With the base of the fortress secured by the Crimson Raiders, all that remained was to take the control core itself. But Jack had finally started sending reinforcements down from Helios.
Thankfully, the raiders were too close to the control core for him to launch ordinance. But he was sending a large army of loaders to retake the shipyard.
Mason blew another combat loader apart with his super shotgun. Loading in fresh shells before cutting another in half with his Doom-Blade. The CR troops were still setting up turrets and defenses to hold off the coming reinforcements when the first waves began to arrive from the space station. Roland stuck with his men to help them, while the slayer, Brick and Lilith held the line with Mordecai sniping from a high vantage point on a nearby warehouse.
Brick swung his argent-ax and cleaved three loaders in half, drawing a Jakobs triple-barrel shotgun in his other hand and pumping buckshot into a PWR-loader before it could hit Lilith from behind. The siren used her phase-walk ability to teleport around the battlefield, appearing in bursts of fire that set the machines ablaze.
Two more projectiles from Helios hit the ground and a pair of badass-loaders unfolded, their cannons charging up and firing at the humans. Mason dashed and weaved around the incendiary rounds, firing the super shotgun's meathook and grappling onto one of the large loader's chassis. Both barrels aimed at its optic when they fired, blowing a hole clean through it.
The other badass loader fell over like a chopped tree courtesy of Brick's ax slicing through its leg. The berserker finished it off by swinging his weapon down and putting a glowing orange gash through its head.
"Guys we're ready on our end. Come on back." Roland called them through the comms just as more loaders began to come down like meteors.
Mason grit his teeth, it wasn't in his nature to run from a fight. But there was a bigger one to be had farther up the peak. Switching to his HAR, he scoped and dropped a few more loaders before falling back with the others. Getting back into the shipyard where the raiders had turrets set up and aimed at the only way in.
"Mason, keep pushing ahead! We'll hold out here!" The Commander called out, his personal scorpion turret active and ready.
The slayer turned to Brick and Lilith, "We'll keep the rust buckets off your back, man! Go bust that bunker!" said the berserker.
Lilith leaned up and pressed a kiss to his visor, not caring who was looking. "Doubt you need luck, so let that be an incentive to wreck that super bot." she said with a wink.
"Then I guess I better get wrecking." Mason replied with a grin before running toward the gate that led farther up the mountain, stepping onto a large platform that began to ascend.
"Alright, I'll make you a deal." said Jack. "Turn around and walk away right now, and I'll make your friends' deaths quick and painless."
The slayer took out his combat shotgun and clicked the explosive-barrel into place. "Seriously, it's not too late to turn around." the CEO tried again. His response was more silence as the lift continued upward.
"Look, I don't know what you hope to accomplish by coming here. But there's nothing you and those Crimson Raiders would possibly want." Jack's tone was it's usual smug-aloofness, but Mason could pick up the beginnings of desperation. "I mean, if you just wanted to die so badly you could have just jumped off a cliff. Saved me all the trouble."
The platform stopped and allowed the slayer to step off onto a dirt path that spiraled along the mountain top and continued upward. Lush green foliage covered the walls and draped down from the cliff edge on his left, and a couple small waterfalls ran over from somewhere above.
All in all it would have been a beautiful and peaceful scene, were it not for what Hyperion and Jack did to the place.
"Don't take another step, asshole!" Jack demanded, "This is your last chance. Or I swear I'll bomb the shit out of you and all your fucking friends to hell and gone!"
"Then do it." Mason said bluntly. Now it was the CEO's turn to be silent. "Go right ahead. Level this whole fucking mountain. It's a big enough target for any inept jackass to hit."
More silence, and nothing else happened. "Thought so. Oh, and I've been to Hell Jack. You aren't anything remotely special." he started making his way up the path ahead. Rounding the first corner, he saw a couple of buzzards flying past the cliffs.
"Slayer! This is Lieutenant Travers! The Commander sent us ahead to give you a bit of air support." said one of the pilots
"Watch your asses. There might be-" one of the buzzards exploded from a barrage of energy rounds that came from higher up. "Anti-air defenses." Mason finished as the air unit fell back to the ground in a burning wreckage.
"Shit! There's turrets everywhere up here!" Travers shouted.
"Get your men and pull back! Hold off until I can clear out the roof!" the slayer ordered. The buzzards pulled back, a couple of them taking a bit of damage but managed to stay in the air as they got out of range. His pace became a blur as he ran up the rest of the path.
A few loaders came out to stop him and were systematically blown apart, either by Mason's weapons, or when he smashed right through him like a super-powered linebacker. The foliage gave way to metal platforms as he reached the top of the peak, several AA turrets that were stationed on the large platform turned toward him only to get a barrage of rockets that took them offline.
Switching his rocket launcher for his E-Tech rifle, the slayer took out the remaining resistance that had been stationed with ease. The loaders couldn't materialize fast enough as Mason took them apart the second they appeared.
"I am detecting a large IFF signal. It would appear that the BNK3R unit is coming online." said VEGA. The AI was proven right as the peak of the mountain began to shake, a large section of the main platform began to ascend into the air, its parts shifting the higher it got until it spun around to reveal a cluster of large red optics that centered and locked on to the slayer.
"Now you've done it." said Jack, his usual smugness back in place. "Meet the Bunker. One of the best, most sophisticated defense systems ever designed. Made her myself. Now, do me a favor and die."
Mason smirked as he looked at the massive unit that now flew circles around the mountain. Storing his weapon, he took a runner's stance and waited a moment before sprinting full speed ahead. Leaping off the edge of the platform, he landed on the roof of the machine as it made another pass.
Several panels opened up and an array of turrets came online, firing on the slayer who easily dashed around the salvo. Smashing his fist into each turret and destroying them quickly.
With the defenses down, the BNK3R began to fly erratically. Spinning and barrel rolling in the air to shake its passenger off.
Mason drew his super shotgun and fired the meathook into the machine's armor, the prongs digging into the dense metal and securing tight while keeping his feet planted as he rode along. Patiently waiting for his moment as they did several laps around the peak.
"The unit's CPU is located just below your position." VEGA reported after scanning the unit through the Praetor suit. The slayer drew his plasma rifle in his left hand, pointing down between his feet and fired into the metal under him. The trigger firmly locked back as he emptied every ounce of energy the weapon had left, burning a hole into its inner workings.
The rifle beeped loudly, the last of its energy expended as it shut down. Mason tossed the now useless weapon away then started stomping his heel into the hole he had made widening it more for what he needed. Once satisfied, he drew his BFG-9000 and stuck the barrel into the opening. The massive weapon glowed brightly, charging with a loud whine before unleashing its payload.
A bright green blast exploded out of the bottom of the BNK3R. Chunks of burning metal blew in all directions as fires raged within the machine, the optics shattered and thrusters sputtered and died within moments of its insides being utterly obliterated by the powerful gun.
Mason retracted his super shotgun's meathook and leapt off. Landing back on the mountain's main platform as the large defense unit pitched to the side and crashed into the ground below in a ball of smoldering, twisted metal.
The slayer looked down at the remains briefly before snorting, "Sophisticated my ass." he muttered before walking away from the edge and getting on the comms. "Roland, BNK3R's down. I'm heading in."
"We saw. Jack stopped sending loaders a few seconds ago. Whatever he's got planned next could be anyone's guess, stay alert." the Commander answered.
It took Mason a minute to find the final checkpoint. The biometric and voice scanner that would take him into the control core. Putting his hand on the console by the door, VEGA transferred from his suit into the security system. "I am connected to the systems. Whenever you are ready."
"Angel. VEGA and I are right outside your door. All we need is the password to get in."
"The password is…I Love You." said the siren with a solemn tone.
The slayer buried his anger at Jack's heartlessness as VEGA used the speakers in the room to transmit the bastard's voice. "I Love You."
The locks and security measures disengaged, allowing entry.
Taking VEGA back into the suit, Mason stepped through the now open doorway and onto the lift platform on the other side. "Consider this your final warning, NO, Consider this MY final warning." Jack began, his voice grim and dark. "Turn around, and leave. Or I promise I will slaughter every single soul back at Sanctuary including that little fucking brat of yours! I'll make you watch as I rip her goddamn heart out before killing you and that fucking siren whore!"
Hitting the switch, the platform began to descend. "Your threat is noted. Allow me to offer a rebuttal." replied the slayer. "You ever decide to find your balls and come down here, I'll be waiting. Until then, expect me to come knocking REAL soon when this is all over. Either way. You're going to die before laying a hand on anyone. And I'll be mounting your fucking head on the remains of that ugly fucking station of yours."
The lift stopped on the bottom floor, "I'm not afraid of death, Jack. Death is afraid of ME." With that said he cut the transmission and had VEGA sever the channel completely so he couldn't be contacted by the CEO ever again.
"He will get desperate. Be careful, please." said Angel.
"He's underestimating me and the others too much. He's the one that should be worried." said Mason as he traversed the metal corridors that cut through the inside of the mountain. The machinery along the walls hummed over his heavy footsteps as he reached a hexagonal room with a control panel set up in the middle.
Mason approached the controls, reaching out and hitting a switch. "Executing Phase Shift." said Angel before the whole room became shrouded in pixelated light. The wall in front of him began to fade away to reveal a bigger, circular shaped room.
Various machines and pipes covered the walls, all leading to a containment unit in the center of the chamber. A dome energy barrier several meters in diameter with half a dozen small pylons sticking out of the floor with the Vault key hovering in the center.
And in the air above it, a stream of eridium energy bled from her into the ancient artifact, was Angel. Her ethereal white wings extended as she floated in the air, a series of tubes connecting to her back and shoulders, force feeding her eridium to charge the key.
The young siren smiled despite her obvious exhaustion, "You found me…" she whispered.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Jack roared, his face appearing on a series of screens that surrounded the room.
"VEGA?" the slayer asked as he looked around the chamber.
"The pumps above the containment unit are both forcing Eridium into Angel and powering the barrier keeping her imprisoned. Destroying them should free both her and the vault key." reported the AI. "However, due to a long period of Eridium exposure, Angel may experience great pain throughout the process."
"Do not worry about me!" Angel shouted, "You must destroy the Eridium injectors! You must stop Jack!"
"Angel! What the hell are you doing?!" the CEO demanded as the Doomslayer targeted the first injector with his E-Tech rifle and pumped several rounds into the large tube before barriers erected around them. "Don't even think about it! I swear, if you keep this up, I'll come down there and blow your brains out myself!"
"He's lying! He's too much of a coward to face you himself!" Angel rebuffed the threat as she worked to lower the barriers around the injectors.
"Allow me to assist." said VEGA, the AI working in tandem with the young siren from his place within the systems.
A series of flashes went off around the chamber as a half dozen loaders appeared, a few being Angel-Guard class that all opened fire on Mason. The slayer unleashed a full clip of Eridium-laced rounds and took out several of the machines before switching to his super shotgun. Firing the meathook into an Ion-Loader before it could put a shield around itself and slingshot toward it, smashing his fist through its chassis along the way before blasting a Gun-Loader.
"A barrier is down! Now's your chance!" Angel shouted as the energy fields around the injectors fell. Mason spun around, reloading his super shotgun mid-spin, and blasting both barrels into the closest injector. The buckshot tore through the metal and caused the machine to explode.
The young siren screamed as one of the hoses hooked into her back yanked itself out. Liquid Eridium spraying on the floor at her feet.
More loaders were summoned within the chamber, all of them targeting the slayer and opening fire. Mason reloaded his super shotgun and switched to his chaingun, activating the turret mod and unloading a hailstorm of rounds that tore through armor and shields alike. An EXP-Loader ran at his flank, but the slayer saw it coming and drove his fist into its chassis. Ripping its core out and throwing it at a group of combat loaders, the explosion taking them all out.
"Another barrier is down, an injector is exposed." VEGA reported. Mason mecha-shifted his chaingun's barrels back into one and aimed at the exposed component. The heavy slugs tearing through it in seconds and blowing it apart.
Angel screamed again as another hose broke free from her body. "Bear with it just a bit more, Angel." The AI coached while disconnecting her from the machine as quickly and safely as possible.
"You are endangering my baby girl!" Jack bellowed. "I swear, every friend, every child, every person you passed on the street. I'm gonna kill them all! You think you're such hot shit?! I'll make you SUFFER!"
Mason ripped an Angel Guardian loader in half, throwing the parts into another and knocking it off its feet. A small group of surveyors materialized and began dropping emp blasts in his direction that he quickly maneuvered around, HAR appearing in his hands as he began to shoot them out of the air.
"You hanging in there Mason?" Roland asked over the comms.
"Almost done here!" The Slayer replied, throwing a grenade at a couple loaders in the process of digi-structing and destroyed them the moment they appeared. The last injector shield fell and he wasted no time unloading on it, the pipe exploding in a burst of sparks and purple mist.
Angel let loose another scream of agony as the last hose was pulled from her body. Her white ethereal wings and glowing siren markings faded as she collapsed to the floor beside the vault key. Mason was at her side in a moment, pulling several anshin hypos from his belt and injecting the young woman with them.
"Talk to me, kid." he said while propping her up with his arms.
Angel groaned softly, her body still aching despite the healing agents running through her blood. "Thank…you." She mumbled softly in gratitude.
"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU FREAK!" Jack bellowed from the surrounding monitors. Before the slayer could offer a comment, the young siren in his arms weakly raised her hand and flipped him the middle finger.
"Go…fuck…yourself…Jack…" She managed to say before falling unconscious.
"Her lifesigns are stable, but very weak. I recommend getting her to Doctor Zed as soon as possible."VEGA implored. Mason nodded at his companion's words and picked up Angel in a bridal carry.
The metal clicking of a gun stopped him quickly.
"Put. Her. Down." The all too familiar voice of Handsome Jack seethed from behind him. Mason turned his head slightly and saw the deranged CEO standing behind him with a Hyperion sidearm aimed at the back of his head.
To anyone else, this situation would have been a dire one…but most people didn't possess the powerful Praetor suit, or having expected such a sneaky tactic thanks to foreknowledge.
Deciding to play along, the slayer slowly laid the young siren on the floor. Not once breaking the minor eye contact he had. "You and those other fucks in Sanctuary are done." Jack all but hissed through clenched teeth. "This was your LAST chance to just walk away. But now?" He pressed the weapon to the back of Mason's helmet-clad head. "Now? I'm gonna burn every last one of you-"
Mason moved faster than the man could ever hope to comprehend. Spinning completely around from his crouched position and grabbing the CEO's wrist, forcing the gun aside as it went off before tearing the man's arm completely out of its socket in a geyser of blood.
Jack didn't feel the pain at first, the attack happened too fast. But he did feel his own severed arm come back around and smash him across the face with enough force to send him across the room and landing in a bloody heap several feet away.
"W-What…" The CEO staggered, trying to sit up when he finally noticed he was missing a limb. Grasping desperately at the gushing crevice where his arm used to be as crimson as a look of panic covered his face.
Dropping the man's arm, Mason began to stalk after him. Fists clenching at his sides, the urge to rip more parts from the psychopath mounting. Jack saw his approach and began to desperately drag himself backwards.
"F-Fuck! You sick Fuck! What the hell are you?!"
The slayer grabbed him by the front of his jacket and hauled him up to look him in the eye through his visor. "I'm a lot of things." he reached up, grabbing the man's face and tearing the fake covering away to reveal Jack's real face. The one that bore the massive burn in the form of the Eridian Vault symbol.
"But today…I'm your executioner."
Jack became pale, either from blood loss or the fact his death was looking him in his actual face it didn't matter. He was desperate, and desperate men tended to do whatever they could to survive.
"House Cleaning Protocol! Delta-5-3-8!" He shouted.
Alarms blared throughout the facility catching Mason's attention. "A self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Jack must have hidden it deep within the system outside of standard protocols." alerted VEGA as a timer appeared on the slayer's HUD.
"You'd kill your own child?!" Mason demanded, his fury mounting.
"She's better off than with you savages." Jack replied with a smirk. Just before the slayer's Doom Blade came around and removed his head from his shoulders.
Tossing the headless corpse aside. Mason quickly picked up Angel again and began sprinting toward the exit of the facility. "Roland! Get everyone away from the mountain! Jack initiated a self destruct!"
"Shit! Everyone fall back to Thousand Cuts!" The Commander ordered, "What about you?!"
"I'm right behind you! Get everyone else out of here!" The slayer jumped onto the elevator and rode it back up to the main entry point. The countdown continued to fall with every passing second. Several explosions shook the mountain, but his strides were unhindered as he sprinted toward the exit.
Yellow energy began to channel around his body in a series of sparks, his eyes glowing the same color before he seemed to become a blur as he charged straight for the main lift that brought him to the peak…
Only instead of getting on, the slayer leapt right off. Curling his power frame around the precious cargo he was carrying as the mountain behind him exploded.
X
On the ground, the Crimson Raiders watched as the Control Core went up like a volcano. Many of them were in shock that Jack would be desperate enough to detonate his own property, but not surprised given what they knew about the man.
Lilith stood motionless, her ember eyes searching for any sign of Mason with Roland, Brick and Mordecai at her sides. The siren knew that her man could handle anything the universe threw at him and then some. But that didn't stop her heart from dropping to her feet when something like this happened.
She wasn't afraid to admit that she was smitten, scratch that, she was in love with the slayer. They'd made a family together with Tina and she'd be damned if anything took that away from her.
"Heads up!" Brick suddenly shouted, knocking Lilith out of her thoughts a half-second before something slammed into the ground not far from them. Kicking up dust and forming a crater.
The nearby Raiders had weapons ready incase of hostility. But they quickly lowered when Mason rose from the hole he'd made on impact and began walking toward them. Angel held securely in his arms without so much as a scratch on her.
"Everybody okay?" he asked casually as he joined them.
Roland grinned, "All accounted for. How'd things go on your end?"
"Jack made an appearance. Took his arm off…then his head." replied the slayer which caused a ripple effect through the gathered resistance.
"Wait…Jack is dead?!" Mordecai exclaimed in stunned disbelief. Mason extended his Doom Blade, which still had the CEO's wet blood on it. A second passed, then everyone began cheering, firing weapons in the air with their jubilation while the original Vault Hunters were in disbelief.
Roland shook his head, "I can't believe it. For years that bastard…" he trailed off before looking at the man who had not only helped revitalize the Crimson Raiders with his actions, but had ended the psychopath that was hoping to wipe out all life on Pandora. "You're something else, Mason."
"We can celebrate when we get back to Sanctuary." The slayer looked down at the young woman in his arms. "Angel here needs to see Zed ASAP. After that…we spread the word."
The Commander nodded in agreement as he began calling out orders to get everyone moving. Lilith came up beside her boyfriend, the smile and look in her eyes promising the man a menagerie of things when they returned before she looked at the younger siren with worry.
There would be time for celebration when the dust finally settled. They still had an objective to complete.
X
Unaware to the slayer and his friends, they were being watched from a cliff on the still smoldering mountain.
A dark silhouette, similar to a shadow, stood watching the small army head back to their base. Glowing crimson eyes burning harsher than the fires around them as they zeroed in on Mason himself.
"REVEL IN YOUR MINOR CONFLICT, SLAYER. FOR THE TIME OF OUR BATTLE DRAWS NEAR. SOON, ALL WILL KNOW MY WRATH."
The shadow faded away without a sound, but left a cold aura that would freeze even the strongest of men to their bones.
X
A/N: I'M BACK! And it's damn good to be back too!
And for the record, I HAVE seen the new DOOM DARK AGES Trailer and I can't wait until 2025. This inspired me to play DOOM 2016 and DOOM ETERNAL again, which in turn inspired me to start writing again. So for those who are fans of Slayer Effect, expect an update very soon.
As for this story, I plan on having one more chapter applied and ending it right after before staring on the next installment which will have a time skip and pick up where the events of Borderlands 2 take place. And there will be a LOT of changes for what I have in mind.
with how this chapter ended, I'm pretty sure a lot of you were expecting that anyway.
Till then folks!