"Sir, do you have something planned? You should know that if you're killed...The civilians might revolt." (Sorry for short post, couldnt think of what to write x3)
(It's ok ; Wall of text incoming!) Tiberius nodded in response. “Killing the Demon would require nothing less than a small army. He is vastly superior to our Legionaries in every possible way. He is practically superhuman. He’s faster, stronger and tougher than anyone who has either fought or died for the Legion. However, he is still a mortal man.” He said before pacing back and forth. “We don’t have the resources to mount a large scale manhunt; we need to conserve them for when we face the NCR. But with that being said, our camps would attract him like a fly. I need you to figure out a way to trap this man, and once he is trapped, kill him. But if he makes it to me, well....I’ll handle him.” -------------------------------------------------------- Damien headed to the second Legionary camp, hidden in Red Rock Canyon. The second camp, slightly larger than the first one, still held key strategic value in the Legion held territory, especially on their hold on the eastern side of the Mojave. Thirty Legionaries held this location, but were far more experienced than the recruits he originally dealt with, many of them being nothing short of veteran. Like his first attack, he waited until Midnight until Damien snuck around the opening to the former home of the Khans. Two well armed legionaries stood on guard at the entrance to the canyon, with Damien moving alongside the rocks of the canyon until he appeared right behind the guards. The guards never realized there was anything behind them until Blood-Nap slit both of their throats. With the guards dealt with, he moved their bodies into the shadows in the rocks to avoid detection. Once the guards were dealt with, he avoided any further guards until he made it to the main building. He caught many of them sleeping, including the commander. He went to every single one of them and killed them while they slept. Once he took the information from the building, he stole and used multiple bricks of C4 and used a tripwire as a detonation cord right in front of the door. He then isolated several more Legionary guards from their post and used his bowie-knife or his bare hands to quietly take them out. Damien left five of the guards alive and mimicked a Legionary by yelling “Demon! At the longhouse!” as loud as he could in Latin as he got to a vantage point and looked through the scope of his Sniper Rifle. Five gullible Legionaries followed as expected, using their swords and rifles as they tried to sneak into the longhouse. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but could tell that they were about to breach the building. After a count of three, the took was kicked wide open as they all began to run into the building. A second later, the entire building was blown straight to hell with a bright flash and the sound of an explosion that could have been heard for miles. Because of the location as well, the deafening explosions soundwaves bounced of the canyon walls and amplified the noise that could be heard as far as New Vegas. Damien took the rifle and placed it back onto his back as he began to walk away from the canyon, fairly pleased with his results. The Legion was now fighting on Damien’s home-turf, and they were suffering dearly for it. “Tourists...” Damien simply said before he vanished into the night, heading back to Vegas to restock and hand over any captured information to Snow. ------------------------------------------------------------ Orchid was in the Penthouse of the Lucky 38, watching over the Strip after they had managed to successfully kick the Legion out of the city. There was almost a celebration in the streets and was an enormous load off the shoulders and backs of the Equestrians. Life tried to continue as normal, but there was plenty of work to have been done. There was an uncertainty that the Legion could return to Vegas at any time, but actually managing to retake the entire city in their current state was almost impossible. Orchid herself had been doing well, allowing her mane to grow right down to her neck until it reached her back. She also wore her clothing almost out of character, wearing a skirt instead of her typical attire. She had been acting differently lately. She seemed to be much happier than usual . There was a slight skip of her heart, a awkward step every now and whenever she thought about the man who had saved her life, she could not help but feel warm and fuzzy inside. She was in love. She had been hiding her feelings from Damien because she was scared of what his reaction might have been. If it was anypony else she fell in love with, she would have acted mature enough and confessed. But not this time, there was something about the man that made Orchid nervous to tell her love to him. The thought of rejection alone was enough for Orchid to not go ahead with the relationship, but the thought of acceptance would have made her the happiest mare in the wastes. She had even left an invitation for Damien to see her in the Lucky 38 once he had returned to Vegas, placed on his bed back in the tower in the Northern Strip. There was a letter in a pink envelope and a picture of her included inside. She found herself eager to hear from his return, barely containing herself almost out of excitement.
Fuliuz had an idea, so he salit2d Caesar and left the tent. Hesding back over the Colorsdo, he sent a messenger to a very small ambush group, only about five Legionaires, orders to move into a cave as obviously to the Demon as possible, they were to then rig the cave to blow once the Demon was inside. The , another messenger was sent on a suicide mission with a note saying a large group of Legion soldiers was on its way to Cave Johnson's old cave. The note had to get to the Demon. ******* Nathan smiled at seeing the celebrations, but they had not been without a price. For the 300 Legion soldiers garrisoning Vegas that were killed, they lost 20 Equestrians, 34 NCR Troopers, and over 200 civilians died in the fighting, so in a humble way, instead of taking part in the celebrations, he lead a small group around to collect the dead. ******* Snow trotted down the Strip avenue for the first time, looking around at the city who's two captures had been so swift, no damage had occured to any building. It was fairly amazing. She honestly had no idea what to feel but despute this...she knew it wasn't over. If the NCR was driven from the Mojave...Then they wouldnt stand a chance. Their only hope would be to try to evacutate as many as possible before they were forced to surrender...
Damien headed directly east across the Mojave before heading upwards on the I-15, only to be stopped by a Legionary messenger who attempted to attack him despite knowing it was suicidal, in which Damien took his machete and struck him down with one single swipe. It would have been over were it not for a note that the Legionary held on his belt, which instantly caught his attention. "A garrison has been moved to a cave from..... Damien had a particularly bad feeling about this attack, feeling that it was a trap. It was not only in a cave, which he despised for having the tendency to trap him inside, but the Legion had a vantage point over Vegas. Not taking any chances, he headed towards the cave to see if he could flush out the Legion, unexpectedly walking into a trap that was set just for him.
Legion soldiers watched from afar as Damien walked into the cave, then, after waiting a few second, pulled the trigger of the detonater, which triggered several charges of C4, collapsing the entrance of the cave, trapping Damien inside, smiling at the success, the soldiers got up and jogged to the real nearby camp and informed Legate Fulius. Fulius grinned at the news, "Great! I want a squad posted on guard duty at the cave to make sure he doesn't dig his way out or someone doesn't come along and digs him out. Go!" The soldiers saluted and heaed back to the cave before digging foxholes quickly, 2 keeping their eyes and guns pointed at the collapsed entrance, and the 6 others pointing out...
Watching rocks collapse the cave, the only light that made up the cave was positioned directly using lamps. With his beacon being activated prior to entering the cave, it would have taken a while for the signal to reach Vegas. However, it would have taken longer due to the signal being interfered, or non-existent in some areas of the cave. Damien had three options available to him, either wait as long as he could until help arrived,dig his way out,or plant some stolen explosives at the entrance and blow his way out, hopefully using the rocks as some form of shrapnel. He had about three days of food with him, but could last as long as two weeks if he utilized whatever the cave had around him. He sat down next to a fireplace, crossing his legs and began to meditate to pass the time.
Tje next day The NCR launched a massive offensive which quickly broke through the Legion front lines, just as expected but swiftly encountered stiff resistence from Legion counterattacks, the Camp Golf offensive swiftly taking nearly 50% casualties before the troopers broke and ran, leaving the rangers to cover the retreat, nearly all of whom didn't make it back to Camp Golf. However, due to the actions of Damien to the west in Red Rock Canyon, the second prong managed to force it's way to Vegas, but only after taking heavy casualties, especially after trying to pass through the southern end of Fiend territory. The danage was just enough that by the time they arrived in Vegas, specifically McCarren, the Troopers refused to attack further.
Damien remained in the cave, completely immobile while he meditated. He had spent the past day and a half in the cave, and preferred to meditate with a calm mind instead of panicking just like the Legion would have wanted him to. Over the past night, he had thought of a way out of this mess. He had planted explosives carefully in tactical areas near the entrance of the cave and stood on the other side. But he was not going to blow his way out. Damien was going to use his pistol and empty a round, hoping to convince the Legion that he had committed suicide and to retrieve his body.From prior experience, he knew that the Legion still had some form of honor, such as recovering the bodies of their fallen soldiers or an enemy of high importance, in which Damien fit the bill perfectly. By the time they remove the rocks covering the cave entrance to an extent that they could still be used as shrapnel, boom! The only draw back however was that this also had the chance to backfire and cause the cave-in to become even worse. Damien's plan worked like a charm after he shot the bullet at the ground, the noise echoing loud enough to cause the Legion to take notice almost instantly. Within five minutes, rocks began to move from the cave entrance until they were almost removed entirely. A moment later, the Legionaries that surrounded the cave began to walk into the cave unarmed and unprepared. Damien hid in the corner in the shadows until they got close enough to spring the trap. Taking a detonator out once enough Legionaries got inside, he sprung the trap. The resulting explosion killing over half of the Legionaries. Damien then ran forwards as he felt the support structures of the cave opening itself crack and break, running for his life as he busted through the door as the cave itself collapsed. From that point onward, Damien completely took the remainder of the Legionaries by complete surprise and killed all of them with his pistol. Tired from his experience and feeling sunlight for the first time in many hours, he headed straight back to Vegas. He still had important documents to give to Snow, which meant that his mission was not over yet. And after fighting through hell, what he needed was a brief rest.
(ok) By the time Damien had arrived back in Vegas, he felt completely exhausted. He had been awake for the past four days and his clothing was caked in blood. Nonetheless, he managed to clean some of the clothing up before he managed to get to Vegas to look presentable. He made his way to North Vegas and eventually arrived at the command center. He saluted at Snow, and was in good form despite looking like crap.
Snow looked up as Damien walked in, "What in Eq- in the world happened to you! You look like you ran into a deathclaw or two!" She said, "Sit sit, I'm sure you need it."
Damien took several steps to the right towards a couch, but never made it to the seat himself when his legs gave way as he collapsed to the ground, pulling himself to the seat as he used his strength to pull himself onto the sofa as he leaned backwards to relax, sweat dripping on his face. "Heh...i guess you could say something like that...." Damien said as he pulled out a form of documents and threw them onto a table nearby almost without effort.
Snow sighed and pulled the documents over to her, putting them in a folder for later looking, "Now, I know you probably won't like this but, I can't let you leave the city anymore. Our situation is very on a knife's edge. If the Legion figures out you're here, they'll launch a full assault. With the NCR offenisve pretty much a complete failure, we only made contact with one attack group and they hsd taken such heavy casualties they couldn't continue. We shall wait, and should the NCR be driven from the Mojave, we're going to needbyou to help evacuate."
Damien sighed. "Alright...." he said before his eyes darted around the room. "I think it's too risky for me to leave the city now anyway, plus as you can tell, I'm not at 100%." he said before he rose from the chair slowly. "I'm going to get some rest if you don't mind Snow. I'll need it if the NCR is kicked out of the Mojave."
Snow nodded, "Well, the good news is that reports suggests we still have a week or two before the Legion reinforcements arrive, so you have some time. And Damien? Stay safe and get well." She said, "Oh, and I think Orchid was wanting to see you, don't know why." ******** "My Caesar, we have the Demon trapped inside a cave. We have guards posted just in case he tries to dig his way to safety." Fulius said to Caesar, "And if he does escape somehow, he will no doubt be too shaken up to be any threat to us before we take the Mojave. And the Profligate offensive was a complete failure, over 3,000 Profligtes were killed with a thousand more captured. They have since slunk behind their lines and now await their doom."
If it wasn't for the mask on his face, Tiberius would have had the largest grin on his face. "Excellent, you've pleased Mars today Legate. We'll take the Mojave when our eastern reinforcements arrive, I want to make sure that we are at our absolute best when we take the Mojave. " ---------------------------------------------------- Damien saluted once more before he went out of the door and headed to his room, which was near pitch black were it not for the cleaners opening and closing the door occasionally to clean the room. It seemed the cleaners forgot to close the door, so Damien went ahead to shut the door and turned on the light. The room remained how it was, a room that contained pre-war beauty, but something was left on the bed. On the bed was a box of chocolates and a letter in a pink envelope. He would have just moved the items away onto the bedside table, but his curiosity got the better of him. Sitting down next to the bed, he opened the envelope to show a stunning picture of Orchid and a love letter. He began to read. Dear Damien I hope this letter finds you well. I'm writing you this letter to tell you how much you mean to me, and to thank you for coming into my life. You are something I never thought could exist for me. You are the best thing that has ever happened in my life, and I don't regret telling you how I feel. I have been through a rough life, especially during my childhood. I've told you all of this before so there is no need for me to write my life story, but I've never really felt anything because of how I was brought up. But then you happened; you came into my life and saved me on that day. I decided to come close to you as a friend and find out who you truly were first and what you were really like. You seemed cool, nice, and funny--some things I really liked in a stallion, or in your case, human. So I took a chance and got together with you. You've been through alot. You've been raised to fight wars for different reasons, you tried to justify the means for each time you were forced to kill somebody, and what had occurred with your wife was heartbreaking. I tried so hard to know you, but I was afraid about what your reaction would be if I came to confess how I felt about you. But you know me, I wasn't going to let you go so easily! I've never really felt love until you came along. I have discovered new things about a new me. You have truly changed me. Still, I'm scared, because I'm growing a deep feeling inside my heart that I just can't explain. I truly don't know what your feelings are, but I don't want to force you to tell me something you don't really feel towards me, and I don't want to force you to become somebody your not. All I ask of you is to show me that you care for me, and to also trust me the way I trust you. Damien, I love you. Would you be my special somepony? - Orchid xxx
Snow got up and trotted out of her office later that day, dead tired. She had to take a day off from this mess, it was like she was running Mark co all over again...
(Maybe Damien thinking about how to respond to Orchid? Or Orchid waiting all nervous and such for Damien's reply?) - - Auto Merge - - (I guess in the meantime, I'll post again) Snow trotted into her room, and as she headed for bed, she noticed her closet which she must have accidentally left open. Pulling it fully open after a glint caught her eye, she noticed her armor, the det that had seen her through some extremely hard times in the Equestria Wasteland but hadn't teleported with her. She knew it was a sign. "I guess...with the situation...everyone needs to be ready and able to fight..." she muttered to herself before slipping into the light Commando armor. Pressing the buttom to lower the visor, she left her room. She had to find Nathan, his tactics seemed to be a bit more suited to her than Damien's... ******* Nathan walked through Camp McCarren, were the NCR once again set up their operational base. Only this time it was for operating behind enemy lines, not logistics oversight. After awhile of searching, he found his old unit, the 1st SAP. "Sergeant White?!" One asked in surprise, standing up, "I didn't expect to see you in the Mojave, I thought you retired!" "I did." Nathan replied chuckling, "And nice to see you too, Thomas. What rank do they got you at now?" "Oh, I'm in your old place sir!" Thomas replied, with the rest of the unit having no idea who Nathan was. Nathan, sensing the confusion, sat down and sighed, "You see, this used to be my unit. I was Master Sergeant, and Thomas here was just a PFC, but...Well, as you all should know, SAP leads the front, and Bitter Springs came around...It just felt different, so I retired when my tour was up." There was a moment of "aah" around the men and then Nathan turned to Thomas, "So, who's left? From when I left?" He asked in a serious tone Thomas gulped, "Well...not many sir...After we lost the Arizona Spillway to the Legion...the brass ordered a mass SAP assault to retake it. We managed to at first, caught the Legion sleeping, but then they just flooded down from Fortification Hill. The sheer amount of fire they leveled at us was amazing. Well...long story short out of the 10 of us, only Andrews, Catherine, and I made it out alive, Catherine was too wounded to continue so she got sent home and Andrews got promoted to Ranger, don't know what happened to him after that, I just know he is likely down at Camp Golf right now if he is alive, likely a Veteran by now, considering him." Nathan sighed, he had no idea his unit had been hit so hard, before chuckling, "I'm surprised Cat let them take her home, probably had to knock her out. And Andrews...that tough son of a b---- doesn't surprise me he got Ranger. He seemed almost as hard as the Malpais Legate to kill. I'm sure he's giving the Legion hell as we speak." (To me, SAP is the step below Ranger, and is often times more dangerous because they actually have to come up behind the Ranger scouts to fight and secure the area. Like at the Battle for Helios One, which Nathan took part in pretty much immedately after joining, SAP was the front of the attack. If you survive being in a SAP unit, especially in 1st SAP, for long, you are one tough bastard, or a lucky one. A lot Veteran Rangers started in SAP) ******* Legate Fulius walked down the rows and rows of captured NCR soldiers, a good portion of them being wounded who couldn't get out fast enough. Those, he had crucified along the three main paths the NCR was trying to captured, the I-15, I-95, and from Hoover Dam to Fortification Hill. And instead of the usual being tied to the cross with ropes, he had their hands and feet nailed in so that if someone was to take them down, they would bleed out, and the crucification would be much more painful. All those still able to move and work, he ordered them into the arena in the Fort, for Caesar's entertainment as they were forced to fight to the death with machetes in batches. If one was knocked down and ready to be killed, they would be enslaved. Any who survived 3 bouts was then sent into "re-education" deeper in Arizona to forget their ties to the NCR and become Legionaires. Going up to Caesar Tiberiius as the fights were ongoing, he saluted in respect, "Sir, I intend to go back across the Colorado. I must see to the men and getting them ready for the coming battle. And if you attack Hoover Dam, I request you wait until Camp Golf has fallen, that way we could hit the Profligates from in front and from behind and capture many. I shall see you either after our victory or when we meet Mars, my Caesar." Fulius said before gathering his guard and heading out, basing himself at the new Fort Nellis. With the old train tunnel destroyed and the old chain-link fence replaced by a much more worthy sand-filled shipping container palisade surrounding the base, it was now virtually unassailable. Also there were Legionaires learning how to fly using the VR chairs and putting the final touches on the Lady, which was almost complete when Nellis fell.
(I could go ahead with Orchid. Jesus....the Legion is going to absolutely curb-stomp the NCR at Hoover Dam. I like the idea of the ‘re-education’ camps however.) Orchid sat in the tower of the Lucky 38, sitting on a large king-sized bed with a light red quilt cover. From what she knew, Damien had made it successfully back to New Vegas. The only problem was that he was absolutely exhausted, so he had to wait about a day and a half before she could know the response of the man. She felt worried. She had no idea what Damien would have thought of the man that had saved her, and how he would take to Orchid proclaiming her feelings through a piece of paper, written through a black pen. Eventually, there was a sound of the elevator going ’ding’, and Orchid’s ears shot straight upwards upon hearing the sound. She hadn’t had visitors in a while, so it only left one person who could have made it inside of the casino. Galloping at full speed to the door, she stood directly infront of it She felt worried. She had no idea what Damien would have thought of the man that had saved her, and how he would take to Orchid proclaiming her feelings through a piece of paper, written through a black pen. Eventually, there was a sound of the elevator going ’ding’, and Orchid’s ears shot straight upwards upon hearing the sound. She hadn’t had visitors in a while, so it only left one person who could have made it inside of the casino. Galloping at full speed to the door, she stood directly in front of the door. As it opened, it revealed who she had been waiting for. Damien stood at the door, dressed in a full black suit as he hid his hands behind his back. His hair was gelled back for the occasion and he looked back at the mare. Orchid was taken aback by Damien’s appearance and how surprisingly formal he appeared. Orchid, who was dressed up herself, could do nothing but look in awe. She took a step back as she looked back, slightly worried. “I got your letter Orchid” Damien said as he stepped out of the elevator. “I came as soon as I could. Hope you’ve bee-“ Orchid was not expecting him to react like that, he had expected disappointment or even anger for Orchid trying to take the space that had been left by Damien's first wife, Chloe. She had felt embarrassed as her eyes began to fill up with tears and hid her face in shame. She didn’t know what to expect, but the fear of rejection already terrified her as she could do nothing but cry as she spoke at a million miles an hour. “Damien. I like you and I feel super weird because I really like lots of ponies but for some reason i love you more than anyone else. I don’t get all blushy and dumb around anyone else and all of these feelings make me feel like a little filly. I just want to be close to you alot and I want to be your little purple pony and may-“ Damien had a forgiving smile on his face as he bent down to Orchids level and booped her in the nose, causing Orchid to remove her hooves from her eyes. He then moved his hand across her cheek as he wiped one of her tears away from her eyes, causing Orchid to give Damien a weak smile. What took her by surprise next was that Damien hugged her tightly, as alarm bells rang in the young mares head as he face quickly turned red. She did nothing for a moment, almost not knowing what to d before she had the biggest smile on her face, several tears still coming out of her eyes out of happiness out of sadness, and hugged him tightly back. Orchid felt like the happiest mare in the world. ------------------------------------ Tiberius spoke again. “That’s an excellent idea, Fulius. May Mars smile upon you.” He said before deciding to make plans for how the Legion could evolve after the Mojave had taken. Decades of expansion and never-ending conquest would had eventually taken its toll onto the Legion. The former Caesar would had focused on working on society after America was conquered. Tiberius was different, he wanted to please the civilian population and focus on the society of the Legion before he considered expanding outwards. Once the NCR is pushed out of the Mojave entirely, it would have been a major wake-up call. Unfortunately for them, it could take them decades before they could muster the strength to retake the Mojave, but it would have been far too late for them to actually make an impact.
