After getting up at dawn, Caesar went about his morning ritual. He washed in heated water brought by servants, dressed in his red tunic and his new gold plated armored cuirass and matching greaves. He had had them made in celebration of his victory in New Vegas. The front plate of the cuirass had been engraved with an eagle with outstretched wings, and clutching a bundle of thunderbolts in its talons. When the armor caught the sunlight, it made Caesar look like Mars himself. After dressing, he made his daily prayers at the small alter that he tended himself. Afterwards, he engaged in one of his few personal pleasures: reading. He had amassed a large collection of pre-war books, mostly histories, but also biographies and philosophies. Vulpes, in his travels, always kept an eye out for new books for his master. While he read a book about ancient Rome, one of his favorite topics, he ate a small breakfast of fresh bread (bread was a staple of the legion), fruit, a small piece of fried Brahman steak, and water.
After reading for about an hour, Caesar got down to business. Every day, His staff's night duty officer prepared a several page report, containing details of intelligence reports, quartermaster's reports, the manpower status of the cohorts, and the reports from the recruit training officers. It allowed him to stay informed and let him prepare for the day.
About 9 A.M., Caesar walked into his throne room, which was already filled with staff officers, various dignitaries, including Vulpes, Lanius, and the Courier. "Gentleman, what business do we have today?"
Lanius was the first to speak "Mighty Caesar, our forces, led by Vulpes Inculta, have failed to take the NCR outpost in the south." Vulpes broke in "The NCR are firmly entrenched on the top of the hill and cannot be flanked. As you know my lord, I have never been a fan of frontal assaults, let alone one on an entrenched enemy at the top of a steep hill. I do not wish to slaughter your men needlessly. If the honored Legate wishes to beat his head against that position, and ruin the legion while he's at it, I will happily relinquish command to him!"
"Enough! Both of you! You bicker like children!" Caesar snapped. "Cease the attacks on the hill. Lanius, build a fortification near that hill to keep an eye on the NCR. Take an extra cohort down with you. After the main fortification is completed, I want a chain of smaller outposts to watch for NCR raids. No offensive action. Do I make myself clear?" Lanius grunted, obviously displeased with being put on garrison duty.
Caesar spoke to the entire assembly "The legion won a great victory taking Hoover Dam. However, that assault has blunted the razor's edge I had honed the legion to. We need time to rebuild. Also, having taken a Capitol fitting of our empire, I believe it is time for the legion to become more permanent; a true society, not just a tribe. A real Rome. Therefore, we will go onto the strategic defensive." At this point, Lanius was visibly agitated. Peace was not for him. Continuing, Caesar said " Vulpes, I want you to send as many Frumentarii as possible into the NCR on long range, deep cover missions. Just because we are not actively engaged against the NCR, we shouldn't neglect intelligence gathering. And, thanks to us, there are now many…openings in the NCR hierarchy that we can exploit.""My lord, I will start preparations today" Vulpes said, bowing. He was enjoying this.
Caesar gestured at the Courier "What news of the Fiends?" The Courier, who was the only one not in legion uniform, stepped forward. He wore black combat armor, and a military cap that looked like it had come from the Boomers. "At last count, 326 confirmed kills. The men took the heads as proof. I have whats left of them holed up in Vault 3. I've been in there before. It won't be easy digging them out."
"Well," Caesar replied, "this will be a challenge for you. Speak to the Quartermaster. I will arrange for several flamethrowers to be made available to you. As I recall, we also captured a large stockpile of hand grenades during our advance after the assault on the Dam. I will have them made available to you as well." The Courier "I will get to work as soon as possible, sir." "Also, you have no official title in the legion. It is time we remedied this. I hereby make you Pro-Consul of New Vegas, in charge of running the Mojave Wasteland, and maintaining law and order."
"I… um… Thank you sir!" The Courier bowed. Caesar continued, "Also, it is time you received a proper Latin name. Henceforth, you shall be known as Gaius Vegas Vetrix. It means 'Gaius the Victorious of Vegas'. Do you like it?" "Yes Caesar, I am honored" "I will also send a tailor to your quarters in the Ultra-Luxe this evening to fit you with some proper armor, as befitting a member of the legion."
Caesar rose from his throne and began to pace around. "Once you have finished with the Fiends I will have several other tasks for you. My grand plan is to pacify the Mojave, build a new network of roads, to stimulate trade and facilitate the movement of troops, as well as expanding the NCR water pipeline network. I want to create a series of Plantations across the Mojave. The legion will become a self sustaining, self replicating culture, instead of a monolithic tribe that devours other tribes to survive. What do you think?"
"A very noble goal. I am glad I can assist you and help better the Mojave." When he heard this Caesar smirked. "Good answer, I knew that I was right in selecting you." Turning to the assembly, he said "Having planned for the physical sustenance and military security of the legion, we must now look to securing the future of the legion. All unmarried men from Centurion and up will marry. Tax breaks will be given for how many children you produce for the legion. To lead by example, and to secure an heir for my dynasty, I have decided to take a wife." The whole room went silent." Lucius," Caesar called to his chief of Praetorians, "have five or so suitable candidates brought before me this evening." "Yes. Of… of course." Caesar smiled.
Author's note: The rating of this story is going to change to "M" because of some upcoming chapters involving sex, blood, and gore (not at the same time!) I also want to make it clear, the attitudes which will be displayed towards women in the next chapter are not mine. They are keeping in the character of both the Legion and Ancient Roman society. I'm sure you all understand.
P.S. How do you all like my Caesar? I tried to keep him in character with Julius Caesar, as he portrayed himself in "The Gallic Wars" and "The Civil Wars". I fleshed out the character with a bit of Napoleon