John and Damien arrived at a Glorian checkpoint inbetween two large brick and stone walls from Fiend Territory to Westside, where a Glorian Riigula stopped them. "Halt! What brings you to Westside? You should know, like all Wastelanders, only Gloriians are allowed inside Westside." the Riigula said sharply. "I have done your Viceroy's will in killing Caesar in exchange for passage through Westside to meet with him." John replied flatly, "As I was told to by a Magniitium by the name of Cesius. And I seek for my friend here to be allowed through Westside to meet your Viceroy as well as he was instrumental in Caesar's demise." The Riigula glared at him for a few moments before pressing a button that opened a small metal gate into Westside, "I'll let you enter. But know that any misbehavior will be met by immediate death." he replied, "And in case you think that you could get away with something, know that a Gloriian soldier stands guard at every corner in Westside, and every building has at least one or two soldiers standing guard. There will be no getting away with anything." John nodded, "We understand" before stepping through the gates, and arriving in almost what seemed like a whole new world. The roads and sidewalks were in pristine, completely rebuilt condition, trees, grass, and flowers covered the areas that where open. Not a single pile of rubbish or rubble was to be seen, and the Riigula was indeed correct, there WAS a soldier standing at every street corner. Gloriian citizens moved about the place, simply going about their daily lives, moving through rebuilt homes and shops, the absolute opposite world of the Fiend territory, or even the rest of the Wasteland. The closest rival to this place was the Strip, but this, unlike the Strip, seemed to sing of just regular life instead of vice and sin. This wasnt a place where people lost their fortunes like the Strip, where those fortunes would be used to further development to encourage more of that. This had the true feel of a pure Pre-War city, one where the bombs never touched, nor the people seemed to even realize fully about the world outside the walls. "This is what Glory has to offer the Mojave, no, the entire world." a soldier at the checkpoint said to John and Damien as they gawked at Westside, "A mere 4 years of our rule turned one of the poorest urban places in the Mojave, into a true, functioning city. We have working plumbing, fresh, clean water, electricity, irradiated food, and most of all, true government. This isn't Glory's first time with doing this. We know how to fix even the worst of hell-holes." John nodded in amazement, "Y-Yea..."
Damien remained awestruck at amazement that he had witnessed. He assumed that the world could never rebuild from such a disaster like the Great War, and yet, the Glorians had a fully functioning city built within four years. He took his glasses off in awe, cant telling that what is staring him in the face was real. "And to think this took four years. Imagine the Mojave under Glorian control within the next ten." Damien began. "From little things, big things grow." he looked over towards John. "We should get a move on but....just look at this place."
John nodded, "We should...I really dont know how they could have made the ground clean enough for real, living trees to survive!" he exclaimed, then looked closer at the Gloriians and what they were wearing, which made him feel out of place by that alone. All of them had just plain old clothing on, from simple pants and a t-shirt to full on suits, but not one of them was wearing any kind of armor or anything, except for the soldiers. And ever one of them had a small watch on their wrist that, when use, reminded John of the Pipboy, on their's created a holographic projection that they could actually interact with. Taking a deep breath, John broke himself from his trance and moved deeper into the bustling Glorian city of Westside, heading straight for what was obviously the main headquarters, the former fully fortified area of Westside that now was had its shabby old rubble walls replaced with those of concrete. He knew that the Viceroy must be in there, straight down the road, but he honestly walked slower than usual, just wanting to stop and gawk at how well the Gloriians had built Westside. "Man...They might have some destructive tactics for taking an area...but once they have it..." he muttered...
"Agreed" Damien responded "The long term results under their leadership is astounding, but those means of attaining peace in the short term when put in comparison to the NCR seems to...well, we both know what happens there." Damien and John soon made their way towards where they were to meet the Viceroy, noticing the heavier concentration of Glorian soliders the closer they got to the main building. Soon, they arrived at the front door and walked inside.
John quickly explained themselves to the guards in the front room, who then escorted them into this simple box of a room that had a ham radio set on a table with two chairs around it, "Wha-?" He started when suddenly a hologram of the Viceroy's face appeared above the radio, "Ah, hello. Celsius reported that he had asked a Wastelander to kill the one who decided to spit in the face of Glory a year ago. I'll have you know we have retrieved this "Caesar's" body and have sent it to drift in the endless expanses of space. His body will not be a martyr or a shrine." The voice of the Viceroy stated, "Now, killer of the Tyrant, I would like to apologize for not being able to meet you directly, but I will be staying in orbit around this planet until the Mojave is on the edge of falling into our hands during the coming battle at Hoover Dam. Now. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, ask away, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability." John gave Damin a small glance to see if he wanted to ask first.
"I'll like to take the opportunity to ask you a question. The New California Republic, one of the largest post-war nations economically and in military and scientific power on the entire planet. I understand that their government, while the republic is mostly made up of mostly nice people, is made up from a currently aggressive governmental chain of command from Kimbell downwards to my father, who is the Mayor of New Arroyo." Damien began. "Let's say that you win the Battle of Hoover Dam and take the entire Mojave as not only your own colony, but the jewel that Vegas is to the rest of the world." "While the history between you and the republic concerns me, what is of a dire issue is your matter of regarding Aaron Kimbell's assassination in the near future. Dont ask me how i know about that, I'm making a future prediction that you are most likely going to kill him just because he is threatening the future of your colony. If Kimbell dies, then he could not be used as a scapegoat for the NCR's failure of taking the Mojave and will most likely resign immediately or not long after the NCR loses the Mojave, plus the failure would completely destory any public support for a future war. If he dies, then he'll been seen as a martyr and would "encourage" the NCR to initiate a full scale war against the Mojave, something that you would not like to happen. What are you going to do about this ?"
"Very simply. We don't kill him. The Legion will do that for us. And when the NCR is turned back from Hoover Dam? Then they'll have to blame the Legion. But what you say makes since. I'll consider it." The Viceroy replied, "But yes, we would like to avoid war. Even though, yes, we do kill anyone we see as a progress inhibitor on sight, or if they raise up arms against us, but minimum death is most productive for growth. Every citizen that dies here is one we'll have to replace with a Gloriian citizen, which means secretly finding one of 2 billion citizens back home, taking them across 40 light years of space, then settling them here. Not very efficient or effective." the Viceroy replied, "Even if we could survive any war, it would be disastrous for NCR. After all, we have 15,000 troops in total, 14,350 are still waiting to be deployed aboard our orbital vessels, along with a powerful air force. And taking down the most acceptable and stable of civilizations on this God-forsaken place would be extremely anti-progressive, unless we took over. And that wouldn't work with simply 15,000 soldiers, and Emporer Tiberii back on Terra told me that at max, he would send two more legions at most in support, no more, giving us a potential total of 25,000 soldiers, which wouldnt be enough to properly patrol all of NCR..." the Viceroy continued before sighing, "Well enough of the questions. Hoover Dam is fast approaching, and projections show that the Legion will be even more eager to attack with Caesar's death, a sort of doubling down to use the Strip's gambling terms. According to our observations from Mr. House's network, there is a Securitron that has been reprogrammed in a plot to take over the Strip, a plot that, thanks to you, John, was stopped. I need you two to find this Securitron, and put him in command of the Strip. If our army gets backed up by those Securitrons at their max capabilities, we could even more thoroughly guard the Mojave once we take it. Oh, and your reward for killing Caesar will be presented by Magniitium Cesius on your way out."
Damien nodded politely in sheer respect for the authority figure that is the Viceroy as the hologram soon switched off. While he understood that Mr House didnt have the sheer power that the Legion once had, he was still a formidable foe with his securitrons. He stood up from his chair with John as they both walked out of the door.
As they were walking out, Cesius walked up to John and Damien with a smile, "Good to see that Glory has some allies at there. Primaperatus Avariius has commissioned this reward for you two!" Cesius then handed both of them a total of 1500 Credits (equivalent to 1440 caps), 1760 caps, and gave each of them a GEAR-22 with two full clips(35) of microfusion bullet ammo (the GEAR looks like the All-American), "Keep helping us, and more will come, rewards that will make the trails ahead more than worth it, and the end reward will be for the benefit of all in this Wasteland, good luck in your new asssignment." John nodded in thanks as Cesius then ran off and the two left the Gloriian Westside fort and into the rest of Westside then looked to Damien, "Alright...if this reprogrammed Securitron was used that Benny, it means he is somewhere in Benny's room in the Tops...Looks like we gotta go to the Strip..."
Damien studied the GEAR-22 and smiled as he equipped it onto his back, he was planing to use it incase anything decided to attack. He then turned his head at John. "Good old New Vegas Strip, where fortunes are won and lost in a blink of an eye. Don't really like the Strip, not my style to gamble." Later, the two couriers made it at the Strip. Strangely, the couriers were allowed to enter the strip with their weapons, as if they were being expected by somebody. After making their way inside of the Tops, hiding some weapons from the pat down conducted by the Chairmen, they made their way up the elevator.
John quickly guided Damien to Benny's room, sneaking in once again and a quick search of the place revealed an out of place hallway in Benny's bedroom and a door at the end. Curious, John pushed the door open to see a Securitron with an overly happy face graphic display, "Hi there!" Yes Man suddenly exclaimed. After a quick conversation with Yes Man, easily convincing, well, more telling him of his and Damien's plot and he agreed to everything, because he had to. At the end, John turned to Damien, "So we have our Securitron, now we need to get Mr. House." he stated simply. (after you make your post, wanna skip ahead to the Lucky 38?)
"This might be a no-brainer, but House's security is tight. Very tight. He's supposed to have at least two securitrons at the bottom level, and god knows how many at the top of the tower." Damien said as they made it to the bottom level while receiving their weapons back before walking outwards. Yes-Man made the entire scenario awkward, having a 7 foot tall Robot with a wheel that shoots missiles, grenades and lasers is an easy way to get noticed. Soon, the two walked towards the Lucky 38. Strangely, Victor allowed them access into the tower. Mr House was expecting them. What he didn't know about was that the securitrons at the fort were never upgraded, yet alone the bunker even existed in the two couriers minds, and that he was expecting a business meeting. He was going to get something far from it.
The elevator slid open and the jumped Victor securitron noticed Damien with John, "Howdy partner! I'm gonna have to ask ya to send your friend down to the Presidential Lounge, after all, you're the only one that can meet the boss man!" he said to them. Breathing deep, John slid his GEAR out and looked at Victor, "Sorry Victor. But I'm not here to "meet" Mister House." and fired the GEAR at Victor, which after only a single shot, John quickly noticed the GEAR had taken down Victor in a single shot as the smell of fried electronics spread out. Smiling, he turned on the other Securitrons as they started to turn hostile and firing away at them, quickly dispatching them even with Damien's help, "I think I'm going to like this gun!" John exclaimed as he fired one last blue bolt into the hull of the last Securitron. The screen that once displayed Mr House's face now stated "connection lost", and John scanned the room for a way to reach Mr House. Approaching the screen slowly, John slowly looked around, "Damien, go find a terminal or something, something hiding the way to Mister House himself."
"Understood" Damien replied as he left to search for a terminal, quickly finding one hidden in the corner to the far left. He buried himself through several folders until he found the unlock option for the door. After receiving a "Are you sure?", the courier opened the door to reveal three securitrons inside. Before they could even turn around, Damien quickly grabbed the GEAR-22 and fired a single shot directly in one of the securitrons back before following up by punching straight through the second robot, wanting to conserve ammo. It was there that he found another terminal, one that appeared much more secretive. "Found it!" Damien said, hacking through the terminal to open the elevator. "This appears to take us down to the bottom of the tower. I have a feeling he's inside here."
John ran over and nodded to Damien, "Good! Let's go! Where else could he be anyways?" he asked before opening up the elevator door, "Let's go finish this." John said in a determined tone.
Damien and John both walked into the elevator as the doors soon closed behind them as the elevator went down. Damien aimed the GEAR-22 at the door incase any securitron resistance appeared, none came. Instead, there was a long walkway and a futuristic capsule at the end with a terminal. Damien lowered his weapon and walked towards the terminal with John. "Opening his isolation chamber, even for a second, means that Mr. House will not live more than a year due to exposure to outside contaminants. So even if we don't kill him, he wont be able to control anything and will spend the last year of his life in a fate worse then death." "I'll allow you to deal with him, you can put a round in his head or do that. I'd prefer just killing him, but that's just me." Damien said as he stood back and folded his arms, enjoying the show that was about to happen standing nearby the terminal.
John nodded and powered on the terminal beside Mr. House, opening up the chamber, in which a shriveled body was swiveled out of in a cloud of fog. "Why...Have you done this? Centuries...of planning...So much good...undone!" "Sorry Mr. House, but Glory needs you out of the way to bring true progress to the Wasteland." John replied bluntly. "Those...murderous aliens? For the future of mankind? They'll kill us all!" He gasped out. "No. You're wrong Mr. House. I guess you've been too infatuated with the Strip to notice the purity of Westside under their control. And now..." John unholstered Lucky and looked down to it before glancing up to Mr House, "You will die a failure. One too obsessed with his own vision of the Strip than to worry about the rest of the world, nor see any other alternatives." John brought up Lucky and placed it directly on Mr House's frail, shriveled head, "Give Caesar my regards, and know the face of the Courier that sent you to him, and the pistol responsible for guaranteeing his and his Legion's demise." And then John pulled the trigger, and Mr. House lived no more. Turning to Damien, John simply gave him a small nod before walking coldly by him, and Damien could feel an obvious transformation in his companion in the past few short moments as he walked to the elevator. John no longer was a courier, not in the traditional sense, he had transformed into a Courier of Death, but not just wholesale death like Damien, targeted death, hitting a faction right where it hurts, in a way that would bring about its demise. The perfect tool for those who he supported, especially with Damien to back him up.
Damien soon followed John out from the chamber doors as they headed straight towards the tower before taking Yes-Man back up to House's original console. Once he gave him the word, Yes-Man transferred his entire personality onto the console and took control of his entire mainframe of the Lucky 38, with the extra perk of upgrading all the Securitrons on the Strip onto the Mark 2 OS. *Adding Filler* Damien then left to the remains of the fort after discovering the remainder of a securitron army hidden underneath Fortification Hill while John was at Westside reporting back to the Glorians. Fighting his way through the defense systems and hacking terminals to the best of his ability until he made his way towards the official operating systems to upgrade the entire army. Once the robots were upgraded, he went back towards Westside to report back.
This time, instead of being directed to the radio the Viceroy previously contacted him through, John was sent to meet the Primaperator, the leader of the Gloriian military in the Mojave. The Primaperator looked like any other man, but he carried a cruel coldness about him, his face emotionless, as he had gone through the hell that was Elatian training, which is meant to do that to a man. John swallowed as he sat across a desk from the Primaperator, his head topped by a beret, him himself wearing typical Gloriian armor with a duster attached to it, "Yes Man is now in command of the Strip's Securitrons..." John told him nervously before sliding him a walkie talkie, "That's a direct line to Yes Man...It'll allow you to command him..." John continued, feeling the Primaperator's cold eyes staring holes straight through him. "Good work." the Primaperator suddenly said in a harsh, blank voice that not even a robot could mimic, "You have proven very useful for our cause. With Caesar and Mister House out of the way, we can begin focusing on other small annoyances. The Great Khans, the Powder Gangers, the Boomers, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Kings of Freeside, and the NCR Rangers. Each for their own reason. Great Khans need extermination due to their chem making, raider practices. Powder Gangers also need eradication as they make it difficult to move troops down the I-15 towards our positions near Hoover Dam. Boomers need eradication or need to be convinced to open Nellis to us as they control the only intact airfield in the area. The Brotherhood of Steel need to be convinced to help us in Hoover Dam, and post-battle control. The Kings as they are the only reason Freeside hasn't fallen to us already, thus giving us the open door to the Strip once the battle at Hoover Dam breaks out. And finally, the NCR Rangers represent the only true challenge to our troops in this land. I've seen three Rangers take down an entire squad of Riigulas before, and they nearly match our Magniitiums in battle. We'll need you to take down their command structure, thus leaving them weak. But that will only come just before Kimball's visit, and the coming battle for the Mojave. For now, let's pick the low hanging fruit. I need you to go to Nellis Air Force Base, and convince the Boomers to open it to us, or kill them so we may take it. What you do matters little to me." John swallowed and nodded, "Y-yes sir!" he stuttered out. "Good. You'll get your reward for killing Mr House on the way out. Dismissed." Before John left, a Gloriian soldier approached him and gave him another payout of 500 Gloriian credits(480 caps) and 20 caps, along with 3 frag grenades and two more clips of ammo for the GEAR.
Damien made it back to his home, refilling on ammunition and unequipped any unnecessary weaponry he carried before heading back to the Mojave, bumping into John along the way.
