Adam spent a bit of time thanking everyone who was still here for their help. The mood in the camp was a strange mix of sober as well as celebratory. This was a victory, there was no doubt, but the losses were so great few could call it a victory without looking at their dead friends, still laying on the ground. Still, between the two moods, the feeling of euphoria was stronger so most people he spoke with were happy. If nothing else they were happy the fight was over.
Adam reconnected with his group, finding Eve, Deccanus, Salvatore, Pearl, Rae, and even Grant and the one surviving Naper guard.
"Well, that was fun. I do hope there are more opportunities for me to use my babies in the future~" Eve said with a flirty tone, her claws on her hips as she walked over to Adam.
"Even for me that was a bit much." Salvatore said as he took a smoke break nearby.
"Pearl do good? Pearl smash many ghoulies!" Pearl asked proudly. Adam nodded at her.
"You did a great job Pearl." He smiled. In response Pearl threw her arms up in the air like a victory pose.
"Considering the diversity of the gathered forces… I believe we did well." Deccanus said, with a logical assessment.
"Oh don't be such a Debbie downer, sure there may be dead, but there are always dead in a fight like this." Eve said with a bit of sass.
"What concerns me is the action taken by those of the cult." Deccanus said back, partially ignoring Eve's comment. Adam nodded at him.
"I agree. There are too many questions. Why for starters, and how, but as callous as it is for me to say I don't think it's our problem right now." Adam said with a sigh.
"I agree." Grant said with a firm nod. "I need to bring this young lady home, I can't be worrying about what some loonies in robes are thinking." He said with a soft gesture to the Naper guard with him. Adam let off another sigh.
"The battle is over, but our work is far from over." He said to the group and then looked in the direction of the eastern entrance to the excessively body laden battlefield. "I need to see if my car still works." He laughed dryly, assuming the worst. "If it does we can drive back… if not…" He glanced at his laser turrets, two of which were still operational, and Buddy, who was banged up but no worse off.
"Say no more, kid." Salvatore said as he stomped out his cigarette. "Lead the way."
Adam then led his group out of the camp too over the battlefield and towards where his car was last seen. It took a bit of effort to climb over the pile of rubble but everyone was eventually able to get over it and the APC was sitting there, right where he left it, completely covered in feral gore.
"I see you did a number on them." Salvatore chuckled softly.
"I'm more worried if they did a number on it." Adam said as he walked over to examine it. "This'll take a minute so I'd say take 5, make sure we aren't going to be hit by any stray ferals or something." Adam said as he began his first visual inspection, pulling some bone from the tires of the APC at the front.
Everyone more or less split up around the area to kill time, meanwhile Deccanus walked over.
"Adam. I wish to convey a thought on my mind." He said with a low tone. Adam shot him a glance and then nodded, but kept working.
"What's on your mind, Deccanus?"
"I have been thinking about the cult's attack on war's people. Or, more specifically, how there were others who joined in the attack." Adam paused for a moment and now turned fully to look at him.
"You mean like the Gunner who wasn't listening to Colonel Harrison?"
"Exactly." Deccanus said with a firm nod. "The tactic is… reminiscent of how the frumentarii used to operate."
"You mentioned them before, they were like the infiltration units of the Legion right?" Adam asked.
"Yes, in a sense, though they did carry out many other roles." He paused. "I was listening in, the leader of the Talon Company said they were just passing through, that they were not from here." He paused. Adam nodded slowly.
"Yeah? What about it?"
"That is the common denominator. They had no turncoats, likely the infiltrators of the cult could not get into their organization whereas they got into all the others. This is not a problem that will go away simply, this may be far more of a threat than at first glance." He paused and then sighed quietly. "I have seen tactics like these before, they are brutal, efficient, and impossible to stop once they are in motion."
Adam paused to think now. Deccanus was right. Truthfully he had already suspected most of what Deccanus was saying, it was the only logical explanation for the sudden appearance of turncoats who shot at War's men. Even if they weren't cultists themselves, they could have been bought at the very least. In one way or another they were always on the cult's side from the moment they arrived. Which also might explain why the cult arrived so late. They were waiting for an opportunity to come in, they suffered the fewest casualties and inflicted huge damage on War. In one move they had tipped the balance of power dramatically in their favor. If this was planned like that from the beginning…
Adam shook it off.
"Even if you are right, what can we do about it?" Adam asked back. Deccanus shook his head.
"Nothing at this juncture. There are ways to weed out spies but they are either brutal or long and tedious, neither are useful right now. I only… brought this to your attention since you encourage me to speak my mind… I wanted to keep you informed…" He said, slowly second guessing himself at the end. Adam smiled at him.
"No, you did good, Deccanus. Thank you for bringing it to me, simply knowing this is a factor is helpful alone." Deccanus nodded slowly.
"I am gratified to hear that. I shall leave you to your work. This steel beast needs your care, after all." Deccanus said before turning to leave. Adam once more resumed his inspection.
He spent 20 minutes diagnosing everything and came to one inescapable conclusion. The APC was gross as shit. However it would still function. Luckily he would be able to get the engine to start up again and probably be able to make it back to the Vault, but from there he would need to do a lot of cleaning and some major repairs to fix the damage that was done to it.
The troop transport, which was left open when he walked out in power armor, was covered in feral gore too, clearly they had walked inside after he left. But the cockpit was sealed and separated so it was fine there. Still with the slightly shaky condition of the APC at the moment he was unsure if he truly wanted to let people sit in the back, even if they were fine with the blood. So instead he told everyone that he would load up the two surviving turrets and Buddy and everyone else could walk alongside the APC. The goal for now was to return to the Vault, the day was starting to end after all that fighting, everyone was tired too, the refugees and Grant can return tomorrow, getting out of this area was the smartest plan.
Adam was about to head inside the APC and get it running again to head back to the camp to grab Buddy and the turrets before making the short trip back to the Vault but was stopped by an unexpected visitor. Mira.