The Monster and the Fox
Legate Lanius looked around the ruins of the New Vegas Strip with an air of discontent, "This is the city the Legion shed so much blood for to conquer?" Lanius scanned the piles of bodies that were once the profligates he despised, and the ruins of the several casinoes on the strip that were once nothing except halls of sin, "How disappointing."
Vulpes, still wrapped in his professional armor and Fox hood, his black goggles contrasting with his incredibly pale skin, "You should not be so surprised Legate. You have read my reports on this city, and its many rotten denizens."
Lanius watched a column of Legionaries lead by a professional Centurion walk into Gamorrah, and grunted at the Frumentarii's words, "I hate this place, Vulpes. Full of spineless cowards and backstabbers."
Vulpes nodded at the Legate, and felt his thoughts slowly begin to drift to the beautiful courier he had begun to slowly grow closer to over the months. Her soft red hair, her beautiful green eyes, and her firm warrior spirit. Vulpes wasn't a poet, but he could write for days if he simply needed to describe the woman that garnered his affections. Then, without meaning to, Vulpes blurted out, "Where is the courier now?"
Vulpes cringed and bit his tongue at his foolish words, expecting Lanius to start flinging mockeries at him any second. Lanius chuckled lowly, and then said, "She is safe, the last time she sent me a message," Lanius gave the Frumentarii a wicked look, which Vulpes didn't register due to the Legate's mask, "Please tell me you aren't planning to go and ask for her hand in matrimony amidst the flames of the Legion's victory, are you?"
Vulpes glared at the metal clad Legate, and then had to resist the urge to stammer out a hasty defense, all the while noticing how poetic the Legate's description sounded. Not that he was considering it or anything. "That is utterly preposterous," Vulpes said smoothly, rather proud of himself for keeping his tone as level as he did, "She is one of our greatest assets, and I am simply hoping that she is still fit to help us with the rest of our conquest."
"Finish our Conquest by your side no doubt," Lanius snorted.
"Why must you always tie her to me in a romantic way whenever she is brought up in conversation, Lanius, "Vulpes growled, addressing him by name for once, a sign that he was frustrated.
Lanius smirked beneath his mask, which then leaked into his tone, "Amusement, and a desire to defeat you in a battle of wits. She is your weakness, the very thought of her ties your tongue in a thouand knots. Admit it."
"Their is nothing to admit," Vulpes argued.
The Legate chuckled again, "Didn't we already have this conversation a few months ago, Vulpes?"
The Frumentarii remembered that embarrassing conversation, and crossed his arms over his chest, darkly. Meanwhile, a veteran Legionary came up to Lanius and spoke to him in a hushed tone. The Legate nodded and the Legionary jogged away back toward the gate leading to Freeside. "Caesar is here," Lanius announced to Vulpes, "I will meet him at Freeside. Oh, and before I forget Vulpes, I suppose I should tell you that the courier is at Freeside's northern gate," Then the Legate left, leaving a very split Vulpes.
He didn't want to give Lanius the satisfaction of seeing him break down and go off to see the courier like the Legate expected. Then again, it was the courier. . .
Vulpes managed to stay put for thirty seconds before he hurried off to see her.
000
About seven hours later, after greeting Caesar and seeing the courier along with celebrating at The Top's casino with the rest of the Legionaries, Vulpes was stopping by the NCR's ambassador headquarters as it was a location he had yet to visit. The outside of the NCR building was barren, and that proved true with the inside as well. Most of the Legionaries were still out celebrating, drunk off their victory and and generous amounts of wine.
Vulpes had crept away, having abstained from alcohol despite the Courier's insistence. He explored the many rooms, most crammed with bunks and the drawers still full of the strange trinkets. More than once, he managed to find several pornographic magazines which presented to him several. . . interesting positions of the body.
After putting those away, Vulpes wandered around until he came upon the ambassador's room, as evident by the brass print on the door. Vulpes opened said door, and immediately came upon Legate Lanius sitting in a large, stuffed chair with his legs put up on the desk and his hands behind his mask. Momentarily surprised, Vulpes was silent for a moment, which allowed the Legate to get the first word in, "Vulpes, where have you been for the last couple hours?"
Recovering from his surprise, the Frumentarii replied, "Celebrating with the troops. Where have you been, Legate?"
Lanius, being his typical self, waved away the question and instead replied with his own, "Who were you celebrating with?"
"The troops, Legate," Vulpes repeated, he did not like where this was going.
"Which one?"
"What do you mean, Legate?" Vulpes asked, keeping his tone tentative. He knew where this was going now, and Vulpes was not prepared to get into another battle of wits over the courier. Lanius, on the other hand, had probably been thinking these things up for hours on end.
"Would your celebrations include the female you desire so much?"
Vulpes glared at Lanius, but didn't take the bait, "My celebrations did include her, but if you think it involved any sort of romance, you would be wrong Legate." That was a lie of course, Vulpes and the courier had flirted quite a bit despite the Frumentarii's inexperience. But Vulpes wasn't going to tell him that.
Lanius clearly didn't believe it either, "Your feeble attempts at deception are amusing to me, Vulpes. You may be able to fool Caesar, but it will not work on me."
"Their is no deception, Legate."
"Unlike you Frumentarii, I prefer honesty above all else. . ."
Vulpes had to stifle a laugh at that.
". . . But I am not so ignorant in the ways of deception that I cannot tell a lie when I see it."
"I don't know what you're talking about Legate."
"You're ridiculous attempts at secrecy are almost pathetic."
Vulpes glared heatedly at the Legate, and then decided to make a daring move in their battle of wits. Vulpes may not have been a professional general, but he knew enough about strategy that what he was about to do may either win him this round or enrage the Legate. After of second of indecision, Vulpes decided to make his move. "So are your attempts to hide your own affair, Legate. I believe it was that slave from Utah that you've been bedding, or do you deny it?"
"What!" The Legate snarled, after being rendered speechless for several moments. Vulpes smirked inwardly, "How do you know about. . . er, I mean, I don't know your talking about."
"Oh?" Vulpes questioned with an evil smile, "Then why did I see her in your bed when I entered your tent?"
Vulpes never got an answer as Lanius stormed past the Frumentarii, which made him visibly smile despite his aching shoulder.
000
Two years later, Vulpes stared down from his high position and witnessed the destruction of the Empire he had always held dear to him. The Legion's camp was on fire, with the screams of thousands of Legionaries echoing down from the desert plain. The NCR rained artillery down on their main camp, where Caesar had no doubt been killed along with all his bodyguards. From his positions on the ridge, as his duty had been to scout the eastern ridges, he could faintly make out the sandy browns of the NCR mix with the blood reds and blues of the Legion as they fought a battle that was doomed to failure for the Legion. It had all come tumbling down, all because of that damnable woman. "We have lost permanantly this time, haven't we."
"Indeed," Lanius agreed, and then sat next to the Frumentarii to watch the destruction of his army, "She was more clever than any of us thought, even me."
"Yes," Vulpes said, feeling rage rise up inside him at the very thought of her, the very same woman who had caused him such positive emotions years ago. He and the courier had been together for a long time, and Vulpes had thought she was happy. But in the Legion's expansion west, the courier had ultimately betrayed them all. Caesar and Lanius had led the armies that were currently being destroyed, when they were ambushed from all sides. Luckily, Vulpes had been away and eventually the Legate had made his way up the ridge as well.
The two now sat together, viewing the chaos with mixed feelings. Vulpes bowed his head, his thoughts inevitably drifting back to the courier despite the emotions it conjured up. Lanius must have noticed and asked, "Do you still love her?"
"I don't know."
They sat in silence for several long minutes, and slowly the battle began to fizzle out, and as the Legate and the Frumentarii had both predicted, the red uniformed Legionaries were now merly red splashes in the sand. Finally, Vulpes spoke, remembering Lanius' advice from years ago that had strangely lingered with him all these years, "You were right."
Lanius glanced at him curiously, "Right in what way?"
"Two years ago," Vulpes clarified, "You warned me that woman were deceptive. You were right."
Lanius grunted, and then removed his mask, revealing his gaunt and pale face that still lacked several patches of flesh even after such a long time, "I really would've preferred being wrong in this case."
"How did you know that women could be so dangerous, Lanius?" Vulpes asked.
"I had a wife once," Lanius grunted, scratching his head and knocking off a couple flakes of flesh, "As tough as a deathclaw that one, she betrayed my tribe to the Legion and then became a slave. I killed her when I became a Legionary."
"Oh, what about the slave?"
Having long since gotten over his embarressment about the topic, the Legate (or was it former Legate now?) replied steadily, "She looked alot like my first wife, and I simply couldn't keep away for long."
"What happened to her?"
"She died of exhaustion."
"Oh," Vulpes said, now feeling very uncomfortable as they both gazed down at the dwindling battle below.
"Yes," Lanius muttered.
Then, without giving any sort of reason, Lanius grabbed his helmet and tossed it down the ridge, letting it fall to the very bottom. Vulpes looked at Lanius questioningly, "It's a symbol of my allegiance to the Legion," Lanius elaborated, "We are no longer part of the Legion."
"We could be," Vulpes said, surprised by the utter lack of emotion in the Legate's voice as he entirely gave up his loyalty to the legion, "We could rise the Legion back up with the two of us leading it."
"No, our losses have left us to devoid of numbers, and the NCR will be quick to reassert itself in the land they lost. They will have taken control before we could even try to raise our numbers."
"So, you will give up hope that easily?" Vulpes challenged.
Lanius frowned, "Their's no hope left."
They both looked back down at the battle, and saw that at this point the battle had ended in the NCR's favor. As Vulpes saw the multitudes of dead bodies, he couldn't help but see why the Legate thought the way he did. Thousands dead, and the NCR would be quick to reassert itself. Vulpes bowed his head in defeat. "Its all over then."
"Not completely," Lanius disagreed, which made Vulpes look at the man with a look of confusion once again, "We still live, and their are always opportunities for empires across this ruined land. The Legion's story may have ended, but our Empire's tale has just begun. We could work toward a mutual goal."
Vulpes didn't reply for a long time, mulling it over. Yes, the Legion was indeed dead, but that didn't mean the two of them had to give up all hope of a future. After all, between the two of them they had great strategy and intelligence, they could create a newer, better, empire away from the NCR. "It's risky," Vulpes said quietly.
"What have we to lose?"
"Our pride."
"Our pride was stripped from us," Lanius argued, "We must rebuild it somehow."
Vulpes nodded, but still with some reluctance. "I don't know." He said finally.
Lanius nodded slightly, "Understandable. I would advise you choose quickly however, it's only a matter of time before the NCR mobilize to search for any Legionaries in the ridges near us. I would give you forty eight hours at the most." Lanius stood, and then unsheathed his large sword, The Blade of the East, "I will go hunting, think on what I've said." The he trudged off over the crest of the ridge and disappeared.
Vulpes stared at the flaming camp below, thinking of love, woman, and choices.
Yes, sometimes it sucked to be right.