Chapter 239 - Bull-Fight

The journey after they left the 'Mad Klaus House' as Afton had dubbed it, had been relatively peaceful. Sure, they had a few run-ins with some rad scorpions and bloat flies, but all in all, nothing they couldn't either drive past or deal with.

Afton made sure to give Anja some more practice with her weapons, after seeing her freeze up in the midst of the mass of ghouls he knew she needed to be better prepared for situations like that. Yes, in that situation staying still was probably the best thing to do, but it still forced Afton to personally intervene to save her, something he'd rather she do herself.​​

He wanted his companions to be independent of himself, he didn't really know what he was going to do in future, but whatever it was he could guarantee that going on adventures like this would be a rare occasion.

He'd likely need generals, spies, elites. Whether he creates a specialised mercenary company, tries to claim territory for himself, or attempts to control another faction. Allies will be needed.

Afton checks his Pipboy one last time before driving Dirt-Bird off of the highway, towards the mountainous area that held Vault 22. Their progress had slowed due to the difficulty of going off-road, but soon enough they reached the canyon that'd lead to Vault 22...

Unfortunately, there seemed to already be a human presence there, a large group of around twenty people were camping at the entrance of the canyon. Afton already had some suspicions on who they were, but he'd like to get some answers before blowing them to pieces.

They hadn't noticed Dirt-Bird yet so he parks it behind a hill and tells Anja to wait, if anything unforeseen happens then atleast she'd be able to do something, or at worst, tell Karl and Boone about it.

He rifles through his Deathclaw leather bag for a moment before his hand brushes over something round and metallic... The plasma mine he hadn't been able to use yet... Yes, this would be useful if he found himself in trouble.

He shrugs his backpack and checks himself over, making sure his recon armour is secured properly before walking towards the group, ready to draw his weapon and start blasting if he is forced to. He waves at them as he walks, "Hello!"

Immediately the group tenses up, head's swivelling to meet Afton's eyes. It's obvious that they are scanning his body as if looking for certain items. He can feel their gazes on his recon armour, Pipboy, and holstered revolvers. Yep, someone's sent these guys after him.

"Funny place to camp huh!? I hope you guys don't mind but I need to get past and do a job." he says jovially as he walks into the middle of their camp, causing the men to tense up.

One of them stands up and their posture is almost immediately hostile, "Oh? People don't usually just walk into our camp and leave as they were." they state threateningly.

Afton raises a brow, "Ah? Is that NCR procedure nowadays?" he asks, forcing his smirk down as all of them jolt as if they'd been hit.

"NCR? The fuck are you talking about!? Guys I think he thinks he's funny!" one says, clearly trying to redirect the conversation.

"Is it not obvious? All of you, every single one are wearing standard-issue NCR military boots, some even look brand-spankin' new... So, unless you've butchered a whole camp of NCR soldiers, I'd say its pretty obvious." Afton states, causing a few of the men to look down at their feet in confusion.

"W-we did kill some NCR fuckers, you're just talking shit."

Afton slowly nods, "I see. So, where's the rest of the loot? Surely you'd have the NCR garbs, weapons, and tags right? From what I hear the Legion pays fairly well for them."

...

"Fuck! Whatever, we don't need to fool him to get the job done! GET HIM!" one suddenly shouts, pulling out what looks like a cattle prod before running in.

The others are a bit slower on the draw but take out their own cattle prods and charge Afton... Unfortunately for them, Afton isn't squeamish about putting down NCR soldiers who offend him.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

[John Wick Style is in effect]

[Blind Fire : Shoot the eye's of your enemies : 7/100]

Three instantly go down with new holes decorating their faces, and Afton is forced to dodge a sparking prod as its thrust at his neck, he smacks the offending NCR soldiers in the face with his pistol before wrapping his arm in an elbow lock, wrenching it upwards after a moment to completely dislocate it.

"AHHHHRRRRGGHHH!" The undercover NCR soldier screams as he falls to the ground, his arm bent at a disgustingly odd angle. However, he isn't even given any time to despair on his injury before Afton adds further insult.

*Bang!*

[Blind Fire : Shoot the eye's of your enemies : 8/100]

Afton's got one more bullet in That Gun and he uses it to kill yet another charging NCR soldier.

*Bang!*

The enemy seems to have been counting the number of bullets he had in his weapon though as they become more aggressive after his last shot. He isn't even able to draw Lucky from his right-hip-holster before he's under assault.

He dodges one prod but is struck in the side by another, causing his body to jolt and shudder a moment before he manages to get away.

[Grit is in effect]

The combination of [Solar Powered] and [Grit] instantly raises his Strength to 12, in reaction to the strike he'd just taken he swings his fist backwards at them, striking their jaw with a back fist and almost literally causing their face to explode.

The NCR soldier falls to the ground with most of their face turned to bone dust, mulched flesh and regret. He spins around as another prod attempts to strike him in the back and smashes his elbow into their nose, dealing such a powerful blow that their face dents inwards, killing them instantly.