War Is Changing
A hot wind hit Liza O'Malley's face, pulling her eyes away from the terminal before her and towards the door which had been thrust open swiftly and quietly. It was closed just as quickly but not before an indistinct figure had slipped inside. Liza had her hand on the silent alarm the moment the door shut, however as soon as the figure shifted from the strange grey shape it had been, into a man, she lifted her hand. "Oh, it's you." She said reassuringly, more to herself than for anyone else. The man gave her a small smile and a nod asking "The Ambassador?"
"He's free, go right through. I'll give him a buzz to know you're coming." He gave another nod and began to move down a corridor. As he passed, the tail of his heavy trench coat following a moment later, Liza shivered and let go of a breath she didn't realise she had kept. He always seems to move too fluidly, too quietly she thought. As he disappeared down the hallway, she shook her head and returned her focus to the terminal in front of her, he was the ambassador's problem now.
By the time he had arrived at the office, Crocker had gotten up from behind his desk to greet him. However as the ambassador held his hand out, the Man motioned it away saying, "Ambassador, you better sit down, you will want to be comfortable when you hear the news I have." He pulled out a small satchel from under his coat as the Ambassador poured two glasses of whiskey from a bottle on a sideboard. Crocker chuckled to himself, whispering "Damn, this is the best New Reno label money can buy, and you won't even notice." He turned back around as the man was pulling a small tape out the satchel, a few moments later he sat down, took a small sip of his drink and nodded for his guest to begin.
"I was on my way up from Ranger Station Delta when I decided to stop by the trading post out on the I88." He paused before tilting his head quizzically and asking, "How much do you know about the Forecaster?" Crocker's brow creased as he wondered where this was all going. "Nothing official, just a bit here and there overheard while having lunch with the staff. Supposedly he's psychic, and he wears some sort of helmet to protect himself from his power." The man nodded to himself and continued. "He is, Ambassador, believe me or not, he is not some two penny prophet. He is young, but the words he has spoken to me when he removes his 'Medicine' have been true every time. One thing you must know is that while he speaks of the future it is rarely clear. When he removes that 'Metal helmet' of his, he speaks only in metaphor; it has been this way in all of the previous three times I have visited."
He sat down in the chair opposite Crocker, ran his hands through his hair and went on. "This time it was different. Always in the past I have gone beneath the bridge at I88 to meet with him, but this time he came to me. At first I didn't recognise him, he was just a kid standing there in the midst of a crowd of traders, settlers and soldiers all moving about in every direction. But then he called to me, as clear as the desert sky I heard him call. Courier, he said. That's all he said, then he turned around and began to walk back beneath the bridge. When I arrived at his tiny hall of stolen thoughts he motioned for me to sit down, he slowly removed his Medicine and began to Forecast." The Courier then inserted the tape in his hands into the pipboy attached to his left arm, after a moment the recording began.
"Courier, War is Changing, it comes with the Eastern Sea, it pounds the shore with thunder and fire, He brings Change, He brings Death, He Draws Near. The Old Bull shall be unshackled. The Bastion of the East shall see the doom. Courier, the sun draws too dark for this one to see the sky and judge the weather. Courier… I am afraid. And you, who fought beneath the flag of the old world, will feel it as well."
The Courier opened his eyes and locked them with Crocker's. "Whether you believe in what he does or not, something tells me we should not take this lightly. Something is coming, and by his insistent tone, I believe it is coming soon." He said, before running his hands through his matted hair once more. The ambassador looked down at his drink, then brought his eyes back up before replying, "Look Mr Greyson, it is Greyson right?" The courier nodded, the ambassador continued. "Look, I understand that you have done a lot for the NCR, in fact I might not be sitting here if it were not for your assistance in the fight against the Legion. However, even if it was in my authority, I don't think we should be so hasty as to mobilise the military on the grounds of some poor kid and his hallucinations."
Crocker took a swift gulp from his glass as the Courier stood placed both his hands on the desk and leaned forward, "Look Dennis, it is Dennis right? I am not asking for a battalion, I'm only asking for a unit or two, maybe a couple of rangers just to make sure, because in a year's time if everything turns out to be all right, we can have a laugh and a whiskey over it." His eyes took on a cold glint and he spoke slightly softer "But if there is even the slightest chance something might be coming for us, don't you we think we should prepare for it? Well, don't you?"
