A/N: Heyo! Hope you guys are enjoying the story! I know I am writing it. Special thanks to cmech54 and Dr. Archangel since they come up with the skeleton for the chapter while I add the details. Also, to inform everybody, Zer0 has dropped his assassin gear and style since he became a father. He usually wears a grey shirt with black pants. He has short black hair with blue eyes and a scar going down the center of his left eye. Hope that helps! Anyway, NEW CHAPTER!
Chapter 15: Debrief
Nickoli had finally organized the cluster of robot pieces into neat piles as Gaige had ordered. He was taking his free moment to look into Zver's new cybernetics. "Man, you got some serious upgrades buddy." Nickoli chuckled as he took a closer to the digistruct modules. Zver purred like a cat as he gnawed on his rat corpse as Nickoli continued to inspect him. As he was tinkering, he heard the doors open so he looked to see Lynn walking in, and looking incredibly bored.
"Hey Lynn." Nickoli greeted. "What brings you down here?" Lynn had a raised eyebrow as she looked to the CyberStalker before her and it sniffed her. "Why is there a stalker with robot pieces?"
"Because Zver here had a little accident and Gaige fixed him up. I'm just looking at his hardware."
"You have a pet stalker named Zver?"
Nickoli and Zver exchanged looks of confusion and Nickoli exclaimed "You make it sound weird." Lynn rolled her eyes and questioned "So is this what you do in your free time?" Nickoli shut up the hatch on Zver's back and replied "Well, most of it was organizing this place since that was my first job as Gaige's apprentice."
"Sounds… really boring."
"Why didn't you stay home?"
"And do what? Read? Sorry but books aren't my definition of fun."
Nickoli went over to an organized pile of robot pieces and started to catalog the parts as he questioned "So what did you do for fun before?" Lynn leaned against a support beam, placing her back against it and slid down until she hit the floor. "I didn't really do much in the way of fun with Maliwan. I was an experiment and constantly tried to escape." Lynn responded as she pulled her knees to her face. Nickoli stopped what he was doing and took a seat next to Lynn, putting an arm around her shoulders. "What did you do before Maliwan?" Nickoli questioned.
"I was… normal. I was just a normal girl on Eden-5. I attended high school, I had friends and family. I had a good life."
"What happened?"
"The usual teenage struggle; I needed a job. The local Maliwan store had a job posting and I really needed the money, so I applied. As you can see, I got the job but I didn't really read the contract. I basically sold myself to Maliwan. This is the result."
Lynn held out her hand and a small ball made of every element developed in her hand. "They wanted to see if humans could harness the elements like the local creatures of Pandora could… and they were right. Then they wanted to see if a single person could harness every single element, again, they were right. But it was all to attempt to do the impossible, create Sirens." Lynn finished. Nickoli pulled Lynn into a hug and cooed "It's okay Lynn. You're free from Maliwan's control. After all of this is over, you can go back home and see your family again."
"Thanks Nickoli. I really needed that."
Lynn pulled herself from Nickoli's metal hug and wiped her eyes, then felt the rough tongue of Zver slide up her cheek. She looked to her side to see the stalker panting like a skag and it licked her face again before placing the bottom of its jaw on the top of her head. Zver began to purr, sending a vibrating feeling throughout Lynn's head and upper body. Nickoli chuckled "He does that to me when I'm upset. I guess he felt you needed it." Lynn smiled and chuckled herself "I can see why. It feels really good."
She reached up and patted the top of Zver's head, the stalker lifting its head off of hers and howling into the air. The two chuckled until they heard a loud crashing sound and decided to investigate it. They ran out to see several people along with a few of the Crimson Raider MP heading toward the source of the crash. As they approached it, they could hear Z-12 bark "You call that a landing!?" They promptly heard Angel reply "We made it here!"
"Barely! I thought you said you could land this thing!?"
"I said I could get us home!"
Lynn, Nickoli and Zver pushed through the crowd (pretty easily since a giant stalker took the front) to see Angel and Z-12 arguing in front of a crashed buzzard. Nickoli saw Maya and Zer0 push through the crowd to their kids, Maya barking "WHERE HAVE THE TWO OF YOU BEEN!?" The two of them looked at their feet as Maya scolded "THE TWO OF YOU HAVE BEEN GONE FOR HOURS! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HOME YESTERDAY!" Maya ran her fingers through her long blue hair and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She turned back to them and questioned in a calmer tone "So where were the two of you?"
Z-12 answered "We were abducted by a group of clones like me. They were being led by a guy named N1ne." Maya raised an eyebrow and looked to Zer0, who seemed incredibly pissed off for some reason. Maya was about to ask him what was wrong when he turned and stormed off, making his way through the crowd. She turned and pointed at the kids, exclaiming "We are not done talking." Maya made her way after Zer0 and Angel turned to Z-12, who was already making his own way through the crowd.
Angel was prepared to go after him when Lilith called "Angel!" She turned to see the crowd part for Commander Lilith, who questioned "Why? In the hell! Is there a crashed buzzard in the middle of my city!?" Angel pushed her pointer fingers together and replied "Well, Z-12 and I were kidnapped by a guy who was going to attack the city and…"
"UGH! Get your clone brother and get in my office! Can I go a few days without something going wrong!?"
Angel dropped her head as Commander Lilith stormed off, and then Angel headed out in search of her brother. Nickoli and Lynn looked at each other with confused looks, neither of them completely sure about what had just transpired.
O00000O00000O
The sun was starting to set along the horizon of the Highlands, bathing the green and brown landscape in a wash of amber. Z-12 sat on the roof of one of the buildings on the edge of Crimson City to observe the beauty of nature as he collected his thoughts. "Hey bro!" Angel called from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Angel lift herself up from the side of the building and make her way over to him. She took a seat next to him and questioned "So what brings you up here?"
"I've been thinking about N1ne and all the other Zer0 clones. I mean… was the only reason for me to be rescued from being a science experiment was to join some army? To search and kill my source of life? To kill my father?"
Z-12 leaned on his knees and questioned "What if I'm just like them? What if I'm some sleeper agent that activates by some phrase?" Angel placed a hand on his shoulder and exclaimed "Something inspirational." Z-12 looked at her with a raised eyebrow and questioned "What?"
"I'm not good at coming up with really inspirational quotes on the fly so I used something Mom said to inspire a robot… I got it!"
Angel took her hand off of Z-12's shoulder and then placed it back, exclaiming "Being a clone doesn't make you them, your DNA doesn't make you them. Our experiences and actions make us who we are." Z-12 smiles and replied "Thanks Sis. That really helped." Angel fell back and sighed "Thank god! I really didn't know how that was going to go over."
"So you winged an inspiration speech? Impressive."
Angel sat back up and exclaimed "Come on. We have to talk to Commander Lilith about what happened with N1ne." Z-12 got to his feet and assisted Angel, exclaiming "Well, let's go tell our story."
O00000O00000O
Maya got to her home and looked around the main room, seeing the door to hers and Zer0's room open. She walked in to see Zer0 walk out of the closet with a box labeled "VAULT HUNTER STUFF" and set it on the bed. He opened it up and pulled out his old assassin helmet, the visor scuffed and scratched from years of wear and tear. "Zer0." Maya exclaimed as she walked over to him. He looked to her with a worried look and questioned "Do you remember Crystal?"
"It's kinda hard to forget about the woman who attempted to murder the both of us." Maya answered. Zer0 sat on the edge of the bed and sighed "N1ne was a part of the same Assassins Guild as her and I. Her number was E1ght, her and N1ne were brother and sister."
"What happened?"
"It all started when we went after a wealthy crime lord."
O00000O00000O
In the city of Asther on Eden 3, in the industrial district, a warehouse sat that looked a little bit more like a fortress than anything. Guards posted on the catwalks did their rounds while snipers remained hidden on nearby rooftops. One sniper slowly scanned his assigned area and noted some small movement near another sniper. He went for his radio, but grasped at air as his radio wasn't where he last left it. The sniper turned to see his radio off its stand, so he started looking around on the ground until he saw a pair of feet.
He looked up to see a skinny man wearing a black skin tight suit and visor helmet. The man reacted quickly and grabbed the sniper's head, snapping his neck and dropping him. Zer0 put two fingers to the side of his helmet and cursed "Be more careful N1ne. This sniper nearly saw you. We were almost caught." Over the com unit, N1ne responded "That's why you're here, and E1ght for some extra cover."
"Still, be more careful. This is a high paying job. So we will not fail."
"Right, no failure. Just a word of warning here Zer0. If your fiancé, my sister, gets hurt… I'll make you pay."
The woman of the conversation came over the com and exclaimed "You do know I can hear you, right? N1ne, shut up. We're going to get this job done with no hitches… I just took out the guards so we're good." Zer0 slipped off the rooftop and went to the back entrance, finding two guards with bullet holes in them. A woman slipped out of the darkness wearing a similar suit to Zer0's but hers displayed a red "8" on the chest. Her visor helmet, just like Zer0's, displayed a ": )" as she exclaimed "You beat N1ne." N1ne emerged from the shadows and grumbled "Damn, beat me again. Well, let's get inside and get our target."
The trio entered the door and slunk around, avoiding open areas and sticking to isolated sections. Zer0 observed the work floor, seeing the trucks being loaded with boxes labeled for innocent items like cleaning materials when in reality it was a front for drugs. Zer0 looked up to the large office that overlooked the entire work floor, where their target waited. They moved a bit more when there was a loud crash behind them, E1ght and Zer0 turning around to see N1ne standing next to an open spot on the shelf where a box of glass items used to be. "Oops." N1ne muttered as he drew his digistruct longsword.
"Open fire!" a guard shouted. Nine immediately dropped to the ground while Zer0 and E1ght cloaked and slithered away from the gunfire. The two of them moved around the shelves and snuck up to the guards that were focused on the shelf N1ne was behind. Zer0 and E1ght drew their blades and quickly cut down the guards like they were nothing. Nine emerged from behind the shelf and sighed "Thanks guys."
"You're an idiot." E1ght sighed as she sheathed her sword.
"Either way, we have a job to finish."
The trio made their way up to the office to find the crime boss hiding behind his desk. He had thinning gray hair with a face that was beginning to show the signs of age. His suit was black and neat, but looked very cheaply made. "Now… let's be reasonable." The crime boss begged. N1ne stepped forward with his blade drawn and exclaimed "Sorry, but you are going to die, and we are to be paid."
"I-I-I-I can pay you! Whatever you're being paid! I'll double it! Triple it!"
N1ne stops his advance and replies "Congratulations, you've peaked my interest. Keep talking." Zer0 stepped up and exclaimed "What are you doing? Finish this and kill him now! And we shall be paid." N1ne turned and questioned "Why not hear him out?"
"No! We will kill him! We will finish our job now! Or I will do it!"
"Come on Zer0. Let's not be too hasty."
N1ne reached behind his back and pulled out a flash bang grenade, causing Zer0 to place a hand on his katana. "Don't make this difficult Zer0." N1ne exclaimed. The two of them were in a stalemate, both hands on weapons and ready to make their move. "Here, I'll make it easy." E1ght announced as she drew a pistol. She raised her pistol and put a bullet into N1ne's shoulder, forcing him to drop the grenade.
Zer0 took the opportunity and struck N1ne in the side of the head, knocking him out cold while E1ght put several bullets into the target's chest. E1ght lowered her pistol and sighed "I just shot my brother. Well, I guess he won't be coming to the wedding." Zer0 chuckled as he threw N1ne over his shoulders and exclaimed "Let's go." The group started heading out to their extraction point and to deal with the future issues they would have to deal with.
O00000O00000O
Zer0 took a breath after recounting his tale, finishing "He blames me for his sister's betrayal, and now he's hunting me for it. Who knows if he knows about what happened to his sister." Maya wrapped her arms around her husband and cooed "Don't worry. We'll face this problem like we did last time… together, as a family." Zer0 wrapped his arms around Maya and replied "I know, and that is what worries me."
O00000O00000O
Angel and Z-12 exited the Crimson Raiders HQ, both thinking that they were going to be spending an increasing amount of time there. "I'm going to head out, and try to find something to get my mind off of all of this." Z-12 sighed. "Cool, I have something I need to take care of myself. See you around." Angel replied. The two siblings parted ways and Angel pulled out her ECHO, taking a deep breath before opening up the menu. She was about open her contacts when she received a call from an unknown number.
She cautiously accepted the call and responded "Hello?" A voice that sounded almost like Z-12 questioned "Am I speaking to Angel?"
"You are."
"Excellent. Good thing we got your number when you were captured."
"Who is this?"
"A clone. Look, everything isn't as it seems with us clones. The ones that follow N1ne without hesitation are under the effects of a mind control chip. However, there are some of us who are free of his control, infiltrators if you will."
Angel couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her brothers were under the control of a madman who had a grudge against her father. She questioned "So why are you calling me? I have a feeling it is a little bit more than just telling me that our brothers are puppets." The clone laughed a pretty hearty laugh and replied "Sorry. When you've lived with nothing but brothers for so long it's a little funny to think about having a sister. Anyway, I need to talk to Commander Lilith and Zer0 about N1ne's plans so we can coordinate an offensive and counteroffensive." Angel scratched her chin in thought about what she should do. Angel sighed and responded "Alright. I'll see what I can do. I'll call you back when I have information."
"Thanks. I'll be standing by."
Angel hung up on the clone and called her father, hoping he would know what to do. She informed him of the situation, leaving her father silent for a moment. "Give me the clone's number. I will contact him about a meeting with Lilith." Zer0 exclaimed. "Yes sir." Angel replied.
"Good. Now enjoy the rest of your night. Lilith has pushed your mission back a bit until we can figure out what is going on with these clones."
"Thanks Dad. See you soon."
Angle hung up and opened her contacts, selecting Nickoli and bringing her ECHO to her ear.
A/N: Heyo! Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Again, special thanks to cmech54 and Dr. Archangel who write the skeleton while I fill in the details. PM or review any thoughts comments or concerns. Until next time!
-Chief