Chapter 3

The message was quickly relayed to all NCR forces in the Mojave. Oliver made it very clear that they were to pack up and leave immediately, and not fire upon any Brotherhood soldiers or their robots. He made it clear that the Mojave was lost to them.

The Brotherhood vertibird carrying Paladin Leo Storm and Elder McNamara landed in the Strip in front of the Lucky 38 just in time to observe a group of NCR military police officers migrating out of Vegas. The Elder followed Leo into the Lucky 38 past several securitrons. The two entered the elevator while the remaining soldiers from the vertibird guarded the casino entrance.

When the two reached the Penthouse floor, McNamara was almost in awe by the decadence of House and his taste. Robots adorned the rooms, if not for security then for decoration. Monitors paved an entire wall of the room. These monitors showed maps and graphs and live feeds from securitrons and duraframe eyebots. The largest one had the smiling face of Yes Man.

"Hey! You guys did super well at the Dam. The NCR has entered into a full retreat. The NCR is leaving the Mojave in droves."

"Incredible," McNamara muttered under his breath.

"Yes Man," Leo began, "How soon will the NCR military be out of the region entirely?"

"At the rate they're going it could take as long as three days. The three largest groups are going from Hoover Dam, Camp McCarran, and Camp Forlorn Hope.

"Alright, send out an order to the Brotherhood back at Hidden Valley to have securitrons and soldiers tail the largest groups from a mile away. Then send groups to occupy bases the NCR abandoned," Leo ordered.

"Okie dokie!" Yes Man ecstatically exclaimed.

"Elder," Leo continued, "I highly recommend that you, Taggart, and Hardin turn this hotel into a base. I've been operating out of the Presidential Suite for the past few weeks, I would prefer being able to continue using that."

"Storm, you have gone above and beyond anything the Brotherhood has ever asked of you. For your loyal service, I'm promoting you to the rank of Sentinel," McNamara gratefully explained. "This rank puts you above Head Paladin, but below Elder. It allows you to pursue more personal interests and command your own personal team suited to your own preference."

"Thank you, Elder," Leo said, slightly bowing his head.

"Now," the Elder continued, "I need you to meet with the Followers of the Apocalypse. We need to guarantee that they are on our side. If not, they can join the NCR in its exodus."


Christine and Veronica had assisted their fellow soldiers in sending the NCR away from the Dam. Between the soldiers, cyber dogs, and securitrons, the NCR couldn't have fought back if they tried.

The NCR was in full retreat allowing the Brotherhood Scribes to examine the technology in the Dam. To their surprise, not much of it was very advanced. They even managed to double the electrical output in less than an hour by correcting programming errors.

While Veronica helped the Scribes, Christine joined a group of soldiers who were tailing the NCR to make sure they didn't cause any problems in their retreat. Reports indicated that the group they were following down Highway 95 would soon meet up with another group from Forlorn Hope and Golf.

Until that happened, she and her team where happy to let the NCR handle a swarm of perturbed cazadores that one of their inexperienced privates had disturbed. It meant fewer enemies to fight later on and a quicker exit for the Bear.


Leo walked alone through the ruins of Freeside, giving a wide berth to the securitrons cleaning up corpses. As he approached the Old Mormon Fort his heart sank. When the gates opened he was greeted with angry glares from doctors and guards alike. They were packing.

Julie Farkas made her way over to him, flanked by Arcade Gannon. "After everything you did for Freeside, you let the Brotherhood take over the Mojave," Julie made her disappointment clear.

Arcade, evidently spiteful, continued for her, "You wiped out most of Vegas, not to mention a tribe and a bunch of elderly soldiers, for an army of xenophobic technology worshiping morons."

Leo ignored their statements. He didn't come to argue, just to deliver a message. "If you guys don't agree to support the Empire of Steel, you're going to be forced to leave the Mojave."

"Oh don't worry," Julie replied, "We're leaving."

"Well then you may want to hurry up. It's a long walk and the NCR may seal its border once they have all their soldiers home."

As Leo walked away, Arcade grabbed his arm. "Do you remember that day in November, when you took my hand and everything changed? It feels like just yesterday, I knew with a glance. I knew you'd be important in my life. Someday you'll look back and I hope you remember that moment of truth when you knew who you were."

"I will always remember," Leo said as they stole a kiss one last time. "I know it's love, but now I have to go."

With that, Leo took his leave.