A/N: Here is my eleventh chapter, hope you all enjoy!
ConfettiConfederacy: Honestly I just write whenever I have the time. I just use all my free time to write these stories because it's a lot of fun to do so.
Master Drummer: If you hate DAHL that much, I think you'll like this one...
Isaac Clark aka Reven: When I write a story I have a general outline of what I want to happen, but I usually come up with awesome ideas that I can link into the story on the fly. Most my plot twists I made up while I was writing to spice the story up.
Chapter Eleven: 75%
"I don't understand, by the designs your spies have given us, they should have the New U stations up and running," Gaige pondered out loud as she examined the blueprints she had been handed next to clap trap.
"Well then why haven't they continued with whatever plan they have," Lilith asked as she watched Gaige work.
"Maybe they aren't trying to get the New U stations working," Axton suggested
Roland shook his head, "Then why would they go through all this trouble trying to construct a design for one?"
"Hold on, it looks like they've only developed one thing, the time pull function," Gaige said to the group. As she continued to read through the designs, she started to realize what may be happening. "We need to pay these guys a visit. Right now."
"Why, what's going on," Lilith asked, confused about what Gaige meant.
"I can't be sure, but we need to infiltrate their base of operations to get the most recent designs."
Roland nodded, trusting Gaige that this was the best plan of action. "Alright, if an all out infiltration's what we need, then that's what we'll do. Since we don't have Zer0, we'll have to take the more direct approach."
"How do you suppose we do that, our old headquarters is guarded pretty damn well," asked Maya, trying to think of the best angle of attack.
"Our old headquarters isn't the problem, that's actually the easy part." Everyone stared at Roland as he had just proclaimed his love for Hyperion and all the wonderful things they have done for Pandora. "From what Zer0 has told me through his reports, we are surrounded by a huge containment sphere. If I had to guess, our headquarters has a way to access DAHL's outer facilities. We need to get into the outer shell, that's where we can do some real damage." Everyone nodded in agreement, the plan seemed pretty clear. A full frontal assault would not only take the soldiers by surprise, it could overwhelm the small amounts of troops stationed in the city. "Haha yes," Salvador yelled, "rush in guns a' blazing! Just how I like it!"
"Wait, if we do get to the outer circle, how do we get back?" Mordecai asked
"I can just teleport you back if you call for help over your echo," Lilith offered. The team had a set plan, get to the outer facilities, and then wing it as always. It was infallible. Roland at least hoped so; the last raid he had planned had not gone so well.
Salvador waited outside the old Crimson Lance headquarters for the signal to let all hell loose. He pulled a stogie from his pocket and lit it, breathing in the smoke like it was fresh air. Suddenly, he heard a bird's cry from above them and looked up. Bloodwing Jr. circled above, it was time to move. The dwarf walked over to the guards with his hood up, staying quiet until one of them stopped him. "You, state your business," the guard commanded, pushing Salvador back.
"I've come to teach you putas a lesson," he answered with a calm smile.
"Wait, wha-" Before the guard could finish, Salvador grabbed his arm and tore it off with all his might, causing the man to scream in pain. The gunzerker then turned and proceeded to beat the other to death with the arm, laughing as he did so. Three other guards rushed out to deal with the commotion, but soon found they were filled with bullet holes. As they fell, the Raiders jumped out of their hiding spot and rushed in, killing anyone working with DAHL on site. A large badass tried to jump on Salvador, but was soon slammed into the ground by the mountain of muscle that was Brick. The berserker brought his foot down and smashed the soldier's head, causing it to explode like an over ripe watermelon, shooting blood everywhere.
Axton led up the stairs and gunned down everyone in the hall, then turned the corner and slammed his tomahawk into the stomach of a cyborg guarding the control room. Another cyborg tried to attack the commando from behind, but was tackled by Roland. Roland began to beat the half man half machine with the butt of his gun until a pool of blood surrounded him and the cyborg stopped twitching. "Roland look out!" he heard Lilith yell. He turned and saw a soldier with a large knife lunging at him, but was soon knocked aside by the blast of Lilith's shotgun. She helped him up and said, "I swear to God if you die on me again, I'm gonna find you hell and kill you a third time!"
"I'll try to be careful," he laughed as he got on his feet. Roland walked over to the holo-table and started to examine it with Gaige, trying to find some sort of entrance. "I think I found something," Gaige told him as she continued to take apart the device. Sparks started to fly from the area she was working at and finally, a travel display appeared over the table. "This should take us there," Gaige said as she stood up, dusting the soot off her cloths. Roland started to look through the options and finally found the research and development section. He pushed his hand through the travel button, and a blue light enveloped them.
The group arrived in front of a huge research facility. Roland looked around, Zer0 wasn't kidding; the containment sphere was huge! Outside of sanctuary was what looked like a DAHL city, complete with military bases, business complexes, and soldier barracks. Roland motioned for the team, telling them to follow him. He led them towards the front doors of the facility, which were guarded by two DAHL robots. "Identify yourselves," the robot demanded in an electronic monotone voice.
"Wish we had Angel right now," Lilith muttered, the siren's power over technology would have been useful.
"Well, I guess it's back to plan A," Axton said. He walked over to the robot and pulled out his handgun, firing a shot straight into its power core. The robot exploded, causing the other to respond to the threat. Its arms transformed into energy guns as it started to unload on the Crimson Raiders. Maya dived away from the energy blasts and phase locked the robot, suspending it in the air while it flailed helplessly. Lilith jumped on to it and released a phase blast, destroying the robot and sending its different parts flying away. Roland kicked down the door as the Raiders filed in, guns ready in case others might come to apprehend them. "Stay on your guard, we're only here for the designs, nothing else."
"Nothing else you say,"
The group turned to see where the voice came from. Axton clenched his fist when they saw Lt. Copper near a large door to their side. "Copper, are you this eager to bite the big one," Axton sneered as he aimed his assault rifle.
Copper shook his head and laughed, "I hope you all enjoy the facility, but I think you'll find that whatever you're looking for isn't here."
"Hah, is that what you think? I just found what I was looking for," Axton yelled. The commando broke into a run towards Copper, forgetting the whole mission. The Lieutenant smiled and started to run down the hall away from Axton. "Axton wait!" yelled Roland, "Damnit! Lilith, you take the rest of the team and find the designs we're looking for. I'll go after Copper with Axton." Lilith nodded and kissed him for good luck, then ran off with the rest of the team. Roland ran after Axton, this was not going well at all. He was worried that Axton may make a stupid mistake; if just seeing Copper made him so reckless that he forgot everything else, what would happen in a fight?
Axton ran after Copper as fast as he could, screaming, "Why are you running? To afraid to face me?"
"Unlike you, I have a tactical know how!" Copper yelled back. He snapped his fingers as two soldiers dropped from the sides of the walls and landed in front of Axton. He was not going to give up now, not when his goal was so close. Axton pulled out two tomahawks and lunged at the first, lodging one of the small axes in his neck. As the trooper screamed in pain and pulled at the blade stuck in his neck, the other soldier tried to punch him. Axton ducked under and slammed his fist into his stomach. The soldier doubled over in pain, but the commando wasn't finished yet. Axton kneed the soldier in the chin and then roundhouse kicked him in the temple, showing just how ruthless he could be.
The DAHL troopers went down quickly, but Copper was now even further ahead. Axton pulled his tomahawk from the dead soldier's neck and ran after the Lieutenant. Copper was not going to get away this time. Another soldier ran towards him, but Axton just jumped in the air and let loose a powerful kick to the head, causing the soldier's neck to break with a satisfying crack. The commando was in such a rage he was unstoppable, and Copper saw that. More and more soldiers tried to stop Axton, but each quickly fell to him. Leaving a trail of blood, Axton finally caught up to Copper. Copper pulled out a gun and turned. Right as he was about to fire, the pistol was shot out of his hand. Axton turned and saw Roland, looking down the sights of his gun. "Don't abandon your team like that again!" he yelled as he caught up to Axton.
"Fry me later, right now lets kill this son of a bitch!"
The two continued to chase Copper until he dived through a door and closed it shut behind him. Axton and Roland stopped in their path, trying to figure out a way to follow him. "Damn it, I was so close!" Axton yelled in frustration, kicking the wall.
Roland smiled and said, "You forget that you're talking to an ex. Crimson Lance, I was taught everything there is to know about technology. Give me a bit and I can hack this door." Roland pulled out his tools and started to get to work while Axton paced back and forth. There was nothing that could stop him this time; there was nowhere Copper could run. He was going to get his revenge, and oh was it going to be sweet. Even Jack's death wouldn't be as sadistically satisfying as this man's death; this wasn't only for himself, this was for Sarah, this was for Maya, this was for everything DAHL had done to him. "Are you ready?" he heard Roland ask.
"More ready then I've ever been," he said, cracking his knuckles. Roland nodded and finished unlocking the door, causing it to slide open. The two ran in, guns ready. Axton saw Copper standing in front of them, holding a large kukuri knife. "Well I imagine you two are looking for me," he said in a low, threatening tone, "I was hoping at least one of my elite soldiers could kill you off."
"I've always been the best Copper, you should know that," Axton sneered, pulling out two tomahawks.
"You two can't win, you never stood a chance," Copper boasted, readying his knife.
Roland laughed, "Two on one, lieutenant the odds don't seem to be in your favor."
Copper smiled and answered, "Who ever said it was two on one?" Axton and Roland heard footsteps as another soldier joined Copper's side. Axton examined this soldier, she didn't look any different then the others. She would be an easy kill. "Another soldier? That's your back up? You must be loosing it if-" Axton suddenly stopped as the soldier took off her DAHL combat helmet, revealing her face. Something inside him shattered, causing him to lose all confidence and bravado he once had. Axton froze as he tried to piece together how any of this was possible, it couldn't be her. "Axton, Axton are you alright?" Roland asked, nervous about the commando's sudden silence. Axton continued to stare, her short brown hair, her hazel eyes, it was impossible. He finally managed to get one word to leave his mouth, "Sarah?"
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Angel knew their next target would be near impossible, but that was to be expected. Mr. Saturn was on his space ship in orbit around Pandora, getting to it would be extremely difficult. As Zer0 slept beside her, she tried to think of a way to infiltrate the DAHL Destroyer vessel and for that matter escape. Angel racked her brain, trying to remember anyone that may have any sort of ship they could take into space. Pandora was very behind in relationship to other planets, few outside of the large corporations have ever built a functional spacecraft. Then she remembered, she was once part of a super corporation! Her father's moon base was used to launch massive mortars and fire down loader spawners to Pandora. She was still connected to the moon base controls; if she could just get into contact with it she could teleport Zer0 and herself inside. There lay another problem, how where they going to get a stable connection with the moon base without an engineer of Gaige or Scooter's caliber. Zer0 started to wake up groggily, trying to snap himself into attention. Angel smiled, he was almost a peaceful soul while he slept, it was the only time her warrior stopped fighting. "Good morning Angel, did you sleep soundly last night, I feel ready," he said as he stood up and started to practice with his sword, which was his normal morning routine.
"I slept well, thank you for asking," she answered, even though it was a lie. Zer0 nodded to her as he continued to swing his sword with expert skill, staying balanced and light on his feet the whole time. Maybe he might know someone, she thought as she watched him practice. "Zer0," she asked, "would you happen to know any expert engineers outside of sanctuary?" Zer0 suddenly froze when she finished her question, dropping his katana.
"No," he answered flatly, then reached down for his sword.
Angel frowned at him and sent told Zer0 through his mind, Zer0, I know when you're lying to me. Zer0 palmed his face and sighed in displeasure, this was one of the disadvantages of having a girlfriend that could read his mind. "There's a girl in Dust, her name is Ellie Hodunk, she's Scooter's sister," he grumbled, not wanting to visit the rather large woman.
"That's great," Angel exclaimed, "She can help us get to Saturn's space ship! Take me to her so we can get started." Zer0 displayed a frowny face over his helmet, trying to convince her to let him stay behind. She grabbed Zer0 by his wrist and started to drag him down the stairs towards their car.
When the two arrived at the Dust, they immediately spotted the huge junkyard that Ellie had built her garage in. Angel pointed towards it and asked, "Does she live in there?" Zer0 nodded and drove the car towards it reluctantly, he knew Angel got along with everyone, but Ellie was an… interesting girl. When they parked in front of the garage and exited the car, they noticed Ellie was nowhere to be seen, which was odd because she was pretty noticeable. Zer0 suddenly heard Angel say, "awww!" He turned around and saw a little girl with a psycho mask hanging from the side of her head and a band-aid on her nose prancing towards them. All he could think was, oh no… When the little girl reached them, Angel said in a loving tone of voice, "Hello there, what's your name?"
"My name's Tina! I heard your car up front and came to see who it was, and turns out its my BFF Zer0!" Angel looked to Zer0, wondering how Zer0 could have appealed to the little girl.
"How do you know Zer0?"
"Wellll," Tina answered, "he and his friends were in the tundra express and they needed help from mua to hijack a train!"
Angel turned to Zer0, remembering when she had misled the vault hunters to hijack a train and steal Wilhelm's power core. "She's the one who helped you hijack the train?"
"Oh totally, but there was so much ISH that we had to do before we burned all the babies! They had to get Princess Snugglebutt and Felicia Sexypants' badonkadonks for me, and they were AWESOME!" Tina said as she jumped up and down. Angel was taken aback by what the little girl had said; she seemed so innocent. "Yeah so after all that butt crap with the bad man they were trying to catch, I decided to move over here. Madame Von Bartlesby's husband came uninvited to my last tea party and ruined it! It was so rude of him, but nows that I gots you back, you can show him the exit! Such rowdy men are not allowed at my tea parties."
"I cannot Tina, we need to speak to Ellie, is she around here?" Zer0 asked, trying to leave this hellhole as soon as possible.
"You mean my fat byatch sista from anotha motha," Tina asked in a ghettolicious tone of voice, surprising Angel even more, "she's in the back!" Zer0 nodded in thanks as he and Angel walked over towards the back of the garage, waving to Ellie's friend Goose when they passed him. "That little girl was… interesting," Angel whispered to Zer0.
"You thought that was bad, wait until you meet Ellie, she's Moxxi's daughter," Zer0 whispered back as the two approached the large woman. Angel stared at Ellie; this was Moxxi's daughter? It didn't make any sense, Moxxi was easily the most desired woman on Pandora, how did she give birth to… this? Ellie turned around and smiled when she saw them. "Oh hey, didn't see you there!" she said in a deep southern accent.
"You're Scooter's sister, right?" Angel asked, still trying to wrap her mind around how Ellie could possibly be Moxxi's daughter.
Ellie smiled and answered, "Sure am sugar, what can I do for you two?"
"We are in need of your engineering expertise, do you know how to build an interplanetary transmitter?"
"Sure do, my big brother taught me how right before we started dating," Ellie said proudly. Angel almost gagged at the thought; she really was a hodunk…
"If you don't mind me asking, what do y'all need it for," Ellie asked curiously as she started to gather some materials."
Zer0 decided to handle this one, "It is a secret, it is one we alone bare, I'm sorry Ellie." The large redneck just nodded then continued to get to work, throwing all the necessary gears and electronics in a pile together. Angel turned towards Zer0 and asked, "are you sure this will work." Zer0 nodded, as stupid as Ellie seemed, she an engineer of Gaige's caliber; if anyone could build it, it was her.
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"Sarah, is that you?" Axton stammered, trying to keep his tough appearance in front of Copper.
The woman smiled sadly and said, "Hello Axton…"
Axton shook his head in disbelief, "No, no that's impossible, you can't be Sarah. My wife died years ago."
"Well she's not your wife," Copper sneered, "she's mine."
Axton couldn't believe what was happening, his ex wife was still alive? DAHL had reported her dead, but maybe there was a mistake. He had to know. "How are you alive, I got a report that said you were dead," he asked Sarah, trying to hold back tears.
"Have you ever heard of playing dead, we sent you that so you wouldn't look for her," Copper answered for her with a confident smile. Axton glared at him then looked to Sarah. He couldn't believe she had betrayed him for this; he had tore himself apart because of what he thought had happened to her. He had killed so many, drank so much, and put himself through so much pain because of what had happened.
"Why would you do this to me Sarah?"
Sarah glared at him, not the reaction Axton had expected, and answered, "Because you never would have let me go! Axton, I love Allen Copper, and I was worried that if you knew I was alive you would put our lives and yours in danger! You are so pompous and arrogant; you have always only thought of yourself and now look what has happened. Your hands are covered in the blood of those who you called friends, you have become an outlaw, a criminal! Axton, you're an evil, horrible, psychopath!"
Axton felt himself being destroyed inside, like someone had torn his heart out and stomped on it. Suddenly though, he felt a fire within him, trying to escape. The bitch had stabbed him in the back and broke his heart, and all he could think about is how he could make things right between them. She didn't deserve his respect or his forgiveness, but the pain was still there. "Why did you save me then, why did you let me escape?" he asked, slowly gaining his energy back.
"She saved you because she felt bad for you, something she doesn't feel now. Sarah and I are a family, and no one, not you or your friends will tear us or this corporation apart!" Copper yelled at Axton, trying to get him angry.
"Well you're right Sarah," Axton snarled, "I am a criminal now. I've killed more then you can count, become feared among all in Pandora. I'm not the man I was when I married you, I'm much more. Now, I'm going to prove to you just how evil I've become, starting with your husband." Axton had had enough of him; it was time to end this now. He ran towards Copper in a rage with his tomahawk and swung at him. Copper blocked the attack with his knife, and then tried to stab at Axton's chest. Axton jumped back and swung his tomahawk as hard as he could into Copper's knife, knocking it out of his hands. Copper quickly recovered and punched him in the chest, then kicked him away.
Roland, with his combat knife, soon attacked Sarah. She pulled out a baton and started to defend herself, swinging it towards his side. Roland grabbed the baton and kicked her in the ribs, following up with a jab to the side of her head and swipe with his knife. Sarah jumped back and swung her baton into Roland's arm, causing him to lose his balance allowing her to deliver a swift kick to knock him back.
Meanwhile Axton blocked a punch Copper delivered, and returned with a roundhouse kick and a forceful punch to the stomach. Lt. Copper caught Axton's next punch spun around him, elbowing the commando in the side. Axton quickly ducked under a follow up kick and swiped at the lieutenant's legs, causing him to fall over. The commando then delivered a satisfying kick to Copper's temple, knocking him further away. Roland saw the dazed lieutenant standing up shakily, and decided to join in. He ducked under Sarah's baton and punched her in the stomach and then grabbed her leg and swung her into a wall. Roland then ran over to Copper and snaking his arms around both of the lieutenant's. With surprising dexterity, Roland did a back flip and slammed Lt. Copper on the ground with a loud crack.
Axton ran over, ready to squeeze life out of long enemy with his own bare hands. As Axton was about to kill off Copper, Sarah screamed, "Get away from him!" and rushed him. Axton jumped over her first swing and kicked her in the face, causing her to stumble backwards. As she started to run back towards him, Axton pulled out two tomahawks and charged her, filled with the rage of the betrayed. The two were again fiercely locked in combat, Axton swung one tomahawk at her, but she ducked under it and hit him with a baton uppercut. Axton blocked her next kick and punched her in the arm, causing her to drop her baton. Sarah tried to go in for another punch, but Axton again blocked her and jump kicked her onto the ground. She shakily got up and charged towards Axton, but he was ready to finish this. When she reached him, he slammed one of his tomahawks into her gut with all his might, causing her to double over as blood gushed freely from the deep wound. As she backed away, Axton spun and threw his last tomahawk, hitting her with devastating power in-between her eyes, causing her to fly back and slam into the wall. Her body immediately crumpled from the massive brain trauma Axton had caused, leaving just an empty shell covered in blood. "NO, SARAH!" Copper screamed as he ran over to help his downed lover. "No no no, Sarah please, you can't die! We don't have the New U to bring you back!"
"It's over Copper, tell us what Katelyn Dahl is working on," Roland demanded calmly as he walked over towards the scene.
Copper turned towards Axton with tears in his eyes and screamed, "You bastard! You murderer! You killed her, you killed my wife!"
"And I have no regrets," Axton said coldly, staring Lt. Copper straight in the eye. Copper yelled in anger and through a grenade towards them in rage. Axton and Roland quickly dived away to avoid the explosion. After the smoke from the blast cleared, the two looked from behind their cover and saw Copper carrying Sarah's body out the back door. Axton was about to follow them, when he and Roland got a call over the echo.
"Roland, we've got a huge problem," Lilith said over the echo comm..
"What's wrong," Roland asked, worried that Lilith was in trouble.
"I think we've found what Katelyn has been working on…"
A/N: The stakes have been raised! Copper and Axton will be at each other's throats even more now, I can't wait to write the interaction between the two after what happened. Well hope you all enjoyed, remember to review and if you really liked it, leave a favorite!
