CHAPTER 26

The 12 vault hunters where assembled in the most central position of Liars Berg. Lillith had run through a few basics with them. This would be the largest of the three batches of soldiers that Hyperion had recruited. But truth be told, they had never really worked in larger numbers themselves.

'Mordecai, you take Dion. The pair of you can pick off any that get past, and any on the outskirts. Maya, Montayva and I will head up the assault. Its likely they have never fought sirens, that will give us an advantage.'

'I have an idea' Montayva stepped forward, placing a hand on Lilliths shoulder as she addressed the assembly.

'I hope this works' Dion muttered, laying in position on top of the icy ledge.

'One thing I learnt early on kid' Mordecai offered 'Dont question a siren and her skills'

'Huh' Dion muttered, trying to keep his aim steady as the snow melt began to penetrate his clothing.

"It'll work' Mordecai continued to assure the sceptical kid. He didn't really know why he was bothering. Maybe it was just the fact that Dion had doubted Montayvas plan, and that hadn't sat well with the older sniper. It took all his willpower to keep her from his thoughts now. He was no good to anyone if he didn't concentrate on the task at hand. Dion coughed unexpectedly.

'You sick kid?' Mordecai asked, void of emotion.

'Nah, just this friggin cold' Dion whinged. 'Never been so cold in my life!'

'Heh. Thats this planet for ya. Freezing cold one side of the mountain, scorching wind and dust on the other' Mordecai shrugged. He was accustomed to the varying climate now.

'Cant wait to be off it!' Dion continued. 'Hopefully the rest of these fabled vaults aren't all on hellholes as shitty as this place.' Mordecai just laughed.

'Dont like your chances there kid. If they were built somewhere that was densely populated, chances are they would have already been found.' Dion just huffed.

'Yeah well...' Dion adjusted his scope, at sighted in the three sirens that were standing waiting patiently at the dock. 'At least all the scenery aint so bad' Mordecai didn't reply. Dion was still a kid after all. He instead only found himself sighting in on Montayva. To anyone unawares, she appeared calm, relaxed, and un-phased by their current situation. But deep in her mind, she was concentrating fervently. Mordecai knew she wouldn't allow herself to fail, to put their lives in jeopardy.
Mordecai watched as she turned, and glanced up to ledge where he was positioned with the younger sniper. It was as if she knew he had been thinking of her, and the way she had raised her eyebrows in question, left no doubt in his mind that she had indeed known. They were positioned some 400 yards away, but through his scope he could see her features clearly.

'Whats she lookin at?' Dion popped Mordecais bubble suddenly.

'Keep your mind on the job kid' He snapped impatently, and he watched as Montayva turned back to face the approaching ship.

'Well!' Bellowed the deep voice from the ships deck 'I knew Duraph needed us badly, but I sure wasn't expecting a welcome party of this caliber!' The captain chuckled loudly as he eyed the three women, waiting casually for them to dock.

'Dont get too excited' Lillith snarled, 'I just remembered I aint in a very welcoming sort of mood today'

'Ha, well int that a shame then' The burly captain eyed the three women curiously. 'But I've just one question for yer missy' Lillith didn't reply, only waited for him to ask away.

'How does the three of you lassies plan on stopping 200 of us from comin ashore?' He laughed at the thaught of three women trying to prevent his rough and murderous crew from docking.

'Three? Who said it was just the three of us?' Lillith asked curiously. On cue, Montayva lifted her hand, and with the motion, the rest of their comrades appeared in a shimmery haze. They had been present all along.

'Welcome to the borderlands!' Axton laughed as he flung out his turret, which began firing instantaneously.

Everyone jumped into action. Willy was the next to unleash on the ships crew. As they scrambled around on the deck, each only vying for their own protection, a huge blast erupted under the main mast, and it toppled from its erect position. Shards of wood and splinters filled the air, piercing those in the immediate vicinity. Bandits lept overboard on all sides, and made a frantic scramble for the shoreline. Gun barrels were pointed out of the many small round cabin windows. The residual echos of guns blasting built to a deafening cacophony. Lillith was phase blasting the larger groups, working to separate the bunch so as the gunmen could pick them off easily. Maya was phase locking individuals as Axton and Willy assaulted with grenades and the commandos turret.
Montayva, who appeared as the least active, was truthfully the hardest working in the crew. She had shielded herself and Zareb, whilst simultaneously mind controlling several victims at a time, reducing them to a zombified state. They made for easy pickings for the pair of snipers in this state. Gaige hung to the outskirts as DT took down victim after victim with his lethal strikes. Salvador was a force to be reckoned with, with two guns blazing.

Amongst all the chaos, no-one had noticed that the captain had dissapeered below deck. He emerged on the quarter deck, rocket launcher balancing carefully on his shoulder.

'Lillith!' Maya called out to the older siren, and pointed towards the ships captain. But with all the commotion going on on the dock, no-one was able to do anything. A huge electric blast landed too close to Lillith for comfort, and she turned her attention towards the captain. Just as she was about to phase blast him, he stumbled backwards. One of the snipers had got a shot in. The big grotesque man fell to his knees, but fired the launcher again. Lillith didn't have time to see where the blast had impacted a she pulled her Maliwan revolver out and emptied a round into his chest. As the red head climbed aboard, she realized the ship was already beginning to sink from the damage it had incurred. But she wouldn't need long. She leaped over dead bodies, and found herself standing beside the captains immobile form on the quarter deck. She heaved the launcher to her own shoulders, and moved to the railing. Montayva had Willy and Axton covered in her shield, bandits bouncing off her phase shield relentlessly. She aimed.

BOOM! It let out an electric sizzle as it struck, and took out dozens at a time. Lillith aimed and fired again. With the second shot, it had relieved the three completely unburdened. She dropped the launcher and leaped over the ships rail to assist the others once again.
It was another half hour before all the thugs had been completely finished off, and they could finally have a second to think again.
'Well, that went rather smoothly' Lillith joined Axton and Maya. The commando was retrieving an echo recording he had found on one of the ships few Hyperion guards.

'Looks a little fried' He looked toward Lillith, but shrugged all the same 'Still, Angel should be able to get something off it'

'Er, what's wrong with you? Maya had glanced over to where Montayva was standing, glassy eyed and white as a ghost. Montayva seemed to snap out of her trance, but her only response was to glance and nod slightly toward the icy ledge the snipers had positioned themselves on. As the crew looked up to where she had indicated, all they saw was a the charcoaled explosion crater where the two had once been.