The bridge was a bitch to get to, but Zane was glad they made it.

Standing at the doors with the others, the Operative loaded another mag into his SMG and let a sigh of relief escape him. "So, we doin' this? Cause there's a crazy ass AI on the other side of these doors, and she ain' plannin' to go down easy."

"We've killed worse," Moze rolled her eyes. "Gettin' cold feet, old man?"

"Far from it; jus' makin' sure we don' get creamed. Shite's gettin' tougher, if ya hadn' noticed."

"He raises a valid point," FL4K commented. "Stay together, stay strong. We cannot choke this close to the end." The doors parted and they stepped inside…to find nothing.

Nothing except a ruined bridge, and a Maliwan death mech encased in an energy dome.

"What? Surprised there's no trap?" The loony AI's voice blared again. "Honestly, I wanted to leave one, but I'm good here; you can't get past this shield, nor will you get the fragment. So…bye-bye; don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Zane scowled and mashed his ECHO device. "Balex, ya got almost here? Yar ex's don' locked herself in a dome or some shite."

"Almost; just fixing a problem!"

"Psh, you're not designed to solve problems, BALEX. That's MY job; you're just my chauffer…a shitty one, need I remind you?"

"Well, here's a problem solved, then; I'm turning off the anti-collision safeguards. NAVIGATED, BITCHES!" Zane watched just in time for something to slam into the dome protecting GenIVIV, sending her mech to the ground.

The Operative was pleasantly surprised to see Balex standing there in his smaller mech, ready to go. "Alright! Let's do this, Vault Hunters!"

"Agreed." Amara punched the ground and sent a wave of energy at GenIVIV as everyone else lit her up. For the most part, Balex met her punch for punch, keeping her occupied and stopping her from—

BLAM!

The stuffed animal hitting the ground told Zane Balex's mech was blown to bits. "Heh, so much for your mech, you cute idiot." Without hesitation, GenIVIV kicked the teddy bear across the room, said stuffed animal being caught by Amara.

"Damnit! She broke my mech! Y'all finish her off!"

"Gladly." Moze called down Iron Bear and enthusiastically lit the mech up, riddling GenIVIV with shots as Zane switched to a corrosive pistol, putting a few shots in the mech's legs to send it tumbling to the ground, in a prime position for Amara to slam down on with her fists, obliterating the mech in an explosion of fire and metal.

"Goodbye, GenIVIV," Balex called from Amara's side. "You sucked and I hated you. End of story." Quite a sendoff. Zane tucked his gun away and looked down to the ground, bemused to see the fragment was…well right there.

"The skank was keepin' it inside her? Damn…didn' know she was that freaky."

"She's all sorts've freaky, man." Balex called. "But she's dead…so…now what?"

"Well, you're welcome to tag along with us," Amara was already heading for the door. "Wouldn't really be right to just leave you here, would it?"

"Yeah, good point. Shame I couldn't keep that badass mech."

"Eh, I'm sure Ellie can rig something up for you." Moze chimed in.

"True, she could perhaps find another chassis like mine. Then you can strangle someone with your bare hands." FL4K added disturbingly.

Zane just…went ahead and called Axton while they talked and walked. One fragment down, and a few more to go. They were making good progress, and the twins knew jack shite, so they were a step ahead for once.

He hoped that'd last.

Moze was the first off the drop-ship, yawning and stretching. She felt absolutely ecstatic to be off that damned swamp planet, even if it'd only be for a little bit. Plus, she could restock her ammo, too, and even upgrade Iron Bear; see about finally installing that railgun she always wanted.

"You have the fragment, yes? Go ahead and bring it to the lab," Tannis said through her ECHO…even though Moze loathed hearing the crazy bitch's voice. "Lilith and I are devising ways to combat the Calypsos and—" Shrill, echoing laughter made Moze clutch the sides of her head and double over…also it wasn't helpful that the ship was fucking shaking!

"Ah no, I know that evil laugh anyhwhere," Balex shouted. "GenIVIV's all up in your ship!"

"How the fuck did she get in here?!" Zane shouted.

"Hey, cutie idiots! Nice ship; not as well armed as the Family Jewel, but think I'll fit right in once I make some modifications. Oh, on-board service bots? Dismember people for me."

"We need to move." FL4K was already running up the stairs, Moze following suit. It didn't take long to reach the common area of the ship, where several service bots were moments away from murdering a group of scared passengers. Said bots were blown to bits in a flash, courtesy of Amara's shotgun.

"What the hell? Vault Hunters, see if you can get to the bridge and fix this; I'm locked in the lab with Tannis and Maya." Explained were Lilith was. More bots made themselves known and the team continued to take them apart, Moze making sure to double tap each one…last thing she wanted was one acting like it was destroyed, then springing up to cheap shot one of them.

It didn't take long to reach the bridge, where more bots awaited them. Said bots were dispatched swiftly, though Moze swore and stumbled back when the entire ship inverted itself.

"What the FUCK is she doing?!" The Gunner called out.

"Oh, it's simple; I'm going to fly you, the key fragment, and your whole ship to Aurelia! And once she rewards me with a dreadnaught, I'll travel from system to system, burning every inhabited planet I find!"

"…Balex, why's your ex goin' full genocidal now?" Zane asked.

"She's lost it…not that she had it to begin with."

"You two may wish to look ahead," FL4K gestured behind them, showing that the ship was moving. Fast. "She plans to make good on her threat."

"Fuck…I got an idea," Balex said. "She's got her grubby claws in your computer system, and y'all can't hurt her from here, but I can. Upload me into your dashboard!" Amara was already heading for the console just as the ship exited hyperspace…and for Moze to swear and jump back when an asteroid smashed against the window.

She took them to an asteroid field…did she plan to kill them all before she got to the ice bitch?

"Alright, GenIVIV," The stuffed animal was in the control console, meaning Balex was in there with GenIVIV, confronting her directly. "Get. The hell. OUT!"

"Make me." The sounds of them audibly fighting rang out through the speakers. Sounded like the fucker was giving her all he had and then some.

"Y'know, I'm wonderin' how two AI can fight," Zane commented. "But then again, I think us bein' in a fuckin' asteroid field takes priority."

"Agreed."

The crazy AI cried out a second later and a plink sound caught Moze's attention. "Hah! I shoved her ass in a hard drive and ejected the bitch; go ahead and flush it into space if you want, Vault Hunter." Moze was the one to do so, picking up the hard drive with heavy caution—

"SCREW YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" She still had access to ECHOs, apparently.

"Sucks to suck, GenIVIV. I'm turning off the lockdowns, everyone, and gettin' your ship back to Eden-6. Thank me later." The asteroid filled space disappeared as the ship was plunged into another hyperspace jump. Things were looking up; at least for now.

"Vault Hunter, I may have a use for that combat AI. Bring her by." Moze was surprised to hear Marcus call her through her ECHO, but she brushed it off, for now.

"Well, we almost died…I'ma get a drink." Zane turned to leave. "Moze, pass me that hard drive. I'll deliver the damn AI to Marcus. See if he wants to shove her in a toilet or something."

"Fine." She tossed him the drive as he left, giving Moze the respite she wanted at last as the Gunner slumped down in a seat. That was a hectic moment, but thankfully, it was resolved…at the cost of their service bots; they'd have to replace those at some point.

…thoughts for later. For now, she was gonna have her fucking rest. She earned it.

[Another shorter one, mostly 'cause I plan to get into plot heavy details next chapter. So, this gives me time to organize things accordingly.

Now, for reviews…I'll answer one I forgot to last time.

-I do plan to bring back the other Vault Hunters, though it'd mean I'd have to be VERY meticulous in how I do it, considering the devs are releasing DLCs.

-I'm aware Lilith doesn't Phaseshift; that chapter was written prior to that knowledge, and I can't go back and edit it 'cause that feels silly.

Leave plenty of reviews; I enjoy reading and answering them as best I can. Until then, stay safe, and thanks for reading!]