A/N: Hello readers, I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! This chapter I am especially proud of, I've added some new elements to the story that... well you'll just have to read to find out.
Smiley117- Don't worry, as you will see in this chapter I have my reasons for isolating Luke from the team some
RisingS- I will try to incorporate the MayaxAxton elements a little more in the story. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chapter 7: Fallout
Three days had passed since Duke's death and Zer0's injury. In that short amount of time, things had changed a lot. Jack decided to shut down the underdome after losing a Hyperion employee to its madness, much to Moxxi's despair. This crackdown gained a huge amount of approval from the public, making Jack look like even more of a hero. Larger profits meant more slag experiments, more and more people started to dissapear into the eridium labs, never to come out. Roland had put everyone on high watch, trying to make sure no one was abducted for these horrible experiments. He had turned the dorm into a fortress; no one could get in or out. The Crimson Raiders skipped out on class so that no one could be pulled in the middle of a lesson and experimented on; they took no chances. Moxxi started to room with the Raiders since her old home had been the underdome, which, unfortunately, had been burned to the ground.
Lilith walked into Roland's room and found him working vigorously trying to figure out a guard schedule during the night.
"Roland," she said, trying to get his attention. Roland didn't hear her; he was to wrapped up in his work to notice his girlfriend. Lilith frowned and tried again, "Roland!"
Roland bolted upward and spun around; "Lilith, whew, don't sneak up on me like that,"
Lilith smiled and strutted over towards him, her hips swaying sexily. "You know, it's been a while since you and I got a little… dirty," she purred as she ran her hand down his neck.
Roland shook his head and said, "Sorry Lilith, but I've got to get these shifts worked out before the end of today. With Jack abducting all these people you can never be too careful."
Lilith crossed her arms and pouted, well time to step it up a notch. Lilith wrapped her arms around Roland and loosened one of the straps of her tank top, just how Moxxi had taught her. She leaned forward making sure Roland could see her cleavage and whispered in his ear, "C'mon sweetie, you deserve a break from your hard work. Come with me…"
Roland's will was obviously breaking; he was sweating like crazy. "I, I, uhhh," he started to stutter as he loosened his collar. Lilith smiled; she had him right where she wanted. "Roland I know you want to, we'll just be gone for a few minutes,"
Roland gave her a smile and said, "Oh, it's gonna be longer then that,"
The two walked out of the room hand in hand.
Axton, Salvador, and Brick were all hanging out in the boy's room when suddenly in burst Roland and Lilith.
"Ummm, hey Roland and Lilith, what's…"
Roland cut off Axton, "out, now"
Before the three knew it, they were locked out of their room.
"This better not fuckin happen on my bed," grumbled Axton
Salvador still looked a little peeved about what happened, but decided to just grab something to eat while the two were finishing up. As Salvador walked away, Brick said, "I think I'm gonna go chat with Mordecai about explosions…"
"How's it going champ?" Axton turned and saw Maya with her hand on her hip standing over him.
"Well as you can see I just got kicked out of my room so Roland and Lilith can make it their own personal love shack, but other then that I'm doing just fine!"
Maya rolled her eyes and helped him off the ground, "You're so lucky you're good looking, if you weren't you'd have no redeeming qualities"
Axton gave her a cocky smile and said, "Well other then my incredible skills and winning personality"
"C'mon lets go hang out in the common room"
The couple walked in and saw Gaige and Salvador watching T.V. and yelling at each other in Spanish over a soccer game. Maya always knew Salvador knew the language, but damn Gaige was fluent. Axton put his arm around her and said, "I think being cooped up here for so long has gotten to us all"
Mordecai walked through the room looking out of breath.
"Have any of you seen Luke?" he panted, barely managing to get a word out.
"No," answered Maya, "I thought he was with you!"
"Shit," said Axton, "we can't lose him, Lilith will go berserk!"
"Don't worry, he told me he was going out to grab some food for us," Salvador called over, sounding pretty hoarse from yelling so much. Everyone sighed in relief; at least he hadn't been abducted.
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"What information did you gather?"
"They're held up tight," answered Luke, "no one is getting in without them knowing,"
"Well that's unfortunate isn't it, we need that siren for my plan and that isn't going to happen if she's held up with those criminals,"
Luke growled and yelled, "We had a deal, I help you and Lilith doesn't get hurt!"
"Relax kiddo, I mean the blue haired one. You and your pretty little red head can leave no charge after I get my hands on her."
"Jack, if you hurt her…"
Handsome Jack laughed, "what is it with you and that girl anyways? You know she's going skaggy style with someone else right?"
Luke clenched his fist at the unnecessarily graphic comment, "you are NOT to kill her"
"Fine, fine," said Jack holding his hands up defensively, "I won't lay a finger on her, but you have to get me into their facility."
Luke nodded and walked out of Jack's office, ready to set the plan into motion.
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Three days later it had been made official, Jack was capturing everyone he could get his hands on to subject them to slag experiments. Overnight, the whole Bloodshot gang disappeared, even when they had been wary of the abductions. Roland kicked himself into overdrive to protect his only family from Handsome Jack's clutches. He and Gaige had been work on a shield that could protect them from Jack's robotic army, which had now started to attack or capture prisoners on sight. After a couple weeks the shield was activated and working like a charm, much to Handsome Jack's frustration. Around the shield had been finished Zer0 had fully recovered from his injuries, thanks to Angel's excellent care.
Zer0 was taking watch when Angel sat down next to him. Zer0 he cocked his head curiously at her, to which she responded, "are you ready for your first assignment?"
"Finally action, I thought you would never ask, I am ready Angel"
Angel smiled weakly, "Great, as you can see Jack has been able to up robot productivity because of his generous donors. These robots are capturing people and experimenting on them, each breakthrough leading Jack closer to his goals. What I need you to do is sabotage the robot assembly line system to cripple Jack's oppressive enforcers."
"I will strike swiftly, no one will see me coming, when should I attack?" asked Zer0
"Probably around midnight, if I know Jack he'll probably sleeping instead of watching security," Angel answered
Zer0 nodded in agreement. Tonight they would strike back. Tonight he would shake Jack's foundation.
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"So how many boyfriends have you had again?" asked Gaige
Moxxi smiled seductively, "200 counting Mordecai hon"
Mordecai's jaw dropped in shock, he had always thought when she said she's been in a lot of relationships she meant like 20 or so! Axton elbowed him playfully and joked, "Hah! You're getting, like, sloppy 199th!"
Roland shook his head as everyone started to tease Mordecai for his loose girlfriend.
"Oh don't be so hard on the boy," cooed Moxxi, "after all he is one of the best I've been with…" This made Mordecai stand tall and proud. Lilith laughed and said, "well now that we all know a little bit about your sex life, back to business!"
Roland nodded his head and began the briefing, "As you all know, Jack started to crack down on us more then ever before. That's why now more than ever no one, and this time I mean it, no one can leave this building without permission."
"I'll leave to steal us food and other goods," Luke interjected, "I've been a thief my whole life so I know a thing or to about theft."
"Ok, Luke will get us food but other then that no one leaves. We'll take watch shifts each day; Zer0 and Angel have volunteered to take the first watch tonight. All the other watches will be posted, I believe Mordecai and Brick are taking the morning. Gaige will be monitoring the shield and she will be guarded by Salvador along with her robot. The rest of you rest and relax while you can, but be ready to spring into action at a moments notice, we don't want Jack getting the drop on us."
With that Roland finished his announcement and headed back to his study to continue work on the defense plans. Zer0 and Angel went upstairs to start first watch while Gaige and Salvador headed to the shield generator. Maya, Axton, Moxxi, Brick, and Mordecai sat down on the couches and turned on the TV and flipped over to the news.
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Zer0 jumped off the watch balcony and left the shield's safety. Finally he was back to doing what he loved. He felt the rush, the adrenaline, the excitement of the mission; he felt alive again. He ran silently through the prison yard, gracefully diving and jumping over obstacles to avoid slowing down or getting caught. Zer0 continued to weave between cover fluently, ending his run with on huge jump onto the roof of the school building.
There it is, the robot manufacturing plant, Angel's voice said in Zer0's mind.
So what's the plan? asked Zer0
The plan right now is to get in, after that we'll play it by ear.
Zer0 slid off the roof and dived into a tree that stood over the protective fence around the factory. He peeked his head out to make sure no one would see him, and once he saw the coast was clear he jumped the fence and landed on an open window. He looked into the room and saw a robot standing guard at the door; it's back turned to him. It was a perfect kill. Zer0 snuck up behind it and slashed his sword through its power core, instantly destroying it. He moved the scraps and continued to creep down the hallway quietly. Zer0 finally came to a door labeled "robot production". He picked the lock with speed and skill and slowly opened the door. He analyzed the room and saw multiple gun loaders guarding the assembly line. Zer0 turned invisible and started to set his attack into motion. He positioned himself behind a loader and began to strike. Zer0 brought his sword up swiftly and sliced off the robot's arm. The robot turned around and could barely udder a warning before Zer0 kicked it off the catwalk, sending it into another gun loader. One of the loaders started to fire at him, but he swung off the catwalk on a lifter chain and disappeared. The loader scanned the area, but couldn't find anything. As it turned its head to scan, Zer0 swung into it and kicked the robot off the edge too, landing perfectly on another loader's shoulders. All the other security bots unloaded on the robot and tore it to shreds, but their bullets seemed to go straight through the figure standing on top. Zer0 appeared right in front of them and lunged, slicing one clean in half. He then jumped off the loader standing behind it and back flipped away, tipping the robot over into another. The last loader standing was frantically scanning for the unknown assailant, almost as if it was scared of what might become of it. Suddenly a red zero appeared to its side and next thing it knew Zer0's katana was lodged through its optic lens. Zer0 removed his sword as the robot crumpled to the ground and ran towards the production line.
We want to make this look like an accident, so you're gonna need one of the robot's power cores to blow up the production line and all evidence you were here, Zer0 heard Angel say, Unfortunately I don't think any of these bots have a powerful enough power core to wreck the place…
Suddenly a giant badass loader smashed through the roof of the factory and readied its guns. A pre-recorded message from Handsome Jack started to play, "Dear whoever is fucking with my stuff, kudos! You managed to get past my security to something that is of actual value. Now that you're here be proud of the fact that in the last thirty seconds of your life, you've managed to be a small pain in the ass. Congrats and good riddance, next time you'll think twice before trying to mess with Handsome Jack!"
Once the recording cut off the robot started to unload on Zer0. Zer0 started to dodge and duck the robot's missiles as he navigated the now almost wrecked assembly line. Zer0 kept climbing higher with each jump, leaping from machine to machine as the badass loader tried to hit its target. The loader shot a huge barrage of missiles at Zer0, which missed and broke a small crane. The crane swung around and hit the robot, spinning it around. This was Zer0's chance, he jumped down while the loader's back was turned and lodged his sword in it's back. The robot flailed trying to throw the assassin off, but he held on for his life. Zer0 kept to hands on the sword and let his feet hit the floor. Then with all his might he brought up his katana, cleaving open the top half of the loader. The robot fell to the ground, defeated. A couple seconds after it fell, a blue cylinder fell out of it. That's the power core, explained Angel, and by my readings that thing should be powerful enough to take out this factory in a violent explosion! Zer0 placed an explosive on the core was about to drop it in the assembly line when he noticed something funny. There was a piece of paper with the blueprints of the designated robot the factory was supposed to make. The strange thing was that the blueprints didn't look like loaders at all; they looked like clap trap blue prints! Zer0 pocketed the paper and decided to run it by Angel later, but for now he had a job to finish. He placed the explosives and ran out of the facility. Once at a safe distance, he pulled out the detonator. He held it up dramatically and after a countdown to three, the factory erupted in flames and electricity. Zer0 used the distraction to sprint back safely to the dorm, where he knew he would be safe. Zer0 sprinted through the shields after a series of ninja like jumps made it up to the balcony where he had left originally. Angel ran over to him and hugged him, "You did it, and you're alive! Oh my God after I saw the explosion I thought I'd lost you in it!"
"I'm professional, that was not the hardest job, it wasn't easy though", responded Zer0
Angel smiled and said, "That'll show Jack, he'll have nothing left before we claim his life,"
Roland popped through the door and asked worriedly, "What was that, I just saw a massive explosion!"
"It seems that they may have had a malfunction over at robot manufacturing," lied Angel, "I guess it works in our favor right?"
Roland shrugged and said, "Yeah, I guess so. Well you two are done, Mordecai and Brick will be up in a minute to take your spot,"
Once Roland went downstairs Angel turned and kissed Zer0 on his mask. "Thank you Zer0, you don't know how much this means to me."
Zer0 just rubbed his visor as Angel walked away. What a woman.
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Roland walked back to his workshop where Lilith was hanging out.
"So did you find out what it was?" asked Lilith
"Yeah," answered Roland, "It was a mistake at the robotics plant, apparently an engineer crossed the wrong wires and boom"
"Sweet, maybe we can actually relax for a bit," Lilith hoped maybe they would get to spend more time together
Roland sighed, "sorry Lilith, but we have to stay on guard if we want to survive, but I'm working on a plan to escape"
"Really, can I hear it?" asked Lilith
Roland laughed and said, "emphasis on working on, I still haven't actually formulated one,"
There was a knock at the door, so Lilith went to open it. Axton walked in the door along with Maya, both of them looking really worried.
"Jack just made an announcement, he's put a two million dollar bounty within the prison on Maya's head" reported Axton
"What?! Why does he want Maya?" asked Roland
"I don't know," Maya answer, "but I did some research and it turns out sirens are somehow related to that eridium stuff Jack has been experimenting with."
"But how could we be related to it, heck I've never even heard of the stuff until recently?" Lilith wondered
"I don't know, but whatever Jack wants with me it can't be good"
Roland thought for a second and then gave out commands, "Alright, Axton you should stay with Maya as much as possible, I know she can fend for herself but we can never be too careful. I'll have Luke watch over Lilith and Zer0 watch over Angel, if Jack is looking for one siren, who's to say he isn't looking for the other two. I'm going to try to form an escape plan. Also, tell Brick and Mordecai to start paying close attention to everything, even if it seems like nothing. Moxxi will be cooking meals so no one will have to worry about dinner duty, which should allow people more time to do inventory checks and keep watch."
Axton nodded then left the room with Maya. Lilith closed the door behind them and turned to Roland. "Roland, we have to leave now. Between the prisoners and Jack's robots I don't know how long we'll hold up,"
Roland pulled her in and said, "It'll be ok, we have our team. As long as we stay vigilant and stick together we'll be all right. Lilith kissed him on the cheek and started to walk out. Right before she left the room she turned and asked, "When we leave, where will you go?"
"I don't know, maybe to one of the border planets. At least there I won't get arrested again…"
Lilith nodded and left. Her time in this prison had changes so much, she didn't know if she could go back to living off scraps with Luke.
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Luke was hanging out in the hallway trying to figure out a plan of his own. He knew they couldn't hold forever, all that mattered now was Lilith's safety. He had to find a way to break their defenses so he and Lilith could leave and get back to the way things used to be. Jack had promised to let Lilith and him go, he didn't know what would happen to the others but their lives didn't even compare in importance to the one he loved. The shield was what was keeping this fortress together, but he couldn't get to it without Gaige, Salvador, or Death Trap seeing him. He had to find a way to take it out discretely, if only he had stealth like Zer0's.
"Hey Luke, how are you holding up?"
Luke turned and saw Lilith waiting for a response. "I'm, I'm fine," he muttered, Lilith would not approve of his decision but she would thank him later
Lilith raised her eyebrow skeptically, "I dunno, you sound kinda crappy. Maybe you should rest or something, you've been working to hard trying to steal food for us"
Luke laughed nervously, "Well unfortunately it's pretty hard to steal for a group this size. I tell ya, things were a lot more simple when it was just you and me."
"Yeah," said Lilith, "but I think I like this better. I feel like I'm a part of something bigger, you know?"
Luke nodded; it was exactly how he felt when he was in the thieves' guild of Eden-13. That was, at least, until their so-called "leader" betrayed them and sold their entire gang out to Hyperion. He would never forget the day loaders burst through their doors and started to shoot and arrest everyone in sight. It was the day he met Lilith. When he was trying to escape the scene he saw a girl his age being cornered by a loader. He pulled out his bow and managed to hit the robot in its lens and save her. Ever since then the two had been traveling together, but this prison had been tearing their friendship apart. She was all he had left and he was not going to let her die.
"Well anyways I'm gonna hit the sack, see ya later Luke"
Luke brought himself back into reality and managed to say goodbye. Lilith gave him her signature wink and walked to her room. He had to figure out a way to save them, but how…
So many plot twists! As always please read and review, thanks for reading!
