The details of the town of Fyrestone got clearer and clearer as I closed the remaining distance between me and it and after passing a certain point, I got a great overall look of the place. What sat in the distance was a rustic town that was far, far larger in scale than its game counterpart. I examined the settlement from afar as I drove and discovered it featured larger buildings that were of a similar style to the ones I remembered from the original game as well those from the town of New Haven, and surrounding the small town was a makeshift wall constructed from rusted metal and dark rock.
It doesn't look like the bandits tore up the place just yet, so my presence should be accepted here… I mean I don't really look like a bandit anymore since I've cleaned myself up and underwent some massive physical changes, so I think things will go fine.
As I began rolling up to town, I started replaying this whole entire trip in my head and thinking about how fucking long it took me to get here.
Haa, a journey that should've taken me no more than an hour to complete, ended up taking two and a half, nearly three hours… I'm really going to have to do better in the future if I'm going to get anywhere.
Having said that, there are a number of factors that caused the lengthening of my trip such as it being my first time traveling through this version of the Arid Badlands and my mode of transportation being a piece of heavy machinery filled to the brim with loot, loads of ammunition, and tons of explosives.
So, it's not like I could've sped through the area without incurring a shit load of risk… Anyways, the difficulties I faced weren't all for naught because I did gain a level on my way here bringing me even closer to unlocking the next skill tree. I wonder what tree I'm going to take next… I'll decide on that later when the time comes. As for now, my focus should be entering town and getting myself set up, and figuring out what my next move is.
I spent a handful more seconds thinking about it and soon moved on to other things. Not long thereafter, I pulled up to the front gate that was being guarded by a couple dozen men dressed in non-uniform clothing with bits of old Dahl armor and armor of their own make. Scanning them a bit further, I found they were armed with a plethora of weaponry, from revolvers to rocket launchers, though their arsenal mainly consisted of the combat rifle variety.
"And who might you be?" The man who looked to be in charge asked loudly from atop the gate a second or two after I hopped out of the dump truck.
Wanting to show my face, I removed my helmet and answered the armor overcoat wearing middle aged black man simply as the guards around the area eyed me like a hawk. "The names, Vic, Victor Atlas Colt."
"Ohh, and what are you here for, Vic? We don't get many visitors around these parts ever since mining stopped in the area and Dahl abandoned Pandora."
"I'm thinking about setting up shop here while I'm hunting down that impossible to find legendary vault hiding out here on Pandora, but that's only if you'll have me."
"You're one of those vault hunters, huh…"
Responding with a simple nod of my head, the leading guard, who has yet to introduce himself, followed. "Well, as long as you don't cause any trouble, you're welcome to stay as long as you want."
"I'll be sure to keep my nose clean then."
"Alright, let him in and man the gate while I show the new guy around town."
"Whatever you say, boss man." A fellow who appeared to be second in command around here answered for the ragtag group of men.
Once the guards were issued their orders, the dark-skinned man slipped out of view for a dozen seconds and appeared from the other side of the rusted gate as it split down the middle and retreated to the sides.
"Welcome to Fyrestone, Vic. Let me show you around town."
"I appreciate the tour guide, mister, but what was your name again? I didn't quite catch it earlier." I asked since the man still hadn't introduced himself.
"Oh, shit, I completely forgot to tell you. My name's Trevor Morris, but you can just call me Trev. That's what everyone in Fyrestone calls me."
"It's nice to meet you, Trev." I replied, taking the man's presented right hand and giving it a firm shake, though nowhere near enough to break it.
"Likewise."
It looks like not all civility has left Pandora... At least not yet.
Pleased to be starting off on the right foot, I was about to accompany Trev when I suddenly remembered my truck full of valuables. "Hey before I take you up on your offer, do you have anywhere safe and secure I can park this monster of a vehicle?"
"Yeah, we have a parking lot a bit further in, so just hop in the driver's seat and follow me."
"Sure thing."
Doing just as instructed, I climbed back into the dump truck's operator cabin and started following behind Trev. As I got past the gate, I took in the surroundings and saw the place was remarkably similar to the Fyrestone I knew, just much bigger and grander in scale. I followed the man for a short while on the surprisingly paved street and after scanning plenty of the one-and two-story buildings, many of which looked unoccupied or even abandoned, we came up on a mostly empty dirt parking lot that only had a couple handfuls of outriders and other vehicles sitting in it.
I guess Fyrestone isn't doing all that great... Maybe I can change that in a bit here. I mean, I do want to get my levels up before the 4 OG Vault Hunters show up, so I might as well decimate the bandit population and resolve their bandit problem.
Keeping that thought in the back of my mind, I rolled into the mostly empty lot, found a lone space for myself and threw it in park. I then exited the vehicle and gathered the pups, who were making a racket from within the metal cabinet I stowed them in.
They're probably hungry and need a drink, so I'll bring them along. I'm sure this dude won't mind 5 skag pups joining us if I offer to cover lunch at the best place in town.
The pups were more than antsy from this trip across the Arid Badlands and raring to get out, so as soon as I popped open the metal panel, they attempted to launch out of the tool storage. Unfortunately for them, their attempt was wholly unsuccessful because I grabbed them out of the air and gathered them all up with my impressive speed. The moment I got hold of the 5 of them, I stuck them in a makeshift carrier that was really just an old backpack I scavenged back at the Headstone Mine.
I murmured, little rascals under my breath and turned to Trev, who was looking in my direction with an expression that said, what the fuck was that. "You don't mind if these fellas join us, right?"
"…"
"I'll cover lunch at the best place in town."
"...You know what, sure." The dark-skinned man shrugged.
With my pups allowed to join, I carried the 5 of them, who were all sticking their heads out and taking in the small town's scenery, and locked up the truck before chasing after Trev. There were no sidewalks or anything like that along the sides of the street, so the two of us just wandered on down the road whilst my impromptu tour guide rattled off the names for all the different places we passed and described whatever business they handled or function they served.
This flow of information started off slow initially, but it ramped up quickly as we wandered closer and closer to the center of town, which was much more populated due to it being far safer when compared to the outskirts. He and I kept progressing down the street as he continued with his introduction of the different sites and after he regurgitated a bit more information, we strolled into the town center. What lay before us was a central hub-sort of space with over a dozen three-story buildings constructed from concrete, metal, and other common building materials, all of which surrounded a towering water tower right smack dab in the center of town.
This is different.
Curious about all the changes from the game, I took the time to examine the nearby buildings, and what I discovered was a bunch of signs for shops and other businesses littering their fronts, and the largest of the structures possessed a sign that spelled out town hall and mayor's residence. And upon closer inspection, I noticed there was even one for something called Dr. Zed's Medical Clinic and another for Marcus's Gun Emporium.
Hmm, I know Marcus Kincaid is supposed to be operating out of New Haven, so he probably won't be here, but I wonder if the actual Dr. Zed is...
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