The sky of the Mojave was the color of blood as the sun rose behind clouds of smoke and ash. Legate Lanius, the Monster of the East surveyed the carnage around him, his eyes burning behind his mask with fierce exaltation. After days of frustration he had finally crushed his rival, leaving the Strip helpless before a final assault.

Lanius anticipated treachery from Inculta after narrowly escaping the trap laid for him at Cottonwood Cove, but the silence that met his army at the Dam had surprised him. The giant edifice to a lost age was a natural choke point, so he expected Inculta to concentrate his forces there. Instead his explorers reported that the Dam was deserted. Lanius ordered his first wave of recruits across to clear any booby traps left by the Frumentarius. They crossed unopposed and were forming up before an ancient pair of winged statues when Lanius ordered his Veterans to begin the crossing. Suddenly with howls and a hail of gunfire and spears Inculta's army swept down the canyon wall into the milling mass of recruits. Caught by surprise, they were unable to turn and form ranks before Inculta's legion drove them reeling toward the Colorado. Lanius ordered a charge, but could only watch in fury as his vanguard was put to the sword or pushed over the cliffs to plummet into the river far below. By the time his second wave reached the opposite shore, Inculta's army was already withdrawing out of the canyon leaving it strewn with corpses.

Lanius' wrath was terrible, and immediately survivors decimated to remind his men the price of cowardice. He cared nothing for the lives of his men except for persuing his own glory, but the ambush had stalled his advance and shifted the initiative to Inculta. It took another day to move his force across the Colorado and that night his army could see flashes of fire from Nellis as its weapon stockpiles were destroyed. Clearly Inculta intended to deny the base as a staging area and the Legate sneered with contempt as he watched the crimson glow over the hills. He had neither the inclination nor the ability to lay siege to the city. Lanius' men carried all the supplies they had, and it was the Legate's plan to take Vegas by storm. He had the advantage of numbers, while every man Inculta lost weakened his force. Win, lose, or draw, every engagement would be a victory for Lanius.

The sun was still below the horizon when the Legion began to march. Lanius split his army in two, sending them in a massive pincer movement to encircle the city. Using the crumbling roadways and bridges for the march, the Legion completed its encirclement by the end of the day. Resistance was sporadic, and consisted only of New Vegas residents. Whether they were fighting on their own initiative or on Inculta's orders mattered little to Lanius. His scouts hadn't seen any troops moving out of the city, so the Legate knew Inculta was somewhere inside. That night his army camped around the city, the flickering lights of their campfires giving notice to everyone trapped inside that there was no escape.

The attack began at pre-dawn as the Legion began to advance down the silent streets. Almost immediately the crackle of gunfire began to echo across the city, soon followed by the muffled thumps of explosions. The Legion had few radios so Lanius relied on messengers for updates on his army's progress. By noon it was becoming clear that the advance was stalling as the Legion met unexpectedly stubborn resistance. The Legion was renowned for its loyalty and obedience, but it came at the cost of flexibility. The advance was fragmenting into a multitude of sieges as each brick and steel ruin became a fortress. Then Lanius began to get reports of attacks by Inculta's men. Attempts to retaliate found only bodies and then another report would arrive of an attack elsewhere in the city. By nightfall Lanius realized that not only was his army being attacked from rooftops and doorways, but also from below as Inculta used the sewers to move his forces beneath the city.

Fear of Lanius was so great that the Legion kept doggedly attacking, even as snipers and Frumentarii raiders killed their officers and sowed confusion and chaos. However Lanius's vast numbers began to tell as one by one the holdouts fell. Finally the sun set and the fighting ended as the city went dark save for the lights of the Lucky 38. The few exhausted defenders retreated to Northgate where the King was making a stand at the Old Mormon Fort with what remained of the Freeside Kings and the Westside Militia. Outside the gate Lanius ordered bonfires built so the defenders could watch as slaves dragged a light howitzer to a ruined hilltop.

Lanius stood next to the weapon with his praetorian guards in a protective ring as the cannon was aimed at the gate. At that moment Vulpes Inculta attacked with his entire force in a bid to end the war in one stroke. The giant Legate pulled his great-sword from his back and waited impassively as Inculta and his men drove through Lanius' lines and smashed into his praetorian guards. The Praetorians reeled from the attack, and then held as Inculta's momentum was spent. Then with a roar the force Lanius had held in reserve in the ruins arrived. Suddenly Inculta found himself cut off as Lanius' trap was sprung. With a curse, Inculta tried one last time to reach his hated rival, but was pushed back by the bloodied line of grim-faced praetorians.

Now Lanius strode along the lines of his soldiers, the only movement the red banners of the Legion blowing in the desert wind. A forest of crosses was planted within sight of the wall and all the prisoners had been crucified. Lanius stopped before one cross set higher than the others and looked into the bloody face of Vulpes Inculta.

"Like all Frumentarii, you assume you are the only master of treachery." Lanius growled as he crossed his arms. Vulpes said nothing as he silently looked down at Lanius' impassive steel mask. "The gun doesn't work." Lanius added conversationally. "Its purpose was to make my presence outside the gate plausible. You didn't have the force to survive a war of attrition, so when I gave you the opportunity to strike you took it." Vulpes said nothing, although his eyes burned with hatred.

"You made one mistake, and now you will watch as I put this city to the torch." Lanius turned with a billow of his cloak and swept his armored arm toward the wood and steel gates under a sign spelling "Freeside" in miss-matched neon letters. Rows of Legion soldiers advanced carrying telephone poles which they began to swing against the gates. Without a backwards glance, Lanius strode away from the former Legate as his army waited for the gates to fall.

On the wall of the Old Mormon Fort the King watched grimly as the gates shook under the onslaught. Resistance against Lanius's army had been haphazard as the New Vegas gangs fought to defend their turf. Vulpes Inculta hadn't fought with them, he just hadn't been fighting against them. The Legion was bloodied, but the fragmented defence had only delayed the inevitable. All the refugees who couldn't fight had fled to Fremont street where the King had established an impromptu refugee camp around his headquarters. The King then took his remaining followers to the fort recently abandoned by the Legion. Lanius clearly meant to make an example of any resistance, so the King readied for the inevitable attack, hoping to buy more time for a miracle.

By nightfall the last remnants of the Vegas Militias straggled through the gate as the King ordered them shut and barred. From the walls they could see Lanius and his army gathering in the light of massive bonfires when Vulpes Inculta attacked. Although none of the New Vegas citizens had any love for the vicious Frumentarius, they still cheered when it appeared that he would succeed in killing the Monster of the East. When Lanius' trap was sprung and Vulpes fell, the defenders watched in grim silence as they realized all hope was gone. The refugees camped at Freemont street were trapped between the North Gate and the guns of House's Securitrons as they continued to deny entry into the Strip. All that remained between Lanius and the refugees was the exhausted defenders in the Mormon Fort.

The King turned from the wall as the thump of the rams echoed like a heartbeat through the ruins. Climbing the scaffolding the Legion had erected inside the wall were the ghoul Beatrix and Red Lucy. Beatrix had traded her dominatrix gear for a duster and rifle, and Red Lucy now wore a patch covering an eye lost escaping the Thorn.

"Won't be long now." Beatrix rasped as she rested her forearms on the wall and watched the gate shake from the Legion's assault. "I knew I'd check out one day, I just never thought it'd be like this."

"We ain't dead yet." The king replied with his lopsided smile as he turned and descended the ramp.

"The Thorn exacted its price from Vulpes for his sacrilege." Red Lucy said with a savage smile as she readied her rifle. "Now Lanius will pay in blood as well."

Beatrix turned to retort when with a crash the gates flew open and the Legion roared in triumph.

"Here we go." Beatrix said when the Legion fell silent as the soldiers carrying the rams withdrew. Suddenly the sounds of gunfire began to echo in the distance and the ghoul shielded her eyes as she looked toward the horizon.

"Everyone get ready!" The King roared as the defenders pulled out their weapons and ran for the sandbag barricades.

"I don't think it's an attack!" Beatrix shouted as she continued to peer into the smoke-filled haze. "The shooting's coming from behind the ruins!"

Red Lucy also shielded her eyes and tried to see as the militia below held their breath in the desperate hope that somehow they would be saved.

"I'll be damned!" Beatrix exclaimed as her eyes widened in astonishment. "It's that Thorn fighter Valeria!"

"What!" Red Lucy shouted as she raised her rifle and peered through the scope with her remaining eye. In the distance the unmistakable shape of Valeria was hurtling through the Legion's lines with inhuman speed.

"My hunter." Red Lucy breathed as she lowered her rifle.

"There's no way she's going to make it." Beatrix said as she watched transfixed.

"The spirit of the Thorn lives on in Valeria." Red Lucy said with a strange light in her eyes. "She will reach the wall."

"I don't know about any spirit." Beatrix replied as she stared in disbelief at the figure hurtling toward them. "But I think you're right!" She turned and shouted. "King! Open the gate!"

"Too late!" Red Lucy exclaimed as she threw her rifle to her shoulder and fired. One of the Legionaries trying to cut Valeria off went down as she leaped through the shattered gates. Bullets and javelins flew past as she raced toward the fort and with a superhuman effort hurled herself through the air. Beatrix gasped with astonishment as Valeria slammed into the wall and with a kick and a heave pulled herself over the top. The pursuing soldiers stopped in confusion before another fell from Red Lucy's gunfire. Without orders and trapped in the open as more rifles opened fire from the fort, the Legionaries turned and fled back through the gate.

Gasping huge gulps of air, Valeria slowly climbed to her feet to find herself facing a cheering crowd waving a motley assortment of weapons.

"The Legion's pulling back!" The hoarse voice of Beatrix shouted from the wall above.

"They must think they're being attacked from the rear." The King said as he strode forward to look up into Valeria's face as he shook his head. "I think you've just bought us a reprieve with that stunt. Lanius must think there's an army following you." The King crossed his arms as the smile left his face.

"Is there?"

"No sir." Valeria replied grimly. "It's just me."

"I see." The King said as he looked back at the still cheering militia. "It's not that I don't appreciate the help, but it won't be long before Lanius comes back to finish the job."

"House has activated his Securitron army, but I don't know if it will get here in time." Valeria said as she looked over at Red Lucy and Beatrix as they joined the King. "I'll do everything I can to help."

"You've given everyone here hope." The King said as his smile returned. "That's a lot more than we had. Thanks little lady."

"You're welcome sir." Valeria said as the King's smile made her flush self-consciously. She then turned to look at the gate before adding in a determined whisper.

"I won't let you down."