There Really Ain't no Rest For The Wicked.

The Key to Success

I had always wondered if I would ever get to meet the rest of the original vault hunters, or founding members of the crimson raiders.

Turns out, I do.

Our next plan in stopping Jack from opening the vault, is by obtaining the vault key itself in Tundra Express. This is where more help from the crimson raiders leaders comes in. The guy we're supposed to be meeting is a man they call Mordecai. He's said to be one of the most experienced and brutal snipers here on Pandora. I just hope that he doesn't figure me for a bandit and shoot me before I get the chance to see him.

We walk out of an ice cave and are introduced to the scenery of a large skull mounted in an ice cliff. To wonder what type of beast that large who walked the planet so long ago is beyond my imagination.

In front of me, Zer0 walks up to the edge of the cliff we stand on, gazing beyond at our surroundings through his rifle lens. As I slowly approach behind him, I examine the land. The whole area is surrounded by snowy mountain terrain. It seemed like a good isolated area. It even had it's own supply source that was transported by trains, trains owned by Hyperion to be specific. Part of our mission was to disrupt the supply chain in order to retrieve the vault key. This meant blowing up the railway system that entered Tundra Express. In my opinion it was unfortunate for the people who lived in the area since it meant that any source of resources would be unavailable or shorted due to our cause. It can be argued however that this will result in the whole operation working in our favour; Handsome Jack is one step less from having complete control over Pandora, and citizens can live without such tyranny, even if sacrifices of a thriving life have to be made. That's how it works on Pandora, to have equality must mean to give up quality. It's never fair on a harsh planet such as this.

The groups ECHO's start to static, and we all tune into Roland's station.

"You'll have to signal our man. I'd bet anything he's sleeping off a hangover. So you'll have to wake him up." I silently snort at his comment. Roland continues, obviously not hearing me.

"The sound of some varkids burning alive at the same time outta do it. You guys do have incendiary weapons right?"

I look in my bag, not remembering if I had packed anything of the sort. When I realised I hadn't, I look up at Zer0 and Axton, who had carried the elemental guns we needed. "Yeah, we got it covered." Axton replies, cocking his gun.

"Great. Just set a couple on fire near his watch tower and that should be enough to get his ass out of bed." Roland logs out of the station. We start to head down the path towards the watch tower. "Say, wasn't it said that Mordecai has a scout bird?" Gaige asks curiously.

"Yeah, her name is Bloodwing. Heard shes a badass bird, I hope to hold her." I reply giddily. I had a fascination for her kind of species. They had the best qualities you can think of, agility, speed, stealth, and her kind is rumoured to be one of the best companions to have in combat. What i'd do to get my hands on such a graceful bird...

Shots begin firing, dragging me out of my thoughts. Salvador had already begun to shoot things, Gaige and Kreig following suit. I hear an audible scoff from Axton and I smile to myself. He really tries to keep them unified but it doesn't always work. I feel as if he stresses too much about being smart and tactical. I place my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about em' too much. It's not like we're in a boss fight. just let them at it." Axton turns his head away from my direction and sighs, gently brushing my hand off his shoulder. "You're right. I just want them to be organized."

"Of course, but maybe us having a not asking for directions or orders is beneficial sometimes, right? Times will come where we have to think for ourselves, and to improvise." I suggest to him, as we casually walk behind the group. He nodds in response, as he aims to shoot varkids. When he fires, the sounds of burning flesh and insect squealing invades my hearing. Not the most pleasant thing to hear, but something that I'm used to.