"Alright, since everybody's here, this mission can commence. Captain, I'll be giving you orders on the radio, and agents, you can tune into my frequency at 100.7."
Charles observed the group with him. They had the four NCR soldiers with their service rifles and 9mm pistols, Securitrons, and EONV agents. He was surprised to see Theodore James back with them, considering his whole previous squad had died. He realized this might be the guy's reputation, and perhaps he didn't have many options without a squad and he was carrying the same gear he had when he was with Charles at Benver, a laser rifle, a 10mm pistol and the freeside agent standardized combat knife.
After everything was settled, they set off.
Not much had changed in Freeside, which was still relatively quiet, but the Strip had more people on the streets, mostly locals and not newcomers.
While walking to Benver, Charles said to Theodore, "Funny how you're back, Sergeant, considering you were with us last time. Is Ashley twisting your balls here?"
"Well, sir, when you reach a point where you're as experienced as me, you've seen a lot. All these kids think being an agent is some noble cause, but they don't realize the danger of it. The last squad paid the price for it. The reason I've survived is experience, and if the Commander gives me an order to help you, sir, then I will follow it because this is the only life I have and was rightfully given by you guys."
Once they reached Benver, Captain Brown said, "Alright, Securitrons, go to Holventien to cause a distraction."
When the Securitrons didn't respond for a few seconds, Charles said, "Things usually only respond to my orders. Alright, Securitrons, go to Holventien and distract them as long as you can."
The Securitrons rolled off by themselves, and then the group continued with the captain saying, "Got the sewer area on your Pip-Boy map?"
"Yup, just follow me. It should be correct unless the colonel's got the wrong coordinates."
While looking at his Pip-Boy map, he followed the location to the sewer.
Walking to Benver he noticed it was rather busy compared to the streets in outer and inner Freeside, with Securitrons and NCR soldiers still trying to preserve order.
Once they reached the sewer, Charles said, "Alright, this should be the area."
The captain opened the grate in one of the alleyways. Noticing some onlookers, they quickly descended into the sewer and closed the grate behind them.
Inside, sewer water seeped through their shoes and dripped from the ceiling. Most of the group had head protection, except for Karl, Joseph, and Theodore.
Charles followed the map to the sewer in Holventien. It was dark, so he turned on his Pip-Boy flashlight. Everyone's face showed disgust, but no one spoke until Joseph said, "Damn, this place makes me want to go back to the Atomic Wrangler. I'd rather eat an irradiated mole rat and throw up than stay here another minute."
Charles had been feeling terrible all morning, and the sewer made it worse. He couldn't take it any longer and threw up in the sewer water. The group stepped back.
One of the NCR soldiers handed him a napkin from her kit. She said, "We seriously have to deal with this, Captain?"
"Lieutenant?" Captain Brown raised his eyebrows, and the lieutenant fell silent.
After cleaning himself up, Charles said, "Your colonel trusts me with this mission, so let's get on with it."
The captain replied, "Yes, sir. Sorry for the lieutenant's comments. Now lead the way."
Throwing the napkin on the ground, Charles continued.
Once they reached the sewer grate to Holventien, Charles said, "Well, this should be the correct grate."
The captain used his radio and said, "Alright, Colonel, we're in the sewer at Holventien. Orders?"
"Orders are the same: get in the town and kill the leader of the Iron Gang. For future reference, just call him Butcher."
Turning off the radio, the captain said, "Alright, this operation is now up to our discretion. Someone needs to climb the ladder and peek out of the grate."
"I might as well do it, considering I'm wearing the lightest armor," said Theodore.
Theodore, clad in light leather armor, would make the least noise while investigating but the armor provided him with the least protection. He climbed the railing, peeked out briefly, then closed the grate and reported, "A few people on the streets, but it's an alley, so we might maintain some anonymity despite our noticeable outfits and faces. I also saw a gas leak from a vehicle across the street. If we want to cause a distraction, we can use Karl's cig to start a small fire, buying us time to find the leader, even if we don't exactly blend in."
"Alright, that sounds smart, hopefully the securitrons can distract them long enough and also we can't do anything about the uniforms; regulations and all," said the lieutenant.
Then once everybody got out of the sewer, Joseph said, "Wasn't expecting this to be a covert mission. I wish we would've gotten some suppressors."
"The securitrons should be an adequate distraction though," said Karl.
"Yeah, and we don't know how much time we have, so you see that gas leak across with the vehicle? That's what I'm talking about, we use Karl's cigarette and cause an explosion to distract them and buy us some time" said Theodore.
"I think we could use my lighter instead. You know, better range and will cause a bigger explosion," said Karl.
"Yeah, that's probably a better idea. Just retain anonymity," said the Captain.
"Yeah, I've got this," said Karl.
With the group trying to blend in the alley, Karl walked across the street. There were some people, but they didn't notice him. With a cigarette in his mouth, Karl held the lighter. Then, walking near the gas leak, he checked for anybody watching. The moment everyone's eyes were distracted, he threw the lighter and moved.
The group followed Karl while everyone was distracted. The rest of the street was mostly abandoned, which Charles assumed was due to the fire and the securitrons at the front gate.
Karl led them to another alley, and once they all regrouped, he said, "Alright, we can't exactly be roaming these streets. Do you guys have any idea where we can hole up for a bit until night?"
"See those townhouses there? We can try knocking into one of the houses to hole up and buy time," said the Lieutenant.
"And if they aren't there or don't allow us?" said the Lieutenant.
"Well, if that's the case, force may be required," Charles said while cocking the hammer of his revolver.
"That goes against everything the NCR stands for," said the Lieutenant with passion.
"Lieutenant Cromwell, you're on a covert mission to assassinate the Iron Gang, so you can throw all the rules out the window," said the Captain.
"But Captain…" said the Lieutenant.
"No buts," said the Captain. "Anyways, if anybody else has any further suggestions, I'm fine with it."
"Yeah, let's do that. Let's just hope we won't have to force ourselves in," said Karl.
"Come on, where's the fun in that Karl?" said Joseph.
"You can have fun when you get me another lighter, fucker," said Karl sarcastically.
The soldiers rolled their eyes, but with Charles leading, they tried to find a house to knock on.
Charles picked a seemingly random house that wasn't the closest to him.
Then Joseph said, "Couldn't have picked a closer one, Charles?"
"I said random, right? Now fuck off," Charles replied sarcastically.
Charles knocked on the door, and the person who opened it was a man wearing a plain shirt. He had light brown hair, neon blue eyes, and a light complexion and then said
"New Vegas and NCR fuckers, huh?" Hugo said, pulling out a pistol. "What do you want before I start shooting?"
The group started to pull out their weapons, but Charles stopped them, saying, "Listen, you're outmatched. Our weapons are down, and we come in peace, so let us in."
"Fine, get the fuck in, but know that I ain't doing this from the goodness of my heart."
Inside, the house was cluttered with typical appliances. Charles noticed a snowglobe on the table and commented, "Nice snowglobe. How much are you willing to take for it?"
"Don't push your luck. Anyways, I'm Hugo, and I know who you people are—New Vegas and NCR hacks. Looks like you guys want to talk, but I'm only talking with the boss, not any of you NCR bastards."
"Well, that would be me," Charles said.
"Alright, follow me," Hugo said.
Hugo led Charles to a private room which contained his bed and he closed the door behind them.
Hugo then said, "They know about me?"
"Why would I break protocol? You're an IONV agent."
"Alright, just making sure, Charles. Anyways, I've already planned a meeting at Dan's base of operations. It's at 8 PM."
"Dan? And 8 PM is perfect," said Charles.
"Good. The leader of the Iron Gang. Not many people know his name, but all those months of gaining his trust paid off."
"Alright, and is anybody else gonna be at this meeting with Dan?"
"Yeah, so you gotta go in guns blazing. I didn't tell them that the leader of the EONV or NCR soldiers would be there to meet him."
"Alright, well, that's pretty much all except I wasn't lying about the snowglobe, Jack. I'll need that."
"Doesn't policy say you can't use real names? Whatever. You can take the snowglobe. But before that, I have one question. I heard Walter was here and helped you guys out in Benver. Know anything about that?"
"Yeah, he helped us. Now he's dead. What's it to you?"
"He's dead? Shit. He was my father. Charles never liked him, but he was still family," said Jack loudly.
"That guy was your father? He said he was a hunter, not a brahmin baron like you told us."
"He was a brahmin baron, but Hurricane Heck stole his business. Why else do you think I'd be in New Vegas and not the NCR?"
"He wanted to kill Heck. That's why he died, but he succeeded."
"Shit. I'm not gonna lay down any tears for you, Charles. I have a job to do, but that sucks. What about my mother?"
"Talked to her. She's probably somewhere in Benver. Don't know if she knows her husband is dead. Word travels slow."
"You should've told her, Charles, but I get you have a job to do. Anyways, you may think I feel like shit after my father's death, but I have an agent, and I have a job to do, so I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"All right, well, that's all and dandy, but I gotta explain this to the group without divulging your role as an IONV agent, so let's go. Follow me," said Charles.
Once opening the door and then leaving the room, Charles said, "Alright, so Hugo here is a high-ranking Iron Gang official. We can accompany him with our guns. Doesn't matter if anyone gets suspicious. We know nobody will be shooting at us on the street with a high-ranking official at our side. Then once we reach the Iron Gang leader's base of operations, whose name is Dan, we just start shooting. Also, I've decided it's best to do this job at 8 PM. Anybody got objections?"
"Yeah, this reeks of a trap to me," said the Captain, with the Lieutenant nodding.
Then Hugo said, "You could kill me any second I try to do anything funny, and plus, what choice do you have?"
"Alright, I got mixed feelings about this. I'm gonna radio Colonel Moore to get her thoughts on this," said the Captain.
Once he radioed Colonel Moore, the Captain said, "So, Colonel, we got this guy we found, a high-ranking official with the Iron Gang, and he can get us to meet the leader of the Iron Gang. Think it's worth following him?"
"If that's the best option you have, then I'd go for it. You can't be running around the streets without a high contact."
"Also, we'll be doing this at around 8 PM. How are the securitrons holding up?"
"Reports say they're fine, just a standoff out there just don't take all day," said Colonel Moore.
After that conversation, the Captain said, "Alright, I'll do it."