Chapter 5

Irish bought his palm up to his face as he groaned.

"Seriously dude?" He followed LiveFree around Fyrestone, as the intoxicated man shot up mailboxes, barrels and other inanimate objects.

"What? This feels so damn real" He exclaimed, tripping over an old pipe that jutted out of the dusty ground.

"That's because it is" Irish groaned.

"Yeah right. Whatever. I'm gonna wake up in the morning, with the fucking mother of all hang overs, probably won't remember a single thing"

"Hey! You guys wanna come and check this out? We got the bounty board powered up" Montayva called out to the pair from where she stood beside Kitty at the Fyrstone Bounty Board. They didn't bother waiting for the men as Irish struggled to muster Joel in the women's direction, snatching the assault rifle from the older mans grasp. Kitty checked the available mission. She read it out loud to Montayva.

"It's called 'Hunker Down'" she frowned

"That's different" Monty said, before pausing again to let Kitty finish

"'Search the abandoned town of Fyrestone for the vending machine power cores. Purchase a shield and supplies to get you through your first night on Pandora'"

"What?" Monty asked as Kitty looked up at her with a bemused expression.

"The mission is from Mordecai" the taller woman smiled.

"Oh!" Monty laughed

"Looks like you will get to meet him after all" the girls were having trouble containing themselves. But the moment was interrupted as Irish pushed LiveFree towards them.

"What does it say?" Irish asked the girls, reluctantly passing the Ornary Scarab back to an irritated LiveFree.

"We have to look around for the power cores for the vending machines. They should be here in Fyrestone somewhere" Kitty looked around the abandoned, falling down town. There wasn't much left. Bandits had pillaged what Hyperion hadn't destroyed in Jacks quest to awaken the Warrior.

"Shouldn't be too hard" Irish looked around him.

"Pfft, are you guys actually gonna do it?" LiveFree questioned. The other three glared at him incredulously. Kitty walked up to him, and snatched the pocket knife off his utility belt. She flicked open the blade, holding it up in front of his face. Irish went to step in, but Monty's hand on his shoulder made him rethink his decision.

Kitty pushed the point of the blade into LiveFrees shoulder. LiveFree didn't budge, only stared her in the eyes, and she held his gaze in return. She pressed harder, and harder, feeling the blade puncture his skin. But she didn't stop. She wouldn't stop. Not until she got the reaction she was after. She dug it deeper into his flesh, twisting the blade slightly.

"Argh!" LiveFree recoiled, stepping back. "Ok!"

"Did that feel real to you?" Kitty closed the knife and tossed it to his feet. LiveFree touched the wound on his shoulder, and when he examined his hand, found it red and wet with his own blood.

"Fine." LiveFree groaned in disgust. "I'll play along with your silly little game"

The four had made their way up into the old Hyperion Info Stockade building. After a quick search around Fyrestone, it was quickly revealed that anything the bandits had left was damaged beyond repair. They had met no resistance so far in the old town, so guessed that the sirens appearance earlier in the day had scared of any potential threats.

"Well, ladies first" LiveFree gestured, as they stood at the door to the bottom level of the Stockade. Kitty rolled her eyes, and together, she and Montayva raised their weapons and ventured forth.

"Big, brave men, letting us go first" Monty joked, when they had cleared the top floor. Aside from the banks of computer equipment and a few generators, all that remained was a lifeless Constructor bot on the eastern side of the building.

"To be honest, I feel safer checking it out myself" Kitty admitted "I still don't think LiveFrees taking this seriously. Poor Irish has his hands full there. He has more patience than me, that's all I can say" she was examining one of the generators, and found it still had suitable parts they could pilfer for their mission.

"So this is all from the second game?" LiveFree asked as they reached the top floor.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you only had the first one" Monty said, as she joined Kitty. Irish remained at the top of the stairs, keeping lookout.