Chapter 218 - Blackmail

It takes longer than expected for Afton to actually reach Freeside... Without Dirt-Bird he may have misjudged the distance between Camp McCarren and his destination. Regardless, after an hour of jogging, he reached the East gate and let himself inside. Though, before he got anywhere close to Freeside he did his best to conceal himself with whatever scraps of clothing he had.

He looked like a bundle of torn clothing with fabrics covering his face afterwards... Yep, he looked like most other residents of Freeside now.​​

Afton crept through the back alleys of Freeside, his remaining hand always at the ready in-case some thug wants to try him. One thing he made absolutely sure to do was to stay out of sight of any Kings. Most might be dopey idiots, but he didn't doubt that a few would recognise him from his body-type alone.

After another half an hour of sneaking around he finally found himself standing above the manhole leading to whoever had wished to speak with him... Though, why it needed to be done here and not somewhere secluded in Camp McCarren beat him.

Once he'd clambered down the shaft and illuminated the place with his Pipboy light he was greeted with... Nothing.

...

"I swear to god, if this is a prank I'm gonna break someone's neck!"

"Oh? Perhaps I should take my business elsewhere then." A voice says from within one of the nearby tunnels.

Afton raises a brow as the figure steps out, decked in a black suit and a silly-looking bowler hat. "Hang on... You look like-"

"Indeed, I believe we've met already, once when you asked me and my colleagues to find information about a certain NCR Ranger."

Afton's eyes widen as he finally recognises the individual, "The Legionary... Wait, how did you get a message to me within Camp McCarren?" he asks, finding it incredibly unlikely for a Legioanire to have snuck in... Ah, must've been a spy then.

The legionary shakes their head and sighs, "Don't ask stupid questions, we believed you to be smarter than that. Anyway, you have made it here so I suppose getting to the point would be preferable, I myself am not too keen on sewage."

"Did you find them?" Afton quickly asks, he wanted nothing more than to wring the bastard's neck and hang them from a tree.

The Legionary nods, "We have. But, before I tell you I must ask, do you remember your part of the deal?"

Afton nods, "I do, I and my underlings will work for you. Whether that be spies from within the NCR or a task force... Of course, we will only accept jobs we think are doable."

"That is what we expected... The man you are looking for is named Emory Emmerich, I believe you've worked with him before?" they say with an almost sadistic grin.

Afton scowls at him, "Nice try, but Emory still has his right arm, if you're going to bullshit me than at least make it believable." he spits.

The Legionary just shakes their head at him, "Our reports state that he had indeed previously had his right arm mutilated beyond recovery, the NCR wished to retire him but he spent his life-savings on a cybernetic implant by a man named Doctor Henry. Surely you must've noticed something strange about the man?"

Afton thinks back to all of his encounters with Emory... The man seemed upstanding and a relatively good person, but, he had noticed a few strange things. Once when the man was tapping on his desk with his right hand it sounded almost metallic, not to mention the fact he'd always shake hands with his left...

Afton's eyes widen, "You're not lying..." he states, having finally put two and two together. "THAT SON OF A BITCH!" he suddenly shouts, having not realised his mother's murderer was right under his nose the ENTIRE time!

The Legionary coughs into their hand to catch his attention, "Now, Now, you can get your revenge after our talk. This information is not intended to be free, our leader already has a job for you to accept that must be completed within a year.

Afton glowers at him, still reeling from the whiplash of discovering Emory's true identity. "It depends what your job is." he states.

"Well, I believe you'll appreciate being paid for something I have no doubt you'll likely do in the future. We need you to assassinate a man named Lowell Thompson Jr. I'm sure you'll be happy to discover that he was the Major responsible for leading the attack on Helios One."

Afton's eyes widen as his hand quickly reaches for his gun, "What do you know?" he quickly says, ready to blow this guy's head off if he tries anything.

"We know that you are likely a member or former member of the Brotherhood of Steel. As for how we know? It's as simple as piecing your story together." he says, but scoffs at Afton's disbelieving face, "Oh, did you really believe we wouldn't discover your identity? The man you hunted for killing your mother losing their arm at Helios One? How else would you have discovered his state outside of such a battle?" They shake their head, "You will accept the job to assassinate Lowell Thompson Jr, and you will complete it within a year, otherwise your identity will be spread to the NCR, and every other faction who even mildly dislikes the Brotherhood... Are we clear?"

Afton forces himself to hold his tongue, oh he was so ready to shoot this guy in his smug face, but knew they likely had contingency plans for just such a situation. Honestly though them finding this out wasn't the worst thing that could've happened... He would have tried to kill the Major anyway, so it wouldn't have changed anything.

As to the Legion spreading his information to the NCR? He wasn't worried. He intended to betray them at some point anyway, not just because of their actions at Helios One, but also because of how corrupt it was.

"I'll take the job, but know that your leverage only works to a point. Push me too far and you'll not live to see the consequences." he threatens before turning away and heading for the exit.

"Be sure to remember that you are ours now, Afton." the Legionary says with sly smile on their face as he leaves.