Xander Coltman's Story

Xander noted the sign above the bartenders' head, "Capone's Den." He shook his head and look at his partners in this expedition. The faces were varying and name didn't stick to him. The rest of the burned bar was thick with cigarette smoke and the smell of dried blood. The bartender was a ghoul with what looked to be a scowl on his face. The rest of the patrons were sitting among themselves. Xander raised his hand and said, "Hey leather face, Get me a Nuka-Cola for me and my friends here." The ghoul sneered at him grumbled something about smooth skins.

When the ghoul came with the drinks, Xander paid the man. With that the ghoul walked away. "So, seeings how we each have different skills and backgrounds, lets figure out who will fill each role of this lovely little gang were in. I'm a sniper born and raised, I've also have a background in dealing with serious and minor wounds, you get hurt come to me. I don't come to you." Xander popped the cap off of the bottle and put in his pocket. He sipped the radiated drink and was filled with warmth and energy, "Also, I know some about about computers. So getting by any locked computers should really be a problem." Xander sat back and waited for the rest of the crew to spell out what they can do.

Black watched as each had introduced themselves, the only evidence betraying his position was his helmet, its two green lenses lit up dimly against his dark background. He was leaning against the back wall partly concealed by the shadow created by the lighting, quietly observed his new comrades, from what they looked like, to what they brought with them. One was a hacker/medic, though kept claiming he was a "born" sniper. Another was a colorful bitch, a repairman and demolitions expert, she would be a wonderful addition. But he had kept his eye on the towering fucker, big enough to be a tank, but not green enough to have a super mutant as a mother. The last person he could observed looked as if she was a fine piece of ass, resting against one of the bar's stools, but he wasn't thinking to take any chances, for she had a shotgun. The ghoul didn't notice him in the room, and it was his cue. Finally, he decided it would be best for an introduction to be in order.

Shifting forward, taking a step out of the shadow, one could see he was sharpening one of combat blades. He was clad in what seemed as a custom suit of Ranger Armor, or even Riot Gear for that matter. Had this sort of dark aura surrounding him, to say the least. Had the composure of an ex-soldier, a mercenary, Marksman Carbine strapped to his back and a 10mm submachine gun holstered neatly against his right leg. Black duster covered up most of his armored form, an old desperado hat over his mask, he began to introduce himself.

"Well, hello ladies. I guess it's my turn to get introduced. Let's make this sweet and short. Call me the Seven of Diamonds. Ex-Ranger, marksman from my old unit. CQB and repairs I can do, but my passion comes in the form of scouting. Emphasis on Ex." He ended his sentence with a flick of his left wrist, sending his newly sharpened blade into the pool table to his left, digging deeply into the felt, wounding it as if it were a wild animal. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Xander smirked at the squabble between the two of them. "You two, cut it out. I want this job done and over with before we come to blows to each other," He said leaning back in his chair. When he heard Amelia speak he heard she was faking the entire thing, Xander could pick up on lies quickly due to his perception. The tone of her voice and the way she tried to befriend Seven. "CQB means Close quarters battle, it means to fight personal weapons. Like with your shotgun and his 10mm. Its often interchanged with close quarters combat."

Xander pulled out a packet of gum and ate a piece. He had quit smoking due to the fact the cigarettes were giving him smokers hands, not good for a sniper. "I don't believe I introduced myself. I call myself Xander." He said as he popped another piece of gum. He had several of these packets, they were quite tasty for being over 200 years old.

Mal had simply been sitting back and watching the group go on with introducing themselves. They were a colorful group if anything. The girl who introduced herself next seemed very sweet and curious. He had no idea why the hell she was here. Mr. Daisy made it seem like all of the people here had an essential skill, what was hers? Either way she seemed like good company. The man who stepped from the shadows, Mal's fists immediately clinched incredibly hard. He could immediately tell he was a veteran Ranger before he said a word. The armor was unmistakable. He had killed enough of them to know what they look like and what they act like. As long as Mal kept himself cool and under control, they wouldn't have a problem. Then again, it wouldn't stop him from having a bit of fun with him. The next one though, he would definately have a serious problem with him. He obviously got here from a fake reputation. You only get a sequoia after 20 years of service as a ranger. This kid hasn't even been alive that long. And who the hell was the wolf? Never heard of him before and quite honestly, he might have to let Skip eat this kid.

He was just sitting back now, enjoying the sounds of people talking, it always calmed him. When he heard a female voice pick up. "Want one?" Mal looked down to see Lola, cigarette in her mouth and one in hand. Mal gave her a small smile, small, but you could see the warmth in it. He reached down and carefully plucked it from her fingers, It looked like a toothpick in his hands as he raised it to his mouth. He reached into his coat and pulled out a match box. It struck up one of the matches and lit his addiction. He took in a deep puff, the cigarette already burning, and exhaled upwards. He then looked back at her. "Thanks....Lola." was all he said in his basic monotone. He then reached down and gave Scipio another pat on the head. he had finished his water and he was back in his watch dog position. Scipio is an impeccably trained animal, responding to physical and verbal commands. The verbal commands were all in the language of the Legion, which was called Latin. He was the only thing left of Brutus, and Mal loved him.

Mal turned his attention back to the man called Xander. He seemed to be explaining to Amelia what CQB meant. She seemed very inquisitive and interested in the group. But honestly......Mal didn't like her. It seemed she just wanted to be everybody's friend, which is not the attitude you need to survive out here. He would have to keep his eye on her to make sure she doesn't get hurt.

"Thank you for clearing that up... Xander." Black nodded towards the scientist, noticing the Pipboy on his left arm. "So, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're from one of those, um, vaults. Am I correct?"

Ignoring the kid as he left the room, he turned his attention to the giant, who had just flared a cigarette up and holding it in his maw. "So, nice dog you have there. Mongrel, no doubt, by telling how he obeyed your command. And from your left eye, I say you're Legion material."

The four in the room, for some reason, reminded him of his old unit...

The five of them returned from an operation to take out a raider gang leader named Bawls in Southern California, stationed at an outpost near where Los Angeles once stood. Each of them, a veteran ranger in their own right, had a specific role within the team, who they dubbed themselves "Hell's Angels". For some reason, it was these four that Black bonded well with, and they bonded with him pretty well at the same time. Black was the Marksman, the crackerjack shooter, the dead-eye. Darius was the demolitions expert, carrying an unhealthy weight of rockets and explosives. Foxx was the Close Quarters specialist, legendary with her use of a Sequoia from 70 meters away, while anybody else can fire it up to 50 meters. Jenkins, may God bless his soul, was the Tech-Specialist, often keeping tabs on the team's objectives. Then there was Kels, the team leader, absolute badass. Ironic part was she had more balls than the entire team together, because she had put her ass on the line to keep the team from being disbanded. She was the glue that had kept the team together...

Snapping back to reality, he could see it clearly. Well, this is going to get interested, Black thought to himself. "So, again, how are we going to do this?"

Mal was still smoking when things started to happen. Lola seemed to just leave, apparently she just needed air. She seemed very pleasant and she definitely knew what was going on, unlike Amelia bless her heart. Speaking of Amelia, she piped up and started to talk about having a leader. Mal honestly didn't like the idea. The thought of one mans decision controlling the fate of so many again sickened him. Personally he believed they should all just work together, but some of their attitudes, he didn't know how hard that would be. He genuinely surprised when she voted for him to lead them. Sure he had leadership experience but no way in nuclear winter was he going to do it. He also found it strange for her to just pick him, they never even spoke before today. She also seriously misjudged his character......or did she? Mal started thinking about it but was interrupted by Xander. "I agree that we should have a leader, though no offense to our friend here who could snap me like a tooth pick, it shouldn't be him. Now, we need a leader who talk their way through tough situations and be able to convince us to stay together." There was a better judge of his character. He was a bit put off how blunt the guy was being, not that Mal is even remotely sensitive, still.

Mal raised his massive hand rested it on Xander's shoulder. His face ever placid and his voice a monotone. "None taken." He said to him and patted on the back a few times. He was just about to finish his cigarette when the ranger called him out on him being from the Legion. At the mere mention of it, his fists clenched but immediately released. Scipio cocked his head towards the man and a low growl escaped his throat. It seems Scipio couldn't fight it any longer. Mal simply laid his hand on his head and Skip stopped growling and went back to a placid dog face. Mal looked at Seven with his good eye, his face a pure neutral. "That's right. Praetorian first class, first cohort. This is Scipio. A pleasure." Mal said to him with pure blandness in his tone like always. Scipio wasn't make anymore noises, but his eyes never left Seven. "And before any of you asked, yes I have both enslaved and crucified people." he said without batting an eyelash or showing any signs of anything. He knew the question woud come up sooner or later and he preferred to handle it sooner than later.

"I agree that we should have a leader, though no offense to our friend here who could snap me like a tooth pick, it shouldn't be him. Now, we need a leader who talk their way through tough situations and be able to convince us to stay together."

Seeing how the girl, the one named Amelia, was trying to befriend everyone, and hell, she had even suggested that Mal should be the leader. Black knew exactly what she was trying to do: she was the kind to try to befriend you, try to get your guard down, then she stabs you in the back in some possible way. He had seem the ruse before. "Now, while I do prefer an equal vote in decisions, we do need a PR, somebody who's good with people. That being said, my vote goes with the lass."

Keeping his eye on Mal and his dog, Black had heard the stories about the Legion, especially those with Praetorians involved, how they would rend a soldier a new one if they got within melee distance. The man looked as if he could rip Black's arm off if they tried to shake hands, and Black wasn't sure he wanted that happening to him. "Well, sir, I'd shake your hand, but I'm not so keen on getting myself ripped in half from a man of your stature, so I won't."

In the corner of his eye, he could see Xander going into town with that gum, which was still surprisingly chewy, given by his expression. He had observed the colorful one, Lola, exit the room, after stating something around needing to have some fresh air. He would most certainly agree, as the air within the building was pretty stale, as well as slowly being replaced by the smoke from the few occupants than them. "So, what is it going to-"

He was in mid sentence as his attention turned towards the door. Another figure had appeared in the door, who had the appearance of seeming to be lightly armored. But observing on how the man, or woman, or whatever sex the person was, made his stance, Black quickly dismissed the idea of having to introduce himself to another mercenary. "Well, look guys, it's the kid. He bought himself a fine piece of armor to make himself look tough. Now where was I?"

After a few minutes after that, Black had noticed Lola in the doorway, asking Mal for help with something. "What you need help with?"

Xander sighed and got up, "have fun, guys. I'm off with our Legion friend and that explosives woman. You guys figure out how to proceed." He dusted himself off and started for the door, "Don't worry, we'll all see each other real soon." He opened the door and left the bar leaving the other three. He saw the hulking figure in the distance. As he approached he started heading towards the two of them. He was greeted with music, he was pleasantly surprised. His radio had been removed due to the nature of his job, there were many silent days in the wastes.

"Alright, you got me," Xander said standing next to the hulking man. He brought his pip boy to his face and started looking for the place the ghoul had told them. It wasn't far and they could be there by next nightfall if they got started right away. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, he liked the two he had chosen, and Seven was alright. That Amelia chick and Zephen was going to be a pain the the ass. Xander smelt the sickly sweet smell of the cigarette and he popped another piece of gum. "Well, lets get moving. Its a trek and its not gonna be easy. Here's to hope we don't run into anything that scary," Xander said. He waited to be in the back, he didn't handle close quarters that well.

Flipping her hair as she turned, her trek began. Clutching her holstered weapons in each hand, her short cig hung off her lips as she walked. Her duffel was strapped to her body, radio tucked into the partially opened side pocket of the green bag. It felt good to get moving again, the hard ground beneath her feet. These times were when she was most comfortable, nothing tying her down, just open land in front of her.
The world looked orange beneath her shades, giving it an even more arid and hot look, the sun making a dimmed shine, was still a burning image through the lenses, and it toasted her skin as she walked. She could feel sweat forming along the her shoulders, and was thankful she has it tightly secured her long hair off of the back of her neck.
The Giant Mal walked in front of her, with the ever loyal hound. Lola had taken a liking to the two, I think he is a candidate for being more than bearable... she noted as she shifted so she was walking in his shadow,so the sun no longer blinded her.
Behind her walked the Xander fella. She hadn't formed a opinion about him quite yet, but he was at least competent and quiet. Two traits she felt the others didn't quite have.
Looking back at him she asked, "So what exactly is this thing were supposed to be looking for?"
Lifting her arm to hold the butt she added, "And where was it last seen?"

Black watched the vault kid leave towards the door, and Black followed suit. As he brushed past against Zephen, he paused for a few seconds.

"Alright, I'll buy into your little charade for now. But keep in mind that I know who you are... Zephen."

After he finished those words, sour to the tongue, he had emerged through the door to the outside. This was his playground, and he was sure to let the devil to know it. Shifting his shoulder a bit, his Marksman Carbine swinging on its strap from behind his back and under his right arm. It was awkward the veteran, yes, but it wasn't something he wasn't used to. Grasping the grip with his right hand, the shroud resting in his left, he began moving towards the others. The sun was setting, the sky darkening from the imminent approach of the night. It was about to get dark, and pretty quickly at it, but Black wasn't worried.

Releasing the grip and quickly flipping the side switch on his helmet, illuminating his green lenses, then gripping the rifle once again, Black was able to see through the darkness. Jokingly, Black made his greeting once again.

"Well, my friends, I hope you guys can see in the dark as well as I can. If not, I'll be more than merry to serve as your scout."

"Well, this entire situation is entirely fucked. I've just about received the same amount of information as you, and from the destination on the piece of paper. Its gonna be even worse than I first thought," Xander said to Lola, "you see, I've met The Courier; really nice guy, just don't bet against him you'll lose every time. He's told me what he had to go through when he went to the Sierra Madre. Now, when I saw that paper. I was shocked that he wanted us to break in there a second time." Xander was tempted to turn on his light, but decided against it when the stealth factor would have been shot.

"Now, the holodisk is supposed to be in one of the suites on the top floor of the casino. The ghoul's memory was shot, so he couldn't remember what room exactly it was." Xander said. He shut his eyes and shushed the rest of the group. He thought he had heard something. Xander was getting nervous, something that didn't happen often. When it did, something was going to happen. He heard heavy breathing and foot fall, worse than that he heard stomachs growling. Xander turned around and saw nothing. He squinted and saw faint ripples in the air like the light was being bent. He played it off like he saw nothing. Xander slowly got his rifle ready and spun around and fired a round into the ripple of air, a super mutants head went flying off, while no body was showing, "NIGHTKIN!!!!" Xander yelled dropping to the ground.

"NIGHTKIN!!!!"

As soon as Black heard that word, he knew he was fucked. He didn't see it coming. He had turned around, and before he knew it, one of the beasts launched him off his feet. While in midair, Black grabbed for his 10mm, letting go of his rifle, quickly releasing a spray of rounds into his assailant. The beast had picked him up and chucked him possibly 15 feet into the air.

With a loud thump, Black's back bounced off across the ground, forcing a muffled grunt out from him. He quickly finished off the beast, the stealthboy worn off, as it charged towards him. As the remaining three rounds left in the magazine fired off, each one found its way into the mutant's skull, landing a killing blow, the corpse toppling over its feet. It laid silently at his boots, a foot away from slaughtering him. He was lucky.

Now focused on what they walked into, Black noticed two coming in on the new kid, flanking him from both sides, each being 10 feet away from melee range. While the kid was stupid at trying to be something he was clearly not, Black wasn't going to let him die without knowing what got him. Within a split second, Black dropped the 10mm and switched to his rifle, and laid down some focused firing on one of them.

"KID! WATCH OUT!!"

Black called out, firing at the one closer to him, the nightkin on the kid's left. Every time he pulled the trigger, a shot rang out and found itself into the beast's back, with a couple straying off target, still disrupting the cloaking field that his target was once using.

With it kept going towards the kid, Black aimed down the scope and zeroed in onto the back of the beast's head, then pulled the trigger twice. One round dug in, killing the second mutant. The kid still had the one on his right to deal with, fuuuccckkk.... he thought to himself, having felt himself being picked up once again from his duster. The one that had charged him earlier wasn't dead after all.

"Why won't you fucking die!"

Blacks slipped from the duster, falling a good three feet and into a roll. As he recovered, ignoring the pain that shot up through his left foot, he flung his two knives into the mighty beast, one through the coat and into its lower chest, the second into its groin area. As soon as the second blade went through, it knew that it was finished.

It dropped the duster and fell onto its knees, painfully trying to pull the two knives out. While it was doing this, Black ran into a full sprint towards the beast, using the knives as stepping blocks, pushing them deeper in. This had killed his attacker. Staying in its upright position, Black reached and twisted its head, making sure it stayed down this time. Black looked back towards the group.

Seconds before anyone said anything more, Scipio froze. A low growl escaped his throat as his body circled it self. Mal stopped and eyed him for a moment, until he realized they were surrounded. Before he could say anything, Xander screamed out what the enemy was. "NIGHTKINS!!!!" was all he said, then everyone seemed to become separated by the invisible beasts. The Nightkins advantage was surprise, invisibility and their massive strength. Their disadvantage.....they didn't know who they were fucking with. He had gone hand to hand with a lot of Super Mutants....a lot. He actually found Nightkins to be rather easy. They relied so heavily on their stealth and strength, they don't bother to train in combat. Mal could barely ever see anything anyway, so their stealth wasn't a problem. Mal was also just about as strong as them as well. The average super mutant was only about half a foot taller than him and maybe 50 lbs. heavier. They could't toss him around like they could everyone else. The enemy had successfully separated their group and were closing in on them individually. Scipio barked facing behind him, giving Mal a warning from where the next attack was coming from. Mal spun around and felt the shift in the air and the grunt and smell that escaped the nightkins mouth. Mal simply held both his arms up and suddenly caught one of their massive clubs in his hand. This shock caused the stealthboy to ware off. Standing before him was a very confused ugly looking mutant. Mal simply smiled a light smile. He then ripped the Rebar club from it's hands with a grunt and nailed it in the soler plexus causing the air to escape from its lungs and sending it to it's knees. He then adjusted the grip he had on the club and swung it around in an upward arcing angle and brought it straight down onto its head, turning it to a bloody pulp.

Scipio let out a bark from behind, then a sudden whelp. Before he could fully turn around, two massive fists collided with his face. The force of the hit caused him to spin around and land straight on his face. It seems they had identified him as a threat and had decided to gang up on him. His lip had busted wide open and Mal staggered to his knees. He wasn't that out of it, he was mainly trying to shake the cobwebs out. Before he could attempt to stand up, he felt each one of his arms be grabbed. He saw one mutant on each arm, their grips locked tight and each one pulling rather hard, making sure he couldn't escape. He then saw a third one materialize in fron of him. This one looked different. He had a brahmin skull on his head and a large red cloth draped over his chest like a pancho. The two gripping his arms stood him up. The one who seemed to be the leader cracked his knuckles, then started to go to town on Mal. Most of his club like fists were hitting his stomach but a good amount of them were on his face. Mal simply stood there and took the onslaught for a time. Along with the constant grunts of pain, a small chuckle escaped his bleeding lips. The Nightkin stopped and looked at him. "What you laughing? Friends are dying and you die to. No laugh, be screaming and begging. What think funny?" The Nightkin said rather angrily. Mal looked up at him with his bruised face and stated in his monotone. "Your fists are soft." The word rage could not explain the expression that went across the Nightkins face to the extent that it was. Mal swore that red actually bloomed from his dark purple face. He reached to his back and pulled out a massive blade. "This no soft! This cut you in bits! DIE!" At that hesitation in the Nightkins rage, Mal leaped up and used the two holding his arms for support and dropped kicked it right in the face. It fell to the ground.

In almost perfect timing, Scipio then jumped up and sank his teeth deep into the one holding his left arm's bicep. The nightkin yelled out inn pain and lessened his grip on him a great deal. With less resistance, Mal ripped his left arm free, and with the added momentum of that, he drove his bladed gauntlet right between the Nightkin who was holding his right arms eyes. Mal then twisted the blade, then yanked it free. The monster slumped to the ground, allowing Mal to redirect his attention back to the on who Scipio had attacked. Scipio had apparently released the mutant, seeing as there was a large chunk missing from it's arm. It was obviously confused and the pain from his wound was causing it to let out crazed shrieks as it stumbled around. It was in shock. Mal walked right up to it and said. "Hey." It looked up, it's face twisted with fear and pain. "Nobody kicks my dog." The fear grew on it's face. Mal then threw a cocked straight punch from his right hand. The ballistic fist making direct contact with it's head, blasting the top of it's head off from point blank range.

The fight wasn't over yet, as the leader got to his feet and stared Mal down. They weren't 10 feet from each other. After what seemed like an hour but was but a moment, Mal suddenly charged it. He lowered his body into a battering ram position and his right pauldron covered shoulder made contact with it's soler plexus. He then angled his arms into a Y position acting like a prong. His strength and momentum was enough to drag the super mutant off of it's feet and be carried away by Mal. Mal was yelling at the top of his lungs a fierce Praetorian battle cry. "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRS!!!" Mal kept running until he collided with what he believed to be a large rock. Well, the Nightkin collided with it anyway. The Nightkin let out a gurgled cry of pain. Mal didn't stop there. He then gripped the sides of the rock as hard as he could, cocked his body back, and then rammed his shoulder right back into it's stomach, it's back thudding against the rock. Mal repeated this well over a dozen times, yelling at the top of his lungs. For this brief time, his original battle rage had come to surface. "MARS! EXULTAE! MARS! EXULTAE! MARS! EXULTAE!" Over and over again. After about 30 seconds, Mal stopped and pulled away from the mutant. It looked like it's stomach had caved in and blood was gushing from it's mouth and nose. It's face frozen in a mangled expression of raw pain. It slowly slumped to the ground. It seemed that Mal had calmed down a bit and realized his shoulder felt odd. He felt it with his hand. "Great." he said blandly. His arm was dislocated. He would deal with it later.

He looked over and tried to see if there were any survivors. Scipio caught up to him, limping slightly. "I know boy, it hurts." He reached into his coat with his good arm and pulled out a stimpak. He bent down and injected it into Scipio. "There you go, one for you." He threw the empty syringe aside and pulled out another one. He then injected it directly into his neck. "And one for me." he said as cool as a cucumber. His arm was still dislocated, no amount of chemicals could fix that. He decided he may as well deal with it now. He grabbed ahold of his arm and gripped it tight. After a few short breaths, he jammed his arm back into his socket. He let out an agony filled grunt. He flexed his hand a few times and let it settle a bit. He looked over the battle field and saw a good amount of dead Nightkins and no dead people. That looked like a win to him. He couldn't see any more Nightkins, then again, that was the whole problem with them. He slowly walked towards two figures sitting on the ground. When he got close to them, he saw it was Amelia and Lola. They looked like shit. "Are you two alright?" he asked with a degree of concern in his otherwise apathetic voice. He loked aroun and saw the glowing eyes of Zephen and Seven's helemts, but so no other figure standing. "Hey....wheres Xander?"

Lifting herself up off the ground was difficult, nothing seemed to be broken, but every part of her body was sore. Her blond hair whipped around her head, sticky with blood. As she stood, she could feel sharp pains shooting through her back, That rock did some number to me... Looking around she thanked the divines that she and Amelia had landed somewhat out of view of the others, but she still gazed around with caution. They could be anywhere...

Amelia lay lifeless next to her, she looked pretty bad. Lola dragged her body and layed her up against a boulder, pulling a thin dark sheet from her bag, she draped it over Amelia to hide her body, then stood and peeked over the boulder. A banging sound caught her attention, like metal on metal... finding the sound she saw Xander, he was pressed against the ground, and she noticed the dust kicking up around him. That's too much to be caused simply by his movements... Grabbing a Bio-Gas canister she chucked it, and hopped over the rock. Where is it ? Where is it? she scrambled, then she saw what she was looking for, the displacement of smoke. She pulled her dagger from her sheath and ran up to them, sinking it into the invisible mass on top of Xander, she wasn't sure where she hit it...but she removed her blade and plunged into the resistance over and over again before being knocked back by something hard. The air rushed out of her lungs as she was thrown, landing on the ground a few feet away, tumbling and rolling until her body rested motionless. The pain was quite severe, Broken ribs.. she thought as she lifted her head just enough to look over to Xander. Her last thoughts before she slipped away were, Did I get it?.... How many of these fuckers are left..

Mal kept looking around, trying to see if he could spot Xander. Seven approached him, seemingly very injured. He took up a spot by a nearby rock and set himself up in camouflage so he could cover them. He then told them they should go before more showed up. Mal called out to him in a tired voice. "I was taught never leave a living man behind. I had to make sure he was dead first. So until everyone dies, I'm not going anywhere." He then turned back to the battlefield, still trying to seek Xander out. He then looked back to where Amelia and Lola were, but they were gone. He saw the signs of a body being dragged and he followed it with his eyes. Before he found where it stopped, he heard a clanging sound. Sort of like a tin can hitting against a steel pole. Before he could really find the source of the sound, a gas canister was thrown over head, towards the sound of the clanging. Mal hadn't noticed but Scipio had been letting out a low growl for a bit now. "I guess this isn't over yet." he said to no one in particular.

Mal then felt a form dash past him into the smoke. It was Lola. She ran into the smoke, dagger drawn, then jumped onto some invisible thing and started stabbing it like crazy. How the hell did she know where it was? Was it the smoke? He would ask her, but she was suddenly rocketed backwards and skid across the ground. She skidded to a halt a few feet in front of him. She almost immediately passed out......or died. It looked like her stomach was moving much, just enough live. It seemed everyone was down but him, Scipio and Zephen. Where the hell did that guy get to anyway? Either way, this wasn't over. It seems those strikes she made to that thing was enough to short circuit his stealth boy, the bastard soon came into view. He had one of those giant Nightkin swords, he didn't know what they called them. He remembered that horned guy had one too. He looked behind him and saw the blade laying where he had dropped it right next to the other mutants corpses. He picked it up and swung it in his hands a few times, he could still hear the clanging noise.

Mal turned around and pointed his sword towards the Nightkin who had just hurt Lola, his shoulder had several stab wounds and he had an expression of pained anger. The Nightkin saw Mal's challenge and beat his chest in acceptance. Mal simply nodded, then took off after it, the sword held behind him with both hands. The Nightkin charged him as well, the blade held close to him. Several seconds later, there blades connected and ground against one another. They then stepped back from each other and began striking out at one another and parrying. Strike, parry, strike, parry, thrust, parry, strike, thrust, parry. It went on like this for several seconds, until the damage Lola had done with her knife finally took it's toll. He was late on a parry from the left side, and Mal cut his arm clean off. The mutant screamed out in pain, grabbed his nub and fell to his knees. Mal raised his blade to finish him off. It looked up at Mal with a look of complete hatred. It caused him to flinch. It was the same look that was imprinted on his soul. The clanging sound snapped him out of it. He then brought the blade down and decapitated the Nightkin.

Mal stabbed the sword into the ground and started breathing more heavily. He then heard Scipio bark. Mal followed the barking to a downed Nightkin. Mal was confused for a second, until he saw a human hand sticking out from underneath it. Mal immediately dropped to his knees and hoisted the carcass off of Xander. He looked down at him, he was still alive. He picked him up as gently as possible and started to walk him over to where Seven was. Mal looked down at him and simply said, "You look like shit." He then walked right next to where Seven had set himself up and gently placed him down next to him. "Keep him safe." Was all he said and he walked away. Mal then reached Lola's body. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another stimpak. He injected it into her neck. It should have healed her tissue damage and gave her more relief. He wasn't sure about the internal damage though. He gently picked her up and held her in his arms. He looked down at her as he walked. "Goddamn it, Lola. Why didn't you just shoot it." he had already made sort of a connection to her and she seemed to have a good soul. He didn't want her to die. Then again, when did he ever get anything he wanted? He was walking back to Seven, but then he noticed the drag marks again. This time he decided to follow them. They led to a rock, as he got closer, he saw that there was a sheet down. He looked underneath and saw Amelia. Mal sighed in relief. He gently put Lola against Amelia and decided they would be safer here. He then turned to Scipio. "Infortae pertsia." he said to the mongrel in a commanding tone. The dog immediately went rigid and walked over to where the black sheet lie. He then sat at attention, looking ever vigilant. Mal nodded to him and then walked away.

Mal walked over to the massive battlefield and started looting stealth boy's off of the Nightkin corpses. They would definitely need them later on in the mission. After he had looted a couple, he heard an odd rippling sound. Almost like.....Mal was suddenly hit in the back and an intense burning sensation followed it. He realized his back was on fire and he jumped onto his back, rubbing it into the dirt. Fire began hailing all around him, small fireballs than spread there flames like a disease. Luckily everyone was behind cover and these fireballs looked like they were coming from a much higher angle. All Mal could do was scramble for cover. After much scuffling and tripping, he made it behind a rock. Not a very big rock but cover was cover. Mal took out his sawn-off, made sure it was loaded, then blind fired toward the direction of the fireballs. He knew he couldn't hit it, but he could distract it long enough for someone to take it out.

Watching the good young doctor fixing everybody else up, black just shaked his head. A small chuckle came through the respirator, because they never fail to amuse him in some way. His ankle was killing him, but he was going to deal with it later. As Xander came towards him, he was busy looking at Zephen when he asked Black a question.

"What's wrong?"

Black simply pointed in Zephen's direction, and told Xander what was keeping him down.

"Injured ankle, twisted or sprained. Not going to take boot off, that's for damn sure. But don't worry about me, no need to waste your medical equipment on just me when you have more than one person to watch after."

Black grabbed his carbine and began checking it over for any possible damage to the rifle.

"Besides, I'll be fine. You guys need to keep going. I can catch up later."

The ex-ranger decided it was best to disable the helmet's vision mode, and checked down the carbine's sights, finishing the weapon-check.

A coral light flickered down on a single, small white table with two matching chairs, adorned with beautiful carvings but graying, and old. A thin emerald vase sat in the center, holding three long lavender strands. A small teacup sat on one end of the table, fulled to the brim with steaming amber liquid. Next to that teacup sat Lola, adorned in a darling red Lolita gown. She sat, dipping the teabag in the cup, resting her head on her gloves hand. I guess I'll never find you father..., her thoughts echoing loud through the room as she gazed across to the empty chair.

Searing pain shot through her body as she was lifted off the ground, moaning she cracked open an eyelid to see Mal carrying her in his arms.
Thank god he is alive... a small crossed her lips as she rolled into his chest, blacking out once again.
She was once again woken, but this time by a numbing, cooling sensation running from her neck and through her body. Slowly she lifted her body leaned against the boulder she was laying next to, gazing over with half open eyes to see Amelia lying next to her. Mal sat across from her holding a used stimpack.
"Goddamn it, Lola. Why didn't you just shoot it."
".. because...I had to be...in the smoke...to see it...." she mumbled, her jaw bruised, most likely from being tossed aside. She reached out limply to touch his arm as he passed, but fell just short as he moved on. Resting she called over Scipio, "Scip...come here boy...." reaching our she pet him twice down his back before black passed over her again.

Xander's touch on her bruised stomach jerked her awake once again. As he began wrapping her injury, she leaned forward foe him to easier bind it. Too weak to speak, she simply smiled up at him in thanks. He was obviously in pain, so she motioned that he should go on, continue, she was fine. Watching him treat himself she leaned over to brush some of Amelia's hair out of her face, and patted her cheek.
Wake up lazy-ass, if your gonna die, die when we get the damn thing. Bigger cut for me. Don't make me work harder.

Before she knew it they were once again under attack, and she reflexivly shot her knees up to her chest and covered her head, the pain rocketed through her and she gasped for a moment, releasing her legs and leaning forward. Hmm...they don't feel broken... spitting up a little blood she continued, It's be expected from an injury like this.
She stretched, and the pain was there but minor, Just some bad bruises...I'll be feeling this for a bit though...
Stumbling in the dirt twice, she finally succeed in standing. Her legs were wobbly and she was caked with blood. Gripping one arm and standing with her knees turned in she looked around to see where Mal had gone.

"So, am I the only one who knows that its' the same dude or did anybody else pick up on it?"

Black looked at Xander if he just let a stupid question slip out through his mouth, then focused back onto the wasteland. No shit, sherlock, he thought to himself, keeping a close eye on anything that might move during the night.

"You know, when morning comes around, you have to leave me behind. Because I'm going to slow you guys down. You may have that there Pipboy, but I know how to survive out in the wild. I'll be behind you guys."

Black let out a sigh, then lowered his head, trying to get comfortable as he could along the side of then boulder.

"I guess I'll take watch after Mal. Just tell him to wake me up when his shift is over."