It only took a couple hours for Afton to completely annihilate the Super Mutant presence atop Black Mountain. It took another thirty minutes to loot the place and look for anything worth taking... Surprisingly, and somewhat terrifyingly, the Super Mutants had in their possession three Mini-Nukes...
Where had they gotten them? He had no idea.
Why had they not used them at all? No idea.
Why were they stored in a manner one would a rugby ball? Again, no idea.
Regardless, Afton quickly stowed them away before continuing to look around the place... Eventually, he found the machinery that allowed the radio station to function, it all looked in relatively good condition, so Afton had an idea... Why not start his own radio station? It wasn't like anyone would be able to stop him... Nor would anyone really care unless he started doing something weird... Like broadcasting people's secrets, or kidnapping people and forcing them to confess live on air...
He shakes those ideas from his head, even if he tried that, the validity of those secrets would be called into question... After all, people are willing to say anything to stop getting tortured.
He plays around with the equipment for a bit, eventually accessing the database that Tabitha had been using to store prerecorded messages... Afton quickly deletes these and wonders what he should replace them with...
Back in the Brotherhood base, Veronica, Christine, Miles, and Melissa were listening to the Black Mountain radio while watching and listening to the battle occurring atop it. That is, until the sounds stop completely, leaving them in relative silence...
The silence continues for around thirty minutes until some sort of interference...
*Bzztch! BzzzzzZZZTCH!*
"*Bzztch!* Annnnd GOOooood Morning Mo-Ja-ve!" A familiar voice blares over the radio, disregarding the fact that it's late in the afternoon already...
...
"Afton." the people sitting around the radio all mutter simultaneously, having already experienced his past antics.
"My name is DJ Aftonie Parkin-in-ya-lot, an I'm here to rock your world!... Yeah!"
...
"Now let me introduce the first, and last song you'll ever hear on this station!..." he shouts, but no music seems to start, nor do any instrumentals... "Fly me to the moon! Let me play among the stars!" he starts singing, without any accompanying music at all... Afton's voice isn't bad, but, it's more akin to something you'd hear singing in your shower than anything else.
Despite it all though, no one in this world had heard this song by Frank Sinatra, it was one of the songs that were lost after the Apocolypse... So it was actually fairly interesting to listen to...
Afton goes on to sing the entire thing, and after he finishes, he flips a switch and causes the song he'd just sung to loop on the station... But not before adding a final message to the Super Mutants who'd been using the station to guide their way.
"Super Mutant brothers and sisters! If you seek salvation and freedom from the chains that bind you! Head to Jacobstown and make something of yourselves among your own kind!"
This message would be played every time his 'Fly me to the moon' song was looped, which would hopefully help some of the wandering Super Mutants looking for sanctuary... It would also draw some negative attention towards Jacobstown, but with Bulwark and New Vegas's protection, that wouldn't be much of an issue.
The group only realises Afton had played a prank on the Mojave after their third time listening to the looped song...
Back atop Black Mountain, after Afton had 'changed' what was being broadcast, he searched around the last building he hadn't had the chance to check yet... And was very surprised to find a decrepit-looking Ghoul wearing a Mechanics jumpsuit trapped in a room. He'd obviously been imprisoned by Tabitha, judging by the large amounts of sticky notes covering the frame of the door, each saying 'DO NOT TOUCH MY THINGS!'...
Once Afton got the door open, the Ghoul inside slowly stood up and bowed in Afton's direction, "Thanks for gettin' me outta there boss, you have no idea how hard those crazy mutants can work someone... If I weren't a Ghoul I woulda starved to death, died of exhaustion, died from getting manhandled..." he shakes his head, "The names Raul." he says with a Mexican accent.
"Uh huh... Well, now that I've freed you I should be on my way... I got shit to do." he says and starts to leave when the Ghoul speaks up again.
"That's a great idea boss... I'll just head home too, to my lonely abandoned shack... In the middle of nowhere... Alone..."
...
Afton crooks a brow, "Do you need something?"
Raul shrugs his shoulders, "No. Why do you ask? You need me for somethin'? It'd definitely beat wandering through the wasteland alone, with a high risk of getting murdered and eaten... Not even in that order..."
"Look, if you need something just tell me, otherwise I'm just gonna leave you here." he states, not willing to deal with this incredibly sarcastic Ghoul.
...
"Look boss, I ain't got much, and I don't even know how long I've been kept here... This isn't all due to gratitude for saving me, but since you helped me out, I want to do the same for you... You get me?" he asks.
Afton crosses his arms, "That depends, you got any talents?"
The Ghoul looks as if he's about to say something but purses his lips, "I-er, I used to work as a mechanic before the war, I can repair shit, maybe even a vehicle if you find the parts..."
...
That's interesting... Another Ghoul who lived before the war, just like Dean. He also needed some extra hands for the development of new vehicles, their current pace of making them certainly wasn't enough, especially considering they'd be facing bigger factions soon enough.
"Hmm... As long as you keep your mouth shut about my secrets, I think I could find a place for you... But, you have to be willing to have a chip installed." he states.
"A chip? Like those things you put in animals?" he asks incredulously.
Afton nods, "Kind of, but these chips have been specially designed for humans... They will essentially read your thoughts and inform me if you intend to betray me. Trust me, they've been extensively tested so they aren't dangerous."
"That sounds like some sci-fi-tech-shit, boss... I'm in!"
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[Raul has become your companion!]
[Raul grants you a Perk : Regular Maintanance]
[Regular Maintanance] : All equipment used by your party will degrade 50% slower.
Interesting, but no all that useful... This Perk is rendered useless if Afton is around, primarily due to [Mechanicus]... Regardless, it would help his Companions that were doing missions away from him.
With his new follower, Afton ventured back down Black Mountain to get back to the Brotherhood base... Though, on the way, he stops by Neils shack and spots the Super Mutant passed out on the floor with many empty bottles of whisky next to him.
Deciding to leave Neil to his own devices, Afton leaves and continues to the base, actually getting back just in time for the teleport extenders to be ready for use.
Afton grins as he spots his friends, "Yo-"*Clank!* he's interrupted as Veronica gives him a light punch to his helmeted forehead.
"That's for doing radio-karaoke without me!" she exclaims, pointing a finger at the radio still playing his crappy rendition of 'Fly me to the moon'.
Afton ignores the punch and just laughs, "It was funny though, wasn't it?"
...
"Kinda? But after listening to it four times it loses its effect ." she admits before turning her head towards the Ghoul, "This ain't a replacement for Anja, I hope?" she asks, semi-sarcastically.
"Anja? That another Ghoul you been keeping boss? Maybe I shoulda tried my luck back at my shack..." Raul snarks.
Afton shakes his head, "No... Her cybernetics should still be in development as we speak. Raul here also doesn't have her 'feminine charm'... Plus he can fix vehicles and stuff." he shrugs.
The group make small talk for couple more minutes until Afton finally claps his hands and looks towards the Brotherhood prisoners, "It's time to send our friends on their way I think."
A few grim nods are given as they walk over to the boundary set out by the Teleport extenders, Christine's mother continues to plead for her to stop this, but Christine just ignores her, grasping Veronica's hand tightly with a tense frown.
Afton nods to McNamara who just stands there with his arms folded. "I'll leave you all in 'Elder' McNamara's hands... Please don't come back to the Mojave, or I'll be forced to do something even more drastic than sending you all to Mexico... Cya later!" he waves as lightning strikes the group, uplifting dust as they all disappear.
The Teleport extenders power down and begin recharging again while releasing a heat-vent sound. Afton turns back towards his companions and grins, "Alright, time to get this place ready for our NCR guests."
With that, Afton, his companions, and the able people in his army all begin repairing, modifying, and preparing the base for the NCR attack that'll be occurring in around two weeks.
Elsewhere :
Shani can't help but feel as if her end is quickly approaching... This place, Big Mt has quickly started becoming more militaristic than it used to be... Recently some of the people she had been brought here with had been allowed to go free... Under the condition they willing had some sort of chip installed.
As much as she wished to leave, having those... Things, operate on her in any sort of way made her feel sick to her stomach. As such, she was forced to stay, and forced to watch as various things occurred around her...
She wasn't even sure if the others had noticed yet... But she'd snuck around and found that large fenced off area, she'd seen the large monstrosities held inside... She'd checked on that place occasionally, yet the creatures inside changed almost constantly... The colour of their hides, their sizes, the way they act... She'd even seen one that looked vaguely human, its snout having been drastically shortened, along with its height.
All of this just made her more sure that her vision would be occurring soon. So, she decided to try and escape... She'd been watching how people operated those teleporters, and she was sure they wouldn't work for her even if she tried, so instead she elected to try and dig a small passage through the train tunnel that'd collapsed in the past at some point.
And, after weeks of work... She finally broke through and was greeted with the gloomy darkness of the tunnels. She was about to enter inside and flee this place when a small whirring sound starts behind her... Slowly and stutteringly, she turned her head, and was greeted with the familiar orange eye of a drone...
"Subject designated: Shani, you need to return back to your apartment immediately. Attempts to refuse will result in injuries and potential death." its robotic voice emotionlessly state .
"W-what? N-no! I'll be fr-"
*SCREEECH!!*
The sound of some sort of creature has Shani's head whip around towards the tunnel... Where some humanoid reptilian creatures skitter towards her on all fours... Immediately, she flees in the other direction. She takes one glance over her shoulder towards the drone that'd for some reason attempted to save her... Only to spot large weapons appear from its chassis...
*BEEeeewwww*
*PEWPEWPEWPEPEWPEWPEWEPWEPWEPEPWPEWPEWPEWPEPWE!*
The Gatling laser that'd appeared from Glados' drone immediately begins firing down the tunnel, disintegrating many Tunnelers are they charge towards it. The drone floats far above them however, firing at them without the creatures being able to reach the drone...
The creatures, suddenly realising the sheer disadvantage they were under quickly retreat back into the tunnel. Just in time too, as large groups of Cyberdogs and other robots appear around the tunnel, ready to combat any force that may appear.
Glados drone retracts its weapon and turns, focusing on Shani who was still sprinting away. "Foolish Meatbag."
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