Episode 3 – Catch a Ride
After taking care of the security drones, Rhys and Fiona escape through a hatch beneath them and try to find their friends before Vasquez or August have a chance to kill them. They find Sasha and Vaughn attempting to escape from Vasquez, and successfully regroup. During the ensuing battle Vaughn gets hit by a stun dart, paralyzing him for much of the episode. They all hop on Loader Bot’s back and try fleeing the compound, only to be blasted down by the gang of Finch, Kroger, and their boss Vallory, who were all waiting outside.
Following Vallory’s Q&A session with Fiona, she shoots and kills Vasquez and attempts to take the Gortys orb. It is also revealed that August is her son. She almost shoots Fiona as well when Athena cuts in and pushes Vallory and her goons away. Once the crime boss and her posse have fled, Athena explains that Felix hired her to mentor Fiona and Sasha to become vault hunters, capable of defending themselves and doing whatever they must to get by.
With the Gortys orb in hand the team decides to activate it, and it opens up into a perky robot. Gortys is capable of tracking the Vault of the Traveller, which can teleport anywhere across the universe, but only once she is fully upgraded. The rest of the episode is spent hunting down her energy chassis. The ever-growing party, which now consists of Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha, Athena, Loader Bot, and Gortys, all pile into the caravan and road trip to an Atlas terraforming facility, where Gortys says her chassis is located.
Back in the present, Rhys and Fiona are still travelling with the mysterious Stranger to an unknown destination. Fiona suspects he keeps his mask on either because he knows them, or he needs them. The stranger keeps the air of mystery for now, and Rhys continues telling their tale.
After arriving at the terraform dome, the party comes across an old man who helps them to heal Vaughn’s paralysis. He also tells them that in order to find Gortys’ upgrade they must first take down the security defenses protecting it. Rhys and Sasha go out to bring down the security wall, while Fiona and Athena venture out to obtain the upgrade. Vaughn stays behind with Loader Bot and Gortys to keep an eye on Cassius and continue recovering from his paralysis.
As Rhys and Sasha work their way toward the security station they bond and grow closer, with Rhys obviously becoming quite smitten with her. They encounter some trouble along the way, but manage to get there in the end. Meanwhile Athena trains Fiona on her way to the upgrade location, working on her aim and ability to quickly assess a dangerous situation and take appropriate action. They reach their destination and Fiona uses the eyeball obtained in episode 2 to gain entry to the establishment.
Rhys shuts down the security protocol in stereotypical just-in-the-nick-of-time fashion, allowing Fiona and Athena to grab Gortys’ energy chassis. About that moment in the present time, Fiona, Rhys, and the Stranger stumble upon the very same energy chassis, their curiosities and suspicions about him continuing to grow.
Everyone regroups back at the dome, and they learn that the old man is a former Atlas employee named Cassius LeClemaine. Athena attempts to kill him (as she made a vow to kill anyone who is or was a part of Atlas), but Fiona can choose his ultimate fate. Either way, once that is decided Brick from previous Borderlands games comes unexpectedly crashing through the dome’s glass wall, barreling Athena out the other side. Fiona also gets taken down, and when Rhys looks for a sign of her he sees Vallory firing a rocket up at the party. And the walls come tumbling down.
When the smoke clears Vallory’s gang has Rhys cornered and the rest of the team is scattered. Vaughn jumps Vallory in an attempt to distract her as Rhys and Gortys try to run away. Elsewhere, Fiona and Sasha manage to tag-team Finch and Kroger, recovering Gortys’ chassis and meeting up with the severely damaged Loader Bot. Sasha and Loader Bot go in search of Gortys, while Fiona tries to find and save Athena.
Sasha soon finds Rhys and Gortys, and a chase scene ensues between them and August, wherein Gortys receives her chassis upgrade and nearly carries the other three to safety, but getting caught on a trip wire. Vallory’s goons round them up. At the same time Fiona finds Athena battling Brick and Mordecai both, and though they put up a good fight, the girls ultimately fall to the vault hunters’ power. Brick and Mordecai take Athena to Sanctuary (where the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel play out), and Vallory closes in on the others once more, with Vaughn nowhere to be found.
Vallory forces Gortys to reveal the location of her next upgrade; the Hyperion base, Helios.
