Chapter 505 - Kin And Country

Boone and Josie slowly make their way down from their observation point, eventually reaching ground level and walking towards the now heavily damaged Primm... Only now were people beginning to crawl out from their hiding places to take a look at what'd happened.

Ambassador Crocker brushes the thick dust and dirt from his suit while adjusting his bowtie, "W-what was that?" he asks, glancing between his two Ranger bodyguards.​ ​

They both shrug in response, having no idea themselves about what'd occurred. All they knew was that Primm was attacked, Afton and his bodyguards defended, and now the town was heavily damaged while they were missing.

Johnston Nash looks around with a heavily creased forehead, "God damn, they did a number on my town..." he looks at Crocker, "I wonder who I should send the bill to?"

Crocker quickly shakes his head, "We had nothing to do with this-"

Nash snorts, "You did nothing to help either, unlike Parker who fought to protect us." he retorts.

"What's that?" one of the rangers ask, pointing up the street where two figures were approaching.

Crocker squints before eventually spotting the duo, "I know who one of them is... A man called Boone who works for Parker."

Boone and Josie had just reached the black van and were searching the vehicle, there wasn't anything g besides many bloodstains in the back where the creature was held, but in the driver's seat, they found two dead men wearing all black coverall-type clothing... Though, once it was peeled back the duo both glared at what was revealed.

Attached to each of their chests were badges with three big letters, OSI to be specific. Of course, both Boone and Josie knew what this meant, they belonged to the Office of Science and Industry, a branch of the NCR government.

Boone's dull look breaks into a fierce frown as he kicks the upturned van, knocking a dent into it, "How could they do this!?" he growls out.

"Maybe they're being framed?" Josie quickly asks, but her tone of voice reveals that she wasn't leaning towards that theory all that much.

Boone shakes his head, "No. They knew what they were doing, I've seen enough OSI scientists to know they wouldn't bat an eye at stooping this low." he states, his mind drifting to the now-dead Dr. Hildren who seemed remarkably interested in Aftons physiology.

"Well... What do we do now?" she asks, feeling as if her country and Afton would be at war soon... Well, 'properly at war' more like.

"We head back to base and show him what we found." he states as his expression loosens slightly, he rubs his face anxiously, "This whole situation is fucked." Boone mutters to himself.

Boone leans into the window and gets a firm grip on the sown OSI badge before tearing it off and depositing it in his pocket. "Come on, let's go." he states, ignoring the crowd of people quickly advancing towards them.

"Mr Boone! Hey?!" Crocker shouts from behind them but Boone ignores the Ambassador, he was too irritated with what the NCR had done here to react calmly and rationally right now...

"I said stop soldier!" the Ambassador exclaims, causing Boone to go rigid and stop in place. His training having been worked into muscle memory...

Once Boone realises what he'd done he turns around to face Crocker with a scowl, "Tell me... Did you know?" he growls, the tone almost causing Crocker to flinch away.

"Did I know what?" the man asks, not knowing what he was referring to.

Boone takes the badge out of his pocket and displays it to Crocker and incidentally, the crowd behind him. "Did you know that the OSI would come and try to capture Afton? Was this 'Peace Negotiation' just a pretence to pull Afton out of hiding? Was this all just a trap!?" he demands.

Crocker pales slightly at the sight of the badge, and immediately feels the angry, heavy glares on his back. He quickly shakes his head, "Son, I have no idea what you are talking about! I organised this event so both our groups could fight the Legion-"

"It's always that, always for the war effort. It doesn't matter who gets hurt, whether innocents die, as long as 'we' win." he spits and turns around, "We'll see what Afton has to say about our findings, but I can guarantee one thing... The Legion isn't the biggest threat anymore." he says over his shoulder before leaving with Josie.

"Sir, should we stop them?" one of the Rangers ask Crocker, but the Ambassador just quickly shakes his head, "And cause another political incident!? Fuck no, let's return to base and report what just occurred here... I have a few people I need to have some words with." he states.

Elsewhere :

Back at Big Mt, Afton had immediately gotten Mr X restrained and imprisoned under the Think Tank while also seeing to it that Gabe received medical treatment for the injuries he'd received.

Currently, he was tapping his foot impatiently while outside Mr X's cell, Glados and Dr. Dala were collecting genetic materials from what was once his father. Of course, they were doing this via remotely controlled robots, as even if they kept all of it's limbs severed via chemical burns, temperature burns, and physical obstruction to the wounds, it was still possible that could regenerate and attack.

It didn't matter that this would make finding out just what'd happened to his father take longer to accomplish, risking Dala's life would be far too risky. Even if you disregarded her extensive knowledge and expertise, the other members of the Think Tank would take her death extremely poorly. Though, this was more due to concerns for their own safety than any companionship.

The only 'good' thing about Mr X's regenerative was the fact they could take as many samples as they wished without the risk of killing it. Even brain biopsies were easy procedures as the taken organ would just quickly grow back.