Caesar's Legion had left the Mojave Wasteland for good and the NCR saw to that. Whether it was to make up for their cowardice after the Battle of Novac or not was a question for another time. What mattered is that they simply did more than push the enemy out of the Mojave, but they made sure the Legion wouldn't have the opportunity to launch slave raids on their end of the Colorado River.

Colonel Miller wanted to sit back and enjoy the euphoria of victory, but the matters of politics and relations between states had pushed it on the backburner. The local leaders of New Vegas, representatives of factions who dwelled in the Mojave, the New California Republic, and the Metro factions themselves. He hoped there could be a mediated agreement instead of going back to the status quo where everyone was on some level at hostility with each other.

The best place to settle things down was at the Lucky 38 under the permission of Artyom and the former station commander - Sukhoi. An area on the floor had been closed off as the representatives took seats around a table at the center of the room. "Everyone, we are here today since Caesar's Legion affected so many of us. However, I understand that all of you have grievances and old grudges against each other. So we're here today so that victory cannot be spoiled by that and peace can be had in New Vegas and the Mojave. One of the first matters we're going to settle is that New Vegas is an independent city that shall be neutral ground for all factions. Turning this place into a Switzerland would help ease some tensions between everyone in this room."

Many heads turned their gazes at him in confusion. Then the King spoke out. "What's a Switzerland?"

Miller forgot that much knowledge of this universe had been lost when compared to the Metro. "My apologies for your ignorance, but I hope we can turn New Vegas into a neutral city between factions so that we may do more talking and less shooting."

An ambassador from the Fourth Reich voiced his concern. "What does the Order gain from this? You're the ones mediating this meeting."

"There's not much to gain from this place at all." The colonel answered. "The Lucky 38 is owned by former citizens of an independent station from the northern territories. I am sure the King and Red Lucy will agree with this since Sukhoi is quite Laissez-Faire on what people do in New Vegas. Polis is enough for the Order, ambassador."

"How can we be sure that you're not helping the stalker in administering the city? After all, we are all sitting in his casino."

"Ambassador, may I remind you that we're peacekeepers, not cops. Had it not been for us, the Fourth Reich, Hansa, and the Red Line may have found Caesar's Legion in its stations."

The Nazi crossed his arms. "I suppose that is a good reason."

A black man rose up from his seat, but his presence was enough for the Nazi to sneer in his direction before he spoke. "I understand that the republic's latest actions were uncalled for, but I hope all of you can forgive us for General Oliver's inability to command his troops."

"That's an understatement." Red Lucy voiced her opinion. "Your commander practically left us all at the mercy of Caesar's Legion when you went behind your borders. You should be lucky that the NCR is even sitting at this table. Hell, the Brotherhood of Steel and the Russians had more reason to leave than the republic."

"I know that." Ambassador Crocker acknowledged. "His actions dissatisfied both the congress in Shady Sands and the president himself. A senator had to personally remove him from his post as someone far more experienced to the realities on the ground replaced him. As I understand, the republic owes a lot to New Vegas and our allies. The republic will recognize the independence of New Vegas, but we'll also compensate for our incompetence through other means. There will be food aid brought to the streets of Freeside and the Strip; however, we'll also ensure that the surrounding areas are clear of Caesar's Legion and whatever scraps of bandits and raiders we can stumble upon."

The Hansa representative lit a cigarette between his lips and let out three puffs of smoke before leaning forward in his seat. "We do have a request for the NCR and perhaps it would benefit everyone within the wasteland in economic prosperity. Due to the Metro's forms of transportation, we request that the NCR allows Hanseatic ownership of the trains throughout the Mojave. While I do not doubt my compatriots in their knowledge of trains, we have the technical expertise and understanding of how to make sure they run on time."

Crocker was taken aback by the request. "You're telling me that you'll own every railroad in the Mojave and take the work of the NCR into your own hands."

"As a matter of fact, yes. I mean no offense, Ambassador Crocker, but the republic has clearly shown their incapacity to get anything done without screwing up. The fact that a stalker had to assist you in fixing your prisoner problem is a prime example. We will take it from here and turn that correctional facility into something worth calling a facility."

"This is outrageous!"

"Hardly."

"How can you be so fine with that assessment?"

The capitalist smiled. "If you are going to defend the surrounding Mojave area, then spare your men the trouble. This endeavor would benefit us all once we get those trains running. The merchants in the ring stations know a thing or two about getting troops to the front on time. Wouldn't that be a godsend for the NCR?"

Colonel Miller secretly thought of the trains kept in Polis. Several of them were ancient war machines that saw combat in the days of the Russian Civil War and now there was a possibility of showing them off to the Mojave. Finally, they had a use for something. Now that the Hansa representative was finished with his demands, he looked to the representatives of the Red Line and the Fourth Reich. "So what would the communists and the fascists wish to bring to the table?"

The communist representative had a glass of vodka in hand. "General Secretary Moskvin and Führer Petrovich have come to an agreement. I'm sure the representative of the Reich has been informed of this matter before this meeting, but we are here to negotiate the settlements within the Mojave."

The development was enough for the Spartan Commander to raise an eyebrow, but he remained silent as a mediator. The Red Line and the Fourth Reich carried a long history of hatred against each other, but this was new to hear.

Ambassador Crocker was quick to reply. "The Red Line and the Fourth Reich want to settle in the Mojave? Where the hell are you going to settle?"

"The Nazis have agreed to settle in the town of Nipton in hopes that they could secure the southern region from criminal activities and shut down what remains of the Powder Gangers. My comrades, on the other hand, have chosen to set up a district in the northeast of the city. Based on my reports, the outskirts have been pillaged by the Legion so it would be paramount to develop an industrial base there."

Strange, they could have technically taken the ruins of the Fiends and have a close eye on the railroads to New Vegas, but he didn't want to make the mistake of giving them something of value. Still, this agreement was strange by design since it involved the Nazis being further from the city than usual. Perhaps it was a way to allow them some breathing room.

There was more to come when Elder McNamara revealed himself - no longer in his power armor after the battle was over. "The Brotherhood is very clear about this, technology is dangerous in the hands of a wasteland. It is our duty to ensure that technology doesn't get out of hand."

"Not this nonsense, again." Ambassador Crocker. "I understand that your organization has a very religious understanding of things, but if you're telling them to hand over their energy weapons you're not going to get far."

"I know, hence why I'm discussing this with all of you. My chapter has suffered greatly for participating with the West Coast's crusade against the republic's usage of technology. Seeing how pulling those technologies out of your dead hands is far more costly than it is worth, my chapter will permit the usage of old-world technology, but perhaps an acceptable percentage of technology found will be compensated in other means."

"So you're telling me that you're willing to pay caps for old-world technology? Am I getting that right?"

McNamara nodded his head. "Yes."

"I suppose we can negotiate the percentage found by the republic, but I cannot say for everyone else at this table."

"How about under twenty-five percent of old-world technologies found during each month be paid for by the Mojave Chapter?"

Many heads nodded in response. "That seems like an acceptable compensation in the meantime. In return, we will continue our agreement to cease the hostilities our country has against your chapter."

The colonel rose from his seat and looked at everyone. "Is everything settled at this table?" Not a single word. "Very good then, the treaty of New Vegas will be recorded and I'll make sure to get you copies for everyone to sign."

Angelique waited in the elevator as she injected another dosage of Med-x into her system. She wanted the pain to go away, but she'll have to ask Christine on how to deal with it. Perhaps the drinking would help numb the pain?

When the doors opened, the courier stepped forward to see the entrance room be occupied by a pool table with Artyom, Pavel, and Cass playing against each other. They turned their heads in her direction and their expressions revealed a moment of elation to see her back, but blood drained from their faces - probably in horror of her scars. The game they were playing had stopped when Pavel walked up to her with the only words he could possess. "Angelique, what happened to you?"

Her head turned towards him and cried as she hugged him at first sight. "I've been to hell, Pavel. Just glad to see everyone again."

Soon after, the stalker and caravaner approached her and embraced their good friend with a hug. Artyom's voice comforted her. "It's alright, we're here for you."

"Is it okay if I take your room and drink the entire cabinet of liquor stored away?"

"Are you in pain?" He questioned.

"Yes, I really don't want to feel anything right now."

He turned his gaze towards his lover. "Rose, my stepfather has a pre-war bottle of kvass in the back. Bring that out, I'm sure she'll need more than whiskey and vodka."

The mere mention of a pre-war drink seemed to surprise the tearful courier. "Wait, you have a pre-war drink?"

"Yes, it was meant for all of us to celebrate after the Battle of New Vegas, but I suppose we can celebrate your return."

Pavel swept her off the ground as he carried her in his arms. "I suppose you did enough walking with those scars, but I'll bring you to your room."

She laughed. "Carrying me off like a princess, are you? Quite a gentleman for a communist."

"When I'm feeling generous."

However, she noticed the lack of two other people in their company. "Where's Veronica and Christine?" She asked as everyone brought her to her bedroom.

"They're having some private time to themselves in the cocktail lounge. We're waiting here until they're finished."

The mere mention of the duo made Angelique lean back at the thought. It was definitely a good idea to head straight to the presidential suite instead. "Why are you guys waiting here? Can't we relax up there instead?"

Cass bluntly spoke out her mind. "Those two have contained a large amount of repressed love that I think any of us who knows their story will discover they rightly deserve that time to themselves. Father Elijah was an old asshole to those two."

The major let her down on her bed as he grabbed her bags and placed them on the floor. "Don't forget to grab a few chairs and a guitar, Artyom. If we're celebrating, we're singing."

"I'll get the glasses."

After the chairs were set up around Angelique's bed and bedside table, Artyom sat down with a guitar in hand as Cass brought the glasses and poured the foreign drink. For the courier, she was fascinated by the thought of drinking a completely Russian beverage. "So this stuff, is it truly from Russia?"

Artyom played with the strings for a moment before taking a glass. "Yes. My stepfather wanted to hand this bottle to me as a present for growing up. Back then, I was still just a scared kid."

"That's awfully nice of him."

Pavel passed the small glasses to everyone as he waited for everyone to have a cup in hand. "This drink is for kicking Caesar's Legion out of the Mojave and saving New Vegas."

"That's something worth toasting for." Replied Cass. "Bottoms up!"

In that single moment, the party drank their fill till the alcohol was no longer in the glass. Artyom shook his head as he played around with the guitar. "So what song am I going to be playing?"

"I got one!" The communist stated ecstatically. "Moscow Nights. Do you know the words?"

"Yeah, I can do that one."

Fingertips played with the strings as Pavel waited for the tune to match with the lyrics. "Nie shlisny v sadu dazhe shorokhi…"

Ghost sat quietly at the bar within the Lucky 38. The city celebrated its victory against Caesar's Legion, but she didn't want to celebrate too much. The republic's participation was inadequate in keeping the trust of the locals; however, it was a good vengeful reminder of what happened at Nipton. She heard a man's footsteps take a seat beside her as his shadow fell upon her. "I prefer to be alone."

The Russian accent was a big give-away, but voice was enough to stop her from downing the rest of her beer. "Remember the republic's proposition about stalkers and the like. Yeah, my fellow stalker and I want to renegotiate our services instead."

Looking to her right, she could see Simon ordering a drink from a bartender before speaking. "Shit, I knew this was going to happen as soon as we left the Mojave. What do you want?"

"How about a job offer?" Came his suggestion. "Turns out, Hansa just hired Petrovich and me for a bit work. However, they might need an NCR ranger for an expedition."

"An expedition? To where?"

"An eastward expedition. With Caesar's Legion broken and out of the picture, Hansa is thinking about looking past them to find trading partners. The Hanseatic League is hoping they could get someone of experience for the journey."

Little did Simon know that she waited for this opportunity. Half of her time in the Mojave was spent on sentry duty taking orders from Ranger Jackson. Now, she had the timing to leave that boring job. "Deal."

"I thought you would actually reject the offer?"

"Trust me, I don't want to do sentry duty."

"Wait a couple days and you'll get a message down from your superiors about your transfer papers."

"This expedition must be really important." She stated.

"It is, we're just making preparations and they're going to be transporting trains from the Metro in particular."

When the meeting with the representatives was over, Colonel Miller found himself waiting in Camp McCarran as Uhlman smoked beside him. "What a hell of a way to endure the week. Mind if I get a puff?"

His subordinate passed his cigarette over to him before the commander enjoyed the small relaxing smoke in his body. "I hear the Council intends to make a district out of those ruins - the ones made by the Fiends. Is that true?"

He handed back what was rightfully Uhlman's before he let out the smoke from his lungs. "Yes, it's true. The Order needs to find some presence in the Mojave before the other factions take advantage of it. Not to mention, we have to deal with the leftovers of the conflict and have a place for the refugees to stay in."

"I got to admit, who would have thought I'd be fighting post-apocalypse Romans in this day and age? The universe has got to have a sick sense of humor to let this happen. Then again, the communists and the fascists are here as well."

Before they could continue, the colonel looked ahead to see his daughter enter the perimeter of the camp as she was accompanied by what appeared to be a band of snipers. However, he looked closely at the man in the white T-shirt and sunglasses who Anna was seemingly warming up to. "Great, I have to do father things."

"Good luck, colonel. I hear that the NCR snipers are just as good as their rangers."

Miller strode forth towards the group. "Follow me, Uhlman. Let's make sure there isn't any funny business around my daughter."

Betsy returned to the military post that was Camp McCarran; however, she found a familiar friend sitting near the edge. As she crept up to him, Timur turned his head and let out the only thing he could ever do - smile. The NCR sniper sat beside him as she hugged him. "I'm glad you're alive."

Then he held her hand as they looked into the moonlight. "Likewise, comrade. Where do you want to go on our first date?"

She glanced at him out of surprise. "I thought you didn't have money on you."

Timur chuckled. "I don't, but plenty of Legion corpses do. You'd be surprised by the things they have in their pockets."

"How much bottlecaps do you have?"

"Twelve thousand, if you count the stuff I sold to the locals. It's enough for a dinner for two."

"Well then, how about you treat a girl?"

Ambassador Crocker was back in his office, typing away at the terminal once more. However, he noticed someone enter the room before he leaned back to meet an old friend. "Senator Richmond, I thank you for saving the republic the extra effort in making sure Oliver didn't screw over our chances in the Mojave. What brings you here?"

The old politician took a seat and smiled. "You know me, I'm looking for my daughter and I know you are fully aware of her whereabouts."

"Indeed I do. She's currently staying at the Lucky 38, but she looks worse for wear."

He raised an eyebrow. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know, but she did come to report in that she discovered an old-world facility containing technologies. She had coordinates of the location; however, she explicitly stated not to send people there out of the danger it contains. Based on her appearance alone, I didn't press the issue."

"Is there someone who I can speak to so I can see my daughter there? You know how important she is to me."

"There is someone you can talk to. There's a man called Sukhoi. If you talk to him, he might tell his son to let you through."

"His son owns the casino?"

"Who also killed House, Caesar, and Legate Lanius."

"He's quite a character. I can see why Angelique would find an attraction in the man."

"That's not why they're staying there. Turns out that there is a man who shot both of them in the head for a package."

The senator seemed puzzled by this description. "I can definitely see my daughter given her duties, but how does this man come into the equation?"

"He was a witness."

"I see." There was a small pause before he rose up from his seat. "Farewell, old friend. I have to see my daughter."

Author's Note: Nothing too serious, just tackling some old plot threads than let them run out empty and have someone else point them out.

Paul Lenzen: The Lonesome Road DLC is fascinating because you have this somewhat of a mind duel between the two couriers that begins to build up all the way to the end.

Aren serathy: Another issue with Caesar's Legion is retaining military experience. Due to their policy of killing the old members of their ranks, they're practically destroying the experience gained by their time in the field - which is then lost to the new recruits out of stupidity.