The surface of the planet was…well weird. Eerie was a better way to put it, honestly.
Zane walked ahead with the others, having been dropped off moments ago by Axton. Sure, there was plant-life and other shite, but the place felt abandoned, destitute…dead, even, which made sense since it was, y'know, the mysterious planet and all.
"Vault Hunters, we're tracking Typhon's ECHO frequency, and sending the coordinates to you all. It's still…not precise, but it at least gets us his general location. We can work from there."
"This is all quite overwhelming, though." Tannis added. "First Pandora was a Vault the entire time and now you're walking on the Eridian homeworld, and about to meet Typhon DeLeon in the flesh…if you'll excuse me, I must take a power nap in that dead saurian I keep in the lab…"
"…fuckin' gross…" Zane muttered.
"Hang on. We have an issue." FL4K pointed ahead.
Zane scowled when he saw the Maliwan supply crates and, of course, a few dead Maliwan soldiers strewn about.
"Lilith, Maliwan's here," Amara was the first to contact her. "Dead soldiers, of course, but they're here."
"Damnit…how could Maliwan have known about the planet…stay sharp. Something's wrong."
"Guys, might've found the things that did it." Moze called. Several bug-like creatures skittered about, ones FL4K didn't hesitate to blow into bits with their sniper rifle. "…alright then."
"Scavengers," The Beastmaster curtly said. "Whatever killed those soldiers remains in the area, but it was not them."
"Well that's shite to hear." Regardless, they moved on. Zane sighted a few, weird relics and ruins scattered about, but nothing that was of any importance. Not to him at least.
Their trek ended when they reached a clearing, one where they found the ruins of a Maliwan campsite.
"Well, looks like the local fauna didn't appreciate Maliwan setting up camp. Clear 'em if you gotta, people."
Zane was the first to open fire, peppering one of the bugs and sending it to the ground. More shooting erupted and, for every bug that fled, two more were gunned down, quickly clearing the area of the wildlife and making the area even quieter than it was earlier…which just made things even eerier.
"Huh, looks like Maliwan was trying to set up a Catch-A-Ride, VHs. Could prob' reroute power from that forcefield."
"…oh right, there's a forcefield." Zane muttered, now actually seeing the wall of hard light that blocked their path. Given the context clues he had, they probably set it up to keep back much of the wildlife, only to be devoured by the ones that managed to slip by.
Of course, it made Zane wonder what was dangerous enough past that point to warrant them putting up a forcefield, but he didn't really get time to consider it, since FL4K had already rerouted the power, powering up the station and letting Moze digistruct a Technical for them to ride in. The four of them piled in and Zane sped off, leaving behind the remains of the camp and once again following the coordinates Lilith provided.
Tannis yawning in his ear caught his attention…damn near made him swerve from sheer panic. "Quite a nap…also reminds me. Did you know, Vault Hunters, that Typhon DeLeon was one of the main factors for me becoming a researcher of Eridian culture. The stories I heard of him, the tales of his travels; almost made me want to pursue them myself. Except less…wanton murder, you Vault Hunters are adept at."
"That…makes sense. Let's just hope he has a way to save the universe, though. Because, if not…well at least you got to meet your hero before shit hit the fan." Moze shrugged. "Not everyone gets to say that. I still wanna meet my hero and I'm pissed I can't."
"Why? Cause they're gone?" Amara asked.
"Over in another galaxy, I think. Leads some sorta…weird…group called the…Battleborn, I think? I'll have to check the when we're done…or…rather…if we're done. Let's not make promises we can't keep."
"Why? I do it all the time." Zane casually stated. Moze just glared. "But yeah I know what ya mean. But we're gonna get it, Mozzy Moze. We're gonna save the universe."
"That you shall…I still find it concerning, though," Tannis joined in once again. "The Calypsos somehow knew the Destroyer was imprisoned within Pandora, which means their goal, all along, was to amass enough energy to free it, and contend against it for the right to consume it. Due to your interference, seems Tyreen will have to face it alone, unless we put it right back to sleep and deny her the chance."
"And that's what we're gonna do." Zane brought the Technical to a halt and hopped out. The Operative trekked through the dense foliage with his handgun raised, closing in on the coordinates along with the others…
…only for them to reach a large, rock wall. "…shite, is this it?"
"It's not," A new, unknown voice spoke into his ECHO. "Good to see you all at last. Mister DeLeon has been expecting you." The wall shimmered and…faded, much like his decoys did. Behind it, floated a robot, no doubt the one who spoke. "I am Grouse, primary steward to Mister DeLeon, as since my counterpart is inferior in EVERY way, he has charged ME with greeting you. So…greetings."
"…yo?" Amara said. The robot floated ahead and the group followed, walking along a treacherous, rocky pass that quickly became a metal one, settling them in some sort of lab.
"Weird…place." Moze grumbled. "Has this always been here?"
"Mhm. It was here prior to—"
"Hey, Vault Hunters," ANOTHER robot appeared, seemingly obstructing their path. "I'm Sparrow. Typhon asked me to show you all around the place."
"…Sparrow, what the hell? Mister DeLeon says the universe is in DANGER! We don't have time for a damned tour."
"Didn't even know robots could be this angry with one another…" Zane muttered to FL4K.
"They always are; they just argue first in binary. If it gets verbal…someone has gone too far."
"Go to Hell, Grouse. Tour time!" The other robot floated ahead. Zane just…waited for the robot to fly off, then walked up the stairs. He'd probably realize there's no tour, and fuck off.
At the top of the stairs, there was a massive shadow being cast. Someone was hard at work making something, and the instant his foot hit the ground, the shadow stopped working. "What took ya so long, Vault Hunters? We got a universe to save!" The shadow grew smaller and smaller until…the man himself was revealed.
A literal hobbit. Just as Zane feared. The short man stared at him, fixing an electro-whip and coyly shrugging.
"What? You were expecting someone less handsome?"
Zane had many words to describe Typhon. Handsome was second to last, somehow.
"Glad you all made it; was probably a shlep to get here." Moze was still in disbelief by the…appearance of the man who was supposed to be the first Vault Hunter. That disbelief grew when he yanked out a strange, almost alien looking weapon that, after a delay, fired an actual gun from it, one she carefully picked up and appraised.
For the most part, it was an ordinary, Dahl assault rifle, with a reflex scope and everything. A glance over told her four more guns were dropped, each one meant for each of them. The man had a gun that fired guns, and she could hardly believe it.
"That gun must be mine…" FL4K growled from nearby.
"Well, it runs on Eridium. So, if ya got some, I'm always happy to make ya a gun or two. Even customized those ones to how I think ya'd like 'em."
"Explains why mine shoots fire." Amara mused with a smirk.
"For now, gotta show ya something. This way!" Typhon was already hobbling off. Moze shouldered her weapon and followed suit, as did the others. "Bots, I'm takin' the Vault Hunters to the Machine. Y'all know what to do 'bout Maliwan and the wildlife."
"Now's our chance to prove our worth!"
"Won't matter…it's the end of the universe."
"So…that whip," Zane asked the short man, eyeing his weapon. "it's fuckin' lasers or some shite?"
"Yep! Been real handy in my sundown years, since I can't go as fast as I used to. Plus, whips are great! Lasers too!"
Typhon was…astonishingly right.
In a flash, the short man whipped something in the distance and shot off, whipping around and landing on another walkway nearby. Moze figured he did that purely to show off, but she didn't comment on it and headed over with the others to continue following. "So, by now, ya've figured out Pandora's a planet-sized Vault." Typhon said, eerily casually. "Yeah, the Eridians called it the 'Great Vault' or something. Long time ago, they crammed an interdimensional monster called The Destroyer, in there. Wasn't easy, but hey, nothin' in life is, right?"
"Amen to that." Zane nodded.
"Yeah, shame they sacrificed their whole civilization to do it, too. They were smart, those aliens, cause they had a backup plan, just in case someone was meshugga enough to release the Destroyer."
"…and IF it gets free?" Moze questioned.
"Well, they named it 'The Destroyer' for a reason. Anyhow," Typhon motioned to an absolutely massive, runic door, with eerie red light washing over it. Just looking at the thing gave her the willies, something she never once had in their adventure…not until recently, at least. "Behind that door is an ancient Eridian astrokinetic, Vault-powered, phase engine…long name, yeah. Hence why I just call it 'the Machine'."
"And this Machine may be able to delay the Destroyer?" FL4K asked.
"Yep! They used it to lock the Destroyer away once, and it can do it again! We just need four Vault Keys to get past the door."
"Wait…shite, we got three of 'em." Zane spoke up, clearly thinking. "Where's the last one?"
"I hid it; had to. Somehow, Maliwan figured out where this place was and has bases set up between here and the Vault on this planet. Honestly, though, might've been my fault, since I contacted ya directly, and didn't encrypt the signal. Still, the Vault should remain unguarded and unbreached, so y'all can get what ya need. Should be a bridge nearby that leads Vault-side, so take it, and watch out for Maliwan goons as you go."
"Thanks…hopefully, we return with the key soon."
"Good. Cause time's workin' against us, and I'd rather not see the end of the universe in this lifetime."
And the team rolled out, though as they walked, Moze had a thought cross her mind.
"Zane, what the fuck did that one thing you said mean?"
"Rock Anthem to save the world? Old song."
"Ah."
[So, on a Saturday. I didn't add EVERYTHING here, as I want Typhon's reaction to Troy's demise to be more meaningful, along with what we all know comes next, so that whole ordeal will get a chapter to itself, so I'm not forced to squish it all into this one. I also uploaded this on a Saturday because, due to it being November, all non-critical projects have been moved to the weekends, with my novel taking up the business week. So, for the last few chapters, expect them to come out on a Saturday from here on out.
For now, reviews.
To Rough Rider: The new skins are interesting ideas and concepts to see. If they DO make a timewarp DLC, I could add them somewhere. But for now, they're cool to look at, at least. The new skill trees, however, I can probably add in for the next story, as I figured the Handsome Jackpot stuff takes place a while after the main campaign.
To Dovahkiin795: It did in a sense, so hopefully, I can remedy that.
Thanks for sticking by me on this. I'll try to wrap things up in a few more chapters, not to stretch things further, but deliver a stellar story.]
