It doesn't take but a few hours to reach Needles, but we make it. The wide river narrows down quite a bit the closer we got. A large dock greets us and once we tie down, we have to unload all the supplies.
We finish unloading the boat and the slaves are escorted away. We stand around for a minute before a legion soldier walks up to us.
"Thanks worms, now beat it." The man says.
We both nod and head into town. Theres a long strip of destroyed buildings as the main street. I look to my right and see an old route 66 sign somehow still standing. I had no idea this was along there. I wish I could have seen it before. That would have been a cool vacation to take. To just drive route 66 all the way through.
More crucifix's and fires are everywhere. In the town's center looks like a stadium of some sort. Propaganda of arena fighting is plastered outside, written in blood. Black smoke fills the skies, and slaves work everywhere.
We head into what looks like the barracks. It's made from an old motel and the walls are knocked out inside, making a huge squad bay. Theres a few soldiers in here sleeping. We take our place on some vacant looking beds and rest for a minute. Max's cot is next to mine.
"Have you been here before?" I whisper to him.
"No," he says, "but it's bigger than I thought. It looks like they regrouped well. We need to stay a few days if we can and observe their daily routine. From the looks of it so far, they have a lot more soldiers than we thought." He says.
I nod, "yea, they seem to be thriving. I just wish we could free these slaves."
"I know. Be patient. We just need to use the Legion until we defeat the Enclave. Then we can smother the Legion." He says.
"If we're still here." I say.
He stays silent for a minute, "i'll tell you what," he says finally, "I promise you we'll free the slaves and end the Legion after you leave. Just don't worry about it. Right now, lets focus on the mission." He says.
"What are you two doing?" We hear in the doorway. I tense up as a higher looking officer approaches us, "aren't you two supposed to be on watch?" The officer asks.
"Yes sir." Max answers for us.
"Go then worms! You were never authorized rest. You!" The man says pointing to Max, "head to your post at the arena!" He bellows.
"Yes sir!" He says. He looks at me before running out.
"And you!" He says pointing to me, "come with me."
"Yes sir!" I say.
I follow him out the door and he brings me to a building near the arena. The arena isn't much either. It looks like they took wood and other materials from the buildings surrounding it and used it for the arena. Hopefully Max doesn't get discovered, or worse.
I am taken to an old looking theater. The panels on the outside have holes in them and the outside looks like it's falling apart. On the inside two fires roar in barrels and crucifix's with skeletons are behind them.
He leads me down the walkways past all the chairs for the theater. Their leader sits on a throne in the middle with a guard by his side.
"Post beside the Ceasar." The man instructs.
I do as he says and observe my surroundings. The 'Ceasar' as they call him is the leader I'm assuming. He's been speaking with his generals it seems like. They've been talking about supplies and war strategies.
"Supplies are flowing in well sir. New recruits are thriving. Soon we will take back what's rightfully ours." One man says below the stage.
"Good. We've licked our wounds for long enough. I want to begin sending raids again. Bleed the NCR dry. Take back the land stolen from us. I will fulfill my fathers destiny." The Ceasar says.
"The NCR will know the Octavian Ceasar name and fear it." The general agrees.
"And what of our mutuals?" Ceasar asks.
"This new group, the Enclave, is being watched closely. Our scouts are successfully integrated. Soon enough, I will instruct them to reveal the Legions existence and pull them in as allies. With us attacking from the south and west, and them attacking from the north, the NCR stands no chance, and the Dam will be ours." The general explains.
Ceasar nods, "very well. Carry on general."
The general bows slightly and leaves the room. I have to tell Max. Maybe he can make more sense of this. They rest of my watch goes by for the next few hours and I am relieved and sent to the barracks.
Max is already there in the cot he was in earlier. I sit in the cot beside him and remove my helmet and goggles, rubbing their marks from my face.
"Anything?" I ask him.
"Yeah actually," he says, "they seem to train a lot of their new recruits in the arena. Obstacles and different fighting techniques it seems like. A lot of conditioning tactics too, to like, torture." He says.
"Geez, that's brutal." I say.
"Yea, these guys don't mess around. A lot of these guys have no emotion or pain receptors by the end. They're just robots." He says shaking his head.
"Got a number?" I ask.
"Of recruits? Maybe one hundred strong. Of the total forces, I'm not sure." He says.
"Well I got to guard Octavian Ceasar today." I say.
"Octavian? Did Ceasar have a son I didn't know about?" He says to himself.
"Don't know, but he says that they'll start raiding again soon putting pressure on the NCR." I tell him.
"Shit," she whispers, "we don't have as much time as I thought." He says looking to me.
"No, and it gets worse. Turns out, the Legion was two steps ahead of us. They've infiltrated the Enclave and are going to broker a deal with them. They're going to attack from the south and west while they attack from the north. Sounds like they're surrounding us." I say.
"Shit." He says disappointed, "it's worse than we thought. We have to get to the Enclave before they make the deal. If they do, we've got a small chance of success." He says.
"Agreed. So we have to leave as soon as possible." I tell him.
"Yup, that's what I was thinking. We'll have to overtake the guards at the docks tomorrow and hitch a ride back. We got enough intel." He says.
We agree on a plan and get rest for tomorrow.
————
When we wake up early in the morning we put our helmets on and eat something quickly before leaving the barracks. I drink half a bottle of purified water and give the rest to Max. He finishes it and throws the bottle in a fire barrel. We head down to the docks refreshed and on edge.
Once we're closer to the docks we head through an alley at the end of the street and watch the patrols go by. The sun is rising slowly and peeking over the mountains in the distance. We sneak by the patrol once they pass and head for a wood fence next to the dock. It's a solid fence keeping us hidden from straying eyes. The captain seems like he hasn't arrived yet, and there's a young legionnaire loading the boat. Two guards have their backs to us at the beginning of the dock.
Max and I look at each other and nod.
"You take the one on the left." He tells me.
I nod and we hop the fence. We walk up behind them and Max counts us down with his fingers, "one, two, three."
I grab the man by his head and twist. I hear a crack and cringe. No matter what the situation, i'll always hate doing that. We pick their bodies up and carry them to a shack near the fence quickly. We stash their bodies in there and head back to the dock taking their place.
The Captain arrives shortly after and once everything is loaded up, we take off. We try not to talk at all on the ride there. Luckily, everyone remains silent.
A few hours goes by and we reach Cottonwood Cove by noon. We unload everything to avoid suspicion. When we finish, we walk up the path towards the road. We almost make it before we're stopped.
"Where are you two going?!" I hear a familiar voice yell. We turn around and see the leader from yesterday walking towards us.
"Uh, nowhere sir." Max says.
"Nowhere huh? Well why is it that I always catch you two wondering off?" He asks suspiciously.
"We weren't wondering off sir, we were just uh," Max says scratching his arm nervously.
"You understand relations between male and female soldiers is forbidden. That's what slaves are for! Or do I need to remind you?" He says placing a hand on his machete.
"No sir, that's not it," Max scrambles to explain.
"Remove your helm worm!" He booms.
"Alright, alright. I will, don't worry, just," he says reaching up slowly towards his helmet.
Suddenly, he pulls a hidden revolver from under his chest plate and shoots the leader in the shoulder. He grabs me by the shoulders and turns me, pushing me away.
"Run!" He yells.
We sprint away and he guides me to the mountains. A few soldiers follow us and come close to hitting us with spears. One flies by and just barely skins my arm. We go through a mountain pass and soon enough, we lose them.
We stop to catch our breath and throw our helmets off.
"That was close." I say out of breath.
"That was crazy," he says with a smile and a crazy look in his eyes, "a nice adrenaline rush. That was awesome!" He says.
I chuckle, "I think your version of awesome and mine are two different things." I say.
"Yea, maybe. You got to admit, that was fun though." He says.
I scoff, "yea, in an adrenaline junkie type of way I guess."
Max places his hands on his hips and squints his eyes looking around in the desert sun.
"I think I know where we're at. C'mon, follow me. I know where to go." He says.
I wipe my forehead with my arm and follow him through the mountains.