As we approached Boulder City I continued to interrogate our BOS prisoners. Many of the higher rank officers had also questioned them but only the old man gave answers. I got everything I could from the old man as he and the two girls walked beside me, the idiot boy having fallen behind due to the bag on his head. The three were incredibly enthusiastic about my little inventions.
The old man simply understood my position as one of the few who understood the love of technology, and the fact that most in the NCR were my opposite in such as they weren't educated. The power fist girl had been revealed to be a young Veronica on a rare training mission, away from the elder. She shot hundreds of questions at me about the systems and of course the integrated power fists.
The other girl was Christine, the bald mute from the dead money dlc. I'd only played that dlc once as I really hated it. I didn't remember much about her besides her being Veronica's lover or something of the sort. She questioned me about my neutron radiation gun that I'd used to free slaves. In speaking with the old man I found out his name and rank. Paladin Clay had climbed his way up the ranks and had become the instructor for undercover operations.
We discussed the training he usually put initiates through. Near Boulder City we had somehow made the conversation about lasers versus plasma. Christine had reluctantly agreed with me that lasers were all around better than plasma. As troopers began setting up camp in the city's outskirts and officers wandered off we all started poking around the Q-35 matter modulator.
The old man nearly had an aneurism when I told them where I'd gotten it and how easy it had been. I set up the rifle with a terminal with the info we had gotten on the plasma weapon. Clay had geeked out about the weapon and helped me learn plasma weapon technology and had assisted in figuring out the weapon itself without messing with it.
As night began to fall Clay insisted that he pay me back for keeping him and his initiates safe as well as letting him learn about the Q-35. He requested that he help to armor the exoskeletons. As troopers watched over us as we added armor to the exoskeletons. His skill and knowledge proved valuable as we made and effective armor plate system that could be easily integrated into the skeleton and provide armor levels nearly equal to power armor. He'd also helped me learn about power armor in comparison to my exoskeletons.
As we worked together on the exoskeleton he somehow snatched my design book. There was only one thing inside that I hadn't built yet, a fission battery powered engine. The design was as simple as I could make it, a fission batteries energy converted into rotational power. The engine would then be used to revolutionize transport in the NCR by converting scrap pre-war vehicles into actual functioning cars, trucks, and of course, tanks.
He immediately grabbed a pin and completely rewrote my design to utilize MFCs. While it would limit how much a vehicle could drive it would increase power and production ability as fission batteries were rarer. I showed him my other lesser ideas, the most significant of them being my attempt at a recharger rifle. I used recharger pistol and automatic laser rifle designs to make a Frankenstein of the two weapons.
You could effectively fire it endlessly as it had four micro fusion breeders but that forced it to be as weak as the recharger rifle. It was also 13 pounds. I only considered it a valid weapon due to it being a good suppression weapon for exo soldiers. It was a good LMG despite the low damage output. I'd made a sibling version as well with beam splitters but the damage dropped significantly and the range dissipated massively.
Clay also changed their designs, making the LMG do more damage with two more pounds added on and the auto splitters range and damage increased at the cost of firing speed due to less ammunition charge. As we finished with the tech stuff we exited the tent to find the two girls were beating the shit out of troopers in a makeshift arena. I found out that of of the idiots of the battalion had made an extremely crude joke towards them and had been challenged by Veronica. He got his shit kicked in as others also started fighting and betting. An officer had come along and given it all some organization and security. He'd offered the two girls rewards based on how many idiots they beat and had won a significant amount.
We later found the BOS idiot tied to a stake with a single trooper watching him and giving him the basic care he needed. I had him dragged to a makeshift jail on the outskirts along with the others who got much better treatment. I made sure everyone got rest and shifts were properly set up as most higher officers had been in the city all day dealing with minor politics.
The next day started early as Moore wanted to get to the dam by noon. I brought out the few merchant outside the city of all their coffee an tea. They were one of the more popular drinks available in from NCR traders and one of the few I liked. Sunset sarsaparilla was like a rough rootbeer and nuka cola was way to sweet. Both were radioactive so I almost never drank them. Tea was of course tea and coffee, while rare and expensive was actually good. There were of course other things like sugar water with vinegar or light alcohols. In training I particularly enjoyed agave syrup liquors.
As I bought most of the coffee I made a large pot of it and shared it with my fellow officers, particularly colonel Moore who I'd observed to be extra grumpy in the early hours. The fact that I slipped some alcohol passed them as I brewed a strong coffee to mask the little bit I added. We left as soon as camp was taken down and I grabbed the BOS prisoners. The idiots attitude had dropped to completely depressed as he was let out of the bag. Clay had kept a portion of camp awake a few extra hours as he disciplined the idiot.
Our starting pace towards the dam was a grumpy shuffle till the officers got my coffee in them and started pushing troops to take a good march. I slipped some coffee to Clay to help him cool of from the previous night and mellow him out as I could see things were already starting to wear on him. He perked up sometime later and we got into the laser v plasma debate with my fellow officers joining in this time.
Near the curve going to the dam a scout reported five people with a description that matched BOS forces. I looked at Clay to see if he had anything to say but he waited for my response. "Exo soldiers and thirty troopers. Remember everyone, we're hoping for friendly relations with the Mojave chapter so don't hurt anyone unless you have to!" Clay gave me a nod and we set off with a sergeant leading us.
The BOS soldiers immediately took aim as we approached them but I waved a small white rag and had the NCR troops hold position as I approached. "Hello boys or girls. What might a group of BOS in power armor be doing out here?" The heavily armed and armored group started silently. Then the only one with different armor markings stepped forward.
"A training group of our chapter has gone missing. Have you seen them?" The leader asked in his intimidating, modulated voice.
I smiled up at him while moving my hands further away from my body. "I indeed have, uh, paladin?"
He nodded and spoke again."Where did you last see them and what was their condition?"
I pointed with a thumb to behind me. "Back that way with my battalion. One of them is a bit roughed up do to his extreme hostility but they are all unharmed beside some bruises on the two girls after beating up some of our men. Paladin Clay has been working with me on some tech I have found and I've been making sure they all stay safe and healthy as I want the NCR to have a chance at good relations with your chapter."
The other soldiers seemed dumbfounded and confused but the paladin remained stoic and silent. Suddenly he asked "Can I go to verify their condition? I will have my men hold a position away from you battalion as you escort me to check them." I thought over the request, then nodded. Even if he was in power armor he wouldn't stand a chance against my exo soldiers and the increased firepower my inventions gave the troops.
I turned and waved for them to follow. I could feel light vibrations as they stayed right behind me. Ten minutes later I and my exo soldiers were escorting the paladin to Clay and the others. Colonel Moore was giving me the stink eye but she didn't stop us as she understood that getting the brotherhood as allies would be advantageous and would remove a potential threat to NCR control in the area.
I let the paladin speak with our prisoners privately and escorted him away when the group stopped talking. I had of course planted a microphone in the dirt beneath them before the prisoners were put there. I could listen to the recording later as other officers had been listening to it already. The paladin left without another word with his group and we continued our travel to the dam.
When we got to the dam I oversaw the prisoners holdings then had to do lots of paperwork as I'd now be stationed here as a technical sergeant with expertise in weaponry. My official job was to produce the exoskeletons and my invented equipment for military use but I was given a massive amount of freedom and some power over resource acquisition.
It was very unorthodox but I provided an alternative to power armor and some effective tools. My first job here however had nothing to do with my specialization. The dams engineers were incredibly understaffed and despite them all being incredibly competent, the job was simply to much. I and the engineers of the battalion spent our first week here constantly working alongside the others repairing systems and keeping things running.
The second week was much of the same but a bit slower, allowing everyone to rest. The third week was similar but I used my authority to have the three of the four prisoners work on things. Each would have two guards and they'd work alongside an engineer. Clay was put with me and once work slowed down we began working on the two laser weapons.
The RSG or Recharger Scattergun was our first weapon as it only used two micro fusion breeders. We didn't have a real supply of the MFBs so we were forced to only make the cheaper version to arm men with.
Our second creation was the MFC engine. It was the size of an air conditioner from my old world. I sent for multiple old vehicles to be brought to the road on the surface. It took us five days of work with seven men but we cut down and scrapped the vehicles. The parts that weren't in horrible shape got cleaned by idiots in the meantime as a punishment. Finally we tested the engine. On a clean frame we installed the engine and all the additional components and some proper wheels one of the engineers had somehow made.
I climbed onto the frame and strapped myself to the seat that we had attached to the frame. I put the 'vehicle' into drive and pressed the pedal. My head immediately hit the headrest as the vehicle jolted forward and I slammed the brakes. Clay stepped forward and adjusted some parts of the engines systems, then waved for me to continue.
I eased the power pedal and slowly increased speed till I turned the road to the dam and shot towards Boulder City. I stopped halfway and gunned the vehicle down the road to the dam. The ride was extremely uncomfortable but I ignored it. I skidded to a stop at the work area and jumped out to check things out, most important of which was how much MFC charge it had used.
After the testing we put on basic suspension and added a cab and other things like seats and windows. With the basic vehicle done I called colonel Moore and a major to the surface and shoved them inside. They both loved it and I quickly taught them the basics of driving while continuing to test the engines limits inbetween the Dam and Boulder City.
Back at the dam I quickly ordered more scrap to be brought and recruited Clay into helping me reinvent tracks for a tank.