Every soldier in the Legion knew the story of Legate Lanius, "The Monster of the East". The towering warrior was the champion of the Hidebark tribe, resisting the Legion's campaign of conquest almost single-handed. Then the day came when the Legion found the Hidebark's camp and issued an ultimatum: submit or be annihilated. The Hidebark's chieftain lost heart at the sight of Caesar's forces, and told his people to surrender. Lanius went berserk, slaying the chieftain as well as fifteen other warriors before he was overwhelmed. He awoke a prisoner in a Legion camp with his face horribly mutilated. Caesar came to the warrior's side and offered him a steel mask fashioned in the likeness of Mars, the god of the Legion. With the mask was a new name, "Lanius" which in Caesar's language meant "butcher". Lanius accepted, and the Legate's fearsome legend was born. Only Lanius and Caesar knew that the entire story was a lie.
Lanius had been a member of the Hidebarks, but that was where the truth ended. After the Legion's defeat at Hoover Dam, Caesar had been forced to acknowledge a fundamental weakness in the Legion. Legionaries were trained for unquestioning obedience which made them fearless in battle, but at the cost of individual initiative and flexibility. When NCR snipers killed the Centurions, the mob of Recruits followed their last orders blindly into a trap. When the NCR shattered the Legion's lines, they were unable to rally and the attack became a rout. The Legate Joshua Graham was covered in burning pitch and hurled into the Colorado river as punishment, and Caesar realized he faced a choice. Either change the fundamental nature of the Legion, or create a leader so terrifying that his army would advance into certain death than face his wrath.
Lanius was a recruit in the western half of the empire at the time. He had shown promise from an early age, as tall at twelve as most grown men, and distinguishing himself in battle with his brutality. His physical prowess and remote posting made him an ideal candidate for the Legend Caesar sought to create. A steel mask shaped in the likeness of Mars was given to him as well as a suit of heavy armor and a huge sword. With a suitably mythic story fabricated and spread among the Legionaries, the Legion was ready for Lanius' arrival when the second battle for Hoover Dam began. Lanius proved more effective than Caesar had dreamed. The brutal warrior's myth spurred the Legion to advance in the face of withering fire, even when NCR snipers again savaged the Legion's chain of command. Vulpes' flanking maneuver may have started the NCR's disastrous retreat, but it was Lanius who had hammered the NCR to the breaking point.
Lanius now faced the ruined Freeside gates with his arms crossed, as impassive as a statue while his Legionaries finished forming into lines. The sprawl of the city had proven disastrous for the Legion's discipline as soldiers vanished into the maze of streets and ruined buildings. Although Lanius knew that multiple attacks along the wall would be the most effective way to storm the city, he lacked the communications and command flexibility to co-ordinate them. The only way was a direct assault along the path left by House. The Legion functioned best with simple objectives, and under the eye of their feared commander Lanius knew they would conquer or die. Casualties would be high but Lanius had reserves the Vegas defenders didn't. Victory would be his, and to that end he would sacrifice thousands if that was the price he had to pay.
Lanius turned to survey the silent ranks of his army as they waited for his signal to attack. The superhuman feat of the lone mutant running unscathed through his army had caused confusion and delayed his advance. Now Lanius would show the Legion and the world who truly wielded power in the wastes. There was no Caesar to hold him back this time. New Vegas would burn as Lanius pillaged the city in an apocalypse of killing and destruction that would echo through the ages. Fear would make sure the NCR would never cross the Colorado, and that Lanius' grip on his empire would be secure. With that grim resolution, Lanius raised a gauntleted fist, and then swept it down toward the gates. The Legion roared in reply and began to advance.
Inside the Fort the King looked up as the roar of the Legion echoed down Fremont street.
"I guess House's a no-show." He said as he worked the action on his sub-machine gun. He glanced at the ragtag group around him as they also checked their weapons and said their silent goodbyes. The King also heard several make pacts to make sure that when the Fort fell they wouldn't be taken alive by the Legion. Near the wall Beatrix offered a bottle of whiskey to Red Lucy. Lucy shook her head and Beatrix drained it in one gulp. The ghoul coughed and shattered the bottle against the gate before pulling out a revolver and crouching behind one of the walls of sandbags. Red Lucy joined her as she chambered a round in her rifle, and then loosened the strap on the machete she wore at her hip.
The King looked up at the empty walls and shook his head. He knew keeping the Legion from storming the wall was futile. He didn't have enough ammunition, and his people weren't the only ones with firearms. They would make their stand inside the walls, where they could take cover behind sandbagged emplacements. It would only delay the inevitable, but all the defenders could hope for now was to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Not for the first time the King regretted that unlike the original King he had no talent for singing. If there was ever a time an inspiring song was needed, it was now. He looked at Valeria who was watching the gate with narrowed eyes as she gripped the haft of her hammer. After her earlier display of superhuman prowess, the King knew she was capable of escaping the trap they were in. What surprised him was Valeria's reply when he had asked her why she stayed.
"I'm a freak sir." She said after pausing and looking away. "I'm nothing but a...side-effect of an experiment before the Great War." She looked down at the King with eyes haunted with profound sadness. "I'm a monster and there's no place in the world that will accept me. I need my life to have some meaning, and if the only way is to sacrifice myself for the sake of others, then I'll do it." She looked away in silence and the King knew better than to press her.
Now with the Legion coming the King knew it was time for him to speak one last time to the remaining Kings and the others who had followed him through the battle.
"Listen up people!" He shouted, his voice loud in the unnaturally still air. "I know what you were all hoping, but it looks like we stand alone!" He smiled his half-smile as he crossed his arms and looked out over the grim faces turned toward him.
"I won't lie to you, we aren't going to walk away from this. But we're fighting for something more than our lives here! When this day is over, the Legion and the world are going to know what free people can do!" He glanced at Valeria who was watching him without expression before he turned back to the courtyard.
"Now give 'em hell!"
A ragged cheer answered the King's shout as the gates suddenly shook from the impact of a battering ram.
Outside the gate, Lanius watched as his men rhythmically swung the ram against the gates. The ancient fortification was not meant to withstand such an assault, and Lanius knew the gates would soon fall. Legionaries armed with rifles watched the walls for any sign of the fort's defenders, but the battlements remained empty as the gates splintered and shook. Lanius knew the militias hadn't escaped, so the King was holding his meager force in reserve. Lanius was unconcerned, as a head on assault was what the Legion was trained to do. First the recruits would charge, sapping the enemy of strength and ammunition, followed by a wave of seasoned veterans who would crush any remaining resistance. Lanius would enter with the second wave. Caesar may have been able to lead from the rear, but the Legate was a warrior who had earned his reputation from killing his enemies face-to-face. His reputation as well as his own blood lust demanded that he actively participate in the coming slaughter. The mysterious mutant that had joined the King was irrelevant. Lanius had killed supermutants before, and regarded them as little more than mindless beasts. He raised his sword as with a final crash the gates flew open and the first wave of Legionaries swarmed through.
"Now!" The King roared as the militias stood from behind their barricades and opened fire into the charging mass of soldiers. The Legionaries faltered as bullets tore through their ranks and the living stumbled over the bodies of the dead and dying. For a moment the tide shifted to the defenders, but then the barrage faltered as the militia emptied their clips. The Legionaries seized the moment and charged over the bodies of the fallen with their spears and machetes drawn.
Red Lucy fired her last round at a charging Legionnaire, dropping his body over the sandbagged wall before her. Before she could drop the empty weapon, another soldier leaped over the wall with a howl as he swung his machete. There was a clang as Beatrix appeared at her side, blocking the machete with a heavy bowie-knife. Before the Legionnaire could recover, the ghoul stabbed him in the throat with the boot knife in her other hand. She wrenched the blade free in a shower of blood and turned to block another attack. Red Lucy drew her machete and slashed at the soldiers climbing over the barricade while Beatrix growled and snarled like her more feral kin.
Valeria shaking with suppressed emotion as the King emptied his weapon into the charging Legionaries The King had heard of Valeria's achievements in the Thorn, and he had ordered her to wait until he gave the word to attack. The big woman was the last card he had to play, and the King hoped the chance would come soon. Then the King saw the huge armored figure of Lanius stride through the gate.
"Now!" He roared as he dropped his gun and drew a machete. Valeria screamed, and leaped , planting a foot on the barricade and launching herself over the charging Legionnaire's heads. Her steel boots slammed into the packed earth and she hurtled forward, spinning and striking in a whirlwind of death as she smashed her way toward Lanius. The Legion were among the toughest hand-to-hand fighters in the wastelands, but against the devastating power of Valeria's sledge they were almost helpless. Dead and dying soldiers where flung to either side as Valeria ran forward, keeping her hammer in constant motion to keep her from being overwhelmed by the Legion's sheer numbers. The King kicked a Legionnaire off his blade and stared in awe at the trail of death Valeria left her as she fought to reach Lanius. For the moment the Old Mormon Fort was working against the Legion as its walls prevented reinforcements from pouring in. The remaining militia was fighting with desperate ferocity as Valeria's assault broke the Legion's momentum.
Lanius watched Valeria smash her way toward him with eyes narrowed in calculation. Unless his Praetorian guards could stop the mutant with their powered gauntlets, she would soon reach him. Retreat before his army was unthinkable, and Lanius began to feel his lust for battle and glory surge through him. With a gesture he sent his guards forward as he spun his massive sword relishing the feel of power as it hissed through the air. This mutant was clearly a worthy opponent, one that would add to his legend as nothing else would. He bared his teeth in a snarl of anticipation as his Praetorians closed with this mutant, waiting eagerly for the outcome.
The Praetorian guards were masters of unarmed combat, with only the fiercest and most loyal of the Legion allowed to join their ranks. As they charged in the defense of their master, they fanned out to flank Valeria. One of the guards died in an explosion of blood and brains as another leaped forward and grapple her legs. Suddenly off-balance, Valeria staggered as she used her remaining momentum to fling her hammer into a charging Praetorian. As the dying guard fell with a crushed sternum, the remaining two leaped forward to aid their comrade straining to knock Valeria to the ground. With a snarl, Valeria blocked a power fist with her heavy bracer before driving her other clawed hand into the guard's face. The man reeled back with a gurgling scream as Valeria smashed her armored elbow into the other Praetorian's throat. As the Praetorian fell dying, the last guard looked up in time to see Valeria's armored forearm smashing down on his head.
Lanius watched Valeria slaughter his guards as rage pounded in his temples. He could restrain himself no longer, and with a growl of fury lunged forward as he swept his blade behind him. Valeria saw Lanius' charge and desperately lunged for her hammer. The giant Legate's blade was sweeping down as her hands closed on the handle of her sledge and she swung it up to block Lanius's blow with a deafening clang and a shower of sparks. With a snarl, Lanius hurled all his armored might against his weapon as he fought to drive it into Valeria's face. Kneeling and off-balance, Valeria fought to push Lanius back as his sword continued to descend. Then, just as the edge touched her straining forehead, the floodgates in Valeria's mind burst open and all rational thought was swept away in a wave of fury.
Lanius' eyes widened with astonishment as Valeria began to force his blade back from her snarling face. Grimly the Legate redoubled his efforts as the Valeria struggled to her feet with a shriek of rage. For a moment they stood immobile as they strained against each other, then with a scream Valeria flung Lanius back with a surge of effort. Knocked off-balance, Lanius spun, using his sword's momentum to and slash at Valeria who ducked as the blade hissed over her head. Her eyes blazing with rage, Valeria swung her hammer in a vicious chop, grazing the Legate's breastplate as he pivoted away from her. Lanius's thick armor saved him from injury, although the force of the blow still almost knocked him off his feet. Lanius flipped his sword about, turning its sweep into a sudden thrust at Valeria's stomach. With surprising agility, Valeria twisted aside and the thrust that would have disemboweled her instead plowed a bloody gash along her side. Valeria spun and again brought her hammer down at Lanius's head, only to have it catch on the Legate's sword, leaving a shower of sparks as it raked along the blade. In that instant, Lanius lunged forward, driving his armored shoulder into Valeria's and preventing her from swinging her hammer. Before she could try to leap clear, the Legate smashed his armored forehead into Valeria's snarling face. Valeria screamed and reeled back as blood filled her eyes as Lanius raised his sword for a killing blow.
"Yeehaw!" An electronic voice bellowed as an explosion tore through the Legionaries still massed at the gate. Lanius staggered as shock waves scattered friend and foe alike as blasts continued to shake the ground. Stunned and uncomprehending at the sudden reversal, Lanius forgot Valeria who suddenly leaped forward and struck at his head. The Legate ducked and the blow that would have decapitated him instead tore his helmet from his head. Lanius howled with fury as his bloody but unscathed face was revealed. His mustachioed lips twisted into a snarl of berserk wrath, the Legate hacked at Valeria, trying to smash her hammer aside with brute force. Valeria staggered under Lanius' furious onslaught, then fell to one knee as with a shout of triumph the Legate knocked the hammer from her hands. A cloud of fire roared up from behind Lanius as he swung his sword, heedless of anything but killing the mutant who had dared to defy him.
Her eyes blazing through a mask of her own blood, Valeria screamed and lunged, closing her huge hands around the Legate's throat. Lanius's eyes bulged with shock as he dropped his sword and tried to seize Valeria's wrists as she lifted him into the air. Still snarling with rage, Lanius tried to claw at Valeria's face trying to gouge out her eyes. Valeria pressed her chin against her breastplate as muscles bulged and writhed along her massive arms as she closed her fists and crushed the life from the Monster of the East.
Valeria dropped Lanius's corpse and staggered as a Securitron suddenly rolled out of the smoke filling the gate and stopped before her, the familiar monochrome image of a smiling cowboy on its screen.
"You need to take care of yourself." Victor said cheerfully. "It's right dangerous out here!"
Valeria wiped the blood from her eyes with the back of her hand as her rage was replaced with aching weariness.
"Looks like I got here with the cavalry just in time!" The robot noted cheerfully as it swiveled away on its wheel. "I'd like to jaw some more, but I've got me some business with these Legion fellas." With that, Victor rolled toward the gate, which Valeria saw was clear of everything but bodies.
"I never thought I'd be glad to see a Securitron." The King said as he limped toward Valeria with Red Lucy supported by Beatrix following close behind him. Valeria looked at their battered faces, then looked about the fort to see very few of the defenders still standing.
"We...won?" Valeria finally croaked in disbelief.
"Yeah little lady." The King replied shaking his head with a grim smile. "We won."