The hellhound in New Vegas

Chapter 1. Meeting in Nipton.

16/05/2281

11:53 am

The scorching sun beat down on the Mojave Wasteland as a lone figure walked down the ruined road toward Nipton. As he walked, the man could not help but think about everything that had happened in the last few days. What he had thought was going to be an easy delivery job for Mr House, the enigmatic ruler of New Vegas, had taken a turn for the worst when some checker-coated bastard who looked like he belonged in New Vegas instead of the wasteland, ambushed him as he was heading past Goodsprings with the aid of some Khans and swiped his parcel before putting a bullet in his skull and leaving him for dead. Luckily for him, that Securitron, Victor had dug him up before taking him to Doc Mitchell, who had then proceeded to patch him up and save his life, though not without causing the courier to lose some of his memories, including his name. Despite this, the courier was still grateful to be alive, and he was quickly able to repay this act of kindness by helping defend the town from a group of escaped convicts known as the Powder Gangers.

After getting a lead on his assailant from Victor, the Courier headed to Primm where he had to make a pit stop to fight off some more convicts and rescue the town's Deputy, who provided him with information on his assailant's current movements. According to Beagle, the man and his companions were heading to Novac through Nipton. This made sense to the courier. If the man was indeed from New Vegas, this was the only route he could take, as the shortcut through Quarry Junction was overrun with Deathclaws according to the miners in Sloan. After thanking Deputy Beagle and promising to help restore order to Primm, he set off in the direction of the Mojave Outpost, both to continue his pursuit of his would-be murderers and to see if there was any work he could do. Thankfully, the guy in charge of the outpost, Ranger Jackson, had been kind enough to offer him a job-killing giant ants. It was a quick and simple job that was able to get him some supplies for his travels. Now he was heading to Nipton with the job to find out what had happened to the town. The outpost's sniper Ranger Ghost had given him the task as she had grown concerned because the smoke had been rising from the town for days. She of course, wanted to investigate, but seeing as she was unable to do the job herself, she had asked the courier to investigate himself. As he was planning to go through Nipton anyway, the Courier accepted the job and was now trekking towards the smoking town.

"Ranger Ghost said that any survivors would be holed up in the Town Hall," the Courier said to himself, pulling his cowboy hat over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he continued his trek towards Nipton. "I hope someone did survive whatever happened. Preferably a trader or two so I can buy some more supplies." However, as he drew closer to the town, he quickly realized that there was very little chance that there were any survivors. Huge piles of rubbish could be seen burning with what appeared to be charred skeletons on top of the pyres. He could also see some crosses sticking out of some of the pyres. Even from a distance, the banners surrounding the town were unmistakable. A picture of a yellow bull on a red banner. A symbol that he had despised ever since his fateful trip to Arizona three years ago. Ceaser's Legion had raided Nipton.

"The Legion? Here? But this is miles away from the border. How the fuck did they get here without anyone knowing? What the fuck is the NCR doing?" The Courier had so many questions, but he didn't dwell on them for too long as he sprinted towards Nipton. As he approached the town, he could see a man standing outside of Nipton. As he approached, the man ran up to him before talking in an excited tone.

"YEAH! Who won the lottery? I DID!" The man yelled in excitement.

"Lottery? What sort of lottery did you win?" The Courier asked, a bit taken aback by the man's excitement, and more than a little confused as to what lottery he was talking about.

"What lottery? The lottery, that's what lottery! Are you stupid? Only the lottery that matters! Oh my God smell that air!" The man said excitedly.

"Are you a Powder Ganger?" The Courier asked, taking note of the blue prison uniform the man was wearing.