Scouting out a familiar locale

In the rocky desert outside of Night City, an armored truck kicked up dust as it drove up to the edge of a cliff. Out of the truck stepped Panam Palmer, a Native American Nomad leaning a sniper rifle on her shoulder. She did a quick once over of her surroundings before climbing into the bed of her Thorton Mackinaw truck, Warhorse.

"Alright," She said moving the rifle to a ready position and looked through the scope. "Lets see what we're working with."

Slowly Panam's eyes adjusted and the target, the Corp-Bud Cement Factory, came into view. The rest of her clan, the Aldecaldos, thought this was an unnecessary mission. Neither worth the risk nor the meager benefit, but Panam wanted to be sure. This Factory was where a rival clan, the Wraiths, had kidnapped the Aldecaldo leader Saul to struck a blow against her family. She had managed to strike back with help from her merc friend V. They got Saul back, but that wasn't enough for Panam. She always went the extra mile. She scanned the parameter through her sniper scope. The factory looked deserted.

"Just like Saul said." Panam sighed. Reports had indicated the Wraiths had abandoned the place shortly after the rescue, but Panam insisted if even a few stragglers were still hanging around, they could provide intel on the Wraiths next move the clan could use to protect themselves. No one agreed, especially Saul, but that didn't stop her. Now she wished it had. "Guess the old bastard was finally right about something. He'll be holding this over me for a while. Great."

Before Panam fully accepted defeat and called it quits on her little survey, she saw a strange light reflected through her scope. It was so bright she had to turn away to keep from being blinded. Panam rubbed her eyes and looked out without the scope. The glimmer she saw was coming from behind the factory. She doubted it was anything significant but since it offered her a slim change of not getting chewed out by her elders for once, Panam chose to investigate, jumping back in her truck and driving past the factory. She gave it one more scan on the way to make extra sure there were no Wraiths in the area and after confirming it was all clear, she punched it and sped past the factory. It wasn't long after that Panam saw what exactly that reflection had been. Water. A whole lake's worth hidden behind the cement factory.

"What the hell," the nomad said as she stepped out of her car. Why was there a lake here? Upon closer inspection she realized it wasn't a lake. It was a quarry, an open air mine used to gather the stone for the cement, filled with rainwater.

"Didn't even know there was enough rain out here to fill a hole." Panam joked as she approached the edge, small waves crashing into the tips of her boots. "Too bad it's all toxic." She leaned down and scooped out a palmful of water. Over pollution at the turn of the century left most natural water basically poisonous. For a Nomad water was worth its weight in eddies. And then some. However, as Panam used her cyberwear to scan the scoop in her hand, she was shocked by the results.

"Holy shit, the toxicity of this stuff is incredibly low." She gasped. "Not enough to be safe to drink but still, how?"

It was technically possible. The rain that fell in Night City was polluted but the toxicity levels were always shifting. Sometimes it was toxic enough burn the skin but other times it was nearly drinkable. Guess she was lucky and found the pit after it was hit with a few of the latter. Not that that meant much. If it still wasn't safe to drink, then it was still worthless to the clan.

"The only think this pit is good for is as a swimming hole." Panam sighed as she walked along its edge. It was another disappointing development. She had completely wasted her time coming to the cement factory. Now she was going home empty handed to the disappointment of her clan and the smug satisfaction of Saul. Panam gritted her teeth. She stared down at the water as it bobbed up and down against the shore. It's cool color a sharp contrast to the scorching badlands sun. "Too bad I didn't bring my swimsuit. Or, you know, own a swimsuit."

Panam had never gone swimming. It had become something of a luxury in recent decades. She had seen the empty swimming pools outside of old motels and apartment complexes. She had faint memories of splashing around in a small plastic saucer of water when she was very young, but that was it. The only reason she knew how to swim was to collect underwater salvage from time to time. It was work not recreation. And also, very gross.

Yet as she stood there, sniper rifle balanced on her shoulder, Panam couldn't help but wonder. What was it like. She shook her head trying to dislodge the thought. She didn't have time for that. Her mission......was already failed. There was nothing here so why keep searching and she didn't want to head back to camp just yet. But she didn't have a suit........but did she need one? Panam looked around again. She was in a bowl, surrounded by nothing but massive rocky walls protecting her from the outside world. She was completely alone right now. No one could see what she was up too. The Nomad had found this worthless miracle so why not enjoy it.

"Fuck it." Panam cursed as she marched towards a stone alcove in a nearby stone wall and leaned her rifle in there. "At least I'll get something out of this trip."

Panam undid the neck brace of her Aldecaldos jacket before pulling the thing off and dropping it beside the rifle. Next, she unbuckled the riggings on her torso, the rest of her clothes immediately feeling looser against her body. She then went for her boots untying each before sliding them off her feet. Again, she felt a bit looser. A bit...freer as her bare feet stepped on the stone ground. Her jeans were of course next, she unbuckled her belt, unzipped her zipper and struggling to slide them down past her pultruding butt and thick thighs at which point gravity did the rest of the work.

"Maybe I should consider going up a size?" Panam said looking back at her ass cheeks sticking out from between the wedge of her green bodysuit. Her gaze shifted to the bodysuit itself. It only then occurred to Panam that this was it. Do or die right now. The decision was already made of course, Panam always chose do. She flicked the straps off her bodysuit before hooking her fingers in the neckline and carefully pulled the whole thing down. When she made it past her shoulders and down her torso, she felt her breast suddenly bounce free. She paused. Did getting undressed always feel this good? She continued down until her thumbs felt her panties. With a shrug she dug her fingers into them and pulled down once again till the last of her clothing was pooled at her feet.

She froze for a second, coming to terms with what was happening right now. That she was standing in the middle of an abandoned cement quarry, butt ass naked. Panam couldn't help but laugh at herself as she kicked her bodysuit over to the rest of her clothes and spun around facing the pit. She saw a large rock sticking out perpendicular to the pit almost like ramp. Or a diving board. She smiled again and took off running that its direction, her tits and ass giggling with every step. Then she climbed up the rockface and launched off the edge diving feet first into the water.

This moment would be stuck into her brain deeper than any cyberwear. At first Panam let her body go numb. She was fully submerged under the surface, her vision blurred, her body falling at a snail's pace. In an instant all the dust and dryness of the badlands desert had been washing from her skin. No, it went deeper than that. It felt like the dust and dryness in her Nomad soul was being washed away! She floated underwater until the need for air pulled her out of this euphoric meditation and she breached the surface. Her hair, usually tied up in a tangled bun, had come loose and pooled on her face

"Oh-oh my god." She said gasping for breath as she parted her loose locks like a curtain. "That was... this is... oh my god!"

Her mouth hung open in near ecstasy. Never had Panam felt this, this refreshed! It was strange. A shower should have achieved the same effect but somehow being fully submerged in water made a lightyear of difference. Not wanted to waste another second waxing poetic instead of swimming, Panam took a breath and dived back underwater. She started swimming, her unrestricted limbs moving smoother than when she wore a wetsuit as she surveyed what was beneath the waves. Cars, construction equipment, and large piles of trash sat at the bottom of the pit. Panam couldn't say she was surprised, nothing natural in this world was free of human waste. Life on the roads had shown her that. Still, this wouldn't spoil her fun.

Panam swam around for what left like hours. She did laps from one end of the pit to the other, dived to its depths to hunt for hidden treasures and even stepped back onto the shore a few times to suntan on the stony beach. Every time she got out her body cringed a little as dusty winds battered her skin once again. As though the desert was trying to reclaim her for itself. However, even that had its positives. When the hot sun dried her skin, Panam simply leaped back into the water regaining the rapturous feelings from the first time. Although never as strong.

"I'll probably have to wait a while to reach that high again." Panam told herself as she floated on her back in the center of the lake, arms spread wide. She looked up at the orange sky, the sun finally setting. It would be dark soon. Panam sighed. She knew it was wise to head back. Swimming in the pitch-black darkness didn't sound too fun. "I'll come back in a few weeks. Skinny dippin' in the light of the full moon might be fun."

Panam let her legs sink, raising her head and moving her into an upright position. She planned to just paddle back to the shore, get one more drip dry in before the sun set, and get dressed before driving back to camp. Saul would probably chew her out for taking so long but at this point she didn't care. Sadly, plans don't always come to fruition.

BANG!!

The sound rang out across the quarry. Panam barely registered it before being a spray of water hit her in the face. Something had hit the water right next to her. Right where her head had just been. It didn't take much for her to put two and two together. Sniper. Panam didn't hesitate. Didn't think. She took a deep breath and dived underwater. The water had become far murkier in the later day. She couldn't see much but neither could her attackers. More shots rang out. Trails of bubbles appeared all around her from the impacts of bullets. They traveled about a foot before stopping. The Nomad bent her body like a serpent trying to avoid them. Then she started swimming. She couldn't see but she knew where the shore was. Panam just hoped her attacks weren't waiting for her there.

She made it to the shallows just as her lungs started screaming for air. She leaned her body against the gravel and slowly raised her head to the surface. She fought the urge to gasp for breath and instead calmly inhaled till her lungs were full before again submerging everything below her eyeline. She scanned the area. Warhorse was nearby sitting alone and unmolested. The shots hadn't come from there. Panam considered making a run for it, her truck wasn't that far, but no. She needed to know where the shots were coming form and so turning in the next most likely suspect. The cement factory.

'There you are.' She thought to herself. On the cliff behind the factory, Panam saw the silhouettes a couple of weaponized vehicles with figures scattered around them. Even from this distance and in the dark, she recognized the colors. It was the Wraiths. She had been wrong about them still holding this place, but it looked like they still considered it their territory.

"Why do I have to be right all the time?" Panam spat. She didn't have long. She was in no position for a fight right now so running was the smarter choice. She'd sneak over to where her stuff was then run back to the truck and Delta. However, when Panam turned towards the alcove she hid her clothes and equipment and saw that some of the Wraiths had already approached her position. Worse they had found her stash!

'Shit shit shit,' she thought grinding her teeth. She watched the two Wraiths, less than 100 meters away, pick up her rifle and bodysuit respectfully. They looked at one another and laughed, realizing what a precarious position their query was in. Panam's clothes were now virtually gone. And so would her truck if she didn't hurry. She watched one of the Wraiths, the one with her gun resting on HIS shoulder, turn and start to approach Warhorse.

Panam had no time nor room for stealth now. She couldn't hide in the lake all night. Even if she could she'd be dead by morning. Panam dug her fingers into the shallows and moved her feet into a runner's position. One could not leap out of the water quietly so she prayed the shock would keep the Wraith from gunning her down immediately.

"Alright." Panam whispered raised her head and shoulders above the surface. "Here goes NOTHING!"

With a primal scream she pushed herself forward. Water parting as her glistening form **** itself up. Breeching through the surface felt like she was wearing a 100-pound weight! She nearly tripped, feeling for a moment like the thing she so loved had betrayed her. However she simply pressed her palms against the gravel, they ached as her full weight pressed them against the sharp rocks and **** herself up and forward. Having managed to **** herself into an upright position, Panam sprinted forward towards her truck.

"Hey!" The Wraith screamed less shocked into inaction then Panam had hoped. Fortunately, his poor marksman skills more than made up for it as his first shot didn't ring out until after Panam had dived behind her truck. The Nomad only had time for a single breath before more shots rang out. She felt Warhorse rumble with every hit. Panam crawled over to the front seat and opened the door just as more shots impacted. Seems the Wraiths on the ridge had figured out what was happening. Panam slid into her seat, her bare ass sinking into the foam chair. For a second she paused realizing just how screwed up this all was but was brought back to reality when a sniper bullet cracked her windshield.

Panam's bare foot slammed onto the accelerator and Warhorse slid a bit before rocketing forward. She drove the long way around the quarry bullets still peppering her vehicle but more hitting the stone. She eventually went offroad realizing the path she was on lead right to the Wraith convoy. Panam sped up and crashed through a chain-link fence entering the grounds of the factory itself. After weaving her way around buildings and through a few Wraiths, Paman drove out of the factory and to the wide-open expanse of Badlands.

"Whoo! Yes, made it." Panam cheered punching her steering wheel in excitement. "Wraiths still use the Cement Factory. In your face Saul. Oh, I can't wait to see his face when I get back."

Panam's satisfied smile began to fade when she looked down and was greeted by the sight of her naked body once again. Her tanned skin was still dripping wet and gleamed in the light of her dashboard moniters. Droplets fell from her arms, her chin and her heaving breasts and began to pool around her ass. She gritted her teeth. There was no way she could go back to camp like this! Mitch and the others would never let her live it down.

"Ok ok Calm down, Panam." She told herself. "Don't have to go back to camp right away. I can go find some clothes first."

The real question was where? Most of the outpost in the desert did business with her clan if she went to one of them the Aldecaldos would hear about it eventually. Driving around Night City in the nude was also a no go. She didn't trust the people there to not take advantage of an unarmed naked woman driving around helplessly especially a Nomad. Panam bit her lip. So, what was she going to do? Then she remembered a phone conversation she had with V earlier that day. The merc's girlfriend had a place outside the city near the reservoir and V told her the two of them would be staying there for a few days. It wasn't hard for Panam to imagine what they were doing there alone and how awkward it would be for Panam to.....interrupt them like this.

"Well, what's a little embarrassment between friends. Haha." Panam said with a dry laugh. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."