Enter the Siren - Part 2
Everyone was silent as the dust and the smell of blood and charred flesh settled. A loud grinding noise came from the large garage down from the bar, as its door partially opened, pulled only a few feet up, and a man wearing a cap stuck his head out. He carefully surveyed the area, the two buzzards that were left in front and the road leading up that was freshly painted red, along with some of the buildings. A few of the locals were standing around; some of whom were grossing out over the new color of their cloths while others seemed quite thrilled with it. A slightly groggy, sleepy southern-accent filled the air all the way to the bar, as the man asked, "Heeey, are we…under attack?" and as he noticed the carnage "Woaaaah…that's…totally cool!" was his summation. "Uh, someone left their buzzards, here, yo!" he yelled.
"She got us two buzzards! Awesome!" exclaimed Brick.
"Can't Scooter, like, scan those into his Catch-A-Ride and build a whole squadron?" wondered Gaige.
"Well, you'd better go and share that idea with him, before he takes them apart!" suggested Moxxi, as Gaige practically skipped off, muttering something about using some parts for herself.
Vian turned, looked over the bodies she dropped, then scratched the back of her head. A little embarrassed, she looked at Moxxi, "Uh, you want me to throw these out the back for you, or…?"
"Oh, honey…I don't think custodial work is for you." commented Moxxi and with a chuckle she added "You make a fine mess, though!"
"She does!" Lilith finally spoke up as she sashayed over to them, now at ease.
"Nice moves back there!" she complimented the new Siren.
"Oh, stop! You make me blush." came Vian's response.
"Brick? Could you guys…" Lilith turned her head to ask something of the hulking man.
"Gotcha, Lil! Sal and I will toss 'em." he gestured to Salvador, the Gunzerker half his height, but with just as much muscle. Both of them grabbed one foot with a single hand and hauled all four cadavers away. The four legs that were left free were bending in odd directions with the cracking of bones here and there as they moved down some stairs.
"Let's hope they don't hit anyone down on the ground!" came some concern from Mordecai.
"The Whims of Fate here/A Deus Ex Machina/They will simply shrug." commented Zer0. He was right about the daily lives of Pandorans. Even dead bodies falling out of the sky didn't make their days more exciting.
"Uh, did that guy just speak in Haiku?" Vian asked, turning to Maya and Lilith.
"It's his thing." Lilith answered with a shrug and Maya gave one, as well, as Vian turned towards her. Maya then gave Vian a look, brow raised, arms folded across her chest.
"Nice tattoos!" she said, pointedly, narrowing her eyes a little, but with smile, not in any way angry that the woman kept the truth from her and even played innocent as she complemented her Siren markings.
"Um…surprise?" Vian attempted to smooth things over, though, it was unnecessary.
"Thought I could sense…something…from you." stated Lilith. "Just couldn't be sure." Then, she nodded towards Maya, "She had her nose buried too deep in that book to notice." Maya's smile faded some. Lilith was right. She was a little disappointed in herself for not paying attention.
"Aw, don't be so hard on her. I have that effect on some people." said Vian, folding her arms, as she defended Maya. Then, she added "It's the eyes." She pointed to her silver eyes, as they practically glowed, giving Maya a somewhat predatory look.
"Something tells me you're going to need a room." came the assumption from Lilith as Maya gaped at her, blinking, as Vian just grinned.
"I meant somewhere to crash. I'm guessing you didn't come all the way up here just to pick up-…", she paused and looked at Maya. "…women." Maya had a sheepish look on her face, as she hoped Vian wouldn't confirm Lilith's guess meant only as a joke.
"Well, that, too." So much for that thought.
"I'm also her for adventure, booty of both kinds and faces to bash." said Vian, enthusiastically.
"Oh. So you never heard about Vaults and Vault Hunters?" Lilith asked smugly, knowing Vian couldn't have possibly come all the way if she didn't. The latter confirmed her suspicions with a knowing smile of her own. She turned and started walking towards the bar's smaller exit as some customers were trying their luck on the slot machines next to it. She waved for the two Sirens to follow. "Come on! We'll get you settled in." came the invite. Vian looked at Maya, who started after Lilith as she gave her a nod to follow.
She grabbed her jacket from the counter, slung it over her left shoulder and caught up to Maya with a few long steps on her left, before they were even out the door, which was just wide enough for two people of their size to comfortably pass through. Their bare shoulders brushed against each other as Vian flashed a brow, a quick up and down, for Maya, who just slightly shook her head at the latter's seemingly non-stop flirting. They followed Lilith as she passed through a building that looked like some sort of station. As Vian looked to her left, a strange machine caught her eyes, with the name of the city on it in a holographic display.
"What's that thing?" she queried. Lilith stopped, as Maya looked at what she was asking about. A little surprised she answered with a question.
"You never used a fast-travel station, before?" Then, as she remembered how Vian arrived with a stolen buzzard, "Well, I guess not, otherwise you wouldn't have needed a buzzard." she concluded as Vian pursed her lips, a little confused.
"This device scans you, your body, into it. Then, it sends your data to another device of your choosing, somewhere else, and digistructs you."
"Digistructs?" asked Vian, not at all sure or comfortable about what that was.
"Uh, it's teleportation, to put it simply." explained Maya.
"You mean, I could just walk up to one of these down on the planet, press a button and poof, here I am?" Vian asked, more in awe than in disbelief.
"Yes. You select a destination and it takes you wherever that is."
"Is it safe?" asked Vian, a little unsure.
"Completely." reassured Maya. Then, with a small laugh, she said, "You could've spared yourself a long flight and the company that followed."
"I guess. But flying was more fun and so was the fight." said Vian. "And the company here was definitely worth all the hassle." she added, as her smile returned along with Maya's. Lilith just rolled her eyes, though, not out of disgust but rather out of nausea, looking at the two. She resumed her walk, as she was leading them all back to their headquarters.
They passed a square with a huge machine standing in the middle that was pulsing with energy. By the looks of it the entire thing was under the ground, at one point, and was raised by some mechanism that apparently needed an enormous amount of power. Maya saw the inquiring look on Vian's face and gave her the best answer she could, according to her knowledge, "It's what keeps Sanctuary in the air. Long story short, we were being bombarded and we had no shields, so Lilith-…" she looked ahead of them, to see of the woman had any problems with her relating what happened, but seeing no reaction, she continued, "…um…she used Eridium, an ore unique to this planet, that somehow boosts her powers, and she turned the machine on and we…took off. Then, she teleported the whole thing, too. The original location was in the arctic regions.
"Brr…" Vian made a sound as if she was cold. "So, Miss Sunshine, there, brought real sunshine." she commented with a bit of sarcasm, noting Lilith's passiveness and Maya picked up on it.
"She…had it rough. The past couple of days were…stressful; for everyone, but mostly for her." Vian mouthed an 'oh', giving the Siren ahead of them a solemn look.
They walked on and were coming up on a fortified building with a man, in a suit of armor similar to what the raiders wore, standing guard over a closed door. A woman's angry voice could be heard coming from inside as they reached the door. Maya furrowed her brows in concern, Vian raised one of hers and Lilith just pushed in the thick metal door with a bored expression, not even worried about the commotion.
"Do that again, and you'll lose a hand!" A woman with dark-blue hair and a shield on her back was threatening someone off to their right and pointing a sword in the same direction.
"What did she do?" Lilith asked the temperamental woman and looked to their right.
"I required a DNA-sample. She had her back turned as she was attempting to leave, which I reasoned was an opportune time to obtain one without any fuss." came the explanation from the person on the right, a woman with goggles pulled above her eyes, who was leaning over and peering into some equipment, entirely unapologetic.
"Doc, you should really stop doing that!" came the…non-warning from Lilith, as she knew full well it wouldn't discourage Tannis one bit. The eccentric and also sociophobic scientist was far too unpredictable to be expected to behave in a…socially acceptable manner. Lilith then looked back at the warrior woman in front of her.
"Relax, Athena!" she told her, with an edge in her voice. The woman gave her a cold glare, but said nothing. She kept her eyes leveled at Lilith, the two locking eyes until she walked past the three Sirens and out the front door.
"Ooh, I sense some hostility between those two." wondered Vian, out loud, then, as if it was a must for her, framed her next question as thus, "Sexual tension?"
Maya just stared at her as Lilith only shook her head and moved further in towards some stairs. They followed her through the room, as Vian looked around, at the strange doctor moving from instrument to instrument and at the row of lockers lining the walls between bunks. As they reached the upper floor Vian couldn't help but to ask, "If you're staying upstairs, then who are all those lockers for?"
"Uh…" Maya didn't have an answer.
"They came with the place. Go ahead, open 'em all! Maybe you'll find something interesting." came the odd suggestion from Lilith. Vian gave Maya a weird look and latter only shrugged her shoulders, her expression saying 'Don't ask me'.
They went through the first room that had more bunks and a large safe that was used for storing weapons and other equipment rather than money. They were now standing in a darkened room with a holographic-display in the center showing a map and various information related to certain locations on it. Above the map-table were monitors of all sizes, creating a circle, so one could be viewed from wherever a person was standing. In fact, all of the walls had monitors on them in the upper half of the room, including the corners.
"This is where all the scheming happens?" guessed Vian.
"Pretty much." came the confirmation from Lilith.
"This was 'Crimson Raiders Central', right?" inquired Vian, going off from the information she could gather prior to arriving there.
"Yep. You did your homework, I see." Lilith commented.
"Not really. I barely know anything else. Well, the whole thing started off as a mining ship and it was a bust and they put a whole city on top of it and the whole thing was occupied by the Lance and then the Raiders and then it went flying off and now it's where all the interesting people are. Vault Hunters." came the admission and summary as Vian shrugged, signaling with it the end of her knowledge.
"And other Sirens." added Maya, giving her the same nonserious accusatory look and matching tone. Vian pursed her lips.
"I wanted to let you in on it bit by bit. Uh…didn't exactly have an idea how, though." Vian had a blank look on her face for a moment.
"Yeah. Not exactly something you can reveal…discreetly." said Maya.
"Well, you two don't seem to hide it at all." commented Vian, referring to both Lilith's and Maya's clothing and how their Siren tattoos are exposed.
"I'm not gonna cover myself head to toe. Besides, whoever wants to mess with me might as well know what they're getting 'emselves into. I've been bullied enough for these things," she said indicating her tattoos, "so I'll bully back." said Lilith, the slight anger in her voice only made more apparent by her small declaration of war as she made a fist that glowed with energy.
"O-kay." said Vian, putting her hands up as if she had a gun pointed at her. "Holster that thing, Sister!" she told Lilith as the latter did so.
"And what about you miss leotard?" she asked Maya, noting her unusual combination of cloths, as she stepped closer to her and traced the markings on her exposed pelvic area with her fingers.
"Huh? What's weird about it? Maya asked, innocently.
"It's not weird, it's just…different." answered Vian, with a childish smile, getting all giddy, like when a child sees something new. "Love how your pelvis is exposed. A little v-line…and the neck-part. It accentuates your features."
"I always thought my neck was bit long…" said Maya, averting her gaze, getting a bit self-conscious and embarrassed.
"You're lanky. It's supposed to be. I like lanky." Vian said, reassuring Maya about her own physical attractiveness.
"Oh, really…we haven't noticed." Lilith sarcasm didn't exactly help lessen Maya's nervousness and it did not drain the color from her cheeks, either.
"So…?" Vian prodded. And it took Maya a few seconds to regain her composure and remember what they were talking about.
"Oh, uh…I…kinda had a…very…sheltered childhood. The first 26 years of my life, actually." Maya tried to choose her words carefully.
"What? You were a nun or something?" asked Vian, not with mockery but with a bit of caution. Lilith burst out laughing for a second before she covered her mouth as Maya sneered at her.
"Oh, holy shit." said Vian, thinking it was actually the case. "Pardon the pun."
"Oh, no. No. I wasn't a nun." Maya was quick to correct. "I grew up on Athenas. I was taken to an order of monks, as an infant."
"Zealots?" asked Vian, not liking the sound of it.
"Well, they ruled the planet. I was kept hidden from everyone, and trained my powers in isolation until they brought me before the public to…reveal me as their 'savior'…or so they fed them with that bullshit." Vian popped a brow at the cuss word. "Sorry."
"I like a potty-mouth, too." said Vian as she grinned at Maya. "Let me guess, they wanted to keep the people in line…with you…on a short leash?" asked Vian, in a more serious tone, with a hint of disgust behind it.
"Exactly. They were practically extorting people through tithes and they wanted me there so the people would fear the Order."
"So, how'd you escape?" asked Vian with genuine compassion behind her eyes.
"I…used my power on my handler and…I shot him." Maya explained with perhaps some traces of remorse in her tone and eyes. Vian was taken aback, though only for a second, more out of awe and respect than disgust or disapproval.
"Hmph. You shouldn't feel too bad about that. You did those people a favor with it." She tried to support the other's actions.
"I…like to think so." came Maya's reply as the mood turned more serious. Then, as if on cue:
"Wow, you two actually killed the mood." said Lilith, who was now standing in the exit to the balcony a few steps away, leaning against the wall. The other two haven't even noticed her walking over there and they were blinking in mild confusion, wondering when that happened.
"So…what's your story?" Maya asked after a few seconds of awkward silence as they realized they were both lost in their conversation with each other to notice the world around them. "The way you asked about the Order's motives…you had a similar upbringing?" came the assumption.
"Nothing like that. That is, I had my fair share of experience with cults and other religious groups and some fake friends who were only interested in wrecking innocent lives to make theirs easier using me and this, " She made a fist, too and looked Lilith's way as it glowed. The latter only raised a brow, a little amused, and glad that they had something in common with the way they had to toughen up, "Or they would have taken advantage of me, but I caught on to their game early on. Had to wise-up pretty fast. From some of them I stayed away. From others…well, I taught 'em a lesson."
"In…what way?" asked Maya, with an uncertain look.
"Oh, nothing gory. Just ransacked their places, kicked some asses and gave their stuff to all sorts of people who put it to better use. You know. Charities, communities, memorials. Building stuff. Fighting corporations. Activism." listed Vian, as Maya's eyes got wider with each thing mentioned.
"Aw, you're a goodie-two-shoes, then." stated Lilith and Vian gave her her own sneer.
"One that bathes in blood…almost." corrected herself Lilith with a genuine smile.
"Almost," repeated Vian, before adding, "It would ruin the make-up!" She said acting worried as she rubbed both of her cheeks with her hands. Lilith just raised a brow, again, only a little amused, while Maya gave a slight laugh at Vian's fake-concern, because she didn't seem to wear any make-up.
"You're definitely not afraid to get your hands dirty." said Maya, before she realized Vian will definitely twist those words. "Uh...um…" she trailed off. Too late.
"Oh, I can definitely get dirty!" came the now all too familiar mischievous grin and Maya had a defeated expression on her face, looking up and sighing as Vian let out a barely audible laugh, thoroughly enjoying the reaction she was getting.
"Here we go, again…" Lilith sighed as she pushed away from the wall and walked out onto the balcony and the other two followed.
"And the sun's still up." added Vian as the day was far from over.
(To be Continued)
Authors Note: I wanted to use Handsome Jack's line from Zer0's ECHO recordings, where Jack is talking to Angel about the way the Assassin talks. As you may have guessed, this takes place after the events of the ending in The Pre-Sequel and Athena is around. The part about the lockers is, of course, a reference to the looting in-game and the stuff one can find. I found a legendary Slagga SMG in Scooter's garage on level 8 or 9, once. LOL.