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Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
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"DIE, DAMN PROFLIGATE" I shouted as I wrestled with one of the security guards of this vault, who for some damn reason was unbelievably strong.
I managed to mount her. With all my body weight pressing down, I drove the machete against her neck. I felt the resistance of flesh and muscle fighting the blade as she tried to shove me off.
"Help me… do something… ahggggg…" the guard screamed, looking toward one of the men who was trying to open a safe.
I ignored her cries. I clenched my teeth and forced the machete deeper. The edge finally tore through the meat. With a muffled roar, I dragged the blade and opened her throat. Blood burst out violently, soaking my chest and face. With a brutal motion, I finished the cut. The head separated from the body. I grabbed it by the helmet and threw it aside while her blood still splattered across the floor.
"Stay back… stay back" a man in a white coat shouted, holding a pistol with trembling hands. His eyes darted from me to the lifeless head of the woman who had tried to protect him.
"Oh… look at you shaking in fear" I said, watching the blood drip slowly from my machete.
"Damn savage" he spat before firing.
The impact slammed into my chest. It did not pierce me, but I felt it. Without hesitation, I charged him. The recoil nearly knocked him off balance. He tried to aim at me again.
I leaned forward and dropped low at the last instant. The shot went wide. I felt no impact against the armor; I had evaded it. Before he regained control of his arms, I was already on top of him. I seized his wrist and twisted the pistol away from my direction.
"No… no… please… no…" he began to beg while uselessly trying to break free.
I smashed his face with the handle of the machete. I felt his nose collapse under the blow. I struck him again, and a third time. The skull gave way. He dropped without resistance.
"Damn idiot… doesn't know how to use a firearm" I muttered as I opened the ammunition compartment to check how many rounds he had left.
I heard footsteps approaching, someone panting. I raised the pistol and aimed at the entrance.
"Centurion Quintus finally I find you" one of my legionaries said, covered in blood and breathing hard.
"What is happening" I asked while searching the safe and finding more ammunition and another pistol.
"The profligates have locked themselves inside a castra with metal doors. We cannot get in. And some of them are tough as nails. It is taking us great effort to bring them down" the legionary replied, still bleeding from fresh wounds.
"Yes I noticed. That woman was enormous, but she still fell" I said, pointing at the decapitated body of the guard who stood over two meters tall.
I handed him the extra pistol. "Do you know how to use one of these"
"No my centurion I have never had that privilege" he answered.
"Take it. Aim and pull the trigger. If when you fire you hear a scream, it means you hit" I told him, placing the loaded weapon in his hands while preparing the second one.
"Where are the others" I asked while patting my armor and finding the bullet lodged between the steel and the mail.
We advanced toward the sealed entrance. On the way, I saw the scattered bodies of my legionaries mixed with those of the vault guards and several men and women in white coats who had barely known how to defend themselves.
"Here centurion" one of the decanus said, reorganizing our men before a massive steel door.
"Where are the other centurions of the cohort" I asked while examining the lock.
"Clearing the rest of the place of profligates" the decanus replied.
"Good. Let us see what I can do with this door" I said, stepping toward the terminal that controlled the mechanism.
"Can you open it. We do not have enough explosives and it is too thick to pierce with picks" the decanus added.
I gave a faint smile as I studied the panel.
'These types are my tribe… maybe a different branch, but my tribe nonetheless… only these did not have the privilege of being captured by Lord Caesar' I said, and when I spoke those last words my right eye twitched.
The console returned an error. It required a higher authorization level than the one who had sealed the door.
I began scanning the room and finally found several white coats wearing security identification. I quickly noticed they carried different authorization levels.
"Good. I need a hand and the credential" I said, grabbing a lifeless body. With one stroke, I cut off the hand and placed it on the biometric reader. "Also an eye"
I lifted the corpse, held the eyelid open with my fingers and pressed it against the retinal scanner. Then I placed the security identification. The system emitted a deep tone, and the door began to open once the security seal activated by the survivors was lifted.
The doors started to part slowly, and my entire century formed around me, preparing to charge.
As soon as they opened fully, there was a group of seven guards with assault rifles who immediately began firing.
"TRUE TO CAESAR" I roared at the top of my lungs.
At once several spears cut through the air as the rifles began to spit fire. The first line fell immediately as we advanced, but two guards were skewered by spears before collapsing.
I raised the pistol and blew one of the guards' heads apart.
Instantly all the fire concentrated on me. I heard multiple rounds ricochet off the armored sections of my armor, where I wore plates torn from one of the many paladins of the Brotherhood of Steel I had killed.
I took cover behind one of the nearby steel pillars and watched more legionaries fall under the assault rifle fire. I stepped out of cover and returned fire at the guards, and they began retreating at a run.
It did not take long before the fastest legionaries seized the rifles and started firing back at the defenders until they ran out of ammunition, then tossed the weapons aside again.
I kept moving, overseeing the steady advance. It seemed they had no guards left to block our path, since they were either dead or dying with a spear through their abdomen.
The legionaries began clearing the place room by room, screams echoing as they started taking captives. When the gunfire ceased, I walked through the facility trying to remember the layout of the vault where I once lived, searching for the armory since that would be the most valuable thing they could possess.
But this place was nothing like the vault I remembered. Here it seemed they had not been forced to fight for survival, for food or water. Nothing suggested they had been killing one another.
My vault was a jungle ruled by the strongest. My group had become dominant because we survived every trial and expanded over time, slaughtering the other dwellers to take their resources. This did not look like a cluster of internal fortresses, but rather something closer to the medical sector of a vault.
At last I reached a room that looked important. No one had followed me, which meant I could keep certain things that would normally be forbidden and burned if discovered, like a stimpack or some more advanced medicine, since I could not keep relying on healing powder forever.
I opened the sealed door using only the security authorization. The first thing I saw were white coated figures frozen in terror, but all their eyes were fixed to my left.
I rushed in and swung my machete. I felt a heavy impact on my shoulder as a rifle round struck my armor, yet a massive spray of blood covered me again when I severed an artery.
I sensed movement behind me. When I turned, another guard was aiming his rifle at me.
I charged him immediately, raising the pistol and firing, but I did not stop him; his finger remained hooked on the trigger.
A storm of bullets tore into me. The pain was unbearable. The weapon finally slipped from his hands after firing wildly, since I had shattered his skull with a shot driven straight through his eye sockets.
I looked down as heat spread across my torso. It was riddled with bleeding holes.
"Shit… no…" I tried to speak, but my vision blurred from the pain. I scanned the room and my eyes locked onto something I recognized once they focused.
"You… give me the stimpack" I said, leaning back against the wall while keeping the pistol aimed.
I began gasping, tasting metal in my mouth.
"The stimpack" I repeated.
"It is not a stimpack it is—" one of them began.
I blew his head apart.
"I did not ask what it is… just hand it over" I said through clenched teeth.
The others started pressing a series of buttons.
"We cannot give it to him" one of them said, closing his eyes.
Breathing grew harder. I opened my eyes and shot three of them.
Until one of the women in a white coat approached, holding the stimpack
I let my machete fall while still gripping the pistol, and tore the stimpack from her hand It was blue, I had never seen one like that, but it did not matter I could not die like this
I injected the stimpack
Instead of easing the pain, my entire body ignited My muscles locked, the pistol slipped from my hands, and I slowly began to collapse
"Take the gun and shoot him…" I heard someone say as consciousness slipped away
"The serum should already be lethal… it would kill anyone as mutated by radiation as they are… seal the door and let us hope the rest of the savages leave" I heard as everything turned black
This cannot end… like this… so many years…
I fought since I was a child By eight, I was already taking part in the fights inside the vault to keep them from cutting our water or shutting down the hydroponic farms, even after my entire family had died in the vault's internal wars
Then, when Caesar's Legion captured us, I endured legionary training Two years of pure hell I had to listen to those women repeat that the old Caesar was the son of a god They tried to force into my skull that the old man was divine, but he was nothing more than someone who had deceived thousands
Quintus… the name Caesar gave me for killing five men in my first battle, leaving behind my real name Klaus, the one my parents had given me
Years serving, killing, taking prisoners for a man who proclaimed himself a god
Until I was granted the honor of replacing one of the Red Okie Centuria, formed by the old timers of the Legion Each wore centurion armor reinforced with pieces of power armor torn from their victims The best of the best, baddest of the bad, Men who bit iron and spat nails
But I was still Caesar's slave.
Until he died.
A disease took him.
Even when we fought like rabid animals at Camp Golf, and killed dozens of NCR rangers, watching their recruits flee in terror… even when Forlorn Hope fell and its base camp was attacked by profligates… the Legion lost at Hoover Dam.
And without its Caesar, the Legion collapsed.
Multiple self proclaimed Caesars, who claimed to be his heir, rose up, and the prosperous Legion died. Everything began to grow scarce. Some of those false Caesars seized control of the armor factories, the forges, the farms. Hunting was not even possible anymore, because inside Legion territory there was nothing left to hunt. We exterminated every last vermin, or it was simply lost when the Legion's subjects rebelled.
That was the reason I was here. With a cohort, and the shadow of the Red Okie Centuria, because all its veterans were dead or had joined other Caesars, fighting among themselves. Only a group of novices remained, who did not honor what the great Okie Centuria once was.
We had to put Phoenix back in its place, because it was rebelling again. After crucifying its leaders, and killing those who supported them, we discovered they had kidnapped people from the city. We tracked the kidnappers to this vault, where we expected them to come back out.
Instead, we charged inside.
And now it seems everything is over.
Suddenly, everything turned white.
"The losers do not matter in history books… they are a fucking footnote" a voice said, making me turn sharply.
"Ca… Caesar… but… I saw you dead…" I said, watching him seated on his throne, staring directly at me.
"Did you?… Yet here I am… It seems you have lost the manners that were beaten into you for addressing me only by my name" he said, rising slightly on his throne.
"Fuck you, damned old man. You are not a god… and you are dead" I said, pointing at him.
"I never said I was a god. Only that I am the son of one… Quintus" Caesar replied, without breaking his gaze.
"Pathetic old man. You are the great loser… defeated twice. At least I have the honor of dying in combat" I answered, with a smile.
"Who cares? I tried to offer the wasteland a better solution, both to the anarchy of raiders and tribes, and to the rampant corruption of the NCR, its extreme bureaucracy, the senatorial struggles… but now no one cares. I am a footnote in the books" Caesar said, more seriously.
"Your solution was to enslave half the world and crucify the rest, like you did with my tribe?" I asked, staring at him.
"Oh, how grand coming from you… When I found you beneath Flagstaff, you were killing each other. The only reason you were not enslaving one another was because there were no resources to feed more mouths. But if you had them, you surely would have respected the cyclical movement of history… and my idea of Vegas. How do I put this basically enough? It is a philosophical theory, the kind you might encounter if you took time to read some books. The fundamental premise is to envision history as a sequence of dialectical conflicts. Each dialectic begins with a proposition, a thesis… which inherently contains or creates its opposite, an antithesis. Thesis and antithesis. The conflict is inevitable. But the resolution of the conflict yields something new, a synthesis, eliminating the flaws in each, leaving behind common elements and ideas."
"The creation of a strong army to protect its people, and the power of its dictator, only that would guarantee order, and stabilize it in the long term… eliminating every semblance of individualism in favor of those ideals" Caesar continued.
"And why are you telling me all this? We are already dead… the fact that we are speaking confirms it" I said, staring at him.
"I am… you… are only visiting me… but here I have my opportunity for my vision to endure. Even if I will only be a footnote in the history books… I will be the beginning of a great empire through you… my successor" Caesar said, extending his fist.
"What are you do—?" I tried to say, until my head was flooded with images. Paintings, buildings, landscapes, memories of books.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHGG!" I screamed, clutching my head.
"You will know what to do when you see it. Taurus vincet" Caesar said, as he faded away.
In an instant, everything became blurred, and I saw the white coated figures, nervous, while I heard pounding and distant screams.
"Ahg… my head…" I said, rising to my feet.
They all turned toward me.
"He stood up… he stood up…"
"That is impossible, he should be dead…"
"It worked…" said the most astonished of them. "Shoot him now."
When I finally managed to focus my sight, I saw them unleash a burst from an assault rifle into me, feeling my body pierced again, until the weapon ran out of ammunition.
Suddenly, the bullets began to push out of my flesh, and my wounds started to close. I heard the sound of the tips hitting the floor.
"What have we created?" one of them said.
"The blessings of Lord Caesar… the bastard truly was the son of the god Mars" I said, staring at my hands.
My eyes locked onto the terrified dwellers. One by one, I began to beat them to death. I felt better than ever. I had never felt stronger in my life. My body felt light, and with brutal ease, I could crush any of their skulls without much effort, by slamming their heads against the walls.
Within seconds, the eight who remained alive were dead.
Covered in blood, I opened the doors.
A mass of legionaries, decanus, and centurions greeted me, as they were trying to force their way in.
"Centurion Quintus, what were you doing in there with the profligates?" one of the centurions asked.
"While I was killing them, I had a vision that rendered me unable to fight… Lord Caesar spoke to me from the realm of his father, and handed me the torch of his ideals, proclaiming me his successor" I said, raising my hands.
"Like the rest of the Caesars who claim to be his successors?" one of the few remaining veterans of the Red Okie Centuria said, one who remembered the true Caesar.
"Shoot me and witness the power Lord Caesar has given me" I said with a smile as I lowered the bandana from my mouth.
Without hesitation one of the centurions drew his pistol and fired into my chest where I no longer had armor, my plating had been destroyed by the assault rifle fire.
I felt the impact.
I watched the tip of the bullet push out of my body and the wound begin to close at an alarming pace.
They all widened their eyes when they saw it.
"AVE CAESAR" a legionary shouted.
"CAESAR DICTATOR" a decanus roared.
"CAESAR… CAESAR… CAESAR…" all the legionaries and officers began chanting, raising their weapons.
"This is not the time to celebrate. We must loot this place. Search everything. After that we will decide what comes next."
We quickly began stripping the facility bare. I knew how many of these things worked and they would be vital if we wanted to secure the resources to rebuild the Empire of the Legion. With several false Caesars proclaimed we would have to fight hard to rebuild. We did not have many firearms, nor many men. Ammunition was scarce.
But in my mind I carried memories of Rome of the past. We would rebuild. And we would be stronger before striking the NCR again.
The looting continued until we finally found a massive chamber where a strange gigantic machine stood.
"You, what is this?" I asked, staring at the machine since I had never seen anything like it.
"An experiment… it is a passage… we do not know where it leads… we have sent many, but none have returned" the dweller said.
"You will know what to do when you see it" I repeated Caesar's words.
"Turn it on" I ordered, looking at the machine.
"You are not going to—" he tried to say.
I punched him in the face.
"I did not ask you. I ordered you" I replied coldly.
"Ahg… you broke my nose…" the dweller said, covering his face as blood ran down.
"Obey or I will break something else" I said without taking my eyes off him.
The man began pressing buttons. The machine started to awaken.
"No one has ever returned… we tried to bring them back, but we have failed" he said, still bleeding.
"And still we will all enter" I answered with a grin.
I summoned every man under my command. We gathered everything we had: slaves, supplies, frumentarii under my authority. I even brought everything I could strip from Phoenix and took as many legionary recruits as possible from the city's training grounds.
Without waiting long when the machine opened a kind of blue beam of light I began forcing the slaves inside and sent a centurion first ensuring that all of us would enter with me last.
We left nothing but an empty shell of the vault sealing its doors behind us.
I felt a sensation in my body difficult to describe. When I opened my eyes again I saw that we were inside a cave.
I noticed that all who had passed before me were outside for some reason on their knees hands extended forward.
When I stepped out I understood why.
The sun did not burn or sting. It was gentle. When I breathed the air was not dry or suffocating. It was fresh and clean. Though we were nearly surrounded by mountains we could see a valley where a crystal clear river was born from those peaks and flowed through a green valley toward a vast city.
"Another gift from Lord Caesar who watches over our campaign" I said closing my eyes and savoring the climate.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------