As the Vault Hunters stood in Fyrestone, they felt content. They had helped New Haven, secured the vault key, and saved Pandora from it's tentacled doom. The planet felt quiet now, with only the far off ramblings of some deranged psycho disturbing the quiet. As Roland, Mordecai and Brick celebrated with beers and deckchairs, Lilith felt on edge. Since the moment they'd stepped off that bus, Pandora had been a harsh, unforgiving land filled to the brim with action, adventure and several billion guns. In comparison, this felt like the tundra of Hestias: still harsh and unforgiving, but.. empty.
Mordecai noticed something was wrong, "Hey Lil', what's the matter? We won, remember?" He took a swig, then poured one into a small bowl for his pet bird and best friend, Bloodwing.
Lilith walked over to the others, smiling but clearly flustered. "It's nothing", she said, brushing it off "I'm sure I'm just overreacting"
"Overreacting about what?" A look of concern spread across Roland's face. " Are you okay?"
She shifted uneasily, after everything they'd been through her question felt absurd. Pandora had been hostile in every sense of the word, friends had died, lots of enemies had died, and every variety of wildlife seemed to want to eat them, and yet: "Is it just me, or does it feel a bit TOO quiet around here?" She asked.
Brick got to his feet, "You're damn right it does! I haven't punched a single thing to death in days now!" He said, struggling to keep his voice down to a quiet yell.
"It's not that, I mean, this planet's attacked us everywhere we went. Now there's not a single skag in sight, something just doesn't add up"
Roland looked confused.
"Maybe it's nothing, I guess I just can't get used to a quiet Pandora. Just in case I'm gonna check the perimeter". She grabbed her gun and set off for the exit gate.
Time passed by with no sign of Lilith's return, but thanks to the long day and night cycles it was pretty difficult for anyone to tell just how long. Attempts to reach her on her ECHO had failed and Roland was growing increasingly concerned.
"Relax, man." Mordecai reassured him "Lilith's a damn siren, and we both know she can handle anything Pandora has to offer. Just cause you're sweet on her doesn't mean she needs you to be some sort of heroic white knight."
"Uh..I...er..." Roland stuttered, his cheeks turning crimson.
Mordecai chuckled. "Man, you need to work at that. Go on lovebird, tell her already, get a move on." He nudged Roland to his feet.
Roland wasn't great with feelings or conversations, but he definitely wasn't short on bravery. He steeled himself, did an awkward salute-nod and said, "Yeah. Right. Thanks.", before marching over to Lilith's steel cabin to find her.
They watched him go, Brick beaming with pride. "Aw Mordy, they grow up so fast." Mordecai turned to him, smirking "Not fast enough apparantly. That idiot's forgotten Lilith's still patrolling the border."
Roland came running back across the camp, "Figure out your mistake?" joked Mordecai, but his smile quickly faded as Roland approached with a look of sincerity alarming even for him.
"I know why it's so quiet round here" Roland said
Mordecai and Brick exchanged confused glances.
"Claptrap is gone. He's missing and we need to find him."
"Why bother?" said Mordecai, annoyed at the idea of having to leave either his seat or his booze. "Who cares about that little montón de chatarra, he's the least helpful robot on all Pandora, and he tried to get us all killed".
"Ah, Good times" Brick sighed."Because of this" said Roland, handing over a scrap of dirty cloth. On the sheet, a message was scribbled in oil.
"WE HAVE THE SIREN, SHE IS OURS NOW. TRY TO STOP US AND YOU WILL BE DESTROYED. "
"ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY CLAPTRAP"