A Necromancer in New Vegas
Chapter VI: Assault, or The Fall of the Powder Gangers
Curiously, though not unexpectedly, the Powder Gangers that formed the beginnings of Arrelus' undead horde were not at all like Angela. It was perhaps for the best, considering the memories that they offered to the necromancer and his semi-undead Thrall. The fact that Angela was an especially unique case only enhanced the burning desire within the Imperial to know why she was special. If he could have even a mere squad of semi-undead Thralls that could be all be enhanced at once with the cast of a single spell on himself, it would truly be a force to be reckoned with. Still, it was yet another thing that he was forced to push to the back of his mind as more pressing matters were of the utmost concern.
Each new member of the horde gave Arrelus a clearer vision of what he might find himself up against, as well as exactly how the Powder Gangers had earned their freedom. Unfortunately, it also gave him a clearer picture of why these convicts had been sent to the slave camp to work in such harsh conditions as well. Needless to say, it had worked wonders in motivating his Thrall to be especially vicious as they circled the perimeter of their territory, taking out their scouts, patrols, and outposts. The subsequent outposts had not been nearly so simple as the first, however, since it seemed the normal Thralls under his command didn't have that unique ability Angela did. It may have been worth the effort to make a few Thralls invisible, but the number in his Horde would quickly cost far too much to keep stealthy, so he didn't even bother.
Rather than worry about stealth too much, Arrelus and his new squad of undead had made their way down the road to where he knew the remains of Ringo's caravan was. He'd been raided two days prior, and barely escaped to Goodsprings as the necromancer understood things. The goods had, more or less, already been looted according to the memories of his Thralls. However, the trailer that his goods had been stored in made for decent cover and a good place to hold supplies for one of the outposts. Cover meant very little to Arrelus as he essentially doubled his horde after taking their souls.
There were two other camps he struck, and two patrolling squads that had the misfortune of running into a necromancer in need of bodies. By the end, Arrelus and Angela had been joined by nearly two dozen undead, mindlessly obedient to Arrelus' command and more than capable of using whatever weapon they'd had in life assuming their arms weren't damaged beyond repair. It was more than reasonable to expect several of his horde to take damage during the siege.
Considering it wasn't exactly difficult to spot a group of more than twenty moving on the mostly flat terrain outside the prison, Arrelus worked under the assumption that they'd already been spotted by at least one person in the guard towers of the prison. The necromancer and the Courier were under the effects of Invisibility and Muffle, however. So, the guards would be seeing a large group of Powder Gangers approaching the prison. Considering the information he'd so far divined from the collective memories of the Powder Gangers under his control, Arrelus was certain they'd be viewed as some sort of splinter group come to take control of the prison by force. Considering the man named Chavez's rebellious actions, Eddie might just assume that he was aiming to become the overboss in control of everything.
Banking on that, the necromancer had Chavez take point and fire a bullet in between the eyes of Dawes, the man guarding the door. It was impossible for the entire prison to not have heard such a loud noise, but it didn't really matter. In two quick casts, Arrelus first unlocked the door so that his horde could rush in, and then raised Dawes up so that he could join in. Detect Life had shown him that the entrance was swarming with people. Those inside were outnumbered, and he'd learned quite quickly that bullets merely slowed, and didn't stop, his horde. They could blow off limbs, but so long as he was willing to expend Magicka to keep his undead moving it was largely ineffective.
The sounds of gunfire rang out as Arrelus closed his eyes and perceived the room from the perspective of one of his Horde. It was over in moments. Those still living were quicker, but they just couldn't do enough damage to matter. The most effective were the Powder Gangers that used machetes to hack off the arms of his minions, which kept them from firing their weapons. They were, however, quickly taken care of through volume of fire or from armless zombies simply tackling them to the ground and ripping out chunks of flesh with their teeth.
Blood painted every wall, the floor and even the ceiling. At his mental command, some of his horde grabbed the dismembered limbs and brought them close to where they'd been severed on the original owners. A bit of spellcraft and they were reattached. It wouldn't be quite good as new, but they'd provide additional fire support all the same. Those that were still alive and merely bleeding out, Arrelus snuffed out their souls and gave himself more power to work with before ultimately adding another dozen to his horde. It wasn't worth patching any holes in them. If they lost all the blood in their bodies, it was of no consequence to him and would hardly affect their abilities.
"Christ almighty, they never stood a chance." The mage paused in his work as Angela finally entered, cursing at the scene. "It's like something out of one of those pre-war midnight horror shows." She shut the door behind her and walked around the room, seemingly uncaring of the blood dirtying her boots. Her façade was merely surface level though. Beneath the calm exterior, Arrelus could feel the terror radiating from every cell of her being. "Somehow, I'm glad I'm on your side. I'd rather not be caught unawares on a delivery only to be hounded by these… things."
"The lack of magic in this world does give my horde a certain level of effectiveness it lacked in my own. There are no priests of Arkay or mages from the College to dispatch of them so easily. If they cannot be Turned or Smote, then the options these mortals have may be so woefully limited that they stand no chance. I would rather not become so arrogant as to think that, however, since I've yet to see more than a brief glimpse into what the people of this Plane are capable of. Perhaps I will be surprised."
"That seems rather unlikely to me." Angela muttered before losing herself in thought. "Well, actually, explosives or a flamer would probably work. I could think of a few other things as well. I don't expect the Powder Gangers to have anything besides the dynamite though. And they wouldn't set off dynamite inside their fortress, right? If a hole got blown in one of these walls, then the whole thing would be basically worthless."
"Considering the collective intelligence, we've witnessed in their memories, that seems exactly like something they might try. We have dawdled too long, however." His horde mended, and also amplified with new corpses, Arrelus sent them out the other door and into the courtyard. There were far more outside than there were inside, though there also still seemed to be those who had decided to remain in other buildings. They would be taken care of in time.
Even as his underlings waded outside, he could already hear more gunfire – from both the living and undead Powder Gangers. It wasn't until his side had taken several of the opposing Gangers that he finally headed out. Angela was not far behind. While his horde did the heavy lifting out in the courtyard, the duo headed towards the building that the leadership of the Powder Gangers were located.
Angela already knew the plan and had her revolver in hand as they made their way into the building. As both Angela and Arrelus were under the effects of Detect Life at the moment, it wasn't difficult for her to pick out targets before they even entered. Six shots and six men fell. Then those same men rose back from the grave and turned on the rest of the former inmates on the first floor as she reloaded. "This feels almost too easy." Angela commented with a sigh. "It's like kicking a small child."
"Do you think they deserve anything better?" Arrelus wondered as several of the new undead grabbed onto the people that he knew were Eddie's bodyguards as they rushed down the stairs. Ripping their souls from their bodies, he felt the energy he'd expended thus far return, and then some. The feeling of power that came along with feeding his Magicka reserves with the souls of others had an intoxicating energy about it. None could dare oppose him! These criminals, the dregs of whatever passed as society in this wasteland of a world were not even fit to lick clean the blood and dirt caking his boots let alone resist his command.
Clearing his head, the necromancer sighed and regained control. Now was not the time. He must take care of things in the proper order. The very men that were meant to protect Eddie were then sent back up the stairs to dispatch him. Even his strangled cries of betrayal and terror were cut short before they dragged his corpse within Arrelus' vision. Raising the one-time leader of the Powder Gangers as another Thrall, he turned towards the courtyard and noted that the remaining sources of life energy were flickering and fading.
All that was left were the cowards who seemed to have fled to the watchtowers and those in the holding cells, who he imagined were huddled in fear and had barricaded themselves in. He would let them finish the job before he headed out to raise them all. There was no rush, after all. "You never did tell me why you wanted the prison so much though." Angela remarked, taking a seat on one of the desks, her feet dangling a few inches above the ground and dripping a mix of blood and dirt onto the floor. Hopefully Arrelus could get ahold of something to have his horde clean this place with. Despite his role as a necromancer, he did not enjoy the stench of blood very much.
"It is a place that is easy to defend and where I can keep my undead in one place if I have need of them. Its location is also beneficial for scouting out the area. I can have the Powder Gangers spread out and give me a better idea of what we're surrounded by, and whether it is best to befriend, subjugate or leave be whoever we come across. Thankfully, food and water are only necessary for me and perhaps you. I am still unsure if you can be sustained on Magicka the same way other Thralls are, or if you must attend to the needs you had in mortal life. As the number I have are more than sufficient to hunt and forage, I see little reason to test the matter."
"Even if I didn't need to eat, I quite like being able to, I'll have you know." Arrelus could still feel that terror just beneath Angela's seemingly calm exterior as she responded to him. "Are you going to turn everyone you meet into these things?" A bit of that fear did manage to creep out as she voiced her concern.
"Most likely not. The Powder Gangers needed to be taken care of for a variety of reasons, and its best to flesh out our numbers if we were going to kill them anyways. Mindlessly attacking all we interact with and turning them into Thralls would not only be taxing on my Magicka, but also on my reputation. I can handle this many without much issue, but I feel that anything over a hundred would start to be a net drain to maintain. At least, until I can absorb more souls. I shouldn't have any issues protecting the prison and myself with what I've got here though. At this point, I just need to gain my bearings and figure out our next plan of action. You may relax with the knowledge that unless we are attacked there will be little, if any, fighting for either of us to do in the near future."
Angela seemed skeptical of his claim but didn't press him further. "In that case, I'm going to see if I can't find somewhere to relax. There's got to be a bed or something in here. Maybe I can even manage to get an actual shower since this was an NCR facility."
"Do let me know if you find anything that can clean blood and remove the smell. The first thing this horde is doing is cleaning all the stains inside the buildings. I will not stand for a dirty environment, especially not one in which we'll be staying for the foreseeable future."