Skag Slaying

Author: Civilized Lee

And how exactly are the other Vault Hunter's faring in their parts of the quest? Let's find out...

"Alright, minions!" Claptrap's voice blared over Maya's Echo-Device. "You're almost there! You're coming up on Ug-Thak's lair! But first you're going to have to travel through..."

Maya and Zero looked uncertainly at each other, unsure if they just lost ECHO reception. After several seconds of awkward silence, a loud thundercrack boomed off towards the sea, and they quickly got their answer.

"HELL'S MAW!" Claptrap shouted, in as ominous a tone as his cheerful voice would allow. "Muahahaha!"

"Very dramatic," Maya replied, unamused.

"Just keep heading along the shoreline. You're gonna have to do a little spelunking to summon Ug-Thak. I'll tell you more later!"

"Wh-" Maya tried to protest, but the ECHOlink was already cut. "He wants us to go in a cave? This place is creepy as hell."

"What choice do we have?" Zero asked. "At least a cave is shelter from all of this rain."

Maya glanced up to the gray cloud-covered sky, her face briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning. The angry sea tossed wave after wave onto the rocky coastline. She sighed, then continued inching along the edge of the cliff overlooking the water below. Claptrap had told them this was the quickest way to find the lord of skags. He had neglected to mention it was one of the more dangerous ways, too.

"Still don't see how this is fair," the Siren grumbled, testing a loose-looking rock with her left shoe, then watching it as it tumbled several yards down into the white frothy water crashing into the boulders below. "Axton and Salvador just need to collect rocks. How hard could that be? Get an excavator and you're done, right? Hey, watch your step."

"Doubt it's that simple," Zero answered, following in the Siren's footsteps. "Maybe I should take the lead. I can see better."

"And maybe you should've suggested that earlier," Maya said, sidling along the ledge, her back pressed against the rock cliff. "Almost there..."

Maya slipped around the jagged corner of a large slab of rock, and sighed in relief as the familiar sight of solid ground appeared below. The two jumped down onto the beach, welcoming the feeling of being able to stand on something stable. Zero took a moment to look around.

The beach was only accessible by sea, with the exception of the treacherous path the two of them just took. The rest of the beach was walled off by sheer rock cliffs. The beach itself stretched out for a few hundred yards along the sea, and was riddled with small stones, several large logs that were once trees, since broken apart and waterlogged by the fierce waves, and even a small overturned canoe.

"Still looks seaworthy," Zero observed, slowly walking around it. "We might have to use this boat to get off this beach."

Maya glanced at the boat, then out to the sea. Another lightning bolt flashed in the distance, illuminating the black water as several tentacles as thick around as Salvador's torso thrashed angrily in the water. "Maybe not," she said. The tentacles dipped below the surface, then a hump crested over the water before diving back down.

"Thresher?" Zero asked, trying to get a better scan of the sea monster.

Maya shook her head. "Not like any one I've ever read about. Don't think they get that big, either. Come on, let's go find this Hell's Maw."

They crossed to the far end of the beach, and noticed a gaping hole in the side of the mountain. An entrance to a cave, with stalactites hanging at the mouth. Two smaller shadowy recesses over the cave entrance gave it the appearance of a vaguely demonic looking face with sharp teeth. The effect was made more dramatic by red discolorations on the stalactites, which Maya and Zero were fairly sure isn't the natural color of the rock. They exchanged a nervous glance.

"Well, go ahead," Maya said, tilting her head towards the cave. "You said you should have gone first."

Zero nodded slowly and took the lead, peering into the darkness with the visor's enhanced night vision. Skulls were scattered on the ground just inside the cave, some skag, most of them human.

"This does not bode well," Zero deadpanned.

As if on cue, the ECHOlink opened up again, and Claptrap spoke up. "Hell's Maw is just the name the human colonists gave to the place you're going."

Maya ran her gloved hand over her rain-soaked left arm and frowned. She should have been freezing cold, after just stepping out of the rain.

"The Eridian name for it, according to the doctor lady who just kicked me out of her lab, it translates roughly to 'the volcano which no man has returned from alive'," Claptrap explained. "But don't worry! That name is totally misleading."

They reached the end of the long, dark corridor, and made their way around a corner. A wave of heat hit them both as they looked at the red glow around the next corner. They quickly and quietly dashed forward to look into the cavern.

The chamber looked artificial. The walls were made of jagged rock, and more stalactites hang from the ceiling, but the opening itself was too round to be natural. In the middle of the room was a large pit that led down directly into a pool of red hot glowing magma. At the far end of the chamber is a dim passageway leading further into the mountain.

"It's not technically a volcano!" Claptrap chirped.

"What are they doing?" Zero asked.

Maya leaned a little further around the corner and noticed something she hadn't before: a group of men in skull masks standing around the lava pit, all of them wearing skull masks and red pants. "Psychos?" she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"Looks like ritual dancing."

The group of psychos started chanting something the two of them couldn't quite make out, stomping their feet in rhythm.

"Oh! Did I forget to mention?" Claptrap's chipper voice spoke up again, and both Vault Hunters started to get the distinct impression that he didn't give them all the information they needed entirely on purpose. "As with most big-ass creatures on Pandora, Ug-Thak has a bunch of followers that you'll have to-"

Maya summoned a singularity above the hole in the center of the room, causing most of the psychos to be pulled into the air, screaming. The ones quick and smart enough to run away were dropped by Zero's rifle as Maya let the rest fall into the lava.

"Oh." Claptrap's voice sounded more depressed than usual at the anti-climactic fight. "Wow, those guys really weren't tough at all, were they? Serves ya right for standing so close to the lava pit, suckers! Oh well. I'm sure all that screaming got Ug-Thak's attention! He's probably deeper in the caves."

"If I didn't know any better," Zero said as they made their way around the lava pit, "I'd say he's trying to get us killed."

As if to drive the point home, the walls started to shake as a loud roar echoed throughout the cave. Maya and Zero looked at each other nervously. Before they had a chance to enter the cavernous passageway, a large four-legged shadow started flickering on the wall in front of them. The Vault Hunters drew their weapon, waiting with bated breath as the shadow drew closer and closer.

Suddenly, the shadow started growing smaller, until a skag pup walked around the corner and sniffed tentatively at Maya's shoe. "This is the Lord of Skags?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, minion!"

The ground shook again, and rocks from the ceiling started to crumble and fall all around them as another deafening roar echoed throughout the cave. The skag pup fled back down the passageway as the two Vault Hunters turned around.

A jet of fire shot straight up from inside the lava pit. Maya raised her eyebrows and squeaked out, "Oh..."

A heavy clawed paw slammed down on the ground in front of them, shaking the ground beneath their feet. "Crap," Zero said.

Maya and Zero took off in opposite directions towards the exit as the giant skag jumped up into the air and came crashing back down onto the ground. A large boulder above was shaken loose and smashed through the ground, leaving a yawning gap directly between Maya and the exit.

She skidded to a stop just in time, giving herself a long look at the jagged rocks and the pit of lava below. Zero stood by the tunnel leading out, watching as she back-pedaled a few steps. A red exclamation point appeared on Zero's visor. "Watch out!"

When Maya turned around, she saw the giant skag walking steadily towards her. "Well that's just great," she muttered to herself. The skag was much too big for her to run past, and she was pretty sure it could kill her with just one bite of its giant, powerful jaws. So she turned and sprinted towards the gap and jumped.

She let out something halfway between a grunt and a wheeze as her stomach slammed into the ledge. Her hands desperately searched for something to help pull herself up, but she felt herself slipping further and further over the edge. She looked up at Zero, who was still a good twenty feet away, before making the mistake of looking down at the lava below her dangling feet.

The giant skag let out a roar of what sounds like triumph, then turned around and started to take the long way around towards the exit. She felt herself losing her grip on the rock, and before she plummeted to the lava below, she shouted out as loud as she could, "DAMN YOU CLAPTRAAAAP!"

Just as she completely lost her grip, two pairs of three long, slim fingers grabbed tightly onto her left forearm. She looked up at the blank visor staring down back at her, then reached her right hand up as Zero helped pull her back onto solid ground.

The two of them started running down the tunnel towards the surface. The skag let out another roar, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out Claptrap's voice in their earpieces. "Holy crap, you found him! Alright, minions, good job not dying so far! Just get him out in the open! You won't be able to beat him on his home turf!"

Maya and Zero ran back out onto the beach, followed by the plume of fire breath nipping at their heels. They ducked behind a log, catching their breath and getting their first good look at Ug-Thak as he exited the cave and let out another roar.

The skag was reddish-brown in color, and tall enough for either of them to be able to run underneath it, though they both hoped they wouldn't need to. On its shoulders, back, and face were plates of thick natural armor, glowing red-orange, not unlike the lava pit it lived by.

"Don't suppose you can phaselock that," Zero said.

Maya glanced over and gave her best what do you think? look.

"Right."

They spent a few minutes trying to take it down the good old-fashioned way, with lots of bullets, but they quickly realized that was a war of attrition they wouldn't have a hope to win. The first time Ug-Thak roared, they landed a good dozen shots in its mouth, but it seemed to learn from that mistake, since it only opened its mouth to let out quick jets of fire after that. Any shot they landed on its armor bounced off harmlessly, save for one shot from Zero's pistol that managed to ricochet and clip Maya in the side.

"Dammit," she groaned, crouching down behind a large boulder. "You got any insta-healths on you?"

"No," Zero answered, peeking out to check on Ug-Thak. A few swooping rakk were distracting the giant skag, buying them a little time.

She gritted her teeth. "Got any ideas how to take this thing down?"

Zero pointed towards the water at the near side of the beach. "Lead him around over there. I want to try something."

"Hey! You wanna tell me your plan?" she hissed, as Zero stalked away and vanished from sight. She bit her lip. "Guess not."

Maya peeked out from behind the large rock she was using for cover, and Ug-Thak turned his head to face her, seemingly finished with the rakk circling overhead. She ducked back and took a few deep breaths before springing up and firing off a few shots at him to get his attention. It spit out a fireball at her in retaliation, and she only managed to dive out of the way before it exploded against the rock she was standing on.

A single crack from a sniper rifle pierced through the air, and the giant skag let out an angry bellow. She stole a glance as she got to her feet and saw a jet of blood shooting out of Ug-Thak's left eye socket.

She takes a second to appreciate the placement of the shot, but that's all the time Ug-Thak gave her. The loss of one of his eyes only served to anger him. As it started chasing towards her, she noticed that it didn't seem to slow him down any, and with good reason. Skags have poor eyesight, and tend to rely on their other senses to find food, notably hearing and smell. And she was just realizing that he had picked up the scent of blood on her.

She broke off into a sprint, leading Ug-Thak away from Zero, hoping to line up a shot at the other eye. She turns and starts running along the coastline, waves from the ocean crashing against her ankles. Ug-Thak paused to spit another fireball at her.

A flash of lightning illuminated the beach for a second, immediately followed by a loud crack. Maya didn't bother to look back as Ug-Thak let out another roar, his right eye shot out. The giant skag spit out a jet of fire from its mouth, and Maya took a dive into the water to avoid it.

Zero cloaked and starts sprinting towards the giant skag as it sniffed at the water, the scent of blood being spread out by the waves. It swiped at the water with its claws a few times, but didn't manage to hit anything.

Zero broke the cloak and lunged at the skag's unarmored hind leg, leaving a long gash in its skin. A bit of the blood splashed back onto Zero's armor, while most of it spilled and started spreading through the water. The assassin turned and dashed away, luring Ug-Thak along with him.

Maya gasped as she broke the surface for air. The salt water in her bullet wound felt like she was being stabbed repeatedly with a hot poker, but she figured it was better than being lit on fire. She spotted Zero throwing out a decoy, which was promptly slapped out of existence by a heavy paw. The waves from the ocean started crashing against her legs harder, and she walked back onto land. She fired off a few distracting shots before ducking behind a rock and doubling over in pain.

Zero hurdled over a log and took cover behind it, waiting impatiently for the suit's decoy to cool down. The visor's scanner showed Ug-Thak advancing, sniffing at the air hungrily. Zero placed a hand on the log and got ready to run, when the log started to levitate.

Ug-Thak and Zero both seemed to be equally surprised and confused as the log rotated in the air, then swung around and struck the giant skag in the head. Ug-Thak stumbled to the side, then shook his head, only to be struck again, this time in his already injured hindquarter. Enraged, he jumped up and swatted the log away before turning back to the assassin.

Zero made a dash straight for the log and jumped onto it, then cloaked and threw out another decoy. Maya watched in confusion for a moment as Ug-Thak swiped at and missed the hologram darting back and forth over the log.

"Alright, you big bastard," she growled through a clenched jaw. "Time to cool you down a bit."

With every last bit of strength in her body, she extended both arms out in front of her, and sent the log sailing out towards the ocean. Still smelling the blood on it, Ug-Thak chased it into the water.

Zero uncloaked beside Maya, watching as the giant skag thrashed his paws and jaws against the water. He sunk his teeth into the floating tree, but the victory was short-lived. Several large tentacles came up out of the water and wrapped themselves around him. Ug-Thak let out a panicked roar as he thrashed his head back and forth. He managed to sink his teeth into one of the tentacles before he was suddenly and violently pulled underwater. The two Vault Hunters watched in silence as the churning water slowly calmed down.

"There's always a... bigger monster." Maya let out an exhausted sigh, then doubled over to catch her breath.

They both let out annoyed moans as their ECHO devices crackled in their ears.

"Minions!" Claptrap whined. "You were supposed to slay Ug-Thak yourselves! To go up against impossible odds and come out the victors! You can't just get somebody else to do your dirty work for you!"

"Glass houses, Claptrap," Zero quipped, guiding Maya to sit on a nearby rock.

"Oh, don't play that card on me. I'm sending you on these quests to prove your worthiness of the quest before you! And of the reward I have promised!"

"Yeah," Maya said, "what did you say that was, again?"

Claptrap hummed in thought for a moment, completely ignoring Maya's question. "Alright, minions. You may have violated the spirit of the quest, but you did as I asked. Ug-Thak is dead, and you have proven your resourcefulness, if not your might! Come on back!"

Maya shook her head and sighed loudly. "This really better be worth it," she said between breaths.

Zero was busy getting the little canoe ready. "We should be off now, before that monster comes back. Are you good to go?"

She winced as she stood up, then nodded. The two of them pushed the small canoe into the waves and hopped on, using large pieces of driftwood as makeshift paddles.

"Hey, minion! Before I forget, were you really prepared to spend your final words cursing my name?"

Maya frowned. "I stand by what I said," she said, then shut her ECHO off. A red "LOL" flashed across Zero's visor.

Foryewhoartliterate: One does not simply paddle out of Hell's Maw.

Hi. Civilized Lee, here. Normally this is where the author (that's me!) thanks you for reading, but I'd like to use this space to talk about how absolutely crazy skags are. The little spitter ones look like they're about the size of your average dog, but then you get those crazy big ones like Skagzilla and Dukino's Momma! That's a crazy size difference. That would be like if dogs could be as small as chihuahuas, but also as big as a bull elephant.

You might think that I'm over-analyzing a fictional alien species in a video game. You would be correct.