Pandora was lacking in infrastructure, to say the least, so there weren't any streetlights to speak of, nor an actual paved road for that matter. Meaning I had to rely solely on the dump truck's headlights and the smidgen of light provided by the stars in the night's sky and the piddly sum of sunlight that reflected off of Pandora's lone moon Elpis to navigate the dirt road leading away from the Headstone Mine.
This is going to be some adventure.
I had zero interest in taking any risks whatsoever with the valuable cargo I had on board, given the condition of the dirt roads I was driving on, hence I kept my speed slow and steady all while constantly scanning the route ahead as best I could with the limited vision I had available to me. Thankfully, I only encountered the occasional bump in the road, but it wasn't anything this heavy piece of machinery couldn't handle.
Things continued progressing relatively smoothly as I began my journey through the rough road conditions, and soon enough the dirt road I was using split into two, with each branch leading off in opposite directions. The right route was the far shorter of the two going by my map, so I spun the wheel and headed down it under the cover of darkness. It was going pretty normally initially, but the road quickly began winding and snaking, and if that wasn't enough, the surrounding terrain became even more mountainous in nature and the danger factor rose a few levels.
Eyeing up the steep cliffs to my right, I couldn't help but unconsciously vocalize what was going through my mind. "I better take things extra slow here because the last thing I need is to flip this truck on its side and send it careening over the cliff edge with my pups and all the precious cargo I've gathered up to this point."
Weary of the deadly drop to my right, that went down God knows how far, I hugged the left side as tight as I could and continued down the winding path cautiously. It took several minutes to get used to driving by a sheer cliff, but I had to make it past this portion of the route to reach Fyrestone, so I put my fears aside and kept the vehicle rolling down the continuously descending path. The route was full of hazards, but I nevertheless made it past that segment of my adventure and entered a valley that lay at the end of that snaking road.
The terrain changes are fucking wild.
I thought as looked around at the towering cliff faces around me and the wide open dry terrain that was missing any sort of road to speak of. After spending a few moments longer observing the new environment with the limited light sources I had at my disposal, I found nothing but a few skags wandering about the space ahead.
It appears skags are going to be part of the equation from now on... Well, it shouldn't matter since I doubt this truck is going to receive any meaningful damage from them , let alone get stopped by those small fry, so might as well speed past them and keep making my progress towards Fyrestone... But if they enter my path, you won't catch me complaining about collecting some additional experience points and badass tokens.
Well aware that I was nice and safe within the confines of my ride, I began slowly ramping up my speed whilst heading further into the valley as the local residents began turning in the direction of the racket. Most of the older skags were intelligent enough to get out of the way when they saw my monstrous vehicle coming through. However, there were still a handful of them who didn't know any better, so those dumbasses began madly charging the dump truck that was barreling towards them at an increasingly faster pace.
Seconds later, their comparatively soft bodies met my piece of heavy-duty machinery and went splat on both the face of the vehicle and underneath the hefty tires that were further weighed down by the colossal load I was hauling. As the fragmented parts of their bodies went flying, I paid little mind to the insignificant event and kept my focus on the terrain ahead, so I could easily react to any upcoming obstructions I might encounter.
I had a run-in with several more groups of "bumps" following that, but I got past them with ease, as expected. My trip through the unnamed dark valley went on for a few more minutes when the sides began to widen up significantly. Pretty sure of my assumption that I was nearing the exit of this location, I continued as I was and left the valley in a matter of a couple of minutes.
The minute I exited the place, the surroundings changed from a dark, skag-filled valley to an expansive arid environment with a hell of a lot better lighting, thanks to the mountainous terrain not casting shadows over everything. And due to that extra bit of visibility, I was able to spot various sites and groups of raggity, rundown structures dotting the landscape along with a number of windmills that presumably powered the general area and quite possibly my destination, Fyrestone.
Hmm, there was a mission to release the turbine brakes when the bandits took control of Zephyr Substation, so it wouldn't be surprising if this is Fyrestone's power source. I mean, it is supposed to power the region, if I'm going by what I remember from the bits of lore thrown into the quests, so it probably is... I wonder if the local bandits have seized control of it yet.
Curious, I turned the steering wheel to the right and navigated the dump truck a couple hundred feet in that direction, where the terrain turned to rock and once more dipped dozens of feet. What I saw in the distance a ways away was a location that was remarkably similar to the aforementioned substation I recalled, though this one was much, much larger in scale, similar to the Headstone Mine I had just departed from a little while ago.
It doesn't appear so because those windmills are still rotating and generating power... From the looks of things. But that's not to say the bandit clans won't try in the future; therefore, it would be wise to secure it so I'm not without power. I could also use it to start drumming up some business for myself, whether that's through the sale of power itself or using said power to run some other potentially lucrative projects I have in mind.
Finding the wind turbines' blades spinning away off in the distance for the time being, I scanned the zone for another couple of moments before turning away and continuing on with my adventure. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get very far because I quickly came across trouble again in the way of a bandit encampment not long after I set off.
"Sigh, this trip isn't going to be easy." I uttered aggravated and somewhat fed up with the overall trip thus far.
If this was any other time, I'd 100% hop out of the vehicle to remove these savages from the world of the living, but I have a ton of stuff I'd prefer to get to my destination unharmed, so I'm going to have to hold off and try my best to make it by them unnoticed... And probably come back and take care of them at a later date.
Concerned about my belongings and my 5 small passengers on board, I reduced my speed again and attempted to sneak by them without drawing the attention of the nearby bandit camp that had a few Outrides parked out front of it. As I crept by on the left side, I kept switching between the starlit landscape in front and the bandit camp in my right side mirror.
Phew, it looks like I made it by without stirring up that hornet's nest.
Releasing a sigh of relief, I put a bit more distance between the camp and once I made it a few hundred feet away; I began ramping up my speed one more time. Whilst I was still grinning from the fact that I had made it past the bandit site "unnoticed", I heard the distinct sound of the outriders using their boosts coming from my rear.
"Fuck, I spoke too soon." I blurted as I saw three outriders rapidly gaining on me through my dump truck's mirrors.
I knew I couldn't let them catch up to me because if they did, I would have to deal with the heavy weapons mounted on the gunner seats. My mode of transportation was hearty but there was no way in hell it was going to stand up to heavy machine gun fire, much less rockets.
So, with time being of the essence, I immediately began accelerating, and the instant the speedometer was four-fifths of the way to maxing out, I enabled cruise control and popped the cabin door open. As soon as I could fit my big frame through, I used my newly enhanced agility to climb up on top of the vehicle as it trembled pretty intensely from the rough terrain I was driving upon.
Holy shit, stat increases are mighty useful... Funnily enough, I could probably qualify as part Bullymong at this point with how fast I climbed up here.
Plenty impressed with my new agility stats, I put my thoughts about it aside, brought out my 4xOPT Big Steel Helix Rocket Launcher, lined up the digital scope's crosshair with the lights of the frontmost outrider and pulled the trigger, firing a single rocket the quickly split into three. The 3 rockets spun in a helical pattern as they traveled, and before I knew it, the spiraling explosive munitions had met their intended target and boomed loudly. That bandit outrider didn't stand a chance against the 3 rockets, so it exploded into fiery chunks of scrap metal and body parts.
I needed to deal with the others so I began lining up my next shot on their friend to the left, but as I was in the midst of doing so, the pieces of that wrecked outrider impacted his fellow following close behind and took the driver out. This immediately sent the rest of the bandits hanging off of the vehicle flying when it made a sharp turn and flipped.
Man, I must be a natural at causing chaos and destruction.
The second I finished glancing at the stream of destructive events that unfolded before my eyes, I returned my attention to the last outrider and pulled the trigger, firing the last shot remaining in my rocket launcher. A similar series of events followed my rockets' launch, and the next thing I knew, the pursuing bandits lay blown to bits on the dry sandy ground of the badlands along with their outlander, that had been turned into a burning scrap heap.
If their vehicles had shields, they might have lasted longer, but I'm happy they didn't because they would've had the chance to land a shot with that vehicle-mounted rocket launcher.
Glad that I resolved my bandit problem before they could have caused any irreversible damage, I scanned the general area real quick, loaded 2 fresh rockets into that high-end helix rocket launcher of mine with a swiftness that few and far between could match, including my previous self. When I was done reloading the big boy, I threw it in my digital backpack, and climbed back into the dump truck's cabin with the speed of a monkey before finally taking my place in the driver's seat and grabbing hold of the steering wheel once more.
I would've liked to have taken them out with regular firearms of the non explosive variety so I could return and grab their vehicles at a later date, but I couldn't justify risking all my shit for some petty greed; hence, they had to go boom.
Mildly upset that I couldn't get my hands on their rides, I remembered I had several similar ones waiting for my pickup back at the Headstone Mine, so I didn't give this inconsequential loss a second thought and continued course across the Arid Badlands that was growing increasingly brighter as the minutes ticked by.
...
Motivated to make it to civilization, I drove, shot, and road-killed my way through the night for nearly 2 hours, and after combating the road conditions or lack thereof along with the native inhabitants of Pandora, I began rounding a bend. I knew I was getting close to town, and although I was eager to floor it and get there just an eensy bit sooner, I nevertheless kept going at my steady pace. I continued traveling at 20 miles per hour, and sure enough, the place I oh so desired to reach entered my field of view as I rounded the wall of rock to my right.
"It's about goddamn time I caught sight of Fyrestone." I exclaimed as the town of Fyrestone came into view along with the sun on the horizon.
Both excited and desperate to reach the only presumably friendly settlement I've seen since I arrived on this dusty shithole of a planet, I put a bit more weight on the gas pedal and sped off toward my long-awaited destination ready to bring this perilous journey across the Arid Badlands to an end and really start my life here in the world of Borderlands.
[ Status Changes ]
Level: 44 → 45
Experience Points: +2,225
Total Experience Points Earned: 102,480 → 104,705
Health: 28,800 → 28,900
Health Regeneration: 205.4 HP/s → 207.5 HP/s
Stamina: 14,400 → 14,500
Stamina Regeneration: 34.4 SP/s → 34.5 SP/s
Skill Points: 0 → 1
Badass Tokens: 0 → 182
Machine Gun Proficiency: lvl 43 | Accuracy +43% - Cooling Rate +43% - Damage +43% - Magazine Size +43% - Recoil Reduction +43% - Reload Speed +43% - Stability +43% | → lvl 44 | Accuracy +44% - Cooling Rate +44% - Damage +44% - Magazine Size +44% - Recoil Reduction +44% - Reload Speed +44% - Stability +44% |
Rocket Launcher Proficiency: lvl 27 | Accuracy +27% - Backblast Reduction +27% - Damage +27% - Explosive Radius +27% - Fire Rate +27% - Recoil Reduction +27% - Reload Speed +27% - Stability +27% | → lvl 29 | Accuracy +29% - Backblast Reduction +29% - Damage +29% - Explosive Radius +29% - Fire Rate +29% - Recoil Reduction +29% - Reload Speed +29% - Stability +29% |
Explosive Proficiency: lvl 67 | Crafting Speed +67% - Damage +67% - Element Effects +67% - Explosive Radius +67% - Shockwave Effects +67% | → lvl 68 | Crafting Speed +68% - Damage +68% - Element Effects +68% - Explosive Radius +68% - Shockwave Effects +68% |
[ Loot Acquired ]
Ammunition: 9,381
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