Lilith placed her ECHO in her storage deck and ran a hand through her messy red hair. She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes, swearing under her breath. The Firehawk paced around a few times as the floor beneath her feet rocked sideways, sending her sprawling on the floor.
"AH SHIT." Mordecai cursed from outside, "You alright down there Lil?"
The Siren pushed herself off the floor and staggered out onto the main deck of a decently sized Sand-skiff. Talon soared overhead and screeched loudly, dive-bombing into a sandworm. Lilith ran to the rail and noticed a rock fall in front of the hovering boat.
"What the hell?" She huffed and pushed back her bangs.
"Those tremors have been really kicking up lately…" Mordecai mentioned, strolling up behind his partner, "So what did Tannis want?"
Lilith bit her lip, "I'll tell you when I have everyone else together…for now, could you do some surveys of the land? See if anything is out of the ordinary?" she rubbed her eyes and slumped back, obviously in distress.
The Hunter opened his mouth to ask what this was all about, but he opted against it seeing his friend's current state and merely nodded.
"Thanks…Can ya get me back to Oasis? Fast?"
Mordecai sprinted up the deck and hopped up to the controls of the Skiff, "Ya might wanna hold on to something Lil!" He called and the Siren held firmly to the rail. The Skiff took off towards the small town, speeding past other bandit Skiffs and Sandworms. Lilith took out her ECHO and contacted Brick.
"Hey Bri—"
"In the middle of a thing…" The Berserker grunted as ungodly screeching cried in the background.
"Sorry." She ended the call and contacted Axton, "Axton?"
The Commando yawned over the frequency, "Ye-who…Oh hey Lilith, long time no talk. I found a new recruit, I think yo—"
"Axton I hate to keep this short, but I need you to get Brick and Salvador to Sanctuary ASAP. It's an emergency." She stared out to the horizon, seeing Oasis coming into view.
"What about the ne—"
"You can tell them about it later okay?"
"Fine. And uh…about Salvador…He uh hasn't been to The Nortia in a month, hasn't contacted us or anythin'…" Axton murmured sheepishly.
"WELL THAT'S JUST…" The Siren took a deep breath, "Cool it Lilith…Just get to Sanctuary."
"Don't worry Lilith, we got this."
"Right." She hung up the call and immediately hopped off the Skiff as it docked in Oasis. The Firehawk dashed towards the Fast-Travel and teleported herself to the floating city.
(line)
Upon rematerializing in Pierce station, Lilith noticed two figures pacing out into the square. She ran after them and called for them to stop. The two figure turned around, none other than Axton and Brick themselves. Both men looked slightly more worn out but more alive at the same time. Their faces were hard with worry lines as they looked over the Siren's slouching posture.
"What's wrong Lil?" Brick asked gruffly and patted a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll explain when we get everyone back together." She led the two into the HQ where Tannis was typing away on her holo-screen. Frantic steps ran down the stairs and a girl all but crashed into the group.
"Ohkay...Ohkay, surveyors all up and ready. Everything is online...Oh wow, haven't seen you two in a while." It was Gaige, she flashed a quick smile before looking back at her upgraded arm.
A moment of near silence passed as the Mechromancer tapped away at the light screen over her arm then paused.
"Wait..." She lifted her head, "AXTON?! BRICK?! OH MY GOSH! I thought you two were just gonna stay up in space! Why the HELL are you back here?"
"Lilith needed us." Brick answered curtly and pointed over to the Siren who was busy chatting on her ECHO.
"What? Like an...emergency? Lilith! Why didn't you tell me there was trouble! I totally could have handled it!" The spunky young woman huffed and crossed her arms. But Lilith ignored her as she quickly spoke over the frequency.
"-we'll be right there Salvador...Just hold out okay?" The Firehawk ended the call and looked at the group, "Trouble in Ovejas. Let's go." The other Vault Hunters nodded and followed their leader out to the Fast-Travel and to the Gunzerker's home village.
(line)
Salvador huffed exhaustedly as he reloaded his guns. He stood strong at the front gates of the village and waited for the next wave of bandits to wreak havoc. The chilling screams of psychos echoed through the hot desert air and the Gunzerker tensed his fingers on the triggers of his assault rifles. Wavering silhouettes of bandits appeared over the horizon in a cloud of dust. As soon as the first masked enemy came close enough, Salvador pumped enough lead to level a small town. Bodies fell at his feet and he laughed at the carnage.
Suddenly his guns clicked empty, and the Vault Hunter gasped as he tried to reload, only to find he was out of ammo. In the distance more bandits charged towards the town.
"Shit. Shit!" Salvador cursed as he cracked his knuckles, preparing to fight his way through the oncoming horde.
"Need help?" Axton laughed as he tossed his turret out into the field. Lilith Phased herself forward and set of a large flaming nova that ignited a large portion of the bandits. Gaige summoned DT and grabbed onto a rail she had implemented on his back that carried her closer to battle. She pulled out her conference call and fired wildly. Brick sprinted into the crowd and drew his hammer before smashing the surrounding Psychos in a single swing.
The Gunzerker fell to his knees in pure happiness and exhaustion as his friends cleared out the remaining bandits. The other Vault Hunters gathered around their friend. Gaige pulled out a water bottle from her storage deck and offered it to the collapsed man. Salvador gratefully accepted the drink and downed it in just a few gulps.
"So this is where you've been..." Axton looked at the town in shambles, "I thought Ovejas had more...People." The short truxican grunted and clenched his jaw and rose back to his feet. He sighed harshly and looked over his shoulder at his crumbling home, obviously distraught. Everyone gathered around closer to their friend, patting his shoulders and offering soft words of solace. They knew something must have happened for him to suddenly lose all spark.
A door creakily opened on one of the larger, more stable buildings. A short old woman scuttled out with a shotgun in her hands and an oversized poncho on her shoulders.
"Abuelita! Go back inside!" Salvador ordered the elderly woman, but she just sputtered something back in Spanish and tottered up to the group of Vault Hunters. Everyone fell silent as the woman slowly paced back and forth, her wrinkled face scrunched in thought and her knobby fingers tapping the barrel of her gun. Her eyes opened to reveal milky cataracts that still seemed to stare deeply into everyone's soul. She hummed to herself and stopped in front of Lilith before violently yanking her down to her level. The old woman placed her hands on either side of the Siren's face and ran her fingers over Lilith's features.
She clicked her tongue a few times and smiled, "Oh so these are your friends? This one's powerful, a real force of nature" she moved on to Brick, and with surprising strength she pulled him down as well before feeling his face, "Really strong...but really kind..." Gaige knelt down for the woman, "Spunky, enthusiastic, impulsive, intelligent..." Axton dropped to a knee as well before feeling the woman slap a hand hard against his cheek, "Reckless...but loyal" she hobbled back to her grandson and commented something in Spanish. The Vault Hunters all looked quizzically at the two.
Salvador flailed a little and exclaimed something back to his grandmother only to receive a light rap to the temple and a look of "don't test me". The Vault Hunters all snickered at the exchange. The small elderly woman turned back to the group and smiled again.
"So you're the little group of heroes my nieto talks about? I've got a bit of a problem."
"Abuela! I told you I could handle it!"
"Don't raise your voice."
"We're kind of in a rush miss..." Lilith interrupted.
"Rosalita, and don't interrupt! You want my lil'Salvador's help? You help me first."
"Abue-"
"There's a bandit stronghold a few miles out. I need you wipe them out." The little old woman cooed, "I'll reward you." The Vault Hunters all sighed, knowing that they really had no choice in the matter.
(line)
"So Sal, what exactly happened?" Axton questioned as he bashed the butt of his Scout Veruc into a psycho's mask.
"Abuela said about...DIE PENDEJO!" The Gunzerker punched a marauder in the gut before firing buckshot in his face, "About a month after I had gone out, some bandits came into town and really started stirring up shit."
"Uh-huh, then what?" Gaige asked and sliced her claws through a midget.
"Bloodshed. The bandits came in an killed anyone able to fight. Abuela took the kids and hid." Salvador stopped for a moment and unleashed explosive Hell on a small band of rats, "She said for months the bandits held control of the rest of Ovejas, until they got bored a month ago and killed almost everyone else. That's when I showed up and I've been fighting them off ever since..."
The group let out a collective "oh".
"Why didn't ya ask for help?" Brick slammed his hammer down on a nomad.
"You all were out doing things. And I've handled worse." He shrugged and ripped off a bandit's arm.
"Salvador next time you're in trouble, contact us. That's what we're all here for." Lilith patted the truxican on the shoulder, "That and that way we wouldn't have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off."
The Gunzerker huffed and sized up the damage, "Well thanks. I think we're done here."
As if by fate, Salvador's ECHO went off, "Nieto? Nieto? Did you clean up the mess?" Rosalita crowed over the frequency.
"Si abuela. I'm coming home now."
"No no no! Go with your little hunters!"
"But abue-"
"No! You go with your friends! You always get so happy when you talk about them-"
"Abu-"
"So go with your friends! I can handle myself, I did it for the months you were gone."
"I thought you said the bandits just showed up."
"Go with your friends! And don't come back until it's all fixed! And bring back that girl you talk about! What was her name? Emily? El-"
"OKAY ADIOS ABUELITA!" Salvador fumbled with his ECHO and tucked it away in his deck, looking severely flustered. The other Vault Hunters all chuckled at their companion's obvious discomfort. They all took turns poking fun at the embarrassed truxican.
(line)
With Salvador re-recruited into the group, it was time to turn attention to some of the more...complicated Vault Hunters Maya, Zer0, and Krieg.
Everyone knew that the Phaselocker in question was doing something related to Sirens, although they weren't sure what since she hardly ever contacted them. Though everyone was certain she wasn't dead, no, Maya was too smart for that.
Krieg immediately vanished after the group had split, and no one really cared enough to look for him. Sad as it was, it was true.
Zer0 had also vanished without a trace, but no one really doubted he would. After all, the assassin was more of a loner type and now that everything was done and over with, who could blame him for probably high tailing it off Pandora and towards more profitable work?
The group traveled back to Sanctuary to try and figure out a way to get a hold of the last three Vault Hunters.
(line)
"Well…" Gaige huffed and leaned back in a chair, kicking her feet up on the counter, "We're gonna need to get Maya first."
"Yeah, but where would we find her?" Lilith began tracing circles on the holo-map, creating small waypoints, "I mean, all these places have sorts of Eridian things…but who knows where she could be?"
The group gathered around the table and stared at the waypoints.
"Didn't you call her?" Axton asked. The Firehawk's face slacked with a 'no-shit' look.
"Why can't we find Krieg first?" Brick questioned.
"Because Brick," Lilith began to snap, "We have less of a clue where he is, and even if we did find him we all know that he listens to Maya."
"Cause he loooooooooooooooooooooves her~" The Mechromancer sang and giggled. Everyone looked at the teen quizzically, "What? He totally does."
The Siren shook her head and sighed, "Anyways we—"
Another tremor echoed from the ground below and a distress signal sounded over the holo-map, its location in the Caustic Caverns.
"I know where we're going then." Lilith huffed and brushed a hair out of her face. Everyone quickly picked themselves up and headed out to the Caverns.
(line)
As soon as the group reconstructed in the Caverns they immediately noticed something off. The lakes of burning acid had been drained, carcasses of numerous swarms of varkids had been all but exploded, scattered remains of crystalisks littered the rocky ground, and all the old Dahl mining equipment had been twisted into unnatural shapes. Axton whistled in amusement and chuckled to himself.
"Well shit, impressive work Maya." He smirked.
"How do you know it was her?" Gaige raised a brow.
"Well who else could cause this much damage without lifting a finger?"
"This isn't a good sign…" Lilith declared, calling everyone's attention, "This kind of destruction is only possible with Eridium." The Vault Hunters all exchanged glances, "it means that Maya could be tampering with the stuff and well…we all know what it can do to a Siren." There was a murmur of agreement amongst the group.
"We need to find her, fast."
A soft cry sounded in the distance, sending everyone into a sprint towards the origin. As the group ran, they took notice of the drastically different surroundings. All the ruins in the Caverns were glowing a bright purple. Fissures cracked the ground and slowly oozed out slag. Geysers of acid suddenly began to erupt out in the dried up lakebeds. Rocks fell from the Cavern ceiling and really tested the Vault Hunters' reflexes.
As the group drew closer, the cries became louder and sounded more and more like their other Siren friend.
"AGH! SHIT! HELP!" The Phaselocker hollered and wriggled her fingers from under a pile of rocks. The group all surrounded the pile and looked at the struggling appendage.
"Maya?" Salvador asked and lightly nudged his foot against the Siren's hand.
"No, it's fricking Saint Nicholas! YES IT'S MAYA. NOW GET ME OUT OF HERE."
"Can't you like…Phaselock out of there?" Axton questioned.
"Great idea. Yeah, not like I tried that first. Turns out there's some raw Eridium in these things. Didja hear those geysers? Yep, that's what happened. Now just dig me out, please."
The Vault Hunters got to work digging their friend out of the pile. It took a little over an hour, but they got her out nonetheless.
"Thanks guys…you all here cause of the tremors?" Maya said catching her breath. The group collectively nodded as the ground shook again.
"That one wasn't a tremor guys…at least, not a normal one…" Lilith mumbled as the ground quaked violently.
"Oh great." Maya sighed sarcastically and positioned herself into a fighting stance. Four Badass Pyre threshers came rising from the ground, their skin blazing as their tendrils swayed about. The Siren smirked and stared down the small group of giants, "So guys, wanna see what I've been learning all those months?" She grabbed a small shard of raw Eridium off the ground and held it up in her left hand.
Suddenly Maya's tattoos began to radiate a rich indigo as the shard dissolved in her palm and two flaming, slag-purple wings unfurled from her back. Her eyes glowed with a harsh ferocity as she thrust out her palm and commanded "STAY PUT!" A large phase orb entrapped all four giant threshers and slowly began to collapse inward. The creatures all shrieked helplessly and Maya closed her eyes as she exhaled slowly. The phase orb was soon enveloped in all the elements, only causing the beasts to shriek louder. Their flesh slowly corroded away as electricity, fire, and slag danced through their wounds. The Siren raised her hand higher and twitched her fingers causing the ground around the orb to crack and rise around the phase. Rocks began to impale the threshers until they ceased moving. She threw her hand down, hoping to finish off the creatures, but fate had something else in mind.
As if the Phaselock had a mind of its own, the orb shot far into the distance and exploded like a nuclear bomb, leaving behind a huge crater. Maya's eyes widened as she looked at her glowing hand and clenched her fist.
"Damn it..." She cursed as her power subsided. The others all stared in awe at their companion.
"HOLY SHIT MAYA! I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD...WOW!" Gaige cheered.
"No...I...I...I couldn't control it..." The Siren began to hyperventilate, "That's not the first time either...It's been getting worse and worse with the days...what if...I...oh god." Objects began to levitate , along with the Mechomancer and the Commander.
Lilith stepped up and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Hey...I know it's kinda scary...not knowing what's happening. But hey, we're Vault Hunters, we can handle it..."
The Phaselocker took a deep breath and regained her composure and let down her friends, "Sorry...I just got a little frazzled."
The two other Vault Hunters just gave weak smiles and assured her it was okay. The Firehawk turned her attention back to the group, "Alright, now let's try to think about where the others are..."
"Krieg's in Slabtown." Brick declared, everyone looked at the bandit king, "I sent him there when we were going to hunt Vaults. Someone has to look over those idiots."
"Woah woah woah..." Lilith waved her hands in front of her, "You mean you've known where Krieg has been this entire time?!"
"Yep, pretty much."
"And you didn't-I dunno-say anything?!" The Firehawk's eyes glowed with fury.
"You never asked, and when I tried to tell ya...you all shot me down."
Everyone else muttered in agreement with Brick. The Phasewalker sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Alright...you said Slabtown right? Okay..."
Lather, rinse, repeat, and everyone takes Brick's advice to find Krieg in Slabtown.
(line)
The sound of bandits screeching echoed through the evening air as a small mob of Psychos chased a lone skag into the distance. Blood was smeared across the steel walls and severed heads of the enemy Sawteeth placed around the shanty town on pikes.
"I love what he's done to the place!" Brick laughed and poked one of the disembodied heads. The others just tried their best to ignore the gruesome scenery. As they walked through the town it was obvious that the Slabs must have been out doing what bandits do best since none were coming out to attack.
"So...How do we know that Krieg will even remember us?" Axton questioned and nudged Salvador.
"Eh, I dunno. We hope for the best?" The short truxican shrugged and kicked a severed arm off one of the many cliffs.
"I have an idea." Lilith smiled and eyed up her Siren companion. Maya immediately began regretting joining back up with her friends.
(line)
"Looks like the boys are all out again, probably those tremors getting everyone riled up." Krieg's subconscious sighed as his motor half picked at the dirt collected under his nails. He had been in charge of the Slabs for four months now and was utterly enjoying himself. He could do what he wanted, kill who he wanted, and no one would chastise him for it. In fact the other bandits all cheered on his brutality, especially towards those in the Cauldron. He loved it, he loved the power he had over an entire bandit clan, for once he felt important; even more so since Brick specifically requested that he was the one to watch after the Berserker's crew.
"I thirst the bloodshed. I crave the carnage..." Krieg grumbled and rolled his neck, feeling the Slab crown shift uncomfortably over his face, temporarily blinding him. The sound of someone entering the throne room startled the Psycho and he hastily removed the scrap-metal crown.
"OH MEAT DUKE! WE HAVE FOUND A BLASPHEMER IN THE KINGDOM!" A marauder beckoned and forced forward Maya, whom looked utterly terrified.
Krieg's eyes grew wide and he drew his Buzz Axe then revved it into full spin. He hopped down from his loft and slowly approached the pair. His head twitched wildly and a low grumble resonated from his throat.
"Oh man...you DO remember her! I mean, how could we forget her? Oh man she's just as beautiful as ever. Come on man, we can do this. Let's let her know we remember her. Let's show her we're so much better than before." The inner Krieg urged as the outer side tightened his grip on the Axe.
"H-Hiya Kr-"
"SILENCE!" The marauder kicked the Siren down to the ground and Krieg howled in rage as he sliced his Axe through the bandit in one swift motion. His shoulders dropped and he looked at the woman slowing rising to her feet. A wave of calmness overcame him and all he could do is stare at the Vault Hunter in front of him, noticing how she was staring back like a terrified child. His breaths were ragged and forced, he gritted his teeth growled again while he tried to speak his mind.
"Mmmm...MaaaaaAAyyyahhhh..." Krieg grumbled and lightly bopped his masked forehead to hers and growled softer.
"N-nice to s-ee...you...too..." Maya mumbled, "Krieg...we need your help. Wanna help?"
"They need us...They. Need. US. Holy shit."
The Psycho leapt back and raised his Buzz Axe over his head, "THE MEAT ALWAYS AIDS THE RIDERS OF CARNAGE!" he howled and smiled wickedly under his mask.
"I'll take that as a yes." The Phaselocker grinned.
(line)
The other Vault Hunters stood outside the throne room, exchanging nervous glances.
"Alright Axton, get ready to pay up." Gaige cooed and poked the Commando in the chest.
"No no no, you're going to be the one paying." Axton laughed.
The large garage door slid upwards with Maya exiting and Krieg in tow. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except a certain Commando whom grumbled and fished out $100 from his storage deck and handed it to the Mechromancer.
"He's in, let's go find Zer0." Maya smiled with a nod. Salvador and Brick approached their other violence-loving partner and patted his back. Krieg straightened up a bit and smiled once more under his mask, feeling something strange stirring inside.
"They...Cared?" The Psycho in turn grumbled outwardly and shuffled awkwardly.
Lilith glanced up at Krieg, "Welcome back." She turned away and quickly lead the group back to Sanctuary.
(line)
Tannis had really outdone herself this time as she explained the situation to the other person in the room. It had been a hassle, having to trace through thousands of public, private, restricted, and dead servers to finally find her target.
"...and that's my concl-"
"T-TANNIS! WE NEED-" Lilith stopped midsentence upon spotting the other figure in the room. It was Zer0, standing tall and proud like always. He looked over at the Siren and projected a bright red "?" on his visor. The other Vault Hunters all gathered in the room and stared at the Assassin who now cocked his head.
"WOAH! Zer0! Where have you been man?" Axton burst out.
"My job is private/ but this is way more urgent/ good to see you all." The Number replied almost sounding amused.
"Tannis! How did...what did..." The Firehawk huffed and crossed her arms.
"I've been keeping tabs on whoever I can." The scientist smirked and leaned back.
There was a collective silence as the tension built. Now that everyone was gathered...Wait.
"Augh...You all are too loud..." Mordecai grumbled stumbling down the stairs tiredly, "Well Lil, everyone is here, what did you need to tell us all?"
Everyone looked at the leader of the Raiders expectantly. Lilith shuffled in place and looked to everyone, opening and closing her mouth a few times before deciding on the best way to tell everyone their current situation.
"Guys...Pandora is...crumbling."
