Prologue: Loose Ends
Year 2282, three months following the Second Battle for Hoover Dam
City of New Vegas, the capitol city of Caesar's Legion
The elevator shuttered to a stop, signaling that the Courier had arrived on the top floor of the Lucky 38 casino. A creaking sound is issued from the gears of the elevator doors as they open. The Courier takes his first steps into the room beyond, eyes darting everywhere, surveying the huge space. The room was a huge circle, with the elevator sitting at the very center of the room. This room had apparently been an observation room of some kind, and the Courier imagined that before the Great War there would have been extravagant parties in this room. Huge windows covered the walls, offering panoramic views of the city of New Vegas.
Looking at the room itself, the Courier could see that it had been Legion-ified. Fire blazed in bronze braziers, the pelts of various animals covered the floor like rugs, and a huge Caesar's Legion bull flag covered one of the windows. The Courier noticed that some trophies were in the room as well. In one place he saw a mannequin covered in the battered armor of an NCR Heavy Trooper. There was a large hole in the chest plate, which appeared to be from a .50 caliber bullet, which had presumably been the deathblow of the armor's original occupant. Another mannequin was dressed in the armor of an NCR Veteran Ranger. The helmet of the leader of the Great Kahns was sitting on a small table, beside a set of Great Kahn leather armor. A torn and battered New California Republic flag hung on a small wooden pole. The cap worn by General Lee Oliver sat atop a bronze pike.
The throne of Caesar sat in front of the window that was covered by the Legion flag. It was the same throne that had originally been in Caesar's tent at the Fort. The great dictator himself waited for the Courier in the throne. Praetorian guards surround Caesar on all sides, armed with deadly ballistic fists, the strongest unarmed weapon in the Wasteland. The leader of the Praetorians, Lucius, was standing to Caesar's right. He caught the Courier's eye and nodded. Under the watchful gaze of the Praetorians, the Courier approached the throne.
He stopped walking when he was eight paces from Caesar. He was standing on a rug made from the scaly hide of a deathclaw. Judging by the size and color of the rug, it had probably been a deathclaw alpha male. The fleshless skull of a deathclaw alpha male was impaled on a pike nearby, probably the original owner of this skin. The scales rustled slightly when the Courier stepped on the rug.
Caesar stared at the Courier for a long time before finally saying "That armor suits you very well, Frumentarius." The armor he referred to was a full set of Vexillarius armor, including the fox helmet that partially obscured the Courier's face. Caesar had formally invited the Courier into the ranks of the Legion following the Second Battle for Hoover Dam, offering him a position as a Legion Frumentarius. Caesar has also given the Courier his new name, his Legion name: Sicarius. While Frumentarii had many different jobs, for now the only thing Sicarius had done as a Frumentarius was hunt down NCR troopers and Rangers.
While the NCR had fully abandoned the Mojave following their defeat at Hoover Dam, some Rangers and troopers had deserted and stayed behind. They had been thorn in the Legion's side for a good while now. The troopers usually made mistakes and were easily killed or captured, but the Rangers were much craftier. It didn't help that the majority of the Rangers who had stayed behind were Veterans who had once served in the Desert Rangers. Almost half of the First Recon sniper teams stationed in the Mojave had stayed behind, and they were causing a good deal of trouble as well.
Caesar stood up from his throne. His movement was still a little stiff, a result of the surgery that had removed his brain tumor and saved the dictator's life. The man who had performed the surgery, Arcade Gannon, was standing at Caesar's left. He was dressed in the garb of a Legion slave with a red cross painted on the front of his chest, staring at Sicarius coldly. The Courier had gotten the former Followers doctor enslaved, and the feeling of betrayal was clearly still strong. Let him think whatever he wants Sicarius thought to himself. I did what I had to do.
Caesar was healing well, and Sicarius imagined that in a few more weeks his movement would be completely normal. The dictator walked away from his throne and towards one of the massive windows. "Come, Sicarius," he called over his shoulder, motioning for the Praetorians to stay put. The former courier obeyed the summons, and the Praetorians let the two walk away undaunted. Arcade's gaze burned holes in Sicarius' back as he walked away.
Caesar led Sicarius to a window that was far enough away that they could talk at their regular speaking volume and not be overheard. For a moment Caesar didn't speak, he just looked out the window at the city below him. Since the Legion's occupation of the Strip the city had changed. The lights off the city were still bright, and none of the power had been turned off. The huge crowds still wandered the streets, going to the various casinos. But now men of the Legion wandered the streets as well, along with Legion dogs. The robots that had once patrolled the strip were gone, destroyed after the Legion took control of the Strip. The NCR embassy had been taken over as well, and all the NCR military police and personal that had still been in the city when the Legion took it had been killed. Ambassador Crocker had been one of those men. The Legion had marched on New Vegas directly after their victory at Hoover Dam, so many of the NCR personal stationed in the Strip had no time to flee.
The casinos no longer sold alcohol or chems, as both of those were prohibited by the Legion. Caesar had not put a stop to the prostitution, gambling, partying, and dancing, so the citizens of New Vegas still retained some of their freedoms. The cannibalistic White Glove Society had been fully integrated into the Legion, as had the Omertas, who had helped the Legion take control of the Strip. Their casinos were still in business, and doing quite well despite their new overlords. The Chairman had taken a bit of a hit, as they had not allied with the Legion before the Second Battle for Hoover Dam, but their casino was still very much alive. For the most part, life hadn't changed for the worse. If anything, the Families were benefited by the new management of the Strip. And the citizens of the Strip appeared to be, if not happy, at least content with their new situation. Of course, it probably helped that the Legion hadn't enslaved the lot of them.
Beyond the shining Strip sat the ruins of Outer Vegas: Freeside, Westside, North Vegas, and the Southern Vegas ruins. The majority of the people who lived in those areas had been enslaved, or, if they proved to be reliant on chems or alcohol, killed. The Kings gang of Freeside had been slaughtered after they refused to join Caesar's Legion. The Fiends, who had roamed the Southern Vegas ruins, had been exterminated after they failed to stop the NCR from escaping Camp McCarran. Not only had they failed to take over the NCR base there, but the whole lot of them had been addicted to chems. This reliance made them useless to the Legion, and they probably would have all been executed even if they had succeeded in taking Camp McCarran.
Looking out at the territory that now belongs to his Legion, Caesar spoke to Sicarius. "You did very well during the battle at Hoover Dam. Killing Colonel Moore would have been impressive enough, but General Lee Oliver himself? You've become someone greatly revered by my Legion. The Courier, the Monster of the West, the slayer of Moore, Oliver, and President Kimball." The dictator glanced sideways at his Frumentarius. "Lanius is getting a little antsy about it, you know. His strength and power lies in his title. He feels a little, shall we say, threatened by your new found fame. This isn't a bad thing, actually. It will give him a push to do even better, and believe me, Lanius is already an exceptional Legionary."
He looked back at the Strip below him. "I dreamed so long of claiming the Mojave, making New Vegas my Legion's Rome. I faltered a little when our first battle at Hoover Dam ended in defeat, but I refused to surrender. And look at how my faith has been rewarded." He gestured at all the lands from Vegas to the horizon. "But now that I have claimed this land, I realize that there are still some loose ends that must be deal with. There is one in particular that has been a thorn in my side for some time now. I want you to deal with it."
Caesar turned from the window and faced Sicarius. "The first disastrous battle at Hoover Dam was lead by my original Legate, the Burned Man. His name, which I have since forbidden my Legionnaires from saying, is Joshua Graham." The great dictator grimaced a bit when he said the name. "I had my Praetorian guards cover him in pitch, set him on fire, and toss him into the Grand Canyon. Somehow, against all odds, impossibly, he didn't die. My higher ranking Legionaries tell the slaves and recruits that the stories of the Burned Man walking are false, because I have told the Legion that those are just rumors." Caesar shook his head. "But Graham is still very much alive, and I know where he is."
Sicarius couldn't help but wonder at how this Joshua Graham had survived. It seemed impossible, an outrageous story to frighten slaves and recruits around a campfire. But if Caesar was certain that Graham lived… then Sicarius believed that the man had, somehow, survived something that would have killed anyone else.
"When he left the Grand Canyon he head for his hometown of New Canaan. A tribe in Utah, known as the White Legs, destroyed the city of New Canaan with the help of a Legion Frumentarius named Ulysses. While most of the population was killed, some thirty New Canaanites survived and fled. One of those survivors was Joshua Graham. He is now living among a tribe known as the Dead Horses, serving as their war chief. The Dead Horses currently reside in Zion Canyon. Turns out some of the New Canaanites chose to live among a tribe in Zion called the Sorrows. The White Legs are trying, so far without success, to destroy the two tribes and erase the legacy of the New Canaanites and Graham in the process."
Caesar paused from his story, and when he spoke again, a new layer of authority had entered his voice. "I want you to go to Zion, enlist the help of the White Legs, and finish the job that Ulysses started. These Sorrows and Dead Horses must be eradicated, along with the New Canaanites they harbor, especially Joshua Graham." Sicarius bowed slightly and said "As you command, glorious Caesar, so it shall be done."
Caesar nodded and said "I expect nothing left from you, Sicarius." He turned and looked out the window again. "To aid you in your mission, I am giving you command of three contubernia of Veteran Legionaries and some of the Legion's best Frumentarii. The Veteran Decanus named Brutus leads them, and he will serve as your second in command." Sicarius almost whistled. Three contubernia was a total of twenty-four Legionaries. The fact that Caesar was willing to give Sicarius command of that many Veteran Legionaries showed just how important this mission was to him.
"One of the Frumentarii is named Cato. You should remember him, as he was your contact before you assassinated President Kimball. He was one of the Frumentarii who first made contact with the White Legs. While not as familiar with them as Ulysses was, he still knows enough about them that he should prove useful to your mission. I want Graham dealt with badly enough that I would send Ulysses with you, but I haven't heard from him in years. I can only assume that he is dead." Sicarius resisted the urge to mention that Ulysses was very much alive, and was even now sitting at the entrance of the Hopeville Silo, looking down at the storm ravaged wreckage of the Divide.
Sicarius had launched the nuclear missiles that Ulysses had activated, destroying sections of the NCR's territory, including a large section of the Long 15. Not only had this destruction killed hundreds of NCR soldiers and civilians, but it had also made it much more difficult for the NCR army to escape the Mojave after the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. The army had been forced to climb through the mountains or around them to avoid the areas destroyed by nuclear fire. This had dealt even more deaths to an already horribly injured army, with many troopers dying of starvation or dehydration on the long trek back to California.
For the next few minutes Caesar discussed how Sicarius was going to get to Zion Canyon. He gave him a map of the Northern Passage, which Sicarius was to lead his men through to reach Zion. The Legionaries already had all the supplies that would be needed for the trip, but Caesar told him how long the trip would be so that Sicarius could plan appropriately for what supplies he should take for himself. Finally Caesar dismissed him, telling him to go back to ground level, where he would meet Brutus and the Legionaries Sicarius would be leading. Sicarius bowed once more and then left, eager to start his mission.