"The fuck are we doing here, old man?" Moze asked as Zane took a seat on a gravestone. A bottle of rum was in hand and the Operative let out a sigh.

"We're takin' a breather." Zane took a long, burning swig of his drink. "A breather we need, Mozzy Moze."

"But, don't we need to get that gunsmith?" Amara questioned.

"We do, yeah, but know what we also need?" Another swig. "A lil' break. We've been goin' nonstop ever since we got here. If anythin', the only one who got a break's FL4K over there, and that's cause they got in a scrap with Troy."

"And made him my bitch, I might add." The robot added proudly. "But, Zane is correct. I could use a breather so I can try to recharge my core via solar power."

"Wait…" Moze glanced at FL4K quizzically. "You can recharge via solar energy?"

"Yes and no." FL4K sat down, jacket at their side and arms crossed. "I need to be motionless for a time. Hard to stay motionless when a psycho's rushing me, intending to blow himself into fiery chunks."

"True. But, yeah, we could use a moment to gather ourselves," Amara took a seat on the ground, legs crossed. "and collect our thoughts. Like, for one, how exactly are we getting into this fort safely? We've broken into high security areas before, yes, but this feels…different."

"Different how?" Moze asked.

"Well, for one, the twins can apparently make super soldiers." Amara huffed. "We're bound to encounter more of these 'Anointed' in the fort. They may put up a bigger fight than the last one we fought."

"Which is why they'll make for a good hunt." FL4K stroked the head of their…rather large spiderant, almost lovingly. "A hunt I will share with my pack. And, more importantly, if we succeed in denying the twins the Vault's guardian, we'll strike them."

"Yeah…bout that," Zane chugged his drink. "Lil's plan ain' the most solid one I've committed to. Like…she wants us to open all the Vaults and get rid of the power, sorely to deny it to the COV…doesn' that got a lotta loopholes? Like us bein' at this for weeks? Maybe even months, given the COV's shite?"

"It's got quite a few, but I don't think that's her grand scheme." Moze piped up. "Like, as far as I've seen, their goal's to open this Grand Vault and reap the rewards, if any. Lilith's probably trying to buy time until we can successfully spearhead an assault on the COV and kill the twins. Bandits just follow the strongest guy, right? We take out their gods, they might fight among themselves for who knows how long."

"Or someone else could take the reins." Amara stated. "But, thoughts for later. Right now, let's stick to Lilith's plan, and remove every Vault on the map the twins have. I trust her, so I want to follow her plan to fruition."

"I'm not sayin' I don' trust her," Zane finished his drink and tossed the bottle to the side, shooting it out the air. "but I'm sayin' we should think of other plans, in case we can't keep goin' with this one. Cause I've dealt with morons like these twins before in my prime; they can only take so many kickin's 'fore they get desperate. And desperate's a few letters 'way from drastic."

"It's…more than a few, old man." Moze chuckled.

"Ya know what I mean." Zane grumbled. "Still, it's only a matter of time 'fore they get desperate, and that's when they pull out that dangerous, risky shite. The kinda shite that tops their attack on Maya. Fuck, they might even nut up and try attackin' the ship while we're asleep."

"Yet at the same time, that's what we seek. Never interrupt an enemy in the progress of making a mistake, and desperate foes make mistakes. It's as I told Moze earlier." The Gunner perked up when her name was called. "All we have to do is continuously trifle and mess with their operations. They'll inevitably expose themselves. If anything, I scold myself for not killing Troy when the chance was practically handed to me. But, in my defense, I wanted him to grovel before he perished."

"Aye, I ain' usually vindictive towards the guys I gotta kill buuuuuut," Zane chuckled. "these twins got it comin'. They're cunts. Cunts who need to get beat the fuck up."

"Amen." Amara agreed.

Zane nodded. "Imma grab some more drinks. Y'all want any?"

"See if they have something sweet."

"Ditto but add a little bitterness to mine."

"Fetch me something strong for my beasts."

"…FL4K, I ain' no animal expert, but ain' pets not supposed to have booze?"

The robot pointed towards their jabber. "Meat-Thief can drink…well…he shouldn't, but he can…he's earned the reward." Zane just sighed and turned to walk. He still appreciated these quiet moments. They let him reflect and bond better to his friends. And, thankfully, they could continue to have these moments. He'd ride things out with them as long as he could go.

They were a group of weirdos, but that's fine. Weirdos tended to have the most fun, anyhow.

(Lil non-canon short chapter here. I wanted to give the chars a lil' moment to relax and reflect. Asking questions about their campaign and figuring out what to do and what not to do. Mostly because, logically, Lilith's plan is a touch…dangerous, but at least it worked out in the game, at the cost of a lot of key figures biting the bullet.

Now, for some review responses:

I come up with great insults because…well I know where to aim, I suppose. It's hard to explain properly. The goal of an insult is to hit someone where it hurts, and considering I know about the antagonists well enough emotionally, it's not hard to properly write hurtful insults.

The Happy Together trailer was…odd. I liked it, but I can see why it's not for everyone. Still, I hope those who didn't like it are at least enjoying this story I'm putting a lot of effort into.

As for Guns, Love, and Tentacles? Honestly, I haven't played it yet. Due to circumstances IRL, and my professional work ramping up, I haven't had time to pick BL3 back up and buy the DLCs for it, especially with Predator: Hunting Grounds set to come out next week. I write things how they are by following walkthroughs and, from those, creating detailed chapters…mostly because in the early stages I tried writing as I played, but I quickly realized that was a tedious process as it meant it'd both lengthen the story dramatically, and have to keep up a speedy playthrough so chapters don't lag behind. So, apologies for that.

Until then, tune in next time, and keep the reviews coming! Good or bad, I always love to hear from my fans!)