Our new phase of expansion was done at a slower pace compared to how we swept through the Glowing Sea. With the amount of territory I wanted the Nexus to cover for this round, it became more of a problem of population rather than whether we could secure the new gains.
Robots I had by the thousands at this point, with Cabal easily keeping up with interior security. Making sure that our existing population didn’t get drowned out by the new intake was a lot tougher. Entire probationary towns had to be built, far from the main hubs like Station 81, Diamond City, or the Castle. Until they finished their probation, these people would enjoy all the essentials of Nexus life, with just a portion of its luxuries, just to remind them what they were behaving for.
Those that made it to the blacklist were quietly purged, either sent to Tleilax or straightaway sent to be euthanized and converted to fertilizer. It’s surprising how many cannibals and neighborhood slavers we found out there, but hopefully the kids from such communities could be rehabilitated. For their sakes.
The Nexus’s borders eventually settled to a rough semi-circle, ending at the city limits of Hartford and Springfield to the west, and engulfing a whole lot of ruined towns in the north and northwest. It was a lot of sparsely populated land overall, but ultimately I was confident of my robot army’s capabilities in taming and restoring all of it.
Those factories I had ordered built were now churning out a steady stream of Sentinels and Mr Geiger robots to clean and cleanse the new lands, leaving as much bare, un-radiated earth as possible for future grasslands, forests and towns.
The purging was so thorough that other than the occasional mutated wildlife, no signs of raiders, super mutants, feral ghouls or other such threats were left within the Nexus. Robots and soldiers had systematically cleaned out every bunker, camouflage outpost and even coastal platform that the eyebots had so carefully picked out through their enhanced sensors.
We even got Nuka World, which was just outside Springfield. Unfortunately for the place, I had little use for it. The traders there have apparently heard of us, so offered no resistance when we told them to relocate. There was no Cito around, but friendly contact was made with the ghouls in Kiddie Kingdom. It was easy enough to get them on our side after promising and delivering mental stabilizers to stave off the descent into feral-ness.
The mutated wildlife were corralled and transported back to Ix for further studies. I held far less interest in the gatorclaws and ghoulrillas than I did the gazelles and brahmiluffs, which promised more sources of yum yum meat.
Oh, I almost forgot about the disembodied head. The troopers found John-Caleb Bradberton after some brute-forcing the search of his office to find the elevator to his little hideout. The former CEO of Nuka Cola was as cooperative as a helpless head could be, and was brought over to Ix for further questioning.
With the living cleared out, Sentinels and troopers essentially sacked and looted the theme park for anything and everything worthwhile. The cloning tech was definitely the most useful tech to be found, but there were lots of research notes, physical and digital, that could bolster the Nexus’ research efforts. Baubles were taken back for auctioning to artisans who needed new reference material, guns and ammo would be stashed aside for training and everything else that was of no use would end up being broken down for recycling.
When everything not bolted down was carted off, the park’s structures were then disassembled for raw material. Nuka World became a bare patch of earth within the week of us discovering it. Maybe I might call for a reconstruction in the future, when we have enough demand for local tourism. For now though, the empty land would be reserved for future use, just like every other plot of land within the borders.
Ultimately, the Nexus had an uncontested growth to establishing itself as a superpower in this post-apocalyptic world. In time, grasslands would hopefully blanket the broken landscape, while the new greener forests would stand proudly over their sickly, irradiated kin. With practically no more radstorms plaguing the lands, I’m looking forward to a realm that meshed a resurgent civilization along with healthy greenery in picturesque harmony.
If that doesn’t set us apart from the rest of the wasteland, nothing will.
The new road and subway networks were already planned out, and the feasibility of public air transport was being considered. Fisheries were being queued up as well, once the scientists managed to un-FEV and de-radiate a decent enough fish stock for farming.
All in all, it looked like a very good two years of growth since I came here. I had a monopoly of power within and without my kingdom, the tech level we’ve reached was basically a dream come true, I had the respect, love and/or fear of the local populace, and I got a harem of eager nymphos to cater to my wants.
You are reading story Uncommon Wealth at novel35.com
Now I gotta work to make sure I can keep all of it when the boot inevitably falls.
*****
News eventually trickled in from the east. A powerful nation had risen up and broken the back of the Brotherhood of Steel and extinguished the Enclave’s embers of ambition. Enough rumors came in that facts and exaggerated fiction could be reliably separated, and it told a terrible and awe-inspiring tale.
The Nexus was a nation built from rescued slaves, wielding arcance technologies that brought life back to the wasteland, and obliterated all that stood in its path. It was the champion of the oppressed and the weak, yet a sadistic monster to its enemies. Its ruler, Sev, was a trustworthy ally and benevolent overlord, but at the same time would casually plan and sign off the extinction of any who dared oppose him.
For the warring powers in the east, it was a problem better to be considered in advance. The NCR administration bickered over ways to preserve the state when the Nexus eventually made its way west, because such a power inevitably would. Maybe Sev should be contacted preemptively as a potential ally against Caesar’s Legion, or maybe he could be appeased with some diplomatic bribe or another to stay his advance from New California.
To Caesar, the threat of the Nexus felt more immediate thanks to the large swath of territory the Legion controlled. Plans of conquest were discarded, and the stalemate with the NCR was prolonged in favor of reinforcing their northeastern borders. Conscripts were dragged into training, breeder slaves were put to work in preparing a new generation of legionnaires. Caesar and his inner circle knew that there would be no peaceful agreements with the Nexus, and prepared for the inevitable conflict.
Until news told Caesar otherwise, the Legion would save its strength.
For Robert House of New Vegas, the Nexus was a promising opportunity. Not only could New Vegas stand proudly as a beacon of commerce under the protection of the Nexus, but if the stories hold true, his own body could be brought back to a better state. Surely this Sev would see the value in having an intelligent and savvy ally that shared the same goals for a stronger, better humanity?
Closer east, other local powers have also taken note of the Nexus. Small raider nations began to either flee or hunker down. Super mutant clans began congregating, their overlords competing amongst each other for the honor of leading the warhost east to crush the puny human upstarts. The common wastelanders in their settlements simply prayed that the Nexus was as welcoming as the best news about it portrayed.
Somewhere deep in the mountains, sleeping things had fitful dreams, calling to their faithful and minions to take up arms against the…wrongness that would be coming from the east. Some of these eldritch things had dreams of regret, that they did not feed on spilled blood. Otherwise the feast that was to come would surely sate their appetite.
As Sev enjoyed his second year of rule, the post-apocalypse landscape of America looked towards his lands and prepared themselves for his inevitable arrival.