"So you just entered the building, and then it blew up?" said Ashley.

"That's what happened, so I guess you need to report this back to the NCR now," said Charles.

"Of course, we'll deal with that for sure. But you should take a break, Charles. It looks like you've been through a lot."

"Well, since you seem to have nothing else for me, I guess I will, but I've got one question, how's the NCR faring so far?"
"Right now they're just holding Boulder City, but it's not looking good with the Legion taking Forlorn Hope. At least we're able to get their troops to reinforce without much Freeside resistance, probably because of the Securitrons. But out there, the Fiends and Khans are still a problem. But they'll stop eventually with the NCR soldiers and Securitrons destroying them. But don't think about it too much for now. Like I said, take a break, Charles."
"Yeah, so I guess I'll go now," said Charles.

Then Charles left abruptly and went to the Atomic Wrangler, with the ruins of the Silver Rush still being cleaned up.

Then, once he entered, he found the place mostly empty except for James, who said,

"Need another drink, Charles?"

"Yeah get me the usual, and I'm on break right now after the silver rush situation so I might stay here for a little bit in the usual room."

Then, once he reached the private room, he heard voices inside, so he knocked. When the door opened, he saw it was Karl and Joseph.
And Joseph said,

"Charles, you on break too?"

"Yeah, just here to chill and get a drink."

Then he entered the room and sat down until James brought the drinks and said,

"Well, the situation at Boulder City seems to be more dire."

"Yeah, but at least not much is going on here. Me and Joseph can tell you that from the patrols, but we did see and hear about the Silver Rush being blown up with you near it. But you seem fine, Charles," said Karl.

"Yeah, I was able to get out of its range in time."

"Yeah, that must be why nobody's at the Wrangler at this time. They're all goddamn pussies," said Joseph.
Then they drank in awkward silence for a little while until all of them received a message on their Pip-Boys.
Once they read it, they saw horrific news.

Some of the patrols coming out of Freeside were being attacked by unknown assailants, and they needed to investigate it.

"I thought it was safe. Well, so much for that. Alright, let's go, guys. We knew this would happen sooner or later." said Charles

Then they abruptly left the Atomic Wrangler.

Once they reached outer Freeside, more troops and Securitrons were marching, and soldiers were already dragging bodies out of the front while people watched. When the soldiers saw the EONV, one of them dragging the bodies said,

"We were waiting for you guys. We just saw lasers coming out from the alleyways, checked there, but couldn't find anything. It's just a dead end."
"Alright, we'll check it out," said Charles.

Then, as they headed toward the alley, the soldiers seemed to be marching even faster, but the ones Charles had spoken to, who were dragging the bodies, stayed behind.

Once at the alleyway, the group saw nothing, so Charles said,

"Well, they weren't lying. It's just a dead end, and I see no grate, so it could be a Stealth Boy."

"Yeah, that seems highly likely, especially since the Van Graffs are gone. They could be funding these asshats with Stealth Boys and other weapons." said Karl.
Then Charles saw some burn marks on the ground of the alleyway and said,

"Yeah, definitely a Stealth Boy. See that?" Charles pointed.

"Yup, sure seems like it. Alright, let's go back to those NCR guys," said Joseph.

Then, as they reached the NCR soldier they had spoken to, passing the marching soldiers along the way, Charles said to the NCR soldier,

"Seems like a Stealth Boy. Did you see those burn marks on the alleyway ground?"

"It couldn't be their laser rifles?"

"Yeah, but why would they shoot at the ground in the alley? And how were you not able to see them?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Well, we'll make sure to report back to our superiors."

"And we'll do the same," said Charles.
Then, as they were heading back to the Freeside Security Agency, Charles called Ashley on his Pip-Boy and said,

"Yeah, we checked the place out. They're using Stealth Boys."

"Huh, that must be why they couldn't see them. Well, then we'll need more laser weapons. Why don't you tell your wife to work faster on making more for us, now that our agents can't buy any replacements from the Van Graffs?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure to tell her that. This whole Van Graffs thing is a shitshow, but that's just how it goes around here. But you'll still have replacement weapons, Ash, though they'll have to be ballistic or the laser weapons will come at a higher price."

Then something unexpected happened—Charles saw multiple explosions going off in key buildings across Benver.

As he got closer, he saw many people trying to flee while laser rifles fired, NCR soldiers looked confused, and Securitrons launched random grenades. Once the Stealth boys deactivated, the NCR troops started regaining control.

Hearing the chaos over the line, Ashley asked,

"What was that, Charles?"

"Freeside bastards. I'm going in—call for backup."

With crowds trying to escape at the entrance, Charles announced who they were and ordered them to get out of the way. Most obeyed, relieved when they saw the Freeside gangsters' Stealth Boys deactivate and the NCR and securitrons handling the situation.

Once inside, Charles, Joseph, and Karl eliminated a few stragglers and kept searching for more targets.

They passed many scared civilians, as well as dead NCR troops and Freeside gangsters, but with the situation mostly under control, Charles called Iris and said,

"Well, the situation in Benver has mostly subsided for now."

"Well, you're not gonna like this, Charles, but they're still attacking our patrols marching out of Freeside, and we still don't know where they are."

"It has to be Old Mormon Fort, then. They have to be sneaking in there since it's so close," Charles said.

"Wait, but what about Lois? She would have known about this. Let's talk to her before we do anything hasty," said Joseph.

"We can talk to her there. The Legion-funded Freeside gangsters won't win," said Charles.

"Legion-funded? You think?" asked Iris.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. Why else would they impede our efforts here? They must have made a deal with the Legion to keep Freeside nominally independent. And those Van Graffs think they can make a buck off this and remain independent—just like their farmers. Well, we'll show them whether it was worth it or not. Let's go, guys. The Freeside agents and NCR can deal with this mess," said Charles.