figures with rabbits-ears cheering.

- "Active chem houses are bombs waiting to go off, think of the gasses floating in the air - so I need you to whip some explosives that can be detonated at a certain time. If we hit them at multiple spots, they'll think they're dealing with a small army." Molotovs thrown in a chem trailer made for amazing fireworks back in the day.

- "We create piles of their looted supplies or anything we find, stack it outside places we hit and Vera burns it! Keep an adversary in the dark about what we're capable of and they have to assume the worst about their enemy."

- "We ambush Knucklehead traders coming in. They need food and basic supplies...we intercept them. Which means we cripple them over time. So we're getting a lot of disguises and updates to our wardrobe to throw off our identity's."

- "Most importantly: Dominance in street warfare, isn't always about use of lethal force. Sometimes a few dominated targets to spread the word is more effective. We're sending a message here. So we stun or disable our targets that we can overpower."

"Sis. Have you ever heard of the Trojan Horse?"

"They need to think they're dealing with somebody bigger than them first...then and only then...we go with that." She grinned at her sister's idea. "I've found that the the ultimate trojan horses are two prisoners. You and me. With sabotaged restraints and concealed weapons."

"We're going shopping tomorrow instead!" she eyed her schoolbag of roughly 1100 caps, give or take. "And we're pulling out all the stops. Everyone gets a cut of our caps."

Tessa faced her sisters with her hands outstretched. "That's the basics of what we're doing, ladies! We focus on getting our supplies and finding Knucklehead hot-spots. I've done this before, but I'm open to suggestions...oh, and we need a name for our little gang to spread."

She was rather impressed with the basic setup she managed to whip up. And the pride was clearly shown on her face.

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Rabbit Hole

Even after everything that's happened, Vera was surprised to hear both sisters tell her the following, almost in unison:

"No way, Sissy V. There's no way that I'm going to shoot you, but there also no way I'm going to let some asshole from your past ruin your life. As far as I'm concerned, you're as much apart of my family as Tessy is and I'll be damned if I'm going to let your past get to you... and same goes with you Tess." The Youngest of the Rabbit Triad said looking at her sisters while she hugged a pillow and brought her legs up to her chest.

Tessa crossed her arms and fixed a stern look on Vera. "Not gonna happen, I'm with Mercy on this one. We protect each other and we'll fight off any of our demons."

Vera's heart melted to hear them say that.

"We really are sisters now, aren't we?" Vera said with equal parts joy and amazement tinged in her new voice.

Then Vera listened intently as Mercy and Tessa came up with a plan. Vera rather liked the idea of a trojan horse. Hmm...
might even be useful against that asshole.

Tessa faced her sisters with her hands outstretched. "That's the basics of what we're doing, ladies! We focus on getting our supplies and finding Knucklehead hot-spots. I've done this before, but I'm open to suggestions...oh, and we need a name for our little gang to spread."

Vera liked the sound of that, though, to be honest, she rather liked the sound of Tessa's voice to begin with.

"Well," Vera chimed in, "After we have a few people with us... to lessen the risk as it were. I have a built in broadcast-and-receive radio. So I could put out an... ad, once we start building momentum. As for a name..." Vera paused and searched her databanks for something that might work, "Hmm... this might be a bit personal but... well... The Twisted Hares? As in well... Rabbits... the name is a mockery of the tribe that that asshole used to be in. It'll get his attention, might even provoke him into doing something out of character... like coming out into the open. Hmm... and it does kind of sound cool on its own, right?"

Vera turned her frame back and forth between Tessa and Mercy sheepishly.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Bunny Ranch

"Hmm... this might be a bit personal but... well... The Twisted Hares? As in well... Rabbits... the name is a mockery of the tribe that that asshole used to be in. It'll get his attention, might even provoke him into doing something out of character... like coming out into the open. Hmm... and it does kind of sound cool on its own, right?"

The Tech Bunny thought it over for a moment before smiling. Twisted Hares, she liked the sound of that and said so.

"Twisted Hares? I like the sound of that!" Mercy responded before grabbing her basketball shaped sister and rubbing noses - erm - her nose against V's face plate.

As far as Tessa's idea went, she was more than happy to go along with that plan, so long as she got to send some payback towards the Knuckledraggers for the way they had treated her Blade Bearing Sister. Grabbing the roughly Three Hundred and Sixty Six bottle caps that Tessa had doled out.

"If we're going to be hitting them in multiple locations at once, it'll help if I get some equipment that'll allow us to blow them up all at once." The soon to be Boom Bunny said with a smile. Back at home, she had read a few copies of "Duck and Cover!" and found the science behind improvised explosives to be quite fascinating. With what was about to happen, she was excited, perhaps overly, to put some of her ideas to the test.

"If you don't mind, Tess. I'm going to go get some of the electronic parts that we'll need to set off the explosives that we'll need. I'll also need a couple of things to disguise them as." The girl said as she put on the dress that her sister had recently acquired for her, making sure that her plasma pistol was safely stowed in a thigh holster.

With that, Mercy opened the door and started heading out towards the market with her small bag full of caps in hand.

 

[Ruedyn]

'Sleep is for the weak.' Markus popped his head up, intent to make a quite menacing glare at anyone foolish enough to be in the same country as him. Alas, he was alone. He let go of his breath, he noticed the familiar weight of his armor was gone. As well as the not quite familiar but very pleasant weight of 15,000 caps.

Markus growled as he went to work on the knots that bound him. It didn't even take a minute, Markus assumed only terrible things from his captors. Or they were worried about the dead... Yeah, no, there were dead people around. Very dead people, who stunk to goddamn high heaven.

His complaints were silenced when he noticed it again, out of the corner of his eye. A can of beans. His stomach growled, and so did Markus. He dove at the beans, ripping it open and drinking it like a common animal.

'Like a savage?'

Markus stopped, and remembered. He had shot Paul! Oh god why had he done that?! Was he going mad, he could've carried all the stuff!

Markus shrugged, oh well, one bullet gone, dust in the wind, ashes to ashes. He downed the rest of the beans, and burped loudly. Nobody came in to check on him? Knuckleheads seemed like a pretty accurate name, then. Although, even the Legion would be bowing its head in shame and shitting everything up if they had been bested by two girls and a robot. Not even a protectron, or a Mr. Gutsy. An eyebot. Huh.

Markus turned his thoughts from the assholish to more productive things. Like escape. And tacos. Perhaps the sun had done more than previously thought. He found his first hurdle, finally, the door was locked! This would require cunning, a running start, and a very strong shoulder. He had two of these things, he noted as he bounced off the door and landed flat on his ass.

"Okay, plan B... HEY, ANY ASSHOLES OUT THERE?!" A burly bastard opened the door and peeked in, only to get clocked by Markus. Escape Plan B: SUCCESS! He chuckled at the idiot as he opened the door and started wandering. Maybe a bit suspicious if one walked in on him, but whatever, he needed his stuff back. For now he would stealth it up, later find the Rabbits, then see if he could use guilt to get a home until he got onto his feet.

'If I get another wedgie, they all die.'

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Rabbit Hole

Vera couldn't help but giggle when the Plasma Bunny rubbed her nose against the eyebot's faceplate. Vera took one last look at Tessa before heading off to follow Mercy into the market.

Cheyton Marketplace. Some time later...

Vera was thoroughly enjoying the sights and sounds of the marketplace, and chatting with Mercy... in bursts. Didn't want to clue the locals in on the fact that the little eyebot could talk. Vera stopped dead in her tracks when they passed a fruit vendor. She instantly recognized one of the main bits of produce: a mutated blood orange.

Vera remembered eating these... and... baking them into a pie...

Oh... the smell... mmmmmmm....

Vera snapped out of her little reverie when she realized that Mercy had continued on without her. Vera scrambled to catch up with her ingenious little sister.

Cheyton Marketplace. A... different perspective.

Unbeknownst to all involved, a stranger with twisted black-and-gray dreaded hair was watching the two Rabbit sisters, and their new Undertaker shadow. The stranger shadowed their shadow, until, finally... he caught her as she was about to turn a corner. He grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth and pulling her into a shadowed alley.

"Not a word," he whispered into her ear in a gruff monotone, while holding a silenced smg to her head, "Breathe out of turn, you die. We have words to trade, you and I. I know about your contract, Undertaker-Assassin. I know who paid the fee. I'm... going to offer you something better. A... piece of the Old World. One that would make Caps... irrelevant to you."

Without warning, the stranger threw the Undertaker to the ground, and trained his smg to her head.

"Stay there for now," he told her, "Keep your head to the ground. My proposal doesn't require you to see me, only that you hear my words. If my stirs something in you, then nod. And I will give you your instructions... and the location of an advance. If you agree, you'll get the rest of your plunder after I am satisfied with your labors. So, do we have an agreement?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Cheyton Back Alley. A... different perspective.

"Also, I think you've got it all wrong, Mister. I'm nothing but an Undertaker. I bury the dead. I don't kill the living." said the young woman.

Even though the stranger didn't need it for practical purposes at the moment, he had chosen to wear a gas mask to conceal most of his face. He kept his smg trained on the Undertaker.

"And I'm nothing more than a merchant-scout looking for a new route," he snorted, rolling his eyes, "Your act might fool the unwary, but don't bother with me. I have walked paths you wouldn't dream to walk. I braved the invisible fires and sand storms of The Divide, faced down the Gods of the Big Empty, breathed in the Blood-Cloud of the Sierra Madre, and taught the White Legs to use their 'thunder-drums'. Your history is not quite as... storied, but not one that is shrouded from me."

"But, like everyone else in the Wastelands, I'm open to making a few caps on the side. Why don't you tell me what you want me to do and more importantly, why don't you give me your name?" the young Undertaker asked. Her question got a chuckle out of the stranger.

"My tribe name is lost to Kai-Tzar's greed, like the name of my people," he began, "My name under Kai-Tzar, also stolen by history's hypocrite when The Courier proved his beliefs to him." The stranger paused, a glint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes for a moment, "For the moment, my true name is Ulysses."

He paused to let that sink in.

"As for the job," he shifted his weight slightly, "I know your... clan, will send someone else when you refuse to take the contract. So for the time being, you will maintain the ruse to them that you are attempting to carry out your orders as a good assassin should. You will tell them that you are simply trying to get close to the target, so as to shorten the knife you'll need. For the time being, you will offer yourself to the Rabbit sisters and their pet eyebot as a friend. They were recently attacked by the Knuckledraggers, and their would-be rescuer was also attacked. He might be your way in. If you can save him from his own stupidity. He may have managed to fight off one knuckle now... but there are nine more on the approach. Save this... Markus from the knuckles, and that will be your 'in' to the Rabbit family. Though they're also going to be recruiting soon... starting a new tribe of their own it seems. That could also be your 'in'. Though they haven't announced that yet, so better to become their friend first."

He paused again, holstering his smg.

"If its caps you want," he said as he tossed a sizable bag to her, "Then here. But know that if you follow all of my instructions, and follow any new ones I charge you with as the... journey continues, you will be rewarded with plunder from the Old World. A... treasure, that will render caps irrelevant to you."

"Before I continue on the paths I must walk," he said, "Is there something in you needing an answer?"

 

[EmperorZuma]

I-25 Side Road

The Rangers, distracted by Kaiden's predicament, but still on their guard, were able to level their rifles against the newcomers, creating a standoff. Jose, still right next to the snare's release, squinted for a moment before speaking. "Pop 'em"

In an instant, the surroundings were completely obscured in smoke, created by special grenades the good doctor created for Jose's caravan, specifically for this kind of ambush. While the confusion was high, and the raider's vision blocked, Jose cut the snare down and dropped Kaiden back down to earth. Jacob tumbled as well and fell on top of the Super Mutant.

Jose and the Rangers then took cover behind the wrecked cars, while Jacob scrambled to the support for the billboard. The doctor then drew his laser pistol and fired to where he remembered seeing the leader. He doubted the man would be stupid enough to keep standing, but trying was better than wasting an opportunity. "Fall back!" Jose shouted at the doctor and the Super Mutant. At the same time, the Rangers released strategic blasts from their rifles for covering fire.

Jacob nodded as he gave a glance at Kaiden to make sure he could move. Seeing no injury that would disable him, the doctor fell back to the cars. At the same time, the smoke was beginning to clear.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The Rabbit's Home: A few minutes before everyone left.

"Twisted Hares? I like the sound of that!"

"Twisted Hares it is then!" Tessa cheerily exclaimed after some deliberation. She was partial to the Feral Rabbits, but rebuilding her previous gang of the same name, seemed like a bad idea in retrospect. Besides, Vera's chosen name had a personal edge to their agenda.

"If you don't mind, Tess. I'm going to go get some of the electronic parts that we'll need to set off the explosives that we'll need. I'll also need a couple of things to disguise them as."

"Good thinking, disguised as household objects work best. You go ahead though, I'll catch up with you in 10 minutes or so. Otherwise, go nuts!" Tessa ended her goodbye's with a mischievous smile before catching her sister's arm in a more serious manner and kissed her on the cheek. Vera followed Mercy as soon as she left.

Heading to the bathroom and fixing her hair with bobby pins, Tessa readjusted her leather-armor. That's when she knew she had forgotten something. She promptly rushed to the door and yanked it open.

Tessa shouted after them. "Vera! I need some scouting done along the edges of town! Stay out of the market, you're still hot propert-..." Yet they were too far away to be in earshot, maybe Vera heard through enhanced robotic senses, but she doubted it. "Damn it! now I'm on scout duty."

With her hair fixed into two secondary pigtails, her bag was filled with the remaining amount of caps secured and stacked in elastic-band bundles to prevent it from making noise.

She secured her wrist-mounted throwing knives. She had to remind herself to hug Mercy later for keeping the design inconspicuous. Only if you looked closely, would you notice that what she wore on her wrist was actually a dispenser of some kind. Perfect, she could walk in the open with a weapon ready.

As Tessa was readying the edges of her boots with more bobby pins, she slipped her Bowie Knife into an ankle holster covered by said boot.

Crazy-prepared. She didn't want a repeat of the previous day.

[hr]

Cheyton Market: A few minutes later.

Trying to catch up with her sister's seemed hopeless, in her haste to move through the crowds and dodging brahmin poop, she accidentally bumped into a women with an umbrella. In her haste, she exclaimed a sincere apology and stopped dead in her tracks as she actually had the pleasure of eyeing the spectacle before her.

The Lady before her was dressed in black, an unusual sight but certainly enticing to Tessa. Her complexion was fair and her hair was fixed into a stylish bob. Her clothing was immaculate...and Tessa's eyes had wandered longer than what was considered acceptable, her blush was even more of a dead give-away. "Excuse me...My apologies...Y-you just have a lovely...taste in clothing."

Taste in clothing? Is that what you can come up with on the spot!? Cringe much?

Flashing a flirtatious yet coy smile, Tessa made her way past the illustrious stranger, taking one last look before being enveloped in the crowd. Her heart was racing...and that was in no way linked to rushing after her sisters. It had been a very long time since she felt something like that...

The butterflies in her tummy were relentless.

Tall, pale and absolutely beautiful...

[hr]

Cheyton: Followers of the Apocalypse Clinic

After receiving directions from a few street kids, Tessa decided to pay her respects to the Followers that had set up here instead.

Unlike the imposing Old Mormon Fort in Freeside, the Cheyton Followers had set up a large and seemingly well-staffed clinic. For a moment, she was awestruck, but that quickly turned into a warm feeling of joy. She was very happy that the Followers, decent people that had helped street kids like herself, had actually spread their influence extensively.

She spotted a tired-looking doctor having breakfast next to the donation jars in the lobby. "Umm, excuse me." Tessa hesitantly announced her presence with a genuine smile. "I'd like to make a small donation."

The doctor gulped down his remaining mouthful of food, before looking at Tessa in surprise. "Can't quite honestly say we get this a lot. We appreciate anything we can use towards the patients benefit. 10 caps goes along wa-...!"

"How does 200 caps sound?" Tessa announced gleefully. She proceeded to overflow two donation jars and left the few caps fall into a third.

The doctor stammered in disbelief. "Ma'am! Are you absolutely sure...this is...incredible."

Tessa explained herself. "In Freeside, I was a street kid. Abandoned. The Followers took me in for a good amount of my childhood. They also cared for me when street life got rough...I owe you people my life, wherever you're situated."

"Can we at least have your name? Spread the word around the clinic about our latest helper. It's a great way to boost morale." The doctor stood up and extended his hand in thanks.

Tessa took his hand without hesitation, honoured to be associated with people like them. "Tessa Rabbit. And it's my pleasure, really."

"Your name will be on the lips of the 7 lives and who-knows-more, that you saved today with that sizeable donation! If you need anything, Miss Rabbit. You are always welcome at the Followers."

Bingo! Tessa sat down with the man. "You know what, information would be nice...bumped into some guys called the Knuckleheads, know anything about them...unofficially?"

The doctor cautioned a look between anyone nearby and ushered her closer, pretending to look through pamphlets. "Unofficially? They've been responsible for a lot of the more serious injuries and deaths coming in lately. Patients tell the same story. Brutes, hurting civilians for something as simple as trespassing. Same M.O. internal injuries, hematoma, fractures, brain damage, severe ecchymoses...bruises...tox results indicate chemical abuse prior to direct attacks. These people drug and savagely beat their victims."

Sounded similar to the style in which she was tortured. "Any idea where these attacks occur?" This would give her locations of the spotters. "Especially with any relation to the chem-use?" This would help to pinpoint chem lab hotspots.

The doctor switched to a different pamphlet and continued. "Most patients that were subject to illegal narcotics prior to their torture reported attacks in the southern end of the slums almost exclusively. Recent patients have complained about activity not-too-far from the local bar, a Khan bar, I forget the name. There's also recent attacks on more affluent members of Cheyton being subjected to narcotics before torture. The regular attacks occur in back-alleys and muggings at night. Why do you ask?"

"Just don't want to be another victim, I have a little sister to care for." She nodded politely, said her goodbyes and filled the third jar with 100 caps. "Consider that my show of gratitude Doctor. Please keep our conversation between us...but by all means, spread the word to those I helped today. I'm the grateful one...They need it more than I do."

Armed with intel on the southern concentration of chem labs, the beginning of chem activity near a Khan bar and a rich area. Tessa concluded that the Knuckleheads were trying to spread their influence.

And the Twisted Hares were going to tear it all down. With general locations and more pinpoint area's, this was a great first step.

With approximately 432 caps remaining, she made her way back to the Market to make a trader very happy and to make an extensive update to the Rabbit wardrobe.

 

[RobDaBank]

I-25 Side Road

Kaiden hit the ground with a painful thud, luckily he had tucked into a ball as he fell so his back took more of the impact than his head. The familiar cracks of gunfire and energy weapon discharges sounded around him as he reorientated himself, remembering what the world felt like the right way up. As the smoke began to clear he saw that the doctor has taken cover behind a support for the billboard, while the rest had ducked behind the cars that led him to the trap.

With the drugs the doctor had given him still running through his veins and the extra adrenaline further increasing his heart rate, Kaiden moved faster than he ever had before. Taking refuge with the others behind the cars he looked around to assess the situation. Without a weapon he was useless at this range, and he would never clear the ground between them to get up close alive. He looked to his left and saw a manhole cover, partially covered by one of the cars. Moving over to it and careful not to knock any of the caravan guards off aim he pushed his back into the car and heaved with all his might, shifting the rusted deadweight just a foot, just enough to clear the manhole cover.

Standing up to get a view of any of the men, he undid his cloak and let it fall to the floor before stomping on the cover, sending it spinning upwards and into his hands. "Take THIS!!" he yelled as he spun around and flung the heavy metal discus straight towards one of the men partially hidden behind a rock. He didn't stop to check if it had landed on target, though he was confident it had, as he ducked again for cover.

"Now to close the gap" he said to himself as he pondered how to get closer. The manhole was dark, and he wasn't sure how far up it would take him if he went under. He looked to the man who led the caravan guards, "Can you create more smoke?" he asked, hoping the man would be able to create some cover to allow Kaiden to get into close quarters, hopefully unseen.