Chapter 467 - Bulwark

It's been a couple weeks since 'Caesars Capture' and things hadn't really changed. Karl was now out and about, exploring Big Mt with his family and getting some quality time with them. And the others were similarly taking this all like a vacation.

Afton wasn't sure how vacations around the Mojave worked, but he imagined none would be so long and relaxing as the time they'd spent in Big Mt. That said, it wasn't as if Afton was doing nothing alongside them.​​

He was working on a couple projects while things to have temporarily calmed down, The Ultra Chainsword, and the new vehicle that would replace Dirt-Hog... Yeah, he was pretty pissed that his recent vehicle had been destroyed so quickly, but he supposed it was for a good cause.

His plans for the new vehicle would involve building one from the ground up, and it wouldn't resemble a regular car anymore. Instead of wheels, he'd use treads, he'd also make it large enough to carry heavy ordinance... Essentially he'd be making a bigger, better tank than even the NCR had access to.

That was still a work in progress however, fortunately, he'd had a [Eureka!] moment while testing out his Ultra Chainsword. He'd been testing how magnets interacted with energy blades, and found that they altered the trajectory of it, not enough to disrupt the circuit, but enough to form different shapes without moving the projectors.

Now, this would usually be useless for creating a Chainsword, but Afton was nothing if not motivated... Thus, the current Prototype in his hand.

It wasn't activated yet, so it just looked like a long machete without a blade, near the hilt and point were small ball-like projectors that'd form the blade. He presses the switch on the handle which causes the purple blade to burst to life...

Usually, it'd be completely straight, running from one projector to the next like a circuit, but now with the assistance of two magnets, it had two pointy protrusions. It kinda looked like a heartbeat monitor if he were honest...

This isn't all though, he presses another switch which starts rapidly moving each magnet up and down the blade, the two pointy protrusions begins rapidly oscillating up and down the blade like a wave. Eventually, the magnets got fast enough that the wave was constantly intersecting with the other, essentially creating the teeth of a chainsaw.

Afton holds it out and drops a piece of metal on it, grinning from ear to ear when it's cleanly sliced in half. That hadn't been any ordinary piece of metal, that was a Titanium alloy, one of the strongest materials aside from Saturnite that humanity is currently able to produce. Sure, it'd been quite a thin bar, but the test checks out regardless.

Afton laughs and points the newly made weapon up at the sky, "I HAVE THE POWERRRR!"

...

"Is user having a psychotic break?" Nyx interrupts his reverie.

...

He'd forgotten that she basically always accompanied him and was now incredibly embarrassed for showing his AI such a side of himself. "Uh, no... I was just testing out a theory that may or may not have shot me with lightning and given me some fetish-ware..."

...

"Should I book a session with someone, User?"

He lets out a sigh, "Nevermind..." he mutters before turning his attention back towards the Ultra Chainsword. It still wasn't completely finished if he were honest, it was barebones to show proof of concept, so he'd need to make another with proper metals, better capacitors, and better aesthetics.

Which actually brings him to his next conundrum, he, his group, and Big Mt as a whole did not have an official name yet. There were powerful enough to be a separate faction in their own right, but he'd just never considered or taking the time to think about it.

He needed a logo to stamp all of their technology with, as well as a name everyone could refer to as their faction. Afterall, he'd be pretty pissed if people started mistaking him as the Brotherhood or the Enclave... As far as Afton was concerned, he, his people, and his tech were far, far superior to whatever both factions could cobble together.

Afton sat around the Sink for a couple hours just thinking about it when he finally decides. The Big Mt logo was simply two intersecting hexagons, everything in Big Mt was already associated with it, so there was no real point in removing it.

Thus, he decides to integrate it into the new Logo. He makes a quick sketch (which is pretty poor despite what his stats may indicate) and holds it up with an appraising eye.

The Logo he'd drawn has two intersecting hexagons of the Big Mt logo, except that there is something inside each of them. The smaller rightmost hexagon contains an eye, not too dissimilar to the one the Illuminati supposedly used.

The bigger leftmost hexagon has two futuristic rifles crossing one another with a space marine helmet resting in front of them. Yeah, it looks damn intimidating, but that's what he was going for.

Afton was pretty happy with the Logo, but the name was another story entirely. He needed something recognisable, easily distinguishable, and different from what the other's faction have... NCR, Legion, Brotherhood of Steel, Enclave... All roll off of the tongue quite easily, and wouldn't be difficult for the brainless citizens of whatever inbred city to pronounce.

He goes through a number of names, most pretty much stealing from the Brotherhood of Steel, he was tempted to use something from 40k, but decided that he was tempting fate far too much with that.

Eventually though, after writing down a bunch of names that may or may not have already belonged to someone, he decides on something...

Bulwark. Easy to pronounce, short and concise, promotes the cause he wishes the faction to commit themselves to, and it holds no negative connotations. Afton shrugs to himself as he looks it over. "Good enough."