A New Leader

Part Seven : Is This It?

"You were a bandit?" He asked, inching closer to the desk.

"Yup," I stood up from my chair and walked over to the window, "one of the baddest girl bandits you'd ever meet."

"Unless you're faced with Handsome Jack, then you're stone faced."

"Oh, so your first meeting with him went smoothly?" I asked, turning back around to face him.

"I never said I was badass." He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

"What I'm saying is I was a well known bandit because I was a girl and would kick ass."

"Now you're known as the mysterious Hyperion president who goes by the name The Big Bad Wolf and has fixed the environment but has killed countless of people in the process."

"I killed them with good reasoning and you know it." I growled.

"I'm not saying you did it in a bad way, but think of that..."

"You've never killed anyone?" I cocked my eyebrow.

He was quiet, obviously recollecting what I said, I caught him. I have all the records of the deaths on Helios that he had caused, perks of being the president of the company he tired to bring down. I went back and sat down in my seat, watching his speechless lips stay still and his hands collect in his lap.

"We've all done things we're not proud of," I stated, "but on this planet it makes us who we are, it made you somewhat of an outlaw and made me president of Hyperion."

"Fine, just get on with your story." He groaned.

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We were called out early the next morning, I grabbed my mask quickly out of my bag and ran into the camp as a vault hunter had made their way into the camp. A rather small and curious person who seemed determined to make their way to Handsome Jack, people shot at him from all sides but seemed to miss.

I pulled my sniper from my back holster and set up my sites, he continued to run closer and closer to the area. I took in a deep breath and aimed right towards his head, only to let go as I hit him right in between the eyes, killing him instantly. I was always a good shot if I ever had the time to set up my sights, other than that I was a mess but I needed to make a good impression.

A shred of guilt flew through me as I watched the bandits carry the body away and throw him over the edge of a cliff, people waved at me or told me that I did a good job but I only brushed it off as nothing much. Bone Head walked up to me, bumping his arm against mine happily, I laughed a bit before he walked away once again.

I walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat down, my feet dangling over the seemingly bottomless pit. It was quiet here, despite the fact that there was a fresh kill at the bottom of this cliff. I removed my mask once again and wiped the sweat from my face, letting the cool air somewhat dry off my face. The vast view went on for what seemed forever, I wondered how much of Pandora is just undiscovered because it's too damn dangerous to explore.

I flipped over my mask and looked at the details, the dark eye pieces, the clothe that covered it that was mixed with plastic to keep it all together. I thought about what it meant, I'm a bandit born and raised, but I always felt like I was going to amount to more. There's more to my life than just shooting animals and fending off vault hunters, there was that small feeling in my gut telling me that I have more potential in my life. I felt the urge to throw my mask over the edge, just leave now... but being a bandit is all I know, I just can't turn to Jack and ask him for a position at Hyperion.

"Good job there, kiddo!" I heard Jack boast before walking over and sitting next to me.

I put my mask on before he got the chance to really look at me. He sighed as he looked out at the long landscape of jagged rock cliffs and bright blue sky, I looked at his masked face as well and the way his hair was slicked back with the one single grey streak almost in the middle.

"Jeesh, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were checking me out there princess." He laughed, my cheeks turning red.

"Sorry sir." I looked away from him and out towards the landscape.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm used to it." He stood up before patting my back, "keep up the good work."

He walked back towards the base and and fazed back over no mans land and finally to his Hyperion base where he usually stayed and protected the bunker, there were constant earth quakes and large booming noises as he was obviously doing more eridium mining. I'm surprised we all have our hearing, maybe that's why Jacks always yelling. I stood back up and walked back towards the hut, that was the most excitement we've had so far but other than that it seems like this is going to be pretty easy going.

I laid down on my cot and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the moments before Jack arrived. Wanting to throw my mask over the edge and give up on being a bandit... what was I thinking? This is my life, I can't be like Jack. I can't be the good guy so I might as well be the badass bad guy.