Chapter 16

Dark Tidings

"You weren't the first choice for the job. Last guy saw your name on the list and told me to give you the job. Haven't seen him since. He was always strange. Never really learned his name but he seemed to know you well enough. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing." said Johnson Nash

"Remember what he looked like?" I asked

"Yeah bit of a rough fellow. Had longer, dark hair but in a particular style. He was about your height but wore a strange outfit. Looked military more or less but he didn't act the part. He did say however that you knew his home very well."

"Nothing coming to my mind. So what is this job you said that just had an opening?"

"Well that's the weird part, there will be six of you carrying items to the New Vegas Strip to the Lucky 38 casino. Strange part is that the casino has been closed down for quite some time and the item you are carrying is a casino chip. A Platinum Chip is what is listed on the manifest. Nothing about this makes sense Mathis."

"Johnson, I have seen stranger things before in my time and I know you have too. But alright, I will take the job. What is the pay?" I asked

"Crazy thing about the pay for this job is that you get 1000 caps upon successful delivery of the Chip."

"So not only is this person crazy but they are crazy rich. Alright let me see the Chip and I'll be off."

"Hold on Mathis there are specific instructions on the route you need to take. Here you go." Johnson said handing me a small piece of paper.

Reading the instructions, I look back at Johnson, "They tell me to go through GoodSprings. Ever been there before?"

"Eh, once or twice, its a peaceful little town. They say lately though that there has been Powder Ganger activity in the area so be careful."

"I'm just a mailman Johnson carrying a casino chip for a casino that isn't even open, I have nothing of value. But you're probably right."

I left the Mojave Express and took a good look around Primm. Something wasn't right. This isn't how I remember leaving the office. I turned around and opened the door again to the Express. Johnson Nash was laying on the floor on his back dead. Something had slit his throat. Closing the door and backing out slowly, I turned to look back at the town. Everything was on fire. I could hear screaming coming from the casino. A shot was fired. I grabbed my 9mm from its holster and ran to check it out. As I rounded the corner, there were several Legion soldiers hauling people out of the casino and lining them up outside. The leader of the squad was an older man. I only barely recognized him, Caesar. He was having the men get on their knees and swear loyalty to him. Those who didn't were shot and placed on a cross for a slow and painful death. He had the women stand off to the side and were made to watch the men. If any of them looked away from the men, the lot of them were beaten.

I knew that my limited ammo and my 9mm would be no match for the Legion but I needed to try. I began to make my approach toward the group but the first step I took, I felt an intense pain course through my abdomen. As I looked down, I saw the blade of a Ripper impaled through my stomach. The chain of the blade could be seen driving through my intestines as pieces of my stomach and intestines fell to the sidewalk. I let out a scream but no one seemed to hear me. When the blade was pulled back I fell limp onto my knees. I heard footsteps as they made their way around to my front.

I felt a cold hand grab me by my hair and pull my head upward to face my attacker. It was Vulpes. He removed the dark glasses from his eyes and stared straight into mine. "Mathis, you fight a losing battle. As you can see, all who defy Caesar shall be put to death. It is by his mercy you receive a quick death. But not before you see what he has planned for you."

Vulpes moved out of the way as I saw the group again. This time a man was dragged out. I could not make out who he was. He was missing legs and it appeared he was bleeding heavily from his mouth.

Barely able to speak from the pain and loss of blood, "Wh...w….who is th…..a…..t?"

"That is Craig Boone. The former NCR sniper that accompanied you. Your friends have been searching for you and we found them. As you can see the women are looking on to watch the death of your friend. Boone killed many of our soldiers even with his bare hands. We offered him a chance to serve Caesar but I guess you can say, 'He went kicking and screaming' so I personally fixed the issue by order of Caesar."

Boone's body was brought before Caesar where the leader of the Legion said a few words to him. Instead of being shot, Caesar hit Boone with what looked like a Displacer Glove. Boone's body flew into the air and landed next to me. The former sniper turned his and saw me as I sat there limp and dying. I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head. I then heard a scream as I looked to see Cass and Veronica trying to run towards Boone and I. They never made it 3 feet.

"You….sick….." I said just before I collapsed

"This is just the beginning Mathis." said Vulpes as he drove the blade into my chest.

I awoke in a fit of rage and shock. After checking my stomach and chest, I began looking around the room. It was easy to see that I was a prisoner somewhere. My clothes had been removed and replaced with rags. For some reason I still wore my Pip-boy. I was in a small tent and it appeared I wasn't the only person in here as there were two other beds in the tent. It was raining outside and getting dark. According to my Pip-boy it was now 7pm. Judging by the map of the Mojave, I was somewhere southeast of Cottonwood Cove. It had to be where the Legion had set up their operations in the Mojave.

I was feeling weak. I could tell it had been sometime since I had eaten or even had anything to drink. My head hurt. I put my right hand behind my head and felt a large knot from the hit that I took. I lightly touched the knot and immediately felt pain course through me. Okay, lets not do that again. I thought.

Just then a man poked his head through the tent. He didn't look like a Legion soldier or much less a member of the Legion. He wore a scientist coat. His wet hair was cut short and was a blonde color. He also wore reading glasses that he had taken off to clean. When he looked at me, he appeared shocked that I was awake.

"I didn't expect to see you moving so soon. How are you feeling? I'm sure you have a few questions. I'm Arcade Gannon, Gannon for short. I'm a scientist with the Follower's of the Apocalypse in FreeSide." said Gannon. "Can you tell me anything about yourself?"

"Levi Mathis, Cour….oh hell, I'm with the NCR special forces, or at least I was at one time until all this craziness started. I was tasked to investigate the Mojave which ended up being a fight against the Legion. Where are we? How long have I been here?" I asked

"Welcome to the Fort. Caesar's Fort. You've been out for about a day. I have only been here about three days myself. They captured me while I was out in the field conducting research. They think I can be of some use to Caesar as his personal doctor. They brought you in here for me to keep an eye on you. Sometimes a blow to the head can be serious, your friend in the checkered suit however, was brought to Caesar's tent and I haven't seen him since."

"Benny is not my friend. I was chasing him when we were captured. I was trying to catch or kill him."

"For what purpose?"

"He tried to kill me first. And nearly succeeded." I told Gannon the story of how everything came to pass in this crazy assignment that I have been on. He seemed to be intrigued by the whole thing and a little at ease once he learned about my current affiliation with the NCR and hate of the Legion.

"Well I've got some food and water for you. It's not much but it will help you get your energy back. You're going to need it. From what I understand, Caesar wants to see your skills. He wants to see the man that has been killing his troops. He may try to kill you."

"He needs to get in line."

"This is serious Mathis. Caesar isn't one to piss off. Not in the Fort." Gannon said handing me the food and water. The food turned out to be a couple of small containers of Cram.

I ate the Cram and drank the water as fast as I could. I was beginning to feel a little better. "Tell me Gannon, are you able to get a hold of anything else around here like weapons?"

"I'm afraid not, if I tried they will kill me."

"Well I'm just going to have to plead to Caesar's supposed code of honor that his zealots boast about."

"What do you mean?"

I stood up and looked at Gannon, "We're getting out of here, alive and soon."