[Cafe] 117 – A Space Marine Part 2

Joshua, the Malpais Legate of Caeser's Legion, watched as Edward's supposed 'game' changer stripped himself down to his briefs, setting his armor and axe to the side and stood at the center of the makeshift arena that was built at the center of the camp, just before the main tent. In this arena, many Veterans, Legion Recruits, and auxiliaries challenged one another, sparred, or trained, so with the man's arrival, many eyes lay on the towering man.

Joshua observed the countless scars the man bore and felt slightly surprised. Few Legionaries ever survived long enough to attain such vicious scars, even fewer men attained such physical strength as the man as well, as rippling muscle covered in his frame. The man's face was stoic, unbothered by the scene around him. Instead, his eyes remained on Joshua's person, unmoving and unblinking. The man stood still, like a statue, not even a hint of life from the man to distinguish him from a human. His chest did not rise and fall; his eyes did not blink, and he stood in complete stillness.

Joshua couldn't help but wonder if this supposed Agent was more machine than man, a hypothesis Joshua gathered from the many surgical scars across their body alongside their battle scars.

"Damon," Joshua called out to one of his personal Pratoreans by his side. The Praetorians were the Elite of the Elite of Caser's Legion. To become a Prateorean, one must have risen to the rank of Centurion and then chose a Pratorean to a duel to the death, where the victor became the new Praetorean or held their position. Joshua saw the pragmatic effect of this...savage ritual, where a Prateorean must constantly train or hone his skills lest he be slain and replaced.

Watching as one of his personal guards climbed down to the sparing ring, Joshua spoke up, "No crippling or fatal blows; the winner is whoever is the last standing," Joshua declared to all in earshot, getting a nod from the Prateorean and a slow blink from the unnamed Agent.

Watching from above, as Damon stripped himself of his armor and power fist, the two men stood before one another, and the Agent's eyes finally turned to examine his opponent.

"Begin," Joshua declared.

Joshua did not expect much from the brutish Agent, as his form screamed nothing but 'barbarian,' not that Joshua expected much from a gentile.

Damon charged forward, his rather lithe form coming up close as he sent out a strike towards the giant's midsection, only for the Agent to not even retaliate, as Damon's fist slammed into the Agent's abs.

Not even reacting to the blow, the Agent's glare remained on Damon's form as he backed away, slightly wincing in pain.

Before Damon could back up further, the Agent's arm thrust forward at ludicrous speed and grabbed the man by the throat, and with superhuman strength, lifted Damon off his feet and into the air, where he fully began to struggle against the Agent's might. Not even ten seconds later, Damon's form was completely limp, and the Agent dropped him to the ground.

Joshua looked upon the stranger with a new glint in his eyes. While Joshua got a good look at how strong of an asset the man gifted to him by Caser would be, he also knew that everything could go wrong if the man proved to be too arrogant for his good.

Walking down to the giant, Joshua asked, "How durable is your power armor?"

"It will easily be able to endure against whatever weapons our enemies will wield," The giant answered simply, stepping back to grab his armor.

Looking at the strangely large sidearm beside the axe, Joshua made another inquiry, "And your aim?" 

"Good enough," The Agent stated simply, slowly putting back on his armor.

"Once you are dressed, meet me in the command tent," Joshua stated simply, turning around and heading back up.

...

Come night, the camp was bustling with activity, though noticeably much more than earlier in the day. Taking a few hours to rest, many of the Legionaries in the Camp were readying themselves for the fight ahead as they stocked themselves with supplies, sharpened their weapons, and made sure their armor was adequately fitted and in good condition. 

Half of the army was not even in the camp anymore, having marshaled back into Legion territory and heading down the river towards Cottonwood Cove, one of the few Legion bases on the other side of the river, in NCR territory, and while half of Joshua's forces headed south, the other half of Joshua's army prepared to launch an attack on Hoover Dam.

The NCR would have to be blind not to notice the Legion's activity, but with no Rangers able to travel into Legion territory and monitor the camp's interior, the NCR had no idea what the Legion was doing or planning.

In his arrogance, General Oliver declared that the troops go on alert in case of an impending attack. While this move was somewhat intelligent, it proved to be pretty bad. Many of the troopers grew tired as midnight neared, as many hadn't rested, anticipating an attack at any moment. It only worsened when the General started receiving reports that Camp Forlone was under siege and that a rather large force of Legionaries had made it past Camp Forlone and were making their way towards the Dam from behind.

It did not take a genius to realize that once the Legionaries reached the Dam, they could attack it from both sides with a pincer maneuver. In a moment of pure 'bravery,' General Oliver and his personal bodyguards boarded the only Vertbird on the Dam and flew off further into NCR territory, where General Oliver promised he'd get reinforcements to take back the dam.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the Desert Rangers in the few towers acting as lookouts noticed a rapidly approaching figure in silver power armor wielding a giant axe. This figure ran far faster than any human had any right to towards the gate outside the dam, where the figure slammed directly into the gate, knocking the giant metal gate off its hinges. 

The troopers on guard behind the gate immediately opened fire on the metal giant, their service rifles unloading a dozen 5.56 rounds directly into the armor within moments, only for the rounds to deflect or do nothing to the giant as they charged straight into a group of NCR soldiers, and bisected them all with a single swing of their axe, not far behind, the first wave of Legionaries were charging towards the Dam.

A grenade went off by the giant's feet, not even shaking the warrior as it charged further down the Dam, its target becoming clear as it made a beeline for the two howitzers set up on the other side of the dam, facing the Legion camp on the hill.