"So who's getting on?" asks a large man. He is sitting in the driver's seat of some bus that just pulled into the town I'm in. This was supposed to be a Crimson Raiders outpost but there was nothing here but Psychos and bandits.

''You see anyone else alive here boyo?" I ask as I drop the smg I used to kill all these bandits. "Last I checked I killed everyone else.''

''New Vault Hunter eh? Name's Marcus. You picked a helluva time to join the Crimson Raider's. Heh-heh.''

''Names Zane, and I've never been called a vault hunter before.'' I say as I step onto the bus. "although It does have a nice ring to it.''

''Good to see someone survived the attack. I'm Lilith. Commander of the Crimson Raiders. Those bandits you fought are part of a cult hunting for the Vault Map. But you and I are gonna find it first. For now, my scout is waiting for you up ahead good luck.''

''Voices in my head now great, so Marcus right? What are we doing here?''

''You live long enough and stay with us…you might figure out what we're doing here.''

''alrighty well what's first?"

''we have your first mission.'' Says Marcus as we near a large bandit stronghold. Judging from the décor of the buildings this is a Children of the Vault base.

''ah why are we going to a COV stronghold?'' I ask as Marcus stops the bus.

''This is your stop, Vault Hunter.'' Says Marcus as he opens the door. "Try to stay alive. I'd hate to lose a new customer, heh-heh. And welcome to Pandora!"

''What have you gotten yourself into Zane?" I mumble to myself as a CL4P-TP unit moves towards me. The unit has seen better days, it is missing it's antenna and looks more like scrap than an actual robot.

''Hey! You must be the new recruit! I am a CL4P-TP steward bot. but you can just call me….General Claptrap of the Crimson Raiders! What's you name?" Asks the little robot

''Zane Flynt.'' I say as I roll my eyes. So far the Crimson Raiders haven't been to impressive.

''Thanks I'll pre-order your tombstone…just in case. Those jerks who tried to murder you are the children of the Vault, a bandit cult who follow their creepy leaders with blind devotion. Which reminds me…..if you're going to obey my every beck and call, you'll need an ECHO device! '' Says Claptrap as he pulls out an ECHO device. "The ECHO-3 Slightly more powerful than the ECHO-2 and twice as expensive. Besides the ECHO-2 had a tiny issue with spontaneous combustion so they rebranded those as grenades!"

''Thanks lad." I say as I turn on the ECHO device. "Now can we get to killing?"

''Patients recruit. First we need to get you a weapon, but fear not I have a stash hidden nearby!" says Claptrap as he moves towards a locked door. "No the mission is over we are doomed!" As Claptrap yells I run over to a switch and flip it. It causes the door to open which surprises Claptrap.

''Can we go now boyo?" I ask as I walk back over to him

''B-but I didn't even tell you to flip that switch, how did you know where to go?" asks Claptrap

''I uhhh looked around and saw the switch.''

''Wow you are so much smarter than every other vault hunter I've ever worked with. I would have to mark a point on their ECHO device so they would know where to go, and sometimes they would still fail!"

''alrighty well can I go shoot stuff now?"

''Oh right, yes follow me It's sneak time!'' Says Claptrap, for the next few feet a awkwardly stand behind this dumb robot as it "sneaks" around. Sneak is a strong word because Claptrap is singing quite loudly as we go.

''Perfect! Once we complete our mission, Lilith HAS to promote me to Super-General!" Says Claptrap as he jumps up and hits a detonator.

''So stealth is out of the option boyo?" I ask as I look around to see if anyone noticed the explosion.

''Relax, on Pandora it's actually super weird if something's not exploding! Now take your gun recruit, you're gonna need it.''

''Now we can get to killing." I say as a smile reaches my face.

''Wait I need to explain how the gun works!" says Claptrap as I walk towards the COV stronghold.

''Boyo I've been an assassin for years. I know how guns work.'' I say as I switch the gun into shotgun mode. As I do I reach the front gate, I start to knock on the door but Claptrap grabs my arm.

"Wait recruit! You are just going to cover me while I slaughter them in cold blood!" shouts claptrap before he knocks on the door. "Hello! Anyone there?"

"This is Shiv, holy influencer of the Children of the Vault! What do you want, Crapbot?" I chuckle as the guy calls Claptrap Crapbot, man knows how to say what everyone was thinking.

''Hello bloodthirsy maniac. It is I, Claptrap! Slayer of the Destroyer and Super-General of the Crimson Raiders! We have you…'' I cut Claptrap off by standing in front of him

''Eh Shiv was it? Open this door ye bloody piece of Gobshite!" I shout at the weird device.

''Gobshite? Kill this guy in the name of the Calypsos!" shouts Shiv as the main door slides open. Claptrap screams in fear and runs behind the wall which leaves me with nothing but fifteen bandits…..just the way I like it. As two psychos rush towards me I throw my barrier down which stuns them giving me enough time to put a bullet in both their heads. With them dead I rush forward and slide behind some cover.

''For the COV!" shouts some lad infront of me. I raise my pistol and shoot from behind cover. My third shot connects with the lad and causes him to fall. I place my digiclone and run from cover. With the bandits shooting the fake me I flank their left and with one magazine another three are dead.

''You killed my friend! Now I'm going to eat you!" shouts a guy from behind me. I flick around and shoot him down.

''I'm only taking the piss boyo.'' I say with a chuckle before walking inside the main building. Inside is Shiv. And I'm surprised by his very small left hand and massive right hand.

''I'm gonna sharpen my blade on your spine!"

''Well now you're just being dramatic!" I say as I dodge Shiv's first attack. He follows up with another swing but all it connects to is my digiclone.

''Ohh real close boyo.'' I shout as I put a magazine in his back. It hurts him but he keeps on swinging. I continue to dodge his attacks and pump lead into him. After a few minutes of jumping around the dumb Psycho he crumbles to the ground. I walk over to him as I load another magazine into my pistol.

''I die so the calypsos live!" shouts Shiv as I put my gun to his head.

''yeah yeah sure thing laddie.'' I pull the trigger and blood splatters all over the ground as Claptrap moves over. "With that done let's grab a pint!''

''Score one for the Crimson raiders. You and Claptrap secure the area. I'm on my way"

''hey robot what's up with the lass in my head?''

''Oh that's Lilith, in fact let me signal her!" Claptrap sends out a beam into space and after he does that what looks like a meteor flies out of the sky. I cover my eyes as the object crashes in front of us. I move my hand away from my face and see a women with flame wings.

''Sup.''

''you just crashed from the bloody sky…I like it.'' I say as Lilith walks over to Claptrap and I.

''Lilith I am happy to report that I single handily secured this outpost!" As Claptrap speaks Lilith rolls her eyes.

''so what's your name killer?" asks Lilith as she turns to me.

''Names Zane Flynt, you the women in my head?"

''Yeah about that…not the weirdest thing you're gonna see on Pandora. But seriously, thanks for answering my call.''

''umm Lilith why are you praising this recruit?" asks Claptrap

''come on Claptrap I think he's earned a spot.'' Says Lilith as she holds out her hand. "welcome to the Crimson Raiders.''

''Hmm this is the second group of "Raiders" I've joined…..hope this group isn't eaten by a Rakk hive.'' I say as I think back on old memories. "so what's the plan?"

''Before I send you back out there, let me catch you up.'' Starts Lilith as she walks into the outpost. ''We found a map that led to Vaults all over the Borderlands, it made us a big target. We were attacked and I lost the map. Been looking for it ever since. Pandora has changed, Bandits used to just kill eachother but now? They've become organized under this cult.''

''Yeah those COV shites.''

''Rumor has it a bandit clan found an alien artifact….could be the map.'' As Lilith speaks she phases through the door in front of us. The door slides open and Lilith waves us in "let's see what that Shiv asshole had on the map.'' Lilith switches on a TV and a bandit in a weird mask pops up.

''Shiv! The Sun Smasher clan has recovered the Sacred Vault Map. Send our followers to invite the Sun Smashers into our holy family. And hurry….the Twin Gods grow hungry!"

''That lad talking about the same map?" I ask as the broadcast is cut off.

''yeah, we have to beat them to the Sun Smashers.'' Says Lilith ''Zane you find the Sun Smasher Chief, I'll try and figure out where they are meeting the COV.''

''Kill more bandits? I'll have that map in time for drinks!"