Nathan and SAP fought desperately against the Legion onslaught, about 5,000 Legion had survived the bombing and 4,000 were now alive, flinging themselves at a defending force of about the same size. Slowly, Nathan and 1st SAP rallied the defenders, launching a counter attack that forced the Legion to retrest into Freeside and the Lucky 38. There, the two sides fell into a stalemate, with the two sides in Freeside firing at each other, the defenders from the Strip Wall and the Leion from cover around Freeside, basing themselves at the old Kings hideout, while the Legion in the Lucky 38 barricaded themseoves inside, with the defenders unable to get inside. It was likely if it wasn't for Nathen's exprience, they would have been overwhelmed... ***** Snow and Orchid hid in North Vegas, safe from the dangers of the attack with the other civilians, Snow in her light Commando armor, ready to defend herself if necessary, "Dear Goddesses this has all happened so quickly..." she muttered before turning to Orchid, "Got any idea?"
"None that doesn't involve not making a suicidal charge" Orchid replied before taking a pair of binoculars. "We need to get to the Lucky 38, something big is occurring there" ------------------------------------------ Damien ran at full sprint before steamrolling two Legionaries into the doors of the Lucky 38. From then, he tried to force his way into the building only to find that the Legion had not only barricaded the doors but jammed the electrical door that prevented it from opening. He quickly tried to use what scientific understanding he had with terminals and only managed to get the door open temporarily for less than three seconds before it slammed shut again, in which the demon jumped through the hole left by the door before it slammed shut again. He held a scoped brush gun this time, shooting at the small number of Legionary guards who protected the elevator. With them dead, the elevator took him up until the penthouse where he would sneak around the Legion, and take the ladder to the roof. Upon moving a manhole, Damien made his way to the top of the Lucky 38. It wasn't as windy as he expected it was, but he knew that it was a hell of a fall if he slipped. He closed the manhole behind him and looked around, to see Tiberius with his back turned looking towards the rest of the Strip. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Tiberius spoke. Damien raised his machete towards the masked man. From what he understood, Tiberius was extremely dangerous even by looking at him. Tiberius turned around and faced the Demon. "New Vegas, a shining oasis in a sea of nightmares. Tens of thousands of soldiers of the NCR and the Legion have bled and died for this city and for Hoover Dam. Through it all, I've seen nothing but misery. Which is why, I've taken over the empty seat that was filled by the former Caesar. To bring the ultimate freedom..." "What would you know about freedom?" Damien said coldly, machete pointed at the masked man. The man stood still for a moment before his mask strangely released a small amount of compressed air to release the hold on the mask. From there, Tiberius placed both of his hands onto the mask and took it off. What Damien found was horrifying. Damien took a step back in sheer horror. What he found was an older man of about 60 with silver hair and piercing milky blue eyes. On his face was a scar that went just below his eye. He had a rough beard that was slightly longer than the Demons but had shorter hair. In front of him was the man behind the Demon, the reason that Damien was turned into the perfect warrior. Standing at 6.4ft and phenomenally well-built for his age , was what the NCR referred to as 'The Chosen One', Aaron Winters. The Greatest Warrior of the 23rd century "What's the matter, son?" Aaron spoke with a smug grin. "You look like you've just seen a ghost...."
Snow nodded and looked at the Lucky 38 through a pair of binoculars, gasping at what she saw, "Orchid! Damien's up there! with what appears to be Caesar! I-I think they're about to fight!" she exclaimed before giving Orchid the binoculars so she could look. ******* Fulius had simply strolled out of the Strip gate, the Legion soldiers stopping their fire to watch in awe as their Legate walked towards them from the place they had just failed at capturing. Standing midway in the "no-man's land", he simply looked around and cleared his throat, "I have an announcement to make. Caesar Tiberius is a traitor and a Profligate who was never Legion at all." Knowing confusion was emanating from the men, he clarified, "It is quite simple actually. The man claiming to be your Caesar was never in the Legion at all, he simply strolled in and took power. Of course there was a power vacuum from the Demon, but even if Tiberiius was Legion, he would not have been in line to succeed Caesar, that honor, after the clearing house that the Demon did, should have been mine. Tiberius has sent you on a suicide mission, as we speak the NCR has regroup behind Mojave outpost, but instead of finishing the job and securing the Mojave, he sent you here, to Vegas, to die. If the NCR attacked now, we wouldn't stand a chance." Fulius raised his arms, hoping this speech would sway the men, "Bow to men, Legionaires, for I am your TRUE Caesar, and I command you to withdraw to preserve our strengths, the Mojave will bleed us dry if we stay. I command we withdraw back across the Colorado, and simply hold the Eastern side of the Dam for it's electricity." A silence fell on the scene, and Nathan and the other defenders stood at the ready, guns aimed down field, but low on ammo, in case Fulius failed. Then slowly, one by one, the Legionaires stood up, sheathed their weapons, and saluted Fulius. Soon, every last one had silently fallen to Fulius' speech, with a small smile, Fulius saluted back in respect, and lead the Legion out of the city towards the Dam, leaving the Legionaires in the Lucky 38 to fend for themselves.
Damien looked at his father in shock. Forty years ago, his father had saved America from the unthinkable by the Enclave, and almost promptly wiped them off the face of the earth. He was a beacon of hope, a born champion and a descendent of the Vault Dweller. Why would he accomplish such an act. Damien looked at his father before noticing the withdrawal of the Legion “It seems you’ve lost your Legion. You will not win this day. Why are you doing this?” Aaron looked at his son and had a smug smile on his face. “Want to know why? In the words of a great man from over 300 years ago, ‘I have a dream!’” He said before looking at the remainder of the Mojave. “I have a dream that one day; a new beginning shall emerge for the world. A new nation of action not words -- ruled by strength not committee! I’ve seen the error and the corruption of both of the NCR and of the Legion, and they are deemed unfit to survive in the new world. In my new world, power and justice are in back where they belong, in the hands of the people!” Aaron replied before looking at his son dead in the eye. “America is diseased ....there's no saving it...” Aaron replied. “I’m going to wipe the slate clean, burn everything that has been built since the Great War down! And from the ashes a new America will be born! In my new America, we’re taking the bull by the horns and tearing the bear in half. In the end, America will be rebuilt and it will be great once more! I will build a society that could and would survive this new world. A society that could prevent mankind from fracturing and destroying itself in the new world and will prosper....” “But why?” Damien asked. “The NCR might not be at its best and it does have its problems, but that does not mean that it is unfit to live. The Legion included.” “You still don't understand” Aaron replied. “I'm using the Legion as a nation! So I can end the Legion as a nation...In my new America, people will die and kill...for what they believe! Not for pointless and trivial wars -- Not for the tyranny of evil men -- Not for the lies they are lead to believe! Once America is reborn, me and my own people will restore her to her former glory.” Aaron said before pointing at his son. “So...what are you going to do about it, Damien? Damien looked at him with barely contained rage. “You aren’t crazy, You’re [censored] insane!” Aaron smirked as he then pointed to the skies above. “During my reign as Caesar, I’ve received the launch codes of every unused nuclear warhead since America went to sleep. Arizona...Utah....California... the entire southwest will be blown sky-high! I’ve already launched nuclear warheads in the Legion, and knowing the Legion, it’s impossible for them to do anything about it. They should be touching down in their own lands within a few minutes, and if my math is correct, casualty rates will be as high as 98 percent. ” Aaron said. “I’m only destroying the leadership of the NCR, which means that Shady Sands and all of the Republic’s military encampments will be turned to molten glass! I could have ripped the President in half with my bare hands, but he shall perish in flames. Vegas however will be untouched, she will survive.” “And even with all of the tech in the world, even with the Equestrians at your side, there is no way to stop me. My heart is a remote detonator. If you kill me now and my heart stops beating, it will detonate the entire nuclear stockpile of the Divide. So what are you going to do now, son?” Damien looked at his father for a moment, pointing his machete at the older man. “Better to reign in hell...than serve in heaven” Damien replied, quoting an old English poet as he got into a stance. “You’ve completely lost your mind....I’ll do what I must.” “We still have a score to settle” Aaron said as he took out his own blade. The two of them got into their own stances as the world seemed to spin around them; it was to be the final battle. Whoever won would ultimately decide the fate of human history. “SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE GOT, SON!” Aaron syelled as the two of them both charged at another. ------------------------------------------------------ Orchid took the binoculars from Snow and quickly zoomed in to reveal Damien speaking to another man, which he had a surprising resemblance towards. Not long after they finished talking, they started to fight. Orchid's face turned to shock as she turned at her friend. "We need to get to the tower as fast as we can. The Legion's gone, which means we have no-body to fight against. However, the last remaining Legionaries that remain in the Lucky 38 are only loyal to that other man Damien is fighting. Teleporting is a bad idea, we would be drained of magic and we would be easy targets and it's a long gallop to the tower. And pegasi assistance could mean that the other man could just shoot us out of the sky." Orchid replied, holding back negative emotions. "We could make it half-way with the pegasi...but, what do you think?"
(Well, I don't think he's really had the time to launch them. Lets say after Vegas was captured, he intended to do it) Snow raised an eyebrow at Orchid, "I guess you forgot I use Essence magic, I don't get tired magically!" She said to Orchid before putting a hoof on Orchid and visualizing the casino floor of the Lucky 38. Taking a deep breath, they suddenly teleported in, greeted by the sight of recently killed Legionaires who hadn't even begun to stink yet, "Damien." Snow noted simply before turning to Orchid, "Alright, what next?" She asked, pulling out her PEAR-17
(Ok, that sounds better) "We make it to those two as quick as we can" Orchid replied before taking her 44 magnum. "And for any Legionary that Damien managed to avoid, well....we'll take care of them." ---------------------------------------------- The father and son collided like a freight train as the two of them both unleashed their attacks at one another. Aaron stabbed forwards towards Damien, in which he responded by sidestepping the attack and jumped into the air before coming downwards. Aaron deflected the attack as if it was nothing. The two of them jumped back to steady themselves before returning to combat another once more. Just when Damien thought he had the upper hand, Aaron threw his blade off the Lucky 38 and ran at his son at full speed. Damien swiped at his father until the older man stopped the blade with his hand, surprising the Demon. "Nice knife...." Aaron replied before using his strength to snap the blade in two, following up by punching Damien across the roof. He looked at his son, and laughed at him. "You've improved, son." Aaron replied before taking a nearby Fat-Man launcher. "Such a shame that it has to be this way..." Just before he pulled the trigger, Damien suddenly launched back into the action and kicked the launcher out of his hands and stunning his father temporarily, giving him enough time to take the Fat-Man launcher. The moment that The Chosen One realized what had happened, a mini-nuke was launched and hit him directly in the chest, shaking the building while fire and smoke filled the air. The explosion also sent Damien flying backwards, almost throwing him off the building. Damien collapsed to his knees, as if he had won the battle. He rose to his feet again as the smoke began to blow away from the wind. Only to find that his father still stood there, with all clothing above his upper torso being destroyed. Damien took a step back, his father wasn't really human anymore.
Snow and Orhid used the elevator to get to the top, and after a bit of searching, they found the service ladder to the roof, "Come on Orchid, up you go!" She said, almost pushing Orchid up it and out onto the roof, where Snow's eyes widened at what she saw, the man Tiberius aiming a Fat Man at Damien, "Hey! Ugly! Over here!" She yelled at him, "Go help Damien, I'll distract him." Snow said quickly to Orchid, her horn lighting up, ready to catch any mini-nuke that was fired, be it at her or any where else.
Aaron walked through the flames, holding a syringe full of a dark purple liquid in his hand. He walked out of the flames almost completely unharmed as he looked at his son, who was completely shocked at what he'd witnessed. "You're going to need more than that..." Aaron said, while Damien noticed Orchid and Snow in the corner. Aaron took the syringe and held it in his hand. "In my hand is a modified strain of FEV, taken from the Enclave many years ago. Under many years of testing, this strain improves the abilities of any who are injected with this while not forcing the body to undergo the transformation process into a Super Mutant. Included in the strain are nano machines, which will harden in response to physical trauma." Aaron said as he injected the fluid into his neck. "I don't see myself dying today...." Aaron took a deep breath as the color of his eyes turned from a crystal blue to blood red as he threw the syringe into the neck. He looked at his son as he got into a stance. "Now...let's dance." Aaron said before he launched himself at Damien. Aaron was not human anymore, and the threat of having to deal with his father escalated astronomically. He was onto Damien in seconds, and Damien barely had enough time to react to the attacks. Orchid shot her revolver at the man, where the bullets did...nothing. They stopped the moment they made contact with his skin, but could hope that it barely made a scratch. Aaron knocked Damien down as he then pointed at the purple unicorn. "Do you want to dance as well?" Aaron spoke as he rushed at Orchid. Not a moment before he was about to attack, Damien reappeared and knocked him backwards before getting into a Mokaran stance.
(Wait...where did the flames come from?) Snow looked at the two, Tiberius inhecting something in his neck. Narrowing her eyes as he jumped on Damien, time seemed to slow as she brought up her PEAR, and began firing as much as she could at Tiberius, even with the FEV, the bolts would still do damage to the nervous system...
The bolts slammed into Aaron has hard as they hit him in the torso, but done no visible damage. On the inside, the nervous system would have eventually given in. Damien and Aaron then came back and launched themselves at another, displaying seemingly superhuman hand-to-hand combat skill and ability. The tide of battle swung from back to forth, with either Damien or Aaron both getting the advantage. Eventually, she Damien almost ran up his arm and planted a firm knee to the face that stunned him, followed by a devastating blow to the chest that could have killed a normal man. Damien then swung a fist at his dad, only to have it stopped a second later before Aaron threw him across the roof. Aaron had the upper hand, but just barely. If it wasn't for Damien's hand-to-hand skills, the Demon would have lost the battle. Damien was heavily injured as blood dripped from his head and body, but refused to let go.
Snow noticed Damien about to fall off the roof, so she wrapped him in magic, lifting him back onto the roof so that he could be in a less dangerous position, before saying to Orchid, "If he kills Damien...I can't be held responsible for what I'ld do..." she growled lowly as she steathed her weapon, not wanting to accidentally hit Damien, and if Orchid looked at Snow's eyes, she would have seen them mysterious changed to a strange, ominous purple...
Orchid looked into the eyes of Snow, noticing the ominous purple glow and taking notice at Damien, who was fiercely in combat with the former Caesar. Orchid tried to assist by yelling at Damien to duck before shooting her magnum at Tiberius head, in which it knocked him back long enough for Snow to perform what she was doing.
Snow's horn suddenly released a beam of energy, which grabbed and froze "Tiberius", forcing him to look at her. A bright blue magic beam connected the two and Snow's eyes turned into a pure white, sparking with energy as sparks also flew off the magic "bridge". Unseen by Damien and Orchid, Snow's essence was attacking Tiberius from the inside, destroying his own essence, what humans referred to as the "soul", in a massive battle, one that Snow's essence had the advantage in in that it knew what to do. After several minutes, the magic bridge cut off, and both collapsed, Snow falling back into the penthouse and Tiberius onto the roof,where he laid in a crumpled heap, staring blankly off into space. He was still alive, in the sense that his body still worked, but his mind didn't. He was left in a vegatative state, unable to feel anything. Snow...well, she just passed out from the extertion. (And there's the scary part of Essence magic )
(I was going to have a really dramatic conversation between Damien and Aaron. Oh well, might as well do it next post) Damien shambled over to the body of his father. While Aaron was breathing and that his body was alive, his mind was essentially dead. Damien kneeled down next to his father and looked at him with sadness out of disappointment.
(Crap, well, sorry man, I just say you have Orchid get it ready for Snow xD lets just say that through sheer force of will, just enough of Aaron's mind and conciousness is left to have a weak conversation with Damien) Snow remained unconcious in the Penthouse. ****** Nathan finally forced open the doors of the Lucky 38, forcing his and the rest of the 1st SAP into the building. They took the elevator to each floor, meticulously clearing it of Legion, it would be a long, necessary process to clear all 200-300 stories... ****** Fulius stood back at Hoover Dam as his troops trudged past him, years of work undone. It would be a hard hit on the Legion, but it was time to refocus. As the last Legionaire filed past him, past the dead NCR troops who's bodies were collected for cremation, but their dogtags set aside in a large pile for collection out of respect, Fulius became the last Legion member outside the Lucky 38 in the Mojave. Taking a breath, he stepped onto the Dam and followed suit, watching as guards took their place at the guard house dividing the two sides of the Dam and took places at the top of the Eastern towers. They would begin looking into how to make the eastern side of the Dam work so that they could send electricity east without tapping into the West's supplies. To Fulius, they may have lost the Mojave, but to him, they still beat the NCR and showed they were superior. His mind was already at work on how to reform the Legion, but he had no intention on stopping the expansion, just slowing it to a more manageable rate.
(That's alright) Tiberius was alive of body but not of soul, barely containing enough of his mind to speak his final words. His body was shutting down and he was on his last legs. It was bittersweet for him to see his son Damien kneeling to the old man, but he felt at peace. He turned his head around as the sun began to set across the Mojave, the wind moving to a gentle breeze. “I’ve failed.” Aaron said quietly. “I’ve....been at war for my entire life. I’ve done what I believed was right, what I have performed in the name of justice. But it was all a lie. I’ve watched myself transform into the villain, such a shame that it had to be this way. In the end, there can only be one of us..one winter” He said before entering a coughing fit, blood coming out of his mouth “Dad...I-“ Damien started before he was stopped by his father. “I’ve watched you grow from a young child to the finest warrior I’ve ever seen. I don't need tears anymore, I’m proud of you” Aaron spoke before Orchid came next to Damien and held Damien’s hand in her hoof. Aaron looked upwards for the final time as he closed his eyes. “We’ll meet again someday.... We’re both kindred spirits, son” Aaron said before the colour in his skin faded away. Just as he died, he decided to go out with a smile. The wind seemed to intensify slightly, but not enough to throw anyone off the building. Damien refused to move regardless of how the wind was acting, taking in one moment to allow the event that had happened truly sink in, before tears began to escape his eyes. He was a strong willed person, but having to be forced to kill his own father sent him into tears, but nothing more. No grief, no screaming, just teardrops escaped his eyes. Orchid hugged Damien as tightly, almost sending her into tears herself. Damien took his father’s body into the penthouse of the Lucky 38 while Orchid went back down to help Snow. Despite his change of ideals in his later years, Damien still wished for a private funeral to have been undertaken. His father might have been a villain, but he died as a hero in the eyes of his son.
"..I-I can't...move...a-anything..." Snow muttered weakly as Orchid tried to help her, "...never...going...to do that...again...ugh...What happened? Uhm...Help?" her eyes remained close as she continued to almost ramble.
Orchid helped Snow back up. "We've done it, we've won. Tiberius is dead....but Damien took his body. He's with it at the moment."
Snow nodded weakly, "Okay... Good..." she said, leaning heavily on Orchid, "Mind...Taking me to a bed or something?" ******** Fulius got onto what had been the Legion's secret weapon in the Mojave campaign, a train. The pre-war train built on new tracks lead all the way to Flagstaff, Caesar had it built after the First Battle of Hoover Dam to increase the rate of reinforcement, and thousands upon thousands of troops had been on this one train. Taking a seat in the Officers car along with several others as all troops not needed for guarding the frontier where brought onto the train. Looking around as the doors closed, Fulius said this, "They want to establish a civilian government. I will give them that. But I fully intend on remaining Caesar." Fulius then pulled out a map and put it on a table as the train started to chug away, opening it, "To the East...Lies the land known as "Texas". There, we shall find a fledgingly nation by the name of the New Republic of Texas." Glancing up at the Centurions, he said simply, "We have our new target. And this time, it's out of necessity. A Fumentarii I sent there quite some time ago reported that the ultimate goal of this nation, is to control this much land." He then traced his finger along the Rio Grande to it's end, north a bit, then south to the "Red River", following it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the former state of New Mexico, their aim overlapped Legion territory, "We will need time to regain our strength, and I want recruitment opened to all citizens. We shall take pause for the next 5-10 years, to regrow our army and to sate our citizens, and more importantly, build another railroad." there was a quiet agreement, "Good."