Water dripped slowly from the hem of the robe onto the living room floor, forming a small puddle at Maxwell's feet. He barely noticed. The dark blue fabric, heavy and soaked, clung to his back. His hair dripped in messy strands as he stared at the suspended television, flipping through channels with the remote in hand.
*ZAP*
"Well, hello Mrs. Tediore."
"Hello John. How are you?"
"Worried."
"Oh! Why is that?"
"I desperately want to protect my family from the—"
*ZAP*
"The number of insurgents and mercenaries in Promethea is growing. Rumors about an attempted—"
*ZAP*
"...and once again there are reports of hostile behavior from maintenance Claptrap units. The incidents occurred near the S&S Munitions factory on Pandora. Three civilians were seriously injured before the unit was shut down—"
Maxwell's finger paused mid-air, just before switching channels again.
His eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head slightly. He'd seen enough nonsense to know when something was hidden between the lines.
"...experts suspect a possible firmware error, but Hyperion has declined to comment for now. Internal sources point to a potential recall operation on the planet's surface in the coming weeks…"
"Hmm..."
A noise pulled him out of his trance.
Moxxi appeared in the doorway, wearing a floral apron, a dish towel in one hand, the other resting on her hip.
"Max... you're making a lake in here," she said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Go get changed before I slip and break my neck, please?"
Maxwell let out a small sigh, still staring at the TV. He didn't even turn his head.
"Just a minute. Just one minute..."
Moxxi huffed, but didn't argue. She knew that tone of voice. Something was bothering him.
Maxwell ran a thoughtful hand along his damp chin.
"This news… it aired a few days ago already..."
"...Where are you, Angel?" he whispered almost to himself.
No response. No sound beyond the soft hum of the TV and the dry plink of a droplet hitting the floor. He thought Angel would've contacted him by now, but Moxxi had nearly recovered all her memories over the past week, and there had been no word from the young Siren.
"Maybe her father has started to move. He's probably the only one who understands the consequences of having the Vault opened."
Maxwell was starting to get a headache just thinking about Jack. For now, he was still just programmer John, so killing him wasn't an option.
"If I can solve the problem, there's no reason to worry. If I can't solve it, worrying won't help." Maxwell sighed, his shoulders lowering slightly. "Might as well grab something to eat and play some Super Mario."
Maxwell was about to walk away when the screen darkened for a moment.
A red icon lit up in the bottom right corner.
{Call}
He frowned.
The image of Knoxx appeared, captured from a low angle, as if the camera were resting on a desk in his office. The man wore his formal armor, though the collar was open, and he held a lit cigar, letting the smoke spiral lazily upward.
"Good evening, Maxwell."
"I assume this call is about something extremely important."
"Did you look at the sky today?"
Maxwell raised an eyebrow.
"No. Should I have?"
Knoxx merely pointed off-screen with the cigar.
Intrigued, Maxwell turned. He walked slowly to the side panel of the room and tapped one of the touch-sensitive controls. The side wall became transparent, revealing the night sky over Pandora.
In the dark sky, massive, geometric, and goddamn glowing: a giant H, looming above Elpis, turned toward Pandora, watching from above.
The Hyperion orbital station.
"Great. Just what I needed," Maxwell muttered through clenched teeth, eyes fixed on the floating monster.
"When did that show up?"
"Less than an hour ago. They've already jammed five EchoNet satellites and disabled two atmospheric drones. No official announcement yet." Knoxx scoffed with a dry laugh. "But you know how corporations are. First they arrive. Then they shoot. If anything's still breathing, they send a press release."
"He's saying it's because of faulty Claptraps," Knoxx added with disdain. "But the station has only deployed recon troops so far."
'Robolution is about to begin,' Maxwell ran a hand through his still-damp hair.
"Tassiter used it as an excuse to bring Helios closer to Pandora."
"I've gathered everyone on the command deck. We're just waiting for you."
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
The call ended.
Maxwell remained standing by the window, the station's faint light reflecting in his eyes. Behind him, Moxxi watched silently.
Two soft arms wrapped around him from behind.
"Skipping dinner for now?"
"Which one? The food or you?"
"Both. Who knows, I might surprise you when you come back." Moxxi whispered in his ear before stepping away.
...
The doors opened with a soft metallic hiss.
Maxwell entered, now dressed in his Apex pilot uniform. His still-damp hair gave away how quickly he'd changed.
In front of him, five figures were gathered around the central tactical table, holographic projections of the solar system flickering above it.
They all stood at attention the moment Maxwell entered.
"Gentlemen." Maxwell took his seat. "At ease."
Everyone sat.
Maxwell said nothing for a moment. His eyes moved slowly across each face present. Besides Knoxx and Athena, the other faces were unfamiliar.
"Before we begin. These are your most trusted subordinates. Knoxx?"
Knoxx nodded and leaned forward.
"Of course, sir." He pointed to the bald, black man to his left, nearly the same age, with a white beard.
"Lieutenant Kyros. Responsible for training, discipline, and troop doctrine within Ouroboros. If anything steps out of line, he deals with it."
"Mr. Maxwell, if I may. When will we have clear directives for pilot formation? The troops need goals beyond survival," Kyros asked respectfully.
"Very soon. I won't delay any further."
Kyros gave a silent nod, saying no more.
"This one," Knoxx continued, "is Commander Ajax. He leads the Devastators' troops, as well as armored divisions and aerial support. If war comes, he's the wall between chaos and victory."
Ajax was an imposing middle-aged man. Lonely white strands emerged from his short black hair. The scar across his mouth only amplified the dangerous aura, as if his blind left eye weren't enough.
"My boys and I are waiting on the new suits, especially those JumpKits. Elliot got a nice iron leg. You got more of those?"
"Suits and JumpKits are for pilots only. But I do have some interesting cybernetics."
With that discussion wrapped, Knoxx introduced the final new face.
"My closest friend, General Pollux. Head of Scientific Research and Development. He's the one who created the prototypes and developed the Devastators."
'The general found dead in the secret facility under Old Heaven? Calming Athena's rage early on must have resulted in this guy's survival. Maxwell could only remember that Athena had destroyed a facility, killing everyone, including a general.
"It's an honor to finally meet you in person," said the slender man with neatly combed brown hair and a goatee. He stood with a respectful gesture, placing one hand over his chest.
"By the way..." he added with more curiosity than formality, "what about the engineer? Mrs. Moxxi, right?"
"She's recovering from her first Regeneration. Why do you ask?"
"I heard she'll be heading the Engineering and Technical Support Division. Especially with the Titan creation project. I was wondering if I could assist during the process."
Pollux didn't really know what a Regeneration was. But judging by the tone, it seemed like some kind of surgery.
"Granted. I believe you'll be a great help to Tannis and Moxxi."
"I'll do my best."
Glancing to the side, Maxwell noticed Athena standing apart. She wasn't far physically, but she still seemed distant. They exchanged a brief look. Maxwell gave a slight nod. Athena didn't respond. She was only there because she led the Lance Assassins.
"The Helios station entered Elpis orbit exactly 54 minutes ago. They're using the recall of the Claptraps as an excuse, but... nobody sends an entire command station to repair faulty robots." With everyone introduced, Knoxx began, his eyes fixed on the floating data. "They seem to have some decency about not getting too close to Pandora. They suspect that there are still troops left over from Atlas."
"Yeah, seems like they want to take advantage of everyone focusing on Promethea." Maxwell placed his hands on the table. "Promethea's orbit is surrounded by sharks. Hyperion knows they have little chance of looting anything from HQ, so they came to see what Atlas was doing on Pandora."
Athena spoke for the first time since the meeting began.
"Want us to assassinate their reconnaissance troops? If we cut them off before they reach any civilians—"
"Not yet. They don't know we're here. I've already gotten what I wanted with Eridium. I never thought I could maintain a monopoly without force for long anyway."
"But if they discover us? They might try to strike." Pollux asked. As a man of science and empirical proof, his concern was understandable.
"Impossible," Knoxx said firmly. "That would attract attention from the other corporations. Hyperion has no control over Pandora's EchoNet network. We just need to leak a little Eridium intel, and the other corps will come running. It'll be a loss for both sides."
"So we just let them do whatever they want?" Ajax grumbled. He didn't like sitting still while the enemy lined their pockets.
"For now, we'll focus internally. I have objectives on Elpis that require more preparation."
Maxwell raised his hand, showing five fingers. That caught everyone's attention, surprised he had goals beyond making money.
Maybe spending so much time under the orders of incompetent leaders had left them with low expectations.
"Rescue Angel. My Siren. She helped me a lot when I was starting out, and she's been missing for a while now." Maxwell lowered one finger, four left. "If we scare them by killing their troops, rescuing her will become harder if the station retreats to another planet."
"There's a Vault on Elpis. The station's presence will keep the Guardians distracted." He lowered another finger. Three.
"A military-grade AI, still active, was left in an abandoned Dahl warship." Another finger down. Two.
"A project called Constructor, capable of building an almost unlimited number of robots, is located in a lab. Four scientists are still alive inside." One more finger lowered.
"And last but not least, a Siren who inherited the powers of the late Stelee. The girl's name is Emily Swain, daughter of a single mother living on Elpis." Maxwell closed his hand in a grasping motion. "The girl is ill, so her mother likely takes her to the doctor often and buys a lot of medicine. That's all the info I have."
"Well, that's a fuckton of things," Lieutenant Kyros couldn't help but mutter. He grinned, finally happy to have real goals and missions—unlike Mickey, who just ordered diaper changes and bottle warmings.
"Those are our priorities. We've already stockpiled Eridium, and we can resume excavations after Elpis." Maxwell gestured with his hand. "That's all for today. Tomorrow we begin pilot training, and I'll talk to Moxxi about starting Titan production."
"Dismissed."
Everyone nodded almost simultaneously. Pollux was the first to rise, muttering something under his breath as he left. Ajax and Kyros exchanged a few brief words, likely about the troops, then followed. Athena and Knoxx left together, looking like a father and daughter.
The doors closed with a soft metallic hiss.
Silence fell over the room.
Maxwell remained seated.
Opening the system, he expanded the Titans menu.