It was showtime. Another Vault to be cleared and another fuck you to be delivered to the COV.
Zane adjusted himself once again in his seat as he and the others rode in the stolen Maliwan ship, in transit to the Vault's theorized location. For once, he was fine tuning his firearms and making sure they had that pop; he'd be damned if he'd let a repeat of the last time happen.
A glance up told him the others were preparing as well, though not as vigorously. Zane figured they already made the checks.
"So," He turned to their faithful pilot; the Commando from Maya's fun filled past. "How long 'til we can blow shite up?"
"Not much longer; once you all are groundside, you gotta clear a path to the Vault and…y'know kill the Vault monster. I think Wainwright's already worked on solving the puzzle down there, so it shouldn't be as hard."
"Good, not in the mood for a shitty puzzle." Moze huffed. "I just wanna get this over with so we can force those fuckers to fuck up."
"My, you're in a mood, Moze." Amara mused, causing the Gunner to…grow flustered? The fuck?
"I-I just wanna hurry this shit up, nothing to it." Zane silently chuckled but went back to upkeep. It was honestly no secret Moze had something for Amara, but was too…well he wanted to say chicken-shite, but he knew saying that meant she'd shoot him in the face, and considering the small soldier was packing a shock weapon, he'd like to avoid getting shot.
Zane focused when he heard the ship slow down. "Alright! Drop in, people!" The Operative was the first out, riding the ship's grav lift down and finding himself nearby the terrace for the Jakobs' estate.
Wainwright himself stood in front of said terrace, carefully lighting a cigar. "Switch's inside, Vault Hunters. It'll reveal the entrance to the Vault. Honestly, I wanted to wait 'til y'all got back from your day off so we could do this together, but…well your commander friend urged me to handle it alone."
"Oh no…what a shame." Zane was being VERY sarcastic; puzzles irked him still, and he owed Lilith a pint.
"Yeah, but I guess y'all get another chance to show how adventurous you are, then."
"Psh, I'm adventurous as hell." Moze boasted. "I've eaten lots of street meat; hell, fry something up and I'll eat it. Anything." Zane couldn't tell if she was fucking around or being serious.
"We will test that when we return," FL4K suddenly spoke. "Mr. Chew brought me what I assume to be varkid meat. We will test that."
"…fuck." Definitely fucking around.
Still, the team advanced to the pool of water and, as Wainwright said, an intricate switch rose. Said switch Amara pressed in a flash.
Zane's eyes widened as ornate stone rose from…well the depths below, rising and coalescing together to form a massive bridge leading to, no doubt, the Vault.
"There she is, Vault Hunters. My family legacy." Wainwright approached the terrace, watching the bridge form with a smile on his face. "A small price to pay for bringing the Jakobs corporation back to its rightful owners. You have my thanks. Now go fuck those twins over, especially that rat bastard." The bridge was completed and the team advanced forwards once more, walking together across.
"Head to the Vault and I will meet you there." Tannis said in…well he guessed his ECHO. Hard to say. "Once we awaken the guardian, do what you all do best…within reason. Wouldn't want to accidentally blow up the bridge and send you all plummeting towards a gruesome, messy demise thousands of miles below the ground."
"…and ya put that in me head for what reason?"
"Science."
Zane hated Tannis.
Moze wasn't looking forward to two things; FL4K's challenge, and going after this Vault monster. Granted, it was different than the Promethea Vault, on the grounds of the COV not knowing where said Vault was and, therefore, being unable to intervene. But, still, they were about to fight a damn near eldritch horror; no one actually looked forward to that…except weirdos.
Speaking of weirdos, Tannis stood by the end of the bridge. "Ah, Vault Hunters, right on time. I suppose you four are ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be." Amara nodded. "Do the twins know we're here?"
"Unlikely. Due to how intrusive they've been, I've taken the liberty of scrambling your ECHO signals. How I've done that in the time we spoken? Don't worry about it. Just know, currently, they think you're on the other side of the planet." Moze was…surprised by such a trick, and glad for it too. That definitely meant the twins were shit outta luck when it came to stopping them.
The five of them pressed on and reached a massive archway, one that sported a sharp drop past it. If it was anything like every other fight they've gone through, they were about to fight.
Amara was the first one who stepped over, dropping down. Zane and FL4K followed suit, leaving Moze to be the last one down, though she called out Iron Bear as she landed, leading to her mech slamming into the ground, ready to fight.
Ahead of them was the iconic archway every Vault sported. When Amara slammed the key into its place, two strange creatures just…materialized; appearing out of thin air! Of course, both were put down quickly.
"Guardians? Here? This makes no sense." Tannis grumbled. "There is supposed to be an enormous monster in the Vault." The ground rumbled and shook. Moze turned around in Iron Bear and saw something literally awakening on the edge of the area…something massive and foreboding. Worse yet, from the slain Guardians, magenta colored energy drifted from their corpses and towards the rising creature, disappearing into it and causing the creature to finally rise and stare down at them all.
"…I'm guessing that's the Vault Monster."
"I do believe so. Well, ask for a monster, get a monster. Do be careful." The team open fired on the creature, raining down shots and perforating its plant-covered hide. Zane had long since deployed his barrier, using it to defend himself from stray shots while returning fire.
A wet splat caught her attention. Moze turned Iron Bear and saw a jabber standing nearby…a jabber that was ready to fling something she didn't wanna name at her.
"Oh HELL no!" She lit the fucker up with both miniguns, reducing it to bloody ribbons as she saw more jabbers drop down into the area, joined by other native fauna of the planet. Seemed this Vault Monster was keen on calling help.
Bad for both sides, really.
The fight continued. FL4K popped the heads of a few saurian as Moze dismissed Iron Bear, dropping down and raining down fire onto the Vault monster with her AR. The thing was definitely getting more pissed off so, clearly, they were going in the right direction.
She flinched when one of its massive hands slammed into the ground, leaving a hefty crater in it and narrowly missing Zane. "Ah, shite, fucker almost got me."
"You think?" Moze huffed and stumbled. Her stumbling became sliding as she realized the fucker was tilting the whole arena, causing her to slide towards the edge, where a pit to the literal abyss awaited.
"OH FUCK—!" Something caught her hand. Moze looked up to see Amara clutching her hand, leaving her other literally embedded into the stone. The Siren saved her, and while Moze wanted to thank her, she…couldn't. Every time she tried to say the words they died before they could leave her mouth. Staring at the Siren left her dumbstruck and she silently panicked; what if Amara could see it? What if Amara could see her expression?!
She sure as fuck hoped not.
Amara was a bit…confused and concerned by Moze's expression. A furious blush had exploded across her face and her lips moved rapidly, as if she were silently stuttering. It was one she knew well, being lovestruck, but not one she expected from Moze…at least not so soon. She had the urge to comment on it but, considering they were fighting a monster, now wasn't the time, nor the place.
"Snap outta it, Moze!" The Siren felt the ground return to normal, allowing her to yank Moze up and set her on her own two feet. "This thing shouldn't have much time left. Let's end it."
"Y-Y-Yeah, right. Fuck…gimme a sec." The Gunner shook her head fervently and sighed. "Right, ready." Bullets, rockets, and other things were sent back at the vault monster, the team raining literal hellfire onto the monster and giving it the same treatment as the one on Promethea.
The monster soon gave a harrowing, distorted call and slumped onto the area, still and unmoving. "…did…did we get it?" Zane asked from afar. "Cause I don' know if these shites know how to play dead."
"It's dead, Vault Hunters, well done." Tannis confirmed. "Now, I've been working on some experimental technology that SHOULD allow us to neutralize the Vault Monster's energy, rendering it useless. I'll be there shortly to utilize such technology." True to Tannis' word, the researcher soon walked past Amara, giving the Siren mild concern how she was that quiet. Once she was in front of the slain Vault monster, Tannis seemed to…enter something into a little console and raised her arms up. From the slain Vault monster that same, magenta colored energy wafted from its form…and went straight into Tannis' form. The normally weird and slightly creepy scientist now let out grunts of effort and frustration. Amara holstered her shotgun and took a step towards her—
"N-Not yet!" She shouted through clenched teeth. "If you approach, buff Siren, the power may jump to you and make you a beacon to the COV, and by now they no doubt know we're here."
"Alright…then." On one hand, Amara was incredibly worried about the success rate of the mission and the risks if they failed…but on the other, did Tannis seriously not know her name?
Finally, after a tormenting pause, Tannis stepped back, huffing and panting in exertion. "Whew! Haugh…excellent. I-It worked. I told Lilith it would."
"So, they can't do anything with this?" Moze questioned.
"Precisely! Hammerlock told me, when hunting a beast, it's best to deny it sustenance. Now that we know this works, we can simply move to the next Vault and do the same, further weakening the twins. After all, starving creatures make mistakes."
"That they do." FL4K eerily confirmed.
"What the actual DICK. Did you just kill that thing for good?! Come on! Now there's no point in any of this!" It sounded like Tyreen knew. "Uuuuuugggh! I'm so hungryyyy! I guess I'll…I dunno…leech a pile of tinks…might do…something."
"You guys really suck, you know that? Totally uncalled for."
FL4K inhaled. Oh no.
"This is what is called a 'reality check'. Enjoy it; you won't get many more of these before I wear your fingers as a necklace. So, now you have a choice; continue to sit in the sidelines like cowards while we destroy your food or face us directly. Oh, and Troy? I still have some of your skin trapped between my knuckles."
"Well," Tannis cleared her throat. "That seems to…that seems to have shut them up—wonder why we didn't do such things when dealing with Jack…then again, engaging him would have simply inflated his ego even further than it already was. Regardless, you may enter the Vault and claim your 'loot'. Meanwhile. I will examine the Eridian technology out here—perhaps we can make use of it." Amara nodded. The arch started to reassemble itself and, like last time, created a dark, violet portal.
"Well, let's hope they have a good shotgun in here. Or maybe an SMG…been needing a good one." Amara did silently wonder how guns found their way into an ancient Vault but, honestly, those were questions she really didn't care for.
And, with that, her and the others delved into the Vault to, once again, reap their rewards, though now with little chance of the twins fucking things up.
Or so she hoped.
FL4K emerged from the portal, holding a fancy, new sniper rifle. It was of remarkable craft and reminded them much of the one they got from Zer0, but far more refined and far more deadly.
A glance around told them they were the first to emerge. The others perhaps needed more time.
"Tannis," They turned to the scientist, still hard at work fiddling with some of the technology. "what have you learned?"
"Well, for starters, this Vault is, somehow, connected to the one on Promethea, Pandora, and even another I cannot recognize. The twins could be speaking the truth about this 'Great Vault' they're so…earnest on opening."
"They will not live to see its opening; you and I know that."
"True true. Regardless, once the others return from the Vault we must return to Sanctuary together. Lilith will want to hear about my findings, and—"
A flash of crimson momentarily blinded them. When their optic refocused, they saw Tannis was gone.
"…fuck." FL4K grunted.
"HA! Phaselock'd outta nowhere! Whaddya think about that, Vault Thief!?"
"That you are a fool; you had a chance to halt us and, instead, you chose her."
"It's all part of the plan, tin man. When you fuckers killed that monster, I thought we were screwed, but we've got our eye on a bigger prize."
FL4K switched COM channels. He wasn't going to entertain the rat's ego stroking. "Lilith, we have an issue. The Calypsos managed to kidnap Tannis."
"What?! Damnit…Axton's en route. Get back here ASAP."
The others emerged from the portal, glancing around. "Eh…where'd Tannis—"
"The twins have taken her," FL4K cut Zane off. "Lilith wants us back on Sanctuary now."
"MotherFUCKER!" Moze swore.
"I share your ire, Moze. For once, the fools have managed to hinder us greatly. Without her, we lose our means of finding the Vaults before they do." They could hear the approaching ship. FL4K was, finally, worried; the twins had managed to do something beyond what they speculated and planned out, and that had them unsettled, not just because of Tannis' capture but because, clearly, Troy was getting a handle on his stolen powers, as was Tyreen. That meant, inevitably, they'd become too big to kill.
Then what?
[And here's the Graveward; didn't really mention it's name because, canonly, I wasn't sure how they'd KNOW it's name, outside of maybe Tannis. And, with this, we're reaching the return to Pandora and, with it, the final stages of our little ensemble here.
So, reviews:
-Improving Ava's character honestly wasn't as cumbersome as I originally thought; it's tricky at times, yes, but really, I just needed to give her rational reasons for doing the things she did and make her less of a raving, dumb teenager and someone with literally nothing left to cling to, except Vault Hunting. The previous chapter affirmed this.
-FL4K serving as Ava's teacher was improvised, but now that it's been done, it feels right. They like murdering, so it'd make sense for them to teach someone else to murder also. Maybe down the road I'll give her stuff with the others; maybe in the DLC spinoffs.
-Clay's not around cause I think he's still on Eden-6 somewhere. Didn't really plan for him to come aboard Sanctuary with them.
-Right, I did have an oversight regarding Zane and moonshine. My mistake.
With the Graveward down, we're making a return to Pandora. So, this should be fun. Oh, I DO plan on including Side Quests, though most likely in 'off time' chapters…it'd make little sense for them to do a side quest now when Tannis has been kidnapped.
Even though we've all done it.]