Ellie looked at Agent 71 as he approached. His attire was definitely not native to Pandora. "You don't look like any bandit that I've ever seen. Are you some kind of a Vault Hunter?"

"I guess you could say that. I'm definitely out here searching Pandora."

"Whatcha doing walking around in the Dust?" Ellie said placing her hands around her huge hips.

Agent 71 continued to move toward Ellie. He kept his body language non-threatening. "Had a little disagreement with a bandit and a Thresher. My bike paid the price."

"Yeah, there's a lot of bandits around these parts. You won't get too far trekking the Dust on foot."

Agent 71 nodded in agreement. "I was hoping you'd might be able to help with that."

"Ummhmm, that's what I thought. Got any money darlin'?"

Agent 71 shook his head. His hands glided over his suit to indicate no pockets to stash cash. "Nope, but maybe we can come up with another arrangement."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Damn boy! Get your foot off the gas pedal! I got to know you a teensy bit before you get at Ellie's tasty bits."

"Whoa!" Agent 71 said, throwing his hands out to keep Ellie at bay. "That's not what I meant!"

Ellie laughed and waved him off. "Oh relax, I was just messing with you. I have an old Runner in my shop you could use but there's a problem."

"What problem?"

Her hand gestured to the Runner on the fork lift of her garage. "It ain't running worth a crap."

"Yes. That would be a problem."

"I could get it up and running if you would help a girl out."

"What do you need Ellie?"

"My brother, Scooter, is hold up in Sanctuary. He sends me parts and equipment to help me on my little projects. My last delivery got hijacked by the Hodunk Clan. The parts for the Runner were part of that shipment. If you would be so kind as to get my stuff back, I'll fix up that runner and give it to you.

Agent 71 had little options but to accept her proposition. "Where are these thieving Hodunks?"

"Not too far. There only a few miles West of here."

"If I get your delivery, then I get the Runner. Deal?" Agent 71 said recapping the arrangement.

"Ummmhmm."

"Then I'd better get a move on. I'm already behind schedule."

Ellie handed Agent 71 Scooter's shipping Invoice. "Hurry back now. I can't wait to toss you that ride when you get back - and the Runner too!"

Agent 71 couldn't stifle the shiver that ran up his back as he headed back toward the scrap yard gate.

Night had begun to fall in the Dust. This made the trek toward the Hodunks a bit easier for him. Agent 71 could see the running lights of the bandit "Technical" truck patrols. When patrols got too close, he would use his stealth cloak to avoid them. The cloak had a small regenerating power source. This meant he could only use the cloak in ten second intervals. Otherwise, he would have kept it on until he returned to Ellie's Scrap Yard. Soon, he had reached the Hodunks base. There was a huge metal door built over a gap in the rock face. The natural rock wall made for a solid defense against invading wildlife and bandits.

Agent 71 walked Eastward along the natural rock wall. After several meters, he found an area of the wall with ample hand holds. His fingers dug into the rock and Agent 71 began to make his ascent up the wall. After several minutes he reached the top of the wall. The top ledge of the wall was 5 meters wide, which made it perfect for scouting. Agent 71 crawled a top the wall ledge. He kept his body close to the ground to prevent his silhouette from showing in the moonlight. As he reached the edge of the ledge, he looked down into the Hodunk encampment.

Below him was a trailer park. The trailers were haphazardly scattered across the main area. Beyond the encampment was a race track that circled around some rock formations within the compound. There was a small garage and fueling station near the rock wall, several meters to the right of his position. That was most likely where the parts would be stored. He climbed down the mountain. There did not appear to be any patrolling Hodunks. Apparently, none of them considered someone like Agent 71 being able to scale their defenses. Agent 71 stayed in the shadows nonetheless. He saw no reason to highlight his presence.

Agent 71 approached the garage from the side. He peered into a garage window. The garage looked empty. Agent 71 tried the window. It was locked. He could see the lock just on the other side of the window sill. He clenched his right fist, depressing a switch inside his glove. A large 9 inch blade sprung from the gauntlet. He slide the blade beneath sill. Agent 71 maneuvered the blade's tip to unlatch the window. He slid open the window and crawled inside.

From the shadows of one of the trailers, a crippled man in a wheelchair rolled into view. Watching Agent 71 enter the garage, he muttered something unintelligible. Then the man picked up a banjo that rested on his lap and began to play. A larger Hodunk moved in behind him. "Don't worry Pa. I'll handle this." the man said staring at the garage.