Edward and Daren headed into the most crime-ridden area of The Hub, a major breeding ground for gangs and violence in the city. The two of them went completely unharassed however, either due to the Raiders and gangs in the area generally knowing better or avoiding the two completely out of fear. The two of then found themselves at an old shack just on the outskirts of the settlement and went inside, almost nothing but a cloth being used as a secondary door. Inside, they found a relatively small yet organized home and an African-American women in her late 80's. To the old ghoul, the women was Joy Taylor, a woman born in 2038 who worked in the CIA in Edward's department. To the wasteland, she was a 'Witch' known as Madam Hex. Joy instantly shot upwards when she found Edward and had the largest smile on her face. "Edward....it's been decades. How have you been?" "Could be better, Hex." Edward replied, not wishing to reveal the old woman's name. She laughed quietly to herself as she noticed Daren in the back next to him. "And you've brought company. I haven't had company in a long, long time. Please, take a seat. I'll make us some tea, just the way that we used to drink it together." Madam Hex then moved along with her walking stick towards what passed as a kitchen. Edward went to the middle of the building, which slopped downwards towards a section of the room that looked like a hole in the ground with steps where a table and sofa was located. Once Edward noticed that Madam Hex was gone, he quietly made a comment about her. "She was in my department of the CIA, she worked behind a terminal. I used to walk past her in my old age while she was in her mid 20's, always with an eager smile on her face. Every now and then, we would both have a cup of coffee or even lunch together. She was a nice person." Edward then paused for a moment. "The war happened and she never seen me again, I only found out just recently that she survived the war...and so close to home as well. Unfortunately, time is a harsh mistress. Had I been in any other vault other than 12, I would have died peacefully of old age as a human around forty years ago. It's being as old as i'am now that....you don't really appreciate life around you until it's too late. Watching people that you've known for your entire life grow old and fade away. Looking at Hex now reminds me and so many other Ghouls that despite how we affect the world, what role we play with our destinies, nothing lasts forever. It might be a hell of a long time, but it's never eternal." Edward chuckled after the grim discussion. "God I'm old...."
Madam Hex returned back into the room not long after Edward stopped speaking, three glasses of tea being supported in a tray while she walked with her walking stick to the table. She still had the same old smile on her face when she sat down, as she picked up her cup and gestured the two wastelanders to take their cups.
Daren cautiously took the glass, she seemed almost too friendly. But then, Edward knew her. But how did he know they weren't working together? He kicked himself mentally, his time alone in the Wastes was making him too paranoid he told himself.
Edward took the glass, finally getting a chance to reminisce in nostalgia about the women he used to know. Madam Hex looked at the two men before deciding to engage conversation. "What brings you two all the way down here?" Edward decided to engage in conversation first. "We've both come down from the north in search of a job, and the Hub seems to be the best place in California to find one." Madam Hex nodded in response. "The Hub is might provide a wealth of opportunity, but you should both know that it's not the friendliest places in the wasteland either. I might have a job, although your better off finding more of an authority figure" "They are all busy trying to find a way to retake the water tower, they are not in the best condition to lend out jobs." Edward replied back. "I might be an old lady now and that as you can see, I have nothing of value. If it's weaponry that you want, your position as the CIA director would allow access into any armoury or military base in America. But...my services has allowed me to generate a small fortune in caps, and I'd gladly give you that fortune before...." Hex tried to finish her sentence before entering a coughing fit. Edward instantly shot up and rushed to her side before putting a hand up to signal that she was alright. She weakly looked at Edward. "I don't have long to live. It's terminal, no medicine can save me now, looks like your going to be the last one...Edward." She said before looking at the two. "Before I die, I want to know that at least some good is left in the world. I need the two of you to....rid the wasteland of some raiders...give humanity some room to breathe and get back on track. It might only be temporary, perhaps for a few years, but it's a good start. And, judging on the look on your faces, you might know exactly where to start...." Edward finished off her sentence. "Killer Bee...." Madam Hex only nodded in response.
"Killing raiders? I doubt one could ever kill enough to give even some breathing room without a large concentrated effort by a large, powerful group of people, and trust me I've tried. I've been to Arizona. Tried to kill as many as I could but as soon as they hear about someone hunting them down, they either fade away or attack, usually it's fade away so they can continue picking off their easy prey once the threat has passed." Daren said, "How exactly are we supposed to kill enough?"
Edward decided to intervene. "Maybe we don't need to exactly wipe out all the Raiders in California, because that's basically impossible with only two people. Maybe in the surrounding area, perhaps? Let's say...around The Hub? From experience in the Yukon, I can understand where she is getting at. The only problem about is that Raiders can recover surprisingly quickly and still outnumber Wastelandsrs by a large margin. Perhaps we should only concentrate our efforts into a singular area of importance."
Daren nodded slightly, "I guess that could work now..." he muttered, "Maybe we should try ta purge the city as much as we can of raiders? Try ta get some organization goin'."
"Sounds like progress. Not per any progress, but it's still progress nonetheless." Edward said to Daren before looking at Madam Hex. "We shall return, Madam." With a nod of a approval, Edward and Daren got up and left the small shack. Edward bowed towards her before he left, as a sign of respect. They had to remove the problems of a city that has gone to hell.
(In case you cant tell, I'm still trying to find a way to really type Daren's accent. I want him to have an intelligent vocab and such, but make it to where the way he talks makes it sound like he's one of those stereotypical dull villian henchmen/really uneducated sounding accent. Oh, fun fact, have you heard about that guy with Ebola in Dallas? Yea he's within 20-40 miles of where I live) "Well, sir, I guess we need ta find some kinda "best of tha worst" among this mess we got here." Daren said to Edward, "Ya know, the least bad choice, hopefully we maybe can find some kinda good, but I doubt it, from what I've seem, that's got about as much chance as tryin' ta paddle up a radioactive river with no paddle."
(I can see what your trying to do with Daren's speech. Also, there was a news report a couple days ago about it. Alarm bells instantly rang when I realised how close it was to you Edward kept walking with Daren "We have Killer Bee, he appears to be the worst of the bunch. With him gone, people could hopefully people around here could actually get some sleep. The Hub also appears to have some raider gangs, although two of them are in the surrounding area and not in the city itself. We can take any of these gangs down just by ourselves, but we should team up against Killer Bee. He actually seems to be quite a threat. Of course, I'd let you prefer who you want to target and if we should team up or go solo." (I've also had an interesting thought. What if our two most powerful Fallout OC's were born and raised in the Legion? That would mean Damien would ironically be a Legionary and fight against the NCR. Meanwhile, any other OCs can be brought together to stop them and possibly save of destroy the Mojave. Would be interesting idea for the next RP.)
(Well, don't worry, I would never touch anyone's bodily fluids(which is how Ebola spreads) and they have everyone it could have possibly spread to monitored and quarantined. Also, that's an interesting, though with Troy he couldn't have been raised by the Legion, he would just be another person, same with Nathen. They would have to be captured then "re-educated") Daren nodded, "I see there, sir. Well, I'ld think we might want ta take tha big guy down first, if he realizes there's people after high rankin raiders, he might go inta hiding. So lets start with him then go from there."
"Killer Bee it is then, this shouldn't be that difficult." Edward said, heading to the north east of the town that soon left him standing I front of a large building that from what the ghoul could tell, had about hundred or so raiders. He did appear to be a threat in the city, although his power was considerable if he decided to expand. Edward took his revolvers out and soon vanished,inside of the building through his master infiltration skills. It was him against a hundred raiders, something that didn't particularly stack into his favour. If he was going to succeed, he was going to get creative...
Daren had followed Edward but decided to distract the garrison while Edward snuck in. At the main entrance, Daren started making a big racket, yelling at the building, challenging the raiders to come out. When that didn't work, he threw a grenade at the front door, blasting it open. That did the trick, "I said, COME AND GET ME!" he bellowed into the blasted out hole before readying his gatling laser, "Send your best at me, I'll beat them in hand to hand!" He yelled. "Fine then, ye bastard." A deep voice replied, then a 8 foot tall rsider stwpped up, looking like he was built out of nothing but pure muscle. Daren grinned behind his helmet as he put his gatling laser up and raised his fists as the massive raider did the same, "Ya a big fella, aintcha? That's okay, I like a challenge." Daren challenged. The raider narrowed his eyes and bellowed as he charged Daren, which Daren easily doged at the last second, dragging his leg behind him to trip the raider, who faceplanted in the dirt behind Daren. The raider got up, "Ye damn bastard! I'll make ye pay fer that! Come an' face me like a man!" Daren raided his fists again, taking off his helmet to show his confident face to the raider, "Nah, I wanna play a bit before I kill ya." "RAAAH!" The raider charged again, and this time right as the raider reached Daren and tried to punch him on the run, a punch Daren deflected as he sidestepped, allowing his arm to slide down the Raider's arm, catching him in an armbar, which, due to the raider's momentum, sent him swinging around until his was facefirst on the ground, his arm in an arm bar, and Daren's knee in his back. "Pitiful." Daren said before releasing the raider and kicking him onto his back, "Up! Give me a challenge!" (Oh! Idea! Maybe Edward is watching Daren fight that massive raider, it gave him the basic idea for what Damien ends up using in hand to hand)
(Could work for his early hand to hand skill, since Damien didn't invent Mokara until some point in the late 2260's. He could have learnt some of the basics through Edward or Aaron.) Edward watched Daren bring a gigantic raider to the ground, just watching him you with him while the raider got angrier and angrier. Watching his movements did give him an idea, but he would need to focus on them later. He needed to trim the fat Edward placed some trip wire onto an entire bundle of grenades and explosives that were hidden inside of a box of supplies, all of which happen to be some stolen grenades. It sounded like a party upstairs, with what Edward could assume was around 50 to 60 people. Killer Bee likely wasn't in the room, but it didn't matter. Once help broke loose, any possible fires that couldn't be contained would leave those upstairs with no escape route other than jumping out the building, one relatively tall building onto the pavement below. Edward wired each grenade with the wire and ensured that once the wife was triggered, they all released the pins at once. The ghoul vanished from sight once some raiders went to deliver the supplies and simply walked out the building. He certainly didn't want to be in the building if he made an error for how powerful the explosives really were. He decided to watch the fight between Daren and the raider, although he was happy to join in if the brute wanted to tangle with the gunslinger
Daren dodged a ferocious right hook from the raider, turning to use his entire body to make the punch more effective as he ducked to send a left hool into the gut of the raider, which, when combined with his power fist, almost pushed the raider of the ground. Daren quickly decided to finish it as the raidee got to his feet again, holding his stomach. The raider attack once more, to which Daren responded by ctaching with one hand, sending an uppercut into the raider's elbow as he held the arm, which instantly broke. The raider roared in pain, and only got louder as Daren yanked the raider's arm down, forcing him to bow. Then, delivering a crescent kick to the raider's head sent him to the ground. There, Daren stomped on the raider's head until it broke underneath his foot, and it was obvious the raider was dead. Stepping back, Daren looked over at Edward who he had noticed come put, "Did ya get Killer Bee, sir?"
A silence befell the two as the wind seemed to blow past, not long before Edward had a small yet noticeable grin on his face. "Wait for it....." Around three seconds later, the entire mid-floor exploded violently alongside most of the upper-half, which was soon in flames. The noise of the explosion alone could have been heard across The Hub, the shockwave was even more so. Brahmin could be heard far in the distance crying while dogs began to yelp. Whatever authority's in the city came over to see what the chaos was about. Easily 70 Raiders were killed in the devastating attack, with the remainder being trapped upstairs and were now jumping to their deaths. Edward then came back to answer Daren's question. "Killer Bee isn't around, although we've just eliminated his entire personal army. I doubt we would be hearing from him again anyway. It's a shame, really. He sounded like the nicest guy..." Edward said sarcastically at the end before taking his revolver out lazily and putting down a raider who was blanketed in flames and screaming in agony. All without looking. "He would have no choice but to either start somewhere else, and with the message we've just sent to all of the other raider gangs, I'm sure that they would be terrified of what's happened today." The building containing the former hideout of Killer Bee collapsed in a pile of flames and scrap metal, all the while that any of the survivors inside were screaming at the top of their lungs as the floor above them collapsed downwards. Edward looked at the carnage before turning to face Daren. "I think it's time we got out of here..." (Time-skip ?)
The group then went back and forth across the Hub, eliminating any raider gangs or convincing them that the Hub wasn't the best place to operate anymore. Most preferred extinction rather than diplomacy however, some of the raiders on chems not even caring. Daren would be known for his huge physique, intimidating power armour and his signature weapon of choice. Edward took this to eleven, where his pre-war reputation as "The Legendary Gunslinger" returned, where the ghoul eliminated twelve raiders that circled him, while emptying both of his revolvers in the process, in less than three seconds. They headed outside of the Hub for their final target, one last Raider gang to deal with before they had a job well done.
