Chapter 23: Hell of an Opportunity
Maya awoke from her slumber feeling reborn. Her outlook on life had totally changed, despite currently being involved in the horrific throes of violence that ran amok on Pandora. No, there was a great amount of beauty here too, and it was in the form of a beautiful woman who was currently still sound asleep next to her. She grinned wide and stretched, letting the sunlight that was pouring in bask her naked figure. I'm gonna make her breakfast! She thought with enthusiasm. Shower first! Their night of passion had left her with a musky scent from her juices, and as much as she enjoyed the smell she wasn't quite sure others would.
Once she was showered and dress in her monks outfit, she went to work cooking them a big meal. She knew she herself was starving and she could only assume Lilith would feel the same once she woke. She had eggs and bacon sizzling in the pan, and she popped down some bread into the toaster and poured them some fresh coffee. Her mate began to stir from her slumber and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Mmmmm something smells good," she said into the pillow.
Maya grinned wide, happy her lover was awake. "I cooked for us."
Lilith sat up slightly and blinked sleepily at her girlfriend, Maya couldn't help but giggle. Her hair was a mess but God she was as beautiful as ever.
"And I'm fucking starving. You're the best babe. Do I got time to shower?"
"Yeah itll be about 10 minutes."
"Stellar!" Lilith exclaimed, heaving herself from the bed and padding towards the bathroom. Maya tried not to ogle at her tantalizing figure.
"I see you lookin'!" Lilith called back. Maya could practically hear the smirk in her voice. She shook her head and busied herself with her task of cooking once again. Her mind couldn't help but be filled with images of a certain naked Siren.
When Lilith had emerged fresh and dressed in her usual gear-minus the makeup for now- Maya had just finished playing there meals and setting them on the table. "Perfect timing!"
Lilith smiled and slid into her seat, taking a cup of coffee in her hand. She took a long sip and sighed constantly, "fuck that's good. Thank you so much Maya, you didn't have to do all this."
"I wanted to," Maya said blushing. She pushed around her eggs with her fork, chewing her lip. "Last night," she said suddenly, "Last night was the closest I ever felt to you. It was literally the….the best night I ever had. Uhmmm.. " she cleared her throat nervously. "So…am I…still a-a-"
"Virgin?"
Maya blushed furiously, and the sheer absurdity of being embarrassed by such a thing after what they did last night only made her blush harder. Stupid Maya.
She nodded and continued to pick at the eggs. Lilith watched her with amusement. "Actually, yes you are."
Maya was…kind of surprised at that. And what's more, she was disappointed in a way. She had woken up so giddy with the idea that she had given that to Lilith.
"But…I thought-"
Lilith smiled sweetly at her, "we had a form of sex yes. And you did have an orgasm, but I didn't penetrate you. I figured we should take things one at a time, and let you experience how good it can feel. Penetration can hurt a bit at first-nothing you can't handle!" she said assuredly when Maya looked to her with slight horror. "It feels amazing afterward. But like I said, I wanted to start with just the good stuff first. Give ya a good first impression," she said winking.
She really is sweet, Maya thought to herself and smiled wide at her lover "I guess…next time, you'll have to show me all of it," she said boldly, surprising even herself with her flirting skills as of late.
Something flashed in Lilith's eyes at that statement, something that was hard for Maya to interpret. It was so quick, and so subtle, it was mere chance she noticed it at all. Was it…sadness?
But Lilith was already chewing her lip with a seductive lopsided grin, her eyes back to their sultry flame. "Next time I'm gonna make you scream."
Maya almost spat out a mouthful of coffee she was trying to swallow and she ended up a choking blushing mess. All the while Lilith laughed heartily, she really did love making her lover flustered.
"To be honest, I have no idea how to get past the door that'll only open for Jack." Roland said forlornly, looking around the table at the group of Crimson Raiders. Everyone exchanged looks of worry with each other. Roland sighed and continued, "I figure we could start in Opportunity. Maybe theres-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have little time," Angel said on the echo. "Get to the city of Opportunity. To breach the final door to my chambers, you'll need to be Jack. That means passing a bio scan and speaking a password in his voice. If you can kill one of Jack's body doubles in Opportunity, I can get you through that door."
Now Maya was confused, and everyone else looked like they felt the same way. How were they going to possibly pass a bio scan? Or even voice his password for that matter?
Roland sighed, "as much as I hate telling you to listen to her Angel's the best lead we got. We already know not to trust her, but be careful. Axton, you and Maya head to Opportunity. Brick, Mordecai, I have a different job for you guys so just hang back, and Lilith-"
"I know," Lilith said gloomily. "Stay here and protect Sanctuary."
Roland gave her a tight smile, before nodding to Maya and Axton, "See you soon soldiers."
With that, Roland turned to head downstairs, Brick and Mordecai in tow. Axton informed her that he was grabbing the runner, as usual, so Maya could say goodbye to Lilith.
Lilith approached her and hooked her thumbs into Maya's waistband. She pulled her close, letting out a bare whisper, "Maya…"
And God, when she says her name like that Maya finds it difficult to keep her brain working. She does the only thing that makes sense to her in the moment and kisses her hard. Lilith kissed her back with great fervor, clutching tightly at her hips and moaning into her mouth. She was kissing her as though…as though it could be the last time.
But when they broke the kiss Lilith had on her stoic face, albeit a bit flushed. "The city will be busy. But it wont be the hard part. When it comes time to infiltrate control core Angel…" Lilith just trailed off and pretended to brush something off Maya's shoulder. "I imagine Roland is gonna call you guys back after this to replenish your supplies and prepare for the actual infiltration. So…I guess I will be seeing you pretty soon Killer," she said with a small smile.
Maya smiled back, leaning in for another quick peck on the lips. "You will."
The city was a sight to behold indeed. In fact, it was impressive and dare she say, beautiful in a way. Perhaps once this shit was over they could take this city as a new Sanctuary. The buildings were nice and modern, and there was quite a few of them. She imagined they probably had much nicer living quarters than what Sanctuary currently had. They would just have to get rid of the Hyperion logos. The place was clean, with large well trimmed plants decorated around various balconies. They stood on the edge of the city, a large hologram screen was in front of them depicting a picture of Handsome Jack, behind it was set of stairs leading up to one of the large grey buildings with tall glass windows.
Axton whistled, impressed. "This place is like a city for rich people!"
"Yeah, I was just thinking we should take it as our own once we wipe out Hyperion." Maya said in all seriousness.
"fuck yeah I second that!" He removed his corrosive shotgun and brought it to the ready. Maya did the same with an incendiary SMG. "You get the loaders, I'll get the engineers. The good thing is, the city will give us lots of cover. The bad thing is, it's probably crawling with Hyperion solders. Let's take our time, I'm sure theres plenty of ammo machines."
Axton nodded and pulled out the map, "it says Jack's double should be somewhere in Opportunity Square, that way," he said pointing up towards the stairs. "let's go."
They followed the steps up onto a platform that wrapped around the building, giving them something of an advantage seeing everything down below. The Square was fairly close, and to both of their surprise the city was eerily quiet.
"Either something isnt right…or everything is just going weirdly…well.. right," Axton said, looking around for any sign of movement, but there was nothing. Still, they tip toed along the platform to avoid drawing any attention to themselves. There was no guesses as to what could be inside the buildings.
The platform took them around the building until they came to another set of stairs descending onto a lower level, then further descending into what looked like an underground hallway.
"Let's take this route, less chance of running into baddies," Maya whispered. Together they quickly and quietly moved through the hallway, Hyperion propaganda was plastered all over the walls. Yuck.
The hallway quickly ended, unfortunately it wasn't as long as Maya was hoping it to be. Once again they found themselves outside, though they appeared to still be on a lower level of the city. Thank God for their maps otherwise it could be very easy to become lost in here.
A crash came from their left, and the pair jumped to see what had happened. A war loader had jumped down and set its sights on them.
"Shit!" Maya cursed, and phaselocked the machine. Axton pulled out a powerful sniper and shot it with a critical, shutting it down with a single bullet. Maya carefully set the broken loader down to the ground.
"Someone definitely heard that," Axton said in a low voice.
"It wont be long until they send reinforcements to check it out, come on!" she whispered back and together they began to run from the area, staying as light on their feet as they could.
They bolted up a set of stairs that led to the residential quarters before crouching down and catching their breath. Once again, this area was strangely quiet too.
"This is weird, everyone assumed this place would be crawling with loaders and personnel?" Axton said with a hint of confusion.
Maya shook her head and shrugged, "I'm sure it probably is, and they probably have certain patrols, like that loader. I think the everyone else must mostly be inside or somewhere else. But Jack wasn't ever expecting us to come here I don't think. Which means Angel really must be helping us, if she hasn't led us into a shit storm."
"That makes sense, but I still don't trust her."
"Neither do I," Maya agreed. "But as Roland said, she's our only lead. Let's get going."
They continued through the immaculate streets of Opportunity; every so often passing by a small group of loaders and engineers, but they were able to make it through without being detected. They were almost to the square, there was more twists and turns in this part of the city and the buildings were closer together than they had been when they had arrived in the outskirts.
Rounding a corner, they spotted the square. It was a large area built under a building that was bridging overhead, much like the outside it was rowed with large neatly trimmed bushes, with Hyperion flags and logos posted up all along the walls. There was a set of stairs on either side leading up and out of the square straight ahead of them. Thankfully, the area provided various covers, because the moment they approached engineers began to emerge from the doors to the left and right of the square.
Maya pulled Axton down behind a large stack of boxes once she noticed, and held a finger to her lips.
"Guess this is where the part's at," she whispered. "Any sign of Jack's double?"
"Not yet," Axton said peering in his scope through a gap in the boxes. "Should we wait out?"
"I think so, if we try and kill these guys it will just draw more reinforcements, who will then alert the entire city. If the double's not here, I don't want to be getting chased by Hyperion looking for him."
They sat for a few minutes, watching the personnel make their rounds about the Square. Maya counted maybe 8 men, give or take. That was easy enough, it's the men she couldn't see that she worried about. Preferably, this would be a get-in get-out kind of job. Put a bullet in the doubles head and be done with it. She figured they wouldn't be able to take this entire city, so it was best to just make a break for it once they had what they needed.
"There he is!" Axton hissed, gesturing to her 1 o'clock. Sure as shit, there he was, looking just as Handsome Jack did, strolling out from the door on the right.
Angel quietly spoke through the echo, "that's one of the body doubles Jack uses to confuse assassins, and impress his underlings."
Axton snorted, "God this asshole is so full of himself."
"Let's get this done, Hyperion is crawling all over this Square. Should I phaselock him first?"
"Probably a good idea, no risks missing the shot. As soon as I deploy my turret, hold him up and I'll take a headshot. On my count."
Maya raised her hand, ready to phaselock him at Axton command. Her fingers followed him as he paced the Square, unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold.
"Three..." Axton whispered as his grip tightened on his turret at his side. Maya quickly glanced around to assess the situation around them. There was still eight to ten men patrolling the area, though none were very close. Not yet.
"Two…" She wondered where all of the loaders were hiding; were they outside? Inside? All of this seemed shockingly easy so far, was this a trap? Maya tried to dispel her feelings. Trap or not, they could definitely kill the double, and they shouldn't have a problem getting out of here if they were quick. Shouldn't.
"One!" Axton hissed and he immediately tossed the turret into the Square while Maya simultaneously threw double in a phaselock, enjoying the shocked look on the face that was Jack's though it wasn't him.
Axton placed a carefully aimed shot right at the doubles head sending his brain matter splattering across Opportunity Square. Successful, and easy, as they knew it would be; but alas the victory was shortlived.
"-target death imminent-"
"-charging primary weapon-"
"-ouch, no no no-"
Ah. Theres the loaders. Angel then spoke, "grab the pocket watch device he dropped. It echoes his bio signature to every machine in the immediate area, so his doubles can do all the hand shaking and baby kissing for him." She said with disgust.
Thankfully, Axtons turret was mowing down any nearby threat, but the loaders were making their way to the center of the square fast. If they got boxed in, they probably wouldn't make it. They had to be quick and get out of there.
"COVER ME!" Maya yelled as she ran from their cover, her trusted friend covering her with his sniper. Maya ran to the now headless body of Jack's double, skidding to a stop and flattening herself to the ground as bullets whizzed past her head. She saw the glinting pocketwatch shining in the light like a beacon laying near what was once his face. She snatched it and stuffed it into her pocket before running back to her friend. "LETS GET OUTTA HERE!"
They fled from the Square, which was now filling with a steady amount of loaders and engineers. Hyperion personnel from the surrounding buildings had heard the commotion and began to flood out of the doors and garages. Pretty soon the entire city would be alerted to their presence. They bolted from the Square, ducking and weaving through the maze of corridors and alleyways that ran through the city like veins before stopping to catch their breath. They could faintly hear commotion in the distance, but figured they would be safe here for a few minutes. They crouched behind an ammo box and waited for Angel's instructions. They didn't have to wait long-
"That pocketwatch also records audio- Jack loved to listen to the praise of his underlings," Angel said with distaste over the echo device. "We need to create a voice modulator. Get to an info kiosk."
"Info kiosk?" Axton inquired.
"Hold on, let me just check the map," Maya said. She glanced at the map on her device and her heart sank. "Fuck," she said, chewing her lip.
"What is it?"
"The closest one is back in the fucking Square," Maya said angrily before standing up. "Thanks for telling us when we were still back there Angel! Appreciate it!"
"Son of a bitch!" Axton said as he ran a hand through his short brown hair.
"Come on, I'll need you and your turret to cover me while I upload the audio. I'll create a phaselock around for as long as I can as well. We get in, and we get the fuck out. Sound good?"
"Sounds great," he agreed.
Just like that they were back on their way. They took a longer way around in case they had been followed during their first escape. The Square came into view, and the pair hid behind a ledge running along the outside of a building across the way. There were a few engineers and loaders still lingering around, though significantly less then when they had left. They must have been sent on a patrol to search for the pair.
They could see the info kiosk set up in the center of the Square. "Okay," Maya started. "I don't see this requiring much of a plan. Let's just run out there, I'll create the phaselock and you deploy your turret. We gotta get this done as quickly as possible."
"Got it, let's go!"
They sprinted for the kiosk in the center of the Square, their feet pounding on the pavement and her breath was like fire in her lungs. She didn't feel like getting shot in this city, and Hyperion was already on the lookout.
"THERE THEY ARE!" someone shouted. Spotted immediately. Luckily, they made it to the kiosk at lightning speed. Maya threw the phaselock around them just as the bullets started raining down. Axton deployed his turret and took out an assault rifle and began providing her cover as she pressed play on the info kiosk and hit record.
"Did you know some people on this planet still believe in superstitions like angels, demons, and alien warriors? We like to call them 'bandits'." Came Jack's chilling voice through the speaker of the info kiosk.
"Yes!" Angel said happily. "This is going to work, if I get a few more samples of Jack's voice I can make a voice modulator for you. You need to get more voice samples from the other info kiosks!"
Thankfully they could move on, because Maya had broken out in a sweat as she strained to hold the phaselock against the barrage of bullets. "Ready…urgh…to make a break f-for it?" she said hurriedly to Axton.
"Yeah let go, now!"
She broke the phaselock that protected them and they ran from the square as Maya looked at the map and guided them through the streets. Thankfully, they were all nearby but far enough that they should be able to stay ahead of Hyperion. She skidded to an stop, panting in front of the second kiosk which they found in an open space, surrounded by the alike buildings. She hit play and record, as Axton kept his weapon at the ready for any incoming danger.
"Hey kids! Did you know your chances of being disemboweled increase by eighty thousand percent upon leaving Opportunity? It's a scientific fact!"
"I almost have what I need, just activate a few more kiosks!" Angel pleaded.
They found the third kiosk just down a level from the last one, and the fourth was found a little ways away in what was known as the Hyperion Office Complex. There was a few engineers patrolling below but they had them dead before they even made it to them. Maya quickly recorded the audio and tucked the pocket watch away as they began to run for the last one. Maya didn't care at this point, when they had what they needed they were going back to Sanctuary first. Her heart ached for her red head love. Maya found it strange she hadn't heard from her, but she brushed it off. Lilith probably just didn't want to distract her. She could be very distracting.
The final kiosk was the furthest away, back near where they had entered Opportunity. They bolted through the many levels before nearing the edge of the city, Maya could see the large hologram 'H' that hovered over the kiosk and she couldn't be happier to be nearly done with this godforsaken place. Despite how attractive it was, it was full of Hyperion scum intent on killing them in the worst way, and Maya had someone important to see.
She stopped at the kiosk and took a deep breath, "Finally…" she huffed. She hit the record button and glanced around, letting out a sigh of relief to see the coast was clear.
"Did you know littering in Opportunity is punishable by death?" Jack's voice sneered.
"Ah! So that's why it's so clean!" Axton remarked. Maya just shook her head.
"If not, you also oughtta know that complaining about Opportunity's laws is considered verbal littering."
"there's a computer nearby you can use to upload the samples to me. In turn I'll create a voice modulator for you. Hurry!" Angel said urgently.
Once again they found themselves running through the winding streets until they reached what appeared to be a small underground office with a dusty computer sat against the wall. Maya took the pocket watch and used it to upload the voice recordings to the computer.
"I see the files…" Angel said. "All done, now grab the voice modulator."
Maya grabbed the device from the computer as Axton kept watch. Maya was relieved they were finally going to be out of this town-
"now, unfortunately you will speak in Jack's voice until you reach the security door. I will tell you the password to open it at the appropriate time."
Maya's breath caught in her throat, a look of horror dawning on her face. She turned to Axton, who seemed to be mirroring her expression. "Maya, wait-" he started, but she cut him off.
"A-Are you-" she said, her voice sounding terribly unlike her own. Sounding terribly like Handsome Jack's. She couldn't believe this. Her hands began to tremble as she ran one nervously through her hair.
"What the fuck Angel?! WHAT THE FUCK!"