Chapter 1: You'll Know It When It Happens

The young woman stood on the top of the Hoover Dam Visitor's Center, taking the evening watch. It had been six years since she and the cowboy from New Vegas had made the agreement for her people to guard the dam. The fires burned brightly across the River. This confirmed that another, younger nation was growing across the Colorado. She could feel the threat that these men posed to the safety of her citizens.

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with her combat knife. The sound of hundreds of feet pounding the earth filled the air. She looked through the binoculars, confirming the suspicions that had been raised. She sounded the alarm before jumping down from the roof of the squat building.

The troopers were digging into position. The foreign soldiers, Legionnaires she had heard them called, dressed in leather and sports gear were starting to storm the dam. She smirked, knowing that once her people were blockading the path, they would be immovable until the order was given.

She stared through the scope of her Marksman carbine, the lenses magnifying the image of the recruits. They seemed to be carrying little more than tribal weapons and radios.

Her own radio receiver was in her ear, waiting for Colonel Oliver's order. She took aim at the Legionary veterans behind the ranks of recruits.

Fighting erupted on the dam. The troopers were holding them in place. "Now!" As the order resounded in her ear, her finger squeezed the trigger. With each squeeze of the trigger another enemy soldier fell.

Eventually the leader of the opposing force, Joshua Graham she thought she heard him called, ordered the rear guard, clearly older soldiers, to advance to overwhelm the men. His commands seemed to fill his men with the rage it seemed clear he felt himself.

"First Recon and Rangers start leading the way." She was swift in moving as were the men and women that had been brought to the ranks of the NCR's finest. The rangers, lonesome in their duties spread out while the First Recon Snipers went off in pairs. She was always more like the rangers, a lonely cowboy.

The path from the Dam to Boulder City was treacherous, but they had all navigated it many times. Yet another advantage they had over the invading hordes.

Her eyes darted from red glowing dot to tripwire as they entered the old abandoned city. She was carefully avoiding it as she nodded to the Ranger closest to her. She seemed to dance around the pre-placed traps. Standing dead center of the city with her .357 magnum drawn, her eyes down as she peeked from beneath the wide brim of her ranger hat.

She watched as the very first ranks of soldiers filed into the town. She knew that her Rangers would know when to detonate the explosives. Lighting her cigarette she got the first glimpse of the nation himself, Caesar's Legion. She smirked before waving goodbye, the fire fight breaking out in her wake.

She had just made it to the old tavern outside of the city when she heard the first explosions. She smiled finding an adequate amount of whiskey in the run down watering hole. She took a swig and listened to the aftermath. The walls shook and dust fell from the wheel spoke chandelier. The legionaries that weren't killed in the initial blast scattered before retreating over the dam.

A month later one of her men brought news that Joshua Graham had been burned alive and cast to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Good Riddance, she thought to herself before taking a shot of her whiskey. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Author's Note: It was difficult picturing this scene perfectly, but thanks to mein schatz, I was able to get it up and running. I know it's a little short but with how little information I had about the first battle of Hoover Dam, I think it came out okay.

Thank you, Old Glory, for your words of encouragement. I hope this story lives up to your expectations.