Rise of the House
Prologue

Bull and Bear over the Dam, at each others throats... but a light from Vegas? Ball spinning on the wheel, more than two at the table. Placing bets. All lose in different ways. A dam of corpses, towns of corpses, scattered across the sand. But whose in what shares? Even the dealer doesn't know. Forecast: A rain of blood will flood the desert and not purify it.
- The Forecaster

The Courier stood, his entire body little more than a walking corpse with Lanius' corpse, wearing his famous bronze armor, lay lifeless at his feet. A dark red cloud rolled over the already mars red sun, shrouding the entirety of the Legate's camp with a dim red light, blending with the blood of both Legionaries and NCR Rangers. Looking at the blend of colors, the Courier sighed. He knelt down and took off the Legate's helmet.

"May you find peace in death that you could not find in life," The Courier whispered before laying the body in a respectful position.

He limped downwards from the small hillside into a mishmash of tents and rusted parts scrounged up from God knows where. As the Courier went down the sandy path, stained in either the blood of the soldiers or scrap metal from his escort Securitron.

When the Courier arrived at the giant metal door, he struggled to take out a letter, courtesy of Mr. House. He waited and stepped forward. Immediately, a massive explosion rang through his ears, his eyes saw a quick and powerful flash, and the metal door was completely destroyed. As predicted, the NCR, specifically General Oliver, approached the Courier. He gave a hearty laugh as the smoke from the explosion seeped amongst General Oliver, the Courier, and Oliver's guards.

"Legion on the run, a damn fine job you've done...damn fine!" He exclaimed before re-examining the Courier. "You...you're Aiden Park! Helped the NCR in more ways than one I hear! Well you've been through a lot...and you look like [censored]. We'll get you back in fighting shape in no time. Survival of the strongest and the NCR proved it here today."

Aiden choked on some of his blood before smirking. "It isn't the strongest that survive...it is the one most adaptable to change."

With those words an armada of Securitrons stood behind Oliver and the 4 battle hardened NCR Veteran Rangers, two advancing on General Oliver. His very friendly and somewhat smug expression turned to confusion and anger.

"Wha...what the hell?"

Aiden choked out a response and showed him the new treaty of New Vegas with a shaky hand. "Sign this...and leave the Mojave alone," He said. Oliver snatched the paper away and read it out loud.

"Free economic zone of New Vegas...what the hell does that mean? Ah here we go...demands immediately NCR military withdrawal?! We just held the Dam!"

With an even shakier voice, the Courier responded, "This battle belongs to Vegas. The Mojave always had belonged to Las Vegas."

Oliver's expression changed again to anger. "No...I didn't come here just to retreat. If you want us to move, you better have a damn good right hook, and from the looks of it, you can barely even stand."

Aiden smirked again. "Why would I kill you? Just leave. If you kill me, your entire regiment will be destroyed...along with you. You're not a martyr...you want to live and so do I. Do the right thing."

A minute passed by. A long and painful minute as Oliver contemplated the scenario. Finally, he reluctantly nodded and growled. "Fine. Come on men."

As Oliver and his men left, one of the Securitrons that approached General Oliver from before changed his T.V screen face to Mr. House.

"Thanks to you, Vegas has a very bright future ahead of it. And so do you. Now what to do with the new monorail system with my new resources. I can make it run and run on time, always bothered me. "

Aiden smiled at the attempt at humor before collapsing on the ground.