Disclaimer: I do not own the Borderlands franchise, nor anything related to it.

Chapter 4

"H-hyperius, sir!" a panicked voice called out over the communication feed. "The Queen's Guard just broke through the final defense barrier. They're pushing towards the base!"

The Seraph general's brow furrowed, his eyes closed once again, his arms folded closely in front of him. He silently switched off the feed. "That's our cue," he told himself quietly. By now, everything that needed loaded onto the starship was on board, and most of the personnel had gotten aboard as well. All that remained was one task, small, but nonetheless important.

Hyperius tapped a few buttons on his console, which switched on the starship's intercom system. "If I could have one last moment of your attention," he began, his firm voice resounding through the ship. "I want to voice my eternal gratitude for each and every one of you. Without your dedication and loyalty, I – WE – would not be where we stand today. However, what we are about to do, the actions we are about to take, will force a tremendous burden upon all of our shoulders. It may even haunt you for the rest of your lives. As such, I am offering you one last chance. If you feel as though the burden may be too much to bare, if you have any second thoughts or hesitation, you may walk away. Your hands, your conscience, will be clean. There is no shame in walking away. If any of you wish to leave this ship, now is your only chance."

Silence followed his speech. He watched a video feed from outside his ship out of the corner of his eye. The hatch was sealed closed in preparation for take-off.

It did not open. A relief, for the moment.

Very well, then, Hyperius thought. He gave a string of orders to his crew. The Eridium generators flared to life in the engine section of the starship, diagnostics were checked once again, and the huge roof the base creaked open ever-so-slowly. The starship's engines roared, and the huge mass of metal floated off the ground. The array of landing gear retracted, and the ship climbed higher and higher, passing the opening in the roof and the surrounding rocky outcrops. Then, it began the ascent into the atmosphere.

The Seraph's escape did not go unnoticed. One of the technicians in the Queen's flagship spotted the vessel in the distance and reported it. The Queen scowled, her tattoos flaring orange with rage. "They're escaping!" she hissed. She whirled around to her tactician. "Divert all air support to chase that ship down! NOW!"

The Seraphs had been within the Queen's grasp time and time again, yet they always managed to slip between her fingers. She had devoted far too much time, too many resources, too many soldiers, on what quickly became a wild skag chase. She was determined to catch them – or rather, him – this time.

The Queen's attack ships veered away from the firefight in the ravine and went after their new target. If the pilots knew the distance between them was too great or that the target was climbing impossibly fast, they did not say. Orders were orders, and to disobey was to die.

They knew that lesson well.

If anyone could be considered an expert on the Eridian race, Tannis would hold that title. The enigmatic aliens had fascinated her to no end, and she desperately wanted to understand them. She searched for every scrap of information even remotely related to the Eridians and carefully compiled it in her office underneath Crimson Raider HQ.

Tannis knew more about the Eridians than anyone. She had deciphered their language (mostly), which greatly helped in decrypting the few codexes she had found. Despite her knowledge, much of their culture remained a mystery. For example, just how powerful were the Eridians at their peak of power? How many planets had they explored? What had they contained within their scores of Vaults scattered across the galaxy?

Perhaps most cryptic of all, what happened to them? What event could cause a race so extraordinary, so powerful, so god-like as the Eridians to just... vanish?

It was this exact question that Tannis was considering at the moment. "There are, of course, any number of possibilities regarding the extinction of the Eridians," she rambled into her ECHO device. She frequently recorded her thought processes, so as to refer to them later if necessary. "For example, meteorite impacts, uncontrollable epidemics, invasion from foreign powers, and civil war are all common extinction events found in other species. I quickly ruled out the meteorite impact, as I assume the Eridians possessed technology capable of destroying one, should one have ventured too close. Furthermore, there are no sizable impact craters to support that theory. I also ruled out the epidemic theory, for the same reasons I just mentioned. From the Eridian records I've translated, there are no references to any diseases at all."

Tannis paused momentarily to take a sip of water from her nearby glass. "As for the invasion theory," she continued, "that possibility seems rather illogical. If the Eridians were invaded by some other alien power, I doubt they would have had much trouble disposing of the threat. This leaves just one other possibility: civil war. From what I've translated, there is little evidence to support the theory. There are, however, a few hints at unrest. It seems that shortly before the records end, the Eridians were highly militarized, much more so than they had ever been. Some internal force must have caused this rapid and dramatic rise to arms. What that internal force was, however, I've yet to uncover."

She paused once again, this time to briefly sort her notes. "I suppose, for the meantime," she sighed, "that the all-important question will remain un-"

"Hey, Tannis!" a voice called out. Its owner, the blue-haired Siren, stood in the doorway leading to Tannis' office.

The doctor whirled around to find the source of the voice. "Maya," Tannis said, her voice containing a mixture of surprise and irritation. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something important?"

"Well, yeah," the Siren answered. She knew, and found out the hard way, that Tannis hated being interrupted during her monologues. "I think you'll like what I have to say, though."

"If it isn't something regarding the Eridians," Tannis said flatly while turning off her ECHO device, "then I'm not interested at the moment." She gathered her notes together and started putting them back into her file cabinet.

"Oh, it's Eridian," Maya assured her, "and it's huge. We – Axton, Gaige, and I – need your help with it."

Tannis froze for a moment. She put the last of her notes into the cabinet and slid the tray back. She turned to face Maya, arms crossed, and looked the Siren in the eyes. "I'm listening," the doctor said.

"Well," Maya began, "while doing a job for Blake, we uncovered this huge Vault symbol embedded in the ground." She continued with her story, explaining every detail, particularly about the Eridian laboratory.

Tannis absorbed what she heard for a moment, then asked, "So what do you need my help for?"

"It's kinda hard to explain," Maya admitted. "We searched the entire place, but I know something else is down there. I can feel it. Gaige pushed something, which turned a screen on. It was filled with Eridian letters, which we can't read, obviously, but you can. That's why I want your help." She paused before adding, "You can spend as much time down there as you want, and you can take whatever you want back here when you're done."

Tannis considered the offer carefully. Something about it seemed... off, but she knew she couldn't pass the opportunity up. "To be quite frank," the doctor said, "what you've told me seems almost too good to be true. However, I won't lie and say I'm not interested. I'll help you, on one condition."

Maya frowned slightly. "And that is..?"

"I don't want you to interrupt me when I'm recording," Tannis said sternly, putting her hands on her hips. "This is the third time this month, and needless to say, I'm annoyed. I can't concentrate with your constant interruptions."

Maya stifled a laugh. "Alright, deal."

"Fantastic," Tannis said, clapping her hands together. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have equipment to gather." With that, she went about rummaging through her office for her tools.

"Whenever you're ready, just meet me at the Fast Travel Station," Maya said as she exited.

Axton and Gaige were waiting by the pair of vending machines around the corner. When Maya strolled out, Gaige said, "And the verdict is..?"

"She's in," Maya answered simply. "To be honest, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I expected more resistance from her." Previous attempts to convince Tannis to help with other problems had yielded... less than pleasant results.

A few minutes later, Tannis arrived at the Fast Travel Station, a large backpack on her shoulders. The trio had to stifle their laughter; they had never seen Tannis with something like that before, and the image was just off for someone like her. After regaining their composure, the group used the Fast Travel Station to teleport o the Highlands.

A/N: I'm not in love with this chapter. I think I could've done a better job bringing out Tannis' general quirkiness, but... I think it'll do. As always, feedback is much appreciated.