Song: Queen - Killer Queen; The Dead 60s - Riot Radio

I walked back from the arena trying not to let it show that I was kinda upset I messed up. I was in the second round and I really had messed up royally. I wasn't out completely yet, but by the end of the round I'd probably be disqualified. And for good reason. I had just done really awful.

I don't know why. For some reason last night all the shit with Handsome Jack and Hyperion came back into my head and I could barely get any sleep. All the stuff that had happened just kept rewinding - Mordecai being drunk most of the time, the way he'd get unreasonably angry about some things, some arguments, Lilith living on her own in the wilderness barely surviving, the city almost being destroyed by the mortar attack, the Wildlife Preserve, Bloodwing, Roland, Angel... it all kept coming back to me over and over and over. I was panicking for half the night.

It was ridiculous. Those two guys were literally no threat to me or anyone. Them telling me they'd kill me was like the bandits with their empty threats. It would usually only win them a weary smile from me, but for some reason this had reminded me so much of Jack's constant threats and teasing that I kept getting vivid flashbacks.

"That was pretty bad." someone next to me said. I looked up from the couch that I had just sat down on. It was the girl from the market. Obviously she'd be here. I was scolding myself for not expecting it.

"Yeah, I know. No need to tell me." I replied. She wasn't even looking at me as she was talking to me, probably to keep up her disguise.

"You seem a little shaken up." she stated.

"You could say that. Met some unpleasant people last night, brought back some unpleasant memories and all."

"Unpleasant people? I think I know who you're talking about. I can get them taken care of, if you want. Or I could give you information on them. Keep an eye on them." she said. I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Why are you offering me any of this? You strapped for cash?" I wanted to know. She laughed quietly.

"No. Not at all. They are nuisances, let's put it this way. Plus, you know where I live and who I live with. I'd prefer not to be vulnerable and have you in my debt. So if there's anything I can do for you, just say the word." she replied. Huh. I guess that made sense in a way, but I wasn't sure whether to trust her fully yet.

"What's your name?" I wanted to know. She smiled at me.

"You really think I'd tell you my real name?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I can just ask Yolanda, then."

"Jael. It's Jael. Not sure what you'd want with my name, but there you go." she replied. She seemed pretty nervous.

"Alright, Jael. Good to know what to call you. Actually, there are one or two things you could do for us." I told her.

I didn't want those two obnoxious kids dead, that wasn't it. But I wasn't sure how set they were on carrying out their threat. It might be a good idea to keep a close eye on them and Jael seemed the right person for that. Plus, I hadn't seen Aurelia all day and that was kind of odd. Maybe she just wasn't in this competition, but it seemed a little strange to me either way.

"Alright. I'm all ears." Jael said.

"Those two guys. The ones working for Maliwan. If you can get me some info on them, just general stuff, that would be good. Also, can you watch them for me? They've made some threats and I just wanna know how serious they are about it. Wouldn't like to be surprised by some hired guns, you know what I mean?" I explained. Jael nodded. Okay, so far so good. Now I only needed to explain the Aurelia Hammerlock dilemma.

"The other thing is... you know how you smuggled Gaige and Axton in yesterday? Well, they were there to watch someone and possibly capture them and bring them back to Pandora for a trial. Well, they told me that that person seemed like she was getting suspicious of them and I also haven't seen her all day. So if you could get some info on them and get that info to Gaige and Axton, that would be great." I said.

"Sounds like something I should be able to do. Can't believe they screwed up, though. Who are we talking about?" Jael replied.

"Aurelia Hammerlock."

"Alright. Done. Anything else?"

"No, that's all, I think."

"I'll get it done, don't worry." Jael said and started walking away. I held her back by her arm, hopefully being inconspicuous enough.

"Thanks, Jael. Take care of yourself, alright? Especially with Aurelia." I told her. She gave me a smug smile.

"Don't worry. I've dealt with rich and influential people more than enough. I know how to handle myself." she replied and walked away. I had to admit I admired the girl. She was a total badass, and all, completely without a gun. All she did was blend in in a crowd and know the right people to get information.

"Hey, Nova. You got time for a small update right now?" Gaige's voice came from my ECHO device. I looked around me. Looked like I was pretty much on my own for now.

"Yeah, sure. Shoot."

"Okay, so we just found out that Aurelia hasn't turned up at any of the competitions she was in. Looks like she got someone to sign her off from everything. We're just trying to find out if she's still on the planet or not."

"Oh shit. What if she's not?"

"Well, then we probably have to split up and Axton and I will have to look for her, while you finish this thing with Mordy and get back to Pandora ASAP to get Athena."

"Sucks big time. What about the designs you've been working on? For my leg?" I asked. If Gaige left now, that meant I'd have to limp around for much longer than I anticipated. I had hoped we could get that done on Elpis just before we got back to Pandora. But it looked like that wouldn't work anymore.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, I can do it when we get back, right? Or maybe... if you can find someone else to finish them and help Nina with attaching the leg, then I can send them over to your ECHO device?" Gaige said.

"Yeah, well... Don't worry about it. Send me the drafts and I'll see if I can find someone to help out. Maybe Anouk can finish the design, since we're apparently besties or something. Thanks for helping out anyways, Gaige, you're a star."

"No problem. It was fun getting this far. I mean, I can see if I can finish the stuff, maybe Aurelia is still on the planet. But if she isn't, then... yeah, maybe asking Anouk would be a good idea."

"Asking me what?" I heard a voice in front of me say. I looked up and saw Anouk standing there, a smile on her face and a big cup of coffee in her hand. I gave her a quick smile and gestured for her to wait a second while I finished up with Gaige.

"Yeah, she just got here, so I'll ask her straight away. You guys go back to work, alright? Keep me updated."

"Will do. Have fun explaining all of that to Lilith later on." Gaige replied. I sighed and shook my head. Yeah, explaining all the news to Lil would probably be a pain. I missed talking to her in person, I really did.

"Sounds like some bad news." Anouk commented. I looked over at her and just nodded. That whole conversation had made me pretty tired.

"It might be bad news. We don't know yet." I answered.

"So what can I help you with? What was that about?" she wanted to know. I sighed and then took a deep breath.

"Okay, so you know how I'm limping a little all the time and have some trouble with my leg?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, I've noticed. I just didn't wanna be rude and ask about it." she replied.

"Well. This is why I'm limping." I said and pulled up my cargo pants to reveal my burned foot and leg. It really wasn't a pretty sight.

"Damn, what the hell happened there?" she wanted to know.

"Long story short: When we defeated Handsome Jack, there was a lot of lava, I was running for my life and stepped in a big puddle of lava and burned my foot. Wasn't really able to treat it right away, so it took me a while until a doctor of some sorts could look at it. So yeah, this happened." I told her.

"Okay. So you want me to help how?"

"You're designing weapons for Vladof, aren't you? You're good with mechanical designs and building stuff?" I wanted to know.

"Yeah, sort of. More with the designing part, but I know how to build my designs, too. I'm just not great at it." she said.

"Cool. That's no problem, we should be able to build it together. See, I'm gonna need a robotic leg to replace this mess and I need some help from people. I need it designed, I need help getting the materials, I'm probably going to need some help putting it together and the doctor attaching it will need some help with that as well from someone who knows how cybernetic limbs work."

"Okay, I'm following."

"Yeah. So Gaige has started on the design and all, but she might have to leave the planet and probably won't be able to finish it for ages, which means no leg for a good while on Pandora, and an extra return trip to Elpis. I know it's a lot to ask, but could you help with the design and getting the material? I can pay for it, no problem. That's why I'm here, getting money to pay for my leg."

"Well, technically, that shouldn't be a problem. If you can send me whatever Gaige has already started, I'm sure I can finish that easily. We learned the basics of that in school, so I should be fine. And the materials should be easy enough to get here. But I've gotta get back home after the competition. I can't really do a detour to Elpis, sorry." she said. It broke my heart a little because she looked so genuinely disappointed she couldn't come to Elpis with me.

"Can you guide her over the ECHOnet? I mean I'd have to ask if that's alright with her, but I'd say she should be fine with it." I asked. Anouk looked like she was thinking for a second and then smiled.

"Yeah... yeah, that could work. I mean, I trained a bunch of guerrilla fighters over the ECHOnet once, so this shouldn't be any different. Just different subject matter. Yeah, that might work." she answered.

"Hold up, you trained guerrilla fighters?" I wanted to know. She nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, that's why some people like to call me a terrorist for some reason. There was the uprising on Isolus last year and I was training a squad of the rebel army. I mean, according to the government of Isolus it was terrorism, but the government there was terrible and oppressive. And I didn't wanna be that person that's always preaching about fighting for justice and then does nothing, you know?" she replied and shrugged, almost as if she was a little embarrassed to admit it.

"So you went and trained a squad of guerilla fighters?"

"Yeah... kinda..."

"Damn, girl. I really like your style. I wish I had had a bit of training before we went to take down Jack. The Raiders just got minimal training. Most of us didn't need it, because most used to be Atlas military, so they already had training. But the few people who joined without prior training often struggled to keep up with the people with proper military training. I mean, all the training I ever had was living on Pandora for 15 years."

"Well, I mean, Hyperion still isn't completely defeated. No harm in training people now, I suppose. And it gives them something to do." Anouk said and shrugged. She was right in a way.

"Yeah... true. I might suggest that to Lil. She's taken over now."

After Roland died.