บท 354: Old Acquaintance
With all the Deathclaws eliminated along with their nests, the group packed up all their gear and began to move again. While they could return to Camp McCarren and immediately accept their reward, Afton decided that they could claim it later... For now, their destination was Novac.
Before they left though, they made camp to rest after the long day they'd just had... As it was Afton's watch, however, he left Dog-meat in his place and snuck back into the Quarry. He'd already found the coordinates that he needed for teleportation, so all he needed to do now was gather all the stuff he wanted to transport...
It was a tough couple hours of work, but he eventually managed... He'd gathered all the Deathclaw corpses and eggs he'd saved into a big pile and calibrated the coordinates so that all of it would be transported. Yeah, sure, it'd take a shit load of energy to do, but Borous would appreciate the opportunity to study the creatures, not to mention the fact that he wanted Glados to process the leather into something workable...
He left a note atop the pile of corpses basically telling the AI to make him some protective clothing he could wear from the brood mother corpses... Their defensive properties were a double-edged sword, it'd protect the Deathclaws, but also made them valuable targets for hunters looking for their leather.
With a *CRACK!* of lightning, the pile was gone, leaving a small cloud of smoke behind in its wake. With all that done, Afton made his way back to camp and woke the next person up so they could take watch.
The next day they travelled along the highway that both Karl and Afton were very familiar with. They'd spent enough time patrolling them with the Powder Gangers that they almost knew them like the back of their hand... It was strange to see them empty, with the occasional trader to Sloan.
No other bandits had set up shop around here, and Afton was sure it was due to the NCR finally clearing up the area. After a day or so of walking, they eventually reach Primm and are immediately greeted with an old friend.
"Hah! Look who the cat dragged in, an old hair-ball and 'fastest gun in the Mojave'... Seems like you've picked up some pals between last I saw you." Sheriff Meyer exclaims from the lawn chair he was sitting on in front of the town.
He still wore his Powder Ganger jacket, but now looked armed to the teeth with a rifle and many pistols on his hip. His black and grey speckled beard has grown out long, and he still had the black hat he never seemed to take off.
Currently, he was sitting in some shade with a beer in his hands, watching the highway Primm was next to.
Karl scratches his steadily growing beard in irritation, "Sounds 'bout right. Give you a lick of power and you're already drinkin' on the job and harassing passerbys... Still an improvement from your old gloomy self." he retorts, walking over and enthusiastically greeting the man with a pat on the shoulder.
Meyer shrugs, "Yeah, well, I can say the same thing. You lot look like you're headed to fight an army..." his eyes go over Afton, "And you kid, you planning to hold one of those pistols with your third leg?" he jokes.
Afton shrugs, "Unfortunately not, your mother seems determined to keep it in her mouth as long as possible." he snipes back, the three of them laughing like old friends.
Meyers looks over at Boone, Josie, and Anja. His glance at the latter is less hospitable than the rest, but he knew voicing it would not turn out well for him. If Karl and the kid were willing to let a ghoul travel with them, it must be for good reason.
Instead, he simply nods at them, "Howdy, in case you didn't notice the badge, I'm the sheriff of Primm. Former... Associate. With the cowboy duo there." he points a thumb at Karl and Afton.
Boone gives a stiff nod, if he wasn't already aware of Karl and Afton's history with the Powder Gangers, he'd be much more hostile to the man still wearing their regalia.
Josie was still new to the group and hadn't heard about it. Even so, despite her rather comfy job in Camp McCarren, she knew who and what the Powder Gangers were. Leaving her with a less than ecstatic first opinion of the man.
Anja was of the opposite opinion however, the man had obviously given a cautious look at her, but he'd not said anything derogatory yet, putting him in her 'good books' for now.
Meyers glances at the Cyberdog panting next to Anja's leg, "You even got a dog? If I didn't know any better I'd say you guys were preparing to hunker down and start a family. He waggles his thick eyebrows, "I don't know what's between you two, but we at Primm don't discriminate."
"Fuck off, Meyers." Karl states before continuing, "We just got done clearing the Deathclaws along the highway and Quarry, so you'll be seeing more trade come through soon enough."
Meyers gapes at them, "You're sayin' that you lot took down the shit-load of Deathclaws down there? Forgive me if I call bullshit on that." he states, and no one could really dispute him as it did seem farfetched.
Afton grins at him and pulls a Deathclaw egg out of his bag, "I guess this is just an above-average chicken egg then." he says, causing Meyers to audibly swallow his saliva.
"You sure you killed all of 'em? Otherwise, the survivors might come sniffin' after their eggs... I'm tough but... Not tough enough to fight those things off." he sheepishly admits.
"You'll be fine. You think we'd be able to steal an egg and get away alive if we hadn't killed them all first?"
Meyers slowly nods, "I suppose... Alright. Why don't you folks come in, Primm has changed a lot since you last visited." he says, gesturing them all inside as he leads.
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บท 355: Prim Primm
Elsewhere :
Elder McNamara was slumped in his chair while rubbing his temples, the recent report had everyone on edge. But not only that, it had a few partitioning him to release the lockdown and allow the Chapter to start actually performing their duties.
They'd been trapped in this bunker for years now, and McNamara was more or less leaning towards actually listening to them... Their pursuers the NCR had been continually pushed back by the Legion and barely had enough men to keep their roads safe, let alone search for the Brotherhood... Even then, they'd already given up looking many years ago.
Despite all this, he was still incredibly wary of actually revealing themselves to the outside world again. Their position made it almost inevitable that they'd be attacked on two fronts from both the NCR and Legion if things continued to progress as they currently were.
You would think that the Legion would be more lenient in their dealings with them, but you'd be very wrong in that assumption. The Legion hated any and all technology more advanced than a simple ballistic weapon. Even then, he'd read reports that most ran into combat with nothing but machetes...
If everything wasn't bad enough yet, the ventilation systems were still on a crash course for failure. Dust particles were steadily beginning to gather, no one had notified yet but in a couple years the situation would be untenable... And that's not even mentioning his most recent report...
Apparently, a literal army of Deathclaws charged up Black Mountain. Usually, he and the rest of the Brotherhood would celebrate at the deaths of so many Supermutants, but they still hadn't determined the reason the Deathclaws attacked in the first place.
This was very, very worrying. No information in their database on Deathclaws gave any indication, so, as most would do in this situation, he sent some Knights to scout the Quarry to see what was going on...
McNamara sighs to himself when he remembers it. They'd found almost nothing. Not 'nothing' in the 'nothing had occured', but 'nothing'. As in theentire Quarry was entirely emptied of Deathclaws. His men did notice signs of battle, blood spatters and craters here and there, but no corpses.
This should have been impossible. If the Deathclaws had been killed, then their corpses should still be around. Unfortunately, he had no scouts in the area at the time, so they were currently in the dark about what'd happened...
It was possible that the Deathclaws were attacked and simply moved to another location... But that wasn't good for the Chapter either. The reason the bunker was in such a good location was because the NCR rarely moved through the area.
Now that the highway was clear, the NCR would begin using it for supply routes, making their situation more tenuous than ever. Hardin and his supporters would only make things worse, as they simply could not leave the bunker now, or after the trade routes start.
Once single mention about someone seeing a Paladin would have the NCR storm back into the area... They may not miss their bunker the next time.
Elsewhere :
Afton and the rest of the group are lead into Primm, he and Karl both gawking at the previously desolate place that'd apparently regained some vibrance. Some of the ruined building had been given a make-shift patch up while many new faces seem to have settled here.
In the main street, Afton could see a few stalls selling small amounts of vegetables, fruits, and other foodstuffs. Hell, there was even a Geckop roasting over a fire, making the whole area smell of roasted meat.
"Is this the same town we saw months ago? Because right now, I'm on the fence." Afton states, surprised at the dramatic change.
Meyers chuckles, "I'm surprised, considering you two are primarily responsible for it."
Both Afton and Karl raise a brow at him and he continues, "With the Powder Gangers almost entirely eliminated from this area, we haven't had trouble from raiders for a while. The few who tried seemed afraid that you'd come back and sort them out." he says gesturing at Afton with a smirk.
"Personally, I can't see what they're so afraid of. You don't look like much, even with that goofy outfit and all those guns." he mutters.
"They must've heard about what he did in Westside... I'm not gonna bitch t though, fuckers deserved it." Karl spits.
"Yeah, I heard somethin' like that... Butchered two kid-fuckers in front of everyone and threatened to do the same to anyone else who committed similar crimes." Meyers shrugs, with Anja and Josie giving Afton a weird look.
"What? They literally sold children to the Fiends. They should be lucky I hadn't just castrated them and let the crows have 'em." Afton says disinterestedly.
Meyers just shakes his head, "Anyway, most of the folk who come here now are runnin' from the Legion. They've apparently taken to raiding small settlements and enslaving any they capture. So, families 'av been headed West to escape them. Fortunately for us, we're in the perfect place to get protection from the NCR, while also not paying taxes." he explains.
"Not paying taxes?" Afton mutters, "I wouldn't be surprised to see the NCR taking forces from the front lines to make you pay them." he says semi-sarcastically.
Meyers shrugs, "They need people stationed here for us to pay taxes. Right now the closest NCR base is the Mojave Outpost south of here. Anyway, the lack of taxes has only encouraged folk to settle down here, the lack of raiders and Legionaries is just the cherry on top." he explains.
"All this talk is making me worried about Novac." Afton mutters. He wasn't wrong to be afraid either, as Novac was the closest settlement to Nelson, the place that the Legion had recently recaptured.
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