Borderlands Online: Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Argo: "Vergil please please please come back! I can't do this shit anymore! I'll do ANYTHING to get you back here! You want my body?! Take me as a harem girl! You want free info for life?! It's yours! Just PLEASE get back here! It's all fucking gone wrong! That fucking IDIOT Kibaou sold out the information of the vault to the fucking HUTTS. They're calling in DOZENS of other Level 50 mandalorians and to top it all off Jango MOTHERFUCKING Fett! Now a criminal empire knows WE have opened a vault and who knows how long until it seeps out into the other corporations and they raid Eden 5!" 

I stare at the text for a long moment. 

I rub the bridge of my nose, letting out a long weary sigh. "Alright... alright... I suppose a week was already a bit too long of a vacation..." 

I send a message back. 

Vergil Sparda: "Fine. Fine. I'm on my way back. Keep me posted, Harem Girl." 

Argo: "Hey uh, I wasn't thinking straight when I typed that. Is there any way I could pay you to forget it?" 

A small smirk crosses my lips. 

Vergil Sparda: "Not on your life, Harem Girl. I'm rich as hell. You think level 200 quests only give good exp and nonsense 'here have a class that's the third highest rarity in the game' papers?" 

I quickly dial up a number and quietly wait. 

"S-Sir?! Is that you?!" A voice comes from the other line. 

"Hey James." I sigh. "Somebody's fucked up. How long will it take you to get here?" 

"I'm at a nearby planet. To gather my things, check the ship out and jump over there? Two hours?" 

"How long to get to Tatool from here?" I ask slowly. 

"Oh! Eight hours." The man declares. 

"Take your time getting here. I've got some... research data to collect that's going to be a bit of a pain. Let me know when you're close by." 

"Yes sir! Let me just say I'm glad to hear your voice!" 

"You thought I splattered on the ground... didn't you?" I deadpan. 

"N-No?" 

"Heh..." I huff. "Anyways on your way over can you grab me some sort of drink with a straw that I can condescendingly sip out of later?" 

"I- uh- yes?" 

"It's for projecting an image of nonchalance as I murder a few dozen of the world's best bounty hunters. Should keep some of the corps off our backs. Now. I should go. I have some... negotiations to perform with local banditry." 

With that, I hang up, rolling my eyes. "Ugh. Looks like I won't be grabbing those legendary jobs, then..." 

The three Seraph are in my pocket, though... I just don't know who I should offer it to. 

Kiriko definitely. But beyond her? No clue. 

I actually have one more call to make. 

I tap in the number and let out a low sigh as the phone rings. 

"..." 

"..." 

"Hey, it's me." I call out blandly. "I know you all were just recently hired, but someone royally fucked up. I need you and your team on high alert. Monitor any and all echo broadcast to and from Tatool. Introduce some delay. If they mention a vault, kill the call and mark whoever tried to mention it. Once Tatool is secured, expand to Mangalore. You'll be getting a large bonus for this." 

"You've got it, boss." 

I hang up. 

"Alright. Let's go to that Jakobs bunker." 

[Split] 

"Who the hell do you think you are brat?!" A man shouts. 

Devil Rider Rustler: {Level 140} 

I think I'm the one going in that bunker hidden away in the canyon behind you. 

"WELL YOU'RE DEAD WRON-" 

A black pistol frees itself from my holster and with a single empowered gunshot his shield shatters and his head snaps back, chunks of skull flying everywhere. 

The gun returns to my holster before the body even drops. 

"Well, you're just dead. You three want to join him?" 

His mount, a blue raptor-like lizard with a horn on its head, a 'Great Baggi' shrieks and dives for me but I just knock it aside with a backhand as I slowly roll back my sleeve. "See this shit? Core tattoos. I'm that gunslinger who killed the Voltic King, the Bloody Emperor, and the Detonating Fist. All three of them. Apex. Arguably three of the strongest Apex devils on this dust ball of a planet. All by myself." 

"So. You. Those weakling friends you got hiding back there up in the ridge? You can either get the hell out of my way or I can make you devil chow, capiche? I don't have the time to waste on you lot." 

The one on the far left draws his gun. 

My own weapon is freed from its holster and I fire off a shot before he can even point it at me. 

He dies just like the first as I slowly walk forwards, spurred boots jingling slightly as I lower my gun and put it back in its holster as his beast cowers. 

It does more damage for a second after it's drawn... plus it fully reloads whenever I do that as well. Hell, it just generates the bullets seemingly from nothing. 

I walk in between the two other riders gazing up at them, eyes glowing green. 

"To tell you the truth? That Voltic King and the Detonating fist? I killed them with my bare hands... I've actually got weapons up to my standard now... so are you lot going to make me decide it'd be easier to just walk over your dead bodies?" 

They share a look as I continue past causing me to huff. "Good. I'm glad we've come to an understanding. Best send word ahead. I'm leaving anyone who draws on me dead in the dirt." 

With that, I continue walking, gazing up at a nearby ridge and smirk. 

I slip into the rocky canyons, leaving the two living riders behind. 

[Split] 

Some little pompous brat who struts like a Quematrice is supposed to come through this place. Apparently he's a pretty good gunslinger. 

Meh. The scouts said he was like twelve or something. That's uninteresting. 

It just shows how far the devil riders have fallen that they're considering ambushing some kid. 

A woman with an elaborate rose sleeve tattoo along her arm and up her shoulder reaches up and briefly flicks the brim of her hat. large piercings line her arm. following the rose's stem like thorns. 

She should hurry up and take over this place. 

She's just about ready. The previous leader swapped out his devil for one that she had a hand in raising. All she needs to do is let it grow up a little more... then give a little whistle... and she becomes leader of these sorry bunch. 

Hell. There's rules in the code to not target kids. 

In the devil riders only the strong survive... but everyone was weak... as a kid. They're the one exception to the rule. They're allowed to be weak. It's a taboo to kill them, and yet, here they are, setting up an ambush for one brat, even one that seemingly has a good gun arm. 

She supposes that the boy stopped being a boy once he shot dead two of their own, intimidated the other two, backhanded one of their devils and kept walking without a care in the world. 

Honestly, the way that one devil was cowering at the sight of him they really should be trying to get him to join up instead of this coward shit. Get some REAL brass and fire in this damned gang. 

"I don't like this." A muscular woman who looks more boy-ish than feminine like the rose-tattoo'd woman clutches a large cleaver, more of a 'hatchet', really, her short chin-length hair flat and choppy. Likely cut with her very weapon. "It's against the code." 

"Our leader's grown weak." The rose woman scoffs. 

"..." 

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." The hatchet wielding woman grunts. "Because... well..." 

Her eyes stray across the blockade, she lets out a slow click of disappointment. "Tsk." 

The hatchet wielding woman does a double-take and freezes. 

The rose woman blinks twice and follows her line of sight. 

Sitting atop the sealed corporations bunker, the same bunker the rose's grandmother worked at... is a brown haired boy with tired eyes, propping his head up with a hand, glowing pupils sweeping over them all. 

His eyes meet her own as his smile grows. 

Well, shit. She's not touching this. Sneaky little fuck. She'd probably get off a good shot or two, but what'd be the point? She's not putting her life on the line for Leader Dutch's fragile ego. 

"Best not mess with it, Hatchet." Rose scoffs, placing a hand on her arm. 

"Well now." He speaks causing shouts of surprise to echo out as men start to whirl around. "All this for little ol me?" 

One draws his gun and points it up at the kid- dead. 

Another raises a rifle- dead. 

Dead dead dead dead. 

Six dead with six shots. All perfect headshots. His hand moving in a green blur. 

Holy shit that's some real core speed. He was moving probably five times faster than she was and Rose is definitely the fastest gun in the devil riders. He reloads his weapon 

Dead dead dead dead dead dead. 

Her tattoo burns slightly as her eyes narrow. Six more shots. Six more kills. 

By this point he is standing gun reloaded and placed back in his holster. 

"Are we all calm now?" He asks, tilting his head. "Are we all done with this shit? You're all so weak. Slaughtering you all is genuinely just a waste of my damned time. well... except maybe you, rose girl. You'd put up a fight." 

Rose tips her hat to the brat as she continues lounging, back against the barrier, pistol still in her holster, not even lifting a finger to help. 

Since she saw that speed, she's not touching this shit. Her Tattoo'd need at least thrice the core in it or have core three times as powerful to even stand a chance. 

"Now. I'm going to say exactly what I said to the last guys. I killed the Bloody Emperor, the Voltic King, and the Detonating Fist... by myself. Hell, for the last two I just used my bare fuckin' hands." 

Core lightning crackles along his fist as he raises an arm, she can see how his tattoos swirl down his arm and disappear under his clothes, she can see a faint glow on his stomach as his shirt rises slightly. 

Oh, he's covered in core tattoos. 

Wait. Didn't the Bloody Emperor have core crystals growing out of it? 

Shiiiit. That explains a lot. Yeah. His tats are probably made of some of the purest core on the planet. 

He snaps his finger and thudding to the ground is a... severed head... of the Bloody Emperor mounted on wood.  

It looms behind him like the backrest of a large red throne, the curved horns coming up around him like an arm rest. 

"So. I've noticed this place is locked down... that just won't do. Stay the hell out of my way, let me grab what I want and the rest is yours to do what you want with." 

Rose herself was going to use her grandmother's password to unlock the place after she took control of the devil riders... 

Huh... she'll need to take control quickly... after this freak of nature leaves. 

[Split] 

I slide an echo drive out of the bunker's main computer, stored within it are all the research files on Core and Core technologies. The teleportation. The mutation of animals. The weapons development. 

Everything. 

From the simplest Core-Pistol, to the mightiest core nuke and unredacted files for 'Bioweapon Prototype: King Serpent Dalamadur.' 

Nothing about 'The Ruiner' strangely enough... Dalamadur seems to be taking its place. 

"So. Rose woman." 

"Butcher Rose." The green haired woman finally speaks. "You can call me Butcher Rose." 

"Well, Butcher Rose, then. How much would I have to pay you to join me? Cause Gehenna here? Small potatos." 

"Well. Mighty kind offer, but I think I'll pass. I've got... work... I need to accomplish here. Things I need to prove." 

"I see... Ah well." I shrug. "Your connection with your beast there is something I've noticed and I thought I'd be nice to have. Regardless. If you ever change your mind and want to look to other planets that have strange glowing rocks... as yes, there appears to be another. These rocks being purple instead of green, seek me out." 

With that, I turn and leave, there's a lot on my mind, frankly. 

There's a vault on this planet. 

Jakobs found it and documented the inside. An obsidian landscape with glowing rivers with dozens of mountainous spires of 'core'. The radiation inside killed their scouting team nigh instantly, then the entire planet shook and Core started sprouting everywhere so they slammed the vault shut before the radiation tainted the area too badly. 

Jakobs probably still has the key for it. 

No vault monster from what I can tell from these files. Hell, this place is level one hundred and fifty on average. If the vault monster got out, I'd know. You'd be able to see that shit from orbit... 

Well, I mean, there IS a massive green goo lake of core you can see from space, but from what I can see that's from Jakob's nuking the planet and destroying a majority of the core research facilities they had. 

Anyways, the fact that they saw no vault monster is... worrying. 

They said they saw no vault monster... but I can read through the damned lines. 

This planet has far too many similarities to Pandora. First off a name that gives off an ominous 'feel' to it. I'm not talking about all those planets named after greek gods like Athenas or Promethea. I'm talking 'Oh shit this is bad' names. 

Pandora's Box. Something that contained 'all the evils, miseries, and curses of humanity' 

Then Gehenna. Hell. I shouldn't need to elaborate why Hell is bad. 

Then you take a look at other things. 

Pandora has Eridium, a glowing mineral that sprouted from the earth after the vault beast trapped within the planet started shifting around in its prison. 

Gehenna has Core, a glowing mineral that sprouted from the earth after the vault was opened. 

Almost like... something trapped within the planet started shifting around in its prison. 

Then there's the final most damning piece of evidence. 

The Destroyer... an eldritch fourth dimensional being said to eat stars and gain the knowledge of everything it consumes. 

The Ruiner. Big turtle. 

Or it was... in the game. A disappointment, really. didn't live up to its name at all. But that's absolutely not the case anymore. After all, isn't 'The Ruiner' just another name for 'The Destroyer' like as in 'Ruin' is straight up a synonym for 'Destroy'... just to a lesser extent. 

Therefore. 

I'm starting to believe that Jakobs DID in fact see the vault beast when they opened that vault... 

They just didn't realize they were walking on it. 

[Split] 

Why'd this have to go so wrong?! 

She wasn't there! That damned NPC wasn't where he said she was! Why'd she move?!  

Things had only gotten worse from there for Kibaou. 

Once the Butt's 'bride' slipped through his fingers he got really angry. 

The vault key fragment didn't matter anymore. Just that the girl once more slipped through his fingers. 

Then, Jabbo gave an order and dozens of men descended on them like insects. 

He and his party fought back, of course, but just as he was about to deploy that sanctuary relic they got from Eden five's vault, the Mandalorian acted and knocked them all out. 

They had all their things stolen, were thrown in the Hutt dungeons for the night and that leads to right here... today... where they are tied up on a floating ship flying across the sands of the desert world. 

Why the fuck did he betray them?! He gave the fat bastard a vault key! If they looked at that house even a LITTLE they could have seen that the Landrunner girl WAS there! 

But no! This fucking piece of shit throws away mooks like they're pocket lint! 

Kibaou's eyes flicker to the dozens of armored Mandalorian stood on deck. 

Most level fifty... but a few... 

Badass Mangalorian: {Level 60} 

Elite Mangalorian: {Level 65} 

Badass Elite Mangalorian: {Level 75} 

And then there was one... 

Jango Bett: {Level 110} 
(The Warchief of Clan Bett) 

The ship rumbles to a halt. 

"Jambo go gala!" 

"Right away, Jabbo." The original Mandalorian nods as he turns. "You ten, get your sorry carcasses up. Jabbo wants to speak to you." 

Kibaou and his group are all forced to stand, being jabbed with sharpened electrified prods, causing them to let out shouts of pain. 

"Gronju duwah gambala no shana." The fat bastard waves a hand. 

"You ten have been accused of wasting the great Lord Jabbo's time. For getting his hopes up." 

"But- But we gave you the vault key fragment!" One of Kibaou's party members protests. 

"Kilja." The fat man scoffs. 

One of the mandalorians draws their weapon and fires, a laser beam punching through his knee and causing him to let out a scream of agony. 

"Jum Draga. Jabbo Su Denara." 

"Be silent." The mangalorian hisses. "Lord Jabbo has not given you permission to speak." 

"Kunja Dowaki Nobara tsubana to jaka. Sarlanka to bido." 

"For failing the great Jabbo. Your punishment will be execution. Death by Sarlanka pit." 

*THUD* 

The barge rumbles slightly as something heavy hits it. 

Everyone turns, seeing a figure who wasn't there before crouched on the deck. 

He rises to his full height. In one hand he holds some sort of jumbo drink cup with a straw, he wears a hoodie and sweatpants, a shield is clipped to his hip but he has no gun. "Hey there..." 

He swirls his drink, causing the ice to rattle around inside the cup. "Sorry for dropping in unannounced. But... I can't help but see you've got your hands on some stolen Avalon Industries Tech. Do me a favor and turn that over and I'll let you get back to your business." 

Vergil Sparda: {Level: SKULL?!} 
(Ceo of Avalon Industries, puts the CUT in 'Budget Cuts'.) 

"Wh- you- HELP US DAMN IT!" Kibaou screams. "You- He's about to kill us! You can't seriously be leaving your fellow players to die?!" 

A Mandalorian dives for him, a crackling sword in hand, a high-frequency blade of some sort. 

He seemingly effortlessly weaves around them, sticking a leg out and tripping them as he pivots around them. 

They faceplant on the floor, skidding to a halt behind him.  

A few of the Mandalorians snicker at that as the attacking mandalorian shakes their head and picks themselves up while others, seemingly the higher leveled ones shift in place, hands going to their blasters. 

"It was my understanding, Kibaou... that you left Avalon Industries for these guys." He sips his drink lazily. 

"GRABBA NO TUMBA JABBO THE BUTT!" The fat man snarls. 

 "Ah well. For old time's sake, then." The kid sighs wistfully. 

In an instant he has drawn a red and black revolver from his echo and fired off a single shot that leaves a line of orange and green in the air. It strikes the bubble shield that springs to life around the fat bastard and in the next moment punches cleanly through it. 

The fat lard's body jerks as a hole the size of a baseball is punched through his torso. 

"Damn." The kid whistles. "Did that fat bastard really repurpose like... a ship's shield into a personal shield? That's the only way I can conceive his torso not popping like a gore balloon right there. Hell, he was fat enough that he'd probably need a ship shield to cover his whole body anyways." 

Jango Bett steps forwards, pulling the hilt of a sword from his hip. A blade of black energy outlined in white sprouts from the handle as he points it at the boy. "You have brought dishonor to Clan Bett... to fail in the protection of our client and to rob us of our greatest and most glorious battle." 

 "Oh, don't be like that Jango Bett." The kid scoffs as he puts the pistol back in his echo device. "Just like how a lone man cannot fight a natural disaster... you and your clan could have done nothing to save your tub of lard of a previous contractor." 

"Let me guess. He promised you a battle against the vault beast, correct?" The boy hums. "Let me get straight to the point. How much do you all want in order to work for me. I'm not talking the dirty work of a jabbering, morbidly obese, and hilariously incompetent oaf of a crime boss who only seems to care about cruelty and enslaving women." 

"I'm talking about REAL work. Jobs that bring honor. That'll make your clans whisper about you in awe for centuries. I'm talking about jobs that make you legends for your people. Slaying vault monsters and fighting armies." 

"Not executing unarmed men vastly weaker than yourselves and tracking down frail women to enslave." 

"Five hundred million." The lead bounty hunter slowly grumbles out. "As payment to forget the stain on our honor you have given us... and an amount comparable to what Jabbo had agreed to give us." 

"Done." The kid shrugs. "Besides. You don't really think that piece of shit was planning on paying you, right? I mean, he's over here executing ten men who got him the fragment of a vault key purely because of something out of their control. You don't think the fat fuck was planning and hoping that a majority of you all bit the dust fighting a vault monster so he could pay you less?" 

"Frankly I don't even need my corporation to pay this. I can pay this much out of pocket. Here." 

There's seemingly a chime from the helmet of the laser sword wielding man.  

The blade disappears as he clips it to his hip once more. "Very well, Client. What is it you need?" 

A small smile blooms across the boy's lips. "A few things. First off. Where are their things?" 

He gestures to the tied up players. "They have something that I gave out of good will that I'll be reclaiming." 

"Their Echo devices are in the storage hold." The man grunts. 

"WHAT?! But- But we earned that! You can't fucking take it!" Kibaou snarls. "It's OURS!" 

"I can take it... and I'm going to. You've clearly shown you can't be trusted with even simple orders such as 'wait for Argo to make a plan' so you shouldn't be trusted with that item, right?" 

"YOU'RE ALL THE DAMNED SAME! I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU THE SECOND I SAW YOU, SCUM!"  

"Someone gag them. I don't want them dead but their screaming is getting on my nerves." The CEO scoffs. 

"Wh- GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Kibaou snarls. "YOU SHITTY BETA TESTER! MONOPOLIZING EVERYTH-*Mhhrng-RRRMMM-GRRNNNGGGG*" 

One of the mangalorians gags the orange haired man. 

"Thank you." The kid sighs, rubbing his temple. "I swear. The lungs on that man." 

"Next? Here's a list of every one of Jabbo's goons that have previously tried to sell the information this fucking idiot gave them to the mega-corps for a quick buck. I want them taken care of. Permanently. It's unlikely that we'll be able to completely squash the rumors... but it should buy us a little more time." 

"I also need the vault key. Only after it is in my hands, and those little rats trying to call down the corporations on my home... can we begin our search." 

"Yes." The bounty hunter nods as there's another chime from his helmet, he seems to get the list of targets. "The key is also in the hold. We will carry out your orders at once." 

Jango turns, ordering the other bounty hunters as the boy slowly walks towards the prisoners. "Now... Kibaou... we need to have words."