Introduction
In nuclear war, all men are cremated equal -Dexter Gordon
War. War never changes.
Since the dawn of humankind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything from God, to justice, to simple psychotic rage.
Rome waged war in its quest to gather slaves and wealth. Spain discovered a new world and built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower.
But war never changes...
In the twenty-first century, war was still waged over the limited resources that could be acquired, only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: petroleum and uranium. To secure these resources, China would invade Alaska, the United States would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering, nation states bent on controlling the last remaining fossil-fuels on Earth. The result was inevitable. Everyone who entered the conflict expected victory. Everyone was optimistic. But as hostilities escalated, optimism faded, and society began to collapse.
In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The Earth was nearly wiped clean of life in a great cleansing, an atomic spark struck by human hands that quickly raged out of control. Spears of nuclear fire rained from the skies. Continents were swallowed in flames and fell beneath the boiling oceans. In two brief hours most of the planet had been reduced to cinders, and from the ashes a new civilization would struggle to arise.
Man succeeded in destroying the world, but war... war never changes…
A quiet darkness fell across the planet, lasting many years. Few survived the devastation. Some had been fortunate enough to reach safety, taking shelter in enormous underground fallout shelters known as "vaults." When the great darkness passed, these vaults reopened, and their populations set out across the ruins of the old world to build new societies, establish new villages, and form new tribes.
As decades passed, the societies of the American southwest united beneath the flag of the New California Republic, dedicated to the old-world values of democracy and the rule of law. As the Republic grew, so did its needs; scouts spread east, seeking new territory and wealth, in the dry and merciless expanse of the Mojave Desert. They returned with tales of a city untouched by the warheads that had scorched the rest of the world, and a great wall spanning the Colorado River containing a generator more powerful than any the Republic possessed. Seeing the immense potential in this discovery, The NCR mobilized its army and sent it east to occupy Hoover Dam and restore it to working condition.
But across the Colorado, another society had arisen under a different flag. A vast army of slaves, forged in the conquest of eighty-six tribes: Caesar's Legion. Inspired by legends, myths, and facts of the ancient Roman Empire, Caesar proclaimed himself emperor and preached that the god Mars had cleansed the Earth with great fire to make way for a new society free of the corruption that existed during the Old World. Utilizing warfare policies based on the concepts of divide et impera (divide and conquer), or total war, the Legion besieged the tribal lands of Northern Arizona, completely decimating and absorbing each faction's land and people into its own. Before long, Caesar's reign encompassed nearly all territory east of the Colorado River, forming the the basis for one of the most powerful societies in the American southwest.
Having met virtually no resistance or significant defeat to the east, Caesar shifted his focus westward, to NCR territory and a city once called "Las Vegas." Under the command of the Malpais Legate, Caesar's second in command, Legion forces marched against the NCR garrison at Hoover Dam, in an attempt to capture the strategic asset and begin a campaign to take the region. In what became known as the Battle of Hoover Dam, the Legion initially had the upper hand. NCR defenders were pushed back and nearly routed as the Legate lead his forces over the dam; Victory seemed assured until the Legate and his forces were drawn into a trap, crippling the Legion's offensive. The NCR counter-attacked, pushing back and eventually defeated the Legion who fled east over the dam. Caesar, angered at the failure of his Legate, made an example of him, ordering that he be coated in pitch, set on fire, then thrown into the depths of the Grand Canyon.
Four years have passed since the Republic held the dam, just barely, against the Legion's onslaught. Despite their failure, the Legion did not retreat. Across the river, campfires burn and training drums beat in preparation for their next assault on Hoover Dam.
Through it all, the New Vegas Strip has stayed open for business under the control of its mysterious overseer, Mr. House, and his army of police robots. Despite the ongoing tensions between the NCR and Caesar's Legion, the city's economy has boomed as tourists and military personnel from all corners of the NCR flock to the Strip to blow their hard earned salaries on dreams of fame, fortune, and every vice imaginable. But in the shadows, Mr. House has a scheme of his own for the future of New Vegas, though, for now, he maintains silence, biding his time until a moment which he feels confident will assure success.
In the midst of these warring states, among many others, was a courier, hired by the Mojave Express, to deliver a package to the New Vegas Strip. But just outside the small Nevada town of Goodsprings, what seemed like a simple delivery job took a turn…for the worse.