Prison was a place Zane was happy to admit he hadn't ever gone. Sure, he'd sent some guys there when he served as a bounty hunter, but he himself never had to set foot inside of one…or at least set foot inside of one in a jumpsuit, waiting to get shanked in the showers.
The Operative stared at the front gates of the Anvil in the distance, where he and the others were heading to save Wainwright's lover. The place looked…destitute, for the most part, though he knew that was far from the case. The place was crawling with COV…so that 'getting shanked part' was still on the table.
"Yo! Glad you guys could make it!" Zane looked over to see Axton relaxing on a cinderblock, tinkering and fiddling with his turret. "Got dropped here a few minutes ago. Sorta wish Lil' let me take a ship down but, apparently, we ain't got one."
"Yeah, imagine that." Moze grunted. Made Zane wonder what ever happened to the Maliwan ship they stole…better still be there. "Anyhow, we're supposed to go in and find—"
"Save Hammerlock, yeah," Axton nodded. "Neat guy. Met him when me and the others got Jack's welcoming present. He was here and there during our plight against Hyperion, but he's a cool guy."
"Yep, but let's get a move on 'fore the COV get wind've what we're doin' here." Zane said quickly, already crossing the bridge to the Anvil as the others followed along. It didn't take long to reach the end of said bridge and approach the Anvil itself, namely the large set of gates that led further into the prison.
And the COV surrounding the area.
"Alright, here we go!" Zane looked over to see Axton had already tossed his turret out, the Commando sliding behind a cinderblock to open fire as his gadget attacked too. The Operative dropped his Barrier down when he heard incoming bullets, turning to shoot at any COV dumb enough to leave cover. The others were also all fighting, Zane noticing FL4K's pet was blowing a guy's head off with a shotgun.
The Beastmaster taught their pet well.
"Get that gate open, Mara!" Zane called, throwing out his Digiclone just as his barrier expired. Said clone open fired at anyone it could, drawing fire from the enemy but, thankfully, surviving pretty well. The Siren nodded and swiftly got to the control booth, flinging a guy out the window before he heard her open said gates.
"HAUGH!" Zane ducked as a bandit went sailing past his head. The Operative looked to see a absolute unit of a guy pulverizing and crushing the bandits around him, using his fists alone to bludgeon and tear them to bits before the last guy was given the worst treatment; being picked up and slammed down on the big man's knee, snapping his spine like a stick. "Whew! Damn bandits know how to put up a fight…" He sighed, turning towards the group with a growing grin. "Ah hell yeah, more Vault Hunte-AXTON?! That you, man?!"
"Sure is, Brick! Good to see ya, man!" The Commando hollered back. "Looks like you've been busy; just like on Pandora, right?"
"Heh, just like on Pandora. Listen, there's some more bandits ahead; help me clear 'em out, and we'll catch up and talk." Zane watched the absolute unit turn and charge ahead, hearing a barrage of punches against anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way, Zane turning to look over at Axton.
"You two know each other?"
"Yep. Brick was on Pandora with Lilith during the Hyperion situation. Think he became king of a bandit clan, too; the Slab King."
"Huh, so we're dealing with royalty?" Moze asked.
Axton shook his head. "Nope. Bandits used to run by a simple set of rules; biggest and toughest guy was in charge, and anyone who didn't like it usually didn't live long enough to complain. And Brick…well," Axton gestured to the big man who, currently, was snapping another cultist in two. "Is Brick."
"Point taken." Zane didn't wanna be on the receiving end of Brick's pinches. Either way, for the most part, they quickly got things cleared out, wiping out the remaining cultists and giving themselves a bit of time to breathe.
"Whew! Always fun breaking some cultist spines!" Brick hollered, brushing himself off and turning towards the group. "So, Ax, what're you doing here? On a job or something?"
"You could say that; Lilith sent us and—"
"Oh shit, Lil? How's she doin' these days? Haven't heard from her ever since Morde and I left Pandora to…well do this shit. Ain't perfect, but it pays the bills."
And, like that, uncomfortable silence washed over the group. Zane just scratched the back of his head. "Why…don' ya ask her yerself, friend? You'll probably see her yourself sooner or later."
"Fair point. I just hope nothin' bad happened; was bad enough when Roland died. If something happened like, say, Lil' loosin' her powers, I'd go on a murderous rampage and personally turn the COV inside out."
"…you'll…have to talk to her." Amara sighed. Zane silently called dibs on not telling Brick what happened. With how he was, Zane was a hundred percent confident he'd get crushed in the crossfire of Brick's murderous rampage.
Or horribly maimed. Either would suck balls.
"So, we need to find who again?" Moze asked, reloading her assault rifle as her and the others followed behind Brick, trekking through the ruined, aged halls of the prison. They were advancing deeper into the place and, clearly, the COV was doing everything they could to keep them away but, like with everything COV, they sucked at it. Sucked like a Diamond District whore.
…or…however the saying went. Cyrus was the one who said it.
"Crunk Bunny," Brick said without missing a beat. "Best damn demolitions expert I know. She'll easily have a way to get our ol' buddy Hammerlock outta here, but she's way further ahead. We sorta got split up."
"Ain' that the one thing ya ain' supposed to do on a job?" Zane asked. "Least that's how it was in me day. Course, also in me day, we used to just sneak in…"
"Sneakin's boring. Especially when you can just punch 'em to death. Speakin' of," Brick rammed his fist through a wall, Moze wincing when he ripped a battered cultist through the wall, flinging him into the wall. "Hard to sneak up on me."
"…I'm wondering how such a thing is possible."
"Zer0 liked to play a lotta pranks on me back during our downtime." Brick chuckled. "Fuckin' dick, but he always got me good. Anyhow…think y'all should start shooting?"
"Why—OHFUCK!" Moze ducked behind cover when a bullet passed by her head. She realized they were in a courtyard of some sort, one that was literally crawling with COV who open fired from any high point they could. "Fuck…almost got me there."
"Stop being so dramatic, Mozzy," She glanced over to Amara who wore a calm grin, the Siren currently reloading her shotgun. "Not like they broke your shields. And didn't you get a better one, recently?"
"I mean, I did, but…instincts." She sighed. "I'm calling in Iron Bear and—"
"Yo, Meatslab, you on the way, yet? Got eyes on some guys heading my way." She went silent when someone cut her off via ECHO, someone who Brick seemed eager to hear.
"On the way, Birdman! C'mon slabs, start shooting!" Moze popped up from cover and, with the squeeze of the trigger, peppered a few cultists who were pushing, the rest of them gradually getting mowed down by Zane's SMG fire, and the final few blown up from Amara's rocket launcher.
"Alright," Moze looked over to see Brick already moving. "I'm gonna go help out our sniper. You five meet up with Crunk Bunny." The big man was gone, and Moze turned her focus to Axton.
"You know who Bird Man and Crunk Bunny are, right?"
"Well," The Commando tapped his chin, clearly trying to remember as they walked down a narrow passage. "Bird man's gotta be Brick's old buddy, Mordecai. Best damn sniper on Pandora, who maaaaay have a drinking problem."
"And Crunk Bunny?"
BAM!
Moze flinched when blood coated her front, the Gunner just…frowning as she looked to the source…an absolutely insane looking girl standing over what was clearly the exploded remains of a bandit.
"…he moved." She dryly said, though when she saw Axton, her eyes lit up. "AX?! Holy shit it's been years! And you look old as shit!"
"Hah…yeah, Tina…seems you ain't so Tiny anymore…" The guy looked clearly intimidated to be around her. They must've had history.
"Seems you two have quite a history together." Amara mused.
"Yep! Ax and I go WAAAAAAAY back; I hooked him and his boys up with some dope ass explosives to blow up a Hyperion train way back when. Woooo! Good times. Ooo! You remember the time we—"
"Played Bunkers 'n Badasses; you made me fight a pissed off ogre alone and die."
"Hah! You got all pissy, too."
"The dice were rigged!"
"YOU ROLLED THREE NAT 1's IN A ROW!" They were fucking weird. "Hah! Anyhow, shiz is bad here. They got my bomb! I need my bomb to blow open the door to where they got Hammy Lock! So, we gotta get it back!"
"A fetch quest, then." FL4K tapped their chin. "Should be easy."
"…Ax, why you gotta loader with you?"
"I am not a Loader. I am FL4K."
"You look like a Loader. Imma call you Jacket Loader."
"…that is not my name and we both know it."
"Too late, Jacket Loader." They went back and forth. Moze just leaned over to Axton, keeping her voice down.
"What's her deal? She on something?"
"Who knows? Tina, believe it or not, was basically a psycho back in the days. Youngest demolitions expert on Pandora. She helped us a lot in dealing with Handsome Jack and, later, the fall of Sanctuary. So…she's useful. A bit insane, but useful. Just, for the love of God, don't let her fiddle with your ECHO."
"…why?"
"Let's put it this way; she's the reason the old ones got classified as explosives."
Point taken.
(I had planned to make this one longer, but due to circumstances IRL, I had to shorten it so I can deliver it a bit late, rather than much later. It's a start to something wonderful, but I can safely say that the next few chapters will be the highlights to this story. I'm still loving the support this story's garnered, and it's one of the main reasons I always make time in my week to work on this story. I do plan to open some additional writing projects, such as a Warhammer fanfiction I'm currently developing, but this story will always be continued and worked on until, eventually, it's done. We're a little over halfway there, but don't fret. I plan to include some side-quests and, outright, non-canon chapters to show change and growth. Will this end up on TvTropes? I'm unsure, but what I am sure of is this'll be remembered for quite a while, I hope.
Thanks for sticking with us so far; apologies if this chapter isn't up to the usual standard.)
