Crouching on his injured leg while placing the other in a kneeling stance, Charles watched the streets carefully. The eight gang members were rapidly charging toward the Securitron, and then they opened fire. The smell of the gatling laser and laser rifles immediately hit Charles.

Simultaneously, the Securitron launched its rockets which it gained from the platinum chip, it was able to hit the gang and killed about two of them. The Freeside agents and Karl emerged, joining the fray with their own gunfire. Charles also attempted to fire, though he couldn't hit anybody, it did manage to intimidate some of them.

Then, Walter called out to Charles, "Hey Charles, want me to take over for you?"

"Don't worry, I've got this. Just take care of Joseph," Charles replied in a breathless but confident tone.

As Charles continued to observe the streets, the gang retreated while firing again. They managed to kill two of the Freeside agents, but the Securitron's auto-repair systems kicked in, fixing it up despite the damage from the gang's lasers. The remaining two Freeside agents, Karl, and the Securitron charged at the gang.

Using its secondary laser rifle, the Securitron fired and killed two more gang members. The others joined in, with Karl and the Freeside agents eliminating three more of the gang. The gang member in scrap power armor with the gatling laser was the last one left and charged forward.

The Securitron used its grenades to attack the man in scrap power armor, and combined with the firepower from the Freeside agents and Karl, they managed to take him down. However, he was able to kill one of the Freeside agents before going down, leaving only one agent standing.

Karl spoke into his Pip-Boy, "That's all of them, area cleared."

"Good, secure the rest of the area," said Charles.

Afterward, Charles fell back, lying on his back. Walter, while performing CPR on Joseph, asked Charles, "How are you doing, Charles? You look like hell." Walter said sincerely

"Yeah, leg hurts like hell. Got a personal question for you, Walter. Do you have a wife?"

"Yeah, her name's Ethel."

"I bet she's the only person that can brighten your day in this dark world."

"Yup, love her to death. We met back in the NCR."

"I had a wife too, her name was Iris, We met back in CIT in the pre-war days." Charles said solemnly

"Sorry for your loss, Charles. Also question, what's CIT?"

"Commonwealth Institute of Technology, it was basically a university back in the pre war days, it was back East, not like yours in the NCR; this one was more advanced. "

"Advanced, like it gives a better education?" said Walter

"Yeah that and the interior was very modern, we also had the best tech there for students to experiment on, the tech was similar to New Vegas, maybe even better."

"Then the nukes destroyed everything." said Walter

"Yup that and the reds." Charles said seriously

"Reds?" said Walter

"The chinese communists, we were at war with them and we beat them back at anchorage Alaska by making this massive robot liberty Prime, I was head leader of the project for Robco while my Wife was a engineer on the thing, we also had this other rival company general atomics help on the project, US government brought us together to work on Liberty Prime, man those were the days."

"Well, as long as God is with us, then New Vegas and the NCR will surely prosper," Walter remarked optimistically.

Charles sighed deeply before responding, "God, if there is one, then he has forsaken us. It reminds me of the Germans. If you don't know who they are, Walter, just think of them as a different nation. Their slogan was 'Gott mit uns,' which roughly translates to 'God is with us.' But was God with them when they lost two wars?"

"Well, of course, faith isn't the only metric; it's armies and supplies. But if we don't have faith, then we won't win because faith brings us morale and guides us in the light of God's justice."

"Believe what you want, Walter, but New Vegas has stood as a city without the need for faith."

"Well, maybe it has faith; you just don't know it, Charles."

"Did faith make me a ghoul?" Charles interjected.

"Maybe, after all, you have preserved New Vegas for generations."

"Faith is a double-edged sword, I guess. The pain I feel throughout my 200 years is endless, both physically and mentally. The eyes of fear from people which I can't interpret as due to my authority or my biology, just like in the pre-war days when I had to prove I wasn't a red just because I looked like one. But I will admit I have much authority, along with my father, to change the wasteland for however long. But if you're suggesting faith or a higher power guided us, then no, I don't think so. It was the actions of mine, my family, and others that led me to the position I am in now."

Then on his pip boy Charles got a call from Karl and he said

"More enemies in this town."

"How many?" said Charles

"Locals have told us it's around 3 and they're holding hostages, about 3."

"Any demands?"
"Yup, they heard about our recent engagement with their buddies so they want out of here and they'll release the hostages."

"Out of the town huh, your choice but we're tied, I think we should let them go, we can't afford another engagement too risky it's only you, that 1 freeside agent and the securitron which I think the securitron could get the job done but it could cause collateral damage, but no it's too risky."

"Yeah plus it would hurt our image if these people die."

"Yeah, you have my authority, do what you will, I'm trusting you Karl."

"Yes sir."

Waiting for a few minutes while laying he then heard the footsteps on the abandoned area of the town that Charles was in.

He crawled to get a better view.

Charles assumed they were the iron gang because they held the hostages at gunpoint.

They then reached the gates of the town.

The people who stayed there had their guns raised when the securitrons told the people to lower their weapons. The 3 gang members told the securitron to open the gate, then it was opened and they went outside.

Then the whole gang besieging the town withdrew and then the gate was closed again, the rule of the iron gang had ended.

With a smile on his face Charles blacked out.