[center][color=tan][h3]Courier 6[/h3][/color]
[b]Level 1[/b] - (9/10) EXP
[b]Location:[/b] 1-1, Lower Canyon
[b]Word Count: 1821[/b]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgJnbCul-0]Ambient Music[/url] [/center]
As the Courier descended down his chosen pathway, he couldn’t help but notice that another was following not too far behind. Someone had taken up his invitation to clear out the most dangerous area. To his muted surprise, it was the bizarre and mysterious Zer0, who previously had paid him no mind. Well, if this sword wielding weird-talking… Person? Wanted to tag along, the Courier was all too happy to have a pardner. It reminded him of the good ol’ days, blazin’ the trails of the Mojave with a posse of friends at his side. Wistfully, memory drifted back to those he was happy to join him in his mission to track down the guy who shot him in the head and return the favor. 

Cass was the most like him. Fiery temper to match her fiery hair. Caravan owner, so she knew the trails as well as he did. Hard drinker. Hard partier. One [i]hell[/i] of a mean right hook. Once he made the mistake of taking her whiskey when he thought she wasn’t looking. Never made that mistake again.

Boone was as good a pardner as you could ever ask for. If you needed someone to have your back, Boone was there before you even brought up the notion. Too bad about his wife. The sullen bastard wasn’t exactly a great conversationalist either. 6 was happy when he managed to talk Boone out of his insane deathwish. It wasn’t like they never fought, though. Damn Boone was always stealing his kills! Too good a sniper.

Veronica was probably the most unusual companion 6 ever found. Damn, that was saying something! A member of the Brotherhood of Steel that wanted to help people? To share their technology? 6 always figured he’d sooner meet a deathclaw that wanted to give out hugs and cookies. Plus, she was a bundle of sunshine and joy in a bleak death-filled world. Did she ever find a good girlfriend?

Raul. Man, what could you say about that old cuss? Not many ghouls around who were alive before the war, and then there was Raul in all his Mexican glory. Bastard always talked to 6 like he was an idiot, practically oozing with sarcasm. But it was never with bad intention. Raul was a lot like a father to the group. Well, maybe a grandfather. The cool grandfather who didn’t give any fucks anymore. Yeah, that was Raul.

Then there was Arcade. The Courier had to admit, it wasn’t easy to convince Arcade to come along. While Boone said very little but made every word meaningful, Arcade spoke a lot while saying absolutely nothing. 6 couldn’t blame the guy. It was natural to try to avoid talking about himself when he came from the Enclave. Most folks, they wouldn’t take too kindly to that… Yet still Arcade was the most giving, altruistic man 6 had met. Kept him patched up whenever the Courier got in over his head, too.

Lily, there was a sad one. Old super mutant, driven crazy and senile from too much use of stealth boys. 6 never did have the heart to tell her that he [i]wasn’t[/i] actually her grandson. Right up until the very end… Poor Lily.

Rex, there was a good boy if there ever was one. 6 had met many dogs in his travels, but Rex was his very first cyberdog. Old World technology was pretty amazing, keeping a police dog alive for over two-hundred years like that. It was heartbreaking when he left Rex back at the Big Empty to live a new life with his puppies.

ED-E, there was a story. Too much story, in fact. The growing canyon walls brought that adorable little robot to mind more than any other of his old travelling pardners, thanks in no big part to the Lonesome Road. ED-E was his only companion through it all. Dammit, no robot would ever make him feel as much as ED-E did.

So the question arose from the depths of the Courier’s mind, if he was to be traveling with these people now, would they be anything like his old posse? Would Zer0 remind him of Boone, or ED-E, or Lily? No, not very likely. All his companions before were so vastly different from one another, and so was this… Guy? This was likely the birth of an entirely new dynamic. The Courier welcomed it. Since liberating Vegas, things had grown too lonely again. Everyone parted ways to do their own thing and he was left wandering the dusty trails again… Alone.

A loud sound jerked the Courier out of his own mind and back into reality. A large boulder had rolled down from behind, coming to a stop and blocking off the duo’s entry. Ambush! Immediately afterward a plethora of unfamiliar, alien creatures emerged in droves to attack with crude weapons. The whole scene, the whole situation, reminded him of the Marked Men in the Divide. He;d show them exactly what he showed the Marked Men: never [i]fuck[/i] with a Wasteland mailman!

There was just one itsy bitsy little problem. 6 could feel how weak he was, still drained from his control of that shining torchlight in the sky. The only skills he could properly process that were helpful in the situation were his guns! Not only that, all his cybernetic implants were still offline, so those weren’t going to be of any help. Damn. Well, it’d have to be enough. He made due with less before.

[color=tan]”I reckon it’s time to start killin’ things. Just gotta set the mood!”[/color]  As the horde approached, the Courier casually lifted up his Pip-Boy and twisted a knob, activating the radio setting and turning it to a familiar station. To his genuine surprise, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DD_NCM_RJs]music[/url] began to blare. [color=tan]”Is Radio New Vegas in range? Huh.”[/color]

Shrugging off the massive coincidence, the Courier held up his shotgun, ready to pepper into the incoming crowd, only to be surprised as Death rushed past him, dual scythes in hand, and began to carve a bloody swathe into the crowd of green creatures. [color=tan]”Awright! We got ourselves a good ol’ posse going on here! YEEHAW!”[/color] 6 charged forward, blasting with his shotgun to the stragglers around Death. BOOM! BOOM! Two shots of eight used, and two of the goblins fell from being peppered in the gut, a few more nearby bloodied from the stray pellets.

“GRAAAAK!” A particularly large kobold charged the Courier with a crude spear. 6 narrowly dodged to the side, the spear tearing into the coattail of his duster. With his off hand, the Wastelander brought up his magnum to the kobold’s face, mere inches away, and pulled the trigger. Bits and skull and brain matter splattered back, marking another goblin-like creature attacking with knives. Not bothering to mourn its fellow, it charged in to stab the Courier, who backpeddled quick as he could to avoid the blade.
[color=tan]”I got spurrrrs that jingle jangle jingle!”[/color] he sang with each step. BANG! His magnum fired into the bokoblin’s face, punctuated by the song’s backup singers. [color=tan]”As I go ridin’ merrily aloooong!”[/color] BOOM! Another shotgun blast fired off, this one barely aimed at any particular monstrous humanoid, and more of a general crowd control shot. Pellets peppered into the swarming monsters as they advanced on him. None of them dropped, but a large number of them received injuries and drew their attention away from Death, and onto the Courier.

[color=tan]”Uh-oh,”[/color] he muttered. [color=tan]”Might’ve gotten a bit carried aw-OW! JESUS [I]FUCK![/i]”[/color] A spear, thrown from one of the goblins high up, had caught 6 unawares, slicing into his left shoulder. The creature’s aim was off, but it was a deep enough wound that he couldn’t reliably use that arm to shoot. At least, not without a little extra focus.

[i]V.A.T.S. activated.[/i]

Time slowed to a crawl, the marching horde becoming more akin to an army of snails. Even the flurry that was Death moved at a rate only barely noticeable. The Courier focused his attention on the goblin that had speared him. It was unarmed now, no longer a threat until it got another spear. The more pressing concern was the incoming horde. How many shots could he queue up? Five shells left in his shotgun, four in his magnum, but only enough focus to get off three or four, then he’d need to take cover and catch his breath. That’d be no good.

Refocusing, the Courier took note of the upper canyon walls. The creatures had to move that boulder behind them somehow, meaning there was likely more loose boulders. There, a large slab in the wall near some spear chuckers, cracked. Shotgun chance to hit, 92%. Practically guaranteed, but the pellets would be too spread out, not effective. Magnum chance to hit. 49%. Practically a coin toss, but all the force would be in one spot. The Courier queued up 4 shots.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The first struck true, deepening the cracks.The second struck a bit off the side, while the third hit a goblin in the arm instead of the intended target. Well, at least he wouldn’t be throwing spears anymore. BANG! The final bullet hit its target. The Courier’s perceptions slowed down, catching time with the rest of the world around him. Adrenaline pumped through his heart at an alarming rate, his limbs ached and his breath was short. He didn’t even notice how the crack spread wider and wider… But the rock refused to fall.

“GRAKHAK!” A bokoblin up above laughed at the Courier, amused at his apparent failure to hit any of them. The creature armed itself with a spear, took a step forward, and… Its newly added weight was enough. “AAAAACK?!” Stone crumbled, rock split, and a small piece of the canyon wall fell with a mighty [b]BOOM[/b]! Nearly a dozen kobolds, goblins, and bokoblins were crushed by falling debris. Others went tumbling aside, or fell over from the shaking ground. The Courier, praising his luck, ducked behind his new cover and fumbled with an inhaler from his pack.

The chemical inside filled his lungs, creating an instant effect. The Courier’s heart eased up, he gained control over his limbs once again, and his pupils shrank down to small pinpricks as the high hit him. Jet was one hell of a drug. After a few seconds, he jumped back out, ready to continue the fight.

[color=tan]”YEEHAW!”[/color] he shouted, no longer feeling the pain in his arm, at least for now. [color=tan]”Though I may have done some foolin’, this is why I never fell!”[/color] he sang, in tune with the music.