-TRANSMISSION ONLINE-
-Beginning ECHO Review Log-
(Gaige) So, no crazy shenanigans?
(Kilo8) Nope.
(Tina) No random adventures.
(Kilo8) Not today.
(Torgue) No explosions.
(Kilo8) Mr. T, we're on a space station. Even Tina understands the dangers of setting off explosives… Mostly.
(Torgue) Fine, so what are we doing today.
(Kilo8) A little bit of business that needs to be discussed first, and then we dive straight into the BIGGEST EFFIN CHAPTER YET!
There was a collective cheer from everyone.
(Kilo8) Welcome everyone to another ERL. Now before we begin I'd like to thank those who decided to review, follow, and favorite this story. I've been getting a lot of great reviews from everyone. This also leads to the business, I could use a Beta Reader. As a few of you have noted I have made some spelling and grammar mistakes. I'll admit I am by no means the best person when it comes to those two areas, I am much better with art and history. Of course, I don't just leave my mistakes. I've recently have taken the time to go back and try to fix a lot of those mistakes in the previous chapters. So if anyone is interested in being a Beta Reader just PM me, I would prefer someone who follows my story be the Beta but I'll go fishing in the Beta section if it comes to it.
(Torgue) It would help out a lot.
(Kilo8) Which is why I'm asking. Continuing, I should have noted this last chapter. As of chapter five, everything from this point on is spoiler territory. Of course, I would imagine anyone reading this story already knows the full story of Borderlands 2. Alright then, everyone, strap the hell in, this chapter is over ten thousand words and loaded with all things Borderlands! So, enjoy the ride everyone.
(Tina) TO THE MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER BITCHES!
-ECHO Transmission interrupted-
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Disclaimer: I do not own Borderlands or any of its characters, Borderlands is owned by Gearbox Software and 2K Games, the only ownership I claim is of my own OC's. This is a story just for your fun and enjoyment. Please enjoy.
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-Stories text formats-
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Echo/Radio"
'Krieg's inner voice'
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Chapter 6
Welcome to Pandora Kiddo
Part Two
It was the third day since Gaige had arrived on Pandora, and the Vault Hunters finally felt ready to strike Flynt's base. They decided to spend the day before gathering supplies and gear since the best weapons they had was the uncommon Tediore SMG that Maya stole off a dead Bandit, an uncommon Jakobs rifle that Zer0 found in the trash of all places, and Gaige's Rogue Smuggler. Plus there was the fact that none of them had shields. Upon this observation, Hammerlock suggested they get some shields at the old Crimson Raider outpost. While they were at it, he offered them several other jobs that he would pay them for.
So they went about business, which consisted of killing a lot of Bandits, killing a lot of dangerous creatures, killing a midget riding a Bullymong, and getting a lot of loot. On top of that, almost everyone had managed to get their personal tech working, all except for Gaige's. She was still waiting for the files to finish installing on her ECHO, meaning that DT was still out of action for now.
"Alright, guns," Axton asked.
"Check," came Zer0 as he loaded his uncommon Jakobs sniper rifle he got from Hammerlock.
"Ammo," Axton continued.
"Heh heh, check," Salvador said as he chuckled sadistically as he was pocketing several cases of assault rifle ammo.
"Shields?"
Maya gave Krieg a light Siren boosted punch to the chest causing the area around the impact to flare with energy. "Ha, that tickles my rib cage," Krieg said.
"Shields are a check," Maya said.
"Okay, tech?"
Gaige sighed, "All except for mine," Gaige said disappointingly.
"Right… Look Red I'm sure you're robot will be ready soon. But for now, will make do with what we have." Axton said.
"I know, I just wish I had DT here," Gaige said as she loaded her Bandit shotgun.
While her combat experience was starting to grow, fighting in general, was still very new to Gaige. Luckily the others had decided to take it upon themselves to try and teach her some relevant combat skills. They were all just thankful she knew how to at least operate and properly use a weapon. Though they suggested that she stick with a shotgun for now though. As everyone found out the day before, her aim with any other weapon aside from her dad's gun was... lacking.
Just then Hammerlock came into the bed and breakfast. "Excellent, I see that you are all almost ready for your impending and climactic fight with Captain Flynt and his men. Anywho, when you all are ready just talk to Claptrap, and he'll lead you to Flynt's ship."
"Wait? Aren't you coming as well?" Gaige asked which caught everyone else attention and they all turned to the man in question.
"As much as I would enjoy fighting alongside each of you, I have to stay here and fix the Fast-Travel station. Which could take me a few days to finish." Hammerlock replied.
"Why it's not like anyone lives here anymore," Salvador pointed out.
"True, but you never know when you might need to come back here. I myself will probably make an expedition out here again to observe the effect of frigid weather on a Rakk Hives," Hammerlock reply, which caused Salvador to pale.
"Are you insane amigo! Why would willing get close to a Coño monstruo!?" Salvador said, only to be suddenly whacked in the back of his head by Maya. "Don't you dare use such a disgusting name!" Maya said.
"But it true, if any of you saw one you would all also say it looks just like- OW!" Salvador yells as Maya hits him again.
"Ugh, I don't speak Truxican, so can someone tell me what-" Gaige started to ask.
"NO," Maya curtly replied as everyone but Sal looked at her.
"While on the one hand I do have to agree with Salvador's observations," Hammerlock said, which earned him an angry glare from Maya. "Um, I have to agree with Maya that such a name is very immature. Anywho, I wish you all good luck on your mission and hope to see you all in Sanctuary very soon. With that, I bid you a good day." Hammerlock quickly left leaving everyone in the room.
No one said anything for a minute as the tension was still thick in the air. Gaige finally broke the silence and asked. "Could I seriously get a translation here."
Salvador opens his mouth before Maya pointed at him with a glare that spoke of pain. "Tell her and I'll liquefy your brain." Maya said with venom in her voice, causing Sal to quickly shut his mouth.
Several minutes later everyone had finished gearing up and went outside to find Claptrap sitting by the bounty board. "So Claptrap, what can you tell us about Captain Flynt," Axton asked.
"Flynt and I have had a gentlemen's agreement in the past. I give him the loot from the bodies Jack ditches in the glacier, he promises not to torture me for hours at a time, then he does it anyway." Claptrap said in his default chipper tone.
The Vault Hunters stare at him for several seconds, as they processed that knowledge. "Well, that's depressing." Gaige said.
"But that ends today! We're gonna take him out, steal my ship back, and sail to Sanctuary!" He exclaimed.
Axton and everyone looked at the robot in a waiting manner for a moment until they realized he was done. "What, that it. No tactical data, no preferred weapons or tactics.
"Ummm, nope. Not really. Besides your just going to shoot him in the face anyway. So with that said, Let's go this way!"
They started making their way out of the town when Captain Flynt's came over the open ECHO channel.
"Here's what's going to happen Vault Hunters, my first mate Boom Bewm is gonna kill ya, Jack's gonna pay us, and I'm going to play hopscotch in your chest-cavity."
"Well that was a colorful description," Maya said sarcastically.
"Be careful taking down Boom Bewm. He's one of the 'Ripper' clan. As in, flesh ripper. I don't have to tell you why they're called that." Claptrap said.
"Yeah, just spare us the details," Gaige said as the ECHO came alive again. Only this time it was to everyone's displeasure, Pandora's number one asshole.
"Hey! How- Ah, these pretzels suck… So, how's your day been?" Handsome Jack asked with a full mouth.
"Well it was fine till you called pendao," Salvador said.
"Sorry about that, it's just we all haven't really talked much since I left you all for dead. Speaking of dead, I found some very interesting info on all of you. Especially you kid, or should I say, Gaige. I have to say the report on you was hilarious. To think you're the one who brutally killed the Holloway family's only daughter with a floating death robot. And at a stupid high school science fair of all places. Just wow," he said as everyone could hear him slowly clap his hands.
"Wait is he talking about the same Holloway family that owns Edan Three through eight?" Axton asked.
"Yes and no. It's a common mistake about ownership but the Holloway's own all of the Edans except Edan-6, it's the Jakobs own that armpit of a planet. But yeah, and they have put quite the bounty on her head too. I mean my goodness that a lot of zeros. Anyways, I gotta go. I just bought a pony made of diamonds, because I'm rich. So, you know. That's cool. Kay, bye."
Gaige looked to everyone else who staring at her. "So you killed the daughter of one of the richest men in the universe… Why?" Maya asked.
"You think I wanted to kill her!" Gaige exclaimed. "I mean sure, I may have wished she was dead several times but I didn't want to kill her. It was an accident. She shoved me and DT reacted with a slash, which… which caused her to explode because the Discord circuit was uncalibrated."
Everyone stared at her for several seconds till Salvador burst out in laughter. "That is awesome niñita, now I can't wait to meet this robot of yours."
"Wait, so you guys aren't disturbed by this?" Gaige asked.
"Not really, I mean I'm here because I used a dignitary to find and blow up an enemy base. With the dignitary still inside. Really, they should have given me a medal for eliminating the weasel." Axton said thoughtfully.
"I killed the man who helped raise me when I found out that he and the order he was part of were actually using me as a tool of fear to control a planet's population," Maya said.
"Damn, that's heavy," Axton said as Maya nodded.
"I am an assassin / I kill for a living / and I enjoy it," Zer0 said.
"I once killed an entire clan over a simple bar tab! That was a damn good fight, I actually ran out of ammo." Salvador said as his thoughts drifted back to that bloodbath. "Good times,"
"I paint Bandits red and blue," yelled Krieg.
"You see Red, we each have done way worse things, besides from how you explained it, it sounds like that bitch got what was coming to her," Axton said as Zer0 and Maya both nodded in agreement."
"Huh, well I guess if you guys are cool with it," Gaige said with a small smile, secretly happy about their acceptance.
"Enough, chit-chat! I want to shoot something already," Salvador said.
After hiking through two Ripper outposts and eliminating the bandits occupying them. They finally reach the entrance to Boom Bewm ship and got on the deck.
Not even five steps onto the deck and Claptrap suddenly starts freaking out. "It's Boom-Bewm! AHHHHHHHHH!" Claptrap yelled.
They all saw a man in a head-to-toe hazard yellow suit with a welder's mask with multiple blades sticking out of the top of it. He also had a fire hazard sign strapped to his chest and had several grenades on his belt and what appeared to be several rockets strapped on his left wrist.
"Light the fuses, bitches!" Boom yelled before taking a quick action pose. At that same moment, a small midget in a similar outfit and a jetpack flew by in a superhero pose. Seconds later sparklers start firing off behind Boom as he threw his right fist up. "I'm ready to BLOW!" he yells as he took a seat in the control chair of a large double-barrel cannon turret.
"Boom-Bewm are actually two separate people!"Maya questioned for everyone.
"Forget that, that's a fucking capital ship turret!" Axton yelled before everyone glanced to Claptrap. "Oops, I forgot to mention that, didn't I. Sorry minions."
"Dammit Claptrap, get to cover," Axton yelled as everyone ran behind cover as Boom fired both cannons.
Gaige, Axton, and Maya got behind an oddly placed smokestack, while Zer0, Salvador, and Krieg took cover by a similar smokestack on the opposite side closest to the bay. Bwem flew over and started randomly tossing grenades everywhere. "Well, any ideas oh glorious leader," Maya asked.
"Well as long- "
*BOOM*
"As long as that cannon is operational we can't get to him. Maya, could you Phaselock that thing."
"Oh sure, let me just, Oh wait, it's a hundred metric ton turret attached to a damn ship!" Maya yelled.
"Well sorry for asking, l wasn't expecting there to be a fucking battleship turret! So if you have a better idea just say it." Axton yelled back.
"Remove the head of the metal beast," Krieg suddenly yelled from his cover. Gaige peeked a look at the turret and noted the crazy bandit laughing away as he fired. "Krieg, do you mean Boom?" Gaige asked over the ECHO.
"Cut the yellow from the metal, then gut the yellow from all its meat!," He yelled back as the three looked at each other. "Yea, YEA! Krieg right, all we need is to do is knock him off that turret, then we can-," Before he could finish they all heard something drop down by them. They turn to see a live grenade next to them as they heard a laughing midget flying away.
"Oh shit," Axton muttered as Maya and Gaige jump up, and ran in opposite directions. The grenade exploded and throw Axton five meters in the air before he landed flat on the deck face first. His shield took the brunt of the blast but he was feeling the fall. "I'm gonna feel that one later," he muttered as he slowly got back up.
On the other side of the deck, Zer0 had come up with another plan. "I shall distract Boom / Salvador will flank and attack / Krieg will cover you,"
"Finally a plan I can get behind," Salvador said as he cocked his Vladof assault rifle. "You got my back crazy man?" he asked Krieg.
"Time to go duck hunting!" Krieg yelled as he waved around his Tediore shotgun. Zer0 ran out of the cover and started running at Boom as the bandit quickly traversed his turret to take aim at Zer0 and fired. The first round flew too high and missed. The second round, however, sailed right through Zer0 and exploded several meters behind him.
"WHAT! Why you no go BOOM!" Boom yelled only to suddenly find a hail of bullets hitting him as Salvador started Gunzerking with his Vladof assault rifle in one hand and a Bandit SMG in the other. "NOW, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" he yelled.
"Way you damn little- OW," Boom yelled as Zer0 reappeared and fired a sniper round into his chest. His shield ate the round, but he still felt the force of the impact.
Gaige and Maya saw this and took the opportunity to also fire at Boom until Axton who had been supporting from the middle yelled out. "Psychos Incoming!" About a dozen or so Psycho's started to rush out onto the deck from the wheelhouse.
Bringing her attention to the new threat, Gaige fried and nailed one of the Psycho's in the chest with a blast from her shotgun. A second Psycho jumped at her from her left but she managed to jump away causing the Psycho to miss as his ax buried itself into the deck. The Psycho tried to pull it out only to find the ax was stuck. He turned to Gaige and was silent for a few seconds. "LET'S AGREE TO DISAGREE!" He yelled.
Gaige lifted her shotgun and blasted him in the face. "Damn Psycho's," she muttered. Just then she heard something hit the steel deck and an explosion went off a few meters behind her. Her shield took the damage but reduced it to ten percent. Gaige looked and saw Bewn flying away from her yelling boom several times over. She quickly to cover and found Maya also taking cover. Her right arm had a large bleeding gash that ran diagonally from her shoulder to her elbow. "Maya! What happened!"
"Bewn flew by and distracted me with several grenades. I had to roll out of the way to dodge them but I ran into a Psycho and got this." pointing to the wound.
"Yeah, Bewm nearly cooked me with one a second ago." Gaige said as she pulled out an insta-heal and jab it into Maya's wound. "Have you tried Phaselocking him?"
"Was trying to while Axton's turret was covering me but he just moves too fast, and several Bandits attacked me at once," she said as Gaige finish patching her.
Just then there another set of explosions, they both looked to see Salvador trying to get up, while Axton was running over to help him up. " Oh no," Maya said. Gaige looked and saw Boom bring the turret to bear on both Sal, Axton and now Krieg who was also running over to assist. "GUYS LOOK OUT!" Gaige yelled. But it was too late, Boom fired and both rounds hit right next to them. Krieg was thrown back by the explosion, and Maya pulled Gaige down to avoid the falling shrapnel. A few seconds later they looked back over. They saw Zer0 dragging Krieg to cover, but… but there was no trace of Salvador or Axton.
"Salvador/Axton!" Gaige and Maya cried out.
They all could hear Boom taunting, "BOOM, BOHOHOOM, BOOM! Ha ha hahaha!"
Gaige gritting her teeth pulled out an unmodded grenade. Using her left arm she threw the grenade as she yelled out, "Eat your own medicine you BASTARD!" The grenade flew and pegged Boom in the neck causing him to gasp in pain. He didn't notice as the live grenade fell to his feet a rolled to his left a little before it exploded. While the explosion didn't destroy the turret it did hurdle Boom into the air screaming towards the rear of the ship.
Gaige reloaded her shotgun and started running towards where Boom landed only to have another grenade fall in front of her. "CRAP!" Gaige yelled as she jumped back. She just managed to get out of range of the main blast, but the edge of the explosion dropped her shield to half strength.
Maya rushed out in front of Gaige to cover her as more psychos started to come out. "Move it!" Maya yelled as she fired at the psychos with her SMG.
Gaige ran back behind the small barrier and started firing to cover Maya's retreat. She quickly joined Gaige as they continued to fire on the Psychos. "What now?" Gaige asked as she ducked down to reload and let her shield recharge.
"Well, with Boom gone all we have to do is shoot down Bewm and eliminate these Psychos," Maya said. Not even three seconds after she finished there were several explosions that even killed two Psycho in the process.
They both looked to see Boom jumping back to the center of the deck. "Boom, bitches! I live!" he cried out in triumph as he raised a large Torgue assault rifle in the air.
Gaige turned and glared at Maya. "Congratulations Maya, you've jinxed us."
"But I… you know what, fuck it." She held up her left arm and Phaselocked Boom in one of her energy fields. But before she or Gaige could fire, several Psycho's decided to charge at them. Bewm also landed on one of the smokestacks and began raking the area with explosive shotgun fire. Gaige threw another grenade and took out two Psycho's when it went off. That didn't slow down the rest of them as the Psychos all kept charging while yelling all kinds of crazy things.
"French me, mommy!" Yelled one before Gaige shot him in the face, and then another and another. She quickly ran out of shotgun ammo and switched to her Rogue Smuggler. "Running low here," Gaige said as Maya fired her Tediore SMG, seconds later she threw the empty gun at a psycho where it blew up right in his face. But the gun didn't respawn in Maya hands like it normally would. "Shit!" She said as she pulled out a Jakobs assault rifle. "Running low as well."
It was at that moment Boom was released from his prison, he immediately pulled out a Torgue MIRV grenade. "Bizoom!" He shouts as he throws the nade at them. Both women could see the grenade fly towards them and they realize even if they tried to run they would be shot by Bwem or minced by the Psychos.
"BATTER UP MEAT SACKS!" Krieg yelled as he ran in the way and swatted the grenade back to it sender. It exploded halfway back and rained several grenades down on some of the Psychos. The ensuing explosions of the child grenades tore four Psychos apart. Krieg then viciously charged at the remaining psychos as he yelled, "The blue flower has taken my beating heart and my heart alone."
Gaige and Maya stared at the ensuing carnage as Krieg began to slaughter the Psycho's as he started to sing Ring around the Meat Locker until Zer0 ran over to them.
"Krieg has the minions / Maya will end the flyer / Red will assist me," Zer0 said as he passed some SMG ammo to Maya.
Gaige looked between the two Vault Hunters. "Hey, I've been wondering. Is Red like a new nickname for me that you all voted on or something."
"Yes," Zer0 said before he charged forward after Boom, leaving both women shocked as it wasn't a haiku. "That was weird," Maya said as Gaige nodded in agreement. Another nearby explosion snapped them back to reality and they both got back to the fight.
Zer0 started firing his Jakobs assault rifle at Boom while Maya went after Bwem with her own rifle. Gaige ran to Boom right side while he was distracted and pulled out her last grenade. "Hey, firecracker!," Getting Boom's attention. "Special delivery!" She yelled as she threw the cooked grenade. The grenade flew and exploded a meter in front of Boom which knocked him back several meters into a random steel beam sitting on the deck. "Shit, lost mah shield!" He yelled. Gaige was about to charge in to finish the bastard off when she heard something land near her. She turned to look only to be given a full blast of explosive shotgun pellets that knocked her down and stripped her own shield.
Gaige looked to see Bewm in front of her about to unload another round to finish her when a Phaselock suddenly encapsulated him and lifted him two meters into the air. "What the, Nooooo! Let me out! Let me out! The nightmare has me!" Bewm yelled in a panicked frenzy. Before he could say anything else a hail of red tracers started peppering Bewm and quickly set him on fire. Gaige didn't dwell on what was happening and began firing with her Rogue as Maya continued to fire. The combined fire overload Bewn shield, but they both continued to unload their weapons as the midget screamed. A few seconds later the Phaselock ended and dropped the perforated, burned, and blood-soaked midget onto the deck in an undignified and bloody mess.
"Finally, that guy would not stay still," Maya said as she came over and help Gaige up.
"Get down!" Zer0 yelled suddenly. Gaige and Maya quickly jump over behind one of the steel beams for cover as several rockets flew by and went off.
"You killed my Boom buddy, now I'm gonna strangle you all with det cord!" Boom yelled as he started firing wrist rockets in every direction.
Gaige could see that his shield was back up, she thought about what to do. "Maya, are your powers charged?"
"No, I need another minute." She answered.
"Just distract him / I am in position / I have him. " Zer0 voice filtered through. The women looked at one another. "Got any more grenades?" Gaige asked. "Yeah two," she replied seeing where Gaige was going with this.
Maya handed her one of her grenades and they both moved back from the barrier and got ready. "One," Maya said as they both thumbed the primers, "Two... THREE!" Maya yelled as they both chucked their grenades. Boom who at this point was in a blind rage didn't notice the grenades landing next to him. Both grenades went off a second later and threw the man across the deck into the side of the turret.
Capitalizing on Boom's shock Maya and Gaige both jumped from their cover to try and rush him. However, Boom was not phased by the impact and quickly continued to fire guided wrist rockets at them as he got up. "Boom for you! Boom for you! Everyone gets a BOOM! UGH!" He suddenly yelled out in pain.
Boom looked down to see a blue and black blade piercing through the front of his chest. He looked back up towards Gaige and Maya before his gun fell from his hand. "Boom, Boom, go… Boom…" he said before the blade was retracted and he fell forward to reveal Zer0 standing behind the bandit with a bloody katana in hand.
"Boom has been slain / as for our good friends / avenge they have been." Zer0 said.
Gaige fell back onto the snowy deck and let out a breath that she had been holding. Maya sat down on a nearby steel beam to catch her breath as well as Krieg who was finished with the psychos walked over next to her. "I can't believe it, only three days into this adventure and I watched two friends be killed," Gaige said.
"Gaige, don't beat yourself up, there was nothing we could have done," Maya said.
"I know, it just," she choked a little as tears started to form. "Do, do you think they suffered."
"A blast like that / it would have been quick / it would've been painless," Zer0 said, as he and Krieg both bowed their heads.
"Little man and G.I. Joe in better place now." Krieg said as everyone remained quiet. Which only last a few seconds when a gruff voice suddenly cried out.
"Awww man! The fight's already over! You guys could have at least left me one or two Bandits! Not cool, amigos."
Gaige bolted up and looked around. Over near the entrance to the ship stood Axton and Salvador. Both of whom were perfectly fine.
Axton gave a long whistle as he inspected the area. "Damn, looks like a fucking orbital bombardment hit here," Axton said. "Hey, are you guys all- OWF!" Both he and Salvador were tackled to the ground by a red sobbing blur who had an arm locked around each of them.
"I can't believe it! You're alive! You're both actually alive!" Gaige happily cried out as she hugged them with tears running down her face.
"Easy Red, I won't be alive for much longer if you don't let up with *cough* the robot arm," Axton coughed out as Salvador chuckled.
"How are you both alive? We saw Boom shot you with the cannon," Maya said as she looked at them in shock. Axton and Sal got Gaige to let go of them so they could get up.
"Well, one second everything went BOOM!" Salvador stated.
"The next we found ourselves back in Lair's Burg by the fast travel station. We then just ran back here as fast as we could," Axton finished.
"By the Fast-Travel… Wait are you saying you were teleported?" Maya asked.
"No, they did actually die, they were just respawned," came a female voice.
"Angel? What did you do?" Maya asked.
"I hacked into Hyperion New-U system the other day and enter all of you into the system, with a discounted rate might I add."
"Couldn't Hyperion track us that way?" Maya asked.
"No, I made sure that your files were all encrypted and hidden from Jack or anyone else. If anyone does see the files, all they'll see is a couple of employee insurance policies for some random employees." Angel said.
"Damn girl! You are awesome!" Gaige said.
"Thank you, Gaige."
"So does that mean we're like... immortal?" Salvador asked.
"As long as you're in range of a New-U station, yes. Of course, I would advise that you avoid any reckless behavior and start abusing the system. No one is really sure how multiple deaths and respawns can affect one's mental psyche."
"Uuuugh." Salvador groaned in confusion before Zer0 translated in his unique manner.
"You can't be killed / but try not to die / or face more problems," Zer0 said.
"Oooh, okay." Salvador nodded in understanding.
"Now find Claptrap and continue on to Flynt's base."
"Alright then, Claptrap where do… Where's Claptrap?" Axton asked.
"Hey guys, helloooo. A little assistance here."
They went to the source and found Claptrap pinned under some rubble. It took them a minute to dig him out of the rubble.
"Many thanks minions. Wow, that guy sure said 'boom' a lot. Hey, it looks like he dropped a few grenade mods, be sure to equip them!" he said as he pointed to several items that Boom and Bewm dropped.
At the mention of loot, everyone rushed over to get a piece for themselves. Out of everything they found the best item was the Rare Torgue MIRV grenade which Axton claimed. Gaige walked over to Bewm and picked up an uncommon Torgue Stalker shotgun. It was only slightly better than her current shotgun but Gaige couldn't complain. She then shuffled through the grenade mods till she found a random uncommon Vadof grenade with white markings. 'Not the best but better than nothing' she thought as she equipped the mod without even looking at its stats. She then turned back to everyone else.
"So, are you guys ready to move out," Axton asked as he finished reloading his assault rifle.
"I'M RARING TO GO!" Salvador yelled excitedly.
As everyone walked over to where Claptrap was, Gaige was smiling as she thought to herself. 'That fight was awesome. I can't wait to tell Kai about it… I wonder what he doing right now. I hope he isn't too worried about me or something.' She thought.
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At that same moment, Kai was cursing his luck as he continued to unload his Vladof spin-gun into a massive badass Rakk Hive. Unlike a normal Rakk Hive, this one was of the wooly variant that only appeared in this region and had a large horn on its head that it would use to try and spear its opponents. It also occasionally… breathed fire, which was a new one on him from what he knew about this breed of Rakk Hives. All the while, it kept releasing hoards of Kamikaze and Fire Rakks that would constantly attack him.
"This is some major bullshit!" Kai yelled as he jumps throw a broken window of the buildings. He quickly took the respite before he started to reload each of his weapons. All the while he heard the fire Rakk's bombarding the building.
Just then his ECHO rang and he answered without looking. "This better be good because I'm kind of busy here," Kai said as he chucked a homing grenade out a window in the hopes of killing a few Rakk's.
"Well, what crawled into your ass and died?" Reiss said.
"A Badass Wooly Rakk hive, THAT WHAT!"
"A Rakk Hive? Why would you go into the Rakk fields?" Reiss asked.
"I didn't, the bastard decided to set up shop in the middle of the outpost and it somehow has mutated. So now the fucker can breathe fire! FUCKING FIRE!"
"Oh… Well that sucks." Reiss said.
"No shit Sherlock!" Kai yelled as he finished loading a Vladof RPG. He then proceeded to kick out a window and fired almost a dozen rockets at the Hive's head. This caused the hive to shudder out a thunderous roar. "That right, Eat it ugly!" Kai yelled before he heard a beep that signaled that Hati was ready. Not even hesitating he tossed Hati's photon projector out the window. Hati materialized a few seconds later and immediately gave a spine-shivering howl that could wake the dead before charging at the Hive.
"Was that Hati? He sounds pissed." Reiss asked.
"Well, this would be the fourth time he has been called out in this fight and his last two outings. The first was cut short by its fire breath, and the second… well, it stomped him."
Reiss started laughing his head off. "That is hilarious. I'm so rubbing it in his photonic face later."
"Was there a reason why you called, because I'm kind of busy here." Kai said as he threw another grenade out the window.
"Right, I'm finished here and have the new core. I stole a Bandit Stinger and I'm heading back to Sanctuary now, unless you need some help?"
"No, no, I got this. I'll see you back there tomorrow... Wait you got a Technical Stinger! How?" Kai asked with interest
"I'll tell you after you get back and I get Scooter to load it schematic into the Catch-a-ride. Alright, I'll leave you to your business, try not to have too much fun without me. Later man," Reiss said before terminating the call.
'Fun? That is the last thing I'm feeling right now!' He thought.
Just then he heard Hati give a warning bark from outside. Kai looked out the window to see the Rakk Hive was looking right at his build and was drawing in a large breath. "Fuck!" Kai yelled as he ran for to the other side of the building just as the Rakk Hive unleashed a massive wall of flames that poured into the building. Before the flames could reach him Kai jumped and curled into a ball and smashed through a window. Though his foot caught the side of a barrel outside causing him to eat the dirt. Not even a second later a ball of fire exploded from the window above him.
Kai got up after the fire had died down and looked back at the burning building before he let out a tired sigh. "It like Morde always says, the only good Rakk is when its served on a platter."
X-X-X
The Vault Hunters had finally managed to reach the upper levels of Ripper's ship slash base seeing as it was partially impaled on a massive iceberg. The ship itself was some kind of converted cargo ship with sails and a massive metal dragon head on the prow that would shoot a large stream of fire every few minutes.
After they had defeated Boom and Bewm they all had to bust through a nearby gate to reach the main base. Claptrap had the idea of using the cannon to blow it open, which Salvador immediately called dibs and had fired before Claptrap finished explaining his instructions and moved out of the way, resulting in Claptrap being launched into the Ripper's base.
They then proceeded to kill all the guards on the other side of the gate, which was easy with the cannon. After which the Vault Hunters gunned their way into the main base where they killed every Bandit between them and Claptrap. When they did find Claptrap, he was being beaten by a group of Bandits.
While everyone else wanted to watch for a few minutes which Gaige could understand, She and Maya quickly killed the Bandits and freed Claptrap. After that, they had to fight their way into the ship itself, where they all discovered one of Claptrap's weaknesses. Stairs. So after fighting another four dozen Bandits including a dozen who were in a room that… Well, it better not to mention the purpose of such a disgusting room. But after that, they finally reach an elevator platform and were able to hoist Claptrap up to them. Leaving them to where they were now.
"So, what the plan this time Maya," asked more to Axton than anyone else since he had more or less been nominated the group leader at this point.
"Considering that we have six armed Vault Hunters all loaded to the teeth…" he glanced at Gaige who was sulking at the reminder that DT was still down. "Mostly loaded anyway… sorry, Gaige. I figured we would just wing it."
"Work for me amigos," Sal said.
They jumped down onto the deck which had dozens of large floor vents scattered everywhere. They looked around and saw nobody around. "Maybe we can just sneak around and steal Claptrap's ship bef-," but Maya was interrupted as Claptrap rolled out in front of everyone and yelled. "Come on out, Flynt! Your Claptrap unit has returned!"
Suddenly pillars of fire started to erupt from the vents all around them. Both Krieg and Zer0 had to jump out of the way of a vent they had been standing on mere seconds before.
"Claptrap, what the hell did you do!" Maya shouted. Claptrap pointed to the top of the command structure, everyone turned to notice a large man sitting on a throne at the top getting up. He was wearing a baggy yellow and gray heavy work suit of some type with thick gloves and boots. On his left shoulder was a spiked shoulder pad. Finally, he wore a metal helmet that looked like a knight's helmet with two demon-like horns protruding from the forehead and a cross-shaped visor cut out in it, the only thing they could see there were two red glowing eyes.
"It's our new torture dolls, boys! LET'S TURN UP THE HEAT!" He yelled waving a massive anchor that he drew from his back.
"Oh SPHINCTERS! I'm so sorry Captain Flynt sir. Please don't burn me again!" Claptrap yelled as he scurried off while everyone else started to fire at Flynt.
Flynt quickly leaped off the tower and fell ten meters to the deck. In his right hand was what looked like an oversized bandit assault rifle with a blast shield around the barrel and a nozzle with a lite flame with the anchor in his left. As he landed with a thud several hatches opened on the deck as killer Marauders and flame-headed Burning Psycho's climbed up onto the deck! No, their heads were literally on fire! and had skull-like masks which Gaige was sure were made from actual human skulls.
"Aw shit," Axton said. "Krieg, Gaige engage the Bandits. Zer0 support everyone with sniper cover. Sal and me will support Maya who will trap Flynt when she can, and we will gun him down." He ordered as everyone quickly jumped into action.
Zer0 took up a position near the front of the ship and started sniping Bandits left and right. Krieg ran into the horde and started chopping Bandits left and right with his ax and was occasionally shooting them with his shotgun while Gaige covered him. Axton, Sal, and Maya started to engage Capt Flynt. Of course, that's easier said than done, while Maya could Phaselock him it didn't hold him for very long. On top of everything else, the vents would all spew fire every few minutes or so meaning everyone had to watch their step.
Gaige was just killing her thirteenth Bandit when Sal flew by and impacted the mainmast before falling to the deck. Gaige holstered her Rogue and ran over to help him. "Sal! You okay?"
"Ugh, yeah niñita, I'm fine. That pedaho is one tough hombre. We just keep shooting and shooting but he doesn't go down. Plus fire doesn't seem to work on him." He said as he pointed to Maya who was firing away with her Jakobs rifle since her SMG was fire-based. Axton was nearby and throw his Sabre turret out again.
"GAIGE, LEFT!" Sal yelled. Gaige whipped her Rogue out and pointed straight at a Marauder and shot him twice in the head. "How many of these guys are there?" She asked as Sal got back up and picked up his guns.
"Oh stop complaining, this is fun and you know it!"
A vent two meters from them suddenly bellowed another column of flames that made them both shielded their faces from the heat. Several seconds after it stop" Krieg came running by with his right arm and back on fire while yelling, "The voice tells me to pound my flesh on the deck!"
'No! I told you to stop, drop, and roll!' yelled Krieg's inner voice, as Sal and Gaige watched him run by. Then two Burning psychos came running after him. "Yeah, I'll have to get back to you on that, Sal," Gaige said, as she started to run after Krieg and the Psychos.
She caught up to Krieg and found him rolling around on the deck trying to put the fire out as the Psychos were dancing around as they watched him burn. "Feast your nose on the scent of freshly cooked meat brother!" One said. "I call dibs on his face!" the other said.
Gaige pulled out her Torgue shotgun and blasted the one Psycho in the back. This caused the other one to jump and turn around to see Gaige. "You killed my twin! Now I will eat you!" *BANG* The bandit's head exploded as Gaige shot it.
"Ugh, I'm no one's dinner asshole." Gaige said with disgust before looking at her ally. "Krieg, you okay?"
She noted that Krieg had some first and second-degree burns on his right arm. "I need blood drink," Krieg stated.
"Wh-what do you mean by blood drink?" Gaige asked slightly off-put by Krieg's chosen words. The next thing she saw was Krieg pulling out his Bandit pistol and shoot it several times over her head causing her to flinch. "What are you trying to do, scare me to death!" Gaige yelled. Krieg just pointed behind her.
Her eyes followed to where he was pointing to find a now dead psycho with several fresh bullet wounds laying on the ground. ". . . Oh, ugh thanks, Krieg,"
'Okay now be nice and tell her you're welcome.' Krieg inner voice said to him.
"The voice in my head says to tell you No problem, little blood flower," Krieg said causing Gaige to raise an eyebrow.
'Uuuuh, nice one. Will be lucky if she gives us the time of day after this one,' Krieg inner voice groaned.
It was then Gaige noticed that the dead Psycho had dropped a red insta-heal vial. "Was this what you meant by Blood drink," she asked as she picked up the hypo and held it up. Krieg grabbed the vial and held it over his right arm. Then he crushed it in his hand and let the red liquid wash over his wounds which quickly began to mend itself.
"Thanks, lady of red for the blood juice," Krieg said before he whipped out his ax and ran back into the fight.
"That guy is just a big child," Gaige said to herself. There was a sudden explosion back towards the stern of the ship which Gaigeturned to face. Stand in the middle of the dissipating smoke cloud was Captain Flynt, but he didn't look normal. His body had flames dancing all over him, yet they didn't seem to be burning him.
Axton who was nearby threw his Sabre turret out again which started peppering Flynt with lead as he started firing burst after burst with his Dahl assault rifle. However, all of the shots seem to have little to no effect on Flynt as each round seemed to just bounce off of him. Flynt began to run towards Axton with his anchor held high. Axton saw this and immediately jumped out of the way as Flynt barreled through his turret causing it to shatter into scraps that deconstructed into particles. Flynt then brought his anchor down and slammed it against the deck. This caused a concussive shockwave that knocked Axton several meters away.
Before Flynt did anything else, a fury of bullets started to hit him in the back. When the bullets stoped he turned to find Maya holding a smoking Jakobs rifle. It was only then that Flynt fire shield wore off leaving the two to stare at each other. Maya realized the spot she was in and just nervously laughed, "Maybe we can just… Talk about this."
After another pause, Flynt brought his rifle up and shot a stream of fire from it. Maya being near a large torn section of the deck jumped over the side to avoid the fire and fell down onto one of the lower walkways they had climbed up before. Of course, this meant Maya would have to run all the way back up to the top.
Salvador took this opening and started gunzerking with his assault rifle and SMG.
Flynt tried to fire back but he was quickly being overwhelmed, all the while Salvador was just laughed. "HAHAHAHAHA! EAT LEAD PUTA!" Salvador yelled happily. A second after saying that Salvador was suddenly engulfed by a pillar of fire from the vent he had mistakenly walked over. When the flames receded Sal was standing there with burns all over his body. "...Ow." was all he said before he fell over dead, seconds later his body began to dematerialize as it was being sent to the nearest New-U station.
"Not again Sal," Gaige said disappointingly.
"Gaige! Focus!" Axton yelled to her as he started to get up.
"Oh, right."
Gaige started to unload with her shotgun as Axton swapped to a bandit SMG. Gaige emptied the magazine and quickly started to reload when she heard something to her right. She looked to see a psycho running at her with a fiery buzz ax. "Come to me, my pasty cake!" he yelled as he leapt into the air. Before Gaige could react a bullet pierced the top of the Bandits skull and knocked him away from Gaige. She looked around for the source of the shot and saw Zer0 up on the mast with his Jakobs sniper in hand. "Thanks, Zer0!" A smiley face emoji appeared on his helmet before he turned to continue shooting the other Bandits on deck.
Once Gaige finished loading her shotgun she ran over to flank Flynt as he was trying to barbeque Axton. She swapped to her Rogue and took aim at his head. Axton had managed to deplete Flynt's personal shield a moment before. So She quickly took the chance and shot out several two-shot bursts aimed right at his head. But to Gaige's shock, the round just bounced off of his helmet without even leaving a dent.
"What the hell!"
"Gaige his helmet is too strong. Don't go for the headshots," Axton yelled from behind a crate. "That armor is too thick!"
"Now you tell me!"
Flynt turned and fired his assault rifle toward Gaige. She starts to run for the nearest cover, while Axton starts to shoot at him to no avail. "Get back here Little girl! I'm gonna have fun torturing you!" Flynt shouted as he chased after her.
As Gaige ran she pulled out a grenade and chucks it behind her without looking. About three seconds later instead of a boom Gaige heard a loud bang and what sounds like falling glass. She stopped and looked back to find an unexpected surprise. Flynt was now standing immobile as he now looked like an ice sculpture, a horrifying, nightmare-inducing ice sculpture that is. Axton walked over and looked at Flynt as Gaige stared at the frozen pirate with a dumbfounded expression. "How the hell did I do that?" Gaige asked. Axton looks at the grenade mod on her belt and quickly grabs it.
"HEY!" Gaige said as she tried to take it back, but Axton held her back at arm's length with one hand as Gaige flailed for it.
Axton looked at the mod for several seconds. "Huh, this is a Vladof cryo grenade. Where did you get this?" He asked as he handed it back.
"Off of Bewm," she said as she clipped the grenade back to her belt and looked back to Flynt. "Hey, you think I could win an ice sculpture contest with this," she asked jokingly causing Axton to chuckle. It was then that they noticed that the vents were starting to shoot fire again and it was also at that moment that they both realized Flynt was standing on one such vent. A second after realizing this a tower of flames sprang up and engulfed Flynt, while Gaige and Axton shielded themselves from the sudden heat. When the flames ended they both looked to see Flynt standing there unfrozen and seemingly unphased by the fire and ice.
"Oh fuck," said Axton.
Flynt pulled his anchor back and slammed it down in front of them making another shockwave that knocked the two Vault Hunters back several meters. "You think a little ice will stop me! Think again Vault Hunters!"
Both Axton and Gaige got up quickly as Flynt started shooting flames with his assault rifle flamethrower. They managed to dodge the fireball by jumping in opposite directions before turning back to the man. "Well chew on this then!" Axton yelled as he tossed his turret out again as he leveled his SMG and fired. Flynt raised his anchor to use as a shield to block some of the bullets while letting his shield soak up the rest. With him distracted, Gaige pulled out another grenade and threw it right at Flynt. Unfortunately, Flynt saw this and merely took a step back letting the cryo grenade sail by and land several meters away from him, where it exploded harmlessly.
Trying again, Gaige pulled her last grenade and aimed lower so that it would land at his feet. "Nade out!" She threw it a second later and sure enough, it landed by Flynt's right foot. However, it was at that moment when Flynt decided to go pyro again as flames seem to burst around his body just a second before the grenade exploded. The heat combined with the sudden extreme cold caused a sudden explosion of steam that blanketed the area and blinded both of the Vault Hunters.
"Where is he?" Axton yelled.
"I don't- OWF!" Gaige suddenly found herself being nailed in the gut by the side of Flynt's anchor which set her flying back into a wall. Though the impact was absorbed by her shield it completely depleted it. She also lost her shotgun somewhere in flight. Gaige shook off the shock and looked up to find Flynt standing over her.
Gaige tries to reach for her Rogue but Flynt stomped his boot down to painfully pinning her right arm down. Gaige began to scream out in pain as the steel boot dug into her skin. She tries to punch his leg with her robot arm but this did nothing but seem to annoy him more. She could hear Axton and Zer0 yelling her name in the background as she looked up at Flynt's red eyes. 'I'm so fucked' Gaige thought. She knew that thanks to Angel she would be respawned but she still didn't want to know what it feels like to die.
Flynt lifted his anchor over his head and could now hear Maya and Salvador's voices in the distance. Everything seemed to slow down as Flynt started to swing. Gaige not wanting to see this shut her eyes tight and threw her left arm up in a vain attempt to block the incoming attack. It was at that moment she heard the familiar sound of a Digistruct, and then the sound of metal impacting metal as she felt the weight of Flynt's boot coming off of her arm. Was she dead? Had she already respawned at a New-U?
It was then Gaige heard several familiar electric whistles and beeps. Gaige eyes shot open and looked up to see a stunned Captain Flynt with his raised anchor being held by a large metal claw that belonged to a large floating, legless, robotic torso with a single glowing red eye. "DT!" Gaige screamed ecstatically.
"Wha- what the hell is this!" Flynt stuttered with fear in his voice as he took several steps back.
DT pick Gaige up by her hood and gently set her on her feet. "This is DeathTrap or DT for short. He is a Mechanized Anti-Bully Deterrent unit designed by myself to protect me from scum like you. DT." The robot looked to its creator giving an affirmative whistle. "Rip this Ripper a new asshole boy." Gaige said with a smile.
"Wheraaarrr!" DT responds as he ripped the anchor out of Flynt's hand and punched him in the chest, knocking him back several meters. "What the fuck!" Flynt yelled. "Screw it! I'll kill all of you, and then I'll hang your entrails around my cabin like tinsel!"
"Not happening tin head! Light him up DT!"
DeathTrap fired a concentrated stream of electricity from his mono eye at Flynt, at the same time Gaige pulled out her Rogue Smuggler and started peppering him with bullets. Flynt aimed his gun at Gaige and shot a jet of flames at her. DeathTrap quickly moved in front of Gaige to shield her from the attack. While this didn't do too much damage to DT, it did give him the appearance of a demonic monster as flames danced on his body. As soon as the flames stopped, DT rushed forward towards Flynt and drew his right arm up as three glowing Digistruct claws formed. He came down with a diagonal slash that ripped into Flynt suit. Flynt was still standing but now breathing heavily as Blood spewed from his new wounds. "Ugh, dammit BITCH! I'm gonna rip your heart out and crush it in front of your eyes!"
"You're welcome to try asshole, but you'll have to get through DT first! Finish him, boy!" With that DeathTrap unleashed a fury of slashes with his claws for the next several seconds. Flynt tried to go into his pyro form to protect himself, but this did little to impede the onslaught. After about twenty seconds DeathTrap stopped its attack. Flynt looked like he had a fight with a shrapnel-filled blender and lost. His right hand was cut off, he had several dozen cuts and even some scars on his helmet. Only his left eye could be seen glowing in his helmet.
"You all will rue the day you crossed paths with Captain Flynt, mark my words, you will all choke on my flames before this day- UGH!" Deathtrap stabbed all six claws into Flynt's torso and lifted him into the air as Gaige walked over. "Choke on this asshole," Gaige lifted her Rogue and put a single two-shot burst into Flynt's neck. Everyone could hear him choking on Blood as it poured from the new hole. Several seconds later, he stopped moving and his body went limp.
After several more seconds of silence, Deathtrap deactivated his claws and let Flynt's body fall to the deck whereupon impact several pieces of loot fell off of him. "HELL YEAH, THAT WAS SO HARDCORE! DT you are the bot! Show me some metal!" She said as she raised her robot hand up. DT happily gave her a high five as everyone else rushed over since Flynt's other minions were all either dead or had run off.
"That was awesome Senorita!" Sal cheered.
"Metalman makes nice meat popsicles," Krieg said.
"So this is the robot you've been talking about," Maya said as she walked around the bot looking it over.
"Yup. Everyone meet DeathTrap or DT for short. DT meet my new friends."
DeathTrap wave to them and gave an electronic warble hello. A second later there was a beep and DT dematerialized. "What happened?" Axton asked.
"Oh, he just timed out. Like your turret. He'll be ready again after a few minutes. Now, who wants loot!" Gaige cheered
Everyone cheered and started running around and collecting what they could find. Gaige found an uncommon Hyperion SMG along with the shotgun she had lost earlier, and a unique Bandits pistol called Flynt Tinderbox. But since she still had her dad's gun she gave it to Maya since her Tediore SMG wasn't as cut out for the job as she thought.
After Claptrap met up with them he opened the door to the main superstructure in order to get to his ship. Inside they found part of Flynt's cabin, where they found a red chest which they opened immediately. It had a rare Vladof spinigun called a Severe Minigun, which Salvador laid claim to while Krieg nabbed a rare Bandit triple barrel shotgun called a Red Stedy Room Clener. Axton even stole several Ripper flags calling them trophies.
Soon after they all boarded Claptrap's boat at the rear of the Ripper's ship and quickly set off for Sanctuary.
Several hours later
With nothing to do until morning as Claptrap told them all that the boat ride would take about fifteen hours, Gaige decided to pre-recorded the events of the day for her ECHO-cast. She had made one the night before where she managed to get everyone to introduce themselves. So she went to the ship's cargo hold to find a good quiet spot to record. Once settled in she didn't wasting any more time as she hit the record button.
"Hello, subscribers, Gaige here on the third day of my adventure on Pandora. It's about 2120 Hours GST (Galactic Standard Time) and it the middle of Pandora's night cycle. Anyways so I've had a crazy day today. Just straight off the wall through the roof crazy. So it started with us all gearing up." It took about ten minutes for Gaige to sum up the events of the day.
"And now I'm sitting in the cargo hold of Claptrap's boat on my way to Sanctuary with the other Vault Hunters. We should be landing in Three Horns by the morning and then it a two-hour walk there, so yeaaaa..." She paused for a moment as she thought about Kai. "God, I hope he isn't too worried… wait. Ohh, that's right, I forgot to mention that!"
"So before the whole Marcie incident, sorry again. I had only two subscribers left, one of them being…" She was about to say his name when she remembered Kai wanted to keep his name on the down-low. "Uh, R3bel_Wolf who I've known for the last few years. He's the one who helped me program DT's AI program and a few other things like the power to flow rate on DT's claws. So he's been a good friend to me. Hell, he's a best friend really, who could always find time to chat and whatnot. Of course, I don't actually know him in person or really much about him even after all of this time. I imagine you'll be putting in the comments section, But Gaige you shouldn't talk about personal stuff to random people on the ECHOnet! or Gaige he could be a predator. Yeah yeah I know, I broke a major rule or whatever of the ECHOnet, and I know he could be lying to me. But I don't care. I'm willing to give him a chance considering a lot of things he told me and how much he has helped me over the years. Besides I have guns, I have DT, and he doesn't know I have five badass and heavily armed Vault Hunters with me. Let's see any creep try anything now."
She took several seconds to collect her thoughts again. "Sorry got off track there. So during the trip to Pandora after I put up that first ECHO after the 'incident', Wolf invited me into a chat room and tried to help me as best he could… That is a major understatement, he literally decided to divert my focus by dropping a WTF bomb on me that blew my mind! He lives on Pandora! That's right, he's on fucking Pandor-"
"GAIGE! What have I told you about that kind of language young lady," interrupted Axton's voice from outside the cargo hold. "You're not my dad Axton. Now go back to polishing your gun or spooning your beloved turret!" Gaige said as she walked over to the hatch open.
"HEY! I don't spoon my-" but before he could finish, he was cut off when Gaige slammed the hatch shut and walking back to the crate she had been sitting on.
"Sorry about that, Axton tends to act just like a second dad. Where was I, right. So yeah, Wolf lives on Pandora, I won't go into details for, reasons. But he's been helping me prepare for the different things to expect on Pandora. He lives in Sanctuary which means I might be able to meet him tomorrow... Hopefully. If everything works out I'll get him to chat on my next ECHOcast, and I'll upload it along with the rest of the ECHOs I've recorded. which you are listening to right now anyways."
"He probably worried sick right now, because of Hyperion I can't connect to him. Plus I haven't been able to access my account to reload all of my data and contacts so that doesn't matter anyway. Damn you Jack Ass, for EMPing all of my stuff. And thanks again Mommy for the military hardened electronics for my arm. Oh and the titanium, that saved me big time on day one. Well, I guess I'll leave it there for this episode. Till next time everyone. Gaige out."
Gaige ended the recording and slumped back against the crate with a tired sigh, just letting her mind just wander a little. "So are you still serious about meeting this friend of yours," Gaige heard Salvador suddenly say in his gruff voice. Gaige had jumped in surprise at this and was now looking around the hold for him. When she didn't see anyone she got up to look around, quickly finding him sitting behind a large crate with a large cloth laid out in front of him. On the cloth was his new Vladof spinigun, completely disassembled and neatly laid out with a small tackle box-sized tool kit open next to him. He was currently cleaning one of the barrels with an oiled cloth and a ramrod.
"Sal? How long have you been here?" Gaige asked.
"About thirty minutes now."
"How did I… You know what, forget it. What are you doing here?"
"Uuugh what does it look like cleaning my guns." he said as he gestured to the weapon.
"And where did you even get these cleaning supplies, everyone's gear was destroyed during the train explosion?"
Salvador held up a small SDU card. "My Abuelo gave it to me a long time ago, it a Dahl grade SDU meant for protected storage. Fireproof, waterproof, and EMP proof." Sal said with a grin. "I never go anywhere without it."
Gaige eyed the chip for several seconds before looking back to the short man. "And you never thought of storing a backup weapon or two in there?"
Salvador thought about it for a moment before he facepalms himself. "UUUG, estúpido. How did I never think of that." He was quiet for a moment and then just shrugged. "Whatever, can't change the past. Say, when was the last time you cleaned your guns, niñita."
"Ugh, I haven't yet," Gaige answered.
Salvador gave her a serious look. "Do you even know how to clean a gun?" He insinuated more than asked.
"Of course I know how to clean a gun. My dad wouldn't even let me fire his gun before I know how to break it down and clean it."
"Do you know how to break down an SMG, a rifle, or any other weapon for that matter."
Gaige didn't say anything as her silence told Salvador everything he needed to know. So he gestured for her to take a seat and handed her a cleaning rag. "My Abuelo taught me almost everything I know about guns and told me to always clean a gun after a long fight or if you just looted a new one. So take a seat and give your gun a good cleaning," he said as he gestured for her to take a seat. Gaige thought about it for a moment until she finally sat down across from him and pulled out her pistol. The teen then began to break it down and clean it as they both sat in silence for several minutes.
"So you never answered my first question," Sal said.
"Which was?"
"That friend of yours, you still serious about meeting him?" Sal asked as he started to clean another gun barrel.
"I… I don't know. I mean yes I want to, but I'm also nervous that it could just be a big lie," Gaige said.
"Hmm… Oil please," Gaige passed him the gun oil before continuing to work on the inside rails of her gun. "Look, I may not have the experience with making friends and meeting new people. . . In a good way. But I do know you'll never know unless you don't try. And I hate not knowing. Besides, it sounds like he's the type of person you should at least give a chance."
"Yeah, and I intend to at least give him that," Gaige said as she started to reassemble her gun.
"Besides, it's like you said, you're now friends with five badass Vault Hunters. If he tries to mess with you will just beat the little shit to death,"
"Nobody will mess with our team's mascot!," Came Axton muffled voice from another part of the ship as they could hear Maya and Krieg cheering in agreement.
"Wait, how did Axton and everyone hear us and when did you guys decide I was the team mascot?"
"For the first question, there is an old voice tube right there." He said pointing to an old rusty tube that ran up the wall and to someplace else. "Second, we all voted on it this morning while you were still asleep." Sal said with a grin. The look of shock on Gaige's face quickly turned from embarrassment to anger. "I am so going to kill Axton." Gaige said.
"Wasn't me sister, Zer0 was the one who suggested it," Axton voice said from the voice tube as Maya was laughing in the background. This shocked Gaige for several seconds.
"You expect me to believe that Zer0, the quiet stoic ninja assassin, was the one to suggest that I should be the team mascot. You must think I'm crazy to believe that," Gaige said. There was a robotic cough that caught her attention, she looked to the other side of the hold to see Zer0 sitting in meditation.
"It is all true / I nominated you little red / I don't regret it," Zer0 said as a smiley face appeared on his helmet. Having been surprised once again it took several seconds for Gaige to recompose herself. "Wh- when did you get here?"
"Z been here since before I was, your just not that observant niñita," Salvador said with a chuckle as red LoL text flashed across Zer0's helmet.
"I hate you guys."
"No you don't." Sal responded as he finished reassembling his weapon.
"Yes I do," she huffed.
"Want me to show you how to break down and clean an SMG."
". . . Yes," she finally said as she pulled out her Hyperion SMG. And soon Gaige was lost to the interworking of the weapon. Over the next few hours, she cleaned several other weapons as Salvador and Zer0 who joined in, decided to teach her how to break down, clean, and reassemble several different weapons. Eventually, they decided to call it a night as everyone knew it would be an eventful day tomorrow.
X-X-X
It had been several hours since Kai had finally killed the Wooly Rakk Hive. It took all the ammo he had and most of the ammo he found in the base. But the Hive was now rotting away in the middle of the base, much to his disgust. The place already smelled like the Trash coast, and it was only getting worse by the minute thanks to the carcass.
He had been searching every corner of the base for the emitters with no luck, not even a trace. And he couldn't have Hati help since he was on an extended recharge as he had overclocked his CPU. This meant that Hati would be out of action for the next thirty to forty hours at least.
Kai walked out of the base and sat down on an old Atlas crate sitting just to the left of the entrance. He sat there for several minutes trying to think of where else he could find emitters. "Dammit!" He suddenly yelled in frustration. "Where the fuck are those damn emitters!" He yelled as he punched the top of the crate. This caused the crate to suddenly pop open which throw the rebel off.
"Owww" he moaned as he grabbed the side of the crate and slowly got up. As he was getting up he looked into the crate. Sitting in the crate were eight brand new shield emitters all still in their original protective casings. Kai could only stare at the emitters as the irony of the situation set in.
"... Dammit."
X-X-X
-LINK REESTABLISHED-
-Resuming ECHO Review Log-
(Gaige) THAT WAS SO OFF THE CHAIN~!
(Kilo8) I knew you'd like it, Gaige.
(Gaige) Like it. I LOVE IT! I was like bang! Bang! Then DT is swish, swish, STAB! Then I'm all like Choke on this asshole!
(Tina) Girl, you were a bonafide mother humping BADASS!
They both high fived.
(Kilo8) Hey, Torgue what the matter?
(Torgue) You added Cryo.
(Kilo8) Well yeah, Cryo is awesome.
(Torgue) Does that mean you're going to add lasers?
(Kilo8) . . . . Sorry, Mr. T.
(Torgue) AWWW SON OF A #$% $% # $% $ ! #.
(Tina) Wow. What's wrong with him.
(Kilo8) He hates Laser weapons because they don't make things go boom. And yes my viewers, I am merging a little bit of the Pre-Sequel with this story. I mean you all have had to wonder what would have happened if things from the Pre-Sequel were added. It will also make several future fights, and some ideas I been toying with a whole lot more interesting. This also means I can also bring in some of the cooler characters from the Pre-Sequel.
(Torgue) %$ # %$* #$% #$ %$*#
(Gaige) Wow, he's really mad.
(Kilo8) Euh, he'll be fine. Anyways as I said earlier if anyone is interested in becoming a Beta Reader just PM me. Well thanks everyone for joining us today, remember to follow and leave a review. Till next everyone, this is Kilo8 signing off.
- ECHO Review Log Terminated -
**TTS Fix 5-2-22**