A few days after the raid, and as the Base was built up, a patrol was sent out, to the mysterious structure at the far end of the road. A team of 5 was set up and given a humvee to drive there.
Sargent Sabastian Wells would lead, having served in Iraq, the longest in his group, having 3 tours. He drove the humvee and kept an eye out for dangers as he drove, he tuned the radio, finding "Mr. New Vegas" and listening, his form of info gathering.
Leon Cooke was next, he was quiet, and was often reading when in the base, but was fairly knowledgeable. He was reading the various journals and books that were in good condition, seeing what was different, from what he could tell, the biggest change was, he didn't really know, more time would be needed.
Ethan Murphy was a marksmen, he kept his eyes open most of the time, looking for danger, he had looked around the town and found dust piles with a few coins, one with a man's face, the other with three people standing. He also had found a weapon, a boxy gun with many poorly designed elements, no sights, a lever that was loose, and a big D Battery sized object that was fused to the gun. He toyed with it every so often, seeing if it could work.
Sophia Long was a the automatic weapons operator, and was going over the documents, found in the town, after reading recovered documents, there was reference to "Caps" bottle caps, so she had asked for the bottle caps that were recovered from the bodies and around town. She wanted to test a possible hypothesis that was developing.
Finally, there was Mark Jackson, a young soldier, he was the rookie of the group, and was to be in the back seat, having the grenade launcher on his gun, he was also a gun nut. He was to ride with, be an extra set of eyes and ears. He happen to serve for about 6 months before he was brought here, he had never seen combat before.
"Ok everyone, load up, Mark, you're on the gun." Sebastian stated.
The soldiers climbed into the vehicle, preparing, Mark got on the turret machine gun, racking the first round into the chamber. The Humvee's engine roared to life, and the basic gate that was set up was opened, before the Humvee drove out of the base.
As the team drove down the road, they passed by a set of destroyed buildings. A camp fire was there, but no signs of life. Getting closer to an intersection, they saw movement, giant ants and scorpions. Mark took aim.
"Permission to fire?" Mark asked.
"Granted." Sebastian said, pulling to a stop some ways away.
Mark squeezes the trigger, and the machine gun roared to life. The ants died, exploding as the rounds tore through the body of the large insects. Sebastian's began to move slowly forward, seeing a lower ramp heading north on the road, before Mark turned, firing a few short bursts, killing larger ants. As the soldiers walked over to investigate the ants, Leon picked up a blown off leg.
"Don't bugs stay small due to oxygen levels?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, mostly, some times they grow large due to radiation, or by chance." Leon said, shaking the leg, seeing it break, and fall to the ground.
Mark looked up, too many cars and vehicles in the way, have to go on foot.
"Mark, Ethan, stay with the Humvee. Leon, Sophia, come with me." Sebastian said.
"Roger." They all said, following the order.
They climbed the hill, reaching the top, and were stopped, by soldiers, and saw a flag, of a two headed bear.
"New California Republic." Sebastian read, shading his eyes to see the flag.
"Yep, this is the Mojave outpost. I heard gunfire. I also saw you got a car up and working, pretty impressive." The soldier said.
"I have a few questions, hoping you can answer." Sargent Wells said.
"Well, I can try my best, but, I'm no expert, what do you need to know?" The soldier asked.
"Me and my friends are new to the region. We came across the town down East, empty, bunch of my friends are setting up there. What's going on, we are not local, came pretty far from here." Sargent Wells said.
"Nipton was empty, we haven't heard from them in a while? Did you find any locals?" The soldier asked, confused.
"Yeah, dead, some crucified, dogs, some guys in red left some dead guys too." Sebastian said.
"The Legion! This far west? They aren't even waiting for the dam to fall now. Thanks for the info, anything else you have to say?" He asked.
"We are the US military, Nipton, is our base, so...just be careful approaching the town with soldiers." Sebastian said.
"O....ok." The man said, getting slightly pale.
The soldiers walked past the man, and the statues, entering a fenced area, As the team stuck together, the group kept their eyes open, shifting glances. As the group walked into a building, they saw they were in a bar. The air was cooler, the covered windows helped. The area was empty, mostly, a few people sitting around, some drinking.
"Huh, must be the other building." Wells said.
Sophia walked up to the bar and sat down.
"What do you got that doesn't have alcohol?" She asked.
"Sun set, Water, and Cola, take your choice." The bar tender said.
"Cola." Sophia said.
"20 caps." The bar tender said.
Sophia put the twenty bottle caps on the table.
"So bottle caps are used for money? Makes sense, this place is a desert, water must be scarce, water holds value." Sophia said.
The bartender laughed, seeing the soldier look at the nuka-cola. She swiped the caps off of the counter, and placed them in a pouch.
Sophia opened the bottle and drank it, before putting another 20 caps on the bar.
"I'll take another." She said.
As the bottle was handed to her, she put it in her bag's pocket, before looking at the Sargent.
"Hey, it tastes like Coke." She said.
Sebastian walked to the other building, seeing a man at a desk, "Major Knight" on a small office name tag sign.
"Caravan, citizen, pilgrim or what?" He asked, almost having a glazed expression.
"Soldiers, we are hoping you can, tell us a few answers to some questions." Wells said.
"Well, we've been, let's say my group has been underground and away for a while, what's the NCR?" Wells asked.
"You must be vault dwellers. Well, the NCR is the New California Republic. We are planning to bring peace and hope to the world that was left by the Great War. To catch you up, We're currently in conflict with the Legion, bunch of blood thirsty killers all East of the Colorado. We pushed them back 4 years ago, but they still seem to be an issue now. Along with them, the Powder Gangers are the next issue, more present, convicts who escaped the NCR Correctional Facility. They hav3 a lot of Dynamite." Knight explained, looking up.
His eyes scanned the older looking soldier, bits of grey hairs could be seen, giving Sebastian an older appearance than he actually was.
"So, why do you have the old world flag on you, what? Found some old uniforms, started a mercenary band?" He asked.
"As I said, we are soldiers, of the United States." Wells said.
Knight shifted nervously, placing a check mark on the book.
