Snow found Nathan chating with people she assumed to be his old squad. Going up to Nthan at a lull in conversation, she asked him for training. To which he agreed to, and he and the squad began drills to teach Snow how to fight and survive...
(I'm neck deep in work at the moment, so I won't be able to post for a while. Legionary reinforcement arrival prehaps?)
(Alright, guess I'll post then, that sucks man :/ ) Christmas Day, 2281 (two weeks later) Fulius stood before his troops, the front line had been inched forward to within 200 yards of the edge of Camp Golf, and it had been nearly surrounded. "Men! Today is the day we have all been waiting for so eagerly. Legionaires from across the Legion have been brought here today to make Caesar proud and at long last take the Mojave from the Profligates! You are Caesar's finest, the best he has to offer! I'm sure many of you that were brought here from the east took part in the taking of Denver, this will seem like child's play to you. The Profligates are weak and at will's end! Many of them do not even wish to be here! But each and every one of you do, you want to serve your Caesar and give your Legion the capital and land it deserves! You each want to secure the future of the Legion and those who it rules!" A cheer went up, then Fulius lifted up a laurel crown, "This goes to the man who kills the most Profligates today! And if one of you brings me back Chief Hanlon, the chief of the Rangers and man who turned the First Battle of Hoover Dam into our embarrassment, will be rewarded with having a coin minted in his honor! Now, onward! Take this Camp then we shall drive on to the Dam, were we shall meet Caesar and drive the Profligates out!" The men cheered once more before drawing their weapons and charged the Camp, where after an hour's battle, they overwhelmed the dispirited defenders, and Chief Hanlon was captured by Fulius himself, and out of respect, had him beheaded, then put the head on a spike that they would march to Hoover Dam with. Crucifying the prisoners as holding onto them would slow the assault, Fulius moved the troops on Hoover Dam, were they attacked from the rear while Caesar attacked from the front, with Chief Hanlon's head kept in clear view of the NCR troops.
Orchid was cuddled up inside of the bed of the Lucky 38, the pony being the only one inside of the enormous king-sized bed. She had the greatest night of her life two weeks prior, when her and Damien spent the day together in romance. It was a wild night and one thing eventually led to another. The two of them became romantically involved since then. It was Christmas day and Orchid slowly got out of bed in the morning, only to notice that Damien’s side of the bed was empty. Putting on a dressing gown, she went out of the room and went into the next room to find the man who had been living with her for two weeks. But what she found was Damien sitting at the counter, next to the radio while holding his head in disbelief, shirtless but with pants and boots on to signify that he was getting changed until something came on the radio. Orchid’s expression turned to a worried state, trotting over to Damien as he sat at the counter. She would have said something to him to help comfort him, but Damien looked at Orchid as he turned his head, a sad expression that stained his face. “Legion took the Dam.... and Golf....” Damien said sharply and simply. “They were both reported to be massacres; hundreds upon hundreds are dead, captured or being crucified.” Orchid was going to say something but it was clear what he was upset about. If Damien left the city and if the Legion found out that he was alive, Vegas would be bombarded and all of its inhabitants would have been slaughtered. The Legion basically had taken the Mojave, and all that Damien could do is watch. Tiberius left the fort for the first time since he became Caesar. With the Legion quickly dealing with the profligates, it was safe for him to cross the Dam. He walked across the Dam like it was his triumph, but it was merely the work of the Legate and believed that he should deserve the glory. Once he made it past the NCR side, two Centurions dragged out the battered and bruised General Lee Oliver, who looked like he been through alot. Tiberius took a machete from another Legionary and went over to him as the two Centurions pulled him back and exposed his neck. Lee looked at Tiberius and felt that he had no regrets, until he looked into his eyes to reveal who he truly was. “You......you’re.” Lee began before stopping. “Why are you doing this?” Tiberius smirked under his mask. “Nothing personal, Oliver.” With that, Tiberius decapitated the head of Oliver and placed it on a pike next to Hanlon’s for all of the NCR to see. Once the dam was taken, plans were made to finally retake Vegas. Tiberius wanted to see Vegas burn with his own milky blue eyes. With a standing force of well over 20,000 legionaries and a strategic advantage, it seemed nothing would stop the Legion from taking Vegas. Except...for Vegas itself. Whatever the outcome, it was going to be brutal. .
Snow hung her head as the news of the fall of Golf and Hoover Dam was reported over the NCR emergency radio. After Oliver was lost, another man came on the radio, "This is Leutinent General Anderson, all NCR troops able to do so are to immediately withdraw to Mojave Outpost to dig in. The Mojave is lost, I repeat, the Mojave is lost. I'm sorry to all those in Vegas, we failed you..." Snow sighed sadly, fighting off tears, it would mean they had to abandon their home...the Legion likely wasn't going to stop here anyways...they would regather their strength and fight the NCR once more. Now, they had three options, surrender, flee and likely have many die, or all die in a siege against an enemy with, compared to them, infinite resources, time, and manpower, with no hope of an ally lifting the siege. It was ending...all so quickly... ****** "GET YOUR DAMN PROFLIG-" Fulius yelled at the mysterious men that suddenly grabbed and chained him before his mouth was gagged by a man who came into view who wore reinforced leather armor, had a respirator/rebreather mechanism on, sunglasses, and...a 1st SAP beret on. Fulius yelled curses at the man through the gag, though they came out a not so threatening"MMMPHHMMMM!", then the man took off his sunglasses and the stare of the eyes behind them shut him up, it was the glare of a man who had seen quite a lot of combat, a look that Fulius had never seen in a Profligate NCR soldier before, only in veteran Legionaires and other highly exprienced Legion soldiers. "Well look at the prize we've caught for ourselves, boys." The man said menacingly, "A Legion Legate, looks like we've got ourselves a first." The man pulled out a dangerous looking trench knife, placing the tip under the Legate's chin and forcing him to look up using the flat of the blade, "Legate Fulius the Crucifier. He who loves using nails instead of ropes to crucify his victims. We should do the same to you for the thousands you have, but we have better use for you." A pitch black hood was suddenly pulled over Fulius' head and Nathan stood up to face his comrades, "Come on, lets get out of here before more Legion come." And they snuck away into the Mojave towards Vegas, leaving the massacred Praetorian guard of Fulius behind. Thers's a reason they were all in 1st SAP...
Tiberius and the Legion were rapidly advancing towards Vegas. Upon hearing of the NCR withdrawal in the Mojave, the Caesar declared that the time was right to finally finish off their opponent. The Legion went behind Tiberius, as thousands of soldiers stood behind him. The army stopped their advance once Vegas was in clear view, as Tiberius turned around and spoke through his mask with a deep booming voice, a built-in microphone assisting him in amplifying his voice so that it could be heard across the army of Legionaries. “Men of the Legion! Today, we shall finally be free! Free from the NCR, free from our past failures, free from any who dare oppose the divine will of Mars. Our minds...free from the prisons of our enemies. The battle might be over... but we are not yet free! ” Tiberius spoke as the Legion roared in excitement not long after, their combined voices bouncing off the earth itself and heading towards the heavens. Tiberius raised his hand into a fist as he pointed towards Vegas itself. “Our Legion shall finally have a Rome, but we are being stopped by the last remaining profligates and dissolute peasants who dare take up arms. These inhabitants fought and killed our brothers when they....’liberated’ the city from our control. They are weak, broken and foolish. None of them wish to take up arms against our Legion, yet they dare persist against their impending doom.” There was another roar by the army, the atmosphere being electrifying as Tiberius took the same machete he used to kill Oliver and raised it into the air, blood still dripping from the blade. “Today, we shall have Rome, and we shall be free!” The legionaries exploded into a roar of excitement as Tiberius then pointed in the direction of the Mojave Outpost. “And Carthage shall burn!”
Nathan walked down the Strip towards the Lucky 38, watching as a pink bubble suddenly pop up and encompass the area of New Vegas they held, protecting and isolating it until they were ready to evacuate. He then went to try to find Damien, he had to tell Damien that they had captured the highest ranking Legate in the Legion...
Damien held his head low, aware of the impending doom that faced him but unaware of exactly what Nathan had done with the Legate. He decided that if he was going to die, he would go down fighting. For the occasion, he wore his black reinforced MOCKINGBIRD Riot gear, and carried the finest weaponry he had available.
Nathan saw Damien walking down a hall in the Lucky 38, fully armed and armored, "Damien! Come on, you need to come with me, you'll never believe what I and my old squad did, we captured a Legion Legate! The highest ranked one; Legate Fulius."
Damien instantly shot upwards upon hearing Nathan's news, and had a small grin on his face before quickly catching up to Nathan. "Legate Fulius, Caesar's second in command. You must be pretty proud of yourself, and so you should be. Well done." Damien said before getting to the matter at hand. "I think we need to speak to him, I've been wanting to kick that bastard's teeth in for a while."
Nathan chuckled, "Well, I came to you because I need you to get him to talk. As in; don't kill him and don't hurt him too bad. But rough him up as much as you please." Nathan told Damien before leading him to Fulius' holding cell. ***** Fulius' head lifted as he heard a door open and close to the building his cell was in, then his eyes widened as the Demon walked into sight, "But, you were supposed to be killed!" He exclaimed in shock, "How in the name of Mars did you survive?!"
"I got better" Damien simply said before standing directly in view of the Legate, looking over at the equipment on the table, that also included Fulius own machete. "Now, I'm going to make the rules perfectly clear right now. You are going to talk to me and you will be telling the truth. Everytime you refuse to answer a question or if you lie to me, I will cut off one of your fingers until I get the truth. Once I run out of fingers, then I'll move to your toes." Damien looked at the Legate as he took the Machete from the table. "Of course, you can avoid this fate by simply talking to me now. So let's begin...."
Fulius glared at Damien, but knew it would be worthless to hold out, "I'm dead to the Legion anyways...Wouldn't surprise me if Caesar Tiberius has already replaced me. Look, I can't tell you much that you don't know already. You all are doomed, be it tomorrow or a year from now. Vegas will fall. Nothing changes that." Then he sighed and simply handed Damien a single slip of paper, the message from the civilian rulers of the Legion, "Read it." He said simply, "Then I have an offer for you."
Damien took the piece of paper and began to read it, as he then suddenly began to laugh for no apparent reason. He then looked back at Fulius again as his laughter died down before taking the situation seriously again, looking at the legate and his offer. "What is it?"
"Simple, kill Caesar, I'll take his place, and I swear upon Mars and my honor that I will pull out of the Mojave and begin the transition of the Legion into a civilian rule." Fulius said, looking Damien dead in the eye, being completely serious, "And the Mojave would be left alone to choose its future."
“I’ll accept, but on one condition. I never want to see the Legion in the Mojave ever again. If I do, I can assure you now that the Legion won’t survive our next encounter. But....I hope that the day will never come. You’ve done enough damage to the NCR in that you’ve not only crippled their military, but you’ve basically made expansion for them impossible within our lifetimes, but we’ve done the same for you.” Damien replied before making the noise of a bird whistle, signifying Nathan to enter the room. “I’ve spent a good portion of my life fighting against the Legion. I’ve killed thousands of Legionaries over the path of four years. I’ve nearly caused the complete collapse of the Legion multiple times, and you’re the first Legionary who has given me pause.” Damien said as he held a finger to his ear. “Is it ready?” he spoke, and only an unintelligible sound could have been heard to Fulius. Damien had a smug smile on his face “The forces that still follow Tiberius will stop at nothing to destroy Vegas, but you’ve miscalculated something. This....’lady’, has actually been infiltrated. I've been training spies throughout your entire conquest of Nellis who undertook the VR training to fly the plane right under your noses, and now carry enough ordinances to simply obliterate the entire attacking force of at least 20,000 Legionaries. I’ll let you go, but not with an army.” Damien said coldly before he held his finger to the ear again. “Begin...” Meanwhile, high above the Mojave Wasteland The ‘Lady’ flew high above the wasteland, making a trip around the fort before heading towards the direction of Vegas. The plane was flown by 12 Legionaries as they sat comfortably at a height of 2,000 meters. Once the order was given, Damien’s spies suddenly took out their machetes and quickly killed the unarmed Legionaries who operated the bombs, throwing their bodies out of the plane. One of the pilots were killed after he received a machete to the throat and replaced by one of the spies. The plane was now heading at the huge bulk of Legionaries and the new Caesar, and once they opened the doors, all hell was going to break loose.
Fulius narrowed his eyes at Damien, before sighing and chuckling as he came to a realization, "Heh, you know, killing them is probably the best thing you could do. Every Legionaire brought to the Mojave is brought because of his loyalty to Caesar. Most Veterans who you have encountered here were made veterans here. What I mean to say if you didn't and civilian rule tried to be established, well, you'ld have a nation embroiled in civil war on your border, a civil war likely to spill over." then he looked at Damien confidently, "I have no intention on moving on the Mojave or the West, too far, supply lines would be strained. I'm not my predecessor who expanded every opportunity he got. Denver taught me that. But Damien, don't underestimate us. We will probably keep right on expanding after a few years of recovery. Just more...Cautious, you could say." Fulius then stood up, looking down slightly at Damien, "Oh, one more thing, sorry about your wife. Now, I'ld like to be out of this cell."
(I'm just going to place Orchid with Snow) Damien simply nodded as he went over to the chair and undid the restraints holding the Legate back. Once the act was done, the bones in his ear began to vibrate as he received a call from one of his contacts. And what had occurred was not very pleasing; he lowered his fingers again before looking at Fulius. “The bomber performed its job, as expected, and mowed down the large bulk of the attacking forces. But it seems that the Bomber was targeted at the Fort and is unable to continue it’s mission. That means that the Legion is still advancing, but Vegas now has the advantage. But that’s not what I’m worried about.” “Tiberius and the survivors of the bombings somehow made it into Vegas.” Damien said. “I don’t know how, but we’ll be dealing with one hell of a final attack.” ---------------- Tiberius found himself at the roof of the Lucky 38 after single handedly overwhelming its defenses, looking over Vegas in all of it's splendor while the veterans of the Legion made a suicide attack for the last remaining glory of his own Legion. He just stood there, watching the battle commence. He was right where he wanted, and the second end of America was going to soon follow.
