Silath's Journal: Day 35 - November 22, 2281

It's done. A little over a month since I awoke with no memories at Doc Mitchell's house, and so much has happened. The legion has been defeated, Ceaser's general, Legate Lannius, has had his head blown off. The legion retreats back to the Arizona territory it calls home.

I suppose I should go through my day like normal, but it just doesn't feel important now. Veronica and I foiled the Legion's two plans to kill President Kimball. He safely gave his speech and left.
Afterwards, we spoke with Colonel Moore, who explained that General Lee Oliver had arrived and wished to speak with me. While doing so, an engineer came up and said the Legion was sending troops through water tunnels into the dam. The battle had begun.
The general asked that I help drive them out while he gathered the troops. On the way to the tunnel, another enginner stopped me and explained that if I diverted water flow, the tunnel would fill and the legion troops in it would be ground to pieces by the turbines.

It took a little searching and a lot of dead legion, but with the support of NCR troops and Brotherhood, I was able to reach the access terminal and divert the water. The terminal said that there was a blockage and the manual override valve would need to be activated... so we made our way outside and turned it on. Considering that as soon as we did, a huge gush of bloody water flowed out, I think the engineer was right.

With that taken care of, we made our way back up to the top of the dam where the main battle was raging. The Boomer's repaired bomber plane dropped it's payload along the legion troops opposite us, it was a pretty amazing sight. How can something so huge fly?
A few more things happened, but basically we just killed a shitload of legion and finally reached their camp. After some more fighting, I found Legate Lannius. Then I blew his head off with my shotgun. The rest  of the legion troops quickly scattered after that.

The general met me on my way out of the camp, offering his thanks and congratulations. I took off my helmet and had a cigarette, using Benny's lighter. Explained to the general the NCR had two months to take control of the strip. He said plans were already in motion to annexx it and the rest of the Mojave. I wasn't surprised.
I guess that's it, then. Veronica and I are going to head back to the Lucky 38 for some rest. I asked her if she planned on still following me, and she said "Of course." That made me happy.

It's time for a good long rest. After that... I might head west, hunt down the Legion wherever I find them. I'd like to take Ceasers head. But that's all in the future... for now, it's time to relax and celebrate my victory.

Silath's Journal: Day 34 - November 21, 2281

Not much happened today, so here's a quick rundown. We woke up at 5 AM and started heading towards the Dam. Big thunderstorm overhead all day, no sandstorms though thankfully.
When we got to Boulder City, halfway through a Lt. Monroe stopped us and said the place was locked down. A squad of NCR troopers got caught up in a firefight with some Great Khans, and the Khans managed to take two of them hostage.
Since Monroe admitted that if and when it came down to a firefight, the hostages were as good as dead, I told him I'd speak with the Khans. Apparently this had all happened before either group got passed down the word of the Khan - NCR truce.

So I made my way over to where the Khans were holed up, making note of their positions just in case it did come down to bullets. Their leader was surprised to see me; apparently he had been at my execution.
I just made a joke about coming back to haunt him and waved it off. After all that's happened, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. Besides, the safety of the two hostaged was more important than revenge in any case.
Their leader, Jessup, agreed to let the hostages go as long as they were given safe passage back to Redrocks. I must be getting damn good at convincing people, because that's a tough offer to take.

Especially considering that when I got back to Monroe, he said orders had been passed down to eliminate the khans anyway. How fucking stupid is the NCR? Just one of those khans escapes, gets back to Papa Khan, and tells him what happened, the Khans are right back on the legions side.
I asked Monroe to get his superior on the radio for me. He refused... until I removed my helmet. My face has gotten pretty well known ever since the NCR started passing around pictures of me. Apparently I'm a big deal now, and if I had to use that fame to save the NCR from itself then I would.

A Captain Browning came on the line, and after explaining to him that I was sure Colonel Moore would be very displeased if he fucked up the Khan's truce, he quite asking me "Who the fuck do you think you are?" (Umm, hmm. Lemme think there boss. Where should I start?) and instead asked in a much nicer tone to speak to Lt. Monroe.
Monroe was ordered to escort the Khans back to their territory and then return to Boulder City. With that little situation resolved Veronica and I continued on to the Dam.

Moore was pretty pissed that I had gotten the Brotherhood to declare a truce as opposed to just blowing them up. I think she'll come around when she sees the Brotherhood reducing legion troops to ashes, though. Hopefully.
Anyway, the NCR President (Kimball, I think his name is?) is coming to the dam tomorrow to inspire the troops, and Moore wanted me to help out with security. I was told to go speak with the Ranger in charge of security, who told me to get some rest because we would be up bright and early tomorrow to go over security arrangements.

The legion is sure to try something, so me and Veronica are gonna have our work cut out for us. I made it clear to the Ranger (Forgot his name. Heh.) that if the NCR trusted me, they would have to trust her as well. He seemed displeased at this but simply said "Of course. Just keep her close, will you? If she wanders off I can't say she won't end up in the brig."
It's only about 2 PM, so I guess we'll just have to float around doing nothing for a while. I guess we could both use the rest, it's just harder than you would think to take even a day off.

Silath's Journal: Day 33 - November 20, 2281

We rested for nealt 10 hours at the overseers room. I felt good today; rested, eager, and not irritable for once. Vault 22 lay a few miles to the northwest, so we geared up and began the walk to it. Stopped by the Freeside Broadcasting building to do a small amount of trading and use their reloading bench.

Vault 22 was overgrown with plants; ferns, vines, and grass everywhere. Someone had set up a large plywood sign out front, just on the border of the plant life. 'Stay Out! The Plants Kill!', painted with a red spray can.
Of course we went in anyways. A short ways into the vault was an elevator, and after some simple repairs we took it down to level 2: oxygen recycling. It sounded like the most likely place to find air filter equipment. Sure enough, on an inventory list on one of the working terminals I saw it: six HEPA 20 cartridges. The terminal claimed they were located in 'Storage Room 2'.
I sighed as I saw that the storage room was blocked off. Of course it was. The only way in was through a tunnel broken through one of the walls. I couldn't find the entrance to the tunnel on this level, so I hoped maybe it would be on a lower level.

We took the stairs down the Level 3, which was proclaimed as 'Food Production.' There were many spots on the floors where plant life had erupted, and in several of them lurked strange... plant people. They would hide under the ferns until we got close and then spring out.
Easily killed, though, most needing only a solid hit of buckshot to the chest. We found a solid metal door, with a terminal beside it that claimed this was the 'Cavern Acess Door'. However it was locked electronically, and I couldn't hack the terminal. Of course it couldn't be this easy! Nothing ever was. I found myself beginning to feel frustrated.

So, we had to find the electronic key for the door. We headed down another level, to the common area. The Overseers office was wide open, and inside I found a terminal with a command to unlock the cavern door. Of course, the terminal simply told me a manual override had been activated at the door.
Someone REALLY didn't want that door to be opened. Regardless, we would have to find a way. The floor of the common area was a vertiable forest, with several of the strange plant-people lurking about, but Veronica and I killed any that sprang out at us.
Finally, though, I found the keycard. It was just laying on a shelf in one of the bedrooms, of all places. Someone locks the door down tight, overrides the Overseers commands, and then just leaves the keycard on a shelf. Odd.

Anyway, I didn't feel like spending all day wandering around in another vault, so we ran through the caverns (which were empty, aside from a few mantis', dunno what they were so afraid of!) and grabbed the HEPA filters from one of the cabinets in the storage room. Then we exited the vault without further trouble.
That had actually been our quickest vault trip yet, despite the fact that getting the filters was far more complicated than it should have been. It was 5 PM by now, but since we both had nightvision capabilities, and the suits really helped lessen how much the Mojave could wear you down, we decided to head back to the Brotherhood bunker rather than camp for the night.

Along the trip back southeast, we were attacked by some powder gangers. This was pretty surprising as the only time I had seen more than one or two of them was at Goodsprings and Primm, both fairly close to the NCRCF.
I thought maybe they were starting to spread out, and if they were hostile, it was a situation I might have to look into. Later though, later. Some legion assasins also attacked us, but at this point it's kind of a routine thing anymore.

We got back to hte bunker just before 10 PM, and I gave Lorenzo the equipment while Veronica went to talk to Father MacNamara, about whatever it was she was so eager to discuss ever since we'd entered Vault 22.
I found her leaning against the wall outside his office, her arms crossed. When I asked her how it had gone, she just shook her head. It seems she had tried to convince him that the Mojave was a different place now. That people were establishing stable towns, and actually making a living. The elder had said the Brotherhood had outlasted the nuclear apocolypse, it would outlast 'these upstarts.'
Veronica wanted to go find technology, to convince the Elder that the Brotherhood could help the people of the wasteland. First though, I told her, I had to tell him the filtration system was being fixed by Lorenzo and... about the NCR's threat.

MacNamara looked deep in thought as I approached him, and when I explained that the air system would soon be fixed, he looked up at me with a strange glint to his eyes. "After Helios One, I let myself be ruled by fear." he claimed. He now saw what a grave mistake he had made, and... the lockdown would be lifted!
I was shocked. Veronica would be very pleased to hear this. But first, I had to inform him of the mission Colonel Moore had given me. Strangely, rather than being angry, Elder MacNamara seemed thoughtful.
When I began to explain that if the Brotherhood didn't offer at least a token of support to the NCR, they would be crushed, he stopped me. He had already come to the same conclusion: and the brotherhood would offer more than just a few men. They would actively help defend the dam... if the NCR would accept their offer of a truce.

I assured MacNamara that I would take this news to Moore at once, and that I was sure they would accept his terms. She wasn't a stupid woman, I told him: she would see what could be gained by a truce, as opposed to the lives and material lost wiping the Brotherhood out.
This had gone better than I ever could of dreamed. When I told Veronica of MacNamaras choices, she was overjoyed. She actually hugged me again, and this time I was so happy as well that I hugged her right back.

It was getting late, though, past 11 PM, so we decided to stay at the bunker and head out before dawn to the Dam. "So, was it worth it? Going all over the desert for the Elder, I mean." Veronica asked me. I nodded and told her "We probably just saved the entire Brotherhood. They should promote you, or something."
Veronica just laughed and said that was unlikely. Despite what we had done, she was still a black sheep of sorts among the Brotherhood. And there were those who thought we had manipulated MacNamara. Maybe we had, just a little, but most of it was simply him being smart enough to see what was inevitable.

Silath's Journal: Day 32 - November 19, 2281

We rested and napped for 5 hours, the entered Vault 11. At the entrance Veronica found an audio log among four rotting skeletons. The log was just several people (presumeably the four skeletons) arguing for a minute. It seemed they had entered a suicide pact. Gunshots rang out and the log ended.
The only inhabitants of the vault were mantis', rats, and skeletons. Something terrible had happened here. It was nothing like I imagined. Everything was rusting, rotting, peeling paint and burned out lights. Several of the hallways were collapsed and impassible.

There were a few terminals, and I pieced together what had happened at this vault. It seems they elected an overseer, who, at the end of their term (I'm not sure how long a term was) that overseer had to be sacrificed, or the vault would kill every one of it's inhabitants. There was evidence of some sort of battle; it seemed the different 'voting blocs' of the vault had finally come to arms.
The final overseer had issued a new decree; from after her term and sacrifice, all further overseers would be chosen by the random number generator of the vault's mainframe.

I could not understand. The vaults had been built to safeguard people, to allow humanity to survive the inevetible nuclear apocolypse. Why would the builders of the vault do this? Was it some sort of sick experiment? One of perhaps only dozens of safe havens left on earth and THEY PLAYED MIND GAMES.
What the fuck was wrong with these people? This was nightmare fuel. I just couldn't wrap my head around. They were playing with the goddamn fate of humanity! What. The. FUCK.

Veronica merely shook her head sadly. She said this was not the first time she'd heard of something like this; the brotherhood had records of many vaults being used to perform 'social experiments'. It seems that they had been designed to find the flaws of humanity, so that a repeat of the nuclear apocolypse would never happen.
Why is it that every asshole with power thinks they can fix people? That they can somehow engineer a better humanity. Every time they try, it just leads to horrific atrocities. It left me filled with rage. I just wanted to find the goddamn components and get out of that maze.

I stumbled across the password to the overseers terminal, and my curiosity just had to be slaked. I used it on the terminal and unlocked the 'Sacrificial Chamber.' It led to a long tunnel, filled with soft light, as a voice told me to 'Head towards the light', a door at the end opened, filled with brilliant, blinding light.
I was compelled forward. For better or worse the blinding light just ended up being a bunch of floodlight sets. Imagine the dissapoint the overseer would have felt? The tunnel led to a comfortable room, with a plush chair and a projector.
The voice urged me to sit, and then a slideshow started. The voice encouraged me to think about the good times in my life, and to be glad of my 'sacrifice for the greater good'. What a load of crock. It's always the same, just an excuse to persecute individuals without pissing off everyone else.

After that, the walls slid back and revealed several robots and laser turrets. Veronica and I took them out fairly easily. The door behind us had locked as soon as we entered, but behind the false walls was another door.
This one led to the vaults mainframe, which I promptly accessed. A simple command unlocked the door, setting us free, but there were also two audio logs. One of them was the haggard, tired voice of a man.

He claimed there were only five of them left (Five? There were only four corpses at the entrance...) and that they refused to play this insane game any longer. They refused to sacrifice any more people, no matter what the consequences may be.
The second recording broke my heart. It was the same voice that had played on the intercom in the sacrificial chamber. It commended the vault citizens for their refusal to sacrifice anyone. It said that they would not be exterminated, but it fact rewarded. It said the controls to open the vault door would be unlocked, and the citizens would be free to go.
It said that "Your comittment to human life is a shining example to us all."
No wonder they chose to kill themselves.

The entire thing had left me shaken, Veronica much less so than I. She dragged me out of the room and told me to snap out of it. We continued hunting for any of the components we needed, but I felt numb. For some reason, the events that had occured at this vault really hit me.
We wandered the tunnels for hours, frequently getting lost. At last we finally located a differential pressure controller, but neither of the other required components. It seemed we would have to move on the the next vault.

I cannot tell you how glad I was to see daylight once again. I dreaded heading to the next vault, would be perfectly happy in fact if we never saw one again. Veronica offered to go inside while I waited, but I told I would be alright.
The walk to Vault 3, to the northwest a little outside of New Vegas, refreshed me somewhat. We walked in silence, but I was able to clear my head pretty well. When we reached Vault 3, it was surrounded by raiders, and the battle pushed thoughts of Vault 11 out of my head.

The vault itself had been taken over by a band of raiders calling themselves 'The fiends'. An apt name, I suppose. At the entrance I was challenged by a fiend wearing a gas mask, I simply told her I was there to deliver some chems. She fell for it easily and told me to find Motorhead, their leader.
Vault 3 proved to be in much better condition than Vault 11, despite the fact raiders had torn it up a bit and painted graffiti all over the walls. Still, it was a lot more like I had imagined a vault to be.
We found Motorhead easily enough, deep down in a maintanence are. I noticed the reverse pulse cleaner on a shelf behind him, but no HEPA filters. I had a feeling, based on past experience, the only place in the entire wasteland we would find HEPA filters was the final vault.
We could have just taken the pulse cleaner and left. Instead, I put some buckshot into Motorheads skull. We had a chance to clean out these fuckers, the fiends, once and for all. I wasn't going to pass that up.

Veronica and I mowed down the fiends, their 5mm automatics and 20 gauge shotgun unable to pierce our armor. Actually it was kind of pathetic. It gave me some perspective on why the BoS so often behaved with such arrogance; it was easy to win battles when you were sheathed in slabs of steel and ceramic plate.
We did find a few prisoners the fiends had captured for some unknown purpose, and set them free. They quickly made thier way out. I also found a very nice, sexy dress while we were clearing bedrooms; when I gave it to Veronica she was ecstatic, and insisted that she teach me some close-combat manuevers to reciprocate the gift.

By the time we had checked and double checked each room and hallway, ensuring there were no surviving fiends, it was getting pretty late. Veronica and I made our way to the overseers office (which had remained locked, untouched by the fiends) and I hacked the terminal to unlock the door. We each settled into opposite sides of the pristine (though dusty and musty) bed and prepared for sleep.
I slipped out for a moment to record this and have a cigarete. I've decided to give myself a shot of Med-x as well. There were quite a few of them laying around, since the fiends are huge druggies. Heh... but I just want to enjoy the overseers room. I want to pretend that things are... nice. And I want to forget about Vault 11.

Silath's Journal: Day 31 - November 18, 2281

I slept in the bunker until 6 AM. Sleep had been fitful, but better than the previous day. I at least felt mildly refreshed. It seems that my inability to sleep is more related to the danger potential of the area than anything else... I still have bad dreams (I wouldn't go so far as to call them nightmares, there's no terror... just sadness and cruelty) but I don't wake from them as frequently as when I sleep in the wild.
I was tempted to take some Med-x regardless, but it was only a mild desire, for the nice mellow feeling it brings, the complete relaxation of my body. Maybe I ought to just hire someone to give me massages. Hah. I could probably find one somewhere... if I had read about massages in an old magazine, then surely there was a book on it somewhere.
Heh. Anyway... I put on the fantastic armor I found and located a raft in the tunnels. Dragged it out and paddled across the river, while the current carried me downstream. Landed on the opposite bank a few hundred yards from where I started, and found a good place to climb up.

About two hours later I found Veronica sitting outside Camp Searchlight. She didn't realize it was me till I took off the helmet, and we admired my new armor together. Believe it or not she even hugged me (as much as one can hug while wearing power armor) and it was probably a pretty funny sight.
Anyway, since the Dam was only about two miles north I decided to stop by there to see Colonel Moore. I told Veronica to stick close to me; I was well known by the NCR by now, but I didn't like the thought of how the soldiers would react to an unknown person tromping around in power armor.
The dam itself is simply an amazing feat of engineering. The water turbines are massive, I can't imagine the kind of power they put out. The entire place humms with the sounds of the water rushing through. Awe inspiring. I hope nothing would get too damaged in the upcoming battle.

Colonel Moore was a very stern woman. All business. I had to remind her more than once during our conversation that while I was supporting the NCR's efforts, I was by no means a soldier in the NCR army, and in no way beholden to them. A fact she seemed to enjoy forgetting. Frankly it was almost as bad as dealing with MacNamara. She said the soldiers were calling me the 'saviour of the NCR' now, which was kind of embarassing.
Moore wanted me to go visit the Khans and make sure they wouldn't cause any issues for the NCR, and I informed her that I had already convinced them to fight against the Legion when the battle came. I had to explain that the Khans were doing this of their own volition and had their own plans. They were neither mine nor the NCR's to control.
She wasn't particularly happy with that, but she admitted that it was better than having them on the Legions side and seemed content enough with the situation. After that she wanted me to go talk to the Omertas, as her intelligence has indicated they were planning something nasty.

Apparently her intelligence had failed to notify her that I had already resolved the situation. She scribbled some notes down on a pad of paper and said "Well, aren't you just a step ahead of us all the way? The next item on my agenda was to have you eliminate Mr. House, but... someone... took care of that for us. As you're the only one who's been seen going into or out of the Lucky 38, I suppose we have you to thank for that as well." Well, thats the jist of what she said. I won't claim it's 100% accurate.
Then she wanted me to find the BoS and 'finish them off'. Thankfully Veronica didn't so much as ghasp. I sighed: these were the people I was leaving the Mojave to? Moore made a valid point, though; the NCR had fought a nasty battle against the BoS for control of Helios One. Wounds like that wouldn't heal, she figured the Brotherhood would strike when the NCR was it's weakest, busy battling for the Dam.

From a strategic standpoint it made sense. I told her I would see what I could do. If things with MacNamara go well, I might be able to convince him to send at least a token of support to the NCR as a peace offering. Even a small squad of paladins is a lot of firepower.
I'm getting pretty good at convincing people to do things they don't want to do. Hopefully MacNamara will see that if the Brotherhood remains in it's bunker, it WILL die. Their only chance for survival is to act now, against Ceasers legion. This is there one and only chance.

We left to head back to the bunker and give the scouting reports to MacNamara. As soon as we were clear of the dam, Veronica grabbed me and asked if I would really destroy the Brotherhood. I gave her my word I would do no such thing. The worst case scenario was that MacNamara refused to enter a peace with the NCR, and they stayed holed up at their bunker until they were either destroyed or starved out.
I could tell she was worried. She didn't think MacNamara would go for such a thing, and I told her that was his choice. But he was a smart man. He would see this was the only way the Brotherhood could survive. Veronica had her doubts.

Hopefully things will work out for the best. On the bright side, we found the missing laser pistol the Quartermaster was so worried about, and I returned it to her. She gave her thanks and offered me a laser rifle as a gift, but I told her it was no trouble and refused to take it. Anything I can do to improve my reputation among those in the bunker may prove the difference between saving them and their destruction.
I gave MacNamara the reports, and now he wants me to go find a bunch of components to fix the air filtration system of the bunker. Told me to talk to Senior Knight Lorenzo, who I found in a workshop.
Lorenzo told me there were three compenents I needed to find: a differential pressure controller, reverse pulse cleaner, and HEPA filters. Then he gave me the location of three vaults where I could potentially find the require pieces.

Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? This is the THIRD time I've been sent out into the wastes to grab some random junk for the Brotherhood. The THIRD FUCKING TIME I've been asked to walk across the entire fucking Mojave and back.
I didn't say anything. Simply let him download the locations into my pipboy, told Veronica I'd be back in a few minutes, and left the bunker. This was really starting to piss me off. All this fucking bullshit had better be worth it. I swear if MacNamara refuses to help the NCR at my request after all this bullshit, I might just kill him. I'm not kidding.
I chucked a grenade at a bark scorpion carcass and watched it explode into little bits. That made me feel a little better. While I was sitting outside the entrance having a cigarette, Veronica came and found me.
"I'm sorry." she said, obviously sensing my frustration. I told her it wasn't her fault, and she simply shrugged, then helped me get up out of the sand. I took a deep breath and looked at my pipboy; the nearest vault was vault 11, off to the northeast, north of Helios One.

First though, we headed back inside, and I calmed down somewhat over lunch. Scribe Ibes was having trouble with an old pre-war virus that had infected the terminals. Apparently it was randomly installing and erasing itself from the RAM in the terminals, not in the mainframe. So he couldn't track it down since it kept jumping from terminal to terminal.
I asked him why he didn't just unplug the network connections of the terminals, cut off their power, drain their capacitors to clear them RAM, and then reboot them from the mainframe, he slapped his forehead and looked at me like I was a genious.

Why he hadn't thought of it, I don't know. For those not knowledgable about pre-war computers, those terminals you find all over the place don't actually house any data themselves, except maybe a few thousand kilobytes of extra RAM for holding some text data.
The rest is reserved for the simple BIOS and drivers that allow the terminal to connect to a mainframe, where any large amount of data is stored and can be shared among any other networked terminals. Basically... the terminal is just the trigger, the rest of the gun is the mainframe.

After lunch/dinner me and Veronica set off towards Vault 11, hopefully to find some (if we're lucky, all) of the components MacNamara needs. Something tells me it won't be that easy. It rarely is.
We found the Vault entrance right where my pipboy said it would be. At least Lorenzo had done that right. It was getting dark out, though, and I could tell a storm was brewing; from the looks of it, one of those horrible rad-sandstorms. So we bedded down in the entrance to the Vault. Gonna rest for a few hours and then head inside and try to find some of the air filtration components.
Now that I think about it, this is the first time I'll ever have been in a vault. I wonder what it's like? If the entrance is any indication, the place is going to be trashed...

Silath's Journal: Day 30 - November 17, 2281

We rose and got ready at 4 AM. I didn't sleep great, but I'm starting to think perhaps it's just a natural adaptation. Only fools sleep well in the Mojave, everyone else keeps one eye open. I'll just have to make up for it when I have the chance to sleep somewhere safe.

We headed the last few miles north to Nellis, and sure enough found the last squad by a blase crater. Now that I had all three holotapes, I decided to give them a listen, but it was basically just MacNamara telling them to look 'for the components we need', very little to go one.
Then we trurned around and headed back to the bunker. The trip was uneventful and we made good time. I informed MacNamara that all three squads had been found dead, and handed over the holotapes.
Now MacNamara wants me to go find three of his scouts and get reports from them, because they've been ordered to maintain radio silence. Do you know who I am, you motherfucker? I am so fucking sick of running over the goddamned mojave every five minutes to drop of somebodies fucking laundry or being asked to risk my goddamn life, killing hordes of mutants, because they're too fucking afraid.
Of course... of course I didn't say that. I gritted my teeth. If MacNamara wants me to run goddamned errands, then I'll run his goddamn errands. Why? Because I need their support, that's why.

I suppose I could just help Hardin take charge, but he gives me the creeps. Like a bad politician (there's good ones?). I just don't like the guy, not that MacNamara is exactly great either, but I don't get that same 'Backstabbing bastard' vibe off of him.
Blech. At least one of the scouts was close by to the south, watching over the NCRCF. Apparently he had witnessed the prisoner takeover and was wondering why the NCR hadn't come to take back the prison.
When MacNamara had told me the passphrase to get the scouts to talk to me was 'Is the bear still hunting?' it wasn't hard to figure out what that meant. The other scout was just a few miles to the east, so we headed to them next.

Veronica either doesn't mind the fact we wander the wasteland doing petty tasks for people all day, or she just hasn't been with me long enough to get angry about it yet. I think she could tell I was mad about something, though, but didn't ask what.
Found scout number 2 watching over Nipton, he had witnessed the legion massacre there. He was astounded the legion had infiltrated so far west, and that the NCR had done nothing in reply.
The final scout was a decent ways to the northeast, along the Colorado and south of the Dam. Along the way we were attacked by another group of legion assasins. Hum-de-dum. That's another thing I'm realllllly getting sick of. GIVE IT UP CEASER. I've killed a dozen of these fucking assasin groups. You're not going to get me you fucking twat.

I was feeling very tired by then, but it was only 4 PM. This day had just been really irritating and exhausting. Found the third scout overlooking the NCR Camp searchlight. He said he was surprised the NCR hadn't crushed the legion forces there, given the NCR's technological edge. Apparently these scouts have never had to fight legion troops before.
Speaking of the scouts, I forgot to mention but they all talk like a bunch of stuck-up cunts. It was extremely irritating, I wanted to kick them in the face for it. Arrogant assholes. Why don't you go down and try to fight off some legion fuckheads with nothing but a service rifle, outnumbering you and your men by 3 to 1?

Anyway... it was getting dark by then so I headed into Camp Searchlight, intending to get some food and rest. By the graveyard, some troops were on a cliff shining one of the spotlights down at something.
When I spoke with them, they offered me a bet: There was a cave at water level, on the other side of the canyon. If I dove in, got inside, and came back they would give me 500 caps.
I didn't really need the money, but the day had left me feeling angry and frustrated, and I was in the mood to do something stupid and crazy... so I took the bet. Told Veronica to wait at the camp for me, if I wasn't back in 24 hours I was dead. I took off my combat armor, stripping down to just the protective under suit.
Then I jumped. The vertigo as I watched the cliffs race past me was overwhelming, making myself as slender as possible, my body shooting through the water. I think I even felt my toes touch the bottom, then I was shooting back up and gasping for air.

The water hadn't looked like it was moving fast, but it was surprisingly swift. I had to swim hard and latch on the the rusted steel grating over the tunnel. Then I opened the gate and was safely inside.
Safe being a relative term... all I had brought with my was my perferator and a belt laden down with ammunition and a few stimpacks. Fortunately the tunnel only had about a half-dozen lakelurks in it, which was a mercy.
At the end of the tunnels I found a small but well preserved bunker. A terminal with random chunks of diary provided some details on who had lived here; ghouls, it seems, a man and his wife. They had travelled all the way from DC, and arrived here several years ago.
Then they had begun work on some sort of technology, an assisted targeting module. I wondered if that was like the combat module Doc Mitchell had given me. There was talk about a nightvision visor, which a gecko had somehow made off with. And a suit of armor, a complete set of which he had buried with his wife.

I found the armor in another room, some kind of workshop. It's... awesome. The best way I can describe it is as a lightweight suit of power armor, geared more towards stealth and agility than protection. I have no idea how they got it to be so lightweight, maybe the same sort of technology as that device I keep on my backpack?
Whats really cool is that the armor is modular. There's multiple pieces you can add or take off as you please. Veronica is going to be impressed when I get back to her with this! Then I remembered she was probably wondering if I was even alive... so I left the armor in the room and headed out to the entrance of the tunnel.
Leaning outside the grating, I flashed my pipboy light twice, slowly, up at the cliff. The searchlight was sweeping the canyon and river south of me. I hoped Veronica was still up there and would see my light.
A minute later I flashed again, and this time got a response; three short flashes from her helmet-mounted light. I gave a single, long flash in return, and it was replieed by Veronica in kind. I think she was yelling down something at me, but I couldn't understand.
A moment later the searchlight found me again, and I waved my arm up at them. I couldn't see them, not with the light shining right down into my face, but I hoped they got the message.

I was far too exhausted to climb back up the cliff, especially at night. I went back to the bunker to sleep and record this. I locked the entrance up tight, stripped out of my soaking wet clothes, and then lay down in the musty smelling bed. I realized a ghoul had slept here. Hopefully there isn't too much dead skin... ick.

Silath's Journal: Day 29 - November 16, 2281

Slept well for once. Maybe it was the Med-x, maybe just being safe in a bunker. I never sleep this well at the L-38, though... Woke up at 5 AM to the sounds of the others getting up around me.
I've decided to do MacNamaras little quest. Tracked the three squads down using the frequency MacNamara gave me: One near Nellis AFB (probably killed by the Boomers. Oops.) one south of the Grub and Gulp, and another two or three miles east of here.
Tracked down the group to the east, they were laying in a big ass irradiated crater surrounded by mutant centaurs. Picked up the holo tape and then started moving north to the next squad.
Shortly along the way though, I was stopped by a non-hostile mutant named Neil. He warned me to turn around, unless I wanted to be torn apart by mutants. Mentioned something about being drawn here by radio broadcasts from Tabitha.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I sensed something in him. I'm beginning to get really good at noticing when people want my help. After a little nudging, he admitted if I was willing and able, he would help me take out Tabitha. Seems she has a policy about killing all humans, so I agreed.
Neil ran off to the top of the mountain, said if I could get past the mutant guards then I was strong enough to kill Tabitha. Well duh. Sigh. Me and Veronica made short work of the three roadbloaks set along the path up the mountain.

Met up with Neil and he laid a trap for the remaining nightkin guards; led them down the road to me so I could snipe them off. Even with stealthboys on, you can still make them out; a shimmering like a mirage. Easy enough to see when you know where to look.
Neil left me on my own then, big help he was. He also failed to mention the mutant up on a tower armed with a rocket launcher. Explosives are the bane of my existence, and my poor arms and legs... I think Neil was hoping I'd get killed.

We rescued a ghoul named Raul, very dry sense of humor that one. He wandered off to enjoy his newfound freedom. Shortly thereafter, Tabitha got an uppercut from Veronica's ballistic fist. That girl has some moves, I'll tell ya. We could tell it was Tabitha because she was wearing a blonde wig and some crazy glasses.
Inside Tabitha's radio station I found a terminal with some pre-war entries, written just before and after that attacks. It was wierd, kind of fascinating though. There were also more recent entries, one by Marcus. Seems he tried to make a new home here.
I guess Marcus was a 'first-gen' whatever that means, and Tabitha and some others were... well, not. Eventually there was a fight, and the first-gens got kicked out. Then Tabitha and 'Rhonda', who I think was a voice in her head (She was a nightkin, so probably schizo) took over the place.
On the way out I asked Neil what he was gonna do. He said he'd stick around to guide any mutants who came in towards Jacobstown, then sent me on my merry way.

The next squad was only a few miles north, so we headed there. Got attacked by a legion squad about halfway there, I can't wait for this war to be over just so I don't have to deal with those fuckers anymore.
The squad ended up being inside the Repconn HQ building. It was easy enough to bluff my way past the security of the robots, and on the first floor behind a locked security door was a really awesome plasma rifle. I insisted Veronica take it, and she begrudgingly slung it on her back. Along with a shitload of Microfusion cells we had found.

Found the squad on the third floor, both of them dead. Grabbed the holo tape. Also found a suitcase next to a skeleton with a shitload of pre-war money and a fancy ID card. Might come in handy some day.
After that we bedded down in one of the offices, the repconn robots providing security for the night. Debating whether or not I should take a shot of Med-x... I guess if I have to debate if it's a good idea or not, then it's probably a bad one. If I can't sleep then I'll take one.
As a side note: surprised Veronica hasn't tried to bury the dead Brotherhood members we've found. She's treated them just like any other corpses. Which is logical, but wierd.

Silath's Journal: Day 28 - November 15, 2281

Early to bed, early to rise. Found Veronica sprawled under the sheets of her bed this morning, and she looked so peaceful I decided to giver her an extra hours sleep. I think she's not quite used to the pace we've been keeping, but is too prideful to admit it. She's a tough girl.
At 6 I woke her, and we readied ourselves. She said she would guide me to the Brotherhood bunker she had called home. We stopped by the Gunrunners so I could reload some ammunition, and I picked up a fantastic red-dot sight for my perferator. It's even more deadly now.

We were attacked by legion assasins (Of course we were) about a mile or so south of Vegas. Fought them off easily enough. I'm beginning to get very good at headshots using VATS.
Afterwards we came across the 'Junction 15 Railway Station' and found a dead NCR soldier inside. His armor had been almost sheared through, the only thing I know of that can do that is a thermic lance or deathclaws.
Sure enough, when we exited to the back 'porch' of the station, a raised concrete section, I spotted four deathclaws off in the distance. Pulled out the DKS and sniped them, dealt with easily enough.
A little ways south on the same road, I spotted several more of them milling around an old quarry. Found a nice high spot and began picking them off from afar. Killed 10 total. Ten damn deathclaws... imagine stumbling into that place. Anyone would be tore to shreds in seconds.

The area around the Brotherhood bunker was swarming with bark scorpions, but they're really little more than pests. I was kind of funny watching Veronica bending down to smash them, though, and I think she heard me snickering.
There were a couple of other bunkers there also, three more actually. Two of them were collapsed shortly past the entrance rooms, but the third had some intact rooms. In one of them we found an old T-45D power helmet, and after we cleaned it up Veronica put it on. Quite an intimidating sight now!
Personally, I like the look of the old T-45D power armor over the 51B, the 45D is a lot edgier and scarier. But... the 51B is a lot easier to move around in (according to Veronica) and provides better protection. Sometimes you have to go with function over form.

Veronica got us access to the Brotherhood's bunker, and I was greeted by the security officer Paladin Ramos. Seemed polite enough, I was kind of expecting the BoS members to scorn me for being a wastelander, but they're all actually reasonably sociable.
I spoke with the Elder, MacNamara, and he asked me if I would be willing to help them. Told him that's why I came here. He wants me to find three patrols he had sent out and not heard back from; each carried a holotape that I could use to track them down. If the teams were alive, bring them back... if not, bring back their holotapes.
He also said I would be allowed to access some of their salvaged equipment from the Quartermaster, but none of their more advanced and priveledged technology. Which is a shame because I noticed some of the soldiers walking around in some sort of lightweight, sleek looking combat armor... maybe if I do them some favors I can get my hands on some.

As I was leaving MacNamara's chamber, I was approached by Head Paladin Hardin. Hardin seems to think that Elder MacNamara is slowly killing the Brotherhood here with his isolationist policies. He wants my assistance in uncovering information about how to replace (usurp) MacNamara. Recommended that I talk to Ramos first, or check out the Brotherhood databases.
I promised him I would give it some serious thought. From what Veronica has told me, Hardin may well me right. First though... first I'm going to do MacNamaras task. Hopefully it will help me gain a little trust, and then I can get a better insight on the situation here. Need to make sure Hardin isn't just using me to further his agenda (Ok, well he probably is, but I need to make sure I agree with that agenda first.)

After that chat, I went to talk to the quartermaster, Knight Torres. She was stressing out about a missing laser pistol, so I told her I'd keep an eye out for it. Didn't calm her down any. Torres didn't really have anything interesting, though. Alas.
Veronica had been wandering around the bunker catching up on things, I found her after a little while (The bunker isn't really that big) and asked if it was Ok if I slept in one of the beds for the night, suggested that we rest up here and then head out early tomorrow (as was quickly becoming our usual routine.)
She said that was fine, and guided me to a free bed in the corner of a sort of barracks. I went up to the upper level and asked Ramos if it was ok if I stepped outside for a few minutes, he said that was fine as long as I came back withing 10 minutes. Guess he didn't want me sneaking off and bringing an army back... but I needed some privacy to record this.

Plus I wanted to grab a cigarette, I found a few cartons of them back when I was trapped in the Bonnie Springs underground station, they're gross at first but I kind of like them. Veronica hasn't said anything about it but I can kinda tell she doesn't like it. Oh well. I've read in medical journals how they're bad for you, but frankly with all the dangers of the Mojave I've been through a lot worse.
I don't think my life is going to be a real long one. And... hell, if I can't be honest with myself in my own memory journals, then who can I be honest with? I haven't been sleeping well ever since I saw the Ceasers Legion camp at Fortification hill. And when I talked to Boxcar and gave him the Med-x to off himself... I've been thinking about using it to help me sleep.
I've used it before while I waited for stimpacks to kick in. I know it can be addictive if you use it recreationally, but I REALLY need a good nights sleep. I think I'll give myself a shot and then head back into the bunker and go to bed. Hopefully it will help. Besides, if I get addicted I know perfectly well how to cure myself. I could really use something to help me relax. And of all the drugs out there, Med-x is by far the safest. May as well give it a try.

Silath's Journal: Day 27 - November 14, 2281

Veronica woke me up at 6, I had planned to sleep in another hour or two but didn't mind. She admired the trees and enjoyed the cool air while me and Rex entere Jacobstown and the lodge.
Dr. Henry examined the brain and determined it had been subject to loarge amounts of turbo, but was otherwise fine. Said it might even make Rex faster. The surgery took till noon, I offered to assist since my medical knowledge is fairly decent, but he said it was fine.
So I chatted with Marcus a bit. He asked me about Veronica, who had been meandering a little ways outside of town. I figured if I could trust anyone with the truth, it was Marcus; told him she was Brotherhood.

Marcus was taken aback, asked me why someone as open-minded as I was (flattering) was in the company of a BoS bigot. I explained that Veronica wasn't exactly your stereotypical Brotherhood member, she was very kind, smart, funny... and then I shut up before I started sounding to sappy. Marcus merely grunted and told me that I shouldn't be too trusting, but that it was good I had found someone to travel with.
I walked out to Veronica and tried to convince her to at least speak to Marcus. When I let slip that I had told Marcus she was Brotherhood, she nearly flipped. I was glad she didn't hit me, especially since she was wearing the ballistic fist.
I explained that I trusted and respected Marcus greatly, and explained to him that she was a good and kind person, just ingrained with a distrust of mutants (and ghouls, she was very cautious around the ones at The Underground) I could see her soften a little. Still mad, though. I sighed, and we sat in silence for a while. Finally, she said "You should go check in on Rex" and I took the oppurtunity to get away from the akward, angry silence.

Somehow we managed to make it back to the Strip without getting into a single fight, a miracle, but Veronica was silent the entire way. When I handed Rex back to The King, she seemed to cheer up at seeing his joy. The King tried to offer Rex to me, but I insisted he stayed with his master. Failed to mention the fact that keeping Rex alive had been a real pain in my ass, didn't seem polite.
After that I stopped at the L-38 to speak with Yes Man, and explained that the Khans would assist us. Then we went to see ambassador Crocker (the looks Veronica has been getting for walking around in power armor have ranged from fear to amusement.)

Turned out that Crocker wanted my help dealing with Pacer and the way he's been causing all sorts of trouble for the NCR in Freeside. I mentioned that I was in pretty good with The King, and that he owed me a favor. Crocker was pleased and asked that I get back to him with The King's answer ASAP.
The King said it would be tough to keep the peace, and that after this he'd consider us even. I was more than happy to agree. Admittedly, it was mostly laziness, I was happy to have something done easy for once. Quick and simple.

Crocker gave his thanks and 600 caps (not much but if there's one thing I've learned, it can really add up.) When I asked if he had any more jobs for me, he said no, but that Colonel Moore at the Dam had asked for me by name. Not sure what she wants, but he advised I not take too long.

I figure she can wait a few days, but I don't want to put it off for too long. Mostly I just want to get in contact with the BoS and see where they stand, so I can tell Yes Man if they need to be watched when it comes time for the battle. If I'm lucky, I can get their assistance, but the best I can realistically hope for is that they don't cause the NCR any trouble.
We'll see... for now, though, with the time it took to get Rex's surgery and trek back to the Strip, it's getting pretty late. Me and Veronica will rest up at the L-38 (maybe some day she'll get used to it) and then she's offered to help me find the BoS bunker and speak with the Elder.

Silath's Journal: Day 26 - November 13, 2281

We finished clearing the last of the lakelurks from the caverns this morning. There shouldn't be anything left alive in there now. Informed McMillan (Not McMillian) of those and he was practically ecstatic. Said we were welcome into their town "The Underground" and gave me a rather nice modified riot shotgun. It will be replacing my old one.

Inside the town I traded some junk with a chem dealer named Tecoult, got some hydra and most of his caps. Deeper in we located what the locals called the 'Market Sector' and I found an armor merchant. She had a T-51B power armor, in near mint condition. It cost a fair amount, but I bought it for Veronica. Besides, her old T-45D power armor offset the cost when we traded it in. She said it was almost as good a gift as a dress.
One of these days, I'm going to find that girl a gorgeous dress and she's going to have a heart attack on the spot. We also found an arms dealer, and I got her a thermic lance, traded in her ballistic fist for it. She was less enthusiastic about this, but I explained my experience of the values of armor-piercing weapons. She was inconvinced but agreed to give the lance a try.

After what seemed like wandering the caverns for weeks (though, I think this was only our second day here?) we exited through, what I was very surprised to discover, was the Freeside Broadcasting Station.
I was all too eager to get back outside under open sky, though, and we quickly made our exit. Rex seemed eager as well, though Veronica couldn't care less either way. Nearby the exit of the broadcasting building, though, I noticed a nest of raiders had taken over a bit of a junkyard. Inside were about half a dozen dogs.

Well, that was convienent for once! I sniped the dogs and the inhabitants, and then picked the head of the healthiest looking dog. I wanted to get to Jacobstown ASAP now, though, before the brain became too detioriated to use.
On the way to Jacobstown, we were attacked by legion asassins for the THIRD time in this same spot. What the fuck, man. This is seriously starting to get FUCKING ANNOYING. I can't wait to skullfuck Ceaser when the battle at the dam finally comes. I want to take his head personally.

Ugh... Annnnnyway, the rest of the journey was fairly uneventful, though it was getting fairly dark. Along the way Veronica was already complaining that she missed her ballistic fist (So far all we had fought were some raiders, a few cazadores, and the legion assasins) so I succumbed and gave her one of the ballistic fists I had found on an assasin. She hugged me, and told the ballistic fist "I missed you."
She is very... eccentric, at times, but sweet nontheless. We ended up camping just outside Jacobstown around 10, partly because I thought it would be a bad idea to approach a place with nightkin at night, and partly because Veronica refuses to go into the town and I didn't want to leave her camping out here alone.

Things are progressing nicely, though. We'll sleep for a while tonight (obvious) and then get Rex's brain all fixed up, and head back to drop him off with The King. Be nice not to have to worry about him getting killed anymore. After that I'll stop by the Lucky 38 and let Yes Man know the Khans are finally with us.
SHIT! That reminds me, Ambassador Crocker had some task he wanted me to do, and I was all "I'll get back to you in a few days". But I think that was over a week ago... can't remember. Too easy to lose track of time. Anyway, soon as I deal with Yes Man I'll go see Crocker and discover if the offer is still on the table, whatever it was.

Silath's Journal: Day 25 - November 12, 2281

Veronica seemed to sleep better here than she had at the Lucky 38. Something tells me she's used to sleeping on old couches and in abandoned buildings like this. Maybe I've just been spoiled by being able to retreat to the Lucky 38 every few days.
Noticed a faded red bull on Rex's flank this morning. I wonder if he used to be a legion dog? I'm pretty sure he's as old as the great war, judging by his technology. Imagine the things he's seen and been through. Too bad he can't talk.

There were two paths to take: one north, one west. We took the west one, which led into a tiny town built into the cavern. Had a liquor store, playground, everything. But there were about a dozen ghouls wandering around the center, so I had Veronica and Rex stay back while I went ahead to snipe. Veronica is real happy when I do that, but she accepts the fact that it's a hell of a lot afer than charging in, no matter how deadly she is with that ballistic fist.
I sniped off a half dozen of them, then they finally got wind of my location. The caverns echo the gunshots, making it hard to find me I guess. Veronica noticed, let go of Rex and we charged in to finish the remaining ghouls off.

Most of the buildings were boarded up or collapsed, but we entered on labelled simply 'Workshop'. Inside were several lakelurks, and in the basement one of the walls had collapsed leading to another cavern that seemed to be their nest. We cleared it out, one of the lakelurks was easily three times the size of the others. Veronica's ballistic fist punched massive holes in it, but I still had to pump several 12 guage rounds into it. Rex was... Rex.
The lakelurks had dragged several bodies back there, and one of them had a nice custom tri-beam laser rifle on him, which I offered to Veronica, but she said she was fine with her plasma pistol as a backup.
He also had a REALLY nice suit of modified combat armor; it had been reinforced in several places, but was still almost as light as my reinforced leather armor. Certainly lighter than normal combar armor. I repaired it with my old armor and put it on. I really like it.

After that we went back into the little town and entered the only other servicable building, a sort of small apartment complex. My combat module told me there were tons of ghouls inside, so I left Rex outside and had Veronica guard the stairs leading up while I cleared out the lower floor. The ghouls here were fairly well armed and armored, and when I was almost done clearing the lower level I could hear the sounds of Veronica fighting.
By the time I made it back to her, she had almost finished off 6 ghouls: I helped her kill the last two. Total kill count: 13. We got lucky though; among the loot was a suit of power armor, and after repairing it with some scraps of metal armor and electronics it was almost as good as new. Veronica gladly put it on.
She's a pretty intimidating sight now; all we need to do is find her a proper power armor helmet. For now she's just wearing a combat helmet.

We came out of the little town on the other side of a long cave tunnel, and finally found some friendlies! A Seargent McMillian (I think that's how it's spelled, I didn't ask) was in charge of a defense squad, and greeted us.
When he saw Veronica's power armor, he asked us if we had killed a guy wielding a flame thrower. That was the ghoul we had gotten the power armor off of; McMillian was impressed. We tried to enter the town he was guarding, but McMillian demanded a price for interest.
Since it was obvious we could handle ourselves, he said, the price for admission to their town was to kill  a series of leaders. It seems the ghouls we had been fighting were part of some sort of faction trying to take over their town.

I had planned on backtracking and clearing out the rest of the caverns anyway, so I agreed. We had already killed half the people and things McMillian wanted dead; the giant lakelurk, and a ghoul holding a key I had picked up.
He still wanted us to kill some scientist ghoul called Gregor, who was apparently at the power plant, and another lakelurk named Lockjaw (who had apparently gotten his name when half his face had been melted by a plasma bolt.)

So we backtracked a way and took the path north in the main cavern. Found the power plant easily enough and cleared it out (with Rex waiting outside.) Veronica moves surprisingly well in that huge suit of power armor.
Including Gregor, we killed about 20 ghouls in the power station. Was quite a battle. After that, we moved deeper into the northern cavern, coming across a big metal door. Beyond was quite a sight: a massive, deep cavern spanned by a single catwalk, 30 or 40 feet up.
There were a shitload of lakelurks down below, and I picked them off with my desert DKS. One of them was Lockjaw, judging by the description McMillian had given me.

The catwalk lead to another section, this one some sort of construction sight for a bunch of self-proclaimed 'Mini-Vaults'. We cleared out the main area, but there's still a few tunnels we need to explore.
One of the buildings was some sort of workers barracks, filled with dozens of radroaches. Rex had a field day, though I had to help him out once when he got a little overwhelmed. I swear as soon as we fix that dog he's going right to the King.
I love dogs, honestly, but Rex just is too eager for his own good. Keeping him safe is a huge chore. Anyway, once we cleared out the workers housing I noticed it was nearly 1 AM. It's way to easy to get caught up in battle and lose track of time underground.
I asked Veronica if she ever had that problem in the Brotherhood bunker, and she said the lights were programmed to brighten and dim to simulate daylight and nightfall. I guess that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm pretty much exhausted. I think between ghouls and lakelurks, we must have killed 50 enemies today. If it wasn't for the reloading bench in that workshop I'd probably be out of ammo by now. Bleh... sleep time.

Silath's Journal: Day 24 - November 11, 2281

Woke up at 5 AM. Veronica seemed used to the early hours, and Rex was already up. I don't know if he slept at all. Veronica said she'd had a hard time falling asleep, the Lucky 38 gave her the creeps, but that she was used to waking up early in the BoS.

We headed up the 95, and just before the road that branched off into the mountains, towards Jacobstown, we were attacked by legion assasins. It was nearly the same place as the last time I was here.
Veronica and Rex tore into them, her ballistic fist sending one of the flying a few feet and Rex tackling one to the ground, tearing out his throat. I took out the other two with VATS. Looks like my two new companions can hold their own, but Rex has a habit of charging into things that worries me.

I said my hellos to Marcus when we got to Jacobstown, Veronica opted to stay outside. I don't think she trusts the mutants. I found Dr. Henry, and he examined Rex before delcaring he would need and entirely new brain. Said that Lady Gibson by Novac had some dogs, and that the fiends and legion often used them as fighters. I've seen the NCR use guard dogs as well.
So, we'll have to find Rex a new brain somewhere. I'm sure it won't be overly difficult. After that we headed for Cazadore Canyon; there were a few that had returned to the nests, but only about 6, not nearly as much as last time. Rex got stung and I had to rush to heal him up before he died from the venom.
We made good time on the trail, though, and reached Redrocks by 1 PM. Diane still demanded proof, but I was able to convince Jack to speak out against the legion. Jack was able to convince Diane, so it all worked out in the end.

With all the cats in the bag, I spoke to Papa. He admitted that his advisors had made a good case to abandon the legion, and then told me his true fear; If the Khan's didn't ally with the legion, how would they ever continue their legacy of glory?
I took a risk and told Papa my honest opinion. "Legacy of glory? What legacy? The Khans are nothing but the step-children of the Mojave, kicked from one place to another. Their legacy is nothing but ghosts and martyrs."
I could see the anger in Papa's face, but he also realized the truth of my words. He finally folded: the Khans would forge a new legacy, he claimed, and find glory at the battle of the dam, fighting against Ceaser. I was pleased.

Recalling the underground train station, and remembering that I had wanted to finish exploring it when I had suffecient supplies, I headed out of Redrocks and entered the tunnels in Bonnie Springs where I had exited them before.
We killed a few mutants and ghouls, then discovered a whole nother section of complex. Much like elsewhere in the Mojave, I was beginning to suspect these tunnels were just a cover for some military or research base.
I had Veronica and Rex stay behind, as my combat module told me there were several enemies in the rooms beyond. I didn't want them alerting anyone or anything to me when I could just take them out with my perferator instead.
I cleared the first few rooms and then went back and got them, pulling out the combat shotgun now. We entered a large series of caves; it looked like someone had made an underground city, almost.
The area was infested with feral ghouls, though. And some that weren't feral, but hostile nontheless. Rex kept trying to get himself killed, and almost succeeded a few times. Veronica more than held her own, and she took a suit of bulky combat armor from one of the dead ghouls. It looked kind of goofy, but seemed to offer more protection than the normal combat armor you see.

I checked my pipboy, and by then it was getting dark. Someone had constructed two small houses in the first cave section, so I scouted around a little to make sure it was clear and then we set up camp for the night, barricading the doors and windows just in case.
We'll catch a few hours of sleep, eat and drink, and then keep exploring these caves. Hopefully Rex will manage not to get killed in the process...

Silath's Journal: Day 23 - November 10, 2281

Headed over to the Lucky 38 with Yes Man, told him I was working on the Khans, other than that he had no news for me. No news is good news. I decided that it'd be a good idea to head back to Redrocks, but as soon as I got into Freeside to leave the strip another of those huge sandstorms struck.
I ducked into the nearest building, King's House of Impersonation. Since I was there, and the Kings effectively ruled Freeside, I decided to talk to the King himself, see if he had any work for me.
King wanted me to check out a suspicious bodyguard, one of the escorts tourists could hire while making their way through Freeside. Seemed easy enough so I told him I'd check it out, and he gave me 200 caps to cover the bodyguard's fee. Told me his name was Orris.

Dicked around at the bar for 5 hours, till the sandstorm finally started to taper off. Was still windy and dusty, but at least you could move around and see. Found Orris and hired him.
Everything was going smoothly till about halfway through Freeside, Orris noticed a suspicious group of men and took me on a detour through a side street. Then all the sudden he started sprinting around a corner. I heard three gunshots, and when I caught up a moment later there were four dead men on the ground.
Four dead men, three gunshots. When I asked Orris, he said one of the rounds had gone through the first man and struck the second. Since he was using a 45-70 revolver, this was mildly believable.
Then, I noticed that all four men were still breathing. Right... as soon as Orris' little tour was done, I headed back to King and let him know about the scam. The King was appreciative of my help and offered another job; seems three of his men had gotten beat up and he wanted me to find out who.

So I went to the old Mormon Fort and talked with an older man named Roy. He said the attack had happened about 11 at night, as they were headed out of the Atomic Wrangler. Apparently they 'took a wrong turn' and ended up in the area of the NCR refuges.
They were confronted by three large men, who asked them rather gruffly what the hell they were doing. Then, one of Roy's buddies with a temper started yelling at them, and it devolved into a fight. Wayne, one of the other men who had been beaten, told me one of their attackers referred to the other as 'Luitenant'. So it sounds like NCR troopers did this.
When I returned to the King, he suggested I talk to Julie Farkas and see if she knew anything. Julie sent me to talk to a Major Kieran, who was coordinating the NCR relief efforts for Freeside.

Kieran told me that she had initially tried to coordinate the relief with the Kings, had sent over an envoy. The envoy had been returned to her beaten to a bloody pulp, almost dead. This was an alarming development, so I rushed back to King to see if this story was true.
Pacer stopped me at the door and claimed the envoy was a spy, and 'not tough enough to last in Freeside'. That I shouldn't waste the Kings time with NCR lies. I insisted I speak with the King, and Pacer wandered off.

When I asked the King if he had had the envoy beaten, he was shocked and said he had never recieved an envoy. We were interupted by an out of breath man, who said that Pacer was stirring up some sort of trouble with the NCR. The King asked me to go check it out and calm everybody down.
Well, I found Pacer hiding behind a bus stop, with two NCR troopers shooting at him from a small tower. Three dead kings lay between them. I found Major Kieran and ran up and asked her what the hell was going on, explained that Pacer was the one who had her envoy beaten.
Kieran said as long King was willing to work with the NCR, they could get something going, but that he better be on his best behaviour after what just happened. Pacer slinked off back to King territory. I expect he'll be dealt with.

The King was well pleased with my detective work, and offered me a favor, whatever I wanted. I think I'll hold on to it, you never know when a favor could save your life in Vegas. Afterwards I asked him about his cyborg companion, Rex. Seemed like he was sick, and I offered to examine him; something was obviously wrong with his brain and the cerebral fluid.
King said he had taken Rex to the FoA for help, and told me to talk to Julie Farkas again. When I did, she said the Followers didn't have the skills to fix what was wrong with Rex, and mentioned Doctor Henry up at Jacobstown.
Remember him? I vaguely recalled him mentioning that he had specialized in canine neuroscience. Hell of a coincidence. I offered to take Rex up to Jacobstown for the King, an offer he gladly took me up on.

Figured I could go through Cazadore Canyon to get to Redrocks after dropping Rex off with Dr. Henry. It was getting late in the day though, so I set Veronica up with a really nice room at the Lucky 38 (I figured as long as she didn't see Yes Man it'd be fine) and had Rex come into my room.
Tomorrow we'll head up to Jacobstown, and pray that Cazadore Canyon hasn't been repopulated... for now though, a shower and sleep.

Silath's Journal: Day 22 - November 9, 2281

I waited around in the Helios building until 9 AM, and then activated the thing. Thank god I was wearing my sunglasses! Never seen anything so bright, you could literally see the energy waves of the sunlight on the solar collector!
Spoke with Rivas on the way out, he was pleased with my decision to distribute the power across the grid. Even gave me a science book and some medical supplies. I thanked him and asked what he would do now: Rivas said he would stick around for a while.

Then I began heading towards the 188 trading post, the location of which my pipboy had recorded, not that it was hard to find. Along the way, a group of legion assasins found me. About twenty minutes after that, ANOTHER assasins group found me. Fucking annoying assholes. I must have taken out half of Ceasers best men by now.
Anyway... met a nice girl at the 188, Veronica. Claimed she was out getting supplies for her 'family' in a bunker. Then she asked me what my opinion of the Brotherhood of Steel was. See where this is going? I told her they generally left people alone, as long as they weren't holding advanced weapons technology (which, to the best of my knowledge, is true.)
Then she asked if she could join me in my travels. I said sure, why the hell not, and that's when she revealed she was actually a BoS member (shocking I know.) I gave her a ballistic fist I had found on one of the dead legion assasins and repaired to almost full condition. Crazy things, they're like power fists but modified to fire two shotgun shells point blank on contact. Very powerful. Veronica seemed a little dissapointed it wasn't a fancy dress, but was thankful regardless.

After that I traded for some .308 rounds, then remembered a recharging plasma pistol I had found in the bunker with the tesla cannon, and gave that to her as a ranged backup. Then we continued on our way.
Found a FoA outpost hidden in a railyard, but there was nothing to trade or do there so we moved on. It's kind of nice having someone to watch my back now, especially someone trained by the Brotherhood and armed with a devastating melee weapon!

We reached the Strip without any further events, and I traded at the Gunrunners vendertron. I finally decided to sell my faithful .308 marksman carbine, it served me well, but I have a different setup planned now. I've got that nice modified DKS for long range, the perferator for medium range or silenced operations... and I grabbed a brand-new riot shotgun in 12 gauge!
To be honest, I really missed the sheer power of a shotgun loaded with magnum buckshot. That was half the reason I got it. The other half, is the fact that I'd gotten pretty good at finding weak points in enemy armor with my old shotgun, and as much as I like my perferator sometimes you just need pure knockdown power.

Ah... anyway, with that done, I went by the Crimson Caravan HQ and got some reinforced leather armor, like I used to wear, for Veronica. Lots better than the robes she was wearing. Also gave her a combat helmet. She claims she knows how to use power armor, so maybe if we ever run across some she can wear it. I'm not a big fan of heavy armor like that, but if she's going to be running up to enemies to smash them with her ballistic fist, I can kinda see it coming in handy.

By this point I had nearly 50,000 caps, so it was time for implants! Yay! Doctor Usanagi seemed thrilled too, she said she doesn't get to preform implants very often due to the cost. She was even more thrilled when I opted to get THREE of them. The first was the regenerative implant, the most expensive (12,000 caps). I also got the subdermal reinforcement, basically it adds large amounts of iron to my bones and subdermal layers of fat and skin. It's not exactly bulletproofing, but it will help. That one was 8000 caps. Then I got a perception implant, some sort of optical processor, to increase my vision and awareness. That one was only 4000 caps.
Veronica said she'd never seen a person spend so much money in one place, but I told her it'd be worth it. With the kind of shit I've been doing, I need every advantage I could get. By the time all the operations were done, it was nearly 4 AM! I feel pretty great though, not tired at all, and Veronica said she had napped while I was in surgery, so I think we'll just continue on  after stopping by the Lucky 38. I'll have Veronica wait outside, though.
I barely know her, after all. Can't risk her knowing about Yes Man. But since I like to break these journals into daily chunks, I wanted to get this down before starting todays journies.

Silath's Journal: Day 21 - November 8, 2281

Headed out of Cottonwood Cove, found the Searchlight North Gold Mine along the way. Nothing interesting inside, just several NCR feral ghouls.
On the road north, I came across a large brahmin caravan. Sadly, some Legion assasins chose this moment to strike. They killed almost everyone in the caravan, as I couldn't get clean shots on them with Brahmin and people running everywhere. I feel bad, but I'm not so stupid to think it's my fault. Ceaser is the one who sent the fuckers after me. I think this makes the third attempt, now.
Stopped by Novac after that, traded a little with Cliff Broscoe at the Dino-dee-lite. He had a silencer that fit any 5.56 barrel, and I slapped it on my cut down R91. I've been trying to think of a name for it, and finally decided on 'Perferator'.

Ended up taking a side road north out of Novac, and noticed a massive building, so I headed towards it out of curiosity. Turned out to be the Helios One power plant, which I had heard about on the radio. Was stopped by a Lt. Haggerty, and offered my assistance in getting the place up and running. I'm starting to get really good at science and repair oriented jobs, so this seemed like the perfect place for me.
Unfortunately, the NCR had put some absolute idiot calling himself 'Fantastic' in charge. He asked me if I was there to replace him, and I jokingly said yes. He freaked out, and I told him if he gave me some caps I would let him keep his job! The idiot paid up.
On the bright side, there was a FOA guy there, Ignacio Rivas. A little... creepy, but at least he wasn't a complete idiot. He had a theory that some sort of weapon named 'Archimedes' was located here. After all the hidden military complexes I've seen, I'd believe it. He also told me that the Brotherhood of Steel had fought to the death against NCR forces to hold this place (Obviously they eventually failed) and the brotherhood doesn't defend something like that unless it's very powerful.

It seems, though, the NCR has no idea this place is anything more than complex solar power station. It seems I need to locate two panel control teriminals and reestablish their uplink with the power station mainframe, then get to the mainframe and set where I want the power to go. After that I need to access the panel calibration console and get them all aimed properly.
Of course, the mainframe was guarded by a small robot army, which was why the NCR hadn't gotten to it yet. But I'd rather face down robots than almost anything else; they're insanely easy to get the drop on.

For some reason the NCR had laid all sorts of traps around the first terminal, and locked three guard dogs around the second. Fantastic had given me the password to the first (he found it scrawled on one of the bathroom stalls, what the fuck?) and Rivas had discovered the password to the second. After dealing with the traps and dogs, I reconnected them both to the mainframe.
Then I headed for the large building housing a solar collecting tower. It wasn't hard to tell that the panels were designed to hit a point on the tower, pretty smart actually. Reflect all the sunlight onto a single point.
The first room was guarded by a series of turrets, but I snuck past them into a side room housing a terminal which let me erase their targeting data; sure enough, a moment later the sounds of laser and gunfire rang out. Then I shut them down and headed out.
The rest of the building was guarded by a few robots, which I took out easily enough with my perferator. Really glad I got that silencer, the robots never got a shot off on me! Easiest assignment yet.

Found the mainframe, and after repairing the power lines from the generator, got it back online. Now I had a choice; I could send the power to the Strip and McCarran, but that seemed like a waste. They already had plenty of power from Hoover Dam, and considering that had survived 200 years, I doubted it would be going anywhere soon.
I could use the collected power to activate Archimedes, but from what I had seen on the terminals, that seemed like a VERY bad idea. I could also set the station to emergency power, but years of neglect had left it unable to handle the influx and would blow the entire system (Or so the mainframe warned me). That would have the advantage of rendering Archimedes unusuable, but why do that when I could just do a little hacking and erase as much of the Archimedes software as possible?
Another option was to send the power fo Fremont and Westside, but they're both on the outskirts of the Strip anyway. Eventually the Strip is going to grow into the areas, and when it does, the power of Hoover Dam can be used on them.

The best option, it seemed, was to just distribute the power of Helios One onto the entire grid. The mainframe warned me there wasn't enough to maintain stable output, and that brownouts would be frequent.
Nevertheless, even infrequent power is a hell of a lot better than none at all. Hook up a bank of batteries to the grid and let it continuosly charge, problem pretty much solved. At least then people could run neccesities, use the batteries to run lights at night, or hook up a refridgeration unit. Water purification or condensation stills. Power tools. Sure, people won't be able to light themselves up like the Strip, but if they use the power intelligently it could do a lot of good for the entire Mojave. Or at least, along whatever power lines were still intact.
So that's the option I picked. Afterwards I headed up onto the tower itself, where the panel control console was located. Irritatingly, it could only be focused during 'Peak daylight hours' - between 9 AM and 3 PM. It was now 5 PM.
The Mojave would just have to wait till tomorrow to get it's solar power, I guess. So I went back inside the main building, did a quick sweep to make sure all the bots were disabled, then hacked the mainframe to erase as much Archimedes control software as I could find. Since the two outside terminals were connected now, I deleted the Archimedes logs on them as well.
As far as the NCR and anyone else (Except possibly the Brotherhood and Rivas) knows now, Archimedes never existed. I set up my bedrool near a sink offering rad-free water. Everyone is probably thinking I died in here, I suppose that's for the best for know. It's nice to get a few hours of peace and quiet to myself.
Don't reckon the NCR will be pleased that I'm not sending the power to where they wanted, but there's not going to be much they can do about it. I'll just have to convince them that in the long run, this is going be better, help develop the Mojave as a whole. If they won't be convinced, they'll just have to deal with it.