Note: Yes I count on my fingers for Zer0's haikus… (^_^;)

I'm sorry that this update came so late… I was busy with family and honestly the story just didn't cross my mind.

Zer0 scanned the shabby room. There was a dingy mattress without a frame in the corner near a small window overlooking the highlands. Opposite the window stood a rusty desk and in another corner a small washroom. He entered further and locked the door behind him. This day had been disappointing to the killer to say the least; his credits drained by a meddlesome go-between and his skills untested. But, being marooned on Pandora did have its benefits. An abandoned planet like this was ripe with creatures and bandits, one would just have to persuade the natives to give up that information. With this thought in his mind, he freed his back from the sniper rifle and laid it out carefully on the table. It was an old, reliable Jakobs Muckamuck. Its balance of destructive power and accurate aim made it the perfect weapon. For all the digistructing in the world, a rifle could never get better maintenance than a full manual cleaning and so the assassin went to work.

Beside closed shutters and a kerosene lamp, Zer0 took off his gloves and began opening his gun. The glaring yellow light made the dark grey of his hands take on a startling appearance. His methodical ritual continued when the rifle was reassembled and put on the floor next to the mattress. The blade tasted blood today and had to be sharpened and polished. With the gleaming blue edge exposed, he breathed a content sigh and stood up from the chair. Though he hungered for blood, his stomach begged him for sustenance. Perhaps he could satisfy both today.

The assassin turned around and headed out the door smoothly, locking it from prying fingers. After a short flight of stairs the outworlder looked upon the bar again.

"Hunh…" Zer0 perused the menu which was mostly filled with skag meat and synthetic compounds.

He decided to take a seat near a not too particularly good looking fellow.

"Hohohoho - look at THIS freak!"

"Shaddap Zeke… Whaddaya want... ninja-guy?" The barkeep tried to salvage the situation.

"I desire a challenge."

"PAHAHA By the way your fruity ass talks it seems like you're plenty challenged!"

"Can it Zeke! Sorry, I swear its impossible to keep that boy's mouth shut."

"You would consider it a challenge then?" Zer0 ignored to barkeep.

"Uh… I guess…" Zeke's brain cells were under visible stress.

With a swift sword strike, the assassin decapitated Zeke's head."

"HOLY YOU CUT OFF HIS HEAD! Why, why's your helmet say zero?"

"He was no challenge. My skills have not been tested. I need something more."

"Uhm, uh there ARE some pretty dangerous bandit clans…"

Zer0 knew all about these 'bandits'. They were like flies.

"No."

"The creatures around here…"

"No." Zer0 remembered the stalkers on the way to the inn. They were absolutely no match.

"Uhm… uh… the Vault?"

"...Go on?"

"Uh alien power! Lots of danger! A real challenge… no… HUGE challenge!" The barkeep stammered the sentence out.

"This is intriguing. The vault, my masterpiece? Challenge accepted!"

Finally there was something this dirtball planet was worth coming to. Through all his long years as an assassin he could count the number of worthy adversaries on the fingers of one hand (and he had less fingers than average).

"My stomach rumbles. Bring me ribs cooked rare. And single-malt, neat."

"Sure man." The barkeep nodded as if his cousin in law hadn't been shot five minutes earlier.

Zer0 figured that this was typically Pandoran. People's lives were not a given. One had to contend with lives being lost at any given moment.

As he sat on the bar-stool he thought about where he could possibly find the vault. He might try raiding a Hyperion outpost and looking for information. Or he might take off after some bandits to see whether they had any information. His weapons were prepared and that was all that mattered. He could feel a good hunt on the wind, and he would not be deterred from his prey.

The barkeep returned with a pewter plate and a translucent glass full of whisky.

"Here, man. That would be five dollars…"

Zer0 placed the change on the counter and silently rose from the stool. He yanked the plate and the glass from the barkeep's hand and swiftly maneuvered toward the stairs.

The corpse was slumped over the counter and started to attract some flies. The barkeep glanced from the disappearing ninja toward his cousin and sighed.

"Man, I really hope this day doesn't get any worse."

The front door was ripped open and in ran a blue-haired woman dressed in a yellow skin tight top and cargo pants. She had gashes on her forehead and a book hanging by her side. Most peculiar of all was her exposed arm, over which tattoos glowed and pulsed.

"I saw that you had rooms available?" She panted at the barkeep. "I need one and a medkit. Some food would be appreciated too…"

He rolled his eyes and forced a smile.

"Yeah, of course just tell me what ya need."