Capítulo 187: Ben.
The group didn't have to wait long after the King had left for another person to arrive and approach them. It was a Ranger, it was an NCR trooper with an assault rifle strapped to their back. "Sir, you are Afton Parker, correct?" they ask.
Afton nods and gets a package shoved into his hands, "This is a standard-issue NCR emergency radio, if you are nearby NCR territory you can call for assistance and help may come. Command has asked me to request that you do not abuse this gift, it was given and can also be taken away at any moment the NCR sees fit."
"Can I at least order takeaway with it?" he asks sarcastically.
The soldier just looks at him dully for a moment before turning and walking away.
...
"Huh, guess his sense of humour didn't survive his training..." he mutters to himself as he opens the package to reveal a green brick-like phone, Afton wondered if this world has ever tried to create actual mobile phones, though, the limitations in technology probably prevented that.
He tucks the radio into his Death Claw leather bag and looks at the others, "Alright, who's up for some sightseeing on the strip?"
...
Afton just snorts, "Yeah, me neither. So let's find my friends so we can get started on something else." he says as he leaves the Atomic Wrangler, Karl and Boone silently following him out.
They hop on Dirt-Bird and start driving towards the New Vegas Strips gate, the many Securitrons locking onto them as they approach. Afton stops the bike a good distance away and starts walking towards them, however, just as he gets off of his bike a scream can be heard, followed by a dirty, ragged-looking man making a run through the Securitrons to get into the strip...
"HALT! You are trespass-" The Securitron doesn't even finish its sentence as they open fire on the man who'd just laid a hand on the gate. The many Securitrons all rapidly fire their laser weapons from one arm, and a ballistic machine gun from the other.
The unfortunate soul has their body torn apart by the flying bits of lead, but not before the lasers impact them and instantly vaporize their body...
...
Afton determined that he wouldn't be attempting any funny business around these guys... He had no idea how many of these kinds of robots existed, but if they all possessed weaponry like that then you'd have to be mentally deficient to try and fight them.
After brutally annihilating the intruder, a Securitron rolls towards Afton and holds its arm out, "Present your NCR Citizen licence or proceed with a credit check." it asks in a commanding robotic voice.
Afton, Boone, and Karl all show their licences, the former becoming slightly worried that if his counterfeit licence was detected that he might get similar treatment to that guy from earlier.
"Acceptable. Welcome to the New Vegas Strip." it states before rolling back into its previous position.
Afton nods and glances to the others, "You guys ever been into the strip?"
"Yeah, sometimes I was made to patrol the walls to search for any potential threats.. Other than that I never really spent any time in the... Establishments." Boone says.
Karl just shrugs, "Not really. Always thought the Casino's were worse than any high-way robbers." he states disinterestedly.
"Well, hopefully neither Tamia nor Veronica got themselves mixed up with the casinos... I know of many stories where crime families like the casino's 'vanish' someone who's winning too much or does something they dislike."
The group are about to head inside when yet another voice stops them... Though, thankfully this time it wasn't a screaming man attempting to bypass the security of the game. A tanned man with dirty slicked-back black hair walks towards them while adjusting his dirty-white suit. "Hello there, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."
...
Afton glances around and spots the small camp old ben must've been staying. It didn't have any essentials other than a small campfire... Not even a tent, making the man before them likely to be homeless.
"Uh huh, you just so happened to 'overhear' us?" Afton asks in exasperation.
The man smiles at them, revealing his somehow perfectly white teeth... Did he sell all his possessions for a lifetime supply of toothpaste or something? "People know me around here as Old Ben, you can just call me Ben though." he winks at Afton, causing a shiver to race up his spine...
"Do you need something?" Afton asks, wanting to get away from this creepy bastard as soon as possible.
Old Ben shakes his head, "No, but it seems that you need something... For the right price, I may have some information about some folk called Tamia and Veronica..."
Afton glares daggers at the man, was he really being blackmailed like this? Sure the guy probably really needed the money, but what was to stop Afton from simply beating the information out of him. "And what would the right price be?"
Old Ben crosses his arms and looks thoughtful for a moment, "500 ca-" just as he's saying this Afton slowly reaches for his revolver, causing the man to shut his mouth.
"You want to charge me 500 caps for information about my friends that may or may not be useful? Let me ask you a question 'Old Ben'... Do you want to die today?" Afton glowers at him.
Old Ben pales slightly as his bright smile becomes muted for a moment, "I-er, just a slip of the tongue! Why, I know the value of close friends better then anyone, trying to extort money from someone like that would be completely against my nature! Ha-ha-ha-ha..." he plays it off while giving some obviously fake laughter. "So... How about 100 caps?" he asks, after working up his courage again... Really, he must be desperate if he was willing to try again.
Afton glances at Boone and Karl who don't seem to have an opinion on the matter. Either way, they'd likely be heading into the strip and probably get into trouble anyway.
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Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
Capítulo 188: Bountiful Harvest?
Afton just sighs and reluctantly hands over 100 caps, his time was more important than the cash anyway, so getting the information as soon as possible was preferable. "Now, tell me what you know."
Old Ben checks the bag and slowly nods to himself, "Well, first off if you are looking for your friends, they won't be in the strip." he says, causing the group to give him confused looks.
"What?" Afton asks, if this was the case he'd be very surprised to say the least.
Old Ben nods, "Yep, your friends lacked a licence and didn't have enough caps to get into the strip."
...
"So... Where did they go then?" Afton mutters, more to himself than to the others. Tamia seemed hellbent on getting revenge on that checkered suit-wearing douche who'd shot her, he doubted she'd just give up like that. Not to mention he had no idea why Veronica was travelling with her, he thought she'd be more worried about getting supplies to the bunker than wandering around with a courier.
Old Ben smiles, "Well, I may have overheard their conversation, but it seems to have slipped my mind... Maybe some encouragement would help?" he asks, trying to con him out of more money.
Afton returns the smile, "You need encouragement? Sure, whatever you want."
*BANG!*
Old Ben crumples to the floor while holding his foot, Afton having just shot clean through his dirty trainers. He squirms on the floor with tears coming from his eyes, clearly in immense pain.
"That enough encouragement for you? You don't seem to have remembered it yet so let me try again." he says, pointing his weapon at the man's other foot.
"NO! N-no! I remember! Just don't shoot me again!" Ben gives a panicked shout.
Afton had gotten caught up in the moment and had completely forgotten about the Securitrons... Usually they'd intervene in any violence close to the gate, but for some reason they seemed content to just sit and watch the situation... It was lucky as Afton really needed the information Old Ben was trying to con him into paying twice for.
"Well then, speak."
"They left! They were talking about something on the radio! A Happy Trails Caravan headed to New Canaan!" he quickly says, not wishing to get shot again.
Karl raises a brow, "The group who've already left on their expedition? Shit."
"You said that New Canaan wasn't somewhere you could trade in peace, think Tami and Veronica'll be fine there? If not then I'm going after them, I don't care how long it'd take." Afton states.
"I don't if it's accurate, but New Canaan is apparently completely ruled by many different tribes. All vying for control over the region, Caravans rarely dare to venture there due the never knowing which tribe they're going to deal with. Some ambush caravans, some trade, while others ignore them completely..."
Afton sighs, "We need to go after them."
Karl shakes his head, "The canyons, caves, and abandoned trails leading there are incredibly hard to cross. You would need someone who'd mastered the route to reliably get anywhere, and that's not even mentioning the creatures you'd encounter on the way. Face it kid, they'll have to work through this on their own." he says with a sympathetic tone.
Afton rubs his face, he wasn't sure what to do... He trusted Veronica's strength and knew Tamia could handle herself, but that didn't mean he wouldn't worry about them. If he was alone he might've been tempted to brave the passageways to get to New Canaan. Unfortunately he had reliable companions that he couldn't very well abandon, they still needed to rescue Karl daughter, as well as getting revenge for Boone's wife.
"They'll be fine, we'll be here to see them once they get back." Afton states after coming to a decision.
"That's great and all, but what now?" Boone asks from the side, still looking down uncaringly at Old Ben who's still writhing on the floor in pain.
"Well, we still have some Bounties to collect. The Fiends aren't going to be killing themselves... Probably." Afton mutters before returning his attention back to Old Ben, "You've caught me in a bad mood, I was thinking about tossing you a stimpack, but you can hobble your way to the Followers of the Apocalypse if you want healing." he spits on the floor beside the man before taking a seat on Dirt-Bird.
The others follow and he drives off in the direction of Camp McCarren to get more information about the bounties on the Fiends.
A few of the Kings nod at them as they drive out of Freeside's gates, it doesn't take long for them to start encountering small groups of NCR soldiers on the highway. Most seemed to somehow know who the group was and simply let them drive past, while others had to be stopped by their allies before they attempted to stop them.
Camp McCarren itself was a repurposed airport, huge concrete walls encasing it with large watchtowers giving the NCR a huge tactical advantage should they be required to defend the position.
Even now Afton could see many NCR soldiers watching them from atop the wall, all carrying higher calibre weapons than he'd seen any NCR trooper wield. Truly, the Fiends would have to be insane to try and breach this place... Which is why there had apparently been many attempts in the past.
Regardless, he drove Dirt-Bird in-front of the entrance and was immediately stopped by the many guardsmen there. A few traders were waiting around, and it looked like they'd be forced to wait as well...
"State your business." one of the soldiers asks in a bored tone, not even looking up from his clipboard.
"We're hoping to get rid of your Fiend problem."
...
The man looks up from the clipboard and raises a brow at them, "Ah, so you're... Yes, Major Dhatri is in charge of paying out bounties, I'll have someone escort you to him. Welcome to Camp McCarren." he states, more respectfully than he'd been to the traders, all of which had scowls on their faces due to it.
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