Steel Waste

Unfortunately, whether it was by its previous inhabitants or the criminals, the Hotel seemed to have been picked clean. Afton was beginning to feel a bit put out for spending so much time here, that was before he discovered something buried under a pile of trash... An underground safe.

"Karl! Come check this out." he calls, not knowing anything about how to picklock a door, let alone a safe.​​

The former-ranger walks over and start rubbing his beard when he sees the safe. "Hm, that looks to be a difficult one... Not much of a lockpick myself but I'll give it a go." he says, getting on the floor and placing his ear to the safe while turning the dial.

Afton didn't really know what he was doing, was he just listening for an indication of the correct point? Shaking his head, whatever it is, he wondered if he could be taught by Karl.

*Click!*

The safe door jolted slightly, releasing dust as Karl pulled it open, revealing the goodies inside. Afton crouches down and examines them... A pile of caps, some sort of modified revolver, a book... He pulls out the revolver and examines it, its a .357 revolver with a long barrel and black metal that was decorated with gold etchings, the handle of which was some sort of polished ivory, with a black clover marked on it.

On the ejector tube "Lucky" was inlaid, perhaps the name of the weapon? He used his Pipboy to check it and was surprised to see that yes, it was indeed called Lucky.

[Lucky] :

Strength req : 3

Dmg : 30

Crit dmg : 30

Crit mult : x2.5

AP : 17

Weight : 2.5

Value : 2500

This was an incredible weapon, though, his luck stat meant that it would never reach its full potential in his hands. It essentially doubled your crit chance when you used it and had a higher base damage than the usual .357 revolver, and that's not even mentioning the reduced AP cost to fire.

[.357 Revolver] :

Strenth req : 3

Dmg : 26

Crit dmg : 26

Crit mult : x1

AP : 26

Weight : 2

Value : 110

He immediately holstered it, Karl had his own .44 and didn't mind letting Afton have the gun, especially after the skill he displayed earlier. Afton was looking forward to testing his new weapon out.

They split the caps which ended up being around 200 each, and after picked up the book with some cloth... He could already tell that this was a skillbook, and didn't want to shock Karl by turning it to dust with his touch.

He put the book in his satchel and stood back up, "I don't know about you, but this weapon alone makes this all worth it."

Karl huffs, "Yeah, yeah. Let's hope our fights always turn out like this, need'ta remember one shot to the dome is all it takes."

Afton grumbles in acceptance, he knew the man was right... Atleast, he was until he got his hands on some Power Armour. Then he didn't think anyone could lay a hand on him in the wasteland, he wondered how powerful he'd be at max level, maybe he could take down the NCR on his own? He smirked at the thought.

The duo leaves the building, Afton with his new distinct weapon holstered. He was quite the figure, covered in blood and carrying a huge flame thrower, all the while a huge grin on his face.

They knocked a couple times on the casino doors and stepped inside, immediately the place went silent when the occupants saw them.

"What? No medals?" Afton jokes, vaguely recalling the scene in Starwars.

...

"Best you put down that weapon son, seems like they're about to piss themselves." Karl says, causing Afton to drop the heavy flame thrower on the floor with a loud *Clank!*.

Johnson walks up to them from the group with Beagle at his side, "So, you two're still alive huh?"

Afton raises a brow, "You say that like its a bad thing." he states, beginning to get irritated by the old man's attitude.

Johnson shakes his head and extend a hand, "No, just surprised is all... I'd like to thank you on behalf of us all for what you've done today... Didn't think it was possible until Deputy Beagle told us what went down... I have to ask, did you really take down the whole group with just a revolver?"

...

Afton can't help but snort, he breaks into laughter upon hearing this, figures Beagle would lie through he teeth about them to get in their good books. Or maybe he just had no clue on what actually went down? He continues to laugh for a moment before wiping his eye with a finger, "Sorry, just didn't expect to hear that."

"Hm, yeah, Deputy Beagle told us all about how you three valiantly fought them off. How Beagle managed to escape his capture just as you arrived." Johnson continues.

...

Both Afton and Karl send a glance to Beagle who sheepishly looks away, clearly he was trying to save his reputation. If people heard the coward had to be threatened to stay and fight with them he'd be tossed outta town like a sick stray.

"Well, you guys are free to do whatever you want now, I'd suggest staying here while the NCR removes the traps and mines the cons had placed around the town, but if you don't mind losing limbs then go ahead... by the way, anyone here a trader?" he asks, a woman in the back nodding.

"I'll sell you this and all its ammo for 300 caps." Afton states while gesturing towards the Incinerator... It wasn't in its best condition and due to the rarity of the ammunition and difficulty of use, most couldn't even use it.

The woman quickly nods and scrambles to get the caps together, she must've thought this was an amazing deal. Sure, she was getting a small discount on behalf of the fact he wanted to immediately get moving, but he doubted she'd be able to sell it off anywhere... Especially with how heavy and unwieldy it was to carry.