Chapter 227 - Just Rewards

The group returned to Camp McCarren in relatively good time, the guardsman surrounding the place were more than familiar with them at this point, though, many people made the point to insult Anja when they saw her.

Ghouls weren't particularly liked by anyone in the Mojave... The Brotherhood of Steel and Legion would kill them on sight, while the NCR would reluctantly tolerate them. Afton still remembered the shit that went down in Camo Searchlight. with Aster trying to put the surviving ghouls 'out of their misery'...​​

The NCR tolerated them enough to shove them all off to a separate station so no one else would have to interact with them... If that isn't disdain of the highest order then Afton didn't know what was. Boone and Karl didn't seem to have a problem, but perhaps they were just holding their tongue on Afton's behalf?

Personally Afton didn't really care, the Brotherhood of Steel indoctrination had almost washed over him, changing his mind about absolutely nothing. If Anja could prove herself then he'd accept her into the group, regardless of her status of a Ghoul.

The group briskly found and walked up to Major Dhatri and Afton didn't even wait to toss two large sacks at him. Once holding the head of Cook-Cook, and the other a disgusting pile of ears formerly belonging to the Fiends.

Dhatri just picks both up and looks into them, nodding with a relieved smile when he sees Cook-Cook's lifeless expression. "Kid, you just made my day... Probably everyone else's as well! This fuckin' psychopath has caused almost enough trouble as many of the Legion high commands. And that's saying somethin'!"

"Just doing our jobs." Afton shrugs and Dhatri nods.

The major looks to a nearby trooper and tosses both bags at him, "Go to the storehouse and grab these guys pay. You know what to do." he says.

The group make small-talk with Dhatri as they wait, the man asking how they dealt with Cook-Cook and looking somewhat confused when they tell him that Anja had actually been the one to deal the killing blow.

Afton could already tell the man's opinion on ghouls wasn't the most complimentary. He shakes his head and decides not to make an issue of it, Anja had probably dealt with many more people worse than Dhatri.

Eventually the trooper sprints back with many sacks of caps in his arms, "5540 caps all counted and double-checked." they say, handing them to Afton.

Afton isn't even surprised when the alerts appear as soon as he touches the bags.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 34]

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 35]

He doesn't waste any time and just dumps his new skill points into Unarmed and Explovie, maxing out the former and providing him a new Perk. [Grit]

[Grit] : Increases Strength and Endurance as you take damage, the more damage you have taken the more powerful the effect is.

Of course, the Perk wouldn't be complete with a Vaultboy version of the Hulk giving him a thumbs up...

The Perk itself was quite powerful, especially as he got stronger and wasn't as likely to be one shot by a random stray bullet or claw. Thinking about how strong this Perk could be if he wore Powerarmour gave him shivers.

Perhaps maxing his Strength would be a good idea now? He already had 10 Strength in sunlight due to his [Solar Powered] Perk, and with [Grit] gaining superhuman levels of Strength would be a common occurrence. Afton nods to himself, that'd be his next pick.

Next, he looks at the selection of Perks currently displayed before him.

[Light Touch] : While wearing light armour you gain +5% critical hit chance and your enemies suffer a -25% critical hit chance. This is good, but Afton was sure he'd never be using Light armour... Even now his Recon armour is classified as Medium armour, and in future he'd likely be using heavier stuff to protect himself more effectively.

[Sneering Imperialist] : +15% Damage and +25% accuracy in V.A.T.S. to various tribal and raider characters. This one is kinda 'meh', the extra bonuses wouldn't do anything as Afton already had no trouble at all dealing with enemies that came under its effects.

[Mile in Their Shoes] : You have come to understand night stalkers. Consuming night stalker squeezin's now grants bonuses to Perception (+1 PER), Poison Resistance (+5), and Stealth (+5 Sneak) in addition to the normal benefits. Yeah, there was no way he was getting this Perk... Not only did it require you to hunt down some Night Stalkers and harvest a specific organ from them, but you also needed to eat hte organ RAW to gain its effects! Fuck that! The bonuses weren't even that good!

[Irradiated Beauty] : Sleep removes all Rads. As for this Perk? Good, but currently useless to Afton who was already mostly immune to radiation. Most of his rads disappear as he slept anyway as [Rad Absorbtion] didn't just suddenly turn off when he is unconscious.

Afton shakes his head at these Perks, none of them interested him so he'd pick one from the previous level that he had wanted to get.

[Alertness] : +2 Perception when crouched and still. Ye-ep, pretty overpowered.

He selects it without reconsidering his options, the bonus was simply too good to argue against. He then clicks confirm and time resumes, though, he wasn't almost roaring in pain this time...

Both Dhatri, Boone, and Karl all raise a brow at him as Afton stays standing unperturbed.

"Something wrong?" Afton asks, knowing full well they were expecting him to start dying again.

Dhatri coughs into his fist, "Ahem, no. I've got things to attend to, you lot should be prepared though... I'd bet my caps that people'll come wanting to celebrate Cook-Cook's end with you." he says before leaving.

Afton nods as the man leaves, flicking on his Pipboy and taking a look at his status... It's been a while since he last checked.

Afton Parker

Title : [Executioner of the Wastes], [Free Sheriff], [Fiend's Fiend]

Level : 35

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

Strength : 8

Perception : 8

Endurance : 7

Charisma : 4

Intelligence : 6

Agility : 10

Luck : 4

Skills :

Barter : 21

Energy Weapons : 100

Explosives : 24

Guns : 100

Lockpick : 10

Medicine : 100

Melee Weapons : 100

Repair : 100

Science : 100

Sneak : 100

Speech : 100

Survival : 30

Unarmed : 100

Perks :

[Trigger Discipline], [Heavy Handed], [Rapid Reload], [Torture Techniques], [Educated], [John Wick Style], [Toughness], [Stonewall], [Sniper], [Bug Stomper], [Lord Death v2], [Spies Guise], [Quick Draw], [Adamantium Skeleton], [Ranger Tactics], [Ranger Targeting], [Ranger Awareness], [Mechanicus], [Jury Rigging], [SuperHot Block], [Solar Powered], [Miracle Maker], [Unnerving Presence], [Living Anatomy], [Agility Implant], [Masterful Movement], [Blur], [Uncivilized Weapon], [Rad Absorbtion], [Tough Guy], [Nuclear Friendly], [Explorer], [Eureka!], [Atomic!], [Grit], [Alertness]

Companion Perks :

[Old Wisdom]

[Spotter]