After destroying a sizable portion of whatever little food I had to satiate my sudden onset of hunger last night, I awoke from my food coma 8 hours later atop a cot; I relocated from one of the upper levels to the locker room.
"Ahwaa, that wasn't a half bad sleep... Although, I could've done without the cries for food from you rascals." I thought aloud whilst eyeing my bundle of still sleeping skag pups.
I watched them for a minute to see if they would wake and start crying again, but they continued their peaceful snooze.
I wish I could stay here and relax like them, but I got a big day ahead of me so I best get to it.
With god knows how many bandits needing a bullet in their skulls from yours truly, I motivated myself mentally and got up from my inadequate bed and prepared my kit.
Alright, I'mma get some food in me for the long day I no doubt have in store and then go check out the bulkhead door for damage. After that, I'll see if there's been any changes regarding the bandit situation up top and what approach I want to use to take them out.
Extremely motivated to get my hands on that vault key fragment and power myself up further via Sledge and his bandits' lives, I set off for the door and kept my Atlas machine gun at the ready in case that big bastard was somehow managing to get through the huge door keeping it out. Arriving at the door in a matter of seconds, thanks to my newfound speed, I opened it swiftly, and surveyed the area as well as the massive bulkhead. But not a single thing had changed from the way I had originally left it.
I would open that bulkhead to inspect what kind of damage that monster of a crab worm may have done to it, but I'm not wholly confident I could take it if it's camping the other side. I also don't want it triggering the field of proximity mines I have around the area, so there's that too.
Deciding against taking that risk for the moment, I walked over to the large industrial elevator that possessed the ability to transport all kinds of heavy machinery, as well as whatever resources were pulled out of the mine, and proceeded upwards. When the lift arrived at my desired destination, the ground floor, I began seriously inspecting the limited defenses and traps I had put in place on the various levels over a dozen hours ago, searching for any oddities. Fortunately for me, I discovered none whatsoever, so I left everything as it was and departed for the rooftop to check on what the bandits were up to.
The moment I reached the top, I approached the waist-high wall and scanned the area from my tower-like position. After scanning the area, I found the bandits appeared none the wiser regarding my activities in the long abandoned mines below, nor the life-threatening danger I presented to them.
These savages have no idea that their end is fast approaching.
I examined the general area from my overlook for another good while as the sun was beginning to finally set and once I was 100% sure that no new variables had appeared whilst I was away sleeping; I started brainstorming and attempting to come up with a viable plan, one that wouldn't require an escape route.
With the loss of my ability to enter the tunnels below, I no longer possess any chance of finding and charting a viable path of escape that I could use if things went south. So with that being as it is, I'm now gonna have to come up with a plan that is pretty much guaranteed to succeed without a hitch... I guess I better get to thinking.
As the gears were churning in my head, I eyeballed the various areas and structures I had vision of and tried to see if there was anything there that I could use to my advantage. I looked and looked and eventually set eyes on the relatively uninhabited section I took refuge in.
It wouldn't exactly be wise to take on a literal army of bandits all on my own, so why don't I clean this quiet zone of all its bandits first? And when I've gotten rid of every single one of them in the area, I can set up a ton of traps, so I have something to fall back on in case I need to. After I get all that out of the way, I think I'll make a ton of improvised explosives with the rockets I've been generating with my class mod, ones that are far, far deadlier than my proximity mines.
Once I have those explosives in hand, I can explore the bandit compound unimpeded with my bandit identity, locate where Sledge and the vault key fragment are, and plant my IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) in the most highly populated areas of the base for maximum casualties. That honestly shouldn't be too difficult under the cover of night. And the instant I got everything in position, I'll get out of the blast zone, set up in the best position I can find for an ambush, which I would've discovered prior to leaving the kill zone, and detonate my payload.
As soon as it blows, I'll slaughter as many of the surviving fuckers as I can with my conventional armaments, i.e. my usual weapons of choice plus the weapons I've yet to put to the test like my alien sniper rifle that fires literal bolts of lighting. From there, I'll move onto dealing with the big bandit boss himself, Sledge and obtaining the key fragment in his possession.
I thought over my plan a bit more and eventually came to the conclusion that the risks it would pose to me were minimal.
Those explosions of mine are sure to cost me dearly in the way of loot but on the other hand they will let me eliminate and remove a ton of enemies from the fight right from the get go, so I believe the cost will be well worth the loss. I suppose I could come up with something better potentially since there are an infinite number of ways I can go about this, but I think this is the best plan I got, given my circumstances and supplies... Looks like I've made my decision.
Set on blowing up a major portion of this bandit stronghold to kingdom come, I turned my back on my panoramic view and left the rooftop for the locker room below. When I reached the door to my personal quarters, I heard the cries of my puppies from within.
I'll get these guys fed one more time and then begin carrying out my plan's objectives.
With my newborn skags continuing to cry out for sustenance, I speedily rushed inside and examined them before beginning to tend to their needs. Using my newly upgraded physical capabilities, I whipped a meal up in record time and delivered it to the quickly growing pups along with a refill of water courtesy of the shower space.
Watching them chow down on the warmed up canned food, I couldn't help but notice their marginally larger frames. Scanning them from top to bottom to make sure I wasn't imagining things, I found they did indeed appear larger than 8 hours ago.
These little rascals sure are growing fast. I wouldn't be surprised if they reach maturity in a matter of weeks at the rate they're going.
Amazed by their incredible growth speed, I went ahead and spent some quality time with them so I could begin getting them attached to me. Intent on taming these wild Pandoran dogs, I dedicated the following hour to them, tending to their needs and providing plenty of scratches and belly rubs, much to their delight.
"Alright, you 5 I'm heading off. Stay out of trouble while I'm gone." I told the 5 pups who most definitely didn't understand a single word I said if their funny head turning was anything to go by.
Enjoying their amusing actions for a second, I reluctantly got up and left them to their devices, even though I would have loved to just sit there and play with the energetic pups. From there, I whipped up a quick bite for myself, and sped off for the surface. The minute my ride arrived at the first floor, I moseyed on over to one of the several wireless detonators I found in my scavenging of this location.
This should do the trick.
With a way to set off my to be made bombs now stowed away in my inventory, I removed my protective suit of heavy armor, regaining my bruiser look, although more buff and not lacking in the legs department. No longer distinguishable from the savage and vile cannibals of this camp, I climbed the stairs to the second level, moved the piles of junk I had blocking the door, set up several more incendiary proximity mines for any unwelcome guests, and opened the sturdy metal door and departed from my haven.
[ Loot Acquired ]
Ammunition: 8,400
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