More Than a Vault Hunter – Chapter 3 – Departure
A/N: Hello again guys. Like I promised, this one is coming out much sooner than the previous one. Also, merry Christmas for however long ago it was. I hope you got me a present, by following and reviewing. That would make my day, you know? :P
This one is a butt load shorter because I wanted to put something up, but I hope the content makes up for it.
Read on.
Fletcher
Angel and I made our way downstairs and out to the courtyard. We saw the others waiting around in the courtyard, checking weapons and equipment as they got ready for the difficult battle ahead. It wasn't going to be as tough as the Warrior, but they were missing three companions, and that would be enough to make it a challenge. I'm sure Zero was looking forward to not having his kills stolen by me or DT though. As we walked over to them, Angel went to talk to Maya, while I moved over to Zero.
He was checking the edge of his sword for any blunt spots or dents. I watched as he slid a finger along the middle, feeling for a bend in the blade. Finding none, he spun it around in his hands a few times, and satisfied it was ready for battle, digitised it and returned the hilt to his belt. He looked up at me and a question mark appeared over his visor. I glanced down at the sword and raised an eyebrow in silent question. He hesitated, but handed the weapon to me.
It was an impressive piece of equipment. I flicked a switch on the handle, and the blade appeared, its blue edge glowing even while in the sunlight. I held it up vertical, running my eyes over the silver metal as it fused with the blue. I had no idea why it glowed, but as I reached out to feel the sharpness of the blade, I was surprised to find it vibrating. You couldn't see the movement, or feel it in the hilt, and I wondered at the purpose of such a thing. Perhaps it was so the blade could cut through armour easier, or be able to sustain more powerful blows without damage.
Turning my gaze to the hilt, I saw the moulded rubber and carbon-fibre hilt was actually shifting beneath my hand to fit my grip. The raised sections moved and changed, until it felt as if it had been made for me. I shot another look at Zero, and he nodded. So, backing away, I held the blade out before me, as I had seen Zero do so many times before. Then, with a fair dose of concentration, I began one of the training sequences he loved so much.
The blade was perfectly balanced, and I felt like it was a part of me, as I spun it in a tight circle behind my back. I no longer needed the sequence, and let my body act on instinct, improvising every move. Rotating, I swapped the blade to my other hand and slashed down hard on an invisible target. With no resistance, the sword just wanted to keep moving, so I flowed through a set of motions, all off the top of my head. I fell into a rhythm with the sword. Step, swing, recover, spin, thrust, parry, twist, block, counter. I didn't see the crowd that had gathered and was watching as I experimented with the elegant weapon.
With a sense of finality about me, I twisted one last time, and leapt high into the air. With a yell, I brought the blade down on my invisible enemy's head, cleaving him in two. I held my position, blade down and horizontal, my head bowed before me and leaning forward into the strike. Returning to my senses, I looked about to see the crowd that had gathered. I turned back and met Zero's gaze. He had an exclamation mark on his visor. As I began walking back to him, he started clapping. The silence was broken, and pretty soon, I was given a rather impressive round of applause from the spectators.
With a massive grin I handed the sword back to Zero. He took it and held the grip in his hand as it morphed back to suit him. With a big red :) on his visor, he said, "The boy has some skill./ But does it mean he is better?/ I wish to know this."
"You want to spar?" I said, my grin growing even more, "We'll see how we go, but hell yeah. We so should."
"You know the blade well./I am impressed by this./But I've seen better."
I glanced at him and was about to ask who, but he said, "In a mirror."
Those listening cracked up laughing. As we began to calm down again, Lilith and Gaige walked over, and our attention turned to them.
"What are you all standing around here for? You have mission, so get to it." Lilith said, "And all you slack-jawed spectators better clear out."
With a collective groan, the rest of the soldiers departed, leaving only the Vault Hunters gathered in the courtyard. The ones leaving on the mission were doing final checks on their weapons and equipment, making sure they were as ready as they could be for the battle ahead. The metallic sounds of the weapons filled the silence, under pinned by the hum of the city's engine. As the last of the weapons were digitised and the favourites were holstered or rested in elbows, Lilith spoke up for the final briefing.
"Alright, listen up. You are heading back to the Moonbase with two objectives. The first, is to clear out any and all Hyperion personnel, and prevent them from bringing anyone else back in. I want every inch of that place cleared out, no matter how long it takes, and I want it completely cut off from Hyperion. Turn their security systems against them if you have to."
"The second objective is to recover as much intel and equipment as you can. Anything they have up there that could be used by us, I want back here, or under our control. Any reports on the planet, on the other corporations, on Sirens, on anything. Bring. It. Back. We need to know exactly what Hyperion knows, so we can use it against them, and use it to protect ourselves and Sanctuary. Clear?"
They all nodded, and Lilith said, "Good. Then there's no point waiting any longer. Good luck guys."
Angel, Gaige and I echoed her, and the others turned toward the Firehawk, the Crimson Raiders personal battle ship, stolen from Hyperion and modified by Angel and Gaige to be the most powerful air support on the planet. The sleek lines had only minor damage, not even noticeable unless you knew where to look.
The Firehawk, named after Lilith's alias, was an ex-Hyperion fleet Battlecruiser, upgraded to have even more incredible speed, armour and firepower. I had flown it only yesterday when I escaped from Jack's trap the first time we had gone to the Moonbase. When we had first 'commandeered' it from the spaceport, it had already been one of Hyperion's more valuable members of the fleet, but we had made it awesome enough to stand up to any opposition, air or otherwise. (Mini Author's Note: Imagine the Pillar of Autumn from Halo, but way, way smaller. About two fifths of Sanctuary's size.)
The regular yellow and grey Hyperion colouring was covered by a haphazard attempt at decoration, probably done last night by a drunk who believed themselves a potential artist.
***
What none of the Vault Hunters knew was that it was actually Crazy Earl who had painted the Firehawk. He had snuck out during the very early hours of the morning, when everyone in the town had been passed out or still at Moxxi's, and, for reasons unknown, covered the ship in a conglomeration of colours. The spattering ranged from a dark grass green to a fluoro pink, and yet even all the different colours didn't make it over the whole hull.
Notably, there was a lack of yellow paint, other than what had already been there. Was this an aesthetic choice by the Eridium loving madman? We might never know.
Back to the story…
***
Fletcher
I watched as the others walked up into the ship. Maya was the last to get moving, but before she got on the ship, she turned back to us and called out, "Good luck!"
We waved as she disappeared into the ship, and the airlock door sealed behind her. The massive engines flared into life, and the docking clamps that were locked into the concrete released and retracted. The ship dipped under its own weight as the vertical thrust took control, allowing the ship to turn and the main engines to accelerate and smoothly send the ship on its way. The rumbling grew louder as the engines grew to nearly full power, but it was not long before the growing distance silenced the ship. At that point the ship was growing smaller and smaller in our vision, even with my Sirens eyes it disappeared in under a minute.
We stood, looking out over the Pandoran wilderness, and thinking our own thoughts.
***
Angel
Who's flying the ship? No, really, who's flying it?
***
Gaige
Hm, if only there was two of me. I would loot the shit out of that Moonbase.
***
Lilith
Oh Roland, I wish you were around to see this… Because then I'd be able to go and actually have some fun for once. Stupid wars…
***
Fletcher
Huh, I can see Overlook from here.
A/N: I know, I know, short as hell (I'm sorry D: ), but I wanted to get something up, and this was a good place to stop. Thinking about it, I should have stopped it here last chapter. Oh well.
Thanks for reading, and next chapter up soon! Don't forget to review and say which characters POV you want to see next. :D
On an unrelated note, I have my first YouTube video up! Killing Floor on a Minecraft custom map. Check it out and subscribe here - user/TerrorbyteTC