"Now before you say no, hear me out." She said, preempting Adam's questions and concerns first. "The place is not a military base or anything like that. After the bombs fell survivors of the US military formed together around an old brewery. From what I've heard they turned it into a military HQ for a year before they were eventually overrun by the survivors who were trying to raid them for supplies and food. The people didn't make it too far inside but they surrounded the building and starved the soldiers out." She paused.
"Of course this is a story from over 200 years ago, so I don't know the truth of it. But suffice it to say it's a brewery not a high tech military compound."
"So then why are you asking me to do it? If it's just a brewery?"
"That's because…" She paused. "There are still active defenses there…"
"Ah." Adam said pensively. He understood what that meant. They had turned into a fully functional FOB in all likelihood. Turning it into a real HQ after the bombs fell would have been impossible, but a base, sure.
It probably had at least two automated sentry turrets and at least one guard robot. As was standard procedures for the US Army back when he was in it. Though it was shortly after the bombs fell, that could mean it is more, or less heavily defended, there was no way to know. But Adam needed more information.
"I get the feeling this is a lot of information for some who had never gone there…" Adam said a bit suspiciously. She stared at him for a moment before sighing.
"Yes… you aren't the first person I asked to do this. But the others all died." Olvia said softly. "I went there once but didn't see more than the exterior of the building… I heard the laser fire though." She paused.
"Look, I'm not going to say it isn't dangerous, but it's a good deal I'm giving you. I will, quite frankly, be taking a significant loss on this, but you do this you will have my personal gratitude. And for the best armor merchant in the entire Chicago area to favor you is a good way to stay protected." She smiled warily, clearly worried Adam would say no.
Adam sighed deeply.
"Alright." He said with a shake of his head. "This is incredibly dangerous. But… I will do it." He said resolutely. He had confidence in his skills enough that he could properly raid an FOB so long as there were no soldiers, which, of course there couldn't be. Automated defenses would be tough to crack but he knew a few work-arounds.
Olivia's eyes lit up with joy.
"Oh! Thank you! I appreciate it!" She said happily.
"What's in this chest you want so badly? Also how will I identify it?"
"I… can't answer that first question…" She said, pausing. "But the chest itself has a GPS tracker on it. Here give me your pip-boy, I'll mark it on your map so you can find it easily." She said as she grabbed hold of his arm and began to input the data, a moment later a flashing indicator appeared on his pip-boy map. Adam nodded.
"Alright. I will do this, but make sure you hold up your end of the bargain." Adam said seriously.
"Oh absolutely, I wouldn't dream of short changing you."
"Good." Adam offered a soft smile. "I will leave either tomorrow or the day after"
"That is perfectly acceptable, thank you for your help. And, I know it may seem cruel to send you into somewhere dangerous, but please, do not die. I would hate to let such a promising customer perish." She grinned. Adam chuckled and shook his head.
"Alright, well the next time you see me I will be back with the chest." He said as he turned around to leave.
"Oh, before you go." She said as she tossed some pieces of armor to Adam. It was shin guards, arm guards, and pauldrons all made out of a thick and sturdy leather. "Consider those a rental, you can return them when you come back and grab your new combat armor, not like you will be needing them much by then." She laughed softly and then added:
"See? Now I'm trusting you as much as you are trusting me, nothing stopping you from running off with your new armor."
"True." Adam said softly and then laughed as he countered with: "But I would hate to let such a promising business relationship end prematurely." Adam said with a grin at his own words, sending Olivia's comment back at her. She chuckled, finding it amusing.
"Alright, I look forward to the next time I see you Adam."
Adam left the shop now with two new destinations in mind. He would need to reverse the order of some of his plans. First and foremost, it was time to upgrade his rifle.
The next hour Adam spent back in his room at the Layover, carefully drilling new holes into the wood of his rifle to install his 200 cap scope. Without a range to test it on he really didn't have much of a way to ensure the scope was aligned properly. But he could improve a bit, using a laser level from his tool belt he could use it like a laser sighter and adjust it that way. Imperfect, imprecise, and no way to know for certain if it worked, but it would do for now. He could fine tune it the next time he went out. His rifle upgraded with the adjustable scope, he put his gear back down and then headed to his next destination, Ghoul Town.
"Hey, kid." Salvatore said casually as Adam walked into the bar Salvatore was in last time. Luckily getting into the town this time was not a problem whatsoever.
"Hey Salvatore." He said as he sat down at the table where Salvatore was eating dinner. Something he probably should do too.
"I came to chat about where I would like to go next but…" He glanced down at the plate of food Salvatore was eating.
"You can't have it." Salvatore said almost greedily as he pulled his plate away from Adam. This got a chuckle out of Adam.
"I'm not going to steal your food. But I haven't eaten so I guess I could order something and chat while we eat."
"Do as you please." Salvatore said dismissively.
Adam got back up and walked over to the bar where Claire was working.
"Oh, welcome back." She grinned. "Couldn't stay away could you?" Adam smiled and laughed.
"No, your magnetic charm was too much for me to resist." He teased. She seemed caught off guard by Adam's joke and pulled back a bit and blushed.
"Well , aren't you a charmer?" She said a bit bashfully and then shook it off. "Well any handsome man who wants to come to spend time in my little establishment is more than welcome." She smiled. "What can I do for you, handsome?"
"I would like dinner, if that's fine." She nodded.
"Wonderful, I can cook you up something right now." She said as she started to walk away to cook and then paused. "Ah." She said like she just remembered something. "It might take a bit longer than normal because the food I'm cooking today was not prepped for humans, there are excess rads that would be bad for you. I do have some fresh, more rad-free meat but it's not prepped so give me some time would you, dear?" She said with a soft apologetic smile.
"No problem. I don't mind waiting."
"Wonderful, then go sit right down and I'll bring it out to you when it's ready." She said with a hop in her step as she headed to the kitchen area to begin cooking for Adam.
Adam returned to his seat next to Salvatore at the table.
"So about you two.." Adam said with a cheeky grin, exclusively trying to get under Salvatore's skin.
"No." Salvatore said, not biting and shutting the conversation down entirely. Adam laughed softly.
"Well anyway as I said I came to talk to you about our next job."
"I'm listening." Salvatore said as he put his spoon down and gave Adam his full attention.
"Ready to raid a military Forward Operating Base?"