Chapter 579 - New Reason For Conflict

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

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*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

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*BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP! BEEE-Smack!*

"Fuckin' shut uuup!" Afton suddenly roars as she sits up from his bed, crushing the alarm clock that had been sat on his bedside... He'd only just managed to drift off into sleep, yet half an hour later some stupid fuck was trying to message him or something... HE JUST WANTED TO SLEEP!

*Shrrp!*

A panel in the roof slides away as Glados drone floats down, a vein appears on Afton's forehead but he manages to stifle the urge to smack the robot for interrupting his sleep... "This better be really damn important, Glados."

Glados ignores the threat and continues as she had been, "Creator, the NCR has performed an attack against Novac, killing one person in the process." she states.

...

He crooks a brow at this, "I'm guessing it wasn't an all-out attack then... An assassination?... Who was killed?" he asks, feeling his heart begin to beat faster.

"Subject designated: Daisy Whitman was struck multiple times in the head and other vital areas by ballistic weaponry, most likely sniper rifles." the feminine robots explains as if he hadn't just been informed of a close friend's demise.

...

"She's dead...? But why? She wasn't all that important to Bulwark, nor to Novac..." he mutters, feeling as if this was his fault in some way.

Glados picks up his train of thought and offers her own conclusions, "Perhaps it was due to her being the highest rank person within Novac... The NCR is unaware of Big Mt, so they have no other avenues to retaliate." she states and Afton nods in agreement.

Glados explanation explained a lot, but that still didn't make it any easier to process Daisy's sudden demise... After he'd gotten over the initial shock, he was hit with a wave of anger and indignation, how dare they harm someone he'd personally placed under is protection... IN HIS OWN PROPERTY!?

He jumps out of bed and ignores all the personalities trying to talk to him or catch his attention. He splashes his face with water puts on the Stealth suit, grabs his weapons and marches out of the Think Tank with Glados' drone tailing him.

"Creator, we also have messages from Novac... Subject designated: Arcade Gannon has temporarily taken the mayor position... Would you like to listen to the messages?"

"Yes." he confirms as he continues to the armoury where his Power armour is kept and maintained.

"Affirmative." Glados states before beginning the recorded messages, "*Bzztch!*H-hey, I'm speaking to Afton right?... I hope so... Look, you've probably heard about Daisy, and we're pretty sure it was the NCR that are responsible for it. People in Novac are baying for NCR blood, I've taken the role of Mayor, but I'm barely holding them back from marching towards the nearest NCR encampment...

I'm not even sure if I want to stop them, I wasn't all that close with Daisy, but she was like family... I've managed to make a sort of deal with Novac's angry residents. Said you might accept them, give them training, and place them in your military force to combat the NCR. I don't know if I've overstepped my authority with this, but it was the only way to stop an outright invasion..." Arcade trails off while releasing a long sigh.

"There's also my friend Orion Morino... I don't know where he's gone, but I fear he might be planning something big, the look on his face when Daisy was killed, and the one he had when he left? It didn't promise anything good... You need to watch out for it, not because it's a threat to whatever you've built, but because Morino and Daisy come from very bloody places." he warns.

"When you get the chance, come speak to me in Novac, it'd help sort all of this out a lot... Urgh, honestly, who'd have thought I'd become a leader like this...*Bzztch*" the message ends with Arcade's quiet lamentation.

Afton chews his lip upon hearing this. He was conflicted, if he looked at it from a purely pragmatic point of view, Daisy's death had potentially brought more benefits than her continued existence had. From it, he was getting volunteers for his military, a clear and obvious reason to retaliate against the NCR, and a motivation for his people to fight... Daisy would essentially become a martyr fueling Bulwark's ambitions...

Was he happy that this was the case? No, but he felt conflicted nonetheless. "Glados, have CERR01 speed up our plans..." he says while looking down at his Pipboy map, checking for the closest NCR encampment to Novac.

Obviously, he wouldn't be attacking Helios One anytime soon so he'd have to target the next closest place... Camp Forlorn Hope. He could attack Nelson instead, but that place had basically been abandoned when the Legion retreated from the west side of the Colorado.

Once having decided his plan of action, he puts on his Power armour and heads down to the teleportation array. Once there, he spots a tired-looking Boone standing there already fully armed.

Afton stops and stares at him for a moment, wondering what he's doing here... "I'm guessing you've heard the news then?" he asks and Boone gives a firm nod.

"You're going to retaliate?" he asks as if it were a foregone conclusion.

"Are you going to stop me?" he replies with another question.

...

Boone shakes his head after a moment, "We were friends, me and Daisy. The NCR assassinated her in cold blood, for no reason whatsoever. Any love I had for my country is gone, do what you need to, just try and keep innocents out of it." he solemnly says.

Afton was still confused as to why he'd turned up fully equipped... Had he been expecting a fight? Or did he want Afton to take the sniper along with him?

He watches Boone's back as the sniper leaves, headed straight towards the bar presumably to get shit-faced.

With that, Afton activates the teleporter and leaves with a crack of lightning, not willing to waste any more time without retaliating against the NCR's dishonourable attack.