Ch 85: The Road to Baku
The wastelands stretched endlessly before Kael, a vast expanse of cracked earth and shifting dunes. The crawler rumbled beneath him, treads grinding over rough terrain as he continued his journey toward Baku.
He had repelled an ambush, looted what little was valuable, and now had a straight shot east. But nothing was ever that simple.
His fingers tapped against the console, checking the armor integrity readouts. The damage from the fight with the Dust Vultures was minor, but he still needed to replace a few plates.
"I'll have to find a proper repair bay when I reach Baku."
The wastelands weren't completely uninhabited—there were trade outposts, rogue settlements, and scavenger hubs dotting the landscape. Some were safe enough, others were death traps disguised as pit stops.
Kael planned to avoid unnecessary stops if he could help it.
But that decision was about to be taken from him.
A Malfunction at the Worst Time
A sudden warning beep snapped him out of his thoughts.
The dashboard display flickered, and Kael's eyes narrowed at the alert:
⚠ ENGINE COOLANT PRESSURE DROPPING ⚠
⚠ SYSTEM INSTABILITY DETECTED ⚠
Kael cursed under his breath. The Expo generator was running too hot.
"Damn thing must've taken a hit during the ambush."
The Expo was unpredictable—a relic from before the war, a power source that never seemed to run out. But it wasn't invincible. If the heat buildup got too high, it could cause a shutdown—or worse.
Kael had no choice.
He needed to stop and fix it.
Finding Shelter
He scanned the surrounding terrain, searching for a defensible position to make repairs.
A rocky outcrop to the north caught his eye—an old war-bunker, its structure half-buried in sand.
"That'll do."
He adjusted course, steering the crawler toward the bunker.
The moment he pulled up, he activated the turret defenses, setting them to auto-target anything that moved outside his ID signature.
Kael grabbed his toolkit, strapped on his sidearm, and climbed out.
The wind howled around him, sending up small whirlwinds of dust. He didn't like how open this area was, but he needed to fix the generator fast.
Kael pried open the crawler's side panel, exposing the Expo generator's cooling unit.
A thin layer of dust and grime had built up inside, likely from the wasteland air getting into the vents.
"Sloppy. Should've reinforced the filters."
He grabbed a compressed air canister from his kit and began clearing out the clogged vents.
The cooling pipes were misaligned—probably shaken loose when the crawler rammed through the city gate.
He grabbed his wrench and began tightening the bolts, making sure everything was secured properly.
"Should be stable now."
He wiped the sweat from his brow and closed the panel.
Not Alone
Kael was about to climb back into the crawler when his proximity alarm blared.
Multiple signatures detected.
He froze, hand hovering near his pistol.
The motion tracker showed three figures, moving cautiously from the east.
Kael slid back behind the crawler, keeping his head low, eyes locked on the approaching figures.
Through the dust haze, he spotted them—scavengers.
They wore patched-up armor, their faces obscured by scarred visors.
They weren't charging in like raiders. They were watching, assessing him.
"Smart enough not to attack immediately."
Kael didn't move. He let the silence stretch.
Finally, one of them called out.
"You with anyone?"
Kael weighed his response.
"No."
"That your rig?"
"Yeah."
The scavenger exchanged a look with the others. Kael could see their hands hovering near their weapons.
"We're not looking for trouble."
"Neither am I."
But that didn't mean he trusted them.
The scavenger leader took a slow step forward.
"We got a proposition."
A Trade or a Trap?
Kael didn't lower his guard.
"Speak."
The leader pointed at the crawler.
"You're heading east. So are we. Roads out there are bad—raider nests, old minefields. We could use a heavy escort."
"And what do I get?"
The scavenger smirked.
"Navigation data. We know a clean path past the worst of it."
Kael considered.
He didn't need protection, but a safe route to Baku? That was worth something.
"Show me your data."
The scavenger hesitated, then pulled out a worn data slate and tossed it over.
Kael caught it, plugged it into his crawler's system, and ran a quick verification scan.
The route looked legit—a smuggling corridor used to bypass raider-infested zones.
"Could save me a few hours… or could be a setup."
Kael made his decision.
"Fine. You ride in the back. You pull anything stupid, I drop you in the desert."
The scavengers exchanged glances, then nodded.
"Deal."
On the Road:
Kael opened the rear hatch, and the scavengers climbed in, securing their gear.
He took his seat at the controls and pushed the crawler forward, back onto the road to Baku.
The city was still far ahead, and now he had company.
Whether that was a mistake—he'd find out soon enough.