"Well, good work, people." Zane nursed a bottle of beer as he listened to Lilith's praise over a job well done. The Operative and the other Vault Hunters were, once again, in the bridge, and the final fragment was with Tannis.
He still questioned how she got the key to assemble but, knowing her weird arse, probably something he didn't wanna know.
"We're ahead of the COV and ready to make a move on the Eden-6 Vault," Lilith sighed, shaking her head. "This time, though, Tannis' come up with a solution to ensure we don't give the twins what they want this time and deny them additional power."
"Wait," Amara crossed her arms. "Our goal's to simply starve them out?"
Lilith shrugged. "More or less; due to some…setbacks, I had to adapt and change the plan a bit. Here's the final copy, I guess; we're eliminating every Vault Monster and rendering it useless to the COV so the twins inevitably run out of power and either take one another our or, even better, give us a bead where they're really hiding so we can put 'em down for good."
"Sounds fuckin' weird. I'm in." Zane set his bottle down. "But now what? We wait 'til Tannis' done with…whatever weird shite she does?"
"Yep. So, you have today off. Do whatever with it, and first thing in the morning—"
"What morning? We're in SPACE!" Claptrap shouted from…somewhere in the room. Zane was annoyed yet bemused; hadn't seen much of the lil' shite.
Lilith rolled her eyes. "Twenty four hours, starting now. Use it well, Vault Hunters, 'cause tomorrow—" Lilith aimed a handgun behind her, no doubt aiming at Claptrap if he corrected her again. "we hit the twins where it hurts." The group rose and got ready to head out. "Wait, FL4K, Maya's asked for you. She should be down at the range."
"She's safe to be shootin', right?" Zane raised a brow. "Kinda thought one needed more time to recover from nearly gettin' the life sucked from 'em."
"Maya's tough," Lilith shrugged. "And she hates feeling helpless, so she likes to roam Sanctuary, trying to hurry and get her strength back. But, anyways, she's asking for you again, FL4K, so best get a move on."
"Understood." The robot turned and left, leaving the others to venture out the bridge themselves, save for Zane.
He had questions.
"So, we're one step closer to royally fuckin' the twins." Zane clasped his hands together and stood up from his seat. "Must feel good, right Lil'?"
"Heh, hell yeah," Lilith smirked. "we take those fuckers down, I get my powers back and make sure those monsters don't turn the whole galaxy into their personal playground."
"Fair, but what happens after this? For ya?" Zane questioned.
Lilith furrowed her brow. "I guess we'll put Sanctuary back on Pandora and go back to being the Crimson Raiders; keeping a semblance of unity on that hellscape of a planet 'til the next big threat shows up. And, let's face it, there's gonna be another."
"What makes ya so sure?"
"There always is. As I told my friends a while back, after we dealt with Jack, there ain't no rest for the wicked."
"Hmph, amen, sister." Zane chuckled. "Ya done good leading Sanctuary this long; I'm sure y'all be able to steer 'em right when y'all are back on Pandora."
"Hmm, it sounds like you plan on taking off when this is all over."
"Nah, gon' stick with the team, see where that takes me. We might go on vacation once or twice, though. Wanna hit Promethea when it ain' a shitehole. Might even strut me stuff in a club or six." The Operative turned and made his way for the door with a smirk. Lilith was…certainly an odd commander, but at the end of the day, she was alright.
In a sense, she reminded him of how his brothers ran things, only she wanted her flock to stay alive, and not serve as cannon fodder.
He appreciated that.
"So, Moze, what can I getcha today? Somethin' shocking? Somethin' explosive? Maybe a lil' bit of both?" Moze rolled her eyes at Marcus' words. The Gunner looked over the wares in his little 'hole in the wall' store, arms crossed, and brow furrowed. She hated visiting the greedy fucker's store; she always assumed he was trying to screw her over with the prices and, often, she assumed right. But, due to rising issues and circumstances, she needed to change her arsenal and, thus, that meant she needed more guns. Sure, she liked her assault rifle, but she needed something with enough firepower to drop those bandits before they got even more dangerous.
"Just…fucking…get me an assault rifle that can blow a bandit's head off."
"Gotta be specific, Moze; most of my assault rifles can do that, if you know where to aim." Marcus grinned. Moze growled. "Might I suggest somethin' 'up your alley' then?"
"The fuck does that mean?"
"Well, and this is jus' me guesin', you like guns with the right stoppin' power but, also, accuracy. Maybe a nice Dahl rifle I got in a recent shipment. Fair stoppin' power, but also comes with a neat scope you can switch."
"…hmm…maybe…" Movement behind her caught her focus. Moze looked over her shoulder and saw FL4K walking by…with Ava in tow, holding a hefty sniper rifle. "The fuck? FL4K?"
The Beastmaster came to a stop and turned towards Moze. "Hello, Moze. Shopping for a new gun, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, but what about you? Where're you going with Ava?"
"FL4K's showing me how to snipe properly! We're gonna fuck up some cultists on Eden-6!" Ava excitedly exclaimed. "I'll be one step closer to being a good Vault Hunter at this rate!"
"Uh…huh. Maybe we should…hold off on that. Eden-6 is dangerous right now." She was trying to come up with an excuse for FL4K; namely because she doubted they wanted to take Ava—
"I already checked the area, Moze. It is fine. And, besides, I was the one who approached with the idea."
Moze slowly inhaled. "FL4K, can I have a word in private?" Ava slowly stepped away and Moze moved to one of the many hallways of Sanctuary, along with the robot. "What the FUCK, man? She's got no business being a Vault Hunter—"
"Who decided that?" They asked. "She seems dead set towards the idea and hasn't bene turned into giblets, yet. Who are we to deny her such a goal?"
"Ugh just…this isn't a life for a teenager, FL4K, not to mention she's still inexperienced. She's not ready for this shit."
"Hence why I will make her ready. She proved she can hold her own on Promethea, and had she not been there, Maya would have perished or, worse, we would have. Her actions held the twins off, granting valued time for us to return from that howling abyss."
"Yeah but…ngh…" They raised a good point and she hated it. "I just don't want her to go out there and get killed. She has a whole life ahead of her; I don't want her life to end with her being beaten to death by a psycho or whatever else they do to people."
"Hmm. Moze, have you actually spoken to Ava?"
Moze raised a brow. "I mean…no? Never had a chance."
"I have; she has no life ahead of her." The Beastmaster motioned to the teenager who, even now, was fiddling with the sniper and lifting it up. "She was an urchin back home; her parents gone, family dissolved, and sleeping in alleys. Had she not met Maya, she would have inevitably died in the cold winters when they came. Because of that, Maya became more than a mentor for her; the former Siren became her family."
"I…I get that."
"Good, then you should understand the real 'why' behind her goal. She wishes to become like Maya, for Maya was the one who brought her back from the brink. She doesn't want to fill the former Siren's shoes just for the glamour and fame being a Vault Hunter brings but because it is all she knows. Most only turn to a life of being a Vault Hunter when they're at their last resort; Ava never had a resort to begin with." Moze glanced back towards the eager, energetic teen, and felt a pang of pity and regret. This really was all she knew, and most likely all she would ever know…at the very least, she was being taught by someone Moze trusted.
"Just…will she even make it as a Vault Hunter?"
"No one knows, and that is the glory of it. None just wake up and decide to be the best; that comes through Fate's decision. The most we can do is tip the scales for her, which is why I'm teaching her to snipe and, potentially, asking Wainwright for a gun for her. Something fancy."
"Huh…when're you guys leaving? I might ask for something, too." She could use a Jakobs gun. Maybe a fancy revolver. That, and she kinda wanted to see how things turned out for Ava. Maybe the kid wouldn't turn out so shitty.
Maybe she could help with that a bit. Who knew?
[So…yep. Another Ava chapter, or at the very least, me trying to humanize and make her likeable still. Here, I gave the why behind her goals of becoming a Vault Hunter; really, it makes sense psychologically. The person who saved her life and gave her the things she sought was a Vault Hunter so, naturally, it'd make sense for them to try to be one as well; just like a son seeing their father as a businessman and wanting to do the same. I also wanted another "calm before the storm" chapter as, next, we're handling the creature on Eden-6 and the fallout from that. We all know what it entails well, though later I may try to add side-quests.
For now, reviews.
-I didn't know Amara had a list of one-liners; may have to try browsing those dialogue changes again. When I initially played through Borderlands 3 I did it as FL4K, so I never had a chance to play her.
-I did what I could to make Moze seem more troubled because it's how her character came off as, I suppose. I did have an idea to give her PTSD flashbacks early in writing this story but I abandoned that because, from what I saw, she doesn't seem "too" troubled by what happened. I'm not entirely sure.
We're getting there together, people. Thanks for reading, and please stay safe out there. You all matter; remember that.]