The moment he finished speaking, he ended the call, and his employee here in the Fyrestone branch released a long-winded, bottled-up sigh.
Yeah, I should probably make him feel better about all this work coming his way tonight if I want to ensure things go smoothly and without issue later today.
Very much aware of how easy things went when palms were greased, I thumbed out 5K worth of cash and passed the money through the hole in the shielded counter. "Do a good job tonight, and there'll be plenty more where that came from."
"..."
"Don't you worry about a thing; I'll make sure everything goes perfectly." The gruff man said with all seriousness once he put away the wad of cash in his jeans back pocket.
"I'll be counting on you. Now let's circle back to my purchase. I want to buy that Vladof Chopper off ya... Is there any room to negotiate?"
"Marcus typically doesn't like me doing that." The man said, taking a pause. "But I'm sure I can get away with taking 10% off the top given the business relationship you two plan on building from now on."
"Sweet, $1,350,000 it is then."
Relieved to be able to hang onto a small portion of the cash I gained throughout my short stint in this world, I transferred the large sum of funds to the business account number. The second it showed up on the computer's bank balance, Vahn left the safety of the counter and carted the heavy weapon out since it was far too large to fit through the shielded section's slot.
As soon as the weapon arrived in front of me, I stowed my Atlas Havoc Machine Gun on my back and reached out and took hold of the heavy weapon. "Come to Papa."
You've got some weight to you, huh...
I thought to myself as I hefted the weapon up and shouldered the 4 barreled monster machine gun. I peered down the lacking red dot sight that would soon be replaced at home and went through the weapon's mechanism methodically. And after going through them one by one, I slotted and locked the huge, fully loaded 500-round box magazine to the underside of the weapon and let the bolt slam forward and chamber a round in all 4 of its barrels.
I already have improvements in mind for this weapon, but this is not the time nor the place, so I'll carry them out when I get back to my pad.
Locked and loaded, I threw the weapon's heavy-duty sling over my head and let it come to rest against my hip and abdominal region before I turned to the only other person here at the moment. "Alright, I'll come by later. Catch ya then, Vahn."
Having announced my leave, I grabbed Claptrap, who was still zooming around the store and obviously enjoying his new and much improved speed. Once I acquired one overly energetic tiny orange Hyperion robot, I took off as Vahn waved goodbye to my quickly fading figure and before long I disappeared behind the now shut entrance. With my bank account nearing ever closer to zero, I quickly began backtracking to the town center, eager to rectify that depressing situation with the spilt blood of bandit scum and wild and equally vicious Pandoran creatures.
Marcus's place of business wasn't far off from Fyrestone's central hub, so I wandered on into the large lobby hall-like space of the town's main building with Claptrap following only a step and a half behind me. Upon passing the entrance's threshold, I scanned the surroundings and immediately zoomed in on the bounty board, which laid off to the side and was full of jobs plastered all over it.
Hmm, where should I start my bloodbath first...
As I was considering what I wanted to take care of from the get-go, I began examining each of the posted jobs that needed doing, one by one. After scouring the board top to bottom and side to side, I picked up a handful of postings that caught my eye, more specifically the highest paying ones and probably the most urgent ones.
| Bone Head |
Objectives: Locate and dispatch the bandit boss named Bone Head and his minions.
Rewards: $1,162,999
| Catch-A-Ride Repair |
The local Catch-A-Ride station is broken. Figure out what is wrong with it and bring it back online so the town can have access to Scooter's vehicles.
Rewards: $199,000
| Nine-Toes |
Objectives: Dispatch Nine-Toes, his two pet skags, Pinky and Digit, and kill off the rest of his crew out in the skag-infested territory of Skag Gully.
Rewards: $721,000
| Piss Wash Rakk Hive |
Objectives: Put down the Rakk Hive that's been causing trouble in the areas surrounding Piss Wash gully and eliminate any of the Rakk that come out.
Rewards: $2,797,500
| Skags At The Gate |
Objectives: Find and eliminate the badass corrosive alpha skag and the remaining 100+ skags from the area surrounding the town's main gate.
Rewards: $350,000
Some of these would no doubt go up in value if I let the situation get worse for the town, but I'm trying to change the destructive course this settlement is set on. Meaning the extra couple of bucks I would've earned wouldn't be worth the squeeze, especially when it'll prevent me from getting more work in the future and cost me a decent-size customer base for my power production... My thoughts on that subject aside, I'm gonna forgo taking these bounties through the terminal and take these jobs over yonder to see if I can't wring out some additional intel from the staff.
Smart enough to know which option would benefit me most in the long run, I took my gathered bounty board job papers and proceeded to the counter on the opposite side of the mostly barren hall.
"Alright, come on Claptrap I only have to handle this one last thing, and then we're outta here and heading home."
The minute I approached the counter area, one of the few people working here greeted me in an upbeat and bubbly voice but still very professional speech. "How can I help you today, sir?"
Oh, get an eyeful of this bombshell.
"I'm interested in taking these bounties and was wondering if you could provide me with any additional information on the targets." I responded whilst I slyly glanced over the shapely, lightly tanned brunette's figure, whose body was on the same level as that femme fatale, Moxxi.
The nameless stunner took the bounties I slid to her and had a look at them, not in the least afraid of my massive figure that would give a Warhammer 40K space marine a run for his money. "Ohh, you're interested in taking these jobs... Are you sure you can handle them?" The young woman asked, concerned.
I was going to reply, but she had more to say. "I don't mean to discount your prowess, but they've been sitting up on the bounty board for ages since none who've taken them in the past have managed to return unharmed, let alone carry them out to completion?"
Mm, looks like Angel could have some harsh competition on the horizon if this chick isn't taken... However, that depends on whether or not she has any capabilities as well, so maybe not. I honestly have no interest in chasing some talentless tail when there is plenty of the siren variety to be had, though I'm sure they'll be difficult to claim…
Liking the seemingly genuine concern I was experiencing, I replied. "I just arrived and moved into town yesterday, so you'd obviously not know what I'm capable of, but I'm sure that won't remain the case for long."
"You don't say? I guess I'll see how capable a man you really are when you return from carrying out these bounties."
"I have no doubt, and maybe I'll let you find out for sure when I come back triumphantly."
My thrown-in little flirt got a few giggles out of the lass, but it probably wasn't the brightest move on my part seeing how my current romantic interest was watching my every move just about. However, I had no plans of just limiting myself to one beauty when the opportunity to conqueror multiple laid there waiting for the taking; thus; I continued. "Anyways, I appreciate your concern... What was your name, sweetheart?"
"My name's Darcy, Darcy Martha Lynch, and yours?"
"That's a cute name, hot stuff. Mine's Victor Atlas Colt, though my friends call me Vic."
"It's nice to meet you, Vic."
"It's nice to meet you too, Darcy."
Grabbing her outstretched hand, I shook it and got back to business. "As much as I would love to chat you up all day, I've got money to make and plans to bring to fruition, so would you mind telling me any details you may have on these jobs."
"O-oh, sure thing, so this-" With the town hall receptionist back on track, she told me whatever intel they had on the jobs, which was basically their locations and what to look out for.
It wasn't a lot to go off of, but I didn't require more than where I needed to go looking for my targets since I'd be more than capable of handling whatever I came across when I reached them. "Thanks for the information, gorgeous. See ya around."
"Later, big guy. Don't go and get yourself killed out there."
"I'll try." I said, waving the lass off.
"Oh, but before I go, I was also wondering, has anyone managed to catch your fancy yet, Darcy?"
"None yet, but you're welcome to try."
"Hmm, maybe I will." I said simply before I turned for the door and left with my bounties transferred to my ECHO device and a Claptrap following after me.
With my business handled at the town hall, I said goodbye to Darcy, the friendly and seemingly good-natured busty receptionist, and took my leave with my small mechanical companion.
"Aaannnddd we're outta there!" The small orange mechanical construct noisily announced as we cleared the entrance.
"Yup, now our next stop is home."
"WOOO!" The boisterous little guy sounded.
He had no clue where home was, so I led the way and soon enough came walking down the street where my pad and garage were. "That's it in front."
Directing Claptrap's attention to the two large structures at the end of the street, he oohed and aahed. "What big buildings... These are much bigger and nicer than my previous home."
"Mm, I'm sure you'll like what you find on the inside too. Let's go."
Pressing on, I walked up to the front door and opened it, revealing a large, clean interior that was still mostly empty, sadly.
"Oooo."
"There's not a whole lot to see up here, so come on upstairs." I stated before I began climbing the stairs.
"Umm, a little help here, best friend."
"Oh, sorry about that, Claptrap."
"Don't worry about it." He said as I hoisted him up and carried him up his most fearsome enemy, the dreaded stairs.
"I will conquer these dastardly stairs one day."
"Certainly." I played along with the amusing little robot.
The moment we reached the second floor, I let him down and have a look at the floor himself, which he attempted to do, but my pups came charging over to investigate what I brought home.
"HELP!" Claptrap screamed, terrified, as the skag pups swarmed the small Hyperion unit.
"You'll be fine." I reassured him as the pups investigated the strange new but loud companion I brought home.
"AHHHH-"
After being overly dramatic for a bit, the pups' investigation eventually concluded, and when it did, Claptrap discovered the relaxing pastime of providing scratches and tummy rubs in front of the TV. "Ahh, I can get used to this, friend."
"It's pretty nice here, right?"
"Much better than my old place."
The two of us just chatted as we relaxed on the old couch that came with the place when I bought it, but we couldn't waste the whole day sitting on the couch with the pups, so I got up and showed the clanker to his room on the second floor. "I know it would be better for you to be stationed on the first floor. However, there are no bedrooms on that floor, so this will have to do for now whilst we figure out how we're going to get you up and down the stairs without a stair-climbing wheel."
"Hmm... Can we install a lift of some kind?"
"If we knock out part of the floor in your room, I'm sure we can install a simple claptrap-sized lift for ya."
"I'm fine with losing a bit of personal space to avoid those dreaded stairs, are you, friend?"
Shrugging my shoulder, I said. "Sure, why not."
"Okay, then it's settled then. I'm getting an elevator."
"Seems so... But they're expensive, so we're gonna need to gather some more funds so we can put a decent one in."
"Okay, let's go complete those bounties then. I'm ready for battle now that I have the ability to perform COMBAT!" Claptrap yelled, eager to let the bodies hit the floor.
[ Loot Acquired ]
Guns: | Epic || Vladof | RD Strapped Chopper Machine Gun
Ammunition: 5,935
[ Loot Changes ]
Money: 1,564,110 → 209,110