Currently as for myself, I needed to know where my combat capabilities lay. I reached into my mental interface and commanded Lyra to dial back the combat assistance.
I kept the targeting reticle active I wasn't suicidal but I cut the servo assisted reflexes and the automatic recoil compensation.
After that was done i began my move. My enhanced musculature allowed me to leap between rocks with terrifying silence, covering ground at sixty kilometers per hour without breaking a sweat, and muffled movement via 'Silent Movement Mode' suppressors being acruvated fkr the soles of my boots.
Closing the distance until I was positioned thirty meters above the ravine, I was concealed by the shadow of a collapsed pillar.
I drew my custom sidearm, the VX-45 "Shadow" - a tactical pistol that had high accuracy, smart ammo switching mode, a suppressor optical, & is a lightweight and reliable weapon. It was created via a combination of Jakobs and Atlas weaponry.
On Aurix-9, since it was a planet that had roots to virtually all the galactic companies to rely on for their certain areas of development. I was able to essentially procure the weapon of each and every brand and analyse them with Lyra and Angel to backwards discover their schematics and design my own gear and technology.
The weapon felt solid, a perfect extension of my grip. I took a breath, feeling my enhanced lungs expand with deadly efficiency, then I released it.
Crack.
Once i was in position close enough, the first shot took the bandit with the crate in the temple. He dropped like a sack of wet meat, the sound of his skull cracking echoing off the canyon walls.
"Contact!" the second bandit screamed.
The world exploded into chaos. The third bandit didn't hesitate he dove behind a rusted vehicle and opened fire. The muzzle flashes were blinding in the harsh sunlight.
Thud thud thud.
I allowed the rounds to slam into my shoulder via deliberate and controlled planning. In a simulation, this would be a red bar flashing on a screen. In reality, the impact felt like being struck by sledgehammers, though thanks to my custom shield and my armour and enhanced physiology, they were just that, kinetic vibrations i could withstand. For crying out loud i can survive if a vehicle hit me.
The vibrations rattled my teeth; the noise was deafening, a series of sharp, violent cracks that seemed to punch through my skull. Dust kicked up around me as bullets chipped away at the sandstone.
Focus dammit! Don't freeze up now.
I had never been in a real gunfight in my life, and tis is the first real life battle that I've been in. I knew I was strong, but regardless, you still feel the adrenaline course through you that can cause mistakes. Even if these are simple beginner mobs of a Game or Story, realistically, a person would freeze in their first battle and that's what I was experiencing.
The second bandit scrambled to reload, his hands shaking with adrenaline. That was my window. I didn't rush in blindly. I repositioned behind cover. My first test of the gunshots have already been verified so no need to pretend and waste more time.
I then popped up with lethal intent. Two shots. The second bandit's chest cavity collapsed inward as the rounds found their mark. The third bandit tried to swing his rifle toward me, but his reflexes were human, and mine were something else entirely.
I fired again. The third bandit fell mid shriek, his blood spattering the sand in a grotesque pattern.
Silence rushed back in, heavier than the noise.
I stood there, my chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. My heart rate was elevated, but not from fear from the chemical spike of combat adrenaline. I looked down at my hands. They were steady.
I had killed three people, they weren't the first, i had killed others a few years ago in my human experiments but...
The bandit population of Pandora were the unfortunate employees (and enslaved convicts) that had arrived on Pandora under the Dahl corporation to colonise the planet and mine.
When Dahl gave up on Pandora, primarily after the Winter period had ended which lasted years, the wildlife came out of hibernation and overwhelmed Dahl. They abandoned Pandora and their own employees along with the enslaved convicts.
Eventually those unfortunate employees either became Bandits or the local resident population of Pandora along with the ex-convicts.
So who did i kill? Some unfortunate Dahl employee that once had a family to go back to and simply went insane and was a victim here?
I didn't feel like a monster. I didn't feel like a hero. I just felt no different than before, maybe a little guilt but that was it. I don't understand why i was indifferent but there is no need to dwell on it.
Although, the weight of it stayed with me even if just slightly.
"Lyra. Analysis report." I said in a plain tone as I checked my gear and made my way onwards.
"Combat review initiated." Lyra said, her voice clinical. "Analysis: Your initial approach was optimal. However, your lateral movement after the first engagement was delayed by 0.4 seconds. You focused on the immediate threat and allowed the third bandit a window to reposition."
"I know," I said aloud. "The impact of the rounds... it disorientsed me more than the data suggested from combat simulations."
"Correct. The kinetic energy transfer causes micro tremors in the skeletal structure. You relied too heavily on the armor's durability to compensate for the shock rather than adjusting your stance."
"Note it," I said grimly. "I don't want to rely on the armor to save me from my own mistakes. The armor is a safety net, not a replacement for skill. And begin making adjustments to my personal Shield, i wabt it to have stronger force absorption capabilities."
I spent the next twenty minutes scavenging. I stripped the bandits of their ammunition, their meager cash and their weapons. Most of the guns were junk shoddy, unreliable pieces of scrap but on Pandora, junk was currency.
A working firing pin here, a functional power cell there, it all added up and I can just give all this rubbish to others and curry favour when I want. Not like i'll use it with what I have.
As I began the long trek back toward the outskirts of Fyrestone, the sun had not even changed since i got here.
A single day/rotation on Pandora lasts about 90 Earth hours.
And with a 7-year long Summer and 7-year Winter period, that's 14 full Earth years for just a single seasonal cycle on Pandora.
A full Pandora year is also equivalent to 10 Earth years. Hence Borderlands 2's setting happens '5 years later' - 5 Earth years which means Borderlands 2 events happens half of a single Pandora year layrr after the events of Borderlands 1.
Life is certainly going to be interesting here.