Chapter 5.

Wolfe still remembered the interrogation room in Camp McCarran. Years ago, he had pried information from a captured centurion in this room. And now there was another centurion sitting in front of him. For a man who had allegedly seen his entire tribe slaughtered, Brutus was sitting quite calmly in the small grey room, looking Wolfe dead in the eye. They sized each other up for a few minutes. Wolfe looked the massive burly man up and down. He had obviously been training since he could walk. And he was proud of it. All the weapons he had carried across the river were close combat melee weapons. Not even a single throwing spear, which was uncommon among Caesar's Legion. That told Wolfe that Brutus enjoyed the kill, or at least enjoyed feeling his own power to make the kill. A ranged weapon would take the fun out of his sport. He liked to get up close and personal. Brutus was also making his own deductions, however his were coloured by the stories he had heard about The Courier. His first thought was about the glasses. This was a man so famed as a sniper that legionaries had stopped lighting camp fires during the war, in the hope that darkness would protect them. How does a man with that level of accuracy need glasses? He wasn't that big either, but the legends say he killed Lanius with a gun the size of a Deathclaw. He was fully geared for battle as well. His Elite Riot Armour was in pristine condition, as was the silenced sniper rifle on his back. But his eyes were what marked him as a warrior. The stone-cold eyes of a man who would kill anyone who threatened him or what he loved.

"Tell me about this threat" Wolfe said, breaking the silence.

Brutus continued to stare at him for a minute, then spoke, his voice hushed and controlled.

"They came in the night, screaming like the devils of Hades. We never stood a chance. We couldn't even kill one. When most of our warriors had fallen they herded the rest of us into a circle to wait. To wait for the Queen. She walked among the creatures with no fear, and they parted for her without any command. Then, she touched my tribe. She touched them on the forehead and blessed them, told them they would be stronger when they served her. After that we were taken underground, and over the next few days my people began to turn, becoming inhuman. The Queen said that a she needed a palace from which to rule, and we would help her take New Vegas so that she could rule over the Wasteland".

Wolfe took all this information in before asking;

"Why weren't you turned?"

"Some of us were not touched; we were to serve as food for her soldiers. One night, I strangled the guard and with a few others grabbed whatever weapons we could find and made a run for it. I am the only one who survived the escape".

Wolfe believed the man's story. This confirmed the worst fears that Chris had expressed about the Queen, that she was turning the wastelanders into her own army. But he needed more. What he had wouldn't help him defend New Vegas from the threat that now faced it.

"I have three questions" he said, leaning closer to the centurion. "Where are they? What weapons do they have? And when are they going to attack?"

Brutus thought long and hard before answering, his brow furrowed. Other than his face his body was completely still.

"I do not know where they are. It was dark when I escaped and I did not pay attention to where I was going; only that it was away from the Queen and her army. They do not use weaponry, the creatures strength and claw are like a Deathclaw's, more than enough to kill any man. Finally, they will attack soon. How soon, I cannot specify, but it will be soon".

Wolfe stood up straight and left the room. Outside were ED-E, Judah, Yes Man in a Securitron's body, Boone, and Chris. The four men exchanged a look, a look that any soldier knows all too well. A look that said it was time for war.

Outside, Wolfe was standing next to his motorcycle, ED-E floating right behind him. In the years since the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, great strides had been made in recovering transport technology. Between the energy research the Followers had pulled off ED-E's hard-drives, the re-opening of several factories across the Mojave, and a little help from the Think Tank, fusion and solar-powered vehicles were back on the roads. The amount was limited, however, by the cost of building them. So far, they were solely used for the military, with the exception f Wolfe's motorcycle. Yes Man had left the Securitron and returned his AI to the Lucky 38. Chris had boarded the monorail back to the Strip, eager to share his new info with the rest of his team.

"What will we do with the Brutus guy?" asked Boone.

"Leave him where he is for now" replied Wolfe. "I need to get some space to think. Radio me by any means necessary if an attack begins".

With that, he sped off through the gates of Camp McCarran on his bike, ED-E trailing close behind.