Battle of the Divide

The Battle of the Divide (also known as the Battle of the Two Couriers) was the conflict between the Courier and Ulysses in the year 2281.

A long trail of discovery, philosophy and history, it took place in the Divide in New California, and decided the very fate of the east and west for decades, and possibly centuries to come.

Prelude
Although Hopeville and Ashton were abandoned after the War, a small community would inhabit the storm-covered lands. Drawing strength and inspiration from the ancient symbols and technology that surrounded them, by the 23rd century, the settlement flourished. All thanks to a single Courier who was willing to brave the seasons and storms to deliver packages to the community. Whatever the reason, the courier braved that hard road repeatedly, giving them hope and a connection to civilization.

It all ended when that same courier accidentally destroyed the towns with a delivery of Enclave technology from Navarro. Intercontinental ballistic missiles, dormant in silos beneath the towns woke up, and unable to reach the sky detonated. The resulting devastation, amplified by the pre-existing seismic instability of the area, destroyed the settlements, turning the Divide into a storm wracked scar upon the wastes.

One of the only survivors who didn't later become one of the Marked men was a Caesar's Legion frumentarius named Ulysses. He survived the explosions solely because medical eyebots activated by the same device that triggered the missiles revived him, recognising the Old World flag on his duster.

The entire event brought him to many revolutionary realizations. Ulysses' life was changed that day, showing him how a single individual could change history, or erase it. As a survivor of the Divide, he held the Courier responsible for the destruction of the place that could have been his true home; of something "larger than the Bear, greater than the Bull." In 2277, he returned to Caesar, learning that the First Battle of Hoover Dam ended in the defeat of Caesar's Legion. There, he was assigned a new duty.

Ulysses was determined to take revenge and reshape the post-apocalyptic world single handedly, in the same way that the Courier reshaped the Divide; by unleashing nuclear fire upon it. At some point before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, Ulysses contacted the Courier with a single message, containing the coordinates for the canyon wreckage west of Primm, and the words "Courier Six - Ulysses", wanting to destroy their new home before their eyes, as the Courier had done to him in the Divide. The Courier answered the call to confront Ulysses, and under the Old World flag and the torn skies of the Divide, the two decided the fate of America.

Battle
Once the Courier arrived at the Divide, they met a clone of a robot named ED-E, created by the Divide's computers when the original passed through the area. The robot assisted the Courier in traversing the missile base, after which Ulysses then contacted the Courier through ED-E and discussed the situation, directing the Courier to retrieve a pre-War laser detonator. Using the laser detonator to destroy warheads blocking their path, the Courier continued on and passed the High Road, slaughtering packs of deathclaws and tunnelers. Along the way, the Courier accidentally launched a nuclear warhead from the Ashton missile silo, that destroyed an area of the Divide all over again, creating the Courier's Mile.

Once the Courier had passed through the Cave of the Abaddon and reached the Boxwood Hotel roof, Ulysses took remote control over ED-E, and brought him back to his temple, leaving the Courier to reach him alone. Once the Courier entered the temple, they were potentially reunited with ED-E after freeing him from the bot pods, or left him there and went on alone. The Courier (and ED-E, if freed) entered the missile silo where Ulysses awaited.

Ulysses revealed to the Courier that he had set the Divide's nuclear missiles to launch within minutes and destroy the entirety of the Long 15, cutting off the NCR in the Mojave Wasteland and dooming the Republic as well as the denizens of the Mojave. Using the silos security systems to make sure the launch couldn't be cancelled, only redirected, by anything other than ED-E. The Courier and Ulysses then discussed their history and view of the world extensively, arguing over which of them had learnt the right lessons from it. This discussion resulted in either the two couriers making peace and fighting side-by-side against the encroaching Marked men, or Courier Six killing Ulysses and leaving the Divide behind.

Appearances
The Battle of the Divide is mentioned in the Fallout: New Vegas add-ons Dead Money and Old World Blues, and appears in Lonesome Road.