บท 84: The Walking Wastes

[Intense Training] could increase one of his SPECIAL stats, maybe if he maxed one of his stats he'd gain a perk like he'd gotten from maxing a skill? That was definitely something to look into... Shaking his head, Afton eventually decides to just pick [Toughness], the extra defence could save his life, no point in getting greedy when he had many other chances to get stronger.

Afton Parker

Level : 7

S.P.E.C.I.A.L :

Strength : 7

Perception : 7

Endurance : 7

Charisma : 4

Intelligence : 6

Agility : 7

Luck : 4

Skills :

Barter : 18

Energy Weapons : 55

Explosives : 20

Guns : 100

Lockpick : 10

Medicine : 40

Melee Weapons : 38

Repair : 41

Science : 41

Sneak : 20

Speech : 44

Survival : 30

Unarmed : 30

Perks :

[Trigger Discipline], [Heavy Handed], [Rapid Reload], [Torture Techniques], [Educated], [John Wick Style], [Toughness]

Companion Perks :

[Old Wisdom]

Confirming his selection, time resumes again and Afton stumbles slightly as an ungodly amount of information forces itself into his mind, new knowledge of ballistic weaponry he'd never even heard of becomes prominent in his head.

He suddenly knew that air humidity, wind resistance, direction, temperature, even altitude could affect a bullet's trajectory! Knowledge of how to reload, aim an shoot every gun in existance bored itself into his head painfully.

The small facts he'd learned about social interaction due to the small amount of points he''d put in Speech weren't even noticed.

What was noticed however, was Afton's sudden strange behavior... Emil had just handed him a sack of caps and the boy stumbled while holding his head...

"You alright son?" Karl asks from behind him.

Afton grits his teeth and forces himself to nod, "Y-yeah... Just a migraine... Just... Gimme a moment..." he mutters as he weakly sits down on a nearly object, rubbing his temples as the information ingrains itself into his soul.

Once that had started to slow he noticed a weird tingling in his skin, it didn't hurt, but it felt like his skin was being scrunched together, compressed before being stretched out again... As if it was becoming denser and denser the more time went on.

Again, this only lasted a minute or so before it stopped. Not doubt it was due to his new Perk [Toughness]. Taking a deep breath and collecting himself he stood and looked at the two worried men, "I'm good... It's been a while since I've had a... Migraine that bad." he tries to explain it away.

Emil slowly nods but Karl just gives him a suspicious yet worrying look. The former gives a small smile, "You guys have been a great help, without you I reckon we'd be stuck on this half of the Mojave still dealing with these fuckers... If you need any more work then come to the encampment outside Primm or head up to the Mojave Outpost." he says while giving them both firm handshakes.

Afton nods at him, "Sure, we could use the extra caps." he mutters, sending a glance at Karl who just nods in acceptance.

"We'll head out in the morning." the former-ranger says as he goes off towards his usual sleeping quarters.

Afton nods and heads to his own, idly noticing that Hannigan had been arrested and was being held by some soldiers.

His bed had some blood stains on it from the previous skirmish, but it didn't bother him all that much due to the brain matter he already had covering his recon armour.

The duo were about ready to head out as sun came up, they'd picked up enough food for a couple days travel aswell as some ammo the NCR hadn't scavenged yet. Just as they were about to leave the NCRCF Sargeant Emil stopped them again.

"Hey guys, think you could do me one last favour?" he asks with a small smile.

Afton shrugs and Emi continues, "I'm sending back our injured and was hoping you'd accompany then to Primm... You're headed that direction anyway right?"

...

Afton sighs and Karl doesn't seem to care about what they do, in the end they agree to accompany them as long as they can keep up. The added protection from having a squadron of NCR soldiers in your group would prevent anyone attempting to ambush them, so there wasn't really a point to refusing, especially since they'd get boost in reputation with the NCR.

Glancing at his Pipboy, he could see that he was [Accepted] by the NCR, meaning that he was currently in good standing with them. Considering he was [Vilified] by the Powder Gangers meant that he'd probably be attacked on sight should they spot him.

The journey to Primm took a couple hours, the healthy soldiers helped those with leg injuries so they could keep a decent pace. They didn't run into any trouble either so it was pretty peaceful to be honest.

Lieutenant Hayes was already waiting for them at the camp, he gave them a thankful smile and shook their hands, "Thanks for your help in dealing with the Powder Gangers, I heard over the radio that you're pretty competent."

Afton slowly nods, "Yeah... Emil said something about finding work here? Might as well earn some caps before we head up to the Outpost."

The duo had discussed what they'd be doing during the journey, Karl said that the best place to find an NCR Ranger was in one of the ranger stations. Though, to walk around them without being shot you'd need to be well known amongst the NCR.

For information the best place would be Camp McCarren, if all else fails they'd be able to just ask Ambassador Crocker inside the Newvegas strip. So, that's the plan for now, gain notoriety with the NCR, do jobs and get enough income to fully outfit themselves.

So, once they go to the Mojave Outpost they'd head north. It was a much longer route but the shorter one had been taken by Deathclaws so they didn't really have a choice.