//------------------------------// // Chapter 72 // Story: Fallout New Vegas: Unexpected Friends // by Sleepyted //------------------------------// “Why would we need to keep Kimball alive if we don’t plan on letting the NCR run this place? Wouldn’t that just not affect us?” Anne asked in confusion, looking up at the large grinning face on the screen at the top of the Lucky 38. “Mister House ran projections on how the NCR public will react to a defeat at Hoover Dam! Overwhelmingly, they'll blame Kimball! But if Kimball dies at Hoover Dam, there's no obvious scapegoat for them to blame! So they'll blame New Vegas instead! So that means reduced tourism for up to five years! The equations are pretty complicated! Mister House sure liked numbers!” “I guess we’re off to Hoover Dam.” Anne said, rubbing the back of her neck with her robotic arm as she looked down at her smaller friend. “Better late than never.” “This is what they’re fighting over?” The princes asked in confusion as she looked over the dam. Yes it was very large but it didn’t look too impressive, bland and grey going down far into the cut in the ground that the river made, large pipes as big as a bus at the bottom spraying out the wall of water the rock was holding back. It had an inwards concave against the water and the road along the top was well over a thousand feet and at least seven hundred feet from the bottom of the canyon. The fort of the Legion could be seen built up with scrap metals on the far end of the dam with a large gate blocking it off from the NCR who had set up their own defenses and with the large howitzers pointed at the fort it looked like things were in a stalemate, just waiting for a match to set off the powder keg. “All the fighting and death for a dam…” Anne said. “The NCR want it for the public view and the Legion need to fight otherwise they can’t keep living.” She explained. “Just a massive cluster fuck in the works.” “Why would the leader of the NCR even come here to the front lines?” “Morale boost, most of the troopers know how useless this war is and are starting to lose faith in the chain of command. If he ends up getting killed here it would be all but broken and as Yes Man said, they’d blame it on Vegas.” She stated, sighing tiredly as she rubbed her head, although with the helmet it didn’t do much. Her outfit had changed a bit. She still wore the trench coat and armor but she had sanded the paint off the metal to make it a dull grey before she stencil painted the new logo that she had everyone work on for a new flag. It was the tower of the Lucky 38 with the words ‘Incipimus iterum’ underneath which meant ‘begin again’ according to Gannon but since no one else knew Latin they couldn’t really check that and had to take his word on it. And she also had a medical brace along her flesh leg, after the shot to her knee she had trouble putting weight on it so she had to use it to support herself. “Let’s go, we have to make sure the Legion doesn’t succeed with something their bound to try and do.” Anne stated, walking towards the large concrete wall of the old world. There was a stage being set up in a large flat area, a man setting up a microphone and speakers while others brought up the metal frame that had NCR flags along it. There were very heavily armed guards around, some wearing a full suit of large and bulky metal power armor that Twilight saw the Brotherhood of Steel wear although this seemed to be as if the frame wasn’t there and they were just wearing the plates. And the large number of rangers around wearing their armor also told that things might go done in a bad way. “I bet you twenty caps all the guards here will be all but useless…” “I guess I’ll take up there.” Anne said pointing to a large rock tower that was built on the dam that overlooked the stage. “You stay close to the stage and be ready in case anyone tries to rush him from the crowd.” Twilight nodded, looking at the sizeable crowd that was gathering in front of the stage, and every one of them was wearing the normal NCR trooper armor. Anne pulled off the .50 rifle off her back and walked her way over to the tower while Twilight stayed on the edge of the crowd to see as much as she could of anyone who might try something. The sound of loud thumping soon filled the air and Twilight got worried, pulling out Lucky and got ready for what might be an attack. Soon something could be seen flying towards the dam, two large propellers shooting it through the sky, holding up the large body as it flew over the dam and from how the troopers started cheering and the markings of the NCR along the sides she guessed that’s the President’s transport, the first time she had seen anything like that flying carriage. It landed on top of the old visitor center for the dam and the blades slowly came to a stop. Music started blaring from the speakers around the stage area, a door soon opening on the visitor center. A middle aged man wearing a clean and crisp black suit. Three heavily armored and armed ranger could be seen trailing him as he walked his way out of the building. He had a hand up and waved at the troops as he walked past them towards the stage. Kimball was here. Once on stage he started his speech, talking about how he was proud of everyone fighting and that he was here to give a medal to someone who got wounded in a firefight and how everyone should be like him. It sounded like propaganda just so people there didn’t feel as if holding the dam was a useless idea, but everyone there seemed to be eating it up, cheering in the pauses and clapping whenever he made a statement. She looked up towards the tower that Anne had climbed up and saw her sat on the edge, looking through the scope of her rifle at the area around. Looking back to the crowd she saw someone that was a bit out of place, an engineer which there were a few of, white jumpsuit with the NCR flag on the back and all, but it looked dirtier and torn up. He also had something in his hand and the princess didn’t like the look of it. She knew it wasn’t any good when he pulled something out of the object before bringing his arm back to throw it. “Grenade!” One of the troopers yelled when he noticed, people jumping out of the way. Twilight didn’t hesitate, a bubble quickly forming around the attacker just as he threw the grenade and it just bounced off the dome and came right back at him. He barely got to look surprised when the dome suddenly was blocked out with smoke and fire, nothing left once it cleared and the shield was dropped. Looking up at Anne she caught just as she threw what looked like a ranger from the top of the building, going all the way off the dam and slamming against the sloped surface and the broken and bloody body splattered down on the concrete at the base of the dam where the outtake pipes came out. “Get the President out of here!” One of the rangers next to Kimball yelled out, grabbing him by the arm and quickly rushing him towards where they came back and to the flying carriage. “For the Legion!” Another trooper yelled, quickly rushing at them with a combat knife going for a stab at the chest of the suited man. One of the troopers, wearing armor a bit like Anne’s but less armored and with NCR markings quickly grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it around further than it looked like it should go and cracked the knife from his grip before jamming his fist right into the throat of the attacker, the man collapsing to the floor as he clutched at his collapsed windpipe. With the constant rushing of the crowd not much could be seen but Kimball and his guards and climb into the flying machine, hatches shutting up as the blades quickly spun up and took it from the ground. It didn’t linger, quickly trying to get away but Twilight spotted someone taking aim with a rocket launcher just as he was pulling the trigger his head stopped existing as a shot from Anne’s .50 BMG exploded it. The rocket went wide, flying through the air before it exploded in the air with a boom. If there were any other attempting assassins, they didn’t make themselves known as everyone quickly fled away from the area besides the guards that had to stay, a few bodies on the ground and staining the concrete in blood. Twilight sat herself down on a barricade that was set up to hold the crowd back for the speech, bottle of water in her grip as she sipped at the purified liquid. Anne arrived after a few moments, her pulling out an empty shell from the shotgun attached to her arm and slipping in a new one and shutting the weapon again. “I think you own me twenty caps.” Twilight said. “Why would I owe you any money?” Anne asked in confusion. “Well you said the guards would be useless, but one stopped a knifeman.” She stated smugly, holding out a hoof to her friend. Grumbling Anne brought out a mall sack and dropped it into her friend’s hoof. “That was a forty cap shot I used to take out that dude.” Anne stated. “I guess I’m sixty poorer after this… thanks Okimbal!” Anne pulled the lighter from her chest pocket, her helmet under arm as she lit the cigar she got from one of bodies of the assassins, taking an inhale of the thicker stick before blowing out the smoke. “To think, that soon there will be a massive battle that will settle who owns Hoover Dam.” Anne said before taking another puff. “I’m just glad I’m on the side with the giant killer robots.” Twilight noted. “The NCR already has the corruption of the old world in its veins and if the legion takes over then what? It would wither and die.” Anne noted. “The best thing for people is to give them the freedom of living without being oppressed by the Legion or kept in line by the NCR.” “The NCR are seeming to be the only real government that is trying to put things back together after so long…” “The problem is they just can’t have enough. They have spread themselves out too far to be strong anywhere.” She said. “Once we power up this substation we should have even more Securitrons in our army than already there…” “President Kimball survived his visit to Hoover Dam! Nice one! Now, moving on...” The happy face of Yes Man said on his screen at the top of the Lucky 38. “Exciting news! The Legion's massing troops in a staging area east of the dam! Attack imminent! Monster of the East, ready to roll!” “How is that exciting news?!” Anne yelled in surprise at what the robot said. “The Legion is going to attack?! Are the Securitrons ready? Can you call allies we’ve made, just get everyone ready!” She yelled in panic, quickly looking at Twilight. “Get everyone ready, we’re facing an entire civilization here and we’re the underdogs!” “Calm down Anne, nothing will go well if we lose our heads here.” Twilight said. “My sister-in-law taunt me this, just take deep breathes, calm yourself down…” She said, showing what she meant. “I think a bottle of whiskey would be better for me…”