"How do you know about that?" the elderly woman asked seriously.
"Doesn't matter. So now that I've said my piece, shall we discuss the future?" I asked in a casual manner.
"As much as I dislike being on the backfoot it's clear that you hold the upper hand here. Very well. Follow me, my old bones aren't as tough as they once were and I'd like to get out of this heat." the elderly woman said as she turned to walk away and the fences gate was opened to let me through.
"I'm Alex and my partner, who is the one that really wanted this alliance is House. I assume you are familiar with the name at least?" I said once I caught up.
"We are not a very.... open people. Nellis homeland has never let any outsiders close enough to learn these things. We can see the movement of troops at the dam and through the region but we know nothing of either side beyond snippets of radio chatter. I am Pearl, a sort of spiritual leader for the people here." she said honestly.
"I can't say it's the smartest survival strategy but it has it's merits. Well to give some context the region is currently home to exactly three powers that should concern you at all. The native faction led by House, the legion who are pushing west from the east and the NCR pushing east from the west. House is after the big picture, all of humanity restored to a proper society. He's roughly neutral. The NCR is a sort of wasteland rehash of an old world political government. Mostly good but with it's downsides. The legion are glorified slavers led by a man named Caesar. They are just bad news all around." I explained.
"The people of Nellis aren't interested in being folded into anyone else." Pearl said firmly.
"Yes, that's quite obvious. Perhaps in the future that might prove problematic but for now it's not. That said my partner and I aren't looking to fold you in so much as sidle you up besides us. Like two birds flying together but able to go their separate ways as they wish. A simple alliance." I say as we walk.
"Normally I would ask that you earn to trust of my people before anything else but you've dangled a piece of bait in front us that they'd be rather cross with me for denying. I want exact terms laid out before I agree to anything." she said as we entered a trailer that was actually quite nice by wasteland standards. A little wear and tear but all mostly intact and decorated warmly.
"Hey Adam can you tap the signal tower of this base and use it to get House on the line? He'll be better served setting the details." I asked my resident A.I.
"Perhaps, give me a few moments." Adam said before going quiet again.
"What's going on? Who was that?" Pearl asked seriously.
"That was Adam, the A.I who lives in this suit of armor. You can consider him the angel on my shoulder. As for what's going on? House is physically unable to leave New Vegas. Hence why I am here instead of him. I'm hoping that by having Adam hijack the signal tower of this base he can use that connection to speak to you through the suit and thus let you negotiate with him personally." I explained casually.
"I must admit that this is not exactly what I had in mind when I asked you to handle the matter." Houses voice came from the suit.
"Yeah well there's politics at hand and rather than making promises that won't be accepted on your end I figured you could just hash out the details with the Boomers leader yourself, her names Pearl. You are on speaker by the way." I say with a chuckle.
"I apologize for my companions brash temperament. I am Robert House, pleased to make your acquaintance." he said smoothly.
"It's alright. He came on a tad strongly but he's been mostly polite. As he's said I am Pearl, the leader of the people of Nellis." she said with a funny expression but otherwise fine.
"Now I don't know what exactly he's told you but I would like your howitzers turned towards my own targets in the upcoming battle and perhaps after if cooperation continues to suit you." House said professionally.
After that it was a back and forth conversation between House and Pearl covering the terms of this alliance. If I didn't know otherwise I would have sworn that I was sitting in a board meeting about a merger. House's voice never changed tone even when Pearl tried to push him and he covered everything with the grace of a professional ballet dancer.-
The vast difference in their business and political experience was put on full display. Honestly it was almost scary how good he was about both stroking and degrading her ego at just the right times to get her to react the way he wanted.
'A professional is a professional alright.' I thought deeply impressed.
The final terms were, when dumbed down, that House and I wouldn't make any attempt to fold them in for the next twenty years at least. We would help them acquire the bomber at the bottom of the lake and provide them with supplies for services rendered. In exchange the Boomers wouldn't turn those guns on us and shell our targets for that same timespan at minimum.-
House also managed to work in a clause to allow him to extract and make a copy of the flight simulator data so he could train his own pilots in time. Pearl fought over that one. Clearly she didn't like the idea of anyone else having aerial superiority but House flat out told her that even without it he'd still eventually accomplish it, it would just take him much longer.