Chapter 472 - Business Ladder.

"So, how do you wanna do this?" Afton asks Daisy, "The situation'll be drastically different depending on who they're speaking to." he explains.

Daisy waves him off, "It isn't as if Novac can trade without your assistance, regardless of what may happen, they'll be trading with you if that's where it leads."​​

Afton just gives a short nod and leans over the wall, looking over at the group of Van Graffs that, by the looks on their faces, didn't know how close they'd come to complete and utter annihilation earlier. "Yo, I'm Afton Parker, who am I speaking with?" he quickly asks.

A man separate from the rest due to his lack of combat armour steps forth, "Hello! I'm Terrence King, manager of the Freeside Silver Rush! I was hoping we could open up negotiations for potential trade agreements!... Could we perhaps discuss this inside? My throat isn't built for such an exhaustive conversation!" he shouts.

Afton smirks, "I don't know, this way I can at least tell that you're putting some effort in." he says, silently laughing at the indignant looks on the man's face.

"L-look, I'm here on serious business. So could we stop with the jokes and actually get down to it?" Terrence asks, but is insulted further by the fact Afton was currently looking down appraisingly at his nails as if something more fascinating than whatever he had to say was present.

...

Afton looks up after a moment of silence, "O-oh!? Were you done? Okay, well, if you, the Silver Rush, or the Van Graffs want to do business then just tell me what you want. I'm not going to play 'who's got the biggest dick', even if I'd win, so, what do you want?"

Terrence glances back at his bodyguards and releases a long sigh, apparently, Parker was a lot more difficult than he'd been led to believe. "The Silver Rush is hoping to trade our impressive and reliable arsenal of Energy Weapons with you, also, I do not know what the Van Graffs have to do with me, but I heard they were looking for a 'problem solver', whatever that means."

Huh, the Silver Rush wants to separate itself from the Van Graffs? Obviously, that's a political manoeuvre, the Van Graffs are a well-known crime family so if they want to promote the Silver Rush as a reliable business partner then they'd need to distinguish themselves, even if the Van Graffs own them.

"What do you want for your weapons?" Afton asks, the Silver Rush's Energy Weapons wouldn't be better than the one's he and Bulwark can provide, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be useful. He might even be able to outfit his own robot army with powerful plasma weapons...

Terrence smiles, "That's what we were hoping to discuss." he states ambiguously.

Afton just shakes his head, his answers solves it all. Silver Rush and the Van Graffs want Bulwark's technology. No doubt they'd heard what they'd done to the Legion recently, Afton was willing to bet his left testicle that it was his Power armour they wanted, the exclusivity of it would be enough to make them salivate alone, and that was ignoring the potential combat capabilities it presents.

Something that did catch his interest was this 'problem solver' the Van Graffs needed... It wasn't as if they lacked firepower, this group alone could probably take out a Super Mutant behemoth if they fought intelligently.

Afton glances at the guard next to him, "I'm not opening the gate for these chuckle-fucks... Bring the ladder." he orders, but as the guard walks away to do so Afton stops him again, "Ah, not the good ladder, bring the shit one that's difficult to climb." he corrects, the guard smiling mischievously as he nods.

Afton looks over at Terrence again, "Fine, we can negotiate... But only you are allowed inside, I will personally guarantee your safety, so do not worry on that front." he states.

Terrence frowns but holds his tongue, "Ah, okay... That is acceptable." he says, not feeling as confident as his posture and words suggest. Stories of Parker's brutality weren't exactly few, he was just hoping that he wouldn't be added to the list.

He waits for Afton to open the gate, but hears his bodyguards behind him begin cackling when something is thrown over the top of the wall. It dangles there before him mockingly as Afton leans over the wall again.

"Feel free to climb up, don't worry, this is just a safety precaution."

Terrence glares hard at the frayed rope ladder, the rotten pieces of wood that were supposedly used as steps, the mushroom growing on parts of it showing that it'd been lying in a wet, damp place for a while before being brought out... As much as he'd like to complain, he knew he wasn't in a position of power here, plus the fact that he'd probably be shot dead if the Van Graffs heard he'd refused such an opportunity.

He sucks in his pride and walks towards the ladder, grimacing as he grabs the damp rope and begins climbing... In all honesty, it was incredibly difficult to actually climb, the ladder moved around erratically like some kind of fairground challenge. Add the fact it smelled absolutely awful, Terrence hopes Afton accidentally falls off the wall headfirst.

A couple minutes pass and Terrence eventually reaches the top, he takes a minute to recover his breath before looking up at Afton and reaching for his hand to shake it.

Afton takes a step back with a raised brow, "I'd shake your hand, but some idiot decided to leave the ladder in the waste disposal... I'd rather not get human waste on my hands thank you." he explains.

Terrence's eyes go wide as he looks down at his hands, now noticing the brown, yellow, and green fluids covering them... He leans over the wall and vomits, getting "Ooooh's" for everyone at the sight.

Daisy sighs as she looks at Afton, "Did you have to do something so disgusting?"

He grins in response, "Well, I gotta show who's boss, you know?"