Chapter 338 - Just Needed An Outlet...

"Did someone say sneaking?" Nyx suddenly asks, and everyone else looks at Afton for an explanation.

...​​

He sighs and taps the Stealth suit. "Nyx is an AI that resides in this armour, its called the Stealth Suit Mk II, and it's probably the most advanced gear for infiltration you'll find in the world... Nyx knows this and attempts to make every possible situation one where sneaking is necessary..." he explains.

"But sneaking is always necessary!" Nyx chirps and he just taps the chest plate of his armour placatingly. "I don't know, sneaking didn't really help against Patient Zero, did it?"

...

Afton grins triumphantly at stumping the AI, and looks back up at his companions, "Anyway, I was about to offer sneaking over there and sabotaging the Vault myself. As long as you guys have got something with a 'bang', I'm sure we can work something out."

Karl leans over and reaches into a backpack, pulling out some fragmentation mines, "These are the only ones we have. The rest were used against Fiend assaults, I'm not sure they'll be powerful enough to properly destroy the outlets either though." he cautions.

"Ah... I can help too." Anja says from the side, but Boone shakes his head, "Last time we sent you out you came back barely conscious and covered in bullet wounds... You're lucky to be alive, so don't tempt fate by going out there again."

Karl nods, "Must be a ghoul thing, regular folks don't take three bullets to the intestines and survive without extensive surgery..."

Afton crosses his arms, "Ghouls have a sort of healing factor, most ferals won't die from anything less than being beheaded, bisected, or having their hearts destroyed entirely... Sort of like vampires when I think about it... Are you a vampire?" he asks Anja semi-sarcastically.

"What's a vampire?" the three of them ask simultaneously.

Afton gapes, "You guys don't know what vampires are? What about Dracula, I doubt two-hundred years will let people forget him!"

Karl scratches his face, "Dracula? Pretty sure that legends about some sort of cannibal..."

Afton sighs and decides to leave this subject, though, he'd make sure to educate his companions on the many holodisks containing movies back at Big Mt.

"So that's the plan? Have Afton sneak in with the mines and sabotage the ventilation systems of the Vault, afterwards killing anything that doesn't suffocate?"

Karl nods, "I'll jimmy some timed explosives so they'll detonate all at once... No point giving the Fiends a warning. Boone, you let the rest of the trench know what's gonna happen, make 'em ready for when Fiends start charging out like headless chickens."

"What should I do?" Anja asks, knowing that going with Boone wouldn't be a good idea as most soldiers disliked ghouls. Not to mention she had two left feet as hands when concerning engineering.

"If you're feeling up to it, it'd help if we knew how fortified each outlet was..." Karl says before shoving some binoculars in her hands, "Remember to keep your distance. You come back looking like swiss cheese again and you ain't going out without someone holding your hand... Understand?"

Anja quickly nods and starts packing her gear up, she'd upgraded her gear from the smart shirt she and Afton had stolen from the scientist's house. Now she simply wore leather armour that covered everything but her face, even then, she sometimes liked to wear a mask and a hood to stop people from recognising her as a ghoul.

"Ah, wait... Take Dog-meat with you, trust me when I say he won't get in the way, he's smart than he looks." Afton says, scratching the dog behind the ears as his tongue lulls from its mouth.

Once everyone leaves, Afton leans towards Karl and whispers, "I plan to fulfil my 'contract' while we're in New Vegas. But you already know that, right?"

Karl slowly nods, "I ain't stupid. And I ain't got anything against gambling with someone like that, far as I'm concerned, they can lose their fortunes, clothes off of their backs, and even an arm and a leg." he says meaningfully.

Afton shrugs, "I'll probably just buy him a drink, no point ruining his 'extended vacation'." he states.

"Whatever, it's up to you... Now gimme a hand with these bombs, maybe you can make 'em next time and save my old fingers." he says, the man's fingers already rubbed redraw from the wires.

Word was quickly spread through the trenches of the rather haphazard plan they'd put together. Most of the soldiers were actually thankful that they just had to sit tight and wait for the Fiends to come to them. Vividly remembering what'd happened to the last people who'd attempted to have an active role infiltrating enemy territory.

Afton's return was also received positively, he was rather well known around New Vegas and most NCR encampments due to his brief but impressive history... Most didn't know him personally, but knew a bit about his reputation, along with his actions in Westside... those who did though, were glad to have him on board. A few did notice his new arm however, but assumed it to be some sort of robotic replacement...

Everyone waited until nightfall, and once it was finally midnight Afton crept out of camp, his deathclaw leather satchel filled to the brim with explosives. From Anja's report, the Fiends were keeping a close eye on the outlets for obvious reasons... If anything were to happen to them then everyone inside the Vault was fucked. Most wouldn't even notice that they were slowly suffocating until it was too late, and since they'd butchered the previous residents and trashed most machinery inside, even the alarm system wouldn't warn them.

After looks at his target through the scope of his Anti-Material rifle. The Fiend headquarters were essentially a large building surrounded by walls made of trash and debris that'd been piled high. Already, he could see many snipers atop the building, the barrels of their hunting rifles poking out of the windows.

He rolls his shoulders and clicks his neck, "Ready Nyx?"

"I'm always ready to sneak!" she chirps back happily at reaffirming her reason for existing.

Afton nods and fingers the hidden Stealthboy on his leg, causing his body to ripple and distort before finally disappearing.