บท 218: Blackmail
It takes longer than expected for Afton to actually reach Freeside... Without Dirt-Bird he may have misjudged the distance between Camp McCarren and his destination. Regardless, after an hour of jogging, he reached the East gate and let himself inside. Though, before he got anywhere close to Freeside he did his best to conceal himself with whatever scraps of clothing he had.
He looked like a bundle of torn clothing with fabrics covering his face afterwards... Yep, he looked like most other residents of Freeside now.
Afton crept through the back alleys of Freeside, his remaining hand always at the ready in-case some thug wants to try him. One thing he made absolutely sure to do was to stay out of sight of any Kings. Most might be dopey idiots, but he didn't doubt that a few would recognise him from his body-type alone.
After another half an hour of sneaking around he finally found himself standing above the manhole leading to whoever had wished to speak with him... Though, why it needed to be done here and not somewhere secluded in Camp McCarren beat him.
Once he'd clambered down the shaft and illuminated the place with his Pipboy light he was greeted with... Nothing.
...
"I swear to god, if this is a prank I'm gonna break someone's neck!"
"Oh? Perhaps I should take my business elsewhere then." A voice says from within one of the nearby tunnels.
Afton raises a brow as the figure steps out, decked in a black suit and a silly-looking bowler hat. "Hang on... You look like-"
"Indeed, I believe we've met already, once when you asked me and my colleagues to find information about a certain NCR Ranger."
Afton's eyes widen as he finally recognises the individual, "The Legionary... Wait, how did you get a message to me within Camp McCarren?" he asks, finding it incredibly unlikely for a Legioanire to have snuck in... Ah, must've been a spy then.
The legionary shakes their head and sighs, "Don't ask stupid questions, we believed you to be smarter than that. Anyway, you have made it here so I suppose getting to the point would be preferable, I myself am not too keen on sewage."
"Did you find them?" Afton quickly asks, he wanted nothing more than to wring the bastard's neck and hang them from a tree.
The Legionary nods, "We have. But, before I tell you I must ask, do you remember your part of the deal?"
Afton nods, "I do, I and my underlings will work for you. Whether that be spies from within the NCR or a task force... Of course, we will only accept jobs we think are doable."
"That is what we expected... The man you are looking for is named Emory Emmerich, I believe you've worked with him before?" they say with an almost sadistic grin.
Afton scowls at him, "Nice try, but Emory still has his right arm, if you're going to bullshit me than at least make it believable." he spits.
The Legionary just shakes their head at him, "Our reports state that he had indeed previously had his right arm mutilated beyond recovery, the NCR wished to retire him but he spent his life-savings on a cybernetic implant by a man named Doctor Henry. Surely you must've noticed something strange about the man?"
Afton thinks back to all of his encounters with Emory... The man seemed upstanding and a relatively good person, but, he had noticed a few strange things. Once when the man was tapping on his desk with his right hand it sounded almost metallic, not to mention the fact he'd always shake hands with his left...
Afton's eyes widen, "You're not lying..." he states, having finally put two and two together. "THAT SON OF A BITCH!" he suddenly shouts, having not realised his mother's murderer was right under his nose the ENTIRE time!
The Legionary coughs into their hand to catch his attention, "Now, Now, you can get your revenge after our talk. This information is not intended to be free, our leader already has a job for you to accept that must be completed within a year.
Afton glowers at him, still reeling from the whiplash of discovering Emory's true identity. "It depends what your job is." he states.
"Well, I believe you'll appreciate being paid for something I have no doubt you'll likely do in the future. We need you to assassinate a man named Lowell Thompson Jr. I'm sure you'll be happy to discover that he was the Major responsible for leading the attack on Helios One."
Afton's eyes widen as his hand quickly reaches for his gun, "What do you know?" he quickly says, ready to blow this guy's head off if he tries anything.
"We know that you are likely a member or former member of the Brotherhood of Steel. As for how we know? It's as simple as piecing your story together." he says, but scoffs at Afton's disbelieving face, "Oh, did you really believe we wouldn't discover your identity? The man you hunted for killing your mother losing their arm at Helios One? How else would you have discovered his state outside of such a battle?" They shake their head, "You will accept the job to assassinate Lowell Thompson Jr, and you will complete it within a year, otherwise your identity will be spread to the NCR, and every other faction who even mildly dislikes the Brotherhood... Are we clear?"
Afton forces himself to hold his tongue, oh he was so ready to shoot this guy in his smug face, but knew they likely had contingency plans for just such a situation. Honestly though them finding this out wasn't the worst thing that could've happened... He would have tried to kill the Major anyway, so it wouldn't have changed anything.
As to the Legion spreading his information to the NCR? He wasn't worried. He intended to betray them at some point anyway, not just because of their actions at Helios One, but also because of how corrupt it was.
"I'll take the job, but know that your leverage only works to a point. Push me too far and you'll not live to see the consequences." he threatens before turning away and heading for the exit.
"Be sure to remember that you are ours now, Afton." the Legionary says with sly smile on their face as he leaves.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Niggross
Niggross 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.
บท 219: Assassin's Greed
Afton climbs out of the manhole and pushes the cover back over it, yeah, it might be petty but causing trouble for the Legionary was the least he could do for the man's threats. Afton now had a time limit, a year to kill Major Thompson or have all of his information revealed to his enemies, something that'd put a huge target on his head.
Though, he was still thankful that they'd found out the identity of his quarry. Without their help, Afton sincerely doubted he would have ever discovered it. Still, Afton was going to do his best to destroy both factions, or at least, both faction's presence in the Mojave.
Shaking his head, first thing first would be removing Emory's head. Afton couldn't hold himself back any longer and wanted to get some vengeance as soon as possible. The almost forgotten feeling of utter hatred for the man bubbling to the surface, causing a harsh scowl to appear on his face.
Quickly he started making his way towards the NCR civilian building where Emory's office had been. Afton was sure the man would still be there, not just to take care of the NCR civilians in Freeside, but also to keep the Kings in check.
Hmm, perhaps he should leave something after he'd killed the man to suggest some Legion involvement? It'd prevent any and all associations with him... He nods to himself, sounds like a plan.
He continues sneaking through the streets until he discovers the tall building surrounded by obviously undercover guards. Still, they were placed there to protect against a large assault, not an infiltration.
Afton snuck to the less occupied building next to Emory's one and quietly climbs to the top and looks down at the gap between the two buildings, the alleyway currently being patrolled by a squad of undercover NCR troopers.
Afton was hoping to jump from one building to the other, but the gap was larger than it had looked from below. Additionally, his missing arm was causing him to doubt if he'd actually be able to catch himself once he jumped. The only thing to hold onto once he got there was a window lacking its glass, some grooves that he might be able to fit his fingers into, and a balcony a few floors down...
Eventually, after thinking for a few moments he decides to leap off and grab the window, transitioning to the groves so he could climb to Emory's office. After a moment of psyching himself up he jumps, activating VATS halfway across so he could plan out his midair movements. Truly VATS was more OP than the games had ever stated.
His hand grips the window and he flops against the building's wall as his feet fail to gain purchase. He grunts slightly as he pulls himself up with one arm, digging his feet into one of the grooves to get some grip.
"-lly think the Kings will keep their words? They're nothing but a gang of thugs." Afton catches someone saying from within the building, the broken window allowing him to clearly hear them.
Fortunately it's dark enough that they 'probably' won't see his fingertips holding onto the window... Hopefully. He waits there for a while as they continue their conversation, one person speaking their doubts on the King's while the other tries to mediate, though, Afton could tell both had misgivings about the alliance.
Eventually they both walk away and Afton breaths a sigh of relief, his fingers were starting to feel sore from hanging this long. He quickly looks up to the grooves and chews the inside of his cheek, he'd need to throw himself at it due to his missing arm.
Shaking his head he jumps slightly using the grooves and activates VATS just as he's midair, using it to plan his movements. The method continues to work as his fingers find their way into the groove, his feet digging in and alleviating some weight from his single arm.
With this he continues clambering up the building, all the while hoping no one could see him from below... After half an hour of repeating this he reached the top floor where Emory's office would be. Light streamed out of the window and he peeked inside, using VATS once he spotted the man sitting at his desk, seemingly glaring at some paperwork that'd been stacked before him.
Afton scans the room while time is frozen and spots a window that's slightly ajar near a shadowy corner of the room... Hmm, he wondered is his [Blur] Perk would help him enough to allow him to actually climb through that undetected...
Deciding that its best to try and fail than fail to try, he started shimmying around to it, once he was at the window he used the top of his head to slowly widen it at a rate he hoped Emory wouldn't spot.
Truth be told, if he just wanted to kill Emory he would've just shot the man from outside. But that wasn't what Afton wanted, well, not entirely. He wanted to question the man, find out if he had just been following orders or had another reason-no, excuse.
Plus, Afton was looking forward to acquiring a cybernetic arm, is it karma that Emory just so happened to have a right-handed cybernetic arm waiting for Afton? Probably not, but it sure felt like it!
Afton goes through a breathing exercise before climbing through, his entry into the room making literally no sound whatsoever, courtesy of his Sneak Skill. Quickly he reactivates VATS and takes a glance at Emory, noticing the man still hadn't looked up... Noice.
He turns to the door and would've snorted had time not been frozen, the key to the room was already inside the lock. Emory apparently not having expected for his room to be infiltrated from a window and locked from the inside. This only reinforced in Afton's mind the fact that Lockpicking was one of the worst Skills...
Afton allows time to resume and locks the door, causing an audible click to echo through the room, Emory looking up at him as Afton stands in a relaxed posture. "Emory, we need to talk." he states, doing his best to not reveal how tense his body was... Though, with how bad his Charisma skill was Emory was probably aware of it.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
3 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย