A Young Girl's Saga on the New Vegas Steppe Chapter 3

I entered the Command tent to find the negotiations already under way. Papa Khan had apparently only brought two of his advisors with him, both were women. One had messy blonde locks cut to length just above her chin, the other was dark skinned with the most absurd hair I had ever seen in any of my lives. Her head was shaved at the top, but the sides were styled into a set of spiky wings, with a ponytail at the back. It clearly took a great amount of effort but looked hideous.

Between his two advisors and Papa Khan’s ridiculous horned helmet, the tribe's team of negotiators looked like a set of extras from a low budget Fist of the North star adaptation. It was embarrassing to even be associated with them. All of them were armed, though not at all uniformly. Among them they had a grime covered, homemade submachine gun, a bolt action rifle with its stock held together by a thick bundle of tape, and a sawn-off double barreled shotgun. 

By comparison, the NCR soldiers were all in uniform and had 9mm pistols in their hip holsters. Outside the tent, all the men in the camp had semi automatic rifles and body armor. The contrast in professionalism and equipment was apparent to even a rank outsider like me.

When I stepped inside, the three Khans looked at me with varying reactions. I must assume that this body must have had some kind of involvement with them prior to current events because the dark skinned one in particular looked angered by my injury. She probably expected me to escort the civilians away safely, and was upset at the evidence of my failure.

“See?” The Major said. “She’s fine. Her injury has been treated, and she was able to walk here on her own.”

Papa Khan was watching me for a moment, then he flashed me some kind of hand signal. I had absolutely no idea what it meant, the gesture involved touching his thumb to his ring finger. All I could do was shrug, to convey to him that I didn’t understand, but then he nodded grimly, frowning.

Wait, what? I opened my mouth to speak, but Major Bullah interrupted. 

“Enough. Let’s get to business here.” Evidently, Major Bullah saw the interaction, his scowl deepening. “Now, the NCR is ready to accept your surrender.”

“I never offered my surrender.” Papa Khan countered.

“Let me finish.” Bullah cut across him. “The NCR is prepared to offer you a conditional surrender. If you lay down your arms, none of you will have to face prison or a court. You’ll be transported back west, and get the chance to start your lives anew. You may even be able to become citizens.”

“We’re not surrendering.” Papa Khan replied, dismissing the notion outright. “We’re prepared to offer the NCR a ceasefire, if they agree to leave Bitter Springs, and pay for the treatment of our injured.”

The officers standing on the NCR side of the table scoffed, looking upset bordering on offended. I didn’t blame them. From the brief look I’d gotten at Major Bullah’s documents, the Khans had been raiding and attacking their citizens and supply lines for years. Likely they were all hoping to see the Khans destroyed, even if they themselves weren’t eager to die in the attempt.

“The Khans are in no position to offer anyone a ceasefire.” Major Bullah stated flatly. “This is your one chance to surrender peacefully, and the best deal I can offer you.”

I highly doubted he could offer it. Nothing in his orders that I’d read had given him permission to override his superiors here in the Mojave, let alone the politicians, bureaucrats and courts back west. He might think he was offering us amnesty for our crimes, but all it would take was a single judge who refused to go along with that then we would all face a firing line.

No, breaking up and dispersing the Khans was definitely against my interests. Unfortunately, Papa Khan was being just as unreasonable. Despite my best efforts to give him an advantage, he was stubbornly refusing to admit that he and his people had been thoroughly defeated. The NCR fully had the capacity to destroy him, they would just prefer not to due to the cost.

“I’m sorry.” I spoke up, smiling to both men who suddenly looked at me. “This all seems like it's going to get a bit complicated. Why don’t we all take a seat, and write out our demands before we get lost?”

Major Bullah opened his mouth to object, but then closed it when he looked at Khan. Finally, he nodded, and a corporal was sent to find chairs for everyone. I sat down, grabbing a pencil and some paper, quickly drawing up two columns, one for the NCR’s demands, and one for the Khans.

“So, what are your demands?” I asked Bullah.

“...The Khans are to surrender to the NCR.” He said at last, wearily watching me for some kind of trick, but it was Papa who objected loudly.

“We’ll never surrender to you child murdering dogs!” He snarled, pounding his fist.

“Papa, wait!” I raised my voice, and he paused, looking like he was a moment from launching into another tirade. “We can debate the points of each demand later, but let's just get them listed out first.” Without giving him a chance to restart, I looked back to Bullah. “Anything else?”

He paused for a second, searching in his mind, before coming up short.

“Let me give you a moment to think.” I turned. “Okay. Now, Papa, what are our demands?”

“...That the NCR leaves Bitter Springs. That they pay for the treatment of our injured, and that the murderers who took the lives of our children face justice.”

“Okay.” I calmly listed each point off one by one in the Khans column. “Now, I can’t help but note that none of these demands are mutually exclusive. Would you be willing to surrender to the NCR in exchange for this?”

“No.” Papa spat. “I will not let my people be scattered to the winds by them.”

I agreed completely, and added that the Khans must remain together and self governing to our demands Column. I turned back to Major Bullah. “And you? Any further demands?”

He looked like he was certain I was playing a trick on him, one that he hadn’t figured out yet.

“Well then, it seems we’re at an impasse. The tribe won’t survive if it surrenders to the NCR.” I explained, calmly. “Is the NCR willing to reduce its demands upon the Khans? A step down from surrender, perhaps?”

Major Bullah looked annoyed, before finally saying, “The NCR is willing to accept a Khan resettlement West of the Colorado.”

I looked to Papa, who made eye contact with me for a second and winked, before suddenly growling out, “We won’t let you push us out of our home again! First the vault, and now this?! I’d rather die!”

What did he think he was doing? The NCR would throw us out at this rate!

I decided to try and move on, before the NCR could object too strongly. “How far to the West?”

Major Bullah kept quiet for a few moments. “Red Rock Valley.”

The Khan woman with the hideous hair hissed.

I didn’t know enough about the area nearby to know anything about the place, but just the name didn’t sound particularly promising. Whatever, I wasn’t planning to stay there long, anyway. Once these negotiations were concluded, I would be free to plot my own defection from the Khans and pursue a more civilised lifestyle elsewhere. For now, it was in my interests to persuade my fellows to go to Red Rock. Maybe if I could drag a few more concessions out of Bullah, they would be willing to buy into it. 

“What are the exact boundaries of Red Rock Valley?” I demanded. “Do you have a map you can show us?”

“That’s military information.”

“Well, why would we agree to go there if we don’t even know where it is?”

“Because we’ll kill you all if you don’t.” One of the NCR officer’s spat, though he shut his mouth when Major Bullah turned in his chair to face him.

“You’ll try.” Papa Khan growled.

“Please, Major Bullah.” I said, raising my hands. “Be reasonable. If you wish to relocate us to Red Rock Valley, we should know something about it before we agree.”

Major Bullah hesitated, before nodding. “Find an unmarked map, one we can draw on.”

It wasn’t long until what looked like a very crude map of the region was left on the table for us. It didn’t have any NCR military bases or outposts marked, it only had the roads, tribal borders, and approximate geographic features of the landscape.

Staring at it, I assumed that the valley they wanted to send us to was unoccupied by any other group. It was good that we wouldn’t have to fight anyone for it, but the fact that no one else wanted it wasn’t a good sign.

“There’s a creek that runs down from the mountains, so you’ll have fresh water.” Bullah promised.

“And food?” One of Papa’s advisors asked. “Machine parts? Ammo? There’s nothing else out there but rocks!”

“What’s this town, here?” I asked, pointing to a spot indicated on the map. “Bonnie Springs?”

“A prewar town.” Major Bullah shrugged. “It’s basically abandoned now, ground water is too irradiated for people to live there.”

That sounded awful. Looking over at the rest of the Khans, I could see they felt the same way. Red Rock Valley sounded like a death trap, and they wouldn’t agree to anything unless the NCR was prepared to offer more. The problem was that the NCR wouldn’t surrender anywhere that they saw as valuable. Maybe if I could talk Major Bullah into a few more concessions, then Papa and the others would be willing to accept that deal.

“How about this?” I began. “The Khan’s don’t surrender, but in exchange for leaving Bitter Springs, you will concede Red Rock Valley and Bonny Springs to the Great Khans in perpetuity.” One glance over made it clear that Papa Khan wasn’t interested, so I tried to sweeten the deal a bit more. “We’ll also take… Route 161? We can also put in place a peace treaty, to keep your men from taking potshots at us, and we’ll stop raiding NCR Caravans on our end.”

“What do you mean, you’ll take 161?” Major Bullah frowned. “There’s tribals in those hills-”

“So you’re not using it.” I smiled at him. “Look, we need some way to make a living, or we might resort back to caravan raids or who knows what else? I think it’s in the NCR’s best interest to not only move us away from their camps and objectives, but to try and help us settle and become productive. Besides, after what you’ve done, I think some compensation is owed.”

“And the NCR will pay for the treatment of our injured by the Followers of the Apocalypse.” Papa interrupted, leaning forward. “I don’t trust your doctors.”

“Right, we will need treatment for our wounded, after all.” I pointed out. “In the end, you accomplish your objective, and it won’t cost you hundreds of men.”

“Thousands.” Papa corrected.

What an incredible optimist he was.

Someone leaned over and whispered something into Major Bullah’s ear, and he grimaced. He whispered something back, nodding, before looking towards our side of the table. “We can agree to your demands, resettlement, medical treatment, route 161, all of it, but you have to agree to surrender.”

“We’re not surrendering to you!” Papa snarled!

Shit, just when we were so close to a deal.

“Why won’t a ceasefire work?” I asked.

“Because you were militarily defeated.” Major Bullah replied. “And I won’t accept anything less than the truth.”

It was an odd demand. The terms of the deal didn’t change, but agreement on what it was called was important enough for him to risk blowing it up? I didn’t know much about his commanding general, Oliver if I recall, but I suspect he wouldn’t accept anything less than a win on his record.

I leant over to Papa and whispered, “His commanding Officer, Oliver, probably wants a win for the newspapers back in California. We can get more out of him if we agree to it.”

Papa Khan considered Oliver, thinking. The other woman, the blonde one, suddenly leaned over. “Get him to let us trade with the NCR.”

“What?” Papa demanded.

“If we can get a trade deal out of them, we won’t have to pay bribes or smugglers anymore if we can just sell legally through the front door.” The blonde woman insisted. “We need something to offset our losses from raiding.”

I leaned back, and turned to Bullah. “We want market access to the NCR.”

“What?!” He exploded, rising to his feet. “We’re not going to give you free reign to push your poison on NCR Citizens!”

“Now, hold on!” The woman to the left of Papa raised her voice. “Oh, don’t give me that! I know your boys use Psycho when they go into combat. Why not buy from us here in the Mojave, instead of carting it in from California?”

“The NCR already has arrangements with New Reno.” Bullah replied. “We’re not interested in jeopardizing those for a handful of combat stimulants.”

“What about alcohol?” I suggested. “New Reno can’t have a monopoly on that, or tobacco.”

“There’s no way I’m going to be able to persuade my superiors to let Khan caravans in through the front door.” Bullah said, firmly. “Enough of your product makes its way West already, without giving you guys new smuggling routes.”

Damn it. Looking at the faces of the other Khans, it seemed clear to me that they wanted to push for more, but they just didn’t know what. What could I get from the NCR, that would make the Khan’s accept admitting to a surrender? I just didn’t know enough about the area to guess, all I could see were the names of some towns and roads on maps.

“Major Bullah.You don’t want us raiding, and you don’t want us selling chems, but you won’t even trade with us legitimately. You have to see that if you abandon us in a barren canyon, we’re just gonna go back to raiding in the end. Without something to base our economy off we’ll just end up back at this table in a few years.”

Major Bullah frowned at that. For a moment, it seemed like he was about to accept my point, when a woman who had been sitting to his right spoke up. “You can’t just raid our caravans, kill and rape our women, andpoison our children for decades then expect us to just let you walk away.”

“You want to talk about the things we’ve done?” Papa Khan stood up, chair scraping behind him. “How about the massacre of 2241? Or 2161? Those were the mercenaries your ancestors hired!”

“You were raiding us!” She spat back. “In 2161 you were holding Tandi hostage! The Tandi!”

“Alright! Hold up!” I raised my voice, interposing myself between the two parties. “It seems like tempers are flaring, so why don’t we just take a quick recess-”

“No.” Major Bullah cut in firmly. “You can surrender on these terms, or we’re going in. I’ve already given you Redrock Canyon, Bonnie Springs and highway 161.”

Damn it. Looking back at Papa Khan, I could see that his blood was up, and he was about ready to die for his honor. “The right to work?” I said, instead.

“What?” Bullah demanded.

“We’ve got, uh, good fighting men and women among the Khans. You can, of course, search us for illegal goods, but if you agree to issue us visas, and as long as we present a passport, is there any reason that Khans couldn’t find opportunities for legitimate work inside the NCR and across New Vegas?”

He considered the idea, and leaned back to speak with the others. They exchanged a few words quickly, which I was only able to pick out, “-break them up-” before finally Bullah turned to face us.

“I might be able to sell that back in Shady Sands.” He finally allowed. “Though I’ll warn you, if any of your Khans are caught in a square mile of any drug bust, then they’re definitely going straight to jail, and no Jury will let them go, guilty or not.”

Papa Khan leaned closer to me. “That’s worthless, who would want to work for the NCR?”

“No one, but it gives Khans a way to travel openly.” I whispered back. “You’ll have an easier time making business arrangements back west, and who knows? Maybe even starting a security firm would be profitable? The point is it's a way for us to travel out and around without getting shot on sight.” And it would hopefully make it easier for me to leave the Khans.

They didn’t look happy with it, Papa or either of his advisors, but at last he nodded once, long and slow. 

I didn’t give him a chance to change his mind and think about it further. I quickly scribbled out a document of conditional surrender. In summary, the terms that we agreed were: 

-surrender to the NCR and be resettled, 

-stop raiding NCR caravans,

In exchange we would receive:

-Two days to gather our things, 

-medical treatment for the wounded provided by the Followers and paid for by the NCR, 

-the right to receive NCR work visas as long as we obeyed their laws

-Red Rock Canyon, Bonnie Springs, and the length of Highway 161, but terminating just before Good Springs.

All in all, it was far better than the Khans deserved by the sounds of things.

----

“There she is.” Papa Khan rumbled, pulling me aside a day later. The rest of the tribe was about ready to move West, but I and the rest of the wounded would instead be escorted South, to a place called the New Vegas Medical Clinic. 

Packing had been a frustrating experience, not knowing what was mine, and not having much left of my depth perception as well. I genuinely couldn’t wait for the chance to have my eye replaced, just so it meant I would keep missing the things I was grabbing for. 

Even worse, among the things the other Khans had told me were mine, I discovered half a pack of cigarettes. It seemed that before I recovered my memories, I was a smoker. In the day since the negotiations were settled, I’d experienced a growing headache from the nicotine withdrawal. A headache that grew sharply worse as Papa Khan took out a pack of cigars and offered me one.

“Here.” He grunted.

Somehow, in that moment, it felt impossible to refuse. I was deeply reluctant to continue a bad smoking habit, but my hands were well practiced at lighting the thing, and I felt almost instant relief as I held the warm smoke in my lungs. In the Empire I’d hated the smell of these damn things, but in that moment it was an incredible sensation. When I breathed the smoke out through my nose, I felt my headache leave almost immediately.

Damn it. I was already completely addicted. My lungs were ruined.

I restrained a sigh as I looked at Papa's face, and he was looking out over his camp with a dark expression. “Dr Usanagi came to see me.” He said at last. “She says your memories are gone.”

I winced at that. I opened my mouth to say something in my defence, but he continued over me.

“In a way I envy you.” He took a long drag on his own cigar. “You don’t have to know what you’ve lost. Your brother hasn’t spoken a word since the massacre.”

“Papa, I should have told you.”

He shook his head. “I thought you were acting odd. Bold, even. It was good. What we needed at that moment, though it came at a terrible price.”

We stood there in silence for a while after, smoking together in silence and watching the sun shadows stretch as the sun slowly set over the Western horizon. The cigar in my hand slowly burned down to the butt, and with practiced ease I crushed the embers beneath my bootheel.

“You don’t know us anymore.” Papa Khan finally said. “You’re on your way to the clinic, and there’s nothing keeping you from keeping on going. Just ditch your colours and wander all the way to forever. I’d be tempted if I were you.”

“...You won’t be mad?”

“I’ll miss you, you little mole rat.” He grunted, throwing his left arm around my shoulder and pulling me into an uncomfortably close hug. I felt a few drops fall into my hair, and I realised it was his tears. “Whatever you do, know your ma and pa would be proud of you.” I held my breath at the smell of sweaty leather, as he kissed the top of my head before letting go. Turning around, he strode away, back towards the camp to continue preparations.

I watched him leave, feeling strangely conflicted. It was true that the Khans represented a dying enterprise, outgunned and doomed in the long run. However, it was difficult to imagine joining a company at the same rank I clearly already had here. As bad as the Khans' situation was, maybe it could be turned around with some firm leadership?

At the very least, I seem to have been left with an open ended invitation. What harm could there be in spending a few months getting to know my new world and the people in it, before settling on a future to pursue?