The Vault Hunters were all in the top floor waiting to hear from the scouting party back in Lynchwood. The only ones who weren't present were Montayva and Mordecai as they were busy putting the baby back to sleep. The ones that were present were standing around a large table with a holographic projector in the middle of the room, displaying a map of Pandora. On the map were key locations and places of interest on Pandora. Murphy and Lilith stood in the far end of the table with Murphy's helmet sitting on the edge of the map, Ari and Gaige were standing on the right side of the table with A.N.N inside of the map's VI slot and Erick was sitting in a wooden chair on the left side of the room with his boots propped up on the table. Murphy's eyes wandered the room as he waited for the news on the files and whatever the scouting party found. He noticed something in the end of the room which caught his interest, hovering in a purple energy field. It was the Vault Key.
"So this little rock is the Vault Key?" Murphy asked, his eyes fixed on the object.
"Yeah, that's the key" Lilith stepped up beside Murphy and stared at the object with a look of depression.
"Hard to believe something so small could cause so much trouble" Murphy added.
"It is hard to believe. Sometimes I wish I never found this damn thing" Lilith said solemnly. To Murphy, it was just some rock but to Lilith, it was the object of her grief, and would probably bring her more pain in the future. Before Murphy could say anything to Lilith, Mordecai and Montayva made it up the stairs into the large room.
"Sorry for making you wait" Mordecai said, announcing his arrival. They stood near the front of the table where the doorway was closest to "Did we miss anything?" Murphy and Lilith turned away from the key and faced Mordecai and Montayva.
"Not really, but since you're here, we can begin" Erick said.
"Gaige, Ari, tell us what you've uncovered" Lilith ordered.
"No problem" Gaige said enthusiastically "A.N.N, show them what we've found." A.N.N's holographic figure appeared over the map. She lifted her hands and displayed Johnson's plans to the group.
"Turns out Johnson's planned attack on Sanctuary was just basic attack patterns, possible landing sites, frontline formations and other strategies. Nothing really interesting or useful" A.N.N said with an annoyed tone.
"Does it have any information on how to breach the city's shield?" Montayva asked.
"Nope, just basic war strategy. If he uses this plan in his supposed attack, he'd lose more than he would gain."
"So you're telling us this intel is complete shit" Mordecai sighed.
"Basically" A.N.N answered. Murphy found it hard to believe that this was the intel. After all he went through he came to Sanctuary with nothing useful.
"There's got to be more to this plan" Murphy said, in denial that this was all he found "Johnson's crazy not stupid. He must have some trick up his sleeve."
"Sorry partner but what you see is what you get" A.N.N said apologetically. Ari decided to speak up and discuss the other information they found.
"We did find some useful intel on Freedom City however" Ari added. A.N.N removed the information on the attack and displayed the intelligence on Freedom City "Somewhere under the city, there's an old Hyperion Armory containing weapons, Loader reinforcements, and hover crafts. Before he died, Jack built it as a way to store weapons and robotic guards. His intention was to unleash these weapons to maintain Opportunity's security once it was complete. We don't know the exact location of the entrance but we do know it's located somewhere in the old construction site" Ari pointed toward the bright red flickering area in the map.
"That place is huge, it could take weeks to find the exact location" Erick groaned.
"Even with the knowledge of it's location, we would need Hyperion clearance to travel safely through the armory" Ari said.
"We have that already" said Lilith. She was referring to Claptrap, who had built in Hyperion high security clearance in his programing "Why would Johnson care about a couple of basic weapons when he's focusing on finding the Champion's Vault?"
"Must be one of Johnson's backup plans, just in case he can't find the Vault" Erick answered "When we have the chance, we could try to find this armory and use it to our advantage. With those Loader reinforcements and the extra munitions, we may gain the edge over Hyperion." It was true what Erick said, with the added support, they may have enough to turn the tide of the war.
"Exactly what I was thinking" Ari added.
"Good idea, if we don't know where it is than neither does Johnson. That should buy us some time to find it" said Murphy.
"And with Moxxi in charge of the city, it'd be pretty tough for Johnson to try and look for it" Lilith said "We'll give it a look see when we have the time."
"There is something else we would like to discuss" said Gaige "Ari and I were thinking and we decided we should delete the files on the Champion's armory from A.N.N's data banks. Without the data, Johnson would be less likely to find it, buying us some more time. We just wanted to hear your thoughts on it before we delete it" The Vault Hunters unanimously agreed with the idea with the exception of Murphy who knew what would happen if they went through with this course of action, A.N.N had a look of grief on her face because she knew it was impossible to delete the data without causing her to self-terminate.
"We can't" said Murphy, trying to defend his friend's life "Holloway installed a failsafe in A.N.N's programming during her creation. If we try to delete those files, she'll die."
"Then what should we do? I don't want her to shut down but we can't let Johnson get his hands on her" asked Erick. None of the Vault Hunters wanted to remove the files if it meant A.N.N's demise. The AI spoke up to help resolve the dispute.
"You can seal me here" A.N.N said "Johnson can't access the city. The safest place for me is here in this room." Murphy had a look of distress on his face. A.N.N had been his partner and the only family he had for the past seven years. He couldn't imagine fighting Hyperion without her aid.
"That's not happening. We fight together, A.N.N. I can't win this alone" Murphy said, slamming his fist into the table. A.N.N smiled slightly, even though she was a burden to the Vault Hunters, Murphy still regarded her as a vital part of the team.
"You're not alone, partner. You don't need my help anymore" A.N.N said truthfully. She was right, Murphy was no longer alone. He had the Vault Hunters to aid him in his quest. Murphy breathed a heavy sigh and nodded his head, agreeing with A.N.N's decision. Lilith placed her hand on Murphy's shoulder to try and ease his mind.
"Don't worry killer, we'll keep her safe" Lilith smiled, reassuring the Enforcer that Johnson would never get his hands on her. Murphy cheered up when Lilith promised they would keep her safe.
"I'll still provide support through the Echo Murphy. I may not be there with you on the ground but I'll still lend a hand when you need it" A.N.N added. The Vault Hunters were glad to hear that A.N.N would still be of assistance even though she could no longer be with them on the battlefield.
"Any word from the scouting party?" said Montayva, curious to know what Hyperion was doing in the old Lynchwood mines. Soon after, Axton's voice was heard through the Echo.
"Hello ladies, did you miss me?" Axton said.
"Speak of the devil" Murphy exclaimed. Ari and Gaige just giggled at Axton's failed attempt at flirting, Montayva paid no mind to it and Lilith just crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.
"Not in the slightest, we actually enjoyed the peace and quiet" Lilith teased with a sly smile.
"Come on, I know you love it" Axton continued.
"I'd hate to break up the romance but is Maya and Zero with you?" asked Erick, patience wearing thin.
"Yeah guys, we're right here. Zero just came back with some intel on Lynchwood" Maya announced.
"Greetings my fellows/ I return with good tidings/ how was your mission?" Zero responded, curious to see how Mordecai and the others did in Liar's Berg.
"We were able to get the guns back without any hitches. Thanks to Murph over here" Erick said positively.
"I can't take all of the credit, Ace. It was your master plan that helped us succeed" Murphy added. Everyone remained silent for a couple of seconds and had a confused look on their face. With the exception of Montayva, the group wondered why Erick and Murphy were being so friendly toward one another, especially with their issues.
"Uh, either I missed something or the grog I had earlier is starting to kick in" Axton said, just as confused as everyone else.
"Let's just say Murphy and Erick have placed their differences on hold for the moment" Montayva noted.
"About time those two started getting along" Maya replied.
"That's not the only good news. Brick and Salvador are coming back to give us a hand" Mordecai added. Axton starting screaming with joy through the echo the minute Mordecai told him the good news.
"Hell yeah, the boys are back in town!" Axton's excitement was contagious, Murphy chuckled a bit as well as he was glad to know he'd see Salvador again.
"Can't wait to see what kind of trouble we get in to!" Erick shouted, just as excited as Axton to see the old crew back together.
"Boys" Gaige sighed, shaking her head.
"Let's get back to the mission in hand" Lilith said, killing the mood "What did you find in Lynchwood?" she asked.
"Zero found something interesting alright" Maya started "It looks like Johnson found something deep inside the old Lynchwood mines, the place is heavily guarded with Loaders and Elite guards. They've been using the rats to dig through the mine."
"Not those disgusting little cannibals again" Ari shuddered as she remembered the horrible experience she went through with the rats back in the Fridge.
"What did he find?" Murphy questioned.
"We're not sure exactly, but from what intel Zero gathered, it could possibly be a lead to the Champ's Vault" Axton continued. The others began to contemplate what their next move should be. They needed to move fast or Hyperion would be closer to finding the Vault.
"How much time do we have before they discover what's inside?" Murphy wondered, worried that their efforts might be in vein.
"Judging from the amount of workers in the mines and the pace they've been digging at, I'd say two weeks tops" Axton said, estimating what time they had left.
"That gives us a small window of opportunity to strike" Lilith said "What can you tell us about the lay out of the mine?"
"Well, the areas pretty enclosed, heavily reinforced to withstand most outside attack and the only entrance inside is blocked by a large blast door" Maya informed.
"Brick could lead a Buzzard assault on the Lynchwood mines. With his explosives and the Slabs' manpower, we could level the mine to the ground" Mordecai suggested, tweaking his long beard.
"That is most unwise/ Cannons liter the rooftops/ the cost would be great" Zero warned.
"Zero's right, the area's guarded by heavy anti-air guns. Brick's crew would be blown out of the sky in minutes and besides, the Slabs lack the firepower to level a whole mine" Maya clarified.
"How about a ground assault" Erick asked "We could lead a large raiding team inside the mine and plant a bomb. The explosion would weaken the structure and it'll collapse on itself, destroying whatever leads Johnson has on the Vault."
"How would we get past the blast door?" Axton wondered.
"That's the easy part, I could phase everyone inside the mine" Lilith added.
"And what about destroying the mine? Brick and the Slabs lack the payload to blow the whole place down from the inside. Frankly, so do we" Axton said.
"Perfect, what's our next move now?" said Murphy, annoyed about the situation they've been placed in. The Vault Hunters were low on time. They couldn't use their current supply of weapons because it wasn't enough to destroy the mines. They contemplated about searching for the entrance to the underground armory in Freedom City, it might have the explosives they needed they thought. Without the exact location to the entrance however, it would take them a minimum of 2 weeks to find it, time they didn't have. In a moment of brilliance, Gaige came up with a plan that would solve their current dilemma.
"I know one place on Pandora that may have what we need" Gaige began, eager to tell the rest of her plan "Sawtooth Cauldron!" she finished.
"That could work" Lilith agreed "Ever since Brick wiped the Sawteeth off the map, Hyperion made house in that old bandit town and turned it into a bomb factory. They might have the bomb we need."
"The factory is run by Loaders, security is going to be tight" Mordecai warned.
"We're gonna need everyone's help if we plan on taking that place head on" Lilith added "Guys, grab your things and meet us back at Sanctuary. We have a lot of planning to do" Lilith ordered the scouting party through the Echo.
"Sure thing boss lady, Axton and crew out" Axton and the others signed off the Echo and made their way out of Lynchwood back to Sanctuary.
"Ok everyone, get some rest. Once Axton, Brick and others arrive, we'll begin planning our attack on Sawtooth Cauldron" Lilith said.
"Sounds good to me, I need some rest" Erick yawned, stretching his arms in the air.
"Yeah, I had a long night too" Ari said. She rubbed her eyes, still exhausted after pulling an all-nighter decrypting the files. The siblings ran out of the command center and returned to their separate rooms to rest up.
"I think I'll help Scooter disassemble the bird in the workshop. We do need the spare parts to keep the shields up after all" said Gaige, placing her metal hand on her neck and bending it left and right. She went down the stairs and ran toward Scooter's to help in the ship's disassembly.
"I sure could use some Z's" said Mordecai "Come on Monty, let's hit the hay" Mordecai proceeded to squeeze Montayva's tight buttocks softly with his hand.
"Oh!" she gasped. She reacted with shock for a second but later began to enjoy the interaction. She smiled and wrapped her arm just under her shoulder as she brought him closer. Mordecai proceeded to wrap her arm over her shoulders. The two walked together to spend some quality time in their room.
"Have fun you two" Lilith teased. Mordecai did not turn around to face Lilith but he flew his hand up and flipped her off as he walked with his love downstairs. Lilith did not retaliate however, she just shook her head and chuckled. Murphy joined in the laughter afterwards.
"If you need me, I'll be in the firing range" Murphy said looking at Lilith. He looked back towards A.N.N to ask her a question "You sure about staying here?"
"I'll be okay" A.N.N reassured. Murphy nodded and waved goodbye to Lilith and A.N.N. He went down the stairs and ran to the firing range, leaving his helmet behind.