Berkeley, New California Republic

Colonel Jim Mattis was the commanding officer of the 5th Brigade of the 2nd NCR Army Division. He commanded one of the two brigades that was tasked with the liberation of the Yuman tribe from the Baja Confederation after that sovereign state killed 10 rangers on a peaceful scouting mission in Baja.

My brigade and I were in the Northern NCR to get rid of the raiders attacking our settlers. We just finished defending Brookings when NCR High Command called me down to Baja. There, they briefed me on the current situation and told me to go down to Dayglow and commence Operation Persisting Liberty.

The operation to liberate Baja.

Yes. This was going to be bigger than our battle in Bullhead, so we had to send more men and materiel there.

Wasn't this in the middle of the Mojave War?

Is this an interview or a goddamn interrogation?! Yes, this was in the middle of the Mojave War. Is there something wrong with waging more than one war at once? Anyway, High Command sent two brigades of troopers down to Baja to liberate the Yuman. One of which was my brigade.

Why did they call you up instead of another brigade closer to the border?

High Command wanted experienced units to attack the Baja Confederation because they felt the B.C. was dangerous enough to warrant actual experienced units. Most of the units in the Southern NCR were greenhorn reserves and the units in the Mojave were engaged with the Legion so my brigade and Colonel Brandice's were the only ones that were available that had combat experience. His brigade had just routed a large contingent of slavers in San Francisco with his doctrine known as "rapid dominance" and they were having R and R in the Core Region.

What is rapid dominance?

It was a military doctrine that is based on an overwhelming use of force, dominant maneuvers and battlefield awareness and he used it to great effect in San Fran. We met up at Dayglow on July 2280 and advanced into Baja. In this theater, the NCR had no settlers in the area, so we had free reign over what we could do.

While we were both colonels, Colonel Brandice was the commanding officer of the BTF (1). He was the commanding officer because High Command wanted a leader with an unconventional approach to war. Ask and you shall receive, I suppose. He had a few of the rangers from the BEF in his brigade, so he had them supply various rebel elements in the Yuman with firearms, advisors, and intelligence from our reconnaissance teams. Before us, all they had were spears and the occasional firearm stolen from an B.C. soldier. At the time, I thought it was a great idea. Several weeks later, the B.C. gave up and withdrew from Yuman tribal lands. We had liberated the Yuman, but we felt bad that other tribes had to be ruled by the B.C. so Colonel Brandice sent some envoys to all the other tribes the B.C. had conquered and supplied all of those tribes with weapons. Colonel Brandice didn't think to use another strategy. Don't fix what's not broken, I guess.

High Command didn't have any issue with Colonel Brandice supplying tribes with weapons?

They were wary at first, but after the results from arming the Yuman came to them, they wholeheartedly approved of us arming the tribes. They sent us stocks of outdated hunting rifles to "kill two birds with one stone" as the supply officer that gave us the rifles told us.

How was that an instance of killing two birds with one stone?

Well the NCR supplied tribes with rifles to get rid of the B.C and the NCR got rid of obsolete equipment rotting in military warehouses. In short time, the rebellions were sprouting all over E.C. territories. We had reports from our scouts that said B.C. presence in its territories was minimal and non-existent in some areas. Colonel Brandice thought these reports meant that the B.C. was almost destroyed. This was the moment he was waiting for. He ordered the BTF to pierce the heart of the B.C., Ensenada (2). When we reached the capital city, we found out the B.C. was far from destabilized. Its leaders withdrew its soldiers from occupied lands and placed them in the capital city. That didn't stop us though. My brigade was the tip of the spear and we tried to move through the city to capture its leaders and quickly end the war. That didn't happen. We had to fight in the streets and in the buildings and every inch we won was paid for in blood. When I was a battalion commander in Bullhead, I thought the guys I had to fight were tough. As we were fighting in Ensenada, I wished I was fighting them instead of the B.C. guys.

Why is that?

The tribals we fought in Bullhead were essentially drugged up raiders. When we fought against them, we won because we were a modern army, and they lacked military tactics and strategy. The B.C. soldiers were a different story. Those guys were clean, sober, and smart. After advancing half a mile after 3 weeks of brutal combat, Colonel Brandice withdrew and started a siege on the city to force the leaders to surrender. Unfortunately, the tactic that worked so well in Bullhead didn't work so well in Ensenada. They weren't drugged up tribals, so they had ample stores of food and water. We waited until winter was over and sent in a force to see if they were all dead. They weren't, they were still going strong. We were out of ideas until some junior officer suggested we bomb the city with our vertibirds. I thought he was joking, but Colonel Brandice said he had nothing to lose and requested three airstrikes on the city. Predictably, High Command refused his request. Vertibird bases were located in the Core Region and the birds didn't have the range to bomb Ensenada and they sure as hell weren't about to build a new airbase in Baja to bomb one city. The same junior officer then came up with the idea to have Heavy Troopers assault the city. Again, Colonel Brandice felt he had nothing to lose and requested a platoon of Heavy Troopers. Surprisingly, High Command granted his request and gave him a platoon of them. The Brahmin Barons threw a fit though. The Heavy Troopers were back home guarding their precious brahmin while our boys were getting slaughtered. There are things more valuable than profits, you know? Greedy bastards. Anyway, Colonel Brandice set up a plan to cut the city in half immediately after their assault. We would pierce the city and drive all the way to the Pacific. Once we reached the ocean, we would turn in opposite directions and link up on the outskirts of the city. After we linked up, we would push inwards and slowly strangle the city and its inhabitants. He had the Heavy Troopers rush in first to split the city in half. We were right behind them every step of the way and when we reached the Pacific, I turned left with my brigade and half of the Heavy Troopers and he turned right. We encircled the city and pushed in. As we moved forward, we burned everything behind us that wasn't destroyed by the artillery to prevent any B.C. survivors from scavenging supplies or hiding. It wasn't even a fight. These guys had never seen power armor before and were scared into inaction. We didn't have many prisoners because most of them were cowering in the buildings we burned down. The ones that tried to escape were shot down. When we reached the center, the president of the B.C. was nowhere to be found. Presumably, they he was in one of the many buildings we destroyed. Some generals were hiding in basements, commanding the remnants of their decimated army. Others committed suicide. By that point, we had won the war and only suffered about 150 casualties including a few Heavy Troopers who suffered from heatstroke.

So you basically slaughtered the Baja Confederation's soldiers and civilians.

You could say that. They had it coming, though. If they had known what kind of unholy retribution their little "attack" was about to bring down on them, I'm sure they would have thought twice about attacking the BEF. War is hell, kid. Get used to it.

So no tribals helped you in the assault?

No. They were untrained guerillas, we needed real soldiers.

I have heard reports of atrocities done to prisoners by NCR soldiers.

The NCR is a civilized nation with civilized people. We are not barbarians like Caesar's Legion! We have morals and ethics. The few prisoners we captured were treated well by us. We gave them medical attention, food, and water. Of course, we don't know what we happened to those guys when we handed them over to the tribes they conquered.

What happened after the Operation Persisting Liberty was over?

NCR forces relocated B.C. soldiers and civilians to Baja Sur (3). The tribes were also pushed down there.

Why did you do that? Weren't they your allies?

No. We just supplied them with arms, nothing more. We won the war, not them. This was our land now. My soldiers were then assigned to guard the border and settlers were then allowed to migrate into North Baja. I was feeling pretty proud of my acomplishments when Colonel Brandice and I were called back to NCR City to testify in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. They complained about damn near everything we did. They complained about everything we did. "Why did you have to use Heavy Troopers in the assault? They could have been used in the Mojave! (4)" I tried to explain to them that High Command gave us permission to use Heavy Troopers and that our casualties would've been much higher if we didn't. Then they complained about our handling of the Battle of Ensenda. "Why did you kill so many civilians? If this story leaks, the people would see us as war criminals!" Please, they were only worried about being re-elected. They couldn't care less about some civilians in Baja.

[He snorts derisively.]

Politicians.

So you came to Baja to liberate the Yuman and as soon as you defeated the Baja Confederation, you pushed the Yuman down to Baja Sur along with the remnants of the B.C.

Well I was just following orders. Besides, it was our land now and we needed it to be clear for settlers without interference from the natives. In hindsight, the orders were stupid, but back then they made a lot of sense.

1. Baja Task Force

2. All of the roads of the Baja Confederation lead to Ensenada, so it was the main supply point for the nation. It was also the capital city of the B.C.

3. South Baja

4. The use of Heavy Troopers in the Battle of Ensenada prevented them from being used until the last stages of the Mojave War. Some critics of Colonel Brandice say the Mojave War could have been won if Heavy Troopers were there sooner. Defenders of Colonel Brandice point out that Heavy Troopers were mismanaged by General Oliver and if they were sent to the Mojave sooner, it wouldn't have made a difference in the war.

A/N: I apologize for releasing this chapter so late. I am back in school now and I have untold amounts of work to do, but I realize that is no excuse. Unfortunately, my updates to this story will be more infrequent, as opposed to once a week, because of that work load.

In Fallout: New Vegas, NCR Heavy Troopers arrive about a month before the climactic battle for Hoover Dam. That is way too late for elite units such as them to arrive in an area so heavily desired by the NCR, so I have tried to explain why they arrive so late in-game in this chapter. As usual, I have tried to write this story as close to canon as possible. If any inconsistencies with the lore and my story arise, feel free to tell me. Also, feel free to inform me of any mistakes in grammar, spelling, or diction. Suggestions to add to my story will be appreciated.