Disclaimer, I own nothing. The characters presented by my story belong to Gearbox and 2K. The characters are fictional, any events that occur are purely coincidental. (IE If one day a Siren walks up to you, Phaselocks you, and shoots you, please don't sue me)

Also, this story is based on Maya. She is my favorite character and I will be writing this story in relation to how I believe she is thinking. I have no actual insider information that proves I'm correct in my assumptions, these are merely fan-inspired thoughts on paper. So if you would like to write a review albeit bad or good please do so. In the interest of not plagiarizing the entire game, I will find ways to skip unimportant dialogues and go straight to my own work.

Spoiler Alert: This chapter contains information about Echo Recordings for Maya in-game.

*Italicized texts are Maya's thoughts*

Chapter 1

Humble Beginnings

She was finally here, Pandora. It's exactly what she would have expected for a war-torn planet although she didn't care for the sand. It got everywhere. It took her three months to get here from Athenus, damn long time. By the time she arrived there were already some men waiting at the train platform.

Maya chuckled, this is the most ragtag team of misfits she had ever seen. One is so tall and lanky that he made a stick look tough. Another is so short and muscular that Dwarves would be put to shame. And the last is most definitely a soldier, he can't hide that stubborn arrogance if he tried.

Who would have thought that after twenty-seven years of being sheltered in an order of egotistical men that she would finally be free? Even though she had grown up in the Abbey and knew little else firsthand, Maya was not nervous. Rather a bubbling sense of anticipation and excitement boiled in her.

If someone told her a year ago that she would soon be running around Pandora, hunting for the mysterious treasure that the planet hides away, Maya would most certainly call them mad. Yet here she is, standing at the station with the sun beating on her skin. This unfamiliar place brings back spurts and flashbacks of the Abbey. The good, the bad, and the ugly. These memories still haunt her every night. No doubt they will be with her for her entire life.

How had she allowed herself to be so easily used? Blind trust that lead to her completely exposing herself to these men left her more vulnerable than she cared to admit. She hated herself for those years and promised that no one would ever get the chance to use her again.

For twenty-seven years these men kept her secluded from everyone, training her abilities and powers, but always seeming to hold out on her. Their training was unorthodox by the average human standard. Mostly they just left her in a room to read about spirits and chakras; how the soul reaches into itself to draw on strength and power. However whenever she got stronger they would confine her for an inordinate amount of time with barely any food, resilience training they called it. Bullshit. It wasn't until 3 months ago that she finally realized why they had kept her so isolated.

It was a regular day, the sun beaming through her room as Maya lay on her bed bored. Her room was a simple 20 by 15, a large bed in the corner with a large bookcase on the wall to her left. Maya's desk was at the feet of her bed, positioned in a way that whenever someone opened her door, they would be able to immediately peer over her shoulder to check on what she was doing. Not that she ever read or worked there much. Plus after so many years there she already exhausted all the books in her shelf and constantly needed to borrow some at the library.

This morning Maya did not feel like reading or training, she just wanted to lay there and sulk in her boredom. She closed her eyes and thought of her favorite adventure tales. Maya envisioned herself running into the heat of battle, fighting as any proud Amazonian woman would. Suddenly there was a rapping on her door and Brother Harker entered stating that Brother Sophis needed her right away.

Irritated, Maya got up. She took her time because she really didn't like Brother Sophis, or so she had to call him. She was just irritated that she had to go out again, probably to play political prop again. He always had her doing that, going out, saying hi to everyone and then going back into her room. She never understood why she had to do that, not many people knew her or knew she existed. Or so she thought. Every time she went out with him, Maya noticed that people would stare in awe at him, but sometimes… every now and then, she thought they were actually staring at her.

Call it hubris, but Maya was getting sick of it. She wanted some action in her life. Little did she know that was exactly what she was about to get. Brother Sophis finally called upon her for a task that was more than just waving her arm around, but the events that transpired were far from anyone's expectations. That day never faded from her memory.

"NO! Please NO!" A man screamed at the top of his lungs, this caught her attention as she walked up next to Brother Sophis.

"What's going on? What is this?" Maya asked, taking in the scene with pure horror.

"Today is a great day, Maya. Today, your training is finally put to use." Brother Sophis spoke with authority, but it was lost on Maya.

"Who are these people?!" The anger in her voice shook some of the men in the group.

"Terrorists. Criminals. Evil men. You will destroy them, as is your duty. This is what you have trained for!"

"What? To execute unarmed men?"

"Do not question me, child! These men are a danger. Brother Harker, bring the first sinner forward."

Maya stared at Brother Harker, he lowered his eyes in shame and spoke softly, "Yes, Brother Sophis."

Brother Harker brings forth the first man, who looked ready to pass out from fear. Brother Sophis exclaims, "On your knees, sinner."

Maya recognized the man, he was the neighborhood librarian . She wondered to herself what a kind old man could have possibly done wrong. Stokes had always been kind to her when she dropped by to read some books, mainly exploration tales. Although there was always apprehension in his eyes, Stokes was one of the few people who actually greeted Maya. Her heart tore a little as she looked into his anxious eyes.

With one glance at her Stokes screamed out, "Oh God, not her - NOT HER!"

Maya was at a loss for words, why was he so scared of her? She turned to Brother Sophis, "What is this man guilty of?"

Without waiting for a reply from Brother Sophis, Stokes crawls urgently to his leg, grabbing on, intently begging, "I promise - I'll pay! I'll get you your tithe, just don't let her near me!"

"What?" The rage in Maya was now searing, was this why everyone was so nice to her? Why every time she turned around people quickly looked away or forced disturbing smiles?

"Do not listen, child! Execute him!" Brother Sophis spoke quickly, with a voice of conviction.

"Ah, to hell with it." She looked down at Stokes, his eyes now glazed with tears and face moist, brought up her hand and clenched down.

"What are you doing, child?! PUT ME DOWN!"

Maya was outraged, her entire existence has indeed been a lie. She screamed at him with all the bottled up rage over the years. "Twenty-seven years. For twenty-seven years you've been using me to keep these people frightened, haven't you?"

"You don't understand-"

"SHUT UP! You didn't want me to protect this planet! You wanted me to keep it scared, keep me locked up so these people would do what you asked. Nobody's gonna disobey the Order if they've gotta face the wrath of a Siren, is that it?!"

"You know nothing! Child, you have SO MUCH left to learn! You - "

This man has held onto her life for years, she placed her trust in him because he was really the only person who interacted with her. Everyone else seemed so scared and now she knew why. It was her fault for trusting someone so much, her fault for letting these people suffer, her fault for everything that has happened. She created this monster and she was the only that could end him.

*BANG*

"Don't. Call me. 'Child.' Everyone, get outta here. You have nothing fear from the Order anymore - I'm leaving."

Brother Harker walked up to her slowly and asked, "But where will you go, chil-" He caught himself too late but immediately corrected himself, "Uhm, Maya?"

Maya stood there for a moment, where would she go? The Order of Impending Storm was really all she ever knew about life and Athenus the only planet she ever set foot on. Where would she go? Then a soft smile formed on her face as she turned to Brother Harker.

"To Pandora. I'm gonna find some answers."

**Thanks for joining me on this newly carved adventure with Maya! Feel free to some reviews my way, favorite, or follow**

If you like the cover art PLEASE check out Sonellion in Deviant Art. I got the picture there since I suck at drawing. This is a Maya/Lilith Story. Why am I saying this even though it should be clear already? Because I'm getting a lot of Maya/Axton requests and that's a no go for me.