บท 578: Coordinated Attack

Regardless of her own discontent at failing the test again, Josie just sends a smile toward Tamia, "Congratulations Tamia, you've earned it... What're you going to do now?"

Tamia shrugs, "Take a break probably, see what else House wants... You know, the usual."

Josie purses her lips and glances around conspiratorily, "You sure that's it?..."

...

"Yeah... Unless you know something I don't." Tamia inquires, wondering where this was going.

The duo get out of their armour and head to the showers to clean themselves off of the grime and sweat they'd collected throughout the days training. While washing their hair, Josie broaches the subject yet again, though, this time more directly. "So, er, I was wondering... You sure there's nothing going on between you and Afton?"

Tamia clicks her tongue at the question she'd been waiting for, "Yeah, I'm sure-"

Josie continues, "-Because, to me and the others it definitely feels like it..."

"As I said last time, we aren't involved in any way... Aside from some friendly flirting, there's nothing." she states with finality.

...

"Then, you wouldn't mind if I... You know..." Josie trails off.

Tamia crooks a brow, "I thought you were interested in Boone? He not scratching that itch anymore?" she questions, somewhat amused.

Josie huffs, "That dour grump won't even look at anything vaguely female... Considering what happened to his wife, I don't blame him though. If I wasn't aware of his past then I'd have thought he was gay or something." she says with mirth.

Tamia snorts but accidentally sucks in some water from the shower, breaking into a choked laugh, "A-alright! Can we not talk about this in the shower? I might drown if we keep on!"

"Fine, fine... But we'll continue this later, you have my word!" she states, shaking her head like a dog and leaving to dry her hair, all while Tamia is deep in thought, considering the conversation.

That night :

"*Bzztch!* Send in the decoy, squad keep sights on target.*Bzztch!*" a quiet yet firm voice states through their radio. They were currently observing a wall through the scope of their sniper, which wall? Well, considering the large Bulwark logo painted across it, it obviously belonged to Novac...

The NCR presence in the area had been drastically reduced since the debate between Ambassador Crocker and Afton, but this wasn't only due to public outcry and reputation management... It was also to lull the leaders of Novac into a false sense of security.

The decoy, a junky called Derpate who'd been paid with a large sack of Jet, timidly steps forth towards the heavily armed walls of Novac... The guards atop the wall quickly notice him and go about the usual procedure, finding out who they are, why they are here, and what level of authority is needed to deal with it...

Of course, Derpate had already been drilled in exactly what to say, and while he was a stuttering idiot, he managed to complete his lines with some amount of credibility. He was posing as a merchant from a large brahmin baron who wished to trade food with Novac, which of course, required the presence of the towns Mayor, Daisy.

Thirty minutes after Derpate introduced himself, Daisy could be seen walking across the wall to address the junky. Who was getting increasingly more nervous due to the fact he knew exactly what was about to happen.

Far away from Novac, the leader of the NCR Ranger squad begins ordering his men through the radio, his sights quickly locking on Daisy as soon as she's visible. "*Bzztch!* Sights on target, aim for vitals, clean kill. Retreat as soon as the target is down, I don't want to test how far those defences can reach.*Bzztch!*"

The four sniper teams all quickly aim their weapons at Daisy, one focusing on her head, one on her neck, one on her heart, and one on her abdomen which aimed where her spine and vital arteries should be.

Daisy stops stop where Derpate was standing and starts addressing him in a bored tone, wondering why this trader had decided to arrive so late in the night... She'd been playing a game of Caravan with Orion and Arcade Gannon and was about to win a fair amount of caps from the both of them, which is why she was slightly miffed about having to come out here...

She only realised something was wrong when the 'trader' struggled to even account for what he wished to trade for... But by then, it was already too late to do anything... She never even heard the weapons being fired as lead passes through her head, grazes her neck, punches through her heart, and obliterates her liver...

Daisy Whitman, loyal friend of Afton, Mayor of Novac, and former member of the Enclave abruptly dropped to the floor with blood pooling from every orifice. Her death was instant, which would be a small consolation to those close with her... Though, this fact would be outweighed by the manner in which she'd been killed... In a cowardly assassination, the people responsible for which would quickly be named by Afton's spies working under Ambassador Crocker.

Of course, the defences of Novac quickly jumped into action to retaliate for the random attack, spraying lightning bolts at Derpate who was quickly incinerated before turning their sights on where the gunfire had come from... Unfortunately, none of them was able to tag any of the fleeing NCR rangers, primarily due to the inherent inaccuracy Arc Weaponry carried.

Orion and Arcade quickly arrive after hearing the commotion, both looking on in horror at Daisy's corpse. They rush over and the latter tries to see if there is anything he could do for her, but reluctantly admits to himself that she was already long dead before they got there... "M-Moreno... She's gone..." he solemnly whispers.

Orion however was less shocked and more enraged, quickly standing and looking off in the distance for whoever had committed the act, he was so angry in fact that he may have been willing to leap off of the wall and charge the enemy with his bare fists alone.