Chapter 15

Pandora

"So Boomtown was a bust" Gaige was talking to herself in the driver's seat. They had piled back into the technical and were following the map across the wasteland.

"Roland's Reach, bet Lilith had a hand in naming that one, you remember her eh babe?" She called back to Deathtrap.

She turned slightly and threw back to the other passenger "Seriously though, why were you pointing guns at Tina and Mordecai?"

"Is that his name? The Truxican wrestler looking guy, with the beard. Huh, everyone just called him Mordi. And the reason I was pointing a gun at Tina, was it, was that she was dressed like a psycho."

"Psycho's don't wear armor. Or bunny ears. Or have masks like that."

"What do the Pandora psycho's masks look like anyway?"

" Like every other psycho that I've seen, usually a white mask with a yellow vault symbol on it."

"All of them look the same? I've been wondering something, where do they get them from?
I mean is someone out there just mass producing these things? Is there a store for them? I'm really kinda curious."

"Really kinda? But now that you mention that, where are they getting them from? Wait you're not distracting me with this, Boomtown, Tina, talk."

"Fine, like I said someone dressed like a psycho drops down next to me, I'm gonna at least draw on them. She should count herself lucky that I didn't just shoot."

"You should count yourself lucky you didn't, Mordecai would have killed you, and then Brick would have killed you, super painfully I should add. And then I would have killed you again."

"I could see that."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence as the rocks grew larger and it soon seemed like they had entered into a valley when Jinx cocked her head listening to something.

"What?" Gaige said, noticing the change behind her.

"We've got incoming, lot of them from the sound of it." Jinx replied while readying her rifle.

No sooner had she said that then the first Outrunner sailed over the nearest cliff edge and slammed into the ground behind them. Fishtailing around it started pursuing them.

Gaige tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she yelled out "Hold on, this is about to get bumpy!"

Jinx examined the vehicle behind them, the masked driver with his hands tightly gripping the wheel, the psycho with a mask exactly as described in the gunners' seat with a buzz-ax waving above his head. It was just like she'd always dreamed Pandora would be like.

As she was getting misty eyed, the sky started raining vehicles. Another half dozen Outrunners and half as many Technicals, many with extra passengers hanging from the sides landed behind them. The vehicles themselves were covered in blood and she could make out what she presumed was the clan symbol on their hoods, an ugly red mechanical fist crushing the Firehawk symbol, not that it meant anything to her or changed what she had to do.

She stretched her left leg out and curled her right near her bracing her elbows against her knees while adapting to the swaying of the ride as Gaige started evasive action. Everything slid and shifted as the ride became more chaotic with bullets pinging off the armor around her and barrels exploding after being launched from the chasing Technicals, Deathtrap did the best he could firing electric blasts at their pursuers, but instead of worrying about it Jinx focused on her breathing. Slow in, slow out and the world seemed to slow down. She opened her eyes and focused in on what she needed to hit. She could make out the sweat trickling down the drivers face, the slow-motion shifting of his hands on the wheel, the flexing of his mask as he yelled, none of it mattered and she waited, waited, even as in the far off distance she could barely make out Gaige yelling at her and then with a steady exhale, she fired.

She shifted even as the bullet hit the driver's skull, exploding it and causing the wheel in his now limp hands to spin, she shifted to the lead Techincal, watching as it landed, skidding and bouncing and just as it came down, she fired again.

Everything seemed to speed up again as her second shot tore into the strut holding the Technical's front wheel on, just as it hit the ground. The tire collapsed inward throwing the vehicle into a roll just as the Outrunner with the dead driver slammed into it from the other side spinning both vehicles onto their sides and causing the following vehicles to slam into them, launching the others into the air and filling the canyon behind them with explosions.

Gaige glanced behind them and seeing the wreckage of burning twisted metal said the obvious "What the hell happened back there?"

"They had an accident."

"Well that should make it easier, we're almost there. Smooth sailing from here on out." she said before her grin slid a notch and she thought 'What was it that Wainwright said about things like that?'

"Look out!" came the cry from behind her and a shadow flew in from her left, slamming into
the Techincal she was driving with enough force that the last thing she remembered was the
world spinning.

A Minute Later

The pain brought Jinx around, she had only been out for a few seconds but everything hurt and it took almost everything she had to keep her eyes open. Squeezing them back shut, she focused on what had just happened. She had just clogged up the path behind them and as they exited the canyon, she had seen a shadow approaching from the side at high speed, just as she had tried to warn Gaige about it, there had been a sharp impact and she had gone flying. She had landed in the rocks around the edge of the canyon and had blacked out.

Opening her eyes again, she tried to push herself up, only to be met with searing pain in her side. Looking down she could see a shard of the vehicle running through her, just above her hip. It wasn't too far into her side so she figured it had missed all the vitals, still she couldn't ignore it for too long, but first things first. Gritting her teeth, she drug herself to where she could see the wreckage of the Technical that she had been riding in and what she saw froze her insides.

The bandit Technical that had hit them was now parked near the wreckage, which was swarming with bandits and psychos, four of which were facing off against Deathtrap, though he was just floating looking displeased because two of them had drug Gaige from the wreckage and had her on her knees before a third, who had a great slab of a shield on his back and seemed to be in charge. Jinx couldn't hear what was being said but before she could get her rifle ready, they had drug Gaige into the back of the Technical and Deathtrap floated up into it as well before they took off.

Just as they did Gaige looked back and Jinx swore their eyes met for a brief second, and Jinx could tell that she would be doing everything she could to stay alive long enough to get away.

As the vehicle tore away in a cloud of dust Jinx slumped back down onto the rocks. She didn't have time, she needed to hurry, so she got out her med kit and got to work. She ripped the shard of metal out with a grunt, slapped a patch over the wound and let the self-healing technology within get to work, she augmented it with an Insta-Health vial and tightened her belts around it with a wince.

She stood carefully, having made sure there weren't any bandits remaining, before pulling out her canteen, only to find a great hole in it. 'It must have been ruptured during the crash' she thought bitterly, tilting it as best she could to get the last drops out, then turned and adjusted her rifle before setting a course for Roland's Reach.

Roland's Reach

Vaughn was having an average day, well, as average as a former warchief and current Crimson Raider on Pandora ever had, especially with what had been going on recently, when one of the spotters came running up to him. As they tried to catch their breath, Vaughn looked at them with anticipation.

"What, what? Is it a bandit attack, please tell me it's another bandit attack, I knew they couldn't stay away from these pecs. Which clan is it? Oh, oh, maybe it's my invite, maybe I won't have to call another BLOOD FEUD, though I was kinda looking forward to it, five and 0 baby!"

The other man looked at him tiredly, used to his bosses eccentricities, he missed having Vic around,
at least when she was there she could smack some sense into Vaughn, but she was out taking care of things right then, so the runner waited for Vaughn to take a breath before giving his report.

"Sir, someone's approaching, alone and on foot."

"On foot? Nice."

"They're wearing boots sir."

"Oh" The disappointment was audible "Well what do they want, they're not a bandit are they?"

"Does not appear so, and we have no way of knowing what they want until they get here, I'm just letting you know so you can greet them if you want." "Humm, might have to do with what that ECHO was about earlier, let's go! Bandit Life! I still can't get used to that, Crimson Raider Life! Just doesn't have the same ring to it, ah well." and he jumped off the roof of the building he was on and made a looong circuit of the area on his way to the front gate. The spotter sighed and walked the thirty or so feet and waited. It didn't take long before he heard the familiar cry of "CARDIO" and Vaughn came running up to him.

"Well where are they?"

"There." the spotter pointed to a figure approaching, they would be at the gate in just over a minute at their current pace.

"Wait wait, should I make a more dramatic entrance, I should, shouldn't I, back to places, let them in when they get here." and he ran back around to the top of the building.

The spotter sighed, wondering where Vaughn got all that energy from, and signaled to open the gate as he went back to his post.

A Few Minutes Later

Jinx hurried toward the sheet metal walls ahead of her, over which she could see a large statue of a man, but not much in the way of details. 'What is with these bases and their statues?' she wondered 'wouldn't those resources be better spent on defenses?' She realized that she was getting a little delirious from heat and dehydration as she approached the gate.

"State your business." someone called down.

Jinx looked up at the ramshackled wall and the gate which appeared to be made of something pried off of a spaceship, like a fin or something. She looked in the direction of the voice and let out a wheeze and gave a rather short and rude gesture to open the damn door already.

She heard voices inside and the gate split open creating enough space for her to stagger in through. As she did, she could get a better look at the statue, but didn't care enough to bother.

"Bro, welcome to Rolands Reach, current home of the Crimson Raiders. Oh guess I should've said Bro-nette. Vaughn in charge, yes that Vaughn, former warchief, still searching for a new clan to lead, but that's not important, so what brings you to our little casa? Oh oh let me guess"

"Water" Jinx cut him off

"I'll be honest, not what I was gonna guess. Who are you anyway, don't seem to remember seeing you before, and you definitely do not fit that ECHO description I just got, no giant robots around? I mean how cool is that? Not so cool if you worked for Hyperion, which I did, so…"

Jinx looked up at the speaker, and found herself seeing things she never wanted to see again, a dirty man wearing a pair of boots, a cape and grungy underwear. He was looking down at her from on top of what was probably another Catch-A-Ride station.

"Water" Jinx replied.

"What is that like your name? Water? OK Water, what brings you to Roland's Reach?"

Jinx groaned in frustration, took a deep breath and with a cracking voice managed to get out "I need water. Now."

"Oh, over there. But before that…and she's gone."

Jinx staggered over to the pumping station and turned the spigot and to her immense relief, clear cool water began to emerge. After a few small sips she took a long draw and stood up with a sigh, turning to the crazy man leader and looked him in the eye, more so she didn't have to look at him anywhere else.

"I need a canteen, ammo, Insta-Health vials, and information."

"Whoa whoa, bro-nette you can't just roll up into someones camp and start demanding things, it's not how it works. I mean first you need an introduction, and then"

"Names Jinx, Brick told us to come here."

"Us, man I thought I was crazy."

"Don't interrupt me" Jinx said icily "We were attacked by a group of bandits on the way here, my friends…traveling companions, were taken by them, I am going to get them back. So I need a canteen. I need ammo. I need Insta-Health vials. And I need information. While someone is getting me the first three, you can provide the last. K? Good. Bandit clan with a symbol of an ugly red cyber hand holding a bird like that one" she pointed to the burning Firehawk in the sky "Who are they, and where can I find them."

"Ugh, the 'God King's Acolytes', they're half the reason that I'm still a Crimson Raider, can't even start a good clan up again with them around, I mean we had rules and then"

"Don't care, where are they?"

"Yeah, you should give up on your friends, if they've been taken, they're probably going to be part of the wedding, as either food or a wedding day sacrifice for whatever, luck, kids, meat showers."

"Where. Are. They."

"Like I said, they're holding a wedding today, their chieftain is marrying the chieftain of the 'Children of the Destroyer' at their hold, and like they've invited bandit clans from all over, I didn't get one, nearly called a BLOOD FEUD on them for it, but, it's like a wedding, kinda shitty to kill them over not getting an invite on the day of their wedding."

"They're not killing her. I will stop them, do whatever it takes, so don't get in my way. Just get me what I asked for, show me where they're at, and get me a vehicle to get there in, and I will do what I have to too get her out of there, no matter what that is."

The look in her eyes told Vaughn all he needed to know, there was no dissuading her, he had seen that look in the eyes of the Vault Hunters and others, so he signaled the others to bring what she had asked for, while she took another drink. Within a minute she was sitting in a new Outrunner ready to go.

Jinx tightened her grip on the wheel and let out a breath, didn't matter how bad she was at driving, this had to be done. She flexed her hands and floored it. And promptly hit the wall.

Swearing she spun the wheel and got loose and launched over the door, landing with a bounce that nearly flipped the vehicle she managed to get it under control for a second, before hitting a rock and ricocheting off down the road.

Vaughn watched her go, amazed at how bad a driver she was, and in a moment of clarity went to call the B-Team to let them know what had happened.

A Short Ride Later

The Outrunner bounced and shook down the road hard enough that Jinx feared she would end up with whiplash. She was already sure that something had fallen off, and considering the noise coming from the suspension, was wondering what would go next when a convoy of bandits came roaring in from a side canyon.

The first slammed into her from the side, sliding her into another rock, ricocheting off she bounced just as a Technical slammed into her Outrunner, flipping it onto its side. The screeching metal and smoke that was billowing out told her that its time was truly up, so she grabbed the rollbar with both hands and launched herself out of what had been the roof and using centrifugal force, shot across the Technical's hood, driving her boot into the drivers' head. She slid in next to him and pitched his body out the door just as her original ride exploded. The rest of the bandits didn't seem to take her hijacking of one of their vehicles very well and started pelting it with bullets.

She swerved and felt the truck rock, almost going over before hitting another Outrunner. Swearing she tried to figure out how to fire back, when from under the hood a shower of sparks and smoke told her that her time was almost up.

"How shitty do they make these things?" She groused as she jumped onto the Outrunner that was ramming her from the side.

The psycho that was driving looked at her and yelled "Only I can pilot the poop balloon!"

"Uh. Good for you?" she said in confusion before slamming his head into the rollcage and chucking him out.

The bandit in the rear weapon ring saw what was happening and started to take aim as she slid into the driver's seat, but just as he was about to squeeze the trigger the whole vehicle lurched sidewise knocking the gun from his hand. The next lurch slammed him into the ring, bruising his ribs. Suddenly fearful, he did the smart thing and tried to bail, only to be slammed back and forth as the Outrunner bounced, nearly snapping his spine. Dazed he slumped back just as the entire vehicle hit a rock and launched into the air before slamming down at a bad angle and pitching into a roll, ending his suffering.

Jinx swore as she came out of the roll only to be hit by another Technical. This time the entire front of the Outrunner pitched up and the front wheels snapped off against the hood, so she scrambled up and leaped just as the Outrunner slid off. Managing to catch the door to the truck she swung freely for a second before slamming into the side with a rib bruising crunch. Winded she looked up as the driver stared at her. Jinx smiled and punched the driver causing them to swerve, which lifted Jinx out again only to slam her back into the door. Gasping, she looked ahead only to see they were going straight for a cliff edge. Swearing profusely she looked around and saw that another Technical was fishtailing near the rear of hers, so she swung herself onto the hood of the one she was on, before running over the cab to jump into the back. Landing among the passengers, who stared at her in shock as she ran past them and just as they got their wits about them, she leaped out and caught the side of the fishtailing truck.

It turned out that the truck's driver was almost as bad as Jinx because there wasn't even enough time for her to pull herself up and take it over before it crashed. She rolled free from the wreckage before it exploded and was on her feet only to find that the last of the convoy was out of range for her.

Swearing again she started running after, before she came out of the canyon and saw that she was in sight of their destination, a massive fortress stretching from the cliff edge to the rock wall. It looked like a cross between a giant robot, a city, and a junkyard, so pretty typical for the Pandoran sights she had seen.

As she ran towards it, the gates slid up to allow the remnants of the convoy in. As the last vehicle entered and the gate crashed shut, she saw that the front way in was heavily guarded. Taking a second to examine the fortress she saw a side way in and started heading for that while fervently hoping that Gaige was OK.

Switching her rifle to her back, she rolled her neck, still wishing it would crack for effect and declared to herself "It's time to crash a wedding." before starting to climb the rock wall while wishing she could come up with a better attack phrase.