Chapter 495 - Letter'us Begin?

Afton looks over the letter, noticing the various stamps printed on it. Most look official, especially the one of the two-headed bear... He opens it and pulls out the paperwork, beginning to read the message inside.

Almost immediately, Afton palms his face at what he's reading... Daisy becomes curious and leans over to read with him, "Hmm, that's odd..." she mutters.​​

Afton nods, "Yeah, really odd." he retorts. The letter is essentially an invitation to start peace talks with the NCR, they've even picked out a 'neutral' area where this can occur without either party having time to scheme. It's set in a week from now...

"Are you going to attend?" Daisy asks.

Afton shrugs, "I don't know about you, but this seems like a trap..."

Daisy nods, "Those star-spangled bears are too arrogant for this to be serious. But, if it is real we could get them off our backs for a while." she states.

"Who sent the letter, if I can ask?" Arcade asks with crossed arms at the side.

Afton glances at the letter again, "Ambassador Crocker? Does he even have the power to do something like this?" he mutters to himself. He hadn't personally met the man, but from what Boone had said about him, he seems pretty honest and hardworking, at least compared to the other bureaucrats...

Arcade shrugs, "No idea, I'm not all that interested in military ranks and such, but I think he's trustworthy... His work in Freeside, while not perfect, has helped a lot of people. And just think about it, a chance to set aside your war with them temporarily so both sides can concentrate on eradicating the Legion."

Afton clicks his tongue, "I don't know... I think we'll end up fighting the NCR no matter what. Plus, making a temporary peace agreement with them would only allow them to target other vulnerable factions."

Arcade raises a brow, "Like what? The only other factions are raiders, cannibals, and slavers..." he asks in confusion.

Afton shakes his head, "You're forgetting about where I came from... The Brotherhood will be targeted, without me causing trouble the NCR will apply full force against them."

...

Arcade looks like he wants to say something but is stopped by Daisy as she rests her hand on his shoulder, "Leave it, let Afton decide this alone, neither of us are really in a position to object anyway." she states, "I'm going to get back to work, decide what you wish." she says before leaving. Arcade himself gives a brief nod before exiting as well, leaving Afton alone to decide his plan of action.

With that, Afton departs from Novac after checking the place to make sure supplies, defences, and other essentials are all properly maintained. Once he's back at Big Mt he begins thinking about whether or not actually going to Primm is a good idea.

Due to it being for a peace agreement, he would only be allowed to bring two bodyguards. And it didn't have to be said to not bring Power armour. Though, the NCR did make sure to write that rule down in bold font. Clearly, they either wanted him to show his sincerity, or they wanted him defenceless so they could attack without having to deal with his Power armour.

Strangely, they didn't have any rules to prevent bodyguards from wearing Power armour, meaning that they'd somehow requisitioned some, or really did want to have peace between their respective factions.

It was also said that the people of Primm would be the ones setting up the entire 'event', with neither faction having anything to do with it. This would allow things to be as impartial as possible. Of course, Afton doubted this and would bet a significant amount of caps that they'd have spies scheming in the background, but that would be the case for most big factions anyway.

"Fuck it, I'll go, but I won't expect anything but a fight..." he mutters to himself. If the NCR really did use this opportunity to attack him, it'd be a massive win for his publicity. His factions current stance, even if they didn't state it, was that the NCR, Legion, and Brotherhood of Steel did not hold the peoples best interests at heart, and would use any means necessary to prop up their corrupt, barbaric, foolish ideologies.

If the NCR was seen breaking a peace agreement by an entire town like Primm, there was no way they'd be able to hide it. Even mentally deficient people would be able to realise that the NCR weren't as honourable as they usually purported to be... This news might even make NCR troops themselves start to lose trust in the country they served.

Well, that, and hoping that the potential war crime they were about to commit would make his own NCR sympathiser companions more willing to go against them...

At least he had a week to help fix the EMP vulnerability in their Power armour. He'd have Veronica accompany him, so making sure she wasn't at risk was a top priority... Still, he wasn't sure who his second would be.

He couldn't bring Tamia as she was technically affiliated with Mr House, and anything that went wrong there could possibly force New Vegas into a war. This would be a catastrophe considering that the NCR had a firm foothold in the strip, Freeside and outskirts of New Vegas in Camp McCarren.

Bringing Anja might be a good political statement, but she was more suited to infiltration and other stealthy missions than to that of a bodyguard. She didn't know how to operate Power armour, and he doubted a couple weeks of training would get her up to the skill he'd wish.

The same could be said for his other companions however, none knew how to operate Power armour, making training them a top priority... He'd need to get on that eventually, but first, he'd actually need to make a couple more suits of armour.

"Urrrrghhhh! There's so much that needs to be done!" he complains to himself, with the only other person aware of his self-pity being Glados who just watches with a slight degree of amusement.