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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Capítulo 189: Bounty Hunting
They are lead into the military compound, once through the reinforced entrance Afton can see many, many beige tents set up around the place. Not to mention the defensive positions placed there in case anyone actually managed to breach the gate.
At the side he could see the huge building that'd previously been the centre of the airport. NCR large groups of NCR troops entering and leaving on various tasks.
The NCR soldier guiding them eventually leads to to a tanned man with a large black beard. He wears a green beret along with some regular NCR armour, the only other thing noticeable about him is the large dark bags under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't had a good rest in a while.
Their guide walks over to him and gives a salute, "Major Dhatri, these men have come to see you on matter pertaining to the Fiends."
Dhatri gives a weak salute and sighs before turning to them. "So, you heard about the bounties then?" the group nods and the man continues, "Well, before I do anything, you should really know what you're getting into... Unless you'd been sleeping under a rock for a few years, you probably know about the Finds, chem'd up, savage, animals with no disregard for human decency or morality in general."
Afton nods, "We know, we've had encounters with the Fiends before." he says, wanting to learn about their targets instead of receiving a lecture.
Dhatri just shakes his head, "Yeah, you've deal with regular Fiends. The people I'll be sending you to deal with are anything but 'regular'. You try to fight them without preparing and I won't be sending anyone to come collect your mangled corpses." he states morosely.
"We'll prepare depending on the target." Karl states, feeling as if the warning as needed for the group.
Dhatri shrugs, "Fine. Currently, there are three targets, Violet, Driver Nephi, and Cook Cook."
"What're their bounties?" Afton asks, deciding not to mention how stupid their names sound.
"Violet is currently worth 3000 caps, should only be around 2000 but she's the one providing the Fiends with attack dogs, driving up her price... Driver Nephi isn't worth much to the Fiends aside from being a leader, but he's killed many people, and made just as many enemies... 4000 caps are on his head from varying sources."
"And Cook Cook?" Afton asks, seeing the man start glowering when it came to talk about him.
"5000 caps for that animal. Chipped in 500 caps myself, the shit he's done? It's personal." Dhatri states angrily.
Afton glances at the group, "Might as well start with Violet, tell us about her."
Dhatri nods, "Violet, one of the leaders of the Fiends and reportedly in charge of breeding their mongrels. Things match their owners, vicious, diseased, and filled wit chem's. I don't know what specifically what they do to their dogs, but I saw one get shot in the face and keep on moving... Freaky to say the least.
I haven't received much information about Violet's capabilities herself, she usually just lets her dogs deal with any potential attackers she may have. From... Survivors, she is apparently as vicious as her dogs, killing and eating people when she has the opportunity."
To be honest, Afton isn't all that surprised to hear that she literally eats people. From what he'd seen of the Fiends thus far, them eating folk isn't even the worst of it. "What's her location?"
"The place she usually stays and trains her dogs is at Trailer Fort West of the New Vegas ruins. To get there you'll probably have to fight through many Fiends, doesn't matter how good at sneaking you are, there are so many that one is bound to notice you." Dhatri explains.
"What would you recommend then?" Afton asks, if what the man says is correct than simply walking into the ruins will have them bombarded by the Fiends. This would explain why the NCR was having so much trouble in dealing with them... If they'd taken control of all teh ruins then gaining access to their leaders was almost impossible without an army.
"No idea, whatever you do just try to be quiet... Shaking the hive brings the bee's after all, and I'd rather be stung to death than be placed under the Fiend's tender mercies."
Karl nudges Afton with his elbow, "Can't we go through the sewers and bypass the most fortified areas?"
...
Afton slowly nods at him, feeling slightly stupid that he'd not thought of it... "Yeah... We could."
Dhatri raises a brow at them, "Sewers huh? A word of warning, most are controlled by the Fiends, the tunnels make horrific choke points and are difficult to wrest from their control... Trust me, we've tried. Currently we have a few barricades stationed down there to prevent the Fiends with accessing the tunnels some civilians are using as homes... Why they'd want to live in a sewer I'll never know, but each to their own.
Ah, by the way, the Bounties require their heads to complete. Intact ones too, enough so we can recognise 'em. I know it sounds stupid to force you to retrieve them, but it's protocol. Personally I'd just snipe the fuckers and leave without the heads, but I guess you're doing it for the pay rather than the pleasure."
Afton shrugs, "Why can't it be for both?" he asks jokingly before turning to his companions, "Any idea's on what we might need to deal with Violet?"
Boone shakes his head, "I'm a sniper, so unless you want her head to explode like a ripe watermelon... No."
Afton glances to Karl, who hums in thought, "Maybe some explosives for her dogs, things usually like to approach in groups, might be useful to deal with most of the threat... Might need to retreat quickly afterwards though, explosions tend to be loud after all."
Afton nods, it was a good plan, everything else they could decide in the moment. Plans don't survive through first contact anyway. Before he leaves he realises one last thing and looks to Dhatri, "Ah, what should we do with any other Fiends we kill? Surely they have their own bounties right?"
Dhatri shrugs, "For the regular goons? Not really... But, since you're asking I guess I could set a reward for it... 2 caps per right ear, sound good?"
"Well, not as much as I was hoping but it's better than nothing." Afton admits before leaving with the group.
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