Chapter 18: War is Coming

Lilith had gathered everyone to make her announcement; that they were officially at war with Maliwan. Everyone had the look that they finally knew this day would come. The Crimson Raiders had peace for a very long time without corporation intervention, but that time was finally over. Lilith placed her hands against the table and sighed "So that's what we're up against. I don't expect Maliwan to play nice, especially since they will bombard our city with bots when we're technically at peace." Axton ran his fingers through his hair and exclaimed "I'm guessing I should start the war preparations."

Salvador added "I'll rally the troops. Let them know what's going on." Gaige exclaimed "Looks like it's time to break out the experimental stuff." Lilith nodded and the room went quiet, unsure of what to actually do next. Zer0 broke the silence and questioned "What are we going to do about the clones?" The door opened and one of the clones that recently showed up walked through the door.

The clone announced "I have the answer to that problem." The clone pulled a strange looking weapon off of his back, continuing "The Shock Gun. Capable of delivering an electromagnetic pulse that should fry the chips in the enslaved clone's heads." The main body of the weapon looked like a Hyperion shotgun body, but the barrel was different. It had two rectangular lights on the end of it that stood side by side horizontally, giving off a light blue light. Maya questioned "So, that one weapon will free all of the other clones?"

"Well… I was hoping that the Crimson Raiders could help us out with that part."

Krieg questioned "How exactly are we going to get more guns? Not like we can just copy the gun a thousand times." Lilith looked like she had a moment of clarity and exclaimed "Everyone, get your people and gear ready. I have an idea on where to get more Shock Guns. Clone, you're with me." Lilith headed out with the Zer0 clone right behind her with the Shock Gun in hand. "So… where are we going?" The clone questioned as they walked through the city. The stepped into an alley as Lilith answered "An arms dealer."

"And they work in an alley?"

They stopped in front of a door with a sign that read "Marcus Munitions" in bright neon letters. "Marcus is… unconventional, but he'll help us with what we need." Lilith answered as she opened the door. The room was filled with wall to wall guns with a large glass cage towards the back with a man inside of it. "Marcus!" Lilith exclaimed as she approached the cage. The heavy set man with light brown hair and trimmed mustache beard that matched in color.

Marcus looked up and replied in a cheery tone "Commander Lilith! Welcome to my shop! What can I do for you?" Lilith leaned against the cage with her hands and questioned "Do you still have that Gun Copier?"

"Yes, in fact I do. Need some weapons for the army?"

"You always know what I need."

Marcus chuckled and exclaimed "Let me see what weapon you need copied." The clone stepped up and handed Marcus the gun, who laughed "Looks like I'm not the only who can make a good copy." Marcus looked over the gun and whistled "This is a good quality weapon here…" Lilith raised an eyebrow and questioned "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Well, it means that it will cost more since it is a good quality weapon."

Lilith had a glare that was practically about to melt the glass between the two as she growled "How much more?" Marcus set the weapon down and wrote something on a piece of paper, then slipped it to Lilith. She picked it up and gasped "Holy! Is there a way we can… discuss a lower price?" Marcus scratched chin and replied "I don't know…"

"Well, you are going to make a ton of profits from this war selling weapons. That could easily pay off the number of Shock Guns we need."

"Trying to pay me with my own profits? No deal, Commander."

Lilith balled her fist and growled "Kid, look away for a minute." The clone turned around as Lilith pulled her fist back and drove it through the glass. Lilith then grabbed Marcus and pulled him through the glass cage. "Listen very, very carefully. Marcus, we need that Gun Copier. You are going to let us use that copier to save a lot of lives. If you want to argue with me then you can take it up with your store that has been mysteriously burned to the ground." Lilith growled as she wrenched him closer. Marcus looked terrified for his life as he replied "I guess I could… let you use… my machine."

"I'm glad you could see my way of this."

She let him go and he fell back into his now broken glass cage, Marcus groaning "How many are you going to need?" Lilith answered as she shook her hand out "Enough for the entire Crimson Raider army."

"How do you-"

Lilith shot him a glare that stopped him from finishing his sentence, Marcus retrying "I'll get right on it." Lilith turned to the clone and stated "Stay with him. Make sure that he makes all the guns we need. If he doesn't, get creative. I'll be sending people over to collect the weapons." The clone nodded and took a seat as Marcus brought the Shock Gun to a machine and began punching numbers. Lilith muttered as she walked out "Hopefully we can get the guns before Maliwan attacks."

O00000O00000O

Back at the hospital, Nickoli slowly started to regain consciousness and saw that he was now in the hospital. The last thing that Nickoli remembered was starting to go into shock after taking a bullet to the chest. He wasn't sure what happened after he fell back, but for some reason he was really cold. Nickoli looked down to see the bandage wrapped around his chest, trying to figure out how he could be alive. He looked over to see Angel reading a book in her bed, but she had a really worried look on her face.

"Angel." Nickoli weakly called. Angel dropped her book and looked at Nickoli with a wide smile, responding "Nickoli!" Angel threw her sheet aside and tried to get out of the bed, but her legs gave out beneath her and she dropped to the floor. Nickoli immediately tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest kept him confined to his bed. Angel practically dragged herself to Nickoli's bed and climbed in, wrapping her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

Nickoli wrapped his arms around her and held her close, feeling her start to shake like she was crying. After a few minutes, Angel pulled her face away and wiped her eyes, sniffling "Sorry, I told myself I wouldn't cry." Nickoli chuckled "It's fine. So, what happened after I got shot?"

"Well, we couldn't stop the bleeding unless… unless I froze you."

Nickoli raised an eyebrow and questioned "Unless you froze me? That would explain why I'm so cold." Angel responded "It's what kept you alive until you got here."

"Wow, so you saved me after I saved you? I guess that makes us even. So what happened with the mission? Did you guys go through with it?"

Angel's demeanor changed to sad when she responded "Yes and no. After you were sent to the hospital… I lost it. I went to the Friendship Gulag and just… destroyed everything. Any soldier, any bot and any experiment they threw at me I destroyed it. I was so angry they had hurt you that I just lost all reasoning and focus. Lynn was able to recover some data, but I really messed up." Nickoli put his arm around her and replied "I don't know, I'm flattered that you would do that for me."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, I mean, you destroyed an entire base for me."

Angel was about to say something when they heard a nurse scream along with a loud crash. The two turned to see a familiar cyborg stalker look into the window with a large "smile" and howl. Zver barged into the room and nearly tackled Nickoli as the badass stalker started licking his face. Nickoli pushed off the cyber-stalker, chuckling "It's good to see you two Zver." Zver howled in joy and then started to lick Angel's face like he did with Nickoli. Angel pushed off the stalker and laughed "Down Zver."

"He's never done that to anyone else except Lynn. He must really like you."

Angel stroked the top of Zver's head while Nickoli sighed "Angel, can I tell you something?" Angel smiled and replied "Sure. What is it?"

"Angel… I love you."

Angel's eyes went wide as she felt her face light up a bright red. Nickoli's face was just as red as he finished "I just thought you should know… I feel a little silly saying that before we've even had our first kiss." Nickoli was looking at his lap when he felt Angel's fingertips on the side of his face, turning his head towards her. He met her sparkling blue eyes as she leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his. Nickoli couldn't help himself as he brought a hand to the back of her head to keep her there just a little bit longer.

The two finally broke the kiss and Angel whispered "I love you too Nickoli." The two were more focused on each other to notice Angel's Siren tattoos light up a bit before dulling down. Nickoli leaned back and Angel laid down next to him with her head on his shoulder, Nickoli wrapping his arm around Angel. The two fell asleep, just as happy as could be.

O00000O00000O

Z-12 paced around the apartment, having time to think to himself about a difficult subject. The door opened and his father, the original Zer0, walked in with a concerned look on his face. "Good, you're here. Where are the other clones?" Zer0 questioned as he headed into his room. Z-12 answered "Two are on the lookout for any Maliwan movement while the third is with Commander Lilith."

"Alright, Angel is still at the hospital so everyone is accounted for."

Zer0 emerged from his room wearing his old Vault Hunting uniform, the classic Zer0 stealth suit complete with helmet. Zer0 sighed "Look Z, we're officially at war with Maliwan now. So it really doesn't matter who wins or loses, this war won't end well no matter what the outcome." Z-12 nodded and agreed "You're right. This war is going to be hell after the peace that's been established." Z-12 followed Zer0 with his eyes as he opened the gun cabinet and took out his Elephant Gun, Rex, and Law. "You're going out there?" Z-12 questioned as he watched his father arm himself to the teeth.

"Of course I am. I won't send my men out into something that I won't go into myself."

"Then before you go, I need to ask you something."

Zer0 turned to see his son with a face of distress as he scratched the back of his head. Zer0 pulled his helmet off, short black hair falling free and questioned "What is it Z? You can talk to me." Z-12 dropped his hand and questioned "What am I? Who am I?" Zer0 set his helmet on the table and placed his hands on Z-12's shoulders as Z-12 continued "Am I just some experiment that got lucky and escaped? Am I just a copy of you that your family convinced you to keep? Or… or am I really your son?" Zer0 wrapped Z-12 into a hug and replied "What I think is irrelevant, but as far as I'm concerned you are my son. The real question is: Can you live with the person you are."

Zer0 let Z-12 go and exclaimed "Now, while your mother and I are gone, look after your sister. I doubt that whatever Maliwan throws at us will stay in the main field and will spread into the city. I want you to protect her and the two of you stay safe, understand?" Z-12 nodded and replied "Yes sir… and thanks Dad."

"Not a problem son."

Zer0 was about to say something else when one of the clones ran through the door slightly winded. The clone updated "Update, Maliwan drop ships inbound. More than likely will set up shop around the perimeter of the city." Zer0 grabbed his helmet and replied "Thanks for the update. I'll get it to Commander Lilith." Zer0 slipped past the clone and headed to the front of the fight, the exact place Commander Lilith liked to lead from. He moved to the large table set up that had everyone set up around it while Lilith gave the pre-battle brief.

Lilith exclaimed "Thanks to our scout's eyes, we know that Maliwan is here in force. Several drop ships with drones, soldiers…" She looked over at Zer0 and exclaimed "And even clones. So here's the battle plan. Every soldier has either been or is being outfitted with the Shock Guns. If any soldier sees a clone or possibly a drone, they have been given orders to use this weapon on them. We've even had Gaige equip the city turrets with them and every Gunzerker Salvador has trained with one.

"Brick, Mordicai, and I will oversee the battle here. Axton, you have your place with your men so lead like you did when you first took this city. Zer0, get your snipers high and pop any non-clone personnel. Maya, get your specialists to deal with any crazy elemental shit they throw at us. From Angel's report they've developed some badass bots so we need to make sure they aren't an issue. Krieg, just do you buddy."

Maya questioned "What about the kids? They've seen more action with Maliwan than we have." Zer0 responded "We shouldn't have thrown them into the fight like this. They should stay out of it." Lilith nodded and agreed "I'm on Zer0's side with this. The kids aren't ready to deal with kind of stuff." The adults each started to put in their own thoughts, putting them in half of for and against the kids getting involved. Lilith slammed her fist on the table and barked "ENOUGH! They are staying out of it and that's final! We have our own problems to deal with right now so let's focus on it."

All of them stopped talking and Lilith ordered "Alright, now get to your stations. We're at war." While the adults went to their assigned locations, the kids had gathered at the hospital and were making their own plan of what to do.

A/N: Heyo! Sorry for the wait, life has been busy lately. You all know the drill, PM or review any thoughts comments or concerns with the chapter. Until next update!

-Chief