A Light in the Dark (MT/PMT)

125mm shells are fired back. A few tanks are destroyed by the Tesla cannon, though. The fighter craft do their thing, launching aerial attacks on Enclave bases.

(OOC: Might be a couple more days before I can get a good response written up for this one. I'm off again to entertain kids.)

Fortunately for the Enclave, but unfortunately for the mercenaries, the Rutians have begun trading with the Enclave again. Much older style atmospheric only fighters have been traded to them. These fighters begin showing up once the mercenaries start attacking Enclave bases. Their pilots might have been trained by Rutians with how good they've become in a short period of time. Oddly enough, though, the fighters are not going into Legion territory. They're defending their own land only.

Aisha and Jericho still work on the tanks. Several Enclave soldiers try and get close enough to plant grenades close enough to do damage to the tanks.

The fighters start dropping, but they should be good enough to sustain at least a 1:1 kill:loss ratio. That's not going to help, what with the numbers against them. More tanks are destroyed. There are roughly half left.

There's no more messages from the Enclave or the Legion. There is just the fight. They're concentrating only on certain areas, but the Enclave is not lessening it's defenses on the ground it does cover. Some do get around the tanks, though, and start moving in on Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida. The Legion just doesn't have enough to cover the majority of those areas with those there switching loyalty from Legion to Enclave. Aisha may be a bitch, but it seems that those in the deep south anyway prefer her to Caesar.

They wait for orders from the Legate on whether to pursue or continue in their attempt to drive onward into Enclave territory.

Meanwhile, remaining Enclave scientists in Europe continue working with Swiss scientists and Brotherhood scribes in developing a Gauss minigun. They have a few prototypes ready. They were going to ship one to Casablanca so had Eden popped up two weeks later than he actually did, Jericho would be wielding one. There is, of course, the ammo problem, what with needing 2mm EC rounds instead of using microfusion cells or electron charge packs, but damn, it would have been deadly.

(OOC: More or less this.)

After a week of the latest round of fighting, Aisha disappears from the front lines. Jericho is still there, so she can't be too far away. Right?

The Legion troops near Aisha's last known position seem to believe that they've injured her and she's had to fall back.

The following day, however, a sudden ceasefire is ordered from the Legion side. Once word gets out about the ceasefire, even Enclave troops seem to honor it.

Shortly after, the Legion sends out a message suggesting negotations for peace. Either Aisha's behind this, or Caesar's decided to play nice.

By this time, the mercs had pretty much exhausted themselves against the Enclave. Their fighter jets had been taken down and most of their tanks immobilized. The scavenge what parts they can and many of them desert back to Europe.

The official answer from the Swiss government is only a note that basically says, "Yay, you guys stopped fighting. Could you please keep it that way?" It's in more diplomatically appropriate language, of course.

(OOC: LOL! Neither of them would care if it were phrased that way.)

Another week and a merger occurs between the Legion and the Enclave. Odd as it is, it happens. No longer is the land known as the Legion or the Enclave, but it's simply America once again. New Vegas, though, refuses to acknowledge the merger.

A&A's response is one of 'what the fuck?', though not phrased that way.

The Swiss response is more or less puzzlement and then a shrug. They await more news.

The UMNA feels more threatened then anything to be nearly surrounded by a new super-state and Roald makes a public declaration that America is the America and the United Municipalities is the United Municipalities, and in spite of the UMNA's heritage, they are a new and vital nation formed to face the challenges of a new world and will never surrender their independence to anyone. Of course, everyone would know that by "anyone" they really mean "America".

(OOC: What's the status of Mothership Zeta in this universe? You never said anything about it so I just assumed that a Star Destroyer blew it up before Aisha could get abducted.)

(OOC: It's more likely that Aisha never found it. Or never bothered with it. So if it got blown up, that's fine by me.)

The UMNA is sent a message assuring them that their sovereignty is not at risk. They'll not be annexed or attacked. They are merely choosing the name as it is part of the name of this continent.

The Enclave do sweep down into South America once again, taking the land, though completely leaving Swiss controlled Panama alone. They bypass on boats that they've managed to get working, rather than request permission to go through.

As to how this all came about, well, reports are somewhat garbled, but it appears Aisha tracked Caesar down and made him an offer he just couldn't refuse. According to one unnamed source, she got through his guards and threatened him should he not initiate a ceasefire and merge with the Enclave. That unnamed source, however, fell silent shortly after that report came out. Several other radio transmissions from inside Legion controlled territory reported similar things before the merger was announced. The official word is that negotiations are taking place for the merger but nothing concrete has been decided. Yes, Aisha is in Denver as an Emissary; however, how she got there so quickly is being kept quiet.

New Vegas still refuses to accept that the Legion would merge with the Enclave. With as small as they are, they're not going to attack, however, they do denounce the merger and state that they will not be so easily swayed, nor will they stand for any attempt to undermine their independence.

A&A is still completely confused.

(OOC: Cool. If I ever pull an interdimensional crossover, I may involve the TSC (Terran Starship Command) from the Mothership Zeta Crew mod. Consists of a lot of former Enclave personnel with alien tech. I'd actually do that on Terraneus but it's the wrong time period.)

Oddly enough, the Swiss send out one message vaguely saying it would not be wise to touch New Vegas, what with a lot of their assets being there.

The UMNA replies vaguely that while they are pleased that their sovereignty will not be violated, they would also like to see the same for other nations, which can clearly only mean New Vegas.

They're silent on the issue of New Vegas, but they're not attacking or building up near there. Right now, they seem to be working on infrastructure. Also, all the slaves the Legion still had are freed immediately instead of on the schedule Caesar had worked out.

An eyebrow is raised as to how un-Legionlike and how un-Enclavelike this behavior is but as long as they're not shooting New Vegas, they're fine.

The majority of the slaves remaining were Enclave personnel, so it's to be expected really, but yeah, unlike the Legion for sure. Caesar, however, may be complaining, but it doesn't sound like Aisha, Jericho, or Eden is listening.

Once the Enclave arrives back in DC, they don't appear to be setting up a Capitol there. Instead, they seem to be going through the rubble of Raven Rock. Where they do seem to set up, however, is in Texas. The Legion appears to be going along with this. Might be because it's neutral ground, so to speak. However, the giant fanged Armadillos are presenting a problem. Since Texas was mostly unexplored, no one knew what to expect. Deathclaws aren't as bad as these critters. In fact, Aisha actually gets injured trying to deal with one of them. However, they're determined to wipe these things out and even ask for aerial support in locating them. Almost all the Rutian atmospheric fighters were damaged in the previous fight and the few they have available are already scouting out other dangerous critters in the deep south.

The Swiss divert a few drones from the New Vegas area to shoot down those mutant armadillos.