With a woosh of sound and the flash of a whirling purple vortex that was strangely similar to that of a New-U station, Brick and his armload of friends fell headlong into the snow. Lilith revived just as her face hit the cold, wet precipitation and she looked up to see her three friends standing slowly under the hard blank gazes of three Lance soldiers with their guns trained on the quartet. She stood up, shaking the snow from her body. In her mind's eye, there were buzzing flashes of light that zipped and crackled with anticipation over something, clouding her thoughts. Confused, she focused and just as a feeling of grave dread began to wash over her, it was shattered by a phase blast that knocked her back down into the snow. Looking up, she saw a woman stood next to her who she had only known previously by her voice: Commandant Steele.
Mordecai, Roland and Brick all moved forward as they saw Lilith fall and Commandant Steele raised her left hand, signaling them to stop. "Do not move," said Steele with a sneer pasted on her white face. The Lance soldiers raised their guns a little more to emphasize their commanding officer's order.
Steele remained standing directly next to Lilith as she stood again slowly, looking pointedly away from the commandant. Steele cocked her head to one side, flinging her stark white braids as she scrutinized Lilith and began circling the pink-haired woman. Roland watched and shook his head, marveling at the almost exact similarity between the tattoos that marked each woman, although Steele sported three blue dots under her right eye whereas Lilith did not. Brick furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his massive arms over his chest, thinking of how he could easily pull every pale limb from Steele's body with minimal effort and much satisfaction. Mordecai, on the other hand, gazed intently at Lilith's face and wondered why she seemed so strangely calm, although he wasn't surprised in the least.
"You cannot fathom how difficult this is for me," hissed Steele as she halted directly in front of Lilith and leaned forward so closely that their noses were almost touching. The commandant stared directly into Lilith's gold eyes with her own pale ones, her eyebrows arching. "To finally know one such as me, with our extraordinary gifts…it is a shame you shall not live to share your secrets with me." Steele backed away and Lilith's eyes, which had remained staring beyond the commandant finally focused on her.
"You have no idea what you're about to do, but they-"
"They fought me," interrupted Steele. "They did not know how to handle the power behind the Vault." She smiled. "I do. And with the help of the Atlas Corporation, together we will harness it." Still backing away, the commandant turned and stalked up to a raised platform that faced what must have once been a mighty stone arch. Suspended in midair hung three parts of a conical stone structure marked with the Eridians' glowing heiroglyphics. Turning back to the friends, she addressed them.
"But you, YOU have failed to listen to Commandant Steele," she intoned. "I've warned you time and again, yet you persist in ignoring my orders." Shifting her gaze from Lilith, Commandant Steele eyed the three men and pointedly narrowed her eyes at Roland, the ex-Lance engineer. "The contents of the Vault are rightfully the property of the Atlas Corporation. But you? You belong to me."
Pointing at the friends again, Steele turned and raised her left arm above the platform and suddenly concentric circles of light energy shone in the air and rose around her hand, creating a pillar-like force. Within the energy field, the three pieces of the conical structure dashed together, remaining suspended in the air. With a shudder of the atmosphere, the inverted gray cone slammed itself into the floor of the platform just as the scattered pieces of the massive stone arch flew into the air and took their once rightful places along the entrance to the Vault; the newly opened portal glowed with a shimmering purple aura.
"The key works!" shouted Commandant Steele as she again faced the group on the ground below her. "Sergeant," she called to Lance soldier. "Get your men ready to go inside – Ahhhh!"
Steele screamed as something alive speared her middle, severing her spine and spraying blood that drenched the bright white snow at her feet. She continued screaming as she was lifted high into the air. In an instant, Steele shouted "Noo!" as the thing that struck her sucked her into the mouth of the most horrifying creature that any of the four Vault hunters had ever seen. A monstrous purple eye and a spiny vertical mouth dominated the body of the violet beast. Below and to the sides of its roaring maw, massive writhing tentacles destroyed the raised platform in front of it with one swipe, like petulant child destroying a block tower. In another swipe, all three of the terrified Lance soldiers were swept off the edge of the cliff, screaming.
As the creature roared again, Lilith disappeared and shot over to her friends, shoving them up against the far edge of the cliff. Realizing that they needed to make a plan and had but a few moments to do so, Roland tossed out his Scorpio turret just as an invisible force compelled him to the far wall of the area. The beast roared and raised its tentacles in the air before slamming the turret into oblivion. Realizing Roland's plan, Mordecai released Bloodwing, who could stay safely out of reach of the waving appendages.
Together, the four mercenaries huddled against a wall of stone while Bloodwing ably distracted the giant squid-like creature.
"Mordecai," said Roland. "You got to snipe that thing till you ain't got bullets left. Brick, you should unload every shell you have. Lilith, you got any insight at all into what it'll take to take this thing down?" Three pairs of eyes turned to Lilith and she smiled, the pink hue of her cheeks rising in response.
"Not a clue," she smirked. "But I know we've got their blessings. All the good that'll do us. Just shoot it."
With a nod, Roland stood and dashed to the opposite end of the natural arena, re-equipping himself with his Serpens and beginning the firestorm that would consume the group indefinitely. Brick eyed Lilith as he stood from his crouching position. She gave him a small smile and he grinned, bloodlust showing in his eyes.
"Yeah! Let's dance!" He took off for the nearest tentacle and as he passed her, Lilith turned to watch him. Pulling a hefty shotgun from his holster with one hand, Brick punched a hole into the tentacle with the other and laughed maniacally, backing up and darting around, firing and punching alternately all the while.
Lilith smiled and turned back to face Mordecai, shocked to find that he was nowhere in sight, having taken advantage of her following Brick's movements. Frustrated with herself, she pulled her favorite HellFire from her holster and took a place behind the nearest stone pillar, unleashing a volley of fiery fury on the howling beast.
On the opposite side of the arena near Roland, Mordecai was ducking behind yet another stone pillar, his small frame easily hidden. He easily fired shots into the creature's roving eye as it searched for the source of its irritation. Every now and then, the beast glowed eerily and a laser-like beam shot from its eye, destroying all it could, but the friends avoided it as they dashed about losing their hidden places and gaining new cover. After a good while, the beast's howls began to lose the intensity with which they first sounded.
"We're gettin' there," shouted Roland to Mordecai as the tentacles flailed in front of them. Suddenly a scream erupted from the other end of the field and Roland tossed two medkits to Mordecai before stepping out from behind his cover, reloading and unloading the clip on the furious beast. Catching the kits, Mordecai sprinted over to where both Lilith and Brick lay felled in the snow. He reached Brick first and jammed a hypodermic needle into his chest, awaiting a response. Mordecai's heart pounded in his head and he reached without thinking into the holster strapped to his chest and re-released Bloodwing, who screeched with pleasure upon exiting. Mordecai smiled and stabbed Brick with the second kit. With a jolt, Brick shot up and roared, echoing the creature in the Vault. The veins in his mighty neck popped and he rushed forward toward the beast's mouth.
As he dashed for Lilith's inert form, Mordecai thought fleetingly that perhaps, just this once, that maybe it would be best if Brick didn't survive his foolhardy rushing headlong into the fight, but he shook it off as he jabbed the needle of another medkit into Lilith's tattooed left arm. Her eyelids fluttered and she sat up, feeling in the snow for her weapon. Mordecai found it first and handed it to her with a smirk. Grateful, she smiled back. As he turned to head for cover, Lilith grabbed the front of his leather vest and pulled him to her in one movement, almost drawing their lips together when a mighty roar sounded to the left of them. They turned just in time to see Brick hurl himself into the air and slam both of his fists into the purple eye of the creature. The atmosphere rippled as the beast cried its last and the tentacles finally fell and lay still. With her pale hand still gripping the front of his vest, Mordecai stood quickly and pulled Lilith to her feet at the same time. From the opposite end of the arena, Roland emerged from his cover and pumped his shimmering green rifle in the air.
"Uppin' the kill count!" he shouted, laughing. "I don't-" Roland cut himself off as he was lifted bodily into the air. Looking down, he stared into the enraged eyes of Brick. In three seconds, Brick had taken out the critically weakened creature and rushed over to Roland. Lilith and Mordecai saw it all and drew their weapons in shock.