"Pandora is huge."
That was my first thought of my new home. I had just left my dad at the station after my, uh, accident with Deathtrap and Marcy. But come on, she deserved it. I mean, seriously. Third place? For my masterpiece Deathtrap? You're kidding me. Besides, Marcy won't be laughing at me now. Anyway, so I was in the Trans Planetary shuttle heading down to Pandora. I was thinking about my new life as a vault hunter, about how it would be. I was smart, so that would help. I'd have to learn more about guns, but I figured I'd do alright. When we approached the train station, I saw a few other aspiring vault hunters at the train station I guess these guys would be my temporary family from now on. That thought was weird, though. The vault hunters at the station were in variety. It looked like a short hulk, a ninja, a soldier or something and a- WAIT WHAT?!
"There's a SIREN with us?! Oh my god!"
The pilot looked back, confused. "Uh, yeah. Is that going to be a problem?"
"Are you KIDDING ME?! That's freakin AWESOME!"
I was amazed! A siren! What are the odds! There are only six in existence, and I get to work with one! The shuttle landed, and I rushed out the door and stood in amazement. A siren. Just, wow. My duffel bag wasn't heavy, so I kept it with me as the others loaded their things in the car. They had bags full of guns. Maliwan, Jakobs, Torgue, Dahl… everything a slayer of bandits and bullymongs and god knows what else would want. I hesitantly sat down as the train began to screech and groan as it started to inch forward, and I began my journey to become a vault hunter.
I wasn't sure if I could talk, so I just whispered to no one in particular. "Uh. So hi. I'm Gaige….?" I sounded far more unsure than I would've hoped.
The hulk-midget looked up at me and said in a strong accent "Hello, Gaige. I am Salvador."
Salvador, huh? I barely understood him through his thick accent. He seems like a nice enough guy. Wouldn't want to get on his bad side, or he might actually turn into the hulk.
The siren was reloading her Maliwan, but stopped briefly and extended her hand. "Hey, I'm Maya."
Maya. The siren. She was pretty. But damn… a siren. She could kill me right now if she wanted to and I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it.
"Well, hey my name's Axton, nice to meet you"
Axton, that's a cute name. I think we're going to get along fine. He seems, well, cool. He had something in a sort of case. It looked like some sort of mechanical device. I knew we'd get along fine after that.
I looked over, expecting the ninja guy to say something, but he just sat back. "Should I say something…?" I thought.Maybe not. But he looked mysterious. And that mask. What's up with that? I kinda dig that. It looked cool. I wondered what the zero on his suit was for?
"My name is Zero/the bitter winds of death/follow the hunter."
So that's what the zero was for. Okay. Haikus. Cool. The sign says welcome vault hunters, but I didn't feel very welcome. I didn't have any friends, or anyone to talk to, so in a last-ditch attempt to feel some familiarity, I summoned Deathtrap. I may as well work out any kinks from my design for my THIRD PLACE SCIENCE PROJECT. Pushing those thoughts aside, I summoned him, and took out a few of my tools and sta-
Zero, Salvador, Axton and Maya pulled out their guns, as if on command, and pointed them at DT.
"Whoa whoa WHOA! GUYS!" I flailed my arms try to protect DT. "Guys! This is my robot! He's not gonna hurt you!"
"Wait. You BUILT that thing?" Axton looked at me in amazement.
"Yeah, I did. For a science fair. Actually, that's kinda the reason I'm here…."
"Well, we're gonna be here for a while, so why don't you tell us?" his tone was friendly, so I figured, why not indulge him?
"Well, it all started when I heard about the science fair, and ya know, since I'm kind of a genius when it comes to mechanics, I decided to enter. You know, why not? So, I started working on my DT here for anti-bullying and you have it with you and if you were attacked it would find the bully and BEAT the CRAP out of them. It was in the prototype stage when this BITCH Marcy reported it to the principle about like I don't know it maybe being dangerous or something I don't even know. Anyway, I was working on the weapons he'd have, and I was doing target practice with him and stuff and he was amazing! But I didn't know how to deploy him. Like I had a device but you know it was big. And heavy. But, I accidentally cut myself on sheet metal and I mean no big deal, right? I mean, it was only half way to the bone. So I realize, hey why not solve both my problems at once? So I cut off my arm with a proton laser and built a mechanical arm strong enough to smash concrete! Ha ha! It was awesome! Ahem, anyway…" I really had their interest now. I couldn't tell how Zero felt, but he seemed intrigued. "I programmed how to summon DT in my arm and I could summon him any time, any place! But then I realized that bitch Marcy stole my idea, called it crime buster bot, and gave it to the fascist police department! Ugh I HATE her! So, the day of the science fair, her cheap copy-bot could barely hurt a kitten before overheating, and mine was looking good. Like, I was REALLY looking like a genius. But, Marcy's dad has more money than GOD, so he bought off the judge's panel and I got THIRD PLACE. Yeah. Third place. So, she started gloating, and she, uh, pushed… me….. And um well Deathtrap recognized her as a threat, so… I mean he slashed her with his digistruct claws, but you know that's fine. Whatever, that's what he's supposed to do. But… I guess I uh… miscalibrated, and um as soon as his claws touched her skin she uh… exploded…. All over the place okay she like….. All over! And so I got taken to the principal's office and um... I was getting arrested AND expelled for what Deathtrap did to Marcy! So, my dad created a diversion, and, after a brief farewell, I got a shuttle to Pandora. Like, I mean, I've always been kind of… interested in vault hunting… I guess… and maybe here my talents can be put to use." They were all looking at me. Did I do something wrong…? Did I say something…?
Salvador was the first to speak up. "So, you're a fugitive escaping prosecution?"
"Well, I uh, I mean… yeah I guess so."
He looked amused. "Join the club."
"Yeah, we're probably all convicted of something here, most likely more dangerous than unintentional murder." Axton said, slightly humorously.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm just here to do research." Maya said with a hint of a smile.
We all turn to look at Zero, expecting him to say why he's here. All he says is "I wanted a challenge."
"A challenge…?" I was hesitant about talking to this guy. He seemed super cool, but dangerous. Like, REALLY frickin dangerous. The train car went quiet, and as I worked on DT, I whispered to myself. "A siren, an assassin, a commando and a gunzerker… is this really what I want to do? Is there no other way to escape the police…? I'm not sure if I'm exactly safe with them… they seem nice, but that guy Zero…"
I barely had enough time to finish my thoughts when the welcome sign fell and two loader robots appeared and started attacking us. Zero went to the roof somewhere, Axton ran and launched his machine (some kind of turret, I'll have to ask him about it later), and Maya used her phaselock ability to kill one of them. I really longed for a corrosive elemental gun. I couldn't see where Salvador was, but I was too busy fighting off some bandits. Did they hijack the train? What was happening?
"I'M READY FOR A SPINE TINGLER!"
What the hell?! Is that a psycho?! What the hell is he doing here?!
"HA HA HA HA!" The psycho was killing bandits at random, splashing blood all over the train's walls. Wow, he was actually a good fighter. I occupied myself with a few bandits while Salvador shot off a few loader robot arms, and Axton finished him off with a melee attack. Zero stabbed a Hyperion soldier and kicked the other into the impaled fighter's torso. Awesome. He was an amazing assassin. Was he some kind of ninja..? I'd ask him, but would he even answer…? I wonder if-
A dead Hyperion soldier fell at my feet, stabbed through the stomach. I see Zero standing over him, with his glowing blue sword dripping with fresh blood.
"Be careful, Gaige/for you must pay attention/death is unforgiving."
I stood there, briefly, in awe. Those haikus really are cool. Well, damn, he's really cool. Salvador was using an SMG and… Wait a shotgun?! Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess. Wait- where the hell did the psycho go? After they were all killed, silence settled slowly on the train. We went to see the conductor. Surely he would've noticed something, right? We make our way to the engine. We hurried along, rushing down the aisles, while Zero healed himself with an insta-health. The engine door was in sight, and Salvador kicked it open, only to find the conductor, only to see him strapped to a chair, and the engine stuffed with dynamite.
"It's cute that y'all think you're the heroes of this little adventure, but you're not." Handsome Jack's voice rang through all of our ears, striking fear in our hearts. "Welcome to Pandora, kiddos."
"Oh, fu-"
KABOOM
