We wasted no time in moving up, advancing towards the ship itself. Axton glanced over at me as we proceeded.
"Any chance you'd be able to reactivate those chips for us?" He asked quietly
I looked at him incredulously. "Right now? No way. You'll have to deal with it."
He blinked in surprise as I continued. "What, you expected a simple little apology and all would be sorted out?" I shook my head. "Pandora isn't that forgiving, pal, and neither am I. You and Zero want forgiveness and trust, you'll have to earn it. About the only thing in your favour right now is that we're both after the same thing."
Maya smirked. "Told you." She sang. I raised an eyebrow at her.
Gaige chuckled. "We may have spoken our minds after you left, and after we found the ECHOs. It also might or might not have involved Maya suspending them by their toes for a while and Deathtrap testing their speed."
I chuckled. "That would have been good to see."
Gaige's chuckle was dark. "Thought you'd appreciate it. Hammerlock was rather put out at their lack of manners too. He sends his regards, by the way. Says he'll catch up with you in Sanctuary."
"Good to know. Hopefully, we can get this done quickly."
Maya glanced at us. "Any reason why we're doing this, when we could use the Fast Travel Station? Hammerlock obviously has the codes and it's online."
"One reason. One very big reason. Jack."
"Jack?" Salvador asked.
"Think about it. The guy built both the Fast Travel and New-U systems from scratch. No one knows those systems better than him. You comfortable placing your life in the control of a system that Jack knows intimately and likely has some hidden features that he can use to his advantage?"
Salvador paled. "Never thought about it like that. But that's a very good reason."
"A reason indeed/ to avoid those systems where/at all possible." Zero agreed.
"No kidding. The last time I used it was when I went back to Helios to confront Jack after New Haven. Haven't used it since."
Maya glanced at me. "You never did finish that story."
"And now isn't the time to finish it, either. Tell you what. We pull this off and get the ship, I'll tell you the rest of it on the ferry. It's a 15 hour trip, need something to fill in the time. Deal?"
"Deal." We finished clearing out the remaining bandits in the area as Claptrap reached a set of stairs. He growled furiously.
"Stairs! Goddammit. I can't climb these blasted things."
"That lift would work, but the controls down here are fried. We'll have to hope the upper set are working." Axton said. "Split up?"
I nodded. "Zero, Krieg, Sal and I head up top?"
"Sounds like a plan." With that, the four of us took off up the stairs. Zero was the first to speak up.
"I am surprised/ that you would willingly want/ to have me with you."
I snorted. "The four of us are the most mobile attack troops, even though the others are no pushover. For this, it works best this way. Besides, I know I can handle you if things go pair-shaped."
"You are expecting/ me to betray you? Even/ now after our talk?"
"Hey, you brought it up. And I don't remember hearing you saying a word when Axton said his piece. The last time we met, you tried to threaten me and I still have no reason to trust you. I'd rather have you where I can see you right now."
"A fair point. For what/ it is worth, you have my blade/ and apologies."
"It's a start, but I prefer to judge by actions rather than just words. In any case, we're about to get far too busy." We came around the corner and found twenty bandits on alert. The four of us glanced at each other and got down to business. No cover, no room to manoeuvre, only one choice.
We charged.
Salvador and Zero sprinted forward, shredding a pair of psychos in their way. Krieg and I charged to the right, barrelling through a Maruader on our way. Krieg caught a pair of psychos with a single sweep of his axe, while I shredded a Maruader with the SMG and put my sai through a Nomad's eyeslot. I emptied the SMG into another psycho, before yanking out my shotgun from the SDU, blasting another Nomad away. Grabbing a third, I shoved him into the path of Krieg's next swing before jamming my shotgun under the chin of a Maruader, lifting him clear of the ground with the force of impact before taking his head off. Krieg flattened the remaining bandits with another sweep before we turned towards the remaining bandits that Zero and Salvador were facing on the opposite platform. I grinned at Krieg.
"Shall we go help them out?" I asked.
"HIGH FLYER KNOWS WHAT MAKES A GOOD DOOM PARTY!" Without pause, Krieg threw himself across the gap, landing behind the bandits. Firing, I followed behind, catching the bandits between the hammer and anvil. They didn't react well, I thought they should probably have been put back into the fire to heat up again. Zero and Salvador, fortunately, had the fire weapons capable of helping them do so, but the bandits didn't survive their reforging. Such a shame, that.
It didn't take us much more to find the upper controls for the lift, thankfully still operating. A quick pull of the lever and the others rose to join us. Maya shook her head.
"Took you long enough."
I shrugged. "There's still enough left for you, don't worry. We didn't take the time to kill them all."
"Oh good, you do understand."
We didn't have much further to go, no more than a dozen bandits interrupted us on our way up. None of them lasted more than a handful of seconds each. None of us were in much of a mood to slow down. In short order, we reached the top deck of the ship, with a cluster of vending machines before a short drop-off. Electing to top up our weapons stores and grab some Insta-Heals before we left, I saw Claptrap looking somewhat forlorn at us. A thought suddenly occurred to me.
"Claptrap, can you still shoot?"
He jerked as he looked at me before his body slumped slightly. "Nothing like what I used to be capable of. Most of my combat programming didn't survive the aftermath of Elpis. I can still shoot, but I'm not a match for anyone really."
I smiled. "Everyone has to start somewhere. Maybe we can do something about that when we have some time, but for now," I tossed him one of the SMGs we had acquired along the way, "It's time to meet with the dear Captain."
Claptrap checked the gun over, before levelling it in readiness. "Sounds good to me. I'm looking forward to it."
All eight of us leapt over the drop-off, landing on the deck below. As one, we turned to face the quarter deck. Claptrap yelled a challenge.
"Flynt, your Claptrap unit has returned!"
In answer, a bulky armoured figure turned towards us, weapons drawn. "It's our new torture dolls, boys. Let's turn up the HEAT!"
CAPTAIN FLYNT
He's burning to hurt you!
As if to punctuate his words, vents all over the deck erupted with fire and a bunch of bandits erupted from cover, ready to fight. Eight of us against an army on their own turf. This was going to be a blood bath.
For them.
Under other circumstances, I expect that Claptrap might have run off screaming. But here and now, he was focussed on one thing. Vengeance. With a feral roar, he opened fire on the bandits. His accuracy wasn't that flash and his technique was certainly less refined than the rest of us. But the bandits were forced to duck away from the onslaught he unleashed on them, a situation that was not improved for them as we engaged ourselves. The other Vault Hunters chased after the bandits, ducking and diving around the various vents. But I had other ideas.
So did Flynt.
"So, the famous Slicer enters my domain." Flynt glared at me through his helmet. "Why don't you come and work for me? It's a much better idea than me handing you over to Jack."
I snorted, casually blasting aside a psycho as I strode forward. "Tempting, but I'll pass. None of Jack's lackeys or hired guns have come close to being able to bring me in, you've got no chance. And I prefer to work for someone who has more than a single brain cell."
Flynt snarled, whipping up his gun and firing as he jumped down onto the deck. I smirked, diving under the fire and glancing quickly at my ECHO, noticing that the Trojan Horse, or my little ace, was still preparing, leaving me resorting to conventional tactics. So, I unleashed a torrent of SMG fire as I closed in on him. He was quick to respond, whipping up his anchor and blasting away with his assault rifle. Matching fire for fire, I ducked under the danger zone and scored a hit on his flank with the sai, before emptying my magazine into his chest-plate at point-blank range. Roaring, he knocked me flying with a sweep of his arm towards one of the vents.
Even stunned as I was, I had enough sense to get clear of the vent before it ignited and into cover, reloading as I went. Gaige glanced across at me.
"Having fun?" She asked.
"Yeah, living the dream." I replied, popping out of the cover and raining a salvo of gunfire at Flynt's helmet, forcing him to seek cover himself. Even his own shields, vastly superior to the standard bandit, were reaching their own limits and he and I both knew it. Unfortunately, I couldn't take advantage of it, as a dozen of the remaining bandits chose that moment to charge Gaige and I. Snarling, the pair of us rose, standing back to back, with Deathtrap sweeping into the fray.
One pissed off Vault Hunter is enough to make bandits run for cover. Two is a truly terrifying prospect. Gaige and I didn't look like much, but the smiles on our faces were identically chilling to the bandits. They stumbled as they came, but they came nonetheless, firing relentlessly.
It didn't do them any good. With guns, claws and blades, we cut them down like wheat with a scythe. Turning back to Flynt, we both engaged savagely. Flynt's shields took a hammering as he was forced back, glaring at us hatefully. Gaige and I grinned at each other.
"Glad to know we've got each other." Gaige laughed.
"Count on it." I smiled. "Let's kill this bastard." Ducking out from either side of the cover, we sprinted towards Flynt, Gaige jumping onto Deathtrap as she ran.
Every bandit saw us coming, of course. A massive, floating killer robot with a teenage girl riding its shoulders was not exactly subtle. But pinned down under fire from six other Vault Hunters, there was absolutely nothing that they could do to stop us.
Flynt had no chance, either. Deathtrap smashed him in the gut and Gaige slammed her hammer down on him. He staggered under the twin blows, his shields failing as he retreated and collapsed. I slipped the sai in under his armour, impaling him before resting my SMG against his eye-slit.
"Remember how I told you that far better than you had failed to take me out, that you had no chance? This is why." Without another word, I emptied the SMG into his head. I nodded towards Gaige as I reloaded. "Thanks for that. I forgot how much better it is to run with friends."
Gaige grinned back "Glad you're here. You want to finish this off or me?"
I smiled. "You mind if I do?"
She waved me on towards the rest of the bandits. "Be my guest."
I chuckled. "Yo, assholes." I yelled.
Every bandit turned to me, murder in their eyes as I raised my hands. "Time to cool off." With a broad grin, I fired up the Trojan Horse and the looks of horrors on the bandits' faces matched perfectly with the resounding clicks from their guns that suddenly echoed around the deck. The grins that spread across the faces of the Vault Hunters said only one thing.
Hunting time.
The bandits had no chance and lasted about as long. Within seconds, the only people standing on the deck of the Soaring Dragon were us. We wasted no time looting everything in sight, grabbing guns, equipment and cash from all our victims. Spotting another loot chest, Gaige and I strode over and opened it, grinning at the collection of goodies held within. One item in particular caught my eye; a specialised ECHO modulator, an item that I would kill for. How on earth it ended up in Flynt's possession I had no idea, but I was delighted to see it. Grabbing it and tossing it lightly, I grinned.
"Now, we're talking."
Gaige looked at me. "I take it, that's useful."
"Very. Jack'd kill to keep one of these babies out of my hands. Let's just say that I can use these to do some serious enhancements to the Trojan Horse."
"Now I'm all for that." Mayan chuckled as she and the others caught up. Rounding the corner, we saw a small ferry hanging from the chains. "Looks like we have what we came for, too."
"Sure does." I keyed my ECHO. "Richard, you there?"
"You're still alive, then, Jason." The quick reply came.
"Very much so. Doing better than Flynt, too. We seem to have found something of yours."
"I'll be damned. You actually pulled it off?"
"Not alone, but yeah, we got it. We'll check it over, but looks undamaged to me. Claptrap's here too, so we should spot anything amiss."
"I appreciate it. You'll have your ride and I just got a new debt to pay back."
I chuckled. "I'll stick it on the tab." Claptrap gave me a thumbs up and began to lower the ferry down towards the water. "Looks like it's all good, we're on our way back to you."
Richard was just about ecstatic when we pulled up alongside his dock. Even Claptrap couldn't dampen his good mood.
"You know, you lot are just as crazy as the rumours say. Eight against an army and they never stood a chance."
Salvador laughed. "That was just the warm-up, amigo. Wait until you see the real thing."
He grinned. "Looking forward to it already. I'm guessing that you're planning on going to Sanctuary, given you want to take the ferry."
I nodded. "Jack's getting warmed up. Soon enough, he'll throw everything he's got our way. We're off his radar some, but the way we keep running into bandits, all he'll have to do is follow the bodies."
"All the more reason to give you a head-start." He started shouting orders to his crew before turning back to me. "All right, get your stuff below, Claptrap can show you where. Let's get under-way quickly."
"No arguments from us." Maya agreed.
Without any further discussion, we followed Claptrap down as he directed us to various cabins. By the time we had our belonging stowed away, Richard had the ferry moving at full speed. As we settled in, Maya spoke up.
"You said that you'd tell us the rest of your story once we were on the ferry."
I snorted. "Yeah, I was wondering how quickly you were going to bring that up. But there's something I need to do first."
Axton frowned. "What's that?"
I pulled out my ECHO and tapped at it, creating a jamming field that prevented any electronic surveillance. Then I crossed to the door, preventing anyone from entering or listening at it. I knew there was going to be one person that could still get through but that didn't concern me. In fact, I wouldn't be worried at all if Angel showed up.
I had a feeling she knew parts of the story I didn't fully understand, even to this day.
I turned around and sat down, looking at the others. "So, I finished up last time at New Haven, right?"
"Yeah, before I interrupted you." Axton said sheepishly. I glared at him and he held up his hands in surrender.
"Well, I knew I had to look at the data drive soon and I couldn't do it on Helios. My ECHO wasn't nearly as advanced as it is now, but it was still enough for me to access the drive's storage. It didn't show much, the data was badly damaged. But it did prove that Jack, Wilhelm and Nisha were present and directing the attack. I didn't really doubt that, not after what I'd been told, but it was good to have some confirmation. For what little comfort it was."
Gaige grimaced. "That couldn't have been easy for you."
I shook my head. "No. Knowing what had happened was one thing. But knowing what to do about it, that was something else entirely. Either way, I had to be on Helios. Even having the information I did, I had to deal with Jack, one way or another. But I never got a chance to make a plan for that."
FLASHBACK BEGINS
Arriving back to my office on Helios, I walked out without a direct destination in mind, my mind churning with everything that had happened that day. Guilt, that I had, in some way put my family in danger. Despair, that they had been cut down like wheat in a field. Regret, that I would never again see their smiles, hear their laughter, feel their warmth.
Rage, that it was all unnecessary.
I was on a knife's edge as I wondered. But what happened next removed any remaining rhyme or reason from my mind.
Laughter caught my attention and I turned towards a group of men standing nearby. I recognised them, particularly their leader. Hugo Vasquez, a moronic prick that thought the sun shone out of Jack's arse and wanted to be exactly like him. Jack took great joy in tormenting him, sticking dollar bills to his bald head and nicknaming him 'Wallethead', but Vasquez was just as devoted, living for these moments. Those gathered around him were his usual bunch of wannabes that shared his attitude. They weren't fond of me, as I dismissed them as the arse-kissers that I knew they were. As I got closer, I began to hear their conversation.
"So, what do you think, sir? You think it's true about New Haven?" One of the hanger-ons asked.
Vasquez laughed. "Don't see why Jack would bother wiping out vermin like that, unless it was for fun. So, yeah, I think so."
Another grinned. "Can't have been much of a challenge. Damn bandits probably wet themselves screaming."
Vesquez joined him. "Too right. Anyway, no one will care, it's just pest control. We should cleanse all of Pandora, they're simply scum and slime, just like those in New Haven."
By this time, I was well within earshot and only just holding onto my temper. "Excuse me, gentlemen. Would you mind repeating what you just said?"
Vasquez chuckled. "I said, sir, that we should cleanse all of Pandora, they're simply scum and slime, just like those in New Haven."
I nodded. "That's what I thought you said."
Then I struck him.
FLASHBACK ENDS
"I bet that went down well." Axton commented.
I snorted. "They didn't care for it one bit. Six of them, against me."
Maya smiled slightly. "Just how badly did you beat them?"
"I turned Vasquez half into hamburger and the rest of his men were out cold before the security guards finally intervened and pulled me off him. They didn't fare much better."
Salvador shook his head in disbelief. "Damn, amigo. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't." I said coldly. "I was far too angry to think by that point. It was Vasquez's bad luck that he pushed me over the edge without even knowing it. Not that he didn't deserve it, guy was a moronic dumb-ass just begging for a beating."
"To be fair, that describes most of Hyperion." Gaige pointed out.
"Most, but not all." I said sadly. "Even now, there are some good people in Hyperion. But they play a dangerous game, trying to stay alive under a dictator that desires nothing more than power and a company that stands for everything they are against."
"Like who?" Axton challenged.
I chuckled. "That is a story for another time. I still have this one to finish."
"Right." Gaige nodded. "Jack must have heard what happened quickly."
"He did and wasted no time in heading my way. That was his mistake." I grimaced. "I chose to talk, rather than shoot first. That was my mistake."
FLASHBACK BEGINS
"What the hell is going on here?" Jack's voice suddenly attracted my attention. At that point, it was probably about the only thing that could have drawn my attention away from the slimeball in front of me. In one smooth movement, I stood, turned and drew my SMG, levelling it at Jack's head. I didn't notice all that much, but I did notice that it got very quiet right then. No one in Hyperion had ever had a serious argument with Jack, let alone drawn a gun on him. When I finally spoke, absolutely everyone could hear the fury in my voice and flinched. Everyone was used to Jack being angry. Very few had ever seen me in a similar state.
"One reason." I said quietly, but clearly. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out right now."
"Kid, what the fuck are you talking about?" Jack tried to bluster his way out.
"You've lied to me once already today, Jack. Don't make it twice."
Jack's own voice dropped in anger. "I don't like being called a liar, Jason."
"And I really don't appreciate being lied to, John. You told me New Haven, and my family were destroyed by bandits. Correct?"
"Jason-"
"Correct?!" I roared, though my gun never wavered.
"Don't ever accuse me of lying." Jack said quietly.
"Then don't try to lie to me. Because if bandits hit New Haven like you told me, why were there Hyperion loaders there?"
"To defend the town of course." Jack smiled.
I chuckled mirthlessly. "Fine. That even sounds reasonable. Except you didn't led with that at any point. And we both know how hard it is to falsify complete loader data." I held up the data drive. "What do you say, should we give everyone a show?"
Without waiting for a response, I slid the data drive into a nearby socket, activating the recordings. Jack's attention was drawn towards the projected image. I couldn't stand to watch it again, but I had my own preparations to make. I knew that this was going to end only one way; in a fire-fight. My odds of walking away weren't high, but I'd never really cared for odds. Out of all my opponents, only three were of any real concern.
Jack, obviously was the primary threat. I'd seen him in action, both at Ghost and since then, and he hadn't lost his edge. About the only thing in my favour was he hadn't seen a lot of action and most of it seemed to be execution style. Even so, underestimating Jack was done at your peril.
Nisha wasn't in the same league as Jack, but she wasn't to be ignored either. She packed a fair punch herself. Fast, ruthless and accurate, particularly with pistols, she was a dangerous person to face off against, a dagger that would slip between your ribs when you least expected it.
Finally, there was Wilhelm. If Nisha was a dagger, then Wilhelm was a rocket launcher. Blunt, direct and forceful, Wilhelm solved everything with gunfire and a lot of it. His years of experience could cause me issues, not to mention his increasingly high levels of augmentation.
As the recording faded to black, I pulled the data drive back out, sliding it into my SDU. "Nothing to say, Jack?"
The insanity that I had started to suspect lay beneath Jack's mask was now on full display. "After everything I've given you, you turn your back on me like this?"
I snorted. "You killed my family, Jack. What did you think was going to happen when I found out?"
Jack waved a hand in dismissal. "They had no value, there's only bandits on Pandora. I was just cleaning out the trash for you."
My face hardened. "And that, right there Jack, signed your death warrant."
He grinned. "Come on, kiddo. Even you have to know you've got no chance against all of us."
To highlight his words, every single soldier drew and levelled their weapons at me.
I smiled mirthlessly. "And you know how little I care for odds, Jack. Consider this my resignation."
And with that, all hell broke loose.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
So, I finally managed to get a chapter out. This has been sitting half done on my computer for months, so it's good to finally finish it. I'm aware that this isn't one of my better chapters and I'll likely revisit it eventually, but you've been waiting long enough for this and I've wanted to get this out too. I'm alternating between this and my Starcraft story, along with co-writing another story and betaing a fourth, on top of my work and studies, so I apologise for the delay. I'm hoping to have more writing time shortly, so you might not be waiting as long for the next chapter.
Claptrap is starting to step into his own, too. How this pans out is going to take time, but I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I promised to expand on the reasons why Jack was targeting Jason's family. Firstly, they're on Pandora, which is enough for Jack, in his insanity, to brand them as the enemy, despite the fact that they're just visiting, they are associating with the population, and the Vault Hunters in particular. There is another reason or two why Jack went after Jason's family, but I'm not elaborating on them right now. They are going to have a major impact on the direction of the story and I want to build up to it appropriately.
Now, reviews:
Verdin, I agree; given Jack's a master programmer and Angel has her own tech abilities, having someone that can throw it down with them has always struck me as an interesting twist to Borderlands. This is my take on how it could work out. It is going to grow and expand, like the other skill trees, but exactly how that will happen will be revealed over time.
Blaze, I agree that would be cool, but I don't want to have Jason seriously overpowered, particularly not at this point. He's going to get better and that Action skill is going to improve dramatically over time, but it will take time. As for the Vault Hunters, only Axton and Zero were really hostile to him and Jason is significantly cooler to them as a result. The others either understood or were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, which is why Jason only disabled Axton and Zero's chips. They have a lot of ground to make up before Jason's going to trust them again.
Slackboy, let me just say that I always hated watching Angel die. Take that as you will.
Villain, I'm glad you're liking Jason. It would make a degree of sense for those three to be his friends, but time will tell on that count. Hopefully these last few chapters, and the next one coming, will help fill in some of those gaps you mentioned. I'm glad you're liking what I'm doing and hope you enjoy this.
JMK2, you asked for more and here it is.
Ok everyone, please keep those reviews coming, I'm loving them. Enjoy the new chapter.
Until next time.
