Governor of New Houston and President of the Confederation HarrisHours after the Sphere agreements, the whole Texan retinue made its way to the newest meeting. They were rested and looking their sharpest, with fresh grey suits and grey Texan Rangers behind them. In the early morning sun, they looked silvery. They entered the meeting room with no flourishes or announcements as Harris desired. This would be a day for real progress not artful displays.
Not many factions were present. It seemed the chaos caused by the NCR had driven away diplomacy, or at least confused them beyond their means. The whole hall seemed hollow. Except Vault 99 was also present. His delegation did well in not reacting, but he could see gears running in their heads. Then the Legion took the stand.
"If I have the floor, I would like to make a formal proposition to the assembled delegates here," He began, speaking as calmly and eloquently as would be expected for a Queastor, "My request is simple. I wish for this assemblage of nations and peoples to formally, and officially, denounce the New California Republic and its junior President Kimball, for its actions both at this summit and militarily in Arizona. By sending a rude and uncouth impostor to stand-in for its weak and ineffectual President, it has insulted every single member of this summit and has spurned both diplomatic and common courtesy. Furthermore, the preemptive invasion of Arizona, which was underway well before their delegates even sat down for the so-called 'peace negotiations' was an affront to the the very purpose of this meeting itself, and a direct insult to all parties involved."
Titus paused for a few moments, letting his words stand for the delegates to contemplate before he continued with gusto,
"If we here, now, as assembled nations of this continent, issue a formal denouncement of The NCR and their foolish actions here, we will be sending a message to the NCR people. No doubt Kimball will try and spin his actions, and those of his minions, as some sort of heroic struggle back home. Something that he was forced in to to protect his people or defend his nation. Or some other such utter nonsense. I wish the NCR people to know and understand just who is responsible for the current state they are in and who will have been the direct cause of their torments to follow. President Kimball Jr..."
The move was expected. The Legion was attempting to claim the moral high ground, hoping that they could use the NCR’s rash action to cover their own faults. It was plain to him that the NCR acted poorly, but Texas couldn’t abandon them by assenting to the Legion’s statement. It would be more powerful to deny them with the whole Co Prosperity Sphere behind them. If that wouldn’t work, then he’d have to recalculate.
A few minutes after the Legion’s statement, he replied starkly across the table to Titus “The Free Confederation of Texan States will take time to consider your proposal.”, he paused while giving the word for rangers to carry a statement inviting the Pennsylvanians, Keynesians, and Franklinians to discuss how to respond to and deny the Legion’s proposal during a pause in the deliberations. Each nation would receive the message from a grey clad Texas Ranger.
He turned his voice back to address the convention. “Now I would like to inquire about a matter we can surely agree on.”, he let that hang in the air for a few moments. “What action is being carried out against the Cult of Ug-Qualoth? My scouts report fighting in the north. This cult seems to defy basic human rights, and we believe action against them might be necessary”.
Fort Bliss- Ranger Commander Jensen Banks“Yessir, those are two unidentified bogies scattering the NCR ranks. Faster than any other known operational flying vehicle.” The operator said as the fuzzy camera footage played out in real time on one of the many screens in Fort Bliss’s command center. Jensen could see the fearful soldiers throwing themselves to the ground as dark shapes swooped over their heads at low altitude.
“Can you get me a high resolution image?”, he replied with grim fascination.
“Images from our high altitude eyebot are coming in.” he pressed a few keys on the terminal. Lines of pixels began filling in on the screen until a whole picture of the bizarre looking aircraft was on the screen. And the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel insignia was proudly plastered on it.
He stared at the image for a few moments, thinking of his options. While he’d prefer to radio New Austin for instructions, there wasn’t much time. There was a way he could figure out where the Hellions had come from, which could be immensely helpful if the troops were mobilized. War seemed imminent whether or not he did this.
“Mobilize the Stingray Deluxes
. Order them not to engage. Pursue the Midwestern craft at safe, non threatening distance. Find out where they’re coming from.”
It wasn’t long before the two jets rocketed off of Fort Bliss’s ancient runway. He marveled at the beautiful aircraft as they took off, taking in the elegant power of their pre-war designs. He had grown up in conditions resembling the old world’s late 1800s, and now here he was observing inventions of the late 21st century take flight. The progress Texas had made was truly remarkable.
The operator broke the moment by explaining the obvious. “Senior Airman Adam Piler and Senior Airman Teagan Jones are in the air, sir. The Grey Hawks are on course.”
