Chapter 14, Parabellum

I opened my eyes to see the familiar sight of the ceiling fan moving. I rubbed my eyes and stood up to grab my Pipboy on the stand. I looked at the clock and saw it was 6:00 a.m. I didn't feel tired enough to go back to sleep again. Must have either slept enough, or had a nightmare I forgot about during the night. At least it wasn't reliving my Dad dying again. I've had enough of those already. I moved my feet over the bed, stood up, and went to my drawer to get another pair of underwear. I changed them and as I put one of the new shirts on in the drawer, I noticed that the chafe on my shoulder was almost none existent. Loyal's cream was doing wonders. I continued to dress myself and put my Mark Two armor back on. After grabbing my bag, I went out of my room and looked around to see if Elizabeth was awake and moving around. I didn't see her anywhere and went to look for her in her room. She was still fast asleep and was holding one of her pillows, like a child holding a teddy bear. It looked adorable to me, but hey I'm not one to judge. I used to sleep with a teddy bear and couldn't go to sleep without being able to hold it till I was 15. My Dad made the comment that it was time to let it go and I was reluctant, but I finally let it go after taking a step back and seeing just how old and tattered it had become over time.

I saw her shift around a bit, but not enough to show she was waking up. I think while she's sleeping, I'll get something to eat, and get ready to go. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what was there to eat. There wasn't anything there that enticed me to eat. There was some bread I got the day before I headed to Rapture to keep it fresh, but that was all there that screamed breakfast. "I'm just going to get packed up and head out to restock some ammo," I said to myself as I closed the fridge.

I grabbed a piece of paper from a stack in the recreation room and wrote a note for Elizabeth,

Went out to restock ammo and some other things. Be back soon.

-Evan

I placed the note on the kitchen table and went to the elevator. I pressed the button to take me down to the Casino floor and exited the Lucky 38. As I walked outside, I saw the bright, early morning sun bake the buildings in its light creating god rays that hit my eyes. I raised my hand to block the incoming light and pressed on to the Strip exit. Once I opened the gates, I continued forward through the Mojave until I reached the Gun Runners. The Vendortron greeted me the same as before.

"Welcome, sir or madam. Do you wish to purchase something," he asked.

"Yeah, do you have some 5.56, preferably armor piercing," I asked.

"I am ready to process our transaction," he states as he grabs an ammo box and sets it on the counter.

I looked in the box and saw there were at least 60 rounds of Armor piercing. I grabbed them and set them on the counter.

"240 caps please," he states, grabbing the box and putting it down.

I dug into my bag, counted 240 caps, and placed it on the counter.

"Come back and see us again soon," he says, grabbing my caps.

I grabbed the ammo and put it in my bag. There were some spare magazines from when I got the carbine back in Vault 34, so I can fill them with the Armor Piercing rounds. With that in mind, I made my way back to the strip entrance and started to see more people moving around. More likely people who are on their way to work that aren't in a rush. I continued to the Lucky 38 and made my way back to the elevator to return to the penthouse. Once the doors opened, I heard dishes in the kitchen moving. Elizabeth must be awake now. I walked into the kitchen to see that she already dressed in her leather jacket and white shirt, ready to go. She was eating what looked like an egg cooked, sunny side up on top of two pieces of bread.

"Morning," She says, with food in her mouth and swallows, " I made you two as well."

I set my bag down, "Thank you, how did you come up with this," I asked while sitting down in the chair across from her.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I just saw some eggs in there and bread, figured why not try it and see how it turns out."

I grabbed the egg sandwich from the plate in the center and took a bite. I wasn't used to having toasted bread and liquidly tasting eggs together, but it was definitely unique and tasted good. I finished it up quickly, and noticed Elizabeth laugh a little.

"What," I asked, with some food in my mouth.

She smiled, "Nothing. I wasn't expecting you to eat it so fast and quickly. Was it really good or were you really hungry?"

"A little bit of both," I replied, wiping my hands with a napkin.

"Well, I'm glad I made another one. Help yourself to it," She says, getting up out of her chair.

"You sure you don't want it?"

"Nah. Go right ahead. I don't eat much," she replied.

I grabbed the other egg sandwich and started to eat it. Once I finished, I grabbed the plate and cleaned up before picking up my bag and making my way to the elevator. Elizabeth was leaning against a wall, waiting for me.

"Ready," She says, backing off the wall.

"Yeah, let's go save the president," I replied, going into the elevator and pushing the button.

The road to Hoover Dam would be quite a long and perilous journey as I know it's near Boulder City. I personally have never gone to Boulder city, but the map on my Pipboy can help guide us to where it is and we can go from there. Once we are past it, It will be something to even see Hoover Dam in all its glory. However, It will take at least a couple of hours to get there and we have much more walking to do. When this is over, I am going to look into getting either a car or a four wheel vehicle of some sort. Yeah walking is good for you, but with how far we have to travel, it's outright painful.

We exited the elevator and made our way to Hoover Dam. I noticed in the distance the clouds starting to form and partially covered the sun. On the ground I could see shadows of the clouds blocking the sun giving us a bit of shade as we made our way further. Eventually, I could see Boulder City in the distance. Boulder City used to be a town almost untouched by the destruction of the war. But, that quickly changed during the First Battle of Hoover Dam when Legion forces entered the town and lured in the NCR using a Chiefs tactical retreat. Once they did, the town collapsed around them and blew the place up, killing most of the NCR. After that though, the NCR broke the back of the Legion's offensive and threw it back across the Colorado River to where they are today. As we kept walking, I looked to my left and saw that Elizabeth had stopped following me. I turned around and saw she was staring at the ruins of Boulder City.

"You alright," I asked.

She didn't answer.

"Elizabeth, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm just…looking at this," she says pointing to the destroyed building.

"Why? You've seen buildings like this before," I replied.

"Yeah, but this looks… recent. Did this happen not too long ago?"

"Yes. The Legion rigged the place with explosives and once the NCR entered, they blew it up and killed them."

Elizabeth looked down for a moment, then looked back up at the ruins.

She sighed and fidgeted with her pinky again, "When you brought me back and I found out it was the future, I thought things would be different and could be better than before. I was so excited that I thought I could go back to how I was before…a moment in my life. But once I saw the crater and the destroyed buildings for the first time, I… I went back. It hit me that things don't change. "

"What were you like before that moment in your life," I asked.

"I was… free willed, naive, and I was so optimistic. I thought the world was so simple and easy. But, I learned quickly it isn't. Then, more things happened to me and I only continued to believe less in that. Once that happened, I lost all that innocence and happiness I had."

I paused, "I can relate. I was stuck in a vault my entire life and I viewed the world almost the same way. Then, I saw just how brutal and unforgiving it can be once I saw more of it," I replied.

"Yeah," she said, with tears starting to fill her eyes, "I just want to go back to who I was. I miss how innocent I was. How happy I felt to want to travel the world to even visit Paris. Now, I don't think it is possible I'll ever see that considering how here looks."

I walked up to her and gave her a hug. She started to cry once I did, burying her head in my chest. I had an idea of what she was going through. Living your life, closed off from the rest of the world only to find out that it was worse than what you thought it could be. That changes you. Maybe Elizabeth lived in a bunker, a tower, or even a remote place in the world. And she must have seen something similar that I did and it started to change her. Something that made her lose that child innocence that she once had, just like I had done.

"Elizabeth," I said, pulling her away from my chest, "Even though I understand to a degree what you're going through, you are wrong that the happiness in you was lost. "

She looked up at me, puzzled by what I meant.

I continued, "When you were dancing with the Boomers, I saw the biggest smile I had ever seen on your face. And when you were talking with Veronica, I could hear how happy you were having your girl talk."

"That's different Evan," she quickly replied.

"How so?"

"Well, I…it was just a mask. It's not me anymore," She said.

"No, Elizabeth. It wasn't. You put a mask once you saw the ruins for the first time. You took that off even for a moment one you felt you could be happy especially when you were both dancing with the Boomers and talking with Veronica. You still have some happiness in you and it's starting to come back even if it is slow. What ever happened to you before, is not defining who you are now. You should give yourself credit for that at least."

She smiled for a moment and then hugged me again, squeezing harder. I put my arms around her, squeezing back.

She finally lets go and holds my hands for a bit, then lets them go, "Come on, we should get to the Hoover Dam."

I hope what I said to her will resonate for a bit. I nodded in agreement and we followed the path and sign that led us to Hoover Dam. We trekked down the destroyed road and as we turned to the left and walked up a slight incline, we were presented with the Dam. It was humongous. Bigger than I thought it was up close. It looped around the river, like any dam would, and towered over it, like a tall wall towering over a kingdom. Elizabeth walked up to a metal railing and put her hands on it to take it all in.

"Wow, this is something," she says with a huge gasp," This is what controls most of the power in New Vegas?"

"Yeah," I replied, "That's why everyone is at war over it. All a matter of control over this."

"Well, I guess war never changes," she says, taking her hands off the railing.

"No, it really doesn't," I say, walking forward.

We kept going, across the destroyed bridge that only allowed us to cross because of a long, metal sheet on the ground. Once we got closer to the entrance, I was able to take in what the dam looked like. The road only kept leading us across the dam itself, but next to the road there were two statues that looked like angels with their wings pointed up to the sky. On the other side, there was an artillery gun that looked like it was there for show and a stage nearby to it. That more than likely is where Kimball is going to have his speech

We made our way to the entrance and opened the doors. We were met with a huge, round room that gave off the impression of a receptionist area, minus the countless NCR soldiers running around. We approached the desk and I saw an NCR Ranger giving orders to a soldier. He wore a hat that was like a sheriff's hat and the armor he wore was similar looking to mine except a more darker brown. His skin showed he was an African American and he completed that with an eye patch on his right eye, brown eyes, and a small mustache. Once he was done yelling at the NCR soldier, he took notice of us and walked forward to us.

"Are you Ranger Grant," I questioned.

"Yes, I've heard about you from what you had done in Primm. Are you here to help," he asks.

"Yes, we are," I replied.

"Good, I'm glad you're here to help us. This is a delicate matter and we need all the help we can from people we can trust. We've got a lot to do to prepare for the President's visit and not much time. Once we start, we will be on a strict time table. Are you ready?"

"What arrangements do you have for security," I asked.

"Security details consist of rangers stationed here at the dam. Some will keep an eye on the crowd while others will watch the perimeter. Snipers and sharpshooters have been assigned to key locations and we also have a special K9 unit sniffing out members of the crowd. I've also locked down access to critical locations such as the landing platform on the visitor center," he stated.

"Can we have full access," I inquired.

"Alright, I'll give you full access. Anything else?"

"Do you have a detailed schedule for the visit?"

He beacons us to come with him. He walks over to his desk and grabs a piece of paper and hands it to me.

"Here you go. What else?"

I inspected it for a moment, to get a clear idea of where the snipers are located. Might be a good idea to check them to make sure they are clean. The note read,

Hoover Dam Presidential Visit Schedule

The President will visit Hoover Dam to give a speech to the troops and award a medal to Private Watson for his bravery and service to the NCR.

The President is scheduled to arrive via vertibird from California. The vertibird will land on the top of the Visitor's Center where Colonel Moore will meet the President and escort him out to the stage.

After a brief introduction by Colonel Moore, the President will give his speech. The speech will only take approximately four minutes. During the speech the President will award a medal to Private Jeremy Watson for his service to the NCR.

Once the speech is over, the President will be escorted directly back through the visitor center to his vertibird for immediate departure.

In the event of an emergency, the speech will be canceled and the President will be rushed to the vertibird for immediate departure. If there is a problem with the vertibird, a room on the second level of the visitor center will be used as a safe room to keep the President secure until any threat is over. Access to this room has been restricted and Colonel Moore has the key in her desk.

"Do you have any potential leads on possible security threats," I asked.

"The Legion will definitely try something, but we don't have any solid leads yet. I'd almost expect something direct from them, but given the circumstances there's a possibility of something more subtle like sabotage. But since we don't have anything solid, we'll just have to keep our eyes out for anything out of the ordinary."

"Ok, we can take a look around and keep our eyes peeled," I replied.

"The president arrives in around two hours. He just left the base and is on his way. See if you can find anything out of the ordinary. Also, we do have some spare sniper rifles that you can borrow," he states.

"Awesome. Thank you," I said.

He nodded and walked away to deal with the next issue he had. I turned to Elizabeth and handed her the itinerary. After she read it, she handed it back to me.

"Do you want to split up and see what we can find," I asked.

"Yeah. I can take inside if you want to handle outside."

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you in a few."

I walked outside and made my way around the building to see where President Kimball would be speaking. It looked like your stereotypical speaking platform with a microphone to stand from. The NCR flags flew proudly in the sky, with a red star in the upper left corner, and a two headed brown bear roaring to the sky with the words, New California Republic underneath it. There were also a plethora of seats available for people to sit and watch. I saw two ranger soldiers with outfits similar to Grant next to the guard rails talking with each other. I looked forward and up to see another NCR Ranger with a sniper rifle, ready to defend the President. I made my way to him, to get a good observation point of the entire event. As I got closer I took notice of a ladder, made my way to it, and climbed up. I got to the top and the sniper was startled when I came up here. A quick glance of him I saw that he had blonde hair and blue eyes with some beard stubble.

"Hello. Who are you and what's your business here," he asks.

"It's alright. I'm not a Legion if that's what you think. My name is Evan and Ranger Grant gave me clearance, " I reply, with my hands up.

"Ok, well then why are you here?"

"Doing a security check. Making sure we don't have any potential breaches.

"I see. Well, If you are checking ID, here is mine," he replies, digging in my pocket

I grabbed his ID and it checked out. His name was Ranger Miller Jackson and was 24 years old. Must have been an NCR soldier his entire life as becoming a Ranger isn't any easy feat. From what I was told, only the best are selected and even then they are still put through stuff training to make sure they come out ready for anything.

I handed back his ID, "Alright, I'm going to do some other sweeps in the other positions. You take care now."

He nodded in agreement and went back to face the stage. I made my way back down the ladder and went to another position just on the rocks. There was a bit of a rock formation that made stairs and I made my way up them. I saw a sniper and a person behind him, most likely watching his six. He took notice and approached me. He had green eyes and black hair but was wearing the same outfit as the other Rangers.

"Identify yourself," He asks with his hand up.

"My name is Evan and Ranger Grant gave me authorization to check for any irregularities to make sure we don't have any security breaches," I replied.

"Ok, Joel, give me your badge. We are doing a security check," he says, turning his head.

"Roger," the sniper replies, digging in his chest to bring out an ID badge.

The other guy walks up to Joel to take his badge and hands both his own and Joel's.

I grabbed both and took a look. Joel Miller was the sniper and he had black hair and brown eyes with the other guy was Andrew Jackson and he had hazel eyes and brown hair.

"Is your brother the one in the tower," I asked.

"Yes. I tried to get him to be my spotter, but he insisted on watching from the tower."

"Gotcha. You both had the same last name and you looked alike," I replied, handing back the badges.

He nodded as he took the badges and I turned around and made my way to the last post, on top of the main building. As I approached the building, I saw Elizabeth standing there, looking around frantically.

As I got closer, she ran to me," We have a problem."

"What is it," I asked.

"So one of the engineers, Allison Valentine, was supposed to watch the speech with a friend of hers named Ben. She was trying to find him as he was supposed to be here already. So, I tried to look around and find him. Then, I came across a broom closet."

"What was in it?"

"A huge blood stain. Once I noticed that, I think I know what happened. Someone is posing as Ben and is probably going to sabotage that vertibird thing the President is going to arrive in."

"Ok, do you want to watch the vertibird as it arrives and I can keep watch of the sniper positions?"

"Yes, that I can do. Otherwise, that is all I have."

"Ok, I'm going to ID the last guy on top and I'll meet back with you. But I think we should keep this between the two of us."

"Why?"

"They could be listening in on the radio and if we report to Ranger Grant, they could switch to Plan B. Something we couldn't have seen."

"Good idea. We have to make sure everything is going right, otherwise they will come up with another idea that we haven't accounted for."

I nodded and made my way to the top of the Visitor Center. The sniper up there was no different to the others. He had blonde hair and green eyes and a bit of a pointy nose.

I tapped him on the shoulder, "May I see your ID?"

He digs in his vest to pull it out and hand it to me, "Are you checking for clearance on behalf of Ranger Grant?"

"Yup," I replied, taking his badge.

Inspecting the badge, his name is Albert Hannington. Odd name. I handed back his badge.

"Well that's the sniper team checked. Now it's waiting for the President's arrival," I say as I sit down on the elevated concrete edge.

We waited for another hour and I started to hear the faint sound of the vertibird on its way. As I hear it land, I hear the faint echoes of the President and his foot soldiers walking down and making their way to the stage. Once the President is in full view, I hear the crowd applaud and cheer at his arrival as he makes his way to the podium to begin his speech. He was wearing a blue suit with a Black and Blue striped necktie and white dress shirt. He had a flat cut and brown hair and before he could speak, a woman with blonde hair and a low cut haircut walked up to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for coming to this special occasion. It is my pleasure to introduce you to the President of the New California Republic, Aaron Kimbell.

The crowd applauded as Kimball approached the microphone and cleared his throat, " Thank you, My fellow Californians who have come so far to answer the call the serve has called for the Republic…"

I tuned him out and kept my eyes peeled. It wouldn't be long till I saw something that caught my eye. I looked at the far tower and saw the sniper be thrown over it and hit the pavement. I then saw another Ranger appear with his sniper back in the same position.

"You saw that didn't you, "I asked Albert.

"Yeah, I don't think I can hit that shot before he fires on the President," He replies with his rifle drawn.

"Stay here. I'll take care of him quietly. We can't interrupt this because we don't know what they are planning if there is more watching."

"Noted. I'll watch you from here if it gets hairy."

I nodded as I moved myself out of the view of the sniper and quietly made my way to him. I took off my bag, my holster for my 44 magnum, and took off my Carbine. I then unsheathed my survival knife and slowly climbed up the ladder so I couldn't be heard. I went to the top and saw the Legion sniper was ready to fire with his rifle trained on the President. I slowly made my way to him, with my knife ready. Using my left arm, I quickly threw it over his left arm and then I used my right hand to stab the sniper right in the throat before he could make a loud noise. The only noise he made was the sound of him gargling on his own blood as he started to frantically move around before I dragged him to the ground. I pulled the knife out and raised my head up to give a thumbs up to Albert. I then went down the ladder and made my way back to the top of the Visitors Center. Now it's up to Elizabeth to prevent the sabotage of the bird. After a few minutes, the President concluded his speech and was escorted by his guards back to the vertibird. As he passed by me, I nodded my head and he responded back with a nod. He continued forward and I followed him to the vertibird and saw Elizabeth was standing near it, with her hands behind her back. The President got on the bird and the engines started to make noise, alerting of its take off. I walked over to Elizabeth and whispered, "Did you find out what might have sabotaged it?"

She raises her hand to show me what looked like a makeshift detonated bomb, disarmed, "They made it so obvious. The engineer put this under the wheel and all I had to do was remove it and cut the wires."

I smiled. I guess either the Legion underestimated the NCR or didn't account for us showing out and helping.

The vertibird took off and made its way back to California and I saw Ranger Grant approach us.

"Well, I would say I'm glad nothing went wrong, but I feel there's something you're not telling me," he says with his arms crossed.

"Well, we made a judgment call that the Legion might have bugged the coms and if we said anything, they could have gone to Plan B and done something we couldn't predict," I answered.

"Ok," he replies, unsure about my response, "So, what was their plan?"

"Their plan was to have one of their own kill the Ranger Sniper from the tower behind the stage to shoot President Kimball and in case that went wrong, one of the Legion was disguised as an Engineer and would sabotage the bird by blowing up it in case the sniper was taken out. "

"I see. That explains the death of Ranger Miller Jackson. Though I wish you had kept me informed, I understand why and glad you made the right call. It wouldn't surprise me if the Legion had tapped our coms and considering how there appears to have been only two ways they could have gone about assassination, it comes as now shocker to me. Regardless, I appear I owe you something."

"Are we talking caps or something else," I asked.

"No, something else. President Kimball I'm sure would not mind lending you a piece of our state of the art armor for the service you have given to us today. Unfortunately, I only have one and it's for men. If you will follow me."

I nodded in response. Elizabeth and I followed Grant. As we were walking, I saw two soldiers, dressed in medical attire, pushing a cart with a body covered by a sheet. I then saw Andrew Jackson run over and lift up the sheet to see his dead brother as he covered his mouth in shock. He put the sheet over and hung his head. I saw no tears coming out, but I could tell he wanted to just ball his eyes out at that moment. I know that looks all too well.

"Jackson," I shouted to him.

He looked at me.

"I'm sorry about your Brother. I saw it happen and I took care of the Legion Sniper."

He nodded in response and walked away. I caught up to Elizabeth and Ranger Grant as they went inside the Visitors Center. I saw Ranger Grant open up a chest at the far end and take out the armor he mentioned. It was neatly folded, but as he unwrapped it and handed to me the pieces, I got a clear look at what it was. It had a light brown, trench coat with a star and bear on the left shoulder pad. It was also accompanied with armbands, black gloves, a chest piece of armor that had LAPD painted on it, a pair of light brown boots, faded blue pants, a light green helmet with the number seven on it with an antenna, and a mask that had red lenses in it.

"This is a neat piece of armor, where did it come from," I asked.

"It's some armor that we manufacture and the trench coat is part of our Desert Ranger's. The armor is Pre-War armor that can withstand most calibers and its very light weight for what it is. Only the best in our squad receive this armor and I feel it's fair to give you this as a token of not only mine, but the NCR's gratitude for helping protect our president, " Grant replies.

"Thank you Grant. If I am going to be honest, I needed an upgrade anyway," I replied.

He smiled for a moment and walked away, to get back to work.

"Well, are you going to try it on," Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, let me find a bathroom and change into it real quick," I replied, gathering the pieces and making my way to the nearest men's room.

I opened the bathroom door and shut it once I got in. I then quickly took off my old Mark Two armor and put on the new armor. It felt a bit lighter weight, more mobile, and even cooler temperature wise. I put on the helmet and as I was putting on the mask, I saw that it had a switch on the side of it. I tapped it and looked inside and saw that it was some sort of night vision with a red filter. Might definitely be useful in the future. I put the mask on, turning off the night vision and saw that my vision was fine. I then gathered the pants of my mark two and took off the armor pieces on the Mark Two and latched them on the new pants. I then put the remaining parts of the mark two in my backpack, barely fitting and bulging out of the top. I could maybe get some caps for this on our way back. I opened the door to see Elizabeth watch and start to observe the armor.

"Well look at you. You are now officially a soldier of the NCR. Are you ready to fight the Legion and protect the Mojave," she states.

I laugh, "Yes Ma'am."

She smiled at me for a bit and I smiled back, though the helmet was blocking mine.

"Well, it's time to report back to dear old Mr. House," I stated.

"Lead the way, Ranger," Elizabeth says, with a salute.

We walked out of the Visitor Center and made our way back to the strip. The battle is only on the horizon now and who knows how it's going to turn out. Sure, the odds are in our favor and in Mr. House's, but even though we helped the NCR, they will lose alongside the Legion and be kicked out. The Legion may be wiped out, but what's to say the NCR will view us as the bad guys in the future and may come after us. Or switch the roles, the Legion coming after us. We've seen what they are capable of. Everything is so uncertain, and I just hope that Elizabeth and I chose the right side in all this.