Whilst I continued transferring all the loot I had accumulated thus far, I began attempting to come up with a viable solution to my transportation issue. After spending two hours moving just about absolutely everything over to the ground level, my eyes moved to the worn heavy duty dump truck sitting in the garage.
There really isn't a more suitable mode of transportation than this piece of heavy machinery is there… I suppose I could use one of the outrunners I've seen in my ventures through this conquered bandit base. But that would mean I would have to come back way more than a few times to pick up every bit of the loot I've gathered so far, not to mention all the valuable stuff I've yet to collect. Meaning that vehicle is basically out simply based on the quantity of items I'm gonna have to move... Yeah, there really isn't any other option besides that dump truck.
Having thought long and hard on my transportation issue, I inevitably came to the obvious conclusion that my only viable solution to transport my growing mountain of loot was the old, heavy piece of mining machinery sitting smack dab in front of me. With there being no other real alternatives besides the one lying in front, I approached the monstrous vehicle and attempted to open the door to the operator's cabin. However, the darn thing was locked up tight.
*Sigh*
Of fucking course, things can't go easy for me. That would be way too convenient.
As I was going to start pulling this place apart to locate the damn keys for the dump truck, I found my ECHO communication device once again being invaded and forcefully contacted, although this time by an arrogant pale skinned siren. "This is Commandant Steele of the Atlas Corporation Crimson Lance, D Company, 3rd Starborne Brigade."
Observing the video feed provided to me via my H.U.D. I couldn't help but get a load of the busty blonde, green-eyed beauty sporting vibrant, almost glowing blue eridian markings, that were tattoo-like in appearance.
She's even better looking than she was in the first game.
"I've just been informed that you have taken out and disposed of your former leader, Sledge, and have acquired a certain Eridian artifact he had in his possession."
Hmm, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to recruit her. I mean, she is kind of a bitch, but at the same time she is an extraordinarily rare siren and possibly a former Lance assassin to boot, so it wouldn't necessarily be that bad of an idea to get her on my side if I can. I'm not gonna lie, having a busty blonde space sorceress on my side does sound right up my alley... My plans also do involve taking over her current employer, Atlas, once they fuck themselves over with the Vault, so having her who's already a commander of an entire brigade to assist me in taking over and managing things would be a huge help.
Having heard a similar spiel many a time throughout my innumerable playthroughs of the original Borderlands, I let the venomous bleach blonde rose go on in her bossy tone of voice whilst I continued my mad search throughout the garage looking for the keys. "Unfortunately for you, this planet is under the authority of the Atlas Corporation. Therefore, any artifacts found here on Pandora are Atlas property. Possession of such property carries quite the stiff penalty."
This bossy woman really thinks she's something, huh? Are they not yet aware that I just slaughtered thousands of bandits single handedly… Maybe she and Atlas are just that arrogant. I mean, it did only require one failure here on Pandora for them to fall, so that could be the case.
Giving her a glance, I played along and nodded my head in understanding. "I don't suppose I would like to find what those penalties are, now would I?"
"Atlas can be ruthless when it comes to its interest, so I'd highly recommend against getting in the way of my employer and I."
"Mm."
"Good. Looks like you aren't as unintelligent as many of the other locals here on this backwater planet."
"I am, so I would appreciate it if you didn't lump me in with these savages."
Smiling to myself at the thought of her end, the bombshell of a woman kept spewing her demands haughtily, still unaware that they would lead to nowhere but trouble for her in the not so distant future. "Then I invite you to turn yourself in at once to the nearest Lance outpost and surrender any information or artifacts in your possession. Consider this your one and only warning."
Having humored the beauty long enough, I responded sarcastically and hung up "Uh-huh, I'll get right on that."
*Click*
She's quite the sight to see, but that arrogant bitch is going to need a serious attitude adjustment if I'm going to keep her around, let alone make use of her. Honestly, if it wasn't because of my future plans involving Atlas and her being a beautiful siren with unknown powers, there's no way I'd allow her to draw breath for long.
All that said, preventing her death by the Destroyer that is currently locked away in the Vault will probably go a long way with ratcheting back that pretentious personality of hers... However, that method would only be usable if I allow things to play out as they normally would, which I'm not too sure I want to do just yet… Maybe I should come up with a few more methods and viable ideas just in case I decide to change the story events majorly.
At the same time I was continuing my thoughts on the matter, I kept roaming the garage in search of the ever elusive dump truck keys and after almost scouring the place from top to bottom, I finally located them under a tool cabinet.
Fucking finally.
Practically jumping with joy, I relished the moment for a couple of seconds and proceeded right to the heavy transporter and inserted the relatively large key into the hole. The key slid in surprisingly smooth and the second it reached the end; I gave it a twist and heard the sound of a click the following second. Eager to see if this bad boy was still in functioning order, I speedily opened the door and took a peek inside. What I found was a literal time capsule that only had a light layer of dust and a bit of dirt where the former heavy machine operators placed their feet.
Examining the interior, I saw everything was in relatively good condition, so moved onto the next step of cleaning it out. The minute I finished removing the accumulated grime as best I could with the tools I had available to me, I jumped on up, climbed into the cabin, and planted my ass in the cushy seat. Sinking slightly into the driver's seat, I took the key, plugged it into the ignition, and gave it a twist. The instant I did that, the motor churned for a few seconds, but eventually died out.
No dice, huh... Well, that's unfortunate.
Letting out an audible sigh, I hopped out of the truck, moseyed on over to the front of it, and popped the hood and began inspecting the vehicle's insides. I looked and looked and was eventually able to pinpoint my issues to the drained battery with the assistance of my ever useful ECHO device.
Looks like I'm gonna need a jump.
With the issue figured out, I opened up the gargantuan sliding garage door, left my haven, and began trekking over to where I remember seeing several outriders lined up. As I was strolling over to the literal opposite side of the camp, I began to feel the effects of my actions beginning to take their toll on me.
*Yawn*
I'm getting tired, so I better speed things up before I can't keep my eyes open any longer.
Shifting into overdrive, I sped up and started sprinting across the conquered bandit base and making a beeline for my destination. Swiftly arriving at the vehicles' location that were in the vicinity of the compound's gate, I didn't waste a second and immediately checked the nearest outrider.
Sweet, the keys are in the ignition.
I was prepared to begin another search but luckily for me; the keys were right where I needed them to be, so with nothing holding me up any longer, I jumped into the vehicle and started it up. As soon as I twisted the keys in the ignition, its engine immediately roared and came to life.
Following that, I performed a quick check of everything and once I had a decent understanding of the vehicle's functions, including its legendary boost function, I put the pedal to the metal and peeled out of there. From there, I raced through the charred and simmering destruction I left in my wake and quickly made it back to the garage.
I'm definitely gonna have to get me one of these later on.
Upon my return, I drove and brought the much smaller vehicle I was operating right in front of the heavy dump truck, popped the hood, and hopped on out. I then located some jumper cables, hooked the vehicles up to each other, and got into the big piece of industrial machinery. I made a small prayer after that and hoped for the best as the battery appeared to begin charging. Waiting patiently for around 10 minutes or so, I prayed one final time and pulled the trigger.
Here goes nothing.
When I started it this time around, I didn't experience the same set of events I did previously and instead heard the motor rumble loudly before the monstrous piece of machinery roared to life as if it had not been sitting here unused and collecting dust for years.
Oh thank god, I didn't know what I was going to do if this shit didn't work.
Thanking my lucky stars, I hopped out of the vehicle and let the big guy run for a bit whilst I cleaned up the mess I made earlier. The minute I was done, I unhooked the jumpers, closed the two vehicles back up, and took the dump truck out for a test drive. After taking it around the block for a few minutes, I pulled back into the garage and threw it in park, close to the elevator for easy loading of loot.
Alright, I've accomplished enough for one day. Time to grab a bite to eat and turn in for the night.
Finished taking care of what I wanted to, I closed up for the day that was becoming increasingly darker as the hours ticked on by and took a ride down the elevator to my pups, who were eagerly awaiting my return.
[ Status Changes ]
Body Weight: 396 lbs → 397 lbs
[ Loot Acquired ]
Ammunition: 11,252
______
We'll be leaving the Headstone Mine behind and heading into the Arid Badlands shortly.
Usual plug: if you want to read ahead, you can do so on Patreon.