Chapter 12
Gaige pressed the "Save" button on her PDA and shut the device down. Axton made his way down the stairs and walked to where Gaige was sitting, which was on her not brand new, but new to her bed.
"The rest of us are going down to the Hyperion Information blockade," he explained to her. "I understand if you don't want to come with us since you just got here,"
"No no it's fine," Gaige said standing up from her bed and putting the PDA in her back pocket "It'll be nice to check out the sights of Pandora,"
Axton chuckled and said back to her "Heh, I get it, cause there nothing sustainably presentable on this dump. The only place of interest is the Southern Shelf of Pandora. I mean, it's cold as hell up there, but I like the cold." He explained rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, let's get going..." He then said walking away from Gaige.
'Maya, you lucky bastard' Gaige thought to herself.
Gaige walked upstairs to see all of the Vault hunters (Except Roland and Lilith for obvious reasons) loading up their weapons, making sure they had fresh clips and that their energy cells were charged up for them.
"You gotta gun Gaige?" Salvador said looking back at her.
Gaige looked down at the ground and kicked her feet slightly and said quietly
"..no..."
Mordecai walked over to her and said "Well, head down to Marcus' store, he oughta give you a freebie, just say that I sent, he owes me afterall," he finished before laughing slightly.
"Okay then.." Gaige said "Soooo, uhhhh...where's Marcus?"
"Out the door to the far left, can't miss it" Axton said using his thumb as director.
"Kay then, BRB." Gaige said walking down stairs.
As soon as she walked downstairs, Axton looked at where she previously was and scratched his head a bit, before saying to the rest of the hunters.
"What the fuck does 'BRB' mean?"
Gaige did exactly as Axton told her to and made a sharp turn left after exiting the Raiders HQ, which was relatively small for an entire rebellion, they weren't exactly hidden as well. Gaige took note on how many people have seem to have lost their minds completely (As well as their livers and kidneys). Their lives looked like shit over here, what didn't make sense to Gaige is...well...why don't they just leave? Maybe it has to do with the 'H' orbiting the planet. As she continued to walk to the left she came across a sign that read 'Marcus Munitions! (No Refunds)'.
"This must be the place," Gaige sighed.
She made her way down the steps to see a man who was grossly out of shape, who wore a shirt that was stained with God knows what. He had a sweaty stench that made Gaige nearly gag. The only redeemable factor is that he sold guns. Gaige figured everybody knew this about him, even himself.
"Well hello young lady!" Marcus said "How can I help you?"
"Uhmmmm..Hi" Gaige said back, she really didn't want to stay long "I'm here to pick up a weapon, Mordecai sent me.."
"Oh jeez," Marcus said putting the palm of his hand to his face "That man is pricey as hell when it comes to herbs. Fine..." Marcus then sighed and rolling his eyes. He went into the back room to find Gaige a gun that suited her.
"Here, it's Hyperion made, deadly accurate and easy to use, figured it your type of gun." Marcus said handing her a submachine gun.
Gaige picked up the SMG and took note of how light it was. If she were to ballpark it, it must've been only about 2.5 pounds. It featured a electronic scope that was built in on the top and had a bayonet to help get out of sickty situations.
"Okey dokey, thanks!" Gaige said as common courtesy goes
"You're welcome young lady, and tell Mordecai that stuff knocked me out in an instant!" Marcus said before letting out a long laugh.
"Okay then..." Gaige said walking out up the stairs, she had no idea what he meant, but quite frankly, she didn't care. she wanted to leave the building as fast as she could, so that she wouldn't suffocate from the stench that Marcus gave off.
Gaige walked back to the HQ to see everybody standing outside ready to go.
"Well, Marcus doesn't hold back I guess," Mordecai said looking at the gun he gave Gaige.
"Yeah well, he also said 'That stuff knocked me out in an instant', whatever that means," she said confused.
Mordecai let out a small laugh "Yep, my grow is not to be trifled with.."
"I concur," Axton said piping in "I mean, it can cause this woman to hysterically laugh for 30 seconds straight, then demand that we grill up some steaks and scream that she has flies in her brain! Hahaha, Ow!" Axton said rubbing his arm after Maya punched it.
"Prick," She said softly glaring elsewhere.
"Extra! Extra! Changes to the bounty board have been made!" The man from the Hyperion info kiosk.
Axton walked over to the kiosk, which caused the man to hold up his hand to his face and cower over him.
"Don't hurt me again! Please!" The man shrieked at Axton.
"Calm down," Axton said "I just want to look at the bounties."
Axton skimmed down to look at each of the bounties that were posted for each one of the Vault hunters. Salvador's, Zer0's and Maya's all remained the same, but not Axton's.
MOST WANTED
Axton the Commando
REASONS
High Treason
Murder
Betrayal
Desertion
Treachery
Manslaughter
Murder of Hyperion Executive
Aided a Siren's Escape
REWARD:
$800,000,000,000.00
WARNING: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
MUST BE BROUGHT IN ALIVE
"Well, at least he got 'Extremely Dangerous' right," Axton said shrugging his shoulders.
He then noticed that Jack didn't use his Vault hunter attire as a mugshot for him. Instead Jack used an old photo of him wearing his Hyperion tuxedo formal suit. The picture was taken from inside of Hyperion headquarters, presumably to let people know Axton was. There was a stamp that was placed next to Axton's head in the picture that said 'TRAITOR' in bold red ink.
"Charming..." Axton said quietly.
"Jeez!" Gaige said looking at Axton's bounty "And I thought Maya's bounty was high..."
"Yeah...There were changes made..." Axton said quietly. he then noticed a new face was posted, someone he didn't recognize. It said
WANTED
Dr. Kurtis M. Thatcher
REASONS
Malpractice
Murder
Disobeyment
Emulsion spreader
Manslaughter
Inhumane Experimenter
REWARD
$400,000,000,000.00
'Who the hell is this?' Axton thought to himself. Despite being a doctor, he was relatively young, and had a medium complexion to his face, very gaunt and edged out. He decided not to worry about it until much later, he could probably turn him in for extra coin thinking in hindsight. His plan after he killed Jack is the get the hell outta Pandora. Hopeful Maya would want to come with him...start out fresh perhaps..
"Well let's head for the info tower." He then said heading over to the fast-travel station.
"Welcome to the Eridian Blight," Mordecai said "Back before Jack this place...well, it's still was shithole, but it wasn't THIS bad...Now you gotta take that security override chip that I took from the stockade and plug it into the computer in order to access the files."
"Whoa..." Gaige said slack jawed at the mountains that were flowing with the glowing purple compound known as Slag.
"We best keep moving/ Hyperion must drown in blood/ Theirs to be exact," Zer0 said sheathing his sword.
Before the five of them were moving, Gaige walked up to Maya and whispered to her.
"Is there a reason he talks in poetry?" She said looking strangely at Zer0.
"No clue," Maya said shrugging her shoulders while walking away.
"Well it's super badass!" Gaige said following Maya.
"I'll have to agree/ You are a smart person Gaige/ Who can speak the truth." Zer0 said looking back at her.
Axton looked at the giant bridge that led them to the Hyperion information tower. They proceeded to walk across the bridge to go to the other side of the giant wall. Which was formerly known as the Arid Badlands.
It was all coming back to Axton, he could remember crystal clear the cliff-side he sat perched in saving the original Vault hunter lives with his sniper. He remembered the giant, beaten-up 'Welcome' sign that till somehow flickered, even the gate Claptrap used to help the Vault hunters get into Fyrestone. Now the town was caked in the glowing purple emulsion that dissolved most of the houses leaving them as garbage piles waiting to be hauled away by JNK Loaders.
"Jesus," Axton said "Lot can happen in a few years..."
"Theres the tower! let's get to eet!" Salvador yelled pointing with his gun in the direction of the tower.
"Sup bro?" A voice came from the ECHO "Hows it hangin?"
"Fuck you Jack..." Axton muttered through the microphone
"Oh come on! Don't be such a Danny Downer! I just had a delicious Fillet Mignon steak with some green beans and baked potatoes, with a nice cold glass of Champagne to go with it of course, boy was it delicious! What did you have for chow? Oh yeah that's right! Baby feet and Skag feces with a cup of bullymong piss to wash it down I suppose... I see you're trying to get some info on where I'm keeping your Siren friend. Well, you wouldn't have to be looking for her in the first place if you didn't murder my daughter who is also your niece Axton!" Jack yelled to Axton over the mic.
"Don't act like I'm the only one who's drawn blood Jack...You got more blood on our hands than most of us!" Axton retorted.
"Aw shaddup Axton! That's no way to talk to your big bro! Here, I'll give you a present for being the best little bro ever! A giant freakin robot! Enjoy!" Jack said cutting off his microphone.
"Wait wait wait," Gaige said holding up both of her arms in confusion "Not only did you work for Hyperion, but that seemingly asswipe on the ECHO..Is your brother?"
"Yeah...It's a long story Gaige, we just need to take care of this!" Axton yelled putting his rifle up to his shoulder taking aim at the giant robot that just landed in front of the hunters.
It was like no other Loader type Axton has ever seen. This robot must've been about 3 stories high or even more for that matter. It resembled the shape of a badass loader but was about 5 times bigger than that. Needless to say it didn't take much effort for them to dispose of the mech that was labeled Saturn on the side, presumably named after the giant planet in the Milky Way Galaxy.
"Let's see what you can do Death!" Gaige said radioing her mechanical friend to attack the giant robot. Much to everybody's knowing, the robot proved to be a superb fighter as it is trained to act upon immediate threat presented, in this case, it was the giant robot.
With the combined efforts of the five of them, they managed to destroy the giant robot and leave it nothing more and a pile of metal and oil, just waiting to be picked up by the JNK Loaders.
"Hell Yeah!" Axton said "Take that Asshole!" He then said flipping off the giant H orbiting the planet, which cause Maya to roll her eyes and scoff.
As they made their way to the top of the tower, whilst fighting off dozens of loaders and several engineers to finally make it to the top of the tower. Axton reckoned that the Sabre alone slaughtered 30 Soldiers on it's own. Jack wasn't willing to give up the information to where his only ticket to the Warrior was being held for nothing or nobody. They finally made it to the summit of the tower, after many bodies and blood being spilled by the five.
"Alright.." Axton said "Here it goes.." He then took out the security override chip that Mordecai provided. He was about to plug the chip into the computer, until.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." A voice came from behind, causing the five of them to turn around to see the silhouette of a man in the back of the room, followed by the flick of a lighter and sparking the lighter into flames, before holding to his mouth to light his cigarette before putting the lighter into the cigarette.
He began to walk from the shadow and walk towards the hunters slowly.
"Put...The chip...down..." He said revealing his face. The man was wearing a trench coat along with some combat jeans and boots. He had a medium complexion and gaunt face with some slicked back hair and a slight goatee.
"Who the hell are you?" Axton said holding the rifle to his face.
"Look, I'll explain everything later, we need to get back to your home base in Sanctuary.."
The man said to him.
"To hell with that," Axton retorted "We're gonna put in this override chip and figure out where our friend is being held!"
"Oh that?" The man said pointing to the chip "You mean that target identification chip that can pinpoint the exact location of Sanctuary so Hyperion could send in their troops to kill off any other resistance leaders, in this case, you guys?"
Axton looked at the chip for a second then looked back at the man "You're a wanted man aren't you?"
"So are you," The man said "Look, I can rewire the chip back at Sanctuary then you can put the chip back into the computer and locate your friend, just trust me okay?"
"Like hell we will!" Maya said readying her fists preparing to phaselock.
"Wait! Maybe we should trust him!" Gaige said to the four of them
"What makes you say that?" Salvador asked "He looks like a Hyperion scumbag to me..."
"Did you say the same for Axton too?" The man then said.
Axton looked at him shocked then said to him, "How the hell did you know about that?!"
The man held up his hands in the 'I give' stance and said to him "Look, I will explain everything when we get back."
"You think I'm an idiot don't you?" Salvador asked the man.
"Maybe," The man said "But can you count?"
Salvador looked at him confused, "W-what?" he stuttered out
"I said can you count?!" The man said louder to Salvador
"Of course I can count, you idiot!" Salvador yelled
'Damnit! How did he know I can't count?!" Salvador thought to himself worried.
"Look, let's get back to Sanctuary okay?" The man said.
"Fine..." Axton muttered
Back at Sanctuary they made their way to the HQ where the man was going to answer a lot of questions from the people, maybe they'd go to Moxxi's or something. Either way, the plan had to be put on hold for a bit, until the man could 'supposedly' rewire the chip.
"Why did you trust him?" Maya asked Axton
"Same way I trusted Roland, there's something keen about him Maya." Axton said.
"Alright...just don't get too caught up in this revenge thing okay? I want you all in one piece. Promise?" Maya asked softly looking at Axton with her hazel eyes
"Promise." Axton said kissing her lips, holding it for a few seconds then walked back to the HQ.
"Could I take off my Jacket here?" The man asked Axton pointing to the table.
"Yeah sure," Axton said waving his hand at the man.
"Thanks," He then said unbuttoning his jacket and setting it on the table, revealing that both of his arms weren't of his own. Instead they were cybernetic prosthetics that resembled the same muscular features of an actual arm. He was wearing a tactical undershirt what defined his somewhat tuned body. He wasn't as toned as Brick, but had near same muscular size as Axton.
Gaige couldn't believe it, she has never met anybody that had a prosthetic arm, let alone two. She felt as if she could hopefully connect with this person more than anybody else.
"Wow" Gaige said "I've never met anybody who had a cybernetic arm!"
"Yeah," The man said "Not really something that defines a normal human. Did you build that arm yourself?" He then asked pointing to Gaige's prosthetic.
"Oh this? Well sorta, I've made several modifications to it, but it's based off a Thatcher Industries prosthetic, my Dad paid top-dollar for this!" Gaige said showing her his arm.
"Interesting," The man said looking at it.
"Why do you say that?" Gaige asked trivially at the man, which he replied
"Well, I happened to design that model of prosthetic." The then said letting off a smile
"No way!" Gaige said excited "That's sooo cool!"
"Guess so.." Axton said "What's your name?"
The man shifted his attention from the admiring girl that stood in front of him and looked at Axton and replied.
"Kurtis...Kurtis Thatcher..Just call me Kurt for short."
AN: Hey guys!
Sorry its been taking so long to put out these chapter, but due to me having a life, I have other stuff that needed to get taken care of, well I hope it was worth the wait! Please review so I can improve. Thanks!
-LT