Download App
22.7% Steel Waste / Chapter 161: Slaving Away

Chapter 161: Slaving Away

Boone was the first to step back, the man hadn't been with him and Karl for as long, meaning he didn't have as many caps to throw around for equipment. After a couple moments he hefted another Anti-Material rifle onto his shoulder and stepped towards Afton.

"Figured I'd need this, can't imagine your plans'll be pretty... Best to bring the biggest guns I can carry." he states.

Afton nods, "Yeah, your hunting rifle probably isn't going to do much against Deathclaws." he says semi-sarcastically.

Boone would probably find it difficult to lug both his rifles around... He wasn't a freak of nature like Afton who had more than enough strength to spare. The man wouldn't be able to use it without propping it on something first due to its sheer amount of weight.

Karl spends more than anyone else looking at what to purchase, eventually coming away from the Vendertron with some green-camouflaged combat armour, as well as a Light Machine Gun.

Combat armour is essentially the most effective attempt at combining defence and mobility. It's mainly used by rich factions who can't afford or find Power Armour. Karl had gotten the cheapest and lightest one available, the more expensive reinforced ones would limit his movement far too much for his liking. Plus, he wouldn't be able to afford a good weapon if he went that route.

The Light Machine Gun itself was a heavy but powerful weapon, it was the miniguns little brother in that it functioned the same but without crippling the user's movement.

Karl puts the combat armour on over his dirty white t-shirt and jeans, afterwards hefting the Light Machine Gun over his shoulder. "Heh, I pity the fool who tries to mess with us now." he jokes while popping his stetson cowboy hat back on.

Afton just raises a brow at him, "You got any more caps after buying all that?"

Karl smirks and reaches into his pocket, rifling around for a moment before pulling out around 100 caps.

...

Afton sighs, he'd be annoyed if they didn't already have a job ready for them. He and Boone would be forced to chip in for Karls meals if he was truly skint. "Alright, let's get back to Captain Parker and see what we can do for him. Maybe we'll be able to put our new guns to use while we're at it."

With the group now kitted out with new weaponry, they start up Dirt-Bird and leave a trail of dust as they backtrack to Captain Parkers location. Isaac who'd been working a the loading bench while this happened coughed and spluttered while inwardly cursing them for it, the man not liking the prank one bit.

It didn't take long for the group to get back to where they'd initially met the Captain. Now though they were able to see where he was actually in charge of. It was called the Aerotech Office Park, neither Boone nor Karl had any idea what it was supposed to be, only that it hadn't existed a couple years prior.

It was a large walled off settlement with one tiny door that led inside, there weren't any guards around either which meant that this either wasn't a military outpost, or wasn't properly funded. Regardless, Afton left the bike outside the door as the group entered inside... He was sure there wouldn't be anyone stupid enough to try and steal it... But if there was? It wasn't his problem.

Inside the group were greeted by a large fountain that was no longer pumping water in the middle of the area. It was surrounded entirely by what looked like residential buildings, but judging by the state of the nearby people, it was more likely to be a refugee camp... That'd also explain the lack of guards, as well as the fact not many people seemed to be bothered by the missing people.

Sitting next to the fountain was Captain Parker, the man had his head in his hands and a bottle of whisky placed on the floor in front of him. Clearly, he was still infuriated by his inability to protect the residents of this place.

"Captain Parker?" Afton greets, the new weapon making him quite the intimidating sight, and that's not even mentioning the two other heavily armed men beside him.

The Captain looks up as he hears Afton's voice, his cheeks were slightly red indicating that he was probably inebriated. "Hmm? Oh, the other Parker huh?"

Afton just nods and continues as if the man wasn't drunk, "We're here to find those missing people... The job is still open, right?"

Parker just waves his hand, "Yeah, yeah, like anyone gives a shit about some refugee's going missing. I'll pay you what I can if you manage to find them, don't count on it being much though, the refugees have fuck all and its the same with me... NCR's too busy with the Legion to fund this place."

"Any leads on where to start? It'd speed up the process if we weren't forced to go walking around New Vegas like headless chickens."

Parker slowly nods, "Yeah... I asked around a bit earlier and everything seemed to have one thing in common, they were dealing with Saint James and his partner Dermot. I'd go down there and ask 'em myself, but this is my station and I'll be damned if I let any more people go missing."

Afton nods, "Where can we find those two?"

"Last I heard they were up in Westside... A tip before you go, don't go guns blazing otherwise you might wind up killing innocent men, either find evidence and bring it to me, or get them to admit it." he warns, somehow becoming serious through his drunken state.

Karl nods at the man, "Don't worry, we ain't murderers, just killers. We'll find the men responsible for this and get back the missing families if we're able."

The group bid one last goodbye to the man as they leave the Aerotech Office Park.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.

next chapter

Chapter 162: Change of plans

The group exit Aerotech Office Park and almost immediately notice the stench of burnt flesh... Looking over towards Dirt-Bird there were a couple of smoking corpses next to it. All of which seemed to be 'former' refugees.

...

Afton just shakes his head, "Not my problem... Any of you know where Westside is anyway?" he asks as Karl and Boone step over the smoking corpse.

Boone nods, "Yeah, we should head north though, the other route leads us straight through Fiend territory."

Afton starts up the engine and speeds off all the while following directions from Boone. During the drive they pass by the New Vegas East Gate, Crimson Caravan Company, and the New Vegas Medical Clinic owned by Doctor Usanagi. They don't stop by though as they had more pressing matters to attend to.

Eventually they reach one of the entrances that lead within Westside, fortunately it was big enough for them to slip Dirt-Bird through as Afton wasn't comfortable walking too far from it... Even with the defences he'd added, there were still a few ways of getting around them. The obvious one being to destroy the Protectron laser arms before they could do anything.

Westside itself was a rather weird settlement. There seemed to be many homeless people around, but interspersed in the crowds of people were rich looking individuals. There were a few bars and other shops around, but the main thing that drew Afton's attention were the large vegetable and fruit farms scattered around the place. If he didn't know any better he'd say that this place was responsible for most of New Vegas's food... Aside from what the Brahmin Barons decide to trade them.

The place looked to be self-governed as well, there weren't any NCR soldiers present, but the businesses present here had hired guards and bounty hunters to keep the area peaceful. If Afton were honest, he'd say he preferred this over the NCR... Though, whether that was just because of his bias against the NCR.

Even with the few guards around, the group still stuck out like a sore thumb... People didn't usually walk around armed to teeth with weaponry capable of destroying military vehicles. They tried to ask around for a bit to find where Saint James and Dermot might be, but most people tended to either ignore them, run away, or get ready for a fight.

It was only through Afton's maxed out Speech skill that someone slipped the duo's location as they retreated. Apparently, the two were currently living in the Casa Madrid Apartments, a place notorious for its prostitutes.

It wasn't surprising that two potential kidnappers lived there, nor would Afton be shocked to hear that those that'd been kidnapped were being forced to work there... But that's still to be discovered.

As they approached Afton spotted two black men leaning against a nearby building, both seemed to match Saint James and Dermot's descriptions. Karl and Boone waited nearby as Afton went to approach them, having those two behind him would make the duo less likely to talk.

"Yo." he says simply as he approaches the one known as Saint James.

...

Saint James just gives him a weird look, "Fuck off." he states after deciding that Afton wasn't worth anything.

Afton does his best to look insulted by the man, his anger at them potentially kidnapping people adding to the effect, "Huh? What's your problem? I'm only here to do business."

Dermot steps up next to Saint James and looks at him with interest, "Business eh? What kind of business?"

...

Afton had previously thought over what he'd say, how the conversation would go, and how he would force the duo to accidentally slip up... But before he'd even met them he could feel that there was something off with them. He activated VATS to prevent himself from just shooting them both in their faces and thought about how he actually wanted to go about this.

Afton a couple minute of thinking, he finally decided his plan of action. He deactivated VATS and gave them a calm smile... And proceeded to draw Luck and smack Saint James with it, sending the now unconscious man to the floor.

Dermot quickly tries to draw his own weapon, but Afton was already pointing Lucky at his head. "W-what do you want?"

Afton doesn't take his eyes off of the man and calls for his companions, Karl and Boone walking over while glaring at the duo. "I want you to tell me where the missing people are."

...

"Missing people? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Afton snorts, "Yeah right, I got information that you two dealt with everyone who went missing."

"That's fuckin' bullshit and you know it. I was nowhere near those refugee's when this happened."

"I never said anything about refugee's." Afton states, the man's slip having revealed everything he needed to know. "Now, you tell me what you know or they'll be sweeping bits of your skull and brain matter off of the floor for weeks."

...

Dermot didn't seem like he was going to answer, his eyes occasionally flicking towards where his gun was. Afton was ready to act as soon as the man reached for his revolver, a bullet piercing his wrist as he reached for it.

"ARRGH! Y-YOU FUCK!"

Afton takes the revolver and passes it to Boone, "You WILL tell me what you know, if you don't I WILL kill you. Do you understand!?"

Dermot gulps his saliva and gives a slow nod, "Y-you'll let me live if I tell you?"

Afton smiles at him, "Of course."

"M-my room... The information is in my room." he states, "Can I go now?"

Afton shakes his head and pushing Dermot forwards, pressing Lucky against the man's back while he encourages the man to lead the way. Boone and Karl pick up Saint James after disarming him of his Power Fist and follow along.

The crowd of people who had gathered to watch the conflict make way for them as they walk through. Some wanted to interfere as they'd had prior dealings with the duo, but the looks on the Afton and the other's faces deterred any 'would-be' heroes for now.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

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.

Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C161
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 0 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT