The Highlands, a beautiful display of rocky and grassy high cliffs capable of giving an absolute breathtaking view of this vicious planet named Pandora. In this apparently peaceful display the loud and distinct engine of a Bandit Technical could be heard in the distance.
"Are we there yet?" Gaige asked from the back of the technical, evidently impatient.
"Not yet my friend/ Be patient/ Enjoy the trip" Zero answered her, hands on the wheel and eyes fixed on the road ahead of them, Gaige flopped back in a seated position with an irritated sigh.
"I need to blow up some stuff, now" the peppy redhead tapped her foot on the floor of the vehicle restlessly to emphasize her point.
"STRIP THE FLESH!" Krieg yelled waving his axe in the air enthusiastically.
"What Krieg said…" Gaige sweatdropped, though it was pretty accurate.
"Calm down you two, Maya how much further?" Axton interjected rolling to face them from his position in the turret after having shot down yet another Stalker that tried to approach the technical.
The siren calmly pulled out her ECHO device and consulted the map, her grey eyes scanning the holographic projection before her.
"We should be near…" she said standing up and glancing around, she pointed at city with some impressively tall buildings not much farther from them, after having glanced at the map one last time "There it is! That's definitely Opportunity"
The others in the back rose from their seated position to look as well, a big shining city with tall buildings and glass windows was ahead of them, it definitely looked way too rich for Pandora's standards, it was evident that Jack didn't mind on how much money he spent to build it only for the sole purpose to show that he was so damn rich, and wanted to make them feel poor and worthless.
"Up ahead amigo!" Salvador shouted at Zero accompanied by the Psycho who was loudly yelling out nonsense as well.
"Full speed Zero, let's go!" Gaige joined them and, having been by his enthusiastic companions the assassin gave in and without hesitation pressed the boost button, his mask projecting a smiley emoticon.
The technical accelerated to its full speed in the mere fraction of a second, zooming on the bridge that connected the Highlands with Opportunity, skidding to a complete halt right at the entrance of the city. As soon as they were in Angel made contact.
"To breach the final door to my chambers you'll need to be Jack. That means passing a bio-scan and speaking a password in his voice. If you can kill one of Jack's body doubles in Opportunity I can get you through that door" she explained.
"So then let's kill ourselves a copy of a jackass!" Gaige yelled pulling out an shotgun.
"I SHALL CRUSH THE YELLOW PUPPETS WITH MY HANDS!"
"Let's split up in groups, we can find it faster this way" Axton says, his military side emerging, result of years of training in the Dahl military "I go with Sal, Gaige goes with Zero then Krieg with Maya" he instructs pointing at each of them as he says their names, the others nodded and they split up through the maze of Opportunity, some making more noise than others.
Angel watched as the Vault Hunters divided in groups of two like the soldier instructed and sighed, she flapped her wings to get closer to the screens to watch better, wincing as the strings of Eridium she was attached to threatened to pull her back to her previous position, she turned to glare at the injectors, if she only could destroy them herself…
She glanced back at the screens that showed the view of Opportunity just like she wanted them to, where the battle between the Vault Hunters and the Hyperion forces was now taking place. Angel never felt so jealous of the six hunters as much as now, they could come and go whenever and wherever they wanted, they could explore places every time they desired not to mention that this time they would also get to kill Jack, it was still a clone but she had no doubt they would take pleasure from the experience, today it was like a small gratification for everything they've been put through from the real one. While she was confined in this damn room between dozens of screens, constantly attached to these three damn injectors that pumped her full of Eridium all day and night, not allowing her to get any kind of rest or relief, and of course there was the Vault Key she was forced to charge.
The same key all Vault Hunters so much desired, and she, had every intention of handing it over to them, this way she would get rid of the item of her torture, disrupting her father's, no, Handsome Jack's plans. She clenched her fists, he was no more her father, he lost that title long ago when he confined her here like you do with a disobedient animal, just because she had the misfortune, she couldn't call this a blessing, to be born siren.
She returned her attention back to the battle just in time to see the siren pull a Hyperion soldier into one of her dimensional bubbles, Phaselock she believed it was called and Angel briefly wondered how much different Maya's ability was from her own, but regardless it was equally interesting to see.
Amazed blue eyes scanned the screens once more, observing each Vault Hunter as they fought their way through Opportunity.
"Anarchy forever!" Gaige shouted as she fired a burst from her Torgue shotgun at a dangerously close range from an Hyperion Soldier, the addictive explosive effect of the bullets made blood and guts fly everywhere around her and on her, splattering on her clothes and she laughed, running straight for another soldier that met the exact same end.
Not too far away there was the sound of an explosion, Deathtrap clapped his enormous hands together creating a wave of energy, the blast destroying several Loaders near him. He turned on himself to join with the Mechromancer once more, just in time for his optical sensors to see an Engineer sneaking up on his creator, and a shot to the head taking it out immediately.
Up on the higher levels, armed with his trustworthy sniper rifle was Zero, he knew his young companion was going to run straight into the face of their enemies shooting everything she made eye contact with, she was far too predictable, so he covered her when her robot couldn't. He noticed a Loader charging to him, and another right behind it, he entered Deception placing an hologram right in front of them, the Loaders charged at the hologram but the real Zero was long gone, he thrusted his sword into them from the back, one after the other as his hologram faded.
Seeing that Gaige already cleared the path forward the Assassin swiftly jumped down on the lower level joining the younger girl.
"Let's keep going/ We must find the clone/ And kill it" Zero speaks.
"Heck yeah!" Gaige yelled taking off with her robot companion and the Assassin close behind.
Not too far from them sounds of multiple explosions could be heard along with a loud, raucous laughter, a large amount of pieces of various kinds of Loaders and big splatters of blood laid on the ground around the Gunzerker, he had a rocket launcher on each shoulder.
"ADIOS PENDEJOS!" he yelled as he shot down another couple of Loaders, their parts flying everywhere.
"Nice one!" Axton shouted from near him as he threw his turret on the field to cover them. "Go get 'em, honey!" he took cover behind the turret to reload his rifle as the machine tore down enemy after enemy. He shot a couple of rounds to some Hyperion soldiers before rejoining with Salvador once more.
"Come on let's go" he managed to say before being knocked down from the impact of a Constructor landing in front of them. "Oh for fuck's sake!" Axton groaned getting back up, the Gunzerker coming to his aid shooting a rocket to cover his friend before cursing loudly realizing to be out of ammunitions on both launchers.
They watched in horror as the machine took damage but managed to charge up its missiles despite being half destroyed, Axton's turret also choose the wrong time to digistruct back into the soldier's ECHO and he swore multiple times, knowing there was no escape, he just hoped their shields could be able to hold the damage. But before the Constructor could shoot a stream of bullets flew from behind them, covering the machine in acid, it fell apart.
"You owe me one boys!" a distinct female voice called behind them, the two turned to face a certain blue haired siren, a corrosive SMG in hand, with Krieg behind her that was cutting though every enemy that approached while cackling maniacally.
"Gracias chica" Salvador lightly chuckled, taking the opportunity of a brief moment of inaction to pull out another weapon as his rocket launchers were out of commission.
"You saved our asses, remind me to return the favor" Axton winked in her direction. "I'm counting on it soldier" Maya snorted. "Let's keep going now, we should be near" she continues as she jogs past them both, the Psycho in tow.
Just like the siren said they found the body double near a fountain, as soon as he spotted them though he started running in the opposite direction, but unluckily for him Zero and Gaige, along with Deathtrap intercepted him, the Mechromancer shooting at the clone with a pistol, she managed to hit the clone in the leg, he stumbled and Maya took the chance to catch him in her Phaselock.
"Where do you think you're going?" she smirks holding her arm forward, her markings glowing brightly, the man she caught screamed as he burned inside the orb until he could no more, she dropped the remains with little care.
As soon as the double was dead Angel made contact once more instructing them to take the pocketwatch device to use it to create a voice modulator to use later on, Maya briefly wondered how the thing didn't get burned but decided not to question it. Zero got the watch and the AI told them to collect voice samples to be able to make the modulator, the assassin nodded and took off to do that as his companions watched his back.
Angel watched as the assassin dashed though the streets of Opportunity, occasionally activating Deception to trick the enemies and run away from them, the confused people, or Loaders were promptly killed or destroyed by the other Hunters. She had to admit that the Vault Hunters formed a nice team, they were weird, they were all different yet they worked together as if they did it for their entire life.
Friendship was a powerful thing, something she never had the occasion to experience, always hidden from everything and everyone even before she was confined here. She sighed, shaking away her unpleasant thoughts to focus on the task at hand. She knew the Vault Hunters didn't trust her completely anymore after Jack forced her to betray them against her will, that was why she was still helping them, she couldn't blame them for hating her but they were the only people she could ask for help, everything was okay as long as they freed her from this prison. And hopefully they would, they must be happy to put a bullet in her head after all she did she guessed, no, she knew they were.
The siren was interrupted from her musings once more as Zero sent her the first sample, she winced as Jack's voice invaded her ears, she hated it so much, still, using her Phaseshift she uploaded the sample into the watch in the Assassin's possession. She did it four more times before actually managing to create the actual modulator, but at least now the Hunters had what they needed.
Zero rejoined with the others when he was done, he was pleased to see that they had cleaned up the place and they didn't appear hurt as well, all the blood on them was their enemies one. His helmet projected a smile as he triumphantly showed the pocketwatch.
"We are done here/ Let's go back/ Long day tomorrow" he spoke, trying out the modulator as well, he frowns right after "As my voice changes/ I cannot help but feel wrong/ I sound like a jerk" the others just laughed as he said so.
As they walked back they were contacted by Angel once more, this time though they heard her howling in pain and also the sounds of electricity being used, Maya stopped in place, a sudden feeling of uneasiness washing over her, hearing the other girl in pain made the hair on the back of her head stand on edge, she frowned, wondering why it happened.
"What's wrong?" Axton asked, noticing her troubled expression, completely ignoring whatever Jack was saying to them on the ECHO.
Maya shook herself out of her thoughts. "It's nothing…" she says. "I'm just tired"
The soldier nodded, he wasn't entirely convinced but he decided not to push further, he learned that the siren didn't like when people stuck their noses in her business, if she had to tell something she would have said so herself.
Angel's body spasmed as the electric shock from her collar passed through her, she would have fallen to the ground it if wasn't for the excess of power surging through her caused by the Eridium that kept her markings glowing constantly and her wings always active, the siren didn't remember when was the last time her feet touched the ground. She just hovered there, breathing deeply, waiting for the effects of the shock to pass.
She winced as Jack's voice invaded her head once more. "Say goodbye to your friends Angel, say it!" he snarled, she grit her teeth and sighed "See you soon" it was all she said, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of getting what he wanted from her, not anymore. On the other side she could hear Jack sending an irritated growl to her before ending the conversation and Angel allowed herself a small smile.
She had to wait a bit more, just a bit longer and then she would be finally free of Jack's control, free of being used and free from this prison once and for all. Yes, she would, tomorrow it would be the day when it all ended.
"Tomorrow it will be over, it will be all over" she sighed, a tiny smile still present on her lips.
Back in Sanctuary Roland congratulated with the Vault Hunters for the successful result of the mission, he gave instructions of what the next day they had to do, everyone agreed to them, everyone beside a single person, Lilith. As soon as Roland told her that she had to stay in Sanctuary instead of following them things got heated pretty quickly.
"This isn't a discussion. You're not going without me. Period" she angrily pointed at his chest, she knew that out of all of them she was the strongest person, she was a siren, the most powerful one of the entire planet too, yet for such an important thing Roland wanted her to stay back, she couldn't accept it.
"Look, I need you here protecting Sanctuary. If this turns out to be a trap I need you to keep these people safe" he told her, from their experience Angel couldn't be trusted, she betrayed them too many times and he didn't want to risk that all he managed to create going to pieces.
"Is this because Angel told me not to come? It is isn't it?" she retaliated, she had no idea why the AI warned her but she didn't want to listen to a traitor.
"Lilith, damnit would you just trust me? Okay?" he stammered, this woman was so stubborn sometimes, if she would listen to reason for once…
"If you get killed, I'm going to be really pissed" she growled. "Noted" he nodded.
"If you live, I'm tearing those clothes right off your body" she smirked and he blushed lightly. "Also noted" he managed to say, somehow keeping a straight face. Mordecai made a rather disgusted noise at the comment.
"Lilith we're standing right here. Nobody wants to hear that" he said. "Go on" Brick urged instead. The siren rolled her yellow eyes while the soldier just covered his face briefly to hide the fact that he was blushing. There was a general noise of laughs and snickers from the other Vault Hunters, which of course heard every word.
"Anyway, you all get a good rest, tomorrow will be a long day" Roland said when he got over his embarrassment.
As they split up Axton caught the other siren of the group with yet another frown on her face, she was leaning against the wall of the balcony with her back facing the streets of Sanctuary, her arms were crossed and she appeared deep in thought. He approached her placing himself at her side.
"Is something troubling you?" he asked, it was rare to catch Maya like this, it was unusual to see her this worried after a mission, when she was it didn't mean anything good.
"It's about Angel" she spoke softly.
"What about her?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Before, when we saw she was shocked I felt… weird…" Axton remained silent, waiting for her to continue. "I know I shouldn't care for her, and honestly I don't but somehow I was… worried" she sighed. "I haven't felt like this since we met Lilith" she admitted.
"I don't think I understand"
"You see even before we reached her I felt this sensation stuck here in my chest" she emphasized her point by placing her marked hand above her heart, the soldier tried hard not to stare at something else in that same area.
"As if I knew that she was in danger, and in fact she was, and now it happened again with Angel" she explained.
"It could be something you sirens share then" he said then frowned right after. "But Angel isn't a siren, she's an AI"
"That's what I can't figure out, why it happened with her, we aren't even friends or anything" the siren ruffled her hair in frustration.
"Well tomorrow we'll be able to meet her, hopefully you'll be able to ask her" the soldier placed a hand on Maya's shoulder, she resisted the urge to pull away.
"I guess you're right" he nodded. "Let's turn in for the night, it's been a long day and who knows what's waiting for us out there?" again he nodded and exchanged goodnight as they parted ways.
"I just hope we'll make it out alive"