» Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:59 pm The State of Kimball
By Thomas Jones
Prologue
I'm Thomas Jones and this is my account of the Mojave after the Second Battle of the Hoover Dam. After a long proacted struggle with the Hub Times to get my report released in full, I have decided to independently release it for the public. There are many, including supporters of the Kimball administration, who don't want this account told, but in the name of truth it must be.
Many NCR soldiers have died for the Mojave, all for a Dam that now runs at half the efficiency as before the war. With Kimball dead, martyrdom has ascended his legacy and now the NCR is blowing full steam into Baja. As our nation moves forward, and as we continue to expand there are only two questions that must still be answered. The first being was it worth it?
To help me answer that question I went on a journey throughout the Mojave in discovery of the truth. Accompanying me on this trip was my life long friend Maria Weber and hired bodyguard with only a first name, Barry. As time goes on, and people's focus fades, we should all remember the lives given for our freedom, and for our safety, and ask the most important question. What are they dying for.
ACT ONE
Chapter one
Bureaucracy, bureaucracy never changes.
On the way to the Mojave region speaking with random travelers it became apparent that the courier was a folk hero. Everyone from the smallest child to the oldest of the old knew that Francis Johnson had kicked the Legion's ass right back to Flagstaff. Even as a living figure Francis was becoming more myth than legend, and it was getting harder to separate the two. The NCR may have been becoming more divided as a nation politically but everyone could agree Francis was something special.
Given the courier's massive popularity it was surprising that he would even speak with us, but somehow the Hub Times had pulled it off. Our meeting was going to be in the Lucky 38 which was being turned into the NCR's new state capital for the Mojave. Our journey, like most, began at the Mojave Outpost, which just a few weeks ago had been the border of the NCR. As we approached the first person we saw was Sergeant Kilborn whose official duty was to stop all traffic about to head into the Terrority of Primm to make sure they were prepared for the journey.
“Hello there I'm Sergeant Kilborn, are you all citizens or foreigners?” Kilborn asked with the same look of boredom that other NCR troopers around the area had on their face. Kilborn was a black man of mind height, and large bags under his eyes. As we got closer it became apparent he was already tired of standing in the morning heat, and really wanted to go home. After we wanted in line behind some caravans for a little while, we finally were able to register.
“We're journalist from the Hub, uhh show him our ID's.” I said as I motioned to our bodyguard Barry. Barry pulled them out of his pocket and gave them to Kilborn.
“Which one of you is Thomas?”
“That would be me,”
“Here you go” he replied as he handed me my I.D back.
“Sergeant do you mind if I ask a few questions?”
“No, not at all but don't record any of them.”
“Why does the NCR still have an outpost here if the Mojave is now part of the NCR?”
“Well during this transitional period the NCR military thinks it's a better idea to keep the Mojave Outpost up and running until a new administrative building in Primm, which will serve the same purpose, can be set up.”
“Why does there need to be an administrative building in Primm if the whole Mojave is becoming a state?”
“Because there's going to be two states, not one. A lot of guys in the Senate think it would honor Kimball's legacy more if a state named after him is formed.”
I was slightly taken aback, the Mojave was smaller than Hub, it made no sense for the place to become two states.
“But the Mojave is so small, where will the boundaries be?”
“Primm is gonna be the capital of the state of Primm. The state of Primm will stretch from Good springs in the North and West, the old Nevada boundary to the south, and the Colorado to the east. It will definitely be the smallest state to date.”
“What about Vegas itself?”
“You know how north of Vegas is tornado infested wasteland almost no one ventures into?”
“Yeah everyone does.”
“If you take a look at an old map of Nevada you can see the wasteland, all of that down to the state of Primm is the state of Kimball. The army won't have any control of the region to the north but we still lay claim to it.”
“So what will happen to the Mojave Outpost?'
“Crimson Caravan recently bought it as a trading post, that's why these soldiers are dismantling all the extra equipment.”
“Thanks for answering my questions but where is Ranger Jackson? We made an appointment to speak with him.”
“If you wanna speak to Jackson go into that main building over there, and talk to the guy at the front office. Word of advice though, watch out for Knight, word around the barrack is that he's had a little bit of fun time with the courier, if you catch my drift.”
“Thanks for the help Sergeant.”
We all got our ID's back, and started walking towards the central office. It was a little hard to get to at first due to the large number of caravan's trying to sell us wares and all the hungover tourist walking back to California. Once we got into the office, we were overwhelmed by the humidity and heat of the place. It was over 100 outside, but the unconditioned building with few windows was worse. What made the situation more amazing was the fact that the troops inside were in full armor.
We had to wait in line for a while as some caravan owners registered again, with the soldier behind the desk who I would later find out was named Major Knight. Maria never liked the heat much, since she was from some mountain village in southern Oregon, and couldn't wait to get into air conditioned Vegas.
“Damn could this line go any slower?” Maria groaned,
“With a full battalion worth of troops gone and administrators slow to come to the region, this is probably the best service we can get.” I came off a little prophetical but the point was still made.
“I've been thinking though, it doesn't make any sense for there to be a state of Primm, there must be something else behind that.”
“I'm sure the pieces will fall together, in due time.”
The line moved forward but the man in front of us was disgruntled and wasn't going to let this go unknown.
“Major Knight at your service, citizen or caravan?”
“Caravan, is this the best you all can do?”
“We are understaffed but are working on it, your name is?”
“Why the hell do you need my name? This is a free country ain't it?”
“Sir, your a caravan owner, so there are regulations for traveling from a state to a terrority.”
“All this damn [censored]. Fine my name is Rick Scott. Can I go now?”
“As much as I would love for you to Mr. Scott by law I have to ask how many brahmin you have.”
I could tell Scott was becoming very agitated with Knight, but I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to attack him. Knight may be working a desk job but you don't get to the rank of Major in the NCR military without knowing your way around a gun. Add the other 3 troopers doing working at there cubicles and a Ranger in the back and he'd be crazy to do anything. Sure enough he was a crazy.
“That's it! I'm tired of his [censored]! I'm going into Nevada with my property now! I ain't answering these damn questions!”
“Sir you can turn around now, and go back into California or you can finish filling out this form, but you can't go into the Mojave without finishing.”
“The hell I can't and don't yah even try to stop me!”
Just as the man was turning around Ranger Jackson came out of his office.
“What's all this ruckus up here?”
It was odd seeing a Ranger in person. His whole persona was in dramatic contrast with everyone else in the room, even Knight. His Ranger uniform was spotless even though it was so hot, and even his shoes shined with a bright gleam. The room didn't fall silent but everybody's conversation changed. Most people had never met a Ranger and I could even see a few of the troopers in the back look over their cubicle to see what was happening.
“This SOB right here won't let me pass the Outpost!” Scott shouted, getting a little spit on Jackson's glasses.
“Calm your ass down sir, before I arrest you.”
Scott did calm down some, but didn't fully move his hand from his holster.
“Knight what is this fool going on about?”
“He doesn't want to go through with basic paperwork for his caravan.”
Jackson laughed a little, and took a step forward.
“Listen here, these are the rules, you answer the questions Knight ask you and get your ass out of here. Understood?”
“No it's not fine, I don't give a damn if you are Ranger, I know my rights! I'm going to Nevada and I ain't fillin' ou-”
Before he could finish that thought Jackson gave him a left hook to the jaw and grabbed his gun.
“Recruits! Get this sorry excuse of a man tied to a chair. After wards call Sergeant Kilborn and get this guy back into California, make sure he doesn't try to cross back over.”
All three recruits dashed from their desk and shouted, “Yes Sir!” in near synchronization.
Everyone in the lobby went back to complaining about the heat, or the wait in line. Jackson began walking back to his office when I got his attention.
“Uhh excuse me! Ranger Jackson?”
He turned around slowly but seemed more relaxed than everyone in the outpost.
“Yea?”
“I'm Thomas Jones, the reporter whose supposed to interview you.”
“Thomas Jones? Why I've been waiting for you, come on back to my office.”
Jackson didn't have many expressions, through a lot of that had to do with his Authority Glasses that took up much of his face. We started walking back to Jackson's office when Major Knight stopped us.
“O wait I'm sorry I'm going to have to ask your two friends to wait up front.”
“You two heard the man I'll see you two later.” I said as I motioned at the seats in the lobby.
“Thomas” Maria said with sweat streaming down her face, “We'll wait outside it's too hot in here.”
“Fine with me.”
As I walked through Jackson's door way I noticed there was only one chair, instead of sitting he leaned against a rusty file cabinet.
“I'm really glad you agreed to this interview.”
“I'm glad I could help you out, how are you doing today?”
“Hot sir, very hot. Don't you all ever take those uniforms off? It has to be 120 degrees in here.”
“We would but NCR regulations are against it and such. So how was the trip to the Outpost?”
“Besides the few raiders it was fine, there were less of them than there used to be.”
“Yeah they've been reduced quite a bit since Kimball was elected.”
I knew the pleasantries were over now, and I still wasn't sure how Jackson would respond to the upcoming questions.
“It's interesting you bring him up. I've read many reports saying the Kimball administration has come down hard on you for hiring the courier and giving him supplies. Is that report true?”
“While the courier did help the Outpost I didn't give him any supplies and you can ask him yourself. The outpost doesn't hire mercenaries.”
“So the missing guns, food stuffs and amm-”
“Were all misplaced by my staff. I didn't have time to deal with small logistics like that anyway since I was helping run the Primm area.”
“Now Ranger, you've been a loyal Kimball supporter haven't you?”
“Absolutely,”
“Then why are there so many investigations being launched about your conduct and handling of the war?”
“You know Jones, I'm really not sure, though I believe your over exaggerating the number of inquires.”
“Exaggerating? Sir the last we checked the Mojave Outpost has on going investigation concerning; bribes, mercenaries, homosixuality and misinformation concerning travel logs.”
“Yes there are many allegations but they are just that, allegations.”
“Doesn't the pure number concern you?”
“Listen I'm just a Ranger trying to do my job, I don't have time to worry about Internal Affairs. If they want to investigate they have the right. I need to get back to work you can see yourself out.”
“Thank you for your time Ranger Jackson.”
As I stepped out the office I couldn't help but wonder myself why IA would go after Jackson. Chances are most of the corruption charges were true but comparatively the Outpost wasn't that bad, well nowhere near as bad as Forlorn Hope or how Mccaran was. Of all the charges though the one that was the most interesting was the homosixuality charge. The NCR army had a policy of don't ask don't tell, but if a queer was found out he or she was normally kicked out, unless they were a REALLY good fighter or a Ranger. Sergeant Kilborn seemed to allude that Major Knight at the front desk was.
I counted floor tiles while waiting in line for some travelers got their papers. I had gotten up to 59 when I finally was face to face with Knight again.
“O your back, how can I help you?”
“Can I talk to you briefly?”
“Sure I can take a break,” with those words the people behind me in line groaned and complained but stayed civil. We walked over to his desk which was right under a NCR propaganda poster against STDs.
“Your name is Major Knight correct?”
“Yes it is,what did you want to talk about?” Knight asked.
“There are rumors circulating around here that your gay. Are they true?”
“This is all on record isn't it?”
“No no, I'm just curious, you are aren't you?”
“Yes I am, and I'm pretty sure the whole Outpost knows it too.”
“Does anyone ever talk about it?”
“No no they don't, though I've heard some of them talk about me behind my back about it. Luckily I haven't made any enemies so they haven't turned me in to the IA yet.”
“Aren't you concerned about the being discharged?”
“No I can't say I am, I want to go home, and I'm tired of pretending to be someone else.”
“Major I want to thank you but I have just one other question. Did you really have “fun time” with the legendary Francis Johnson?”
Knight smiled for the first time and seemed to look past me for a moment.
“You know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,”
I never thought I'd be glad to be back in the Mojave sun, but only 30 minutes in the Mojave Outpost would do that to a person. It didn't take long for me to find Maria and Barry who had taken up residence under the Ranger Unification statue, which provided good shade it should be said. When I approached them I noticed that Maria was pretty far in conversation with some cowgirl.
“It's been mighty nice talking to you two I'm gonna make my way on back home now.”
The cowgirl stood up and dusted off her jeans. She didn't really notice me but I could smell whiskey on her breath as I walked by.
“You two ready to go?” I asked, trying to say in the shade as long as possible.
“Yeah I'm good, what about you Barry?”
Barry shook his head, and helped Maria up.
“Who was that chick you were talking to?”
“Named Cass and she had a pretty good story, but we have a long trip, and a long time to talk about it. What did Jackson have to say about the corruption changes.”
“What you would expect a Ranger to say when you accuse him of being corrupt. The whole thing doesn't make sense though, it's not as if IA has any reason to get rid of him.”
That's what I thought then, but just like a puzzle after a while all the pieces fall together.
