"I take it that's the short version?" Clay asked and I nodded.
"That reminds me actually, show him the Nailer." I said to Mordy and he slung the weapon off his back and handed it over.
Clay took the gun and looked it over with an appreciative eye before handing it back.
"Can't say as I've ever seen anything like it, where'd ya get it?" he asked curiously.
"I made it. And before you ask, yes it IS as impressive as it looks." I said with a grin.
"Shame that it's more of a Maliwan type deal than a Jakobs otherwise ol Monty would be mighty interested in the schematics." he said with a sigh.
"I owe the old man quite a bit but I had a different idea actually. You know Atlas?" I asked and he nodded.
"What about it?" he asked confused.
"Right now Atlas is rife with nepotism, corruption and spies all teetering ever so precariously on a ledge with a single man holding it up from falling. General Knoxx, a war veteran and the only thing standing between the corporation and it's complete collapse. Atlas is on the verge of bankruptcy from the incompetent fuck nuggets in charge of it driving it into the ground. Even the good general is only slowing the inevitable at this point however and the sharks are circling in wait for the moment the corporation falls." I said seriously.
Clay wasn't the only one interested in this however as my friends all had their attention fully on me. Roland in particular was nodding along as I spoke in agreement having no doubt seen some of this first hand. I wasn't spouting grog shit either as this was very much all factual information.-
"What's this got to do with the gun?" Clay asked confused.
"I want to buy Atlas, not now obviously but when the company is at it's lowest and dirt cheap. I'll use it as the foundation for my own company, Drake. It's been on my mind since the moment I got the library in that vault. My biggest issue right now is that I'm just one guy, an incredibly powerful and badass one but just a single dude. As much as I'd like to stay under the Jakobs umbrella it simply won't work long term. I need my own network and resources on the same level as Jakobs and the other corporations and Atlas's situation gives me an easy route compared to building from the ground up." I said seriously.
"If anyone else told me this I'd laugh before putting a bullet between their eyebrows since they were clearly nuttier than squirrel shit. You though? I KNOW you, and I know what you set your eyes on you tend to get done. Don't know how much help I can be for something like this but you can count me in." Clay said seriously.
"What's the first step?" Lil asked leaning forward seriously.
"Eh? You want in?" I said genuinely surprised.
"Not just her I'm in too. You've said it yourself, I'm a soldier. Might relax a bit after the vault is done with but eventually I'll need something to do and your corporation will need good soldiers." Roland said with a serious look.
"Wouldn't be the first time I worked for a corporation." Mordy said with a shrug.
"This is gonna be fun!" Brick said with a wide grin.
"Thanks guys, really. Before that though we gotta finish up with the vault. Speaking of how are we hitting the canyon?" I asked after changing the subject
"We blow it up!" Brick said eagerly.
"How are we gonna get the vault key piece then?" Mordy went to shoot it down but I held up my hand.
"Hold up! He might actually be onto something here." I said seriously.
"You're kidding right?" Lil asked and I shook my head.
"No seriously. The issue we currently have is that we'd have to fight through what is effectively a long tall hallway with no doors and a lot of guns pointed at the direction we're coming from. Calling it an uphill battle would be a massive fucking understatement. Instead of that however what if we carpet bomb the canyon except the area Krom is in to wipe out all the resistance except for him?" I asked while shaping my energy into a sort of holographic display of what I am talking about.
"You'd need to be precise with the bombs to keep the canyon from collapsing but it could work." Roland said while looking at the display.
"Couldn't we just come down the side from the top, grab the key fragment and then bail?" Lil asked using her finger to show what she meant on the display.
"Doubt it, Rakk are a thing so the bandits probably have look outs up there." Mordy said seriously.
"They'd also chase us to the end of fucking Pandora if we stole from them without wiping their asses out as well." I said with a shrug.
"Where are we gonna get that kinda ordinance anyway?" Mordy asked with a frown.
""Marcus"" we all said with a collective groan.
"Best of luck with that, only met the bastard once and I already don't want to make that twice." Clay said with a sympathetic look.
I had to agree with that sentiment as Marcus was the definition of corrupt businessman. He had no bottom line that he wouldn't cross if the price was good enough. I didn't doubt he was probably a major supplier to all the bandits on the planet. I couldn't see any other way they'd be so well armed otherwise without his shipments getting robbed constantly. Sure there was whatever was left by the corporations when they pulled out of the planet but that wasn't nearly enough to arm so many people. Beyond that most of the corporations made a point of not selling guns directly to bandits because they were such a nuisance.-
Loathe as I was to do it I drew the short stick out of the lot and had to go have a not so pleasant chat with the fat arms dealer. I of course found him in his shop Inventorying guns, one by motherfucking one.
"Ah! I'm told we have you to thank for the improved air quality, not that it'll earn you any discounts but I appreciate it regardless. What can I do for you today?" he said with a greedy smile.
"We need explosives, enough to carpet bomb Krom's canyon. We figured if anyone would have the inventory of explosives for this it'd be you." i said honestly.
"That's quite the ask. An expensive one too!" He said dramatically.
I rolled my eyes "Cut the crap Marcus, name your price and do consider if it doesn't work as advertised I will personally feed you to my dragon. No refund needed." I said firmly.
"Five hundred thousand in C6 should cover it. I guarantee it's effectiveness." he said with a wide grin as though my threat meant nothing to him.
To be fair if he was not trying to stiff me on the quality of the stuff then it really didn't mean anything since I'd have no reason to make good on it. I growled as I transferred the funds to him and he digitized a large crate that I cracked open to inspect before closing again and setting into my inventory. Much like it's two predecessor C's C6 was a chalky white clay like substance that was mostly safe to handle so long as you kept it away from an electric current or high heat. It was also far more potent than C4 and C5 so even a single medium sized crate worth of the stuff like this was more than enough to bomb a large area.-
"Pleasure doing business with you!" Marcus said with a grin as I left the shop.
What came next was a matter of the delivery mechanism for the explosives which thankfully was the easy part as I simply stuffed all the stuff into my machine and had it create thin metal containing orbs with a simple signal triggered electrical discharge method on them. Each orb was roughly the size of an apple and didn't look all that intimidating at all. There was no mistake however that these thing packed one hell of a punch as I tested one in my sim room and it blew up a good twenty foot radius.
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https://www.pa treon.com/user?u=81578854#:~:text=pa treon.com/pa treon_loskro
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Alexander Drake
Lifeforce:259,524
Integrated Traits: [Gun expertise-Uncommon grade]X4, [Clever mind-Rare grade],[Enhanced senses-Epic grade]X2, [Demi-supreme body-Legendary grade], [Supreme armored hide-Epic grade]X2, [Energy projection-Legendary grade], [Superior vitality-Epic grade]X2,[Flame breath-Uncommon grade],[Regeneration-Epic grade]X2, [Disease resistance-Epic grade],[Amphibious lungs-Uncommon grade], [Thermal sensing-Uncommon grade], [Water resistance-Common grade],[Active camouflage-Epic grade], [Eridian engineering expertise-Mythical grade], [Efficient lungs-Rare grade]x2, [Fire resistance-Epic grade]X3, [Elemental body(fire)-Legendary grade], [Shock resistance-Epic grade]X4, [Energetic sustenance(shock)-Epic grade]X2, [Radiation resistance-Epic grade]X3, [Energetic sustenance(radiation)-Epic grade]X2, [Biometallic bones-Epic grade],[Elemental body(shock)-Rare grade]X3,[Quick thinking-Rare grade], [Minor spatial awareness-Epic grade], [Buzzaxe expertise-Uncommon grade], [Siren(Phaselock)(Altered)-Mythical grade], [Pugilist expertise-Uncommon grade], [Adrenal rush-Rare grade], [Mechanical engineering expertise-Rare grade], [Gunsmithing expertise(degrading)-Common grade]X3, [Elemental body(Corrosive)-Rare grade], [Corrosion resistance-Rare grade], [Mechanical Savant-Epic grade],
Stored traits: [Flame projection gland], [Mechanical engineering expertise(degraded)-Common grade]