Chapter 16:
“What’s a Sierra Madre?” Yona asked, tilting her head. “Sounds weird.”
“Looks like a casino from what we saw in the last video,” Sandbar pointed out. “But it doesn’t look like it's one of the casinos in New Vegas.”
“Maybe it's a casino outside of the city? A rival perhaps?” Ocellus thought. “Maybe a place untouched by the war?”
“Well, we’re not going to get any answers by just sitting around and japing about it,” Gallus said as he got the next video to play.
When the video started the group of six was confused by how different the world suddenly looked. It looked all black and white, drawn by an artist, and the humans and their horses were acting differently as well. “Uh, did we suddenly go into a new world?” Smolder asked.
“Wait a minute...oh these are cartoons!” Sandbar said with a smirk.
“Like the cartoons they have in the Sunday newspapers?” Silverstream asked, excitedly. “I always love those! Those Walnuts ponies are some of my favorites! Especially that little dog and tiny bird!”
“Kinda, but these are animated cartoons. They sometimes appear in movie theaters as attractions for audiences before the main movie starts. Like a starting show before the main one,” Sandbar said with a smile. “It’s a new thing that’s starting to spread around more theaters. I only remember it 'cause I saw one with my family at a movie theater in Manehatten last year.”
The said cartoon was apparently about one of the old folk tales that Americans grew up on in their old times. Figures such as Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan. They ranged from wild outlaws who went on fantastic adventures to big men who could cut down numerous trees with a giant ax. They were used as fairy tales to make children believe the world was a more imaginative place, but these days such things were not needed due to how much the world had changed in the last two hundred years.
However, there was still one folk tale that was told and it was a legend that has spread far and wide: The Sierra Madre. A poster appeared on the screen showing a woman in a fancy suit with the said name down below in bright gold. There were posters of the place all over the Wasteland and like sirens to sailors they answered the call to find it. Of course, the fate petty much for all of these poor fools was death in the desert as not only was the Sierra Madre near impossible to find, many didn’t know where it existed.
“So it’s like the Wasteland’s version of Shangri-La,” Smolder said with interest.
“Shangri-La?” Silverstream asked, curious.
“An old dragon’s tale that talks about a land far east of here that is a paradise for dragons. They say the dragons there live thousands of years old, drink sacred water, and are thin and long like serpents while flying in the air without wings. It’s just a legend though, many explorers went looking for such a place and never returned,” Smolder explained.
“Wouldn’t Discord count as a serpent dragon?” Ocellus asked.
“I think Discord is a creature in and of himself,” Gallus pointed out.
The concept of searching for treasure, glory, or paradise was something that existed since the way-back times of mankind's early days. Even a hundreds years ago before the turn of the millennium, many men headed out west to look for gold in the mountain regions to find their fortunes. Some did. Others found nothing. Ironic considering these days in the Wasteland you had prospectors everywhere looking for salvage to help them survive.
But what was the Sierra Madre? An old world resort and casino that was said to be perfectly preserved even after the apocalypse happened. Created by industrialist Fredrick Sinclair, it was designed only for the highest of society to the point that it was more than a match for the classic Las Vegas Strip.
“Bet House Man not like that,” Yona pointed out as images of the resort began to show itself. Despite some decay over the years, it still had a sense of beauty and art that reminded the six a lot of the Canterlot Palace.
It was a place that was meant to be perfect for all who entered. Where the unlucky could win big at the gambling tables, see the biggest stars in the world like Dean Domino, and mingle with the high class in the local villas. The only thing that was strange about it was the fact that it was so remote that it made everyone ponder the use of it as a resort spot.
“Yeah, aren’t resort locations supposed to be in high populated areas like big cities or in luscious green environments that look like a nature reserve?” Sandbar asked, rubbing his head. “Why is this one out in the middle of a nowhere desert on a small mountain?”
“I get the feeling we’re going to learn a dark secret at some point about this Sierra Madre,” Gallus replied deadpan. “I mean, that’s kinda par for the course when it comes to these places.”
The narrator seemed to think so as well. The Great War happened before the place could officially open. Was Sinclair’s plan to ride out the end of the world with the elite? If so, it didn’t seem to work in the end. Or was there a personal reason for it and did it tie in with the theme of the place? It’s purpose was to come and start over again. Throw away your past problems and be reborn with a chance to start anew. For folks who never had a good start or lost everything before falling into a pit of despair, it sounded like a golden ticket to a new life. There was a radio transmission that played in the air of a goddess sounding woman urging people to come and let go of their trouble. To “Come To the Sierra Madre and Let Go”.
A man, seemingly deciding to find the place, could be seen wandering the desert with as much gear as he could carry to find the casino. He was one of many who went and never returned. Was it because the place really was as great as it was predicted to be? Or was it another false hope that led to the end of so many adventurers? The few that came back said they went into the deepest parts of the desert only to turn back due to a dangerous red cloud that kills anyone who comes in contact with it.
“A what?” Ocellus asked as the screen showed hellish red clouds surrounding what appeared to be the real Sierra Madre. “What kind of cloud is that?”
“Don’t ask me, I’m not an expert when it comes to weather,” Gallus said, hands raised up. “That’s something to ask Professor Rainbow Dash.”
However, it turns out that there is a way inside and a way out. Through the use of an old Brotherhood of Steel bunker, a man has been bringing goodies in and out of the Sierra Madre for experimentation and study as evidenced by the science lab set up in the video. These included a safe with shiny chips with the resort's logo on them, jars of the red toxic goo that is hypothesized to be connected to the cloud, and a strange vending machine that materialized whatever objects you wanted provided you had the chips of the Sierra Madre for them. The last one got everyones attention as the narrator went on to explain just how advanced it was. It was capable of materializing anything based on schematics fed to it and function with systems that even made Ocellus’s head hurt.
What was amazing about them was that, from seemingly an unknown energy supply, it could conjure up anything requested: food, water, guns, ammunition, clothing, tools, and more. Anything and everything could materialized provided it wasn’t too big and the vending machine had it stored in its memory banks.
“Wow...” Ocellus whispered with her eyes sparking. “With machines like that you could end...almost every problem in the world from a supply standpoint! Hunger! Illness! Injuries! Building materials! All could be fixed by simple matter configuration and placement! The science behind this is light years beyond what we have! Think of the hungry, downtrodden, homeless, sick and more you could fix with all these vending machines! You could do so much good!”
“I think someone is gonna float like a butterfly if she keeps getting more excited,” Gallus whispered to a giggling Smolder.
The narrator agreed with Ocellus’s statement. If groups like the Followers of The Apocalypse got their hands on this technology, they could help thousands of people and change the world for the better. Sadly, the one currently running the shots at the Sierra Madre was not a good person. In fact, he was the farthest from one you could be.
“Told you,” Gallus pointed out.
“And here we go again,” Silverstream muttered.
To everyone’s somewhat surprise, the next location they saw was Big Empty. It turned out that the real location of Sierra Madre had been lost for years but the technology behind it was developed by the Think Tank. The location was still in the databases there, and a while ago, during a big ruckus, someone managed to get that information. A former Brotherhood of Steel Elder named Elijah.
“Wait, I think we remember this guy being mentioned a while ago. When we learned about the Big Empty,” Gallus pointed out.
“Yeah, he was an Elder looking for some way to help the Brotherhood defeat the NCR,” Silverstream recalled.
The video then showed a young Scribe of the Brotherhood of Steel working on some power armor and it was quickly figured out that this was Elijah but at a young age. According to the narrator, Elijah was the one person probably in the whole Wasteland who could not only figure out how to access the Big Empty databases, but also figure out where and how to get to the Sierra Madre. When he was younger, Elijah was a brilliant and good man with an almost wizard-like ability when it came to technology. However, this was sadly what led him, and the Mojave Brotherhood Chapter, into a dark path.
Before he was an Elder, he was a Scribe whose purpose was to fix and research technology that was found by the Brotherhood. His genius abilities made him rise to the rank of Elder, a rare thing for a Scribe to become as most were typically Paladins. However, Elijah decided to go against the Brotherhood’s typical dogma and mission. Rather then just gather technology and learn about it, Elijah wanted to improve it and reuse it for the Brotherhood. Particularly with weapons such as Helios One which could be seen behind a photo of an aged Elijah and Brotherhood Paladins. After all, the isolationism of the Brotherhood had caused them few allies and many enemies. Despite their advanced tech, they didn’t have the numbers and more powerful dangerous weapons would even the odds more in their favor.
“So this guy was similar to Lyons in that he went off the normal path of the Brotherhood,” Sandbar said.
“Only his focus was making the Brotherhood stronger by building and making more weapons rather than focus on helping Wastelanders,” Silverstream pointed out.
“It’s amazing how similar and different people can be,” Ocellus said as she continued to write notes.
Elijah found his big weapon at last at Helios One. He believed that if he could master the controls of this ancient weapon of mass destruction then it would put the Brotherhood at top of the wasteland without any fear of their enemies. However, Elijah overestimated just how much time and effort would be needed to uncover the secrets of Helios One and that time was wasted on trying to even get a small part of it operational. To make things worse, Helios One was technically under the territory of the NCR who wanted the area as a means to make electricity for its people.
Not wanting to give up his precious treasure, Elijah ordered his soldiers to endure a long siege against the NCR as he tried desperately to unearth the arcane secrets of Helios One, but in the end he was unable to do so and was forced to give up at the cost of most of his chapter’s numbers.
“So this is the guy who led them to their doom,” Gallus grumbled, folding his arms. “And all because he couldn’t unlock some stupid technology? What a total loser!”
“Yeah, Yona knows that elders of her tribe would not allow such a sacrifice happen! Elder should be ashamed!” The yak yelled while pointing at the grumbling old man. “Yak want to smash Bad Elder until he get sense back!”
“I think you’d send him to the hospital first,” Smolder pointed out before muttering, “not like he doesn’t deserve it.”
The Mojave Brotherhood Chapter was forced to retreat back to their bunker with thinner numbers, but Elijah, unable to accept his loss, left the Brotherhood to wander the deserts to find some way to get revenge on the NCR and reclaim Helios One.
“Wait, he not only caused his own people to suffer, but he refused to accept responsibility and left them just to try and get back to Helios One from the NCR?!” Silverstream shouted in both disgust and disbelief. “That’s... That’s just stupid!”
“Seriously, this guy is on King Sombra or Queen Chrysalis levels of bad and irresponsible leadership!” Sandbar shouted. “I’d love to see any of the Princesses teach this guy a thing or two about what it means to be a real leader.”
“I’d love King Thorax to do the same.”
“Same with Prince Rutherford!”
“Ditto with Dragon Lord Ember!”
“And my Auntie Novo!”
“...Why am I the only one who doesn’t have a good leader?” Gallus grumbled in disappointment.
“What about Grandpa Gruff?” Silverstream asked.
“Eh, he’d probably get along well with Elijah knowing him,” Gallus replied, rolling his eyes.
Naturally, his chapter felt betrayed and even those who once believed him lost faith in their old mentor’s eyes and believed he had fallen into madness. Including two younger members who he treated well yet forbid them to be together because of his distaste for homosexuality. And one of them would face worse tragedies from the man later on.
“Great, so not only is he a mad coot, he’s a homophobic dick as well,” Gallus grumbled. "Guess that would make us not friends."
Silverstream blinked for a second and nervously asked, “Um, Gallus are you...?”
“Gay? No, bisexual,” Gallus said with a shrug. “I’m into boys and girls. Wait, why?”
“Oh, no reason,” Silverstream whispered with a sigh of relief. Still got a chance...
The screen then showed Elijah entering the Big Empty. While the Brotherhood of Steel had access to amazing technology, they were nothing compared to the advanced scientific discoveries at Big Empty by the Think Tank. Upon seeing Elijah talk to the floating brain jars themselves and learning he had discovered old goodies from their work, the student six began to fear what kind of chaos he could do with those weapons. After all, the Think Tank might have been brilliant, but they were all bloody insane.
Their predictions were right on the nose as a smiling and pleased Elijah appeared happy upon finding such sinister inventions like bomb collars that slavers used. Ones that could not only be turned on remotely but could be used to force anyone into obeying his will. The fact that he was happy to have found such a thing only lowered the low approval he had among the six. One of the rarer treasures found were holographic emitters, a miracle of science even before The Great War, and it was only ever sent to one location in mass quantities: The Sierra Madre.
The owner had used the holographic technology to create his own holographic police defense force which the six saw walking around. They were made out of pure energy thus invulnerable to any damage while being extremely deadly. Originally, their purpose was to protect the inhabitants of the Madre, but Elijah wanted to use them as soldiers. An army he could use to ravage the already chaotic wasteland.
“My gosh...” Ocellus whispered in horror. “He wants to use the entire Sierra Madre as a factory for war!” Everyone stared at her as she began to turn pale. “Think about it?! An army of energy based soldiers that can never be damaged and can fight back?! Vending machines that can make near unlimited food, water, ammo, and more supplies! Exploding collars to force prisoners or civilians to submit to your whim! And all while being in an area protected by a deadly red cloud that kills anyone who gets too close?! He’s trying to, and I know I’m being cliche, take over the world!”
“C-Could he do it with all that though?” Sandbar asked with worry. “I mean there are so many factions and-”
Unfortunately, even the narrator claimed that if Elijah had access to all of this in his control, there was a good chance not even the NCR could stop him. The thought of this mad crazed man using all these dangerous weapons for his ambitions made them sweat and somehow they feared this man would be just as bad, if not worse, then Caesar himself. However, the only positive sign was that it seemed like Elijah hadn’t been successful yet and there was hope he might never be.
If Elijah was smart he’d hear the sounds of what the siren who calls all towards the Sierra Madre and just let go of his past. Let go of his pride and anger of what happened in the past. All the vengeance, humiliation, and losses. Sadly, it just seemed doubtful that this would happen despite the narrator’s belief that sometimes stories of the past needed to stay buried, but not forgotten.
The wasteland held many stories the wasteland held and the narrator himself claimed that, despite not leading as exciting of a life as the Vault Dweller or the Chosen one, he had his role in making sure the stories were not forgotten. A figure in black power armor appeared on the screen and the six’s eyes widened.
“Wait...is that...” Smolder whispered in awe.
His story was quite a long one and as the figure looked at the six via his screen in his custom made power armor he said, “And definitely one for another day.”