The desert storm in the canyon had begun. Dirt drifted through the breeze, scraping against the faces of wastelanders who were out scavenging on the fateful day that would go down in history. The Battle at the Canyon was about to begin. Five turret guns were loaded unto a Vertibird flown by a Boomer pilot named Samson. The sun had been in the sky for an hour by the time Cassandra the Lone Wanderer and Star Paladin Cross were ready to take off into the sky. On her left wrist was a wristband that was loaned to her by Sid. Bing Crosby blared from the Pip-Boy 3000 on her other arm. She knew that she might not get back from this perilous ride, but she had to fight for the Brotherhood. The Vertibird took off as she positioned her gun, ready to shoot the canyon dwellers once in sight. Samson had already told them in the briefing that it would be an hour before any enemies were in sight, but in the Wastes, you could never be too careful.
Sid was unrecognizable in his Great Khan "get-up". Since the Legion was friendly with the Khans, it was only natural to choose to go incognito as one in order to get close enough to Caesar to kill him. Beside him, Boone, too, was dressed as a Khan. "I don't know how I can go on with out my beret," said Boone.
Sid replied, "It's only temporary." He had packed a knapsack full of stimpacks and favorite weapons and placed it on the rarest piece of Wasteland transport: a working motorcycle. Boone also placed his tools of trade onto his motorcycles. "Awfully nice of the citizens of Goodsprings to loan us these motorcycles, eh?"
Craig Boone only grunted and revved the bike. Nodding, Sid accelerated and started down the rough road from Goodsprings to Flagstaff.
At dawn, the Enclave soldiers woke from their slumber for early morning training. They troops ran through the cisterns and trails, waking themselves up for the battle that was to come. Was there even going to be one? Phillip Anderson had often thought about that. How would they attack? A full scale charge into the camp? That seemed like the most likely plan of action for the combined forces of the NCR and BoS. Lt. Sanctum and the general now stood on a ledge looking down at the troops and Legion soldiers. Sanctum broke the silence. "Sir," he said, "I believe I hear some strange sound coming from the north."
"What?" Anderson squinted his eyes and began to hear a sound that was best described as going, "SOI! SOI! SOI!" Shells started hitting the canyon walls behind them. Finally, a vertibird came into eyeshot overhead. Two heavily armored Brotherhood paladins were manning heavy guns. "Ah shit," grunted the general as he reached for a bullhorn. "FALL IN SOLDIERS! ENCLAVE OR LEGION, I DON'T CARE, JUST SHOOT THAT DAMN THING DOWN." The soldiers gave him a smart salute and pulled out rifles.
Samson's voice came on the Vertibird's PA system. "Aim down, girls! They're shooting up at us!" Cassie grabbed a Fat Man and sent a Mini-Nuke hurtling to the ground. A small mushroom cloud billowed as several cadavers were tossed. Radiation filled the air. Star Paladin Cross reloaded her gun and and started sending a rain of shells onto the enemies below.
"Samson!" shouted Cassie. "I need you to get a little closer."
"Rodger that, Paladin C!" The Vertibird swooped down dramatically and now, the gunners were able to get a good look at their enemies. The Enclave members were better armed than the Legion and there were much more of them. However, her inspection of the enemies didn't distract her from her mission. Her prejudice against the Enclave burned almost as much as it did at Project Purity and Adams Air Force Base.
Lyons' Pride led the BoS paladins and NCR troopers to the canyon. Every high ranking fighter possessed the newly crafted Yellow Mama. Sarah Lyons, Elder McNamara, and Colonel Moore stood in front of the army with their hands behind their backs. In the background they heard sounds of gunfire and yelling as the troopers below were mowed down by the team of Cross and Cassie. "Gentlemen," barked Moore. "We stand today, Brotherhood and NCR, once enemies, now going into the fray together. That alone is a victory I didn't expect to accomplish. Together we WILL take down the Enclave and Legion remnants. President Kimball will be proud to hear that we took no prisoners. For the NCR!"
"FOR THE NCR!" shouted NCR members.
"Now," said Elder McNamara. "Let us paladins and knights fight to keep the Enclave from taking our precious pre-war technology. Only we will wear the power armor in the Mojave! Plus, I'd like to thank the Capital BoS for coming to support us and get the Mojave Brotherhood up in running. We were in that goddam bunker for far too long."
"Hear hear!"
"Lyons' Pride, you know what to do. Ready people? CHARGE!"
The combined army ran down the hill and unto the battlefield that was too engaged in escaping death from above to realize they had charged.
A Legion guard stood by Caesar's tent. All morning, the Conqueror acted more paranoid than normal. He requested none of his guards wore a ballistic fist. Shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes, the guard spotted two Great Khans on motorcycles drive into the camp. They parked the bikes and removed their helmets simultaneously. One had a black pompadour and sunglasses whilst the other had a shaved head and sunglasses. They were clad in leather and tattoos. Definitely Khans. "Hey! You there! Halt!" he shouted.
Mr. Pompadour cocked his lovely head to the side. "Oi?"
"In the name of Caesar, state your business."
"We came bearing news from the new leader of the Khans. He sent us to deliver his message to the Great Conqueror himself."
"This way." The guard lifted the door of the tent and allowed the men to enter.
Caesar looked at the two guests. He had never liked pompadours. And he wasn't sure what to think about the fact that they were hiding behind glasses. Yet they were obviously dopeheads from Red Rock Canyon. Since the Khans were in alliance to the Legion, the tyrant chose to be hospitable. "Ah, gentleman! What is the pleasure?"
"Eh, yah-yuh. Uh, the new lee-dur of the Khans done told us'n to come down and tell you sun-tin," said the one with the pompadour. His accent sounded like the kinds of inbreds that lived in Point Lookout. He'd read about those kinds in books back when he was a lad.
"Well, what the devil is it?"
The pompadoured character ripped of the glasses, revealing stony blue eyes and said, "That the Courier's coming to give ya your just desserts!"
Caesar opened his mouth to scream, but Boone shoved his precious beret in Caesar's mouth to stifle him. Meanwhile, Sid pulled out his ballistic fist from the knapsack. Caesar's muffled screams crescendoed at the sight of the dreaded weapon. "Now," said Sid with a cocky grin. "Now, it's night night for the sweet prince."
Caesar was killed in three punches to the temple.
The plane flew over the heads of fighters, NCR, Enclave, BoS, and Legion. It was about time to fly back to Nellis to restock on shells. As the Vertibird ascended, Lt. Sanctum aimed a Yellow Mama into the sky and fired. An electric ray hit Cross promptly in the chest, draining her of her life force. With intense feelings of rage, the Lone Wanderer jumped thirty feet from the plane unto the Hellfire trooper below.
AN: Well, only one chapter left. I am sorry I haven't updated lately. I've been busy with school and music. The finale will be released sometime this week.