Chapter 440 - Show Of Power... Armour.

A small group of kids run up to Tami and Josie as they're walking, "Hey woman, what are you doing here? And why is your dog so weird?" the young boy asks.

Tamia raises a brow, this kid was around four years old, yet he's talking like an old misogynistic pervert... "'Woman?' Haven't you're parents ever taught you to respect your elders?" she asks.​​

The boy tilts his head at her and a slightly older boy speaks up, "Ignore her Carlos, my da' calls people like her 'holes with legs'... Hey, where is your neck brace?" he wonders, probably referring to the many bomb collars the slaves could be seen wearing.

Josie scowls at them, "It ain't right to throw stones at people, even if they are slaves." she states, but only gets laughter in return.

"Slaves aren't people! My da' told me so!"

Tamia just shakes her head, "Whatever, Josie we got a job to do. You kids try and keep your heads down and outta trouble." she says, not really caring if these little punks get killed in the rampage that'd be happening soon. As far as she was concerned they were already corrupted by the poison the Legion spews, not fit for civilised society.

They leave the boys who continue throwing rocks and stones at the slave and eventually reach the Fort, the walled-off fortress at the top of the hill. Their guide is about to lead them to the biggest tent in the middle of the place where Caesar resides, but is luckily called off to do something somewhere else.

That leaves Tamia and Josie with another guide, but it isn't difficult to mislead him into doing what they want. "Is it ok for us to look around before we speak to Caesar? I've always wanted to see the magnificence of the Fort, the greatest and strongest place in the Mojave." Tamia asks, and the guy blushes slightly at the praise before nodding.

"Sure, where do you want to go?" he asks.

Tamia sends a small grin at Josie before looking back at him, "I don't know, how about we just walk around for a bit? I'd like to get familiar with the place before I am sent off to do as Caesar commands."

Elsewhere :

Afton and Veronica were fully suited up in Power armour. She was in the back while he was currently driving Dirt-Hog, other than them, Karl, Boone, Anja, and ED-E were in the back as well.

They had just passed by the remnants of Boulder City and were already approaching Hoover Dam... Unfortunately, it seems that the NCR had radioed in their progress, so once they spotted Hoover Dam, they noticed the huge contingent of soldiers waiting for them.

Afton drives Dirt-Hog around the mountainous path and stops the vehicle in-front fo the soldiers. They could barely see him through the tinted bullet-proof windows, but that doesn't matter much since he kicks the door open and steps out of the truck.

A few of the NCR soldiers back away slightly at the sight of Afton... If they weren't intimidated by him before, they certainly were now. The armour was a matte silvery blue, Afton didn't want to make the mistake of having shiny armour, so he tarnished it to prevent Saturnite's reflective properties... Though, the metal itself was tinted slightly blue, thus the colour of the armour.

The eyes of his helmet glow a slight red as the hud activates and identifies every individual nearby, ED-E in Dirt-Hog boosting Nyx's already impressive proximity sensors. His hud had already marked the enemies who could potentially deal damage to the armour, the Veteran Rangers wielding Anti-Material Rifles were among them, along with the few with heavy explosives.

On Afton's armoured hip sat his Sonic Emitter, Plasma pistol, and Proton Axes. On his back was his Anti-Material Rifle that'd been slightly modified to allow use while in Power armour, and in a hidden compartment lied the Range Finder that activates the Orbital Laser.

He was unfortunately forced to utilise other weapons than his usual ballistics as the gauntlets of the Power armour made it almost impossible to use them without modifying them... Afton was willing to do this for the Anti-Material rifle, but not for his pistols and revolvers, since the trigger guards were actually important for them.

He slowly steps forwards towards the large blockade of soldiers, each stop imprinting his large armoured feet into the dirt. No one gave any indication to fire, so he eventually reached them... Afton towered over a trooper who looked like he was about to piss himself, his glowing red visor making him look like a demon in their eyes.

"I need to speak to your commander." Afton asks, the voice modulator making his voice sound deeper than it already is.

"I'm already here. You're Afton Parker, right? Brotherhood of Steel affiliated mercenary who until recently has been in NCR employ." a woman says as she walks up, she looks around fifty years old with tired eyes and short hair.

"That's Former-Brotherhood of Steel member, figures the Legion wouldn't add that part." he snorts, "Can't believe you simpletons actually listened to Legion propaganda. I'm one of the biggest threats to them, so is it that hard to believe they'd have a vested interest in making us enemies, miss?"

"It's Colonel Cassandra Moore, and no, we don't just take what the Legion provides as fact. We investigated and found you wanted, Parker. Even still, that doesn't explain what you are doing here, fully armoured and armed, with an assault vehicle in NCR territory." she asks with accusatory eyes.

Afton chuckles, "Well, if I wanted you to kill you chuckle-heads I wouldn't have gotten outta my truck to do it. No, I'm here to get payback against the Legion. Unless you know of another way to get across the Colorado with my truck?" he asks, amused at the sighs of relief a few of the soldiers give at his words.