Eternal | Secret Santa Gift | Borderlands
Ooooookay. So here is my (belated) borderlandssecretsanta gift to eternal-axton. I did my best to work within the guidelines of your nifty AU! I guess this is kind of like a prequel??? Idk. It's mostly just Axton being Axton.
To be honest, this whole “Lost Legion; Guardians of the Vault” thing was not really what Axton had in mind when he first signed onto Dahl’s military. On Elpis, there were no cameras, no glory, hardly any chicks, and absolutely no threesomes. Sex alone was hard enough to come by. Still, the way the Colonel kept talking about a higher calling, about how protecting the hollow moon was the greatest duty a soldier could ever have? Well, it made those dry days a little more bearable.
“From this day forth, Soldiers, we are dead.” Colonel Zarpedon clutched her dog tags in her fist and held them out, over the crater she and her men had created. They were out in the middle of the Outlands, far away from where their sacred Vault was hidden. It was the first place they crashed, and the first place anyone would look for them. “With this, we take our dog tags, our Echo notes, our memories, and our pasts. And we leave them here for people to find when they collect our dust and ashes.”
She dropped the dog tags down, and all the soldiers followed suit. “We are each other’s families now,” she insisted. Axton took off his dog tags and stared at them. He stared at his name, his last name. No, HER last name. The name he used to share with her, and the ring he used to wear for her. She had kicked him out from her command a year ago. But he kept on fighting for Dahl, hoping and praying that she would come to her senses. He kept assuming that once he became a big war hero, Sarah would come crawling back for him.
He dropped the dog tags and the ring into the crater, listening to the dull clink as it fell against the others. The noise was cold and hollow.
Axton rolled his neck and glanced around the camp. The other soldiers were mostly just bumming around. Playing cards or practicing parlor tricks with their Eridian power. Sparks flew from their fingertips as they attempted to light something on fire just by pointing at it. “Won’t work less you’re planning on ascending, buddy,” Axton said from the small workbench he had set up outside.
He tinkered with his turret a little bit, trying to figure out a way to put liquefied Eridium run-off into his turret’s bullets. The people from Hyperion were calling the run-off “slag”, apparently. Stuff was going to be huge, once it caught on. He could tell.
“Shut up, Axton. No one fucking asked you.” One of his bunkmates grumbled as they stood up to stretch. The local population of kragons had been wiped out long ago. The moon threshers, torks, everything, all destroyed the Lost Legion. There wasn’t much else to do, other than that.
Someone in the camp groaned in pain. Axton could feel it too. They were Pulsing. Short on Eridium, the soldiers tended to “pulse”, their veins itching for more from the Guardians. The markings on their skin itched and burned, blinking bright purple over and over again. “When are those goddamn good-for-nothing aliens getting back? Sick of all you Eternals and your whining.”
Not everyone at the camp had earned the title, or just didn’t undergo the enhancements. Axton grinned and looked at his fist, glowing with the purple rocked embedded into his skin. Even with the Pulsing, and being reliant on the Guardians for power, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Those who choose the righteous path! Those who choose to serve the Vault and protect this place! No, protect the Universe! Step forward and receive your gift from the Guardians of the Vault!” The Colonel spoke to her soldiers from upon a large pedestal, where she and the Great Guardian, the leader of the aliens, stood. The veins around her eyes were now glowing purple, running wildling and pulsing out of her skin as though they might burst. Her skin had become pale and her hands slightly mangled. But somehow she looked stronger, even more capable than ever before. She had been given both power and purpose.
Axton always desired the first. He never thought much on the second. But now, seeing his commanding officer standing there, gasping with her new life, he wanted to come upon that responsibility. He wanted to become stronger than human. So when the Great Guardian gave her signal, and made her call for volunteers?
Axton was first in line.
“Alright, alright!” Axton finally said after an hour or so. It had been nearly half a day since they saw their strange alien bunkmates. It wasn’t like them to be out for so long, especially without at least sending resources to their more human counterparts. His veins were going wild and he was beginning to see nothing but purple fog. He could barely focus on his turret anymore. He had slathered some of the slag onto his skin, and he gave the rest of his fellow Eternals. But the relaxing effects of that had soon died down. Now they were left with nothing else but the Pulsing and the small amusements they used to distract themselves. “This is beyond lame and I’m bored out of my skull. I am not doing anything or shooting anything. So I say we come up with a remedy.”
“What? We start shooting each other? The mountains? What do you want Axton? This whole valley has been swept dry.” Lark, a young Eternal, grunted at him.
“Think bigger, Larky-kins!” Axton grunted as he closed up his turret and put the small digistruct box back on his uniform. “I say we go out and get more Eridium. A little old school Dahl Adventure, yeah? Get some actual ACTION up in here?”
“You’re going alone,” Lark then grunted. A few of the other soldiers nodded, knowing full-well that leaving could easily insight the Colonel’s wrath. Or even worse, the wrath of their assigned Guardians.
Funny how they felt so enslaved by creatures that were supposed to be their teammates.
Axton only rolled his eyes and bit back the dull pain from his markings. The camp really was running dry quickly. He wondered if somehow they were becoming more dependent on the stuff. Still, it was nothing a little trip to the core couldn’t fix. He fastened on his stone mask, not bothering to look at himself in the mirror before he left.
The Change was as incredible as it was painful, as painful as it was intoxicating. The Guardian’s hands swept over his body and he felt the Eridium rush through him. He felt like his own power source, unstoppable and…well, Eternal. He couldn’t stop running his hands over his face, reveling at the feel. And for the first time in a long time, he felt like joining Dahl was the right choice, that there was something that would give him a name and give him glory.
He looked at himself in the nearest reflective surface and had to laugh. Still as handsome as ever, he had to assure himself. His eyes were bloodshot with purple, his skin was sallow and his veins protruded on the left side of his body. He promised himself that he was still good-looking. That this was worth it. That if Sarah ever saw him again…
Well, she’d probably never see him again.
Axton left the camp with a large blast of the power he had left in his system, shouting “Yeeeehaaaw!” as he leapt out from camp and propelled himself towards the entrance to the core. He could practically feel the other soldiers and Eternals rolling their eyes at him. He didn’t care. Perhaps the job was cold and lonely and boring. There still wasn’t any reason he couldn’t have a good time. Sure, there were no promises of fame or glory or hot twins mud-wrestling. But he could blow things up with his mind. So there was at least a trade-off.
“It’s called Ascending,” the Colonel told her new Eternal soldiers. “It’s an effect of the Eridian power. It allows you to take on a whole new source of power. It has some…interesting repercussions, from what I’ve been told. But it is what sets you apart from everyone else in this unit. Together we can-“
“Show me,” Axton spoke up, before she could even finish her sentence. He stared her down, all eagerness and muscle, but not an ounce of the practiced respect that the military usually demanded. Any other colonel would have ripped the sergeant insignia right off of his forehead. Colonel Zarpedon only smiled, her eyes shining with Eridium.
“Step forward, Sergeant.”
The inner core of the moon was hollow. No one could really understand how or why, but it was one of those things that Axton had learned not to question. Plus, the inner workings of the moon felt good. They felt strong and rejuvenating. Axton felt more than a little jealous for the people that lived down in the thick of things, near the Vault’s openings. That’s where they worked the closest with the Guardians. So naturally, that’s where all of Zarpedon’s big-wigs were stationed.
Axton rubbed his eyes as the Eridian energy began to pulse through him. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to bring any of this back to the camp, but having it around felt nice. It felt strong and exciting, something that the Eternal could honestly use more of. Usually the Guardians carved it from the rocks themselves, bringing back the ore in small neat chunks.
Axton tugged at the purple ore inside the walls of the core, trying not to attract anyone’s attention. Useless. He grunted and fingered the digistruct box on his hip. He could probably feasibly use his Sabre turret to blow a hole in the wall and free some Eridium ore. Of course, it would likely attract the Guardians and invoke the ire of the Guardians and probably get him kicked out of the Lost Legion and stranded on the moon. But it would also look pretty cool so…
He pulled out the box and aimed it towards the bright glowing wall, making sure he was at an angle where no one could see him. “Alright you weird glowing hunks of power, time to meet your-”
“Sergeant,” a familiar voice said from behind him. Axton scrambled to put the box away before he dislodged the turret. He turned around to face the Colonel, glaring at him with the veins around her eyes gleaming. “Stand down.”
“Heeey Colonel. Fancy uh…fancy seeing you here?” He said with an awkward crack in his voice. He tossed the box from hand to hand, trying to think of anything to excuse the fact that he was about to attack an innocent cavern wall, miles out from his assigned base camp.
“Fortunate, in fact,” the woman replied, much to the Commando’s surprise. “I have been…hearing voices. I was investigating.” She spoke with such forced professionalism, but the slight undertones in her voice told another tale. “We have been out here for many months, haven’t we, Axton?”
Axton couldn’t really think of anything clever to say, so he simply nodded. His Commanding Officer began to walk through the core with practiced ease. She nodded for him to follow, a small smile on her face. “I’ve been hearing these voices for a while. At first, they spoke to me of the Vault. Of how we must protect it. Of how this place is precious but now…”
“I’ve heard them too,” Axton was quick to respond. It wasn’t entirely untrue. He had heard voices. Small murmurings in the back of his mind, a small tingling sensation than came off as a whisper. Every Eternal heard them. But the words were always foreign. Of course, Zarpedon didn’t need to know that.
Instead, the woman smiled. “You always were ahead of your class. Things are changing. We’re becoming stronger. Our ascensions are becoming more powerful. And the Guardians…did you know, Sergeant, than the Guardians are only constructs of the Eridians? Organic flesh and steel, made in the image of the Eridian army. They were created to protect whatever is inside that Vault.”
Axton let that sink in for a moment. “Constructs? Like…puppets for the real Eridains” He couldn’t help but laugh. “We’ve been bossed around by damn meat puppets this whole time?!”
“And today, we’re going to find out why,” the Colonel then added, making her way through towards the sacred center of the moon, towards the Vault. Axton couldn’t help but noticed how strong the woman’s gait was, how determined her eyes were. Something had changed. He could almost sense it, in the Eridium pulsing through her veins. It was almost like she has Ascended permanently. She smelled of power, she smelled of Eridium and slag.
She smelled rotten.
But before Axton could say anything about it, she stepped forward to touch the Vault entrance. Then, Axton heard a small whisper, in deep tones. Go on. See the knowledge. It’s yours to protect. As much as it is ours.
Axton smiled, marveling at his own privilege to be able to witness probably the first exciting thing to happen here on Elpis in months. But before Zarpedon touched the core, she turned to Axton. “I miss my daughter Axton. Do you miss your wife?”
“Ex-wife,” Axton intoned, refusing to say anything else on the matter. Sarah left him. She took him from her unit. Said he was a liability. She said he’d get them all killed. But Zarpedon? She never saw that in him. She saw someone who could fight. Who would put his life on the line simply because he’d look cool going down in flames. She saw someone who wanted to live forever in the minds of everyone.
She saw someone who wanted to be Eternal.
“Right,” she then said, with an awkward cough. “You are more cut out for this than me, it seems. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve reached a point of no return. But still…”
“Nowhere to go but forward, ma’am,” he then said. He appreciated the fact that his Commanding Officer was opening up to him, of all people. He could barely wrap his mind around it. However, he did wish that she would get on with the show.
She nodded, giving a small, soft smile. The kind of smile that the troops so rarely got to see from her anymore. And without another word, she reached into the Vault, sending them both through.
---
To be honest, the Vault was a bit of a letdown. The Sentinel looked cool and all, sure. And Axton was sure that he would be all kinds of fun to kill. Unfortunately, there was no need to do that. Colonel Zarpedon waved her hand, the purple color that stained them glowing as the Sentinel reacted to her. The giant hulking statue sunk into the pulsating purple floor of the Vault, and Axton felt something ripple through him.
The entire place felt of Eridium. The whole place sang to him, whistling in his ears and surrounding him. He felt his head swim, and his pulse race. And before he knew it, he felt as though he was flying, Ascending. Ascending without him using up any of his Eridian energy. He was Ascended, but without the blindness and insanity that was usually cast upon him. He had no urge to murder, no madness itching in veins. He felt clear and free.
And that’s when the Great Guardian appeared.
Axton hadn’t encountered her since right after becoming an Eternal. But she felt…much different somehow. He could feel her presence in the way he couldn’t with the other Guardians. She stalked around him and the Colonel, looking them over. “An interesting choice in companions, Tungsteena.”
“So this is what a real Eridian feels like,” Axton said, with more bravado than he was feeling. He could somehow feel her glare piercing him, even without being able to see the alien’s eyes. “Nice to meet ya. Name’s…”
“I know your name, son. A play-pretend soldier all alone on the battlefield. My little Axton,” She spoke with the tone of a chiding mother, condescending but fond. She turned to Zarpedon, with no other words to spare for the young Eternal.
“You didn’t tell me to come alone,” the Colonel reminded the Guardian, pacing around to glance behind her. There was a large floating disk, boasting the Vault Symbol that was plastered all over the corners of Elpis. “And frankly, I didn’t feel it wise to meet you without anyone with me.”
“Do I frighten you, young Tungsteena?” There was a small clicking noise. Laughter.
“You do.” The Colonel’s voice held no shame.
More laughter as she slowly stalked around the center of the Vault. The Vault Symbol loomed closer, slowly floating towards the two soldiers as though it recognized them. “War is coming, in time.”
Zarpedon glanced at the Great Guardian, the Eridian. But her eyes portrayed nothing. Her stance only stiffened. Axton however, glanced between the two of them nervously, wondering if it was a mistake to follow his Colonel into the Vault. And more than that, he wondered why she couldn’t have taken someone else.
“But you can stop it. It won’t be easy. But one death could save…”
Axton didn’t hear the rest. He was already touching the Vault Symbol. He didn’t remember reaching for it. He didn’t remember Zarpedon doing the same. But somehow, he knew she was holding it too.
There was a child screaming.
There was a child. A woman. A bright light. No. Somehow, she was all three.
There was a monster coming from a Volcano, covering the world in fire.
There was a woman with glowing white eyes.
There was a Siren.
No.
An Angel.
And then there was War and darkness and fighters and death. There was a town on fire and a giant robot at the helm.
And then
There was a man called Handsome Jack.
And before Axton opened his eyes, he could see something else. A long metallic pillar, a silver surface. And he could see himself, distorted in a circle. But it was him, all the same. The stone mask covered his face. Eridium stones were strapped to his body. His arms, his legs, his fingers, distorted.
I’m still handsome. Still the same rugged man. Still popular with the ladies. And the dudes, when I feel up to it. Still bound to be famous. Bound to do great things.
And he could see Sarah, turned away. And he could see Zarpedon, disappearing to dust.
And he could see Jack.
And when he opened his eyes, the two Soldiers were outside of the Vault. They glanced at each other, their eyes a little bit brighter, and their breath a little bit shorter. The man called Handsome Jack was going to unlock the Vault of Pandora. He was going to discover the Map of Stars. He was going to take control of Eridian power sources. He was going to wipe out humanity in his own name.
“We have to stop him.” The Colonel finally said, her eyes a little wild and her hair out of place of the first time since Axton had met her. “We need to destroy this place.”
But for the first time, Axton had nothing to say. He watched the Colonel storm away, shouting orders, pointing at the other Eternals, and preparing for action. He glanced back at the opening of the Vault and closed his eyes. He could still see the planet burning, and he could still hear that madman laughing. He knew it was a bleak future. And he knew, deep down, that the man had to be stopped. But somewhere, in that burning planet called Pandora? He felt a thrum of excitement, of adventure and glory.
“Handsome Jack, huh?” He hummed to himself and shrugged. “Huh. Could be fun.”
