Chapter 4: Hunters

"That's good news", Lilith said. "What about the Hyperion forces we already captured?"

"Oh, they comply as well. They know we're their only chance to get off the planet and they sure as hell don't want to spoil that. So, yep, they'll stay in line until we lose our off-world connections."

Maya smiled, knowing that this was fairly unlikely. For the time being, they were the only source for Eridium, as no one was eager to launch another colonization of the Borderlands, not after what had happened to Hyperion.

"Now, next topic: Vault Hunters. All quiet on all the fronts. Of course there are a lot of cocky mercenaries and adventurers out there who answered the call, but until now all those who caught our attention were, ahem, rejected." Jessup made a point of not looking at Lilith. She had personally evaluated every person who had jumped to the latest recruitment drive and not a single one had been deemed worthy. However, Maya understood her fellow siren perfectly. It took more than a reckless attitude and the ability to fire any imaginable kind of weapon to make a good Vault Hunter.

"Fine, so what's the status of the known Hunters still out there?", Lilith asked, sounding pretty annoyed.

"Well, Maya, Krieg, Zero and Salvador have already returned from their various Vault Hunts outside of the system...", Jessup said, before Maya chimed in: "Yeah, thank you very much, we know that, so pretty please, what's the news from Axton and Gaige?" She couldn't help but wonder, if Jessup had perhaps spent too much time with the military for his own good.

The Lieutenant cleared his throat and was back on track. "These two have left Epitah today. They're using a spacecraft of their own, which is admittedly kind of strange, I mean, who just happens to find a spacecraft?, but anyhow, they'll be here in a couple of days and they've accomplished their goal on the planet."

"They found the Vault?!" Maya's head jerked up in surprise.

"No, the other goal."

Judging by the textbook definition of a "border-world", Epitah was not one of them. It had three commercial spaceports, a legally verified committee with the power to represent the whole world in interplanetary matters and the distance to the next inhabited planet was less than three Parsec. Damn, they even had a thorough introductive quarantine.

Still, it was not the kind of place Axton would have chosen for a honeymoon.

The atmosphere, although breathable, held free hydrogen chloride gas which reacted with any open water available. The natives were accustomed to this inconvenience, but the Commando had to inhale a neutralizing agent four times a day to keep his lungs from filling with acid and even tap water needed to be meticulously filtered before a nonlocal could drink it.

The temperature change between day and night was brutal. As long as the sun was up, the thermometer would rise to more than 325 Kelvin and drop to 290 during the night. This change on a daily basis was sufficient to wear down stone and the mountains on this planet (or at least, those Axton had seen until now) all looked like they were covered in some rocky kind of scurf.

And the Lungers, local cat-like, green creatures with six legs and acidic spittle, had the nasty habit of eating people's noses. Nothing else. Just the noses.

Not that any of that mattered. After all, they were Vault Hunters and since no one on this planet had tried to shoot them yet and the shops accepted the intergalactic Dollar, there was absolutely no reason to complain.

Since their arrival, lady luck had been smiling down on them. Actually since the moment in the shuttle where Gaige had hacked into immigration authority to assure their false identities would go unnoticed. While in the system, she had learned of two special people on the planet: One of them was a xeno-archeologist, who had come to Epitah solely for "researching the Eridian Ruins on this planet and hopefully extracting enough knowledge to put that annoying bitch Tannis back in her place!" At least that was what his immigration form read in the box with the headline "Reason for the stay on this planet."

The other interesting person was a sickeningly wealthy aristocrat, a baroness who apparently owned a whole planet. She had managed with one word, where the scientist had broken into unnecessary drabble: "Hunt." And she was blissfully unaware that two battle-tested and scuffproof killers were about to turn the tables on her, because not only one but two close friends of said killers offered proper bounties for this baroness.

Gaige had left a cake in the spaceport's system (Axton insisted that a tracking cookie remained a tracking cookie, no matter the genius of its inventor or the size of the computer it surveyed, but said inventor didn't care the least for his objections), so they would know in time, if Baroness Aurelia Hammerlock was about to leave the planet. After attaching this safety line and with the Vault being their primary concern, the two had tracked down the archaeologist in the city of Grassborough.

Axton had lowered his standards severely after spending almost a year on Pandora, but he would still refrain from calling the archaeologist normal. It had taken quite some talking before the man had even allowed them inside his crammed little house and by the time the paranoiac was willing to share any of his findings with the Vault Hunters, Gaige claimed to have gotten grey and Axton had a nasty cramp from preventing his right hand from drawing a pistol and simply threaten the hell out of the scientist. Eventually they had learned about some extensive Eridian Ruins in the wilderness.

Gaige had been eager to leave the city straight away, but Axton had talked her out of it, in order to enjoy at least one day of normality. This day off had been amazingly refreshing. They had had clean hotel rooms with unlimited hot water, the Food had been marvelous and the ECHO newscast didn't feature a single murder on the front page. Gaige had searched the relevant shops for useful parts for Deathtrap and had stocked up on cocoa, while Axton had spend the day mostly in a sports bar, catching up on the last legs of the Anshin-Galaxy-Race and discussing with other patrons whether Team Harrier still stood a chance after colliding with an asteroid.

The next day they had rented a sturdy off-road vehicle, stocked up on any kind of supplies they would need and left for the savannah that surrounded the city and its assorted farmlands. They had reached and investigated the ruins, shot the occasional wildlife (mostly Lungers and Stripped Lizards, but on one occasion Gaige claimed Sir Hammerlock would be highly interested in a gazelle-like creature with a turtle-like carapace on its back) and by pure coincidence they had discovered a transportable hunting lodge in the savannah, belonging to a certain baroness. As the two Vault Hunters had been out on foot, no one in the lodge had spotted them, which made things almost too easy. From the cover of a rocky outcropping Axton had readied a long range sniper rifle, put the head of Lady Hammerlock neatly in the crosshairs and then of course Gaige had interrupted him with an important message from Lilith, which made the job a hell of a lot more difficult.

Don't kill Aurelia. Bring her to Pandora. Why did things never work out the easy way?

The pair of Vault Hunters had sneaked back to their truck and parked it several miles away from the lodge on a hill where thick boulders and scrawny trees provided ample cover. Night had fallen and Axton was wrapped in a thick coat of Bullymong-fur, carefully observing the lodge from the vantage point of the vehicles roof. His turret was out beside him, softly humming and clicking when it turned on its tripod, scanning tirelessly for enemies in the tall grass and between the rocks.

"I'm bored!", Gaige stated from the drivers cabin. "Booored. What's wrong with going in there guns a-blazing?"

"First I'd like to know what we're in for", Axton replied calmly, readjusting his binoculars. "Remember, she was a Vault Hunter herself in her time."

"What Vault would she have been hunting, if I may ask?"

"How am I supposed to know? Lilith just said she has been and that she has been successful."

"And Sir Hammerlock said this lady is nothing short of a pain in the arse."

"Yeah, siblings have a tendency to leap to those conclusions", Axton muttered, remembering his cousins and their constant bickering.

For a moment there was blissful silence. Over at the well-lit lodge, Aurelia appeared wearing a long, flowing, fur-rimmed gown of blue silk, heading for a table in the open where dinner had been prepared for her, complete with small thermostats to keep the food from freezing in the cold night. The baroness looked ridiculously out of place, with perfect headdress, manicured fingernails and jewelry around her neck.

"Hey, Axton! Look!"

The Commando turned around and it took his eyes a while to readjust to the darkness, before he recognized a thin, round object just in front of him. Somehow, Gaige had demounted the truck's wheel and now she held it high out of the open sunroof with her mechanical hand, waving it enthusiastically. "Witness me!", she shouted, laughing madly.

Axton couldn't help but smile. "Witness!"

Gaige withdrew the wheel and made the sound of a huge explosion.

"Mediocre, Gaige, mediocre! And we're definitely nerds for knowing a three-thousand year old film that hasn't even been converted to holograms."

"Oh, don't worry, you're not a nerd. You just fit into the time it was published."

Axton paused. "Okay, little lady, I'm going to forget about this, but only because I know below all the guns and genius you're still a teenager and therefore the age of twenty six seems unreachable to you."

"Don't call me little lady", Gaige answered happily.

"How 'bout jailbait?", Axton suggested.

"I'm going to forget about this", the mechromancer began in a very bad imitation of Axtons voice, "but only because I know you were amazingly fast to pass out the day I celebrated my nineteenth birthday back in Sanctuary. And you know what? Here on Epitah you come of age once you turn seventeen. So, it would be totally legal for you to start flirting away."

"That's an invitation?"

"That's a dumb question on your part, because you're not going to take it in any case."

"Well, that's where you're right, sis", Axton sighed and concentrated on the lodge once again. How much stuff had Aurelia taken to the wilderness?! And how much staff, come to that? Up to now he had counted four menservants, two cooks, two drivers, an electrician, an armorer, a frigging coiffeur and a local guide. No bodyguards though.

"Why do we actually have to listen to Lilith?", Gaige continued down in the drivers cabin. "I'd support Hammerlock's plan, pop a cap in her ass and call it a day."

"No surprises there", Axton grumbled.

"Me wanting to shoot someone?"

"You siding with Hammerlock."

"Cyborgs gotta stick together."

Down in the valley Aurelia had taken a seat and was now calmly spooning soup from a fine porcelain bowl, while reading something on her ECHO device. The drivers were occupied with one of the two caravans that were parked beside a small jeep and a quad bike (this lady truly came prepared), but everyone else had retreated to the warmth of the lodge. Apparently, none of these jokers had ever weathered the Southern Shelf on Pandora.

"I could go down there, set fire to one of the caravans and while everyone is busy we could shock and shackle Miss Important", Gaige offered. "We've already established that we're good at setting trailers ablaze in the middle..."

A Stripped Lizard the size of a small Skag came running out of the tall grass and leapt at the baroness. Without looking, she pointed her right hand at the attacking animal and let fly... something, from a blue device mounted on her wrist. The lizard found itself literally frozen in place. A thin layer of ice coated the animal and formed a pillar that connected it to the ground and kept it from falling over. Aurelia had never even lifted her gaze from the ECHO.

Axton lowered his binoculars. "Wow. You see that?"

"I've got a mechanical arm, not a mechanical eye. How am I supposed to see anything down there without some kind of field glasses?"

"Well, Lady Hammerlock just froze a lizard in place. Literally. Some peace of cryo-tech." Carefully Axton climbed down through the sunroof, only to find Gaige sprawled across the two front seats.

"Don't you step on me", the girl grinned up at him. "And close the roof, it's starting to get cold in here."

Axton placed one foot on the dashboard, the other on a headrest and slammed the sunroof shut. "Have you been listening?"

"Yeah, the lady is a stone cold bitch, so what? Cryo only works under certain atmospheric circumstances. We just chill till daybreak and her weapon won't be half as cool."

"All in all a nice summary of my thoughts on the matter. And I might just have seen these puns coming." Still avoiding to step on his fellow Vault Hunter, Axton climbed through the hatch into the aft section of the truck. Two bunks were mounted on the left wall, a little separated bathroom could be found at their feet. The opposite wall held a small kitchen area, the main computer terminal and an airtight door. Dim red lights had been put up, in order to illuminate the truck without messing up their night vision. The Commando stowed his coat in a storage digistruct-unit, pulled off his boots and crawled into the lower bunk.

"Already going to sleep?" Gaige's head poked through the hatch, looking vaguely creepy in the red light. "You're really getting old, aren't you?"

"Spend a couple of weeks in a trench, with mortars going off all around you, your comrades freaking out and tanks rolling up to your position day and night, and THEN you tell me to pass on an opportunity to get a good night's rest." Without leaving the bunk, Axton stripped out of his flak vest, unclipped his shield from his belt and removed the two storage units from his pockets. Now it was much easier to find a comfortable sleeping position.

Gaige had eyed him closely. "And how do you explain your unconcern? Putting down literally all of your weapons for the night?"

The soldier sighed and propped his head up. "Do you ever long for a normal life?"

"Define normal."

"Peaceful. No need to have a weapon at hand all the time. People on the street greeting you, not trying to eat your feet. A warm place to call home. A wife... or in your case a husband to spend the evening with, maybe at a fine diner, maybe at the holodome..."

"And now, just to top it off, you're growing soft as a pile of Stalker-goo."

"No, I'm serious. Remember the day in Greenborough? How did that feel like?"

Hesitantly, Gaige climbed through the hatch, closing it behind her. "Like a vacation. I mean... like a real one, not something that ends with the dismemberment of an enormous crab worm."

Axton nodded. "Exactly. Life is not all blood and bullets and from time to time I like to remind myself of that. If there's a chance for me to let my guard down unpunished, that's what I'll do. If you're constantly on edge, you're going to fall over that edge someday. And once you do that, you go all out insane or you simply lose the ability to relax."

"You're talking about PTSD?" Gaige sounded a bit anxious.

"Yeah, sort of, but more like... constant vigilance. Paranoia. I've seen guys who couldn't unwind in their own houses, who tackled people that dropped a spoon in the cafeteria. And although this mindset is very useful in a warzone, I just like to be able to slip out of it. You know me, I love myself a good explosion and a sexy gun as much as any other merc out there. Odds are, I will become KIA, before I ever consider retirement. But, well, life is more than that. When I worked for Dahl, I had leave, I had a little apartment, I had Sarah. I used to visit my parents, help Dad in the gardens and ignore Mum inquiring about grandchildren. My buddies and I would pack beer, a barbecue grill, loads of steaks and then we'd go to the local park, settle down near the lake, hide the signs that read 'no swimming allowed' and chat about spaceships and the big races until the sun came back out..." Axton became suddenly aware that Gaige was still listening attentively. "Yeah, well, I missed all that on Pandora. Nowhere to feel really safe, so I reserve the right to enjoy a little comfort on this rather harmless planet."

He turned in his bunk to face the metal wall of the truck, cursing silently. He usually kept these memories to himself, all the good things in his rough soldier's life. As much as he hungered for the thrill of combat, for the high of killing and surviving incredible odds, he privately cherished the good old days, where there had been time to truly relax between missions. Talking about this life, especially in front of ever-witty Gaige, somehow ridiculed these little snippets of peace.

"You know, I never took you for a philosophic."

Ka-Zing. As could have been expected. "Go to bed, hug your shotgun and be content that you're always alert and ready for a fight." The moment he said it, Axton felt the answer to be a bit harsh, but on one hand he wanted to sleep and on the other hand he would not take any attacks on his private life.

"Sorry." Gaige sounded really apologetic. "I didn't mean that as a negative. It's just... you've made me think."

Axton sighed deeply, before turning yet again to see Gaige sitting cross legged on the floor, absentmindedly fiddling with her cybernetic limb. "Okay. What's on your mind?"

The mechromancer smiled at him sadly. "Peaceful times. My parents, my dad in particular, punk concerts, sunny days in the workshop... I haven't really thought about any of this since I arrived on Pandora. I figured it would hurt to remember, 'cause, well, no going back and all. But instead it's... it's..." For the first time Axton could remember, Gaige was out of words.

"Soothing?", he proposed. "Soothing to know something like that exists out there?"

Gaige looked up at him, smiling, then laughing. "That doesn't quite hit it, but it's close enough."

"Seeing that you rarely hit anything you're aiming at, I declare the matter settled", Axton said and ignored the punch against his shoulder. "Now, go to bed and for once not put a pistol under the pillow, agreed? Let's make hay as long as the sun is out and relax a bit."

Outside a splintering crash could be heard and the comforting sounds of the Sabre-unit on the roof came to an abrupt end.

"That's life to you: You talk about peace, this is what you get", Axton growled, while rolling out of his bunk and donning his gear in a heartbeat. Gaige had already pulled out her shotgun, carefully training it on the door. If anyone came through there, not even the mechromancer would have been able to miss.

A repeating, whirring sound emanated from the roof, before the turret fell completely silent. In any other circumstance Axton would have bet on some kind of EMP to take his missus out, but this time a certain someone with a cryo-weapon was around...

Someone knocked on the door, politely though resolute.

Alright, no immediate hostilities. Good sign. Odds were high, that whoever was outside dreaded the inevitable paperwork that would follow the shooting of what could turn out to be harmless tourists on this calm and civilized planet.

"Just a second, gotta seal the water tank", Axton shouted. It was a reasonable excuse. In quarantine they had been told never to expose great bodies of water too long to the atmosphere, as it would unavoidably solubilize hydrogen chlorine from the air, becoming acidic.

"Well, make haste!", an indignant woman's voice answered from outside.

Axton jumped over to the computer terminal and turned the heating to maximum. The effects were immediate, as dry, hot air billowed from the vents.

"A little trap for the ice queen", Gaige noted and grinned.

"That's right, now hide the shotgun." Carefully Axton opened the door.

He blinked into the light of some rather powerful flashlights and was immediately peppered by questions: "Well then, who are you, what do you do here and why do you keep a military state-of-the-art turret on your roof?"

His eyes adjusted to the light and Axton saw Aurelia Hammerlock standing in front of him, hands on her hips, a high power hunting rifle slung over her shoulder. She looked annoyed, as if all this was way beneath her, and simoultaneously dangerous, like a snake waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. Or simply for the moment when her prey didn't provide any more entertainment. Behind her, Axton could vaguely distinguish the jeep, one of the drivers and the local scout, both of them looking rather apologetic. Each had a pistol holstered.

"Excuse me, did you win your manners in a drag race?!" Gaige pushed Axton to the side, in order to deal with Aurelia personally. "You come here in the middle of the night, you disable our highly expensive spring gun and then you start questioning us like we were just taken into custody?!"

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself." Aurelia dropped a little curtsy, her eyes never leaving the Vault Hunters. "I am Baroness Lady Aurelia Hammerlock, legal owner of the planet Hermes. These guys back there", she pointed casually in the direction of her servants, "are just two of my... minions." Both men nodded and waved nervously. Axton fought the mad urge to burst into laughter, remembering Claptrap and his liberal use of the term 'minions'.

"And now, tell me what exactly you are doing here, little girl." Aurelias gaze narrowed dangerously.

"Wow, what an honor!" Gaige offered a mock curtsy herself. "An aristocrat on our front lawn! And still you seem unable to address me properly..."

While she was speaking, Axton ushered her out of the truck, following closely and slamming the door shut behind him. All part of the hastily assembled plan. He gave his turret a quick look; it was coated in a thick layer of ice. Okay, that shouldn't cause permanent damage...

"Little girl, my patience is running quite thin." Abruptly, Aurelia's focus shifted to Axton, but she didn't leave Gaige out of her gaze. "Now, sir, perhaps you are a little more understanding."

The Commando shrugged. "Just out here on a safari. Epitah is quite famous for its diverse and interesting wildlife." He cursed himself for being so easily surprised. Probably he'd jinxed it by bringing up the topic of peacefulness in a mercenary's life. But he wouldn't need much to get back on top. He just needed this incredibly nosy and mistrustful woman to turn away from him for a split second. Yeah. Easy.

"You're working for Dahl?", Aurelia continued, inspecting Axton's army fatigue and the rank tattoo on his brow.

A trap, but a fairly easy one to dodge. "Talking about the uniform, right? Well, you got me, I never served in their forces, tried, but they discharged me as unfit. So when this crazy street vendor on Cerberus was selling these..."

"Yes, yes." Aurelia made a dismissive movement with her right hand. "And apparently he sold you a Sabre-turret as well? Functioning and modified?"

"I did all the modifications", Gaige chimed in. "All the good stuff, the rocket pods, magnetic lock, phalanx shield..."

"Shut your mouth, child, while the grown-ups talk", Aurelia berated the mechromancer in a tone of voice that should never ever be used on her. Axton knew. From dear experience.

"Excuse me, I am nineteen years old which makes me of age on ninety one percent of the inhabited planets. And if I'm including the border-worlds that don't have a strict regulation on that matter, we're up at ninety five percent. So don't call me a child!"

"Can you perhaps silence her?", the baroness asked Axton.

"I can try, but it won't work."

"Hellooo, I'm standing right here and as a matter of fact you've come to our place, so I don't see any reason to shut up, just because you're rich."

"So you need a reason? Well, I'd hate to see anything happen to your pretty face, but I'm sure I can give you some reason..."

"Ah, but this is Epitah, not Hermes! You can't threaten me here, you've no police force or military to back you up, we're all just tourists here!" Gaige smiled ridiculously. Axton had been on the receiving end of this smile often enough to know about its ability to heighten blood pressure.

"In fact, I can", Aurelia said, as cold as could be expected. "You know, it's not all about the money, darling. Power doesn't reside solely in a bank vault. There are other reasons why people dance, when I tell them to." The two guys behind her quickly started to tap-dance. "Truth be told, sometimes it's way too effective so cut it out and stand still you idiots!"

It was then that Axton decided to spring into action, as Aurelia was sufficiently distracted . "Open door", he called and the truck's computer complied. A wave of overheated air burst from the truck and the gust held enough force to throw Gaige to the ground and make Aurelia stagger backwards. Axton pounced on the baroness, tackling her to the ground.

"What the...?!", Aurelia screamed and pointed her cryo-device at Axton. An ice spike hit the Commando in the chest, he felt the impact and for a split second a horrible cold crept over his torso, but the air was way too hot for the ice to sustain. Just a bit wet, Axton pinned the wrist with the ice shooter to the ground, whereupon Aurelia bitch-slapped him.

Seriously?

"Oh, you wanted to know what we're up to?!", Gaige shouted at the top of her lungs, scrambling back to her feet, spitting grass and dirt. "We're here to kidnap you, bitch! To tie you into a nice little bundle and deliver you to Planet Hell! And has anyone ever told you that monarchy and the likes are completely outdated? Fuck aristocracy! Raze it to the ground!"

"Umph, help, you dimwitted sons of slugs!", Aurelia spat, still wrestling with Axton. Former Vault Huntress or not, Axton was genuinely surprised that the woman could hold her own against him. From the corner of his eye he saw the two minions reluctantly drawing their weapons.

"Ah, I wouldn't do that, if I were you!", Gaige chirped, raising her mechanical hand in a stopping gesture. "Or do you really want to deal with me?!"

The men hesitated, looking at their employer who was rolling in the grass. The cryo-device had gone off two times by now, leaving rapidly melting icicles on the side of the truck, but Axton had the weapon firmly pointed away from himself and Gaige. "Get her! She's a little girl for fucks sake!" The baroness' voice sounded hysteric and shrill. Thankfully the glass in the truck's windows was reinforced, otherwise it might have broken then and there.

"Little girl? Little girl?! I am a woman of science and ass-kickery, lady!"

Axton was a bit preoccupied with his own fight, but he heard the distinctive sound of Deathtrap materializing, a deep robotic voice rumbling words only Gaige could understand and the high pitched screaming of Aurelia's henchmen, as they dropped their weapons and ran.

"Aw, that was fun", Gaige cooed.

"Little help here!", Axton shouted. He held on to Aurelia's cryo-weapon with a death-grip, and tried to pin her down in order to draw a gun, but she clawed and kicked and slapped and wriggled. It was like grappling with a well greased Thresher. A Thresher, come to that, who tried to draw a weapon himself.

"Sure thing, soldier boy. Roll to the side!"

Axton trusted his fellow Vault Hunter blindly, but he still held on to the cryo-weapon, when he flung himself to the side. Aurelia's free hand immediately reached for the storage unit at her hip to produce a gun, but Deathtrap was way faster. The baroness found herself in the literal iron grip of a sturdy, six-foot killer robot, unable to move her arms, let alone stand up. Axton quickly removed the cryo-weapon from Aurelia's wrist and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Mind if I take this?" Gaige strolled over and picked the device up. Blades of grass stuck to her face, but she grinned madly. "Jeez, this could be very useful."

"Whatever you're being paid", Aurelia announced, "I can pay you tenfold. Hundredfold."

"Sorry, but we're not in this for the money", Axton explained. Quickly he bent down to remove the storage units and the hunting rifle Aurelia had on her person. "You remember Lilith?"

"The red witch from Elpis. Seriously? That was more than five years ago, and as far as I know she was killed on Pandora."

"Hate to break the news, but she's very alive and very thriving and she has an enormous chip on her shoulder", Gaige explained. She had already removed the casing of the cryo-weapon and carefully pushed a screwdriver into the interior. "Wants a little chat with you."

Axton scurried back into the truck. His first task was to set the heater back to normal, then he rummaged through the storage units mounted on the wall and eventually found a strong rope. He returned outside, just as Deathtrap gave a purring sound and disappeared in a cloud of glittering polygons. Gaige already had a pistol out, pointing it at the unarmed baroness, who was still lying on the ground. Axton lifted her up roughly and tied her hands behind her back.

"Oh, really? I'm way too rich to be treated like that. You have no idea what you're getting yourself in to! Trust me, you've never dealt with anyone remotely like me", Aurelia snarled.

"Ever heard of Handsome Jack? All rich, all powerful, all big words? Well, we kicked that sucker in the groin", Gaige said. This comment shut the baroness up efficiently.

"I'll sleep in the driver's cabin", Axton declared, while pushing the baroness into the truck. "Our guest will have my bunk. Could you please drop your new freezing toy for a sec and ECHO those clowns at the lodge, before they call authorities or, heaven forbid, mount an attack?"

"What shall I tell them?"

"Just tell them to stay put for another two weeks, unless they want another run-in with Deathtrap. Should keep them in check. And can you find out about the next possible flight off this rock?"

"Don't have to. Pass me her civilian SDU, please."

Shrugging, the Commando complied, tossing the device over. The truck's interior was still sweltering, although the thermostat did all it could to supply more moderate temperatures. As a neat side effect, the heat had melted the ice holding the Sabre-turret and while Axton shoved Aurelia into the bunk, he heard the reassuring humming and clicking from the roof yet again. Still, he would check his beauty in due time, make sure everything...

"Jackpot!", Gaige cried out.

Axton just took enough time to tie Aurelia to the cot, before hurrying outside again. The mention of Handsome Jack (and their part in his demise) had apparently shocked the baroness to the point where she just lay still, unresisting.

"What's the fuss about?", he asked Gaige, who simply waved with a key-card from Aurelia's storage unit."Know what that is? Well, our little Miss Aristocratic is definitely too important even for first class, so she came down to this planet with her very own spaceship. And guess who's got the key?" Gaige held the card out on her metallic palm. A little sensor was projecting a hologram of a sleek, wedge-shaped spacecraft. Just by the looks, Axton could identify it: A modified version of the Corazza Stinger-N347. Fast, comfortable and, best of all, a single person was able to pilot it.

"This is great", Axton whispered. "Can you fly it?"

Gaige's expression faltered. "Ah, nope, 'fraid not. So we need..."

"I've got it", the Commando said. "I'm actually legally cleared to pilot any SP20*-spaceship. Courtesy of Dahl. They wanted all their men to be able to fly a passenger craft, in case we needed to get out of a really tight spot."

"Righty-o", Gaige muttered. "Now, as our mission is technically over and we're free to leave whenever we want... why don't we add a couple of peaceful days? Wouldn't hurt, don't you think?"

Axton snatched the key-card from her hand and pocketed it. "We're not done yet. Remember the guys in the valley?"

The mechromancer rolled her eyes, took out her ECHO, activated the holographic screen and shoved some icons around. "Hey there, folks at the lodge! New rules for the upcoming two weeks: stay in camp and don't even touch the radio! We've got the baroness, we mean business and if you don't comply we'll send a spanking hot deadly DT-robot over to your camp to gut the lot of you like fish!" Axton stood close by and heard muffled voices from the receiver: This sounds like a little girl. What the hell...? - Don't call her that! DO NOT call her that. - We'll stay put, ma'am. Everything will be exactly as you wish. Apparently the two minions were already back at the lodge.

Gaige broke off the connection and glared up at Axton. "Happy now?

"Perfectly happy. Now, let's talk peaceful days, shall we? We've got a lot of Hyperion blood-money and no need to buy ammunition, so where shall we start? I suggest to go for a swim, as long as they've got a pool in Grassborough that doesn't eat through skin and muscles."

"And I'd really like to know, if Systemcrash has released any new album in the past months", Gaige continued. "Or if there are any good holo-shows on at the moment... I can't even remember the last time I went to the holos."

"Time to refresh your memory. And why not risk a little call home, hm? Use a local ECHO-terminal straight before we get clearance to leave and good luck to any policeman and bounty hunter tracking the call", Axton replied, smiling.

"You are growing soft", Gaige stated, before returning the smile and holding her metal hand up for a high-five. Axton obeyed and although the mechromancer used the full force of her cybernetic limb, just because she could, of course, his smile never faltered, while he checked his hand for broken bones.

"You're both mental!", Aurelia shouted from the truck, sounding completely unbelieving.

"No, lady", Gaige replied smoothly. "We're just Vault Hunters."

* SP20 = Single Pilot, Passengers Only