The interior of Carnivora was about as rugged and weird as the rest of the place.
The Operative and his mates stepped past the entryway and looked about the rugged place. Mashing a finger to his earpiece, he heard Pain going off on his associates, griping and complaining about how things weren't working. Thankfully, they had some more time, but considering he contacted the engineers, not long.
They soon reached another "residential" area of Carnivora and, like last time, there were cultists everywhere. Cultists who open fired the second they had eyes on them. Zane dropped his barrier down and casually returned fire, making sure to stick each of them with the explosive rounds to ensure they didn't have an easy time shooting.
"Vault Hunters, I think we're running out of time!" Tannis said.
"We're comin', Tannis, just…try to buy more time. Ask him 'bout his hat or some shite." An explosion nearby told him Amara had just fired her rocket launcher. The cultists were cleared out and the way forward was accessible. "Let's push up. Seems like we got a lull in their forces, I guess."
"Mhm. Still weird to see homes and such so deep within a place like this." Amara mused. "Like…who even are these people?"
"Probably techs and engineers. Considerin' how much work needs to be done for this place, it'd make sense for it to have its crew and staff always within arms reach." Zane answered. "Also helps 'em that said staff's as batshit insane as every other COV, and not against workin' 'round dangerous places."
"Explains why we keep finding bandits in weird ass spots." Moze grunted.
"Oh, that's normal. Bandits'll set up shop wherever they think they can stay alive and loot other bandits. That's why me brother set himself up in the fuckin' arctic. Ain' no one goin' out there, thus he never had to worry 'bout gettin' attacked. And he had a boat set up so him and his boys could go raidin'."
"That's…huh." Moze paused. "…fuck, that's not a dumbass idea."
"Yep. But, y'know, brother got off'd. Ain' shocked, nor surprised. The takeaway from this is bandits're a hardy bunch." Zane turned and curtly shot a charging tink in the face. "Not these fuckers. Their devotion's made 'em senile. More than they usually are."
"And as unpredictable as a rabid beast is, it's still easily felled." FL4K added.
The group continued to move. Zane switched his pistol for his Maliwan SMG, making sure the laser-esque gun was set to fire.
"So very close, my spotlight-hogging Vault Thieves," Pain. Of course. "but you can't pull our plug that easily. We're going to sacrifice, one way or another!"
Zane scowled. "Alright, let's hustle. Seems like they're gonna do shite the hard way."
He hoped Tannis bought herself enough time; he heard 'the hard way' enough times to know that usually meant a slow, primitive death.
Or a loaded gun.
"Fuck!" Moze nearly hit the ground after riding the weird air lift. The Gunner caught herself just barely and checked herself quickly to make sure nothing was left behind. Thankfully, everything was in place, though she was suspiciously missing a grenade…hopefully the pin didn't get pulled.
With that done, she turned her attention to the new room, one occupied by an assortment of spinning cogs and gears. The place had to be the gutworks of Carnivora; where all the complex machinery was housed and, also, where they were in pretty big danger of being crushed or mulched by a stray gear.
And here she thought her time with Vladof wouldn't pay off…well…no more than it did already.
Moze shouldered her SMG and followed with the others, raising it to fire a quick burst of bullets at a cultist who charged down the narrow hallway.
"Incompetent sweat weasels! Every minute we aren't killing people, we lose half a million subscribers!" Pain was losing his shit. Moze could care less. Considering he stood between them and rescuing Tannis, the more suffering he went through the better things were for them. "Huh? What's that, Terror…? Oh, good idea. Ahem, until we get the Agonizer 9000 working, we're…going to broadcast the Vault Thieves as they murder our crew! How's THAT for entertainment, huh?!"
"…has he lost his shot?" Moze asked, just in time for a cultist to get his face blown apart from FL4K's sniper. "How sadistic can these fuckwits be? I mean, they're just…letting us do this, apparently."
"Yeah, even for Pandora's standards, this is pretty fuckin' dumb." Zane chucked a zealot into the grinding gears below, resulting in a messy spray of blood and entrails landing on the catwalk they jogged across.
"Desperation does a lot. I believe I fought a man who tried using a toddler as a meat shield once," Amara sighed. "It worked poorly. I'm quite dexterous with my fists."
"Didja kill the bastard?" Zane's tone went dark.
"Of course; why wouldn't I?"
"Good. Lotta things that get under me skin; usin' kids like that is one've 'em."
"See, that I can agree on, old man." Moze said. At times, she forgot Zane basically went berserk if kids got hurt or worse. It was a nice redeeming quality, and, as said, something they could both agree on.
The team continued across the various stairwells and catwalks in the gutworks. More of Carnivora's crew tried to ambush and attack them but, like all the others, either met their end from a bullet or met their end from the grinding gears below. The Gunner did find it a bit twisted, but considering everything, those thoughts lasted al for six seconds.
"Huh, Vault Thieves, good news; apparently, our subscribers are LOVING YOU! Now, we may have some…um…creative differences and 'insurmountable philosophical disagreements' but, if there's one thing I can recognize, it's a group of certified killing machines!"
"Is he…is this fucker being serious?" Moze asked, completely baffled. She understood Pandora even less now.
What's next? That's it's custom to actually mow down skags? That'd be fucking nuts.
They were no doubt nearing Tannis' holding place. Amara racked her shotgun and threw a bandit off the edge of the catwalk, sending the hapless fool plummeting to their demise miles below. Considering how long it took the bandit to hit the ground, they were VERY high up.
"C'mon, we ain' got much time. Sounds like they almost got shite workin'." Zane called. They pushed on, mowing through swarms of cultists like a mower through a badly kept yard. Amara alternated between blowing bandits apart with her shotgun or smashing them with her Phaseslam, doing her best to maintain her stamina and prevent from a lapse in her abilities.
They, soon, piled into an elevator. One that would, no doubt, take them up to where they needed to be.
"Hey, hey, hey! This is a professional gig, Vault Thieves! Your moment! If we're gonna get you in the ring, you're gonna need some entrance music. Pick one!"
"Is…anyone else surprised how this fucker's rooting for us now?" Moze grumbled. Amara glanced to the buttons and saw…well little indication on which was which: one was a flaming skull, one was an open mouth, and the last…well she supposed a volume mixer, so that had to be EDM.
…she wasn't a fan of EDM.
FL4K mashed one of the buttons at seemingly random and ominous metal filled the air, accompanied by a sinister piano. It was definitely not her cup of tea but, considering the circumstances, she pushed those thoughts to the side and got ready. The elevator ascended and soon came to a stop; ahead of them was a drop that, if all their other fights were right, led to where a foe was.
So, with that, Amara was the first to step forward and drop down into a metal lined arena. All around it were screaming cultists, cheering and raving, and in the center, next to a massive hole, was Tannis, strung up on some sort of insidious contraption.
"Welcome…to the greatest show on Pandora!" And, next to her, were the two she needed to kill; Pain and Terror. The contraption suspending Tannis suddenly receded upwards and the two cultists leapt onto something that ascended from the hole…something demented looking.
The thing staring at them looked like a giant, mechanized cultist, sporting a demented visage, and an assortment of weapons and tools on it. Given all the clues she had, Amara assumed that was the Agonizer 9000.
Hopefully it lived up to its name.
"See, Vault Thieves," Pain's voice resonated from the animatronic monstrosity. "THIS is how you make an entrance!"
"Oh shite…this'll be fun." Zane said, reloading his SMG.
"Viewers! Comment in the stream on how you want the Vault Thieves to die; we got mods standing by!" The robotic thing grabbed a demented, spike lined weapon from its shoulder and slammed it into the ground, nearly crushing Moze who, thankfully, flung herself out the way. In a flash, they all open fired at the damned thing, shooting wherever and anywhere they could.
"Watch the floor!" Amara looked down to see the floor beneath her glowing red hot. She threw herself to the side just as flames erupted from where she once was, telling her how much control the cult had over the environment…and how dangerous things were.
"Oi!" Zane shouted. "Aim for the red panels!" He fired at one to prove his point and the resulting explosion made the robot flinch. The team continued to open fire, Amara centering her shots on those weak points while, also, remembering to shoot any cultists who got bolt enough to jump into the ring.
"Aaaaaaand by popular demand, it's the MEGA BLENDER!" The thing's head lowered down and a lengthy, twitching blade extended from its maw. The Agonizer's head swept around, turning any unfortunate bandits into giblets just as Zane slid under the demented weapon, as did FL4K.
Moze, however, was distracted, trying to reload her weapon and pelt a fleeing cultist.
"Moze!" The Siren threw herself forward and tackled the Gunner to the floor just as the blade passed overhead. The Gunner, for a moment, flailed and swore, though that ended in a flash. "You good?"
"Y-Y-Yeah. Just…a bit winded." She had a massive blush on her face. Amara knew damn well what it was but, considering what was unfolding, she didn't have time to comment on it.
"C'mon, on your feet, then." Amara got up and offered a hand to Moze; the Gunner quickly accepted it and got to her feet, still blushing the entire time.
"Oi, hate to be that guy, but we got a bastard to waste!" Zane called. A pair of sawblades whirled past and the moment was dashed. As quickly as she stopped, Amara resumed shooting, though she slowed down when the thing…receded into the floor.
"Alright, don't panic, folks. Taking a quick commercial break. Our sponsor today's…um…about this mobile fantasy game—Terror I thought I said we weren't accepting deals from those guys…yeah, I know it pays good but I fucking hate that game…augh…fuck it, I'll call 'em and say we aren't doing it."
Amara was confused, but she used the opportunity to reload her weapons and gather her senses.
"Breaks over. Terror, hit every button!" Well, there it was. The Agonizer attacked with a flurry of attacks, including the 'mega blender' as they called it. This time, all four of them slid under it without any issues, and Amara managed to blast the damn things jaw off with a well-placed rocket. The robot was nearly done, and when it slammed its blade into the ground again, this time, she Phaseslammed it, trapping it there and allowing Zane to open fire at the joint, severing the arm.
"Ah, damnit! Don't unsubscribe, people! We can still salvage this stream!" Pain shouted. Soon, the Agonizer rattled and vibrated before its other arm exploded off, and the thing was nearly done. "Alright, we got ONE last trick up our sleeve. The thing to fix it all!"
Amara saw something glowing on it. A violet colored core in the thing's center.
"Vault Hunters…destroy that core. Trust me." Amara open fired at it, as did the others, just as a beam erupted from it, one that nearly struck FL4K and cleaved a literal hole in the floor. But, thankfully, the core was destroyed in a matter of moments, showering the floor in Eridium…
…Eridium that began to float up, and towards Tannis.
"Wha—" She didn't even get time to reach before the scientist seemed to…absorb it, resulting in a blinding light engulfing the room. When it cleared, Tannis was floating…no…she was hovering, with a set of angelic, ghostly wings.
"No fuckin' way. Ya gotta be shitin' me. She's a fuckin' SIREN?"
Well…that was something.
"So…I understand that you may have a few…questions." Tannis stood nearby the hole in the ground where, moments ago, the Agonizer was. FL4K finished ripping their blade from Pain's body, hefting his severed head up and shaking the excess blood from it.
"You are a Siren? How, and why?"
"Well, it's a long story; it's also how I've been speaking in your head and charging the Vault Keys."
"Huh, always wondered how that was bein' done." Zane mused.
"Indeed. As for my particular powers, I am able to manipulate machines and anything else with a current. As far as I recall, it's called 'phaseshifting'; considering my trade, you could call it a gift from a guardian angel."
"Outta curiosity…would that work on tinman here?" Zane asked curiously.
"For her sake, I hope she would not attempt."
"Well, I would, but it won't. Technically, you have a conscious mind. If I were to try phaseshifting you, you may just lose control of a limb or two. But we're getting off topic. I had intended to keep this secret but…best laid plans, robotic murder machines. You were there, of course. Regardless, I'll return to Sanctuary…and thank you, really. I don't say that enough." And, with that, she just…phased away.
"So, science girl's a siren, the twins' stream got ruined, and the Agonizer's down…huh." Moze huffed. "How're we getting home?"
"I will contact Axton, but what of Carnivora? Should we leave it running, even with its heads removed?" FL4K asked.
"Eh…I'll set it to drive into the volcanic region on Pandora. I'm sure no one'll mind it violently exploding out there. Y'all…do whatever." The Operative walked off and FL4K set themselves to work on skinning Pain's head. They had finally hit the twins deep and denied them a major supply of Eridium. There remained the risk of the twins simply taking someone else, but with Carnivora devoid of its leaders and soon to be…well cast into a molten grave, it would accomplish nothing except provide an ample chance for the Beastmaster to strike.
Besides, the curtains were drawing to a close. The twins would soon make a great mistake and, when it came, they would strike.
And then the glorious hunt would come to a close.
[And Carnivora's done. Took a while to do, but now it's done. We're drawing upon the exodus for this story. So, that's a good thing. It's been a wild ride, so I'm glad you all've stuck with me amid it. I do plan to use next chapter for a non-canon, comical one, so you've been warned.
Now, reviews.
To SHADOW WARRIOR 3: I do feel like Borderlands 3 peaked in gameplay aspects, but dropped the ball when it came to story. It tends to happen; they might've thought people wouldn't give two shits about the story when, really, they forgot many craved a good story with their stellar gameplay. So, hopefully, they can remedy that in future expansions. I do wish they take a page from Vermintide's book and allow for the Vault Hunters to banter with one another, but, like I said, DLCs could fix that.
To TAG AND BINK: It's exactly that, yes; we as the players know to mow shit down but the chars themselves? Unlikely, unless they spent time on Pandora. Even in Borderlands 2 this was unlikely, as only two of them were actively native to the planet, while the rest were there only through circumstances. And, for the Great Vault, we'll see.
To Le055Li0n: It'd make sense for each hunter to have a preferred gun, like in the first game each char did better with a specific gun.
Thanks for the continued support. Let's end this on a high note.