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Chapter Four

Joshua looks back at the courier and says, "This can't be real! Edward would have died with the Legion!"

She stares Caesar down as she replies, "As Legion troops moved toward Hoover dam, I persuaded Mr. House to send a counterattack: a small unit of securitrons to the Fort with a few friends from the Brotherhood of Steel. I made a deal: eradication of the Legion at Fortification Hill and the body of its leader in exchange for Helios One. The camp would be mostly empty, all too easy for them to wipe out every remaining Legionary there, free the slaves they came across, and burn the rest to the ground. But what they accomplished I never believed would be possible...they captured Caesar and brought him back to me alive. I wanted to kill him...but I couldn't. I knew that righteous deed…belonged to you."

Joshua returns his attention to the chained man as Caesar yells, "Fucking courier! I should have killed you the second you showed up at my feet...when you begged to serve me!"

She yells angrily, "I never begged anything from YOU!"

"You would have done anything for me to give you him…and you did. There is a word for a person like that." He looks at Joshua and says, "You should ask her about Benny...how she sold herself to get him, then what she did to him after that…and how she betrays all she serves. She destroyed what you and I spent years building. She's a liar and she's using you, Graham! Unlock these chains and let me watch as you kill her for me, and all will be forgiven."

Joshua glares at him in disbelief as he says, "All…will be forgiven? You tried to kill me!"

"You left me no choice! Our law is absolute! There were no exceptions for failure, and you knew that! If I had...that would have showed favoritism and sowed doubt. What we spent so long building would have crumbled! But after you were gone...it almost did anyways. What we did to you...that was my greatest mistake. Our soldiers feared no legate as they did you. I had to create a myth to inspire fear again and regain control. And from that Lanius was born. I have gone through so many legates with that same name...none of them came close to you though. You've always been the real deal, Graham. People will fear the Malpais Legate...the Burned Man...until the day you die. And even after that. But...what you had...the power of command...the taste of blood and the thrill of battle...it can all be yours again. We can rebuild what we started. All you have to do...is unchain me."

Joshua is in disbelief of what he's hearing. He exclaims, "What makes you think I want that life again!"

Caesar smirks, "Because you're not truly free. People fear you, Graham. They know who you are, what you've done. No amount of penance will change that! But with me...you can at least be who you know you are, instead of pretending to be something you're not: a man of peace."

Joshua stares at Caesar for several moments before walking over to his auto pistol laying on the ground. He picks it up, then aims it at the courier and says, "Give me the key."

The courier's eyes are wide, and almost too shocked to speak. She shakes her head as she pleads, "Joshua...don't do this."

He says coldly, "Courier, don't make me ask twice."

She reluctantly reaches into her pocket, and tosses the keys over. He walks back to Caesar, kneels down and unlocks his chains. As Caesar stands up, he looks at the courier and laughs. "I can't believe you actually thought you could best me by doing this. My soldiers are more obedient than my slaves! You're an idiot for thinking one of my own would ever try to harm me. Legion conditioning prevents that, even if they go astray. Now kill her, Legatus!"

Joshua stares at the courier with his auto pistol aimed at her. He looks over at Caesar, and suddenly there is a flash of light and a loud crack that echoes around them. Joshua discharged his firearm into Caesar's right foot. As Caesar drops back to the ground, he cries out in pain and he cradles what's left of his lower appendage.

"You forget, Edward. *I* am the one who invented your Legion conditioning. And I am not one of your dogs like Lanius or Inculta!" Three more quick, loud flashes of light and more screams of pain follow: Joshua has shot Caesar's other foot and knees out. As Joshua raises his auto pistol again, Caesar raises his hands up and pleads for him to stop. "Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people.** You want mercy? I will grant you mercy...the same amount of mercy you showed the New Canaanites when you had them slaughtered!" Joshua grabs his right wrist, presses his auto pistol against Caesar's palm and pulls the trigger. As Caesar cries out again, Joshua grabs the other palm and fires again as he says calmly, "Today, I will kill you for burning me. I will kill you for sending assassin after assassin to murder me and never granting me peace. I will kill you for massacring a people who only showed me love. I will kill you for my Lord because he has finally granted me my revenge!"

Joshua grabs the nearby gas can and pours it over Caesar, and says,"And I will kill you because your own code demands it. I may have lost a battle, but you lost the entire Legion. Our law is absolute. There are no exceptions for failure." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a lighter, then flicks the flame on. Caesar yells, "You think you're so righteous! I've seen your atrocities! If there is a God, you'll never meet him. You're going to burn in hell with me!"

Joshua looks at him and says, "Ave...true to Caesar," then throws the lighter at him. He walks back over to the courier as they both watch in silence as Caesar flails around screaming as he is engulfed in flame. His cries echo across the canyon for several moments as Joshua watches on with his cold blue eyes, then raises his auto pistol for the last time and finally silences the man's suffering.

They both watch as the flames grow and dance in front of them as Caesar finally lay dead and the rumbling dark clouds above move closer to them. After several minutes of silence, the courier says to him, "Legatus...that's how you knew I wasn't Legion before. Bad Latin..I called you legato."

He stares at the fire in a daze, as if disconnected from the world. He manages to reply, "It is a mistake made only by profligates...usually the last mistake they ever make."

She gives him a concerned look and says, "We should go before the storm comes." Joshua turns toward her, his auto pistol aimed at her again and says with madness in his voice, "No. The storm is already here. Caesar committed many crimes and he got what he deserved today, but for the first time in his life what he spoke was the truth. Like me not being a man of peace, and how I'll burn in hell with him. But most importantly…'she's a liar and she's using you, Graham.' No, courier. You're not going anywhere until I get the answers that I need. "

**Deuteronomy 32:43