[X] Yardwork
-[X] Western Great Khans
-[X] Northeastern Great Khans (T2)
Hardin crushes the Mojave's sole remaining raider tribe with ruthless efficiency. His first action is to cut off any opportunity for retreat. Their western outpost is eliminated shortly before Hardin's main force begins the assault on Bitter Springs. Inquisitors, temporarily reassigned to Hardin by Elder Lyons, form a vast web across much of the surrounding areas. Even the smallest and stealthiest groups will find themselves unable to make good their retreat.
The outpost at Red Rock Cannon is easily eliminated by 25 handpicked senior Paladins. Ten form a killzone at the Canyon's northern end while the remaining 15 advance from the south. A dozen Inquisitors block any less obvious escape routes. The battle begins with a spurt of red as the Paladins belch deadly light from laser Gatlings. The savages don't stand a chance; their sporadic counter-fire doesn't even scratch the gleaming steel of Brotherhood armour. Most die in the initial engagement, and those who flee are gunned down as they reach the killzone. The operation is a complete success.
The assault on Bitter Springs is more difficult, but no less successful. Two hundred of the Brotherhood, split evenly between Knight and Paladin, surround the settlement. They are arrayed in three groups, one for each route to the settlement. And a host of Inquisitors was with them.
The battle of Bitter Springs begins with a literal bang. The primary group approaches within range of the settlement before being sighted. Their initial salvo proves devastating; scores of anti-personnel missiles pierce the air in prelude to a decimating series of explosions. The savage warriors are given no chance to recover; the Brotherhood follow their heavy ordnance with a hail of bullets. The Khans return fire with enthusiasm but lack ammunitions capable of dealing serious hurt to the elite Brotherhood shock troops.
Soon the Paladins reach the settlement. The Pancor Jackhammer exceeds expectations; it excels in eliminating the raiders entrenched within the settlement's close quarters. Most of the savages are unable to even flee before Hardin's onslaught. Those few who escape the settlement's destruction are annihilated by the Knights stationed in Canyon 37. The remaining stragglers are picked off by Inquisitors.
The battle is a complete success; the Great Khans are obliterated in a single day. Mr. House is extremely pleased; he finds your thoroughness commendable. Work on his new power cables certainly benefits from Hardin's conscientiousness. Workers are able to proceed much faster with the threat of raids entirely removed.
Obliterated: Great Khans
Accelerated: Wheels on Wheels: New Vegas
AN: I had mixed feelings about writing this; I don't dislike the Great Khans. I prefer to encourage them to build their own empire. However, Elijah and the Brotherhood would not see them as anything more than an inconvenience to be removed.
[X] Magical Mystery Tour
-[X] Yangtze Memorial
The old war memorial proves surprisingly lucrative. A strange, red glowing sword of unusual design has been stabbed firmly within the stone foundation. The scouts have some initially difficulty removing it from the stone, but a junior Knight named Arthur proves able to pull it. The sword is apparently an experimental 'Laser Katana', the AEX-7 Rising Sun. A worthy prize. Emboldened by their success, the Knights excavate the sword's former housing in search of further artifact. Their odd decision is rewarded, the katana's schematics are found within an iron casket buried just below
the sword's stony scabbard.
Gained Artifact: AEX-7 'Rising Sun' Laser Katana
[X] Wheels on Wheels
-[X] New Vegas (T2)
The Strip is powered well ahead of schedule. The rapid elimination of the Great Khans removes the threat of raids and allows construction to proceed at a rapid pace. Mr. House proves true to his word, the necessary materials are delivered on time despite your accelerated schedule. Steel pylons spring from the ground between Hoover Dam and New Vegas. They are hung with thick cables of aluminum carrying the river's might. New Vegas comes alight at their arrival, brilliant billboards illuminating the night.
Mr. House is the most pleased you have ever seen him. You suspect he finds the sight nostalgic. You cannot blame him. There is a certain allure to such a blatant display of technological power. You certainly appreciate his payment for services rendered. He provides a full set of RobCo development tools. He even includes an experimental debugging technology known as a 'stack trace'.
Gained Technology: Basic Development Tools
Gained Technology: Advanced Development Tools
Gained Trade: Energy Exports (New Vegas) {-200 MW}
[X] We Come in Peace
Brotherhood Radio's propaganda drive proves well timed. It coincides with a your virtual elimination of raiding in the Mojave. Elder Lyons' contribution is particularly valuable. He gives a passionate and stirring speech on the Brotherhood's true purpose; protecting the simple folk of the wasteland from predatory evil doers. Complete malarkey, of course. Owyn truly deserves his reputation as a master of propaganda; his speech coincides perfectly with your recent campaign. He even made a point of giving you an intense stare during key portions of his soliloquy. You appreciate his acknowledgment of your greatness.
Increased: Goodwill (Wastelanders)
[X] Yes Minister (T2)
Recruitment for the Department of the Interior and Exterior (DIE) proceeds without significant difficulty. They are expected to begin full operations next month. Maybe you should make McNamara find better lackeys assistants to run your laboratory.
Locked: [X] Yes Minister
[X] Pourable Stone
Lorenzo does not appreciate being made to spend the month mixing concrete. It is, he feels, an insult to the noble art of engineering. He may be correct, mixing large quantity of powder does sound like chef's work. Unfortunately, you don't have a hundred chef's to spare, especially for something so mundane as mixing concrete.
Ironically, his skill as an engineer prove to make him an excellent concrete mixer. Lorenzo and his men manage to reduce wastage drastically. They produce half again the expected concrete with no additional materials. His feelings on this are mixed, to say the least.
Gained Materials: 30 Concrete
Used: 10 Limestone, 10 Stone
[X] The Mineshaft Gap
-[X] Vault 11
Vault 11's restoration finishes without difficulty. The new base has few useful facilities but is entirely sufficient and has space for 1000 residents. You have already begun using it as an outpost between Hoover and HELIOS.
Gained Base: Vault 11
[X] Sowing Seeds
The seed collection program concludes without incident. The required number of seeds are generated, and the decreased food yields are within expectations.
Gained Materials: 5 Seeds
Used: 2 Food
[X] Elijah's Little Helpers (T2)
Your attempt to recruit assistants proves most frustrating. The supposedly talented young Scribes prove both incompetent and frustrating. One of them even had the gall to laugh when you asked him to compile a program into machine code by hand. Worst of all, they are incapable of organizing your laboratory. Key artifacts are not where you left them and useless junk is often not placed into storage until well after you have finished examining it.
Locked: [X] Elijah's Little Helpers (T2)
[X] The old world has burned.
-[X] Industrial Technology
--[X] Electronics Manufacturing (T3)
Your work on electronics manufacturing is off to a slow start. The foundations of future research are laid, but little direct progress is made.
Locked: --[X] Electronics Manufacturing (T2)
--[X] Portable Machine Tools (T2)
You complete work on improved machine tools far sooner than expected. The pre-war tools recovered from H&H tools prove invaluable to your work. Not that you couldn't have easily done it without, but the tools made the process far faster.
Gained Technology: Portable Machine Tools
[X] A challenger has arisen: Part II (T5)
You forget to attend Veronica's lessons this month. The lackeys assistants should have done a better job managing your schedule. It's as if they didn't realize they were supposed to handle your calendar. Disappointingly, Veronica makes little progress in your absence.
Locked: [X] A challenger has arisen: Part II (T5)
[X] Big Brother (T3)
ESS is once again too busy assisting the SSK to make progress on the expansion. At least the purge gave them experience with how not to conclude an infiltration. (i.e. At the barrel of a gun.)
Locked: [X] Big Brother (T3), ST +5
[X] The Purge (T4)
The Secret Spy Killers begin to purge the Mojave of foreign operatives. Inquisitors roam the Mojave in search of hidden enemies. Those with radios are quickly located by Black Mountain and eliminated by power armour clad enforcers. Radio silence proves no defense. Inquisitorial trackers scour the desert for any trace of spycraft. Those they discover are stalked by the Secret Spy Killer's best hunters. By month's end over a hundred spies have been killed with nary a casualty among the Inquisitors.
Killed: 80 Frumentarii, 35 Veteran NCR Rangers
Locked: The Purge (T2)
