Adams Air Force Base
Four Months Later...
Colonel Autumn's patience had worn dangerously thin over the past few days. At the moment, he was overseeing the preparation of an old air cruiser, the Scion, for it's maiden voyage. It was the only ship they had available to use besides the Prydwen, not to mention it was faster as well since it was half the size of the latter. They were going to use this air cruiser to locate Miles, or as the locals now called him, "The Lone Wanderer." Enclave techies had recently managed to get the base's computers linked with what was left of the old United State's GPS Network of satellites that were focused on North America. Now they were tracking all Pip Boy signatures across the United States region. The Enclave had also come across Miles' abandoned Vault, 101. They downloaded the pip-boy signatures from the database, and were using the GPS system to narrow down Miles' location. It was taking some time, as the computers said it would be complete in one week. Then, they could track Miles down no matter where he went in the hemisphere.
"Colonel, is all of this really necessary?" President Eden asked through one of his eyebots.
"Sir, with all due respect, do you want that purifier running or not?" Autumn growled.
"Point taken, Colonel. No need to get testy." Eden replied. "It's just that with this plan of yours, half of the Enclave's resources will be out on the Scion looking for Miles, which will leave us in a rather venerable position."
"I am aware of that, and think it will be worth the risk, sir." Colonel Autumn said. "Just give me some room, and the Enclave will rule the Capital Wasteland once more."
Eden, still not entirely convinced, started running some calculations through his systems. What he got didn't help things: From the ZAX Supercomputer's calculations, the situation turning against them was 50/50. A crap shoot, with fortune being the deciding factor.
Eden didn't like this foreseen outcome, but had no other choice than to let the Colonel go through with his plan. After all, it was their only chance at the Purifier.
Meanwhile, In New Vegas…
Lucky 38 – Restaurant
Miles rang the bell on the counter for the waiter to come pick up and serve the Gecko Steak Burger to the customer. That was his last order for the day, as he looked at the clock. It was time to let the other Managing Chef take over. He went to the clock, punched out, and handed the kitchen duties over to the next Chef as he walked in right on time. Miles had the next few hours of the night to himself. Clover had been on his mind a lot lately, and not just because of her saving him. Being around her was starting to become intoxicating, like a glass of good scotch. Her looks, her attitude, the way she helped Mr. House run things… It was all admirable, honorable, impressive…
And very flirtatious.
Finally, after changing out of his chef's outfit and back into his vault suit, he decided he would go to her. Of course, he would have to take things slow at first, but had no idea where to start… What could he do? He wondered as he got into the elevator and went to the casino floor. He had a good amount of caps now, but he had little experience with dating, as he had never had a chance to go through dating in the vault! Hence, he no real world experience. Miles wanted to do this right, but was afraid to ask for help. What to do? He wondered as he walked towards the casino's doors. What to do…?
"Oh, Miles~!"
Miles turned around to see Clover, walking up to him. She had changed from her management dress back to her overcoat outfit. She had her Eyebot, ED-E with her.
"Hey Clover!" Miles greeted cheerfully. "Is there something you need?"
Clover just beamed. "Miles, your off your shift. Relax, I just wanted to see if you would be interested in meeting some friends of mine. Today is a special day for me. It's my birthday, and the day I first got to the New Vegas region. After that, I founded my old gang and met Mr. House."
"Gang?" Miles asked, a little confused.
"Oh, don't worry! It's not like I was in the Great Khans!" Clover said, reading Miles' reaction like a book. "They're just some old friends that I helped with some things, and they helped me on the way getting here. We're going to meet up in Goodsprings, where my journey to New Vegas started. We'll take the start of the long 15 there, then we'll walk back to Vegas, take Highway 95 back up. Should only take a couple hours. We'll have plenty of ammo too, and Victor will be coming along with us. Want to go?"
Miles got his bearings quickly. "Sure!" He blurted. "That would be wonderful! It's been a while since I've been out and about."
Clover laughed. "Let's get going, then!"
With that, the walked through the door and out to the strip.
Goodsprings – Prospector Saloon
Midnight
Arcade Ganon, Sharon "Rose" Cassidy, Raul Tejada, the two super mutants Grandma Lilly and Marcus, Craig Boone, and Veronica waited inside the saloon for Clover's arrival. The saloon had been prepared with party decorations, and had been stocked with plenty of food and drink for the celebration. It was also Clover's Birthday, and the Saloon was going to surprise her! The lights were out inside, and everyone was ready with homemade party favors and confetti. Trudy, the owner of the saloon, had her own opinions about Mr. House running things, but was still grateful he and Clover had driven the Legion out of New Vegas.
The patrons heard the door to the saloon open, and in walked Clover. Veronica saw she was with Victor the Securitron, and a man in a vault suit.
"That's strange..." Clover said. "Hello? Arcade? Veronica?"
The lights were flipped on in an instant, and Clover was immediately showered with Confetti as her old gang and the patrons, along with Trudy cried out, "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Clover!" and Cheered.
"Oh, my lordy!" Clover laughed cheerfully, realizing what was going on. "Oh, you didn't have to go to this much trouble!"
"Oh, Nonesense boss!" Raul said. "After all you went through to save New Vegas from the Legion, you deserve a good little surprise!"
"Here!" Veronica brought forward a small wasteland-styled birthday cake with a few candles on it. "The Brotherhood may be backwards in some ways, but we still know how to celebrate. Elder McNamara and me provided the recipe from our archive. Lilly helped us make it with some tips and tricks she knew. We madeas a thank you for negotiating treaty terms between the Brotherhood, Jacobstown, and Mr. House!"
"Oh my goodness! This is so thoughtful, thank you!" Clover beamed with happiness.
"Oh, don't worry dearie." Lilly said smiling. "Today's your special day, and it would just be unheard of to celebrate it without a proper cake."
"So, who's this?" Boone asked, motioning to Miles.
"Oh! Where are my manners?" Clover said. "Everyone, this is Miles. He's the guy I told you about in my holotapes to each of you. The guy I saved in the divide. He's now a head chef in the Lucky 38! I wanted to introduce him to all of you!"
"So this is Mr. Far-east? The DC Traveler?" Cass said. "You've been quite the big deal in our circle the past few months. My name is Sharon Cassidy, but you can call me 'Cass.' We all communicate through holotape via the Mojave Express these days. Anyway, it's nice to meet you kid." She shook Miles' hand.
"Hola, Amigo!" Raul tipped his sombrero. "I'm Raul Alfonso Tejada."
"Craig Boone, former NCR First Recon sharpshooter. Good to meet you, kid." Boone tipped his Beret in respect.
"It's good to meet you, sonny. I'm Grandma Lilly."
"I'm Marcus. I lead Jacobstown, a community of peaceful super mutants up in the mountains."
"I'm Arcade Ganon. I'm a school teacher with the Followers of the Apocalypse."
"Veronica of the Brotherhood of steel. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise, to all of you." Miles said.
With that, they proceeded to celebrate Clover's Birthday. Cass had brought a few bottles of her stash of Jim Danny's brand Whiskey, and Trudy with some help from Sunny Smiles had prepared a good meal platter for everyone. They turned on the radio to the New Vegas station, and started to celebrate not only Clover's birthday, but her journey.