Legate Lanius stood impassively with his arms folded at the railing of an ancient barge now serving as a troop transport. Before him he could see the cabins and outbuildings of the former Cottonwood Cove Marina materializing out of the early morning mist. During the long standoff with the NCR after the first battle of Hoover Dam, the Legion had used Cottonwood Cove as a secret staging area on the western bank of the Colorado. When the second battle finally began, Lanius led the Legion in an assault on the heavily fortified dam while Vulpes Inculta led a force from Cottonwood in a very skilful flanking maneuver. Lanius was willing to grant the NCR's soldiers were brave and determined, but like most armies they had never been trained how to handle being flanked. The chaos of the battle soon turned into a rout, and Caesar marched into New Vegas triumphant.
Lanius stood immobile as the barge slowly approached the ancient wooden dock, as inscrutable as a statue in his heavy steel armor and helm. No one had ever seen the giant Legate's face, and it was rumored to be disfigured from wounds he sustained when Caesar conquered Lanius' tribe. It was said that Caesar was so impressed by the huge warrior's ferocity that he had a steel mask fashioned in the likeness of Mars, the god of the Legion, and given as a reward for Lanius' fealty. Only Caesar and Lanius knew the truth, for all others who had seen his true face were dead.
The barge came to a stop with a thump against the dock and Lanius stepped off followed by his guards. He scowled behind his mask as his gaze slowly swept the cliff-lined bowl that formed the cove. He had sent an advance force earlier and had received a report that the Cove was abandoned. Given the size of the Mojave and the losses the Legion was rumored to have sustained at Nellis, it didn't surprise Lanius that Vulpes would be consolidating his forces. What did surprise him was that there were no guards at the place that had proven instrumental in defeating the NCR.
Caesar had died with no declared successor or mechanism for choosing one. He never understood that the Legion followed him, not his dream, and with his death it would immediately turn to the strongest leader. Vulpes clearly shared Caesar's vision of turning New Vegas into the capital of the empire, a vision Lanius did not have. Although renowned for his ruthless brutality, the giant Legate was far more cunning and perceptive than he appeared. Lanius understood perfectly the strengths and weaknesses of his huge army. The legion was tough, disciplined, and fanatically loyal to its masters. However its grasp of logistics was rudimentary at best, and its mistrust of technology had proven costly against the more advanced forces of the NCR. Lanius believed that the Legion had expanded as far as it was capable while still maintaining its core identity. Any further expansion would force the Legion to change fundamentally, and that potential threat to his power Lanius would not tolerate.
As soon as he had received word that Caesar was dead, the Legate immediately began to gather his forces to march on New Vegas and eliminate Vulpes as his inevitable rival. However, he had no intention of remaining in the city which he believed was a dangerously corrupting influence, as well as being far to close to the heart of the NCR. Once Vulpes was dead and his forces decimated, Lanius planned to sack the city and burn it to the ground as a warning to all who would challenge the might of the Legion. Then after reducing the Mojave to a wasteland of death and ashes, he would return to the eastern banks of the Colorado after destroying the Dam. With New Vegas and Hoover Dam destroyed, the NCR would have no reason to fortify the Mojave and it would stay as a buffer zone between Lanius' empire and that of the Republic.
But first he had to smash what was left of Vulpes forces. With the Dam only twenty miles from Vegas, the Frumentarius had no choice but to fortify it. There were very few access points that facilitated the movement of an army, the Dam being the most direct. However the Dam was also a chokepoint that would completely negate Lanius' advantage in numbers, a fact the Legion had learned all too well from repeated assaults across the ancient edifice. Lanius had no doubt that he could overrun Vulpes strong points, but also knew the cost would be high. Lanius cared little for the lives of his men except for their usefulness when spent, but with the need to maintain his hold on territory in Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, he couldn't afford to waste his numbers unless the gain was worth the cost. And so he ordered an expeditionary force to Cottonwood to repeat the maneuver Vulpes had used so effectively against the NCR.
Lanius' steel shod boots thudded against the water-swollen planks of the dock as he strode toward shore, followed by the even ranks of his legionaries. The sun was just getting high enough to cast its rays over the cliffs when Lanius stopped at the end of the dock and stood motionless save for the billowing of his blood-red cape in the morning breeze. It was too quiet and Lanius knew something was wrong. Aurelius should have marched to the shore with his detachment but there was no sign of life anywhere in the camp.
"Search the camp!" Lanius growled as he strode forward. The legionaries immediately fanned out and began to kick in doors and tear aside tent flaps as they began searching for signs of Aurelius' command. Lanius loosened the straps on his massive two-handed sword as he walked toward a concrete two-story building surrounded by banners emblazoned with the golden bull of the Legion. He wasn't concerned about snipers, since there had been ample opportunities for a hidden gunman to attempt to kill him and none had been taken. No, the treacherous Frumentarius had something else in mind or he wouldn't have permitted Lanius to land.
Again his gaze swept the ridges above, looking for any possible attack. Aside from the ancient hulk of an armored truck backed to the edge of the plateau overlooking the Marina, Lanius saw nothing. Then his gaze returned to the truck. Rusting hulks of pre-war vehicles were as common as stones in the wastes, and usually aroused as little interest. But something about the truck, with faint traces of orange paint clinging to the decaying steel suddenly looked familiar.
A legionnaire suddenly stepped out of a door to the first story of the command building and began shouting. Lanius ignored him as his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Not far from Cottonwood Cove was the former NCR outpost at Searchlight. Vulpes had told Caesar that three trucks containing deadly radioactive waste from the San Onofre plant had stopped in the town when the war began. Vulpes was authorized to send a legionnaire on a suicide mission to unleash the deadly radiation contained in the trucks to destroy the garrison and render the town impassable. The mission was carried out, but suddenly one critical detail flashed into Lanius' mind.
Only two trucks had been found.
Suddenly there was a roar as a plume of smoke erupted from the cab of the truck. The entire wreck tilted up, then began to slide down the cliff trailing smoke and fire. As his soldiers stared uncomprehendingly, Lanius whirled and ran toward the river. A thundering crash echoed behind him followed by a deafening roar as a shockwave caught him in midair and hurled him into the turbulent water. Weighted down by his armor and sword, the Legate sank to the muddy river bottom as a sheet of fire lit the murk from above. Almost berserk with wrath, Lanius drove his boots into the riverbed and fought the pull of the water as he forced himself upright. His head broke the surface with a rasping howl and he stood with the muddy water swirling around his shoulders.
The truck was burning as were the few buildings still standing. Of the forces that had come ashore with him, all were dead or dying as they were savaged by radiation. Lanius turned and saw another of the barges approaching, the soldiers upon it crouched and staring at the destruction before them. Lanius waded through the water, fighting the current with brute strength until her reached the barge and began to pull himself over the high railing. The legionaries reached down to aid him and soon he was standing in the craft as water poured from his armor.
"Turn the barges back." He grated through teeth clenched with fury. The Legionaries didn't hesitate as they began to pull out poles and oars. Lanius glared with seething hatred at the radiated inferno that was all that remained of Cottonwood Cove.
"First blood goes to you, you treacherous dog." He growled as the barge began to pull away from the shore. He had underestimated the ruthless Frumentarius, a mistake he would not make again. Stealth and treachery were Vulpes weapons, and he used them well. The next encounter would be on the battlefield, and Lanius would avenge the humiliation of this day tenfold.
Whatever the cost.