Author's Note: Hey guys! It was kinda by luck that I was able to get this chapter done this month, but I'm hoping that my luck won't run out soon. In response to some of the suggestions for romance, I'm open to suggestions as long as you explain it to me so I can get a feel for it. I'm already leaning in a certain direction, but you might change my mind (or reinforce it, who knows?) Comment and let me know what you guys think. I do not own Borderlands. Enjoy!

The ride back to Sanctuary was awkward, to say the least. Axton was thankful that Gaige was such a chatterbox, otherwise they would have ridden in complete silence. Well, silence as well as Handsome Jack's continued taunts to the Vault Hunters as well as some secret he was keeping from them. The Vault Hunters elected to ignore this and instead focused on Salvador running over any bullymong he saw. Axton glanced over to Maya's runner as they sped along. She wasn't in the mood to talk, he understood, but she sported a troubled look on her face. Who was that psycho? "We're here." Zer0 announced, snapping Axton back to reality so he wouldn't crash into the wall. Axton jumped out of his runner and the others followed suit. Gaige went up and pressed the intercom.
"Roland? Is that you?" The voice on the other end asked in desperation. "Oh, it's the Vault Hunters. Get in quick! Roland's ECHO communicator went dead. We need your help."
"No duh." Gaige commented as the gates opened. Everyone went inside to an open courtyard. On the left was another gate that seemed to lead into the town, while a guard's tower was on the right.
"Made it to Banditville, huh?" Jack chuckled. Well done! It'll be nice to see a friendly face when I'm burning that place to the ground. Oh, and I've decided to tell you my secret later on. Once you've earned it."
"Up yours." Salvador grumbled.
"…. Seriously, I need to get this thing fixed! I want to hear your pathetic retorts! Where the hell is my maintenance staff?!"
"Well, sir, you killed them and their families because they didn't shine the floor well enough to see your reflection." A nervous voice responded on the other end.
"Oh yeah." Jack realized. "Hire new ones. Now. Catch you guys later."

Moving on, the Vault Hunters headed towards the guard tower first. As they got closer, they could make out a generator and antenna that appeared to be powering the giant dome around them. Axton looked around to see a force field surrounding the entire city. Must take a lot of juice to make this thing run, he thought. A guard was standing next to the machine when he noticed them. "You're the ones Roland was talking about." He exclaimed. "The ones who faced Jack and lived! Look, we need your help, bad, but first things first. Plug that power core into the shield generator."
"On it!" Gaige volunteered. She went over and grabbed the old power core and yanked it out. She immediately jammed the new one in with precision and care. Sparks flew above them, and Axton looked up in time to see the shield regenerate and fully cover the town. Just in time for a barrage of missiles to hit Sanctuary from the giant H satellite that hovered above the planet.
"Good. That'll last us a day or two." The guard stated. "Now what?" Salvador asked.
"Well, Roland was supposed to bring us some intel on how to stop Jack. With him missing, we really need your help. Talk to Private Jessup at the gate, he'll let you into the city."

As the guard barked orders into his comms, the Vault Hunters began making their way towards the city entrance. "What do you think happened to Roland?" Maya asked.
"Nothing good." Axton answered. "That gunfire we heard on the other end didn't sound very gentle."
"Bandit weaponry/ Two shotguns and a rifle/ No handguns for sure." Zer0 said all of a sudden.
"You got all of that from the sound of gunfire?" Gaige asked incredulously.
"It was very distinctive gunfire." Zer0 responded cooly.
"Wait a minute." Salvador scratched his head. "That wasn't one of your funny poem-" Salvador was cut off by the sound of explosions all around them. The Vault Hunters looked up to see mortar shells exploding on the forcefield dome surrounding sanctuary. Every explosion caused a tiny tremor as the mortars caused ripple-effects all over the the forcefield's surface.
"What's going on?" Gaige shouted above the din.
"Hyperion moonshot blitz!" The guard shouted through their ECHOs. "Without that fresh core you brought, those lunar mortars would have punched right through the shield!" Within seconds, the moonshot blitz stopped as suddenly as it started. "Thank the Eridians you just got us that core, otherwise we'd be toast. Go into the city. It's time you see Sanctuary."

As the guard, Jessup, opened the gate, he told the Vault Hunters to meet with the town mechanic as per Roland's instructions since he hadn't returned yet. "Crap." Angel cursed all of a sudden.
"Crap?" Gaige muttered in confusion.
"Uh, I mean darn." Angel recovered. "Roland needs your help. Without you five, the Crimson Raiders don't stand a chance against Jack. Please find out where Roland has gone."
"You got it." Axton confirmed and stepped into the city. What he saw was desolate buildings that looked sturdy, but at the same time looked like they could fall apart at any moment. The streets were dirty with mud and blood, and every citizen was armed to the teeth. It also looked kind of familiar somehow.
"Sanctuary." Angel spoke in a proud voice. "Built on the ruins of the Dahl corporation's finest interplanetary mining ship, now the last refuge for thieves, murderers and outcasts. Welcome home."
"Don't mind if I do, chicita!" Salvador laughed. Axton stood bug-eyed. He knew this city's layout looked familiar. So this was a piece of Dahl too, eh? If memory served it was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress capable of flight, so how did it end up here?

"This way." Maya pointed, snapping Axton out of it. She was pointing to a mechanic's shop that had a wheel on it, similar to the design of the Catch-A-Ride systems, and the name "Scooter's" in big letters. That must be where the mechanic is. The Vault Hunters walked through the door to find a scrawny looking guy slumped in a chair, covered in grease, and appeared to be fast asleep. Gaige coughed to get his attention. The mechanic looked up and saw her robotic arm. "Oh, crap. Is you Hyperion?" His voice was an exact match to the one from the Catch-A-Ride. "I heard all of you are robots and you eat metal and garbage and stuff." The Vault Hunters looked at each other in confusion. "Knew you wired death machines would come for me once Roland went missing." The mechanic picked up a monkey wrench lying next to him. "Now if you're here to kill me, you should probably know…" The mechanic jumped up with a start, waving his wrench in the air. "You'll never take me alive you robotic sumbitch! Catch-A-Ride!" And then he slipped and fell backwards.
"I think this guy has some things in common with Claptrap." Axton whispered. Maya nudged him in the arm to shush him as the mechanic climbed back up.
"Wait a minute." He said slowly before brightening up. "Well, hang me upside down from a telephone pole, cover me in honey, and leave me to a slow death at the hands of hungry spiderants! Y'all ain't no Hyperion robot, y'all are Vault Hunters! That's like a unicorn!" He drooled.
"Uh-huh." Axton raised his eyebrow.
"Um, so Scooter, right?" Gaige guessed.
"You're right there, little missy!" Scooter exclaimed. "What can I do for y'all? I always wanted to help me some Vault Hunters but I never did. Well, except for the last four. But that was a long time ago. Plus I get bored."
"Um, Roland?" Salvador hinted. Scooter's eyes went wide with recognition.
"Oh, yeah! That! Haha I knew I was forgettin' something!" Zer0 showed a ":l" on his visor. "Now are y'all gonna help us out with this Roland situation? I heard them Crimson Raider dudes talkin' about it. Roland told me if he ever disappeared, I was supposed to initiate Plan B. Or as I like to call it, Plan-turn-this-city-into-a-floatin'-ass-fortress-of-airborne-awesomeness-B." Scooter snorted in laughter. "I got some fuel cells here, you'll need those, oh and I have some Eridium here, you'll need that too." He opened some cabinets holding the fuel cells and gave Axton a few bars of glowing purple rock.
"Uh, what is this stuff?" Axton asked warily. He may not be afraid for life-and-death situations in combat, but he sure didn't want to get contaminated by some alien rock that may possibly be radioactive. Especially when it was in close proximity to his junk.
"You don't know?" Scooter was flabbergasted. "That right there is Eridium! Purest stuff on Pandora since that first Vault opened. People mine it, cuz it's purple and stuff so it's worth a lot. Y'all can buy a lot of things with Eridium if cash can't cut it. I remember Lily used to do somethin' else with it, but bein' the gentleman I am, I never asked. Also she wouldn't tell me. Also she threatened me when I tried to look through her window. Yeah, good times." "But is it safe?" Axton asked, trying to fight the urge to hit Scooter to get him back into focus.

"Safe? Uh, yeah! I think so. Probably."

Hesitantly, Axton put the glowing purple bars into his storage deck as Gaige grabbed the fuel cells. "Head to the center o` town and plug those two fuel cells into the ignition primers." Scooter instructed.
"Won't we need another one?" Gaige questioned.
"Very ob-ser-vant, Miss Robot Arm." Scooter nodded. "That's why I gave y'all that there rid-rock. You can buy the last cell from Earl's black market. Careful though, Earl's crazy. He ate one of my cars once."
"By ate, you don't mean?" Zer0 inquired before Scooter cut him off.
"Yeah, the whole car." He shook his head. "Just, like, with a fork." The Vault Hunters looked at each other, unsure of how to process this until Maya broke the silence.
"Okay, we have our instructions." She announced, getting everyone's attention. "Gaige, you and I will go and install those two fuel cells while Axton gets the third one from Earl."
"What?" Axton looked up, startled. "Why me?"
"You're the one carrying the Eridium." She pointed out. Fair point, but Axton wasn't keen on meeting a guy who ate a car with a fork.
"I'll go with you, amigo." Salvador volunteered. "I want to see this car-eater for myself. Sounds fun."
"I will go as well./ I, too, am interested/ in the car-eater." Zer0 raised his hand. "Let's see if he's a worthy challenge." Axton shrugged, silently glad to have backup and led the way as the team split up.

As soon as they left Scooter's, Jack came on the public network offering a reward to anyone who would turn the Vault Hunters in. "Um, should we be worried?" Gaige asked through their comms.
"Don't worry." Private Jessup reached them on their ECHOs. "We hate Jack just as much as you do. No one will turn you in."
"Cool." Gaige said, relieved.
"Scooter," Maya said, "what's the plan exactly with these fuel cells?"
"Well, pretty lady," Scooter said, "Roland said we gotta have an exit strategery in case he ever disappeared, hence all the fuel cells and whatnot. Bummer though, he really wanted to meet y'all. Raiders ain't gonna last without some new blood, and given how y'all shot them bandits up I'd say y'all and blood got an extra special relationship. Like cousins takin' a bath together." He chortled.
"Ew." Gaige grimaced. Axton and the guys went up to a metal, reinforced door that Scooter identified as Crazy Earl's place. Axton rapped his knuckles on the door, and a rectangle slid over to reveal a pair of crazed eyes looking back at them.
"Uh, hi?" Axton said, nervously.
"Whatchu want?" Earl demanded.
"We'd like to buy-" That was as far as Axton got.
"If you got Eridium, then buy somethin' quick!" Earl commanded. "I'll even throw in this crap fuel cell with your purchase! Just touchin' it made two of my fingers rot off!"
"… That works." Said Zer0.

Soon, Gaige had all three fuel cells installed in their respective ignition primer in the main square. "Hey, thanks for grabbin' all that stuff for me." Scooter said, appreciative. "Third degree burns are best taken in shifts." The sound of Scooter cracking his knuckles in anticipation could be heard through their comms. "Now to see the fruit of your loins, this city's gonna FLY!" The sound of engines starting up could be heard, and the ground beneath them began to rumble. The Vault Hunters looked to see the m=black monolith in the main square light up, and letters spelled out vertically lit up the word "Sanctuary". Suddenly, with one final shake, sparks flew on the ignition primers and the engines cut short, ending the ground rumbling. "Or not." Scooter said, sheepishly. "Damn."
"Now what?" Axton asked, waving the smoke from his face.
"Well, now we really gotta find Roland." Scooter said.
"How?" Maya asked.
"You know what, maybe get to Roland's place." Scooter suggested. "Maybe he left a message there for y'all."
"Why didn't we do that first?" Gaige asked, annoyed.

The Vault Hunters went to where the Crimson Raiders HQ was located in Sanctuary. A guard handed them a key to get in. Once inside, Axton found an ECHO device with a recording on it. "Hey, soldier, if you're hearing this I'm in trouble." Roland's recorded voice said. "Right now, you're the only thing standing between this city- hell, the whole planet- and Handsome Jack's army. I left info about my whereabouts in my safe. You can use it to store anything you need. This is your home now." Roland signed off and the ECHO went dead.
"Upstairs then." Axton led the way to a massive safe next to a break room/conference room (it was hard to tell with the couch). Inside was another ECHO device.
"Felt like it would have been easier to putt it all together." Gaige mumbled.
"Si." Salvador agreed. "And less complex." Maya gave them a silencing glare as Axton opened the ECHO.
"This is the Firehawk." A distorted voice came out. "Come to the Frostburn Canyon, or people will die."
"Well, that's not good." Axton commented.
"The Firehawk?!" Scooter yelped through their comms, making them jump. "You mean the mass-murderin' bounty hunter?!"
"Uh, maybe?"
"Oh, crap." Scooter said, distraught. "If the Firehawk's got him, Roland's in DEEP. You gotta get to Frostburn Canyon and rescue his ass!"
"If Roland has been captured by the Firehawk, he's in danger." Angel switched on. "You're the only ones who can stop Jack, but Roland is the man with the plan, so to speak. He knows the best way to strike at Hyperion."
"Gotcha." Axton confirmed. "Then we'll go rescue Roland. But first things first." He turned to the other Vault Hunters. "Let's rest up and restock before heading out."
"Sounds like a plan, amigo!" Salvador grinned. "I saw a bar nearby, I'm gonna get me wasted. Adios!" Salvador headed out.
"I guess we'll just take a breather then." Maya said. "I'm going to explore the town. You guys in?" Gaige and Zer0 nodded and left with Maya. Axton took the time to himself to sit down and think. So this is a team, huh? He thought. Not bad, but could use some work. "Hey, Ax, you coming?" Maya called out.
"Yeah. On my way."

Author's Note: Alright! So we're finally in Sanctuary! Next time we'll explore the town and its colorful citizens! Any suggestions that you have for romances, or the story in general, please feel free to put them in the comments. Only rule is that they can't deviate from the status quo of the characters and their personalities. See you soon!