First off, Gearbox and 2K studios own Borderlands and I have absolutely NO claim to the title or the characters of Borderlands. I just thought I would put my own twist on characters and events. I hope you enjoy it.
To anyone who cares: I know I haven't continued this in a long time, but hey, life got in my way. This chapter was a little tough as I kept having writer's block and I probably have some more proofreading left that I missed, (this is practice for me after all). I know I kind of left a cliffhanger that hinted to some action happening and, I'm sorry, but that's next chapter. Haha. I'm evil. I will try to get Ch4 out asap, but you know, shite happens.
P.S. To anyone that had already read the previous chapters before I uploaded this one: I changed their content just a bit to give them a little more depth and hopefully make them read easier. So, check them out if you want.
Chapter 3: Duty Calls
Axton walks down the stairs from the briefing room into to the new communications room downstairs. Dr. Tannis is working on something at her microscope and doesn't notice him; seemingly to busy muttering to herself. Everyone that pulls shifts in comms can't wait until she moves her makeshift lab from the building. They frequently get roped into various nonsensical arguments with her about ceiling chairs and bacon. Axton himself wouldn't mind her, if she weren't so damn crazy. Every once in a while Axton would catch glimpses of sanity, but they never lasted long.
Out of nowhere, Tannis suddenly shouts profanity and knocks her microscope off the table—promptly hitting a passing comm tech in the face—then yells at the tech that it's his fault. As the guy's face turns red and it looks like another shouting match is set to begin, Axton shakes his head and decides it's time to get the hell out. He hurriedly steps through the door to the West Wing.
The West and East wings both encompass part of the preexisting buildings attached to the two towers that stand to either side of headquarters. The older buildings were refurbished and a third floor built onto HQ during the expansion of Sanctuary. The East Wing houses the main barracks, mess hall, showers/laundry, and a supply room. The West Wing holds the main armory, equipment room, workshop, and secondary barracks.
As Axton walks down the hall to the armory he thinks back to the briefing, deciding the mission should go smoothly and will be a nice change of pace from the usual small raids that they got sent on. The mission parameters were a little different this time around, though. They were facing dedicated Hyperion extremists that they were supposed to evict before moving into the base—a big change from the usual kill, loot, and demolish objectives they were used to—these goons had actually volunteered to work for Hyperion and would never surrender from their 'just' cause. "Hyperion brainwashing at it's best." He shakes his head at the thought, walking into the armory.
The first thing to see after he steps through the vault-like reinforced door is the vast array of weapons hanging from the two long walls in the large rectangular room. Every gun imaginable hangs on those walls: missile launchers, smg's, rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, and shotguns. All of them are organized by type and make until you reach a small section in the corner that is dedicated to swords, knives, axes, and even some non-lethal weapons. Axton chuckles to himself when he sees a massive buzz axe labeled "Krieg" taking up a rather large space on the wall.
Sitting against the base of both walls are six secure weapon crates. Each contain multiple 'specialized' weapons reserved for 'special' missions. While in the middle of the room lie dozens of ammunition storage containers, ranging from Hyperion make to Bandit. Axton smiles, the simple sight of so much hardware packed into one room never gets old. This armory isn't the only one in the city though, there are several smaller ones spread throughout Sanctuary for the newly trained civilian militia. While it might be more convenient, for storage purposes, to only have one or two armories, it would be disastrous in the event of an attack; or if the armory was sabotaged.
It was Roland's idea originally. He had wanted to create a defense militia long before, but with having to deal with Jack and always being short on supplies, it never came to pass. As he stands in the doorway, Axton can't help but remember Roland's untimely death at the hands of that bastard—Handsome Jack. He didn't have much time to get to know him but he knew Roland was an honorable man. A good man.
A large stack of explosives and class modifier crates at the end of the room catches his eye as he makes his way across the room. "Looks like a new shipment." He opens one crate marked "Bouncing Betty" and plucks one from inside; it looks like a normal Bouncing Betty. A quick peek back in the crate reveals a cautionary label taped under the lid. It reads: "WARNING! Grenade will bounce until depleted! Only throw from a safe, covered, position as this variant of Bouncing Betty grenades will fire a fully automatic spray of bullets in a 360 degree arc! Stay behind cover for a minimum of 10 seconds after deploying! Not intended for use by CHILDREN." Various ridiculous photos are posted as well, depicting dramatic examples of the grenades' proper use.
The commando can't help but snort a laugh at the warnings. "Ha, sweet. I'll have to pick a few of these up on my way back out." He replaces the grenade and makes his way through another secure door to his right.
Just beyond the door, right alongside the armory, lies the equipment room; roughly the same size as the munitions room. It's where the Crimson Raiders store most of their gear. If he were to travel further upstairs through the use of the secure stairwell outside the armory, or the stairs in this room, he would be in the secondary bunk room for when the Raiders are put on alert. Six rows of six foot by two foot personal storage units run the length of the room with flat benches running in between each row. To the sides of the room are several crates of armor and shields. He finds the others halfway down row six, rummaging through their gear.
Mordecai calls him over, seemingly more sober than he was earlier. "Oye, ese! Come on, we've got twenty minutes before the transport's ready."
"Transport? What the hell do we need a transport for?"
Mordecai sighs and waves his hand irritatedly. "Well, according to Gaige, Hyperion dismantled the Fast Travel station outside the Preserve. So, now we have to rely on a couple of those new pilots we got from Thousand Cuts."
"Damn. So much for a smooth entry and exit. They'll see and hear us coming from miles away. Back to old school I guess."
Brick turns around at mention of his pilots. "Hey now. Have some faith in my pilots, slab. They've got sumthin' up their sleeves, just you wait and see."
Axton hears Mordecai grumble something about "Damn flying" and "Stupid bandit pilots" as he makes his way to the storage locker next to Maya's. Hyperion has been disabling a lot of Fast Travel stations lately in retaliation for the Crimson Raiders gaining control of most of the network, thanks to Gaige and a few techs that used to work for the corporation. The Raiders take to posting guards at the majority of the stations nowadays.
Deciding against his usual attire, Axton picks out a set of green BDU's with gray and brown tiger stripe camouflage slashed across. Maya is changing beside him so he keeps the locker door open as a divider. It's not like they haven't changed in front of one another before, but after this morning he wants to keep a low profile. As he changes into his tiger stripe clothes he looks to see what Brick is up to in the locker behind him.
The massive brute is sporting his usual blue jeans and sleeveless black leather jacket, and currently digging through the jumbled mess in his locker. "Aha!" he yells, "I finally found her." Before Axton can ask what, Brick turns around, pulling out a massive triple barreled shotgun. "Hey slab," he says, getting Axton's attention. "Meet the miss's."
The shotgun he's holding is a black Torgue Triple-Barrel shotgun. A yellow and gray checkered pattern goes down the sides of the stock. Axton grins as his eyes glide down the length of the gun. "Bit redundant isn't it?" he asks, pulling on his field jacket.
"Nah, slab you got it all wrong. It ain't redundant, it's efficient!" Brick holds the shotgun in his right hand. "Since we're goin' up against bigger baddies, I figured that I would soften 'em up with the explosive rounds from this fine weapon, while beatin' 'em down with this one." He smiles and makes a fist with his left hand. "I might have her twin sister around here somewhere if you wanna try her out."
"And here I thought your were deadly with just your fists and maul." The commando shakes his head as he pulls his combat jacket on. "Nah, I'll pass on that. I've got my corrosive Vladof spinigun. I think it'll do me just fine."
"Hell yeah," Maya's voice answers."And with a face full of incendiary smg rounds; the bastards won't know what hit them."
"Ha, and I thought I was the dangerous one," he laughs, pointing at the both of them, "But you two. No, you two have it all down to a science." The big man laughs to himself and turns back to his mess of a locker, still apparently missing something.
Axton pulls the rest of his gear and weapons from his locker and closes the door, revealing the blue haired siren dressed in combat clothing, in place of her yellow slim-fit shirt and blue cargo pants.
Her outfits for battle have leaned more towards military style, ever since he had started to teach her a few of his commando skills last year. She is now proficient in stealth and survival skills, as well as battlefield tactics. Maya's favorite outfit seemed to be what she was wearing now: digital woodland camouflage cargo pants, black mid-shin combat boots, a gray and black version of her usual shirt, and a olive drab combat jacket that is tossed over the bench. The jacket has a hood as an option for hiding her stand-out sapphire hair. She rests a boot on a bench to buckle it on, blue hair cascading down around her face. He notices how the hair on the back of her head is no longer short like it used to be; her hair is now shoulder length in the front and gradually shortens to jaw length at the back.
Axton stands mesmerized for a second at the sight of beauty and lethality combined. "It's true," he thinks. "I'm starting to see her differently." He mentally shakes himself out of it and sits on the bench to buckle his own boots on. Mordecai walks over, sporting a new blood red head wrap in place of the old stained one, and new black goggles. His clothes are still the same hunters rags that he'd been wearing for the past year.
"Hey, Brick. I don't know about you, but I think these two must be together, with the way they dress and all. You two are like the dynamic duo!" Axton can't help but snort at the comparison. Maya doesn't seem amused.
Brick lets out a small laugh at the banter, encouraging the tipsy hunter to continue. "It's like Claptrap says: 'Two peas in a pod. Two bullets in a mag. Two—'." His jaw slams shut when he notices that the blue markings on Maya's left arm have started to glow a bright blue. Axton can't see his eyes through the goggles, but he bet they were as round and wide as saucers.
For a second, the drunk doesn't know what to do. Brick saves him, however, by saying, "Well. We should probably get going Mordi. Make sure that pilot knows where he's takin' us to." With that, he takes a beefy hand and shoves Mordecai away, towards the exit. The siren lets out an audible sigh and her arm stops glowing. The two sit in silence for a minute, as they finish putting their boots on.
"You shouldn't let Mordi get to you," Axton says, breaking the silence. "You know how he gets when he's been drinking all night and morning." Maya grunts in acknowledgment. "Great," he thinks, "Something else must be bothering her again." Not for the first time he thinks it would be nice if she was more of an open book. She kept to more to herself about certain things than Axton did. And that's saying something. He decides to ask, even though he knows she'll dodge the question. "Something else the matter, darlin'?"
Maya sighs and looks at him. "No, Axton. Everything's fine. I just wish he'd shut his mouth sometimes." She sounds convincing, but by the way her eyes dodge away from his he knows she's lying. Lately she's been distant toward him, last night was the first time she'd talked to him in a week.
"Yeah, I know." He runs his hand through his hair and precedes to rub his neck; a nervous habit of his. "I'm, uh...I'm sorry about this morning, by the way. I didn't mean to run in on you all...Well, you know." Axton shrugs and laughs nervously. An odd thing for commando to do.
"What? Oh, it's fine, believe me. It's not the first time we've seen each other in the buff." Maya lets out a small chuckle. There had indeed been many times where one of the Vault Hunters pulled a prank on one another, usually involving one catching the other naked; the only one they couldn't prank like that was Zero.
Laughing lightly he says, "You've got me there. Except this time it wasn't because of one of Sal's drunken wagers." She smirks at the somewhat scarred memories of Sal's pranks.
He smirks at her laugh and they sit looking at each other, just a couple feet apart. After a moment his thoughts return to the night before when he kissed her. She has the same look in her eyes now. Unsureness builds, clouds his mind once more. Axton turns away and thoughtlessly voices a thought out loud. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. I—". He stops himself too late. Maya's eyebrows raise in surprise that he would mention it.
"That is,...", she pauses, "of a different matter." Her face is unreadable, but her eyes dodge away nervously. Neither of them speaks again for a long moment. "I've been thinking about that actually." At her words, Axton's heart beats a little faster. "I didn't think you...I mean, you've always been nice to me before.." She seems unsure, like she's testing him.
Axton avoids her eyes, nervously trying to come up with an answer. A sudden realization that he hasn't allowed a woman this close to him since he left his home planet of Hieronymus behind—since he ruined his career and his life with Sarah—dawns on him. Last night was an error. He let himself get carried away. With effort, he pushes past the growing knot in his throat. "You knew this would happen, eventually." he thinks.
He looks up at her, a phantom pain in his eyes. "I do, Maya...I really do. But—"
She cuts him off, turning around to face him on the bench. "You can't,.. or won't..." Her eyes cut right into him, leaving him to sit frozen. "Axton, this isn't the first time this has happened. You've denied your feelings before. But last night was different, in more ways than one."
"Listen, I'm sorry I led you on, but it won't work." His words are hollow. "Last night was a simple mistake." The sentence echos throughout his skull. "You asshole."
She repeats. "...Mistake." Her voice little more than a whisper. Bowing her head, she doesn't say anything for a long time. Axton watches his friend until she finally looks back up. "Why?" It's the simple simplicity of the question that catches him off guard. There is no frustration behind it, no sadness, just the simple need to know. The tension is palpable.
"Maya, th-there—there are things about me that you do not know. Things that I've done...People I've hurt." His voice is quiet, distant. He sees her eyes come to rest on the spot where his fingers fumble at the ring and dogtag at his neck. He didn't even remember placing them there.
"The man that I have come to know over the past two years is different. You changed after Angel's death."
"Did I?" Her blue eyes answer for her. "How can you know that I'm not the same glorified bastard that you met on the train?" She simply shakes her head in response.
"Why do you do this..? One second we're laughing at ourselves and the next you're distant and denying your feelings. Does your past haunt you so much?" The commando abruptly removes his hand from his necklace and turns away from her, attaching his class mod to his right shoulder and grabbing his pack. Her words hit him like a stone fist.
"Yes." He says, simply. "And what of yours..?" Maya doesn't answer, so he turns around, throws his pack over his left shoulder, and flashes her a quick grin that doesn't reach his eyes. "I don't expect you to understand, Maya. But know that I will gladly keep you as my friend, if you'll have me, darlin'." She stays silent, instead looking off in thought of his words.
He steals a glance at his watch in an effort to avoid looking at her. "We should hurry. We only have about twelve minutes before we have to be at the shuttle." As he walks by her he stops for only a moment. "I'm sorry." he whispers.
Avoiding staying there any longer, Axton heads out of the equipment room and into the armory where he quickly collects some Bouncing Betty grenades. Quickly he puts them in his storage deck and heads to the workshop down the hall outside.
Upon entering the garage, he notices Gaige at her workbench in the far right corner, tinkering with her robot, Deathtrap. "Great. Better make this quick," he thinks. He walks to his own workbench located on the left side of the room and deploys his turret onto it. Inputting a standby code into it, he quickly finds the ammunition digitizer at the back of the turret and opens it up.
"Okay, now to turn you into an electric badass," he mumbles to the turret. He walks over to a storage cabinet, where he keeps all of the turrets ammunition mods, and opens it; only to find that his electric turret mod is gone. "How the? How can it be gone?" Axton begins to search through the various mods and boxes contained within—he doesn't find it. Dumbfounded, he checks the lock on the cabinet, only to find nothing is wrong. He's beginning to get frustrated when a voice sounds behind him.
"Looking for something?" Axton spins around to see Gaige standing behind him with her arms crossed, a mischievous smirk on her face. Deathtrap is behind her.
"Yeah. My electric ammo mod, for my turret," Axton's brow furrows. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is would you?" he asks, suspicious.
Her eyes drift up in consideration. "Hmm, I dunno. Maybe," she responds, elusively. Obviously she is the one who took it, but getting a straight answer out of the short redhead has been proven to be difficult before.
Still angry with himself over Maya, he raises his hand to his hips. "Okay, come on. I don't have time for games right now, Gaige." The smirk on her face fades a little.
"Fine, It's over on my workbench. I improved it to not take up so much energy, so your turret could fire faster for longer." Her quick reply surprises him and he starts to walk over to it. Gaige quickly walks in front of him and holds a hand up. Axton sighs and steps around her, only to run into her menacing robot guard.
"You can't go yet. We have to talk."
He rolls his eyes and shrugs. "Fine then. Why'd you break into my cabinet and take my mod?"
"Because I knew that you wouldn't want to talk right now. Unless you had reason to." She lets that hang in the air for a second or to. "She's got a point," Axton thinks.
"Okay, you got me. What do you want." His voice is a little rougher than he intended. She doesn't seem to notice and takes a step closer.
"I, uh..." she seems unsure, "Lil', wanted me to apologize for earlier. She said that I shouldn't have said anything about it and that I should say I'm sorry." Axton is about to say something, until he sees the shame on her downcast face. "She's right. I shouldn't have let what happened slip. Even with them all pressing me about what the screams were about." Gaige looks up at him with obvious remorse. "So...So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I embarrassed the hell out of you and Maya, and then laughed at you for it." She lowers her gaze again and fidgets with her hands.
He sighs irritatedly before un-crossing his arms. "It's fine, Gaige. I'll get over it," he says, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. When she doesn't look up or respond he says, "Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while. Sure, I'm still a little irritated about it along with Maya, I'm sure, but we'll both get over it. Hell, in a week no one will even remember it. So, therefore I accept your apology." The commando is immediately taken off guard when the sprightly redhead catapults herself into him for a hug. Axton weakly returns the embrace stating something about how Zero's prank was kind of funny.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" The prosthetic left arm of hers nearly crushes his ribcage. "For a second, I thought you would never forgive me!" she says, ignoring his sharp intake of breath at her iron grip.
He lightly slaps her back saying, "Okay, okay, I give.", whilst gasping for air, "I—can't...breath." She hurriedly lets go of him.
"Ohmygod! I'm sorry Axton!" She giggles despite herself as he hunches over and sucks in air. "Sometimes I forget how strong my arm is." She stands, holding back giggles and obviously herself again, before rushing over to her workbench and retrieving the electric munitions mod for him. "Here you go, Ax!" she declares, promptly stepping in front of him and thrusting out the mod in her hand. With some effort, he stands straight and removes his hand from his now bruised side, taking the small mod from her hand.
It only takes a minute to slap the mod in and make sure it's working. Satisfied it is, he deconstructs it back into it's storage deck. Axton checks his watch. "Ah, crap," he thinks. It's only seven minutes until everyone needs to be at the transport. He double checks his gear and heads for the door to his left that leads out onto the street. Just as he reaches for the door, Gaige calls to him again.
"Hey, soldier, wait up a sec will ya?" She bounces her way over to him.
"Come on darlin', I've got to go."
"This'll only take a sec," she says as she jumps into him for a second hug. "Sorry, again. I need to ask you something though."
"Okay, but it has to be quick, though." He emphasizes his point, tapping his watch.
"Well, I, uh.." Her mood seems to change again, and she shuffles her feet. "I just want you to promise me that you'll make it back safe. Okay?" The question catches Axton completely off guard; her demeanor is changed yet again. His leftover irritation at himself fades and he hesitates.
Per his hesitation, she looks at him inquisitively. "I know this is the first time in a while that you guys have gone out on a big mission. And I want to, umm..." By her body language he can tell that she's uncomfortable. Then her eyes shine with a sudden seriousness. "I just want you to make sure that you and others come back in one piece. I don't want you not coming back." The statement seems odd coming from her.
Axton, not quite sure on how to handle this, says, "Gaige, listen. You know this isn't our first time on a mission like this. Jack and the Warrior were a lot harder than this op will be." He lightly punches her arm like a brother to his sister. "We'll be fine. I'll come back, and so will the others." He places comforting hand on her left shoulder, only to be rewarded with a grin and a blow to the arm from her metal hand. "Ouch! Jeez, Gaige! That's a deadly weapon you've got there, ya know." he smirks, rubbing his arm.
Suddenly he is aware that it feels hotter in the garage. "Am I sweating?" Axton isn't sure that he is comfortable with the odd way that Gaige is looking at him.
The two stand looking at each other for a second before Axton becomes uncomfortable and decides that he better get a move on. He mutters something about the time and quickly makes an awkward escape out the door.
Outside, he is greeted by the crisp night air; a refreshing change from the harsh cold air that froze the nights for several years before. The seven-year winter cycle is coming to an end as Pandora's orbit moves the planet closer to the star at the center of the solar system. Soon, there would be three years of hot, dry summer days. Axton had never been on Pandora for the summer cycle and was looking forward to the change. He chuckles mildly to himself. "Yeah, too bad that's when most of the wildlife comes out of their holes."
For now, the air works to calm his thoughts as he gazes up at the stars. A blue glow to his right catches his eye where the "Keystone of Sanctuary", as the massive structure in the middle of Sanctuary Plaza had come to be called, looms over the plaza. The old newsstand is still off to the right of the plaza and he can hear the guy calling out for people to get the latest news. "At least he actually sells ECHO casts that are from with the Crimson Raiders now, and not Hyperion.", Axton thinks.
Axton shakes his head in amusement at the thoughts that run through his head. Between the oddly insane bandit population, crazy wildlife, extremely lengthy cycles of night and day, and the seasons, it was hard to believe he'd survived two years on Pandora already. Taking a last look at his watch, he sets off to meet the others.
"That's Pandora for ya, full of extremes and oddities."
Red banners with the Crimson Raiders emblem and recruitment posters hang from the tall buildings in front of her. A small set of stairs can be seen that lead onto Moxxi Street, named after Mad Moxxi since it runs east to end at her world-famous bar. "Or at least now it's famous." she thinks. Several other streets branch off of that one to lead through the stacked apartments that make up the Residential District. A few small wind turbines and solar panels stick out from the rooftops, giving them a jagged silhouette. The style of the apartments always makes her think of Oasis, though a bit more organized.
Maya breathes the night air slowly, and watches the fog from her breath dissipate in the air, as she leans against the corner of Scooter's Garage. Her foot taps an impatient rhythm as she waits for the commando to show up. "What the hell is that man up to?" she wonders. He had left her feeling perplexed and somewhat saddened by his words. "Why can't he just be honest about his past? Why can't he acknowledge his feelings for me?" The epiphany that she, herself, has never gone in depth about her past with him suddenly strikes her. Maya realizes that she didn't truly know any of her friends pasts. "We all hold our pasts close. Keep them secret." she ponders. She readjusts her small pack and opens her combat jacket, hoping to cool her thoughts.
Soon, her mind's eye is soon distracted from her thoughts by the large statue standing to her right in "Hero Plaza". She walks over to its base and runs her fingers over the words etched into the metal plaque. The statue was erected last year in memory of the man who sacrificed his life for Pandora's freedom. The wound of his passing was still fresh when they finished the statue and plaza. They held a ceremony upon it's completion and Lilith gave a short but moving speech, standing strong the whole time. No one except Maya noticed the single tear that dotted her cheek as she spoke. Lilith still comes by Roland's memorial, sometimes sitting on a nearby bench for hours at a time. Maya has not seen her sister siren cry since Roland's funeral, and she is still distant sometimes.
While he wasn't the only Crimson Raider that died in the fight against Jack, he was one of the most influential. Others who had died had their names inscribed on a memorial over in the residential district. Even Angel has her name inscribed on it. She wishes that she could have gotten to know Angel.
"Even right after her death, it still took one more sacrifice..." Maya says to herself sadly. She feels alone and lost. Her fingers reach out and trace the words cut into the metal plaque. The plaque is made of a high density alloy, the statue of granite—all of the monuments were. Built to last, they would stand the test of time for centuries.
As she stands before the statue in remembrance a warm and familiar hand is placed on her shoulder. "Taking a trip down memory lane?"
She inhales sharply and her mind snaps back to the present. "Oh, hey, it's you." She quickly wipes away the few tears that had escaped and half turns. "I didn't hear you come up. You're late."
"Yeah, yeah I know. I got held up by Gaige is all. She wanted to apologize." His hand is still on her shoulder. "You okay?" His looks uneasy at his own question.
Still feeling hurt by his earlier words, she curtly replies. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just remembering a few things is all." He studies her with his green eyes before he takes his hand away. "We should probably get going. The others are getting anxious to get down there by now." He simply nods and follows her as she turns west and leads him into the Transportation district. "Why the hell should he be concerned with how I feel?"
The relatively low hum that they could hear standing in the plaza seems to immediately intensify as soon as they step foot through the gates to the district. People crowd the broad main street of the district, aptly named "Runway St.", as they go about their business, their voices mixing with the dull roar of thrusters and the hum of anti-gravity emitters overhead. The throng is a mix of engineers, mechanics, merchants, and even some mercenaries; all either just arriving from, or seeking transport to, the Highlands below them. Some Crimson Raider troops walk patrols amongst the fray, standing out in their crimson armor. A variety of street vendors call out cheap deals to passerby.
She hates crowds. People bump into her left and right as she tries to find her way through. A few people recognize her and apologize, but most just bump right in. Axton, on the other hand, seems to have no trouble as he quickly and easily dodges around the clusters of people on the street. Signs are spaced out in intervals overhead, green metal rectangles with white lettering. They're marked with the locations of the different landing pads, hangars, and public facilities. For a minute Maya has trouble remembering which turn to take, since this is all so new and they usually just use the fast travel stations. Then, she sees it over to the right, "Section B: ln. B2". A small security checkpoint closes it off, as section B of transportation is reserved for military use. The Raiders on guard recognize the two of them easily and let them pass.
Maya's ECHO communicator goes off as they walk down a lane covered overhead and flanked by big, square, aircraft hangars. "Oye, senorita," Mordecai's slurred speech rings out, "Where the hell are you two, eh? We've been waiting forever for you two to hurry up and get here."
Maya can't help but be annoyed by his tone. "We're walking towards the security building now. Be there in a minute."
"Good. I'm getting tired of waiting. I wanna see how this thing flies. Plus, Brick is getting anxious about flying. 'Bout to drive me mad." His comment takes her by surprise.
"Wait, is Brick afraid of flying?" she asks as they reach the sliding metal door to the security building. She thinks to herself, "First Brick likes little puppy dogs, then he's afraid of flying even though he commands a group of Buzzard pilots. What's next?"
"Yeah, apparently he is. Doesn't want to sit by the door either; he's afraid he'll fall out." He pauses then says, "Oh, and by the way. Krieg is waiting for you in the—".
"IT'S TIME TO STRIP THE FLESH AND SALT THE WOUNDS!" Krieg interrupts as soon as they step in the door.
"Aaand there he is. I'll leave you three alone. Just hurry up, eh?" An audible click signals his signing off. The giant psycho looks down at the two of them as the door shuts. He practically fills the small entrance room, almost touching the ceiling.
"Hello, Pretty Lady. Strong Man." he says, in as friendly of a tone as he can muster, nodding to each in turn. "Time to crush puny bandit skulls?"
The giants eagerness brings Maya out of her thoughts and she watches in surprise as Axton steps around her to return Krieg's enthusiasm.
"HELL YEAH, AXE MAN!" he yells, punching Krieg in his huge arm. "Lets go grind some cartilage!" Krieg giggles a throaty laugh and they end the greeting by clasping forearms and then fist-bumping. Maya can't help but laugh at their display of camaraderie. Axton starts making his way to the other end of the room so Maya moves with him, beckoning Krieg to follow.
She follows the commando through a blue door and into a gray hallway, past a few more doors, and finally out an exit labeled, "Land/Takeoff Pads 3-7. Authorized Personnel Only". They are once again greeted by the crisp night air. Tall light posts illuminate the expanse of concrete before them. Yellow lines draw out the paths to each of four large flat landing pads arranged in two's in front of the large hangers to either side, with a small communications tower in front of them. Each circular pad is big enough to land at least six buzzards, or two cargo ships. Both hangars are about the size of Scooter's Garage. The trio quickly make their way down path number "4" to the pad in front of the hangar to the east. As they get closer, Maya can see what look like a barracks, another comm tower and some maintenance buildings, and two larger landing pads towards Scooter's. While surrounding the whole area, along with the whole district, is a small perimeter wall with defense towers and a few large turrets. Most of it is still under construction.
The group makes quick work of the short walk. Two modified Buzzards sit on the pad along with Mordecai, Brick, Zero, and a squad of the fledgling Crimson Raiders Spec ops division: the Crimson Knights. Mordecai waves them over exaggeratedly. Krieg bids them good hunting by screaming, "HAPPY BLOOD HARVEST," and walks over to join the Knights.
"Take a look at this you guys!" the hunters grins, sweeping his arm at the modified Buzzard. "Isn't she beautiful?" He brings over a pilot who introduces himself as Randy from Thousand Cuts.
While the pilot greets them all, Maya looks the transport over. It appears to be a gray up-armored Buzzard with an squarish six by six by six feet extension to the back of it that is designed to seat six people inside it. Another pair of engine pods are fixed to the back, along with stabilizer fins and landing feet. The pilot is protected by a flip down hatch, while the crew compartment has reinforced sliding doors.
"So, you guys ready to head out?" Randy says. Suddenly, a top priority message comes through on the ECHO from Lilith.
"Okay, are you guys all set? Because it's gonna start to get light out in a few hours and we want to be done by then."
"All set Lil'. Moving out now." Axton responds. "Okay, we all heard the lady. Now let's go kick some ass.
Randy jumps into the pilots seat and closes the hatch, starting the engines up. Which, upon closer inspection, Maya sees to be almost twice the size of standard Buzzard engines. She turns to look at the others leave and sees an excited Krieg practically throw a couple of Crimson Knights into the Buzzard and yell something about the 'bloodfest' beginning.
Maya's team starts to jump into their own transport and she sees Axton leaning out with his hand stuck out to help her in. She reluctantly takes it, feeling his powerful muscles haul her inside. She takes one of the three seats across from him at the other end of the compartment accompanied by Brick. She feels irritated at his chameleon attitude. "One moment he's a complete ass and the next he acts chivalrous," she thinks.
The pilot starts liftoff procedures and the first thing she notices is that the engines are significantly quieter than she is used to hearing. The seats inside are also positioned so that two are against the wall with one by the door. Allowing for a turret to be folded up across from the the door seat, ready to be unfolded and fired in the doorway.
Thrusters whirring, the modified Buzzard lifts into the air, quickly putting distance between them and concrete below. The doors are left slid open and the wind rolls in, chilling them. She feels the momentum as Randy accelerates to weave his way around air traffic. Soon, the lights of Sanctuary are seen off in the distance, with Haven below, and Maya is left with the distinct feeling that this mission is going to be different. For some reason, she knows that something unprecedented will happen. "Only one way to find out." she thinks to herself. "Time to kick some Hyperion ass."