(Good idea) Cato and his elite Century made it down into a intake pipes as they quickly made it through the pipes. Once they made it out of the pipes, the entire Century swiftly reinforced the Legion attack already occurring inside of the Dam. Resistance was already stiff on both sides and the Legion has already pushed forwards at a surprising rate, Cato's arrival with his elite Century completely solidified control of the lower levels of the Dam and the defenders, although still managing to put up a fight, completely changed the entire battle for the lower sections of the Dam. Cato used his Brush Gun to take down three Veteran Rangers while they tried to desperately hold the line before taking his machete and stabbing an attacking solider with a knife in the throat. Cato was coming for Oliver, and he was going to ensure that the Legion won this battle or died trying. On the top of the Dam, it was different. The NCR, despite receiving casualties surprisingly quickly, had managed to hold out a surprisingly defensive line that drew the two armies to a stalemate and unable to advance. Artillery was recalibrated so that it would fire again with as much range as possible. Despite the NCR's defences, the Great Khans thought otherwise as they arrived behind the main forces. Jess was hurt, but still needed to keep fighting. She took her pistol and shot two Legionaries in the heart, only to narrowly dodge a bullet that was fired from the Rifle from a Legionary.
Despite the Khan attack, the Veterans and Nathan on the ridge were able to help defeat them with relative swiftness, followed by detonating the bridge leading away from the Dam as the Legion scrapped a control of 80% of the Dam and leaving the defenses on the last lines, but the Legion artillery crew, used to firing on a purely hostile enemy, ended up firing on their own men as well as they tried to finish off the Battle.
Cato burst down the doors as him and two other Legionary bodyguards stared down General Oliver and whatever bodyguards he had at the time, all of whom were Veteran Rangers. Oliver tried to keep up the appearance that the NCR still had a chance of winning the battle, but when radio communication started to go silent among some officers and the Legion holding the vast majority of the Dam, this was nearly impossible. Cato looked at the General as a blue forcefield protected him from harm. "Imperator Octavius..." Oliver replied. The General was clearly trying to mask the fact that the NCR wasn't going to win the battle, and was quietly terrified of the man in a Crimson duster and his bodyguards. Between some discussion, Cato made one final offer to the General. "General lee Oliver, I'm going to give you a choice. Either leave the Mojave , or die." Cato said before looking Oliver dead in the eye. "Your move" Oliver then smirked before another figure walked out of the shadows, an older figure with greying brown hair and a gruff beard. The figure wore the typical Veteran Ranger armor, except that he wore the NCR flag as a cape. He had piercing blue eyes and looked at the man below the staircase. He looked at the figure and smiled, but out of sadness. "Hello Cato...or Damien" Aaron said. "I'm your father."
Janius growled as he was forced to stay behind cover from the sniper fire. Because of this, he never noticed the NCR had gone on the offensive until a grenade landed next to him. He tried as best as he could to jump out of the blast radius, but soon it exploded. When he came to his senses, his ears were ringing, his eardrums ringing as his eyesight returned, and his stomach dropped, he was being held aloft over the edge of the Dam by a nest of ruined rebar. He wasnt quite yet back enough yet to move, so he slowly moved his head to the side, and his heart sank. An NCR soldier holding the Eagle standard in the air, No... he thought weakly before pain shot through his body suddenly, looking down, he saw shrapnel peircing his legs. He could hear a radio say, "this is correct! Reinforcements have arrived! The Western Dam surface and Lower Levels one and two have been recovered! We're back in the battle boys!" Janius narrowed his eyes,waiting for a shell to hit to help blunt the attack, but it never came. The howitzer barrel had gotten too hot, and a shell exploded inside the barrel, killing the crew. Janius knew he was out of the battle, but he had to get off the rebar, or a long rolling fall would be his fate.
Cato looked at the older figure in disbelief, the older figure looking back at his son while he spoke in a deep tone. "Oliver, barricade yourself in the office with your men. I'll deal with this." Oliver nodded as him and his men suddenly ran back upwards towards the main room. Aaron began to head downwards towards the room, the flag of the bear proudly swaying in the artificial wind. Cato also followed the direction he was heading, the two bodyguards ready to proudly follow their Imperator until Cato raised a hand to stop them. "Go back to the battle, do NOT let the Republic win this battle!" he said quietly yet in a serious tone. The two bodyguards nodded as they vanished. Cato went up the staircase until they found themselves in a long hallway on the top floor, roughly fifty meters from his father. The two of them slowly walked towards each other before entering a jog, then a run. Soon, the two warriors came towards each other and entered their final battle. Words would be meaningless, only through violence can they talk.
Janius crawled up onto the Dam once more, groaning as he threw off his helmet. The NCR and Legion were now in a pitched battle on the Eastern side of the Dam, this time, the NCR having to deal with the fact only a certain number of troops could cross at one time, however, the Legion's defensive weakness cancelled this out. But it remained a stalemate. Meanwhile, Janius crawled forward and behind a curved sandbag, propping himself up against it as he grunted in pain as he started slowly pulling the shrapnel.on his own.
The first blows of the two men slammed into each other like a freight train that sent the two of them backwards. Once they recovered, Cato began to notice that his real father seemed to be incredible. Despite the fact that he was sixty years old, he moved around like a man decades younger. Cato was physically stronger and faster, but Aaron was more skilled. About five minutes into the fight, the two men were neck and neck at each other. The two of them engaged in a brutal sword fight that physically wore down each combatant. The two clashed blades with each other as they looked at each other, as if Cato was almost fighting an older copy of himself. Aaron smiled as he looked at his son. "You're pretty good" Aaron said as the two of them backed away, Cato then took a throwing knife and threw it at his father, who managed to catch the blade in mid-air and throw it back at his son. Cato sidestepped as the two of them read each other's minds, putting their blades away and dealing to finally settle things. Hand to hand combat to the death.
Janius opened his eyes as he pulled out the last peice of grenade shrapnel, to the sight of three rangers staring down at him, guns leveled. "Well...[censored]"
The two warriors were tired as Cato finally delivered the killing blow. Aaron accidentally misjudged an attack and as a result, both of his arms were brutally broken. Cato then hit his father in multiple points of his body before slamming the palm of his hand directly into his fathers heart. Aaron coughed blood as he looked up at Cato and weakly smiled. "Well done....Damien." he said before backing up slowly from his son and collapsing against the wall, finally dying and going out with a smile. Cato paused for a second before looking upstairs. He still had a job to do.
The Legion fell back from the Dam, the front line had finally shattered, so the NCR soldiers gave chase, thinking they had won the day and now just had to make sure they cleared the Legion out once and for all. But little did they know, Lanius had held back with his Praetorians, knowing that if the attack failed, the NCR would naturally counter attack further into Arizona to stop the Legion from having another chance to rebuild, and if he could trap and destroy them, the victory of the Dam would go to him, not those Cato and Janius fellows. He watched as the NCR charged through a small valley, chasing and massacring the fleeing Legionaires when he gave the Legion's last gamble. Standing up, he held his massive sword aloft for his Praetorians to see, and they shoved several boulders down the walls of the valley. Then they charged (well, as fast as they could without falling head over heels down the valley walls), attacking the NCR front from both flanks. It wasn't the whole army, but it would hopefully be enough to force an NCR retreat. ******** Oliver's voice suddenly came over the intercom in the interior of the Dam just as the NCR forced the Legion from the third lower level, leaving only one more left that was contested, "Attention Legionaires and "imperator" Cato. You have lost, we have captured your standard, we have driven your friends entirely from the Dam, we have captured your second in command, one "Janius Truvus", as we speak our Troopers are laying waste to your Fort. Every NCR camp has held. You. Have. Lost. Surrender or commit suicide while you can still keep your "honor"." Janius looked down at the ground in shame as he sat tied to a chair as the intercom crackled out, the two Veterans guarding him staring at him angrily from behind their masks, he could feel the effort they were exerting not to execute him. They were deep inside the now NCR held part of the Dam, hidden away. "The Legion shalll not die as you wish it would." Janius started, before chuckling, "You know...I have personally killed over a hundred of you Profligates in my time in the Mojave, and captured 5 times that many." He grinned menacingly at them, "Think about that, five HUNDRED of your soldiers now fighting for your sworn enemy, having completely forgotten their old lives. I wonder if any of them were here today...I wonder how many of your own soldiers you killed today. And how many they killed of their own countrymen." "Shut up, prisoner, or we'll make you." one replied coldly. "Oooh, I see, trying to degrade me by calling me prisoner? How clever. You don't think I don't know about NCR's little "POW" protection laws? Every Legion soldier does. Everyone you fight does. And you know what else? The NCR is dying. And trying to fight us in the East will only accelerate that fall." "We don't give a damn about about the law, there's only two of us in here, and both of us would simply say it was an accident." the other replied, "So shut your mouth prisoner, or you may go following in the footsteps of your "Caesar" soon enough." Janius chuckled, shaking his head as he looked down at his leg, "Eh...I likely don't have too much longer left anyways."
The door was opened as Cato stood amongst the door, both doors creaking loudly as bloodstains adorned the walls and the dead bodies behind him. He seen Janius nearby Oliver and his bodyguard, a blood stain across the left side of his face almost acted as warpaint. The Veterans instantly reacted as they pointed their weapons at him, Cato not moving or flinching in the slightest at the sight. He wasn't surrendering, nor was he ready to deck the halls with Oliver's profligate blood. He just stood there...
"Dont even bother giving him a sappy speech about how the Legion has lost the Dam and he should just give up." Janius remarked sarcastically to Oliver, "It will be for not. How are you over there ol friend? I seem to be a little...Tied up at the moment. Damn grenades!" It was obvious Janius was now feeling the effects of blood loss, "Hey uhm...Guys? I think your tourniquet...isnt quite...working..." Janius then slipped into unconciousness. Oliver looked over at Cato, how all guns were on him, and everyone had to know that even if Cato made the first move, he would be gunned down, "Tell you what. If I give you Janius back, you leave the Hoover Dam? Take your Legion somewhere else to fight? Because let me tell you. I am damn certain this battle has left your Legion far too bloodied to occupy the entire territory against a hostile populace. Go, while you have a chance. Take this as my one mercy. But just know, I do not expect it to be the last. I know you will come back if you take my offer. So I'll leave it up to you. Take this Janius and leave amd the Legion survives, or you and the Legion dies in this room." ***** Lanius reached down as he felt a strange pain in his gut. Pulling his hand back, it was covered in red crimson blood. Some NCR trooper had gotten ahold of armored piercing rounds and with a single shot, destroyed the myth of Lanius' invinciblity. The second shot put a new whole clean through his helmet, and Lanius, the Monster of the East, fell back on his back. Dead, soon followed by the majoritt of his guard, who had only managed to kill their own number in NCR soldiers.
Cato just walked through the door and picked Janius up without a word and lifting him behind his shoulders. The Veterans kept their distance and were ready to take him down at a moments notice. He walked to the doorway and stopped for a moment before turning his head and looking at Oliver. "I'll be back...." With that, Cato took his second in command and friend and went to leave the Dam. The Legion lost plenty of lives today and the battle, but the next time that the NCR encountered the Legion, the Republic would have no idea about who they would encounter. The Mojave was a set back, and the Legion was going to have it's Rome someday. The Legion could recover from a loss like this, as they are known to do, and recover at a fairly substantial rate. The Republic lost more then just a few thousand lives however, it was dying. The next time that the Bear would meet the Eagle, drastically different results were going to occur. ---------------------- Jess was on the ground, full of bullet holes and wounds and on the side of the road. Had it not been for the sudden reinforcements, she would have been dead. Medics were now treating her on the side of the road.
Nathan stood there at the top of the Fort, staring at the throne of Caesar, the smell of smoke in the air as the Troopers went about destroying the camp, but leaving the Fortifications. They were going to remake the Fort into their own, so that they could hold the East side of the Colorado. But...at the same time...Nathan felt...empty. as if he knew the NCR didn't deserve Vegas. No one did. No one but Vegas deserved Vegas. But he wasn't about to voice that opinion out loud. He then took one last mental picture of the sight he always wantes to see before setting the throne aflame, soon followed by the rest of the tent after anything of value had been recovered.
Once Jess was treated, she caught up just in time with Nathan to watch the throne burn. While it was powerful in terms of imagery, she knew the worst was yet to come. Imperator Cato took Janius from the Dam and retreated along with the rest of the Legion, but she knew that this victory wouldn't stop the Legion. Not by a long shot. Someday, the Legion will comeback to retake the Mojave. And when they did, the dying NCR would not survive. It can happen again, and it will happen again. The only answer would be when? ------------------------------------- Two weeks later, Flagstaff Arizona The Walkup Skydome was filled to the brim with thousands of Legionaries, alongside dozens upon dozens of important commanders. On a small podium and a small series of steps, Cato and the rest of the surviving Inner Circle followed the man as the Legionaries saluted in response with drums playing in the background. With the death of Legate Lanius, it was time for Cato’s time to take his place as the newest Caesar. An elaborate ceremony was to celebrate this monumental occasion in Flagstaff. Cato and Janius’s reforms would be almost effective immediately once Cato was crowned, a chance to breathe new life into the Legion and to defend itself against the receding Republic. The Republic lost an enormous amount of strength during the Mojave Campaign, and it's effects wouldn't be truly felt for many years. Dire food and water shortages, leadership corruption, and plenty of other problems already plague a weakened Republic. The Legion didn’t suffer as much of the problems that the Republic due to the nature of their society and being safer then the hell that was California, and were overall in a better shape. Once the reforms came into effect, it was projected that the Legion would sit where the NCR stands in terms of technology within ten to fifteen years. By the time that Cato is believed to reach his final days, the Legion would have evolved into an entirely new Empire. Cato was taking this reformation very seriously. Never again shall the Legion suffer such a monumental defeat or even faced death to a sickly Republic. Cato went onto the stage with eight praetorians and kneeled down before an incredibly old man dressed in red, the head priest of the Legion. Cato dressed with the same red coat that was given to him by Janius. However, he also wore a majestic red and white outfit taken from the pages of history. An old Legionary took a laurel crown made of gold from a table next to him and slowly placed it onto Cato’s head. Cries of cheer erupted from the Legionaries across the pre-war sports stadium, which had been converted to a gladiatorial arena during the time of Edward Sallow’s rule. Cato stood up and turned around to face the crowd before sitting down on the new throne. The new Caesar was now officially born, and Caesar Octavius was going to ensure that the new Legion was going to rise to the heavens themselves. “MARS!” Caesar roared, each man of the Legion thrusting their fists towards the sky “EXULTE!” They roared back, their combined voices shaking the stage. Cato raised his right fist into the sky like the other Legionaries. “JUPITER!” Cato bellowed, his voice louder than before. "EXULTE!The Legion screamed back before chanting the name of their emperor. This was the beginning of a brand new era of history, and nothing but miracles could be accomplished from this point onwards. Caesar’s Legion and the Bull was no more, a new Empire and the Eagle was born. No more was the weaker Legion, this new Empire was going to change the world. And sitting on his throne, Janius would be able to notice a small smile on the edge of the new Caesars lips, as if he knew everything that is going to happen in the near future. On his throne, Cato was smiling. On this moment, history was made and the Era of the Eagle had begun.
(I dont think the Legion would be strong emough to fight the NCR anywhere within a few years, remember, it took the Legion 5 years to recover from the first battle, it would likely take twice that, especially with the reforms, to recover it after the second. And if anything, that would push the battle even more in favor of the Legion as then then NCR wouldnt expect it, like they knew it would come eventually but years of nothing would make them go, "Eh, well, they haven't been back for the past 10 years, why would they return for the next ten?" Basically the lo ger they wait, the more opportunity for a surprise attack that the NCR is completely unprepared for.) Janius remained in treatment and therapy for his wounds, it was a miracle he even survived. If it hadn't been for the blast also cauterizing through burns most of his wounds outside where he was hit with shrapnel, he would have bled out there on the Dam. However, he wouldn't be able to fight again because he was renderwd forced to use a cane to support himself. So he decided to retire from military life and took up the role of reforming civilian life within the Legion as Cato reformed the military. He began encouraging the creation of a democratically elected Senate, which would mostly be an advisory system, but it would still give the people the feel of having their opinion in government. He knew this would end up being important now that the Legion has had contact with the NCR. He also turned a group of Fumentarii from soldiers to scholars who hunted the Wasteland for books on Old War tech and how to remake it. ***** Nathan wasn't there when Jess showed up, as he hsd gone down to the weather station. He had found this strange platinum chip with a small,note written by Caesar saying he intended to take it to the weather station for something. There, he found a console with a slot and a logo that had 38 on it, looking just like the Chip. So he slipped the Chip into the console and the doors opened. He went then went inside. Just inside, there was a small room that looked like a Vault, to see a bank of screens with on large one in the corner. One with the face of Mr House on it, "You aren't who I expected. But then again, the one I expected got killed, so no matter. I would like to make a deal with you." The screen said, "I'll be brief. Go into the Vault and at the end there is a computer, put the plainum chip in there and report back to me. In return, I promise you power, wealth, status, and a chance to make Vegas truly free."
(I was going to extend the recovery time by at least a couple decades, but I can assume that the Legion could potentially bounce back suddenly at the 15-20 year mark. Either way, they are in no rush to recover) The first thing that Cato done as the new Caesar was to focus on reviving the manufacturing sector in the Legion and to completely reform the military. The Legion had some surviving factories in the ruins Phoenix, Albuquerque and several other towns. While the Senate was being created, reviving the manufacturing was important to focus on the rebuilding effort on major cities while supplying the army with weaponry and armour. Cato seen that modernizing the military could take around five to ten years, and if manufacturing and schematics are restored and discovered, Pre-War power armour could potentially be fitted to Legionaries. Phoenix and Flagstaff were his first priorities since they were to closest. Around four factories were surviving and manufacturing for more advanced armour and weaponry with whatever schematics the Legion had began almost immediately. Training was being modified to incorporate guns as a major form of combat, almost being the same training that NCR Rangers receive except still physically demanding the Legionary to be in a better physical condition. Conquest would come later, it was a time to recover.
(Well, they could only make so many, after all, they only have so.many resources and it would become.more and more expensive with the mote you have to not only equip but maintain) Nathan worked quickly, he had decided he wouldn't let House, the NCR, or Legion (however defeated they were) from having the Mojave, as House he learned would focus almost entirely on Vegas itself, and possibly only the Strip, so, before House began his master plan to force the NCR to give up Vegas just before the vote on whether to join the Republic as its 5th state, he approached NCR officials and made a deal. In exchange for killing House and taking over his Sercuritrons, the NCR would pull out of the Mojave, however, they could continue to hold the Dam under Securitron supervision (and hopefully human soldiers of the Mojave someday down the line), and all captured buffer territory east of the Colorado, the stretch of land that at one time was the place with the highest concentration of Legion soldiers in the world had been turned into one massive fortress, with trencges and walls and gullies all connected strategically to force any new Legion assault to fight an enemy well entrenched in terrain that had been adapted to be the most defensible as possible, with bunkers scattered across the lines to ensure protection from any Legion army that got ahold of artillery once more. These three lines of defense were allowed to remain (the final being Charlie Line and was anchored around the old Fort). Nathan also had to allow NCR to use Camp Golf, Forlorn Hope, Bitter Springs, and the now radiation free Camp Searchlight (the radiation was already about at its half life by the time the Legion unleashed it, so it disapaited soon after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam). However, through diplomacy, he hammered out a deal for an independent Mojave. Then, using the Sercuritrons, he sent them out to encourage factions to join his new "Free Republic of the Mojave", and soon, he had them get to work rebuilding the Mojave, and building up an army. Under the Treaty of Union with the Brotherhood of Steel, they agreed that they would retain autonomous control over Hidden Valley in exchange for being the elite soldiers of the new Republic, and of course had to maintain a certain size, which meant they had to actively recruit Wastelanders. (Which lead to some being unhappy with the break of Codex, but they were "encouraged" to drop their concerns). Most factions followed suite, some more willing than others. But nevertheless, within a year, Nathan had united the Mojave under a system of a strong central government that had a lot of power vested in the President, aka, him, but these powers would slowly be distributed. In the meantime however, the overriding focus remained creating an army outside the Securitrons and rebuilding the Mojave as a whole.
(It would be a plot point somewhere along the line if we decide to use this timeline again. I think that it's time to wrap this up, not really seeing anything else out of this.) Cato, within a year, rapidly reformed the entire Legionary army to resemble something far more lethal and dangerous. Apart from the Praetorian Guard being fitted with some new armour, the new Legionary army proved to be terrifying. NCR intel took notice of this, and were secretly scared about what they found. The Legion was recovering as expected, but the sheer training and skill of each Legionary was on par to a NCR Ranger. The Legionaries received new armour as well, with proper combat armour being produced and fitted to the Legionaries, it was no more football pads for the Legion. A Legionary had a rifle alongside a choice between a pistol or a machete as their secondary, and the new military was very lethal with these tools, although current resources allowed only a couple of them at a time to have a rifle, others still preferred the old fashioned way. Other changes occurred from here to there, but one thing was for certain. Cato was right. This wasn't the Legion anymore, this was a Legion unlike anything that has ever been seen. The entryway into Arizona was extremely fortified incase an NCR attack was to occur, although all this did was intimidate them. The political and rebuilding sectors was in Janius's sector, Caesar Octavius focused on the military at the moment before rejoining in politics. The Legion knew that the NCR would be idiots to attack them, and such attacks would be met in total failure. Yet again, the entire Mojave Campaign would have taught them many valuable lessons, and would simply leave the Legion alone unless they wished to provoke the Eagle. Any expansions would focus on the South into Mexico or East into Texas. This wouldn't happen for a while until the Legion got back onto its feet. (Can't be bothered writing something for Jess, didn't enjoy playing as her to be honest. Might as well write that she became a Senator in the Mojave or something. I dunno )
Janius began the prosess of making a new culture for the civilian life of the Legion. He found a way to reactivate radio towers and stations across the territory under Legion control after finding out through trail error over a few years time how to reactivate things like solar, wind, and coal power plants. One thing was certain, there was still plenty of coal left from the Old World, unlike the rare commoditity that was oil (which meant that any vechile produced had to be powered by alternate sources, which waz mainly manpower, until they figured out how to make nuclear generators, something that could potentially take decades to recover. However, the power brought up was enough to supply the needs of the civilians in full and power the radio network. Om the radio, he launched a series of programs to talk about things like the "perfect civilian family", how it had the pateriarch, the all powerful father, the mother, 3 sons, with one sent to Legionaire life and the other two for helping the father and preparing to be the pateriarch of their future families, and finally 2 daughters who would do work around the house with mother. It was suggested that all kids get educated in the fledging education system of the Legion(a Janius invention), and that anyone over 18 that could participate in their senate elections was something to be admired. Overall, Janius wanted the Legion to take a different path, the way he saw it, the Legion should move into peaceful expansion, much like the NCR under Tandi. He thought if the Legion went on the offensive once more, they would start forces tribes and nations to unify against them, something that would be extremely dangerous to the Legion after losing a large chunk of its military fighting in the Mojave.
