Montano Pt I

Late 2278

Montano sat staring into the fire listening to his three other comrades talk softly amongst themselves. Montano tightened the studded leather bracers on his arms to keep the freezing winds in that desolate stretch of Clark County from flowing down his bulky grey jacket. At the soft mention of the word "Novac", Montano lifted his eyes from the fire and towards that glowing little dot in the distance. He recalled the idea proposed to him by the officer on his left and thought this was a good idea, but before the sun had set that day, he recalled what he saw when he finally witnessed the town. Montano's first thoughts were simply, "Who on earth would build a monument to a giant green lizard?" He rolled his eyes upon considering the strange things that the people of the old world valued, and the idea alone only solidified his understanding of this world's need for Caesar in his mind. Montano knew this little task wasn't much, but if he was going to help Lord Caesar bring the Legion's terror to the profligates of this land, he'd have to do a bit of reconnaissance, test out who the people were, see what they valued, and how they handled the first brushes against Caesar's blades. Montano's attention was turned to the conversation near him when he heard the man on his left say;

"... And thanks to Centurion Montano here, our forces at Cottonwood Cove should be in a ready enough position to host such an event when we return..."

Before the man to Montano's right could say anything in response, Montano put himself in the conversation by interjecting, "That was mostly Centurion Aurelius of Phoenix. He already had his forces mobilized for assault. My century merely assisted securing the landing site, and keeping watch on the patrols from Searchlight."

The man on his left, the officer and head slave administrator for the region who went by "Licinius Crassus" turned to the veteran Montano to say, "Still, your reputation speaks for itself, and it's only fitting that Centurion Montano helped lead the first breach into the west. Reconaissance, assistance, or otherwise-"

"Speaking of..." Said the man on the right, the officer and slave master known as "Scribonius Libo Drusus" before adding, "... We've held Cottonwood Cove for more than six days now and the profligate response from Searchlight has been almost nonexistent."

"You can thank my forces in the cliffs for that..." Said Montano with a smirk. "I can't accept the glory from the fall of Cottonwood Cove, but I can accept the glory for keeping it."

The three officers around Montano subtly laughed at memory of the pathetic series of NCR responses over the past few days. Montano himself thought back to a moment three nights earlier when he was encamped in the cliffs around Cottonwood Cove and the fight that ensued between his skirmishers and a lone NCR platoon sent to do... Something... Why the NCR would send a single platoon of around 40 soldiers to investigate the winding cliffs around Cottonwood Cove instead of a battalion or more remained something of a mystery to the Legion forces of both Montano and Aurelius of Phoenix. Although, the mystery did not matter when Montano thought back to what he and his veterans did to that platoon and the series of small patrol level engagements since then. If the days after the fall of Cottonwood Cove said anything to the Legion raiding forces in the south, it was that NCR had no idea how to handle their presence or unexpected arrival in the southern Mojave. Despite the occasional skirmishes, the forces around Cottonwood Cove had predominantly been sitting on their hands for the past few days, and all the officers at that small encampment near Novac were considering that when the main question of the evening was raised by Crassus;

"... Centurion Montano?..." Montano turned back to Crassus, "I must inquire about why you decided to personally join me on this proposal of mine?"

Montano answered immediately, "I could ask you the same? Aren't you supposed to be at Fortification Hill, overseeing all slave business of the front for the Officiorum ab Famulatus?"

Crassus said with his own smirk, "I may be consul for the office of slavery on this front, but I too am not inclined to sit out on any field work."

Montano leaned back on the rock he was sitting beside and adjusted the scratchy wastelander jacket he wore before answering, "Fair enough, Aurelius is fortifying Cottonwood Cove, my forces have the passes in the cliffs secure, and I'm waiting on my next task... In the meantime, I am still under orders to bring Lord Caesar's terror to the people of this land, and I figured your proposal could offer intelligence as well as a means of accomplishing Caesar's current demands of me."

"An excellent choice, Centurion Montano..." Said Crassus before the man turned to Drusus, "... And you still have the letter of opportunity, Scribonius?"

Scribonius Libo Drusus answered immediately, "Yes I do. I also have the bill of sale written up and ready for our contact. All we await is execution."

The man opposite from Montano, a veteran decanus named "Donato" drafted onto this task as extra muscle spoke up, "Centurion Montano, I trust in your execution of this directive, but await your word in my role."

Montano met the eyes of his veteran, raised his eyebrow, and noticed the other two looking at him as if awaiting a plan. Montano was briefly surprised by this and answered all the eyes on him, "... I was not aware that I was in charge of this task. I may be the senior battlefield commander here, but this is your proposal, Crassus, written up and coordinated by you, Drusus... Consider me as merely an observer. I don't even know the name of the contact who reached out to you in the first place, Drusus."

All of them were silent for a moment as Drusus went back through his pack to get out the documents he acquired from their contact as Crassus, the head of slaving operations for this front as well as the proposal's instigator, began to consider how he should lead this operation. Both men were slave masters only attached to the forces at Cottonwood Cove due to their own directives from Caesar to aid in the terror campaign. Either way, both slave masters were under the impression that Montano himself would take the reigns when he agreed to join them on the operation. Montano could have taken the lead, but if he were to go about this small mission, he would've taken at least a few contuberia of veterans or primes to raise the town. So, the duelist reclined back even more as a smile grew across his face, and all four of them adjusted in their uncomfortable wastelander disguises while the task's coordinators continued to mull over how to approach the situation.

Not more than a few moments later, Crassus and Drusus were sitting beside one another and comparing notes about the task at hand when Montano sensed that they'd come to some conclusions. Crassus signed the bottom of what appeared to be the bill that Drusus drafted, and upon meeting the eyes of the two slave masters, Crassus looked to Drusus and said to the group;

"We'll meet with Drusus' contact, this 'Jeannie May Crawford' in the morning and ensure the contract is still valid-"

Montano interjected, "The person who reached out to you is a woman, Drusus? A profligate woman? How do you know she can be trusted?"

The two slave masters halted and looked to Montano, understanding the skepticism. Drusus answered after a moment of hesitation, "None in this land can be trusted, Centurion Montano, but the selfish ways in which the dissolute of this land operate has been under Lord Caesar's scrutiny for some time. You may read the letter I received if you'd like, My Centurion..."

Montano gestured for the letter that started this whole idea and took it from the slave master's grip. As he skimmed it in the firelight, he heard Crassus continue;

"... The town is small, so it shouldn't be difficult to find the pregnant target, but the rest of tomorrow will be spent monitoring the movements of the husband as well as townspeople..."

As Montano read the letter, he almost couldn't believe what he was reading. Usually, the people of Legion-occupied territory dealt with the Legion itself even in abduction situations like this in more "Honest" means. Montano thought to several small contubernium level operations he'd overseen where a man in some Arizona town attempted to run away from his debt or something, and a small Legion force was dispatched to track down and abduct the person as part of some term with the creditor. This instance was unlike any of those situations, Montano read that the woman who reached out to the Legion forces of the south was requesting that some woman named "Carla" be abducted not only for the money but because this "Jeannie May Crawford" found her "Irritating" if the overly long letter could be summed up in a word. The seemingly unbelievably shallow nature of this request for abduction and compensation only solidified Montano's position even more that the people of this land were the worst of the dissolutes. Still, the slave was prime in nature, and being pregnant was only a bonus to Legion slave masters, not to mention that the idea of how Caesar could pull any man woman or child from their bed was too good an idea to pass up in the early days of the Legion Terror.

Crassus concluded, "... The proposal said the best means of execution will be late at night when the husband is on watch, but I want to hear of this preferred method when we reach the contact..."

Having just read the letter and having just felt unbelievably sickened by such a contact they were to meet, Montano said sternly to the three men, "That's it then, Now... Ensure your weapons are ready in case this profligate woman insists on betraying us or going back on her deal.. We need to be prepared to slaughter the whole town if it comes down to it..."

At that, Montano and the other three on this minor abduction group checked their submachineguns for functionality and ensured their pockets had enough magazines to carry out their task or take the whole town down with them.

The four men entered the town limits in the mid-morning. With the sun sitting just over the east, Montano saw a glint from something in the mouth of the giant lizard statue, and shortly after, he caught what appeared to be a man exchange places with someone else in the lizard's mouth. The four men looked just like average mercenaries or wasteland guns for hire, perhaps even simple caravan guards, but these men walked with a purpose as Drusus took the lead. Scribonius Libo Drusus escorted them past the light caravan traffic coming into town and straight towards the place his letter said they'd find the contact. When the four men opened the door to the small town's motel lobby, Montano stepped inside and surveyed the place for anyone hiding in the corners while the others filed in behind him. Montano completely ignored and barely took notice of the woman standing behind the front desk, and didn't even hear her welcome him in. Montano only placed himself in the far corner looking back at the door while Crassus and Drusus approached the front desk wordlessly.

Montano stood in his place facing the door, watching Donato position himself next to it in the opposite corner. When Crassus and Drusus stepped up to the lobby desk and began speaking with her, the woman was already too loud for comfort, asking in a voice too loud for the inside, "Good morning gentlemen, what can I do for you? Renting a room?-" The woman lowered her voice when Crassus pulled his handgun half way out of its holster, and Montano turned his attention back to the door. The two slave officials began conversing with the woman in a volume Montano could not hear as Montano diverted his focus between the door, and the windows to the outside. Beyond the thickly blurred glass, Montano could see a number of caravans still coming down the main road or passing on and nothing appeared to be up. After a few short minutes, Crassus and Drusus approached Montano and Drusus said to him in a low tone;

"Montano, come with us, we're going to do a little light reconnaissance-"

Suddenly, the door opened, and an older mustachioed man wearing a very large sun hat stepped in. The new arrival was briefly taken off guard by Donato standing right beside the door, but shrugged it off and stepped to the front desk. When the group saw this, Drusus said to Montano again in a low tone;

"Actually, stay here Montano, keep watch over this woman while we take Donato with us."

Just like that, Montano nodded, and the two slave masters approached the exit, motioning for Donato to follow who did so without word. As the three left, Montano maneuvered himself to the far end of the front desk as "Ms Crawford" said to the new arrival, "Welcome, stranger. Renting a room or something else I can help you with?"

Montano cringed at how someone could speak so loudly outside of issuing battlefield commands and the stranger replied as he crossed his arms on the counter and a giant smile nearly broke his face in half, "Welllll, I hope so little lady!..."

The emotionless expression on Montano's face slowly began to morph into a terrible scowl again at the too loud volume of the stranger and the pointless words he spoke. Montano felt every urge to vomit at the "friendly" nature of the words spoken as well as the outright lie that the "compliment" those words "little lady" implied for a woman so clearly outside her prime breeding years. The contact's cheeks colored as the stranger in the large hat went on;

"Can't say my outfit and I need a room, the boys and I missed that chance by about eight hours and had to camp down south aways. Lucky them folks at that ranger station had accommodations!"

The contact still stood there with rosy cheeks and fanned herself in a manner that Montano simply couldn't understand but still sickened him as she asked the stranger, "Well then, what can I do for such a handsome gentleman such as yourself on this beautiful morning?"

Montano kept himself from throwing up by focusing his mental attention on where exactly this ranger station was in the south. It must have been south somewhere down the main road to Novac if the stranger could arrive in town not long after waking, and after supposedly lodging with them last night.

The stranger continued, "All I need is info, my dear... The outfit and I are headed up to New Vegas and just need to know if we should resupply for the hike here in town or if there are any other good points to do so closer to the city itself."

The contact said, "Here's a good a place as any. You can take my word that there ain't much from here to Boulder City. I hear some folks were talking about setting up some sort of trading post at the 95/93 Interchange, but I'm afraid this is the place to restock for the final stretch to Freeside so I'll have to refer you to Cliff inside the dinosaur... He'll get you and the outfit squared away, hun."

The contact winked and the stranger said, "Thank you kindly, ma'am. Say? Speaking of Boulder City, you just follow the 95 and hop on the 93 east to get there, right?"

"Yes sir, just keep along the 95 till you reach the 93 turnoff and take that east to reach Boulder City, or hop on the I-11 for the quickest route to New Vegas. NCR and some locals have put up some signs so just follow them till you get to where you're going" said the contact with that same warm smile.

The stranger lifted his elbows off the counter and took a half step back before saying, "Why, thank you all too much, Miss..."

He gestured for her name, to which the contact replied emphatically, "Crawford, Jeannie May Crawford."

The stranger added with a smile, "I only ask about Boulder City because I hear NCR just opened a memorial they threw together there for the fallen and I wanted to pay my respects as something of a detour..."

"That's very sweet," said the contact sincerely before her gaze drifted lazily to Montano before returning to the stranger.

As Montano considered the location of this memorial and how he could desecrate it as part of his own "detour", the stranger went on, "... Yep, it's been rough since I lost my son there last year, but the whole outfit insisted I visit the memorial... You know, when my boy graduated ranger school, I thought he turned invincible. I couldn't tell if he was prouder that day or I was heheh... At least he died fighting for what's right..."

The sinister scowl etched itself further into Montano's being as the stranger thought and the contact continued nodding "sympathetically." The moment ended, the stranger shook himself back into focus and said, "Thanks for your kindness Miss..." And then abruptly added, "Say? Wanna see my boy?"

Before Miss Crawford could reply and before Montano could figure out what the stranger was talking about, the caravan man took a folded paper out of his breast pocket, opened it, smiled at it, and showed it to Miss Crawford with the biggest grin on his face. Pointing at the picture as he showed it, the man said, "That's him in his ranger uniform the day he graduated ranger school. Look at that face! heheh! I told you how proud he was heheh!..."

Miss Crawford studied the picture with the most heartwarming smile before saying, "What a handsome young man he was, you must be so proud."

"I never had it in me to join the army or a group like the rangers, but that boy?... My goodness was he a remarkable kid... Surprised me every day..." The stranger chuckled to himself, his eyes sunken full of nostalgic pride in the boy he lost. The man then turned to Montano, just to see if the armed stranger silently present throughout the whole talk wanted to see the son he was so proud of. Montano looked at the image briefly only for it to be taken away after scarcely two seconds accompanied by the words, "You alright, stranger?"

Montano realized the words were to him;

"Yes, your son looks familiar. Looks like the pathetic little creature who actually cried as I stabbed him to death after the bombs went off. Can't tell for sure though," Montano thought as he actually said, "Yes. I'm fine. I'm just waiting on my friends to return." Montano almost instantly felt the scowl leave his face and saw the stranger place the picture back in his breast pocket.

Montano was surprisingly able to return to his incognito self, even as the stranger continued to briefly study Montano. The stranger in the hat looked into the black eyes of Montano with a wary expression, his eyes diverting to each scar on his face as he wondered how this mercenary survived so many deathclaw attacks, not knowing that each scar was actually from decades of brutal warfare in the east... The kind of warfare that was about to come to the Mojave again and take many other people's sons and daughters into a shallow mass grave.

The stranger had a lot of assumptions about Montano, but none of them correct; the man was too noble to consider any malice in the heart of a stranger not pointing a gun at him. So, he shrugged off Montano's demeanor figuring him to be a simple quiet mercenary type who'd seen too many things that words could never do justice. Either way, the stranger had taken up enough of the motel proprietor's time, and said as much as he turned toward the exit. With a concluding, "Thanks again for your help, Miss", the stranger headed for the exit as the contact said;

"Best of luck in New Vegas..." then added hastily, "Make sure you head back here on your return to California. Be sure you avoid the stretch to Searchlight."

The stranger stopped with his hand on the door and turned his head to ask why. Before he could, Miss Crawford answered, "Word has it, Legion set up shop near Cottonwood Cove recently.. Best to avoid that area altogether."

Before turning the handle on the door, the stranger tipped his hat and said, "Thanks for letting me know. Here's hoping NCR sends some troops down that way to chase those fellas off."

"Alright, take care handsome," said Miss Crawford immediately followed by Montano saying, "Here's hoping!" in a voice he was barely able to keep from becoming a maniacal cackle.

As soon as the door shut, Montano turned to the woman and said sternly, "You should not have told him of our presence in the south, woman."

Unfazed, the Legion's slave contact said, "I'm not gonna let you and your 'fellas' raid that sweet man's caravan if I'm able-"

"Careful, woman... You're under contract with the Legion-" interrupted Montano before he in turn was interrupted;

"Under contract for that irritating uppity city woman better off in Legion chains than polluting my home with her awful presence," said Miss Crawford.

Montano chuckled softly, "You forget the child, 'Miss Crawford.' You'll be under contract with us for the next 14 years at least, so remember that once we leave tonight if you want your payment for the wretched spawn... For I would love to come back here if there are any reports of diverted caravan traffic coming from this motel lobby. I'll know just where to find you."

The contact kept her composure but gulped in fright at the realization she just traded one disagreeable woman for 14 years under the watchful eye of the most disagreeable men on earth. Montano saw this realization in her face and it made him grin. He leaned back on the desk and faced the door feeling triumphant before adding idly,

"Too late to back out now, 'Miss Crawford.'... Suppose you could rat us out after we leave tonight, but that won't protect you. Tell the husband as well if you want, but I doubt he'll be too inclined to offer you anything other than a bullet in the head for selling his wife and unborn child to the damned Legion without his permission! My word? What kind of monster would do something like that?"

Montano chuckled to himself as he felt the eyes on the side of his head and then felt every muscle in his face twist his countenance back to his default scowl that emitted pure war and hate. Upon feeling his face return to its usual state, Montano turned to meet the eyes of Jeannie May Crawford that bore a defeated and hopeless expression. Montano's eyes pierced her soul before he snarled at her;

"We Own you now, you profligate bitch... Don't you ever forget that even for one second."

Refusing to meet his eyes any longer, she looked distantly as she mumbled out, "You men are the absolute worst."

Then, feeling his task for Caesar resurface in his mind, Montano forced her to meet his eyes with his look alone. As soon as they met, he softly said in his demonic voice, "You're god damned right, now tell that to everyone you meet."

His eyes remained on her for a long while and his gaze only turned when the door opened again, and in came the three others of the abduction team. They all stayed quiet and took their places beside Montano as the contact remained silent behind them.

After a long moment, Crassus broke the silence with, "We found her, now we wait."

The four remained inside the motel lobby for the entire day. The only time they spoke to the contact was shortly after noon in an unwatched moment. The only words exchanged in that moment were to confirm the route they'd take out of town to avoid detection, outlining information riddled with discrepancies if only to confirm the reliability of the contact's information. Most of the day was spent by the men in the lobby's restroom, always leaving one man to watch over the contact. The guards only rotating after each new stranger left the lobby. Nobody would say anything if a passing stranger saw an armed man in the lobby, for people almost regularly stopped in even just for a moment in order to get out of the heat. However, the abductors knew that something would be amiss if any of the locals saw a crew of four heavily armed men standing in there all day. So, it was a little after 9pm when Drusus entered the restroom for the last time and gestured for the three inside to come out. Drusus ripped the "Out of Order" sign off the restroom door as the men filed out and when Crassus noticed the clock on the far wall showing about 9:15, he asked Drusus;

"It's 9:15. Why the delay, Drusus?"

Drusus replied immediately, "There was some town idiot in here rambling ceaselessly since 2000. I had to await his departure but you can thank the profligate woman for not throwing him out-"

"No-Bark's a good man who's been through enough. He leaves when he's good and ready. Also, can I go home now-" the contact interrupted, only stopping upon feeling Montano's 12.7 SMG pressed to her head.

Crassus growled, "We should open your throat for this delay. We specifically told you that we would set out as soon as the husband leaves for his guard shift... Montano, go ahead and kill her if you'd be so kind."

The woman went to scream but was instantly silenced by a hand over her mouth as the centurion replied dryly, "Wait..." the abductors stopped checking their weapons and looked up to Montano before he said, "No, the delay is a good thing. The husband could have forgotten something and returned to the domicile. I say we wait a few more minutes and then set out."

"Good call, Centurion," said Crassus nonchalantly as the woman muffled her gratitude for being spared into Montano's glove. After a few silent minutes, the contact had calmed down and it was wordlessly decided that Montano would keep watch over the contact while the three others set about the abduction. On their way out, the men shut off the lobby's lights and flipped the sign on the door to "Closed" while Montano was left watching the woman in the dark. The whole town was quiet as the grave and the lobby of that motel even quieter. Montano's eyes easily adjusted to the darkness and there he sat on the lobby couch with one eye on the clock and the other on the contact who hadn't moved from that spot behind the counter almost the whole day. The only sound in that dark room was the breathing of the contact still recovering from nearly being killed in her contract with these men.

The clock on the wall had just turned to 9:31 and exactly 10 minutes had passed since the abductors left when the door opened again. The shadowy figure that entered bore the outline of Drusus who quietly shut the door behind himself before whispering to Montano;

"We have her at the first rally point."

Montano immediately whispered back, "Any trouble?"

"No..." Said Drusus as he fished something out of his satchel. Feeling Montano's question, Drusus added, "... I may have been seen coming here though." Then, before Montano could softly inquire about who he had to kill, Drusus said, "Can't tell for sure though, it's too dark out. Although if the distant noise I heard on my walk here was any indication, it was likely the town retard."

"Shall I take him out?" Montano inquired.

Having just removed the paper Drusus was looking for, he slapped it on the counter in front of the silent contact and pulled a jingling bag out of his satchel as he answered Montano's inquiry; "No, not if we wait a moment. He should saunter off and leave us be. Best not garner any more suspicion."

Montano nodded in agreement and stood up ready to depart at the proper moment as Drusus tapped the paper on the counter and spoke to the proprietor, "Here is the bill. I suggest you hide this away somewhere unless you want your home town to hang you from the dinosaur..." Then, tapping the bag, Drusus added, "And here's your payment for the woman. Read the bill when you have a moment and you will be compensated for the secondary acquisition in due time."

The contact remained silent but instantly went to remove the bill and bag of currency the second Drusus was done, and there they waited. Four more minutes passed before Drusus and Montano departed the motel lobby, into the empty streets of Novac, and towards the rally point where the others were waiting.

3 Days Later

"How is the capture?" Montano asked the slave as the afternoon sun beat down on them.

Before the slave could answer, Montano pulled her to the side in an effort to clear a path for the coming group of legionaries on their way to the auction crowd. Under a shaded section of the double story building he and Aurelius of Phoenix were sharing, he pulled the slave in closer in order to hear her as the distant crowd became more lively and other slaves began work on a prisoner pen. Beneath the sound of hammers bashing posts into the ground and legionaries congregating in a relaxed mass, the slave healer said to Montano;

"Sh- She is still stable, Centurion Montano."

Montano was about to reprimand her for looking him in the eyes but decided not to since he required more information, "But can she walk now?"

"I believe so, Centurion..." Said the slave before reading Montano's eyes and adding, "I- the marks on her back and arms are wrapped and still healing. And I think I set her leg properly again.. b- but I haven't gotten to see if she's mobile now."

Montano stared at her blankly before asking, "And why is this?"

The slave healer said, "When she's not intoxicated by healing powder or bitter drink, she's still too hysterical to hear my words... Centurion Montano."

Montano stared at her with his contemplative scowl before asking, "Still?" in more of a statement.

"Yes, Centurion..." said the slave, lowering her head and looking away from Montano's boots.

Montano stood silently looking at the slave for a long while, still thinking. Finally, he telepathically ordered the healer to meet his eyes, and when she did so, he glanced back at the large crowd around the stage before saying to her, "Go and see to my injured primes before the veterans injured in yesterday's raid. When you see my veterans, Decanus Falco gets priority. I'm going to visit the hysterical woman. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Centurion," said the slave.

Montano replied, "Good, now go."

The slave healer answered, "Yes, Centurion Montano. Right away" and immediately took two steps away

Before she could go any further, Montano halted her, "Siri..." she turned to see him still standing there with his terrifying scowl. Fearing she had forgotten something and fearing another beating or reprimand, the new healing slave turned only for Montano to add, "Once you're done with my veterans, go to the sustenance enclosure, eat, and await further demand. Either me or Decanus Caledon will find you there."

The slave acknowledged Montano's command, then set off to go about her tasks. Montano then turned to the crowd around the nearby stage and began to walk around the crowd towards the series of tents and old world structures where his century had set up. As Montano made his walk, he watched more and more legionaries join the crowd and saw the last of the stage work finish up. He decided to take in the scene and placed himself atop a small mound overlooking the mass and noticed three more boats full of crimson soldiers slowly crossing the river from the east. His view of the distant boats ended when the flag was unclasped from the stage posts and the giant red banner came rolling down. The sudden image of the Bull and what it meant as the backdrop for the stage reminded him of the task at hand as well as who was to be a part of it. At that, Montano turned around and marched towards the old wooden building by his century's tents and ordered the sentries aside, feeling the key get placed in his hand while he went to visit "Carla."

Montano entered the dim structure, the only light coming in was between the cracks in the boarded up windows illuminating the dust particles still hovering in the vacant kitchen and living space. To his right were the two bedroom doors, one marked "V" and the other marked "VI." Montano inserted his key into the lock and entered door "VI." He opened the door slowly and stood with his frame blocking the entryway and his eyes drifted around the enclosure, more interested in the dust particles and stains on the walls and ground than the woman quietly sobbing on the corner mattress. Montano momentarily wondered if he would have the time to clean up and fashion this residence into an office or century barracks when the slaves occupying it had been sold, but he remembered to do one thing at a time and first things were first. Montano halted his mental plans to clean up the stains and smell when his focus was brought back to the present by an upsurge in muffled cries. Clearly the capture had not noticed his presence, so Montano stepped further into the room until the woman heard the steps and felt the chill that Montano radiated into every room he entered.

The recently abducted woman who called herself "Carla" felt this familiar presence and contrary to what she learned was acceptable, could only curl further into herself and cry a little more. Montano knew his presence was known to the capture and did not accept this defiance of his due acknowledgment for her favor of self-pity, and spoke to her;

"Can you walk." the question again acting as more of a statement.

Again contrary to what she knew was best for herself and unborn child, could not bring herself to do anything other than curl up more place hands on her belly as more tears streamed down her face.

Montano stood in the center of the room staring at the broken woman for longer than he was accustom to before he stormed three steps closer. Three steps were all that was needed, for the footsteps seemed to shake the whole building in Carla's mind and instantly made her sit up. She held her knees as close to her chest as she could being roughly five months pregnant, and looked through her blurry eyes at the beast towering over her. More tears streamed down her face as her eyes looked upon the face she saw three nights ago after awaking in the desert. This monster was one of the ones who stripped her and her baby away from her husband's arms, and away from the home she despised but now so desperately wanted to go back to. The memories of all she'd lost flashed through her mind once more as she studied each detail of this steel clad behemoth glaring down at her with a goblin's face devoid of any whisper of humanity or sympathy.

"Why has she not answered me?" Montano thought as the woman remained staring up at him too petrified with fear to move. Finally, Montano waited long enough as he barked;

"I ASKED IF YOU CAN WALK!"

The woman felt herself clutch her belly tighter and eventually could not see the monster as she found herself sobbing, "I.. I want to go home!"

This was not an acceptable reply for Montano who realized the creature was simply incapable of performing anything on her own volition, her survival instinct was almost completely nullified. "Perfect. She's one step closer to the title of Slave," Montano thought as he reached down and lifted her to her feet with one hand.

Carla felt the hand around her neck and felt her head slam against the wall. Beneath an uproar of terrified screams and sobs Montano almost didn't even hear, he took particular notice of her hands leaving her belly to helplessly try and break the grip around her neck to no avail. Montano admired her abandoning the protection of her unborn for self preservation, however, that meant that her self preservative instinct was not completely gone. "No matter, that can be eroded in time, should be easier after her spawn is born," thought Montano as he silenced her screams and cries with his free hand. Montano stared the woman dead in the eyes as he pinned her to the wall, feeling the saliva from her mouth and streaming tears slowly soak his gloved hand. Completely powerless in her situation, Carla began to understand that resistance was futile the longer she stared into those sinister eyes, making her hands drift back down to her unborn. The only solace she could pull from the situation was the fact that seeing the monster was harder and harder with more and more tears clouding her vision. Although that didn't stop the memories of what happened to her and what she lost from taking the place of that image. Carla herself couldn't determine what she would rather see as she felt the hand around her neck tighten a little more. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to Carla what she would rather see because Montano then removed his hand from her mouth and wiped her eyes, his grip around her neck tightened slightly more so she couldn't look away. Another torrent of screams and cries was about to break free when Montano diverted all of his mental energy and ocular focus to the halting of that notion. There he looked her deep in the eyes, his own flaming as the woman began softly hyperventilating. Finally, when Montano felt he'd gathered enough of her focus, Motnano said softly to her;

"I will make one thing abundantly clear to you, woman..." The words dripping with murder as he continued, "... You will Never go home again..." Several more tears fell down her cheeks and Montano was the center of her whole vision as he said, "... You are not a person... You never were... You never existed... You will only ever exist when you are given permission. This is how it will be for the rest of your life... Understood?..."

Carla couldn't reply as much as she wanted to, even if it was just to make this terror stop. Instead, her hyperventilating only increased more and more. Before Montano could grow impatient at her lack of response, he attempted to silence her once more by tightening the grip around her neck. Although this succeeded in silencing her for the moment, he had to stop when he saw her eyes start to roll upward. Immediately, Montano released his grip on her, for fearing that she'd be rendered unconscious, and upon doing so, he realized she was in too weak a state to offer any form of resistance or protest. Montano took a step back and watched Carla wobble in place before leaning back on the wall as she apparently tried to get her bearing once more. Montano noticed the woman's legs were seemingly working well enough if they were supporting her position, even if the wall was acting as support. He then wondered how long he'd been in the room and glanced toward the boarded up window seeing that the angle of the light had only slightly changed. Looking back at the woman, her calm demeanor seemed to show that she still wasn't entirely sure where she was after such a close brush with unconsciousness. Finally, Montano knew this had gone on long enough, her legs were perfectly functional, and the muffled noise of the distant auction crowd had subtly increased in volume beyond the walls of the house.

At last, Montano figured he could use the slave's state to his benefit and said to her in his gruff but less hostile voice, "Come. Your presence is demanded outside."

Carla looked to Montano as she leaned on the wall, her face covered in dried tears, and she grew a faint smile across her face as she fell to the floor unconscious in total defeat. Montano muttered some curses under his breath, kicked the slave to test the truth of her current state, and upon realizing it was sincere, walked outside and gathered two nearby legionaries to haul her out. The centurion watched as the legionaries dragged out the limp body of Carla towards the stage. The three disappeared into the mass of crimson soldiers and into the congregation of slaves to be sold. After a long moment of silent contemplation, it was time, and Montano made his way towards the stage.

2 Hours Later

Carla stepped onto the wooden stage platform in chains being pulled to the block by a masked man in crimson and black. She hung her head low, not wanting to see any of the new world she was part of. She stepped onto the block, and heard the awful words from the enormous crowd full of the worst men she couldn't have imagined really existed a few days prior. She felt the heat of that burning Mojave sunset shining right on her and moved her shackled hands back to her belly as another tear fell onto the block and the announcer read her description. Carla didn't even hear the words describing her like she was a prize brahmin, her eyes were still on the ground and her mind was still completely fixed on all she'd lost in such a short time. She did however hear it when the announcer said to display herself. Though she didn't have the desire or ability to raise her head towards the masses of wicked men, she knew that what she wanted for the rest of her days would be irrelevant. This idea solidified itself in reality when a gloved hand pulled her hair from behind and felt her face completely exposed to that sea of monsters. Beneath the hollars and shouts about what her future entailed, she felt the hand leave its grip as her eyes remained fixed on that sun. Blinded by the light, she continued to stare into the sun and think about the happy memories of the life that was stripped from her. She could not hear the auction, who was bidding on her, or what they had in store for her, she only gently rubbed her belly as more tears trickled down her face and dreamed of the home and loving arms she would never return to... Although Montano was a man who did not have the ability to intentionally lie, it turned out he was wrong when he said she would never go home. It just wasn't the home that he or Carla had thought of.

Nobody knew exactly what to think when Carla fell from the auction block, or when the cause for this was explained by the fresh blood stain on the flag behind her. As flustered as Montano was about the fact that he was winning the bid before her untimely assassination, he immediately ordered the stage crew to action as his co-commander Aurelius of Phoenix leaped from the stage barking orders for runners to dispatch new assignments for the cliff patrols. The massive crowd did as they would during an ambush in Colorado with the veterans and gunners holding ground while recruits stormed away from the perimeter, blades drawn, and ready to combat this unseen enemy. The auction was halted, and the stage crews removed the body of Carla for later disposal, and Montano stood atop the stage ordering the soldiers in the crowd to return and mobilize for a muster formation while the commanders await word from the cliff patrols about whether this was the opening to an attack or not.

Several minutes passed and the forces around Cottonwood Cove were assembled in partially covered formations. The slaves and captures already sold at the auction were already on the east side of the river under guard and awaiting assignment or reassignment to their new owners, and Montano stood center stage, completely exposed and ready to fall in the next shot or order the charge toward whoever attacked them. Why it had been a slave or capture that was shot in any opening attack never crossed anyone's mind until Centurion Aurelius approached Montano accompanied by six other centurions only present for the auction as part of respite. Aurelius looked up at Montano atop the stage and said to him;

"Centurion Montano, the cliff patrols found no enemy force in range. Although two groups said they saw several teams of what appeared to be NCR scouts fleeing back west towards Searchlight... Any idea why a profligate recon platoon would shoot a captive and run? ha! After all, us commanders were right there. Surely any one of us would have been better targets."

The group of centurions began softly chuckling and some spoke derogatory statements about NCR's famous sharpshooters when Montano felt a smile grow across his face as he remembered their power at Hoover Dam. After a moment, Montano said calmly, "Unless we weren't the targets, Aurelius... I would be willing to suggest that those scouts merely had their cover blown by someone else."

This left the centurions beneath Montano wondering what to make of that idea. After a contemplative silence, Montano shifted his focus from the western cliffs to the northwest before he said to the breeze, "Aurelius, have a scouting group head northwest..." Before Aurelius could ask, Montano added, "Not looking for anything specific, just want to know what they find, if anything.."

Still somewhat perplexed, Aurelius acknowledged the directive and went to carry it out with the respite centurions accompanying him. As soon as they departed, Montano gave orders for all the forces at Cottonwood Cove to continue with the usual business with extra sentries on watch till nightfall and turned to his staff to dismiss them. Once the staff members left, Montano began softly laughing to himself when Veteran Decanus Falco who stood there with a freshly wrapped hand noticed this and said;

"My Centurion, if I may inquire, it would appear as though you are not as troubled about the afternoon's events."

Montano looked to his unofficially favorite staff officer and asked him, "Why should I be? Today marks a victory in Lord Caesar's requirements of me..." He saw the expression on Falco's exposed face and said with a half laugh, "Of course we knew the profligate soldiers would be watching this auction. Why do you think we hosted it facing the west? But I honestly wasn't expecting a surprise visit from the husband, haha!"

Falco's look of bewilderment turned into his default one of determination as he asked his Primus, "If My Centurion knows who did it, shall I have an assassination contubernium assembled?"

Montano's grin grew a bit wider as he said, "Of course not... Lord Caesar ordered me to bring terror to the people of this land, and the terror must be working if husbands are tracking their wives across the desert just to free them from our grip... No... This is perfect. Caesar's power in this land will only grow with more sunrises, but today has been a good start."

Dacanus Falco remained silent, and Montano continued looking into the west as the sun got lower and lower and lower.