CHAPTER 21
'This is gonna be awesome! Axton rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Willy had just joined the four in the top of the tower. He had confirmed that there were three bombs, all "assembled in stuffed toys". He looked slightly alarmed as the others laughed.
'You would have to meet Tina to understand' Maya explained. 'Lets just say, she aint your normal teenager'
'Is anyone on Pandora normal?' Mordecai asked earnestly.
'Well, once Hyperion and its scum is taken care of it could be alot better.' Maya said. And it was true. Ever since the first rumours of the vault began to sprout, corporations from far and wide began to make their claim on the seemingly baron waste lands of Pandora. Previously it had only been used as a dumping ground for the over abundance of criminals from surrounding planets. Atlas and Hyperion had seemingly bought some control to the uncivilized planet. But that all went haywire once citizens realized they weren't given a choice in a matter.
Hyperion sought to dominate, with Jack being rather insane, his ambitions for Pandora weren't welcomed with the same open arms as his comrades had encouraged in him.
'Wonder how long till the train comes in?' Axton scratched his head in thought.
'We have a bit of a wait in front of us yet' Montayva confirmed, though none could understand how she knew.
Of course the young siren was right. They had been waiting for just over three hours, when Maya stood at the window and told them the train was approaching. The all readied their weapons in anticipation.
'Wow. There's a few passenger carts on it' Axton said, as the train came into sight. 'You think they're all full?'
'Well, son, put it this way. If they are all full, Tina's bomb wont take care of them all.' Willy told them.
'Good. Been awhile since I had a good firefight' Mordecai grinned sadistically.
'Well, I dont know about you guys, but I came well stocked.' Maya patted her full ammo belt.
'Same!' Axton grinned proudly. 'You never know what you'll run into out here.'
The train slowed as it pulled into the station, blowing its horn a number of times.
'Not the stealthiest maneuver' Axton snickered.
'Geez, you are actually implying these bandit thugs have functional brains?' Maya laughed at him. All five of the vault hunters stood at the window of the tower, weapons at the ready.
'Is it just me or are you two getting this slight feeling of deja vu?' Axton spoke to the comrades of his previous mission. The doors on the first carriage opened. Men in the yellow armored Hyperion uniform jogged out.
'Err, Willy, any way of telling when those bombs are gonna go off' Maya asked quietly.
'Well, no. There isn't' He said reluctantly.
'Shit' Mordecai cursed, aiming his sniper rifle.
'But it was set to go off when it came in contact. I'm guessing the train has pulled up short of the mark' He shrugged, and racked his brain of a way to solve the dilemma. More troops piled out of the second carriage. Close to 3 dozen stood assembling on the platform.
'The train will need to move forward to unload the last few carriages ' Maya pointed out 'We'll hold tight for that. If nothing happens, well I dont think I need to explain things' Axton nodded his understanding. More troops unloaded, the pace was agonizingly slow.
'C'mon!' Axton urged under his breath. Maya hook her head.
'Men' She whispered to Montayva, finding their impatience amusing.
'Heard that!' Axton, nudged the blue haired woman in the ribs. Maya gave him a viscous glare that told him to get his mind back on the job. He sighed as he lifted the stock of his gun to his shoulder again. Axton would never get used to not being at the top of the command chain, but he would never mess with the siren. She had once phase-locked him when he was being a jerk at Moxxis. He had to admit, he probably deserved it. But he couldn't stand the humiliation of the situation, and how vulnerable it had made him in front of so many. After his wife had divorced him, he had vowed never again to let another women control his life. But it was better to just listen to the pair of sirens and do what he was told, rather than suffer the embarrassment of the consequences.
'Trains moving' Mordecai said to no-one in particular. And sure enough, it crept forward ever so slowly. The Hyperion garbed men stood at attention, and it became obvious they had received extensive training.
Each of the five braced themselves, awaiting the impending shrapnel storm. Seconds seemed to take eons, time stood still.
BOOM! The first bomb exploded, shaking the tower and its occupants. When each had regained their balance to look down upon the havoc, another blast fired.
BOOM! The tower swayed, knocking the mercenaries to the floor with the resonating echos.
'Hold onto something!' Maya yelled through the deafening residual shock wave from the blast. 'Montayva!' She reached out her hand to the young siren, and Montayva took it quickly. The towers shaking eased. And Mordecai was the first on his feet, followed by Axton. Willy had fallen halfway down the top flight of stairs which was their only escape route.
'You ok pops?' Axton called, bracing himself on the guard rail.
'Yeah, kid. Dont worry bout me' The war toughened man replied. Mordecai had began picking off survivors, which there seemed to be too many of, considering the blast radius.
'Isn't there a third bomb yet?' Maya asked, somewhat shaken still.
'Yeah' Willy finally had joined them on the narrow platform again.
BOOM! the third and largest explosion blew three carraiges into the air, slamming one against there already precariously balancing tower,
'Shit!' Mordecai swore, waiting for its inevitable collapse. But it held. For now.
Fire and smoke engulfed the station, men aflame staggered aimlessly, before falling on the ground dead.
All five hunters stood at the window, picking off the survivors with ease from their vantage point.
'Ah, hate to be the party pooper, but we aint done by a long shot...' Mordecai pointed down the furthermost carriages, which had been relatively undamaged, to see hordes of crazed bandits and psychos streaming through the wreckage.
'Well, this sure aint my first rodeo!' Axton yelled, finger held to the trigger of his sub-machine gun, spraying casings on the floor as he plowed down as many as were in his range. As many that fell, twice as many seemed to pour out of the carriages The tower and distance between them and their targets, were the teams only advantages.
'They are entering the tower' Montayva said, glassy eyed, which notified the others she was utilizing one of her many abilities.
'Willy and I will take em! We're best suited for short range anyhow' Axton reassured them, patting the deck of his un-deployed turret.
'Well what are we waiting for kid?' The older man charged down the stairs eagerly.
