Chapter 12 -Van Graffs

After accepting the job, the ranger alongside his men escorted us inside the outpost. Thankfully, Vito was already used to getting some weird looks from the people, so it wasn't a problem for him, however, I, on the other hand, felt strange being glanced at by tens of people, just because my friend was green. Even though most of the NCR troopers and merchants in the outpost gave us those looks, Ranger Jackson told us that everything was alright and that we can look around the camp, especially if we want to buy something from those merchants that are stuck in this place. Sadly these poor souls didn't have many things to be sold, after all, they had to use most of their supplies to live since the NCR was quite adamant about letting them leave through an ant nest.

Just as we were about to depart, a man, wearing some shady-looking clothes called us, well he called Vito.

"Hey there. Mr. Green mutant, do you fancy some not-so-legal stuff? "

"What do you mean by that, my good man?"

"Well, sir, you see, I'm part of a rather, how to say it… a group that isn't exactly loved by the NCR thanks to what we are selling and who are our customers. Regardless of that, we, the Van Graffs are more than happy to satisfy all kinds of people, as long as they can pay. So, what do you say sir?"

Rather than answering the man, Vito looked at me, after all, I was the wealthier one between the two of us. While he had some caps saved for rainy days, it wasn't near the amount of caps I got after repairing all of the guns back in the police station.

"Sorry to interrupt you sir, but what kind of goods does your employer sell?"

"Hmm, let's see, I take it you aren't from the republic."

"You are correct, sir."

"Well, then, since you don't know about us let me share a little bit of information free of charge since most people already know this. The Van Graff merchant house is a family business, and our matriarch that resides in Redding handles all of the major decisions. Thanks to her beauty and popularity amongst people alongside her long-term growth, policies have turned our family, the Van Graffs into a true powerhouse, one that will always be against oppression. Our bosses, the matriarch's ten children are managers and enforcers of the crucial branches of this mercantile empire, such as the Silver Rush in Freeside. However, please don't believe that they could ever do something without approval, after all, the mother usually has the final say when it comes to large-scale deals, such as dealing with energy weapons traded in bulk. While some of her more rebellious children might do some deals without her consent, those deals are rare, however, if they succeed, the matriarch, most of the time would simply scold them before letting them do their job. While we do have some people that are good at killing, most of the time, our family relies on mercenaries to protect our operations and ensure smooth deals with most of our clients. The NCR consider us thugs, the well-armed and well-armored men that are there to deter thieves and catch those who are foolish enough to try their luck, but please be assured that we aren't like that. We are people trying to run a business against all odds."

That…was interesting, to say the least. It seems that the NCR has more enemies than what they say in their propaganda machine, then again why would they tell you the truth, even more so when they are at war with Caesar's legion, as well as the Brotherhood of steel. If we are to truly become a powerhouse, we might need their help, after all, we could control the market together, depending on how the matriarch reacts to us, once we become somewhat known.

"Thank you for letting me learn something about your family."

"No problem at all. So, now that you learned who I work for, what do you say?"

"I have some caps so might as well get something good for me, right?"

"Of course sir. While I do not have a lot of things on me, thanks to those bloody idiots, I managed to hide a few good weapons alongside the scrap that neither one of us have any use for. So if you want it, I can sell it to you for fifty caps, if you buy something at the same time."

In all honesty, the man didn't have that many things left, and while those guns did look quite good, both Vito and I had an assault rifle, for now, that was more than enough for us. Skipping the weapons, I took a look at the other things he had, in particular at the scrap as he call it. The scrap in question didn't exactly scarp, instead, it was an energy pistol that had seen better days, missing a few pieces, nothing that can't be repaired with the help of my ability. The other things that were in the scrap pile, were pieces of energy weapons. For the Van Graffs, these might be trash, but for me, this was a treasure trove, so without further ado, I bought two fragmentation grenades, some energy cells, and the scrap pile for 420 caps, leaving me with a little more than 300 and something caps. While it was quite pricey, it was for a good cause. Vito also bit the bullet and bought a fragmentation grenade as well, as some military-grade bullets, that kind that can pierce combat armor, just in case we might stumble against something hard to kill down in the nest.

Neither one of us had any idea how long it would take us to clear the nest or if we could even clear that place, but despite that, we might as well give it a try. Worst case, we might have to use the good old fire to torch everything down there, of course with the help of the NCR, meaning that we might not get any caps for that, but it would definitely raise our reputation with them.

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