Jax’s ECHO Log entry #1: Not dead yet.
Well, Penny, today was a pretty humiliating day. Luckily, I met some halfway-skilled Vault Hunters that kept my suit from getting too crumpled. The transport dropped us in some tiny village that smells like dead bodies, body odour, and butts. Somehow it still manages to have all the top line merchants working here. An arms dealer AND a bar? You wouldn’t think this Brymstone place was going to be such a hopping metropolis.
That Marcus guy seemed shifty as all get out, but he gave us the straight info on what was going on. At least I think so. You know I never pay enough attention to the subtle things, but he did offer us a job. Or, he offered us the chance at taking over some other folks’ jobs… Seems like most of the folks winding up with these letters he was talking about are winding up dead. Or working as a guard with a ridiculous name like Knight Ryder.
Seems the guilds are aiming to get their hands on some big all-powerful wand. Some want the power for themselves. Some want the power destroyed. Some want to experiment. Some just want somebody to kill Marcus with it. All of it pays. And maybe it has some power nobody knows about. I can only hope.
The crew I traveled in with from the transport agreed to work this together, rather than compete. Maybe not as fun, but given the unalived state of the agent that I found shoved into a trash can, I’m hoping we can be more successful as a group. Also, it was nice to run into another Hunter out here. They showed me a cool trick I didn’t know these Wings could do, so that was a plus. Min was the name? Been a few years since we met. There was also some guy rolling around in a red pyjama outfit . He had a short name too… something like Dog, or Rod, or Todd, or something.
And then there was the kid. Said she was 14, and for all I know she might have been exaggerating. I can’t rightly be sure. Had me thinking of how old Shara would be now, you know? Makes it a little awkward, brings up bad memories, but I’m trying to put that aside.
Side note: What type of kid is out here in a garbage town like Brymstone, hunting Vaults, at that age?
Earlier, I mentioned it was a humiliating day, but you would have been proud of me. I think I managed not to kill anybody today. Not for lack of trying, but something seems to keep stopping me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say somebody was messing with me. We managed to find a whole bunch of those letters that Marcus fella had talked about, I disarmed a grenade bomb, and even coerced the local law enforcement into getting us what we needed. I did have to threaten a kid with a bullet, though. Wasn’t my finest moment. But I’ve learned ya can’t trust anybody ‘round here on just their word.
We even stopped at the Brymstone bar for some intel, but that dame running the place gave me a bad vibe. You remember that time we had to run down the Paxton brothers after they tried to haul off with the barkeeps’ keg? Took us two days to find where they’d holed up, drunk and passed out. When we finally got it all settled and everything back where it needed to be, that’s when that Vault Hunter showed up. Not even a kind “How do ya do?”, she just walked into the bar and started getting in the face of those Paxton brothers. Eyes of cold hard steel. They were shaking like a dog after a river bath. I couldn’t even hear what she asked them, but those fellas told her everything they knew. Probably pissed themselves. Anyway, what I was trying to say is I saw a glare just like that today. That same look of cold violence in the eyes was on that dame Moxie. She might throw out the old “Hello Sugar” to keep things cordial, but I don’t plan on crossing her.
Not sure where I’ll write from next, we’re supposed to take some sort of transport out of here. We have to track down this wand if I’m going to get paid in time.
Clock is ticking on what I owe.
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