I started writing this after the release of DLC1, therefore the events of the other DLCs will not be take in account for this story.

Time on the Sanctuary III passed slowly, ever since the war with the Calypso Twins was over, there hadn't been much to do. Sure, testing skills in Torgue's Circles of Slaughter and also the whole ordeal with Moxxi and the casino had been enough to entertain and distract the crew for a while, especially the Vault Hunters, but nothing could keep them forever away from the harsh truth of reality.

The Crimson Raiders, if they were still a thing, were left to themselves, without commander nor anyone that knew how to fulfill that role properly, there had someone that could, but she was gone too, and the responsibility now went to the child she raised, problem was, said child had no idea where to start from. Even if the rest of the Raiders were kind and patient with her, trying to guide her through, so everything wouldn't fall on her young shoulders, she still remained pretty clueless.

The Vault Hunters resorted on finding jobs and entertainment on their own for now, until in some way, someone could find a solution, and finally, their ship might actually move from its stationary place in Athenas' orbit. Ava had requested to go back for a while, so they could stay in a safe place, but people got the feeling that she wanted to go back to pay her respects to Maya, the teen wouldn't admit it openly, but everyone knew she missed her, and you could get the feeling that she still was guilty for what happened to her mentor too.

As for the rest, Ellie was busy making sure their ship was in top shape, Moxxi had her bar and now the casino to run as well, Marcus was always busy to find new weapons to sell and finding ways to make money, Tannis closed herself in her lab working on something nobody had any idea of what it was, and Claptrap was well... Claptrap, though even he had less spunk than usual.

Overall, even if people found their own ways to keep their minds occupied, the loss of both Lilith and Maya had left a huge hole in everyone's hearts, even the war being over hadn't been enough to fill the empty space.

The Vault Hunters had found a way to keep themselves busy for the moment with a game of cards sitting on the floor of Amara's room, in which none of them was particularly interested into, but they had to ease boredom somehow. That, and the fact that Mr. Chew ate some of the cards too, surely the skag lived up to his name.

The ping of their ECHOs broke the silence, someone wanted something from them, as always. Checking, it was Tannis sending them a message that she wanted them in her lab, as she needed to talk about something important, and they knew that, one, Tannis hated talking unless it was needed, and two, she wasn't a liar. They just hoped that, whatever she wanted, wasn't too much of a mess to deal with.

"Well, its not like we have anything to do." Zane shrugged. "Let's see what the smart lass wants."

They got up and headed to the lab without hesitation, leaving Mr. Chew to happily eat away their now discarded cards.

The sight that greeted them was relatively weird, but not unusual. Papers and blueprints of something were scattered all across the lab with various equipment, there was also a tiny model of something they had no idea what it was, on the table, made with pieces of scrap metal. Whatever Tannis had been doing during these last few months, it was clear that it was something big. While the woman was currently in the process of cleaning up when they entered.

"Oh, you're here." she finally turned towards them. "The let's cut straight to the point shall we?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I am sure you all recall what happened in the Vault of Nekrotefayo, specifically when, thanks to my powers of Siren I was able to open a passage and transfer everyone over to Pandora from there. Well, I have made some tests and I've come to the conclusion that, with enough Eridium, my powers might actually be able to be the key to cross through dimensions." the scientist explained, her words causing general confusion.

"What are you getting at, Tannis?" Fl4k was the only one that dared to ask.

The woman gave an exasperated sigh. "I am saying that I might have found a way to get to Lilith, I will open a portal to the afterlife."

The Vault Hunters looked at each other, incredulous of what they had just heard, trying to confirm that they weren't dreaming and that their ears didn't deceive them.

"What? Didn't you hear what I just said? I thought that finding a way to bring her back here would have made you people happy." Tannis frowned, man these people never knew when to be grateful.

"Of course we would be happy, just... wow that's..." Moze had a hard time describing how she felt about this. "Astonishing?" Amara tried to finish the phrase for her, the Gunner nodded.

"How is the ordeal going to work, Tannis?" the Beastmaster asked, this was interesting, and pretty awesome, but it had to be done in one way or another, and something told them, that it was why she asked for their help.

She beamed. "Finally a good question." she cleared her throat. "With the help of a friend, I made the blueprints for a machine that would help me create and maintain the portal I will make with my powers stable enough for an extended period of time. We will also need the help of my Eridium enhancer too for the task, so I can amplify my abilities enough in order to achieve the desired result."

"I can sense a task for us incoming" Zane added.

"Of course, that is why I called you here after all. First of all we will need to take my Eridium enhancer with us, that means retrieving it from where it is on Pandora and bring it on the ship, and also, I am still missing some components. I have located their position but I need someone to get them for me."

"And I guess it will be us." Amara nodded. "Well, do you see anyone else fit for the task on this ship?" that was obviously a rhetorical question.

"Where are we going to pull this off?" Fl4k asked.

"We'll go back to Nekrotefayo, other than the fact that probably there's the least chance of anyone disturbing us, we could use the equipment left from Typhon DeLeon's lab, the more we have the better." she replied. "We will also need the help of a few people, but they are already on their way I believe, Zer0 should be taking care of it."

Zane nodded. "Sounds like you already got everything under control lass."

Tannis snorted at the comment. "I always do."

"Who would these people be?" Moze asked, they needed to recognize them somehow, or they'll probably end up with a few of too many bullet holes if they didn't.

"The group of Vault Hunters that came before you. Maya's old companions." she replied, once again creating general shock.

"Are we sure they will join us? I mean you said we would be looking for Lilith." Amara frowned, not that she would have disliked to meet her fellow Siren sister's friends, but she had doubts that they would be willing to come along for just one person. She did not have a doubt that they knew of their friend's unfortunate fate. "Wouldn't it be easier to convince them to tag along if we looked for Maya as well while we're at it?"

"That would be a good idea, I'd love to get our Commander back, but, Maya did not deserve what happened to her either, she needs a second chance too." Moze approved the Siren's idea, and she had the feeling that their other two companions did too.

"And when I had said that we wouldn't do that? I said I would create a passage to the afterlife, who you will bring back, is up to you. I can make sure you will arrive on the other side, but there's no telling what you will actually find, or if you'll even find anyone in the first place."

"So... we are going to cross the border without even having the smallest assurance we'll succeed?" Amara frowns.

"Well, do you have other ideas then?" Tannis crossed her arms, giving the other Siren a similar look. "We need them, and you know it. I've come this far into actually succeeding, it is worth going to the end. They would do the same for us if they could."

The Vault Hunters looked at each other in mute realization, embarrassment and understanding. If they were alive, Lilith and Maya would have gone above and beyond for anyone of them if they could, and Tannis, even if they knew she would never admit it nor say it openly, knew this, she had known the other two Sirens for far more time after all. Also, it was obvious that she cared, even if she didn't want to, nor was able to show it properly.

"Then let us try." Fl4k said what was on their minds.

"Let's move then, does the kid know this already?" Zane asked, she probably did, but was best to ask. He figured she'd be ecstatic to hear the news.

Tannis nodded at him. "Of course, I let her know first and she approved this, and honestly, I don't see why would anyone try to not get our Commander, and whoever else we can find, back again."

"And especially not Ava. But first, let's get going and get what's needed." Moze was already outside of the door and heading towards the deck, to direct the ship back to Pandora.

The Siren nodded. "Yes, the quicker, the better. We'll be back as soon as possible, Tannis."

"I sure hope so, meanwhile I'll finish the preparations."

The group bid their farewell and traveled towards Pandora to gather the equipment needed, excitement rising, despite not knowing which dangers could lurk on the other side, they would try, the Raiders needed their people back, and they would do anything they could to make sure that happened.

When they got down to Devil's Razor, they already found Vaughn waiting for them, Tannis had probably informed him already, well, at least didn't have to waste time.

"Vault Hunter bros! The Siren lady already told me everything, her machine is right there and ready to be brought on the ship." he excitedly greeted them, pointing at a Technical where Tannis' Eridium enhancer was already strapped on the back.

"Excellent Vaughn, now we just need the components for the other machine and we're ready to go." Fl4k nodded.

"What you need is in a nearby bandit camp, should be easy pickings for badasses like you." Vaughn fiddled with his ECHO for a moment. "Here, I sent the location on your own ECHOs."

"Let's move out then." Moze ran to the Catch-a-Ride machine, followed by the rest, to digistruct their vehicles, when another Technical stopped right before them, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand in their faces, leaving them coughing.

"What the hell?" Amara growled between coughs.

"Sorry about that." came a rough voice, Mordecai. Other two figures descended the vehicle alongside him, Tina and Brick, while Talon decided to remain perched on the hood of the car.

"We want to help too, you're not going to leave us out of this!" the girl stomped her foot.

"We heard Tannis is up to something big, we are here to help, we've got to." the sniper added.

Zane nodded. "Right, what do you guys know, so we don't spend forever explaining things."

"Zer0 passed by, said he had to do something important for Tannis, said she is looking for Lilith? We don't know much, but Lilith is... was our friend, and whatever there is that involves her, we need to be involved too. She'd help us if she could, so we will do the same." Mordecai spared a glance to the moon, still bearing the Firehawk's mark.

"Tannis claims she can open a portal to the realm of the afterlife, we will attempt to bring our Commander back, alongside our other fallen friend Siren." Fl4k explained.

The two males exchanged looks for a change, before laughing a little. "Well, she's a Siren, and a genius, with what she has I am not surprised if she could pull that off." the sniper said.

"Well, this is exciting, Lilith could come back to us, and Maya too. We might not have agreed on everything, but Lilith was still a friend, and I wouldn't want anything more than get her back. And Maya, she was a good slab, and a good person, she didn't deserve to die the way she did, but unfortunately, this world always takes away the best people." Brick, who hadn't spoken until now, shook his head.

"But what about Roland?" Tina spoke up, not taking her eyes away from the statue before her. "He has to be there too right? With them?"

"Well, if the man is there, and we can find him, I don't see why not worth trying to get him back too." Zane put a hand on the young girl's shoulder.

"We'll bring back as many as we can, but for now we should probably head over to this camp and get Tannis what she needs first. One step at a time." Moze says, curtly nodding to the Operative, meaning that she agreed with his words.

"She is right, as exciting as this sounds, we must remain calm and not get ahead of ourselves, we need to get going and complete the scientist's project first, then, we will deal with the rest." Fl4k spoke up, if they never got the basics done, how they were supposed to achieve the rest of their objectives then?

Suddenly then, Tina bounced back to the technical and hopped on it in one of the back seats. "Then what are we waiting for? Hop on suckas!"

"Hell yeah! Let's raid these bandit bastards!" following the girl's enthusiasm, Brick took his place behind the wheel again, while Mordecai followed suit, placing himself back in the gunner seat.

The Vault Hunters shrugged to themselves and jumped in the back with Tina, as Brick started up the engine and he drove them through the Pandoran desert, towards their destination.

"Heh, stupid bandits, still fighting for those two asshole twins even after they've been long dead." Amara scoffed, as she kicked one of the dead bodies on the floor beside her.

"Bandits are dumb this way, give them something to believe in and they will worship it to death." Brick shrugged at her, he knew how bandits were like after having been leader of a group himself. They didn't exactly worship him, but they were as determined to die if he asked as the COV was for for their "gods".

"Whatever, they're dead so it doesn't matter." Moze hopped onto one of the containers. "Let's search this place and see what we can find for Tannis."

"What did she even want exactly?" the sniper asked, coming down from his perch on top of a tall shack.

"Basic stuff." Fl4k replies, looking at his own echo for confirmation. "Batteries, cables, and all of sorts, anything to power up a machine."

"Machine that I suppose she already built, since she is not asking for anything too complicated to find, especially not hard to find on Pandora, the amount of junk on this planet would be enough to build something just as big." not that the Gunner minded, it was easier to find replacements for her Iron Bear when it needed repairs, and it needed them often.

"Like these then?" Tina was pulling with her a stack of unused cables from under a pile of rusty pieces of metal, and showed it to them. The robot nodded. "Yes, very good find."

Talon decided to make her presence known by chirping from above them, descending back on Mordecai's arm, she gave to him a sort of box she was holding in her beak. A battery.

"Good girl." he gently scratched her chin.

They then decided to divide, looking everywhere in the camp for anything that could be useful, in every shack, container and under every pile of junk and dirt they could find, finding cables and batteries all over the place, abandoned to themselves and ready to be used, but never actually touched before. Snagging some ammunition and money while they were at it, it wasn't like these dead idiots needed them anymore anyways.

Once they collected their loot, they placed it back on the technical, ready to be brought on their ship once it landed back on Pandora.

First they went back to collect the other technical with the enhancer, then drove for hours through the desert, admiring the sunset, heading back where their took flight with the Sanctuary III for the first time, it was there that they would have to meet the rest of the crew, to haul the new supplies on the ship, only to then head back into space and towards Nekrotefayo.

They arrived at night time, meeting some fellow crew members along the way, as they looked for new fuel for the ship, that meaning murdering the local wildlife for it.

Once they got there, Tannis and Ava, alongside the others, were there waiting for them, some people were preparing a makeshift campfire and were cooking skag meat on sticks. Other crewmates took care of pulling the supplies in the cargo bay, where they would stay until it was time to use them.

Tina immediately went to hug Ava, the two had never met before, but, they spoke a lot though ECHOnet, Tina had helped the younger girl a lot after the incident in the Promethean Vault happened, as she did have a similar experience too after all, she only had the mercy of not having been present to see it happening in person at least, something in which Ava hadn't been so lucky with.

The two sat on a rock near the fire pit, with sticks in their hands, waiting for their meal to cook, as they watched the rest of their friends and allies chat and prepare for the upcoming events.

"So… tomorrow is the big day huh? Them Vault Hunters told us everything, that smart girl Tannis is trying to bring back our friends." Tina started talking, kicking her legs as she did.

Ava nodded at her, staring into the fire. "Yes…"

The blonde girl gently nudged her. "What's with the frown girl? Our friends will be back soon, be happy."

"I am happy, it's just…" the younger kid held up her left arm, now shining with blue markings, those that once were Maya's.

Tina watched her for a moment, before realizing. "Oh I see ya, you miss ya girl, don't cha?"

Ava nodded again. "I miss them both but… Maya…" her tattoos flared to life, showing her current discomfort. "I was just starting to get used to her absence, but seeing her own markings on my arm reminds me of her every second…"

She hung her head down, pulling up her hood to hide her face. "I wish she was here with me, I… I shouldn't have followed her in that Vault, now she's dead because of it." she shook, trying her hardest not to cry.

"You can't be serious girl! You don't know that!"

"I still disobeyed her, and I shouldn't have, then those two twin bastards got to her, because she couldn't protect herself, because I was there." she clawed at her arm. "I don't deserve these, I caused her nothing but troubles, she should have chosen a better person."

"Ava listen, people make mistakes, them twins were probably after Maya already, that leech of Tyreen would have been super excited to gain even more power, she had got big Lily's powers already, so she must have been planning to get after Maya's sexy ass too." Tina replied. "The Calypsos were two power hungry bitches, don't forget that. Whatever they could get their dirty hands on, they would, because that's how they were, and we know who and what Maya was too."

"A strong and badass Siren?"

"Exactly, and she was a threat for them, it's the same with my Roland friend, he was in Handsome Jack's way, so he killed him." Tina growled, then sighed, calming down. "Bad people do bad things to good people, and you aren't, but them twins were. They killed her, not you."

"You think I'm good?" Ava frowned.

"Yep! Your mah friend, also, Maya was a damn good gal, she would not have chosen you, if you were bad." Tina grabbed the girl's chin and tilted it up. "Now turn that frown into a smile, don't wanna make big ol' Tina all sad now huh?"

The kid giggled lightly. "Thanks Tina, I needed this."

"That's what friends do girl."

They both lifted their sticks to eat. "Then… I think I wanna join them in searching for her." Ava said between bites, motioning at the group of Vault Hunters.

"Everyone is doing their own part in this, and I wanna be useful too, like actual useful. If there's anyone that really should look for Maya, then I think it should be me." she sighed. "I need to see her again, I owe her an apology at least, I just hope she won't be too mad at me."

Tina nodded at her. "That's the spirit, then would you mind doing me a favor?"

"After all the times you helped me feel better, it's the least I can do."

"Would look for mah boy Roland too? Its weird, but he could be with them too maybe."

Ava smiled. "Sure!"

Tina grinned back. "Awesome! Now let's eat, we got a long day tomorrow."

The two sat enjoying the campfire and their meal together with the rest of Sanctuary's residents, excitement high in the air for the next day, but also worry, and hope that everything will go as planned, and that Tannis and the Vault Hunters will succeed. But for now, they all slept under the stars, waiting for the next day to come.