[b][i]Raven Collins[/i][/b]

Raven distracted himself from Conor's scorn by reminding himself that he had done more than dig a new well and train the local militia. He had while surveying the town, seen the old elementary school and paid for its renovation and new books with his own money and a few favors from the Wyoming and Mojave days. He had also made sure the walls were strengthened, and that there were ways out in case there was a fire, earthquake, or one of the students or teachers decided to shoot up the class... And that if raiders did attack, the children inside were as safe as possible. 

That was a good and tangible thing that ought to counteract Conor's (somewhat justified) warnings about the NCR - They weren't all like General Lee Oliver, Colonel Moore, and that bastard Kimball. Honestly, he might have even convinced himself that it was Colonel Hsu, a real stand-up guy, who really won the Second Battle of Hoover Dam for the NCR that day, that glorious day. Either way, he was not going to repeat his Superiors' mistakes in the Mojave. He was going to make sure that the people here loved the NCR and that the inclusion of Whitlash was going to be a seed of change within the Republic.

And to do that, he had to rescue innocent hostages, and so his first question to the Town Councilfolk was, "What do we know about Helena's Legion? I suppose their being called a 'Legion' is a coincidence? How well-armed and armored are they and how good are their tactics?"

He then looked at Sam and then Conor and spoke, "What about giving them drugged food with a delayed-action sedative? Raiders are bad that we don't have to deal with them 'honorably', but it's best if we reduce the chances of bloodshed as much as we can. Alternatively, I and another good sniper can just pick them off one-by-one and save the hostages, or if we have someone [i]stealthy[/i], we can distract them with gifts and negotiations, snatch the hostages behind their back, and then kill them off."

Raven mused after that, "But first, we need to make sure they give the hostages back. It is entirely in their 'playbook' to keep the hostages and promise to release them 'later' if they are given more gifts. So the solution I suggested, to distract the raiders while someone sneaks the hostages out, is not a bad solution... Assuming one of us knows how to be stealthy; I am better at sniping."