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"This isn't over! You hear me? YOU HEAR ME?! " Vasquez’s voice cracked as he shouted with all of his might, watching Rhys and Vaughn, the two Hyperion goons he had tried to kill moments ago being carried away by their Loaderbot and disappearing through the clouds.
Vasquez was tired of chasing around those meddling rats that were only making things more complicated for him than they needed to be. How hard could it have been to simply blow a hole through their chests right there when he had the chance? Oh, but he wanted to make it in style and with dignity. Something that could have made for an interesting story to tell at parties while bragging at other employees about his heroic little adventure on Pandora the day he victorious after opened a vault.
"Damn it!" He stomped on the ground. Vasquez looked up into the sky dramatically, lowering his tone. "Oh, this isn't over, Rhysie-boy. You're not so sleek as you think. I know where you're going and-"
"NO, NO, NO! THE SIGNAL IS MOVIN' AGAIN!"
Vasquez jumped as his monologue was cut short by a startling voice yelling from behind of a nearby boulder. The man sheepishly looked around, patting his suit acting as if he hadn't just put his arms defensively over his face like a coward.
‘Must be a psycho’ , he thought, ‘annoying little bastards’ . But there was something about the accent in the voice that piqued his curiosity. Vasquez squinted his eyes and tilted his head with his ear up into the direction the yelling had come from in hopes of catching something interesting.
"I'm tellin' ya, surely that piece of scrap Loader that flew right past us has it. The tracker was pointin’ at its direction!" The voice growled and snapped in each word it spoke. It sounded delirious, given the fact that nobody was responding. It was as if it was talking to itself. "It was right here, RIGHT HERE!"
Vasquez held his breath in as he inched closer to the direction the voice was coming from. Probably would've brought a gun with him just in case, but there was no time; it was a risky last-minute decision as he was sure he had heard that voice somewhere before, perhaps... somewhere back in Helios. He peeked around the corner keeping a safe distance.
Under the large shadow cast by the boulder, Vasquez managed to spot a scrappy motorbike and two figures resting next to it; it was in fact a man and a woman.
The woman was very tall, brunette hair spiked up with frosted tips, sand goggles worn on her eyes, and half of her face covered by the tall neck of her coat. Seemingly she didn't say a peep throughout the whole conversation, She nodded or shook her head or waved her hands, apparently speaking in a form of sign language.
And the loud short man was fully dressed in high waisted brown trousers and a darkened greenish coat with a hood. That was about all Vasquez could hardly see as his back was facing him. Although, under the coat, a wriggling blue cord with a pointy glowing green tip curled behind the man.
Ah... a tail!
"Why hello there!" Vasquez uttered to himself with a greedy smirk. He knew he'd recognize that voice, and the tail confirmed his suspicion. “If I can take this guy with me AND also Rhys, I would be killing two birds with one stone. I’m gonna be so rich.” He thought.
The corporate man backed away letting out a muffled giggle, fixed his tie, combed his hair, and with a cocky expression, he walked in with his usual overconfident swagger, approaching slowly to meet with the mysterious fellows.
“Well, well, well! What are the odds! If it isn’t Pip, the fabled Undying.” The Hyperion corporate spoke smoothly and posh, keeping his chin up. “Never in my life would have I imagined to be able to meet Handsome Jack’s favorite toy in the flesh.” He chuckled. “I thought you were long gone as the rumors say.”
The woman quickly drew out a small shock-gun from her belt and pointed at Vasquez without hesitation making it sparkle threateningly as she was ready to shoot, but the hooded man held her wrist gently, lowering her hand before she could act.
The short, hooded man turned around cautiously to look up at the man in the black suit. The light of the sun revealed an intimidating large scar on the left side of his mouth and his eyes, such big green glowing eyes lightly shrouded by the hood scanned up and down, analyzing the nuisance standing upon him.
“Who the feck are ya supposed to be?” The man snapped furrowing his eyebrows.
Vasquez blinked fast and his smile disappeared, taken aback by the short fellow’s attitude. “Ah...b-uh..well…” His lips twitched nervously as he cleared his throat trying to regain his bold facade. “W-Well… let’s just say that I’m the man who is gonna bring you back home to Helios.” He stepped closer. “The big people from Hyperion really miss their honorable member of the family and I’m sure they’ll be stoked to have you back.”
Pip cocked an eyebrow and a grin slowly grew on his face before delivering an obnoxious cackle. “PFF HAHAHA! OH GOH- AMBER ARE YA HEARIN’ THIS?” He bent his body backwards as he laughed uncontrollably. “THIS HYPERION DRONE THINKS HE CAN JUST DRAG ME BACK UP THERE BY JUST SHOWIN’ UP AND TALKIN’ FANCY!”
The tall woman turned her head to look at Vasquez who was glaring at the scene, pouting with annoyance as the short man ridiculed him. She simply stared in silence.
“Oh mate...” Pip snorted as his chortling came to an end. “Not happenin’. So beat it. What even is someone so nicely dressed like ya doin’ here anyway?” He spat on the ground. “Was it ya who fell from Helios just now?”
“Those are business matters that don’t concern you.”
“Ya swanky folks always say that.” Pip groaned. “What do yer people want with me anyways? I thought that I was completely banned from interacting with all Hyperion property.”
Vasquez smirked. “Probably not all true. You still ARE Hyperion property, pal.”
“Huh... dunno why am I even surprised Blake wouldn’t keep his word…” Pip muttered.
“Even if you were, psh, banned …” Vasquez continued. “You seemed to be very interested in a certain Loaderbot earlier, and if I’m correct, that is pretty much Hyperion property. So you weren’t keeping your word either.”
The short man scrunched his nose as he gawked at the corporate man.
“I’ve got an idea, little man.” Vasquez began pacing around Pip with his hands behind his back. “You’re looking for something, and I can tell you that I am too, and it happens to be within that same Loaderbot’s grasp. Now, what is in that Loaderbor that could be so important to you?”
“Well that is none of yer bloody business, prick.” Pip hissed.
“I understand.” Hummed Vasquez. “You were always the secretive type and I respect that.”
Pip rolled his eyes and turned to look back at Amber, who quietly shrugged and shook her head. He sighed and crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.
“You and I could work this out. Come with me. I will help you find… whatever is you’re looking for. Maybe…” Vasquez grinned slyly while stroking his beard with his index finger and thumb.
There was a moment of silent staring as tension grew. The Hyperion corporate swallowed, his mouth felt dry from yelling earlier, and the heat radiating around him was driving him mad. He just wanted this to be over just so he could be on his way. He looked at the short man with a forced smile and held out his hand at him.
“Come on. I promise it’ll be fun.” Vasquez purred. “See, you don’t have to come back to Helios if you don’t want to. But at least let us have this one adventure, for old times’ sake. You can even bring your unnervingly mute friend here.”
Pip tilted his head, eyes squinting incredulously. He shrugged and approached the man in the suit. Amber gasped and frantically shook her head. The short man firmly held Vasquez’s wrist, perhaps a little too tight, and forcefully tugged him close enough to have the Hyperion corporate down to his level.
“Hmmnah.” Pip uttered flashing a toothy grin before slapping Vasquez’s hand and pushing him away. “Yer just wastin’ me feckin’ time. I still don’t know who ye are, not that I care anymore.” He gestured waving his hand. “Let’s go, Amber. We got a Loaderbot to hunt.”
The tall woman gazed back at the Hyperion corporate, studying him one last time before mounting the motorbike’s side seat, silently gesturing at Pip.
“Mm? No, nah. Better save yer ammo for somethin’ else.” Pip glared at Vasquez’s direction. “Somethin’ that is really worth shootin’ at.”
Vasquez frowned and tightened his fists on his sides, but said nothing.
“Well! It has been fun knowin’ ya, lad, but it is time we go on our separate ways.” The short man placed his hand on his chest mockingly faking a sad tone. “But somethin’ tells me we will see eachother again real soon. And next time ya better have a bigger crowd of buffoons with ye if ya really want to take me away.”
“OH, I’ve got people! And I swear that you’re gonna regre-”
The engine of the motorbike roared, dust and pebbles shot from the ground creating a cloud under the spinning wheels that engulfed Vasquez as the vehicle drove off. Vasquez coughed pathetically. wiping his face from the gravel that got stuck in his mouth and eyes.
“Oufh! Damn it!” Vasquez whined and stared off into the horizon, shading his eyes from the blazing sun. The motorbike had disappeared and there were no traces of which direction it took with the wind continuously shifting the sands below him. He let out a defeated sigh and slowly made his way back into his car
“This is all better be worth it.” He huffed. “It’s really starting to get annoying...”