Happy with all the new Perks he'd acquired, Afton and the group continue driving towards their destination. They hadn't had much hassle so far, but judging by how the deserted trainyard they were driving past looked, they'd stumble into trouble at any moment...
Of course, as Afton thought this he had an ominous feeling emerge in his stomach and Anja in the back notices a ping on the radar... Afton stuck his head out of the window to look behind the truck at whatever it was, and his eyes almost bulge out of their sockets once he spots the eight Deathclaws charging the vehicle with claws bared...
"Shit! One of you get on the turret! There's Deathclaws chasing us!" he exclaims, and the group in the back of Dirt-Hog begin shuffling around, everyone trying to personally operate the vehicle but ending up obstructing another.
Thankfully, this doesn't last long as Boone throws the hatch open and grabs the .308 machinegun, he then points it at the approaching Deathclaws and sprays them all with bullets. Afton looks at the map as the occurs, checking that they aren't going to accidentally drive past the Brotherhood of Steel Safehouse. Fortunately, it was still a good distance ahead, and they weren't currently at risk of missing it.
Boone continues firing and does a good amount of damage to the creatures, but it isn't good enough to ease everyone's worries... So, to assist the rest of the group kick open the back doors and aim all of their respective weapons at the enemy.
*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!*
*DAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!*
*Stereotypical Shooting Sounds!*
Afton looks to Josie after checking out the window again, "Alright, stop the truck." he says and she does as told, stopping as a could of dust rolls over them.
Afterwards Afton walks over and approaches the Deathclaw corpses, checking them over to see if their pelts would still be of any use... Unfortunately, the number of bullets they'd all been hit with made whatever material they could provide useless.
Afton sighs and kicks some dust at the corpse and walks back to the truck, all the while Veronica and Tamia were examining the corpses of the first Deathclaws they'd ever killed. "You can take a trophy if you like, typically people take a hand, claw, or tooth. I'd say head as well but you aren't getting blood in my truck." he states, climbing back into the passenger seat.
Tamia just looks at Veronica and shrugs, igniting her Proton axe and severing a hand before shoving it into her backpack. "This will go on my wall... Err, maybe in the Lucky 38?" she mutters, realising that she didn't really live anywhere.
The group continued riding until they finally reached their supposed destination... Veronica said it should be around this area, and Afton with his [Explorer] Perk knew it should be as well. Though, the area itself looked dull, lifelessly, and utterly boring. Hm, a perfect place to hide a secret base.
There were large rocky walls nearby that led into a small cavern that dipped below ground level into some sort of cave. Following it, Afton eventually found a rickety wooden door blocking the entrance further in... It required a key... Funny.
*SMASH!*
Afton puts his foot through the door where the lock would have been, once he pulls his limb back and gives the door a push, it slowly swings open, revealing another pathway with a more high-tech door at the end.
The group follow behind with Karl and Veronica at his sides, the former to detect traps and the latter due to her familiarity with the Paladin that runs this place. Afton had never personally met them, but that's what you get for being forced into an underground bunker for most of your life.
There were no traps, allowing the group to simply walk through and open the door, they are almost blinded by the lights coming from inside, but once their eyes adjust almost everyone is shocked by what they see...
It looked well organised, with many beds placed on either side of the room and a large number of shelves placed in the middle, additionally, Afton could spot a couple workstations used to repair, create, etc.
It was the shelf that drew the most attention though. On it was a set of fully operational 51b Powerarmour, T-45d Powerarmour, and a huge number of energy weapons in including Gatling lasers, Tesla Cannons, etc.
"Wow... Do the rest of the Brotherhood have this much firepower?" Josie asks, almost salivating over the many prizes within.
Veronica shakes her head and smirks, "No, this is only the tip of the iceberg... Scared?"
"Not really... If all the Brotherhood ar you like you Veronica I don't think anyone would be worried..." Josie admits, causing Veronica's face to blush and afterwards darken.
"Ha-ha-ha... Yeah..." Veronica mutters, sheepishly scratching the back of her head.
Karl walks over and picks up the 51b helmet, wiping some dust off of it with his sleeve, "So, this what you came for?"
Afton nods, "Sure is, but we aren't using it in that state yet... Hang on, let me get the coordinates outside the bunker so I can transport this back to base." he says, getting a weird look from Veronica.
Yeah, his intentions for the armour weren't simply to use them, but also to dismantle, research, and recreate them. Once the Think Tank had put together a proper blueprint, he'd have them modify the armour to his liking.
Of course, he wasn't expecting to be wearing the powerarmour when they infiltrated the Fort. His goal would be to find Karl's daughter and get her out before any fighting started. And for that, he'd need his dutiful Stealthsuit.
Regardless though, he'd leave some of the energy weapons behind so as not to piss off the Paladin too much when they eventually return. Once everything is teleported away, Veronica leaves a note for the Paladin;
"Hey Paladin! Veronica here, sorry about the missing stuff, I just needed to borrow it forever... Thanks, ba-bye!"
Afton looks at the note with a raised brow, "You sure you wanna write that?"
Veronica shrugs, "No one else has the balls to do that, so at least he'll know it was me here."
Afton nods, "Good point."
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
Joseph Suh
Chris Lindsey
The group were on the road again, however this time they had a different objective in mind... They were currently barreling down the road, past the 188 Trading Post and towards Novac.
Afton hadn't told the rest of the group yet, but it was not Novac he intended to visit... No, he actually wished to gain entry into Helios One. After all, what better weapon to use against an army than an orbital death laser...
The only person who might actually have an inkling into what his plan might be is Veronica, but she was keeping her mouth shut for fear of the information getting out... Elder Elijah was still a sore spot for her, especially after Afton had told her that the man had caused Christine to be experimented on.
Still, that wasn't all that'd happened since they start driving to Novac...
"Operations in the Think Tank are continuing at an adequate pace. The slaves are all participating in limited capacities, but are not being experimented on, under your orders. Research would progress at a much faster rate if you rescinded that order." the voice of Glados asks in his mind as he sits in the passenger seat.
Yesterday the AI had apparently managed to create some sort of telepathy device by utilising the X-2 Antenna. Something about being able to transmit and receive brainwaves over a large distance, apparently since he still had all that machinery in his head, Glados was able to contact him whenever and wherever he was... Though, the quality of the transmitted information was heavily reliant on whether he was underground or not. Brain waves don't travel through earth all that well apparently.
"And how goes research on the Powerarmour? I know you've only had a day, but I trust your and the scientist's expertise in the matter..." he concentrates on this thought with a determined look on his face.
It was difficult to send what he actually wanted to send instead of a tsunami of other information he was unconsciously thinking about. Still, with some practice, he imagined he'd get the hang of it. He only hoped Glados wouldn't judge him for some of the more 'daring' thought he might have...
Anyway, from Glados occasional updates, he was now aware that Doctor Zero had dismantled the Powerarmour and they were now examining each individual piece of technology contained within to get an accurate idea about how it all worked. The scientists were more or less aware of how it functioned, but it was the small intricacies that escaped them.
For example, how strong the servos in the limbs should be... One wrong adjustment and the robotic arm would tear the user's limb off... Afton would definitely make them test whatever they make on some Lobotomites before he gives a set to Veronica.
Additionally, the other projects he'd set the Think Tank had made much progress. Most of all were the cloning tech. Indeed, Dala was eagerly working on it for obvious reasons. She more than anyone wanted a flesh and blood body again, she'd not tasted, felt, smelt, or touched anything in two hundred years... Afton knew he'd have gone crazy in the same situation.
Still, depending on how attractive Dala turns out being, he might have to indulge her once she regains her body... Just to show his gratitude, of course, he had no other motives...
Other than the new telepathic mode of communication Glados had discovered, Afton also wanted to check the area around Helios One. He wanted to see if there were any scraps leftover from that battle all those years ago. He knew the NCR would have likely taken everything and attempted to reconstruct it into something viable, but perhaps they'd missed something?
Though, there was still one thing he was unsure about... Whether or not to revisit the Brotherhood of Steel bunker. He was sure he would go in with Veronica, but now he had the opportunity he was getting cold feet...
Just thinking about how those he'd left behind would react was not a nice thought. But, perhaps they'd forgive him after he'd fixed the ventilation?... Yeah, probably not.
As the group were driving towards Novac they were of course pleasantly received. They hadn't been gone that long so to the residents it was as if only yesterday Afton and his group had saved the town...
Of course, Veronica and Tamia hadn't been with them last time, so the group took the time to introduce them to everyone... Though, as this was happening Afton was elsewhere.
A few miles up the street from Novac was Helios One, the research facility that the Brotherhood of Steel had previously inhabited, but was now managed by the NCR. It brought back both good, and bad memories as he approached the place.
Around the perimeter were a decent amount of NCR troopers patrolling the place. It was funny that they could spare so many soldiers here but almost completely neglected Novac's safety... Guess it just showed what the NCR's priorities were.
Afton wasn't really sure what the NCR thought of him nowadays, he had massacred the Tops recently and gotten away with it scotch-free... No doubt the soldiers in Helios One would've heard about it.
It was for that reason he couldn't risk being seen near it. His plan was to activate Archimedes so he could drop orbital lasers on whoever he wants, additionally, it would be a good idea to distance himself from the facility so he'd have at least some sort of alibi when people start investigating...
He had no doubt people would start shitting themselves once he used the weapon, the last thing he wanted was for people to link Helios One to it and stop it from powering the weapon.
So, instead of just strolling up to the front doors, he activates his Stealthboy and goes invisible, afterwards sneaking to the back entrance contained within metal linked fences. He'd not immediately activate the facility, first he wanted to know just how far the NCR scientists had gotten to discovering the true functions of Helios One.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
Joseph Suh
Chris Lindsey
También te puede interesar
Comentario de párrafo
¡La función de comentarios de párrafo ya está en la Web! Mueva el mouse sobre cualquier párrafo y haga clic en el icono para agregar su comentario.
Además, siempre puedes desactivarlo en Ajustes.
ENTIENDO