In and Out

<i>Pandora. What a lovely world, and quite a fitting name in light of recent events. Since the first set of Vault Hunters opened the first Vault, they may have quite literally opened Pandora's box, pun intended. And since the passing of Handsome Jack, and the reveal of not only the two, but multiple Vaults across the stars, everyone been looking for a slice of the pie. What started as treasure hunters looking to score the loot of the century, has turned into a rebellious effort against military forces, egotistical mega-corporations, and psychotics long overdue for a therapy session. All sorts of oddballs, tough guys, and mystic Sirens have come and gone, but, they all sought a sort of common goal. Answers. Would the Vaults hold their answers? Or would going along for the ride bring them some clarity? For the two war bots that have been hanging around Sanctuary, it was more or less the latter. It wasn't the money, or fame, or power that came from the Vaults, but something more. Were they really going to help the Vault Hunters? Only time would tell. Still, Nine, the feminine robot, had earned her trust among the leadership. Mordecai had given her a data drive, heavily encrypted, Atlas tech. It was an interesting curiosity, and in truth, she had cracked it rather quickly. But she kept her mouth shut about it, mostly because, it was mostly half complete. A key, that when fitted with its second half, would reveal the whole message. Must of been a courier, or something along those lines. She needed the other half, and luckily, she knew where it was. Unluckily, it was located in the heart of bandit territory. Hopefully some psycho wasn't using it as a chew toy, that would be gross. -- The desert was never an inviting place, but for some, they had made it their home. It was a great place to keep people from stealing from you, giant, monstrous creatures and hot weather made one hope they didn't by the skag-scented sunscreen, but hacked Hyperion satellites (She was only in there for a second, calm down) revealed just where she needed to go. At one point in Pandora's past, it might of been an oasis, now turned water distribution center for the old Dhal 'workers' in the area. It now served a new purpose, a great place for raiders and ruffians to hold up in, wonderful shading, and there even might of been air conditioning. Nice digs. "That's the location just ahead of you." <b>"Confirmed. Location in sight."</b> The polished metal of the machine's warsuit must of been stuffy within, yet it wouldn't hinder his performance. Things like discomfort were but an idea, but never executed for him, he had no need to have such programmings turned on. The helmet turned to do recon from his position among one of the sand-dusted mesa's overlooking the area. 5 stories, with metal plating that was weathering, and now plastered with various symbols from all the different raiders that had come to occupy it, then subsequently get kicked out by the next group. The current residence seemed to bear the logo of a fist, holding a spine with a skull attached. "They call themselves the Bone Relievers, probably for a good reason. After the second Vault's opening, raider mentality seems to be changing. Migrating towards...something. Leader of these guys is a lovely fellow known as Spine Tapper. But that's not the important part. What we're looking for is in that facility." Nine's voice rang out through his helmet, his head capturing and noting the outside walling, makeshift defenses cobbled together to keep human targets out, and the steel walls of the facility kept the larger monsters at bay. Eight's suit took a knee, the barrels of the minigun resting against the stone as the other arm rested on the knee. <b>"Understood. Marking route to direct conflict. Front perimeter heavily fortified. Probability of mission failure: 10%."</b> "Not so fast, hotshot. I need you on standby. I'll give you the signal when I need you to attack." Eight's head turned as he saw the distant signs of a truck approaching, sand kicking up under its tires. "I've got my way in, just keep eyes out for anything...suspicious." Eight seemed to hate the idea of waiting, but, he simply nodded to himself, and remained in the stationary position. <b>"Understood, providing overwatch."</b> The deep, monotonic voice grumbled out as now he played the worst game, the waiting game. -- The truck moved towards the gate, bearing the markings of the Bone Relievers, the back holding supplies from the raiding run they were returning from. The driver's old Lancer helmet was neatly tapped and wrapped in a scarf, as a means to try and keep the heat out, but there was a noticeable lack of anyone else on board.

<i>He was driving like a bat out of hell though, right up until he got to the gate. One of the guards poked his head out from the Guard Tower, leaning against the window as he looked over the truck, then at the driver. "Pete?! We thought you guys died from how long you were taking!" He did pause, looking back at the supplies, but, none of the others that went with him. "...Where's everyone else?" Pete shook his head and looked at the guard. "I told those damn idiots to sit down and wait. They laughed, I laughed, right up until the first sandworm leaped up and snagged one of the idiots. If they didn't make good bait, we'd have a whole lot of hungry worms heading our way." The Guard stared for a moment, as if questioningly behind his own helmet, but, shrugged right afterwords. "More food for us." He leaned back in, and soon the groaning of metal gave way as the gates parted to allow the truck inside. Pete drove in, careful to not run over any idiots trying to walk in front of the truck, and eventually came to the spot to park while the contents in the back were to be quickly moved by the crew responsible for it. He let out a sigh as he exited the vehicle, shouldering is way past the approaching goons as he headed inside, it was too damn hot outside. Inside wasn't much different, bodies splayed out, meat and skin of their victims strewn about like party favors, as the psychos rummaged about, the lobby area much less welcoming because of the new decor. He seemed to be walking with purpose, looking around as he moved through the halls towards the quarters. He seemed like due to recent events, he wasn't in the mood to communicate to his fellow man. He just wanted a drink. Of course, that plan was blown out the door as one of his psycho 'friends' popped around the corner. "PETE! Pete I NEED it!" Not this guy. Pete reached up, and removed his helmet, the grizzled face of a soldier giving the hyperactive psycho a confused look. "Need what?" This seemed to confuse the other, his head tilting as his arms flailed briefly. "The THING!" The free hand not occupied by the holding of his helmet reached up to pinched the scarred bridge of his nose. "What <b>thing?</b>" Now there was a little jittery hop to the frantic ramblings. "The THING Pete! You know?! The THING." Pete took a moment, before snapping his fingers. "Oh, right. The...<b>THING</b>. The thing with the <u>thing</u> about the THING, right?" He was sure the psycho was grinning ear to ear behind the mask. "YES. YesyesyesyesYUS THAT THING PETE!" Pete reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, perhaps to just get him to stop moving for a moment. "Don't worry, I got the thing. I gotta go get it, but, you go help them get the supplies, and I'll go get your thing." The maniacal laughing was heard all the way down the hall as the psycho bolted to go help, leaving Pete alone in the hall. He let out a sigh, but, rather than heading towards his quarters, he took another path. One towards the interrogation section. Along the way, he dropped the helmet, letting it disappear into motes of digi-struct as his face began to...morph. The bone structure shifting, skin fading into a porcelain tone, as his outfit began to do the same as the helmet. The hair lengthened, and shifted back to a golden hue, and as the digi-structed suit faded to motes of nothing, the metallic, feminine frame of Nine was left behind. Her hand lifted to her head, pushing her hair behind her ear as she made her way towards the signal, "I'm in. I'll let you know when I need the distraction." She got the confirmation to Eight's acknowledgement, and reached forward to grip a machine pistol that flashed to life. Black metal, machine her own, with golden detailing along the receiver and suppressor at the end. A gift from the Vladof Corporation, as shown with the gold logo on the end of the receiver. She reached up and pulled back the slide, making sure a bullet was loaded into the chamber before making her way towards the door the signal was pinging from behind. She took a moment, popping the hydraulic joints of her neck to prepare herself. "Hey, get out here, we got a problem!" Pete's voice shouted from Nine's mouth as she pounded on the door. It took a moment, but the door slid open, one of the Raiders walking out while grumbling. "What is it Pe-" He didn't get a chance to finish as the lightning quick burst of bullets tore through his helmet and dropped him to the floor. "What the-" Nine twisted around the corner, another burst of suppressed fire plastered more blood to the interrogation room's wall.

<i>Three's a crowd, however, as she narrowly avoiding the swipe of a knife coming from her left. One more was in there, pulling his arm back and thrusting the knife at her. She stepped out of the way, catching his bicep with her left arm, and with the robotic strength, snapped the bone like a twig, the blood-curling scream of pain from the assailant becoming gurgled as she had bent his arm back hard enough to force the knife through his helmet and into his head, effectively stabbing himself. She gave him a little heave onto the floor, and reaching outside, dragged the other body within to shut the door behind her. Any blood that fell onto her arm seemed to evaporate, watching it do so before looking over the scene. This may of been an office for logistics workers of the water distribution at some point, but, instead, there was a Atlas officer in the center of the room, tools along the table to his left that were used to cut along the back of his armor, and further more, his skin to expose the spine that seemed to be...extracting. She didn't give much reaction to the rather gruesome scene, she'd seen much worse. Violence against one's fellow man was just something the war bot was familiar with. Especially on a planet like this. She reached towards the back of her neck, pulling a wire out from under her hair, to connect into the internals of his helmet. Seems the data drive was meant to plug in, and finalize the data with the officer before being sent to whomever needed it. Her eyes narrowed as the data started to connect the pieces, and something among the mass of algorithms and binary stuck out to her. "Children of the Vault?-" "PETE, DID YOU FIND THE THING?" Oh no. She glanced back at the door as she heard the rapid footsteps of the psycho returning. "Hang on a sec! I got it!" She used Pete's voice again, raising her hand to her ear. "Eight, I'm going to need that distraction." She whispered, and rose her gun towards the door. -- Eight seemed to jerk awake, not that he had fallen asleep on the job, but he had no need for unnecessary movements while waiting. Nine seemed like she was ready to get into a pickle, and he slowly rose to his feet. <b>"Understood."</b> He had been calculating multiple attack patterns and potential routes to maximize the designated tasks and swift elimination of potential boogies, but sometimes, you just need to knock on the door. The guard inside the post by the gate had seemed to take a nap, a fan lazily blowing air onto his form under the blistering sun, but he jumped awake at the knock on the closed window. He mumbled something, leaning over and opening the window. "W-" His words were cut off as his head was filled with a metallic fist, punching through the skull with ease. Eight moved with the dead weight towards the rudimentary control panel to open the gate, and as well, flip the alarm. To say there was confusion as the sirens began to blare was an understatement, but what caused it to worsen was the large, mechanical war-machine that stood at the parted gates. People were scrambling, shouting at each other as Eight entered into the outside staging area. Soon the noises of panic would be replaced by the sounds of the spinning barrels, and subsequent spraying of lead. Shell casings spat out onto the floor, ringing against the ground in dreadful harmony. Those foolish enough to be in the open were turned to red paste as the returning fire began. Bullets bounced off of the metallic armor, but too much fire would eventually damage him, so he began the process to relocation. The makeshift structures stood no chance behind the mass of the stampeding force, Eight's arm bashing through the wall of a nearby emplacement, and relieving the occupant forcefully as he flew out and into a wall. He was certainly causing a scene, having chosen now to engage in close-quarters, the Minigun's barrels receded, allowing the undermounted chainsaw to extend, and continue his bloody harvest. -- Inside, Nine was heading for the exit, careful to avoid the internal force rushing outside to try and stop the rampaging terror. She had stopped at a corner, watching a group of raiders and psychos moving to their destination in a hurry, waiting a moment with her pistol close to her chest. While she might be made of metal, she was much less sturdy than her counterpart, and direct confrontation can be problematic if not planned. Plus, with the sensitive data currently being decrypted in her head, she couldn't risk being shut down.


<i>The body of the psycho looking for Pete joined the rest in the room, so she knew that wasn't going to be a problem, but as she began to leave her cover, there was the cocking of rifles behind her. "Don't move!" Drat, she stopped and rose her arms up above her head, judging from the sound, there was two behind her, something she could potentially handle, but they had yet to fire. "Who the hell are you?!" One voice shouted, but the other Raider bumped his arm. "Who cares, its an alarm, let's just shoot it and get it over with so we can help!" She narrowed her eyes, getting ready to dodge, but, no bullets were flying. "...Its not an it, its a she. Can't you tell?" The other turned to look at the raider beside it, as if confused, but guns still trained and ready. "What? Who cares?" "Randy." One rifle lowered and now was fully facing the aimed Raider. "We talked about this. You're being insensitive again." Nine's brow perked, but rather than take action...she listened. Amid the blaring alarm, they found time for this? "I don't think this is the right time Dan." Dan lowered Randy's gun via a push from his hand against the barrel. "No, it is. Because this has been a problem with you for a long time. Just because we steal from people doesn't mean we shouldn't address them properly." Randy sighed and now faced the second. "We are in the middle of an alert, there's some lunatic killing our friends out there, and this is the problem?" It was true, but Dan stood firm, "We let it slip up once, and its back to your old ways. The therapist said there's some deeper rooted issues and if you keep this up, it'll get worse. You were doing so well too." Randy sighed, and rubbed the top of his helmet, "I know, its just...heated right now. It slipped my mind." Dan reached over to pat his shoulder, "Its ok, the first step to getting better is admitting you have a problem." Randy nodded and looked up at Dan, "Thanks Dan. I appreciate you. Now, lets shoot <b>her.</b>" Dan was surely smiling under the helmet. "That's the spirit. LETS MAKE THIS BITCH SWISS CHE-" Aaaand Nine was gone. "God damnit Dan." "This wouldn't of happened if you didn't slip up." -- Nine burst out the door into the chaos, at this point, they figured out that bullets didn't equal significant damage, so when the first explosion went off, she rushed towards the truck she used to get in. "Eight, what's your status?" Another rocket was about to be fired by a Raider she passed, but a quick burst from her pistol had the body fall from his post and to the ground, she hadn't even bothered aiming, yet the bullet grouping in his skull was impeccable. <b>"Sustained moderate-" </b> There was an explosion, taking a moment to glance over at the area with baited breath. <b>"Sustained moderate damage. Extraction route under heavy fire."</b> She let out a sigh of relief, and slipped her way into the truck's driver seat. "Just get ready, we're getting out now." The engine roared to life, smoke billowing out of the exhausts as she backed up, going over some 'road bumps' on her way backwards. At first, they thought someone had taken the truck to hit Eight with, but when the first explosive barrel was flung and impacted one of the groups, the gunfire began to focus on her as well. She kept her head down, careening the truck broadside and beside Eight to covered the dented and sparking armor. "Get in." Eight nodded, and began to do so, as she slipped out the front of the seat and stood on top of the hood. She had gained some understanding to herself, something she was still learning to control, but she closed her hands closer, a white spark of energy flashing into existence between her palms that began to compact itself into a cube shape. She didn't know why her matrix was capable of this, but she threw her arms upwards, a semi-circle of white cubic masses floating over her head as her eyes darted between targets. Each exposed person firing at them got the lovely little reticle indicating a lock-on, and with the clap of her hands, each cube sparked once more, glowing more and more radiantly, until the energy was released in the form of beams. Even those that managed to duck behind cover found the pure energy burning holes through metal, and for a moment, the gunfire stopped. One by one, the cubes dissipated, and Nine collapsed onto the hood, her golden eyes glitching out. The energy required for that many offensive matrix usually overclocked her, and Eight reached over to the hood to drag her into the back. <b>"Stay down."</b> His voice commanded, and by simply jamming his leg into the cockpit of the truck, and reaching with his non-weaponized arm, he was able to get the truck moving out, just as the next group of goons began to pour out. She was going to be fine, taking a moment to sit herself up as her systems rebooted, text across her field of vision indicating what systems were restarting and becoming active. But, as she looked back at the cliff that Eight had used as a vantage point, she swore she saw someone, or something there, watching them depart. It didn't matter, Eight would get them back to the fast travel station to get back to Sanctuary. In the meanwhile, Nine sat against the back of the cab, trying to decipher this new information. Children of the Vault? This didn't sound good. Not one bit.