"I arrived on Pandora last week, but I only now got a good echo recorder with a HUD rather than just the recorder, the part I landed on, the Highlands, they call them, is beautiful, the sights, the sun, the moon…
"It's a very hostile planet though, every animal is out to get me, but I got this Stalker when I was wandering around the planet on a stolen car, he likes me a lot for some reason.
"I bought a gun from the town that my home overlooks, Overlook, three really, a Jakob's revolver, a Maliwan sniper and a Hyperion SMG.
"Now that's a topic, Hyperion.
"They took over the jurisdiction of this planet after Atlas's Crimson Lance was left alone in this planet after the woman that led it was killed by the Vault's guardian.
"Handsome Jack is a tyrant, no other way to put it, I used to work as a bodyguard for him and his adopted daughter, he fired me after I threatened to shoot him when I saw how he treated that poor girl.
"I can't enter Hyperia anymore for that incident.
"Anyway, the people of New Heaven paid me to receive the next Drop barge since the Vault Hunters are off in Moxxi's underdome.
"The mission itself is easy, three days from now a drop barge will arrive at the highlands, I have to get a Technical and take them to a fast travel station, then off to Oasis they go.
"There is an after note, one that wasn't visible when I picked up the mission up, says that a day after the first barge arrives I have to go to Varkid Express, where another barge will land, I have to defend it while the people in it get ready to disembark."
"Alright Mark, the barge will be dropping here," Nali was a man that stood little over the 1.7 meters, taller than the average Pandorean, with messy hair that looked like it had seen cleaner days, red sunken eyes and a red coat that looked better kept than the rest of his clothes, a ragged shirt of dark green and black pants, also ragged.
"Hrua" the black stalker climbed up to Nali's shoulder, looking up at the sky.
"No, you won't have to go to Oasis, I would worry if the mission said we had to make sure they get settled," Nali took out his sniper and looked through the scope at the sky, "I heard their spring ran dry a few weeks ago."
"HIA" the stalker pointed in the direction of the orbital base Hyperion was building.
The base had shot the barge towards the exact agreed location, but at a higher speed than what would normally be considered safe, yet it landed properly on the surface, and the footsteps that could be heard told Nali that the people inside were alive and well.
The Barge door exploded out, falling on top of a stalker that was getting close to Nali, "Alright people, get on the truck, I'll take you to your new home, and whoever has the most experience in physics get in the turret, I need a gunner."
Fortunately, other than a couple of stalkers and three threshers, nothing got on their way to the fast travel station, hopefully they would all settle perfectly in the desert.
"Should we take a nice relaxing drive or rush to the Varkid Express and set up camp?" The Technical was digistructed, changing to a speeder technical.
"HIA" Nali nodded, setting the turret to follow his head movement, much like the frontal machine gun would.
"Nice and easy then" It would take Nali and Mark two days to get to the Varkid express
Setting up a place for the shuttle to land was not an easy task, since it had to be flat and big, while at the same time small enough that he could defend it effectively at all sides.
In the end he set up on top of the abandoned varkid ranch barn, the shuttle was likely to break the roof, so he would be able to reach the fuses to the small secret room of the farmhouse, which if he was right, contained a fast travel station not yet calibrated.
So, sniper ready and revolver at his side, he set up the orbital beacon, and started shooting varkids that come too close, something easy as larvae weren't fast unless they jumped, he was more worried that the bandits nearby would start sending troops to check out why there was a beacon on their territory.
On the plus side, he wouldn't have to deal with finding food for Nali for a while, varkid parts would keep him fed for a week, and the people of Overlook were always willing to give him food if he kept the stalkers out.
Now, if he could find a person that used a Sylladex rather than ECHO storage devices, they were much more useful if you knew how to use them.
Damn, he took his revolver, shooting three bullets in the face of a varkind that had managed to survive past the first pod, dropping it as it burned down to ashes.
Aftermarket parts for the win.
Five minutes of endlessly killing varkids, and the occasional tundra patrol, and the orbital drop crashed through the roof, just as he had predicted, where no bandit nor varkid could get it.
"Welcome," Nali said as the barge opened, "To Pandora"
The three people inside the barge, he was expecting more, gaped not only at the stalker on his shoulder, but at how fast he drew a revolver and shot a varking jumping at him.
"I'll be your guide"
"THAT WAS AWESOME" the two girls inside shouted, the man still shocked speechless.
"The Mechromancer, wanted in her planet for the destruction of her school rival, daughter of a politician and, according to the Echo Cast, a thief, known anarchist, daughter of a man with contacts in the Tedior corp," Nali smiled, "You and I are going to get along"
"That was creepy" the older teen, a girl with brown hair held in twin spikes, googles holding her bangs from her face, eyes glinting with curiosity and more than a bit excitement. Denim vest over red skirt and shirt.
"Craig, used to be a grenade engineer, but was put in the wanted list for divulging the reason Pandora is a bandit nest is because of the Dahl corporation." The man was wearing jeans and a white lab-coat over a black shirt, "No record of family in the list."
"This is my daughter, Tina," the girl, dressed in a pink dress, open vest and shorts, waved at Nali, staring at Mark as she did so.
"He's a Stalker, quick fellows, with a bio magnetic shield that also serves as a cloaking device, Mark is a special case, his parents were a cyclone stalker and a tri-tail stalker," Mark climbed down from his perch on Nali's shoulder, coming to a stop in front of Tina.
"So they sent you to pick us up?" The Mechromancer asked.
"The leader of the Crimson Raiders posted a job in all the bounty boards on the planet, I was visiting the town of Overlook when he did, so I grabbed it, the Echo added later that you were also dropping, and that I was to decide a location within this sector to drop you."
"So you were sent to pick use."
"Put simply yes."
The two smirked.
"Nali the Hunter, at your service," he did a little bow, Mark jumping on his back, out of Tina's reach, "Now, follow me, stay crouched if you can, the bandits won't see us that way."
Nor did the varkids for that matter, weary of the creature that had killed many of them.
Down the hatch behind the now deactivated electric wall, reactivating it from a linked fuse box in the hidden room.
"Rule number one of living on Pandora," he digi-structed out a thousand dollars from his sylladex, "Never go out without at least two guns with you," half the money went to Gaige, half to Craig, "You won't live long enough to regret it."
"Rule number two: unless there is something to gain by it, like protection, you will always kill before imprisoning someone; we stay on Pandora because we want freedom, every single bandit, every single citizen.
"Rule three: Never say no to a gun that is better than yours, especially if these Echo's," here he handed the three of them one of the devices each, "mark it purple, pearlescent, orange or cyan, those are the best guns that made it to Pandora, one of a kind"
"Rule number four, most important: be sure that your shield, your grenade mod and your class mod are the best you can get.
"If you adhere to these four rules, then you will either die in battle, or from old age, let's hope it's the second one."