"Months at the earliest, Caesar," Malpaius replied with an apologetic tone. "Possibly years. The Enclave has so much information to go through that the Ala Miraculorum isn't ever sure where to begin. It'll be at least a few days before they can find a proper starting point."

"That's mostly because of the clean-up, though," T'Preea said. "The deathclaws, beasts, and madmen really did a number on the Enclave. It's mostly shovel and mop work which… I honestly did not think could be a thing when it came to people."

Meirune chuckles down at T'Preea, "The pack was allowed to go all out. This is what you get when we can let loose."

"Shovels and mops, though!" T'Preea sighed. "Next time just save us the trouble and eat them."

"Caesar has expressly forbidden the devouring of humans," Meirune reminded her. "Besides, clothing and armor doesn't taste good and is bad for our teeth."

"The deathclaw is worried about dental health?" Serena smirked.

"The deathclaw is worried about all aspects of his pack's well-being," Meriune did his best to stick his tongue out playfully. The jest, however, didn't quite stick since deathclaws couldn't really change their facial expressions much. So the gesture looked far more intimidating than he'd meant it.

"As well he should be," I smiled as I looked through all the paper personnel files that the Legion had managed to find so far. I'd been looking to find Seven's file to get information on him, double checking through the Legion's search of the files hoping that they'd missed something. It was a frustrating exercise in futility.

"What's the status on the inventory?" I asked as I set another disappointing file down to the side.

"That we have a better sense of," Serena answered with a smile. "Say what you will about the Enclave, but the kept meticulous inventory records. They redacted a lot when it came to their experiments and prototypes, but the mundane stuff? Weapons, ammo, armor, and all the way down to the paperclips are kept in very good order."

Malpaius leaned forward, "That being said, their records are based on each station within the facility. Each section had its own inventory, its own quartermasters, and thus its own set of records. It will take a few days to consolidate the records, then account for what they used during the battle. But Serena is right; the process should be extremely easy one once we've gotten all the missing information."

"Well, that's good to know," I chuckled as I grabbed another file and went through it. "That should help us move on faster."

"Our people will focus on updating you as far as the experiments are concerned," Brian said though a monitor. He was still in the Commonwealth, leading the Ala Miraculorum's efforts. "There are several which are nearly finished that we've gotten data on others which show real promise. There are a number, however, which go against Atom's edicts. I will flag them for you and send their data to you for your review."

I smiled at the monitor, "Thank you, Brian. The Ala Miraculorum never fails to live up to its reputation with you at its helm. What about the two priority assignments I sent you?"

Brian nodded and pulled a notepad from the side, "The people we have with you have sent any personnel data they could find to us. They have records going back centuries. We have found the file of the man you mentioned, but any information on him stops approximately four months after your encounter with him."

"Did he die?" I asked pointedly.

"That's unclear," Brian replied. "We've had the AI scour all the files, cross reference all the information we have, but as far we can tell the file just stops. No mention of death or injury. They simply just… stopped recording information on him."

I let out a sigh of frustration, "Damn… Is he a ghost or something?"

"Perhaps he abandoned the Enclave after his encounter with you, Caesar?" Eric offered from my right. "Maybe he realized he couldn't beat you and took the torching of your home as the only victory he could, then left the Enclave to go and hide?"

I shook my head, "Not a chance. You don't know him like I do. Burning my home and killing all those people were just his opening salvo. If we didn't find him here, then he's still out there somewhere, and he's still dangerous."

Eric bowed his head, "As you say, Caesar. I can only speak to how most would react when they angered you."

"Run and hide?" T'Preea laughed. "Yeah… I can see that."

"He's still working on something," I insisted. "And I don't want to be caught off guard when he makes his move. What about the other thing, Brian?"

"The Zetans? Yes…" Brian hummed. "There is information on them, but it's heavily encrypted. I will send you daily updates on what we discover. I will say that we've begun monitoring Earth's atmosphere as best we can using the information on their ships that we've managed to piece together."

"Has anything come of that?" Malpaius asked.

Brian nodded, "There are a significant number of signals in Earth's orbit."

I paused, looking around at the others who all were wondering what that meant. I looked at the monitor with some concern, "Define significant."

"Understand that our method of tracing the signals is still a work in progress, Caesar," Brian padded his explanation. "When we refine it, we'll be able to more precisely-"

"How many, Brian?" I interrupted him with a cold tone.

"Several thousand…" he said quickly. He hesitated as he continued his answer, "...Of the smaller ships the Legion has reported on."

"Your specificity tells me you have more to add," Serena interjected.

Brian cleared his throat, "Yes, Commander. There are several thousand of the ships the Legion has encountered, and hundreds of other similar signals… much… larger signals. And the ships we're familiar with originate from these larger signals."

"Alien motherships…" T'Preea gasped with a slight grin.

"Hundreds of them," Serena reminded here. "The smaller ships seem to be able to carry about five or ten occupants."

"That's upwards of at least one hundred twenty thousand zetans from the smaller ships alone," Meirune growled. "And not knowing how many more are on the larger ships means they would have superior numbers."

"And technology," Brian added with irritation. "We can figure out their tech if we can get a hold of some of it. But for now, we have no way matching what they have."

"Can you send me the data you have on the signals?" I asked. "All the information. What kind of energy they use and how you're able to trace it."

"Of course, Caesar," Brian nodded. "We'll have the data to you within the hour."

"What are you thinking?" Serena asked. "Maybe figuring out how to recreate it and craft ships able to utilize it?"

I shook my head, "No. That doesn't need to be the focus right now. I just feel like I should study it. How are we doing on establishing the facility as a military base?"

"I'm happy to say that's going fairly smooth," Serena replied. "It's already a secure base. The only real issue is figuring out how many people we want to leave here, familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the place, and ensuring we have reliable people to hold the place down in case any Enclave remnants want to try and take the place back."

"I'm hoping the next thing I hear is something like 'we'll be be ready inside of a month'," I looked between Serena and Malpaius.

Malpaius and Serena looked at each other, seemingly assessing their own mental estimations about their respective forces before nodding.

"A month should be more than enough, Caesar," Malpaius said. "Likely less."

I smiled sweetly, "Excellent! Now, we need to begin sending scouts west. I want assessments done on the New California Republic. Numbers, force deployments, notable bases of operations. Everything."

"What about other factions in between here and California?" T'Preea asked.

I let out an amused, nasally snicker, "They're too small to be any real threat. The NCR is the only real power in the west now that the Enclave is gone. We can handle their water barons easily enough, and crushing their economy will be child's play. But it's the NCR we need to focus on because they will not want to give up their power once we arrive. So I want the information to be as precise as possible."

Malpaius bowed his head, "I'll make sure they don't return without being sure they have all the information they can provide."

"I know we have at least a few men on the inside already," I said as I tapped the table. "I want all of their reports in my hands by the end of the day tomorrow. And I want them ready to sabotage things if we have to go to war with the NCR. Work with them to pick out critical targets."

"It will be done, Caesar," Malpius assured me.

"I'll provide transport for the scouts to get them where they need to be," Serena offered. "It will let us get the lay of the land before we need to head that way in force."

"An excellent suggestion," I smiled. "While your people are out there, have them start setting up communications towers. Don't go into NCR territory, but make sure they're close enough that the signals can reach well into their area of influence. We'll start sending broadcasts out as soon they're ready."

"We'll work on signal jamming," Brian offered. "We have some schematics that we can add to the towers that will let your broadcasts override whatever anyone else is listening to while you're actively broadcasting."

"A jamming signal will alert the NCR and other independent factions," Malpaius warned. "They won't take kindly to that and they'll likely send men out to hunt down, and destroy the source."

"Let the pack guard the towers," Meirune suggested. "Few humans wish to deal with a single deathclaw, but sewer still will want to get close to a group of them."

I chuckled, "And no human wants to get close to a group of heavily armored and armed deathclaws."

Meirune grinned at me, one of the few facial expressions he was capable of, "Precisely, Caesar. The Pack will be able to keep the towers safe until you're ready to move forward."

"Then it seems like we have it all sorted out," I smiled.

"What do we do till we get word back from the scouts?" T'Preea asked.

I gave everyone a cheshire grin, "I feel like gambling."