Chapter 178 - Deals With The King

"I'm a mercenary, these weapons are my life, in this business saving money is for the dead and buried."

The King nods at this, from personal experience it was pretty accurate. Not just because having the best gear ensured your survival, but because if people heard you were carrying heaps of caps they'd take you out. Didn't matter how tough you were, a bullet to the head in your sleep'll put anyone down. "Now, that's all fine and dandy... But what can you do for me if I give you this information? I'd say you still owe me a favour for beatin' my boys."​​

"Didn't I tell you the Kings real name?" Afton asks, feeling as if he'd been ripped off slightly.

The King nods, "Yeah, and you have my thanks for that, but the history of the Kings is more of a hobby to me than somethin' of value. I gotta think of what the Kings need, not what the King needs." he says.

Afton sighs at this, "Fine. Know that I'm only considering this due to how important this is to me, I'm not an errand boy and I won't be doing more than one job for you. Also, I'll decide whether I want to accept or not." he states his terms, if the King didn't want to listen to his requests then he'd leave and find the counterfeit licence peddler on his own... If that failed he'd try to make up the caps he was missing for the initial 2000 cap entry.

"That's fine, I'm not into forcing people to do what I want. Besides, from what I've heard you're one mean son of a bitch."

Afton raises a brow "You know who I am then?"

The King nods, "Most folk in Freeside won't, but I like to keep myself up to date about the happenings of the Mojave. Youknow you're the big news lately with those stunts you keep pullin', thought someone may have paid you to take us out when I saw you beating my men."

"Well, fortunately for both of us no one's approached me for that. What's the job you want me to do anyway?" he asks, wanting to get to the point.

"I'll get to that, but before I do I wanna ask you... What do you think the Kings do in Freeside?"

...

Afton raises a brow but mulls over the question, initially he thought they were just a gang doing the usual 'gang' things. Extorting money from businesses, robbing people, and all the other crimes that come along with it. But, while his time in Freeside had been short, he'd not seen the Kings actually act negatively to someone. Sure, he'd spotted them gunning down a homeless-looking man on his way here, but that was probably just some drug-addled thief trying to get some caps.

"From what I've seen, you guys function as an authority around here... Taking the role of police, or protectors. Though, I could be wrong?"

The King nods, "Sharp. Yeah, me and the boys do our best to keep Freeside from becoming as chaotic as it used to be... Before we set up shop the police was completely uninhabitable for all but the worst people, roaming gangs would harass, murder, kidnap, and anything else that made their fancy." he explains before continuing.

"To be honest, we thought we wouldn't be needed when the NCR came in. Big shots had enough resources to make Freeside a properly functioning place with a proper policing system... All they did though was bring in more civilians, now, that wouldn't be bad in itself... But all those people head straight to the strip, lose all their caps and become permanent residents of Freeside, willingly or not.

Supplies cannot match the population, and with the NCR taking control of the Sharecropper farms, the produce is no longer being sold to Freeside... Instead, they send the food to Camp McCarren and their other outposts, leaving the people here to starve."

Afton listens intently, but decides to speak up after hearing this, "That's terrible and all, but why are you telling me about this... You can't expect me to be able to do something about it right?"

The King shakes his head, "No, I was just giving context to the task I'm going to give you. Need you to understand what I'm asking isn't just for the benefit of the Kings, but for Freeside as a whole." he says, causing Afton to nod slightly as it made sense.

"Lately more NCR civilians have been entering Freeside. Some seem to be refugee's while others want to make this place their permanent residence. That's all fine and dandy but I'd like to know the reason for it... Not to mention the conflicts with the NCR lately, apparently some soldier boys attacked my guys, injured 'em bad enough that they're being treated in the Old Mormon Fort by the Followers. I need you to find out what the hells happening around here, don't do anything drastic and definitely try not to antagonise them, war is not what we or Freeside needs, especially with the Fiends upping the pressure outside the walls."

Afton raises a brow at him, the NCR had attacked some Kings? That didn't sound like them at all. Sure, some of the soldiers could be confrontational, but most were cowards at the best of times. Thinking about it, Freeside would probably be better off with the Kings policing it instead of the NCR, the latter would demand taxes from everyone living there, that'd cause most people to either leave or seek other more unhanded ways of making money... "I'll take the job, you probably already know my relationship with the NCR so maybe you and them can come to an agreement..."

The King nods, "I'd be happy to make a deal with them, but first I need to know why they attacked my boys, and what operations they currently have around here... Something's fishy, but I can't place my finger on it."

Afton sighs and stands, "You'll introduce me to the licence maker afterwards, correct?" he double checks.

"Hell, you help us out and I'll pay for your licence." the King adds, and Afton nods, deciding that the job probably wouldn't be all that big a deal.