Chapter Seventy-Six

Lucky 38 Casino. New Vegas.

While being a diplomat was a requirement of a Rogue Trader it was far from my favourite part of the job. I'd much rather be trading cheaply manufactured goods made from recycled metals with the natives of this world for their advanced technology that most of them had no use for. Or maybe I could be sending members of battle harem into some old vault so a treasure of the past could be recovered. I could even be directing operations against the the disruptive elements of this world such as the raiders or the super mutants.

Actually I really would like to be doing was to be exploring some part of a galaxy that contain nothing that could threaten an Imperil built cruiser so that I could take what I wanted from anyone I wanted. I could carve out my own domain if I went to the right universe, but that would have to wait as the Imperium's leadership would need to support me more for such an endeavour. The only way to get that kind of support was to prove that I was a valuable ally and this would proven by bringing back lots of cool tech.

So instead of getting out there and crushing foul aliens, pirates and raiders, I was now riding up in a elevator, or a lift as it was called back in my homeland, up to a meeting with Mr House, who I knew to be down somewhere in the basement, however if I wanted to talk to him I had to do via a big screen in the penthouse. It was somewhat tempting to go down into the basement and kill Mr House so that I could have someone loyal to me take over operations here in Vegas, and if I'd been planning a take over of the planet I would do just that, it was just that the Imperium's normally method of operations weren't suitable for this expedition I would have to handle Mr House carefully.

When the doors opened I stepped into a penthouse that had been set up as place to live as best as someone could manage in the wasteland, only there were just some robots here. As for the screen that showed a static image of what I assumed to be a younger Mr House that was angled in such a way that anyone wishing to speak with him had to crane their neck and there was no where to sit in this part of the room. I understood the idea of looking down at someone during talks so as to make yourself seem important I just didn't like being the one who had to stand in such a way.

"Mr Thrax I believe that we have much to discuss" said my host.

I could be petty and demand that he refer to me as Lord Thrax or at least Captain, yet I decided against it, I didn't wish to argue with a man who wasn't even in the room, and I had many demands on my time so it would best to get this over with.

"Yes, Mr House" I replied "By now I'm sure you have some idea of what is happening in the rest of this country".

I'd decided to focus our operations in what used be the USA as that was the part of the Fallout World seen in the games, and the USA had been the most advanced nation in the world before the bombs dropped so logical it would have the most worth while stuff to obtain. Judging by the scans from up in orbit the whole planet was a radioactive hellhole so it wasn't as if there were lands out there that were safer for our operations to take place in.

"I have been able to gather some information" said Mr House.

Taking this a que that I should supply more I began to talk. There was no reason for me to hide the truth because I had all the advantages. I didn't really need Mr House it would just be nice to have him as an ally and be able to send at least some of my crew on shore leave here. My cruiser had it own means of keeping the crew entertained as it wasn't all hard toil while onboard, it was just that it was working well to reward those crew members who worked hardest for me with a chance to see an alien world.

"Do you expect me to take what you have just told me at face value?" asked Mr House.

He didn't actually accuse me of lying he just needed more evidence.

"You must have seen the craft I landed in and the weapons carried by my guards" I said "I'd be happy to take you up into orbit so you can see my cruiser with your own eyes".

Of course he couldn't take me up on that offer.

"I'll have to decline" said Mr House "Instead I have a test in mind. Should you be able to find something for me, I will exchange allow your people to visit Vegas in limited numbers. I can even share certain information with you that could benefit the both of us. There are places of interest around Vegas that your people can explore".

Already I knew where this was going, it seemed clear to me what Mr House would want most of all.

"In Sunnyvale on October 22, 2077, a day before the Great War I had a special chip created, one made of platinum, but it became lost in the following nuclear holocaust" Mr House told me "I've been trying to recover it for years. If your Imperium is as powerful as you claim then you should have no trouble locating the chip and bringing it to me".

It made perfect sense to me that Mr House would want to make sure that his robot army was better prepared to fight off possibly hostile invaders before inviting any of them into his city

"I'll need some information on this Sunnyvale" I said.

Very soon a crude was printed off by the machine in front of me and I discovered that Sunnyvale is one of the cities that comprise the Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As such it might contain much more of value that Mr House's chip.

It should be simple enough for me to get enough people together to comb through the ruins for a bit of platinum. The Ad-Mech could detect metal deposits from orbit so they should have something that detect even a small amount of platinum if they got close enough.

"I'll be back with you chip" I assured Mr House.

Before leaving an idea struck me.

"You wouldn't happen to have a list of Legion officers and images of them would you?" I asked "They need to be dealt with if this world is to be put into any kind of order".

Soon I had another print out, a list of target for Black Widow to handle for me.