Somewhere on the planet of Pandora, a world known for its dangerous wildlife, roving gangs of outlaws, and hellish terrains. A young woman dressed in a form-fitting, blackish-blue full-body catsuit, fully zipped up and wearing greyish-white gloves that stop below the elbows, calf-length combat boots of the same color, a belt around her waist matching in hue (There are two silver, metallic orbs the size of ping pong balls. Each orb having a single ring of energy circling them. One being blood-red and the other light blue. attached to the belt), and a hooded cape that coordinates with her gloves, belt, and boots. Strapped to her right thigh and secured into the sheath is a combat knife.
The last piece that completes her look is an over-the-head mask resembling a wolf, an animal long extinct. The mask's white fur and piercing blue eyes give it a lifelike appearance, leading some to mistake the woman for a hybrid creature. Remarkably, the mask can mimic her facial expressions, allowing others to discern her emotions even while it's worn. Surprisingly, the mask is crafted from simple rubber, devoid of any advanced materials or nanotechnology.
However, some technology is integrated into the mask; when worn, a basic HUD shows her ammunition and grenade count, and the eyes provide thermal and night vision capabilities. The masked female suspects this technology also enables her to wear the mask for extended periods without discomfort upon removal.
Raven, the woman's name, is of nineteen years of age with fair white skin, shoulder-length black hair, green eyes, and lips adorned with black lipstick, waits patiently for a train at one of the numerous Hyperion train stations scattered across the planet. In Raven's gloved hand is a Hyperion business card that was given to her by an employee from the corporation some time ago. Despite already having read what was written on the piece of plastic. She couldn't help but lift the card and gaze down on it.
The card reads as follows: Are you in search of glory, seeking answers to mysterious questions, looking for a meaningful challenge, or simply desiring to set off on a grand adventure for enjoyment? Then look no further and become a Vault Hunter now and help Handsome Jack find the second Vault on Pandora and become a hero! All Vault Hunters will be handsomely rewarded by Jack himself once the Vault has been found and opened.
Within her chest Raven can feel the excitement building up. Since childhood she always wanted to become a Vault Hunter after hearing the stories from her dad about the legendary Vault. Telling her that contained inside is anything you could ever want in life. But in order to retrieve what was inside you had to defeat a giant vault monster that also resided within.
Even as a kid, Raven didn't believe her dad about there being a monster inside the Vault as it didn't make sense to her. Wouldn't the monster just destroy the treasure inside while trying to free itself? Regardless of that it didn't stop a young Raven from including the monster into her pretend games with her parents. While not ungrateful at given the opportunity to find the Vault. But Raven isn't quite sure why Handsome Jack chose her to help him find it. She was barely into her second year as a mercenary and is still considered green in the occupation.
However, that doesn't mean Raven isn't lacking in skill. She can definitely hold her own in a CQC fight and is quite proficient with most firearms. But she has found herself in sticky situations that she was barely able to get herself out of.
"Perhaps one of my recent jobs caught his attention," Raven suggested. Suddenly, the blaring sound of a train horn echoed from afar. Looking in the direction where it came from. The train rounds the bend and begins to slow down.
Several train cars pass by her till the train came to complete stop. The door to the car before her opens up and with no hesitation she steps right on inside. The moment Raven entered the train it started to move again. But also, she saw that she wasn't alone in the train car. Four other people were already inside waiting to be dropped off at the same destination she was heading.
The young woman wasn't too surprised by this as she did expect there to be at least a few Vault Hunters who boarded the train before her. She also knew she would be fighting alongside these Vault Hunters for the foreseeable future. The four individuals all looked at her with various facial expressions, well, save for that one that is.
A man standing at the height of 5'9 (the same height as Raven) with short brown hair wearing a short-sleeved brown shirt with a skull patch on the left sleeve, green pants, and steel plated boots. The military rank insignia above his left eye made it clear that he was affiliated with a military organization. He regarded Raven with an expression of muted surprise. Trying to make sense at what he is seeing but didn't want to show it to the others. It's an expression the masked female is used to getting by now. Though usually they don't try to hide it. Not wanting to be rude to a new teammate she gives him a small smile and waves at him. He nods his head and goes back to minding his own business.
The second man is standing at a height of 5'4 and has a muscular but stocky build. Though despite that the man doesn't seem to let that get to him. Just by looking at him Raven can tell he'll tear her to shreds without trying. He is the most casually dressed among them, sporting an orange T-shirt over what seems to be a white tank top, blue jeans secured by a belt featuring a prominent skull and crossbones buckle and standard brown shoes. On the man's face is an amazingly groomed beard and his hair is fashioned in a specific style. Across his nose is a band aid. The man's face was a bit more stoic compared to the other guy's.
"Hello there." Raven said to him. "Hola Loba." The man spoke in a gruff Truxican accent. Tilting her head, "Loba?" She said curiously. He clarifies it's the female Spanish word for wolf. "Oh. Yeah, I guess it does makes sense to call me that."
"Are you actually some kind of... humanoid alien wolf?" Asked the other female in the train car. Focusing her attention on the woman, Raven's blue eyes go wide. With a slight shaky finger. She points it at the woman's exposed arm. "Are you... a real Siren?" Raven inquired, her voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and caution. Like with the Vault, Raven had heard stories about the Sirens.
The stories of how they are powerful women that wield supernatural powers one can only see in fiction. With some saying they can kill you with just their brain. The Siren's outfit is a yellow, grey, and black shirt with a single long sleeve that covers the right arm. A glove is worn over the right hand, below that is a pair of blue and grey pants and yellow and black shoes. Grinning confidently, she raises her arm to present it. For three seconds the blue tattoos glowed till they didn't anymore. "I'm sure that answers your question. Speaking of a question that still needs answering."
"Right, sorry. To answer your question, no, I am not. What you see is a mask—a very convincing mask." To further prove it Raven pinches her right cheek with her index finger and thumb and pulls. The face of the mask stretches.
The Siren nods her head and then asks where she could get one as she would love to confuse some people by having them think she's a human/Siren/animal hybrid. "Sorry," Raven replied, lining the mask up and smoothing out any wrinkles. "This was my payment from a past job and as far as I know. This was a one-of-kind mask they made."
"I would say that's an odd payment/But I have no room to talk/I had weirder payment in the past." Finally said the last occupant in the train car. The... man? (Raven wasn't quite sure to be honest), spoke in a husky voice. The man was clad in a form-fitting suit and pants of black and grey with a large red zero on the left side of his chest, complemented by light armor that provided basic protection for his shoulders, underarms, knees, and ankles. Concealing his identity (but not the same as Raven) is a grey helmet with a long black visor.
"Did... you just speak in haiku?" Asked The Siren. Wanting to be sure she heard him correctly. Nodding his helmeted head. "That I did/Don't pay too much attention to it/I'm... inconsistent with it."
"Just as long as you don't speak in riddles. Communcation shouldn't be an issue." Said the brown-haired man who finally spoke for the first time since stepping onto the train himself. Now that all five of them were chatting with each other and would be working together for the foreseeable future, Raven suggested it was time for introductions and explain about their interest in finding The Vault.
The first to go was the brown-haired man. "The name's Axton, and I'm after The Vault for fortune and fame."
Following Axton, the Siren introduced herself. "I am Maya, and I seek The Vault to unravel the enigmas of the Sirens. Their origins, their purpose in the cosmos, and the process by which I became one of them."
After Maya was the helmeted man. "People call me Zero/Nothing has provided me a worthy challenge/Was told finding The Vault would give me the greatest challenge of a lifetime." Being asked why people call him Zero. His only answer was to display a red hologram of the number zero.
After Zero was the short man. "My name is Salvador, and I'm after The Vault because I think it will be fun."
"Really?" Asked Axton, baffled by the very simple motivation. A feeling shared by everyone else. "Of course, amigo! From what I was recently told, danger surrounds looking for The Vault. That's more than enough of a reason for me. Plus, there is the bonus of killing a shit ton of bandits along the way." Salvador has an excited grin on his face.
Now being the last one to explain her reasons for searching for The Vault, all heads turn in Raven's direction. But before she can even say what it is. The sound of something falling to the floor catches everyone's attention. Lying on the floor of the train is a blue sign with the image of a smiling Handsome Jack welcoming the Vault Hunters. When looking up to where the sign was hanging from. In its place is a new sign that is instead red, and the new image of Handsome Jack has a more sinister smile.
But just then at the end of the train car. A door slides open and walking through from the connecting car are a pair of tall, yellow robots with a single red glowing eye. In each of their hands is a gun. "Handsome Jack says, 'It's nothing personal.'" One of the robots said in a deep voice. Both drew their guns and opened fire on the Vault Hunters.
In a split-second reaction Salvador opened the side door and JUMPED OUT of the train! A train that was moving at very high speeds! 'Is he crazy?!' Raven exclaimed in her head. Zero, with impressive leg strength, jumped straight upward and went through a hatch in the ceiling. That left Raven, Axton, and Maya alone with the robots.
All three decided to run down the train car in the opposite direction to gain some distance. During their run the ladies heard more gunfire coming from behind them. They concluded that it was likely Axton firing back with his own weapon. Given the loud bangs echoing through the confined space with each shot, the gun he used must have been a big one.
Just as Raven and Maya neared the end, the door on their side of the train car slid open, unveiling additional robots. Way more than the previous two on the other side. Before either of the two could do anything a single rocket suddenly flew pass between the women and crashed right into the side of the connecting train car ahead of them. Resulting in a large explosion. Both women shielded their faces from the shrapnel by covering their faces with their arms.
Raven moved her arms away only to see some of the robots survived the rocket explosion and one of them was marching right toward her. It took the opportunity to swing at her with its arm. But she swiftly ducked under it and in one quick motion she unsheathes her combat knife, lunges forward, and stabs the knife right into the robot's single red eye. Sparks erupted as Raven withdrew the blade, only to thrust it back in again. After the second stab Raven and with all her strength she pushes the machine away.
This caused it to stagger backward into another robot. In response, it shoved its counterpart aside and proceeded to advance. However, its progress was halted as the yellow robot found itself suddenly enveloped in a sphere of purple and black energy, causing it to levitate a few feet above the ground.
Astonished by the sight, Raven glances back and notices Maya with her arm raised. Tattoos glowing and a similar, but smaller, ball of energy being held in her hand. With a grin on her face, Maya gestures to the left, sending the robot flying in that direction. It crashes through the wall, leaving a massive hole behind.
Not a second later Salvador swings himself through the newly created hole and from his SUD (storage unit deck) he pulls out two assault rifles and rains down a hail of bullets onto to remaining robots. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS SO MUCH FUUUUUUUUUN!" He excitedly bellowed. The short man got so caught up in the moment he points his guns up toward the ceiling while still firing them. After a few seconds he was able to calm down, but his smile never left his face.
Throughout her short time as a mercenary, Raven had never seen anyone wield two large weapons in each hand so effortlessly without the assistance of cybernetic enhancements. And to be completely honest, she found it to be pretty cool and she made sure to voice it for Salvador to hear. "Thanks, Loba. And even though I didn't see it as I was hanging on for dear life outside the train. You handled yourself quite well." Hearing this coming from the short man made Raven smile a little.
Drawing her HVY340.3 S&S Munitions Shattering Machine Gun from her SUD. Raven proposes they seize control of the train and force it to stop before it arrives at its unknown destination. Everyone agreed to the suggestion and began to either reload or arm themselves. Axton switches out his rocket launcher for an assault rifle and Maya drew a Maliwan SMG and judging the small blue lights on the gun it uses the shock element.
Axton was next to suggest they get into a tight formation with Salvador taking point (much to his delight), Raven and Maya at the flanks, and Axton at the rear. Once everyone was prepared, they burst into a vigorous sprint.
Both the Hyperion robots and the armed human staff were no match for the four Vault Hunters. Salvador pretty much mowed down anything in their path, the other three hardly had to anything. The only time they did fire their weapons was when Salvador had to reload.
Eventually though, the four did make it to the locomotive where the control station is. The only thing that was keeping them from taking control of the train was a locked door. Axton and Maya flanked the sides while Salvador stood his ground in the middle, Raven followed the Commando and Siren's example and stood off to the side. Right on time Zero jumped down from another hatch in the roof right behind Salvador. In his right hand is a long sword with the edge of the blade glowing a blue energy.
Raven would've asked him what he had been doing but knew this wasn't the time. Noticing that everyone had arrived, Axton kicked the door open. Inside the room lay something entirely unexpected by either of the Vault Hunters. Bombs. A ridiculous number of bombs. But the eye catch is the induvial sitting on a chair in the middle surrounded by the bombs.
Slowly the person in the chair turns around to reveal themselves to be Handsome Jack. But upon closer inspection it was clear this wasn't Jack, but instead a puppet made to look like him. "It's cute you all think you're the heroes of this story, but you're not." Said the puppet, "Welcome to Pandora, kiddioes!"
The last thing the Vault Hunters saw and heard was a bright flash and a thunderous boom!