After the Vault

Crashing Into Pandora

Fiona was used to thinking five steps ahead, to anticipate moves and counter moves. Hell, she was happy to admit she was good at it too. It had become almost secondary nature to her, whether it was used for taking a little bit of cash out of some poor sucker's back pocket or dodging bandits in pursuit of the ever-elusive Alien Vault.

Except there was no way to think five steps ahead in this kind of situation. She had dealt with more than her fair share of surprises on Pandora, but nothing could really prep you for trying to claim the riches of a Vault only to find yourself face-down in the dirt as soon as you opened the first damn box.

She spat a few times into the sand before she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, muttering to herself as she sat up. Her hat was lying beside her and she brushed off the dirt before she placed it back on top of her head, her eyes rapidly scanning her surroundings.

The familiar expanse of the dust bowl that was Pandora greeted her and she sighed, looking over to ask Rhys what the hell had just happened only to realize rapidly that he wasn't there.

"Shit," she swore as she rose to her feet, trying to scan to distance for any sign of that ridiculous suit. She grinned in relief as she saw someone sit up in the distance, rubbing their head as they coughed a few times. She took a few confident strides forward, a snarky phrase on the tip of her tongue when she stopped.

The figure was shorter than Rhys, slightly broader in the chest as they clutched their stomach and groaned a little. The figure swore a few times to themselves as they tried to stand up only to collapse with a sharp cry, the sand flying up around them for a few moments.

She stood there, trying to calculate the risks of approaching the figure when they turned to her sharply, a pair of goggles adorning their eyes surrounded by expanses of black cloth. They reached under the hood for a moment before they looked up at her.

"H-h-elp m-m-m-m-me," their voice crackled and the figure swore as they reached under the hood again, their index finger pressed to their neck as they tried to speak again only for a sharp pitched whine to be emitted. "S-s-s-s-s-s-hit."

Wordlessly the figure reached under their hood and pulled out a slim collar adorned with what looked like a small speaker, slipping it into their pocket as they looked up at her.

"Help me, please," the figure declared, their voice a tad too deep to be genuine and Fiona tensed automatically as she watched the man. "Are you going near Kratos?"

"Kratos?" she asked in confusion, and the man nodded feebly. "What's Kratos?"

The man stood up, clutching his stomach and took a deep shuddering breath.

"The main military base on Pandora?" the man replied and Fiona could picture his eyes watching her with just as much confusion as she felt. "Look, all I need is for you to take me there and just drop me off at the main gate. I swear I can pay you whatever you want...."

"And how do you expect me to get us there?" Fiona asked with a small smile despite herself. "In case you didn't notice, I don't exactly have..."

"There's a Fast Travel station somewhere nearby. Normally I'd just try my luck but..."

The man wavered for a few minutes, his hand falling to his side and Fiona's mouth fell open as she took in the stained cloth around his waist, the blood still fresh.

"Too much blood loss," he coughed and she was about to protest when he tilted forward violently and collapsed into the dirt before her. She took a tentative step forward, touching his body with the toe of her boot as she debated whether it would be wise to waste time taking him to this Kratos when she really should be looking for Rhys.