Chapter 453 - EMP : Empty Made Promises...

Afton crushes the wrist of a Legionary attempted to shove a Ripper blade into his guy, afterwards disarming him and dragging the mini-chainsaw across their throat, causing blood to spurt out in rather impressive arcs.

He didn't know how long he'd been fighting if he were honest, the enemies just kept coming and so he kept killing. He was surprised they hadn't just given up and run away yet... The Legion was basically comprised of crappily-equipped hordes of men, so for them to kill Afton who was fully suited in Power armour, they'd literally need to bait him into a crater filled with as much explosives as possible... Something Afton was aware of, and so avoided whenever they attempted such a strategy.​​

Veronica was nearby, but her armour was looking scuffed, dented, scratched, scorched, and covered in blood. She didn't have his [Mechanicus] Perk to help her maintain armour and cleanliness, so after so much time fighting her state now was inevitable.

He spots a Legionary jump onto her back in the chaos and try to jam a blade into her neck, but Afton wasn't stupid enough to leave such an exploitable gap in the armour, so instead of piercing her carotid artery, the blade halts against segmented Saturnite plates and Deathclaw leather, the tip of the weapon breaking off from the impact.

Veronica finally notices the man and reaches behind her, grabbing his arm and smashing him into the ground in front of her, afterwards raising a foot and destroying his skull with a stomp... Afton's about to continue his own fight when he spots her lean over on her knees, probably to catch her breath.

He diverts his attention and charges towards her, clearing out some of the enemies still trying to attack her. "You all right?" he quietly asks through the radio build into the helmet.

Veronica turns her head towards him and gives a weak nod, "Huff, huff. Yeah, just. need to catch my breath... Never thought I'd get tired of punching things, huff, huff."

Afton moves his head to the side to dodge a shotgun blast before grabbing the barrel of the weapon and bending it 90 degrees, pointing the end at the man using it. "You should head to the bunker and help the others out, you keep fighting and it won't be the Legion that kills it, it'll be exhaustion... I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I could carry you out while fighting the Legion off!" he explains as he brings down a hammer fist on another man's head, flattening their skull and decimating their neck.

"Huff... Did you just call me fat!?" she accuses semi-playfully.

Afton chuckles, "Well, if this little bit of exercise is enough to put you down, then yeah, fatty!"

*CRACK!*

An unfortunate Legion who'd been trying to sneak up on Veronica receives her anger-fueled punch to the face, literally exploding their head into a bloody mist. She turns back towards Afton, "I'll have you know!-" but she's cut off as the ground begins rumbling beneath their feet.

*RUUUUUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLLEEEEEEE!!!!*

The fighting stops momentarily as everyone looks around, most put the shaking as an earthquake, but Veronica and Afton knew better. He looks over to his sister in all but blood, "Go help the others, now!"

Veronica gives a brief nod before sprinting away, her mechanically enhanced strides kicking up dirt and dust as she exits.

Afton rolls his neck and looks around at the remaining Legion fighters... It was fortunate that Veronica had left since he could see some reinforcements coming, all looking like specialised units with specialised equipment. He gives an ominous chuckle and smacks his fists together, making a metallic sound ring out, "Seems like it's just you lot and me... You sure you want this fight? Doesn't seem fair at all, you guys having to fight me." he states, unclipping his Proton axes from his hips and igniting them.

One of the assassins step forwards, a cocky expression somehow obvious under their red cloth mask, "Surrender and relinquish the Great Caesar or face the consequences!"

Afton loudly snorts, "What consequences?!" he gestures at the literal piles of corpses around him, "Your compatriots failed to even scratch me, what makes you any different?"

"The difference is, we have come prepared! Throw!" he shouts, and a few men behind him toss a few grenades at him. Afton isn't able to tell what kind they are, most grenades wouldn't do anything to his armour, but that didn't mean he was going to let them hit him...

He leaps out of the way but is surprised to find even more grenades being thrown... Around thirty are thrown around him, blocking off any avenue of escape... His Danger Sense doesn't detect anything, so he just gives an annoyed huff as they detonate.

*PPPEEEEEWWWWWWZZZZZZHHHHH!!!*

Each grenade gives out a pulse of energy that causes the HUD under his helmet to glitch and fragment, his armour locks up and the only thing mechanical that he was sure still worked was Nyx... EMP's were incredibly dangerous to AI's, so her armour had been specifically designed against this tactic... Something that couldn't be said for his Power armour.

His Proton axes abruptly turn off and he loses his grip on them, they fall out of his hands as he attempts to get control over his armour but struggles to do so.

His limbs stiffen and his back straightens as the servos randomly start activating. This was one reason why EMP's were so dangerous against Power armour, if it is calibrated wrong their your limbs would be torn off at even the mildest disturbance.

If anyone else were in Afton's armour at this moment, their bodies would be mangled beyond recognition. Even with Afton's incredible strength and durability, he found himself locked in place.

"Hahaha! Did you really think that armour made you impervious to damage! No! We have fought this heretic Brother's before, you are no different in our eyes!" the man looks around him, "Go, strip his armour and torture the Great Caesar's location out of him, after that... Set him on fire and send him to Graham!"

At his words the many Legionaries who'd been at Afton's mercy until now quickly moved in, hoping to destroy this nightmarish figure that'd killed so many of them.