Now I gotta acquire a cage to bring that big fucker Scar back, so I guess I should swing by town and get that figured out, otherwise it will be impossible to return with that beast of a skag in any reasonable timeframe. Plus, I got tons of ammo I've generated through my equipment hanging off the vehicle right now, so I have to drop that shit off at home before I can really continue, anyway. If I don't, I will be letting my ammo regeneration go to waste, and we can't have that now can we?
Satisfied with how my conversation went with old Baha, I exited through the way I came and left the premises of the settlement. From there, I reunited with my always energetic companion Claptrap and hopped in the driver's seat, and took off down the road, beelining straight for town. Given the cleared route and my not so slow speed, I arrived there shortly, and when I did, I quickly passed through the rear gate and headed for my place where I first dumped off the extra munitions. Once I had settled that task, I grabbed a trailer from the garage, which had conveniently come with the place, along with a pile of chains which I will no doubt need for later.
Okay, that should be everything I need for this job. Time to head to the next site and wrap up my missions for the day... Man, I could use some rest.
Although I was beginning to feel like my activities were beginning to catch up with me, I was once again prepared and ready to get back to it, so I hopped in my ride alongside my trusty mechanical friend and set off from town... One more time. However, instead of taking any of the routes previously traveled, I turned and headed off in a new direction, specifically the one that would take us to Skag Gully. A handful of minutes passed us by as we further thinned out the local skag population and waded through the rough, unpaved terrain, but we eventually came upon the entrance to the place, a massive natural stone archway.
The path ahead didn't have a ton of room, but there was more than enough space to get the runner through, so I flipped the lights on, gave her some gas, and slowly proceeded into the darkness. Our journey through the tunnel-like space was somewhat eventful and required us on occasion to fend off attacks from the local bandits and skags that shared the tunnel. Nevertheless, they couldn't do much to stop me and Claptrap, thus we made it to the other side as expected, and when we did, an untamed wildland came into view.
Running my eyes over the unfamiliar landscape, I discovered a number of species running about, a number of which I had never seen before in any of the games. Intrigued, I took a few moments to scan the new lifeforms and soon discovered a number of herbivore species feeding on local bladeflower and other unknown species of flora. But in addition to the new alien creatures were packs of skags running about hunting said new species and swarms of rakk flying about the clear blue sky.
So this is Skag Gully, huh... It looks nothing like I remember it, but it does look like a prime farming location if I've ever seen one. I mean, it has a number of rivers and streams feeding into a massive lake right smack dab in the center of it, all of which are being protected from the harsh Pandoran sun by the mountainous terrain that encompasses this whole area. On top of that, it possesses an entire ecosystem full of creatures that I could hunt down for experience points and use as a food supply for Fyrestone and other settlements and towns.
Honestly, this oasis in the desert might make a better base than anything else around since it's protected by a literal ring of mountains and sheer cliffs. As a matter of fact, if I were to take over the whole area and along with its mountain tops and install a shield generator like the one they had in Sanctuary in Borderlands 2 I would have a literal fortress along with a whole host of natural bunkers if I include those caves too.
As I was envisioning a grand fortress being built upon this prime real estate I stumbled upon, one of the wild rakk soaring above screeched when it sighted us, alerting the rest of its flock.
I guess it's time to get back to work.
Staring down the small swarm of rakk that were descending upon us with haste, I yelled at my buddy who was sitting in the gunner's seat. "Look alive! We've got company!"
"Rodger.!" The sparky little guy responded before directing his heavy machine gun upwards and opening up on the incoming hostile lifeforms.
They weren't worth a whole lot, but every little bit added up and helped bring me ever closer to my goals, so the two of us swiftly snuffed them out and got moving towards the suspected location of Nine-Toes's hideout. Unfortunately, the skags and the other viscous beasts that called these lands home weren't going to make that easy for us. My companion and I fought and killed our way through this oasis and caused one hell of a ruckus as we cut a bloody path through these untamed lands, and eventually we started nearing the location indicated by my intel I had been given. However, the path ahead was too tight for our ride, so we hopped on out and were about to carry on when we started taking fire from our front.
"Get behind me!" I ordered Claptrap whilst I shrugged off the streams of rounds with my massive shield capacity and zoned in on our attackers.
Knowing I meant business, he followed my command without his usual extra-ness or even voicing a word, and once the little guy was safely behind me, I triggered my Gunzerking ability and dual-wielded my machine guns with a strong, vice-like grip and started firing with reckless abandon. Adrenaline flooded my system and caused reality to seemingly slow down before my very eyes. It was to such a point that it became very apparent where the gunmen were attacking from.
I know this isn't anywhere close to the bullet time Neo was able to call upon in the Matrix, but this enhancement to my senses certainly helps in these sorts of tense, dangerous situations, and especially when it comes to locking onto my targets.
Having honed in on the tall grass they were hiding amongst, I didn't hesitate one bit and immediately began mowing the wild, overgrown grass with fully automatic machine gun fire.
Pumped full of adrenaline and other natural chemicals my body produced in response to these intense moments, I didn't make a sound and systematically slaughtered the enemies with such speed and efficiency that it wouldn't be weird to call me a killing machine. My natural talent for making things dead aside, it didn't take more than a couple of minutes for the field to fall silent, but even though I was confident everything was dead, I made doubly sure before proceeding.
"Are they all dead?" My sidekick asked as I checked the blood-covered grass and the rest of the carnage I wreaked on the surroundings.
"Uh-huh, this group is as dead as they come, but the target we're here for wasn't amongst them, so let's collect the loot and venture deeper."
"Can I have any of it?" The little bastard asked next.
"As long as it's not something I need, sure."
Responding with a shrug of the shoulders, the happy little shit sounded before going to collect the loot with gusto. "HURRAY!"
Aware that he was going to need a hand, I helped him strip the corpses clean, and once we had everything of value loaded into my digital backpack; we strode forward. My map showed that we didn't have much further to go through this rough terrain, but that wasn't a reason to let our guard down, so we kept our wits about us and continued traveling further and further away from the Outrunner.
Time passed as we trekked through these untamed lands and no more than a handful of minutes later, a familiar entrance in the distance came into view, particularly one guarded by multiple squads of bandits. And that was not all; they also possessed a number of trained skags, most of which were quietly relaxing in the shade of the numerous pipes jutting out of the surrounding rock.
Good thing we took things slow, otherwise we would've been soaking up a hail of bullets right about now.
Although I was glad we weren't walking right into another ambush, the bandits guarding the entrance to Nine-Toes's hideout had long heard the shots from our shootout, so they were on high alert and scanning the surrounding area constantly. Unable to take them all out at once, given their number, I decided to initiate an ambush of my own. But before I reignited the bloodshed, I stowed my machine guns on my back and swapped to my ever-handy Eridian Lightning Sniper Rifle before telling my partner to do the same. And once he had his sniper rifle ready as well, I grabbed a couple of Longbow Grenades from my grenade sacks, activated them, and sent them in to start things off with a bang.
"Now we wait for the signal."
"Great, I can't wait to slaughter these disgusting meatbags." My Hyperion trashcan sounded, eager as all hell to go on yet another killing spree.
Thankfully Claptrap didn't need to wait long because seconds following their send-off, they blew up amongst the bandits and took out a number of them right out of the gate.
[ Ding! ]
[ Grenade Proficiency Unlocked ]
Oh, sweet. I didn't expect to get that all of a sudden, but I'll take it... I wonder what triggers these sudden unlocks because this isn't my first time taking enemies out with grenades now that I'm thinking of it.
Even though I was unsure of how many aspects of my system worked, I was more than happy to receive any additional benefits wherever and whenever possible. So the moment those two longbow grenades boomed, we started sniping the surprised bandits. Their domes got popped one after another, but no more than 30 seconds later into our killing spree they tracked where our shots were coming from and retaliated with a wall of hot, angry lead.
Unfortunately for them, the two of us had grown to become quite proficient at killing bandits, so just as they had taken that action, Claptrap changed position to continue hitting them from a new spot. I, on the other hand, transitioned from my Eridian sniper rifle, which I had run completely out of juice in our initial ambush, and immediately swapped to my two primary machine guns and went in for the kill.
Utilizing the breathing room my sparky little friend's covering fire was providing me with, I jumped down from the elevated level above and advanced on their position with both of my weapons raring to go. I was quick on my feet thanks to my much increased stats, so the second I was in my comfortable range for dual wielding, I lined up my machine guns on separate targets and depressed their triggers simultaneously. Not even a split second after I did that, a stream elementally enhanced rounds left both guns' muzzles and sped at the soon to be dead bandits.
The bullets reaped those two lives in the blink of an eye thanks to my souped-up stats and them having subpar gear. But there were a lot more that needed culling before we could reach Nine-Toes, so Claptrap and I got to it. Eager to get this over with at the fastest possible speed, I mowed down every bandit within my vision with an unrelenting storm of deadly lead and extremely lethal grenades. This fighting at the bandits' front gate went on for several minutes as we whittled down their numbers, and soon there was only one savage left.
"P-please don't kill m-me." The last survivor pleaded from the blood-stained ground.
Aware of how vicious these scumbags were, I wouldn't be doing myself any favors if I spared this guy or anyone else for that matter if I left him alive. Nevertheless, a bit of information could be extracted from the scumbag before I sent him on his way. "Where is your boss, Nine-Toes?"
The bandit raider hesitated for a couple of moments, but when I started to bring my Atlas machine to bear on his head; he squeaked. "H-he's inside... All the way at the back, where his den is."
"Thanks, buddy. You can go now!"
"R-really?"
"Yup, now get out of here before I change my mind!"
"Th-thank you." The bandit scrambled to his feet and started leaving back the way we came.
"You're going to let him leave like that?" Claptrap questioned from my side.
"Of course not, why would I let any one of these vermin escape and cause more havoc and strife?" As soon as those words left my mouth, I lifted my upgraded chopper and sent one burst into the leaving bandit's back, killing him on the spot.
"Alright, the entrance is clear. Let's go on inside and claim Nine-Toes's head." I told my friend as the bandit's shredded corpse collapsed to the dirt, and I turned and started heading into Nine-Toes's lair.
"Nmn, I can't wait. I haven't spilled enough blood yet."
"Uh-huh, just make sure you keep that growing bloodlust of yours under control, you hear me, bud."
"Oh, loud and clear, friend." The bucket of bolts chimed last before I took the lead as usual.
With our path forward unblocked, we entered the bandit lair via the large cave opening and headed in. The cave was dark, but there was an occasional light source lighting the way, so it wasn't totally pitch black, thankfully. The two of us covered maybe 100 feet when it opened up all of a sudden, and with it came a crack in the cave's ceiling that let in a good bit of light and illuminated our surroundings. What came into view was a large, open space with various makeshift structures scattered about, many of which were of the sheet-metal variety. And inhabiting the new environment were a number of bandits who were ready and waiting for whoever was causing a stir at their front door.
Welp, here we go again.
I thought before one of the bandits watching our approach yelled, fire. A storm of bullets cut through the air and impacted my shields many at a time. But none of them had the punch required to do anything substantial, so I shrugged them off and returned fire. And I wasn't the only one who did; my mechanical companion didn't remain inactive and started removing heads from their shoulders whilst using my large frame as cover. Our fight here in the caves dragged on even longer than the last one out front, but not long enough to delay us more than 10 minutes.
"They're all dead. Let's go!"
"Aye, aye." The little spitfire chimed just as he stowed his sniper rifle away and brought out his SMG.
As we ventured further into this bandit hideout and took out the occasional bandit inhabitant, a deep, dark, perilous drop opened up next to us and continued until it cut off the land forward. Luckily for us, the bandits were smart enough to construct a makeshift bridge across the drop I couldn't see the bottom of. However, it had a few holes in it that could easily eat up Claptrap if he wasn't careful.
...Yeah, I should probably help the little guy over since he's not exactly known for his reliable nature.
Unwilling to lose my first companion this early on into my ventures through this savage world, I picked him up and held him in my left arm. "OHH, I'VE GROWN TALLER!"
"For the moment." I replied simply as I began making my way over the bridge... But before I could get over it, we started taking shots again.
"AHH-"
"STOP SCREAMING AND SHOOT EM!"
"...Oh, okay, kill the meatbags."
Aye yi yi, this fucker is going to be the death of me.
Although I wasn't impressed with Claptrap's response one more time, he quickly diverted from his panic mode and began spraying streams of bullets at the bandits taking potshots at us while we were crossing the bridge. I wasn't one to let him have all the fun, so I wielded the little guy with my left and fired a ton of rounds with my right. The explosive hellfire rounds that hit their intended targets shredded them to burning scorched pieces, but the ones that missed and hit the cave walls littered them with small burning pits.
Fuck, I'm doing a lot of damage to the walls. I better calm down with all my fire, otherwise a part of the cave ceiling might come down.
The amount of damage I was causing to the cave's structure was concerning to say the least, so I swapped from full auto to controlled bursts. Sadly, when I did my killing speed slowed by a not so small percentage, but I nonetheless kept shooting as I went over the cobbled-together bridge. Unfortunately, before I could reach the other side, I spotted a badass raider popping up from behind some cover with a rather large rocket launcher out of the corner of my eye.
Shit.
Was all that went through my head before a rocket left the launcher's barrel in a blaze of fire and careened through the air. I tried to get across the bridge in time, but just as I had reached three quarters of the way to the other side, the explosive projectile hit the bridge with a boom and knocked it out with claptrap and me still on it.
Oh, this is gonna suck.
"AAAHHHHHHH-" The Hyperion trashcan screamed as we began to fall into the dark depths awaiting us below.
[ Status Changes ]
Level: 51 → 53
Experience Points: +12,310
Total Experience Points Earned: 135,630 → 147,940
Health: 48,320 → 48,960
Health Regeneration: 1,279.1 HP/s → 1,297.3 HP/s
Stamina: 21,140 → 22,644
Stamina Regeneration: 35.1 SP/s → 35.3 SP/s
Skill Points: 5 → 7
Badass Tokens: 3,142 → 4,251
Machine Gun: lvl 67 | Accuracy +67% - Cooling Rate +67% - Damage +67% - Magazine Size +67% - Recoil Reduction +67% - Reload Speed +67% - Stability +67% | → lvl 73 | Accuracy +73% - Cooling Rate +73% - Damage +73% - Magazine Size +73% - Recoil Reduction +73% - Reload Speed +73% - Stability +73% |
Heavy Weapon: lvl 40 | Accuracy +40% - Cooling Rate +40% - Damage +40% - Fire Rate +40% - Magazine Size +40% - Recoil Reduction +40% - Reload Speed +40% - Stability +40% - Stamina +40% - Weapon Handling +40% | → lvl 48 | Accuracy +48% - Cooling Rate +48% - Damage +48% - Fire Rate +48% - Magazine Size +48% - Recoil Reduction +48% - Reload Speed +48% - Stability +48% - Stamina +48% - Weapon Handling +48% |
Eridian Weapon: lvl 18 | Accuracy +18% - Damage +18% - Energy Capacity +18% - Energy Regeneration +18% | → lvl 20 | Accuracy +20% - Damage +20% - Energy Capacity +20% - Energy Regeneration +20% |
Melee: lvl 8 | Accuracy +8% - Attack Speed +8% - Damage +8% - Durability +8% - Handling +8% - Learning Speed +8% - Stamina Efficiency +8% | → lvl 9 | Accuracy +9% - Attack Speed +9% - Damage +9% - Durability +9% - Handling +9% - Learning Speed +9% - Stamina Efficiency +9% |
Explosive: lvl 80 | Crafting Speed +80% - Damage +80% - Element Effects +80% - Explosive Radius +80% - Shockwave Effects +80% | → lvl 84 | Crafting Speed +84% - Damage +84% - Element Effects +84% - Explosive Radius +84% - Shockwave Effects +84%
Grenade Proficiency: lvl 3 | Damage +6% - Explosive Radius +6% - Throwing Speed +6% |
Vehicle Proficiency: lvl 11 | Vehicle Cooling Speed +11% - Vehicle Damage +11% - Vehicle Handling +11% - Vehicle Shield Capacity +11% - Vehicle Shield Recharge Rate +11% - Vehicle Shield Recharge Delay -11% - Vehicle Speed +11% | → lvl 14 | Vehicle Cooling Speed +14% - Vehicle Damage +14% - Vehicle Handling +14% - Vehicle Shield Capacity +14% - Vehicle Shield Recharge Rate +14% - Vehicle Shield Recharge Delay -14% - Vehicle Speed +14% |
[ Loot Acquired ]
Guns: | Uncommon || All | Combat Rifles (7) - | Uncommon || All | Machine Guns (3) - | Uncommon || All | Pistols (3) - | Uncommon || All | Revolvers (1) - | Uncommon || All | Rocket Launchers (1) - | Uncommon || All | Shotguns (6) - | Uncommon || All | Sniper Rifles (3) - | Uncommon || All | Submachine Guns (3) - | Common || All | Combat Rifles (91) - | Common || All | Machine Guns (18) - | Common || All | Pistols (35) - | Common || All | Revolvers (7) - | Common || All | Rocket Launchers (3) - | Common || All | Shotguns (22) - | Common || All | Sniper Rifles (8) - | Common || All | Submachine Guns (46)
Melee Weapons: | Common || Bandit | Psycho Axes (11) - | Common || Generic | Serrated Combat Knives (16) - | Common || Bandit | Shanks (35)
Grenade Mods: | Uncommon || All | Grenades (4) - | Common || All | Grenades (33)
Armor: | Common || Bandit | Basic Scrap Armors (35)
Shields: | Uncommon || All | Shields (9) - Common || All | Shields (61)
Class Mods: | Common || Generic | Basic Classless Class Mods (4)
Meds: Light Healing Kits (14) - Light Insta-Health Vials (30) - Minor Healing Kits (44) - Minor Insta-Health Vials (57)
Storage Deck Upgrades: Ammo SDUs (2) - Backpack SDUs (1) - Grenade SDUs (1)
Ammunition: 57,901
Grenades: 46
____________
Apologies for the long delay; I've been busy with work and writing a new Star Wars fic, for which I have about 50,000 words written, so we should see the start of the release for that in the next month or two... I hope. But that aside, I will be doing releases differently going forward.
What I mean by that is I feel I'm able to put out better quality work when I have a long time to write and go back and add additional segments that I didn't think of until later on without worrying about "oh I need to put a chapter out because its been a minute", so releases will be more bulk-ish in nature from now on.
Alright, that's all I got to say for now I'll be back with another chapter when I'm done with the first volume for my new Star Wars fic and the website I've been meaning to set up for a while.