Chapter 189: Chapter 184

With the drop invasion a complete success (because why would it not be?) Edward observed the next phase of the ambitious plan through updates and the live strategic feed. The huge tide of Sentinels would push eastwards from the newly conquered territory, leaving only a couple thousand to deal with mundane tasks like impressing the natives. At the same time Strigoi and Deathclaws would strike from the east to link up with the Sentinels.

 

The whole grand conquest was a reminder again to the Company commander of how little Sev truly needed anyone. The Companies were sent out in squads to treat with the locals instead, partly as an exercise for many of them in the basics of representing the Nexus Severalty. 

 

It also served to remind the soldiers of life beyond the Nexus, especially the abhorrent life one had to endure in the former Caesar’s Legion. Sure, docile towns and villages were mostly left to their own devices, but a number of the mayors and village chiefs had used the Legion as a means to abuse their powers. 

 

Also, more than one town had been found adopting the same callous practices of the Legion, rendering women as nothing more than playthings for their mayor and his lackeys. Some smaller villages were devoid of anyone below the age of thirty, the boys and men having been conscripted into the Legion while the girls and women became commodities to reward well performing Legion officers.

 

And then of course there was state-wide slavery to deal with. The amount of people freed from slave camps and markets were depressing, though it felt good for every trooper to be involved in processing the slavers. Even the officers in the other companies knew the right procedures to stretch and double check to ensure that more time could be given for the rank and file to vent a bit more of the Nexus’ displeasure.

 

In the meantime, encountering neutral and friendly towns out in the contested Mojave helped remind the troopers of how good they had things back in the Nexus. As ‘prosperous’ as the New Vegas Strip was, the air was not as clean, the grass not as green, and plenty of amenities like air conditioning and running water and entertainment were treated as luxuries out here. Edward for one could never bring himself to drink ‘purified’ water from the wasteland anymore; he swore he was getting an allergic reaction to the chemicals in them.

 

Overall, it was very good for morale and resolve to be part of the less exciting side of processing. The media crew following some squads also spread some of that positivity back home. The slaves were freed, the Nexus people’s faith in their state was reinforced, and that much more of the world was introduced to peace through power. 

 

All at the cost of erasing a sizable portion of humanity’s worst. It was a win all around.

 

*****

 

Former senator Julian Toomes found himself far more nervous than confused unlike his colleagues around him. The newly appointed ambassador to the Nexus Severalty tried not to fidget in the new and very comfortable elevated seats recently built by the Nexus just outside the NCR controlled Hoover Dam.

 

Glancing around the canopied viewing platform, he frowned as he spied a sharply dressed man sitting together with a group of greasy haired clones. They had really brought Robert House out of his isolation, and more surprisingly, he was far less reluctant about his proximity to the Kings. The new co-rulers of New Vegas exchanged whispered conversations every now and then as they waited for the event to start. 

 

Julian did not like the new arrangement for the Nexus’ new vassal. While the NCR was prepared to leave New Vegas’ city limits as per the treaty with Sev, having the city governed by two people who notoriously viewed the NCR poorly did not bode well for the Republic’s future trading prospects. 

 

Populating the other seats were, as Julian understood it, the community leaders of the Nexus’ newly annexed settlements. He recognized a few faces, the amount of people around him showed just how much the NCR might have messed up with its non-involvement with the Mojave locals. With so little solid presence in the region, they had to acquiesce to Sev’s request to pull back the NCR’s borders.

 

Sloan and anything along the I-15 was abandoned, and the NCR’s territory now followed along the Nevada 164 all the way east to Camp Searchlight, and then trailed up Highway 95 all the way up to HELIOS One and Boulder City, and then finally enveloped Hoover Dam and the land on the other side of the river. Everything else was now owned directly or indirectly by the Nexus. 

 

Maybe they should’ve been more proactive with Primm and Goodsprings, or even prioritized retaking the NCRCF.

 

Still, was the loss of regional influence a price worth paying for securing the dam and the solar plant, as well as removing the Legion? 

 

The ambassador very much hoped so.

 

Julian glanced for a bit more, once more marveling at the cooling system being used to keep out the desert heat. And the cool glass of water in his seat’s cupholder. The president and other NCR notables were present as well, most of the lawmakers and lobbyists being far more blatant about their ogling of the technology around them. It was almost disgraceful how they loudly discussed how clean the water was, shared their thoughts on the packets of dried exotic fruits, and gaped at the robots swimming lazily in the air. If not for their suits (not even close to the shiny neatness that the Nexus had), one might not consider these men and women as the members of the New California Republic’s government.

 

Of course, only those still in good standing were allowed to show their faces here.

 

Bad enough that the trade agreement with the Nexus forced the NCR to investigate and subsequently reveal a lot of ugly under-the-table politicking, but the debacle with Cassidy Caravans had forced the senators of Redding and the Hub into hiding while the Crimson Caravan and the Van Graffs were being wrung through the legal system. With no great victory to sing about, President Kimball was now keen to clean up the corruption back home. Partly to leave a good impression with the Nexus, and also partly to rebuild public support.

 

Nobody wanted a mass exodus east before the treaty on border controls were ratified. Or worse, have the growing discontent grow into civil unrest that could be used by the Nexus Severalty.

 

Whether they liked it or not, the NCR would have to clean house and straighten itself out if it wanted to be anywhere close to a peer of its new neighbor.

 

Speaking of neighbor, silence descended on the elevated platform as Sev literally jumped in out of nowhere. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for making the time to come today. This will only take a moment of your time, I promise you.” The overlord of the Nexus gestured to the wasteland behind him, and everyone noted a line of small figures of humans being slowly carried by Sentinels up Fortification Hill, the former stronghold of Caesar himself, under the circling cloud of what must surely be Sentinels.

 

Gasps filled the viewing platform as lights came on and a projection materialized above them. It took a second for Julian to realize that the image floating in the air was a magnification of the scene outside. Once more, the rising babbling from some NCR members made the ambassador want to hide his face.

 

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Focusing instead on the lightshow above him, the detailed scene proved Julian’s initial assessment that it was people in Legion uniform carried up the hill. Julian recognized Caesar himself at the head of the procession, clawed tentacles lifting him ignominiously by his wrists and ankles. He looked utterly broken, staring blankly into nothing as his head lolled to one side. His once notorious legates and centurions followed after him in the same fashion, and many more legionaries after them shared a similar fate.

 

Judging from the way their limbs swayed awkwardly, along with the grimaces and silent howls of pain on some of their faces, Julian guessed that the prisoners had their arms and legs broken to some degree.

 

Too bad he had no pity to give them.

 

There was a sense of satisfaction amongst the spectators at seeing the great threat of the NCR and Mojave being carried in such a fashion. The Mojave settlers in particular gave amused huffs and chuckles, while the NCR delegation were a bit more raucous. President Kimball though only grinned vindictively.

 

“Due to a severe lack of containment space, the Nexus has to…clear out some of our prisoners. As you can see, we’ve settled for the members of Caesar’s Legion.”

 

“The NCR is more than happy to take these scum off your hands if you’re lacking space,” President Kimball spoke aloud, drawing eager nods from the delegation. It’d be a massive political win to parade Caesar and his army through Shady Sands.

 

Sev shook his head, though his smile was still friendly enough. “I appreciate the offer, but we’ve decided it best to use these prisoners as a message. One for the rest of the world, to tell them just how much the Nexus Severalty views the ideas being spread by Caesar and his poorly named Legion.”

 

The Sentinels flew much faster now, zipping up to Fortification Hill to deposit their prisoners on the now barren and defenseless peak before flying away. Julian and everyone else watched in silence as in no time at all the view in the light projection pulled up to the heavens to show all together around a few thousand crippled Legionaries covering the center of the misnamed mountain.

 

“Other than their despicable reputation, there is nothing special in any of these men. As much as some viewed him as a boogeyman, Caesar is only a man with shit ideals, nothing more.” Sev smirked as he stood straighter. The overhead projection blinked out. “We’ve checked.”

 

“So what are you going to do with them?” One of the Mojave settlers asked. “Just leave them to dry under the sun?”

 

Sev’s head shook once more, his smile turning a little darker. “The Nexus does not condone drawn and agonizing deaths. Heat exposure would be unnecessarily cruel and serve little purpose.” 

 

He raised a hand and was about to go through a motion with it before he paused as if he just remembered something. “Ah, you’ll find underneath your seats a pair of sunglasses. I suggest you wear them now.”

 

Everyone scrambled to follow his instructions, and Julian found himself putting on a rather fashionable piece of eyewear. Despite the darkened tint to his vision, he could still make out the details of everything within vision clearly enough.

 

“All good? Cool.” The Nexus’ ruler then waved the raised hand, drawing everyone’s gazes out to Fortification Hill. “As I was saying, they will be given a quick death. Just like so.”

 

He snapped his fingers, and then chaos exploded in the seats around him and Julian rocked back in his seat as a beam of light crashed down from the heavens. Even with the sunglasses the ambassador felt a stab of pain in the back of his eyes. The shockwave that followed was deafening, shaking the elevated platform a little but mostly threatening the spectators towards panicking.

 

The beam of light disappeared after a few seconds, leaving a huge column of dust rising from the mountain. As everyone started to calm down, another lance of light blasted into Fortification Hill. 

 

And then another.

 

And then another.

 

Julian froze in his seat as he counted sixteen impossibly large laser beams striking from the skies. Heavy silence fell across the seats as NCR delegates, Mojave settlers, and even the New Vegas vassals all stared in shock at the destruction that was enacted right before their eyes. They all watched as the accumulated debris cloud slowly began to clear.

 

There was no surprise, only cold terror when he finally saw the blasted remains of Fortification Hill. It was barely worth calling a hill now, more like a collection of raised craters.

 

Sev’s voice snapped everyone out of their shock. “Orbital bombardment is a far quicker, and more humane way of execution, we’ve found. A bit overkill, but it could be made efficient with sufficient numbers.”

 

Sev gave a cough, and then waved his still-raised hand casually.

 

“Incidentally, allow me to announce the groundbreaking of Lake Mead’s sewer treatment facility.”

 

Julian shared a look with the other members of the NCR party, and even the president’s terrified eyes shared the same unspoken thought. They would really have to clean house once they got back. Forget trying to stand as a peer, until they could somehow protect themselves from a mountain chewing gun in space, appeasement was the game the Republic was forced to play.

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