Disclaimer: I do not own the Borderlands franchise, nor anything related to it. Credit for all characters and locations, aside from those I design, goes to Gearbox.

Chapter 5

Hyperius had to laugh; the Queen had sent her entire attack squadron after his ship. He knew – and she probably knew, too – that he was impossible to catch, especially because his ship had reached its peak velocity. She was desparate, but he didn't think she was that desparate. This act made her look almost stupid.

Still, he needed more distance, much more distance. He knew he wouldn't make it out of the blast zone in time, even at his ship's incredible speed. He mentally kicked himself for waiting so long on the surface. If he wanted to escape the blast zone unscathed, Hyperius would have to Phasewalk his entire ship halfway across the solar system.

It wouldn't have been the most taxing thing he'd ever done. It was a gamble he'd have to take.

The Seraph general focused, centering his concentration on one thought: himself. The tattoos that adorned his arms began to glow with scarlet light. The same red hue spread across his body. He then shifted his focus to his ship. The red light spread downwards, flowing over the floor and eveloping everything it touched. Soon, the entire ship became wrapped in a scarlet glow. Hyperius shifted his attention once again, this time to somewhere far out in the solar system. The exact location didn't matter at the moment; it just had to be outside the bomb's blast radius. He picked a general area and envisioned the ship being at that location. His eyes snapped open and, with a groan, he willed the ship to that exact spot.

The scarlet bubble of light flashed. In an instant, the Seraph starship warped millions of miles away, leaving only a ghostly red afterimage of itself where it had once been.

Hyperius exhaled sharply, his contorted face returning roughly to normal. His tattoos faded to their natural pale color. He stumbled slightly, and he gripped the side of his console for support. He clutched the left side of his chest, above his heart. Pain pulsed through his body with every heartbeat. His breathing was ragged and harsh, and his vision was slightly fuzzy. He had anticipated those symptoms, but not to the extent to which they currently ravaged him.

His attendants rushed to his side to make sure he was alright. Hyperius assured them that he was fine, that he'd return to normal shortly. He was telling them half the truth; he would recover, but not quickly. Phasewalking something so massive over such a distance is extremely taxing on the body, and he knew he wouldn't fully recuperate for a few days at the minimum.

Hyperius regained some of his composure and brought up a star chart on his console. Judging from the map, his ship had materialized roughly within the orbit of a gas giant which, thankfully, was on the opposite end of the solar system. It was also safely outside the bomb's range.

"We're safe," Hyperius told himself quietly. His gamble had paid off. "We're safe," he repeated to his crew, which erupted in cheers of success. The celebration was short-lived; the Seraph general quickly rattled off a series of orders to his navigators, telling them to change the ship's orbital path to match that of the gas giant. He wanted everything on the ship double-checked to ensure nothing had broken or went missing. His crew went about their tasks as dutifully as ever.

Hyperius sat himself down in his captain's chair with a sigh. The pain in his chest had diminished to a dull throb, but it was still noticeable. He brought up a camera feed of Pandora from a station on Elpis. He never grew tired of gazing upon the beautiful planet he called home. Never again, however, would its surface appear to serene, so calm. He felt a twinge of regret in his heart. The thought of going back and disarming the bomb crossed his mind, but only for a second. He quickly shoved aside any second thoughts. He had started down this dark path; he was determined to see it through. There was no turning back, not after he had gotten so far.

He waited silently, watching the video feed. He anticipated what would come next with mixed emotions.

"Well, what do you think?" Maya asked Tannis as the group entered the massive chamber that was the Eridian laboratory. He voice echoed around the chamber, as if emphasizing its vastness and stark emptiness.

Tannis was speechless. Her mouth hung slightly agape as she absorbed the sight before her. She regained her composure shortly after and cleared her throat before speaking. "I-I'm amazed by this," she breathed, her awe evident in her voice. She ran her hand along one of the smooth lab tables. "Everything is so well preserved... It seems simply surreal." She set her backpack down and rummaged through it. From it, she produced a well-used notebook. She flipped open to a fresh page and began to furiously scribble down notes while mumbling to herself.

"Uh, what is she doing?" Gaige dared to ask, her head cocked to one side. "Shouldn't she be hel-" A sharp gesture from Tannis cut her off.

"Her usual thing," Maya answered quietly. The Siren had been with the doctor during some of her outings. This is a normal occurrence; Tannis had to note absolutely everything about a discovery she made, which included running some... unusual tests. "She'll got done eventually. If I were you, I wouldn't interrupt her."

The doctor moved around the chamber at a fervid pace, scribbling her notes at an equally astonishing rate. It would be a miracle if she could decipher her own handwriting later. "Fascinating," Tannis repeatedly said. "Absolutely fascinating..."

"How long do ya think that's gonna take?" Axton asked, crossing his arms impatiently. "We don't have all day."

"No way to tell," Maya shrugged. At the moment, Tannis was smelling the tops of the tables. Her nose almost touched their flawless surfaces. After each table had been thoroughly smelled, she'd snort before jotting down more notes. Such was the scientific method of Doctor Patricia Tannis.

Her work was only interrupted when she arrived at the large crest which dominated the back wall of the chamber. It was an upside-down kite shape, with lines cutting two outer sections off and leaving a wide arrowhead shape in the middle. Unlike the creamy white walls, this crest was black. Nothing else in the chamber shared the color. Tannis gazed at the crest, her brow furrowed in thought. "I've seen this design before," she thought aloud while tapping her chin with her pen.

"You have?" Maya asked. She, unlike Axton and Gaige, had followed the doctor silently as she went about her business, observing her work.

Tannis jumped slightly at the sound of another voice. She whirled around to see the Siren standing behind her. "Oh, you're still here," she commented, her voice carrying a mixture of surprise and disappointment. She cleared her thought before saying, "Yes, I said I have. I found it while decoding one of the Eridian manuscripts we found a few months ago. I've yet to finish decoding the entire thing, mind you, but from what I've translated, it seems as though this crest is associated with whatever caused the Eridians to go extinct. That's what I've deduced, anyway." While she spoke, she drew a rough sketch of the crest in her notebook, along with a comment or two.

Tannis paused abruptly, and her face contorted with intense thought. "Oh, what was that name again?" she groaned. It sounded much like a plea.

"The name of what?" Maya quizzed.

"What it Sai-? Seph-? Sem-?" the doctor said, ignoring the Siren's question completely. Eventually, she sighed in defeat. "A better question would be why I can't seem to remember the name at the moment," she huffed, regaining her composure and turning to face Maya. "Alright, I've done my preliminary assessment. Show me where you need my help."

Maya gestured to the center platform. "It's over here," she said as the pair approached it. As they stepped onto the platform, Axton elbowed Gaige, who had almost nodded off into sleep. She came to with a slight yelp. When she noticed Maya and Tannis had arrived, she searched for the switch on the rail and pushed it when she felt it.

The holographic screens flickered to life just as they had before. Tannis gawked at the sight and began to take notes at a furious pace. After finishing, she examined to block of characters that filled the screen before her. She frowned slightly.

"What's the problem?" Gaige asked while yawning. They day's travelling, along with other personal habits, left her tired. "I thought you could read Eridian."

"I can," Tannis grunted, her annoyance evident but repressed. "I simply had not expected this much to translate." Her eyes skimmed over the characters, her brow furrowed in concentration. After a minute or two of reading, she touched one of the holographic boxes at the bottom of the screen. A faint tone sounded, and a new screen of characters appeared.

"What did that previous screen say?" Maya quizzed. Tannis' speed at reading Eridian impressed her.

"It was a welcome message," Tannis shrugged, her concentration focused on the new characters. "I read the first line or two, then skipped the rest."

Maya blinked. "Why would you-"

"Shush!" Tannis snapped as she almost smacked Maya with a gesture. The doctor read, then re-read some of the lines before her. Her hand hovered over one of the boxes underneath the text, and after making doubly sure her translation was correct, she touched it.

Like before, another block of text replaced the previous one. This block, however, had smaller characters. Tannis' reading rate rose to an almost panicked pace, as if something within the text scared her eyes. "What..?" she breathed. "Why would..?"

"'Why would' what?" Maya asked, her concern evident. Tannis offered no answer; instead, she touched the box at the bottom of the screen, and after a few moments, the screen vanished.

"What'd you do?" Axton grunted, clearly impatient. Again, Tannis said nothing. Axton groaned and reached out to grab the doctor's shoulder, but before he reached her, his hand froze.

A sharp clack and a jerk of the platform startled the group of four. The center of the platform retracted into the outer section, revealing a hole. The group scurried off the platform before the entire thing, save the rails, opened up into an abyss. Then, a new platform rose out of the newly-formed pit.

On the platform was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was something that resembled a massive sea urchin. It was a sphere, easily two feet in diameter, with dozens of spines jutting out at all angles. It was a deep, shiny purple, and the spines were a sinister black. The platform clicked into place, and the holographic screen reappeared on one of the rails. A small block of text adorned it, accompanied by a box.

"What the hell is that?" Axton dared to ask. Lines on the spiky sphere pulsed pink, much like a heartbeat.

"That," Tannis finally said, her tone surprisingly even, "is a bomb."

A/N: Another chapter, another mixed reaction. I apologize if these last few chapters have been particularly boring; I guess I'm trying to hurry to the main events. Things will be getting more interesting soon enough, I promise. As always, feedback is much appreciated.