"Please? Please, please, please, please, please?"
Zer0 scowled, annoyed by Gaige, but refused to look away from his scope. The wind and sand of the arid canyon scratched at his suit and scope, but the assassin was perfectly still, with the Mechromancer, resting on her elbows to his side. He was knelt on top of a ledge; his crosshairs were locked onto a landing pad. 250 meters away, he listened for incoming ships over Gaige's talking, a meter away. "It'll only take like, thirty seconds, Zer0. Pleeeeeease," she persisted.
Zer0 often went on missions to eliminate high value targets, either for money or requests from his fellow Vault Hunters. The missions could range from five minutes to five hours, so he usually went alone. Though some missions, as this one, he needed a partner. He recently damaged his visor, disabling him from calculating wind speeds, marking targets, using radar, or heat vision. So, until he repaired it, he needed someone to be his spotter. He wore the visor, even cracked, to maintain his identity.
He preferred some Vault Hunters over the others, and for good reason. He usually went with Axton, Maya, Mordecai, or Sir Hammerlock. Axton had military discipline, Maya had patience from the Abbey, Mordecai was a fellow sniper, and Hammerlock was a natural hunter. Sure, Zer0 had to put up with his ramblings from time to time, but occasionally Hammerlock would say something particularly useful, so Zer0 recorded everything he said and put up with him.
The rest didn't really pan out. Salvador was too loud, asking Brick to be stealthy would be an insult, and Zer0 was pretty sure Krieg couldn't do math. The only other two he hadn't asked were Lilith and Gaige, and as the rest of the other Vault Hunters were looting, exploring, or sleeping off a hangover, he had to ask one of them. Considering Lilith was out literally melting people's faces off, Gaige was his only option, and Zer0 was regretting it.
"C'mon Zer0, don't you trust me?" Gaige said, interrupting his thoughts. She'd been practically begging him the entire stakeout to experiment with his cloaking and holograph technology. She hoped to implement it on Death Trap, with or without Zer0's permission, but the first option yielded a 478% less chance of getting katana'd.
Zer0 sighed, releasing a mechanical whirring noise. He lowered his rifle and looked at Gaige. "Concentration, please. Ten minutes of just silence. Then you get your way." Gaige stifled a giggle by covering her mouth, nodding. Zer0 shook his head, and then looked back at his sights. He reviewed the mission and layout in his mind, enjoying the silence.
The mission was to stake out a Hyperion drop zone and keep an eye out for a top ranking official. He was supposedly trying to hire an assassin to kill the Vault Hunters, as if it'd work. That'd be yet another number to the Hyperion body count, as the failed assassins were now in the low hundreds. The problem had been the amount of information they gather before they're found out. It's been harming the Crimson Raiders in indirect ways, so it had to stop.
The best way to end the threat was to eliminate the buyer, so the mission was 0 was to spot him at a familiar drop zone, confirm the ID, and kill him. The reinforcements would be heavy, so Zer0 and Gaige were to commandeer a ship and head back to Sanctuary immediately afterward. With their high ground vantage point, they'd need to take a buzzard down to the ships. That was the plan, which was what Gaige knew, but Zer0 had other ideas.
Just over the horizon, he saw Zer0 saw four airships coming in, all inscribed with Hyperion. He heard Gaige say, "Here we go," and raise her assault rifle. He followed the main barge, sights locked on the main door. As it landed, Gaige got up and moved to the Buzzard, prepping the aircraft for ignition. The main door opened, and off stepped the official, surrounded by seven guards, three in the front, four at his back. Zer0 sighted his target, ready to identify him.
The official wore something similar to military fatigues made for the desert. It had additional armor and scarf covering his neck and shoulders. It was definitely the official, light brown complexion, purple eyes, large build, and a scar running from his hairline to his chin, straight down his nose. He had his jaw firm, with eyes locked forward, shoulders tense. He seemed poised, waiting for an attack. Yet at the same time, he seemed content, almost ready. This was not the look of man coming in for a refuel and reload. This was the look of a dead man walking. Someone acceptant of their fate, waiting for a final blow; this was the expression of a double.
Zer0 called out to Gaige, "Target confirmed. I'm taking the shot now. Prepare our exit," and fired eight times killing the official's duplicate and his seven bodyguards in seconds. "Let's get outbound, Gaige."