Chapter 428: Romae defectum non patitur
While the Orbital Laser strike and subsequent multiple Mini-Nuke explosion happened in an instant for Afton, Karl, and Anja, the shockwaves of it would continue to spread to every corner of the Mojave...
Robert House was the first to notice the nuclear detonation, his various machine network around the Mojave giving him the exact location... He'd managed to save this place from Nuclear annihilation two hundred years ago, yet it seems that the Great War continues, with nuclear bombs still detonating at a random barbarians whims.
Unfortunately, the bombs seem to have either been brought on foot or constructed in the Mojave... If they were launched he'd have been able to destroy them in the sky or at least disable them... Hm, could it be that another country had survived the destruction and was now plotting to get rid of America's last resistance, House himself?... Plausible, if unlikely... He'd need to run further simulations if that's the case... Hopefully his new partner would activate the Platinum chip before anything drastic happens... He needed to have his army before the two armies clash at Hoover Dam...
To conduct proper business negotiations you needed to start at a position of strength, something House was all too well aware... As he runs some simulations on another system, he turns his eyes towards Gommorah, indeed, that place needed to be purged of rats before anything else... Though, he'd need to wait for his partner to return for that.
Elsewhere :
A man wearing incredibly fine robes sitting on a throne within a large tent slams his fist onto the armrest. He had very short cut white hair and a heavily dust-worn face... Caesar glares down at Vulpes Inculta with a ferocity not shown since the 'Burning Man' incident.
Vulpes Inculta had just reported the latest news of another of his hair-brained schemes... Of course, as seemingly always happens, his plans failed spectacularly. So much so that Caesar almost shot the man dead where he knelt.
"What do you mean Holmes and the rest of his escort were all annihilated?!?" he roars, the guards posted around the tent flinching at their leader's rage.
Vulpes Inculta shivers under the glare but composes himself enough to reply, "I fear it may have been an enemy attack, but after the detonation of all the stockpiled explosives, there's no evidence for it!"
Caesar growls at him, "You said it would be safe!"
"I did not anticipate the information being leaked, or the underground lab being compromised! If anyone is to blame for this, it is Andrew Holmes and his haphazard construction of those atomic weapons! It is as you say Great Caesar, similar technology brought about the last Apocalypse, so his loss is not a big one!"
*Smack!*
Caesar strikes Inculta in the face, causing the man t fall to his side, "You continue to displease me, Vulpes! The man's technology was indeed good for one thing, destruction, which is why I allowed your scheme in the first place! You had one goal! Sabotage the NCR supply line... And you fail me, AGAIN!" he shouts before slumping back in his throne, his face morphing into a grimace as his rubs his temples.
"Caesa-" a guard begins to ask but Caesar waves them off, this wasn't the first random headache he'd gotten in the past years... No one in the tent dares mutter a word as Caesar rubs his temples to alleviate the pain slightly, once it's manageable he turns to Vulpes again, "Tell me Vulpes, have any of your recent plans actually worked in our favour?" he asks in a low yet commanding tone.
"Y-yes Caesar! The assassination of Lowell Thompson Jr, stockpiling of weapons on the strip, bombing on the NCR Monorail, Capture of Camp Searchlight-" the man lists off, feeling like his head was on the line... Which it probably was.
Caesar slowly nods, "Despite all your failures, you still advance our cause... Which is the only thing stopping me from having you executed where you stand... Romae defectum non patitur, Rome suffers no failure... Remember this Vulpes, as it may be the last mercy I am willing to grant you... Should you blunder and lose a valuable asset again, I will find a much more creative punishment compared to what happened to Joshua Graham... Am I clear?"
Vulpes pushes his head to the floor, kissing dirt as he replies, "Y-yes Great Caesar!"
Caesar nods and waves his hand at Vulpes, causing the guards to grab the man and toss him out of the tent like a bag of trash. A few Legionaries laugh at his plight but an angry glare sends them on their way.
He gets to his feet and quickly marches away, intending to gather what's left of his assassins to do something drastic... Something that'll hopefully put him back in Caesars good graces, and possibly save his head.
Vulpes held no illusions to Caesar's methods... Should he continue to barely prove himself, he'd be executed once the war was finished... Vulpes grins, he knew just what would put him on Caesar's good side, as well as the annals of history.
It's a good thing Andrew Holmes left them with a couple Mini-Nukes, his original plan was to simply use covert terror tactics... But now? The mayhem he'd be able to cause, and the fear such a strike would cause in their enemies hearts made him salivate...
Of course, as it was his head on the line, he'd participate in such an attack himself... His subordinates had failed their respective duties far too much for his liking, after all, if you wanted something done right you had to do it yourself.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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Kingsprovince
Chapter 429: Not the only Merc
Not far south of Novac was a group of four people, the one leading them was a man in full heavy combat armour, he was 6.4ft and heavily muscled, with a large strange rifle on his back. His name was only known to be Drake, one of the most infamous Bounty Hunters around California.
Besides Drake was his lover and teammate, Madeleine. She was skinny, with a gaunt face and wore grey leather armour. Her blonde hair was cut short, and she stood at around 6ft, though, the sniper on her back was so large that it almost touched the floor... On her hip was a scoped .44 Magnum, a countermeasure should anyone get up close and personal.
Behind them were two men... Or to be more specific, one man and one boy. The man had dark skin and wore black painted leather armour, he had a pistol on his hip but also a large sword that looked fit to cut through flesh and bone. Stasus was the name people gave him, only because he never told anyone his real one.
Last but certainly not least was Hunter, a fourteen-year-old boy who'd been saved and raised by Drake and Madeleine... The fact that he'd survived so long was a testament to his luck, skill, and perhaps the protectiveness of his foster parents... He only had a 9mm pistol at his side, but on his back was a large backpack filled to the brim... On his chest were numerous grenades, all held up by their pins for easy use. He didn't wear any armour, only a green hoody and some jeans.
The four of them together made the mercenary group called Dissuade, a group famous for its efficiency and brutal tactics.
"Heh, wonder who's causing so much trouble that both sides want them gone?" Drake mutters as he walks, individually cracking each finger in preparation.
"Drake, I've read about this 'Parker' guy, and I don't think we should be taking it easy... If both sides know where he is but hires us instead, doesn't that mean they aren't able to do it themselves?" Madeleine says.
"Stop bitching, we'll get to Novac, cut off his head, and get our reward from both factions... Heh, it's like two for the price of one, easy peasy!" Drake laughs.
"Earlier at the Outpost, I heard that someone detonated some nukes nearby... Can I have them if we find some?" Hunter asks with a giddy, greedy look.
"No. You almost blew your arms off with those grenades of yours, I'm not gonna see what happens if you get a nuke!" Madeleine scolds.
"Guys, shut the fuck up... We're almost there." Drake says, pointing at the fortress city in the distance.
The group head west of Novac towards the mountainous area to get a better view into the city without having to sneak or force their way inside. By the time they get there it's already dusk, and the desert is wreathed in an orange glow of the dimming sun.
Madeleine looks through her weapons scope at the city and is listing off the various defences it has to the rest of her group. Though, there were a few things she wasn't so sure about... Regardless, she notes them anyway to prevent any mishaps from occurring.
When the next group of guards appear and start patrolling, she notes down their routes and timings, giving each of her team pieces of paper with the information written on it. Once is all said and done, it's time to move.
"Alright guys, you know the drill. Distraction, sneak in, capture the target, and get out. Let's try not to alert the whole place this time, Hunter..."
"Aww, come on! That was fun!" he complains but is forced silent under Madeleine's glare.
Drake thefts his rifle and starts headed down the mountain, followed by the rest of his group as he does so. Madeleine doesn't plan to enter the location, instead setting up a bit south of Novac to make it easier to retreat... Though, she will start making herself known if shit hits the fan.
Drake and Stasus hide behind some rocks close to the western wall of Novac as Hunter goes north. Once there he takes off his backpack and recovers a good amount of decoy grenades and shiny shards of glass.
It takes a couple minutes to set up, but before long he has everything interconnected behind various bits of cover. Once done he sits behind cover and waits for the signal, hopefully Drake wouldn't be able to capture the target too quickly... He was really looking forward to blowing something up.
With everything set up Drake and Stasus sneak towards the wall after a patrol walks past, due to how the wall was constructed, there are more than enough handholds for the duo to scale it. Once up, they drop into Novac without anyone the wiser.
Most of the town was sleeping at this point, but it didn't hurt to be careful, especially when you're life is at stake. They walk around Novac and eventually find a lone soldier who's currently taking a piss in between two buildings.
Drake nods at Stasus who silently charges at the man, kicking their slung rifle away before picking them up by their throat.
*Guhk!*
The guard chokes as he's literally lifted off of the floor by the large man, he attempts to struggle and free himself but it's no use... He knows his pistol is in his waistband but if he tried to draw it now he'd be defenceless... The fact that he hadn't been killed yet meant that these two needed something from him.
"Alright Stase, put him down." Drake says, and the large man drops the man into the puddle of his own piss.
Drake nods, "Alright, this is how this is gonna go, boy. You tell us what we want to know, or I'll do something horrible to you... Cool?"
The guard snorts and spits at Drake, the phlegm landing on his cheek and slowly dripping off.
Drake wipes it off and nods, "Alright, don't say I didn't warn ya."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
Joseph Suh
Chris Lindsey
Kingsprovince
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
12 Power
stone 
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