Chapter 339 - Line Up

Motor-Runner slams his fist on the armrest of his makeshift throne, everything had been going wrong lately, and even the promises allies had made turned out to be nothing but sweet lies. He and his people had been trapped in the Vault for months now, any attempt to escape is met with a barrage of bullets that eviscerate the unfortunate soul.

His previously large and well-muscled body was not gaunt, pale, and showing signs of infection all over. Dry flakes of skin peeling off, and large unsightly boils forming.​​

They'd run out of supplies weeks ago, so he'd been given the hardest choice he'd ever have to make as leader of the Fiends... Starve, or cannibalize some of those under him... While he was in most eyes a despicable person with numerous crimes under his belt, he thought he'd draw a line somewhere... But, apparently, their needs outweigh his morals.

He didn't immediately start the barbaric practice on his loyal men though, no, first he had his sex slaves butchered. They served no purpose other than to alleviate his rapidly building stress, and their drain on the food was simply unacceptable at this point. His men ate well for the first time in weeks that night, the bodies of a few children, teenagers and young adults roasting over pyres.

Some refused to eat, but he didn't force them. If they died they'd just add to the supply. Something they'd likely need in the future. A few people complained at the fact he kept alive his faithful companions BoneGnash and GnashBone, two large dogs that were undisputed alphas of Violet's making.

He'd even caught a few trying to kill and eat them... This was met with reasonable punishment of course... Killing and eating them in return.

He sighs to himself, when would this end, and would they get out of this shit alive? He didn't think it was very likely if he were honest.

*BAAANG!*

The sound of an explosion reverberates all around the Vault, but the lack of vibration means that the Vault itself isn't the direct target... His eyes widen as he connects the dots, "EVERYONE OUT! GATHER YOUR SHIT AND PREPARE FOR A FULL FRONTAL ATTACK!" he roars, wanting everyone to leave with expediency before they ran out of viable air.

Elsewhere :

Afton had easily set the makeshift bombs in the other outlets, he just had one last one to do before shit would go down. He snuck behind a ruined building, avoiding the rather obvious traps and casually walked past the Fiend guardsman while approaching his target.

It was a large mentally square that had a grate covering the top, within was a fan that helped air circulate through the Vault. Unfortunately, he'd need to get the grating out of the way before he could drop the bomb into it, the device wasn't strong enough to destroy it without being directly within it.

He glances back at the Fiend soldier and approaches him, activating his Proton axe and easily bisecting him. The man literally couldn't see it coming, as Afton was still invisible.

Once done, he headed back to the outlet and used the Proton axe to slice the grating away, making a big enough hole to drop the explosive. He didn't waste any time and tossed it inside, afterwards going to leave but not in the direction of the trenches, no, he intended to be in position and ready to cause chaos within the Fiend ranks when they realise what had happened.

He enters the large ruined building containing the Vault and heads to the upper floors while systematically eliminating the snipers positioned within. None even managed to produce a 'squeak' as he cut them down, "God I love these axes!" he mutters, giving the handle of one a kiss.

With the snipers dead, he got to the second floor and started setting up. The ruined building allowed him to see the ground floor through the many holes, so it'd be fairly easy to snipe high-priority target. Not that Afton knew who was which, he was pretty sure the highest ranked guys were Violet, Driver-Nephi, and CookCook... But he'd already killed them, so...

*BOOOM!*

"Well, looks like shit's about to go down, Nyx." he mutters, dropping onto one knee and aiming towards the door of the Vault.

"Many hostiles approaching." Nyx states after a couple minutes of waiting.

The gear-like door of the Vault moves and slowly spins out of the way, revealing the literal horde of Fiends. There must have been hundreds of them, but despite their numbers, Afton wasn't intimidated... The reason? Well, firstly because he'd faced larger threats than this. But more importantly, all of the Fiends look gaunt and ragged, as if they were on their last legs.

They didn't even have the typical 'frothing at the mouth in a drug-fueled rage' type, and if Afton had to guess it was because they'd run out of chems a while ago. He was slightly tempted to just blast them with his Sonic Emitter and have a [Meltdown] chain-reaction blow them all to kingdom come...

Unfortunately, doing such a thing would have many, many consequences. One of which would be him likely dying in the blast that would be akin to a Mini-Nuke explosion. That was not even mentioning him having to explain how he'd done such a thing to the NCR when they inevitably started asking questions.

He shakes his head, "If only.", and continues watching the enemy through the scope of his Anti-Material rifle. He observed as the many Fiends gathered within the building so as not to attract the attention of the NCR encampment.

Eventually, one man who was followed by two large dogs started addressing them all, shouting orders at some and telling them that the Vault had been sabotaged and was no longer inhabitable.

Afton didn't have to be a genius to know who was in charge here, and simply focussed his crosshair on the chest of the man... No point risking a headshot when a body-blow would undoubtedly end him.