Chapter 409 - This Is Fine...

An hour after Afton had sprinted out of Novac he returned with two other men closely following... Some might ask 'Hey, weren't there three people?', and they would be correct. But that was after one refused Afton's offer, so now there were only two people, Jonas and Hestus...

Afton would feel slightly misapprehension about bringing them into his confidence, but after he had them beat their friend to death, he was pretty sure they couldn't return back to the Legion. Nor would they want to after he showed the wonders of technology to them. Plus the fact he could pay better than the Legion ever could.​​

The scene laid before him once he arrived back in Novac was an amusing one... There was a loud crowd gathered around the makeshift training field Boone and Karl had designed to help train the 'militia' that protects the town in the NCR's absence.

Tamia and Veronica were in the middle, beating the crap out of anyone who dared to challenge them... From what Afton could see, most men around had growing bruises on their faces, arms, etc. Even Josie, Anja, and Boone looked tired.

Fortunately, Afton had arrived soon enough to watch Karl get pile driven into the floor by Tamia, the force of which kicks up some dust upon his ungrateful impact with the ground. Afton walks up and smirks down at Karl, "You alright there, buddy?"

"*Cough*, no... Everything but my pride hurts..." he attempts to get up and winces, "No, that's gone too." he says with a grim chuckle.

"Did you have to beat the old man?" he asks Tamia who's sheepishly looking away.

She shrugs, "I wanted to test out the implants, plus, he challenged me..."

"Didn't you know? It's common courtesy to go easy on the elderly."

"I'm still here you know?" Karl mutters from the floor.

Afton crosses his arms, "Anyway, I need to talk with Veronica, big shit'll be happening either right now or relatively soon." he states, looking over and watching as Veronica dodges a haymaker and drives a fit into the offender's sternum so hard that they instantly pass out. She notices Afton's presence as he 'not so calmly', waves her over.

"Alright, I'm done for today. You guys can fight each other, or whatever you do in your free time." she states as she walks over to him. "What's up?"

"Er, to put it simply, the Legion has sent forces to attack the bunker..."

"W-wait what?!" she starts, wide-eyed and surprised.

Afton nods, "Yeah, so we better get moving before everyone else has all the fun."

"S-should we bring everyone else?" she asks, glancing to the others in the group, particularly Boone and Josie.

He shrugs, "I'm not sure, we'll bring them, but if trouble crops up then we'll deal with it when it comes." he states.

"Well... If you're sure..." she mutters as Afton calls the rest of the group over and leads them to the private area where Dirt-Hog currently was. He also made sure to get rid of the two ex-legionary spies so he wouldn't have to explain their existence for now.

Once everyone was gathered around Dirt-Hog, Afton begins to address them. "Alright, there's big shit happening and I might need your help with it. If you feel that you're too bruised or don't want to help then you can stay behind...

There's a Brotherhood of Steel bunker nearby that's currently being attacked by the Legion. We'll go over, assist the Brotherhood and see what happens from there... Any questions?"

Josie puts her hand up as if she were in a classroom, "Er, yeah... We aren't going to be shot by them, are we? Like, I know Veronica is probably fine, but the rest of us?"

Afton shrugs, "This isn't one of the Chapters you've heard stories about. They're more lenient with interacting with outsiders, mostly due to necessity. That said, try not to piss anyone off, despite everything, they are still family to both me and Veronica." he states, deciding to finally come clean.

The group was already aware of Veronica's affiliation with the Brotherhood, but Afton hadn't confirmed his relationship with them until now... Even if it was an open secret... After all, Afton had claimed Veronic as his sister, and she was part of the Brotherhood so it shouldn't have been difficult to put two and two together.

"Anything else?" Afton asks, wanting to get all potential grievances out before they head out.

Anja nods, "I have heard about their attitude on ghouls, sir... Will I be in danger there?"

Afton shakes his head, "Stick with the group and you'll be fine. To be honest, the person in the most danger would probably be me..." he admits, before banging Dirt-Hog with his fist, "Alright, get in, times a wasting!"

The group gets into the vehicle, Dogmeat and ED-E coming along as well despite how wary Afton was of taking them. Both were rather advanced technologically and would be of great interest to the Brotherhood... Enough so that they might be taken apart and analysed...

Regardless, Afton hops into the driver's seat and floor the accelerator as soon as everyone is inside. Josie was already in the back manning the turret, so hopefully, they'd catch whatever forces were gathered... Maybe he'd be able to test out his new Orbital Laser?

Unfortunately for the comfort of everyone present, the road would take far too long to reach the Hidden Valley, so Afton was forced to drive through the canyon next to Helios One... Had Dirt-Hog been hastily designed, the thing might've fallen apart by the time they reached the end of it.

Dirt-Hog smashed through a metal wire fence as he finally reached the Hidden Valley, though, they could already hear the sound of ballistic weapons fire, as well as energy weapons. Despite it all though, Afton was fairly confident that the Brotherhood would be fine.