They reached Novac around midnight.
Sandra allowed her friends to sleep in her hotel room while she ventured off to the dinosaur's mouth to speak with Boone.
"Come with me." She said when she met eyes with the sniper. "I'm going to Cottonwood Cove, and I need some backup."
"Cottonwood Cove. That's Legion territory." Boone grumbled. "Why are you going there?"
"I was invited. They have something of mine, something I really need, but I won't get it back if I go in guns blazing. I'd die if I tried something like that. I need to play it safe, be civil, and you'd be the perfect backup for that."
"So... you want me to cover you."
"Yes! Exactly."
"Uh-huh. And you're just gonna stroll into a Legion camp and act all chummy with them..."
"It's temporary, I swear. I'm not gonna join the Legion or anything. Please?" Sandra pleaded.
Boone let out a long, stressed breath.
"Fine." He agreed. "But only on one condition. Once you have what you went there for, I'm lining it up with Caesar's dome, and I'm taking the shot, no questions asked. We got a deal?"
Sandra smiled.
"Definitely."
After a good night's sleep, the courier and her friends set off for Cottonwood Cove in the late morning.
Niner was chattering in the back of her head, while Arcade and Boone introduced themselves, both making it clear that neither of them were Legion supporters immediately. Arcade explained the platinum chip situation to Boone, which made the sniper much less hesitant about the whole plan. Being civil with the Legion wasn't something Arcade enjoyed any more than Boone did, but it was something that needed to be done... for now, at least.
"Ugh." Niner groaned once they reached a stretch of road that carried a few broken signs. One for Novac, one for Nelson, and one for a place called Camp Searchlight. "Searchlight. If what I've heard's true, we do not wanna go there."
You're playing with fire, a voice spoke from the back of Sandra's mind as they walked under the midday sun. The voice in her head managed to drown out those of her companions. Just like old times. Getting people involved in your misguided thrill-seeking adventures. It suits you much better than pretending to be cold and heartless, you know.
"I know." Sandra whispered to herself.
Boone and Arcade hung at the back of the group.
"Who's the jackass?" Boone asked in a hushed tone, motioning towards Niner.
"Uh... a friend of hers." Arcade replied. "His name's Niner. He seems to have a bit of a chem problem, but... well... he's not all that bad."
Boone made an odd rumbling noise.
Arcade sighed. It made sense to be mistrusting of anyone with a chem problem, but after having been around Niner for a little while, Arcade found him to be a lot more loyal than the doctor would have first guessed. He always seemed to have Sandra's back, regardless of what was going on.
"So... when we find this place... they're both going in, and you..?" Boone said.
"I'm going in with them." Arcade replied.
"You wouldn't really just walk into the Legion's camp..."
"I'm afraid I have to."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes." Arcade squinted at Sandra from behind. "I wouldn't feel right sending her into the heart of Hades by herself."
Boone gave him a peculiar look from behind his sunglasses.
"Huh." He grunted. "So I'll have to cover for all three of your asses. Gotcha."
"Hey, I'll be running for the hills if anything happens. I'm not really a fighter. Not sure how many Legion warriors I could take down." Arcade snickered, but despite saying this, he didn't plan to run away if any violence broke out. He knew that they'd hardly stand a chance against all of the Legionaries, but he'd at least go down fighting.
They bypassed Nelson and Searchlight, walking through the desert until finally reaching a long hill, and on the sides of the road were crosses holding the skeletons of those who the Legion had crucified upon their arrival to Cottonwood Cove. Boone broke away from the group before they came within eyeshot of the Legionaries down the road. He'd be in position a little ways north by the time Sandra and the others would reach the fort. He'd planned to borrow a canoe from an old fishing lodge now inhabited by mirelurks, and he would row across the river and find a position fit for sniping. It was a good plan, and in Sandra's eyes, nothing could go wrong.
"Halt!" A Legionary called from the bottom of the hill. "What business have you in Cottonwood Cove, outsiders?"
"I was invited." Sandra yelled in response, flashing the mark of Caesar from underneath her shirt.
"You wear the mark of Caesar? I see. You must be the one... yes... you are to meet the Cursor down by the docks. And remember, mark or no, we will not tolerate aggressive actions in our camp." The Legion recruit told them before turning and marching back into the camp.
Sandra and Niner peered around curiously upon entering the camp, while Arcade simply tried to avoid eye contact with any of the Legion recruits, veterans, or frumentarii. They walked onto the docks and approached a rather tall Legionary standing beside the canoes.
"Awe. Are you ready to travel up river?" The Cursor asked.
Sandra nodded.
"Alright. The trip will take a few hours. Make yourselves comfortable in the boat, and don't stick your hands over the edge. Sometimes the mirelurks come up for a bite."
The trip did, indeed, take hours. Dusk had arrived by the time they reached the fort.
Stepping out of the boat was almost painful for all of them, after having sat still for so long. The fort held easily twice as many Legionaries as Cottonwood Cove. Sandra heaved a breath and led her companions onward. It was extremely unnerving, being here, but she couldn't allow them to intimidate her. They weren't being hostile, after all. This wouldn't end too badly, would it?
When they reached Caesar's tent, a Legion guard placed a hand on her shoulder before she could enter.
"You must enter Caesar's tent alone. Your friends will have to wait outside." He said.
"Alright. Niner, Arcade, wait here for me. I'll be right back." Sandra instructed before vanishing behind the tent flap.
Niner simply shrugged, but Arcade looked very displeased. They both stood quietly at the top of the hill until the guard wandered off.
"So... doctor man." Niner said. "You just gonna stand there like a sourpuss, or you wanna go get the scoop?"
Arcade stared at him. "What?"
"C'mon, I see that look on your face. You wanna know what Caesar's talkin' about in there, dontcha?" Niner smirked. "Let's go take a look, see. I bet we can eavesdrop from behind the tent."
"If we get caught..."
"Yeah, so what if we get caught? I bet I could take down ten of these guys without breaking a sweat."
"You're completely reckless."
"C'mon, live a little. You're all about helping Vegas, ain't you? This is how we do it. We gather info on the enemy. We go and... oh, hold on, check that out."
Niner began fidgeting with his headset. Arcade had noticed that Sandra and Niner wore the same headsets with microphones when they first met, but he never got around to asking them about it. He guessed that it was a tactical advantage for them. It was a smart thing for any wasteland survivors to do, to give themselves an efficient form of long range communication.
"Ohhh... she's got her headset in her pocket." Niner grinned, removing the headset and holding it up between his and Arcade's heads. "It's making that staticky noise. That means she's turned it on. Lookit that, Six was one step ahead of us. She's letting us eavesdrop."
Arcade and Niner both held their ears up to the tiny microphone.
Inside of the tent, Sandra approached Caesar's throne, noticing the many guards around him, but more so than anyone else, the familiar frumentarius standing at the man's side. Vulpes still wore his suit from the strip, which meant he hadn't arrived much sooner than Sandra or her friends. Caesar and Vulpes both gave Sandra a very observant stare when she stopped in front of them. The interior of the tent filled with a tense quietness. Sandra didn't even notice Benny, who was sitting crouched in the dirt along the sidelines, his wrists tied together and his mouth fitted with a gag wrap.
"So I finally get to meet the courier who's accomplished so much in so little time." Caesar said, looking her up and down.
Sandra resisted the urge to fiddle with the headset in her pocket. I hope Niner's actually listening to this. I feel like I'm wearing a wire, like an undercover cop.
"That's why I summoned you here, right? I mean, a man nearly kills you, and your response is to track him across the breadth of the Mojave?" Caesar said, a note approval in his tone. "And you nearly got to him, too. Caught him with his pants down in that casino. When you set your mind to something, you get results. I like that. Now, question is... are you ready to get started?"
"Definitely. Where were you looking to start?" Sandra replied. Is he trying to enlist me? He wants me to work for him? Pfff... he's gonna have anther thing coming.
"I built this camp over an old bunker, a bunker that's been around since before the war. It belongs to a certain Robert House, and whatever he's got stowed away in that bunker, it's heavily guarded. Guarded by doors that can't be pried open, or melted open, or blasted open... because all of that, I tried. But the opening on the console beside the door is shaped exactly like that platinum chip of yours, and the doors have the same symbol on them as the chip too. Isn't that interesting?" Caesar pulled the tiny, round platinum chip out from within his armored garment. "Your first job from me is one of great importance. I wouldn't trust it to most of my men, but you... you've shown promise, shown real drive in a world that really doesn't reward such behavior. But I do. You may be a woman, but you've got the blood of a warrior in you. That's why... this job isn't going to one of my men, or to me personally. This job..."
He stood from his throne and handed her the platinum chip.
"... is meant for you."
Benny gawked at the courier from his knelt position.
Vulpes continued to watch her in an unyielding way.
Sandra gulped, slowly slipping the platinum chip out of Caesar's fingers.
"Thank you." She said as formally as she could. "What do you want me to do exactly?"
"I want you to destroy whatever you find down there." Caesar answered. "And then I want you to come back here and tell me about it."
Sandra gave the man a final nod before turning and leaving the tent. She was almost able to feel Vulpes' burning glare following her from behind as she left.
The moment she stepped outside of the tent, she was greeted with a furious Arcade. The doctor slammed both of his hands onto her shoulders and pulled her away from the tent.
"What a load of brahmin shit! Can you believe that guy?!" Arcade spouted, a safe enough distance so that he wouldn't be overheard.
Sandra looked between him and Niner.
Niner stood a few feet away, still holding his headset where he and Arcade had listened in on Caesar's conversation with her. Niner had an expression mixed with surprise and confusion on his face. He hadn't expected Arcade to react so drastically to what they'd heard.
"Who... Caesar?" Sandra stuttered.
"Of course Caesar!" Arcade responded heatedly. "Why did the last two hundred years even happen? Hm? So we could all play dress up and reenact ancient wars? This is beyond ridiculous. You almost can't even blame his followers for serving him. He's got them so heavily brainwashed, I'm surprised they can even speak english or dress themselves."
"Uh... dude... chill... they can hear us." Niner whispered, but Arcade didn't care.
"There's no way we're letting him take Hoover Dam." Arcade said in an oddly powerful voice. "I'm not letting it happen. You're not letting it happen."
"I..." Sandra gaped at him.
Arcade was the last person she figured would act so strongly against the Legion. He didn't approve of the Legion, but really, he didn't seem like the sort of person who'd carry the sort of passion that shone in his eyes now. In fact, his bottle green eyes looked familiar to her, the way her eyes once appeared when she'd look in a mirror... fiery with passion, with purpose...
Sandra smiled at him.
"You know it." She said. "Come on. We have work to do before we get out of this hellhole."
The three of them strolled down the hill and entered the bunker. As Caesar predicted, the platinum chip was able to open the doors to the bunker, and they all entered it without giving the nearby idle Legionaries any attention.
Once the doors closed behind them, Sandra came face to face with a large screen displaying the face of Mr. House.
"Well... you're here ahead of schedule." Mr. House said. "And you've brought a little back up. Smart move, considering where you are now. No doubt Caesar's sent you down here to destroy what I've had stored away for two hundred-something odd years. He's afraid of what's in here, and rightfully so. But you're not going to follow his orders - you're going to do the smart thing, and work for me."
"Why?" Sandra asked.
"Because I can give you anything you like, once you deliver the... manpower." House replied. "Not only do you posses the ability to upgrade my securitrons to the MKII operating system, but you'll also be awakening the ones that have been on... standby... ever since the war."
"So your securitron army will be a lot stronger, basically." Sandra said.
"All the better to protect Vegas from... other... entities. The Republic, and of course, the Legion... and you, my dear, would be set for life." House told her.
Sandra gave the screen an approving sneer. Even if she never succeeded in killing Mr. House, being set up for life sounded like a pretty sweet deal. But with Arcade on her team now, she suspected that living a comfortable life under Mr. House's rule wasn't an option anymore. Now, suddenly, she had an obligation to fix Vegas, and Mr. House would need to be out of the picture before that could happen. Nevertheless, with or without Mr. House, the securitrons protecting Vegas ought to be as strong as they possibly can. That would aid Sandra's agenda much more than destroying them would. Upgrading them was the way to go.
Sandra and her friends traveled into the bunker. Arcade disabled the security system (him having vastly more scientific knowledge than Sandra or Niner), and they reached the room containing the primary console in no time. Sandra inserted the platinum chip, and the floor shook beneath them. An endless army of securitrons under the bunker stirred themselves awake. Now, all they had to do was get out of here.
So, the courier and her companions returned to Caesar's tent. Sandra walked under the tent flap with Niner and Arcade waiting outside.
"I heard the ground shake a moment ago. I'll take that as a sign - you got the job done." Caesar said to Sandra.
"Yup." Sandra replied. Yeah. Run with that, big man.
"Good. And since you've been inside the Lucky 38, you'd be the perfect person to assign my next task." Caesar said. "I want you to kill Mr. House. Kill him, then return to me. Oh, but before you go... don't forget to deal with that suited monkey over there."
He waved a hand at Benny.
Sandra hardly looked at him.
"Crucify him." Sandra shrugged. "I don't care. He's not worth my time."
Caesar laughed. "A woman after my own heart, haha. Very well. I'll leave him outside somewhere for you to see on your way in and out."
Sandra returned the snicker. Yeah... but after I leave, I won't be coming back, and you'll be dead. Bye bye, Caesar.
She almost left at once, but something occurred to her. It was a question that she would never have the chance to ask again after today.
"I wanted to ask you something before I left." Sandra said. "I wanted to ask... about Vulpes."
Caesar perked an eyebrow. "Vulpes? What about him?"
"I... met him in Nipton." Sandra responded, glimpsing around and making sure Vulpes wasn't around. "I was just curious. Who is he? Where did he come from?"
"He's the best of my frumentarii, and the youngest. He was a remarkable tribal from a rather unremarkable tribe. Vulpes was adopted into the Legion as a child, and he rose through the ranks in no time." Caesar explained. "Honestly, every time he went out I expected him to be killed off due to some careless mistake. Young people make careless mistakes quite often. But he comes back every time. Fully competent, he is. I'd like to see a person like you in the arena with him. It'd be one hell of a fight, I'm sure."
"Arena?"
"Yes. We have an arena in the middle of camp, I'm sure you saw it on the way in. Tell you what... if you manage to kill Vulpes in that arena, I'll pay your delivery charge three fold, exclusively in Aureus coins." Caesar offered. "I'll be honest, I'm willing to pay out the ass for entertainment. It's getting boring for me around here."
Sandra took in a large breath. Wow. You really don't care about your followers at all, do you?
"No thanks. Listen, you told me all I wanted to know. I'll be back after I've killed Mr. House." Sandra lied, just before turning away and marching off.
Sandra headed towards the tent flap, but someone grabbed her by the wrist, halting her midstep.
"Come." Vulpes said quietly. "Speak with me privately."
Vulpes stepped into one of the segments of Caesar's tent that sat blind to the other Legionaries. Sandra followed him inside. The two of them stood alone in silence for nearly a full minute before Vulpes finally opened his mouth to speak.
He sat at the end of the table, intertwining his fingers and resting his chin on his hands. He didn't look the same way he did back in Nipton, or even the way he looked on the strip. The sadistic gleam in his eyes was gone. He appeared much less sinister than ever before. Such a grounded expression seemed highly out of character for him.
"My Lord..." He began.
Sandra claimed a seat and leaned on the table, watching Vulpes intently and waiting for him to continue.
"My Lord sometimes sleeps, and doesn't awaken." Vulpes met her gaze. "He sometimes speaks, then goes quiet. He has been neglecting his obligations and not giving proper orders to the Legion scouts. And as the days have passed, he grows paler... skinnier..."
"You think he's sick?" Sandra muttered softly.
"He must be." Vulpes nodded. "And we lack the means to heal him. But you... you're traveling with that profligate doctor."
Sandra gulped.
"Your doctor. If we use him, then Caesar can be healed." Vulpes said. "Your doctor can give him a diagnosis, and surgery, if need be."
"Uhm..." Sandra stammered. How could she respond to this?
Vulpes narrowed his eyes at her.
Sandra hesitated. Only moments ago, Caesar was offering to pay Sandra to kill Vulpes in the arena simply for entertainment. And now, Vulpes was trying to save Caesar's life by striking a deal with Sandra. Vulpes was a merciless person, but he seemed to care for Caesar, and Caesar certainly didn't return the favor. And beyond it all, none of it would matter soon; after Sandra would leave the fort, Boone would take the shot, and Caesar would be gone from the world forever.
"Listen..." Sandra leaned closer. "I'll talk to Arcade about it. Arcade is a real humanitarian. He helps people. I'm sure he'll agree to save Caesar."
Vulpes continued to gaze quietly into Sandra's eyes.
Sandra hardened her expression. She didn't have a choice, she had to lie to Vulpes. It was the only way to safely escape the confines of the Legion encampment without making Caesar's greatest frumentarius into a sworn enemy of hers.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." Sandra said, reaching her feet. It was strange, because now, she felt more and more guilty with every word she spoke. Lying to Vulpes, the ruthless Legion frumentarius, shouldn't have weighed on her conscious at all... should it...?
Vulpes gave her a loose goodbye wave. Sandra walked out of the tent and returned to Niner and Arcade.
Sandra, Niner, and Arcade quietly made their way out of the fort.
They'd hear the loud echo of Boone's sniper rifle penetrate the sound barrier right around the time they'd board the boat back to Cottonwood Cove.