Fallout, Second Life Chapter 309 309

The waiting room of the office had a few toys, a few magazines and books, and even a computer with a holotape ga. Honestly, The Gunners apparently spared no expense when it ca to ensuring their potential clients were well cared for.

Adam and the group waited around for about two hours. Eve and Mira chatted while Deccanus got antsy and left the building to walk around outside. Rae was justin chilling in the corner of the room staring at the sa painting for the last two hours. Whilst Adam spent his ti just reading. A rare mont of pure calm in the sea of busy work he had been involved in the past few days. The book itself was not terribly interesting. It was a historical fiction. A story about a world where nuclear power did not take off as much, the political landscape looked very different, and humanity never invented robots. The strangest thing about this retelling? They had phones that could fit into their pockets! With interactive screens too! It could even connect to a global intranet that crossed country borders. Wild, and totally made up. Besides, technology can't get that small, the amount of vacuum tubes you'd need would be incomparable. But it was a fun diversion for the ti he had to wait anyway.

It was a bit annoying that the Colonel was not here, but that's the nature of the world. In the old world he would have called ahead to make sure that he could make an appointnt, here there was no such thing. So he waited.

After enough ti passed the Colonel arrived, n in tow. They had clearly just co back from so fight, judging by the leg injury on one of his n and the debris that still covered so of their uniforms, but other than the leg wound they looked uninjured, so clearly they won.

"Adam." Col. Harrison said with a nod to him as he walked by.

"Colonel." Adam said back, respectfully.

"Give a few minutes to put my gear down, then we can have a chat."

"Understood, I'll be here."

The Colonel then disappeared deeper into the building with the rest of his n and did not co out for another 15 minutes. However, eventually he did, now wearing a well ironed military uniform, not too dissimilar to the one Adam has and then walked right over.

"Co with , we can take one of the conference rooms, I'm sure you have sothing interesting to say." He said, not dropping the professionalism on his tone as he did.

"Alright, lead the way." Adam said back with a polite smile as he got up to follow, along with everyone else.

He led them down a hall that passed by the front desk, where the lieutenant was still working. Eventually they entered what seed to be a mostly unaltered conference room for bank employees where, once inside, Colonel Harrison took a seat at the end of the table and gestured for the rest of Adam's party to sit too.

"Now, how can The Gunners help you today?" He asked as he folded his hands over in front of him, staring Adam down.

"I ca here to hire you and your n. I will cut to the chase. I want to end the horsen issue that has been plaguing Chicago."

"Thats a tall order." Harrison said as he leaned back in his chair just a bit. "I do not have the manpower to solve that issue alone. However I doubt you ca with such a request without a plan." He said, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"Correct." Adam said before taking a slow deep breath. "Tomorrow I will be eting with War's army at a specific location, in addition there will be a handful of other rcenaries. The plan will be to use this army to stage a large attack on the cult's base and strike them when their forces are spread all over Chicago, giving us a chance to cut the head off this snake and kill their leaders."

"So, you want to hire the Gunners to take part in this attack?" Harrison asked, patiently.

"Well yes… and no…" Adam returned hesitantly. Harrison tilted his head a bit and waited for Adam to explain. anwhile Adam was debating how much to share of the full plan. He needed the Colonel to act a certain way, if they were too effective, it might not go the way he wanted, but he couldn't explain that without explaining why. "How… seriously do you take secrecy and discretion?" Adam asked slowly.

"We are professionals, Adam. We don't ask questions, we just handle the mission we are assigned. If the client pays out well, we will take the secret to our grave. I told you before; The Gunner's motto is: Take no prisoners, beco no one's prisoner." Adam nodded slowly and then sighed softly.

"The truth is, Colonel, I want War's forces to be equally wiped out in this fight. Half the reason I planned this attack the way I have is to get rid of both problems at once. Neither force is good for Chicago. I have spoken with War personally. He is um… crazy…" Adam said, letting that thought sit in the air. "He is certainly better than the cult, but I would feel a lot better when he and his n are gone too." The Colonel nodded slowly.

"So you want to limit our combat effectiveness." He said in understanding.

"I want you to maximize War's casualties while minimizing our own. Perhaps that ans keeping your n on rear duty, or using them to bodyguard and my friends. But I want to hire you to ensure that this mission succeeds if War's forces prove to be incapable of handling it alone." There is a long mont of silence as Harrison takes this in before he finally speaks again.

"I see." He said simply after so ti. "The Gunners never turn down a reasonable contract, and yours does qualify. Even if it is a bit more challenging with the unusual stipulations." He paused to consider. "I can lend you my n for the duration of your engagent until the contract is satisfied at a total of 4000 caps." It was now Adam's turn to pause and consider.

Ultimately the Gunners were not just a random group of ragtag fighters. They are a professional army in a way. Probably one of the few left in the wasteland. He had previously paid 3000 caps to the Demon Klan for joining the battle against famine, and they were nothing more than violent wasteland raiders. Of course it was not specifically to hire them but it worked out that way regardless. For an additional 1000 caps on top he could hire a PMC. It was pricey, just like he thought it would be, but it was worth it. Especially if he wanted to minimize risks.

"Alright, Agreed." Adam nodded.

"We take 20% of the commission up front." Harrison said back without blinking. Adam let off a soft chuckle and then reached into his bag, taking out 800 caps worth of Midway slips.

"800 caps then." Adam said as he got up to hand the money over to the Colonel. He quickly looked at it, and then put it in his pocket.

"The Gunners are at your disposal." He said as he stood up and offered Adam his hand. Adam took it and shook it.

"I told you I might end up hiring you one day." Adam said with a friendly smile and tone.

"It seems you were right." The Colonel said back, rather mirthlessly but still polite.