Author's note: Hey guys! It's been a few years, but I've finally found it in me to pick up the pen with Loyalty again! Feel free to stone me in the reviews about how long it's been, especially after that bogus promise last year. It's just been difficult with school, moving, and my girlfriend, but now that summer's coming up and I'm single again, expect faster updates (Maybe every few weeks, rather than every few years). It feels good to be back.
Axton pulled the runner out from where he parked it, Moxxi on the gun. A few meters away, he saw Lilith digistructing a car for her and Clayton. He waited for the pair to mount their own vehicle before the party sped off in their twin runners.
They drove in silence for a while, the stillness eventually broken by axton. "What's happening back at the bar? I just thought of that, who's running it while you're gone?" He asked Moxxi. "I had a plan set in motion in case anything like this ever happened, and Claptrap and Hammerlock were supposed to take over." She replied. Axton winced.
Setting up camp that night, they pitched two separate tents, one for Clayton and Lilith, the other for Axton and Moxxi. Sometime in the night, there was a scream from the former's tent. Axton rushed over, to see Lilith standing over a pile of ashes, a mix of shock and horror on her face. "What the hell happened?" Axton asked. Lilith shrugged. "I don't know...he was trying to get intimate with his God, me...I tried to shove him off...next thing I know he's up in smoke and I'm still confused." "Maybe it's that Eridium stuff?" Axton suggested. "Probably...yikes. New rule: Don't touch me when I'm pissed."
Axton left the tent without another word. The next morning, the group started out had been driving for about an hour when a shadow suddenly blocked out the sun. Looking up, Axton saw a gigantic Rakk diving down towards the runners.
He slammed on the brakes, yelling at Moxxi and Lilith to start shooting. His boots hit the tundra snow with a muffled crunch, and he began firing his assault rifle at the gigantic bird-reptile. The beast's beady red eyes locked on to smallest figure on the ground and it dived. It scooped Axton into its talons and began to lift him off the ground. Moxxi and Lilith were pumping the creature's wings with hot lead, but it seemed unfazed. Axton pulled out his sidearm but dropped it in the kerfuffle with the Rakk. As it lifted him higher and higher, he removed his hatchet from its sheath. He then started to hack at the creature's talons, but only succeeded in infuriating it further. Desperate, he swung the ax up. It impacted the Rakk's eye, and it screamed in pain. Confused, the two crashed into a mountain of ice. The Rakk immediately released Axton, who started running as fast as he possibly could away, throwing a grenade over his shoulder as he ran. The grenade detonated, blowing the creature to pieces.
Relieved, he headed where the other two were waiting anxiously. "Holy hell, are you okay?" Lilith stated, alarmed. He looked himself over. He only had scratches where the creature had grabbed him and bruises where he had landed awkwardly. "Yeah, pretty sure." He replied. "We need to get going." The rest of the drive continued quietly, and they made camp that night in silence. Nobody knew what to say to the other. As they made their way to their sleeping bags, Moxxi and Lilith drifted off to sleep. Axton lay in his, unable to sleep.
Just as his eyes were beginning to get heavy, he heard distant gunfire. He glanced at the other two, seeing them still asleep. He grumbled quietly to nobody in particular and grabbed his rifle. He'd check it out. As he followed the gunshots, he heard something else. A metallic screeching sound, setting the hair on his arms on end. He began to wonder if this was really the best plan. He'd come this far though, and it could be a danger to the women back at camp. Turning the corner, what he saw almost made him drop his rifle and run as fast as he could. A gigantic robot, Maybe seven feet tall, was hovering above the ground, literally ripping a raider in half with it's gigantic talons. A short distance behind him, a teenage girl, maybe 17 or 18, was firing a SMG at the remaining marauders. Seeing as how she had yet to notice him, he took a few raiders down. Suddenly, the robot snapped it's head up from it's gruesome task, locking onto him. It dropped the marauder and began to move towards him. He backed up slowly. He'd never outrun it. The girl looked up in surprise, then touched her arm. The robot deconstructed just as it was reaching for the poor marine, much to his shock. The final raider looked up over the crate he was hiding behind, and got a bullet to the face for his trouble.
The young woman hopped over the crates, striding towards him, her weapon in the crook of her arm. As she got closer, he realised that her left arm was made out of some kind of metal, and she had a determined look on her face. "I recognize you." She said suddenly. Her voice was high pitched and girly, yet also held a slight edge of danger and insanity. He looked at her nervously. "Really?" She smiled. "Obviously. I remember every sexy man I see." He glanced around, eager to get away from her. "Okayyyy...uh, from where, exactly?" She looked like she was deep in thought. "I think it was the train." She said, unsure. "Wait, seriously? You were on the train too?" He asked, now eager to hear her story. "Yeah, I stowed away. You were an interesting bunch. That one only spoke in haikus. It kind of started to drive me insane." "Wait, you mean Zer0? How did you know that?" He asked her. "We all kind of found each other after the train blew up, but we got separated a while back. It's just me and Deathtrap now." "Wait, what do you mean, 'all'?" "Oh, the other one. Big guy, a little shorter than me, he had this accent." She made a face. "Didn't smell too good either, like booze and gunpowder." Axton blanched. Zer0 and Salvador were alive? Where were they? "What's your name?" He asked her. She shrugged. "Gaige. I'm kind of a big deal where I'm from. I killed a few people. On accident though! And it wasn't me, it was Deathtrap! I mean, I guess I was already kind of on some sort of watch list because I'm a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit of an Anarchist." She held her arms out as far as she could, and Axton blinked. "I also like cupcakes, rainbows, and unicorns." She finished proudly, folding her metal arm over her real one.
She looked like your everyday teenage kid. She was wearing a short orange-red skirt, and a matching T-shirt with a skull on it. Over it, she wore a grey windbreaker. Her hair matched her clothes, except with a slightly redder hue. Axton knew that this girl could very well be insane, but she could also be a powerful ally. He sighed and held out his hand. "Alright, I'm Axton. Come on, let's go to Sanctuary."