(Let's go with North Vegas since it's pretty much abandoned ^^) Snow trotted around the Equestrian colony in New Vegas, inspecting progress in shoring up houses and the walls, after the mysterious appearence of her and the other about 3,000 Equeztrians, she and a few others had become the del facto leaders, trying to accomplish 3 simple goals, 1: get back home, 2: try to make the stay as comfortable as possible, and 3: stay on friendly terms with the locals to avoid attack. Although, the first goal seemed farther and farther out of reach every day and a growing sentiment was maybe it is best if they don't go back, after all, it could be an irradiated hellhole by now, at least here it was more "post post-apocalyptic". They were getting by okay enough, and as long as they didn't leave their walls, no one messed with them (other than fiends, who constantly tried to attack the walls in small groups that were always easily defeated)
(I’ve had an idea. Since you’re playing as Snow, why don’t I play as Orchid? We could make this RP some time after the Snow/Orchid RP instead) The Mojave Wasteland. At the culmination of the Sino-American War over 200 years ago, 77 atomic warheads were launched at the city of Las Vegas and the surrounding areas, but due to intricate defense systems set in place by wealthy businessman Mr. House, 59 were forcefully disarmed mid-flight, 9 were blasted out of the sky by a laser guided missile defense system atop the Lucky 38 Hotel & Casino, and only 9 hit the surrounding desert. The Mojave survived the Great War relatively unscathed. It was here that a Legendary Ranger had declared his personal war against the Legion, and it was here that it would end. In four years, he had walked across the four states under Legion control, tearing their military apart from the inside through stealth and pure combat prowess, resulting in a kill count that his former military superiors could only describe him as a “walking nuke”. He was 38, stood at 6ft 2 and was physically built like a human cannon. Long ginger hair went down to his shoulders and had a rough beard with piercing blue eyes. His outfit consisted of a shirt, black pants, and a pair of black boots. Included were several accessories, including a pair of necklaces, a bandoleer, black aviator sunglasses, and kneepads. But the clothing that set him apart was a sleeveless black jacket emblazoned with the symbol of the grim reaper holding scythe, with the handle showing more resemblance to a AER9 laser rifle (Based off the SOA logo, but with a different design https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/36924871/disp/68df8609f7a566d514aae514b93ff85b.jpg) in one hand while holding the globe in his other skeleton hand, with a motto underneath written in Latin. The entire outfit was dusty and weather-beaten, but it also gave the man a sense of character. For Damien, he found himself in the Mojave again sooner than he expected. He knew that it would have only been a matter of time before the Legion would attempt to throw itself at the Dam once again. He would have considered resigning with the Mojave Express, but upon discovering that most of the couriers in the service were actually frumentarii, alongside that the Legion orders regular assassination squads to hunt him down, there was no point. He stood on the top of a cliff, overlooking the entirety of the northern Mojave, especially the twinkling star that was New Vegas. He was home... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orchid Comet. Born as a slave in Fillydelphia who fought against her tyrannic master awas now a relatively young yet sweet mare who had won her freedom several years ago. The light purple unicorn mare, who was had recently turned 26, was one of many who found themselves in this new world, which happened to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland with uncanny resemblances to her former home. But unlike Equestria, this foreign world seemed like paradise in comparison. While back at home, this world actually seemed not half-bad, especially the paradise that was New Vegas close to the south. Since the defeat of the Enclave in her world, Orchid had been the mayor of Maneton, a small town of former slaves. Within the past few years, she had learnt to write. While juggling her daily activities as the Mayor, she also published a book about her life that spoke about her birth & childhood as a slave in Fillydelphia to the establishment of Maneton and her first week as mayor. Some copies even managed to appear alongside her in this new world, a collection of pastel colored books sitting in the desert oasis. She worked as one of several leaders in the Equestrian colony of the Mojave, tending to the needs of the people while trying to please the inhabitants of the world around them. Most of these 'humans' appeared friendly, other than what passed in this world as Raiders trying to attack the town with no success. She did however encounter different groups of these 'humans', such as NCR citizens and the local population. What she found completely nerve-racking was the Legion. While she knew that they wore nothing but football pads and leather armor, their warriors were very experienced soldiers who dominate the NCR's soldiers in terms of sheer numbers alone. They were the biggest threat to the region, and their devotion to their 'god-king' Caesar did nothing to make her any less concerned. Still, it was just another day in the wasteland for Orchid. As much as she wanted to go home, she never wanted to leave.
(Aight) Snow trotted up to the gate, a human caravan had arrived and she had to go meet them. Several guards went out with her for protection, "What brings you here?" Snow asked, "And who do you represent?" The traders looked cautiously at each other before saying, "Well...We're here for trade. The Crimsom Caravan would like to establish trade links with your community!" Pme said quickly. "What do you have? We don't need any food or water, we have enough." She said simply. Caution of humans had always paid off, like how they hadn't let a single human into their walls as long as they have been up. The traders then began discussion amongst themselves
Damien only made it just past Novac until he finally encountered his first squadron of Legionary assassins, roughly five of them hand selected by the finest Centurions in the Legion or even Caesar himself. They stood at two Centurions, one Decanus and two Veterans, all armed with different weaponry. While the majority of them used rifles, one gruff Centurion had a gigantic thermal lance. One even had a few plasma grenades. It was going to be a fight. "What brings you in town?" Damien sarcastically asked. The Centurion with the Thermic Lance spoke up, indicating that he was the groups leader. "Caesar has marked you for death, and the Legion obeys. Prepare yourself!" Damien out of instinct took out one of his sidearms, the former 44 magnum from Edward Cooper, former mentor of his and the founder of a now defunct unit within the NCR Rangers known as the MOCKINGBIRDS. Before the Legionaries could begin to attack, Damien stuck the first weakness he had seen, shooting the bundle of Plasma Grenades around the Legionaries belt that resulted in an enormous green explosion that killed all but one of his foes, the Centurion commander. With the Legionary squad in shambles and the surviving Centurion leader on the verge of death after having both his legs and right arm blown off, Damien just finished the job by walking over to him and shooting him in the head. After that, he left as soon as he appeared.
The traders eventually left the Equestrian settlement alone, and Snow was about to turn and head back in when a squad of what appeared to be NCR rangers came forward, and a man stepped forward, "Hello, I am Lieutenant Colonel Jackson. The NCR wishes to establish relations with your kind. The NCR has few friends here in the Mojave, and wish we can have at least you as allies." Snow simply raised an eyebrow, "We have no quarrel with the NCR as long as they leave us alone. But very well, let me here why."
Orchid poked her head up after hearing Snow talk to the NCR about the possibilities of an alliance. While the Equestrians were xenophobic to the rest of the Mojave, and with good reason, she could not help herself but feel curious about this deal. ---------------------------------------------- By the time that Damien had reached his former home in the far outskirts of Westside, he had killed over thirty Legionary assassins. His home had been abandoned for four years, but hopefully it was uninhabited. Luckly for him, the security measures he had installed and it's relatively isolated location left the house in the same condition as he had left it. Other than being a house, underneath the Lounge Room was an enormous armory, large enough to supply a small army. But instead of heading inside, he went to the back of the house. Where a grave and a simple tombstone were surrounded by flowers, where he paused for a second. He remembered why she died in the first place, and how he everything in his life had lead to her death. He knelled down to the grave and placed a group of flowers around it, taking off his sunglasses to reveal the eyes of a broken man to the grave. He remained there, muttering silent prayers. He then rose up to his feet an hour later and blew a kiss to the grave of Chloe Daniels, his wife who was killed by the Legion. He spent the rest of his night making plans about attacking the Legion where it hit them the hardest. It would follow from liberating Nelson and reinforcing it before heading to wiping out Techatticup mine and taking down an entire Legion raid camp. The hardest part would have been rendering Cottonwood Cove useless. While it was a small camp in comparison to the ones he attacked in Legion territory, particularly in New Mexico and Arizona, the Legion had a surprisingly tight hold on the area. However, from there, it would have been a one way trip to The Fort, where he would ultimately be making a suicide mission in order to kill Caesar. If only Caesar died ,Damien gave it between five to ten years before the Legion collapsed. But if his entire circle collapsed, the Legion could have collapsed anytime within the year. It could have been overnight, it could have been a decade. He didn’t know, all that Damien knew was that it would have been inevitable.
"Well, to put it simply, with you controlling North Vegas up to the mountains, from Westside to almost east Vegas, you are in a very strategic area, also sending patrols out to Bitter Springs in reinforcement would be much easier if we could traverse your lands, in return for an alliance, you would get trade and milita-" Jackson started to say "We don't need that. All we want is to be left alone. We have nothing of interest to trade to you and the only thing that would possibly interest us trade wise is weapons, which we have plenty of. We don't need protection. We've heard about what the NCR does, if we let you in, next thing we know, we're being attacked from the inside and conquered against our will." "And what if the Legion overruns the Dam and comes for you? What makes you think you could hold the Legion back where we can't?" "Because we aren't overstretched, we fresh and willing to fight, plus we can attack from the air and we have magic." Snow said matter-of-factly, "And just so you know, Mr House has made us an offer to become the Fourth Family and would give us all the materials we need to turn our strip of land into a sort of extended Strip, what do you have to offer other than food, trade, and military protection, all of which we don't need." Jackson was left at a loss for words, unsure of how to respond "Exactly" (Want to control one of the NCR guys in a counter-point or have Damien come along oorrrr?)
(I'll have Damien come along, it would be easier) Heading down from his home that was hidden in the canyons in the far west of Vegas, Damien headed down to Western Vegas to trade for ingredients, all of which were locally farmed nearby in Westside. It was a half hour walk from the most western part of Vegas, isolated enough for him to enjoy his privacy while being far enough from the city to make the threat of fiends non-existent. Fiends have only tried to attack his home once, only to be mowed down by laser turrets installed on the roof of the veranda. Since then, they've avoided his home like it's cursed. Upon making his way into the suburb, Damien overheard talks that the NCR was trying negotiations with the Equestrians to the south. The NCR had little to no presence this far north in Vegas, so whatever these negotiations were, they were trying to push their luck. By the time he had finished collecting items, he'd found that more and more locals were watching the ordeal between the NCR and the Equestrians, where Damien found himself laughing at how poorly they were at negotiations. All ties to the NCR, other than being the place of his birth, were almost gone after 2277. He didn't care about who the Mojave belonged to, he cared only if the Legion never had it. He leaned himself up against the wall and folded his arms and watched the 'negotiation' from a distance, until an older solider noticed him as his whole face turned ghostly pale upon noticing Damien in the corner. The moment the solider noticed him, the senior officer saluted at him out of respect before returning to work.
Snow noticed the gathering crowd and decided to use it against the NCR soldiers, as she knew they didn't want the NCR here either, "Let me make a point; Who here can think of ANY way NCR control would benefit us?" she asked the crowd, which was met with silence, "Who here WANTS the NCR to be here." more silence, and Snow turned her head back to Jackson, "Next time, send someone a little more convincing, you rangers aren't good for much beyond scouting and killing." with that, Snow simply turned and went back in the gates, which slammed shut behind her.
Damien couldn't help but smirk at the last line. She basically turned the ranger into the laughing stock of the group, where even the locals wouldn't dare to attempt due to that if they provoked them enough, they would obviously lose in a fight. Snow's words did fill the people with some sense of hope however, something he has not seen in the area for a very long time. The ranger was furious, with Damien thinking that he would have thrown a temper tantrum. He then thought to soon, as the Ranger came to him next. Looked like that anger was going to be directed at him instead. "Who are you?" The ranger demanded. "Excuse me?" "I'm not playing any games. Who are you?" Damien didn't wish to cooperate, but knew that he would have had to in order to keep tensions down. He didn't want any of the locals to be harmed. "Damien Winters, 20 year MOCKINGBIRD Ranger. Blackbird..." he replied simply. "That's Bulls**t. The MOCKINGBIRDS retired four years ago, you cant be one of them. They're practically legends." The Ranger replied before looking at him. "Why didn't you wish to help us?" Damien looked the ranger in the eye. "Because that mare from before speaks the truth. Nobody in the Mojave wants the NCR. All you would do is enter our land and tear us apart for your own selfish gains. You don't really care for the people, you only care for yourself." Damien said. "Now, get lost." "WHAT!" The Ranger snapped. "You're insulting a ranger, that alone under NCR jurisdiction is 2 months jail." "But we're not in the NCR, aren't we?" Damien replied. "You're acting like a child, you clearly don't take rejection well." "That's it, I'm done with this punk." He said before the Ranger tried to throw a fist at him, only for Damien to stop it in it's tracks like it was nothing. The force from the block itself also seemed to hurt the hand of the Ranger, who now looked terrified as he glimpsed the small tattoo of the MOCKINBIRD that glimpsed itself on Damien's lower torso. "Oh, I'm sorry. That sounded like please punch me in the face and knock me out so that I could embarrass myself and the NCR because I have an anger problem that would inevitably get me court marshaled and thrown out of the rangers ." Damien then tightened the grip on the hand of the ranger, almost hearing bone break as the Ranger cried out in pain. "Can do." With that, Winters punched the Ranger directly in the face gracefully that knocked him out instantly, while sending him flying backwards to the rest of the squad. They didn't bother backing up their Sargent, he was making a fool of himself anyway. "How does somebody like that become a Ranger in the first place? Within ten years, the Rangers have an embarrassment and a mockery of what they used to be. Now, I'm glad you boys didn't defend him. Take him to Camp Golf and inform Hanlon about what happened. I grantee you that he'll get thrown out of the Rangers within the next few hours. Drop my name as well, and he'll understand." With that, the soldiers could only respond before they lifted the Ranger and dragged him away. Damien received a small cheer from the crowd before he went back to his daily tasks.
Snow noticed Orchid as she walked by, "I know we can't stay holed up foreverx but I don't want us to end up under someone else's thumb.." she said quietly "What dobyou think?"
"I would prefer independence over peaceful slavery, I never want to go back there again." Orchid replied. "Our isolation from the Mojave is working wonders for us, but it's also making us an easy target for the larger powers. I think we should start investigating ways to maintain our independence while keeping on good terms with the locals, particularly in trade because most of these people here have close to nothing."
Snow nodded, "Make sure the local populace is on our side?" she asked, "Also, that offer Mr House is quite appealing, but it would mean he gets a final say. I would say if we pursue that, we make sure to negotiate it to where we have a status similar to Freeside, but with the casinos we could send a small bit of the profits to him. That would be about my maximum compromise on it. You?"
"That sounds like a plan. I'll be moving out to negotiate terms with the locals, soon. I'll follow up with House not long after. He seems reasonable, but I'll make sure that he accepts our offer." Orchid said before looking levitating a small bag of resources to her. "Well, I'm off." And with that, the light purple unicorn headed off and out the gate for the first time in four years just as the sun had began to set, a moment of realization that struck her mind was that she had never left the entire time ------------------------------------------ Damien had returned home, cooked himself the first decent meal he'd had in several years before heading off to Nelson in the middle of the night. Travelling light but still very heavily armed, he was more than enough to handle the relatively small Legionary presence in Nelson, but isn’t taking any chances if they reinforce their location. Included was a heavily modified Hunting Rifle, a powerful 45.auto pistol, a bowie knife inside of it's holster on his belt, two incendiary grenades and his signature black machete that were all tucked away with more than enough ammunition to get the job done. Any weaponry he deemed appropriate would have to be salvaged from the Legion. He locked the door behind him, activated the home’s defences and vanished once more. He had work to do.
Snow gathered together a meeting of the settlement's leaders after Orchid's departure, informing them of the situation. After a convincing speech, she got them to agree with the results. Now, it wad a natter of hoping for the best...
Orchid started in Westside, encountering humans for the first time up and close. While the humans particularly warmed up to her after a while, they were the first to accept her offer. Freeside, miraculously, also accepted when after Orchid got to personally meet the King and speak about the deal that her and Snow offered, with Orchid knowing that the King accepted the offer to help with the independence of Northern Vegas. She received a passport from the King and was given access to the Strip, where several Securitrons were waiting for her, including one with the display image of a cowboy face. "Well howdy, partner. The boss has been waiting to speak to you personally, why do you come on up and have a chat with him about your offer. He's been dying to meet you." "Why certainly" Orchid replied as she followed the robot. Moments later, she found herself in the Lucky 38, the first Equestrian in history to do so.
Snow had suddenly decided that now would be the best time to put on a show of force in prder to give Orchid a negotiating edge. Rounding up a squad of elite fighters, the Equestrian Guard, she lead them out of the gate wearing Commando armor from back home along with the squad with her. No Commandos themselves sadly, but close enough. Leading the group out, they went past Westside and into Fiend territory, instantly striking at the base of Cook Cook, where a single energy bolt from a sniper took the man out, and the confused Fiends from the loss of their leader made them easy prey. After the short skirmish, Snow walked up to the body of Cook Cook and took off his head, while another put his head on a spike. They then marched on to quickly take out Driver Nelphi and Violet, giving them both the same treatment before returning home, leaving Motor Runner the sole remaining Fiend leader after a strike that lasted only an hour. They then adorned the three gates of the settlement with one of the heads.
Damien arrived in Nelson just after dawn, and what he had found didn't particularly impress him. While the town was under control by Caesars Legion, the NCR has done little effort in order to retake Nelson, which had a large strategic purpose when the time came for Hoover Dam. Damien counted only 20 legionaries, over half of them being little more than simple recruits with little training. He found the commander was a Legion decanus named Dead Sea, and his death would result the collapse of the leadership in the camp. Damien went straight to Ranger Milo as the Ranger saluted the moment he came close enough to him. "Hold up there. This area is locked down by the NCR military until we can dislodge some Legion snakes from Nelson." Ranger Milo responded. Damien nodded in agreement as he pointed at the camp. "My name is Damien Winters, former MOCKINGBIRD. I was planning to deal with the Legion anyway." "The Demon of the West. Jesus, you just standing there is enough to grantee that you'll get the job done. Anyway, the Legion jumped us while we were setting up to reinforce the camp, captured a bunch of gear and took the town. Couple of troopers to, crucified them down the center of town." "I'll deal with the Legion, it's personal between me and them." Damien said as Milo made a path for Damien. "Do you need reinforcements? We have a few boys here wanting some action?" Milo asked. Damien ust shook his head "I don't need any..." Damien responded before heading downwards towards the town, entering the fray. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Orchid took the elevator straight up to the penthouse, where she was followed by the cowboy faced Securitron that she learned was named Victor. Before going down stairs, she discovered that Mr.House was unlike anything she has ever seen. His face came up on the monitor as she stood directly infront of it. "I'm Orchid Comet, It's nice to meet you Mr.House." The face on the monitor never changed as a voice came out of it through a speaker. "And it's a pleasure to meet with you. I've been wanting to speak with you for a while, let's talk."
