A Dead Land

Camp Navarro: NCR/Brotherhood Joint Military Base - 0900 hours

Five years after the cloud arrived, the Navarro facility stands as a joint base of operations for the combined Brotherhood and NCR efforts to stop Elijah and the advance of the deadly blood-red mist. Brotherhood scribes, paladins and knights intermingle with NCR personnel and scientists. A small fleet of vertibirds sits parked in the hangers and runways of the old base: the remnants of the NCR's airforce. A large fence and protective laser turrets surround its perimeter and located just outside that perimeter is a sad sight indeed: a tent city has grown up all around the base full of starving and despondent refugees from the NCR territories which have already been overrun by the cloud. Some of them are the families of soldiers inside the base. Similar refugee camps can be found across the NCR's lands at this point. As so many have lost their home and more.

The bulk of the facility lies underground, where most of the personnel are located. Your team has just arrived from various parts of the NCR and Brotherhood controlled areas. You've all volunteered to take part in a final mission to try and break the cloud and kill the man responsible for all the death that has been wrought over the past five years: knowing full well the chances of your success.

Each of the team members has been given a small private room where they have been staying the past couple of days. So far, the team has been kept apart and has not been able to interact much if at all. You've simply been waiting for the orders to come down and for you to be deployed to the Cloud.

Today is the day.

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Head-Paladin Solomon Redford

Solomon sat with his hands clutched tightly around a pair of dog-tags, an opened bottle of absinthe sat on the cold metal nightstand to the right of his bunk, while his gear lay strewn about his room. His head was lowered and eyes glaring at the floor as pulled out a small Sierra Madre chip and twirled it around in his hand. Deep scars and chemical burns covered his face, arms, and legs.

"Elijah", He mumbled quietly to himself.

His strange sort of meditation was interrupted by a knock on the door, and then the sounds of the metal door to his room opening. Before him stood an elderly man in a blue robe. Solomon stood up and gave the man a salute,

"Elder Corwen. Good to see you sir."

The Elder looked around the room and raised an eyebrow at the large green bottle sitting on the nightstand. He said nothing however, as he had known of Solomon's drinking for quite some time. The man was unable to let go of the past and what he had lost, and truthfully the Elder couldn't blame him,

"Its time Solomon. Command has ordered your team to gather in the debriefing room immediately. They've sent a few people to gather them up. Get your gear together and meet me there. I'd like you to be with me when we greet them."

Finally, Solomon thought to himself. The constant waiting around the facility for the past few days had begun to take its toll on him. He was ready to go,

"...and Solomon," Elder Corwen added, a sympathetic look on his face "Perhaps you should leave the bottle here...."

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Several minutes later- Navarro Debriefing Room

After he had gathered up his equipment, Solomon went directly to the debriefing room and took his place standing beside Elder Corwen, who sat at the head of a long table. The room was empty aside from the two of them and dimly lit. A large screen was placed on the wall directly behind the Elder.

Patiently, they waited for the team to arrive.

OOC: You can go ahead and have a messenger come to your rooms (or wherever you are in the base) and ask you to meet in the briefing room. Members of the Brotherhood will likely recognized Elder Corwen as the leader of the Circle of Steel.

Richard Allemande - Camp Navarro

He could hear footsteps. The hangar was completely interconnected -- every movement seemed to affect the entire underground facility. It was noisy...dike hated the place. There was plenty of alcohol, which was a good pass-time but did not fill the lonely days in his chambers. There were pencils on the small desk in the corner of the room. He had a journal, but so far, nothing was worthy of the limited space on its pages. Thus, he only listened. The heavier footsteps belonged to the grunts -- the guards of this place, who walked symmetrically with each other. Those were the only ones he could discern. The rest were rushed, erratic, and lighter. Perhaps they belonged to officials scurrying about. He didn't know. dike knew nothing other than his purpose. He was there to put a bullet in the man who had poisoned his world.

As of late, dike had dreamed about Father Elijah. Rumors among NCR soldiers and rangers painted a sorry picture -- a horribly deformed man with a twisted appearance and evil features. In his dreams, dike Allemande only saw a man. He had never before seen Elijah, so he worked from a blank state. He only saw a man. He didn't choose how this man would appear in his dreams, so it was safe to say that it was an amalgamation of people he knew. It scared the living daylight out of him to think that a man as twisted and horrible as the fabled Elijah could be no different than any man he had known in his life. But that was it -- Father Elijah was only a man. "Immortal ghosts" aside, it would only take a single well-placed bullet to put him in the ground. That was all that mattered. What would happen after -- how they would get rid of the cloud? That was up to his successors. Not him. Not his job. This was Richard Allemande's last nod to the NCR.

"Ranger Allemande?" hollered a voice as a hard knock on the door came in unison. dike liked hearing that. It had been years since he had been addressed as a soldier of the NCR.

"Come in."

A short man clad in a scribe's robe shuffled through the door. "You are requested in the debriefing room."

Finally. dike nodded. "Of course. I'll be there in a minute." The short man smiled in response and left, closing the door behind him. dike debated whether or not to wear his black armor. It would give him an intimidating appearance, but there was no reason for it. He left it hung up in the room closet and parted ways with the private chambers clad in his gray suit-jacket and slacks.

Navarro Debriefing Room

dike took a seat at one of the sides of the long table. An Elder sat at one end, a paladin next to him. He slowly let his eyes wander toward the screen, which held his intrigue. Barring the two men at the end of the table, the place was empty. He frowned. A job like this. The least you could [censored] do is show up on time. Or was this it? No...Not possible. They wouldn't have prepared a table this large for him and him alone.

General Lee Oliver- Debriefing Room

After the Ranger had taken his seat, a few seconds of silence passed before the door to the debriefing room opened and a man in a tan officer's uniform with a brown tie stepped inside followed by an NCR private carrying a small stack of papers. The two-headed bear of the NCR was emblazoned on his officer's cap, which he removed and set aside on the table. A 9mm sidearm sat holstered at his waist,

"Hand me those papers Private," he said, turning to the young soldier standing next to him.

Elder Corwen gave a nod as the man sat down, "General Oliver," the Elder said simply, acknowledging the General's arrival.

"Elder Corwen," Oliver replied likewise, not looking up from the stack of papers he was now rifling through. The General turned and looked towards the seated Ranger.

"Richard Allemande is it?" Oliver said with an impressed whistle, "Damn fine little resume you got here Ranger. That's good, you're going to [censored] need it thats for sure. Says here you've had a few problems these last few years. Dropped off the map for awhile. And an early retirement too. What happened there? Actually don't answer that, you don't need to tell me. Doesn't really matter at this point. All that matters is whats going to happen going forward. Ain't that right?"

Richard Allemande - Camp Navarro Briefing Room

dike stood and saluted General Oliver as he entered the room before sitting back down.

"....all that matters is what's going to happen going forward. Ain't that right?" hollered General Oliver from across the table. dike stared at him for a good while, even after the man finished speaking.

"A lot had to fall through for me to get here," said dike. He got up, tossed a few ice cubes into a glass, and poured some rye. He sat back down. "...I retired early." He took a sip. "If that suggests a lack of character...Don't let it. I didn't have a choice. The NCR and my wife decided in unison that it was ill-advised for me to continue serving." He chuckled and took another sip. "Yet here I am."

dike finished the glass of rye and set the glass down. His eyes wandered a little. A paladin in power armor passed through the hallway and dike reached for an imaginary sidearm in reflex. He has unarmed and helpless. He took a deep breath. They aren't the enemy anymore... dike stood back up and poured himself another drink. "I'm hoping that I'm not all the NCR had to offer for this little job," he hollered.

OOC: I think you might have gotten mixed up a bit there Gingy. General Lee Oliver entered the room and addressed the Ranger. Not the Head Paladin. Sorry, should have made that a bit clearer.

General Lee Oliver/ Elder Corwen

Robert LeGault- Camp Navarro, Air Filtration Systems

Robert awoke from his nightmare, reliving the horror of seeing his beloved hometown of New Vegas a desolate wasteland. He almost exhaled a sigh of horror before his body told him he was on the job. He'd spent days in the base, avoiding guards and waiting, patiently like the spider for its prey. 'Alright, Oliver. You destroyed Vegas? Now I'm going to break you and your precious NCR...' he awoke, his face mopped in sweat from the warmth of the shaft as the AC hadn't been on for a while in this section it seemed. He crawled unendingly through the maze, following the map he'd seen in the architectural plans on a server in the secure data storage rooms as best he could remember. Finally he heard muffled but audible voices from below. "Hell no. "We've got a few more personnel coming yet. I've got another Ranger listed here along with an enlisted man. They'll be coming...unless they lost their nerve of course." Robert knew the voice from hearing others talking to it, it was Oliver, no mistake. Oliver's voice continued once more. "How about the Brotherhood? Where's your volunteers?" Another voice replied in turn, "Our Brothers and Sisters will be here, Have no fear General." That's when Robert smirked to himself as he thought bitterly with joy, 'On the contrary, my friend. The General has everything to fear.'. Robert pulled out a tranquilizer pistol, fitted with darts filled with just enough radscorpion venom to slowly (and painfully) knock a person out, but not enough to kill. Robert slowly pulled back the slide so it wouldn't echo in the duct then dropped as quickly as he could down below. He saw Brotherhood in Power Armor but no helmets, but headshots would risk killing them and they weren't the target. He saw NCR Rangers, likely bodyguards of Oliver and fired at each, one in the arm, the other in the shoulder. The chaos obviously started the Brotherhood complacent in security they thought they had when he dropped in, giving him extra seconds to scout the room's placements. He lunged past the Elder, grabbing Oliver and hit him over the head before he could reach for the 9mm pistol in his holster. Robert threw the dart gun aside an took the pistol, placing it to Oliver's temple, holding him as a shield. Oliver tried to grip Robert's clothes, but the Chinese Stealth Suit left nothing loose to grab. Robert's cold eyes glinted professionalism and angry fire as he looked around, no smiles or witty remarks as he kept his head behind Oliver's to prevent any headshots. "Everyone put your weapons down or Oliver dies! My business is with NCR, not the Brotherhood. Refuse to comply and Oliver dies, as he should have after Hoover Dam. You have ten seconds to comply 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

General Lee Oliver/Elder Corwen/Solomon Redford

One moment Oliver was sitting ruffling through papers, and the next he was one the ground, having been knocked to the floor by some unknown assailant who had seemed to come out of nowhere. Confusion filled the room as the NCR Private who served as his assistant fumbled desperately for his 10mm and pointed it at the attacker with a shaking hand. Likewise, Elder Corwen and Solomon were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the man. Solomon immediately reached for his plasma defender,

"Guards!" Corwen called, "Intruder!" A pair of Paladins rushed into the room with laser rifles drawn, following by an NCR Ranger with a revolver. Everyone had their weapons fixed on the strange individual,

"Let the General go, NOW," Solomon ordered.

"Everyone put your weapons down or Oliver dies! My business is with NCR, not the Brotherhood. Refuse to comply and Oliver dies, as he should have after Hoover Dam. You have ten seconds to comply 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

"Whoa, whoa, hold it!" Oliver called out, interrupting his countdown, "Just how the hell did you get in here anyway? And what do you want? How about you just slow the [censored] down and lets talk like men, huh? Man to man, no guns. What do you say?"

Despite the stealth suit the man was wearing, Oliver could nearly feel the cold hateful glare of the stranger's eyes,

"At least have the decency to tell me why you want me dead, before you pull that trigger," he added, "You working with Elijah?"

Robert LeGault- Camp Navarro, Briefing Room

Robert held fast as Oliver wiggled in his grip, "Whoa, whoa, hold it! Just how the hell did you get in here anyway? And what do you want? How about you just slow the [censored] down and lets talk like men, huh? Man to man, no guns. What do you say?" Robert whacked Oliver over the back of the skull to shut him up, "I'm the one holding you. You're a hostage, not a PoW, you're in no position to question me. Understand?" Oliver gave a slight nod, "At least have the decency to tell me why you want me dead, before you pull that trigger," he paused then added another question, "You working with Elijah?" Robert only eyed the room patiently, watching for who might try and pull the trigger, the question obviously unnerved them as they awaited an answer. "I might be." This seemed to make the room even more tense it seemed. "All of you! Out! That is a non-negotiable order." They obviously weren't about to, but they left the room in apparent hopes it'd disarm the situation. He pushed Oliver to the door in front of him and gripped for one of the gears this side of the door, making it unopenable. He wasn't any kinder to Oliver as he strapped the man down with a roll of duct tape from a nearby supply cabinet in the room.

Robert pulled back the slide for dramatic effect and aimed it at Oliver, "Here's how this will unfold, Lee. You're going to answer my questions. If I think you're lying...." He put the gun down and went for the Gerber Mark II on the side of his leg. "I'll cut your kneecap out and put it in your mouth to remind you what happens when you lie." He put the knife back in its sheathe and continued. "But I trust it won't come to this." He leaned on a table and began. "First, before I kill you, I will answer your questions, then your turn." John coughed into his glove, dust from the vents rattling back up it seemed. "Firstly, you'd be surprised what kinds of things a man learns spending two days in your vents. What I want is to kill you after I get my answers. Now it's your turn, Lee." He unsheathed the knife to remind Oliver of the situation. "First, who or what is an Elijah?" Robert then became visibly upset, "Secondly, why the HELL did your people destroy Vegas? I worked it out again and again and again and again and no matter what, every question I tried to answer all pointed at NCR." He grew visibly angry at this and slapped Oliver and clearly lost the cold composure and looked minutes from abandoning being fair to Oliver and just shooting him, "TELL ME!" Robert cried in a voice so loud others outside likely heard it.

General Lee Oliver

Collie "Big Bear" Entragian

Arriving a bit later than the others to the alarm Collie nudged his way to the front, though due to his size these nudges were a bit more than nudges and he received a few annoyed looks from those who had arrived earlier. Listening in to the pvssyr he learned what had happened and prepared himself to help "defuse" the situation.

The charge went on the door, primary explosive in the center linked by wire to smaller charges at the four corners, and someone said something about 30 seconds. That sounded just fine to him.

It was strange standing side by side with the Brotherhood, but that was something he knew he had better get used to in a hurry. Rifle was too hefty and too inaccurate to be of any use, just as well, he gripped the centerpiece of his brass knuckles and threaded his fingers through, turning around and grinning in spite of himself.

Robert LeGault- Camp Navarro, Briefing Room

Robert listened but his face turned to anger. "NO! You're full of crap! All this work! FOR NOTHING!" Robert threw Oliver's gun across the room, discharging and firing harmlessly into the ceiling. He paced, hands crossed trying to make sense of it all. He unholstered the knife, wanting to kill Oliver, to tell himself he'd killed the enemy, but Oliver was right and he was too angry to have noticed before, the Brotherhood and NCR were at war, yet here they were in bed together. Robert closed his eyes and exhaled a deep breath to calm himself down and he reached to Oliver and uncut the tape. "I...I'm sorry about...this..." Robert put the knife in front of him on the table and his head in his hands. "I've spent at least three years since I came back from a mission to find my hometown haunted. It had ghosts and....and these things...with eyes that glow. I've spent all this time suspecting NCR did this. I listened to rumours....had to know...." Then suddenly he remembered and gripped his knife and paced the room in front of the door. "This Elijah? Where is he? I want to find him, to take what he stole from me a-" He was interrupted when the door behind him blew open and the force of the blast knocked him backwards to the table, hitting his head everything went white and gasped before falling unconcious, his mind flooded with the word 'Elijah' over an over as his thoughts demanded to know who he was.

((OOC: Sorry to CC the blast being stronger than likely planned, I just figured this would be a fun way to fail Robert's plan (On top of already failing to finger the wrong people for Vegas. ) ))

General Lee Oliver

"This Elijah? Where is he? I want to find him, to take what he stole from me a-"

The man holding him hostage seemed to actually be on the verge of apologizing and was with grief and disbelief for a few seconds before the blast charge on the door fired and knocked the man back, and unconscious. NCR soldiers and Brotherhood Paladins streamed in, surrounding the intruder and helping Oliver to his feet,

"Damn idiot," Oliver said as he stood up, and brushed his uniform off. He grabbed his cap and placed it back on his head, "Had to do things the hard way."

"Should we shoot him sir?"

"No, get him to his feet and tie him to that chair, I think we might have a use for him other than dead meat..." Oliver commanded, "Alllemande," he pointed to the Ranger, "and Entragian," He pointed to the hulking solider, "Keep a gun to his head. He tries to make a move....put a bullet in him."

"Now..." Oliver continued, "Where were we?" The general took his seat as if nothing had happened.

Richard Allemande - Camp Navarro, Briefing Room

dike remained still and calm throughout the attack. The hopeless man was outnumbered from the moment he had stepped in; no need for dike to strain himself before the journey ahead. As the odd assailant gave up, dike folded his arms and smirked a little bit.

"Get him to his feet and tie him to that chair, I think we might have a use for him other than dead meat..." Oliver commanded, "Alllemande," he pointed to the Ranger, "and Entragian," He pointed to the hulking solider, "Keep a gun to his head. He tries to make a move....put a bullet in him."

Then, dike drew his sequoia and set it on the table. "With pleasure, General." He kept his eyes fixed on the assailant.

"Where were we?" The general took his seat as if nothing had happened.

dike shrugged, threw his hands in the air, and let them fall in his lap. "Father Elijah...Good ways to kill him...You know. The important [censored]."

Charlette Turner-Private Quarters

Charlette was incredibly bored inside the cold metal room. She picked her knife up off the stainless steel nightstand and started sharpening it off the metal frame of her bed. This room was like a prison cell, she only got to leave when there were meals and never spoke to anyone she saw. She had scratched the amount of days on the wall every night before bed so she wouldn't lose track of the date. She had carved out a little over a week's worth of tally marks, which seems like a short time but in this facility it felt like years.

Charlette rested the knife back on the nightstand. She lied down on the firm bed and stared up at the dim light that was letting out a low buzz. She let her mind wander thinking about rumors of the Cloud. You've heard the rumors of the Sierra Madre. We all have, the legends, the curses. Foolishness about it lying in the middle of- Charlette was remembering the old tales about the City of the Dead. Her train of thought was cut short by a loud knocking at her door.

She answered the door, standing in front of her was some lowly scribe. "They require you in the briefing room Ms. Turner," the wimp stood there with an impatient look on his face.

"I'll be just a second," Charlette said pushing him out of the doorway. She grabbed her knife and decided to at least put her trench coat on over her civilian clothing. "Lead the way," she gestured for the scribe to carry on. The whole facility was just as drab as her room, endless metal halls with dim lighting. The scribe opened the door for Charlette and she didn't bother to thank him.

As she entered the room some man was being tied up. "Who's that unlucky bastard?!" Charlette called out.

Richard Allemande - Camp Navarro, Briefing Room

dike turned to the door and grimaced. "Him? Tried to kill our General here. Hardly unlucky. He's still drawing breath." He took a closer look at the woman whom had entered. She was by no standards young -- middle-aged perhaps, if not around his age. Charlette donned the trenchcoat of the NCR's black armor. So, the rangers sent another. He smirked and nodded contently. Seems like the NCR is going to be doing the legwork if there's not one, but *two* vets here... Nice.

"This tied-up, unconscious man is a distraction. Shouldn't we formulate your master plan in peace?"