[color=f7941d][u][b]Ambassador Benjamin “Benny” Watts - Gomorrah - Morning, October 17th[/b][/u][/color] 

Benny nearly choked on his coffee when Dominic mentioned Lucy being his daughter. He hadn’t expected the Omerta family to be a literal genetic family and the revelation of that information startled him. First the Bishops, then the Van-Graffs and now the Omertas, why couldn’t he get away from families of gangsters? Benny cursed his luck but was able to play it off. Wiping his mouth he uneasily made a joke about the temperature of the coffee and took a bite of the cake to wash it down. He had greatly underestimated Dominic. The man filled his ranks with his own children and was now marrying the head of one of the other families. Dominic wasn’t just some gang leader in a suit, the man was angling to become lord of Vegas. He wouldn’t be a speed bump for the Van-Graffs to roll over, he was a wall. A very thick wall that would be hell to break down.

When Benny tried to reassure Dominic that his authority would not be dismantled the Don grew quiet for a moment. He looked oddly serene and stared directly at Benny who smiled nervously. Then all of a sudden Dominic’s expression lightened and he gave a smile that rapidly grew into a wide jovial grin.

“Ahh, that’s good to hear. Very good to hear. I must admit that we’re all very concerned about what our NCR friends have in store for us. Tell me Benny, man to man, what does the NCR have in mind for New Vegas? What do you see for Sin City in our future?”

Benny had thankfully taken another bite of cake, it would give him a few moments to conjure up a response. He needed to walk a fine line between truth and fiction. Dominic clearly wasn’t the fat fool he wanted to present as and Benny knew that the old gangster would see through any blatant lie. However, Benny wouldn’t be able to tell the whole truth of what he knew and get to walk out of the casino after. At best they’d used him as a hostage, at worst they’d kill him in this very room. Thankfully Brianna had kept her cards close and since he was only a pawn in their schemes he wasn’t privy to the full plans the Van-Graffs held for New Vegas. If he could simply play into his ignorance and offer what secrets he did know then he just might get out of here with his life and dignity. 

“Well Mr. Dominic, as a territory of the republic the Mojave has been able to benefit from the protection provided by the military for the past few years without paying taxes. One of our first orders of business would be the implementation of a tax bureau for the region in order to facilitate the effective taxation of business and settlements. Of course, as the population center of the region,Vegas itself would be subject to republic taxation as well. The exact rate and scale of this taxation is beyond my purview and is, as I understand, yet to be determined. I’m sure after careful consultation with yourself and the other family heads we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. As for plans for the city itself, the president has expressed to me her desire to keep Vegas as an oasis. An outlet for citizens and travelers to entertain themselves and enjoy a respite from day to day affairs. Obviously some of the rougher edges, like Freeside, would need to be smoothed out but overall I believe there is great promise here. The influence of the Green on the city has thankfully been limited to its wider suburbs and a few isolated locations as I am aware. This is good as with a growing influx of republic citizenry in the area there can be a concentrated effort on limiting further growth.” Benny had started to ramble a bit and it was intentional, he wanted to bury the lies within the truth. He spoke quickly, giving Dominic no chance to respond to his individual points and hoping to overwhelm him with information.   

“Obviously the greatest asset of the Mojave remains the Hoover Dam and Helios One. These are essential generators of power for both the NCR and New Vegas.” He motioned to himself and then Dominic. “Over the past several weeks the president has reassigned many of the engineers and advisors stationed at these sites. They have been replaced with those from the La Brea Institute, a state-sponsored research center from back west. The current division in the Mojave is headed by a Dr. Zupan who arrived at Helios One sometime last week. Currently both these sites are protected by infantry under the command of Col. Abernathy. Now, the president and I both are aware that the colonel has created…well lets just say a hostile relationship with many in the region. As an act of good faith to the people of the Mojave and Vegas in the next few weeks the president will issue a changing of the guard order for those infantrymen. Going forward both the Hoover Dam and Helios One will be under the protection of the Van-Graff corporate security forces.” This was the nugget of truth Benny offered. A valuable piece of knowledge that only a few knew. The Don would be smart enough to realize how sensitive this information was and though Benny didn’t trust the gangster he knew it was in Dominic’s best interest to keep quiet about it. He hoped the revelation of this secret would distract from the other more worrying lies he had slipped in. Benny smiled slyly as he dropped this information. 

“Now that last part is hush-hush for now Mr. Dominic, so it would be in both our interests if this information didn’t get leaked before the transfer happened. The president is expecting that the colonel will not be happy with this information so we hope to catch him by surprise before he can react or resist. The CSF is well trained and well equipped and will be more than able to protect these valuable sites. My own security detail consists of CSF agents and I’m sure Lucy let you know that they are not to be underestimated. Come to think of it, upon our arrival last night I saw several mercenaries with your own men that were outfitted with similar gear. I didn’t recognize them, but then again, guns for hire aren’t too uncommon out here on the frontier.” Benny smiled again, he had found his verbal footing and felt more confident than before. He patted around his coat but realized he had left his cigarettes at the embassy. 

“I hate to be trouble Mr. Dominic but do you have anything I could smoke?”