Arcade walked slowly towards Jacobstown keeping a close eye on the sky above him. His family power armor clanked and clinked as he walked. Slung across his back was his trusty plasma rifle he named Vengeance. It was a tad dramatic he knew but he also saw himself as dramatic so he thought it fit. He idly wondered what the Remnants were doing at this moment, probably out hunting him. He felt a twinge of sadness as he thought back to that day in the bunker. He was so angry when the Courier told him his plan that he stormed out in a huff, leaving that monster with his friends and family. Maybe if he hadn't left in such a hurry he could have killed that monster right there. The Remnants were more loyal to him then the Courier so if he pulled his pistol and started shooting they probably would have instinctively supported him. A voice in the back of his head urged him to go back to the bunker to reason with his friends. Maybe he could get through to them and turn them against the Courier and free the Mojave from its new dictator. However just as fast as he considered it the suggestion was dismissed, last time he tried that the only reason he got out alive was because the Remnants let him. He will always remember the only thing they said after his long speech.
"Out of respect for your father you have half an hour to go as far from here as you can before we attack."
Their faces were so stone cold, any humanity his friends once had had long been stamped out by the Courier. Arcade silently thanked himself for sealing the bunker, forcing the Remnants to relocate, saving Jacobstown. Resistance to the Courier had coalesced in Jacobstown soon after Securitrons began to roll off the Strip. They had grown to a respectable number, about fifty civilians and a few dozen full time guards. They came from all walks of life, from former Van Graff guards to the few survivors of the Mormon Fort Shootout. Before the Courier they wouldn't be caught dead working with each other but circumstances have forced them together. Bolstered by the remnants of the failed Super Mutant community the Courier has been hesitant to assault them outside of an occasional probing attack, letting them dig in. However Arcade and the other leaders of the community knew that it was only a matter of time before the Securitrons came charging up the road. Many are arguing for packing up and fleeing the Mojave. Where to they don't say and Arcade suspected that they didn't have a plan, they are just desperate to escape. He couldn't blame them. He thought over the option more than he could admit but always came to the same conclusion, he had to clean up his own mess. As he approached the mouth of the road up to Jacobstown he was met with a pair of sandbagged barricades manned by a ghoul named Beatrix and a man named Simon. When they saw Arcade approaching they reached for their guns instinctively before relaxing back into their chairs.
"Marcus wants to talk to you. He seemed pretty peeved." Beatrix said as she pulled a loose cigarette from her pocket and struck a match to light it
"Do...do you have random cigs in your pockets?" Simon asked
"Yeah. One of my packs split open during a raid a few days back and I haven't finished them off yet so..." she said while Arcade walked past them wordlessly
"Huh. Pass me one?" Simon asked. Beatrix sighed as she flicked him a fresh cig from her pocket and a match to light it.
The rest of the walk to Jacobstown was uneventful, he ran into Beatrix and Simon's relief guards making their way down the road. One of them still had bandages over his wound from one of the recent raids. Arcade idly wondered if the wound was infected but as the group passed by wordlessly he turned his attention away from them. When he finally reached the gates of Jacobstown he was met by the imposing figure of Marcus, a super mutant who was one of the original residents of this place and who helped him build up the resistance. He looked angry as he marched up to Arcade.
"Gannon! Where have you been?" he asked
"Scouting as per usual. Saw the Courier hop in the Enclave bird and fly off to the North out of Freeside. Lost him flying towards Nellis. Heard some explosions soon after, seems like he finally went to finish off the Boomers. Why? Something happen while I was away?" Arcade asked as he walked into town with Marcus close behind him.
"Shame about the Boomers, hope they hold out. Last I heard they had dealt him a big black eye a few weeks back. If they survive we should make contact with them. Anyway, yes something happened. A patrol near Ruby Hill Mine captured a former merc hired by the Courier. Sung like a songbird about a attack supposed to happen in the next few days." Marcus said. Arcade stopped and turned to Marcus.
"A Courier merc? This far north? Don't you think that's a bit, I don't know, suspicious?" Arcade asked
"Said He hasn't been paying mercs for a few weeks now and just recently he was part of a mass desertion to NCR territory. Courier rounded most of the others up and as far as he knows he is the only one of the group left." Marcus said "Nevertheless we have him holed up in Charleston Cave under 24 hr super mutant guard."
"He hasn't been paying his guns in a few weeks huh. The banks on the Strip must be going bust finally. Ok, lets go talk to this guy." Arcade said. He and Marcus walked towards Charleston Cave and were let in by the guards. Inside they found the merc sitting near a small fire cooking a can of beans. He had a lot of bruises and injuries and was missing a few fingers on his left hand. He looked up at Marcus and Arcade with a gleam of fear and began to slowly crawl backwards against the cave wall.
"Y-your one of those Enclave fucks! Get away from me! I...I-" the merc began but was cut off by Arcade who got on one knee, removed his helmet and put it on the ground
"Don't worry, im one of the good ones. Tell me about the Courier, his plans for this place." Arcade said
After a moment of silence the man got a hair closer and took a deep breath "I had been to the Strip a few times before the Courier took over running missions for a NCR Baron or something. Back then it was fun ya know, somewhere you'd want to go. Now...now it aint. The Omerta's gas attack on the Embassy left that whole rear part of the Strip behind the Ultra-Luxe uninhabitable. NCR corpses, or what remain of them, are baking in the sun. Smells like shit Courier says its a example to show what happens what happens when you fuck with him."
"Good god." Arcade said silently
"Oh God ain't got no place on the Strip, even more so than before. Those white mask freaks abduct the troublemakers, some say to eat and serve at their Exclusive Feasts for the Courier and the Families upper brass. I don't know if I believe that but still, when your called to the Luxe you don't come back. The Gomorrah is full of orgys and vice for vices sake. People who OD are disposed of, don't know what happens to them. The only half decent place is the Tops but even then if you go into gamble and you win the Chairmen take out back and executes you. And the Lucky 38….goddamn the 38. Shits a nightmare, more so than anywhere on the Strip. The Courier is the only person allowed in and if he calls you in your tortured until you die, then he uses some freaky science shit to turn you into what he calls a 'Lobo-to-meet' I think. That's why he stopped paying us, so we would try and bolt and be scooped into a Lobo." the man said
"He is lobotomizing mercs?" Arcade said, hardly believing it
"Totally obedient, fanatical to their masters, bullet sponges, a good way to fill the ranks while his Securitrons are produced." Marcus reasoned "Still barbaric."
"Speaking of which where are the Securitrons, the big robots, coming from?" Arcade asked
"Dunno, they just kinda appear. One second they aren't there, then there's this weird blue beam hits the 38 and then boom, a whole new batch of them are rolling out of there." he man said
"Last question then you can get outta here. When is the Courier coming?" Arcade asked
The man opened his mouth to speak when there was a loud chopchopchopchop from outside and screaming, soon followed by the sounds of gatling lasers and gunfire.
"Fuck!" Arcade shouted as he rose to his feet and put on his helmet. He unslung his gun and ran out of the cave to see a vertibird with a big E on it idling in the courtyard. Power Armored soldiers poured out of the thing, about six as far as Arcade could see, and opened fire on all around them with gatling lasers. Arcade and Marcus charged down to the battle and began to fire at the enemy. Around him men, women and children screamed as they were shot and injured or mercifully, killed. However it seemed to be for nothing as the soldiers continued to fire wildly into the civilians and guards around them. Then Arcade heard a explosion come from the gates and turned to see them fly open and a mass of Securitrons and lobotomites pour in. Arcade looked from the gate battle to the Vertibird soldiers and realized that the battle was lost. Jacobstown was as good as fallen. A part of him wanted to go down with the rest of his friends but ultimately he regretfully pulled out a Stealth Boy and put it on, cloaking him as he snuck into a secluded crevice where he could hide and wait for the shooting to stop.
Arcade sat there for what seemed like hours, agonizing sa he listened to the dying screams of all his new friends and family. Finally however, mercifully it stopped and all that could be heard was the dull whurr of the Securitron and Vertibird engines complimented by the dull clinking of Enclave power armor. Then, he heard Him.
"Arcade? Where is Arcade...Find him then!" he said in a furious tone. He then heard a crack as the door to the Lodge was kicked down. There was more screaming, this time more muffled, as the last few survivors were hunted down and exterminated in the building. Meanwhile he heard another voice he almost didn't recognize.
"D-dearie, why did you hurt grandma?" she asked, her sweet voice growing and decreasing in strength as she bordered on death.
"I don't want Lily! Give me Leo!" he heard the Courier shout, then he heard a dull thud as boot connected with skin.
"M...Master." the voice had changed into a lower and more gravelly tone.
"Good. Yes Man!" Courier shouted.
"Yes sir." A unexpectedly cheery voice responded
"Take this beast to the Mountain. See if they can make it into a Lobo. If not then have her fed to the dogs like the rest of the impure vermin." he said
Next Arcade heard the dragging of a body as heavy steps approached his hiding area. Arcade readied his weapon as the imposing figure of a power armored body grew over him. Arcade looked up to find the figure staring at him. After a moment of silence he heard Johnson speak.
"Stay outta sight kid." he then turned and walked off. There was some muttering before the Courier spoke again.
"Hmph, guess he's gone then. Burn the lodge and leave the rest." before Arcade heard and saw the Vertibird take off and fly away. He stayed in his hiding spot for the next few hours to be sure nobody was there. Then, he cried.