Chapter 7: Armor

Excited to see what was inside, I moved in front of the container and gave it a scan to see where the opening mechanism was.

"Ahh, there you are."

Having found what I was looking for, I pressed the button and a couple seconds later, the large locker released a gas leak sort of sound due to its pressurization. Not too much longer after that, its two large metal doors swung out forcefully and unveiled a heavy duty iron black colored mining suit with numerous orange alloy plates attached across its surface. Alongside the suit, there was a big serrated combat knife that was more short sword than knife and a savage-looking pickaxe that appeared more suited for combat than mining, both of which I ignored in favor of the impressive suit.

That's one bulky suit right there, and on top of that, it looks big enough to fit my massive frame.

Although I was happy to have found this piece of equipment, I nevertheless remained worried about it not being able to accommodate my new vessel's… absurd proportions, so I removed it from its housing and gave it a closer look. I quickly found the suit's measurements were about my size, with just a slight bit of room on top, when I compared it against my body. The moment I was basically sure it could fit, I flipped it around and inspected the backside of the suit and found a large pressurized tank that was hooked up to hoses that funneled into some sort of apparatus around the neck of the suit.

I would've liked to have had the helmet that obviously comes with the suit because head protection is cool, but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Slightly bummed out that the suit was missing a pretty important piece, I returned to examining the suit and noticed a strange device on the back, right below the tank.

Hmm, what is that... It looks oddly similar to a shield, but also not, at the same time.

Even though I was curious as to what it was, I wasn't about to waste time on it when I didn't know with absolute certainty if my big ass would even fit inside. Thus, I threw to the back of my mind and began removing the many things I was carrying in my pockets onto the nearby bench. Once I had emptied everything from my cargo pants, I returned to the dark gray and orange suit and began putting it on. Slipping one leg on after another, I hefted the upper body portion of the suit that was also the heaviest and slid my arms into the armored sleeves.

As soon as I had the suit snuggly hugging my bulging muscles, I closed it up and stretched a bit to get a feel for the armored suit.

Fit's like a glove, but shit, you're a heavy one alright. It's a damn good thing this body of mine is as strong and well developed as it is, otherwise there's no way I would be able to wear and utilize this suit of armor.

With the piece of protective gear finally on, I studied the armor plating that ran across nearly the entirety of the armor and strode over to the locker room and slammed an armor plate into a sturdy portion of the concrete wall to see what the durability was like. The second I removed my arm from the small web cracked crater I left in the wall and brushed off the dust I found, not even a scratch on the armor plating.

This stuff must be pretty sturdy because I put most of my strength behind that move, so it should be able to hold out against a few rounds at the very least.

Having come to the conclusion that this should be more than adequate to handle melee and small arm fire at least for a short while before succumbing I was about to head on back and collect the rest of my loot when my re-enabled shield fluttered and increased in power drastically surpassing its previous capacity by 2,500 points.

"What the hell is boosting my shield capacity???" I thought aloud.

Surprised by the sudden massive increase to my shield capacity, I brought up my system menu and went right into my investigation mode. I spent no more than a few moments investigating and swiftly discovered the culprit behind the more than doubling of my shield capacity.

| Uncommon || Dahl | Heavy D.E.D. Mining Suit (Incomplete)

Armor Rating: Level 8 (Resistant to crushing, slashing, piercing and up to rifle rounds)

Shield Capacity Boost: 2,500

Recharge Rate Boost: 700

Recharge Delay Reducer: -0.25 Seconds

Oh, so that's what that odd-looking shield looking device was for... Nice to know.

With that mystery resolved rather expeditiously, I once again returned to the large locker and when I arrived at it, I began collecting the melee weapons within. Picking up the knife first, I inspected the blade initially before performing several rough practice swings and stabs with the sharp weapon. After doing all that, I found it fit quite well in my hand, so I placed it in my backpack for the time being since I didn't have any other place to stow it besides there.

Quite happy with that find, I moved onto the pickaxe next and attempted to lift the big weapon out of the locker. However, my attempt only made the weapon shift a bit under my strength, so I put some real power into it and removed it from its home.

Shit, you're trying to compete with the armor for who can be the most cumbersome, aren't ya.

I thought to myself mentally whilst I gave the weapon a few unrestrained swings before it flew out of my grasp and sunk into the concrete wall.

Yeah, I'm not looking to throw my shoulder out of my socket, so I'm gonna have to hold off on using this till I get a bit stronger.

Slightly embarrassed that I couldn't keep a proper hold on the beefy weapon even with my new and much stronger body, I removed it from the wall and stowed it away in my inventory for a later date. Just about wrapped up with things here, I turned my attention to the many articles I removed from my cargo pants earlier that I had now lost the ability to use.

Where and how am I going to carry all this now... Well I'm not venturing off without spare magazines, grenades, and meds so I'm gonna have to MacGyver something to accommodate the rest of my kit.

Unwilling to leave a good part of my gear set behind, I started turning the locker room upside down in search of a solution to my newest issue. Thankfully, in my tear down of the place, I came up with a rather simple but creative idea of sewing belt loops onto the suit's waist and swapping my pouch as well as the rest of the items I had hanging on my chain belt previously. Happy with the solution I thought of, I went to work on it and made the necessary modifications to my new suit before looping a sturdy belt I grabbed from one of the many lockers around my waist.

From there, I transferred the things I had on my waist previously, along with some additional pouches I picked up with the belt. Still not satisfied, I continued with my modifications and jury-rigged a sort of harness that ran down the length of my thighs and attached even more pouches, but this time to my thighs.

Yeah, this should be good enough till I can get to a civilized town and have something properly made... Actually let me add one last thing.

...

There, that should do it.

I thought, after making a leather sheath for my large serrated combat knife that was now sitting on the left side of my belt. Pretty happy with how my handiwork came out, I put it to the test and ran it through a few practice draws to see how it performed.

That'll do.

Plenty satisfied with my creation, I searched the rest of this level, looted everything I could find, organized it, and transferred it to the elevator to transport to the upper floors later. Once I had done all that, my focus shifted to the gargantuan bulkhead door that no doubt led into the mines.

I believe I remember reading somewhere that some sort of coverup happened at this mine. So whatever reason the corporation had to abandon this previously profitable mine is probably lying somewhere behind that door in the depths of the mine... I could be misremembering, but I'm about 75% percent sure I'm on the money. And since my goals require me to get stronger to accomplish them, I might as well see if I can't find some creatures to hunt before I try to face other humans with guns.

Preferring to face the wild vicious creatures of Pandora rather than the armed bandit population above, I got to work laying the groundwork and set up a minefield that only I could pass over safely. The instant I was finished preparing, I approached the door's controls and gave them a look-see. Already growing used to this world's technology, I speedily located the button I needed to use and pressed it. This caused a siren to start blaring and multiple rotating yellow lights around the bulkhead to come to life after however many years they had been sitting dormant.

Knowing Borderlands, this will surely get exciting in a moment here.

Expecting chaos to ensue rather shortly, I backed off and directed my high tier machine gun at the massive metal door that was now finally beginning to move.

[ Loot Acquired ]

Guns: | Uncommon || Maliwan | RD Obsolete Shocking Viper Revolver - | Uncommon || Tediore | RDLS Cheap Explosive Matador Shotgun - | Common || Generic | Basic Combat Rifles (7) - | Common || Generic | Basic Pistols (3) - | Common || Generic | Basic Revolvers (5) - | Common || Generic | Basic Shotguns (15)

Melee Weapon: | Rare || Vladof | Workers Savage Combat Pickaxe - | Uncommon || Dahl | Old Veteran Combat Knife

Grenade Mods: | Uncommon || Hyperion | Longbow Grenade

Armor: | Uncommon || Dahl | Heavy D.E.D. Mining Suit (Incomplete)

Shields: | Common || Generic | Basic Shields (5)

Class Mods: | Common || Generic | Basic Classless Class Mods (4)

Meds: Greater Healing Kits (2) - Greater Insta-Health Vials (4) - Healing Kits (5) - Insta-Health Vials (5) - Light Healing Kits (5) - Light Insta-Health Vials (7) - Minor Healing Kits (15) - Minor Insta-Health Vials (21)

Ammunition: 12,114

Grenades: 30

Dollars: 9,044