Chapter 181 - All The King's Men

The King wrote a letter containing his message, not wishing for his words to be up to whoever's interpretation. It was clear that one of the Kings had betrayed him so he'd rather not leave it to chance.

Afton pocketed the letter and nods at him, "I'll return with this, keep an eye out for the agitator while I'm gone." he states before leaving.​​

As Afton leaves the building he could feel someone's eyes on his back, taking a glance behind him he couldn't spot anyone in particular though... Damn impersonators.

A few minutes later Afton found himself back at the NCR civilian building with Emory already waiting at the front door for him. The duo walked up a couple flights of stairs to get to a more secluded area before he handed the letter over.

Emory doesn't say anything as his sits silently at his desk and reads through the letter, the subtle changes in his expressing being the only indicator of his feelings towards what'd been sent.

After finishing, Emory looks up at Afton, "Did he tell you what was in the letter?"

Afton just shakes his head, "No, that's between the NCR and him after all." he says passively.

"Well, there's good news and bad news... Good news is the King is fully willing to cooperate with the NCR to stop the fighting, the fact that some of his members are taking matters into their own hands is slightly unsettling but I digress. The bad news is that the King wants the Kings to hold all their authority in Freeside, all matters of policing and security would be handled by them. Now, NCR law dictates that I refuse this outright, but he's given me an out by offering to allow NCR personnel to inspect the Kings and their operations." Emory explains to him for some reason.

"So you'll accept right?" Afton asks, feeling like this would be a no brainer. The NCR isn't in the strongest position to negotiate due to the on-going war with the Legion.

Emory shakes his head, "If that was all then I'd gladly accept, only problem is that we'd need to seek redress for the Ambassador that was nearly killed. I know that the Kings are a tight-knit group and would be unlikely to sell out their own, especially since most thoroughly dislike the NCR.

"So... You'll be refusing the Kings proposal?" Afton asks, slightly feeling like he was on a wild goose chase. He wasn't a messenger boy, so if the King and Emory were expecting him to go back and forth and back and forth, etc. Then he'd refuse and find the damn counterfeiter himself.

"Unfortuantely I don't have a choice in the mat-" Emory's cut off as the radio on his desk bursts to life, the sound of static barely covering up the discharging of weapons.

"*ZZzzt!* -merich we're under attack by *Zzzt!* Kings!" the voice quickly reports.

Emory's eye's darkened as he taps his finger on the desk, a metallic sound ringing out as the man contemplates what to do. "What is your location?"

"*Zzzt* The watchtower outside the ration distribution centre!"

"I'll be there as quickly as I can, do whatever you need to hold your position, over." he orders as his stands, looking to Afton with an almost pleading look, "I heard you own a vehicle..."

Afton sighs to himself as he drives down the road, Emory sitting in the sidecar with an assault rifle in his hands. Whatever was happening with the Kings couldn't be good, this attack would surely not inspire friendship between the two groups, this'd especially be the case if anyone was killed... Injuries can heal, but death? Not so much.

He continues to drive while following Emory's directions until they can eventually hear the sound of gunfire. Fortunately it only seemed to be from small-arms fire, and relatively weak rifles. If someone had involved an Anti-Matter rifle or a Mini-gun then the situation couldn't possibly escalate anymore.

Afton wasn't sure what he should actually do concerning the situation either, would the King be pissed if he killed the attacking Kings? He couldn't let the Kings overrun the NCR soldiers otherwise war would be unavoidable.

He shakes his head of those thoughts as he spots the watchtower in the distance, people firing their weapons from the top of it at some Kings which were currently hiding behind some buildings and a bus stop.

"How you wanna deal with this?" Afton asks, not getting an answer as Emory jumps out and sprints towards the NCR. The guy had huge balls as he was literally running in between two groups firing at each other...

Afton drove over behind the Kings and hopped out to see what was actually happening. A few Kings had already been shot, but the wounds didn't seem fatal yet. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he shouts, catching the attention of the Kings.

The only problem with this was... Afton had no idea who had organised this, or who each individual was... He points at a King, "Who started this fight!?"

The King scowls at him, "No one, we just wanted a piece of those dog-shit soldier boys!"

"Yeah, fuck those NCR bastards!" another shouts, with a few others parroting similar sentiments.

"The King didn't order an attack! In fact, I'm pretty sure he ordered you to not antagonise the NCR!" Afton replies, trying to get these idiots to see reason, surely they didn't think they could match the NCR's military strength?

"I respect the King, but he ain't doin' nothin' to help our brothers. Those NCR dogs beat our people and he expects us to stand down? THE KING SHOULD STAND DOWN!"

Afton just facepalms, are these fucking guys serious? "You dumb cunts! You're going to start a war and cause more of your 'so-called brothers' to die, if you really cared then you'd not challenge the most powerful organization in the Mojave!"