"S-stop... We'll speak... Just don't hurt us!"
...
Afton barely keeps the surprised expression from his face as he hears this. He'd been expecting to have to soften them up first, but he supposed these guys didn't look very strong-willed... As of now, all he'd done was run after them, throw himself into a boulder and tie them up... Not much. Regardless, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Why were you spying on me?" he growls in the most intimidating manner he can manage.
It seems to work, as one of the men squeak in fear like a mouse while the other two can't work their mouths enough to actually speak. He glares at the closest one, finally allowing him to speak.
"W-we were sent by Vulpes Inculta... H-he-" he's cut off as the radio on his waist bursts to life.
"Well, well, well. This doesn't surprise me" the person on the other side of the radio drawls.
Afton raises a brow and recognises the voice, "Vulpes. Couldn't we do this over tea or something? You knew sending these three musketeer mosquito's wouldn't do anything." he states picking up the radio.
"I admit, I hadn't expected you to find them so quickly... But they are still useful in their own right, as you'll find out should you reject my offer." he says coyly
"Offer? I'm already working for you, what else could you want?" Afton asks, thoroughly confused by Vulpes intentions.
The voice chuckles creepily from the radio, "Indeed, but I wish to make sure the job gets done. We have been watching, and you are too lax over your duties. So, after this conversation ends, you will march over to Camp Golf and shoot Chier Hanlon where he stands... Do you understand?"
"Huh?" Afton frowns, "Are you stupid? Assassination takes time, preparations, resources, none of which you seem to be willing to grant me." he states.
"Do not lie to me, boy. I know you drove that new vehicle of your straight past the target. And I am fully aware of your capabilities... Sneaking in and cutting the man's throat in his sleep would not have been difficult for you, but you ignored your duty anyway. So, I give you one last chance, go assassinate Chief Hanlon immediately, or suffer the consequences!"
Afton frown slowly morphs into a look of amusement as he begins chuckling, "Consequences? Hah! What consequences!?" he asks, not thinking himself arrogant for feeling overwhelmingly powerful in his current position.
"Mmm, it's good you asked... I have located the bunker your 'friends' are located, and have an army of Great Khans and the Legion's best assassins waiting on standby for my order. Should you refuse, they will blow the doors off of the bunker and kill each and every man, woman, and child they see. It will be a genocide the likes of which the Mojave has ever seen, perhaps aside from Bitter Springs.
Afton pauses at this, glancing over at the tied up spies as thoughts race through his mind. He knew of the Great Khans, and was very, very aware that they were more or less slightly better-armed raiders with a penchant for chem abuse.
That aside, he didn't know much about the Legion's assassins. But, he knew for sure they weren't a match for NCR Rangers. He'd spied on the Legion enough to know that Rangers were the bane of their existence, plus, he doubted they'd have better close-range weaponry than Submachine Guns, Machetes, and perhaps a Shotgun... So, it isn't surprising what his reaction is.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he roars in laughter straight down the radio, the sound of which causes the three shitty musketeers to rear back in fright.
"Hahahaha! Ha..."
"Now YOU-" Vulpes angrily states but is cut off again.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Afton continues, the thought of raiders and Legionaries wearing leather and sportswear charging at heavily armed men in suits of Power armour fueling his laughter... It was just too funny that they thought they were a match in the slightest to the Brotherhood of Steel!
Sure, in a typical battlefield they'd outnumber the Brotherhood one hundred to one, but their tech simply couldn't be compared. So, forcing limited troops down tight corridors where you couldn't fully utilise your advantage in numbers was tantamount to suicide... And that's not even mentioning the high-tech turret system that was installed in the bunker.
Vulpes didn't know any of that though, and probably just considered the bunker the last remnants of the Brotherhood. Most likely guessing that they were ill-equipped compared to the rest of the faction due to Afton's own lack of Power armour.
"Hahahaha-ha-ha... Alright, alright... I think I'm done..." he mutters breathlessly to the radio.
...
"Now, you-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he begins again, this time on purpose simply to mock the pompous Legionary who thought he could control Afton.
"THAT DOES IT! YOU HAVE BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF! DIE KNOWING YOU HAVE WROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF!" Vulpes exclaims down the radio, and Afton's danger sense flairs.
He moves his head to the side, allowing a .50 caliber bullet to zip by and brush his hair.
...
Afton looks over in the direction where it'd come from, his incredibly sharp eyes spotting a black figure on a hill miles away getting up and rapidly retreating. "A sniper? Really Vulpes? I didn't expect something like that from you." he says mockingly to the radio.
...
He doesn't receive a reply from the radio but is fully aware that Vulpes is still listening in. "Alright, be silent... Oh, before I forget, let that sniper know that I chose to let him leave. Let him know I knew where he was the entire time."
... *Bzztch!*
The sound of the radio losing connection sounds out and Afton drops it before smashing it underfoot. Afterwards, he looks to the three tied up spies and scratches his face, wondering what to do with them.
"So, how would you three like to become my underlings?"
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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An hour after Afton had sprinted out of Novac he returned with two other men closely following... Some might ask 'Hey, weren't there three people?', and they would be correct. But that was after one refused Afton's offer, so now there were only two people, Jonas and Hestus...
Afton would feel slightly misapprehension about bringing them into his confidence, but after he had them beat their friend to death, he was pretty sure they couldn't return back to the Legion. Nor would they want to after he showed the wonders of technology to them. Plus the fact he could pay better than the Legion ever could.
The scene laid before him once he arrived back in Novac was an amusing one... There was a loud crowd gathered around the makeshift training field Boone and Karl had designed to help train the 'militia' that protects the town in the NCR's absence.
Tamia and Veronica were in the middle, beating the crap out of anyone who dared to challenge them... From what Afton could see, most men around had growing bruises on their faces, arms, etc. Even Josie, Anja, and Boone looked tired.
Fortunately, Afton had arrived soon enough to watch Karl get pile driven into the floor by Tamia, the force of which kicks up some dust upon his ungrateful impact with the ground. Afton walks up and smirks down at Karl, "You alright there, buddy?"
"*Cough*, no... Everything but my pride hurts..." he attempts to get up and winces, "No, that's gone too." he says with a grim chuckle.
"Did you have to beat the old man?" he asks Tamia who's sheepishly looking away.
She shrugs, "I wanted to test out the implants, plus, he challenged me..."
"Didn't you know? It's common courtesy to go easy on the elderly."
"I'm still here you know?" Karl mutters from the floor.
Afton crosses his arms, "Anyway, I need to talk with Veronica, big shit'll be happening either right now or relatively soon." he states, looking over and watching as Veronica dodges a haymaker and drives a fit into the offender's sternum so hard that they instantly pass out. She notices Afton's presence as he 'not so calmly', waves her over.
"Alright, I'm done for today. You guys can fight each other, or whatever you do in your free time." she states as she walks over to him. "What's up?"
"Er, to put it simply, the Legion has sent forces to attack the bunker..."
"W-wait what?!" she starts, wide-eyed and surprised.
Afton nods, "Yeah, so we better get moving before everyone else has all the fun."
"S-should we bring everyone else?" she asks, glancing to the others in the group, particularly Boone and Josie.
He shrugs, "I'm not sure, we'll bring them, but if trouble crops up then we'll deal with it when it comes." he states.
"Well... If you're sure..." she mutters as Afton calls the rest of the group over and leads them to the private area where Dirt-Hog currently was. He also made sure to get rid of the two ex-legionary spies so he wouldn't have to explain their existence for now.
Once everyone was gathered around Dirt-Hog, Afton begins to address them. "Alright, there's big shit happening and I might need your help with it. If you feel that you're too bruised or don't want to help then you can stay behind...
There's a Brotherhood of Steel bunker nearby that's currently being attacked by the Legion. We'll go over, assist the Brotherhood and see what happens from there... Any questions?"
Josie puts her hand up as if she were in a classroom, "Er, yeah... We aren't going to be shot by them, are we? Like, I know Veronica is probably fine, but the rest of us?"
Afton shrugs, "This isn't one of the Chapters you've heard stories about. They're more lenient with interacting with outsiders, mostly due to necessity. That said, try not to piss anyone off, despite everything, they are still family to both me and Veronica." he states, deciding to finally come clean.
The group was already aware of Veronica's affiliation with the Brotherhood, but Afton hadn't confirmed his relationship with them until now... Even if it was an open secret... After all, Afton had claimed Veronic as his sister, and she was part of the Brotherhood so it shouldn't have been difficult to put two and two together.
"Anything else?" Afton asks, wanting to get all potential grievances out before they head out.
Anja nods, "I have heard about their attitude on ghouls, sir... Will I be in danger there?"
Afton shakes his head, "Stick with the group and you'll be fine. To be honest, the person in the most danger would probably be me..." he admits, before banging Dirt-Hog with his fist, "Alright, get in, times a wasting!"
The group gets into the vehicle, Dogmeat and ED-E coming along as well despite how wary Afton was of taking them. Both were rather advanced technologically and would be of great interest to the Brotherhood... Enough so that they might be taken apart and analysed...
Regardless, Afton hops into the driver's seat and floor the accelerator as soon as everyone is inside. Josie was already in the back manning the turret, so hopefully, they'd catch whatever forces were gathered... Maybe he'd be able to test out his new Orbital Laser?
Unfortunately for the comfort of everyone present, the road would take far too long to reach the Hidden Valley, so Afton was forced to drive through the canyon next to Helios One... Had Dirt-Hog been hastily designed, the thing might've fallen apart by the time they reached the end of it.
Dirt-Hog smashed through a metal wire fence as he finally reached the Hidden Valley, though, they could already hear the sound of ballistic weapons fire, as well as energy weapons. Despite it all though, Afton was fairly confident that the Brotherhood would be fine.
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
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