Chapter 11: Tina and the Train
Maya and Lilith walked down the path into Tina's hidden workshop, which oddly enough looked quite cheery. There was a large barn like garage painted bright red, with bunny decals stamped all over it, with a small matching red house on its left.
"AAAAAGGGHHHH!" came the cry of a psycho, who was tied to a post in the center of the room. A small blonde girl came skipping from the garage, singing as she went.
"All around the stactus plant, the stalker chased the bandit, the stalker thought twas'all in fun POP!-"
She pressed down on a plunger, and the psycho was exploded into hundreds of pieces, dust and guts painting the surrounding floor and Tina herself. "-goes the bandit!"
Maya gave Lilith a confused look, and she gave one back that said "never mind".
"Oh HIIIIIIIII!" Tina waved, bouncing up and down. "Roland told me you were comin'! I still owe him for all that butt crap with General Rancid. So you gotta hijack a train huh? CHIIILDS PLAAAY! Lemme introduce you to my ladies," she babbled before turning to run to her shop. Lilith and Maya followed her inside the dimly lit shop, admiring all the explosives and gadgets that lined the shelves and tables. Two large pink and white bunny rabbits sat on a steel table straight ahead. "This here's Mushy Snugglebutts and this is Felicia Sex-o-pants. These fine ass womens can stop that train for ya, but Imma need their badonkadonks first, and they got stolen by the bandits a few days ago. GO GET EM!" Tina shouted and without warning she ran to her bed. "NAP TIME!" she flopped on her face onto the mattress and began to snore.
Maya and Lilith exchanged strange looks and shrugging, before slowly backing out of the workshop, heading in the direction of the exit. "Is she always like that?" Maya asked.
"Tina? Oh yeah, she's lived a bit of a rough life, seen some shit that could drive any child crazy. Her parents were killed, and a child growing up alone on Pandora should be a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, despite her craziness, she is one of the good guys. If we do what she asks, she'll help us stop that train."
"So she said the bandits took the explosives…ass I guess," Maya started, only to be interrupted by Lilith laughing her ass off. "Shut up!" Maya smiled, laughing too. "Any ideas where they could be?"
Lilith calmed down and rubbed her eyes. "Heh, yeah, there's a gang of bandits nearby in an area called Buzzard Academy. I would imagine they could be there."
"Let's fucking do iiiiiit," Maya said, first bumping Lilith. Lilith made her feel so confident and happy, being with her helped her soften her hardened self, and tear down walls she spent years building up. Lilith laughed, her fiery eyes twinkling. "let's go fuck up some bandits' day."
They arrived to the Buzzard Academy after a short walk through the Tundra. They followed the train tracks that led in behind and hid behind a wall to formulate a plan.
"Shall we do this quietly?" Lilith asked. She was usually a leader, but she definitely wanted to see Maya's decision making and let her have the input. She already proved she can do some pretty crazy shit back when she rescued Roland, but Lilith wanted to see her in action.
"Yeah," said Maya. "Use your sniper, we'll go after the nomads first, then…we…" she trailed off, then held a finger to her lips. There was a humming of an engine, steadily growing louder.
"Oh fuck," said Maya. "This is not good."
"Well," said Lilith, "it is called Buzzard Academy after all."
The buzzard came from over the wall, flying high above them before swooping down and coming straight for them.
"Scratch that, just fucking shoot everything!" Maya cried. She stood tall facing the buzzard and attempted to phaselock it, but the machine was far too heavy. However, the blast from her phaselock blew out both of the engines and it spun to the ground, exploding on impact in a fiery blaze so close they could feel the heat from it. Everything was silent for a moment, and Lilith was fucking turned on. Maya was so destructive, and she wanted to see more. "Come on killer, let's light em' up!"
Bullets cut through the cold air like hail, the tiny projectiles landing all around them. Lilith immediately phased and went to the top of a nearby shack, pulling out a scoped assault rifle and shooting down enemies. Maya ran for cover, sliding to a crouch behind a small barricade. She looked over and phaselocked a Nomad, riddling him with bullets. He was dead before he hit the ground.
A killer marauder jumped from a window at her, and she threw herself backwards back behind the barricade. She waited until he was on his reload and sprung up, putting one through his eye making a satisfy splat.
There was a sudden voice behind her, "IT'S TIME FOR THREE POUNDS OF FLESH!"
She turned to see psycho running full tilt at her and then he was already in the air, when Lilith suddenly phased between them and burnt the psycho to a crisp.
"I REGRET EVERYTHING!" he shrieked as he burned, until he was nothing but a black charred skeleton.
"Yeah, I'll bet you do," Lilith said smugly. "I think that's the last of them killer. Let's find those rabbit butts and get the hell back to Tina."
"Look!"
Over where they just walked in, one of the rockets or "badonkadonks" was sitting on a nearby table. Maya ran over and grabbed it, securing it to her back. "One down, one to go!"
"Let's go through there," said Lilith, pointing up a set of stairs across the clearing. It led up to multiple catwalks jutting from the sides of the ugly metal housing, crude planks used to bridge one side to the other. Bandit communities all looked the same.
They sprinted up the stairs to a landing, spotting the other rocket sitting on a barrel under a canopy. Lilith started to approach, but was thrown back by a door busting out from a house, a large goliath stepping through it, trembling the ground as he walked.
"GET READY FOR HURT!"
But Lilith was quicker, drawing per pistol she aimed for the head and blew off his helmet, unleashing his ugly little head causing him to mutate.
"Fuck I thought that would kill him!"
Lilith phased behind him as he exploded and turned red, but as though he was anticipating the move, he whirled around grabbing her by the throat.
"NO!" Maya yelled, phaselocking the Goliath causing him to drop Lilith. She went on one knee trying to catch her breath. Maya took out her Torque assault rifle and started spraying at the phaselocked Goliath, rage burning inside her as she emptied her magazine. The Goliath was definitely dead, but she loaded another mag anyway, and was about to shoot until she felt a warm hand touch her arm.
She immediately broke the phaselock and the Goliath fell into a pile of mush. She turned to see Lilith still holding onto her arm.
"Maya, you're incredible, you know that?"
A warmth spread through the blue haired woman, effectively dissipating the anger that once filled her. She couldn't wait for this war to be over so she could spend time with the Siren without world ending distractions and disasters.
"Thank you," Lilith said genuinely. "you really have my back out there, I'm honored to fight beside you."
"You have no idea how much that means coming from you," Maya breathed, "I had heard all the stories of all the things you accomplished here on Pandora, I could only dream of such adventures."
"So you're a fan eh?"
Maya rolled her eyes, "God shut up!" she said laughing, giving Lilith a playful shove.
Lilith grabbed her hand, pulling it toward her and pressing a kiss to her palm. Maya nearly swooned, "Fuck you're really a big sweetie under that hard exterior eh?"
"Don't tell anyone killer," she warned in jest. They started walking out of the Buzzard Academy, down the snowy slopes back towards Tina's workshop.
"I'm gonna go ahead and assume we are basically just blowing this train up?" Maya inquired as they walked through the snow.
"Mmm yup pretty much," replied Lilith, "something along those lines at least."
"That's…very effective I suppose."
"Well it should kill a good chunk of loaders or whatever he has guarding that train."
Maya wondered just what was on that train. "If the train is carrying the vault key…it can't be good." They were most likely going to have to face some kind of badass together at some point today. Maya was in a prime state to fight though, she had Lilith. She knew together there was no way anything could stop them.
"You scared or somethin' killer?" she said jokingly.
"Hah, you wish." There was little Maya was scared of, one could argue she was afraid of her past, but it was the feelings as of late that's had her on edge the most. She needed to get ahold of herself. She tried to tell herself this was normal and she needed to stop freaking out, but she couldn't shake the nerves. She pushed the feelings away and changed the conversation.
"Wanna see the pistol I got from a wicked badass?"
"Fuck yeah let's see!"
They talked and laughed all the way back to Tina's. Maya loved how Lilith marveled at her guns, test firing a couple at some varkids skittering near the path. It was amazing to find someone just like her, who enjoyed the same things she did. Where she didn't have to hide her powers or hide who she was. She wondered if Lilith had a similar upbringing to her own, where she was forced to hide what she was, only to sought after for her powers. Was she too, escaping a past? Something she would have to file away for later.
They arrived to Tina's workshop, the girl was already bouncing on the spot waiting their return.
"AWESOME!" she said in a high pitched voice. "Just a sec-o, this gon' be gooood. Now get your butts out my workshop, I gots to be alone for dis." She shooed them out of the garage and closed the door. Blue and gold light could be seen flashing through the bottom, the sound of buzz saws and torches echoing through the cave. And of course, Tina's crazy singing.
There was a small explosion and a flash of bright light, and smoke began billowing through the cracks. Lilith shot Maya a look of exasperation. "Whoops." Came Tina's voice, before she continued to hammer away.
"Are you sure she's not gonna blow the whole place up?" Maya muttered.
"To be honest…no."
"DAAAAAYUUUM you lookin' good ladies! Alright let's get to work."
The garage door opened back up, and there stood a charred Tina with her bunny rabbit bombs. They were actually kind of cute mounted on the rockets. Cutest bomb ever. "Take em'. Take em take em' take em' TAKE EM'" She said wildly.
Both Siren's rushed forward to take the bombs before Tina blew up too. They helped one another strap them to their backs for the carry. Tina jumped up with glee, "just put my damsels near the choo choo tracks and SET EM' OFF!" Good plan? Great plan." They stood for as moment, staring at Tina. She looked at them expectantly, "uh, GO!"
They quickly turned around and damn near ran out of Tina's workshop, back into the cold of the Tundra. "Goddamn, that girl is scary," Maya observed.
"I agree, let's get going before she gets too eager to set off these bombs. Come on, we'll head east to the meltwater crossing. There should be a spot to set up the bombs with a good aim at the tracks.'
They started off toward the tracks, their feet crunching lightly in the fresh snow. Maya knew that this was it, time to take down whatever was in that train and get that vault key. This was their only shot, if they failed then Handsome Jack would most certainly destroy Pandora. Maya wanted to say something sentimental, but she couldn't find the words. She knew there was something she should say, but doing so went against every instinct in her body. She didn't want to talk about it, but she knew it was the right thing to do.
"Lilith?" Her voice was small and laced with uncertainty, exactly what she didn't want. Lilith noticed right away, snapping her head in her direction with a look of worry etched on her face, "Yes? What is it?" she said softly, touching Maya's arm ever so lightly.
She's always so considerate, Maya thought. It was true, Lilith's selflessness knew no bounds. She took a deep breath, "I just wanted to thank you. What you saw last night, despite all appearances to the contrary, you still trusted me strong enough to fight beside you. You didn't question or judge me, you were just there. I have had these nightmares ever since I was young. Some worse than the others," she swallowed hard, and pressed on, "sometimes…they get really bad. Like last night. But I never let it affect my focus on what needs to be done, and I'm glad you saw that. I guess it's just a part of me I will always carry. It's my huge fucking weakness, when night falls and all is quiet and I'm left alone with my thoughts. No one has ever seen me like that, and if it were up to me no one ever would have. But you did…and you made it a lot easier than I ever thought it could be. You made me feel comfortable. So just…thank you." She was bright red at this point, chewing on her lip awaiting Lilith's response.
"I could never truly understand what you've gone through Maya, no one will. But everyone carries their burdens, some may have the ability to hide it better than others, but it doesn't invalidate any of their suffering. You are allowed to feel your pain Maya. You have a right to it, and express it how you see fit. It isnt a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength, facing it head on. This "too tough for feelings" gig doesn't work forever. Trust me. I tried that for years myself. Roland is still trying it too. Your feelings are your own, you have every right to feel the anger, the sadness, the guilt and loss and whatever else it is you feel. You don't have to hide it as though it's an ugly disease, embrace it. It's part of your resilience, which is part of what makes you beautiful."
Lilith's words brought tears to Maya's eyes, and she could feel the dam breaking. "Lilith-we c-can't do this now. No-not here…" she stammered, looking away and wiping her eyes. She had to stay in her battle mindset. It was far from over.
"I know," Lilith said sadly. They walked in silence until they reached the tracks. There was a small abandoned cluster of buildings just below, a few hundred meters from the tracks.
"Let's get on a roof," said Lilith, gesturing to a ladder that ran up the side of a taller building. They reached the top and started setting up the rockets, aiming them at the track. Tina's voice came over the Echo, "just poke their bellies when you went me to set the 'splosives off. I gotta do it remotely."
Lilith looked to Maya, "when this is over, I'm making you dinner," she said simply and suddenly. Maya was slightly thrown off, not expecting that, but she felt herself smiling nonetheless. "I would love that."
A train horn sounded in the distance. "Right on time," said Lilith. "go ahead and press the bombs."
Maya went to work activating the rockets, the sound of the train growing nearer. "Oh SNAP son! I think I hear the train comiiiiiin," Tina squealed. "COUNTING DOWN TEN, NINE, EIGHT-!" And the rockets suddenly took off through the air, rumbling up towards the bridge until they met their mark.
A series of grand explosions flashed before them, causing them to duck from the barrier of heat and light. There was the crunching sound of metal being torn apart and there was a loud groan as the bridge caved into itself in a pile of flames and rubble.
They stood up slowly to inspect the damage. It was hard to see through the large black plumes of smoke billowing into the air.
"I got bored," Tina quipped. Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing.
"Look!" Maya exclaimed, pointing up towards the ice shelf at the bridge. The burning train had come to a stop just before the track ended. "Looks like it avoided a steep drop. We gotta get up there."
Roland joined in over the Echo, "well that's one way to hijack a train. The vault key's still up on that ice shelf, you'll have to climb that wreckage to get to it."
They ran through the shallow, icy water below the bridge. The collapse had left a long steel catwalk sloping to the ground, providing a ramp up towards the train. They carefully climbed up to the top of the ice shelf where the wreckage of the train lay before them. Train cars had scattered all around the area, god knows how far.
"You'll have to search the train cars, the vault key will probably be in the most fortified one." Said Roland.
A large icy canyon lay before them, Maya could see smoke rising into the sky throughout the path, presumably destroyed train cars. "Let's search through the canyon, they explosion couldn't have carried an armored train car that far," she said.
They started through the canyon, weapons drawn. It looked as though nothing should've survived a blast like that, but they couldn't be too careful. If the vault key was indeed on this train, theres no way it would come without protection. Their breaths puffed in the cold, still air, only the sound of their feet crunching through the snow could be heard. They passed all kinds of flaming trouble, a few smoldering train cars but there was nothing to be found in those. They came to a slight drop off, the map notifying them that they were in an area called Terminus Plateau. It was a large clearing, with a sleek icy ground. A smoking train car, though less damaged than the others, lay in the center.
"That must be it," said Lilith.
Suddenly, Angel's voice came over the echo. Maya hadn't spoken to her since her last mission, but it was good to know she was always watching. Maybe she was there to help them after all.
"Don't worry, if Jack really wanted to protect the vault key it wouldn't be on a train, he'd have Wilhelm protecting it."
There was a loud groan of weighted metal, creaking and scraping in their ears. The ground shook slightly causing them to stop in their tracks. The armored train car began to rise from the snow as though it were levitating.
"Oh dear," Angel said with worry.
Maya looked to Lilith, "what the fuck is happening? Whose Wilhelm?"
Lilith swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on the rising train car, "I knew him once, during my time on Elpis. And let's just say he's not good news."