Chapter 186: Chapter 181

New Vegas was not as I thought it would turn out to be. The NCR and Legion had pretty much kept from expanding their influence there beyond certain villages and establishing some outposts, so it was still pretty much no man’s land. More importantly, Robert House, the initial employer of the game’s protag hadn’t found the platinum chip yet, so no Courier.

 

Which meant he was more eager than ever to find a place in the Nexus Severalty, which meant New Vegas was just about ready to kick the NCR out of its lawn if I ever felt like it. 

 

I wouldn’t, of course. Having the NCR garrison around would serve as another contact point with them, which could be useful for information gathering. But I appreciated Mr House’s eagerness.

 

“The New Vegas Strip is ready to do what it must to comply with Nexus laws,” the portrait of the much younger tycoon stated through his robot secondary in our meeting in the Lucky 38’s presidential suite. “So long as some measure of independence can be guaranteed, I am willing to bend the knee…figuratively of course.”

 

Honestly, I was not expecting such submission from him. But I guess Robert House found it altogether preferable to work as a vassal under me. It’d make the Strip the most influential protectorate of the Nexus, though how long that lasted would be up for speculation. I’d need to clean House (hehe) first though.

 

“I look forward to working with you, Mr House. Though, if you don’t mind, I’d like to pass you some bad news first.”

 

A Sentinel delivered to the Securitron a digital copy of the messages we ransacked from Caesar’s tent, particularly the correspondence between the Legion and one of House’s underling gangs, the Omertas. I savored the silence as he no doubt was reading through the promises by Nero the head boss to usurp the Strip when the Legion next attacked Hoover Dam.

 

“I…see.” So that’s what seething sounded like. “Thank you for revealing this…treachery to me.”

 

“No worries, though I’m afraid that there’s more.”

 

House went silent again as I sent over the information Eva easily obtained from another of House’s gang, the Chairmen. Turns out, Yes Man, Benny’s hacked Securitron, was just as vulnerable with its security protocols as the rest of the old world electronics. Eva piggybacked on the robot’s remote signals to breach its systems and copy Benny’s plans to supplant his patron. 

 

Who was Benny? Benny was the leader of the Chairmen, and Benny was also the guy that shot the game’s protag at the start of the game’s storyline, so he could steal the platinum chip from House in a bid to create a ‘free’ New Vegas. Oh, supposedly House saw Benny as a trusted right hand man.

 

Up until now, anyway.

 

Once more, the invalid tycoon seethed in silence, the Securitron projecting his portrait being absolutely still helping to further enhance that sentiment.

 

“Please,” he finally said after nearly half a minute, doing his best to sound calm and collected which made his voice sound even more frayed. “Pray tell what other form of betrayal might I expect of the last member of the trifecta?”

 

“Well, depending on how you look at it, it’s not that bad…or it could be worse. How do you rate cannibalism?” With that, I gave up the dirt on the last of House’s Three Families, the White Glove Society. No ambitious claim to power, this lot. They only wanted to dine on the best cuisine. A shame that for some of them, ‘the best’ meant the inclusion of long pork as a main ingredient.

 

The clues weren’t that hard to pick up, if you had the resources the Nexus had, and the meta knowledge that I did. The head chef had the recipe book ready for a grand cuisine involving some unlucky kidnap victims, so there wasn’t much snooping to be done. Having a stealthed soldier (can’t remember who won that job) to photograph every page of it had proven to be a good demonstration of the Company troopers serving in the capacity of commandos.

 

“So, would you want me to deal with them?” I offered House.

 

“No. No. These were my oversights. My responsibility. I shall deal with it.”

 

“Time for some spring cleaning?” I asked, barely able to hold back the lame joke.

 

“Quite. Now, if that’s all the bad news?”

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“Involving your organization, yeah. Now we gotta talk about the NCR and the gangs around New Vegas.”

 

“Oh, joy.”

 

Yeah, I’m not excited either dealing with all this high level statecraft. 

 

*****

 

Julie Farkas found herself torn with the fact that New Vegas and the Mojave as a whole now fell under new management.

 

On the one hand, the Nexus was clearly an authoritarian government that tolerated little dissent against its rule. The tales of Blacksite Tleilax had wormed its way across the continent and became one of those tales you threatened misbehaving children with. The Nexus’ ruler, Sev, was ruthless to any who opposed him and his ideals, and unlike Caesar, had the power to enforce his will, as he had made abundantly clear with the erasure of the Legion.

 

But…but the tolerances of Nexus rule was forgiving. Very forgiving, even as an outsider. It demanded little, save for the upholding of common decency, and offered a lot for the betterment of the common man. The Nexus also brought a peace that was not sowed with blood and fear like that of Caesar’s Legion.  

 

With its vassalization of New Vegas, Robert House was now fully in charge of the whole city. But in exchange for that power - and the purging of the Three Families that came before it - House now had to work closely with the Kings. The chivalrous impersonators of the pre-war celebrity now operated throughout the city, their benevolent charity and guardianship no longer confined to Freeside.

 

The whole frustrating arrangement had left the Followers of the Apocalypse in Mojave in a sort of limbo. Should they cooperate with the Nexus which has thus far respected their independence and left them alone? Or should they leave before Sev decides that he no longer wishes to entertain potential subversives to his rule?

 

Was there anything really about Nexus laws to subvert?

 

The Followers debated among themselves from within their once overcrowded headquarters. With the Nexus paying a visit to offer supplies and heal everyone who wanted it, the locals of New Vegas no longer had cause to enter the Old Mormon Fort. The rows of empty tents filled with empty, blood-stained beds gave the fort an eerie atmosphere, especially when one could hear the lively bustling from outside.

 

When she stared long and hard at the solitude that now claimed the fort, it almost felt to Julie that the world was moving on to a better state, with the Followers of the Apocalypse barely contributing a drop to it. She did not like the sour feeling of being obsolete.

 

But as she peered beyond the fort’s walls to the robot-filled skies of the Mojave, it seemed that unless something changed, obsolete is what she and the Followers had to settle for.

 

How does basic humanitarian aid compete with the Nexus’ undisputed technological might? With healing arches, water purifiers and so much more, the help and change that the Nexus brought made all the Followers’ efforts in the Mojave look like a child’s weekend project.

 

Julie sighed at the depressing thought and trudged towards the largest tent in the fort’s courtyard. The meeting will start soon, potentially the last one the Followers of the Apocalypse would hold in the Old Mormon Fort.

 

With the Followers gathering in somber silence, Julie opened the meeting by getting straight to the point. She emptied some paper scraps on the lone table, and then gestured to a cardboard box temporarily assigned with a greater purpose.

 

“So, as we’ve agreed, there are three choices: Leave the Mojave, remain independent, or…or agree to the Nexus’ offer for cooperation. Leave, remain, agree. Cast your vote.”

 

By that same evening, Julie Farkas, leader of the Followers of the Apocalypse’s New Vegas branch, left the safety of the Old Mormon Fort to get the attention of a passing Nexus robot. “The Followers of the Apocalypse wishes to further discuss the terms of our cooperation with the Nexus Severalty.” 

 

She hoped that this collective decision would not be taken too badly by her colleagues back in New California.

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