Borderlands: Pandoran Warlord

My clothes are going to need at least a couple dozen minutes at the very least, so while they're busy getting cleaned, I'm going to go restock my inventory and prepare my equipment as well as myself for the violence to come.

Bored and unwilling to just sit there and waste time, I strutted out of the laundry room and headed to my stockpile and fully stocked my inventory for my second trip into the mines. Once again filled to the brim with munitions, I examined my weapons closely to see if I couldn't catch any issues.

Everything appears to be in good order from what I can tell.

I thought before letting my Atlas havoc machine gun's bolt slam forward. Finished with the inspection, I returned to the laundry room and hopped on my ECHO communication device to pass the time by roaming the net and get a head start on my research into gunsmithing and weapon modification.

...

An hour later.

Beep-beep-beep

Looks like my clothes are finally done.

Putting my Borderlands version of a smartphone down, I got off my rear and retrieved my clothes from the dryer one by one and wore them.

Sniff

They got a hint of BO still, but at least they don't have that grimy feel to them anymore. 

No longer in my birthday suit anymore and overall happier even with my outfit not smelling the greatest, I equipped my armor next, fitted my shield, class mod, combat knife, and what not around my waist, slung my Vladof sighted incendiary machine on my back, and wielded my primary Atlas machine.

Alright, I got around 5 to 6 more hours left in me to explore the mine and locate an escape route before I want to hit the hay and catch some zzzs. But before I return to exploring the tunnels and clearing them out, let me go check up on the bandit situation above. I wouldn't want to encounter any surprises later on, now would I?

Remaining ever cautious and aware of my current location and circumstances, even though I was rapidly climbing in power level, I began the long climb up the old weathered steel stairs. I climbed and climbed and eventually ascended to the roof, finding it as well as lit as it was hours ago.

That big old sun up there hasn't moved much at all from its original position, but I suppose that makes sense since the planet of Pandora operates on a 90 Earth hour rotation period. It's certainly going to take some getting used to the multi-day long day and night cycles. I should honestly invest in some blackout curtains or something that does the same thing when I get settled down somewhere, otherwise my sleep will for sure be dogshit.

Throwing thoughts of getting a good night's rest to the back of mind since I wasn't even remotely out of steam yet, I approached the walls running along the roof and scanned the expansive mining facility, turned bandit base. What I observed was a very similar scene to the one I viewed hours ago with the bandits simply going about their savage activities.

It doesn't look like they heard all the commotion I made underground… Or they simply don't give a fuck. I mean, Pandora's bandit population aren't exactly known for their civilized nature, so a cacophony of gunfire echoing off in the distance is probably as common to them as the sun shining in the sky.

"Speaking of the devil, there it is now." I commented as shots opened up between two arguing groups of bandits on the ground below some distance away from my sealed, towering mineshaft that I turned into my temporary base of operations.

Interested in seeing who would come out on top between the two parties, I leaned up against the not so tall rooftop wall and began watching the impromptu 'show' taking place.

Now if only I had some popcorn.

...

I watched them go at it and try their hardest to kill each other for the next couple of minutes and after everything was said and done, one side was eventually left the victor... But not for long. So, as the sole survivor of that clash was busy cheering and basking in his win, a bandit from the crowd of onlookers snuck up on the man and blasted his head apart with a single shotgun shell.

When that guy's body dropped lifelessly on the arid sandy Pandoran soil, that rat quickly began rummaging through that poor bastard's belongings along with several other bandits who appeared to be a part of that sneaky fucker's gang.

This really is a dog eat dog world, ain't it?

With the fight having come to a conclusion, one that didn't have a winner from either of the original groups, I started my journey down the steps and descended the long flights of stairs all the way back down the lowest level. The minute I reached the bottom of the mineshaft, my stomach began growling.

I guess it's time to fill up the tank.

With my stomach crying out for sustenance, I wandered over to my piles of supplies on this level and grabbed a big can of beans that appeared to have been sitting in this place for at least a couple of years at this point. I then grabbed a dusty but sealed can of purified water and headed back to the locker rooms since I spotted a handful of burners back when I looted the place. From there, I went ahead and opened up the can and ensured they weren't spoiled before placing it on the hot coils.

It's a damn good thing I managed to secure a bit of food and water. If I hadn't, I can only imagine the risks I would have to take to get my hands on some.

Sitting there stewing in my thoughts about all kinds of things, my beans eventually warmed up to an acceptable level, and when they did, I didn't waste a single minute and immediately dug into them with the cleanest utensil I found in my scavenging of this long abandoned structure. It took me no more than a handful of minutes to clean that metal can spotless and as soon as I did; I rinsed it out in the nearby sink and kept a hold of it.

I don't have much in the ways of cooking ware let alone pot shaped objects for that matter, so I'd best hold on to this for now instead of tossing it in the bin.

Laying that clean, empty can on the counter, I grabbed my main weapon and marched out of the locker room. I moved over to the bulkhead doors following that and initiated its opening sequence and as it was in the midst of opening; I brought out my other large capacity firearm and dual wielded them.

Let's see if I got any guests waiting for me.

Taking aim at the rapidly increasing opening, I trained my weapons on the darkness, eagerly anticipating a fight. However, by the time the huge metal door ascended and disappeared into the recess above, not a single Pandoran creature approached nor appeared in the general vicinity of the door.

"Hmm, nothing, huh?"

Not meeting a single entity to dispatch, I reentered my combat mode from my previous foray into the mine and stepped forward. Quickly passing the door's threshold, I began retracing my steps from before and ventured forth whilst monitoring the tunnel's surroundings like a hawk. Dual wielding my guns with a good bit more skill compared to my first attempt, I started heading on back to the branches the horde of larva crab worms had originated from.

Placing one foot in front of the other, I proceeded further in and encountered literally zero lifeforms and as I was coming up on where I slaughtered that swarm of space lobsters; I saw a host of shadows moving in the darkness ahead.

I wonder what I'll be going up against this time.

Although still weary of what I might encounter on this probe into the mines, my excitement began building rapidly. And before long, I shined my lights on a large group of skags in the midst of tearing into the larva crab worm remains, many of which had the same appearance and natural camouflage as that fucker that ambushed me on my last trip into the mines.

These skags possess a pretty cool and unique color scheme. It's a shame I'm not in any position to keep a few of them. It would've been sick if I was able to domesticate them and train them as basically war dogs. I remember some of the bandit tribes were able to in the games, so I know it's possible... Haa, what a shame.

Saddened by my current circumstances and inability, I pointed my pair of machine guns at the skags who had now discovered my existence and opened fire on them ruthlessly. Due to their lesser armor compared to the larva crab worms, I was able to eliminate them far more efficiently. After stacking bodies high, I was about to continue on my way when a large six foot tall heavily armored blacked out alpha skag appeared from the darkness ahead and roared loudly.

Seeing it exposing its weak point to perform that roar, I took full advantage of it right from the getgo and opened fire on its razor filled mouth. My swift decision making resulted in a storm of incendiary rounds penetrating the soft unarmored flesh of its maw and burying into its insides. The flaming rounds burned the poor guy as they speedily ripped through its flesh and before I knew it, the huge skag toppled over without accomplishing fuck all.

Yea, I'm gonna have to fix that problematic behavior of theirs if I decide to train myself a few skags one day. There's no way I'd be able to keep them alive for long if they just go exposing their weak point.

Putting thoughts of beast taming aside for the future, I moved past that hulking armored plated canine that I put down in the blink of an eye and continued my journey. Not all that many minutes from my fight with the skags the beginning of the tunnel branches entered my vision.

Which tunnel do I want to explore... Well, I killed off the larva crab worms first, so I'll begin there.

Making a choice rather quickly, I began traveling down the crab worm tunnel once again, intent on discovering a viable escape route and farming several levels and a whole shitload of badass rank along the way.

[ Status Changes ]
Level: 6 → 7
Experience Points: +860
Total Experience Points Earned: 2,690 → 3,550
Health: 2,882.4 → 3,002.5
Health Regeneration: 16.812 HP/s → 17.5125 HP/s
Stamina: 2,400 → 2,500
Stamina Regeneration: 6 SP/s → 6.1 SP/s
Skill Points: 0 → 1
Machine Gun Proficiency: lvl 4 | Accuracy +6% - Cooling Rate +6% - Damage +6% - Reload Speed +6% - Stability +6% | → lvl 6 | Accuracy +6% - Cooling Rate +6% - Damage +6% - Magazine Size +6% - Recoil Reduction +6% - Reload Speed +6% - Stability +6% |
Badass Tokens: 0 → 86

[ Loot Acquired ]
Ammunition: 3,339

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