Soldiers For Life

One: A Rare Find

~Axton~

It was another hot day on Pandora, and I was with Maya out in the Bloodshot Stronghold going to go free some prisoners that had been captured. Apparently the bandits got ballsy and hijacked a Hyperion train, and they had taken a few of the minor workers prisoner. Maybe with some luck, they'll be grateful for the save and turn coat on Jack. We made our way through a good portion of it on our own with zero problems, between Sweetheart and Maya's powers, we were fine. We finally made it to the holding cells, to only find one full with a person. A lone Hyperion soldier, judging from the tattoo on their arm, and who looked to be skin and bone at this point. 

" Hey, Maya, we got one in here! Go up and unlock cell number 3!" 

" Got it, Ax." 

" Hey, you alive in there, soldier?" 

A grunt of pain told me everything I needed to know. We got the cell door open, and I rolled them off of their stomach to find it was...a woman, and a formerly well cared for one given the quality of the ripped up uniform. 

" Maya, we are going back out the way we came in, you need to run point while I carry her out." 

" She's high ranked Hyperion! I say let her rot." 

" Maya, we were sent to collect any and all survivors for questioning by Commander Lilith. Now, run point, and don't push it." 

" Fine. Only because Boss told us to." 

I went in and picked up the barely coherent Hyperion, and we made our way back to the fast travel, and made it back to Sanctuary in one piece. I brought the survivor straight to Zed, and he patched her up just fine, noting how it was sunset when we got back. 

" A Hyperion soldier? And a Commando, like you, Axton. Not often you find a woman in such a high rank getting caught." 

" Not often you find one so malnourished after two days of capture. She had to have been there for weeks to get to be this bad." 

" Agreed. Do you think she was kicked out, like you were?" 

" I was supposed to face a firing squad. I escaped with a barely there slim bit of chance. This, this was someone who was caught, beaten and left for dead. This is so much worse." 

We both heard her coming to, and I was the first to get to her. 

" Wha-Where am I?" 

" Sanctuary. You can thank me later for pulling you out of the Bloodshot Stronghold." 

" Sanctuary? As in, home of the Crimson Raiders?" 

" Yep. Commander Lilith will want to speak to you as soon as she can." 

" Good. I want to speak to her too. Can you bring me to her?" 

" Absolutely, Ma'am." 

" Ma'am? You a former soldier?" 

" Ex-Commando of the Dahl Corporation, Axton."

" Of course. I heard about you.  A Vault Hunter. You'd give my boys one hell of a fight. Between you and Zero, I can't decide who does more damage." 

I merely chuckle as she stands, and once she is, I can tell she was a entire foot shorter than me. As we walked, I noticed she had a slight limp, no doubt from the abuse she dealt with at the hands of the bandits. We get to the HQ, and Lilith sits with us, noting the odd calm the former Hyperion had. 

" I want to preface this with the statement of I am not your enemy, and that I want to help bring Handsome Jack to his knees."

" A Hyperion who hates her boss, that's new." 

" You don't know Jack like I do. As one of the higher ranked soldiers, I had the, for lack of a better word, privilege, of seeing him during work hours and when he had his down time. I know his schedule very intimately, and I want to help bring him down." 

"  Lilith, if it's alright, I think having her join the team can be a perfect advantage. He'd never expect a former Hyperion stooge to betray him and join us." 

" True he'd believe you were left for dead or are dead." 

" So, with that in mind, I only have one other question. How is it that you do know Jack's ever busy time table? I'm not chalking that up to being a high ranked soldier. You have to know in another way." 

" With all do respect, please, just go off of the fact I know, and call that, that. Leave it be, please. I don't like reliving nightmares I've seen at the hands of that man, and I don't like thinking of all the innocent lives I've seen him destroy."

I shrugged, and left, knowing Lilith had it from there. A new wave of moon shots hit the shield around the town, and I just had to laugh. I made my way to Moxxi's, and sat down with Zero, Gaige, and Krieg, the four of us drinking the rest of the night away.