When The Eagles Go Marching

by Wanderer101

California Dreaming

July 27th, 2285 (NCR Calendar)
July 27th, 1014 ALB (Equus Calendar)
New California Republic
Shady Sands

James Abernathy frowned as his car slowly made its way through the streets of Shady Sands. The car was a Twingo though outfitted with armor plating and bulletproof glass. It was one of the few things the Euros actually exported and it sold like crazy being bought by people in more than half the world’s nations. The Union picked up more than a few to use as diplomatic cars here in their old world. While they were terrible offroad they did well enough in the tight crowded streets of the NCR’s cities.

The first time they drove these things in the NCR they were surrounded by gawking crowds. Actual working cars were rare in the wasteland and were typically requisitioned by the military. To see a brand new colorful car driving down the street was something no one had ever seen before. More than a few brahmin barons approached them offering to buy the car only to be refused. It wasn’t everyday that a baron was told their caps & NCR dollars were worthless.

His frown deepened as he watched the various signs of the NCR’s recent troubles all along the streets. Various shops and businesses being closed or bought out by wealthy elites. People being thrown out of their homes by either Military Police or Hired Guns. Then there were the dozens upon dozens of men and women along the streets. Some were injured and some were not. One thing that was constant about all of them was the signs they all held. They all said ‘Mojave Veteran’ in some kind of manner. The NCR had won the Mojave War but in a way it had also lost.

The Mojave Territory was the most unstable of all the NCR’s recent conquests. The NCR had won no friends during its war with the Legion having alienated much of the population. He heard it wasn’t uncommon for NCR troopers to be shot at by snipers while on the roads and get beaten by locals in the back alleys of New Vegas. Despite House’s death the Securitrons refused to follow their commands and violently resisted attempts to reprogram them. Add in the Three Casino Families to the mix and that made their control over the Strip tentative at best. While they could forcefully take the Casinos and destroy the Securitrons after the losses they sustained fighting the Legion any other large campaign would be unacceptable.

Due to the unrest General Lee Oliver and his right hand Colonel Moore cracked down on any perceived resistance to NCR rule. The districts of Westside and North Vegas Square were forcibly annexed despite wanting to remain independent. The Boomers despite their help at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam were now under occupation after being threatened with destruction. Their truce with the Mojave Brotherhood threatened to fall apart any day now with the Brotherhood noticing the NCR’s slipping grip on the Mojave. The various towns from Goodsprings to Novac resented their ‘occupation’ and sometimes refused to do business with NCR citizens.

There were a multitude of other problems. Like the fact Caesar’s Legion was still at large. The NCR was only able to push a little bit into Arizona before stalling out. Legate Lanius turned out to be far smarter than he let on. Everyone believed that if Caesar died the Legion would fall to pieces. Turns out Lanius was more than capable of holding it together. He had rallied the Legion’s routed armies and set up an impressive defensive line through western Arizona. A defensive line that the NCR was unable to pierce.

The thing that probably damned the NCR the most was the fact that their usual go-to guy for this kind of situation no longer wanted anything to do with them. Even after they declared their independence they still received news from their old world. Much of it was dominated by the achievements of Courier Six. The fact that the NCR managed to push back the Legion in the first place could be solely attributed to him. He assassinated House for them. He resolved crises all over the Mojave so when the Second Battle of Hoover Dam came the NCR could put all their attention towards the Dam. After the battle he was hailed as a hero.

Now with the NCR’s complete botching of Mojave relations the Courier has wiped his hands of them. He absolutely refuses to help the NCR anymore. Everyone from Kimball on down has tried everything to get him to reconsider since they believe he is the only one that could break the stalemate in Arizona. They even went so far as to pardon the Remnants, a group of old Enclave soldiers, who helped at Hoover Dam. It was far too late for that though. The moment the Remnants realized the NCR was after them they took their vertibird and flew to Fort Gateway which was where the portal to Equus was located. The Remnants were lucky they weren’t shot down. The fort’s defenders were suspicious of anyone approaching the fort unannounced, especially if they were in a vertibird. It was only the Remnants blaring pleas for sanctuary over the radio that kept them from being blown out of the sky.

The Remnants were settling pretty well in the Union. Judah Kreger retired in Gateway City, recognized by residents as a hero who did not get his just reward due to the Remnant’s participation at Hoover Dam. Doctor Henry was working with the Union’s scientists in understanding Magic. Cannibal Johnson was with the Union’s Presidential Guard protecting President Carolla wherever he went. Daisy Whitman was a flight instructor for the Union’s Air Force. Orion Moreno went to the United States the moment he could. Last he heard the old man was showing them how to use the power armor they bought off of them. As for Arcade Gannon he spent some time as a doctor in Gateway City before gaining a job with the Union State Department.

“Been a while since I was last in Shady Sands…” Arcade said from his position next to him. “Place has seen better days.”

“Was bound to happen eventually.” he said “The NCR’s reckless expansion was going to catch up to it eventually.”

“Hope this doesn’t end up starting a civil war.” Arcade said.

“If Hayes and his New World Party don’t win the next election then it just might. People are sick of Kimball and his brahmin baron friends.”

The car stopped in front of the Hall of Congress. The building was far larger and grander than it was in the days of President Tandi. It had to be due to the NCR’s expanded senate. The small town hall sized building from Tandi’s days wouldn’t do with the dozens of senators the NCR had now. In front of the building was a large park with meticulously grown trees and two statues. One was the Vault Dweller while the other was their grandchild the Chosen One. Both heroes of the NCR. Despite him turning his back on the NCR there was talk of building a statue of the Courier.

A second car, a US bought Humvee, stopped behind them containing a variety of Union military personnel. They took up escort positions around them. As they walked into the Hall of Congress they happened upon an interesting sight. NCR President Aaron Kimball was following a heavily armed man. The man had a revolver on his hip and a large rifle on his back. He wore a set of black riot gear like that the NCR Veteran Rangers wore except on the back of his duster was a black spade with a 21 in the center.

“Courier! Please be reasonable!” said Kimball desperately “With your help we could end the war in Arizona!”

The Courier whirled around angrily. “Reasonable!? After you occupy my home you expect me to be reasonable!? After you send bounty hunters and rangers after my friends who risked everything to help you!?”

“General Oliver has been reprimanded over his... rashness in attempting to arrest Judah Kreger’s squad.” said Kimball looking embarrassed “We’ve officially pardoned them for any crimes they might have committed.”

“Crimes they may have committed? Arcade didn’t commit any crimes! He was a baby when the Enclave first showed up!” the Courier all but roared “Were you really going to punish him for the sins of his father? Sins that you don’t even know actually happened!”

“I don’t know.” said Arcade “I’m pretty sure the Republic’s superb legal team will find out my dad kicked a puppy once or something.”

“Arcade....” the Courier said softly, quickly walking over and giving the man a firm bear hug.

Arcade had told many stories of his time with the Courier and he didn’t believe half of them. NCR newspapers painted the Courier as this tough as nails commando who could kill 100 men with a straight razor. Photos showed a tall muscular man who was decked out in armor, guns, and ammunition. That was why he didn’t believe Arcade when he said the Courier was quite intelligent, soft spoken, and preferred using his words rather than his guns. The Courier was apparently highly loyal to his friends. He was willing to travel halfway across the Mojave to help one of his friends. Watching the Courier hug Arcade made him start to believe the doctor wasn’t pulling his leg after all…

“Arcade!” the Courier said letting the doctor go. “I was afraid you were rotting in an NCR prison!”

“Thankfully not. After the battle at the Dam and the NCR calling for our arrest we got in the vertibird and flew to Union territory. We’ve been living there ever since.” said Arcade

“You’ve been on the other side of the portal? I’ve always wondered what was there.” mused the Courier.

“You may get your chance,” he said, speaking up. “I was just about to talk with President Kimball about possibly opening up immigration to the Union of Free Beings. Though there will be a cap on the number of people we let in, I'm sure we could find room for a courier.”

While President Kimball looked indignant at this, the Courier looked thoughtful. “Let me just talk it over with Arcade for a minute.” he said.

The two of them went outside and stood near the statue of the Vault Dweller. “So…” began the Courier “What’s it like over there? Is it as peaceful as the papers say it is?”

“Sorta. There are a lot of nations over there looking to expand their borders. The Changelings just invaded the Soviets and Olenians. The Euros have become radicalized. And the Griffonian continent is a massive fire that the United States and the Griffonian Republic are struggling to put out.”

“I only understood half of that. Olenians? Changelings? Griffonia? And what’s this about the United States?”

“I’m guessing the papers don’t go into that much detail about the political situation of Equus?”

The Courier shook his head. “Unfortunately. It’s one of the things I’m most interested in.”

“Well let’s get a bite to eat and I’ll tell you about what’s going on there.”

The both of them were now sitting at an outdoor restaurant that served delicacies like brahmin steak, corn, banana yucca fruit, and a number of packaged pre-war foods. The Courier wolfed the food down while Arcade was a little more… apprehensive.

“What’s wrong, Arcade?” the Courier teased “Has living in that fantasy land given you too refined tastes?”

“Hey! I’m not some White Glove Society member. Even before moving there I didn’t really like eating stuff that was packaged before the bombs went off.” Arcade said while eyeing the mac n’ cheese on the end of his fork.

“The Old World had some great preservatives though.” said the Courier who happily ate his Insta-Mash. “Everything is still as fresh as the day it was made.”

“One of the many things of this world we hope to sell on the other.” said Arcade

“I still can’t believe a quarter of the stuff you told me about that place. Talking multicolored magical ponies I could at least wrap my head around. But Griffons? Shapeshifting horse bugs? Viking Deer? Dragons? And fellow humans from an alternate universe!? That world of yours is filled to the brim with crazy…”

“As if you don’t have any experience with that.” scoffs Arcade.

The Courier was then assaulted with memories of dozens of strange events he had come across in his travels around the wasteland. Events that he felt were a part of some kind of cosmic joke but a joke that he did not get. Some were useful like those ‘Holy’ Hand Grenades he found in Searchlight like but most of them left him with the feeling that a reference just flew over his head.

“So any chance you want to come to the Union?” asked Arcade

“Yeah I’ve already decided I was going to. I’m done with the NCR. I just need to know if the Union has room for a few friends of mine…” the Courier said with a grin.

“Anyone I know?” said Arcade grinning as well because he quickly caught on to the Courier’s plan. The Courier didn’t answer though his grin became wider.

---

Several Months Later
City of Vaverfront

Vaverfront was currently the front line in the Olenian-Changeling War. The city was able to hold on for so long thanks to the efforts of the Soviets. The Soviet General recognized that Chrysalis shared many traits with Adolf Hitler so he surmised that Chrysalis couldn’t resist taking a city as economically & culturally important as Vaverfront. Thus began Operation: Linnoitus which saw Vaverfront turned into an impenetrable citadel. Buildings were turned into blockhouses, streets were walled off, and parks were now home to trench lines. The Changelings expecting to roll right over the Olenian defenders ended up walking into a death trap.

The Changelings were forced to take the city house by house which is exactly what the Soviets wanted. They wanted this battle to be a second Stalingrad where the enemy gave it their all but got nothing in return. Changeling casualties quickly reached the tens of thousands but there were problems for the defenders.

First was the fact that the Soviet and Olenian armies were poorly supplied. King Johan had been slow to modernize so Olenia was pretty far behind compared to other nations. Soviet arms factories were slowly being constructed though they haven't reached the same levels of output as American factories.

What the Soviets did have though was surplus and a lot of it. The Soviets had thousands of PPS-43 submachine guns and SKS rifles sitting in storage along with a number of late model T-34 tanks. While it was only better than the Changeling’s equipment by a few years it would suit the Soviets and Olenians until the factories could make enough AK-47s.

The Second problem for the defenders was low numbers of troops. The Olenians had to deal with a frontline that encompassed their entire border with the Changelings and routinely had to fight off Changeling naval invasions. The Soviets had even less forces. The Soviet army was made up of whatever soldiers the government was able to convince to put back on their uniforms. After coming through the portal close to 90% of the Soviet Military deserted. The destruction of Earth and the downright inhumane tactics used by many Soviet generals had led many soldiers to simply quit and try to rebuild some semblance of a life. It was only after Gorbachev began making his reforms that the soldiers felt that they should rejoin.

Gorbachev’s harmonic policies and tolerance for them had led many native Olenians who lived on what is now Soviet land to enlist. These Olenians helped form the basis for the Soviet Ski Corps who could quickly outflank the Changelings in Olenia’s snow covered mountains & hills. Despite this the Soviets still had some major manpower issues so during the early days of the war would rely heavily on foreign volunteers. US Marines, Equestrian Royal Guard, and Stalliongrad Red Guard. The most valuable volunteers the Soviets would receive is from the Union. The newly formed Spade Squad…

---

A platoon of Changelings made their way down a dirt mountain road. They had orders to push into the towns surrounding Vaverfront. The siege of the city was going on for far too long. If they took all the surrounding towns & villages and occupied the roads they would surround the city and cut off supply for the defenders. As the Changelings continued their march through the snow the lead Changeling raised his forehoof commanding the platoon to halt. He heard something. The Changelings nervously looked around trying to see if there was someone hiding in the trees.

Suddenly there was a loud crack and the lead Changeling fell with a hole in his head. There was another crack and another Changeling fell. The Changelings quickly scurried behind anything they could use for cover like rocks or trees. The sniper firing at them was good. Their shots were in quick succession and everytime they fired someone fell down. Just as they started to get an idea on where the sniper was firing from, more shooting started. They almost didn’t notice at first. The shots were quiet so it took them a minute to recognize them as gunshots. They heard the humans had things called suppressors that made guns a lot quieter. Were these Soviets attacking them? Even more shots started coming from the sides. Bullets from the left and bright red beams from the right.

The sniper was shooting at them from somewhere ahead of them. The suppressed shots were coming from behind them. And now they were being hit from the sides. Changeling troops typically had very high morale and were fairly well disciplined but even they drew the line at getting shot at from all sides. The Changelings forces began to break but this turned out to be a fatal mistake. Upon leaving their cover they were quickly cut down by their unseen assailants.

Now that all the Changelings were dead the Courier walked down the hill with a Light Machine Gun in his hand with Raul beside him. Down the other side came Veronica and ED-E. Walking up the road came Lily who had decloaked. She held her silenced Assault Carbine. The only one who didn’t show was Boone and that was because the sniper was quite far away.

“I’d thought these guys would be harder than the Legion but I stand corrected.” said the Courier as he looked over the fallen Changelings. “At least the Legion managed to squeeze off a few shots of their own when they’re ambushed.”

“That’s because the Legionaries have no sense of self preservation, boss.” said Raul “All they care about is killing their enemy. These Changelings at least value their own lives.”

The Courier shrugged. “Well you have a point there. Let’s check for any intel on these guys and head back to base for some chow.”

Working for the Union was a whole lot better than the NCR. They were all paid regular wages by the Union government but were fairly independent. Other than receiving the occasional order their only commanding officer was the Courier himself. They were also allowed to pursue their own forms of income like Boone and Raul typically doing bodyguard work or Cass’ Cassidy Trucking Company which was run from their base in the San Palomino Desert. Arcade typically didn’t go on combat missions, instead serving as the team’s doctor patching them up when they got back from a mission.

At first he harbored some doubts but now he knew that moving here and working for the Union was the best decision he made. He read in the occasional paper the Union would receive from the NCR that President Kimball lost his reelection campaign in a landslide. The new President Hayes of the New World Party called for massive sweeping reforms like breaking the Brahmin Baron Monopolies, repairing relations with the brothers & sisters through the portal, and ending the oppression in the Mojave. The Courier wished Hayes luck but he did not wish to return to the NCR. Like Arcade he had set his roots here. The Union was now his home and he was determined to make it work.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

The NCR Expedition

I didn't know this was a Fallout: Equestria story.

[Wanderer101]

10870764
It's an Equestria At War (which is a mod for Hearts of Iron 4) story. The mod has a built in option which allows for the NCR to exist on Equestria's southern coast through a portal leading to the Fallout mod. It's from an April Fool's Day update which has a sister in the Old World Blues mod which takes place in the Fallout world. It has the NCR invaded by the Equestrians after their airship fleet gets transported into the middle of Shady Sands.

There's a submod for Equestria at War which adds three more human nations fleeing from a nuclear ravaged Earth. So basically this story is based on a mod within a mod.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1833883280