Note: This chapter will focus on Zer0, our mysterious assassin friend and his escape to Pandora. According to Jack's ECHO logs in Sawtooth Cauldron, he had been roaming Pandora for weeks before being considered for the Vault Hunter position…
The assassin ran and ran. The blaring sirens followed him everywhere he went, but of course no true killer enters his prey's den without an escape plan. A hover car was waiting to transport him to the abandoned spaceport in the middle of the desert and then, he would be on his way to Pandora, untold riches and challenges in his grasp.
After gracefully leaping into the driver's seat, he floored the pedal, hearing the wind streaking past as he left the closing blast shields of the city's outer edges. The two massive steel behemoths met just after he passed through. He risked one small look backward and saw two giant autocannons digistruct on either side of the 200 meter wide doors.
"Cruise control is on/I'll just swing my rifle back/Might make extra kills." He mused. And so with the driverless car skirting over dunes at 200 km/h, the marksman dispatched of the two turrets in two hits.
"Child's play." And his head swivelled back to the wasteland before him.
"NOOO… My credits are drained!/That backstabbing bastard spawn/He will pay in blood" The gravelly voice pierced the air in the empty landing port.
"Welcome to Pandora, we are pleased to inform you that the Hyperion Corporation is glad to extend its hospitality to any rich travellers seeking more fame and fortune. The remaining bandits will be eviscerated. Have a nice day!" A deceivingly happy female voice greeted the assassin as he was scanned into the New-U system. The last of his credits chachinged out of existence leaving him with nothing but his sword and sniper rifle.
He scrutinized the lounge he was standing in. It seemed abandoned, with the food counter storefront down and the lack of power to the vending machines. The color scheme was clinical with dashes of yellow and light blue accenting the chairs and walls. With his sword, he managed to cut open the machine and stuff his pack with water and non-perishables.
Never had he been this unprepared. But never would he have ever believed that his middleman would set him up this way.
"Snake let me rot here/Instead of leaving me dead/Stagnation is worse..."
With the pack on his shoulder, the blade and rifle hanging from his hips and a sizeable bounty on his head, the assassin opened the doors to the landscape outside. Grassy hills and bleeding sunshine greeted the pissed off killer.
"The Holy Spirits" and in small hastily painted letters: "(Roomz Avalble)". Zer0 knew this was the best he would find amidst the bandits and stalkers that roamed the place. He entered, his presence being noticed on the spot. Patrons swivelled on their bar chairs as his tabi boots tapped on the hardwood floor.
"Rooms?" he asked the redhaired bartender whose lip quivered under a ridiculously shaved mustache.
"10 credits a night." He managed to squeak out.
"I have no money/Give me a job or close down/This is no warning."
"Oh no… Oh no... " the poor man looked like he would weep.
The woman next to him cleared her throat.
"There is a bounty on a bandit that lives in this town. He wronged the Zafords and is in hiding. You'll get a pretty sum out of it I'm sure." She squeaked timidly.
"Which house?" The assassin queried with a red "?" appearing above his head.
"L.. last house on the c..c..cliff side." The bartender stuttered.
Before he could even finish the word cliff, the doors swung shut and the assassin was on his way.
The house was only a few paces from the center of the town, that housed the bounty board. The bounty was a little steep for a lowly bandit, but Zer0 was not overly concerned with the challenge of the chase right now.
"How low I've fallen/Hunting refugees and scum/Living off of scraps." He scoffed and made his way to the house.
The four fingered hand knocked three times with no answer. "Pah." the expression said it all. He was less than content.
The door was not locked he realized as he slid it open. The house was empty with the exception of a few cabinets and a bed. Zer0 was not fooled. He kicked a cabinet to the floor and waited as a helpless man scrambled out of it.
"What the hell are you?" The man stammered.
"Why do you retreat? Face your end honorably/Make me work for it!" His cadence did not betray his supreme annoyance.
"Who sent you, his sister? His kids? Whatever they're offering, I'll quintuple it!." The bandit pleaded.
"This is punishment/His murder will be avenged/And I will be paid."
"For god's sake, what do you want? Just TELL me what you want!"
"For you to fight back/ Bandits like you are easy-"
"What the hell are you?!" The man eyed the door and started booking it.
"I want a challenge."
The blade rushed in and out before the man even understood that he had died.
Zer0 dumped the man's severed head right onto the bar's counter together with 10 of the 500 credits he had earned. None of them had moved a muscle until he disappeared up the stairs.