Songs: The Smashing Pumpkins - Siva; Nine Inch Nails - Wish; Lorde - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
"I sure hope Brick's gonna be alright. Sounds like a terrible idea, busting through the Dome, grabbing Athena and then bringing her here." I said to Mordecai as we waited for Brick to come to the meeting point with Athena. I had no idea how he was planning on keeping her quiet for that long.
"He's gonna be fine. Hopefully. Looks like those trees might be good vantage points." Mordecai replied and pointed towards the trees surrounding the little clearing. It looked like some of the branches would almost perfectly cover the clearing, especially if Mordecai and I could manage to cover a 90 degree angle.
"Yeah, looks doable. I'm a little disappointed we won't have much time to see this place, because it looks absolutely amazing. Too bad we'll have to leave as soon as we get Athena. I'd say Lil is gonna be ready to set up a war tribunal the minute we echo her. I get the feeling it's gonna be super stressful."
"Yeah. Lil hasn't been in a good mood lately. But we can worry about that later. We need to get Athena first and survive transporting her to Sanctuary. She's gonna try to escape any opportunity she gets."
I sighed. I don't know what I expected from this Athena mission, but I just realized I was probably going to end up half dead. Again. It was getting kind of old and I really didn't want to be forced to spend another week in bed, but that was the nature of the job. And I had been pretty keen on going on another mission.
"Yeah. Well. Let's get into position and get ready. Who knows when Brick will turn up with Athena. Could be any minute, really." I said.
"Alright, I'll climb up into that tree and you can go to either side. Sound good?" Mordecai replied.
"Yup, let's go." I answered and shouldered my rifle. Mordecai quickly disappeared in his tree and was completely invisible from where I was standing. As usual, I was amazed by how quick he just disappeared and how fast he climbed up anything, really. I swear, the man was a cat or something.
Just as I had started climbing into my tree, we heard some commotion from the dome. That must be Brick breaking through the glass. Shit. He'd be here soon, hopefully with Athena in tow. I tried climbing up faster and getting into a good, hidden position from where I was. I had to hurry up now.
I quickly grabbed my rifle from behind my back and loaded it, getting ready and finding a stable stance, so the recoil wouldn't actually push me off the branch I was standing on. I looked through my scope, carefully surveying the area below me. Perfect. I could get a good view of almost the whole clearing and the few spots I wasn't able to see should be perfectly visible from Mordecai's vantage point.
Now we had to wait for Brick to arrive. The plan was that he would burst through the Dome, use the surprise effect and grab Athena and then run off with her, hopefully being able to keep her under control until he got here, where we could help out, if we needed to. Mordecai was mostly sniping and as long as there were no problems, I'd be his support. But I was prepared to digistruct a few other guns from the camp and use them close range if I needed to.
Just as I finished checking all the digistruct codes and the sensors in my legs, we could hear some angry screaming and heavy footsteps approaching. I looked out over the treetops and could see Brick running towards the clearing, a woman running ahead of him with a big shield on her arm. Athena.
They had made it to the clearing and Athena stopped and turned around. She looked angry. Really, really angry. Brick just came running at her, but she didn't flinch and that was a really bad sign. Someone who didn't flinch when Brick came running at them full speed wasn't afraid of anything.
"Face me!" she shouted at him as he came running at her. She caught Brick's punch with her shield. It pushed her back a good bit, but she didn't even seem to be hurt from it. This would be tougher than expected.
The two of them started exchanging punches and kicks and anything else in quick succession. It was almost impossible to follow them. But it seemed like Brick had the situation somewhat under control.
"Brick, if you need help, give us a shout." I echoed him, just in case. I knew he was busy fighting, but he definitely heard it. He knew we were standing by and just waiting for a sign from him, if he needed help.
"This ain't personal, Athena!" Brick shouted as he turned around under a tree stump and ran at Athena who had pulled out her sword and was still wearing her shield. The way this was going, it would be about who'd tire out first.
"It never is." Athena replied, as she moved out of the way and threw her shield at Brick. It hit him right in the guts. I flinched a little when I saw how he was pushed back a good bit. That thing must hurt.
Just when Brick came to a halt, Athena had managed to catapult herself up in the air and charge at Brick with her sword and Brick just barely managed to not get hit and push her away from him. Athena launched a few more attacks at him, until they were just standing opposite each other and eyeing each other suspiciously. Brick tried to fake an attack, but Athena didn't fall for it.
"I don't wanna kill you, girl!" he shouted at her. She promptly replied by trying to stab him with her sword.
"That is not a risk." she said.
"Mordy, this doesn't look like it's going too well. You wanna help out Brick or wait?" I echoed him.
"Waiting for the right moment to get a clear shot, but I'm on it." Mordecai echoed back. I took a deep breath. Maybe if we managed to get a shot at one of Athena's arms, she'd be weakened enough for us to get her.
"Turn away and I'll let you live!" Athena said to Brick. That is when I heard a shot from the bushes opposite me. I looked through the scope of my rifle trying to see where it came from, but all I could see was one of the plant pods bursting.
"Man, you got mean!" Brick shouted as he dodged one of her attacks. And then I saw her. A girl with short hair, kinda familiar, holding a small handgun and aiming at another one of the plant pods. What was she trying to do?
Brick raised his fist for an attack, but all of a sudden the flower opened and literally gulped up Brick's hand. What the actual fuck? Was that what the girl was doing? Damn. I didn't even know those plants could do that.
"Mordecai, we've got a second person here, she's hiding behind the trees and bushes opposite me. Got a tiny handgun and just shot those plant pods, so Brick's stuck now." I echoed.
"Athena!" the woman suddenly screamed and ran out of her hiding place while Brick tried to get unstuck. She looked oddly familiar, I could have sworn I had seen her before somewhere. Just as I was thinking that I heard the familiar sound of Mordecai's sniper rifle. I watched as Athena realized what was happening and put up her shield. The bullet got reflected off that. Damn. I had to admit, that were some amazing reflexes. No wonder she was one of the most dangerous assassins.
"Sniper! Get down!" she shouted and the other girl ran off hiding again.
"Get into cover and find his position! NOW!" Athena added. Goddamnit. She was hiding behind some bushes and I couldn't get a clear shot at her. I tried anyways, but it was no good. And then she was gone, disappeared out of my field of vision. Maybe it was time to try and get Athena again. Mordecai had been trying to get a good hit on her, but she was just too fast.
"Mordy, she's out of view, watch out, alright?" I echoed him, while I kept trying to get Athena. It was a near impossible task. That's when I saw the girl coming out from her cover and pulling out her handgun, pointing it at Mordecai's position. Before I could do anything, I could hear a shot and she fell to the ground. I didn't hear anything from Mordecai, so I figured she probably missed him.
That was until I saw some of the weird floating jellyfish creatures turning red. Shit, shit, shit. She hadn't missed, she'd hit exactly what she wanted to hit. That was pretty smart. I saw Mordecai jump out of cover, since he couldn't hold his position anymore. He did not look happy.
The other girl seemed to think her job was done, because she ran off, trying to get to Athena and Brick, who was still stuck. I was trying to keep Athena too busy to get a good hit at Brick by focusing my efforts on her. It seemed to work, at least somewhat. As I reloaded my rifle I quickly glanced over to Mordecai and saw him pull out a pistol. He did not look happy. The girl seemed to have noticed, too, since she turned around with a frightened expression on her face.
"I don't know you, but you really oughta run. This is Vault Hunter business. Ain't no reason for you to get caught in the crossfire. 'Less you're holdin' a lot of sweet loot, anyway." Mordecai said with a chuckle, while the girl kept walking backwards and closer to Athena and Brick.
"I AM a Vault Hunter." the girl replied, which made Mordecai laugh instantly.
"Alright. Whatever you say." he answered with a shrug. The girl and Athena exchanged a glance, as she was now standing directly beside her. Brick started laughing and then screamed as he tried again to pull his fist out of the flower. He didn't manage that, but he managed to rip out the entire plant and was swinging it at the two women now. Athena got away, but the other girl was thrown to the ground.
Brick got rid of the flower - finally - and was joined by Mordecai. Looked like we would move soon. There was definitely no need for me to keep sniping. I shouldered my rifle and tapped one of the sensors on my leg to digistruct my shotgun, before I quickly climbed down the tree.
"Oh, this is gonna be fun." I heard Athena say, while Brick was laughing maniacally. It was pretty quiet for a second and I waited in the bushes until my shotgun had fully digistructed, but then all hell broke loose. Athena hurled her shield at Mordecai who dodged it while Brick was running full speed at the other girl, grabbed her legs and flung her over the trees, almost hitting me on my way to them.
The girl landed against some orange glass, which shattered at the impact. Mordecai gestured at me to follow him and we made our way over there. The girl was lying there, moaning from the pain, and I actually felt kinda sorry for her. But well, she was trying to kill us, so that kind of settled the whole matter. Mordecai held up his pistol and aimed at the young woman. She was frantically trying to roll out of the way.
"Hey, nothing personal, lady. I promise." he shouted over the shots he fired. I loaded up my shotgun, as Athena suddenly jumped in front of her and held up her shield. She looked pretty pissed.
"That was close!" the woman shouted, as she finally managed to get up. I stepped out through the broken glass as well.
"Oh no. This is gonna be bad." Athena said, shaking her head, as I aimed at my shotgun at her, when I suddenly heard Brick screaming.
"Here comes the pain train! WOO WOO!"
With those words he ran through the broken glass and straight at the two women standing there. I looked over at Mordecai, but he just shrugged and kept firing at Athena. I started shooting at her as well, but she caught every shot with her shield. The other girl seemed to have come out of her shock and ran forward, grabbed something from the floor and came straight for Brick.
She stabbed one of his fists with whatever she had picked up and Brick screamed from the pain. As he raised his fist I could see that it was an icicle. I cringed a little inside, imagining how painful that must have been. I fired a few more shots at Athena and then started reloading my shotgun.
Mordecai had stopped shooting as well and as I glanced over I saw that he was reloading, too. This was bad. This was really bad. I looked up and saw Athena hurl her shield at us quickly.
"Watch out, Mordecai!" I shouted as I jumped out of the way. But it was too late. It missed Brick's head narrowly and hit Mordecai right in the ribs. He screamed and clutched his chest as he tumbled backwards. I got up quickly and ran over to him, trying to make sure he was okay. I wouldn't be surprised if he had broken a rib or two from that. As I got to him, he was breathing heavily. I scrambled through my belt pouch and managed to produce a healing hypo.
"Who the hell are you?!" Brick suddenly shouted. I looked over at him and saw him holding onto the other girl as she struggled to get away from him. I heard a shot and Brick screamed and let go of her, as she ran off.
"You shot me in my pinkie toe! Come here!" he shouted and straight up punched her in the face, knocking her out completely. I jammed the health vial into Mordecai's veins and finished reloading my shotgun. We had to somehow get to Athena now, before the other girl woke up again.
It was then that Athena finally took a hit from one of my bullets. It wasn't fatal or anything, but hopefully it would wear her out soon enough. I heard some clinking noises from behind me and as I turned around there was Vallory, balancing a rocket launcher on her shoulder. The girl had woken up as well, it seemed, as she was sitting up now. Once Vallory came in, everything stopped.
She aimed the rocket launcher at Athena first, but when she saw the other girl had gotten up now, she changed her mind and aimed it at her. And she actually pulled the trigger. I could see the shock in the girl's face when she heard the sound.
"Fiona!" Athena shouted as she threw her shield at her. Fiona caught it and was able to save herself from the rockets, even though the blast pushed her back against a tree. It looked like she couldn't believe that she was still alive.
"I never thought of you as the caring type, Athena." Vallory said, now aiming the rocket launcher at Athena. Fiona threw the shield back to Athena, but it was too late. She was hit by the rockets and was thrown back onto the ground. She wasn't moving after that hit. I hoped she was still alive, because Lilith would be pissed if we brought her a dead Athena. Really pissed. Mordecai and I quickly went over to her body, trying to check if she was still alive. Brick was a little slower with his foot being shot.
"NO!" Fiona screamed and looked at the scene in front of her. The poor girl. I really did feel sorry for her, even though she shot Brick's pinky toe. All of a sudden she started screaming furiously and ran at Vallory, pulling out her gun. Vallory just smiled and took the rocket launcher from her shoulder.
Fiona never managed to try and shoot Vallory, as she was throwing her rocket launcher straight at her, resulting in Fiona getting stuck under the heavy launcher, unable to get out from underneath it.
"I'm gonna kill you. You hear me?" she said to Vallory who was now slowly approaching her. Vallory gave her a pitiful look.
"Not today, little girl. Not today." was all she said, as she came over to us. A few more people appeared at the scene, one of them the other girl I had seen at Scooter's garage and the other one the tall Hyperion guy.
"Vaughn? VAUGHN!" the Hyperion guy screamed, apparently looking for someone. It was probably the smaller guy he came with.
"When you have to get rid of a Vault Hunter, just bring in two Vault Hunters." Vallory said to herself.
"You boys got everything?" she shouted at us. I took a deep breath and tried to avoid rolling my eyes at her. She could be really scary, if she wanted to, and after this I definitely didn't want to upset her.
"Yes, Ma'am." Brick said, looking quite annoyed. Mordecai sighed, still in pain from having the shield thrown at him.
"Lilith'll be real happy to see this wretched piece of assassin trash hauled in." he said. Vallory pointed her index finger in his face, making him flinch back a little.
"You needed Athena as much as I needed her out of my hair. I'm glad we were able to help each other out." Vallory said. I looked down at Athena. She looked awful. Her face looked beaten and bruised and she looked pale. Vallory bent down to her with a mocking smile on her face.
"Do you feel that, Athena? Now it's over." she said, then turned around and went off to take care of everything else. Finally, Brick, Mordecai and I could be on our way back to Sanctuary.
"That is one scary lady." Brick commented.
"Quiet, amigo! You want her to hear you?" Mordecai replied quickly, as Brick picked Athena up by her feet and started dragging her along.
"Jesus, Brick, let the poor woman have some dignity! She's not a bounty, she's a war prisoner." I said, as I picked her up under her arms, so we could carry her properly to one of the cars. We would just have to get to the Fast Travel Station and then we'd be done with this job. Finally.
"Nova, are you gonna echo Lil? Brick and I should probably rest for a while. I think we broke a few bones. At least." he said. I nodded and tapped on my ECHO device.
"Hey, Lil. We got her. On our way back now. Get Zed and health vials, Mordy and Brick are pretty beat up." I messaged her. I sighed and jumped into the driver's seat. We were probably lucky to be alive.