A/N: I think this should easily make up for all the talk in the last two chapters, and it's also a new longest. Enjoy.
(OR will stand for Operations Room after its first mention. The OR is the room with all the computers and the holostation)

I woke up the next morning in the bunk room of the HQ. Salvador was still snoring on the bunk next to me and I saw no one else in the room. I got up, and made my way into the operations room and saw Maya sitting at one of the computer terminals, reading something on the screen. She hadn't heard me enter, so I walked over behind her and waited for her to notice me.

I read the page over her shoulder. It had to do with research on the way Sirens were created and talked about the possible reasons behind their existence as well as their powers. It said that "Only six Sirens can exist at any one time in the universe at the moment, but we believe this may have changed in the recent past. With the Sirens that have been helping us study the Phase we have discovered that there are many possibilities to the harnessing of the limitless energy.

"It is also plausible that the Sirens are able to become an entirely separate species. However, this would mean that the powers would be repeated multiple times, or they would vary incredibly. This is an important point, but less vital than a male Siren. If one were created, the combination of his genes with the female Siren would mean the offspring would be certain to have Siren powers, equal or greater in strength to the parents. There is also a rare possibility of the child having both of the parents abilities; however it is more likely they will have only one or the other."

Maya sighed and turned around, jumping when she saw me standing behind her. She laughed lightly when she recognised me, and said, "Seriously Fletcher, don't scare me like that."

I gestured at the screen, "Sorry, I didn't say anything because I was reading too. Some pretty interesting stuff."

She nodded and replied, "Yeah, I know. I was trying to see if there were any more findings on our origins, not just our futures. So far, I've been pretty unsuccessful."

"Well, tell me what you know about us in general, and then tell me what you think you know."

She frowned, "It's a pretty big topic, I'm not sure if we have time."

I shrugged, "Summarise."

She nodded, "Well here goes nothing.

"Sirens use an inexhaustible energy known as the Phase to fuel their powers and enhance their own abilities. We are stronger and faster, heal much quicker, have better eyesight and hearing and are able to use supernatural abilities in six known different ways, each unique to the Siren using it.

"The information on what these abilities do is pretty in-depth, but I'll give you the basics. You already know about Phasepulse, shift, and lock and have seen Lilith's Phasewalk. Lilith's power allows her to move her true dimension body into the phase for a short period of time. She causes a bit of a blast every time she exits the Phase, as she is able to bring the Phase energy back with her.

"The other two are Phasefade and Phaseread. Phasefade allows its user to turn completely invisible and silent, making them impossible to spot, even with high-tech sensors. It's different to Phasewalk, as the Phasefade user is completely undetectable even to other Sirens. You can guess that this would be extremely useful for infiltration or assassination. I know Zero would do anything for it.

"Phaseread is what Lilith thinks Commander Steele had. It allows its user to read and hear the thoughts of the people around them, and does not need the bending of any Phase power to be used. This means that you never know when the Siren responsible is actually using their power. Luckily, the user is also able to choose the target of the Phaseread, so you wouldn't catch hundreds of unnecessary thoughts. I could imagine that coming in handy if you were hanging around someone like Salvador."

I chuckled at that. The crazy Gunzerker had the dirtiest mind in the entire town, and was famous for his incredible ability to turn any comment into a horridly repulsive innuendo. At least Moxxi's weren't gross, just sexy, but Salvador's would make a Bandit wince.

"So, how many Sirens are alive now?" I asked.

Maya shrugged, "All I know is it used to be a maximum of six. Seeing as we have all been created in the heat of a dire need, I suppose that the need for more Sirens could also bring the possibility of more at one time."

"So, you don't know if another Siren somewhere in the universe died at the moment I gained my power?"

Maya shook her head, "I have no idea. I would hope not, and I also think so too, considering it didn't come naturally to you, even though you are able to use it just the same as us. I suppose, now that you have your power, there's no more limit to the number of Sirens. Just like the article said, we could become an entire race, if things work out. But seeing whether Siren children are born with or without their power will be an interesting point."

I changed the subject; children were not something I wanted going to think about for a very long time. Especially since I wasn't even sure whose children they would be. "So," I said, "Have any scientists been able to work out how to use Phase as an energy source?"

"Nope, none have even gotten close. What they do know, is that Eridium is a stored version of Phase energy, and that the Eridian race were able to harness it, somehow, and for more than just weaponry. But so far, reverse engineering attempts have been unsuccessful."

I nodded, and wondered what exactly 'unsuccessful' meant in this case. I stood up off of the edge of the holostation and stretched.

"I'm going to head down to Moxxi's for some breakfast," I said, "You want to come, or…?"

Maya shook her head and turned back to the computer, "No, I've already eaten, and there's more research I want to check out. I'll see you later though."

"Alright, c'ya then Maya."

I went downstairs, passing the insane scientist Tannis, who was sitting in the desk chair, mumbling something about ceiling chairs. I ignored her, and made my way over to Moxxi's bar. I could hear sniper fire over near the old gate into the city, and decided I would check it out when I had finished breakfast.

I walked into the building, and saw Axton sitting behind the bar eating a cooked breakfast of several meats and a white and yellow piece of something else, talking the bartender. I assumed the bartender, a woman in a skimpy outfit and top-hat, was the infamous Moxxi.

She turned and looked me up and down as I walked over to the bar. "Well howdy sugar, I'm Moxxi. The proud owner of the wonderful utterly destroyed Underdome. What can I get ya, honey?"

I sat down next to Axton, and he said to Moxxi, "Get the kid some breakfast, on me. He has quite a story, and I'm sure some real bacon will be an eye opener."

Moxxi scoffed, and she raised an eyebrow. "I think I noticed, mister commando. It's not every day you see a male Siren walk into a bar." She turned back to me, and gave me a wink, "Though I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, I wish it was every day. One bacon and egg breakfast, coming up."

As Moxxi went out a back door to where I assumed was the food, Axton turned from his meal and said, "She's an odd one that one, but she always means well. If we didn't have this bar, I would wonder how well our morale would hold up."

Moxxi returned with a plate of steaming food and some cutlery, "Here," She said, "enjoy it sugar. It's on the house." I began eating the mysterious, amazing smelling food, and found it was very, very tasty.

Moxxi saw the look on my face as I began to eat the food as quick as I could, and laughed, "Don't hold back sugar, I'll get some more ready. By the look on your face, you haven't had a proper breakfast in too long."

She left again, and I kept eating. The bacon tasted amazing, not too salty, nice and crunchy on the edges, and not too oily. When eaten at the same time with the eggs, it tasted even better, and soon it was all I was doing. Then I tried the larger chunk of meat that Axton told me was called steak. It was thick, not chewy or too soft, and full of flavour. Cooked most of the way through, but still with a bit of char on the sides; I immediately favoured it over the bacon.

I finished off the plate pretty quickly, and sat back in the chair while I waited for Moxxi to return with my next serving. I glanced over at Axton, and saw he had finished his and was sitting sipping at a wonderfully aromatic drink.

He saw my eyes on the mug, and called out, laughing, "Get the kid a coffee too Moxxi!" He smiled at me, "So, I guess this is a pretty good introduction to real breakfast. Moxxi makes some mean breakfast," He sipped at the hot drink and sighed in satisfaction, "Nothing better in the morning than a hot, good coffee."

Moxxi came out again, with more bacon and eggs and a mug full of the rich brown drink I now knew was coffee. She winked at me, "Enjoy sugar. Everyone deserves good food, no matter where they came from."

I hooked in to the meal again, and as I finished a mouthful, took a sip of my coffee. It was perfect, the flavour strong and sweet at the same time. It was warm and invigorating. I savoured it as I finished eating, and then leant back in my chair, enjoying the feel of the meal sitting in my stomach.

Axton and I chatted about inconsequential things for a while we finished our food. Then, he stood and said, "Well, while we're sitting here talking, there's work to be done," His mood shifted, and he seemed more solemn, "Not to mention we still have to find out where Jack and Lilith are. I'm pretty sure Brick had something he wanted checked out, so I think I might go hit him up for it. Catch ya later, Fletch." He walked out, yelling a goodbye to Moxxi. I saw him walk down the street and around the corner to the HQ.

Moxxi leaned on the bar, presenting me with an obviously intended view of a more mature subject matter. "So, it's Fletcher right?" I nodded, and she continued, "I thought so. It's been an interesting few days, don't ya think?" She sighed, and her mood became solemn just as Axton's had been, "First we lose Roland, and Lil is captured, then you turn up with the others. And now Angel is back and seems determined to fight with us."

"She isn't just some girl to be hidden away in the corner Moxxi. She wants to fight, and I don't think any of us have the right to stop her." I understood Moxxi's wish to protect the Angel, but even though I could sympathise, I would defend Angel's choice to help us in the field. She deserved revenge just as much as we did.

"Oh, I know that sugar," She said, "I'm just not sure of the wisdom in letting her risk her life so soon after getting it back. How do we know if she'll be able to be recreated at a New-U again? And why wasn't Roland?"

I shrugged, "I don't know Moxxi. It might have something to do with being in the control core, or being killed in the presence of Jack, but I know that what has happened is irreversible, and we need to fight on anyway." Is stood up from the bar, and thanked her for the meal.

"Anytime sweetie. Come on back if you ever need someone to talk to." She waved as I left, and I decided I might take up on that offer, sometime.

Making my way over to where I could hear the sniper rifle fire, I saw Angel and Mordecai up on Sanctuary's wall. They had gotten someone to build a ladder into the wall, and Angel was firing out across the town. I waved up to them, and she stopped while I walked out and began to climb the ladder.

I reached the top and stood back and observed as Mordecai stood behind Angel, watching as she lined up her shot. He had painted a small red target on a sign on the other side of Sanctuary's walls. She fired and he told her it was good, handing her another magazine, and she reloaded. The tall sniper walked over to me and told me about how she had done.

He said that he wouldn't be expecting her to hit the centre straight up. However, to be considered an adequate shot in his eyes, she had to be able to hit a dinner plate ring around it, without taking more than 15 seconds max between shots. So far, she had done well, as she was able to get an average of a ring well below that, as well as firing at a rate that Mordecai seemed pleased with.

"She's doing alright," He said, while we stood back out of ear shot and watched her put round after round into the target, "Well, alright for a teenage girl who's using a gun almost a third of her weight."

I watched as the last round from the mag launched from the barrel, slamming solidly just to the right of the bullseye. Then Mordecai, obviously wanting to show off a little, stood next to her, raised his own massive gun in one smooth movement, and fired. The bullet moved at almost twice the speed of Angel's, and the recoil was obviously many times higher. It hit the bullseye dead centre, and cracked the sign straight through. Angel's jaw dropped and she stared in awe at the snipers deadly accuracy. Mordecai laughed, "Alright, enough for today. Unload it and bring it back to the HQ. You might be as good as me eventually. Just practice all day, every day for about 20 years."

Angel knocked Mordecai on the shoulder, "I wouldn't want to be a sniper anyway Mordy. Standing there and firing only when the moment is right would be way to boring. Give me an SMG or an assault rifle any day."

Mordecai scoffed, "No-one ever understands." We climbed down the ladder and made our way back to the HQ. As we walked through the front door, he called out to Maya, "Your turn, crazy lady. I've done my job."

Maya walked down the stairs in her regular combat clothes, carrying to simple Dahl SMG's. "Well, so I guess it's time to see how you fair in a fight with a weapon that's actually useful," she said, and I heard Mordecai scoff from around the corner and call out, "Don't listen to her Angel, she'll brainwash you into the arms of death!"

Maya chuckled, "Come on, we'll head back out to courtyard near the gate."

We left and made our way back to the courtyard. Maya handed the SMG to Angel and showed her the different parts, as well as the proper technique for reloading the bullpup weapon.

"This is a Dahl, as you can see, so it has massive amounts of recoil reduction. Whenever you're in a good firing position, and could use smooth, fast fire, hit this button with your thumb," She showed Angel the small red switch on the side, "and the gun will automatically up the recoil reduction, fire rate and fire in three or four round bursts."

Angel nodded and held the SMG toward the ground, resting the stock of the gun in her elbow "Is there any point in not holding the button all the time?"

Maya thought for a moment, "You tell me," She said. Maya was testing Angel's ability to reason out an action on her own, and learn without having to be taught.

We had arrived at the courtyard when Angel replied, "It really depends on the strength of the gun."

"Why?" I put in. I thought I might step up and help with this one. It was probably going to be the most important part of our teaching her how to survive in combat.

Angel turned and fired a burst across the courtyard, holding the gun steady in her hands. She lowered the gun and said, "A burst like that would waste ammo if you aren't steady. Running around, you would not want to have steady bursts, as the enemy would be able to time their attacks and movements and avoid any damage."

Angel held the gun out with one hand, and I felt her drawing on the Phase for the extra strength she needed to hold the gun up. "You obviously wouldn't use it if you needed mobility and speed, but it is a real bonus for a well maintained position in cover."

She turned back to us, giving a quizzical look. Maya and I nodded, and Maya said, "Good. Now to test how you go when under fire."

She motioned around the courtyard, and said to Angel, "Neither of you would be able to tell the difference, but I had some of the Crimson Raiders place some extra obstacles around here just for us."

I surveyed the set up that Maya had organised. Around the area had been placed scrap parts, rubble and other debris, all stacked up to be useable as cover. Not only that, but the way the walls around the courtyard were positioned formed a rather well equipped training ground. I saw plenty of places where different strategies would be needed to take or hold a position effectively. Of course, that was if you didn't have a Siren power that gave you incredible mobility and diversity in combat.

The area was perfectly suited to my Phasepulse. I would be able to cross from one side of the arena to the other, almost without touching the ground. I would try to not destroy all the cover as I launched myself around, but it might end up a futile attempt. Each time I used it to leap across the battlefield; I had to cause a large blast in all directions from where I leapt from. I could try to use the walls as much as possible, but that might not be too good for them.

Maya turned to us, "You two will be the first to use it, so try not to break it. Fletch, I mean it, be careful with those bloody pulses of yours. You can both use your abilities as much as you want, so be smart and think on your feet."

She smiled at Angel, "I have a feeling I won't need to tell Fletch to stop when your shield is low, because it won't be, but when you see his reach a certain point around fifteen per cent, stop and yell out. I'll call him off then, and you guys can take a break, think of your strategy and learn from any mistakes."

Maya turned back to the arena, "You'll each be starting at separate ends, and the fight will continue until I say it stops. Now, Angel, you go left and wait behind the busted car. Fletcher, you head over to the pile of debris on the right. Have your weapons ready, and I'll count you in."

Angel and I moved to the positions that Maya had specified, and waited for her signal. As soon as the command came over the ECHO I leapt out from behind cover, and launched myself off the ground with a Phasepulse. I had at least 3 metres clearance over the arena, and had flown straight across to Angels starting cover. I landed a few metres short, and rolled to cushion the impact, before sliding in behind it. She would have heard my blast and known I had moved, but if I was lucky she wouldn't know exactly where to. I tried to sense just where she was, and I could feel a lot of power being shifted somewhere on my right.

I slowly peered around the corner, and caught a glimpse of flaming white wings disappearing behind a section of concrete. Knowing where Angel was, I launched myself straight over the top of her cover, and landed right in front of her. She raised her gun and hit me with a full burst right in the chest, knocking me back a little. I sent a Phasepulse at the ground in front of her, and it shoved her backwards, giving me time to raise my gun and fire.

I had set my pistol to fire two round bursts at all times, and the extra modification was helpful now, allowing me to put more rounds into her than I would have otherwise. She swore, and jumped back around the corner into cover. I decided I would wait and see just what she would do. I dived to my left, behind a much taller pie of scrap parts and metal, and readied myself and my power. I wanted her to know I could handle whatever she decided to try, so I stood vigilantly and waited.

Angel ran out around the left and fired, and I felt two or three rounds of the burst hit my shield, before I let the Phasepulse loose. Just before it collided with her and threw her back, she rotated back behind cover and I swore. That Pulse could have won me the fight. I ran after her and turned the corner gun raised, waiting for a sign of movement.

I didn't have to wait long. Just as I began to think that she had run off to another section of the arena, she leapt off the top of the very cover I was next to and onto my shoulders. I swore with the surprise and felt her use the Phase to give her more strength as she twisted and kicked me into the rubble and jump for safety.

I fell to the ground, but as I went to launch myself up, I felt the barrel of her SMG press against my head.

I couldn't see the smile, but I knew it was there. "Game over, Fletch." Angel said.

I barely held back a grin, as I said, "Oh really, I thought we had to wait till Maya called it." And I let loose a tiny Phasepulse straight at Angel's feet. She cried out, and fell to the ground heavily, dropping her gun. I used the Phase to give me the speed to backflip, sailing over her and landing a few meters back. I sprinted forward and pinned her to the ground, holding her still as she struggled and cursed.

I heard Maya's voice on the ECHO, "Alright Fletcher, let her up. Nicely done both of you. Come on back and we can talk about how it went." I stood up and held my hand out. Angel rolled over and reached out, and I pulled her up to her feet.

"That was not cool Fletch. Really not cool." She seemed annoyed at me, but I decided that if I hadn't have been as sneaky as I was, she would've won. I bet she knew it too.

"Hey, you were definitely good enough to be able to survive out in the real world. I have no doubt you'll be coming with us when we head out on missions."

She glanced across at me smiling. "Oh, I know. In case you didn't realise, sneaky boy, I only used my power to enhance my speed. I would've wiped out your shield, or the burst tech in your gun, or even taken out your ECHO. But I didn't because while I knew I would lose, I preferred not to kill you."

I nodded. I had thought a fair bit about the multitude of uses her power would have in a combat situation, and this was another time when I had underestimated just how much she had to hold back if we were training.

We walked up the stairs and were greeted to a reception of Maya and some of the other Crimson Raiders applause. We smiled, and moved over to stand next to Maya.

"Alright guys, shows over!" Maya called to the Raiders, "Head back to your posts, that's it for today."

They separated and left and Maya turned back to us with a smile on her face. "Well, that was impressive. I thought you guys might actually have gone all out, but I heard what Angel had said about holding back with her power. There was a lot of potential opportunities for some real damage in there, but you didn't take them for safety reasons, which shows that you can keep a level head in combat, and that's important."

She motioned to the battlefield, "Unfortunately for you, Angel, this place is perfectly suited to Fletcher's ability, however, you combated it very well with that use of cover near the end there. I've noticed he tends to forget that people actually do fight smart instead of hard, sometimes."

I shrugged, and said, "It was a heat of the moment thing. But yeah, I may have been a little overconfident."

Angel snorted, "A little? My ass." She said.

We laughed and Maya spoke to me, "Fletch, your mobility is impressive, but you seemed to hold back. If it was to take it easy on her, there was really no need. We needed to see how well she fought under real pressure, but I can understand why you decided to wait for her to come to you. You wanted to see just how smart she could play it, and she played smarter than you," she smiled though, and said, "But only for a little while."

Maya turned back to Angel and raised an eyebrow, "I guess that you forgot about the fact that it wasn't over till I said. He took that opportunity too easily, Angel, and you have to remember that you cannot stop until you're sure your enemy is defeated."

Angel nodded and said, "I didn't believe he would try after I had beaten him like that."

Maya shrugged, "Thing about it is you hadn't beaten him. He was still able to move freely and take you down without too much effort. However, when he gained the upper hand, he moved forward and took the opportunity immediately, which meant his victory. You did well, but it could have been better, both of you."

We nodded. Maya was right as usual, and I made sure I would take her advice to heart; it might be what saves me in the future.

Angel began to say something, but was cut off as Zero walked up to us.

"Follow me my friends/ Mordecai requires us/ We must go quickly."

He turned around and walked off briskly, Maya following. Angel and I exchanged a look, and I shrugged. I started off after the others, and Angel followed.

I caught up to Zero, and asked, "So, any idea what the plan is?" Zero shook his head, and a set of triple dots appeared on his visor.

We walked through the door into the HQ, and walked up the stairs. Tannis wasn't downstairs, so I supposed she had something to say in the meeting. I wondered what sort of ideas the insane genius would have to add to the conversation.

As we walked through the door into the OR I saw all the Vault Hunters, some of the high-ranking Crimson Raiders and Tannis, all standing around the room, watching a revolving image of the Hyperion Moonbase on the holostation. Mordecai was working the controls and looked up when we walked in.

"Ah, good you're here. We can finally get started." He stood back and waved toward the image.

"We got to things we need to do. Find Jack and Lilith, then Kill Jack and Save Lilith. I have a plan to do just that, and gain some real ground in the war on Hyperion. If we pull this off, Jack won't stand a chance, and Hyperion's influence on Pandora will fall."

He leaned in to the holostation, and looked around at each of us,

"We're going to steal Jack's Moonbase."

A/N: So I hope everyone enjoyed that, because I have a lot of assignment work and other things to get into over the next few days. I'll do my best to get the next chapter up, so hang in there, and thanks for reading!