A Voice from the Dark (MT)

Caesar is silent for a moment before responding. "Is that why all our attempts to take them out failed?" He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter." He turns toward the Hew representative. "Oh, I don't want the Enclave to my west. As far as I'm concerned, the Followers and New Vegas can have all of Nevada, plus California, Oregon, and Washington. The Legion has no presence in the latter three and I'll withdraw from Nevada. Once I get established, or re-established, as is the case, I'll leave them alone, provided they just don't close the actual city of New Vegas to us. I know I'm not liked there, however, I'm about to act as a fucking buffer for them. The deal is simple really. I get the Enclave to give them a lot of territory. The Enclave gets out of their territory. I deal with the Enclave afterward. They don't have to worry about them anymore."

Dylan nods slightly. He just listens for the moment.

Michael closes his eyes briefly, then frowns. He opens his eyes and looks at Caesar. "Slave trade. That's why they don't like you." It's not a question either. Pure statement.

"Yes, that does put a dent in our relations. What really riles up my sister is how your nation treats women. That may be another obstacle. I understand her concern but I'll try to get her to look past that for the sake of peace and as something to be dealt with later."

He takes a sip of the wine that had been brought in.

"There may be something we can offer to all sides in the Wasteland: Predator drones. I understand that three wasteland nations have had trouble with these creatures called deathclaws. Our solution is simple: we hunt them from the air. You get pest control and our boys get target practice."

"As yet another incentive for all sides, we're willing to allow more aid groups to enter your territories."

(OOC: What happened with the Great Khans? Jacobstown? The NCR was totally crushed, right? Is Vulpes Inculta dead? I think the Swiss ended up taking a bunch of Brotherhood of Steel guys as refugees. Don't remember. I know for certain the Swiss took Fawkes in.)

Caesar seems to be in thought for a moment, then nods. "Women aren't actually treated all that badly. That said, I know some of the younger men see them with disdain and possibly abuse them. When I or my Pretorians catch them, they're usually sent to the arena. I attempt to lead by example in that." He looks at Dylan. "I do have a way for our slaves to win their freedom. Once that occurs, they're paid a fair wage. Those that gain their freedom usually stay with us. It's better than the alternative and they're paid." He looks back to Bertinelli. "The deathclaws, yes, they're a pain. We leave our snipers to deal with them, but they slip through from time to time. Last one that did, even my Pretorians had difficulty with. I think we could come to an agreement on that."

Dylan and Michael both just look at Caesar for a moment, then frown. Michael speaks up. "You really need to be careful with what you say, Caesar. Both Dylan and I are telepaths. We don't exactly go digging, but you're broadcasting like a son of a bitch."

Caesar sighs, then nods. "I figured you were. There's no way you could have known to take this to a neutral location otherwise." He falls silent, just looking at the two Rutians.

Dylan puts a hand on Michael's arm, then nods. "Ahh, now I see." He looks at the others to explain. "Both Michael and I got a clear image of him," points at Caesar, "beating a woman to near death. What we didn't get was the emotion afterward and how he treats them now. He regrets that and is making an attempt to get the rest of his Legion to treat women in general better."

Caesar sighs again. "You missed the most important part. That woman was pregnant. I didn't know it at the time." He shakes his head. "To make a long story short, she was one of mine and tried to escape. It's a crime for a slave to attempt escape, obviously. When I found out she was with child, I... well, there's no words for it. She survived, but lost the child. She's also been freed. She chose to work for us as a cook for 20 Denarii a week instead of leaving. Legionaries get paid 40 Denarii a week, just so you have a point of reference." He shrugs, trying to pass it off as unimportant. "What I will promise to all of you is that none of your citizens will ever be taken as a slave, nor will we engage in selling slaves in your territory."

(OOC: Khans were wiped out or integrated into the Enclave already. Jacobstown is still there since the Enclave couldn't get up the mountain. The Nightkin made that impossible. Vulpes Inculta is still alive and kicking. The Swiss did get some of the Brotherhood. The NCR is pretty much toast. There are a few groups underground, but not enough to take back California. The important one, Legate Lanius, didn't survive the original Enclave attack on the Legion. It's Lucius that's the Legate now. Now, because of the shift in history, don't expect the Legion to be exactly like the game. I'm fudging a lot of stuff. )

"I don't believe the Generalissimo really minds the fact that you are slavers as much as what you do to the slaves. If you can prove to us that you actually treat them like people and not guinea pigs - which HAS been a problem before in Hew, he will probably turn the blind eye. In return, we'd like a trade agreement. Certain articles - basically slaves like you mentioned before and advanced weaponry - will have to be forbidden, but it will be beneficial for both of our nations."

He then takes a sip of wine, and hmms softly. He then says, "How do slaves earn their freedom, by the way? If I studied my history books correctly, it has to do with the Legion or the arena, am I correct?"

Caesar looks to the Hew representative. (Can't recall the name.) "It depends on the slave, actually. The men may fight in the arena to earn their freedom. It is not necessarily a fight to the death though. Unconsciousness works. They fight another slave. The winner, of course, gains their freedom. The loser, if still alive, may not enter into the arena again for at least three months. No sense in sending an injured person back to fight for his freedom. Some freed male slaves, if they fight well enough, may be asked to join the Legion as a Legionary. Any woman who bears a male child is automatically freed, however, the child is the property of the father. So she may leave, but the child may not. Most women choose to stay because they'll be paid for what work they do. Some choose to stay with the father of their child. Some do not. Also, women who have been abused are now automatically freed." He glances toward the Rutians, then back to the Hew representative. "If we're able to push the Enclave back or, hopefully, destroy them completely, I don't think we'll need slaves anymore. I don't know how the Legionaries will take to that, but I don't believe they'll go against me. Not if there's enough population to do the work necessary for the Legionaries to be able to focus on defense. Of course, it would mean more silver and gold would be needed. As to proof, after we've openly rebelled, by all means, bring people into our territory to see for yourselves how they are treated."

Dylan is silent for a moment, before nodding slightly. "The Imperial Republic takes a hard stance on slavery, but if they are able to become free, I don't think the Emperor will have a problem with it. Though I could be very wrong. The worst he'd do is refuse to acknowledge your people as an independent nation. He doesn't believe in fighting any nation that cannot defend themselves against us."

Caesar just nods. "All bark, no bite."

Dylan can't help but smile a bit. "Basically, yeah."

Caesar hasn't touched the wine. His two guards have though.

He takes another sip. "So long as the slaves are treated well and conditions for women are improving, I believe we'll be able to strike a deal. I'll just need to discuss this with the other two prime monarchs, Otto von Habsburg and Louis Phillip Bourbon, and we should be done."

Caesar nods. "Good. You'll have the same opportunity to come and see first hand how people are treated."

Dylan's datapad chimes and he takes a look. "Interesting. New Vegas is actually hesitant about things. They're wondering why they've gotten the offer of so much." He smiles faintly. "It might be a good idea if we bring someone from there to discuss this directly."

Caesar nods again. "Just remember, they really don't like me. They're going to be distrustful. At least at first."

Michael looks at each of them in turn. "If everyone agrees to this, our people there will bring one of them here."

"I have no objection to that."

"Nor do I. It really would have been better manners to bring one of them along."

(OOC: This is not the first time I realized we left a New Vegas guy behind. I forgot to mention it earlier.)

(OOC: Caesar knew they had done so. He also knows the reason for it. Heh.)

Dylan nods and sends a message.

Caesar nods to Bertinelli. "Of course it would have been, however, now you see the true nature of the Enclave. I couldn't mention it there and once we got here it slipped my mind. The Enclave intentionally left them out of the process. Were Aisha still alive, this would have gone another way. First, I wouldn't have been here. You'd have been dealing with her. She wouldn't have conceded a single square inch to them. If one of them showed up, she'd have killed them. With me? Well, you get what used to be four states, complete withdrawal of Enclave troops, and a buffer zone to keep them out. They don't have to fight against the Enclave. I'll do that for them."

Well, about the time he finishes that little bit, the representative from New Vegas wanders in. Once Caesar is spotted, the representative just stops. Caesar looks up and what color is there drains away. The Praetorian guards are immediately in front of Caesar. Dylan looks between the two of them and has to restrain himself from laughing. He looks at Caesar. "You have got to be kidding me."

Caesar only shakes his head. "No. That's really her brother."

The New Vegas representative looks ready to kill Caesar where he stands. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you are, Michael approaches and actually reaches into the representatives shirt and removes a knife. "No weapons allowed."

The representative snorts. "I wasn't gonna do anythin'." That texan drawl gives him away to those that might have heard it. "Hell, I took care of the bitch. If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead." Probably true. "How's Kat?"

"She's healed. She's a free woman, Mark. She chose to stay with us." Caesar actually stays behind his two guards.

"Bullshit. I want her back as a part of this. And you, of all people, know I prefer Tex to Mark." Tex just shakes his head.

"I'm not going to force her to leave. She's not a slave anymore. In other words, she's not my property to give away." Caesar just sighs and finally finds a place to sit down.

Dylan looks between the two of them. "I have a solution. Tex here can try to convince her to leave. If she stays, then she stays. It's her choice. I'll even go there to make sure she's not being coerced."

Caesar just nods. "He's welcome to try and convince her to leave. If he succeeds, she may leave. If she chooses to stay, I don't want to hear him whining anymore."

Major Aden then speaks up and says, "Not to interrupt this standoff here, but I believe we have more urgent business to conclude. Shall we finish drawing up the agreement, then?"

Bertinelli just nods. He gestures to the butler to offer Tex a drink or some food.

Tex seems to be okay with this. He does accept the offer of both food and drink. "Right, so why the hell are were we offered so much?"

Caesar shrugs. "Simple really. I don't want the Enclave on both sides of me."

Tex frowns a little. "But you are part of the Enclave."

"For now." Caesar nods. "However, now that the threat of Aisha and Jericho are gone, I fully intend on rebelling against them."

Anyone can see that light bulb switch on above Tex's head. "Ohh! Gotcha. So you'd rather have a group that can't defend the territory, so you can later take over." Okay, so it was a dim bulb.

Caesar shakes his head. "No. I'll leave you well enough alone. I just don't want them coming at me from both east and west. I'd rather focus on the east. You get your sovereignty. You also don't have to deal with the major fighting. All I ask in return is that you do not close the city of New Vegas to us."

Tex is silent for a moment before speaking. "That's the catch." He sighs and sets down his drink. "Well, what I'll offer is what anyone else would get. Your people can come to New Vegas, however, you'll have to disarm at the city limits. No weapons inside the Strip. Also, you can't be engaging in slave trade inside our borders. The privilege of using New Vegas will be revoked if your people take any New Vegas citizen as a slave. Any of our people you have now must be released."

It's Caesar's turn to be silent for a moment. He frowns, shakes his head, then finally nods. "Alright. Anyone who had their home in New Vegas territory will be free to go, however, I'm not going to make that public. We have records of each slave and where we took them from. You may check our records as well to make certain we've released them all."

Dylan nods once. "So what have now is that New Vegas will be given the land area of what used to be four states. Defending that will be difficult at first...."

Caesar looks to Dylan. "Which the Legion will be more than willing to help at first. Once there's an infrastructure in place, we'll leave them be."

Tex actually considers this for a moment. "As long as we have that in writing, then I'll agree to the help at first. Now, I can't speak for Julie and Arcade, but I think I can get them to see the point."

Caesar actually flinches at the mention of the two names. "Right."

Dylan waits until they're done, then continues. "It will be difficult to defend at first, however, the Legion is willing to assist. When the government of New Vegas decides that help is no longer needed, the Legion will withdraw immediately. The Legion also cannot take slaves in New Vegas nor engage in any kind of slave trade within the borders of New Vegas." He looks to Tex. "However, you cannot fault them should a citizen of New Vegas go outside your borders into Legion territory and engage in slave trade there, even going as far as selling a citizen of New Vegas to them. Agreed?"

Tex nods. "Fair enough."

"So long as the terms of this agreement are maintained, the Swiss government will assist in destroying deathclaws as well as other forms of pest control."

"The United Municipalities will offer trade to both nations and offer assistance in infrastructure and industrial development, as well. Is this agreeable, then?"

Tex nods. "Sure. Just be careful with them deathclaws. I've seen them just get pissed when you shoot at them."

Caesar actually smiles a bit. "Pissed is putting it lightly."

Tex nods again, clearly in agreement.

Dylan types something up on his datapad. "Okay. I've got everything here. If you'll both read it over, then sign, we can get a paper copy. You'll have to sign twice. Once for the agreement with the Enclave, then once for the agreement with the Legion. I figured it'd be best to keep those separate."

Caesar nods. "Definitely. If Eden has any clue of what we're about to do, he'll come down on us before we're ready." He takes the datapad and looks at it before reading what's on it. "Not to sound stupid, but how exactly do I sign something on this?"

Dylan looks a little sheepish. "Sorry." He taps the side of the datapad and a stylus pops out. "Use this like you would on regular paper."

Caesar takes the stylus and nods. "I see." He doesn't look pleased with the technology, but he does what's asked. Afterward, he hands it to Tex, who reads, then signs both agreements.

Dylan takes the datapad, then hands it to Michael. "We can get the paper copies on the transport. I'm not sure if our systems are compatible with yours." He looks toward Bertinelli with a shrug. "If they are, then, by all means, we'll get the copies now.

Major Aden reads them over and signs his name on the datapad, provided there is nothing questionable on it.

Bertinelli smiles and says, "Last time I checked, deathclaws had no anti-aircraft capabilities."

At Dylan's comment, he shrugs and has the butler check, who reports back as negative. He goes to sign the datapad anyway.

"We'll have to send this to my sister, the Habsburgs, and Bourbons but they should approve."

No, nothing questionable on it. It's a detailed summary of what's been discussed. It is, of course, subject to amendments if all parties are in agreement.

Dylan nods. "Sure. There is equipment on the transport that should be able to transfer this to media that is compatible. As long as the two major parties are in agreement, I don't think there will be an issue."

Tex shakes his head. "Nope. They don't. Just be careful what you shoot at. They've decided to inhabit some pretty important places." He mutters something about the nearby quarry.

Caesar just looks at Tex. "We did offer to take care of that. Bullets alone might not do much, but plasma grenades and mines combined with bullets manage to keep our population of deathclaws down a bit."

Tex sighs. "Look, you can help us only so much. You gotta understand right now that we are not friends. We'll never be friends. As long as you boys keep playing Roman soldier and keep slaves, there'll never be true peace. Truce, yeah, but not true peace."

Caesar frowns, but nods. "I would point out, however, that if Aisha weren't dead, you'd probably be food for the birds and worms right now."

Tex shrugs. "I hit what I aim at, big boy."

Caesar pales even more than he did when Tex walked in. "You? You killed Aisha?"

"Yep." Tex just smiles faintly.

Caesar glances to his guards, who seem a bit nervous now. He looks back to Tex. "Well, you deserve a fucking medal." He actually sounds like he means that, and not in a bad way.

"Yeah, but I'll be satisfied with the thought that every time you and your little guards come near New Vegas, I'll be watching and you'll know it, but you won't see me." Tex's smile gets bigger.

Caesar actually nods toward Tex. Apparently, that was checkmate.

Major Aden seems to be a bit alarmed at first but then simply remarks, "Well, this is why High Command send people with relatively low ranks like me."

"Oh, don't worry. ARSS hits what it aims for." After a brief pause, he says, "Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System. It was originally meant for remote controlled helicopters but we decided to attach to Predator drones instead."

He has the butler fetch his cell phone and makes a few quick calls, after which he says, "The monarchs give their approval."

(OOC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Rotorcraft_Sniper_System)

Tex nods to Bertinelli. "As long as it don't hit us by accident."

Dylan nods. "Well, we should probably get everyone back to where they came from. Eden's going to pitch a fit, but as far as I'm concerned, he can go f..."

Michael jumps in. "Of course, he's not going to be happy." He looks at Caesar. "And we're not dropping you back off in Enclave territory, but in your own. Eden might decide to have you killed for doing this. By the time he's located you, you should be well into your own defenses."

Caesar smirks at Dylan, clearly reading what was about to be said. He nods in agreement.

Tex also nods. "I'd like to go talk to my sister first. If we can make that stop too."

Caesar nods to Tex. "Fine with me."

Dylan nods. "No problem."

Major Aden simply nods.

(OOC: Pass.)

(OOC: This part is pretty much done. It's just travel back to points of origin now anyway, then my narrative of the Legion/Enclave war. Probably will post the start of it tomorrow.)

(Edit: OOC: Changed my mind and did it now. People may respond to this, I don't really care, but keep in mind that I have a clear direction here. Don't fudge it too much. )

And so, Dylan and Michael returned Major Aden to Hew on their way to drop Caesar and Tex off. The agreement was sent to Eden and the Enclave grudgingly began their withdrawal from the area given to New Vegas.

Tex did speak to his sister, but could not convince her to leave Caesar's camp in Northern Arizona. He returned to New Vegas followed by the newly freed slaves that once resided in the lands that now belonged to New Vegas.

Once the Enclave presence was mostly removed from New Vegas territory, about one month after the meeting ended, the radio silence from the Legion territory was broken. A broadcast address from Caesar himself hit the airwaves.

"The Legion declares full independence from the Enclave. All Legionaries are ordered to battle readiness. We may be at a disadvantage, but be aware that their weapons are no better than ours. Dulce et deorum pro patriam mori."

Once the short message is over, it's repeated every fifteen minutes until Eden cuts it off. Once that occurs, the Legion shifts to a different frequency and the message is re-established.

The Enclave, unfortunately, was focused further south. Within the first few days, North Dakota and South Dakota are liberated from the Enclave and fall to the Legion. The majority of the population there, which isn't much, take up arms themselves against the Enclave. After all, the Enclave has been oppressive.

The Legion hadn't focused the efforts north, but rather south. It was just sheer luck that the two Dakota's weren't strongly defended. Texas, however, is a prime target for the Legion. The focus is on Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

In Legion territory, meaning Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, all Enclave soldiers are killed through treachery.

Those who are watching from the skies would notice that the general population in those states are starting to fight against the Enclave as well. Also, there do appear to be New Vegas citizens fighting along side the Legion.

Near Panama, all Enclave activity stops and the soldiers begin to move back north.

Enclave soldiers near Hew begin to move west, though enough remain behind to protect Raven Rock and other nearby areas. The Enclave, for the first time, might be worried about their continued existence. They may have more people, but they're not more advanced. If anything, the Legion might have the upper hand. They're heavily trained for this. The Enclave relies on the power armor too much.

(OOC: Translation: it is sweet and honorable to die for one's country)

(OOC: Second Edit: MAP! https://2img.net/h/i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff266/JaydeAmali/USFallout.png Red - New Vegas. Green - The Legion. Blue - The Enclave. Orange - Hew.)