"Well, here we are…the Voracious Canopy." Zane parked the Technical and hoped out, resting his hands on his hips as he stared at the…well gnarly looking place.
Untamed wilds lay before them all. Overgrown trees, scrap metal from a crashed ship, and much more. The place somehow made the rest of Eden-6 look civilized; something the Operative almost felt dirty admitting, all things considered.
"It's…huh…" Moze scratched the side of her head. "I was expecting monsters everywhere, given the fucking daunting sounding name."
"Don't be silly, Moze," FL4K shook their head. "The monsters are deeper in the area. Few hang out around the outskirts aside from scavengers and opportunistic feeders."
"…then…what lies deeper, then?" Amara asked.
"Large beasts. The sort that put the ones on Pandora to shame."
"I gotta see that shite to believe it, considerin' me brothers and I saw our fair share of beasties back in the da—"
"Help! Someone give me a fuckin' hand!" Zane tapped his earpiece as a staticky, distorted voice rang out. "Ah, this shit sucks! Help! Help!"
"The COV beat us here?" Moze inquired.
"Nah…that ain' them," Zane spun the barrel to his pistol and started moving. "Those fuckin' cultists would rather die than openly broadcast for help. And it ain' a trap, either. Trust me." He took point and led the group deeper into the untamed wilds.
"Oh, wait wait wait—I'm pickin' up an ECHO signal. Hell yeah, I'm saved! Over here!" It definitely wasn't the COV; they wouldn't openly broadcast they picked up a signal. Not even they were that idiotic.
"Who are you? And do you know where I can find the Family Jewel?" FL4K asked the speaker.
"Oh, I know the Family Jewel. I'm BALEX, the ship's navigator! I'll prove it; here's coordinates for my ass, now come save it!"
"Well, least that answers who this guy is." Zane shrugged and kept moving. He tensed up when he heard a few creatures moving; namely those weird, dinosaur beasts that spat fire or ran at the group. He didn't really know the names.
"You're almost there, but…I'm kinda in the middle of somethin'. And that somethin's a big FUCKIN' DINOSAUR! HEADS UP!"
"The fuck's that supposed to mean—WHOA!" Branches splintered and the ground shook as something ripped its way into the area. As far as Zane saw it…well it was a bigass dinosaur creature. WAY bigger than the creatures he saw back on Pandora, too.
"The fuck is that thing?!" Moze was already in her mech, open firing at the creature who charged for them, only to be steered away from a well-timed punch from Amara.
"A Tyrant," FL4K calmly answered, snapping their fingers and disappearing from sight. "One of the apex predators on Eden-6. Tend to eat just about anything they can fit in their mouth."
"They sound like skags, then." Zane dropped his clone and open fired at the big lizard, watching their bullets rapidly wear the fucker down. Thankfully, the thing soon fell dead, it's body disintegrating, courtesy of the fire rounds Zane used.
…and then he saw a weird, pink teddy bear, coated in bile.
"Oh, man, I'm OUT, man! Damn, it was nasty as hell in there. It STUNK." And the voice was coming from the bear. What the fuck. "Over here, in the ratty ass stuffed plushie; come pick me up." Moze was the first to do so, grimacing and handing the toy off to FL4K.
"…is this your…default physical state? If so, I do not judge…but I really want to."
"Hey, I don't—I don't wanna talk about it," The bear was dodgy about that. Had to be a stupid reason. "Why are you lookin' for the Family Jewel?"
"We're looking for a Vault Key Fragment," Amara spoke up, stepping closer so she could look over the weird plushie as well. "Wainwright said there was one on the ship…somewhere."
"Oh, you with Wainwright? Okay, all right. Yeah, yeah I'll show you where the Family Jewel is…it's in a gorge nearby, and I can get you inside."
"…why's it in a gorge?" Moze asked.
"Because 'don't drink and fly' girl, that's why. But yeah, it's down there. I'll get y'all in and y'all can get that Fragment."
"Glad yar helpin' us out, Balex," Zane did his best to get used to the whole weird bear thing. It was gonna take some time. "But…just like that yar helpin' us?"
"Sure, mostly 'cause if y'all was COV, y'all wouldn't say Wainwright. Y'all'd say Jakobs. And then I'd navigate y'all asses into a tyrant's den." Least he was honest about it. Zane appreciated that much. "So, let's get to work and get movin' 'fore another tyrant tries to eat me. I saw some shit in there I don't wanna talk about." Zane could agree there.
So, with their "new friend" they got moving again. Honestly, Zane was waiting for him to spill the beans on why he was a stuffed toy. He was sure it'd be a laugh.
That, or incredibly depressin'. Either or was on the table.
Moze was still having a hard time buying this…Balex was on their side. Considering their situation, trusting people was pretty fucking hard.
Yet, the others were going along with it…so…they had to.
The Gunner kept close to the others, looking ahead and seeing a…well a fucking derelict in the distance. An utterly ruined and destroyed ship that looked like it'd been there for decades at least. "Navigated, bitch," The stuffed toy called. "Welcome to the Family Jewel…or at least fuckin' part of it."
"That's the Family Jewel?" Moze asked. "…looks like crap."
"Yeah, I had to make an emergency landing after a…disagreement between myself and my combat pilot, GenIVIV. Long story. Touchy one, too."
"So, a mutiny?" The Gunner looked over to the toy, tucked comfortably in FL4K's pocket.
"…y'know, that sounds better than a messy breakup, so we'll just leave it at that. The emergency hatch over there's held shut with hydraulic lines; cut those, and we're in."
"That's…odd, though." Amara chuckled. "Was your girlfriend another stuffed animal?"
"It's…it's a long story." He was still dodging the question. Moze was gonna let that slide for now, until she had a chance to make him spill the beans. But, for now, she stuck with Amara as they moved to find these lines and cut them…most likely with bullets.
"You trust this guy?" Moze whispered to the Siren. "He seems…dodgy. And also a stuffed animal."
"To be fair, we're friends with a murderous robot and their pets and an old, disgruntled mercenary…we trust a lot of weird people."
"Yeah but…something 'bout this doesn't sit right."
"Hey um…y'all know I can hear y'all."
Moze paled and turned to look at the teddy bear. "Sorry, it's just…it's weird."
"It's fine. Honestly, I sorta feel the same towards y'all. Vault Hunters, right?"
"We are, yes." Amara nodded.
"Neat; heard y'all kill just 'bout anything in your way, but rest assured, I ain't got nothin' to gain from stabbin' y'all in the back. Now that I got y'all, takin' back the Jewel's not gonna be no problem; GenIVIV may have the place locked down tight, but I know ALL the back routs. Pays to have a navigator on your side, huh?" He raised a fair point; enough of a point to ease Moze's suspicions. Balex knew where to go, and therefore knew how to get them to the Fragment, and all he wanted was control of the ship again, which was inevitably gonna happen regardless if they accomplished their goal.
So, Moze calmed herself down. This was a weird as fuck situation, but it was gonna work out.
…unless they ran into another tyrant. She didn't want one of those fuckers to try eating Iron Bear.
The interior of the Family Jewel was…well…shitty.
Amara looked around, keeping close to the others as the group ventured into the crashed ship. The smell was atrocious and foul; enough to make her stomach turn, and she'd smelt her fair share of rancid things long before she met up with the group.
Like that crime she helped solve back home…she didn't even know double homicide suicides were a thing but, sure enough, that was a sight to behold.
"So, beary Balex—"
"Do NOT call me that."
Zane rolled his eyes. "Fine, Balex. Where do we go from here?"
"We gotta go deep into the Family Jewel. I'll put us on the shortest route, and—"
"BALEX, you little, cute idiot!" A voice blared on the overhead speakers. "Why are you here? Didn't I install you in a kids' toy and toss you out with the trash?" Huh, so Balex wasn't a…weird possessed doll, but an AI. It made sense, and Amara felt glad she didn't share her idea with anyone.
"Cram it, GeneIVIV! I got friends now, and we're here for the Fragment! I know you got it in the security hold, too; don't play games, now!"
"Oh, sorry. That's spoken for; Aurelia said if I brought it back to her, she'd buy me a dreadnaught. So…I'm gonna do that!"
"How does she even plan to bring it?" Moze asked. "She's an AI too, right?"
"Doubt she thought that far ahead." Balex answered. "Either way, we're gonna get it first, and she can't stop us."
"Uh huh, and what're you gonna do? Navigate me to death? Chart a course up your own ass, Balex. Pbbbbt." She was remarkably childish. Made sense she was on the opposing team.
"She remains blissfully unaware an AI can simply be installed into a different, crappier system." FL4K noted. "I'll give her the same treatment I give the twins, but first, we need to move. Where shall we go, BALEX?"
"Through the medical bay!" The murderous robot was the first through the doors, with Amara following behind them, though the Siren quickly swung her fist to slap something out the air that shot at her, seeing it was a flailing, squirming ratch. "Damn…this place looks nasty."
"Just a side effect of your loose navigating, BALEX," The other AI continued to berate and insult Balex. "You took us to a scummy port and didn't get checked! You gave me ratch!"
"…y'know, I ain' even got a joke for this one." Zane murmured.
"Shut up, bitch; you shoved me in a teddy bear!"
"Can you calm down for a moment, Balex?" Amara blasted a ratch into disgusting smelling bits with her shotgun. "Before she does something drastic."
"Psh, the fuck can that ol' bitch do? Screw with my route—" The door ahead of them slammed shut.
"Yes, yes I can."
Amara just sighed. This was going to be a long mission, apparently.
FL4K drove their blade into another ratch, flinging the beast to the side for their pets to rip apart. They'd trekked a considerable distance into the derelict vessel. With BALEX's help, they saved a lot of time, but at the same time, lost it, considering the AI was content with bickering and scuffling with what they assumed to be his mate.
…it felt weird to give an AI a gender, considering they were a cluster of flies and memories. But, FL4K didn't judge. Despite wanting to, a tad.
Speaking of BALEX…the teddy bear floated past in the chassis of a medical bot. In order to bypass the security clearance locks, they had to shove him in one of the robot, namely because his "girlfriend" had locked him out the system. It was a tad concerning; if she had such control over the vessel, there was no telling what she could do.
"How are you enjoying your…new body, BALEX?" The Beastmaster asked the AI as the group came to a halt in another, small room, in front of a set of blastdoors meant to no doubt lead them out the medical bay. "Considerably better than being trapped as a stuffed animal, yes?"
"MUCH better, thanks. Sure, I ain' got missile launchers and shit, but I ain' a helpless lil' toy either, so it balances out."
"Good. On a note, it may be wise not to aggravate this GeneIVIV further."
"What? Why the fuck not? She deserves it."
"She does, but she could also easily, and I'm borrowing some words from Moze, 'fuck around and fill the room with gas or some bullshit'."
"…I'm mad how close that is to what I'd say."
"Nah, she seems to have control over the locking mechanism and other controls, but nothing like that. 'Sides, the Family Jewel didn't have any countermeasures like that, as far as I remember. Jakobs never had worries 'bout anyone tryin' to steal his ship."
"That's bold 'f him." Zane chuckled.
"Less bold and more he knew pirates and mercs knew better. You don't attack a man like Jakobs without a plan…or…bullshit Siren powers, apparently. I heard 'bout what the twins did to him. Fuckin' sucks."
"Sounds like you were close." FL4K noted.
"I wouldn't say close; more like I helped his ass get plenty of places, as per my programming, and he was a funny mothafucker to talk to. Had a lotta stories. Then the twins fucked that shit up, and then…well y'all saw me out in the mud."
"It's fine. The twin gods will fall, as will the rest of their cult. And then, when that's tended to, perhaps you could go into service for Wainwright. He may be needing a trustworthy AI for his own ship."
"Yeah, you gotta point. Y'all seem real cool; didn't expect that from Vault Hunters."
"We've had some time to get used to each other." Amara smirked. "And I tend to be pretty charismatic."
"I'd say it's a tossup 'tween you and I, Mara Mar."
The doors to the next area opened, and the team delved even deeper into the Family Jewel, though FL4K had a feeling something was amiss…something was wrong.
They loathed feelings like that, for they were rarely wrong.
(And it's time for some navigation. This one was spaced together a bit more, because I didn't really have time to watch an entire walkthrough for this one. Still getting back in the swing of my original protocols. I'm also trying to figure out what to submit over there on FictionPress, so that occupied some of my week.
But, for now, on to the reviews.
-So, apparently, I'm four parallel universes ahead of the devs with the whole "Zane doesn't like kids getting hurt" thing. I only added that because it felt like it's a line he wouldn't cross; letting kids get hurt in the crossfire and in the line of duty. But, glad to see it's official, I guess.
-The cast of BL3 does seem marginally more trained and experienced than the previous casts, though that could perhaps be pure coincidence. But it IS a neat little fact, so thank you, TRIVIALITY for pointing it out.
-The shotgun kicks thing is…I'll have to check the article out, though I tend to be very skeptical towards Kotaku given their history.
-I didn't know Moze made a saucy line towards Balex's position in the mech. Neat lil' fact.
Thanks for the continued support. Now that things are normal, I can write as well as I used to.)