Along the way, I kept trying to figure out where I got this weird feeling that I'd seen my new acquaintance somewhere before... which probably makes him not so new. And his "bird," too. Come to think of it, Moxie evoked something similar too.

  ...And I probably know the reason why. They're both "plot characters", most likely. I can't be sure, but it's the most likely.

  Not that it gives me anything or changes anything, though.

  It may seem odd at first glance, but megacorporations, those carcharodons of capitalism, take archaeology very seriously. However, one only has to delve a little deeper into the issue and the reasons become painfully obvious. I've already mentioned that the Eridian artifacts have seriously pushed the technological development of mankind; it's like Mass Effect with the proteans, only without the asari.

  ...In general, there are girls with blue body and unusual innate abilities here too. They're called "Sirens," and there are only six of them in the entire human race, so the odds of meeting one are so slim that you don't have to worry about it.

  ...Or not. This logic would apply if I were in the real world, but if it's a game, and there's something as remarkable as "space witches" in the lore, of which there are only six, you can be sure that at least one of them is on the planet, and sooner or later all of them will appear. So it was worth knowing at least the basics - what to expect from them, how to recognize them... There was very little information, though, only mention of blue "tattoos" on their bodies, glowing when they used their abilities, and the abilities themselves, the latter even without specifics. What can you do, they are so rare that most people don't even believe in their existence.

  Back to archaeology, though. Dahl isn't really a weapons company in the first place, but a mining company. They know and love digging and extracting everything valuable that is in the depths. They are also masters of quick and cheap monumental construction... but I'm getting a little sidetracked again. Which, however, can be understood: "Archaeological site number 3", which appeared ahead, caught my eye. Large reinforced concrete structures, whole and damaged, with white triangles of Dahl on them, and between them - strange statues, either half-destroyed, or originally were such. And strangely shimmering pillars and angular wall fragments.

  Eridian architecture.

  From our position, it was impossible to make out if there was anyone behind the walls, but...

  - Wing, check, - Mordecai commanded. His pet gave a short, low snort and soared into the air. I steered the car toward some ruined cabin; there's no "rent-a-car" where I can store it safely, so I'll just hide it, lock the controls, and digitally build something to protect it from vandals....

  ...yeah, it's not very "just".

  While I was doing that, the hunter's pet flew off and came back, so it was obvious that there were indeed bandits at the archaeological site: Wing brought back a couple of ammo blocks.

  - Wouldn't he raise the alarm, bring the bandits on his tail? - I inquired.

  - Nah - Mordecai shook his head negatively and tossed me one block, which I caught; a pistol block. - Wing led them away and they lost him. We should act while they're looking.

  - Divide and conquer - I nodded.

  - Sort of, - the hunter agreed. His hand reached for the flask on his belt, but stopped.

  - The bandits will probably have some booze, - I said, jumping off the wheelbarrow and heading toward the archaeological site. Mordecai sighed.

  - We'll see. Usually it's so-so stuff...

  It's actually stupid to drink before a gunfight, but I decided not to point this guy out - we're not that familiar, and as long as he doesn't shoot in my direction, none of my business. Oh, and, it's worth noting, his hands weren't shaking at all, and when he was aiming at me - the aim was both firm and quite accurate. With Homo Recens physiology, anything is possible, really.

  Luckily for us, the bandits didn't bother to keep any acceptable watch, so we found out without any problems that there were about two dozen jerks of different degrees of stupidity and recklessness in the archeologists' huts.

  - How do we act, heroically or smartly? - I asked. Mordecai looked at me oddly, then shook his head.

  - You wouldn't believe it; that's what I was going to say, - he said. - I guess smart people think alike.

  ...I didn't correct him. I'm smart.

  Fortunately (again), AlBa did not demand that I went into a frontal attack, pathetically shooting the bandits coming from all sides. I act boring, monotonous, unheroic... If don't like that I operate a turret - I should have given another class, and engineer is the preparation and use of technical means. In principle, it could be fine if I were the same "siren"... only male, please.

  Siren can use boring safe methods too, but she also has Incredible Cosmic Powers, as another blue character who has them used to say.

  Anyway, I resorted to the tried-and-true strategy of "Set up a bunch of turrets, then lure the enemy to them". Only this time I put them not in a pile, but in several different points, and covered them with stone "barriers". As for Mordecai, who was supposed to lure the bandits to my field of death, and then, if necessary, support them with sniper fire, he settled down on one of the thick, high... walls? Admittedly, I'm not sure why the Dahl erected that structure. Perhaps they planned to build something substantial, but didn't follow through? In any case, Mordecai walked up to the concrete-like structure and began to climb up quickly like a gecko.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  It looked incredible. Yes, the surface of the stone was not quite smooth, and there were potholes, pits and irregularities on it, but it was a vertical wall with small holes on the surface. He was wearing only leather gloves with cut fingers. I don't know how he did it.

  It's really like a gecko. Or a spider.

  He set himself up on a small rectangular platform on top of a concrete "pillar" with just enough room to lie down and display his rifle. I'm not a sniper expert, but aren't the two most important things for a sniper to be stealthy and to be able to change positions quickly? In this case, they're both not really applicable. And he doesn't even have a shield.

  Well, I guess he knows better, even in terms of "how to kill myself"... I'll get more loot.

  And if he really is a story character, plot armor will protect him.

  I'd like that.

  I myself used the sniper approach (although my main weapon was an automatic rifle): I prepared several shelters to which I could retreat, and hid behind one of them. The main work will be done by turrets, I will only support.

  Good and well done work removes the possibility of adventure.

  Unfortunately, mostly in theory. In practice, unexpected twists and turns are possible even in a more... normal reality than this one. And one of those unexpected twists was the presence of heavy weaponry.

  The concept of "heavy weaponry", in general, on Pandora - in this world in general - is rather vague. For example, the machine gun on my car, unexpectedly, is not considered heavy weaponry, but some types of hand grenades are. Rocket-propelled grenade launchers, too, depending on the model, can be either heavy or light weapons, even though, like hand grenade modifiers, they use the same ammunition blocks. Even among shotguns, there are some that are heavy weapons... I wonder what kind of recoil they have.

  Anyway, at first things went exactly as I had hoped. A few accurate shots from Mordecai - I could use a sniper too... - reduced the bandits' numbers and provoked their attack. From my position, I had a pretty good view of what was going on, especially with my visor, which could both magnify and highlight objects. It's not just for aiming.

  Among this rabble there were less stupid and more dangerous than usual, who managed to react correctly: instead of rushing to the direction from which they were shooting, they hid behind the cover and started to aim at the sniper.

  Well, they tried. Just as one of them pointed his own sniper in the right direction, a black shadow fell from the sky toward him. The would-be shooter screamed, trying to blindly swing his gun away from the wing, but it slashed his throat with its claws and soared skyward again - to fall on the next bandit, with a revolver this time.

  The claws penetrated his skull like paper.

  The two bandits, with shotgun and pistol, opened fire on the flyer. The bloodwing was faster, however; a slanted pike, and he dashed between the legs of the big guy with the shotgun... ouch. I grimaced and reflexively clenched my legs.

  As it flew through its "triumphal arch," the wing clawed at bandit's most precious possession with its beak. Snake-eater, my ass.

  That trick, however, caused him to slow down, and another shotgun wielder took the opportunity, pointing the weapon at a convenient enough target... neither he nor the other with the machine gun had time to fire: Mordecai was by no means chewing popcorn while his pet worked. Minus two more bandits.

  In the chaotic shooting and shouting, the hunter and his pet definitely felt like fish in water. Or like a Pandoran bounty hunter in a gunfight, I suppose. Not every shot Mordecai fired was fatal, but as far as I could see, he never missed once, and he always took out the ones who were most important to take out right now.

  And it didn't even have to be "who."

  A scrawny thug with a skull on his face, which was fashionable on Pandora, at least among his colleagues, jumped out of the building and swung and threw something in Mordecai's direction. A grenade. And don't underestimate its danger - some modifier models make grenades homing grenades.

  That wasn't the case, though. Not less dangerous, but... The bandit probably would have lived a little longer if he hadn't used a heavy weapon.

  A sniper shot, and the grenade activated prematurely, barely leaving the thrower's hand. And then... Debris, grass, chunks of earth - everything from the neighborhood flew into the point where the hit grenade hovered.

  Including the bandits.

  Singularity modifier. Quite rare and expensive model.

  If you looked closely, you could see a spherical zone of distortion, like hot air, beyond which the effect of mass constriction ceased to work. The zone wasn't particularly large, less than a hundred meters in diameter, but a goodly portion of the bandits were caught in it, and the gravitational force, compressed into one small grenade, ripped them off the ground and pulled them into a single clump. They screamed and tried to break free, but to no avail. Some, however, managed to grab onto something and avoid being pulled together.

  That was the effect of the activation. And then, after a couple seconds, there was a detonation.

  A soft "pumph...", a wave of distortion spread out to the sides, a weak jolt - and a mountain of minced meat with streams of blood crumbled to the ground. A singularity grenade can turn even light armored vehicles - of the appropriate class - into scrap metal. This one barely passed the lower limit of "heavy weaponry," but it was enough for the bandits.

  And in the meantime, Mordecai never stopped firing.

  Out of a couple dozen bandits, I only got three. Not mine, but the turrets. Mordecai did just fine without me.

  Well, what can I say... I think I've met the main character.