After the far more emotional conversation with Baxter was done he and his men left the compound shortly after, taking some loot with them as agreed as he did. Now Adam had to settle his debt with the other group of Mercenaries he had hired, and he strongly suspected they would not simply take his good will instead. Luckily he had the caps to pay out now.
"Colonel, how are you feeling?" Adam said as he approached Harrison who was sitting up on a cot that he had taken for the night, reading a book, looking tired, but otherwise fine. However his forehead was heavily bandaged, likely from when he was bashing his head against the wall in his delirium.
"I am well, all things considered." He replied as he bookmarked and then closed the book turning to look at Adam. "I have a battle report, now that things have settled…" Harrison began only for Adam to cut in.
"I'm really very sorry about everything. This battle was for more deadly than even I expected and-"
"You misunderstand." Harrison now cut in himself. "True this battle was costly for us, but we all knew what we were getting into, the price I charged you took that into account. After all, the price can pay for an entire garrison's worth of weapons. Not to mention the loot that is left around here." He paused. "However, what I wanted to say is thank you."
"Thank you?" Adam asked, confused. He was sure that, considering the heavy casualties Harrison might be at least a bit upset, never that he would be thanked.
"After we began to act erratically, one of my men attacked you. You had it well within your power to kill us all." Adam looked shocked.
"I would never do that!" Adam protested. "You were suffering from hallucinations, it was not under your own power! I knew you weren't in control of yourselves."
"Even so, your life was in danger and we were a threat. If I were in your shoes I would have killed us all." Harrison said without batting an eye. "You took a great risk and got us out safely. Regardless of the reasons, I can see the kind of man you are. And I will not forget it."
"I um… thanks?" Adam said, caught on the backfoot by this whole conversation.
"Just know that I can see your character. And you are exactly the kind of man who I thought you were." Harrison continued, unabashedly. Adam cleared his throat, blushing a little, not exactly sure what to say to this so instead he decided to change topics.
"I brought your pay." Adam said as he pulled out 1950 caps, the amount left over when he had paid an advance of 800 and had sold the Gunners the protectron for 1250, which was damaged but in decent condition.
Colonel Harrison took the money, glancing at it for a moment and then put it in his pocket.
"Very good. I consider the contract settled." He said with a nod to Adam, ready to return to his book, however Adam spoke up again before he could.
"Actually, I was wondering if I might be able to make use of your services again, right away?" Adam asked. Colonel Harrison looked confused but seemed willing to entertain the idea, at least.
"As you can see our outfit is quite badly damaged at this time, the number of men I can deploy is few, however, if the details are solid, I can spare some men."
"I actually only need one man, I think." Adam said in response. "You see my home… my… vault… is newly established. Most of those who guard the entrance are just average people who hold weapons. They are not a true fighting force if something goes wrong. I would like it if they had, at least, the bare bones in gun discipline and training so that they can be counted on in a fight. I could train them myself but I am honestly a bit too busy. So I was hoping I could rent one of your men for some time to train up the guards." Adam asked.
He had actually been thinking about this for a while. The moment he saw the guards at the Vault he knew he wanted them to be trained. If, for nothing else, to increase their own likelihood of surviving. Adam had a ton of robots and sentry turrets now and certainly they would make a formidable fighting force if ever there was an issue. However Adam also knew, as someone who worked so closely with robots, that relying solely on a mechanized workforce creates issues. Not least of which is because robots are prone to make otherwise obvious mistakes. They needed a human operator. And if that human operator was armed, standing outside the Vault, on the wall, keeping lookout, they would be a tempting target for anyone passing by. Besides all that, if they were trained well enough, perhaps they could even patrol the area around the vault, or form their own scavenging teams, or any number of other things that can be entrusted to a fighting force. The options were limitless. And, as far as he could see, despite the rough edge that the Gunners had, and their 'take no prisoners' attitude which he was not fond of, the Gunners were an efficient PMC and imparting their skills onto some of the residents of the Vault would be nothing but good.
Of course this came with its own set of dangers, inviting a stranger into the Vault. However, so long as he kept the key, the pip-boys, under lock and key and made sure that the man was not acting out, it should be fine. Besides, one Gunner can't cause too much of an issue. Which is why he specified one man.
Colonel Harrison went quiet for a moment considering his options.
"Admittedly I'm not too fond of handing out our training methods to other factions out in the wasteland."
"Naturally." Adam admitted in response.
"However, considering the kind of man you are, I do not see it posing any problem in the future." He said as he turned to Adam. "I can lend you Lieutenant Paxton, I believe you already know him? He would be a perfect man to go teach your own troops combat survival tactics and gunplay." Adam smiled and nodded.
"How much will it cost? Do you want me to pay a rental fee or…" Adam began only to be stopped by Harrison raising his open palm, signalling Adam to stop.
"You are a robotics expert, yes?" Colonel Harrison asked.
"Well I wouldn't go so far as to say expert…"
"Currently our assaultron is in desperate need of repair, continuous combat has left it worn, and this most recent battle has been unkind to it. Furthermore the protectron we just bought has received battle damage, we can repair the battle damage ourselves, but if you are willing to do a full repair of both those bots for us, I can consider the matter settled and you may borrow Lieutenant Paxton for the duration of his training regime." Adam paused to think. This would add a lot more to his long list of things he had to do. He already had to do a huge number of repairs to his own robots, not to mention the litany of other tasks on his docket. However it seemed a fair compromise. And, as always Adam was keen on making friends, it helped ingratiate himself with the Gunners by solving their robotics issues so he was happy to do it. So after a few moments he nodded.
"Yes, that seems fair. I can bring them with me to the Vault and do all the necessary repairs and fixes alongside my own robots."
"Paxton!" Harrison shouted out towards the door of the room. A few moments later Lieutenant Paxton walked in and stood at attention.
"What is it sir?"
"As of this moment, you are officially on attached duty with Adam Baxter, your orders are to train up the Guards in his home after accompanying him to his Vault. You will stay as long as it takes to complete their training and then return back to base with our robots which Adam will fix up for us." Paxton nodded dutifully.
"Understood, sir." He said with a professional tone.
"Dismissed." Colonel Harrison said to him to which he immediately turned and left once more leaving Adam and him alone. Harrison turned back to look at Adam again. "While he is with your people I expect him to be fed, housed, and given all other basic necessities needed."
"Of course." Adam said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The Colonel looked momentarily suspicious and then sighed.
"Fine. You take care of him then all is well. It has been a pleasure working with you Adam, I hope we get the opportunity to do so in the future." He said as he offered Adam his hand. Adam shook it gladly.
"I hope so too, Colonel."