Chapter 528 - Emitting Your Mistakes...

Afton, upon hearing Dean's word releases a long sigh, takes his helmet off and runs a hand through his hair. He looks towards Anja and Christine, both of which were still heavily injured from their recent and not so recent injuries.

The only uninjured people here were Afton, Veronica, and Dean, meaning either Christine of Anja would have to play an active role in this. Though, it'd most likely fall upon Christine, as while she was injured, she could still see and get around on her own.​​

"Would it be possible to repair the cable? We haven't exactly got the best team for something like this, especially with Anja and Christine still being injured." Afton asks.

"I've tried many, many times to repair it, but nothing works... I think it's made of special material or something, definitely not copper." Dean retorts with a shrug before continuing, "As for our numbers, the Puesta del Sol switching station is very secure once you get inside, your friend Christine would be safe while operating it... IF, she can operate it."

Afton and Dean both look towards Christine for an answer, she just gives a confident nod in response. Afton had already expected this, most members of the Brotherhood were required to know a good deal about tech to get any significant position at all.

...

"Hmm... Alright, let's get Christine to the switching station first, then we can think about everything else... But first..." he trails off as he steps towards Christine, hand reaching for her collar.

She allows him to begin fiddling with it, having already trusted him with removing the explosives earlier...

It takes a couple minutes and a bit of trial and error, but eventually, Afton accomplishes what he wanted to do... Nodding to himself, he looks down at his Pipboy and clicks onto the radio tab, selecting the new 'Unknown Broadcast' option.

Once done both his Pipboy and Christine's collar begin emitting audible signals, "Testing, testing, 9 + 10 = 21" he says, and his voice is transmitted from her collar.

Afton grins, "Nice, Christine, now you try-... Fuck, I didn't think this through!" he exclaims, having completely forgotten that Christine literally cannot talk.

She looks amused at this and taps her collar a couple times with a finger, the sound of which is clearly broadcasted.

Afton raises a brow in thought, "Christine, do you remember how to do Morse Code?" he asks as most Brotherhood members are drilled to know it.

Christine shrugs and has a look of concentration overtake her. She taps once on the collar before scowling and shaking her head.

"Hm, guess not... Alright, how about this. Tap once for no and twice for yes, cool?"

Christine nods, tapping twice on her collar.

Afton looks to Dean, "You want the same?" he asks and the ghoul nods.

Ten minutes later and the group is on the move hopping atop rooftops while Veronica assists both Anja and Christine. They slowly make their way to the Puesta del Sol so they can try to find the switching station.

Dean knows around where it is, but isn't completely sure as the last time the Gala was activated it was someone else's responsibility to operate it.

Puesta del Sol itself doesn't look all that different from the other areas of the Sierra Madre Afton had seen, with the only exception being the large amount of Cloud present, and strangely, the lower amount of Ghosts... However, the reason for this quickly becomes clear.

Afton peeks his head over the edge of the rooftop as he looks towards a strange blue glow... The light quickly flashes red however once a Hologram in the distance notices his presence, the Holographic person places both hands on their head as something appears to be charging up.

Afton's danger sense flares and he throws himself backwards just as a large laser flies past where his head had just been. "Well, that clears up the lack of Ghosts... I guess." he mutters before waiting a moment before peaking again and firing a shot from his Anti-Material rifle through the Hologram's head... Which does literally nothing.

It's not like he hadn't expected that, but he wanted to see just how the Holograms worked. The fact that they are completely immune to ballistic weapons was impressive, to say the least. Next, he fires his Sonic Emitter at it, and yet again, the projectile goes through the Hologram without achieving anything aside from making the Hologram flicker slightly.

Afton shrugs upon seeing this and look at the rest of the group, "Well, that's me done, any ideas?"

Dean just stands, aims his revolver for a moment and fires a shot off, hitting the Hologram emitter that's somewhat concealed behind a pillar and causing the Hologram to disappear. "You need to use your eyes, not to bash your skull against a wall until something works."

"You knew where the emitter was beforehand, didn't you." Afton retorts.

"Well, no point destroying them when they get rid of the Ghosts in the area... Hopefully, this will be the last time the Gala Event needs to be started, otherwise, I'll have to fight my way through a hoard of them." Dean states.

Afton nods at this, dealing with the Holograms would probably be easier for most considering all you had to do was avoid the area where their emitter was. Ghosts however would roam around and appear in unexpected places, making the area far more hazardous than usual... After all, a known danger is easier to deal with than an unknown one, even if the Holograms are more lethal in most situations.

Though, something Afton definitely wants to do is to acquire one of the emitters without damaging it. The tech could be analysed back at the Think Tank, Afton could already think of the possibilities of such weapons...

Maybe he could design a drone that flew far above the clouds with many emitters below it... It'd be a mobile immortal army capable of going literally anywhere... Ooh, just the thought was giving him shivers of anticipation.