A/N: I have waaaayyyyy too much spare time. Enjoy!
(Also, DT stands for Deathtrap, for later reference)
"Jack can't charge the Vault Key with Eridium alone. That would take 200 years. Jack's patient, but he's not that patient. What he needs is a catalyst."
We had reached the bottom of the lift, and saw a much different looking set of corridors than the rest of the core. We moved through the never ending set of passages with extreme care, who knew what sort of traps Jack would have placed around his two most prized possessions in the galaxy?
We made our way down yet another hallway, but found a dead end. The only door was locked.
"To stop him from charging the key, you need to destroy his catalyst. You need to destroy, me."
The room around us grew blurry, and I could feel something extremely powerful altering the Phase in ways I had no chance of understanding. As our vision grew clearer, we looked up in a digital world to see a Siren with brilliant white wings. She was wearing a black tight fitting garment and had the look of someone who had been locked away from the world for her entire life.
Angel wasn't an artificial intelligence, she was a Siren.
We stood in shock, each of us completely taken aback at this revelation. It all fell into place now. As we had been coming up the core, the others had filled me in on the outside world and their own situation, as well as information on Angel. I knew now why Jack had mentioned in an ECHO to some assassins of his why he knew of three Sirens. I had at first thought he meant Commander Steele, but she had died. I also remembered them saying that any time Angel had done something for them, she had said 'executing Phaseshift'. Now that I knew that she was a Siren, the words had more meaning.
I could feel immense power emanating from all around, but I also knew that no-one, not even the most powerful Sirens could have such impressive control over the Phase without help. So my only choices were that we had all started tripping out at the same time, in the same way, or Angel had something making her incredibly powerful.
"You get the hell away from my daughter!" Jack's ECHO cut through our minds like a knife through hot butter. The world we were seeing was abruptly cut off as Angel was electrocuted, losing her control over the Phase. I felt the pain it caused her as the Phase she had been altering returned to its normal state. But what Jack had said was really what shocked me.
Angel was his daughter too? What else could possibly happen here?
The door in front of us slid up as Angel told us to enter and get ready. "You have to destroy the Eridium injectors if you want to stop the key from charging." We opened fire on the large contraptions that led into Angel's shielded enclosure. "Yes, like that!"
"Oh no you don't, shields up!" Jack sounded furious. The injectors were immediately surrounded by thick orange shielding, our bullets bouncing off.
"Crap!" Axton was looking around the room for a way to reach the injectors, so we could disable the shields. "Maybe if we cli-"
He was cut off by a large pillar rising from the ground beneath him. He barely maintained his balance as it sped upward till it stopped at about two metres in height. "Holy shit! What the hell is this thing?"
"Look out; I can't stop Jack's auto defences. Just hang on, I'll try and help however I can." Angel warned us a second too late.
The pillar began to glow ominously, and an electric pulse ran up the sides, before a large stream of electricity shot out at each of us. It began draining all of our shields too quickly for them to hold out for long.
I immediately charged a Phasepulse; my wings flaring behind me. "Axton, JUMP!" He launched himself off the top of the device and I let the power loose. The pulse ripped the device free from the ground, launching it into an identical contraption that had appeared further around, destroying them both. Around the room, loaders had started spawning from digistruct units, and more of the electro-pillars were popping up.
"Everyone spread out!" Axton yelled over the noise of all the machinery, "If we are grouped up, we will be too vulnerable against these bloody pillars. Move!"
In groups of twos we spread to different sections of the room, each firing as we ran. Maya and I moved left, heading for the far side, while Axton and Gaige followed, stopping under one of the other Eridium injectors. Zero and Sal went right, Salvador yelling as he brought his bloodlust to its peak.
We reached our sectors as the digistruct units finished off the loaders. These were newer, upgraded versions of the regular gun loaders. The joints had been covered, protecting the limbs from being removed by bullets, and the loaders also carried two guns instead of one. I guess Salvador may have finally gotten himself noticed.
The loader turned toward me and opened fire, but it only got off a single round before it was suspended in a familiar purple orb. I fired straight into its optic sensor, and the enemy exploded inside the orb. Maya released the broken robot and began firing at another that had come up behind her.
"Maya, dive left!" As she responded instantly and leapt across, I threw a Phasepulse into the loader, and he was launched back into a pillar that had just risen. I turned and fired another pulse into another enemy, but he was launched back into the shield that had been created by an ION loader.
"Shit. That worked well. Where's some bloody cover when you need it?" I charged a massive pulse and tried to bring down the ION loaders shield. It worked better that I had expected, with the majority of energy actually passing through the shield and disrupting the loaders cycle. As the shield disappeared Maya threw out a grenade. It teleported into their midst, then drew them all in, before exploding in a shower of acid that destroyed the group in seconds.
"I'm here Vault Hunters!" Roland ran out on one of the catwalks near the Eridium injector above us. He stopped in shock when he noticed me, then Angel as well. "Who the hell is that? And did I miss something else too, or is Angel a siren?!"
Angel immediately took advantage of the situation. "Roland, I need you to lower the shields around the Eridium injectors." Roland stood in shock, surveying the carnage below. "I meant NOW Roland!"
"Sorry, on it!" He ran over to the controls next to the injector and began working on removing its shield. The rest of us would need to keep the heat off him while he worked or this plan would fall apart.
Jack contacted us again. "Look, please, if you have any heart at all, please don't hurt my baby girl." His voice sounded so sincere, but before we could hesitate, Angel immediately countered his attempt at slowing us.
"Don't listen to him. He'll just try and guilt you into doing what he wants. Keep fighting!"
We took down loader after loader as the digistruct stations created them. Roland worked steadily, but it seemed that the fight would never end. There was so much dissolved metal and acid on the ground that it was almost as treacherous moving as standing still.
"I've got it! The shields down, go for the injector!" Roland yelled out in triumph. Immediately we all turned and fired on the injector. It was torn to shred in seconds, with a massive round from Zero's rifle cutting straight through the middle, spewing slag out across some of the loaders. Axton's turret destroyed them in seconds, thanks to its missile pods and the bonus damage of the slag.
Roland jumped down and threw out his Scorpio for some extra firepower.
"Glad you could join us!" Axton and Roland stood behind their turrets and rained hell on the loaders.
"I'm just glad you're all still alive. And we even have some new blood! I can't wait to hear his story." Roland nodded to me as he crouched behind his turrets shield and reloaded. I nodded back and turned my attention toward the next injector. Roland caught the message.
Roland began climbing the wall to get to the catwalk for the injector. He was moving as fast as he could, which was pretty quickly. He swung himself up lithely onto the catwalk and ran for the next injectors control system. He worked quicker at this injector, having learned from working on the first.
We fought on, Salvador tearing enemies apart with his new dual corrosive spiniguns. Zero moved like water through the loaders, using his sniper like a shotgun and his katana like a surgeon's knife. No loader stood a chance against his precise striking as he back flipped and dodged. Even as I watched he dropped out his decoy, and slid under a badass loader. As he came back up, he stabbed his katana straight through its A.I. core, destroying the robot instantly.
Deathtrap was tearing into a BUL loader that had tried to flank Gaige and Axton, while the Commando and Mechromancer stood back to back, taking out all and any enemies they could see. Axton's turret was stuck on the wall above them, its missile pods devastating any enemies stupid enough to group up.
Maya was making sure that none of the loaders got near Roland. Picking them up and throwing them into each other in confused heaps, then spraying corrosive rounds from the SMG Moxxi had given her into the group. It was an effective tactic, and she was taking a large toll on the loaders numbers on her own.
I was working a lot like Zero, except with more blasts of energy and less finesse with my kills. I ran toward an Angelic Guard that had digistructed in front of me. I jumped up and over it, Phasepulsing the ground to get more clearance. As I came down behind the loader I reached up under its shoulder joints and fired into its inner workings, the corrosive bullets destroying the electronics like Salvador destroying a pizza.
I wasn't overly worried about looking good while destroying these metal idiots, but I did without trying. I simply wanted them dead in the quickest way possible, but of course, a little fun couldn't hurt. It's always nice to keep the self-esteem up.
"I've nearly got it, just a few more seconds!" Roland was straining to get the shield down on the second injector. Jack must have gotten some engineers to work on countering Roland's hacking. Smart ass must have noticed we were taking out the loaders easy enough, and switched to other tactics.
"I've got it! Shoot the injector!" Again we all turned and fired, but instead I launched a Phasepulse and knocked it out of its housing in a single go. It fell loose, swinging down and mixing the slag that poured out of it with the acid and broken bits of robot that were on the ground. The whole mixture was a pretty messed up creation.
"Alright, finally! Bloody engineers are idiots, so I had to do it myself. Goodbye catwalk! I hope you have a nice time in hell." Jack digitised the catwalks that were allowing Roland to approach the terminals of the Eridium injectors.
"Shit! How am I supposed to reach the last injector?" Roland had fallen back to our level again, and was fighting behind DT as he moved on to a newly spawned WAR loader.
I felt something, energy in the Phase that was rapidly approaching, and I mean really, really quickly. Then, all of a sudden there was a big blast of Phase energy and a Siren appeared in the room, under the last injector.
"You called?" The Siren's wings were pure flame, and she ran over to Roland's Scorpio while he reloaded behind it.
"Lilith! I thought I told you not to come!" He seemed a little angry, but on the whole was pleased to see her.
"Well, I came anyway, so might as well deal with it. What do you need?" She ducked down as a bullet flew over her head.
"Can you get me up to that platform? We need to deactivate the shields around the Eridium injector."
Lilith looked up, checking distances. "Can do. Cover me, I'll teleport you."
Roland nodded and stood back up, firing again and again at the loaders that never ended. I could feel a lot of Phase energy being centred on him, as well as the point Lilith was trying to move him. I understood the connection, but I didn't know how she would get him into the Phase without travelling with him.
Then, in the instant he moved, I saw just how smart Lilith really was. She used herself as a marker for the energy around Roland, and as she entered the Phase with her ability it drew him in as well. In the millisecond they were both in the Phase, she moved the energy around Roland to the other grouping at incredible speeds before exiting, and drawing him out at the same time. It was a work of art, even if you couldn't see all the finer workings of it.
To say the least, I was impressed. This was one powerful Siren, but I could also tell she had used Eridium before to enhance herself, and so whenever any was nearby she could draw upon the phase energy stored within it to make her own abilities more powerful. It didn't make her weaker when there was none nearby; it simply meant that for certain abilities she had to rely on an external supply of energy. This could cause her to become reliant on Eridium, if she did not teach herself only to use it when necessary.
Personally, I had chosen to never use Eridium as a power enhancer. It had caused enough problems in this world, and I never wanted to become reliant on it.
Roland overcame the disorientation and began working on the final injector. Jack had set the digistruct units to create nothing but badasses now, and we were working extremely hard to stop them from firing on him. As well as the loaders, laser turrets were dropping out of the roof above Angel's prison. They were extremely damaging, but were easy to kill. After the initial surprise, we learnt quickly to take them out as soon as they appeared. At that point, they simply became an annoyance instead of an actual threat. Angel was creating ammo on the edge of the platform, giving us a hand in the only way she could.
I had no doubts in my mind about Angel's allegiance anymore. I could feel that when the last injector was cut off, Angel would have no energy to fuel her body. Her dependence had grown so much that the removal of the Eridium from her system would kill her. She had mentioned we would need to destroy her to stop the key from being charged, but I didn't know if the others had truly understood the implications.
She was going to sacrifice herself for us, for the good of everyone on Pandora. This had me thinking about her real motives. Even when the others had told me about her betrayal, I had wondered how much actual choice she had been allowed under Jack's guidance. Had she been given an order to lead them to Wilhelm and the power core, and then left to her own devices? If that was the case then she really did betray them by working the angles all on her own. However, I did not believe that that was how it had happened.
I knew now that Jack was Angel's father, and while he may have mistreated her, abused her power and held her captive her whole life, he would have paid her enough mind to guide her in her task. I believed that Angels work would have been on the very top of his "to do" list, and that he would have been listening in every step of the way.
For the early stages he would have told her exactly what to say, how to act. Then, later he had given her more trust, until the final moment came. But, as the others had said, she had defied every order he had given her after the ascension of Sanctuary. I can guess she had had enough of listening to him. And seeing how he hadn't stopped her from contacting them at all, he mustn't have cared once he had no more use of her.
It was an odd choice for Jack. What else was he concentrating on? Did he need to focus on the Eridium mines enough that Angel was able to organise this whole event? It was a question that may never be answered, and I wouldn't worry about a question I couldn't answer. I preferred to avoid insanity, if I could help it.
"Be ready Raiders! The shield is nearly down." Roland's call brought me back to the present. There were nearly no loaders left now. Maya had one in her personal death grip. Zero had just sliced one in half, and Axton was reclaiming his turret, while DT digitised. Salvador was waiting near the final injector, his guns at the ready.
I ran over beside him. He turned and nodded to me. "Time to finish this, pendejo!"
"It's down! Shoot it Raiders!" Roland cried, triumph in his voice. Everyone unloaded bullet after bullet into the Eridium pump, and it exploded in a shower of purple rain. We all jumped back to avoid the slag. It really was unpleasant stuff to be covered in.
"It's over. It's… finally over." Angel glided down to the edge of the raised platform where the Vault Key sat.
She had an ethereal beauty about her. Someone so pale, so fragile and small had been put through so much. She had suffered her whole life, had been forced to manipulate and lie at the hands of a madman all for a pointless goal. But here, in her last act she had done something that would be remembered. I would make sure of it, no matter what the others said, she would be remembered as a hero.
Jack's sorry voice played out from the speakers. "Angel, come on baby, talk to me!"
Angel breathed lightly, struggling to keep her eyes open. Lilith crouched beside her, tears running down her cheeks.
Angel spoke, quietly, but no one missed a word.
"Dad, I have to tell you something." She paused, breathing again. Would she forgive the man who had held her captive her whole life? What would be her final word to her father?
"You're an asshole."
And she died, a smile on her face.
Maya turned to me, and leant on my shoulder, choking back sobs. I put my arm around her, and held her close. I understood how it felt to lose a battle against the inevitable. You tried so hard, hoping, praying, and then the reality hits you.
Unless you're lucky enough to have a New-U station, death is death. There is no coming back from that, and there are no exceptions.
Roland leaned down and brushed Angels eyes closed. He sighed, holding her face in her palm for a moment, before standing and addressing us all.
"Well, the cost was high, but we did it. We have the Vault Key, and Jack's only way of opening the warrior. Lilith, take the key to Tannis. Vault Hunter, we ar-"
Crack!
The shot echoed around the massive room. Roland stood in shock, and looked down at the hole that had appeared in his chest. Blood poured out, and he fell.
"ROLAND!" Lilith screamed his name, and went to run forward to him. Jack stepped forward from behind him. "Jack, you bastard! I'm going to ki-"
Jacks hand flew out from his side, and latched a collar around Lilith's neck, turning her own power against her. She collapsed and I could feel the rippling through the Phase, and its effect sickened me. I could only imagine how Lilith herself must be feeling.
"Ah ah ah, language." Jack yanked Lilith up to her feet, holding her out in front of him. "I still have a Vault key that needs charging, and I have the most powerful Siren on the planet to do it with. Now, Lilith, kill the Vault Hunters."
Lilith's power was being forced against her. The collar had control over the phase in Lilith's body, but she could still control phase in other areas. So instead of killing us all with a Phaseblast from her Phasewalk, she was going to teleport us.
"No!" She cried as Jack raised her arm. I could feel the Phase gathering around us, and then…
Black.
A/N: So that was that and it was fun to write! Also, you guys know where they were teleported right? If not, sorry about the massive cliff hanger. Again, thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be up soon!