Si Fueris Vegas

"You were one of the Enclave troopers who defected. You were drinking buddies with Private McManus, one of the troopers of Artemis Team. He was not there at the speech, though. He was an interesting man, to say the least. His obsession with Scotland and his place of birth named Scottland, sort of like the Republic of Dave, entertained many. You were rather unusual among Enclave troopers in that you preferred guns to energy weapons. You transferred over to the role of sniper very well. From the deck in Rivet City, you took out some idiot from Talon Company in the parking lot near Anacostia Station. I never understood why they'd keep trying to attack the Commander while outnumbered 2-1 by the Thunderfist troops accompanying her."

Tex just shakes his head. "I don't know any of those names, with the exception of the Enclave." He whistles softly. "It's damned amazing how something so small can change the path a person's on. What I'd like to know is how Aisha's counterpart turned out. I mean, Aisha's the Bitch of the Wastes. Everyone around here knows her name and most of us actually get a bit paranoid if someone talks about her like she's out there terrorising people again. As it is, she's locked up awaiting trial. I've considered letting Caesar take care of her." He mutters something about how Caesar actually does have a pretty strong claim to her.

"Aisha's counterpart is Commander Miyazaki. Pleasant woman, all around. One of the nicest people you could meet. She took the loss of all those people at her speech very hard. Still not somebody to tangle with in a fight, though. We in the Enclave learned that the hard way. Colonel Autumn visibly quakes a bit whenever she visits him in prison."

Tex nods slightly. "Very different. Different upbringin', perhaps? I often wonder how things might have turned out had Aisha not been the piece of work she is. Not to mention after Eden cloned her. I swear she was more vicious after that." He sighs. "If Aisha hadn't been a bitch, I may never have met Cade, so I guess things work out in the end. At least here, Cade's happy." He frowns. "Well, in between spurts of irritation, anxiety, and all around paranoia." He chuckles to himself. Must be a private joke.

"I don't have enough information on Aisha's upbringing to judge that. Notes from Vault 108 indicate that clones, at least of a certain resident named Gary, turn out to be more violent with every batch. It might not be indicative of how clones turn out in general, though. It was only one vault, after all, and those clones could say was 'Gary.' I am certain Aisha's clone was more eloquent than that." He flicks some dust off his coat. "If it does make him feel a little better, I believe our Arcade ended up with some TSC officer in the Vegas embassy. I haven't exactly checked in on them, though."

Tex nods. "Oh, she's a little more eloquent, yeah. I'd take ya to the prison, but I gave strict orders. No visitors. Like I said, still debatin' on what to do with her." He nods to the last comment. "It won't make him feel better, no. He's kinda like me. A life without him ain't worth livin'. He'd probably be depressed that his counterpart had to make do with someone else." He shrugs. "In all honesty, I'm kinda jealous that someone else got him." He wrinkles his nose, then shakes his head. "Eh. If he's happy, I can handle it." He shrugs. "I don't honestly know how or where Eden cloned Aisha or what technology he used. All we know is that he cloned both Aisha and Jericho Derscon. We do think Eden's finally been destroyed though."

"I hope so. His speeches were annoying."

Tex can't help it. He laughs and nods. "Tell me about it!" He shakes his head and chuckles. "The Legion nearly got him once. Destroyed Raven Rock." He sighs. "Eden had forged ties with the Rutians. Don't know if you know about them or not. They got satellites in orbit. Well, Eden got up there and hid. Got back down here when he could. Cloned Aisha and Jericho and let 'em loose on us. Aisha managed to kidnap Caesar and my nephew. Still don't know how she managed that. We busted 'em out and the Legion opened a second can of whoop-ass on the Enclave." He pauses. "Sorry, you probably know all that." He waves it off. "Right, so you probably know your way around New Vegas, provided it's got a similar setup."

"It's similar enough. There was our embassy next to the NCR's and there was a second gate to the southern part of the Strip. Both gates were much thicker, too. As for the Rutians, I only know a little about them. They're some militaristic empire somewhere else in the galaxy."

Tex nods. "We're sticking with the one gate. Keeps it easier to defend. We might expand a bit to allow for some embassies, but we're not sure yet." He shrugs. "Some of the Enclave Power Armor came from the Rutians. They were tradin' buddies. Probably why Aisha and company thought they'd have the upper hand on the Legion and us. I've met some Rutians. They've continued the Enclave relationship with us since Caesar told them no. We get some of their old power armor, but they won't maintain them. They won't help us rebuild, but once we get to a point where we've got a workin' infrastructure, they will assist us with developing what they call non-harmful energy sources." Tex chuckles. "And I'd have to agree. Nuclear power got us into this mess. It won't get us out."

"They swiped a lot of Swiss-built power armor, too. They were not happy about that." He pauses. "I'd say human greed and shortsightedness did. Nuclear power is still a viable and safe power source if you know what you're doing. It's what powers a lot of our settlements outside of Poseidonis or the Olympus."

Tex nods. "Makes sense. The Rutians don't approve of nuclear power though. I'd bet most of us here agree with that sentiment." He shrugs.

Arcade finally comes back down and goes back to his terminal. He doesn't even glance toward Tex and the man in black.

Tex, however, does look over at Arcade. He watches for a moment before going back to the conversation. "Personally, I think we should end up usin' more natural sources. Water, solar, wind, that kind of stuff, before going back to nuclear power. Had no idea the Enclave did illegally borrowed stuff from the Swiss, but it doesn't surprise me really. They weren't exactly the picture of good morals and ethics. Well, here at least."

Okay, so when Tex talks about methods of power, Arcade does look over. "The Dam provides most of our power here, though we are getting a boost from Helios One. We can't do much more before a strain is put on the system. We're going to have to find another power source if we want to expand the grid out." He frowns.

Tex nods. "It's a catch 22 really. The Rutians won't help us until we have an infrastructure, but we can't get an infrastructure without more energy. A&A's talking about some assistance there, but I don't think they want us getting too close to the Rutians. They might be friendly, but it's a wary friendly." Of course, Tex has no clue what relationship A&A has with the Rutians.

"If you saw some very black armor with immense shoulders, that was APA Mark III that they swiped. From what I know, there are some companies from Europe looking to expand further into New Vegas, and they will likely bring more infrastructure with them."

Tex raises a hand toward Arcade without even looking. Arcade, who had his mouth open to speak, closes it. Tex nods slowly. "Yeah, we know. We're hesitant though. We don't want some foreign nation to come in, build us up, then later try to claim that they own us. Or attempt to forcibly annex us. We don't want that chance. Maybe in time, after there's more trust, we might allow it. You gotta understand, we've had the Enclave and the Legion both breathin' down our necks before. We let the Legion use New Vegas for R&R, but we won't let them set up shop around here. The Swiss are unusual as they have some influence here already. It's just that we worry about how much influence they'd gain."

Arcade looks satisfied enough with that so he doesn't add anything to the conversation.

"Understandable. That has happened too often in history."

Tex nods. "It's one of the reasons we make New Vegas open to all. We want to forge relationships and potential alliances in time. We know we're small and honestly can't defend ourselves. Caesar is committed to help us stay independent. That was a shock. Even bigger shock was A&A stating the same thing. I think they were worried Caesar wouldn't keep his word or try to invade us. I know Kat wouldn't allow him to do that. Probably the only reason I agreed to the military assistance if necessary."

Arcade shudders, but stays silent.

Tex continues. "I haven't ruled out any kind of alliance with the Swiss though. I probably pissed them off by signing an allegiance with Caesar and A&A."

Arcade sighs and rests his chin in his upturned hand, elbow on the desk. He's clearly not happy about any alliance, but he's probably been convinced that it's for the best.

He chuckles. "That you did. That you did. It was the reason they initially offered only a trade agreement. They were rather miffed by the fact you signed on with both of them. Even now, there are some within Parliament who are arguing for annexation of New Vegas by force but they are fortunately considered fringe politicians. Most sane people point that the long poorly defended border in Siberia makes a tempting target for a provoked Alanda and Alexia. The Legion may get flattened by tanks and fighter jets. Alanda and Alexia will not."

Tex is silent for a moment, then nods. "Well, it wasn't our intention to piss them off. I'm just tryin' to protect our territory. The Swiss were getting too firm a foothold here for us to feel comfortable with askin' them for that kind of protection. Didn't want a bad situation of havin' to fight them off while dealin' with the natural flora and fauna around here. I'm glad they didn't attempt to take us by force though. We wouldn't have lasted, but we'd have still fought with every last breath. Of course, 'Remember the Lucky 38' doesn't have the same ring to it as 'Remember the Alamo', but it would have done just fine for an eventual uprisin'." He shrugs.

Arcade just sighs. "We shouldn't have gotten involved in anything international."

Tex shakes his head. "Cade, we've over this. We needed the help."

Arcade nods. "I know, but still, we've only opened ourselves up to more problems."

Tex rolls his eyes. "We were already open to them."

"Yes, I get the feeling they were looking to supplant the NCR."

Tex nods. "And we can't really protect our coastline. Thus the alliance with someone who can. A&A uses our coastal settlements as ports so they can stay longer. They patrol our waters. As long as no one is hostile to them or us, they're not gonna stop people from comin' and goin'. The Swiss still show up, so if they're comin' in that way, they're not pissin' anyone off around there. They're not pissin' us off here either."

Arcade finally comes back over, standing next to Tex and placing a hand on Tex's back. "The Swiss really aren't who we're most afraid of anyway. That's Caesar's honor. The Swiss would have to cross an ocean to get to us. Caesar just has to cross over the line that divides us. With agreeing to a military alliance with Caesar, we had to agree to another to protect us from him. Caesar isn't stupid. He's afraid of A&A because they're what remains of the country that blew America to hell and back. The Swiss? Not so much. This wasn't meant to piss anyone off, but rather a strategic move to keep Caesar from just coming in and taking over."

He nods in understanding. "Not to mention that it would be foolish to attack with a few hundred soldiers trapped deep inside enemy territory."

Both of them nod. "Which is why we're not worried about the Swiss attacking us militarily. It's more economically that I'm concerned about." Arcade sighs.

Tex rolls his eyes. "We've been through this. Yer no economist."

He gives a chuckle. "His worries aren't completely without concern. If the Swiss government enacts an embargo on New Vegas, unpleasant things will happen in time. Many of their companies have set up shop in New Vegas to manufacture things for export, and there is a strong flow of donations to groups like the Followers of the Apocalypse. An embargo would result in the source of income and medicine for many people here to dry up quickly."

Tex nods. "Yeah, I'm aware of those problems. It's not that that has Cade worried. It's more of a situation of we let the Swiss in, they buy the land out from under us, so to speak."

He nods. "Shall we test fire your new Tiger Siberian?"