Chapter 12: Arrival
"Excuse me, you want to what?", Lilith said with a wicked grin on her face. "Still couldn't hear you, I apologize for the bad connection. Oh! Negotiate. Well, I don't think I'm in the mood for negotiations right now. I've got lots of other calls incoming, people from Hollow Point, Jacob's Cove, Prosperity Junction, they want to discuss trade agreements, as the Hodunks seem unable to provide goods north of the Dust anymore... No, really, you are able? ... I wouldn't have guessed. What with all the canceled convoys? What with this huge, huge armada amassing south of Goose's Roost... please don't act as if you thought you could keep it a secret, it makes you look even dumber than you actually are... Oh but I'm afraid I'm not afraid of your little get-together in the middle of the desert. Fun fact: You can't beat the Angel II as it is and another fun fact, you are unable to acquire anything to harm her... So that's why you want to negotiate, I see. Well, that shouldn't be too much of a negotiation in that case. You answer to us from now on. Like you answered to Vallory... I'll go out on a limb here and predict she'll not be coming back, so you better listen: No more attacks on our men or facilities. No involvement in the Eridium trade. We get a proper danegeld from you..." Lilith's face fell considerably, as she listened for a while. "Please tell me you own a dictionary of sorts. No? Ever considered asking the goddamn ECHOnet? We want protection money from you, do you understand now? Beautiful! Furthermore, when we ask you to fight for our cause, you better do it... No, this does not work the other way around... Okay, I'll admit, the Sawteeth may be a mutual point of interest. And now inform you clansmen, goodbye, sir."
"I would have liked to have seen his face", Maya admitted, while Lilith leaned back against the Holo-Table with a ridiculously satisfied expression on her face. "So... peace at last?"
The red Siren snorted. "You bet. Next thing we know, the Stalkers will develop an immunity to rabies and start munching on grass. And the Watcher will drop by to cancel the oncoming war he was talking about. And the Spiderants..."
"I get it."
The ECHO Lilith had dropped on the table came alive with another call. She picked up absentmindedly. "Who is it?"
"Corazza Stinger-N347 asking for landing permission!", the voice of a teenage girl boomed through the speakers. "Never thought I'd say this, but this seriously feels like coming home."
"Gaige!", Maya shouted excitedly and practically leaped out of her chair. "Nice to hear from you again! How was your space trip?"
"Awesome! This ship is comfortable! Complete with whirlpool and med-bay and the food. I have vigorously defended some of this stuff from a certain ex-soldier, so you could have a taste of it as well. It's amazing, really, not to mention all the little gimmicks and gizmos everywhere to make life a tidbit more comfortable..."
"Yeah, I get the picture", Lilith remarked, dryly. "How's you prisoner?"
"Confined to her room. I have to admit, if prison on Eden was only half as nicely furnished as Lady Moneybags' holding cell, I would never have gone Vault Hunting."
"You've got an ETA for me?"
"Less than half an hour. We've already established contact with ground control."
"Wonderful! See you then."
"Copy that! Guys, I'm totally excited to see you again! Axton? Want to say hi?"
"Get out of the cockpit! Ground Control, please repeat, are you telling me there's a Rakk Hive on my parking spot? No? Ah, you're glad we're back alive. Why yes, so are we."
"He doesn't want to say hi, it seems. Well, see you!" Gaige hung up.
Silence reigned for a happy, blissful moment.
"Well, so we've got the team back together", Maya finally said. She couldn't keep the grin from her face.
"Yes", Lilith replied bitterly. "You do..."
Hearing this tone of voice again, Maya made the split-second decision not to let it slip this time and continued: "... and you don't and never will again. And you desperately try to find someone to blame. That's why you've been hunting down Athena. That's why you put a bounty on Lady Hammerlock. But it's not that you need to find the culprit: You're merely blaming someone else, other than the one responsible for the rise of Handsome Jack and thus... the death of Roland."
"Someone else", Lilith repeated. "You seem to know an awful lot about me. How comes? Monastery training? Your mind control powers?"
"Deduction on the basis of your actions and moods since the day the Warrior died. You blame yourself for Roland's death. You were the one to slam this magical Vault Symbol into Jack's face. And you think, if you hadn't done..."
"Shut up!", Lilith roared. Her outline flickered purple and for a split second her wings appeared. Maya swallowed hard, but she didn't back down. Her left hand carefully reached for the place beyond places and pressed slightly against the barrier, just in case. It occurred to her that it was probably a little redundant to trap someone in another dimension who regularly phased through this same dimension.
"Holla, chicas, what's going on up there?!", a sleepy voice emanated from downstairs.
"Nothing! But would you care to finally leave your cot? Gaige and Axton will be landing soon!", Maya shouted back.
"Ha! I'll be right up and have a little... wait a second! I'm quite sure I had trousers yesterday..."
The Sirens turned to face each other again.
"Where were we?", Maya asked.
"At you being right and me being a stubborn bitch", Lilith admitted surprisingly and slumped into a chair. No more flickering, no more anger. Instead she heaved a deep sigh and hung her head. "It's not even a matter of opinion. I was part of that little triumvirate that tried to stop Jack back on Elpis and eventually made him paranoid and vengeful. I was the one... personally... to drive him over the edge. If it hadn't been for me..." She couldn't finish and changed the subject: "I thought it would end, when I finally killed Jack. It didn't. I trudge on... I... I honor Roland's legacy, I keep the Raiders together... do you know Brick had to teach me quite a lot about leadership? Brick! And all the while I know that I am the one to unleash all this madness upon us. That I could have prevented it."
"How would you have known?", Maya asked softly. "If you hadn't conspired to blow up the Destroyer's Eye, Jack would have had an Eridian laser at his disposal to take potshots at whole towns. If you had killed Jack in the Vault, Hyperion would still have invaded the planet. In fact, did it ever occur to you that you may have done something good back then?"
"Who would I be kidding?"
"Well, think about this: What if Jack had spent any more time with this knowledge symbol? It showed him the Warrior, but by now we've learned of thousands of other Vaults out there. In fact, even though he knew about the Warrior, he had to spent a couple of years looking for it. You cut off the transmission. Remember what Athena said about Zarpedon? About her certainty when talking about future events? The Vault did that to her. What if Jack had gathered the same powers? Personally, I don't think we would have lasted against an omniscient Handsome Jack with detailed information about the future."
"Now you're theorizing", Lilith complained, still not looking up.
"Validly so. And you have to cut the blame in any case. You are not responsible for Roland's death. You are not responsible for New Haven. For anything down here. The guilty one was a man who was unstable to begin with, a man who experimented on his own daughter. You didn't give him his egomania or his taste for violence. And neither did Athena or Lady Hammerlock or Claptrap or... anyone else you might want to take revenge on. The past is the past and no one can change it. There's no use in pondering the ifs, especially not for Vault Hunters."
"Thank you", Lilith said after a while, finally looking up, but when Maya tried to look her in the eye, she had the distinctive feeling her friend wasn't seeing anything in the room. "You've got a point or two. Definitely. But I can't just un-believe what I've told myself for almost half a year now. It just doesn't work that way."
"I'll help you", Maya responded quickly. "Whenever you need me, I'll be there to tell you the truth. Or, at least, what you need to believe is the truth."
"Oh, now I need to?"
"For your own sake. You're able to function, no doubt about that. But it is decidedly not healthy and I can't stand seeing you suffering anymore. You're hurting yourself with that mindset and only yourself. Well, and the occasional rogue Atlas assassin."
This actually warranted a little smile from Lilith. "I'll take you up on that offer."
Maya nodded, content. She had been waiting for an opportune moment to talk this through with Lilith since she had heard Athena's story. And now it had gone far more smoothly than she would have imagined. Sure, it would take a lot more time and talking to cure Lilith from herself, but a first step had been taken.
Lilith' ECHO displayed yet another incoming call, but the redhead was still rather absentminded and Maya picked up. "Crimson Raiders Headquarters, you're speaking with Colonel Maya."
Lilith raised her head an mouthed: "Colonel?" Maya just smiled back.
"Ah... Omega Squad Sergeant Athena reporting in." It sounded mechanical, as if an audio message was being played, and surprised at the same time. "I am requesting Fast Travel clearance for Sanctuary for myself and another person."
"Of course. Sorry, we should have done that before giving you leave." Maya stepped over to a console on the wall and called up Fast Travel Control. One of the first things the Raiders had done after occupying the city was to isolate the Fast Travel Station; if someone interacted physically with it, he could still enter the network, but without clearance by the system admin no one was able to venture to the city. "I have your ID here... and you're cleared. Care to try?"
"I'm already at the Station and the test is... successful, I'm able to select Sanctuary as a destination now."
"Okay, next, who is you attendant?"
There was a slight pause. "Springs, Janey. Registration number ELP11201414. ECHO call sign emporiumostuffECHOelp."
"Shouldn't take too long." In fact it was about to take a while, as Maya wasn't familiar with the interface. "How were your three days out?"
"They... they were great, really. Thanks for asking." Athena had decidedly not expected friendly small-talk and sounded rather cautious.
"Did you hear what happened to Old Haven?", Maya continued, who had eventually disinterred the registration menu. Athena's ID had been in the system's data logs, as she had already used the Station in Sanctuary, but in Springs' case Maya had to fill in the data manually.
"Yes... heard and seen it all. Rather unbelievable. I'd ask why they did it, but this is Pandora. So I don't."
"I guess she doesn't have to", Lilith added sarcastically from her corner.
"Say again?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Maya deftly pressed the button that would allow Janey to use the Fast Travel in Sanctuary, only to learn that the terminal would need to download all the necessary scans from her latest uplink, as the Sanctuary Station didn't yet know how to construct a Janey Springs. "Okay, your friend will have to wait for another five minutes, then she should be free to come here as well."
"Thank you... Colonel?"
"Just Maya is fine. I was only messing around."
"Well then... thank you, Maya."
"Sounds about right. And thank you for sticking to your parole. Nice to see you're dependable."
A very long pause, then the connection was lost.
"I think we'll need another accommodation for our prisoner and her guest", Maya said, turning to Lilith who was looking, as if a Skag had relieved itself in her boots. "Don't give me that glare. Firstly, it's not my fault she didn't run for it so you could have a pretext to kill her after all and secondly we have established that Athena is merely a victim of your urge to project blame onto other people who, while not innocent in the classical sense of the word, can't rightfully be burdened with the amounts of guilt you assign them. So we can at least be nice to her."
Lilith' look was one of utter confusion, before she shook her head and laughed a little. "You'll snap me out of it, whether I want it or not, isn't it?"
"Precisely! And now, let's go and meet our space-travelers!"
Downstairs Salvador had, thankfully, found his trousers again and was scraping the remains of his pasta-and-cheese ration out of a battered pot. He quit eating the second the Sirens emerged on the stairs and jumped from his chair. "Right then, ready to rock and roll! You know, I'm so thrilled to see my amigos again, I don't have the urge to shoot something before midday. That's a strange feeling, really."
"Well, there are rumors about a Rakk Hive at the spaceport", Maya said with a half-smile.
"You're joking", Salvador announced and narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Let's bring some guns and find out", the Siren replied sweetly.
"Lady, me without guns would be like you without your tattoos!"
They strode over the central plaza towards Pierce Station. The sun was rising and the only people outside where a couple of mechanics who were visibly enjoying the fresh air after a long night of work in the ship's bowels. When they reached the Fast Travel, however, someone was already waiting for them, drumming his metallic fingers on the top of the console.
"Good morning, Sir Hammerlock", Maya greeted, when she spotted the explorer, but he cut her off with an unusual sharpness to his voice: "Good morning. I've heard the most interesting rumors concerning our mutual friends Axton and Gaige. From what I've gathered, they are arriving today in a commandeered spaceship and they are bringing a prisoner with them. Is this research correct?"
Lilith' face turned deadpan in an instant, while Maya and Salvador merely shared a surprised look. "Why, yes, that's all very true", Salvador replied.
"And does this prisoner happen to be the legal owner of the planet Hermes?", Hammerlock continued.
"Yep", Lilith said, still with her best poker face on.
"I take it you're not going to hang her in a public location?"
"Nope", Lilith answered.
"Well, under those circumstances, I'll be leaving for Aegrus and hope the savages haven't burned down my hunting lodge yet. If you need me, you know where to find me, but it's bad enough to be on the same planet as my sister, I'm not going to stay on the same continent as long as I can help it." He paused and looked at Maya and Salvador. "You might be thinking that I'm overreacting, but you - haven't - met - her - yet." He underlined every word by punching another dial on the console, eventually recalling his desired destination. "Goodbye, my valiant friends."
Maya watched, as Sir Hammerlock raised his mechanical hand in salute and disintegrated into a stream of blue data. "Am I the only one right now rejoicing in the fact that she is an only child?"
"Hey, I love my hermanos!", Salvador chimed in, sounding a little hurt.
"Maybe I should have warned him", Lilith pondered, while dialing up their destination down in the Highlands from the Fast Travel Menu. "I just fail to see the difference it would have made."
The Crimson Raider Spaceport was a marvel of salvage. Everything from launch pads to immense radar disks to the hilarious amounts of steel had been brought here from as far away as Three Horns Divide. But building the cosmodrome anywhere else had been out of the question. It was necessary to keep the off-world connections close and defendable. There were guard towers with snipers, who shot every Stalker that got within half a kilometer. The ground was covered with six centimeters worth of salvaged and melted down steel to keep the Threshers out. The port housed Ground Control which kept an open ear and eye towards space, an Eridium refinery to provide booster fuel, and last but not least accommodations with running water, electricity and ECHOnet connection. The port was furthermore by far the best looking facility the Raiders owned. After all, it was the first impression smugglers, fencers and black marketeers would get.
When Maya, Lilith and Salvador materialized, they were greeted by the usual bustle of the sedulous spaceport. The air was alive with shouts and engine noise of one kind or another. Four small ships and three shuttles from bigger freighters were docked. Trolleys were moving around, stacked with crates and barrels, rumbling to and fro between the gawping mouths of the ships' cargo areas and the warehouses of the spaceport. Claxons blared, as a goliath crane moved into position to deliver a big, clunky spare part to the engine room airlock of one of the docked freighters. Crimson Raider quartermasters were arguing with ship captains, emigrants endured the safety instructions and ship protocols read by watchful first mates, crew members were storing cargo, checking their ships' exterior or desperately trying to ignore the effects of the Pandoran alcohol consumed the night before.
"We've come places", Salvador said, looking around admiringly. "We actually build something for once! While our expertise is usually breaking down stuff. Oh man, I need to shoot something quickly, I'm getting philosophical."
"Join the snipers", Maya suggested, pointing to the watchtowers.
"Nah, sniping is all about precision and waiting and work. For me, it's just not that funny. And it's not practical to use two scoped weapons at the same time. Speaking of snipers, where the hell are the others?"
"What others?" Lilith made a step backwards to avoid a hover-trolley.
"Zero and Krieg of course. I called them, while you were busy doing leaderish things upstairs. Thought they wouldn't want to miss their amigos coming back."
"Good thinking", Maya agreed and instantaneously felt guilty, because she hadn't had the same notion.
A speaker started to blare: "Attention! Attention! All personnel clear docking platform three! Spacecraft landing imminent! Clear docking platform three! Please put on your ear muffs! If you don't, don't expect us to turn up the volume on the next announcement."
A sleek, wedge-shaped spacecraft appeared from behind a mountain range and approached rapidly. Control lights started to flash around the docking platform, as the ship crossed the invisible border wherein passive radar could detect it. Maya watched, as the ship's hover thrusters lit up around the underbelly and the main engine was shut off, in order to facilitate landing. Floating in mid-air, the craft did the remaining hundred meters to the docking platform at a snail's pace, until the pilot had maneuvered it very carefully within the reach of the magnetic locks and could finally allow the spaceport's computer to take over.
"Remind me to invest in a landing assistance program", Lilith said, while the Corazza Stinger touched down. Everyone else at the port had stopped work to gape. The craft was clearly not a freighter and apart from a huge anarchist A spray painted on the bow it looked much cleaner and neater than any of the other ships currently at display.
"I'm thoroughly awed. / That is one fancy spaceship. / Where did they get it?"
Maya didn't even bother to jump and merely turned to see Zero standing next to them. "They'll probably want to tell that story themselves. Good of you to come."
"How could I not come? / After all that we've been through! / We're a team of friends."
"Ha! So we are!", Salvador shouted. The thrusters of the Corazza were shut down one by one, but the Vault Hunters only started to walk over, when the control lights went out, indicating the ship was now secured to the docking position, without the danger of it slipping and crushing someone (which had happened in the past. Twice).
The airlock opened with an elongated hiss, as pressure was equalized, and revealed Gaige, wearing a silken dressing gown over her usual attire. "Good morning, my ladies, my lord, my... whatever you are", she waved in the direction of Zero, "welcome to our humble ship. Please take off your boots before entering and under no circumstances put your feet on the table." Then she laughed, threw the gown in a corner and jumped out. "Great to see the lot of you again... humph."
Salvador had rushed forwards and wrapped her into a bear hug. "Ha, ha! Great to see you too, hermana!"
Axton was the next one to climb out of the airlock, Lady Hammerlock in tow whose wrists were bound and who looked around as if she was inspecting a restroom that was decidedly not to her liking. "Quite a welcoming committee", the commando said, pushing his prisoner towards Lilith and saluting in front of the Siren. "Lilith, I think you wanted to talk to this piece of nobility."
"So I do", Lilith replied, carefully sizing the baroness up.
"What about the bounty?"
"Free board and lodge, no port dues for your ship and free refueling, deal?"
"Sounds good." Axton left the two women to their staring match and shook hands with Zero and Maya. "How are you doing?"
"Not too bad", Maya said, while Zero simply flashed a smiley on his faceplate.
"Where is Krieg?", Gaige asked, finally free of Salvador's jovial welcome.
"I asked him to come, he was probably distracted by some bandits along the way", Salvador said, shrugging. "Can't blame him, really."
"Where did you get this spaceport from?", Axton interrupted. "Granted, the guidance system is a pain in the ass, but apart from that this looks rather professional."
"Well, the Raiders built it in our absence", Maya explained.
"Their work is striking. / All of our outposts flourish. / Most foes are beaten", Zero added.
Up on the nearest watchtower, the snipers became agitated, pointing to something in the distance without raising their weapons, though. They turned and started shouting to the people on the ground, motioning for them to clear a path and then a car engine revving in highest gear drowned out the usual noise of the spaceport, as an Outrunner burst into the perimeter. The car swerved horribly, toppled a couple of boxes and came to a screeching halt in front of the gathered Vault Hunters. The driver stood in his cabin and beat his chest like a seven foot tall, yellow skinned gorilla. "My blood is running free over earless armadillos and it wallows in exultation!", Krieg thundered, fixing the gaze of his one good eye on Gaige and Axton.
"He thinks it's good to see you again", Maya translated as usual.
"I get that a lot lately", Axton commented.
"I'll just have a guess: / You forgot to Fast Travel. / For the third time now?" Zero sounded amused.
"Blue tunnel and yellow steel! Blue sky and yellow sun! We choose", Krieg said, climbing out of his car and walking over to his friends. "And he was afraid of me!"
"Still going strong on the split personality", Gaige decided.
"Split, spit, sit, pit, it, t!", the psycho added. "The rustbeard dropped delicious dust on the box we all came from, this time and maybe again!"
"Whatever, mate." Axton boxed Krieg jovially on the arm and quickly backed away, as the big man returned the favor.
"Now", Gaige said, rubbing her hands together. "Where is this creature you have been talking about, and the war it foresaw?"
"Let's get back to town", Zero suggested. "Lots of catching up to do. / I'm quite excited." To stress his last stanza, he projected another smiley: :-D.
"The team's back together!", Salvador shouted and waved a random weapon from his SDU through the air. "Whatever may come, we'll take it on with a vengeance!"
"We will", Maya said. "We'll definitely do that."
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES... IN BORDERLANDS 3! SEE YOU ALL THERE! OUTRO JINGLE!
A/N: I apologise for the considerable time between updates. Exams are a pain in the behind. Anyhow, I hope you liked the story, thanks to everyone who has read this far, thanks to all you followers and reviewers, and special thanks to YOU! I'm going to edit little tidbits in the first couple of chapters (which were intelligently written before Tales of the Borderlands was fully available), but generally, this story is finished.
Take care!