[b][i]Andrew and Leonid[/i][/b]

Andrew, Leonid, and the former's mother had already exchanged information about what was going on in the Wasteland and how Col. Abernathy was causing a further rift with the local inhabitants. Such cruelty was, even after a year of service in the Mojave, only barely comprehensible to Andrew, but he supposed that the cycle of hatred can only be broken at great cost. 

Either way, now was not the time to sit on rumors of the Brotherhood; now was the time to arm themselves, change to their military fatigues - In a section cordoned off by a divider, of course - And then go off with Corporal Yazan towards the Mojave Checkpoint, though not after taking a few rolls of cornbread, gecko jerky, and a hardboiled gecko egg as a gift from Andrew's mother.

If they were taking a truck, Andrew would offer his superior officer the egg, saying, "Wanna have something to eat on the way? I and Len already have enough."

Corporal Yazan was a friend, one whom he and Leonid liked, although Andrew was cynical enough (surprisingly) to cultivate his goodwill. And Andrew needed goodwill; while his Uncle and his Mother had their own spheres of influence and Leonid loved him and had political connections to the new administration, he needed more friends and more influence... Especially if he was to end all this.

[i]What form would 'ending all this take'? The NCR cannot lose the Mojave; allowing NCR civilians to be harmed is anathema, but at the same time, we cannot just allow innocents and those we [b]genuinely[/b] sinned against to come to harm if we can help it.[/i]

He remembered the veterans he had encountered; inured to war crimes and abuses of local civilians, laboring under the belief they did what must be done, that there was no guilt to be felt against people who despised them anyway. Would he become like that one day? [i]Should[/i] he? 

Another snatch of memory played itself in his head, them all saying that Col. Abernathy was a loyal son of the Republic deep inside, but believed himself to be doing what he needed to do and the only one with the willpower needed to be done. Despite his own compassion, his own 'bleeding heart', Andrew couldn't help but admire the sentiment while thinking, [i]What [b]needs[/b] to be done changes with the times. I look forward to the day when you realize I am using your exact same logic when I empty a bullet into your head, Colonel Abernathy.[/i]

------

Leonid, meanwhile, was thinking in the long term. The current situation in the Mojave was unsustainable as well as unconcosiable, and his father taught him that no matter how profitable short-term open atrocities were, creating a residue of resentment and grudges only harmed future generations on both sides, hampering productivity and creating fault lines that can be exploited by outside foes. [i]Like the Brotherhood. Like the Legion.[/i]

Leonid hated the Brotherhood for trying to take away technology from Wastelanders under the reasoning that there was tech too dangerous for people to use... [i]While themselves using said tech in dangerous ways[/i]. The Brotherhood were mass-murdering hypocrites for that reason and peace was only possible after they moderate their ideals. As for the Legion... They were people who despised genuinely better ways of living and organizing society because of a rosy view of the past and a jaded view of present 'decadence', not understanding the flaws in their glorification of a 'warrior society' who did not know how to create, much less [i]protect[/i], and were driven by anything [i]but[/i] love of what is behind them.

[i]They even abolished family structures, fuck them,[/i] the boy thought. He disagreed with his family, but loved them in the end, although his father had to shape up before the love became more than just an obligation. Either way, Leonid waited for them to get to the Mojave Checkpoint; he couldn't wait to see what that dog Abernathy had for them...

[@tundrafrog1124]