The front porch of Zed's clinic looked like a homeless shelter that had run out of beds, and not a very reputable one, either. Half a dozen liquor bottles bearing the Zaford family logo lay discarded on the ground, empty or nearly so. The Vault Hunters themselves were similarly strewn about, all but Lilith with a fresh assortment of bruises and cuts. As the dawn began to creep into the sky, the light on Zed's door turned from red to green, and a very tired back-alley doctor opened the door to his shop for the first time in hours.

Zed looked down at the scattered bodies on his doorstep and whistled. "Damn. I go through hell patchin' up your buddy, and now I got a waitin' line. What happened to you guys?"

"Violence with a purpose, followed by drunken violence without a purpose," Axton groaned, pushing himself up. "Let's just say the Holy Spirits is going to need some repair work."

"Never leave four angry, unfocused Vault Hunters alone within walking distance of a bar," Lilith said, rubbing her eyes. "By the time Scooter restored power and I went to Overlook for these guys, the bar brawl had scared the stalkers away." She looked at Zed, fear and hope competing in her chest. "How is he?"

Zed shook his head. "He's a tough sonovabitch, alright. Pulled through ten hours of nasty surgery, but he still ain't healed enough for insta-health to have any effect. I don't rightly know if he'll even get that far, but we've done as much as we can. The rest is up to his own body."

"Can I see him?"

"He's sedated, Lily," Maya said gently, coming up from behind Zed. "He needs sleep."

"Him and you both," Salvador said, staring at her. "You're a mess."

Maya gave him a wan smile. Her face was pale, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her normally immaculate hair was matted with sweat. She was also covered with Brick's blood. "Ten hours of intense continuous power use, trying to promote his body's own healing while Zed did his best patch up the major damage. Never trained for that one at the monastery."

Lilith pulled her into a tight hug. "You gave him a fighting chance. Thank you."

"Wasn't just me," Maya said, hugging back. "No one of us could have done it alone."

"And frankly, we'd still be in there without Zero here," Zed added. "Or... we would've been out a lot sooner, if'n ya catch my drift." He shook his head in amazement. "He found and fixed problems I never woulda. Didn't know an assassin could be such a good doctor."

"Medical scanner," Zero said modestly, "Intended to confirm kills." He shrugged. "Very useful here."

"I don't care why you got it," Mordecai said. "You helped give Brick a shot, and that's all the big boy ever needs. He'll pull through, I know it."

Axton cleared his throat. "Listen, I know we're all tired and half of us are still drunk. But now that Brick's out of immediate danger, we need to think about our other team member."

Maya wiped her face. "Gaige. Do you think whoever took her has kept her alive?"

"Ask Zero," Salvador suggested. "He's why we've been waiting all night. He says he knows this guy, that it's his brother."

Maya turned to him in shock. "Is that true?"

Zero nodded. "He is my brother, And seems to want Gaige alive. Her death is doubtful."

"Let's take this to Moxxi's," Lilith suggested. "She makes pretty good sober-up food, and we can discuss strategy." She pointed at Maya and Zero. "You two get cleaned up, first. We get covered in blood a lot, but this is... different."

"That's one way to put it," Maya said dryly.

"Make it fast," Axton said tightly. "This whack job has already had ten hours with Gaige." He looked pointedly at Zero. "And there's a whole lot of explaining I want to hear from you."

"You mean, now that he's not busy helping save Brick's life," Salvador pointed out.

"Yeah." Axton paused. "Thanks for that."

Zero just nodded and walked towards the archive building.

"I'm going to shower," Maya said, starting after him. "Save me some food. And coffee. Definitely coffee."

"Joining us for breakfast?" Salvador offered to Zed. "You've earned a spot."

Zed shook his head. "I wanna stay close to Brick. If he tanks, I'll have to act fast." He gave an odd chuckle. "And if y'all are gonna eat at Moxxi's, I might need to get my stomach pumps ready, just in case."

"So, how is it?" Maya asked, sitting down at Moxxi's bar. She'd changed her outfit and washed up, but still looked exhausted. "Is Zed going to have a rash of food poisoning cases next?"

Salvador shook his head and continued devouring a plate of something unidentifiable. "No way! This is delicioso!" He grinned at Moxxi. "If I'd known you could cook like this, I'd have married you myself!"

Mordecai gave a small growl and stabbed his food a little more forcefully than was necessary.

Moxxi smirked and set a plate of steaming food in front of Maya. "Sorry, sweetie. You're cute and all, but I like my husbands a little... bigger."

"That's how I like my women, but for food like this, I'd make an exception," Salvador retorted cheerfully.

"Maybe she taught Ellie to cook," Axton suggested, halfway through his own plate.

"Oooh, good point!" Salvador looked at Moxxi expectantly. "Did you?"

Moxxi's expression seemed to flit through horrified, pleased, stunned, and amused all at once. "Um, well..."

"What exactly is this?" Maya asked quickly. "Some kind of eggs?"

"Scrambled rakk eggs and skag liver," Moxxi said, seizing the answer like a lifeline. "Best hangover cure on Pandora. Skag liver sucks up alcohol like a sailor on leave, and rakk eggs... well, they hide the flavor of the liver."

Maya looked at her plate uneasily, then shrugged and started eating. "Mm. Pretty good. Anybody seen Zero yet?"

"Here." Zero joined his friends at the bar. "Now that I am here, The time has come for the truth: who my brother is."

"Seems like the right place to start," Axton agreed. "Who he is, why he came here, and why he took Gaige."

"And how we find him," Maya added.

Zero nodded, then paused. He seemed to be considering what to say. "He came to kill me," Zero finally began. "He blames me for Father's death. No changing his mind. Many years ago, We fought to slay each other. I thought I had won." Zero stopped and shook his head.

"You blew it," Axton said bluntly. "He survived and tracked you here to finish the job."

"And now he's got Gaige," Lilith said. "Why would he take her?"

Zero flashed a question mark on his faceplate. "His reasons, unknown. His machinations, skillful." Zero paused. "One theory, I have."

"Spit it out, muchacho," Mordecai growled.

"Trying to hurt me. Kill my friends, break my spirit." Zero looked at them, his masked gaze traveling from face to face. "You are all targets." Zero's words hung in the air like a guillotine. The threat glistened in everyone's mind for a minute, and then...

"Let the shadows tear at my flesh!" Krieg roared. "The light in my veins will eat the darkness!"

"Even I got that one," Salvador agreed. "Let this pendejo come at us!"

"He's got another thing coming if he thinks he can handle a Siren," Maya proclaimed.

"So he's a ninja," Axton shrugged. "Big deal. I'm a commando. Bring it on."

Zero's mask flashed :D "Knew you would say that." The smiley vanished. "He is very well trained, though. We'll have to be smart."

"If he's actively hunting us, maybe we can use that to our advantage," Lilith suggested.

"Whatcha thinkin', Lil?" Mordcai asked.

"Set a trap," she answered. "If I were to draw him out in the open, I could teleport out before-"

"NO."

Everyone looked at Zero, startled. Their assassin was half out of his seat, hands pressed against the bar so hard the wood was bowing under his fingertips. His helmet was displaying '!' across the front.

Lilith blinked and rested her chin on her hands. "Oh, really? You got a better idea?"

Zero seemed to realize he'd acted oddly and sat back down, faceplate going dark again. "Have you forgotten Your powers are off-balance? You can't go alone."

"I wasn't going to be alone," Lilith said with exaggerated patience. "I was going to say, I could lure him into attacking me, then I teleport out and everyone else fires at him with everything they've got." She glared at him. "And my powers aren't that out of whack, thank you very much."

Salvador grinned. "I like it."

"Seems a little simplistic," Maya said diplomatically. "Don't forget, Zero thought he killed this guy once before and it didn't stick. And we'll probably need him to lead us to Gaige." She grinned a little. "It'd be hard for a pile of bloody giblets to tell us where to find her."

"I dunno, I've known some pretty talkative giblets," Lilith replied, laughing. "Point taken, though." She pushed her plate away. "Let's move to one of the tables and talk strategy. I'll be right back."

"Where you goin'?" Mordecai asked as everyone started shuffling off their barstools.

"Little Siren's room," Lilith said. "Why, you need the Little Sniper's for yourself?" She pushed the door open and headed outside.

"Wait."

Lilith paused and turned around. Zero had followed her outside and was closing Moxxi's door. "What? You keeping me company?"

Zero looked Lilith up and down, then at the surrounding area. He seemed to be making sure they were alone. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Stay out of harm's way. It is very important."

Lilith frowned and crossed her arms. "Last time I ignored a warning like that... well, let's just say I'm willing to listen. But why?"

Zero answered, and his last five syllables changed everything for Lilith.

"No," Maya said flatly.

"You nodded off into your breakfast three times," Axton pointed out.

"I just need more coffee."

"You drifted off in mid-sip of your coffee!"

"I am not taking a nap while the rest of you talk about how to save Gaige!" Maya sighed and rubbed her eyes. "We've all gone without sleep before. I'll be fine."

"No, you won't," Axton said bluntly. "You were using your powers constantly for ten hours. You said yourself you've never pushed that hard before. You can't function right now, especially not on the battlefield."

"We're discussing strategy!"

"And then heading out to kill an assassin as skilled as Zero," Axton went on. "You've seen him in action; do you think you could take him, right now? Honestly?"

There was a long silence. Finally, Salvador cleared his throat. "You do kinda look like walking death," he admitted.

Maya glared at him. "Thanks so much."

"Pretty lady turned into raccoon lady," Krieg offered. "Raccoons sleep during day."

"Et tu, psycho?"

"Face facts," Axton said. "We're going to need you at better than you are now to rescue Gaige. If you don't get some rest during the planning stage, you're sitting out the fight. If you're weak on the battlefield, this guy will exploit that."

"None of us want to lose someone else," Mordecai said quietly.

Moxxi finally broke the silence. "Just grab a few hours in back, sugar," she suggested. "I've still got a spare room open. Just through the door to the right of the bar."

Maya smiled wanly. "I guess I'm not getting away from this one, am I?" She tossed up her hands. "Fine, I'll sleep for a few hours. But the instant we've got a battle plan, you wake me."

Axton nodded. "Promise."

"Not you," Maya said curtly. She pointed at Krieg. "I'm counting on you, Krieg. Wake me as soon as we're ready to move." She winked. "There's a kiss in it for you."

Krieg sat bolt upright and thumped his chest. "The guard goose honks at midnight! The speed demon won't steal the cheese from this cat!"

Maya smiled. "Thanks. Ok, Moxxi. Take me to your bed."

Axton choked on his drink.

"Anytime, sugar," Moxxi said breezily. "You're always welcome to sleep where I do."

Salvador grinned and slapped Axton's back, trying to get him breathing again. "You okay, hermano?"

Axton waved him him off and nodded. "Dirty trick," he managed to get out, still coughing.

"Long as she gets some sleep," Mordecai said, shrugging. "Now all we need is Lilith and Zero- oh, there they are."

Lilith and Zero had just re-entered the bar and were headed for their table. Lilith pulled up a chair. "Hey. We ready to start?"

"As long as Zero is," Axton said. "We sent Maya to get some rest, but you weren't using Siren magic to keep a giant alive all night. Are you alert enough to give us a rundown on your brother?"

Zero nodded.

"Good, then let's get started. What-"

"Hang on." Mordecai was looking closely at Lilith. "You okay, Lil? You look kinda shaky."

"I'm fine," Lilith said, waving him off. "Axton's right, we need to get moving on this." She turned to Zero. "What can you tell us about your brother?"

Zero snagged a chair and joined the cluster of people around the table. "He emptied the Cragg. All the dead, his handiwork." :\ "He has grown skillful." Zero laced his fingers together and seemed to think. "As for finding him, He will make it difficult. Not sure where to start."

"Oh, that's useful," Axton growled. "All night waiting, and all you can say is, 'I got no ideas?'!"

"Hold on," Mordecai said. "Let's try thinking like trackers before goin' crazy. Start with the obvious: how did he get here?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Because it might lead us right to 'im," Mordecai insisted. "Think about it. When was the last time a passenger ship landed here?"

"I don't know, sometime before we destroyed the moon base," Axton said. "How does that help?"

"As it turns out, I know your ship was the last commercial flight to Pandora," Mordecai said. "Found out when I was looking for the Vault key that Hyperion was lockin' down the planet. Everything since then has been privately owned and approved access from Hyperion station... or goin' totally off the radar." He looked at Zero. "Whatcha think, Z? Could your brother have gotten here without Hyperion knowing 'bout it?"

"Could an assassin Fly by Hyperion's eyes?" Zero asked dryly. "All too easily."

"So he's probably got his own ship," Mordecai pointed out. "If he got sloppy making planetfall, we can track his descent."

"Great," Axton said bluntly. "How?"

"With the city's eyes, We shall seek the hidden path." Zero looked around at his friend's blank expressions and sighed. "Scan for ion trails."

Salvador still had a blank look on his face. "Do what, amigo?"

"Use Sanctuary's sensors to look for a ship's exhaust," Mordecai explained. "Nice idea. Whaddya think, Lil? Can we do it?"

Lilith didn't answer for a minute. She was staring at Zero like she'd never seen him before.

"Lilith?"

She blinked and looked at Mordecai. "Hm? Sorry, what?"

"Sanctuary's sensor's," he repeated. "Do they work enough for us to track this guy's ship?"

"Ummm..." she considered for minute. "They should. I don't know how exact they'll be, though."

"If it gets us within shooting range, I'll be happy," Axton said. "What do we need to do?"

"Nothing," Lilith said, standing up. "Leave it to me. I can do the scan from Headquarters. You guys keep talking strategy, we still need a plan to deal with this guy when we find him." She headed out the door.

"Where's she headed?" Moxxi asked, walking over and taking the vacated seat. "Meeting over already?"

"She's taking a shot at finding our kidnapper," Axton said. "How's Maya?"

Moxxi shook her head and tsk tsked. "Poor dear was out cold before she finished falling into bed. She won't wake up on her own anytime soon, that's for sure." She pulled Rubi out of its holster and started checking the cylinder. "How goes the rescue planning?"

"Haven't gotten very far," Axton grunted. "We're still not sure how to even find this guy."

"Why bother hunting for him?" Salvador asked. "He's after you, right, Zero? Maybe if you put a challenge out over the ECHO, he'll just come to you."

Zero considered. "My death, he lusts for. But I was alone before. Why not kill me then?" He shook his head. "He will not come yet. He took Gaige for something big. We must go to him."

"Bringing us right back around to finding this guy." Axton had pulled his ECHO unit off and was toying with it restlessly. "She was working on this last night, you know?" he said abruptly. "Separating Deathtrap and my turrets. I was worried she was going to wreck my baby, but she put everything back together better than new. Even managed to wrangle a targeting interface." He gave a dry laugh. "Ain't that something? This whole time we've been running around Pandora, we could've linked our targeting systems, or given my girl the chance to fly with her boy. Tell me that wouldn't have come in handy once or twice."

Moxxi looked at him sharply. "Sugar, did you just say you could link systems with Gaige?"

"That's what she told me," Axton confirmed. "Never got a chance to test it."

"How? With a polyphasic rebound signal, or a multi-waveform frequency pulse?"

Axton had inherited Salvador's blank look. "Huh?"

"Oh, just give me that." Moxxi yanked the ECHO out Axton's hand.

Everyone else stared in perplexed disbelief. "When did you learn to speak technobabble?" Mordecai finally asked. "You sounded like Tannis and Gaige arguing last night."

"I programmed Innuendobot and helped write the coding for Digistruct Peak," Moxxi pointed out, still working on Axton's ECHO unit. "I know a few things about computer systems."

"So why are you digging around in my turret programs?" Axton asked.

"Because, my sweet silly soldier, there is every chance that we can use that interlink targeting program to get a better idea of where to find Gaige. Aha!" Moxxi looked up in triumph. "Quantum tunneling signal, rerouted through the targeting system. That girl's bright enough to be my daughter."

Salvador blinked in confusion. "Yep, I'm lost. What are you talking about?"

"Getting us one step closer to our missing Mechromancer," Moxxi explained. "The way Gaige set up this program means that your turrets will scan for her ECHO signal if you activate them before she turns on Deathtrap." She looked around at them expectantly, then sighed at the lack of comprehension. "Then guns will point in her direction when you activate her targeting program. Get it now?"

"We can get a bearing on her!" Mordecai said, sitting up straighter.

"Better than that," Axton said, excitement creeping into his voice. "We can get two. If Lilith can get a read on the ship's ion trail, and I get a ping off Gaige's ECHO-"

"Just one problem, hon," Moxxi interrupted. "Even though this signal is beautiful for combat, it's the Motor Mama of girlfriends for any serious range. We're going to need push the signal with a much more... potent transmitter to get a trace."

"Like what?" Axton asked.

"What about Sanctuary?" Salvador suggested. He sounded like a man trying to keep his head above water with the tide coming in. "She's a spaceship, no? Ships talk to other ships, no? That's gotta take mucho power. We patch Ax's guns in, maybe she can talk to Gaige."

"Nice idea, but it won't work anymore," Mordecai said. "We gutted Sanctuary's comm system for parts weeks ago." He shook his head, irritated. "Everything goes out over the ECHOnet anyway. Why would we need it?"

"What about that?" Axton asked, leaning forward. "Could we use the ECHOnet itself to send out the locator pulse?"

"Only if we could get everyone else on the planet off it," Moxxi sighed. "I saw the ECHO usage when I tried to broadcast my Circle of Slaughter fights off planet. The bandit comm traffic alone goes through bandwidth like an STD through a swinger's convention. We'd never get a signal out and back fast enough to be useful."

"So all we need is a powerful transmitter that nobody's using," Axton sighed, shaking his head. "Perfect." For a minute, nobody spoke. Then...

"Chance!"

Everyone looked at Krieg.

"Chance!" he repeated. "Go to chance, send the carrier pigeon to find our lost kitten!" When this brilliant proclamation was greeted with blank stares all around, he growled in frustration. "The mirrored spires, yelling to the six heavens! Chance! Break! Opening! Fair shake!"

"Think I should wake up Maya?" Mordecai asked. "She can usually figure him out."

"Graaah!" Krieg slammed his fist into the table, and grabbed his head with both hands. "Go...last...chance..."

Moxxi pushed herself backwards and aimed Rubi. "Is he losing it?"

"No, wait!" Salvador held up a hand. "He's done this before, usually when he's trying to tell us something important. Give him a minute."

Krieg squeezed his head hard enough to put cracks in his mask. "Made the slideshow! Broke the metal symbols because the garbage can said to!" Every word seemed dragged out of him with terrible effort, but he kept at it. "Drowned the battle circle! Village of Chance!"

"Opportunity," Zero realized. "Hyperion's failed city. That is his meaning."

Krieg roared and raised his arms in triumph. "Sokath, his eyes uncovered!"

"Si, buddy, si," Salvador tried to pull Krieg back into his seat. "Just keep it down, or you'll wake Maya."

Axton turned to Moxxi. "Would that work? They did have a broadcast system that went out to the six galaxies."

"And it's damn sure no one's usin' it now," Mordecai added.

Moxxi set her chair upright and sat down gingerly. Rubi was holstered, but she kept her hand on the grip. "It probably only transmitted to the moonbase, but... yes, that might just work." She smiled at Krieg and let go of her gun. "Nice thinking, sugar."

"The coyote wins once!" Krieg said, nodding. He seemed pleased with himself.

"Then let's get moving," Axton said, standing up. "Once we get to Opportunity, I'll-"

"Do what, sugar?" Moxxi asked sweetly.

Axton started to open his mouth, then seemed to trip over his tongue. "I have no idea." He scratched his head. "Do you know how to hook my turrets into Hyperion's broadcast tower?"

"Not a clue," she admitted. "But I'll keep poking around your gear. Maybe I can figure something out."

"While you do that, let's see if Lilith found anything yet," Mordecai suggested. "Might give us something else in the meantime."

Lilith was bent over the holotable in the Raider's headquarters, frowning at the screen. She glanced up as the others walked in. "Hey. What's up?"

"We've thought up two possible ways to track this guy, and Moxxi's working on the other one," Axton said. "How're things going on your end?"

She sighed. "It's not. Sanctuary's sensors never were especially great, and years of neglect didn't help much." Lilith straightened up, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "I can't get anything concrete. I'm sorry."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Axton sighed. "Maybe our other plan will-"

"Wait." Zero bent over the table, studying the image. "Have you tried to find A beta particle spike? That would be a start."

Lilith shook her head. "No, standard ship's engines give off alpha spikes. Why would I look for beta?"

"He's not using a Standard ship to get around," Zero said darkly. "I"m certain of it."

Salvador cleared his throat. "I just want to say, I have no idea what you two are talking about."

Lilith smiled faintly. "Don't sweat it, killer." She started entering commands on the table interface. "Ok, checking for beta particle spikes... huh." A series of yellow dots flashed up on the map. "Look at that. Got something."

Axton virtually pounced on the table. "What are those? Is one of them his landing spot?"

"Thruster bursts, changes In speed, heading, altitude," Zero reported. "But it's a good start."

Mordecai tapped the screen. "There's a cluster of 'em here, over Tundra Express. Maybe we can use that."

"How so?"

"I've hunted ion trails before," Mordecai replied. "If we can get a good enough read on these traces, maybe we can refine Sanctuary's sensors to pick up more. Lead us right to him."

"Sure, but how are we going to get a better scan?" Lilith asked dubiously. "We're a long way from Tundra Express, our sensors can barely pick it up without the refinements we're talking about, and Sanctuary can't fly there. It'd take hours. The signals will have faded by then."

Axton grunted. "We need a scan to take a scan. Great." He looked around the room. "I don't suppose anyone has a spare high-resolution particle scanner laying around?"

A strange sound made everyone look over at Zero. It wasn't until a :] symbol flashed onto his faceplate that they realized he was laughing.

"What? What's so funny?"

Zero reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled out a small, boxy device. "High-resolution Particle scanner right here." He shrugged. "Useful for hunting."

"For all those times you had to track a spaceship on foot?" Axton asked wryly.

Zero shrugged. "Yes."

"We'll need more info," Mordecai said. "That might give us a direction the ship headed, but not where it landed." He looked at Axton. "Seems like that Opportunity trip is gettin' more necessary all the time."

"I'll go see Moxxi," Axton said. "Maybe she came up with an idea. How soon do we head for Tundra Express?"

"The same time as the Opportunity mission," Zero said firmly. "To disguise the hunt."

"We're not disguising anything," Axton spat. "We're going after this guy, and we're doing like we do anything else: full speed, guns blazing." He looked around the room. "Last night was the worst night of my life. That was the first time I haven't been able to out-shoot, out-run, or, worst case, out-think a problem. We've got a plan to track this guy down. I say we go full tilt with it, and damn the torpedoes. If he catches wind of us and makes some move, so much the better. It just means whatever he throws at us now won't be there for him to use later."

He pointed at Zero. "Your brother is an assassin with a starship and a hostage. So what? We're Vault Hunters."

There was a brief silence, then Lilith grinned. "And if anybody has any objections after that little speech, they shouldn't be on Pandora anyway." She pulled up images of Tundra Express and Opportunity. "So. Who's going where?"

"I'd rather go to Tundra Express," Salvador said. "I don't like that city."

"I have to go to Opportunity," Axton pointed out. He turned to Krieg. "How about it, slugger? Wanna tear down some Hyperion property?"

Kreig thumped his fist into his palm. "Bright lights, big city! That's the life for centipede!"

"I'll take that as a yes."

"It is my scanner," Zero added. "Tundra Express should be mine. Only logical."

"Actually, I need you here," Lilith said quickly. "You know your brother's mind better than any of us. I could use your help, um... figuring out where he might've hidden. Just in case neither of these plans work."

"But... it's my scanner," Zero protested weakly. A :( flashed onto his helmet display.

"Don't give me your frowny face," Lilith ordered. "I need you here. Teach someone else to use it."

"Or just give it to me."

Everyone turned. Maya was leaning in the doorway.

"Pretty raccoon lady should be sleeping!" Krieg insisted. "No goose honk!"

Maya waved her hand. "I'm alright, Krieg. Back up to full."

"After less than two hours of sleep?" Salvador gave a low whistle. "You'll have to teach me that trick, chica."

Maya held up her tattooed arm and grinned. "Never underestimate Siren recuperative powers. I used my own healing energy to boost the effectiveness of my nap. I feel like I've slept for days." She walked over to Zero and plucked the device out of his limp hand. "This the scanner?"

"Yes," he started. "But-"

"Is this an Illudium Q-36?" She looked at him in stunned appreciation. "This isn't just a scanner, it's portable science lab! I would've killed for a piece of tech like this! How did you get it?"

Zero shrugged helplessly and surrendered. "Killed for it."

Maya just shook her head and grinned. "Of course. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your toy."

Krieg looked down at Salvador. "Your Babe Ruth for my Sammy Sousa?" he offered hopefully.

"No thanks, amigo," Salvador refused. "I wanna kill something today, and that city's too empty for any fun. Besides, Opportunity was your idea in the first place."

Krieg sighed. "When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?"

"Cheer up, big guy," Maya said, winking. "Keep yourselves safe and I'll give you that kiss when you get home."

Even with his face masked Krieg's smile was visible.

"For now, I'm going to check with Moxxi," Axton said. "Hopefully she came up with an option to get my turrets interfaced with Hyperion tech." He motioned to Salvador and Maya. "You two better get ready. As soon as we're prepped, everyone's leaving real damn fast."

[Instantaneous healing items are great game mechanics, but they're real drama killers, you know that?]

[At this point, we're about a third of the way into this thing. I'd like to ask you, dear reader, how's it going? Still fun? Any guesses about the future? Think you'll want to stick around to the end?]

[And, as always, thanks for reading!]