บท 75: Proposition
It wasn't just Afton and Karl who were having important discussions, Lieutenant Hayes and Sargeant Volkman were both sat in the former's tent, each with a can of beer in-hand.
Hayes takes a sip and starts to speak while giving Emil a suspicious look, "Do you think we're doing well in fighting off the Powder Gangers?" he suddenly asks.
Emil shakes his head, "No. We lack the men to storm the prison they've made their home, the north road is cut off due to Deathclaws so getting reinforcements is difficult, not to mention more Powder Gangers have taken up residence in a nearby Vault... I doubt we'll be completing this assignment anytime soon sir." he says with exasperation.
The lieutenant slowly nods while tapping his beer with a finger, "Would you be... Adverse to trying some unconventional tactics?" he asks.
"Depends on what 'unconventional' means sir." Emil shoots back, not wanting to agree to anything before he hears about it in detail.
"I was thinking that it'd be significantly easier to breach the prison if we had people on the inside..." Hayes tentatively says.
"No. Last time we tried to get our men inside that facility those bastards threw them off of a watchtower. I'm not risking anymore lives on that plan of action." he states vehemently.
Hayes smirks, "Who said anything about using our own men? I seem to recall us having two prisoners to use at our discretion..." he mutters, causing Emil's eyes to widen at what he was referring to.
"You want to use two criminals as spies? Have you lost your mind? They're more likely to lead us into a trap then help us out!" he quickly rejects Hayes idea. Whether or not it'd work was a non-issue, the two men they'd captured were Powder Gangers, and weren't likely to betray the others.
Lieutenant Hayes sends a small smirk at him, "I wouldn't go that far Emil, you yourself said those two killed a few Powder Gangers before you reached them... I have a feeling they'd agree if I tempted them with a pardon."
...
"I won't have rapists and murderers working with my men... Find out what they were originally imprisoned for and we'll see." Emil relents, giving the man a hoop to jump through if he still wanted to pursue this 'gimped' plan of his.
Lieutenant Hayes nods, "Is that so? Good, because I already Radio'd HQ to inquire about them... The boy, Afton Parker doesn't seem to exist on their database, meaning that he'd not been imprisoned beforehand... To be honest, he's committed no crime that we know of and has instead helped us out by killing a few Powder Gangers... The other, Karl Martin, imprisoned for... Insubordination. The rest of the information was classified. These two are clear in my book." he states almost victoriously.
Emil slowly nods, "So, what... The kid's free to go, we can legally hold him here without evidence of wrongdoing, and the other is a former soldier who went against orders, not something you'd usually be imprisoned for... Something's fishy about all this." he admits.
It was midnight and the only light source around was the nearby fire lit inside a barrel, and the small amber one coming from Afton's Pipboy. He'd started checking it after everyone had gone to sleep as he didn't want to draw attention towards it, they're valuable tools and most are usually broken. He didn't know why no one had mentioned it yet, but he wasn't about to throw his luck away by blatantly using it in front of them.
He was surprised to find that Karl was literally his companion now, whether that meant he couldn't die wasn't something he wanted to test out... He got a perk from it as well, a bonus 10% EXP gain is pretty useful.
He checked the active quests he had and sighs when he saw them...
[Escape from your imprisonment]
[Find Caroline Martin]
[Find Verna Parker's murderer]
[Find parts to repair Bunkers ventilation systems]
[Find RangeFinder for ARCHIMEDES]
Hmm, not as many as he'd thought... He hadn't exactly looked around for them either though. He wasn't level as fast as he wanted, but this was mainly due to his rather stagnant lifestyle... You didn't earn exp by being a medical physician, unless it was a quest of course. He had earned a good amount of caps doing it though, so there's that.
If he made it out of this, he didn't think he'd be returning to the Powder Gangers. First off, he didn't actually like them all that much anyway, the murdering raping bastards could be compared to barbarians in the way they conducted themselves. He'd thought their hatred of the NCR was admirable, but it was just a mask to hide their indiscriminate raiding.
He'd wait to see how the situation progressed, the NCR hadn't witnessed him committing any crimes, and he doubted they knew about their previous raids on NCR caravans...
He rests his head on his Powder Ganger jacket and decides to sleep, he'd need to be ready for whatever awaits him tomorrow.
The next day Afton was awoken when Karl shook him awake, standing before them were the two NCR officers that they'd seen yesterday, both were standing with straight postures and hands behind their backs.
"Er, what'd I miss?" he groans as he rubs the sleep from his eyes.
The man with the green beret looks at him, "Late night Mr Parker? Can't imagine why as you'd been chained here the whole time..."
...
"Whaddya want?" Karl almost growls out.
Sargeant Emil steps forwards, "We've got a proposition for the two of you, depending on how it goes, we might even be willing to pardon both of you of your crimes."
...
The duo's eyes bulge at the soldiers, what'd happened between yesterday and now? They'd seem so antagonistic, but now they were offering a complete pardon?
"What's the catch?" Afton quickly asks, not believing he was lucky enough to receive something like this.
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Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
บท 76: She sells sea shells by the C4
"What's the catch?"
Lieutenant Hayes smirks, "Catch?"
"I know how this goes, you give us a tough job, we complete it and you stuff us back in prison anyway." Afton states, having seen more than his fair share of action movies. "I wouldn't put it past you to give us a pardon posthumously."
Karl snorts, "Kid, these guys are NCR, they couldn't wipe their asses properly if their bureaucrat overlords didn't tell them to."
Emil just shakes his head at them, "Your thoughts about the NCR don't matter to us, regardless, the kid is free to go whenever he wants."
Afton chokes, "What? Then-"
"But you, Karl Martin, are still guilty of crimes against the NCR. So, this pardon would only be for you. Do what we say, and you'll be free. Reject our offer and we'll find a prison that isn't liable to be taken over, so you can spend the rest of your days in relative 'comfort'" Emil says rather harshly.
Karl huffs at them, "What's the mission?"
Lieutenant Hayes smirks, "The mission, we want you to infiltrate the NCRCF and plant some 'packages' near one of the walls. It'd be best for them to be placed from within, but it doesn't really matter. Our goal is to eliminate the Powder Gangers once and for all, once all traces of them are gone from this side of the Mojave, you'll receive your pardon."
Afton cuts in, "You'll be sending troops in right? Unless you were expecting Karl to do it all himself?" asks warily.
Emil scoffs, "Obviously, not that I don't doubt your skill Mr Martin, but taking on a whole facility without ungodly firepower is beyond even the best of us. Once you've breached the wall, my men will charge through the newly made entrance, we may need help in eliminating the men on the watchtowers, but that's something to plan once you've agreed."
...
"I'll do it." Karl says after a moment. He had made a few friends among the Powder Gangers during his prolonged stay there, but not that he'd seen a chance of saving his daughter he wasn't going to squander it. Those men deserved to die anyway for what they'd be doing, whether it was Karl, or someone else to deliver it to them didn't matter.
Both officers nod at him, "Good. Now, Mr Parker, you'll not be allowed to leave until Mr Martin's mission is completed. Can't have this information getting out now, can we?"
"I'm going with him." Afton states, not willing to miss out on the action and potential exp gain.
Karl gives him a glance, "I can handle this myself kid, just wait here and I'll be back soon."
"Why though? I'm willing to help, and with me there we could lower the risk to the soldiers that'll be charging in."
Hayes and Emil both give Afton a look, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Karl and I were both sent out by the Powder Ganger leader to deal with Tommy's gang, the guys who raided that civilian caravan. It'd be weird if he returned without me, plus, I reckon we could give them some 'information' on the next NCR supply caravan heading to Sloan... You don't even have to ambush those that go for it, it'd reduce the numbers inside the prison if we choose that route."
...
Hayes nods, "I think that would work, I'm willing to give it a shot... But know this Mr Parker, if you lead my men into a trap, I'll have you hunted down from here to D.C. Do you understand?"
Afton nods and Hayes continues. "Good. Now, you two know the place better than we do, so we'll leave whatever you plan to do to your own discretion. If you can get some Powder Gangers to take the bait and leave the facility then great, if not just ignore it and continue the original objective. I'll have squads positioned nearby, the explosion will be the signal, they'll wait there tomorrow night."
Emil walks up and uncuffs the duo, "Your equipment will be returned when you leave, you'll be provided with food and water, as well as some of the loot recovered from the civilian caravan and Powder Ganger bodies yesterday to make you look more legit. Any questions?"
Karl shrugs, "None here... Just gimme the 'package' and the trigger and we'll be off."
It's only thirty minutes later when the duo leaves the NCR encampment, they'd returned Karl's .44 Magnum, and Afton's pistols, along with some caps, supplies, and uniforms belonging to Tommy's gang. They'd be using those as proof that they'd dealt with Tommy.
"You better be ready for this kid, it won't be like the other fights we've had... It'll be a mini-war. Once it starts I suggest you dump the Powder Ganger jacket, otherwise you might get shot by the soldiers as they storm in."
Afton nods, "I'll be fine... Probably, I think its best you give them the false information while I plant the bombs... They'll trust your word more than mine."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." he mutters, handing Afton a wrapped square and a small trigger that has the safety on. He goes onto explain how to use it, and that he should only take the safety off if he was ready to detonate it... C4 isn't something to be trifled with, even a small amount could bring down a house, the amount he was holding would annihilate both of them instantly should it go off.
"Think the NCR will stay true to their word? I doubt they lied about giving you a pardon but there are more Powder Gangers around the Mojave than just the NCRCF... What if they force us to deal with them too?"
Karl focuses on Afton's use of "us" but doesn't pursue it, they'd decided to help each other out and it was nice to know the kid really meant it. "Then I'll have to do what they say, won't be easy if that's the case though..." he admits, he knew the general areas of where the Powder Gangers were, but most of them were either far apart, heavily fortified or both.
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