We moved in a light jog towards the sound of the gunfight. The closer we got the more destroyed the buildings got until we reached near the sound where it stopped. As we rounded the corner it became pretty obvious why this was. There was a group of maybe five Kings huddled in the shelter of a prewar bus stop while a squad of tense NCR soldiers stood with guns down the street all waiting for one of the gang members to stick their heads out.-
I noticed that neither side was too badly dinged up despite clearly expending quite a few rounds and breathed a sigh of relief at this.
"We aren't too late to break this up thankfully. Jess, Boone you two head for the soldiers and try to convince them to let the Kings walk. Maybe point out how killing them would sour things between Freeside and the NCR. Veronica is with me to go talk the Kings down." I said seriously and no one argued.
"Don't shoot! We are here to mediate!" I yelled as we walked out where both sides could see us with our hands visible at all times.
Both sides tensed at our arrival but held their fire as we split apart and went to go negotiate with our respective sides.
"You've either got balls of steel or a death wish putting yourself in the middle of this, stranger." One of the Kings said as I walked up with Veronica.
"Just trying to keep anymore blood from being shed and making things worse is all." I said in a friendly manner.
"I think you might be wasting your time then. Don't think there's any walking away without a tango here." he said seriously.
"Can you walk me through what caused the problem? We might be able to talk the NCR down if we understand the issue." I said frankly.
"We were doing our walkabouts like usual and saw some of the soldier boys roughing up one of the locals. They didn't take too kindly to us stepping in and things escalated until we reached here. One of the bastards got Gregory in the leg. It's bleeding something fierce and we think it might have hit something important." he said spitting on the ground as he cast a worried glance at the pale Kings member sitting on the rusted bench shivering as a puddle of red sat under him.
I clapped my hands and a stimpack appeared in my palm.
"Here. He's suffering from blood loss and that wound needs to be closed or he'll die of it. The hole might need to be opened again to dig out the bullet after you use this but it's better than dying right?" I say as I offered the thing.
The guy in charge softened a bit in expression "Alright. You're doing right by us so we'll trust you this once. You get the soldier boys to back off and we'll leave without any more trouble." he said seriously as he took the syringe.
I nod "We'll do what we can." I say firmly before heading over to where Jess and Boone were.
"Well?" Jess asked while the soldiers listened.
"I've talked them down. So long as no one opens fire they'll be gone with no more trouble here." I say seriously.
"So that's it? They start this and just get to walk away?" One of the soldiers said with an angry expression.
"I've already heard their side of how this started but why not tell yours so the record of who started this is clear?" I asked calmly.
The soldier got angry instantly.
"They obviously started it so what does it matter if we tell our side?" he said with an uncomfortable shift in place.
"Because I will be reporting this matter to the officer in charge of this area and it's important that we get our facts straight. If they did start this then your story will say as much right?" I said exposing the problem to the others that had gotten dragged into this matter.
"Like I said they started it, isn't that enough?" he pressed slightly aggressively.
"I need details. WHY did they start it? What exactly were you doing that made them come over?" I pressed as the other soldiers started to understand that something was wrong.
"Just tell him what happened man."
"Yeah just explain already."
The other soldiers all chimed in as they wanted to get done with this as well and smelled that something didn't quite match up. The original soldier went pale and absolutely quiet as he refused to speak anymore.
"So it's true then. You were picking on a local." I said flatly and the guy stiffened.
""What!?""
The collective reaction was not a happy one.
"That's the story I got from the Kings and his unwillingness to explain paints a pretty clear picture. He was bullying one of the locals and the Kings found him doing it, things escalated from there. Now that we have the right and wrong of the situation settled can I go tell those fellows over there they can leave without getting shot in the back like cowards would?" I asked after my explanation.
"You'll get no arguments from us. This farce has gone too far and for too long." the soldier clearly in charge said with angry glares focused on what I assume was the original troublemakers.
With a nod I headed over to the Kings.
"Good news chaps, turns out the majority of the NCR soldiers didn't know the reason the fight broke out to begin with and aren't happy about it now that they do. They'll let you walk nice and easy. My friends and I will stand between them and you though as an extra layer of cover in case it was just lip service. Sound good?" I asked after updating them.
"I'll make sure The King hears about this. You cats ever need anything in Freeside and the Kings will make sure to see you right." the leader of this group said seriously as he helped up the one named Gregory stand up using him as a crutch.
As promised my group walked with them as a wall of bodies between the Kings and the NCR soldiers that watched passively as we rounded the corner. Once we were sure there'd be no trickery my group split away and continued on our original path to Mick and Ralph's to get those passes.