Borderlands: Conquest

Somewhere and sometime in the future of the Borderlands...

"So how exactly did you meet Handsome Jack? And who's this mysterious 'emperor guy' that cool knight talks about?" Gaige inquired, leaning against her seat. In front of her, Athena sat, looking past her with a distant gaze.

Athena ignored the girl within the heavily fortified fortress near Sanctuary, her disinterest palpable. The flickering lights cast eerie shadows on the walls, adding to the tension in the air.

Gaige, having escaped to Pandora, led herself with a merry band of Vault Hunters, each of their characters unique. However, she was suddenly saved by the mysterious woman who held more secrets than anyone could have anticipated.

Behind her, another petite figure sat leaning in excitedly, her hands clutching the edge of her seat.

"Oo-ooh! Is this the story about how you went to the freakin' moon?" Tina exclaimed, her eyes wide with anticipation.

"Calm down, Tina. I don't want spoilers!" Gaige reprimanded, her eyes glaring daggers at the pre-teen.

"Hey, I didn't get to listen to this one... Can you finally spill the beans?" Tina asked, bouncing in her seat.

"After the fall of General Knoxx, I walked alongside Alexander Lucius Maximus," Athena began, her voice steady and composed.

"What kind of name is that?" Gaige asked, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly, from behind the duo, another figure emerged, intrigued. His silhouette was revealed as he stepped into the light. "Alexander's name, Long as an asshole's ego, Could be shorter, yes," Zer0 said in his characteristic haiku.

"Alexander? Asshole? Nah," Brick voiced, entering behind him, his large figure now standing next to Zer0. The contrast between Brick's hulking form and Zer0's sleek, enigmatic presence was striking.

"You should already know how this goes, Brick... You were there... Besides, aren't you supposed to be on a top-secret mission?" Gaige asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I wanna hear what you did on the Moon," Brick deflected, smiling, his arms crossed, waiting.

"Look, it's a long tale... I'm not sure I can fit it all in one session," Athena explained, removing her helmet's visor and letting her hair fall freely.

"Come on, pwety pwese?" Tina begged, dropping to her knees and tugging against Athena's pants.

"Fine..."

"Yay!!!" Tina exasperated, jumping back up.

Jumping up and down, Athena could only look on with disappointment. Memories of old resurfaced as she looked at the young girl, reminding her of a time long past.

"So why did you join him? I heard from Lilith you once worked with Jack. What's the whole deal with that?" Gaige asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning. After the fall of General Knoxx, I continued working with the Legion under Alexander's command... One day, we received a job hire from a low-level Hyperion programmer."

"Come to the moon," it said, "Hunt a vault, be a hero."

"We didn't trust Hyperion, but for some reason... He did."

"Alexander?" Gaige questioned.

"Indeed."

"So what'd you find?" Brick asked, his curiosity mirroring Gaige's.

"Violence, Insanity... And a hero," Athena responded, her voice tinged with a mix of nostalgia and regret.

As the room fell silent, the weight of Athena's words hung in the air. Each Vault Hunter was lost in their thoughts, pondering the gravity of the tale they were about to hear. The flickering lights seemed to dance to the rhythm of their unspoken questions, setting the stage for a story that promised to be as epic as it was tragic.

[Que Dramatic music]

-<Alexander>-

I found myself less anxious these days, the weight of survival curbed after Knoxx's death. With his facilities now under my control, control over Pandora was slowly coming to fruition. 

Having reflected over these days I found myself less distant than before, perhaps the sudden reincarnation and often quick-paced lifestyle left me on edge. 

I felt less... worried and paranoid.

Was I still cautious? Without a doubt.

Screening over individuals took time but the process became easier with identification cards and constant vigilance of our borders. 

With three-quarters of the population being recruited into the legion's privatised army and or commercial fronts - wealth and power were at an all-time high. 

The population of Ironhold reached six figures and New Haven reached five, the two hubs essential to the growth of the Legion and Pandora overall. 

The production of armour, weaponry and munitions exclusive to pandora was maintained, and the factories once belonging to S&S munitions were bought out.

Having been dominated by the Atlas corporation I easily seized the rights to the company and its means of production.

Having been bullied by the corporation into a corner their weapon-manufacturing business had been sabotaged at every turn with the local bandit populace not helping. 

Their legacy would now be the foundation of my own, their factories now producing the armour and weapons of the legion. 

We would not be joining the arms race with the gun manufacturers or the shield manufacturers. The current market was ruthless to any independent manufacturer, the act a death wish, as of now commerce and private contracts would suffice. 

Similar to the Atlas corporation all legion weapons were locked with exclusive biometrics assigned to Legion officers and with my unique energy signature all soldiers could use their weapons without the threat of theft. 

Marcus had attempted to persuade me to offer certain rights to the weapons sold on the market but I disagreed. A man who worshipped money would have no rights over my legacy, so I declined. 

The two towns now cities were essential hubs of civilisation over Pandora - little villages and towns still spread apart around the planet. 

Regardless, my casinos, fast-food restaurants and the privatised military gave many areas of Pandora security. It wasn't strange for nomads to park near our restaurants for security. 

With Hyperion bastioned over Pandora, the world's lease was sold to the corporation. Our negotiations with the corporation were marked by slight disagreements.

Although some of the board found the decision to split the excavations disagreeable, I reminded them why the Atlas corporations sold the planet's lease. Negotiations were smooth afterwards. 

While hesitant to work with the corporation their representative Mr Blake was pleasant. Assisting the corporation with building infrastructure allowed networking with Traders outside of the planet. 

Isaac was thus tasked with a company to bastion on other planets specifically Promethea. The mission was to destroy all influence of Atlas from the planet and conquer it as another front for the Legion's cause. 

Jeremiah took over as war master of the legion taking the role of general and in charge of Ironhold and New Haven security. It was unusual to see the man without a holographic map, his time was spent mostly on work or his family.

Xion was the strangest of my generals finding himself on a personal conquest of self-enlightenment. He would often run around the wasteland in search of mutated creatures and behemoths, having claimed the life of a beast named "Clawmirax". 

Wearing it's carcass he used its body as a trophy leaving its child to grow. He had also gotten stronger his physicality and strength mutated by my powers. Wielding the strength of ten men, he was capable of doing what appeared impossible. 

Speaking of mutated creatures, ever since the defeat of the Destroyer small cracks have appeared on Pandora's crust, a strange purple element surfacing, its strange radiation altering the wildlife in strange ways. 

While experimentation has yet to be conducted due to limited facilities, I find its uses similar to my own powers. In a way, I hypothesize that the element is a physical manifestation of souls or perhaps an ancient element that was harvested from the "source". 

Attempting to use the element I found that it slightly boosted my energy reserves, the energy utilised by Erdian similar to a universal source.

It was versatile as it was volatile, similar to the crystals used to power shields Erdium was far more powerful. It didn't need a converter and could similarly fluctuate as is - a perfect power source similar to mine. 

Further research would need to be conducted, I could feel it. With this power in my hand, the world would soon bow to my knees.

Angel having been silent over these coming months hadn't spoken at all. Part of me wonders what she could be doing. She appeared far too powerful to be so passive and meek, yet strangely she was. 

Sometimes I wondered what she was doing, and where she went but the thought often slipped my mind. Truly, if I were to have anyone that I could speak equally to it would be her. I often realise, that being so powerful became oddly lonely, an extreme of causation of my circumstance. 

Similar to myself the Claptrap Unit also found solace in its own solitude rarely finding friends due to its inherited abilities. Claptrap as weak as it's self was the polar opposite of myself, it was uniquely loud and annoying but kind. 

It was quiet without the small robot rolling around, his voice often filling the room with slight laughter. Hopefully, Hyperion was true to their word and that the Claptrap unit would soon be capable of defending itself and others.

Many of its kinships were often useless its creator most likely making mistakes in its software matrix. Hopefully, with their expansion and discovery of Erdium, they would soon upgrade their useless loader bots and claptrap units.

It was at times like this that I found peace tiresome. 

There was no glory in peace only stagnation. 

Yet, peace allowed growth while war allowed sharpening. 

All of my men will face the force of war, many will be tested, and few will live. 

But out of the embers, of those ashes, they shall arise, born anew in my will.

The brute and his sniper had left due to personal reasons, their search for Brick's sister a mission of its own. They promised to return in due time, and their leave was accepted. Their training was substantial the personal growth of our legionares increased.

Athena adamant about joining the Legion, remained a mercenary her job exclusive to the assassination of all Atlas forces. She was successful, her job allowing the swift execution of Old Haven and more. 

She as of now wondered around Ironhold awaiting my next order, her hatred and vigilance of the Atlas corporation high. 

Scooter remained in Ironhold as an engineer and mechanic for local vehicles. Having a new arsenal of armoured trucks and weapons, patrolling was made easy. My beasts are no longer forced to remain vigilant around borders their roles are now exclusive to expeditions. 

His mother Moxxi was sent to Elpis to expand her business and thereby my own. Alongside a troop of legionnaires, they were stationed on the moon to also await my conquest. Although other matters needed attending too. 

Dusk, Whisk and Altworth continued their progress over experimental technology their newest revolutions over weaponry and armour paramount to my own prowess.

The MARK IV T11 was now created and revolutionised for personal use, The Mk III was now standardised to all personnel within the legion with at least two soldiers within a squad commandeering one. 

The MARK IV T11 increased shield capacity by four hundred per cent with a delayed regeneration of forty per cent. Strength, endurance and agility were similarly enhanced by two hundred per cent and all without the need of my own aether. 

Requiring four power cores, they remain self-charging and only slightly overheated when under continuous pressure, pressure equal to two tons or more. This was all created with humans as the parameter not myself. 

Altworth experimenting with Artificial intelligence and the conversion of flesh to cyberware created an experimental technology allowing the transfer of human intelligence to a cybernetic body, its speed taking a few days at most. 

He had recreated and perfected his most prized technological advancement. 

Experiments on captured prisoners allowed tests to fruition, with their minds taking control of the cybernetics, their minds altered and repurposed for the legion. Although such a brutal process often led their brains to only accept simple commands more texting to be done.

With my trust in Altworth still low, I remained vigilant over the robot, my own energy slightly powering the robot. While it had no effect on his coding should I allow it, he would be depowered and thus defeated. 

Download speeds of data were pioneered by the ability to transfer Yottabytes in milliseconds the task to Altworth as such speeds were needed to transfer high-volume information between planets. 

My own prowess was further enhanced, no being in a frontal confrontation could match me. Whether it was a siren or a company of enemies I was sure that all would suffer the same fate.

With my ethereal powers developed telekinesis was developed by spreading energy from my palms into the atmosphere creating a domain of sorts. Inside, I could manipulate the energy to carry out my will and I was able to mimic telekinesis. 

While slightly sluggish and difficult with further training perhaps even splitting atoms was possible, as of now my range was limited by my aura pool. My range was currently two metres with the weight of control around a kilogram. 

Weak but versatile. 

Overall, the Legion was a powerhouse over Pandora's numerous outposts and scouting operations running around the world.

As I reflected on my achievements, a transmission from the Helios space station caught my attention. This was unusual as most messages were transferred or conveyed by Mr. Blake. 

"Hey Uh-, if you're hearing this *Bang* come on and help Hype- Help me! Help me and come *Bang* find a vault! This is Jack calling from the Hyperion station Helios- *bang*. Wow, just wow... Anyway, come find a vault and be a hero. Jack out! *Boom* bLOODY FR-."

"Hmm.... Interesting. But otherwise forgettable." I murmured sliding the transmissions call log into the bin.

The Hyperion station was none of my concern and whether they were attacked meant nothing to him - perhaps it was karma that they deserved to die.

I was suddenly interrupted by a disembodied voice, its tune familiar. 

"I need your help." 

"Angel... It's been a while." 

"It has, look I need a favour." She voiced hesitantly.

"I'm guessing that favour refers to the Hyperion transmission I just received." I voiced looking over the log. 

"I need you to help save the Hyperion station or more precisely the man who called. Look I know you still don't fully trust me but please." She pleaded.

"Fine, but once this is done, you owe me a date afterwards." I voiced merrily.

While I'm not one for romantics it worked in irking her. 

"Fine, just... Just save him okay." She voiced before disappearing. 

Looking over the available men, it would be too troublesome to call upon my generals. Athena was the only available one who had enough prowess and initiative to be left alone - she would best serve for now. 

Angel's plea lingered in my mind as I prepared for the journey to Helios. The station's distress call, initially dismissed, now held new significance. I summoned Athena to my quarters, her skills would be invaluable for this mission.

"Athena, we're going to Helios. Prepare for immediate departure," I commanded as she entered.

She nodded, her face impassive but her eyes showing a hint of curiosity. "Understood. Any specific objectives?"

"We're looking for a Hyperion programmer named Jack. Extraction is the priority," I replied, my thoughts drifting to Angel. "We leave in an hour. Bring your best gear."

As Athena left to prepare, I pondered the implications of this venture. Helping Hyperion seemed counterintuitive, yet Angel's insistence intrigued me.

What game was she playing?

Planning on a means of arrival to the Hyperion station I was updated by Angel on a route, a single route open which allowed clear passage to the station. 

A Hyperion space rocket that transported goods and personnel up to the moon. While Fast travel stations were easier it appeared that Hyperion's fast travel stations were all shut down meaning my men were unable to be shot up. 

Having a personal favour I decided I would move myself - it would serve as a warm-up. 

The long hours of planning operations left me locked up in my office and war room. 

Entering my armour I was once again embraced by the steel's warmth, its coverage over my body strength to the cause. As Athena as our driver, we cautioned ourselves for the advance ahead, and my men alerted of my absence.

As we approached the space cannon, I noticed a group of Vault Hunters preparing for launch. My eyes narrowed behind my visor, assessing each one carefully.

"I am Alexander," I stated, my voice carrying a weight that immediately drew their attention. "This is Athena. We're here for Helios."

The nervous-looking man with Jack's face stepped forward, attempting a confident grin that came across as more of a grimace. "H-hey there! Uh, the name's Jack. Just... Jack. Programmer extraordinaire and future hero of Pandora!"

His voice cracked slightly on the word 'hero,' and I could see the sweat beading on his forehead. This was clearly a body double, struggling to maintain his act.

I fixed my gaze on him, my tone flat. "Is that so?"

The false Jack gulped visibly, his bravado faltering. "Yep! That's me! Good ol' Jack! Totally not... anyone else. Nope. Just Jack."

I didn't bother to respond, instead turning my attention to the others. An aristocratic woman, a hulking cyborg, and a woman with a cowboy hat and a dangerous smirk.

The aristocrat spoke up, "Aurelia Hammerlock. I don't recall your names on the mission brief."

"That's because we don't answer to Hyperion," I stated flatly. "Consider us... interested parties."

The cyborg, Wilhelm, grunted. "As long as you don't interfere with our objectives."

"Your objectives are irrelevant to me," I replied, a hint of threat in my voice. "Remember that."

Nisha, the cowgirl, smirked. "Well, well. Looks like this job just got a lot more interesting."

As we boarded the space cannon, I turned to Athena. "Be ready for anything. I don't trust Hyperion or their motives."

She nodded curtly, understanding the unspoken command.

The cannon creaked as we all squeezed in. The false Jack fidgeted uncomfortably, clearly struggling with maintaining his act in such close quarters.

"So, uh, you guys do this kind of thing often?" he asked, his attempt at Jack's bravado falling flat.

I fixed him with a cold stare. "Often enough."

He laughed nervously, then fell silent under my gaze.

As the countdown began, I addressed the group. "Listen carefully. Our objective is to secure Helios and find the real Jack. Anyone who gets in our way is expendable. Any questions?"

The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of the false Jack swallowing hard.

"Good," I nodded.

-

"Wait, wait, wait," Gaige interrupted, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You're telling me that Alexander, this supposed 'emperor,' actually went to help Handsome Jack? The same Handsome Jack who tried to kill us all?"

Athena sighed, her patience wearing thin. "It's... complicated. At the time, we didn't know what Jack would become."

Brick chuckled darkly, "Yeah, a right bastard is what he became."

"Language!" Tina chirped, earning an eye roll from Gaige.

Zer0 tilted his head, his mask displaying a question mark. "But why help Jack? / What did Alexander gain? / Seems illogical."

Athena leaned back, her eyes distant as she recalled the events. "It wasn't about gain, not directly. It was about a promise, a favour owed to someone even Alexander respected... or feared."

"Angel," Gaige whispered, the pieces starting to fall into place.

Tina bounced in her seat, "Ooh! Ooh! Is this where the story gets all explodey and stuff?"

Athena couldn't help but smirk. "You could say that. What happened on Helios that day... it changed everything. Not just for Jack, but for Alexander, for me, for all of Pandora."

"So what happened next?" Gaige pressed, leaning forward eagerly.

Athena took a deep breath, preparing to delve back into the memories of that fateful day on Helios. "Well, after we boarded the ship..."

-

Author Author: 

3000+ word chapters from now on, this arc and further arcs will be less gritty and be more in tune with the Borderlands universe. Borderlands 1 is often seen as the overly serious and try-hard game of the series and the chapters before reflected that. Here we're running something similar, the quirky and random antics will return and Alexander will have more character development. Remember he was once a human thrust into an unknown environment. He's ruthless and untrustworthy of others because of the craziness that is Pandora. Now settled in after two years he's much more expressive and able to talk to others. He's not a "toddler" anymore, he can actually talk to people without having to force a stick down there throat first.