บท 25: They Went That Way!
Sheriff's office, or should I say, Sheriff's shack, because it looked more like a shack than an office. In front of it, a man was sitting on a chair, wearing leather armor while smoking a cigarette. He was wearing a star on his armor, he was probably his deputy.
"Excuse me, are you the sheriff? Or am I speaking with his deputy?" I asked the man.
"You're speaking with the sheriff. Ah, are you that bigshot?" He asked.
"Bigshot?"
"The one that thought can take away the job of the law reinforcement."
"Excuse me? No, sir, I don't have any intention to take over the law reinforcement. I am only a helper, sir," I said, trying to be respectful even though I was greeted with sudden hostility. What this sheriff was doing instead of guarding his townsfolk? And how in the bloody hell a Legion slaving party managed to get to the town without anyone noticing?
This sheriff looked unscratched as well, I didn't know what he did to protect the town. Either he was a good shooter, or he did nothing to protect the entire town. Well, I wouldn't be the wiser. I only wanted to know where they went.
"Sir, do you know where the Legion take those people from this town?" I asked him, politely, trying not to piss him off.
"What people?"
"Huh? You know, the people of Primm, those who live here. Wait, you don't even notice it?" I started to get suspicious.
"Ah, yes, the Legion, heh? Shot some of those people from afar with my revolver, bang bang bang!" The sheriff put his hand like a pistol and gestured as if he was shooting at something or someone. Well, a good lead, I suppose.
"Do you know where they are going?" I asked him again.
"Ah, they are going to the South of this town," he said.
"And then?" I asked because as far as I could tell, every single people left this town either through the North or through the south. So, the sheriff's tip was as useful as a knife against a deathclaw.
"Sorry kid, I don't know much, it was dark."
"Thank you, sir." I nodded and left him. However, I mumbled afterward. "Thank you for nothing."
Great, now I didn't have any lead on where those people went, thanks to the useless sheriff of this town. Where should I go next, then? Thinking about it, why should I do this job instead of this town sheriff, huh? Out of moral reason, I guess? I shook my head, not wanting to think about it.
I had two options, and asking anyone in this town was out of the options. I would try both. I'd ask Ranger Ghost at Mojave Outpost first to know whether she noticed slavers from the Legion or not. She always stood on the roof of the outpost's barrack, she might get a visual of it. She was a sniper, her rifle's bullet might not be able to reach Primm, but her eyes sure did.
Second, I needed to go to Nipton to ask whether they saw something out of the ordinary. The only way after going South would be East since going South would only lead to Mojave Outpost which meant NCR territory. The Legion might be a little bit crazy for its standard, but it was not that stupid to go blitzkrieg towards one of the well-fortified positions in Mojave Wasteland.
Alright, so, which place should I visit first? The answer was obvious, that place would be Lacey and Mojave Outpost. I could get ammo to restock, alongside information. I doubted that the fight against Legion would be swift. In fact, I wanted to request for backup. I was just alone, and there might be more than six legionaries that I had to fight all by myself.
So, with that in mind, I headed out of Primm and headed North once again, under the afternoon sun. It was shining quite brightly and really made me drenched in this thick sweat thanks to the thickness of this NCR trooper armor. No wonder NCR soldiers always wished for a nuclear winter. This armor was hot as hell. Maybe there was a place in the North of here where I could cool myself from this hell called Mojave. There was a place in the North, Portland or something, I might visit sometimes.
I climbed up the hill towards Mojave Outpost and eventually arrived just right when the sun was going to go down. No way I'd be going to Nipton after this, I'd be better off if to sleep in Mojave Outpost first. Sorry, Primm's people, if I didn't even know where the Legion took you, I'd not be able to rescue you in the first place.
After arriving, one of the soldiers greeted me, "Welcome back to the outpost, sir."
Yeah, they had treated me rather well after some errands that I did for the NCR during my one-week stay there, ranging from being an extra hand to being another mine placer for Ranger Jackson. Ranger Ghost also asked me to check on Nipton every once in a while. So, basically, I was quite liked. And no, I didn't get paid for doing all of that. It was just a little bit of a good gesture after providing me with a place to sleep.
I walked up to the roof of the barrack and approached Ranger Ghost. She was sitting down on a chair while looking at the ground below using her binoculars. The moment I stepped my foot onto the roof, she immediately nodded in my direction.
"You stick around like a sore thumb, do you know that?" She asked coldly. She then smiled. "I'm just messing around, what can I do for you?"
"Did you see any Legion heading off from Nipton last night?" I asked.
She nodded, "In fact, I did see a group of them coming from Primm heading to the East using Ivanpah, probably sneaking around Nipton. Managed to take a potshot at one of them using my new rifle, the rest immediately scattered, though."
"Ah, shit. Well, do you have any idea where they are going?" I asked.
"I don't know, probably going to cross Colorado. Still, I had an idea that they must be between Searchlight and Nipton. I heard from RC Charlie that they suspected that there was a Legion encampment between those two locations. So, as a matter of fact, try searching above the three-way junction near that ranch after you went past Nipton. I think they must be there," Ghost said.
Wolfhorn Ranch. It must have been the ranch that Ghost meant. Well, there were a lot of places to hide there. I might be able to search for the Legion presence around that location. Not too far that I reached Searchlight, but it was not that close to Nipton. Hmm, what a janky location.
"I'll call RC Charlie later."
"Thanks for the help," I said.
"Anything I can do for our NCR friend," she said.
"Can I ask for an NCR backup?" I asked.
Ghost mumbled, "Mmmm, I'll need to ask Ranger Jackson for that. I'll vouch for you."
"Alright, thank you again, Ghost."
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