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Update 14 ? In the Service of the King
Sooo the implants last update cost a lot of money.
But Fiends tend to run around with these, plasma rifles, and laser RCWs at decent levels so you should never be hurting for caps.
Here we are, just a bit south of Freeside's east gate.
The Gun Runner kiosk, home to weapons. This Vendortron was put there, then they built the shack around it.
Oh my. Would you look at what GRA adds 
Note that you have to buy the one that says (GRA) next to it or it won't accept upgrades.
Fallout 2 players will fondly remember just ruining guys with one of these.
We also pick up some new armor. This is probably going to be our last stop before full power armor.
Courier's Guns and Strength are both too low to use this effectively but that'll change over time. Just you wait.
This gun can wreck. Someone's. Shit. Then again, they're for destroying equipment and non or lightly armored vehicles at long range so that's about what you'd expect if you turn it on a meatbag at a few hundred feet.
However, let's go see the King.
Yes, I'd like to see the King if possible.
Anything's possible, I suppose. How much is it worth to you to meet the big man?
Head on through. The King's the bored-looking guy by the stage. Can't fuckin miss him.
I like the Kings. I like how they came to be. More on that towards the end when I actually talk to the King about how he founded the Kings.
If you paid off Pacer, the King will refund you. Good guy.
Maybe so. Maybe so. You look like you might be able to handle yourself. Tell you what. You do me a favor, and i'll have some more work for you when it's done. Sound good?
What do you need me to do?
I'll start you off with something easy. Did you notice the bodyguards for hire near the gates when you entered Freeside?
No, I must have missed them.
It's good money if you can stay alive long enough. Freeside's not as safe as it used to be, so the money is well earned.
He's making a killing in repeat business. Once someone hires him they never want anyone else. I want you to find out why. Specifically, I want you to hire him. Play the part of an innocent tourist and follow his lead.
If nothing happens, so be it. But I'm guessing things won't go so smoothly. Call it a hunch. So what do you say?
Sure.
Okay, then. Once you part ways, return here. I'll look forward to hearing your report. Oh, and take this to cover the hiring cost.
This time, the King needing the Courier (or at least someone, y'know, not a King) makes sense. Sometimes you need a stranger.
Also I got a screenshot of some gossip happening about us. It really is a big deal that anybody went into the damn Lucky 38.
Here's Orris ? he stands by Freeside's NORTH gate, which is why we didn't see him ? we went in the east gate since that's where the road gets you first. Probably my biggest problem with this quest ? looking at a map, you can tell which gate the player is probably going to find first. Why place this guy somewhere the player is distinctly less likely to go in their first time?
How much for your services?
Two hundred caps gets you my wathcful eye for a trip to the south gate.
Okay, I'll hire you.
We'll be heading down the main street here the whole way down. No detours. You go off sightseeing and I go off to find another customer. I'll keep a brisk pace, so try not to fall behind. Now let's head out.
Orris doesn't fuck around once you pay him ? he's off running.
He does keep a running commentary/tour thing going which is somewhat useful to a new player who would happen to come in the north gate (and hire him for some reason I guess). It also makes this not a complete boring just-follow-a-guy sequence.
Run on in by the Kings' base...
Detour down this alley.
A little down the alley, he just sprints off.
He runs up to these guys and starts shooting.
Or, you just faked this whole thing to drum up repeat business.
That's an interesting theory you've got there. I'd suggest you keep it to yourself. Let's get moving.
After you.
We have enough Medicine to make this check, too.
Let's go report to the King.
It's evening, so he and Rex are upstairs on the third floor in the Kings' room. Swanky.
Orris is a fraud. He fakes attacks on his clients and then plays hero.
So that's how it happens... Okay, then. I'll have some guys pull him off the street when no one's looking. You've shown me something, so maybe you can help me with a matter that's a little more important.
In turn the newcomers, most of whom come from the NCR, have gotten ornery from being resented. Sometimes things get violent. This is one of those occasions. Recently, a few friends of mine were attacked, and I want you to find out who did it.
I'll head over right away.
Good. I like that enthusiasm. Return when you have some information we can use.
I'll get riiiight on that just as soon as I finish the debt collecting quest because nothing beats a quest that likes to get bugged beyond completion
I was hired by the Garrets to track you down.
In that case, I suppose you're here to collect. I apologize, but I simply do not have enough caps on me to cover the debt. If someone were to recover my caravan from that cave, I could easily pay in full, but who would bother with such a mess?
I could retrieve the caps from your caravan.
Oh I assure you, sir, they are very real and very large. Please do be careful. I will be returning to California to start anew. If anything is left of the caravan, please keep it as a show of thanks for your kindness.
I got a bad feeling
See, the dead brahmin should be just about right where Courier is standing. But entering the cave beforehand, say, because you want Ratslayer, will cause the thing to never spawn.
So unless you're among the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race, you're fucked.
If you are, well, you still have to kill the damn thing yourself because it doesn't spawn dead 
Anyway, we have the money and doing it that way makes it spawn in correctly. We get back to Francine, and she is pissed because her old bounty hunter just skipped off with her money.
You'll find Caleb just kinda standing outside of Gomorrah doing nothing. He actually does this earlier, but the difference now is that we can talk to him!
We are in every way better equipped so he goes down. Go back to Francine, give her Caleb's hat...
And we have shitty room number whatever we're on now and some Freeside fame. Cool?
Anyways, let's go talk to the King's friends.
First problem: really wish they'd looked different from random hobo jackoffs. Oh well, quest pointer to the rescue I guess 
The King asked me to look into your attack.
Oh. That's different then. How can I help? I'll do anything to get the bastards that did this.
What can you tell me about the attack?
Well, it happened at night. Around eleven. We had recently made some caps off a bit of scrap we found, and wanted to invest it wisely. As we were leaving the Wrangler, we must've taken a wrong turn, and ended up in the Squatter side of town.
The kid there's about as proud as a local around here gets, and started yelling back at them. Then all hell broke loose. Kid got the worst of it, sad to say.
Do you remember anything about the people who attacked you?
They were big guys. Young, too. No old geezers like me. Hell, none of them looked even half my age.
I have to get going.
I hope you find the bastards that did this. If you want, try asking my friend Wayne over there about them. He saw more than I did.
Wayne, it's okay. The King sent 'em.
He did. And anything you could tell me about what happened might help.
I don't really know what else I can add. They were a bunch of guys. Better dressed than most Freesiders, I guess. That help?
Every bit helps. Thanks.
Sorry I couldn't help more, especially since you're being so nice.
We had just about had it when one of them said "Hey Lou, we gotta go." At least I think he said Lou. It might have been something else.
He probably said "liutenant", Wayne.
Well, sounds like the NCR military, or at least some ex-military types are to blame. TO THE KING
The local men were attacked by soldiers. One of the men was identified by rank.
Bunch of soldier boys, huh? They usually don't come around these parts since their big base is on the other side of the Strip.
If they're comin' over here now, it's got to be for a reason. I didn't want to believe the rumors that they're looking to take over Vegas, but now...
You might also mosey on over to the Mormon Fort and chat Julie Farkas up. The Followers tend to be in the know about these things.
Let's do it!
Only a little. A friend of mine, Major Elizabeth Kieran, has been handing out supplies to the poor a little west of here. What about it?
Can you tell me anything else about them?
I know something's got them riled up, but I've been too busy with other matters to really look into it. If you're looking into the matter, talk to Elizabeth. She's in charge of operations here in Freeside, though she won't open up to you right away.
Interesting! Now we just need to know exactly where to go. Let's poke around in the squatter camps.
This guy looks promising.
I sure am.
I don't think the answers (except the last one) are really in-game anywhere! You would just have to be lucky, savescum, or be a previous game player with the knowledge of many lifetimes in the Wastes 
Tandy.
Shady Sands.
A two headed bear.
Hey, it's like, the only other thing in this section of Freeside.
Hope.
Are you with the NCR military?
Yes, I'm a major in the supply corps, which is where this food and water comes from.
Do you serve food to Locals as well?
No, I'm afraid we don't. Do you have a friend you wanted to bring in?
Yes, but I was afraid he wouldn't get served.
Why don't you serve locals?
That's not really a pleasant topic of conversation. Let's just say we have our reasons.
Julie Farkas told me to ask. She said it was important.
If you really want to know, we sent an envoy to the King offering to coordinate the relief effort.
And the King refused?
I got clearance to carry out the mission anyway, but with greatly reduced support. Now there's not enough supplies to go around even if I wanted to serve the rest of Freeside, which I don't. But that's all in the past now. I should get back to work. Say hi to Julie for me.
Well that's odd. Seems unlike the King we've talked to so far to beat the hell out of someone who wanted to talk.
That's bullshit, and it's nothing to bother the King with. More like they sent someone to spy on us and he wasn't tough enough to last in Freeside. So do everyone a favor and keep your mouth shut about it, okay?
I still think he should know about it.
Pacer runs out. Suspicious motherfucker.
The NCR is distributing supplies in a building down by the old train station.
Handing out supplies? Like food and stuff? That ain't nothing to get ruffled over. You find anything else?
They're only handing out supplies to NCR citizens.
Ah, that would explain the goons. They're here to keep people like my friends away from the food. That ain't something I support. No sir.
They said someone was sent to discuss the issue with you.
They said the man was severely beaten and barely survived.
Huh, that would explain why they're all riled at us. Seems like we have a big misunderst- what the hell?
Goddammit Pacer what the shit
Way to start a fight and get everyone but you killed you loser.
Thankfully they don't shoot the guy who is not holding a weapon (and not wearing a Kings outfit)
The King wants to help with the relief effort.
Like he helped with the envoy we sent? No thanks.
That wasn't him. He didn't even know an envoy was sent.
Then he should watch his back. We know for a fact that the envoy made it to their headquarters.
Looks like you get to be a hero. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Let's report our good work 
You've helped us plenty, so I'll tell you what. Just this once, name whatever you want, and if I can make it happen, it's done. Don't rush it though. Toss it around in your head a little. You only get one favor from The King.
The King can tell Ralph to make you a fake passport, give you 1000 caps, let you into the Kings, or help provide a peaceful solution to a later NCR quest.
Anyway. There are two questions. Burning questions. First up:
Where did you get the robot dog?
He doesn't seem very happy.
He goes through spells like this from time to time. The Followers said his brain is going bad or something.
Can I help somehow?
I don't know. Maybe. If you found a way to help my poor Rex here, I'd be much obliged.
(Rex is one of our potential non-humanoid companions ? you can have one humanoid and one non-humanoid companion. Kind of sad that there's a whole two non-humanoid companions though)
This building is... interesting. What do you know about it?
Oh, I know it says "school" out front, but everything in here seems to be related to the worship of some guy from back in the day.
Tell me more about him.
Not a whole lot to tell. There were only a few books left in here when we found it, and those were rotted away. There were some posters left that were pretty well preserved, which is how we know all this stuff was based on the same guy.
And that's where you got the name from.
Well, that and the giant sign outside. This place could have been "The King's House of Dog Chow" and I still would have taken the name. But I like to think I keep the memory alive.
I like that little Vegas detail. Probably is what an archaeologist would conclude from all the Elvis stuff around Vegas, come to that.