Author Note

I know this story isn't a long one, at least when compared to some I've written, but I hoped you all still enjoyed reading it as I enjoyed writing it.

Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas

Part 9

Cocktail Lounge. Lucky 38 Casino.

Everything seemed quiet, as such we were just hanging out up here while waiting for the final battle to start while others worked somewhere else, spending our last hours in this world studying the alien tech on the Mothership

I sat at a table attempting to get glimpses of the the future with a pack of Tarot cards and a few other items I'd learned to use during Divination classes at Hogwarts. Unlike other students who'd taken that class both Morgana and I actually had some talent for the art.

Morgana, who'd remained in stasis for this short Jump, was better at me at this because she had the gift, or curse, of the Seer. She sometimes dreamed of future events, as could I, and for her crystal balls, Tarot cards and reading tea leaves really worked.

While I had a connection to magic and could have visions given to me by the Force my talent for divination wasn't as accurate as Morgana's, but I didn't feel the need to consult her as the signs all looked good.

Just last night I'd had a clear vision of the future, showing me the bit of the coming battle as well the death of someone who turned out to be the NCR President, I'd sent Cameron to prevent the President's death since it seemed to be the will of the Force, or that of the universe, or something. Now all we could do is wait for the battle

"I've got news" Cortana said as she projected a hologram from my omni-tool "Caesar's Legion has begun its assault on Hoover Dam".

The room erupted in noise and frenzied movement, some of girls were already sorting out their equipment, weapons that had moments ago been in the process of being maintained were picked up even as bits of armour were getting put on.

"QUIET! QUIET! EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I yelled, trying to get everyone to calm down.

This was no time to panic, or to let excitement control our actions.

"How long do we have before the Legion breaks through the final NCR barricade and reaches this side of the Colorado river?" I asked "Give me your best estimate".

It suited me best if both the Legion and the NCR suffered loses before we got involved.

"If the panicked NCR com traffic I'm picking up is any indication then we have maybe half an hour" Cortana let me know "But probably less as the Legion is throwing everything they have at the dam".

As I'd expected they would.

"Then we better get moving" I said "Everyone, gear up and meet me at the Jumper ASAP. We're heading for the battle".

I addressed the hologram.

"Contact our allies" I told her "We'll need them soon".

We'd made some friends here like the Boomers and the folks on the Mothership, it was time to bring them into play.

"Already on it" she told me "Now for weapons and armour. What do you need, boss?".

I gave this some thought.

"The Legion like to get in close, they don't have much in the way of ranged weapons and speed will be important" I said "So I think I'll go for the Sith Stalker Armour".

This suit of armour was something I'd put together during the Star Wars Jump and was actually made for fighting Force Users. The metal of the armour was made up of Lightsaber resistant materials above a layer of the fabric used in Kull warrior armour, which made it good for absorbing energy attacks. It also came with a kinetic barriers of fine quality so bullets wouldn't be too much of a concern. Since the suit was built for mobility it had no cloaking devices, as they weren't much use against Force Users, but I wasn't going to need one.

As I entered the Cosmic Warehouse and began to dress in the armour, which didn't take long as it had been designed to be easily taken on and off, I kept speaking to Cortana.

"Assuming that they do everything right, you'll have a direct line to the B-29 once it's in the air" Cortana told me "The plane is too primitive for me control, even with the upgrades and repair work done to it, but I will be able to guide the pilot and make sure he or she hits the right targets thanks to the satellites. Same for their big guns. We don't want them shelling the wrong people".

Hearing this pleased me.

"Good work," I said.

I grabbed the Alien Blaster in one hand and my helmet in the other. The exotic weapon would make a good side arm for the coming battle.

"We're gonna need the biggest guns we can get for this battle if things go wrong" I said "Make sure the folks on the Mother Ship know this, and that I will signal them if I need the really big guns".

The Lone Wanderer had promised to use his vessel's death ray to destroy the dam if needs be, but hopefully that wouldn't be necessary. Seven of Nine and Samantha Carter were on board the big ship as they wanted to help with the vessel if it was needed, and should we win the battle they'd soon find themselves in the Cosmic Warehouse with the others. If we lost well then they'd be sent home so I might never see them again. However I didn't dwell on this.

"And contact Cameron" I ordered "Tell her starting taking out the Legion".

I didn't put on the helmet just yet, holding under one arm while I opened a case and took out from it very a special weapon. A replica of The Darksaber, which was an ancient black-bladed lightsaber that I'd seen on TV show during one my lives.

Like my replica the Darksaber had a unique blade that was shorter than that of most lightsabers, and shaped more like a traditional sword. Its overall profile was distinctly Mandalorian with an angular pommel, hand guard, and slit-shaped blade emitter. When activated the sound emitted by its blade was also higher pitched than other lightsabers.

Like the favoured weapons of the Sith and Jedi the Darksaber had a crystal within that was attuned to the Force. My version contained a semi-organic crystal that I'd grown while infusing it with Force energy, it was a small version of the crystals used by the Priors of the Ori so it enhanced my Near-Ascended powers, but only by a little due to its rather small size. Still a little could go a long way if used correctly.

The Darksaber was also capable of parrying lightsaber blades, and deflecting fire from energy weapons, but those features wouldn't be of much use to me today as the Legion didn't have energy weapons or lightsabers.

I would have silver-white bladed sabre with me as well, but I rarely duel welded it was just good to have a back up weapon, and that device would reappear at the start of the next Jump should anything happen to it.

As I left the Cosmic Warehouse I saw that Triss was waiting for me. She'd already finished changing having not needed to put on much, and she'd dragged a few luggage cases with her, they must contain things that she wanted to take with her on Jump Chain.

She also had Buddy, the upgraded cyberbog with her, the loyal hound would stay at her side at the battle, and this was good.

"Scary looking armour" she commented.

She was wearing her NCR armour complete with duster, and she carried a multiplas rifle, a plasma-based weapon, which had a similar appearance to the standard plasma rifle for the most. It is most easily distinguished by its three plasma barrels at the rifle's tip, which fire three very destructive rounds of plasma. It used one round per projectile, for a total ammunition consumption of three rounds per trigger press. Which made it a very good thing that we had pouches of holding and bigger on the inside pockets so that we could all carry plenty of extra ammo.

Veronica was here as well. She wore full Brotherhood power armour which she'd painted black. Something to with being in morning for her brothers and sisters in the bunker who were dying a slow death. She carried no weapons that I could, but did have some in her pouch of holding, likely she would only use the power fist which we'd made for her from her old weapon.

"Cameron is already at the dam" I said to the girls "Seven and Sam are the ship. Tali is with the Boomers doing some last second work on the bomber. Miranda will stay here and help coordinate our efforts".

Cortana could do that by herself, but Miranda liked to keep an eye on things, and another person at the battle wouldn't make a difference, and most of the fighting would be done by the bots. I didn't even really need to be there aside for the boss fight, which I was greatly looking forward too.

"If there's anything you want to put in the warehouse then now is the time" I told the girls.

I opened the door so that they could place some luggage cases inside the Cosmic Warehouse before we headed to the Puddle Jumper.

(Line Break)

Hoover Dam. Colorado River.

We saw the smoke rising from the dam long before we got there. Huge columns of dirty, oily smoke were rising from behind the ridge, filling the sky all around the dam with ash and fire. The closer we got, the harder it became to find somewhere to land. The only road to the Dam was practically blocked by soldiers running away, and the burning vehicles they were leaving behind. It was clear that the NCR was in full retreat.

As soon as we left the Puddle Jumper, Veronica, Triss and I had to take cover in the Visitors Center because of the sheer mass of people. I almost didn't have time to place a tag on the Jumper, but I did and the craft vanished in white light. I'd arranged for our beaming tech to be installed on the Mother Ship and that Puddle Jumper could be flown by the Lone Wanderer who'd been given the ATA gene and the Jumper in exchange for all the alien tech that they'd been willing to spare.

While I could have used the drones on the Puddle Jumper to turn the tide of this battle I wanted to have some fun here and fight on the ground. Sure this involved risk but as Friedrich Nietzsche once said 'The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously'.

I peered around the corner to get a look at what all the NCR soldiers were running from. It was a lot worse than I was expecting. The stone walls were practically painted red with blood, and bodies were littered absolutely everywhere.

Then I saw the Legion troops. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, filling the entire path with bodies, marching slowly and steadily behind a phalanx of what I guessed to be riot shields as well bits of armour taken from robots. As they moved spears stabbed out. I could barely see any of the Legion troops behind their mobile cover. This battle tactic was based upon a Roman one.

In the testudo formation, or turtle formation as it was sometimes called, the men would align their shields to form a packed formation covered with shields on the front and top. The first row of men would hold their shields from about the height of their shins to their eyes, so as to cover the formation's front. The shields would be held in such a way that they presented a shield wall to all sides.

The men in the back ranks would place their shields over their heads to protect the formation from above, balancing the shields on their helmets, overlapping them. If necessary, the legionaries on the sides and rear of the formation could stand sideways or backwards with shields held as the front rows, so as to protect the formation's sides and rear; this reduced the speed and mobility of the formation, but offered consistent defensive strength against opposing infantry and excellent protection against arrows and other missile attacks.

While this tactic wouldn't have been effective against a modern army it worked well against the NCR because they had no air support and no artillery either by the looks of things, and those riot shields looked tough. Still grenades and rockets should have effective if used correctly. The Legion must have sent in a lot of men to soak up heavy weapons fire, and they could have other tricks up their sleeves.

Once I had a clear path I used my mind powers to roll across the ground a plasma grenade, one of the local party favours I'd picked up during my travels, and it rolled under the shields of the phalanx that was heading this way.

The Legion were surprised by the sudden counterattack, when they weren't dying or screaming in pain.

"I think that woke them up," I said, smiling behind my helmet "Now Triss and Buddy I need covering fire".

Buddy gave me an electronic bark while Triss simply nodded. Buddy has been upgraded so that out of his nose a laser beam could be fired.

"Stay behind me, but don't get to close" I said to the former Brotherhood scribe "Other than that watch your barriers and fist away".

By now the bot army was starting to arrive and they wouldn't waste their heavier weapons on the lower ranking Legion troopers. They'd used 9mm ammo and lasers, so any friendly fire would be dealt with by our barriers and armour, which between them could absorb energy of all kinds. Kinetic and otherwise. However the heavier weapons would have to be used on the turtle formations as those groups would be able to soak up a lot of fire power if the bots just used their lighter weapons so we still had to be careful for rockets.

I took out my Alien Blaster and started shooting. Watching with more than a little glee as Legion warriors were reduced to ash. I could hear Miranda speaking between shots, she was talking to our allies.

Most of the gangs were either dead or leaving the area, and Vegas was on lockdown thanks to the bots so the only players who could effect this battle, aside from the Legion and the NCR were on my side, even if some of them thought they'd allied with Mr House.

"Hey, Pearl?" I asked while casually blasting away another pair of Legionnaires who immediately turned to ash. "Did Cortana patch you through?".

I soon got an answer.

"Loud and clear, kid!" Pearl yelled, amid a constant droning buzz from the bomber's engines. "Loyal and I are commanding the Superfortress! We're in the air and on our way! ETA about two minutes!".

This greatly pleased me.

"Cortana let them know when to drop the bombs" I said "The Legion are used some old Roman tactics so have the bots focus their heavy weapons on the shield formations".

As the chaos continued to unfold, and I ripped through the Legionnaires like they were made out of tissue paper, their armour and shields were effective against the NCR, but they did nothing to stop my darksaber or my many powers.

I was just about to enter the inside of the dam when suddenly I heard a sound that drowned out the sporadic gunfire all around us. I looked up just in time to see the B-29 flying nearly directly over head.

With a metal command I made my helmet view zoom in so that I could see the bomb bay doors underneath the plane opened up, and dozens of bombs descended on the far side of the dam. I stuck around long enough to seem go boom before entering the massive structure.

The inside of the dam was like out of some gruesome video game, and it wasn't just the emergency lights, bathing everything in a solid sheen of red that made it seem chilling, no it was the blood and the bodies. The Legion was famous for its brutality and inside the dam they'd shown it.

Yet for me this fight was easy. Here I was, cutting through Legion warriors with my darksaber, with bullets unable to touch me due to my barriers. My technology made this too easy for me, but I wasn't foolish enough to try levelling the playing field. Honour didn't mean that much to me.

"The Legion is pulling back!" Miranda let me know.

That had been quick, but I didn't blame the men for fleeing, they were clearly outmatched.

"Use to bots to cut off the Legion's escape!" I ordered "But don't fire on anyone wearing rags and who has slave collar around their neck, or anyone not carrying a weapon. We aren't here to butcher people just to destroy the Legion".

In order to get the Independent Vegas I required for a victory both the Legion and the NCR needed to be driven out and I didn't want the Legion regrouping for another attack once I'd gone. The Legion needed to cease to exist. Hence why I had to go after the leaders soon enough. Then I could send the NCR packing.

When I got back to the surface I saw that a deathclaw covered in red war paint (or was that blood?) was charging down the path from the Legion side, coming straight for me with arms outstretched and claws unfurled. Somehow the Legion were able to control, or at least direct these fearsome creatures.

With the Force I struck the monster and it staggered back several feet from the impact, as it staggered I moved towards it at a blurring speed so that I could slash at its leg with my darksaber. It roared in fury and anger as I jumped over it, slashing one of the creature's horns off. Then I landed on behind the mutated animal and fired the alien blaster a few times until there was only ash left.

The horn I'd cut off soon found its way into my pouch of holding, a fine memento of this battle and should I ever wish to clone such a beast the horn would be a source of DNA.

There was another Death Claw, this was one even larger than the last, a female I assumed, perhaps they'd been a mating pair, not that this really mattered, and as it lumbered towards me I threw the Darksaber, carefully controlling it so that I removed the creature's entire head before bringing the deactivated weapon to my hand. I'd gotten very good with that trick over my lives.

"Holy shit!" Veronica shouted.

I assumed that she'd been on about the move I'd just made only then she pointed off in the distance.

"Look! Up at the Fort!" she called out.

I followed her gaze, and my eyes went wide. Unless I was very much mistaken, the Fort was already on fire. Now it was the Legion's turn to be in full retreat, and by the looks of things my bots were already at the Fort taking it down.

"The NCR is regrouping" Miranda let me know "Some of their elite troops are heading to the Fort".

As I'd expected.

"Stay here" I ordered the Scribe, who'd tired herself out trying to keep up with me.

With the speed of the wind I ran to the Fort and when I got there I couldn't tell if the Legion was retreating anymore or not. For every Legionnaire I saw turning tail just to get cut down by securitron laser fire, I saw just as many trying to dig in, however their crude rifles couldn't damage the bots.

The sky was so full of ash and smoke that it looked as night had come early, and the few Legion warriors who dared to charge me got cut down by my darksaber. I barely even paid them any attention.

"There should be a Legion leader nearby" I said over the comm "He's mine to deal with. No one is to touch him".

Before long I found him, a figure shrouded in darkness and smoke. He was a bronze metal giant, just as massive as the power armoured men of the Brotherhood.

This was Legate Lanius. Once Lanius had been a member of a tribe hostile to Caesar's Legion, the Hidebarks, and Lanius was the bloodthirsty champion of that tribe, sometimes ambushing entire groups of legionaries by himself. Caesar's Legion tracked down the Hidebarks, and since they knew that they would not be able to win against Caesar, they chose to surrender.

Lanius saw this act as a betrayal of the tribe against him and it drove him into a bloodthirsty frenzy; killing the Chieftain and fifteen others of his own tribe single-handedly before he was knocked unconscious.

When Lanius woke up, most of his face was torn off and Caesar was standing beside him. He offered Lanius a place in the Legion and a mask forged in the image of the great god Mars specifically for him.

For reasons of his own Lanius accepted Caesar's proposal, but in return he wanted permission to kill the survivors of his old tribe. Caesar demanded that he only kill the adult males, which Lanius agreed to.

Since this time, Lanius had led Caesar's Legion to victory over nineteen tribes and had led the conquest of Colorado. Now his conquests would come to an end.

"An envoy of Vegas, yet you carry yourself for battle" said the Legate. "If so, you cannot truly be of that city of cowards!".

Well I wasn't.

"It's over" I told the giant of a man "You've lost".

He didn't seem to believe me.

"The West shall fall as the East fell" said the Legate "and all the tribes that stretch to the setting sun shall bear the mark of the Legion".

Given that he was standing in a burning Legion camp that was rapidly filling with my bots I had to question his view of the situation.

"All evidence suggests otherwise" I said

"Enough words!" he shouted "Come, Man of the West"

Lanius pointed his massive sword directly at me.

"Let me see the best you can muster before you die" he finished by saying.

I could have just shot him, or squeezed the life out of the man with the power of the Force, or killed him in a number of other ways before he got close enough to try to kill me, but I didn't.

Within me there was some honour so I let him have a death in battle and I made it quick since I did have other things to do this day. I cut his weapon in half, and yet this didn't slow him down as he attempted to beat me death with the half still in his hand. The man's strength was impressive, but he lacked my speed, and soon I drove my darksaber into his chest, destroying his heart.

At the point the giant of a man dropped the ground and a moment later I removed his helmet. He was just a human under it, not at all special aside from great size and physical strength. Still he'd been brave so I took his helmet so that I would have something to remember this warrior by.

As the bots moved on to clear out the last of the Legion I began to hear a new noise, that of marching boots got louder and louder. Eventually, the owners of the footsteps emerged from behind one of the walls and into view. It was a platoon of NCR Rangers in their famous armour. With them was a man who wore a General's uniform, complete with peaked cap, an officer's long coat, and four stars on his collar.

"No one make any move until I order it" I said over the comm "Cortana get the bots here and surrounded the place while I talk to the NCR General, and tell the Wanderer to bring his ship down here so that everyone can see it. This should all be over very soon".

I took off my helmet and met General halfway. He surveyed the carnage all around us, and let out a satisfied whistle. If he was intimated my appearance he didn't let it show, although I could sense the fear he was covering up.

"Been a long time since I've seen the kind of work you've laid down here today," he said, taking as if we were allies "Damn long time. And the screams of those Legion bastards as they kicked dirt, running east. Like a choir of angels to my ears!".

The man lit up a cigar

"Could use a hundred of you!" he continued by saying "Just scatter you over the East like jacks, give those plumed fucks the what-for! Its a shame you work for House".

While I didn't it was good that he'd think that as by now Cortana would be restoring Mr House. Once we were gone, and Jump Chain came an end, he'd have access to his systems again, the ones we'd improved greatly upon. Hopefully he'd use them wisely, and if he didn't well that really wasn't my problem.

At this point a lot securitrons all seemed to appear from nowhere. The Rangers felt very nervous, as they realised their escape route was now effectively cut off. Oliver's eyes went wide in confusion and alarm.

"And... uh..." he struggled to say. "Well. These, uh... are these boys with you?"

He cleared his throat and moved closer to me. Maybe he thought they wouldn't fire if they were worried about collateral damage? He cleared his throat again, and started to reach into his coat as he spoke. I sensed no threat despite this.

"The dam was won for Vegas" I stated "The NCR was already in full retreat by the time I showed up, so I'd say you and the Legion have both lost. I suggest you leave before my 'boys' open fire on your men".

Oliver dropped the cigar in his hands, he looked at me with a mixture of shock and indignation. His mouth curled into a snarl, and his brow furrowed as he made a nasty scowl. Of course the git wasn't going to do this the easy way.

"This is your only chance, General" I told the man "Leave or die".

He obviously wasn't used to people disregarding him so easily.

"Do you really want to do this, sonny? You really think I'm gonna make tracks out of here, head back west with my tail between my legs with nothing to show for it?" he said "No. I came for a fight today, and if you're lookin' to make me budge, then you better have something more than some old robots".

I did in fact, and by now the alien mothership started to become visible.

"Didn't you see Boomers fly in their fully armed B-29?" I said "That was just one of my allies. I also know the guy flying that".

General Oliver's jaw dropped, and all the colour seemed to drain from his face.

"That ship has teleporters" I told the military man "and a death ray which can destroy this entire fort in a single blast. All I have to do is signal them and they'll beam me up to that ship before levelling this entire place".

By now more bots were here.

"And I have a lot of robots" I told him "An army of them. I don't need your cooperation to make Vegas independent I just need you to leave or die".

Any long terms problems caused by this were for Mr House to deal with.

"Do you know what you're doing? Making a nation, like you think you're doing, ain't a walk in the park, boy. Think you got the guts to carve out a frontier? Build towns, protect the roads, run supplies, train troops?"

I just laughed as again that wasn't my problem, and I'd built entire unions of worlds in some Jumps. Forging an Independent Vegas had taken me mere days. If I could be bothered to do ten years here I'd be running the planet by the end and it would be a restored Earth not a wasteland.

"Leave General" I ordered "Either now or in thirty seconds while in a body bag".

The man swore, but he did back off, and before long there was a change in secrecy.

(Line Break)

Cosmic Warehouse. Outside of Reality.

"So that's it" I said to the group "When Jump Chain ends Mr House will have an Independent Vegas to rule over".

Everyone was now back in the warehouse having been transported here at the end of the Jump.

"So now we go to the next world" Veronica asked me.

Despite having info on Jump Chain downloaded into her head by Jump Chan she felt uncertain about what would happen next.

"Not right away" I told her "We get a few days to plan and relax. You need to met the rest of the group, and I'll spend some time telling you about the MCU universe we're going to. Once there you can explore that world or even check out space if so desire".

My plans for the MCU wouldn't require all eight companion slots to be filled so I'd let Triss and Veronica explore this new world or go off into space with Seven of Nine to check out the MCU galaxy, which I felt sure contained much advanced tech.

The advantage of having such fast ships was that I could spend a weekend checking out some alien planet and be back on Earth fork work on Monday at the casino or for any tasks SHIELD had for me.

Oddly Seven dying had made me feel better about letting my girls go off on their own more as I now I knew for certain that as long as I was fine they would be no matter what happened to them. If they got kidnapped or lost I'd be able to find them as they would have subspace locators placed in their bodies soon enough. I'd take some time to talk to them all about that. If they died it wouldn't last for long.

"So for now everyone relax and enjoy yourselves" I ordered "You all did a great job".

While I went to let the magic users out of stasis everyone else headed to the apartments that were part of the Warehouse in order to unwind. Soon I would join them as I too wanted to kick back and relax.

Also at some point soon I should have sex with Triss so that she could become a proper part of the harem. Then I could talk to her and Veronica about same sex relationships within the harem. Hopefully they'd accept my rules.