Chapter 613 - Battle Of Hoover Dam

"CHAAAAAARRRRGGEE!!!" Legate Lanius screams as the army of Legionaries sprint from the wall towards the Dam. As soon as they leave the protective fortification bullets start flying left and right, the NCR army throwing everything as well as the kitchen sink at them.

Lanius was leading the charge, but the NCR were dumbfounded to see bullets literally bouncing off of his strange blue-silver armour. The men around the Legate weren't so lucky however, all the shots that miss Lanius hit them instead, leaving the large armoured berserker almost completely alone as he charged the first NCR fortification.

This barricade was a couple hundred meters away from the Dam, it was essentially just a bunch of scrap metal welded together to form a makeshift barricade. Lanius somehow manages to avoid all the mines as he sprints at them, leaping over the barricade all the while bullets continue bouncing harmlessly off of him.

His large blade falls onto the first NCR trooper, cutting halfway through his torso before the man gives it another shove to complete the bisection. The man's screams ring out as the other terrified troopers watch on as the masked warrior begins decimating their defences.

The army of Legionaries was slowly catching up to their leader, but the minefield was impeding their progress tremendously... Fortunately, there were enough zealous Legionaries willing to step on a couple mines to allow the army forward, eventually clearing enough that the army streamed over the barricade.

Lanius had already killed half of the NCR troopers there by the time the army arrived, but with the reinforcements and the fear the Legate had put into them, the rest of the troopers begin rapidly retreating. They begged for their lives as the Legionaries chased them, crying as machetes and rippers tore into their flesh.

*Dub! Dub! Dub! Dub!*

Lanius looks around to find the strange noise, his eyes squinting as he recollects where he'd heard them before... "Ede faecum! MEN! TAKE COVER!" he roars as he finally spots the smoke trails in the sky headed right for them.

Lanius throws himself behind the barricade and plants his blade into teh ground to keep himself steady just as the artillery shells hit.

*BOOOOM!*

A great many Legionaries were unable to retreat in time and were thus hit full on by the attack, dying a painful yet instantaneous death. It appears this was one of the NCR's plan... Using the barricade to slow the Legion down and allow the artillery to do max damage.

Lanius could respect such a tactic, but was pissed off with it regardless of his objective view. It had killed his men and stifled their great charge after all!

Once the artillery stops, Lanius quickly gets up and looks around, spotting a few new craters and many new corpses. He doesn't have time to wait around and see who'd perished, however, as the NCR would undoubtedly launch another artillery strike in a couple of seconds. He raises his sword in the air and shouts, "CHAAARGE!" for the second time.

The Legionaries do as they're told, the artillery strike had demoralised them slightly, but it was even approaching enough to provoke a route. Especially with Lanius fighting right beside them.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

As soon as the army sprints past the barricade and approaches the Dam, the discharge of heavy rifles could be heard as men begin dropping dead left right and centre. The NCR was known for its long-ranger weapon superiority, so it was no surprise that this was happening, at least, not for Lanius.

A few .50 Caliber bullets crash into his breastplate and forearm that was blocking his face. The sheer impact of them almost knock him flat on his back, but he endures and continues moving, making sure to erratically dodge to make the enemy sniper's job just that much harder.

Finally, they reach the East side of the Dam. But... This is where the hard part begins... The Dam itself was rather thin, and wouldn't allow the Legion's numbers to all attack at once. This created an excellent chokepoint for the NCR to exploit, one that Lanius simply had no counter against.

The only way to avoid this would be to collapse the Dam, which would be counterproductive of course, considering the Dam was needed for their campaign.

Lanius continued forwards with his men, leading the charge, all the while waiting for his flanking forces to do their jobs... Unfortunately, they seem to have been held up by something, forcing the above-ground forces to work thrice as hard as was needed.

*Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!*

...

Lanius stops in mild confusion and ducks into cover, glancing around to see where that noise was coming from... It wasn't artillery, he knew that for sure... So what could this new weapon be? What had the NCR sent to break against his army?

Soon enough, his question was answered... Though, weirdly, the NCR troopers also seem dumbfounded by its appearance... High in the sky, a large shadow was cast from a huge plane that was coming from the west. It was headed east straight over the Legion army as the shocked onlookers watched with awe.

Lanius knew this wasn't good, but was forced back into cover as grenades flew towards him, stopping him from giving orders... Thus, most of his army just stood staring at the Bomber with confused looks.

This continued until the aircraft began dropping large payloads... Bombs. Even the technologically ignorant Legionaries recognised this as a threat, and quickly tried to escape the impact zones. This proved futile however, as the bombs descended far too fast to be avoided. Add the destruction each bomb brought, and anything hit would undoubtedly perish.

*BOOOOM!BOOOM!BOOOOM!BOOOOOOM!*

The Bomber drops a lone line of destruction through the Legion army, killing hundreds, if not thousands of men in that attack alone. There were still tens of thousands remaining, but the sudden attack was as horrifying as it was effective.