The King wrote a letter containing his message, not wishing for his words to be up to whoever's interpretation. It was clear that one of the Kings had betrayed him so he'd rather not leave it to chance.
Afton pocketed the letter and nods at him, "I'll return with this, keep an eye out for the agitator while I'm gone." he states before leaving.
As Afton leaves the building he could feel someone's eyes on his back, taking a glance behind him he couldn't spot anyone in particular though... Damn impersonators.
A few minutes later Afton found himself back at the NCR civilian building with Emory already waiting at the front door for him. The duo walked up a couple flights of stairs to get to a more secluded area before he handed the letter over.
Emory doesn't say anything as his sits silently at his desk and reads through the letter, the subtle changes in his expressing being the only indicator of his feelings towards what'd been sent.
After finishing, Emory looks up at Afton, "Did he tell you what was in the letter?"
Afton just shakes his head, "No, that's between the NCR and him after all." he says passively.
"Well, there's good news and bad news... Good news is the King is fully willing to cooperate with the NCR to stop the fighting, the fact that some of his members are taking matters into their own hands is slightly unsettling but I digress. The bad news is that the King wants the Kings to hold all their authority in Freeside, all matters of policing and security would be handled by them. Now, NCR law dictates that I refuse this outright, but he's given me an out by offering to allow NCR personnel to inspect the Kings and their operations." Emory explains to him for some reason.
"So you'll accept right?" Afton asks, feeling like this would be a no brainer. The NCR isn't in the strongest position to negotiate due to the on-going war with the Legion.
Emory shakes his head, "If that was all then I'd gladly accept, only problem is that we'd need to seek redress for the Ambassador that was nearly killed. I know that the Kings are a tight-knit group and would be unlikely to sell out their own, especially since most thoroughly dislike the NCR.
"So... You'll be refusing the Kings proposal?" Afton asks, slightly feeling like he was on a wild goose chase. He wasn't a messenger boy, so if the King and Emory were expecting him to go back and forth and back and forth, etc. Then he'd refuse and find the damn counterfeiter himself.
"Unfortuantely I don't have a choice in the mat-" Emory's cut off as the radio on his desk bursts to life, the sound of static barely covering up the discharging of weapons.
"*ZZzzt!* -merich we're under attack by *Zzzt!* Kings!" the voice quickly reports.
Emory's eye's darkened as he taps his finger on the desk, a metallic sound ringing out as the man contemplates what to do. "What is your location?"
"*Zzzt* The watchtower outside the ration distribution centre!"
"I'll be there as quickly as I can, do whatever you need to hold your position, over." he orders as his stands, looking to Afton with an almost pleading look, "I heard you own a vehicle..."
Afton sighs to himself as he drives down the road, Emory sitting in the sidecar with an assault rifle in his hands. Whatever was happening with the Kings couldn't be good, this attack would surely not inspire friendship between the two groups, this'd especially be the case if anyone was killed... Injuries can heal, but death? Not so much.
He continues to drive while following Emory's directions until they can eventually hear the sound of gunfire. Fortunately it only seemed to be from small-arms fire, and relatively weak rifles. If someone had involved an Anti-Matter rifle or a Mini-gun then the situation couldn't possibly escalate anymore.
Afton wasn't sure what he should actually do concerning the situation either, would the King be pissed if he killed the attacking Kings? He couldn't let the Kings overrun the NCR soldiers otherwise war would be unavoidable.
He shakes his head of those thoughts as he spots the watchtower in the distance, people firing their weapons from the top of it at some Kings which were currently hiding behind some buildings and a bus stop.
"How you wanna deal with this?" Afton asks, not getting an answer as Emory jumps out and sprints towards the NCR. The guy had huge balls as he was literally running in between two groups firing at each other...
Afton drove over behind the Kings and hopped out to see what was actually happening. A few Kings had already been shot, but the wounds didn't seem fatal yet. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he shouts, catching the attention of the Kings.
The only problem with this was... Afton had no idea who had organised this, or who each individual was... He points at a King, "Who started this fight!?"
The King scowls at him, "No one, we just wanted a piece of those dog-shit soldier boys!"
"Yeah, fuck those NCR bastards!" another shouts, with a few others parroting similar sentiments.
"The King didn't order an attack! In fact, I'm pretty sure he ordered you to not antagonise the NCR!" Afton replies, trying to get these idiots to see reason, surely they didn't think they could match the NCR's military strength?
"I respect the King, but he ain't doin' nothin' to help our brothers. Those NCR dogs beat our people and he expects us to stand down? THE KING SHOULD STAND DOWN!"
Afton just facepalms, are these fucking guys serious? "You dumb cunts! You're going to start a war and cause more of your 'so-called brothers' to die, if you really cared then you'd not challenge the most powerful organization in the Mojave!"
Hope you like the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
Try as he might, Afton couldn't get any of the Kings to listen to him. Their adrenaline was pumping and they were driven by a misguided sense of justice... Or was it revenge? Either way, there was only one way this could end. It was whether or not Afton could salvage whatever relationship the Kings had left with the NCR...
If the Kings were left to their devices they'd eventually be wiped out, not without dealing a huge amount of damage to the NCR on the other side though. After this, the NCR would probably regroup and create a task force to deal with the rest of the Kings.
After that, they'd take control of Freeside and try to police it themselves... And fail spectacularly due to their severe lack of man-power. The Legion was still knocking on their doors, and they had no resources to expend on governing Freeside.
Of course, there was another option... Though, Afton wasn't sure if it was the correct decision to make, or indeed if he had to make it... He shakes his head and activates VATS, needing more time to decide.
While time is frozen he goes over the probable results of whatever actions he'd take... He already had semi-good relations with Emory, and he was still technically employed by the King. Afton was the only person who could deal with this 'properly'.
Afton stops VATS and drawn Lucky from its holster, pointing it at the back of one of the King's heads.
*BANG!*
The man drops like a drunk fly, though due to the continual sound of gunshots no one else seemed to notice.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
[John Wick Style is in effect]
Afton had emptied his revolver into the Kings, and only now had some of them noticed that their friends were dying. They quickly turned around to engage him but found themselves looking down the barrel of That Gun.
*BANG!*
His bullet passed through the King's skull, causing them to drop the 9mm submachine gun they were using. The other Kings immediately opened fire on him but he agilely threw himself over some concrete rubble, the enemy bullets kicking up dust as they missed him.
"DAMN TRAITOR!" a King shouts as he runs up to his cover, not realising that Afton wasn't someone to be trifled with, especially by a raged fueled wannabe-gangster.
They jump on top of the rubble and points their gun over it in search of Afton, unfortunately, his new Perk [Blur], had allowed him to almost vanish momentarily. The King was shocked to find Afton pulling him by his throat over the cover, That Gun pressed in his mouth as he squeezed the trigger.
*BANG!*
The NCR had stopped firing by now, not having a clue at what was going on. The Kings had suddenly stopped engaging them and there seemed to be a fight happening on their side. They continued to fortify their position in-case this lull in combat abruptly ended.
Afton himself was struggling to get a shot in, there were around thirty Kings who'd all turned their attention to him, peppering his cover with an egregious amount of lead. Surely they'd run out eventually, right?
Using [Blur] he sneaks a small distance away from where he'd been hiding and pops his head up momentarily while using VATS.
The Kings had hidden themselves in between some buildings in the alleyways that'd block line of sight from him and the NCR watchtower. There were a few hiding behind some ruined pre-war vehicles as well, though, Afton had just the thing for that.
Stopping VATS and reaching behind him, he equips his Anti-Material rifle and loads it, putting one slightly different bullet in his mouth for quick access. The Kings were still shooting his previously known position, attempting to suppress him from moving... If he were anyone else they'd have succeeded... Unfortunately.
*BANG!!!!*
They'd started a fight they weren't going to finish. His rifle explodes like an angry thunder god as his .50 calibre bullet easily tears through the pre-war vehicle's metal doors. Striking a King in their chest as they fall to the ground missing a huge portion of their chest and lungs.
Afton fires again at the other King hiding behind the same car, the bullet hitting the chassis and diverting its trajectory, missing the target... It wasn't all bad though, the pieces hit by the bullet turned into pseudo-shrapnel and peppered the man all over his body, pieces striking him in the throat and causing him to go down too.
The Kings had located his current position and started firing again, only for Afton to load his 'special' bullet. He aims at an alleyway containing five or six Kings and fires, not at them, but at the wall behind them.
*BANG!!*
*KABOOM!*
The bullet explodes on contact and instantly kills one of the Kings standing nearby the wall, their body looking like a red-water balloon as it implodes. That's not all though, the debris from the destroyed wall injures a few of the others, and the building begins to creak as the rest of the structure struggles to retain its stability.
The Kings aren't able to get away fast enough as the entire thing collapses on top of them, if the weren't dead from the impact, they'd suffocate under the rubble... All in all, the former option would be preferable.
Upon seeing Afton's brutal dismantlement of their forces, the other Kings immediately start shouting to surrender. Throwing their weapons towards him and dropping to their knee's in hopes that they'd be spared.
Afton wasn't a fool though, he didn't trust them at all and knew one would likely try to shoot him in the back. "TOSS YOUR WEAPONS AWAY AND CRAWL TOWARDS MY POSITION IF YOU WANT TO LIVE! IF I SEE A WEAPON ON YOU I'LL EXECUTE YOU LIKE I DID THE OTHERS!" he shouts, wanting those that'd surrendered to get out of the way in-case more wanted to fight.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
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