Chapter 222: Valiant Return

Afton pulls out the small handful of NCR Dogtags that he seemed to have acquired somewhere? Though he seems to have forgotten what he originally intended to do with them. Whatever the case, he uses VATS to freeze time and looks around the area for any suspicious-looking people, eventually finding one ragged-looking man who seemed to be addicted to something judging by how he twitches and scratches himself.

Not wasting any more time, he deftly tosses the Dogtags at the man before pointing at the man and shouting, "OH MY GOD! IT'S THE TERRORIST!" before ducking back into the crowd.

Fortunately, this got the exact reaction Afton was looking for, the Kings and NCR upon spotting the Dogtags immediately jumped into action, pointing all of their weapons at the unfortunate chem addicted and forcing him to the floor.

Afton uses this opportunity to slip out of the gate while everyone is preoccupied with the 'Terrorist', once out quickly starting to sprint towards Camp McCarren to hopefully return to his bed before his companions noticed his absence... He should be back at around 3-4 AM if he went at a good pace, so hopefully, no one would notice him not being there.

Soon enough, Afton found his way back into the airport terminal. It took longer than he'd hoped climbing back over the wall undetected, but he should-... His inner monologue was interrupted when he locked eyes with a Karl who was sitting on his bed with a disappointed look.

Afton glances down at his still ragged Recon armour that was slowly being repaired and coughs into his fist, "Er, hey Karl, what a coincidence to see you here..."

...

"You sure are funny kid, funny to think I'd believe that shit you're spewing." he states, not raising his voice enough to catch the attention of the nearby NCR guards.

"What do you mean? I was just stretching my legs."

...

Karl points at his Recon armour, "Did you also happen to run into a Deathclaw on your 'walk?'"

"Yes."

...

Karl just lets out an exasperated sigh, "Youknow, I don't really care that you left after we told you to stay put... But, the least you could've done is tell one of us that you were headed out. We thought you'd gotten kidnapped or something!"

Afton gives him a weird look, "I left a note though."

"You mean this?" he holds up the piece of paper, "What the fuck does BRB mean!? Is it some sort of military code I'm unaware of? Something your old group taught you? The only reason we hadn't started interrogating the guards here is because of that stupid stick figure you'd drawn... No kidnapper would leave something that shit on pride alone."

Afton sheepishly looks away, "Well, I'm back now aren't I?"

Karl shakes his head, "Do you think we haven't heard? Every NCR radio is reporting a terrorist attack on an NCR civilian building, quite the coincidence that it happened during your 'walk', right?"

"Alright, fine. That was me, but I have a damn good reason for it." Afton says, Karl not saying anything and presumably waiting for his excuse.

Afton pulls out the Fallen Ranger Sequoia and tosses it to Karl, "I found the bastard who killed my mother, and the explosion wasn't me either, the bastard had some kind of dead-man switch on him and blew the building to shit."

Karl's brows almost reach his hairline as he looks down at the weapon, "Damn. Who was it?"

"A man named Emory Emmerich, I didn't recognise him at first as he had a hidden cybernetic arm... But our... 'Friends' pointed him out for me."

Karl sends him a pointed look, "Them?"

Afton nods, "Yeah, it wasn't for free though... We've got a year to kill Lowell Thompson Jr. Better known as Major Thompson. If we don't they'll release 'all' of my information to any faction that might be interested in it."

Karl's lips thin, as the reality of such a situation hits him, if that did happen then it wouldn't just be Afton that'd be hunted down, but also Boone and Karl for their affiliation with him. "Shit."

"Yeah, shit's the word for it. But I think we can make this work, I don't know where Major Thompson is but I think he'll be a relatively easy target..."

Karl nods, "I know the man, he's a bloated piece of shit who apparently spends most of his time in the strip. I'd be careful though kid, the strip isn't a place to mess around in, its a cutthroat place that'll leave you broke, crippled, and capless in a matter of hours. Not to mention Mr House's presence, assassinating high-up NCR personnel will be tougher than your recent venture."

"I doubt it, I almost got blown to hell earlier." Afton says while gesturing to his damaged Recon armour.

...

"What's the plan now?... I mean after you've spent a couple days recovering." Karl asks before correcting himself.

"I think collecting the bounty on Cook-Cook would be good, suddenly changing our plans might lead to suspicion, so let's get that done before doing anything else." Afton says, getting a nod from his companion.

"Hm, alright. But we aren't taking chances this time. We deal with our target first and deal with side objectives after... Can't have you losing another arm, can we?" Karl says.

Afton nods, "We'll see how it goes... You should get back to Boone before the guards around here start making rumours about us."

Karl's face sours as he stands and tosses back the Fallen Ranger Sequoia, "I'll beat whoever suggests somethin' like that. And you better make sure no one sees that gun, the NCR'll fuck us quicker than we can realise." he warns before leaving.