Chapter 126 - Click, Click.

It takes a couple hours and the sky was already starting to dim when the group reached the blockade. It wasn't much of an encampment though if Afton were honest. Just a few small sandbag walls that the NCR could use as cover and a few soldiers milling about... If the Legion wanted to take this position then they'd easily be able to do it.

Once they arrived Boone was immediately approached by a man wearing the rather thick-plated ranger armour, he had a massive beard and the stupid-looking hat that'd usually accompany the armour.​​

"You the ranger I called for?" the man asks, looking him over and taking particular notice of Boone's beret.

"Yeah, I'm Boone, former-1st Recon." he states.

"Hm, the Ranger in charge of this position, call me Milo. Who're you?" he asks after noticing Afton.

Afton shrugs, "Just a merc, currently Boone's spotter."

Milo nods and scratches his chin before his eye's widen in realisation, "You one of the guys that cleaned out the Powder Gangers?"

He nods, "Yeah, I'd rather you just tell us what the job is before we start making small talk though."

"Ah, yeah..." he gestures at the road following the steep hill downwards, "Nelson's down there, its crawling with Legion troops and the NCR can't spare enough troops to take it back. Despite what you may think, I haven't called for you to deal with that particular problem for us... No, instead there's something else that my men don't seem to have the balls to do... They're willing to charge into Nelson with nothing but a damn penknife, but the moment this comes up they're shittin' themselves." Milo scoffs and continues.

"Legion's managed to capture some our troops, put 'em up on crosses in the middle of town to make my men watch as they torture them. Fuckin' pieces of shit."

Afton cuts in, "You want us to sneak into camp and save them? Surely a sniper team isn't suited for something like that."

Boone shakes his head, "No. He wants us to kill the NCR troops being tortured."

Afton raises a brow at that, he hadn't considered that the NCR would be willing to do something like that. This'd also be the reason they'd want someone from outside the army to do it, there might be resentment lingering afterwards which would be counterproductive in a cohesive unit.

Well, he wouldn't say it to the man's face but Boone was something of an expert when it came to mercy killings... He shook that morbid thought from his head as Milo confirms Boone's assumption.

"Yeah, I've seen what the Legion does to captured soldiers. The women that'd been captured are probably already halfway to Cottonwood Cove so there's no way to help them... But we can still do something about the men they've hung on crosses, a mercy killin' is better than being tortured to death." he states.

Well, there might be some truth in that but Afton'd rather deal with the pain and potentially escape... He'd not say anything though as his caps were on the line, plus he didn't really care about killing a couple NCR soldiers.

Boone looks to Milo, "We'll start at sunrise tomorrow."

"Can't you begin tonight? I'd hazard to guess that it'd be easier to do under dark."

Boone shakes his head, "I don't have the equipment for that, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

The duo are given a couple sleeping bags to stay for the night, Boone asked about how his search for the person who sold his wife was going but Afton didn't really have all that much to tell him. He went over his conversation with Manny but Boone didn't seem to give a shit, not about Manny's apology or the fact the man was supposedly not involved with the incident.

Afton wasn't sure if he was angry, apathetic, or was simply just trying to hide his true emotions. Boone didn't give any indication on what he was feeling towards him having made no progress... Perhaps he didn't think Afton would actually find anything.

In the morning he and Boone were up just before sunrise. Boone slung his scoped Hunting Rifle onto his back, along with a 9mm Pistol on his side. Milo had given them some info on an outcropping that'd overlook the entire town of Nelson. A perfect spot to do what they needed and get out before the Legion overwhelmed them.

While the two were walking up the mountainous terrain Boone had stated that he wasn't just going to be aiming for their targets. Afton wasn't bothered by this in the least, the only goo Legion soldier was a dead one after all.

Eventually, they reached their destination and Boone made himself comfortable by lying on the floor with his rifle's barrel just going over the edge, pointing directly at Nelson.

The town itself looked barren, not in that there weren't people around, because there must've been around a hundred Legionaries down there. No, it looked dirty and unmaintained. It seemed like it'd been a mining town before the Great war, but had been renovated into a small farming community due to its close proximity to the Colorado river. However, that seems to have changed under the new leadership.

All the areas that previously had crops was empty, trash littered the place and the only reason he could imagine the Legion was staying here was to fortify their position West of the river.

Afton sat down next to Boone as the man shoved some binoculars in his hands. "You'll need these." Boone states.

Afton just shakes his head, "No, I'll do fine without 'em... Let's deal with the NCR soldiers before we start picking off Legionaries, yeah? Let's do as much damage as possible before we have to retreat." he says. His VATS would make him better than any other spotter, not only would it automatically detect enemies, but it only stated the distance the enemy was at. Not to mention it froze time and allowed him to decide what plan of action to take.

Boone shows a rare grin and shoves a .308 round into the chamber before pulling the bolt handle, producing a satisfying *Click*, "Yeah, let's do that."