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Chapter 20: Unveiling Shadows New
[One day later, Lunar Command, Skywatch]

The scorching sun and the endlessly stretching blue horizon. At this time of day Skywatch seemed more so an abandoned scrapyard, the heat from the sun radiated through every manner of matter, until everything came to a scalding boil.

A strange lull permeated through the base, waves of heat pulsated, and not a single soul could be seen outside. The base was stranded.

But within the bases perimeter, one figure could be seen, standing solemnly in silence. He clutched his fists, his face hung low. The time he dreaded had finally come. He knew it would come one day, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

He couldn't run from his destiny.

The figure clenched his teeth, unable to let out a sound, the sheer anguish drowned out his ability to speak. The anger flushed his face with emotions he had never portrayed before.

It wasn't evident what the figure was doing, until a black hexagonal drone flew by

"Void, I've confirmed it, no one's here." Obsidian remarked.

It's sensor pulsed the surroundings but to no avail.

Obsidian looked worried, as he faced Void. The hunter unable to accept this outcome.

"How could this happen. How. I tried I swear, I...I couldn't do it obsidian." Void cried out

"No...No, listen to me Void. It's not your fault. You can't blame yourself. You have to let it go Void. We don't have much time left. We.... should move."

Obsidian replied, its mechanical eye shifting to the side, the glow dimming slightly.

Void's emotions took the better of him, as he stayed still. Sadness, wrath, guilt, everything rushed through this mind.

He heaved a breath to calm himself down. Slight resolution surfaced in his demeanor, as Void shakingly placed his hands on his eyes.

His lips stuttered, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"On-.... Tw-"

Void slurred his words, his hands shivering. But a few seconds later, his responder blinked.

Void jerked, his eyes staring wide at the caller. "Levi"...

"HEY YOU, You bastard. I can't fucking believe what you're doing. It's been THREE MINUTES. Are you going to start your turn or not. I can't wait any longer." Levi barked like a furious crackhead.

At his words Void flared up, his eyes rolled backwards, he could only see red as his mind went blank.

"YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU, DEGENERATE DOG." Void finally lost his mind as he couldn't handle it any longer.

Obsidian could almost swear he saw foam frothing at the ends of Void's mouth.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT, ALL YOUR FAULT. HOW DARE YOU, DO YOU HAVE A CONSCIENCE. THIS IS THE EIGTH TIME I AM HERE, #$%#$%@#% AND @#$@#$@#$"

"WHAT, YOU ##$#$, did you just turn on the censorship filter. YOU #$%#$% YOU THINK I WON'T @#$@#$"

"YEAH KEEP BARKING DOG. TALKING SHIT WHILE YOU'RE GARBAGE." Levi replied in the full spirit of an enraged bulldog as he couldn't help retaliating.

Void continued rambling as another caller joined in.

"Hey you two, we are tired of waiting, what the hell are you doing. The squad's all in position" Tevis's voice chimed in as his ears were assaulted by Void's and Levi's incessant censor bleeps.

Tevis sighed like a disappointed owner finding his dogs wrestling, he immediately muted the two maniacs and continued talking.

"Ok, first of all Void, you know this is just for training right? It's not our fault you're slower than a snail, just because you lose every round you can't throw a tantrum, this is a team exercise. Secondly, Levi did I not tell you to take it easy? Why do I see you raring to go in the open already."

Both sides had eventually calmed down after an endearing intervention by Tevis and an obvious threat to clean the city's sewers for a week.

Void couldn't help but mutter under his breath as he closed his channel.

He finally placed his hands on his eyes and started again.

"One.. two... three..four...five. Here I come" He sighed as he finished his words and immediately his figured turned invisible and rushed to the center field of the base.

Hunters were known to be sly, cunning and playful. Their extreme speeds and lightning reflexes had to be tested somehow. Hence, they chose the one game that could test all these attributes.

The game that had dominated mankind since the dawn of time. That's right, the Nightstalkers were playing tag. But it was not that simple, it was a special variation. The shrewd mentality of hunters was evidently visible in their rules.

There was one "it", and the moment someone else got tagged they would switch, that part was quite the same, and had survived the test of time. However, to the hunters, that was quite... boring.

They added a new rule. Whoever was it, could be attacked by any and all "targets" and had to defend himself appropriately. If somehow, the targets managed to tag "it", that hunter would then have to close his eyes and start counting again as everyone shuffled positions.

Even the, this seemed all fine and dandy, but the real crux of the game came in play. Hunters were not stupid, aside from using excessive abilities, everything was allowed. That meant, smoke bombs, knifes, invisibility, camouflage, sniping... you name it. Everything was allowed, heck even melee combat wasn't out of consideration.

In essence, for the last eight rounds, Void had been the punching bag of the Nightstalkers squadron. No matter who it was they would outclass him in speed and ability. It wasn't long before they were running him in circles.

But that was still not as infuriating as what Levi would do.

Ever so often, in the middle of the chaos, Levi like the rat he was would sneak behind Void and swiftly plant his palm right in the back of Void's head. Enraging the hunter to the nth degree.

Not only that, Void wasn't allowed to attack back because Levi had now tagged him. He could only helplessly walk back to the start, close his eyes and start counting again.

However now? Now Void had enough. He immediately jumped into the fray.

Sneaking? Hiding? Those were all useless. He was up against the best the city had to offer. Trying to beat them at their own game was foolish. Instead his plan was simple, plain and pure chaos.

Void rushed towards the centre, his transparent figure darting through at lightning speeds.

He took in a deep breath before opening the comms channel and finally..

"LEVI YOU COWARD FIGHT ME RIGHT NOW. FUCK, COME OUT YOU RAT", He shouted

Naturally, Levi being the dog bastard he was immediately responded with a war cry and jumped into the field.

"Shit not again." Tevis slammed his hand against the wall, unable to see why those two were at each others throat.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Squad had varying reactions. Some considered it good fun and even bet against who would win, of course only the gamblers bet on Void. Levi was no joke, there's no way he would lose but gambling was always about betting against the odds. Whereas the other hunters could only sigh.

As the two degenerate hunters were fighting in the middle, the rest of the Nightstalkers revealed themselves. The thirteen guardians encircled the center of the field, their presence akin to a cage.

They didn't mind the fight, but they couldn't let those two take it too far. Restricting the perimeters was one of few options to not dampen the mood.

"I can't believe those two are still at it." Tevis lamented, massaging his temple.

"They are quite compatible if you think about it captain." Bandit-3 stretched out his hands, both holding a jar each with several chits in it.

"A choice if you will." He gestured towards Tevis.

Tevis sighed again, but despite his expression, his hands quickly stretched towards Levi's jar and dropped in a chit.

"Thank you captain." Bandit bowed gracefully, his serpentine mechatronic eyes glowing a deep yellow.

"I better be seeing that money Bandit. I know where you keep your stash." Tevis retorted as the exo was about to leave towards other hunters.

"Err... Of course, captain." The Nightstalker chuckled a dry laugh and continued his betting schemes.

Cory who was standing besides Tevis pointed towards the centre

"I think they're finally starting out there", He gestured to the others.

Everyone's gaze shifted to Levi and Void.

Both hunters had come to a standoff.

"Hey hey hey, are you sure you can win. It's 8-0 you know?" Levi riled Void up.

"If you don't end up cheating then I am sure I can smash your face in." Void chuckled rolling his wrists.

"We'll see about that." Levi replied with a smirk

Both sides had enough talking as the two slowly stepped towards each other.

Each second, the two hunters inched closer by a step or two. But just as the distance across was less than five meters.

The two figures disappeared. In what could only be described as a vague blur. A flurry of blows was instantaneously traded, as punches and kicks were thrown out mercilessly.

As the two reappeared Void was jerked backwards, unable to control his momentum. This brought a smug grin to Levi's face as the fight continued.

Levi focused energy in his soles, his body leaned forwards slightly, and before Void could even react, he shot forwards like a bullet.

Swinging his body sideways, Levi's heel kick aligned perfectly with Void's head. But despite expecting a clean hit. At the last second possible, as time seemed to slow down, Void's eye twitched, a reaction that was faster than the blink of an eye, Void shifted his weight almost falling backwards.

A reaction that Levi couldn't fathom, perhaps a quirk of fate?

As his kick passed through thin Air he saw Void retaliating his body jolted, several knives immediately flew into Levi's face.

With a feint sway, Levi instinctively zipped through the knives, as they barely grazed his skin. The next blow was already in motion. His hands formed a fist, as it aimed towards Void's body.

Void fell on his back, unable to get up fast enough, he anticipated the punch as he fiercely kicked the ground catapulting himself backwards, dodging the punch by the skin of his teeth.

Within just a fraction of a second, this encounter had almost decided the match!

The close calls were quite a show as the Nightstalker's couldn't help but cheer and holler. Slight excitement had built up around this small fight.

With no time to waste, Levi pounced on Void's front, chucking blow after blow at the inexperienced hunter..

Void couldn't help but be overwhelmed. The pacing was far too quick, Levi's blows hit like a truck and were faster than he could react to.

As the fight continued, one side could be seen completely dominating the other. Punch for punch, blow for blow, Void was consistently pushed back, his only option was to dodge and weave a few hits to ensure Levi wouldn't completely crush his arms.

In a last ditch effort Void gripped his knife, as he juggled it in his hands, Levi zoomed in.

Feeling the hit coming, Void immediately ducked , and as expected, Levi found himself kicking empty air in the blink of an eye.

Void immediately leaned forwards, deftly swiping his dagger across Levi's heel. But to his dismay the veteran endured the pain and immediately flipped his body midair to deliver a crushing chest kick that shot Void stumbling a few feet onto the ground.

Clutching his chest, Void barely got up. He could feel a rustic taste in his mouth, and sharp pain in his sides as he heaved in a heavy breath.

'Damn he cracked my ribs with one kick that fucking monster.' Void could only grin despairingly as he saw Levi limp up to fight more despite having a severed tendon and slight void burn in his left leg.

Both sides glared onto the other. The fight had heated up slightly.

The encircling hunters observed, patiently waiting the outcome.

Void flicked his wrist, a dagger appearing in his second hand as he began juggling the blades back and forth.

Levi's movement was crippled, but even now, Void felt like his opponent was more dangerous than ever. But he could tell, there was no hiding it.

'Gilded Blade, it's weak but it's working.'

The void burn was evidence that his perk wasn't completely useless against his opponent. Despite not being allowed to use his abilities fully, Void could still utilize his perks, but Levi could not. It was an unfair advantage but this was the only way Void could even survive a fight against a monstrous opponent.

A sense of understanding flashed through Void's eyes as he began moving towards his opponent.

Levi felt it coming as he immediately tensed his body.

Once again, the two hunters tussled, blow for blow, as Void tried his best to nick Levi with his blade. But to his despair, the veteran had already caught on. Ever so slightly, Levi would feint an opening but as Void tried, he could only get countered and give up a free hit.

The flurry of blows resurfaced, each side punching out with full force, each hit resounded crisply in the base.

At once, shooting forwards Levi used his right leg to spin kick Void backwards, unable to sense the quick attack, Void took the brunt of it, blocking with both arms, the rookie hunter let out a faint grunt.

'Fuck...that's both arms.'

Void felt his forearms crack slightly.

Like a raging train, Levi used his only leg to spring forwards and continue relentlessly attacking Void, who could solely focus on dodging. Each kick was dodged in the nick of time, barely leaving Void with room to breathe.

The fight seemed like a well choreographed dance, but it was time for a glorious finale.

Flinging his daggers forwards, Void used his full power to blitz towards him, he kept chucking knives at every possible occasion leaving Levi no choice but to keep close.

With both his hands compromised, Void switched to a similar Taekwondo style as Levi, a flurry of kicks traded swiftly.

Forcing Levi towards sandy ground, Void ensured the location was perfect, as the fight got even fiercer. Not a second passed by but blows were traded. Each side seemed just as likely to win.

But Void pulled a quick feint as he leaned in to deliver a punch but just as he missed, a knife flew from his other hand through Levi's foot, pinning the hunter to the ground. Not missing a beat Void leaned in, twisting his body fully as he sprung forwards with a punch.

Levi's eyes widened as he found himself unable to move. Feeling that he could match the blow, the Nightstalker immediately clenched his fist and threw it towards the incoming punch.

Expecting a painful collision he clenched his teeth but just as they blows were about to connect, Void stumbled forwards his punch landing below Levi sending a cloud of sand flushing upwards breaking his line of sight.

'Fuck this is sand.' Levi immediately realized what had happened, his vision was clouded within the dust as his other senses raged on to find Void, but to his shock not even a faint sign of Void remained.

'What is.'

The veteran found himself bamboozled, a faint shade flickered behind him.

'Oh fuck' His eyes shook, as he tried to look behind him.

Before Levi could react the shade kicked his leg sending him tumbling backward as he found his head chased by a dagger. Levi hit the ground his arms barely shielding his face as the blades tip stopped directly in front of his neck.

An injured Void reappeared and fell to his knees, he smirked holding the dagger perfectly still.

"You're it." He mouthed observing Levi's shocked pale face.

The Nightstalkers went wild, unable to process what had happened. All of a sudden Void found himself being thrown around in a cheer as everyone rushed in to celebrate.

He couldn't help but smile with satisfaction as he saw a faint prompt in front of him.



{Legendary Guardian System}

+New Combat Perks Unlocked:

* Sixth Sense: As a hunter, you're able to sense danger a fraction of a second before it occurs.

* Dagger mastery: As a skilled blade master you're able to masterfully wield daggers whether it is in long or short range encounters.




A/N: Bit of a long chapter, also had some gags. Was meant for a fun time tbh. But not to worry, the story continues.
 
Chapter 21: Spicy Ramen Shop New
The Nightstalkers roared and cheered as they tossed Void around, smiles were plastered all around as they finally saw their somewhat temporary member snag a win against an old prick that Levi was.

Even Levi who was sprawled over the ground couldn't help but crack a smile of genuine disbelief when he realized what had happened.

"Alright that's enough, you can put him down now." Tevis's voice resounded.

Like clockwork the Nightstalkers shuffled around forming a clean line-up.

Levi struggled to get up as his ghost appeared, starting to heal his injured tendons.

"Thanks zipper." He chirped, limping up.

The auburn ghost circled around Levi and nodded in gratitude before promptly disappearing.

Void who could still not feel the bones in his arms eventually was on the verge of collapse. But to maintain the decorum of his victory, the hunters beside him were already supporting him with their arms intertwined around his shoulders.

"Easy now champ. You got a hell of a beating." Cory commented, helping Void stand as he held his broken arms.

Obsidian floated closer as his scanner picked up Void's vitals, he glowed faintly, channeling light as Void began to regenerate.

"So that marks the conclusion of the our stealth exercise. But seriously, I think you guys took it too far. I can't believe you resorted to a head on duel." Tevis continued scolding the two hunters as he shook his head.

"Aiigh, It's all good captain. The rookie got a chance and finally won, you should let him celebrate it a bit longer don't you think." Levi dusted off the sand on his armor as he spoke.

"I do agree captain, but first I think it's best you pay up." Bandit chimed in with a sleezy look smeared over his face.

A frown appeared on Tevis's face, "Pay up? what the hell are you talking about?"

Tevis brushed Bandit off as he continued.

Just as he was about to lecture the hunters, he noticed the side eye glares he was receiving after rejecting the bet.

Tevis cleared his throat watching as the hunters solemnly turned their gazes towards him, expecting some payout.

"Captain, while I do respect the protocol and I thoroughly enjoy your sensational speeches. I believe you can't go back on your word." Bandit's voice echoed within the base, carrying a sly allure.

"Ah but I see that you might not want to cash out. You know, considering you bet against the winner and all." Bandit added at the end, a sly smirk planted on his silicon lips.

Tevis immediately face palmed knowing what was coming next.

Void looked at his captain with slight disbelief,

"You bet against me?" He cried.

"Listen it's not like tha-" Tevis tried to reason but the mob had overtaken him.

"Haa, so in the end the captain just wants to scam the rookie... I see." Levi nodded.

"I must say captain this approach is quite excessive, I didn't know you were this ruthless." Cory swayed his head.

A few other hunters also began to whisper.

"I heard the captain bullied the Rookie into accepting the job."

"I heard he threatened the rookie because he was the one selected at first."

"Really? I heard he promised the newbie some great weapon, but in the end he was gonna hand out a ballyhoo classic." The anonymous hunter sighed at the end, clicking his tongue. The Nightstalkers around him scrunched up their faces at his words.

Tevis's frown deepened, creases developing on his forehead.

"Hey, do you think if I report this abuse to the Vanguard resources they will let me take a day off?"

"I think you'll get your ass beat but go for it", two hushed voices continued.

Tevis's frown deepened as his eyebrows twitched.

"Oye.." Tevis was about to speak out but the whispers continued.

"I heard the captain told the newbie he was too busy to teach him one on one and that he wasn't worth his time."

"Really? All the captain does is sit up at the lunar tower though. Ahh, I guess he really doesn't like Void."

Tevis's calm façade finally crumbled.

"OYE, I told you bastards to respect your captain. Fine, fine, a payout? Ok, I will give you guys a payout. Let's all have a meal at the spicy ramen shop, my treat". A victorious grin formed on Tevis's face.

Hearing their captain's generous offer, the squad couldn't help but burst out in cheers once again.

On the side, Bandit-3 could be seen with a lingering faint smile as he crossed out the debt owed for the previous bet.

"Alright alright, so ten of us can go back to the tower, but the remaining five need to be on sentry duty. Since Void and Levi fought today, they are not included. So we're gonna pick lots." Tevis declared.

Suddenly, a suffocating pressure emanated from the crowd. The air seemed to halt, as everyone's eyes narrowed, their fickle gaze darting around, glaring at the ones around them.

"You know the rules. Bandit let's go." Tevis snapped his fingers.

The swift exo deftly pulled out a jar containing lots.

"You only get one pick, don't cheat." Tevis reminded.

A flurry of hands immediately jumped towards the jar as the chits were distributed.

Some had sorrowful smiles while others had eyes full of disbelief. There were melancholic farewells and promises of takeout ramen being brought back.

Finally the winners departed on their Jumpships, promising a grand return with several orders of spicy ramen. Some believed them, while the others staying back had given in to cruel fate

---------------------------

[Bazaar, The Tower, Last city]

The squad of Nightstalkers walked in to the bazaar, their group startled the crowd and merchants roaming around. Some civilians were star-struck to the point that the usually crowded bazaar went dead silent.

Naturally, being a guardian was already very eye catching. But Nightstalkers were heroes clouded in mystery. Many could almost swear they didn't exist. However, today as ten hunters walked in tow with their captain, people were stunned to speak.

Tevis had his arms wrapped around Void as he led them all to the famed Spicy Ramen Shop. Void was slightly excited as although he'd been here for a few months, he'd never gotten enough time to explore the bazaar.

Their group continued to walked down the bazaar as they finally reached a shady crumbling corner store manned by a droid and an exo with a big yellow vending machine at it's entrance.

The exo looked up, it's blue eyes glowing in surprise.

"How's it going Maurice, we'll take ten orders of Spicy Ramen. Large. 5 stars. Extra dumplings. Tevis extended his wrist to show his smart tag for glimmer transfer as the small cashier droid stepped in."

The small droid circled around Tevis, like a lost puppy who found it's owner.

"Hey Aym, you're doing great. Great job helping Maurice out." Tevis immediately reciprocated, brushing the droids grey metallic frame.

Maurice smiled faintly as he shook his hands

"No, no payment for you guys. It's on us today, the Nightstalkers don't come to the Bazaar that often. So it must be a special day." The Exo laughed.

"Yeah it's special alright. Our newbie here won his first fight." Tevis's immediately patted Void's head like a proud teacher.

"Hey not my hood, you're gonna mess it up." Void immediately slapped his hand away feeling annoyed.

Maurice's eyes widened.

"A new member? My, I didn't know the city had a new Nightstalker. Please, please, have a seat." Maurice gestured as Aym directed the hunters to their table.

"Keep it down Maurice, it's not something anyone else needs to know." Tevis chuckled.

"Please, you know I am tight lipped. If not then at this point you and Cayde would already be in a lot of deep shit." He shook his head reminiscing of the old times.

"Ah, I really miss those days you and Cayde were quite rebellious always trying to strike pre-emptively. Andal, he would often complain about you, you know he almost pulled his hair out some days. But when you two got that fallen bounty cleared up, he was so proud he couldn't stop bragging about it the whole night." Maurice's eye's dimmed, his voice cut off, a soar lump in his throat as old memories flashed through his mind.

His hands which were always working to clean out some glasses halted abruptly. For a brief second there was silence in the shop.

Maurice seemed lost for a few seconds, but then he looked towards Tevis and broke himself out of the melancholic trance.

"He would be so proud you know, that's just what he was like." He continued, picking up the glass as he continued polishing.

"I know Maurice, I know." Tevis replied with a calm smile.

Void who was sitting at the table shivered slightly. His squad members might not be fully aware but he was one who knew the story first hand.

'Andal Brask, the old hunter vanguard.' He could remember that name.

The man who trained two elite hunters, Cayde and Tevis. The man who mentored Ana Bray. The man brutally murdered by Taniks. If anything, Andal brask started off a generation of hunters. He was a hero and a leader.

Void didn't think he would hear that name today but it did remind him that guardians lived long lives. After all, Andal Brask had been around for hundreds of years. Yet it also reminded him of the dangers they faced. Despite being one of the strongest hunters, he was still tracked down and killed by Taniks.

Void resolved himself to never end up like that. He didn't want the one's around him to suffer the same fate. He could tell that despite Tevis playing it down, the sorrow and grief in his voice never seemed to fade.

He knew the reality. That Taniks was still alive. That Cayde had tried to kill him off a few times already but failed.

At the end of the day Void swallowed up these thoughts, it wasn't yet time to think of the future like that. He had bigger problems in front of him.

He sighed as the Aym dished out the bowls of ramen to their table.

The hunters perked up, as Levi, Bandit and Cory immediately jumped in to indulge.

Guardians didn't need food. But spicy ramen was a delicacy they could not pass out on. Void had never tried it himself since he was mostly out of town. But today, he was almost drooling as his nose caught the smell.

"This stuff....is." He couldn't help but cry out.

His spoon didn't stop moving as he began stuffing the hot noodles down his face.

Spice was one flavour that guardians could indulge in, and it brought them great pleasure. Void could definitely agree as although his mouth felt like it was on fire, his body felt warm. A strange bubbly warmth spread throughout his chest and it made him feel ecstatic.

"Haa, you guys eat like animals. Calm down there you can just get seconds." Tevis shook his head.

Hearing this, everyone immediately roared as the crowd riled up. The hunters continued stuffing their faces until they could almost swear their armor wouldn't fit.

At the end most of them had passed out because of a spice overload. Their body not able to deal with the overwhelming capsaicin, had began shutting down. Naturally, their regenerative abilities meant that it would only knock them out for ten minutes.

Void and the others were sprawled over their tables in the shop as Tevis continued chatting with the owner.

Void's vision was slightly blurred as he held his stomach tight, unable to take even a single step.

His eyes faced the door as he saw a vague figure stepping closer.

"Huh.. you are."

His mind felt fuzzy as he was about to sleep, but then the figure poked him lightly as a jolt rushed through Void's body. The pain immediately forced him to scream out.

"UGH. What...What happened." He held his head as it throbbed.

His vision refocused as the whole shop looked towards the figure.

"You...Sai Mota?" Void recalled that face.
 
Chapter 22: Order of The Sunbreakers New
Void stumbled, scrambling to get up as his fuzzy vision began to clear.

Hearing his words, the rest of the shop immediately glanced at the huntress. The Nightstalkers previously hunched over sobered up and stood up at attention, their bodies going rigid.

"CAPTAIN", Levi and the rest shouted, saluting Sai.

Sai shrugged them off with a wave as she continued.

"At ease. I was looking for you at the base and they told me you guys were celebrating at the ramen shop. But really...to think Levi would lose to you. You're not bad." Sai smirked fist bumping Void.

"A-ah, Captain I can explain, he just got lu-" Levi fumbled his words waking up from his food coma.

Sai's face scrunched up with an annoyed frown.

"Don't spout some bullshit like luck after loosing to a newbie. You and I both know it doesn't exist out there. You were in my training camp. It's pathetic, If you're gonna stoop that low for excuses, I can make some time for you to relearn the basics and not be an embarrassment" She clicked her tongue, her words cutting through Levi's remaining pride like daggers.

The hunter's expression dropped as he sat back down and sighed.

Sai shook her head, "I will take a cola." She held up a finger and took a seat beside Tevis.

Maurice swiftly dished out the beverage and slid it in front of her.

"I don't think you came here to catch up, something urgent?" Tevis asked, sipping his drink slowly.

" I didn't come here for you. I came here for him." Sai gestured with her thumb pointing to Void.

"We managed to get a general location of the target. At most, within a day, the mission will begin. I came here to fetch our scout." She replied.

Tevis glanced back at Void, who was still standing staring at his two superiors, fidgeting nervously.

He chuckled, facing Sai as he gazed into her eyes.

"Your scout is ready...but. I will need you to guarantee his safety." He whispered.

"You already know how this goes, we follow protocol and no one gets hurt. Why are you looking too deep into this, it's just a scout-" Sai mumbled absently as she chugged her cola.

Tevis's gaze didn't waver, he waited, expecting a different response.

The huntress sighed, feeling his gaze almost boring into her skull.

"Fine, I will take care of your student so stop giving me that look." She shrugged off his gaze and smacked the counter with her glass.

"Thanks, I knew I could trust your blades." Tevis grinned with a thumbs up.

Sai scoffed, "Maurice, one spicy shrimp" She ordered, "and put it on his tab" adding the last few words much to Tevis's amusement.

"You take bribes now?" Tevis replied.

"Think of it as protection fees." She retorted.

-----------------------------------------

As Sai enjoyed her ramen, the two captains conversed on several matters. However, as for the hunters....

Well, they were kicked out of the shop because the Captains wanted some privacy.

Void, Levi, Bandit and Cory were currently hunched over outside the shop, their eyes darting between the Captains. While the rest had already dispersed, leaving with a few takeout orders back to the base.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Levi whispered.

"Considering their status, it must be about good loot." Bandit chuckled dryly, his eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps, reliving old battles. As far as I know, they weren't on the same fireteam but did work together a few times." Cory replied, interest bubbling in his eyes.

Void also scratched his head, unable to guess what it was about. However, he then started a new line of questioning.

"Say, why'd you guys call her Captain?" He inquired, utterly clueless.

The other three stared at him, dumbfounded. Levi had a deadpan look on his face, while Bandit and Cory simply looked at Void with utter confusion.

"Do you...not know who she is?" Cory

"What do you mean? Isn't she Sai Mota?" Void replied as a hand immediately clamped his mouth shut.

"Are you fucking crazy." Levi whispered, his finger over his lips, hastily shushing Void.

"You can't just call her that." Bandit replied and shuddered, recalling a haunting memory.

"Listen carefully. I don't know why you're acting so casual with her, but she's not someone you would want to piss off. That's Sai Mota, the captain of the Bladedancers. I don't think you understand, they're all relentless killing machines that can rip you apart in less than a second" Levi whispered.

"That's not all. Captain Sai is counted among the top brass. Group of guardians who've been active before the city walls were fully constructed. Our Captain isn't even considered close to her in experience. She's also the one who trained most of our squad back when we were still new. Her skill with the blade is lethal. Blink and you'll miss how she cut you apart." Cory broke out in cold sweat, his hands shivered.

Void gulped, his throat suddenly felt scratchy as a cold jitter ran down his spine. 'Captain of the Bladedancers'. For the first time, he suddenly felt that he should be more careful with his words.

Just as the panic was setting in, the shop's door swung open.

"What's with the group huddle?"

Tevis called out as he and Sai walked towards them. Levi quickly let go of Void's mouth as the four Nightstalker's immediately stood up, facing their captains.

*Cough* "Nothing Captain, we were just guessing how much it cost you to treat us all." Void replied, giving the most concerned look he could muster.

"Huh... Don't worry about the price. It's easy for me to pick up." Tevis shrugged and waved his hand.

"With that said, it seems like duty calls. Your mission is setup and your fireteam's here to fetch you. Doesn't make sense to keep you for long so the Nightstalker squad will be leaving now." Tevis said.

Void gave a determined nod and Tevis smiled.

"No need to tense up, you should be fine with Sai covering for you." Tevis slapped his shoulder.

Void felt a sense of camaraderie with the veteran hunter. Following their captain's lead, Levi, Bandit and Cory slapped Void's back.

"Good luck."

"Don't die out there."

"Keep your eyes on the prize."

The three hunters walked over to Tevis and began their transmat.

"One last thing, just know that the Nightstalker squad will always welcome you back as a member." Tevis waved with a smile as the transmat kicked in, warping their figures into tiny particles that faded away.

Void waved back as he saw them leave, he was thankful for those last words. His hand dropped low as the transmat ended.

"Let's go, we'll brief you there. Can't keep the squad waiting." Sai tapped his shoulder.

"Ok err... Captain." Void saluted and replied his eyes shifting away.

Sai looked back at him with slight confusion, as her brows twitched.

"Just call me Sai, you're not a hunter under me. Don't do that again either. " She replied slightly annoyed.

"Yes...Sai." Void replied putting his hand back down, he gulped not wanting to annoy her any further.

Sai shook her head and kept walking signalling Void to follow her. The two walked through the bazaar, up the stairs into the main harbor of the tower. Sai went through the crowd with swift strides, making Void almost lose sight of her.

Sai navigated to the left wing of the tower, towards the Vanguard's quarters. As the two reached the security gate, a simple swipe of Sai's hands granted them access.

"From now on, whatever you see, hear or touch is classified. If anything is leaked, the Praxic Fire will hold you responsible. Am I clear?" She declared

Void simply nodded, he knew not to cross the Praxic order.

She continued walking straight into the Vanguard's terminal and Void followed suit. However, as they reached the end of a maze of hallways. Sai held up her wrist, scanning it near the walls. On cue, a mechanism triggered.

The walls clicked open, gears turning mechanically sliding away to reveal an empty elevator.

"Get in." Sai commanded.

Void gulped, and stepped inside with the huntress. She once again walked up to the locked terminal, swiping her wrists on the screen as the access node sprang to life.

Several scanner rays screened their body and the elevator began it's descent. The tower had hundreds of floor. No one knew exactly what each floor led to, and the top thirty or so were restricted for use by the Vanguard and the guardians.

As for the rest? They weren't anything special, either residential complexes or warehouses. However, meshed between these floors was something, peculiar. A place so restricted that only a select few knew how to enter.

A floor that if revealed would be considered a massive betrayal and a stab in the back to the guardians by their own. Naturally, this was the Praxic Fire's headquarters. AN entire floor equipped with the golden ages best surveillance tech used primarily to monitor the guardians and their activities.

Everyone "knew" it existed. However, as the order was backed by the top brass. No one dared to mess with them. Of course, excluding the exceptional cases in the past where guardians had gone rogue.

One such case, was what Void was currently expected to work on.

As Void stood in the elevator, he counted what he could only describe longest descent he had gone through.

'It's been a few minutes and we're still going down. The elevator isn't going that fast, we must be around the 230th floor. The Praxic Fire is an order that doesn't distinguish from friend or foe. Their aim is to maintain order." Thoughts sprouted in his mind.

He definitely wanted to ingrain everything he saw to his memory. From what Void had heard, the Praxic order was fickle when it came to guardians. He knew it was a possibility where he too would be under surveillance in the future. It wouldn't hurt to know what he was up against.

"We're here." Sai's voice rang out.

The elevator doors shifted open, as a strong pressurized gas flooded the elevator. Void held his mouth shut as the gas dissipated.

"Follow me"

Void saw that Sai had already exited the elevator and walked straight through the empty hallways. In contrast to the usual tower, the interior of this place felt clean... Too clean.

The corridors were littered with cameras and bright lights. Not even a shadow could sneak inside. As they walked around, Void felt a lot eyes on his back. The halls were lined with many rooms that looked identical.

Sai walked to a door and it opened, revealing a team of guardians discussing fervently as a few screens lined their sight, updating information every second.

"Your scout's here." Sai voiced out, and the room grinded to a halt.

All eyes drifted towards Void, analyzing the hunter from head to toe. Void saw some familiar faces as he spotted Wei and Eriana. Though the two seemed to be in a heated argument with a third woman of titanic proportions.

They all wore the same fiery armor set, however her armor was quite jagged. It seemed, rustic. However, Void could tell that the armor was sturdy and forged through intense battles with just a look.

She turned to look at Void, eyes like fire and voice like thunder as she spoke.

" Welcome, hunter. I am Ouros, Empyreal of the Sunbreakers."

Ouros extended her gigantic hand, engulfing Void's hand in her palms.

Before he could even yelp, Ouros shook his hand, in what Void could only describe as a come to Jesus meeting. He swore he almost passed out.

"Y-yeah, I am Void. Nightstalker." Void spoke through clenched lips.

"Ouros, think clearly, who are you trying to help here?" Wei chimed in, clearly dissatisfied with their earlier discourse.

"We, the Sunbreakers help who we wish, and resent who we wish. I do not need the permission of the Vanguard to shelter one or to exile another." Ouros laughed heartily and replied.

"The Vanguard has classified this mission and issued it to the Praxic Fire. You're in no position to step in." Eriana shouted.

Ouros's eyes flashed with great energy, heat emanating from her presence. She moved towards Eriana, her face inches away from hers as her eyes glared into the warlocks.

"With all due respect, Warlock. Our order is independent of your little city. All I see, is a bunch of cowards trying to step in and stop the renegade. In my eyes, he is a more of warrior against the darkness than you." Ouros declared, her gaze unwavering.

A/N: The Sunbreakers is an order of Titans with the Sunbreaker subclass, they live outside the city and fight the darkness. Their Leader is called the Empyreal Magistrate. They have bases on Mercury and on Venus.

"Step Back, Ouros." Wei placed herself between the two, as titan faced titan. Void could simply feel the sparks in the air. An unstoppable force had met an unmovable object.

"That's enough. The Sunbreakers indeed don't owe us any explanation trying to shelter our target. However, keep in mind, that we do not owe you any regard for trying to hunt him down either. All we ask, is that you do not hinder us. Is that not the deal you made with the Vanguard when you left the city towards mercury?" Sai dissociated the problem as she calmly talked about the past.

"A deal yes. But one with Osiris. Not your current commander. However, in the spirit of light. We shall step back. I did not come here with an intention to stop you at all. I came instead, to warn you." Ouros's eyes narrowed.

The room went dead silent at her words. Void's ears perked up at Osiris's mention. The exiled Warlock commander of the vanguard. He was a controversial figure, but also a mentor to Ikorra Ray, and one of the strongest warlocks to have ever lived.

"Warn us? Has the mission been leaked?" Void asked, he recalled hearing that their target has eyes and ears inside the city.

"Leaked? No. The renegade is well informed but your order is quite the expert at keeping lips shut. I came to know through means that I cannot share. However, I must warn you, your enemy is not a simple man." Ouros frowned.

"Especially you, little hunter, considering his personality. He won't kill you. However, the chances of your survival are very slim. The man has enemies and allies in every corner of the world."

"Enough spinning it around, speak clearly." Wei demanded.

" The Dredgen are hunting him. You know why. The man with the golden gun, he is prepared for an ambush at any time. He came to us with a proposal, a way to attract the Dredgen. Hence, we supported his presence, hid him from you. However, he intends to leave. I must warn you, his power is no joke. The rumours are true after all." Ouros smirked.

"I must advise you, to exercise caution. We came back to earth to investigate the sudden Vex insurgence on Mercury."

"However." Her voice fell, a frown curled on her brows.

"He took care of it alone."

The room was dead silent, the Praxic order's eyes glistened with astonishment.

"I did not want the cities guardians to foolhardily throw themselves to him. Hence, I advise caution. If you wish to strike, then strike fast as you do not have much time and strike only once. He is not one to kill for no reason, so I have no intention of aiding your mission. However, according to Osiris's treaty, we shall not hinder you." Ouros spoke with concern.

She moved towards the door and gave Void one final tap on the shoulder.

"I must attend a meeting with the speaker. I leave you now, to do as you wish. But remember my words." Ouros bid farewell, not looking back towards the room as she moved towards the elevator.

Void felt a slight fizzle on his shoulder where she had touched him.

'Warm', he held his shoulder, feeling heat pulsating through his body.

Eriana sighed,

"Let's think the plan over." Her voice resounded in the room, followed by everyone nodding.
 
Chapter 23: Beacon for the Fire New
"The Vex insurgence on Mercury wasn't a lie. Captain mentioned it last time. That he couldn't leave Skywatch in case another insurgence occurred." Void spoke up.

"Tevis did mention his concerns of the insurgence coming back to earth. But to think Shin Malphur took care of it alone. He's become closer to a one-man army." Eriana replied.

"There's no need to doubt her words. You and I both know, Sunbreakers don't lie. We can take whatever Ouros said to face value. Their order stands firm on their path, unflinching and unwavering against any enemy. They find it beneath them to stray from the truth." Wei spoke up.

" If Ouros didn't lie about Shin taking care of it alone." Sai frowned.

"We need to raise the stakes of the mission." Eriana continued.

All members were in agreement as they nodded.

"Our scout remains the same. However, to match this newfound intelligence, it's better if all three of us take part in the mission too." Eriana pointed towards Sai and Wei.

One could barely tell but there were slight sighs of relief around the room as Eriana announced the fireteam members for the mission.

"If I'm still on the mission, I have some conditions." Void interrupted the momentum as all eyes fell on him.

Naturally, his words were enough to earn him gazes from across the room, but he didn't quite care. After all, he was the one risking his life. Shouldn't he get some benefit?

"I will hear them out first." Eriana replied swiftly.

Void was surprised that his demand worked, but he knew that he wasn't through yet.

"Quite simple. First, I need more information about this whole operation. Don't leave anything out. Second, I don't think the gear I got is worth risking my life, so I'm hoping for something decent in return for this mission. Lastly, if anything goes wrong, I hope you'll consider saving my life." Void smiled calmly, putting his conditions forward as he held up three fingers.

He felt that they weren't unreasonable. However, it was still up to the Praxic Fire to accept or deny them.

Eriana contemplated, hundreds of thoughts scrambled across her mind as she snapped out of her trance.

"You're really picking up the hunter code of arms by demanding more loot. That won't be an issue, we were going to compensate you adequately. For the information, well...We can tell you what you need to know. But that's all. As for your life, I can't give guarantees. However, if things do go south, I will put my life on the line for yours." Eriana replied.

"That works for me." Void said, astonished that all his requests were fulfilled.

"Alright, since the teams are decided, let's continue to the briefing. Pull up the records." Eriana said.

The team of warlocks stationed in the room immediately returned to their stations and began displaying several records on the hologram projector.

"The data represents our tuner picking up signals of the light near King's Watch. You can see that most of them coincide near the graveyard's ravine. It could be a hideout, or a safehouse." Sai voiced out, gesturing towards the blobs of energy appearing on the holographic grid.

"As for it's authenticity... I collected it myself." She concluded.

Void observed the map, in his mind he could easily relate it to the Cosmodrome's geographical outline.

"Our Target is likely in the North East of the Graveyard. This, it used to be a golden age mining hotbed, now it's taken over by fallen glimmer scavengers." Sai pointed towards the ragged hills tucked in at the top right of the map.

"The location isn't exactly suitable for us, Devil's Lair is quite volatile Fallen satellites dominate that airspace, we cannot take Jumpships. The gunslinger will probably be monitoring fallen comms. It's likely that we'll have to travel by sparrow, starting from the edge of The Divide. Through the old Rocketyard quarries, traversing by mining tunnels until we reach northern plains of King's watch." Sai elaborated, her fingers tracing a faint route on the hologram.

"But, once we're there, the slightest energy signature could throw us off and reveal our location. Our target is a veteran at locating and engaging guardians his senses can cover ten's of kilometres, he won't miss a beat at picking up massive energy fluctuations near his location. At best, he will make himself, scarce." Sai paused.

"At worse, it will be us." Her eyes carried a solemn look.

"That is where you come in." She replied glancing at Void.

Void raised his brows, waiting to hear his role fully.

"We call you a scout, but in reality you're more so a beacon. A beacon to constantly ping his location to. You'll be carrying a tuning device as you venture out on foot, that will determine his exact coordinates. Once his spatial coordinates are quantified, Eriana can blink us in. Naturally, we'll then engage him and you are free to fall back." She ended.

Void frowned, although at first the mission seemed smooth in planning. One word irked him.

"A beacon can ping his location, but relaying signals works both ways. If he's really that proficient in tracking guardians, won't he track me too?" Void replied.

"You're thorough, and it's true. Theoretically, every signal can be relayed both ways. But you have something he doesn't. A Nightstalker's stealth and camouflage doesn't just mask one's appearance but also the energy signal emitted. For all he's concerned, you could be an occasional fluctuation of energy, simply, background radiation." Eriana chimed in.

"And what's the chance he doesn't buy it?" Void asked.

"Calculating all probabilities would be difficult. In my experience, nothing is certain. This mission imposes a risk to each and every member. In the end, we'll all have to risk something." She replied.

"The tuner we designed will begin working once you're within 1.5 Km of the target. You'll need to hold out for thirty seconds. As a gunslinger he might try to eliminate you, from a distance where he holds the advantage. Your stealth should help you stay safe, however, the possibility of him detecting you isn't low." Sai added.

"Half a second, that's how much time we need to engage him in close range combat. Sai and I can travel at extreme speeds once we get warped in by Eriana. Even if you are to die, as long as your ghost is safe, we can bring you back." Wei replied.

Void contemplated and found that he couldn't complain. The real reason he was doing the mission was to unlock the System's store. It's true that he was taking a risk, but there was never anything to gain without risking his life.

"Alright, when do we leave?" Void responded, as he began checking his gear.

" Sixteen hours till mission starts. You should rest up while you can. Both physically and mentally." Eriana suggested.

"I will take you up on that offer. Obsidian access my personal room and let the droid clean it up, we'll rest in the city tonight." Void turned to look at his palm, as Obsidian appeared.

"Alright, I've notified house keeping. It will be clean by the time we get there." The ghost replied, it's eye flashing once.

"Use your Jumpship tomorrow and meet us at The Divide, I will forward the co-ordinates to your Ghost." Sai reminded as Void left the room waving his hand.




[Residential Complex]

A click was heard as the steel door opened, Void stepped into the room, he glanced around observing the surroundings.

"They really did a good job at cleaning this place up. It looks exactly like the day I walked in here", He bemused.

Obsidian appeared flying over his left shoulder, the ghost swayed in the air as he slowly adjusted the rooms appliances to function. The holographic projector turned on, the lights dimmed and the ac unit began blasting a cold jet of air.

"The tower's service droids are programmed to cater to all household needs. I don't find it surprising that they can maintain this level of consistency in their cleaning. I heard that the old warlocks stole the designs of Vex hiveminds to figure out the neural network, but officially there's no record of it in the city's archives. " Obsidian replied guilelessly.

"At least the warlocks got back something useful from their Vex obsessions." Void yawned as he jumped on his fluffed bed, sinking deep into the soft cushions as the blanket caressed him.

He looked towards the ceiling, as his drifted towards his system. He could see the quest.



{Legendary Guardian System}

+New Mission:

* Praxic Order's Plea: Scout the mysterious man responsible for the incident. Maintain a maximum distance of 1.5 Km with the target! (A/N: Corrected a small mistake here, the distance should be maximum of 1.5 Km, not minimum as in Chapter 14.)

Rewards: System Lv 3. (Store Unlocked!) , +++Xp, Praxic Fire Seal



Void's eyes turned drowsy as he stared at the prompt, as the exhaustion of the last few weeks set in at once. For the first time since he came to this world, he truly felt....tired. Perhaps, actively using his powers pushed him to the point where he required some rest mentally.

"Obsidian, set an alarm for ten hours." He mumbled as his mind finally gave in to the temptation of rest.
 
Chapter 24: Entering the Lion's Den New
[ The Divide]

At the break of dawn, white clouds slithered in the skies, golden light springing forth illuminating the horizon.

Deep within the windy valleys, beyond the rocky hills of the steppes, three figures could be seen lingering near the edge of The Divide's granite canyon.

As cold gusts of wind brushed through them, the three figures remained stout. Their breaths faintly turning white as they looked towards the sky. A ripple formed in the clouds as a Jumpship broke orbit and entered towards them, gently hovering over their location.

Eriana slowly sauntered below the ship as a figure transmatted out.

"You're late." She stated.

" I would instead argue that you guys are too early." Void sighed, as he flicked his wrists.

"I am about five minutes early." He pointed towards his watch.

"Fifteen minutes early, is still ten minutes late." Eriana retorted turning away.

Sai analysed her scanners as she coordinated the route.

"We should go now, we have a thirty minute window where a dust storm and sunlight will blind Devil's lair scouts. On your sparrows." She signalled as her sparrow appeared beneath her. (A/N: If you've not caught on, a sparrow is a fast rocket/sonic bike that can hover. )

Immediately, the remaining guardians mounted their sparrows, roaring to go.

A channel appeared in Void's transmitter, and Sai's voice came through to his ears.

"Confirming comms operation, am I audible?"

"Affirmative" he replied, revving his thrusters.

"This is the delta team's comms channel, new discrete frequency tech used only by the Praxic Order. Even the Vanguard can't unscramble our messages. Whatever occurs in this mission, these logs can never be distributed. Am I clear." Sai stated.

"Crystal" Void replied, his visor picking up navigational routes from the channel.

"I've sent you all the route, proceed in dart formation, don't break the line. The fallen satellites are old, they're technology relies on erratic self reflecting energy reading. Maintain the formation, and we will rush through undetected." Sai's voice echoed in the channel.

"T-minus 28 till solar curtain expires" Eriana reminded.

"Ready when you are" Wei's thruster pulsed.

Sai closed her visor as she faced forward, her sparrow ever so slightly gleaming at the edges, golden flames spluttering at the exhaust.

"Take your positions. Don't break Radio silence till we cross into Rocketyard." Sai cautioned one last time.

No words were spoken between the four guardians as time seemed to slow down. The sparrows growled, neon light spilling from their exhausts as they grew restless.

"Delta team, going dark." She whispered, as the comms went dead silent.

A fraction of a second later, all Void could recall was a sonic shockwave pulsating through him as they all burst forth.

Before he knew it, he was right behind Wei, cruising at breakneck speeds as the dart formation slowly emerged.

The sparrows blasted through the Divide, like ants scurrying through the dessert. Untraceable.

Void's instincts were running at max, his eyes darting every second as his hands deftly maneuvered the sparrow at each sharp turn. The route Sai planned was a maze, with lethally sharp turns and several decoy straights.

A route specifically made to mislead any pursuers.

Just as Void thought he had the hang of it,

'They're slipping away!' He immediately sensed their speeds increase.

With no other choice, Void grit his teeth and fully snapped his throttle, immediately catching up with the group, their figures blurred like lightning, zooming through the canyons.

As Void glanced at his radar, the route seemed to motion precisely through the Divide's close cut corners as their group slowly edged towards Rocketyard's tunnels.

With a lengthy straight between them and the tunnels, the group of hunters blitzed through at supersonic speeds as Void saw his radar leave behind the Divide's characteristic canyons.

Instantly as they crossed the boundary into the mining tunnels, the channel sprang to life, Sai's voice echoed through their ears.

"Status report" She demanded, their formation breaking loosely as they slowed down to a halt.

"Visuals impaired, radar's not picking up any terrain inside the tunnels." Wei replied.

"Affirmative, perhaps the fallen installed a new jammer nearby." Eriana contemplated.

"Ditto, I can't pick up any signals either." Void added.

Sai glanced at her map and their own timer.

"It must be the dust storm, City's satellites aren't strong enough to relay back here." She answered.

"Fifteen minutes to go till the dust storm breaks over, we must reach King's watch by then. Follow my lead, ignore the terrain map." She commanded, her sparrow kicking into gear as she swiftly swerved deeper into the tunnel.

"Jax light up the way." Eriana voiced, her sparrow immediately following behind Sai.

A shimmering ghost shell appeared, illuminating the old mining lines, barely thick enough for a single cart, spiraling endlessly deep into the unknown abyss.

Void called out obsidian as he soon followed suit.

"Follow close, and don't slip, no one knows how deep these mines go, one wrong move and your corpse might as well be littered along the sea floor." Sai muttered.

Her sparrow smoothly following the trail as the group followed through in a single line, akin to moles burrowing into the tunnels.

Void's eyes drifted towards the right as he saw the dark below, he forced a dry gulp as his sparrow barely edged over, knocking a few pebbles perpetually tumbling down.

Cold sweat streaked down his spine, as the group began speeding up, erratically moving through the rail lines.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guardians shot through a rocky burrow to the other side, finally arriving into the eroded plains of King's Watch.

Void gasped for fresh air, as he felt his lungs cough out a metric ton of dust, the group's sparrows stopped inches away from the boundary of the plains.

Sai motioned to the timer, only a few seconds left before it expired, she nodded with a smile.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they had finally crossed through the first half of the operation.

Void jumped off his sparrow as he dusted his armour and stretched his legs.

The rest of the team disembarked collectively, as Eriana began calculating their spatial coordinates.

"We'll start here." The warlock stated, a thin imprint of light stained the ground, her eyes glowed, as if inspired through infinite wisdom.

"Keep this safe" Sai casually chucked a small device towards Void.

"Tuner I am guessing?" He replied, catching it.

"I recommend you attach it on your body. Remember, don't stay in one position too long. As long as your within his 1.5 km of his vicinity. We'll be able to start tracing his coordinates." Sai mentioned.

The warlock spoke, her voice echoing with a multitude of presence

" Once the tuner turns blue, that's when you know you're done. However, if anything goes wrong, crush the device first." She stated.

" Normally, warping into unstable coordinates is dangerous. However, the tuner was manufactured with light seeking crystals. They might not have locked on to the target, but if shattered immediately, it's enough of an impulse to let me prematurely teleport us in. If you get into trouble, it's your one saving grace." Eriana reinforced.

Void nodded solemnly.

"Stay sharp, hunter." Wei breathed.

Void immediately hooked the tuner to his belt as his body turned semi-translucent. A faint lilac aura surrounded him.

His figure flickered into King's Watch as he rushed towards the tuners signal. Knowing full well that he might just be rushing into a lions den.



[ Somewhere in King's Watch]

A man with a jagged crimson cloak crouched on a boulder, his gaze unwavering. A revolver juggled between his fingers.

His eagle eyes suddenly glistened as he looked far into the distance, a sharp smirk appeared underneath his mask.

"One." He whispered.

The man flicked his wrists as the chamber slid out, a singular bullet fell into the hole as he rolled it back in.
 
Chapter 25: Fated Reckoning New
[Kings Watch]


{Legendary Guardian System}

+New Mission:

* Praxic Order's Plea: Scout the mysterious man responsible for the incident. Maintain a maximum distance of 1.5 Km with the target!

Rewards: System Lv 3. (Store Unlocked!) , +++Xp, Praxic Fire Seal



Void dashed through the empty plains. His eyes surveying every inch of the surroundings. Bolting through at lightning speed, his figure seemed nothing more than a faint silhouette from the corner of one's eyes.

As he rushed, the tuner blinked, prompting him to change directions trying to match the direction.

Being as careful as he was, Void had been invisible the moment he had set foot in King's Watch. Knowing that the man he hunted could easily erase him from existence was good motivation to keep himself out of sight.

The tuner blinked again, as Void fluidly shot towards the signal.

His eyes landed towards a rugged terrain, littered with rocky hills and cliffs, the tuner blinked once more.

'He's there.' Void halted his steps, choosing to approach slowly instead.

Void's heart was pounding, as he took determined steps. Each stride inching him closer.

The tuner blinked as he put his foot through the boundary.

Instantly, Void couldn't shake the feeling that someone had eyes on him. But his sixth sense had not yet triggered. Confusing him to no end. His senses ran amok, as blood rushed towards his head.

Void gripped his wrist tightly, forcing himself to stay calm as his eyes surveyed the area.

Not even a single blade of grass had managed to survive in the bleak and barren landscape in front of him. But what gave him that sickening feeling... His own radar showed that he wasn't near any lifeforms.

From the depths of his heart, today was certainly the day he felt true fear. Like he was powerless, entering the boss's lair. He sincerely hoped whatever he felt was just a bad case of anxiety.

'I need to calm down.' Void put a fist over his chest as he heaved a deep breath and continued onwards.

Merging with the shadows at every chance he got, Void felt secure as he sneakily moved forward, a little at a time.

Every second, his eyes would shift towards his quest panel as his tuner would blink a few times a second.

Why? Well of course, Void knew the secret to finishing this mission safely.

His system was the biggest cheat he had, there was no way he wouldn't make full use of it.


{Legendary Guardian System}

+New Mission:

* Praxic Order's Plea (0/1): Scout the mysterious man responsible for the incident. Maintain a maximum distance of 1.5 Km with the target!

Rewards: System Lv 3. (Store Unlocked!) , +++Xp, Praxic Fire Seal




The moment his mission was marked as (1/1), Void would have come into 1.5 Km of his target.

However, like any experienced gamer, he knew there was no way this mission would end up being so simple. Void kept his senses clear, knowing that the moment he slipped and revealed his presence, he might lose his life.

He shuffled on his feet, sliding through the narrow nooks and crannies within the valley.

At a certain distance, his senses warned him. In fact, deep within himself he knew. The moment he got any closer, there was absolutely no way Shin Malphur, the great renegade would be unaware of his presence.

His body shivered at that conclusion. But could he give up?

'Have I come here only to turn back a coward?' He asked himself despairingly.

'The world is not so kind to offer everything I want on a plate.' Void cursed himself.

Unlike what he had expected, the system had not helped him in a long while. Void didn't know if that would continue.

But so what? Had he not come this far already? Had he not earned his place in this world? Training strictly for the last week was a testament to his will. He was no weakling to fall here.

He looked forward. The simple landscape now looked ever so devilishly shrewd. The cliffs now loomed over him. Void felt small, as if he'd be eaten alive by the world.

He was determined to finish this mission. As if a switch had been flipped. He was completely in the zone.

He kept going, hiding within the gaps he could find. His tuner started blinking, almost establishing the trace. Each breath he took seemed to weigh him down, yet he did not stop.

' I am close'

Void observed his tuner. Seeing it's strong response, he could estimate that he was currently 2-3 Km away from his intended target. Void's powers grew refined, now more than ever.

The moment he had accepted the possibility of his death. The light attuned towards his very core. Knowing full well that he could die, he continued, to his fated reckoning.




[ King's Watch, Shin POV]

Still crouching leisurely on a boulder among the numerous cliffs, Shin observed the sight in front of him as he spun his gun around.

He already knew a squad would come after him and track him down. Naturally, he was ready. One shot was all it would take anyway. But what he saw right now, stunned him.

His eagle eyes locked on Void as he saw the hunter acting rather like a scared novice.

"How amusing" He laughed.

This was a Nightstalker? Shin chuckled, it was merely a cheap imitation. Shin expected the city to at least send a competent hunter to track him down.

He expected someone akin to a ferocious tiger, yet there was a harmless cub wandering around his territory. He could not help but laugh, as this scenario had put him in a jovial mood.

Shin's eyes narrowed, catching a glimpse of the tuner.

" Tracking my light signature to ambush me with a team in waiting." Shin sighed, swaying his head in frustration.

"The Praxic fire are far more annoying than I thought." He contemplated, his gaze locked onto the Nightstalker failing miserably to fade from his sight.

Shin lazily pushed himself off the boulder, as he stood erect, his cape fluttering in the slight breeze. He surveyed the area as far as his gaze would allow him.

As his eyes set towards the graveyard, he noticed something or perhaps someone but he kept his mouth pursed. A strange frown etched onto his face but disappeared soon after.

"I suppose some new company isn't unwelcome." His rustic voice resounded.

Thinking of toying with his tracker, his figure immediately flickered away.




[ King's Watch Void POV]

' 2 Km, it's not too far.'

He concluded, observing his scanner. Void's eyes shined blue, as he used his skill to see any nearby energy signatures.

He patiently waited before swiftly switching his cover spot.

Void glanced at his hands, surprised to still be within stealth. 'I've exceeded my last time limit.'

Void recalled, at first being unable to maintain his stealth for more than a minute. Yet now, for some reason he didn't feel too uncomfortable to stay within this state for ten or so minutes.

Suddenly, Void felt a chill down his spine as his sixth sense triggered.

'He is Here!'

He immediately checked the tuner, and sure enough it began establishing a link.



{Legendary Guardian System}

+New Mission:

* Praxic Order's Plea: (1/1) Scout the mysterious man responsible for the incident. Maintain a maximum distance of 1.5 Km with the target!

Rewards: System Lv 3. (Store Unlocked!) , +++Xp, Praxic Fire Seal




His system prompt had already changed. It wasn't yet done! He needed to maintain this link for thirty seconds for it to be viable.

Void took stifled breaths, as his mind raced to imagine all sorts of scenarios. But a single question immediately stumped all his thoughts.

"Do you plan to hide like a rat whole time?" A cold blooded voice resounded.

Void's breaths stopped, his heart plunging deep into his stomach as a sour feeling stuck in his chest.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know?" The voice chuckled.

Void grit his teeth as he knew what was about to happen.

"If you don't come out now, you're forcing my hand."

A metallic click resounded, as Void reluctantly canceled his stealth as he stood up from his hiding spot.

Seeing the tuner had twenty seconds left, Void knew he had to somehow drag this conversation along. Since he was already exposed, Void discretely opened his comms channel and muted any incoming messages.

Void stepped out from cover, as he held his hands up.

"It's an honor to meet the man with the golden gun." Void replied with a smile.

Shin was perplexed at the novice's reaction, his eye gauging every move Void made. Just a moment ago he seemed nothing more than a nervous wreck.

"It is indeed a pleasure to meet the newest Nightstalker of the city. Your abilities are, very hard to come by, kid." Shin replied, reserving his judgement.

His eyes stare into Void's, as he continues.

"But I don't suppose you're here just for show. After all, your fireteam seems quite eager to join our little gathering." Shin pointed towards his comms.

Void's transmitter buzzed, his comms channel was going wild. But he didn't pay it any attention.

The renegade slowly pointed towards Void's tuner, the device seemed to blink as it had almost finished linking with Shin's aura.

Facing the man in the flesh, Void seemed to stammer a little. Shin Malphur was a renowned hero, a figure of great controversy. One that many looked towards with hope, and with fear.

"I've heard legends of your power, so I couldn't help but call some friends over. I can't take you down alone can I?" Void replied, smirking, as he glanced at the tuner

'10 seconds'

Shin laughed again, startling Void.

"Fascinating. The Praxic fire made a good decision to choose you. Despite being a newly risen, your fearlessness and command of light is quite impressive. Don't worry, at least you will leave alive." He replied, noticing Void slightly shuddering under his gaze.

Void did not know how to react, but before he could say a word. A heavy pressure immediately weighed on his lungs, as Shin's presence seemed to grow.

' I can't breathe.' Void immediately felt powerless.

"As for your little team, I will be the judge." The Renegade spoke, each word hitting Void shaking him to his core.

Void's transmitter started buzzing uncontrollably, perhaps telling him to run, but it was too late.

The tuner blinked, as Void saw the progress.

'5 Seconds!'

His face scrunched up, would he fail now? Void sweat bullets as each second counted down, he waited with bated breaths. As the renegade looked down at him, sharp yellow eyes staring into his soul.

"Your Reckoning, starts now." He voiced.

Before he could even blink, Shin's hand already held the Last Word as the distinct gold barrel faced him, Void's eyes went wide, the familiar hammer plunged into gun as a shot rang out.

Void's legs refused to move under the pressure as the bullet shot through his waist, shattering the tuner. His body crumbled as a wave of pain pulsed through his body.

He could feel the solar energy burning through his very being. Unable to support his own weight, Void dropped to his knees. However, he knew that he would be safe as he saw the tuner's crystals shatter.

As if on cue, a distant bright star hurled itself towards them as it blasted towards the ground, startling both hunters.

The fiery comet landed directly on top of the two hunters, blasting everything else backwards as a huge dust cloud kicked up.

Void felt awe as he looked up, spotting three silhouettes promptly shoot down towards the ground in front of him.

"I hope we're not late." Eriana smiled at Void, her flaming figure resonating healing energy around her.

"Good job hunter, leave it to me now." Wei stood up, a dangerous rumble echoed in the skies as storm clouds gathered.

He felt a hand slap his shoulders as he looked behind,

"Good thinking on your feet hunter." Sai smirked as she walked forwards, unsheathing her daggers.

"As for you, quit hiding you might be the judge, but today, I am your executioner." Her smile faded, the daggers arced with light.

A resounding clap echoed, Shin's figure slowly drifted into view as the dust settled. Not an ounce of fear in his voice.

"Impressive line up Kid." He looked towards Void, as Shin slowly loaded his gun.

"I must say, I missed the Praxic Fire. Quite welcoming of you three to show up like this. Unfortunately, today, I shall have the last word." He voiced, his killing intent pouring through each word.

In a matter of seconds, the battlefield lit up, before Void could even fathom it, a clash of auras had already begun as vast amounts of energy collided.
 
Chapter 26: The Man with the Golden Gun New
[King's Watch]

Dark clouds marred the horizon as a storm brewed above. Thunder bellowed and the skies split into halves as four energies threatened to level everything to the ground.

Void felt the winds howling, and a strange cold breeze rush through the battlefield, an intense stare down took place as neither side budged an inch.

Wei and Sai pulsed their aura to their peak, as lightning coated their entire figure.

Shin stood his ground, his simple stance looked obsolete in front of the massive storm. Yet, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he clutched his gun

Suddenly, an intense light erupted from his figure as it burst through the storm clouds, halting the winds themselves as crimson aura condensed on his gun. A lull permeated throughout King's Watch.

"Song of Flames" , Eriana shot up into the sky, fiery golden aurora's spread from her figure. She seemed akin to an angel at dawn, bringing about the sunrise.

"Don't let him pull the trigger." Eriana barked, as Shin held up his gun. Eriana's light empowered everyone near her as she hovered in the air.

Void's eye's snapped open as he saw the two fiery aura's collide, the earth quaked and the heavens shook, as everything seemed to be dyed an orange hue.

"On it" Sai replied, her silhouette a neon blue spectre as she blinked away.

Faster than lightning, she blitzed towards Shin as the renegade aimed his gun. Just before he could shoot, Sai descended, with a sharp kick to his wrist, interrupting his shot, their auras shook as fire met lightning.

Shin swayed backwards, barely dodging the follow up as Sai twisted her body to deliver a fatal wind up, as he immediately countered with a punch, throwing Sai to the ground but the huntress deftly sprang up to her feet.

Void's eyes were glued to the fight as he soaked it all in. Combat at the highest level. He didn't dare blink, afraid that he would miss it all.

Within a fraction of a second, Sai's daggers arced, as she cut the space between her and Shin, 'blinking' once again.

Without missing a beat, Shin grabbed his crimson dagger as he matched her blow for blow. With each passing second, the brawl heated up, both hunters were now fully on the offensive. Mixing in a few punches and kicks with each swipe of their dagger to catch the other side off guard.

Sai's speed was remarkable as she rushed in at blinding angles and with shrewd attacks, aiming to end this duel alone. Yet, Shin was not such an easy opponent. He was simply out of her 'grasp'. No matter how fast, his moves were simply a step ahead.

Their blades collided once again, a few rough counters from Shin struck as the huntress traded hundreds of blows a second.

Void felt mesmerized by the hunter captain as she continued chipping at the enemies defences one blow at a time.

Sai masterfully weaved in and out of combat using her speed, as she kept blitzing Shin, not allowing the former a single moment to grasp his gun. Facing thousands of strikes and stabs from every angle, Shin took a few hits, yet his defences didn't falter.

"They're too close, I can't go in." Wei commented, raring to jump in.

As a few solar knifes discretely appeared in his left hand, Shin continued his fight holding a dagger in his right.

"Standby, if anything goes wrong, just rush in." Eriana replied, her powers still supporting the fireteam.

He parried a flurry of attacks as Sai weaved out for a fraction of a second. However, that single moment was enough, as Shin immediately pounced, stabbing towards her head as the huntress ducked, dodging it with the skin of her teeth.

Followed by Shin immediately chucking the knifes at her, but it was far too slow with Sai's reactions as she weaved through the attack, the blades barely grazed past her face as she rushed in to counter.

"Too slow" Sai taunted.

Shin smirked, knowing the huntress would definitely not fall back.

"Predictable"

Sai immediately felt a surge of energy behind her as the knifes glowed, her eyes went wide as she realized but it was too late, an explosion engulfed the two hunters as solar energy radiated to the surroundings. (A/N: Proximity explosive knife if you've ever played solar hunter)

The ground shook as the dust erupted, Sai shot out of the dirt, her back charred and bruised as she flung herself to safety, but instantly, Shin's figure appeared behind her, his gun aimed right at her, as the pistol lit ablaze, solar fury contained within it's barrel.

Sai unable to dodge grit her teeth as she crossed her daggers aiming to block the best she could. Time slowed down as everything seemed to halt.

It was then that Void's sixth sense triggered, his perception exceeding the limits of his mind as he felt he could see the whole world with a glance.

He could see Shin pulling the trigger, but right beside him a strange mixture of energy arose. He glanced to his side, as Wei's body surged with lightning, coated with Eriana's fiery flames.

Her foot slammed into the ground as her eyes shone bright. Wei roared, lightning bowed before her presence as she erupted forwards, a cataclysmic meteor headed straight towards the renegade.

Void took a deep breath as this all happened, the world halted through his perception began to move as his senses slowly returned to normal.

The bullet left the barrel as a ferocious sun tried to engulf Sai, threatening to vaporize her very soul. However, just as it touched the edge of her daggers, Wei akin to a falling star came from behind and collided head on into the flaming inferno.

The battlefield exploded with a deafening roar as thunder and inferno razed everything to the ground. A bright storm raged as the ground rumbled, cracking and crumbling under the pressure.

An explosive jolt of air pulsed through the air as Void felt his ear's instantly rupture, blood gushed out, the brightness of it all scorching his eyes, leaving him blind. He couldn't help but clasp his hands by his ears trying to mitigate the pain.

It felt unbearable but soon a soothing warmth spread over his body, healing him consistently.

"Keep close Void, I am afraid this battle will be harder than expected." Eriana frowned, unable to detect the aftermath of the collision.

The smoke cleared once again, revealing the three guardians enshrouded in dust.

Sai seemed slightly dazed as she quickly got up. However, Wei's state seemed despairing at best. Her body had taken significant damage as one of her arms burnt to a crisp, threatening to fall of as ash.

Unable to survive the collision of power. She seemed halfway in her grave as she clasped her injured shoulder, breathing heavily.

Seeing her state, Eriana's emotions flared up. Void could tell standing right beside her, she was afraid of losing her.

Sai immediately rushed in to support Wei from the side, as the titan coughed sickly.

"I am fine...Did we get him?" She asked

Sai frowned unable to answer as the words got stuck in her throat.

"I am not sure." She replied.

All of a sudden, an applause broke out in the middle of the smoke as one man walked out, two healing grenades dropped at his feet as they rejuvenated him.

Shin spoke, this time a small chuckle escaped him.

"I will admit it, you've gone above and beyond. You surprised me Eriana, truly. I might not agree with your ways, but as warriors your people have earned their keep." Shin bemused, dusting off his crimson cloak.

"To think you'd block my shot. The last titan to survive was Rezyl, but he's ancient history." Shin complimented once more.

"Wei Ning, I will remember your name." His voice turned cold, his gun conjured in his grip once more, as it glowed golden, the embers of light setting ablaze once again.

Finally, the Praxic fire realized why Shin Malphur was the man with the golden gun. A legendary hunter, rumoured to have pierced the darkness itself with his bullets.

And it was at this moment, that they truly felt fear.
 
Chapter 27: The Man with the Golden Gun (2) New
Shin faced the group, his gaze penetrating through them as he gripped his hand cannon.

Wei clutched her shoulder as Sai supported her, the two held grave looks as they perhaps faced their deaths.

"No one to block for you now."

Shin released a deathly aura as his iron sight locked onto Sai. Without a second to spare, solar light erupted from his barrel as light focused at one point.

Void got up from his knees as he felt the entire world tense up. Looking to his side, Eriana sprouted infernal wings as she hovered above. Void felt her warm aura disappear as he looked on.

Shin pulled the trigger, the infernal bullet exploded out, an abysmal fire erupted towards the two.

Wei thrust herself forward. Aiming to stop it once again, her remaining arm amped up as thunder bellowed and she punched out with full power, but immediately felt a strange wave of magic as another figure appeared shielding her.

Eriana spread out her wings, like a grace from heaven, she embraced the bullet with her fire. However, a miracle was not enough to turn the tides of fate.

Eriana shielding her remaining team took the full brunt of the attack, but Wei watched in dreaded horror as the golden fire consumed the warlocks very being. The titan reached out as she screamed, trying to reach Eriana, her voice drowned out by the blast, engulfing the battlefield in blinding light.

Wei's hand barely reached Eriana's figure as it withered away slowly out from her grip. Sai fell silent as she watched her comrade fade away.

Void felt his heart plunge into the depths of despair as he watched Eriana take her last breath.

'Was I unable to help even a little.' Void thought, feeling a sour lump in his throat, as he felt a rustic taste on his lips.

But just as Void had given up hope, a radiance with glimmering brilliance condensed into a faint ethereal form as it collected itself, leaving everyone astonished once again.

Shin immediately felt his hand tense up as his eyes widened, realizing what was happening. He frowned.

"Truly a miracle brought to life. Fireborn." Shin murmured, his eyes gazing admiringly.

Wei's lips curved into a smile as her laugh rang out, she had experienced the lowest lows today, but now, there was only going up.

The ethereal spirit took form, a familiar fiery armor shaped into being as Void watched, unable to contain his shock.

' The true essence of a Solar Warlock! Self Resurrection, Fireborn' Void's thoughts ran wild as he watched a living miracle. (A/N: This ability was removed in Destiny 2, and it's actually a pretty old ability. So Void's just surprised to see it. It truly was an amazing ability for Warlocks.)

Eriana flared into the world once more, as her spark reignited. Embers of light shot around her as all watched the world bask in her holy light.

"This fight is not over yet." Eriana spoke out defiantly. Her resonance amped up as she flicked her wrists. Immediately, the ground sprung out with healing energy as she opened a rift below.

Shin frowned as he watched Eriana's radiant figure pouring out energy, as Wei and Sai were slowly being cleansed with light.

"For one has mastered the way of the fire, I applaud you." Shin replied slightly bowing with his gun hugging his chest, truly mesmerized by what he saw.

Eriana glanced behind herself, 'Sai and Wei are not fully healed yet.'

There was no way she could continue this fight without them at their best. She resolved at buying some more time.

" I do not need the respect of a killer. Besides, with two of those shots in a row, are you sure your remaining power allows you to be so carefree facing us?" She questioned. (A/N: Normally, a hunter can only use a super once every few minutes. Naturally, Shin being the skilled chad he is, managed to use two supers in a row. But that is quite taxing, hence Eriana believes she can take advantage of it)

Shin clicked his tongue with annoyance,

"Warlocks are all the same. Headstrong, unable to see their own faults, pushing out their narratives." Shin retorted, holstering his hand cannon.

His hands fell to his side as multiple infernal blades conjured in between his fingers. (A/N: So to explain to the non destiny players, Solar Hunters (Shin's Subclass) have two major damage super abilities. Of course, one is the golden gun, but the other is blade barrage. Which was revealed in Destiny 2, but since this novel is more of a mixture, I am gonna give him this ability because it is listed in his ability section on some fandom websites)

"But it was foolish of you to think that I needed the gun to kill you." He retorted.

Following his example, Sai and Wei changed their fighting style to better adapt.

As the huntress clasped her hands together, forming a lightning bolt into the shape of a two handed arc staff as she spun it around ferociously.

Wei brought out her jade Cong as it wrapped around her wrist. It glowed and sucked her light in, acting like an amplifier to her powers once she wished to release a deadly blow.

Their injuries soothed through Eriana's light, ceased to exist as Wei's left arm grew back.

"Follow my lead" Eriana spoke solemnly, the guardians behind her nodded.

The two sides facing each other once more, as Void watched from the sidelines.

Immediately, Eriana's wings sprouted once more, as she shot forward like a dragonfly her hand coated in fire, she slapped towards Shin.

Sensing it immediately, Shin ducked below her palm swiftly, twisting his entire body backwards, she chucked all his blades towards her at devastating speed.

However just as the barrage of blades shot closer, Sai blitzed through the narrow gaps in their formation, like a ghost she spun her staff deflecting every last one at lightning speeds, the momentum carried her forwards as she spun kick Shin in his side.

Predicting her moves, Shin matched with his kick, leaving their blows in stalemate. But before he could even move, Eriana jetted in like a bee, her palms bleeding out with fire as she tried her best to grasp the hunter who dodged with his life on the line.

With just a second to catch his breath, Shin leapt backwards, but he was not safe yet, as Wei swung her Cong in his direction, releasing a thunderous wave of energy hurling towards him that struck him in the chest, sending him flying as his body skipped off the ground.

Sai blinked once more as lightning pulsed through her staff, catching Shin mid air she twisted her staff, channeling energy as she ruthless slammed the hunter to the ground.

His body, bounced off the rugged terrain as he spat out some blood.

What ensued was a frenzied dance as Shin fought all three guardians at the same time. Void could only describe it as their best attempt at a beatdown. Yet even while facing three alone, Shin's counter attacks were not to be taken lightly.

Eriana swept in with her wings, like a fiery meteor as Shin deftly slide under her, Sai swung her stuff at his head as he ducked, immediately twisting his body forwards as Wei's punch landed in the empty air around his back.

Like a perfectly choreographed dance, Shin continued dodging at the last second, almost as if he could read the future. Their figures merged into a flurry of flickering shades, blurring in and out of view as the chaotic battle continued.

Void stood on the side, unable to even comprehend the speeds he saw.

But he did not want to sit still as his energy surged.

"This is no time for regrets" He shouted, as his energy surged, a crescent bow appearing in his left hand as he drew the string.

Closing his eyes for a simple breath, Void calmed himself down. He couldn't see, but he could definitely sense.

'Don't fail me now' He prayed, wanting to replicate what he did earlier, he focused solely on Shin.

He heaved in heavy breaths and simply waited.

A second passed....

Two seconds had passed....

Three seconds had passed as Void's eyes twitched. He could hear the distinct clink of blades and surge of thunder as the two sides clashed.

But this wasn't what he was looking for. Void wanted to experience it once more. That slowing sensation. The feeling of viewing the world at a glance.

A resolute feeling welled up inside up as he seemingly entered the zone, and then it happened. Almost like it slowed down for him, he saw clearly. Or rather, sensed. Void opened his eyes, as the world halted once more.

Pinpointing Shin's location he could see his figure move albeit very slowly. His arm stretched back as he did a full draw on the bow. Light condensing in a sharp arrow as he aimed right at him.

His senses ran wild as he felt time was running out. Almost instinctively, Void changed his aim. He "felt" that the best spot was further right than Shin actually was.

With no time left, He chose to trust his gut, feeling his fingertips slice open from holding the bow's weight, he finally let go, as the arrow whistled past him. A Shadowshot that tore through space, like a nebula seeking it's target.

As if the world listened to his will, Shin's figure flickered, miraculously appearing directly ahead of the arrow.

Void's mind consumed with only one thought, 'Devour him' .

A blink was all it took, as the arrow shot past them all, reaching Shin, astounding everyone present. With no time to dodge, Shin was caught off guard, as the corrosive light exploded. Chains tethered him to the ground, leaching off his power.

Seeing the best chance they could find, the Praxic order erupted as Sai leapt in the air, her staff morphed into a lightning spear as she spun and shot it towards the shackled hunter. Eriana soared, slashing forwards with all her might as a fiery flame consumed the area. Wei followed suit as her fist coated with thunder thrust into the ground, energy quaking towards Shin.

The three attacks merged, as a supernova erupted on the field engulfing the imprisoned renegade, space itself collapsed as the energies radiated outwards, causing everything in a hundred meters to disintegrate.

A single drop of sweat fell from Void's brow as he panicked, 'is it over?'

His heart clenched, wishing dearly for the legendary hunter to stay down. His gaze wandered over to the Praxic order, but they too seemed hesitant.

Not a single soul moved for a few minutes, expecting the man to simply walk out and brush off the dust again, Once a good five minutes had passed under intense scrutiny, everyone reluctantly walked closer to the impact site.

Void was still on guard as his kept his sixth sense active. But it was strange. Had they really ended the great Shin Malphur? He questioned himself.

When they finally closed in, they saw a distinct crimson cloak fluttering in the wind as it remained torn to pieces. However as Eriana slightly lifted the cloak, a deep bore hole was revealed, knitting a frown on everyone's face.

"Escaped?" Void mouthed.

Sai crouched beside it as she ran her fingers through the edges.

"He used the impact to dig underground. He knows we can't follow him, we aren't familiar with the underground caverns." Sai commented.

"Are you saying that he planned to escape from the beginning?" Eriana questioned.

"He's the one who chose the location of the engagement. Whether we like it or not, we can't rule out that he didn't have any contingencies." Sai replied bitterly.

"Or perhaps he did this spontaneously as we waited like fools." Wei grinded her teeth.

However, Eriana remained quiet, the warlock was lost deep in thought as her eyes lay on the bore hole.

"Contact the city. Get us an extraction, Devil's Lair is probably going crazy right now. The fallen won't take an encounter of this level too happily. As we speak, there are probably dozens of scavenger squads coming to take our heads." Eriana commanded.

Sai nodded, her transmitter immediately requesting backup as an end came to the dreaded encounter.

But just as the four guardians relaxed, a very faint ember could be seen as a figure disappeared from king's Watch, rushing towards the Dry Sea.



[A few hours later, Dry Sea, Sunbreakers Base]

A titanic Sunbreaker sat in what seemed to be a throne, overlooking the central command as another titan sauntered in to the room.

"Ouros, the battle is over." The titan beckoned.

The fiery empyreal glanced towards her comrade as she walked closer, presenting a circular recording device that she kept in front of her.

"And what was your judgement feng?" Ouros asked, indifferent to the recording.

"The Renegade knew they would track him down. I watched for quite a while and he seemed to have waited for the Praxic fire to show up." Liu Feng replied.

"Did he notice you?" Ouros asked raising her brows.

"Perhaps he did, there was a time where he looked in my direction, but he soon walked away to join in the fight instead. All he did was frown." Liu feng answered, confused by the hunter's actions.

"Peculiar, indeed." Ouros replied.

After a moments silence, the Empyreal spoke again, her brows knitted together.

"The one to expose this information to the renegade, was someone from the city."

"Have you figured it out?" Feng pressed her on.

"My meeting with the speaker revealed that he had no knowledge of the operation. Leaving only the Vanguard and the Praxic order. The Praxic fire has no benefits in exposing their own operations." Ouros replied, a dangerous smirk on her face.

"You can't mean..." Feng stammered.

"The Vanguard leaked the information to him. How peculiar, but why?" Ouros asked herself, knowing there was more to the story.

A strange day passed as the Sunbreakers had stumbled into a new mystery, one holding the crux of the renegades past.
 
Chapter 28: Crucible Chronicles (1) New
[One Day Later, The Last City]

The Bazaar beamed with life, as the constant influx of travelers continued. Most, just guardians looking to spend some good coin, as they restocked their vaults. Hundreds of civilians put out their stalls to peddle their goods as they shouted and ushered any willing to spend glimmer.

A minute wouldn't go by without voices raising through the roof as inexplicable fights broke out. Naturally, cut-throat bargaining was a serious matter here.

However, near the yellow vending machines, at a small ramen bar, a sole hunter seemed to sulk as he dozed off on the table.

"Aym, get me another bowl please" Void groaned, resting his head on his hand as he motioned for the droid to come.

The quirky oblong droid jumped up on the table as it rolled over to Void, and began rebelliously ramming it's wheel into the hunter's arm, trying to knock his head over in protest.

"Hhm?" Void opened his eyes slightly as he stared at Aym, the robot insurgently glared back, it's bionic eyes showing red flares of anger.

Void sighed helplessly as he stroked the robot's head, soothing the droidling

"Alright alright, it's my last one." he replied

Aym tilted it's round head as if to say, "Yeah that's bullshit."

Void frowned, "You know, you should really trust me more. I thought we were friends", he complained.

Aym seemed to have taken offense to the last line as the pudgy robot backed up and immediately rammed into Void with the meager speed it could muster, the hunter found it hilarious as Aym bounced back from the hit.

Aym frowned seeing Void laugh, the robot wasn't advanced AI, but it sure as hell could identify when Void was being an asshole.

Annoyed and frustrated Aym decided to ignore Void as the rotund robot defiantly looked away, swearing that he would never face his friend again until the seven seas shriveled up and the mountains laid flat.

Void could hear several resolved *beeps* of various pitches as Aym faced away from him. Void chuckled, and then raised his brows.

"Are you angry Aym?" He questioned.

Aym shivered, hearing it's name, the robot barely stopped itself from turning around. As if to pout, it's body spun around, doing donuts on the table as Void clapped in astonishment.

"Hoo! Let's go Aym, show them how it's done. Spin to win." Void shouted as Aym got distracted and started following Void's words. The droid rapidly circled the table earning a round of applause from the hunter as it deftly flipped in the air and landed in front of him.

Aym nudged forward, as if to bow as Void spoke out, "Wonderful, just wonderful. You must be the fastest droid I know. The Vex could never compare to you. You'd scare them all away."

Flattered by the praise, the droid restlessly spun around as it felt excited, but all of a sudden it recalled what Void did a few minutes ago and immediately snapped out of it's trance. Stopping midway to glare at Void as it finally scurried back to the cashier station.

Void smirked, as he stood up and walked to the checkout, pulling out his scanner.

"Fine, fine, you win." He consoled the droid and put his scanner near the counter to complete the transaction.

Seeing as his buddy had finally stopped sulking, Aym whirred Victoriously as it accepted the payment. Tapping Void's arm to let him know that he was always there for him.

"Yeah I know buddy, I will be there for you too." Void scratched the droids head.

Maurice who had been observing this whole time, flashed a relieved smile.

"I see you're all cheered up?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just completed a big mission, but the pay-out was just not what I expected." Void replied, rubbing Aym's head.

"Thanks for letting me crash Maurice, I will give you a heads up next time." He waved good bye to the shop and triggered his transmat to the Jumpship.

"Obsidian, set course for Skywatch. It's time to go home." Void stated, deciding to doze off some more,

"Setting course for Skywatch, estimated arrival in 4 hrs 32 mins 23 seconds." Obsidian replied, calculating the route rapidly.

As the Jumpship warped through the horizon, Void stared at his system window one last time before closing his eyes.



{ Legendary Guardian System}

++++ Store Unlock++++

-System will undergo an upgrade, time remaining till next system patch: 6 Days, 0 Hours, 0 Minutes 0 Seconds.

- Rewards for the previous mission will be given once the upgrade is complete!

Remarks: (owO)...(Owo)..... (o<o)..... 0 0 0 (Please Wait Patiently)



"What kind of a trash system needs a week to upgrade" Void muttered under his breath as he decided to sleep it off.

The Jumpship shook as it tore through the horizon, shooting towards the cosmodrome.




[Lunar Base, Skywatch]

The sun kissed the sea as it drowned, dyeing the horizon red, akin to an oil painted rose. The stars glimmered, ushering in the beautiful night sky.

Atop the high-rise satellite tower, Void peered above, admiring the shimmering stars a look of wonder struck his face as he whistled. He hung upside down as his legs wrapped around a steel beam, anchoring him to the tower.

"Can't believe I missed this view" Void reminisced about a few weeks ago when he trained day and night with the squad, where he still felt that he could change the world.

But now? Perhaps that confidence was not so concrete. His gaze shifted away from the Sky as he looked towards the lofty mountains surrounding the last city. Atop which hung the great machine.

Void's eyes flashed with self ridicule as he gazed at the traveler, ever graceful as it solemnly hung in the sky.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" He spoke.

The resounding silence disappointed Void as he looked away.

"Who am I kidding, you can't even speak. I don't know if you gave me this system, but fix this shit." He lamented into the lonesome dessert.

Void hung around for another hour as he felt a familiar aura approaching.

"Still sulking?" A voice from above beckoned.

Startled by the question Void glanced up, "God?" He asked.

"It's captain, you idiot." Tevis kicked the hunter in the side as Void struggled to not fall off.

Void shook his head as he looked again, as he spotted Tevis standing atop the towers peak. Solemnly peering down at Skywatch.

"That's DANGEROUS! What were you thinking?" Void shouted, barely stabilizing his legs.

Tevis flashed him a disgusted look as he spit to the side, "Get over yourself, it's only a fall. It's not like you're gonna die." He retorted.

"Yeah but the pain is still real." Void murmured, unfortunately, not low enough to escape the captain's ear.

"This is why you're a wimp, bastard. The pain makes you stronger, it strengthens our beliefs in the light." Tevis flashed a preaching smile as he perfectly mimicked the speaker's voice

Void shot a deadpan look at Tevis.

"What? That's exactly how he speaks, don't deny it." The captain argued.

Void sprang up on the beam as he got to his feet. Immediately swiping one of Tevis's legs to the side, forcing the veteran hunter to balance on one foot.

Tevis panicked as his arms flailed trying to catch the tower's beam, he barely grasped a beam and pulled himself over as he stared at Void in disbelief.

"WHAT's the idea, I could have fallen you dumbass." Tevis sighed with relief as he got to his feet.

Void frowned as he whispered, "Coward."

"What did you say?" Tevis glared.

"I said, why don't we both join the squad down at the base...captain." Void flashed an innocent smirk.

Tevis turned around with a stern glare, "Wimp".

The two hunters swiftly climbed off the tower as they joined the Nightstalkers huddled around a campfire preparing for a shift change for the night.

Circling the small campfire, Levi chucked in some wood occasionally as the Nightstalkers clamoured with anticipation. Naturally, they gossiped about their recent adventures, but there was one that interested them the most.

All eyes turned to Void as he sat down on a log, warming his hands on the crackling wood fire.

"Hmm?" He shivered, feeling penetrating gazes from the side. No one said a word but he knew what they wanted.

"It's confidential." He whispered, hoping it would buzz off the flies.

However, the hunters scoffed.

"What are you? The Praxic Fire's Dog? How much did they pay you." Levi pointed a marshmallow at him accusingly.

It wasn't long before insults and allegations were spat out at Void who had no choice but to cooperate under the intense peer pressure.

" Ugh, fine." Void groaned, he began recounting the events of the mission and discussed certain events as loosely as he could manage.

The night was young and the Nightstalkers enjoyed every passing second as they listened in. Some hollered at the fights as Void described them with great fervor, relaying what he felt. The warmth on his skin, the fear, the despair.

How his heart raced, how he resolved himself and chose to fire a Shadowshot. He didn't spare a single detail about the fights.

At the end, he recalled as the battleground felt still, no one dared move an inch as Shin was missing. A wave of anxious looks spread among the crowd.

What had happened? Did they get him?

The Nightstalkers collectively gulped, as they waited.

"We found his cloak, shredded to pieces, spread over the ground. As we picked it up, there was a dark abyss below. The Man with the Golden Gun, escaped. He was gone, back to being a myth". Void spoke in a mysterious whisper, as his last words struck the crowd, like hammer to hot iron.

Instantly, cheers spread as they gasped, some in disbelief of the entirety of events. The hunters looked at Void with respect, others with slight concern.

"You've met the legend himself. I am entirely envious." Cory voiced, as he forwarded a fist towards Void.

"Don't be, he was as scary as the legends" Void replied, bumping his fist.

"Didn't think you'd finally make it to the big leagues eh." Levi chuckled, handing a marshmallow stick he had grilled to Void.

"What can I say, I learned from the best." Void chuckled, as the two bumped elbows.

"Indeed, but what about the loot." Bandit chimed in, words dripping with greed.

Void zipped his lips and gestured , "I am not allowed to reveal anything, but let's just say the next few rounds in the shop are on me" He laughed.

Bandit nodded, satisfied with the offer.

"So what are you planning next?" A faint voice asked.

Void furrowed his brows as he tried to recall the silent hunters name.

Hypnos, he nodded to himself. Void contemplated the hunters words but soon the crowd fell into deafening silence.

Void scratched his head as he sat clueless.

"I am not sure, I guess I will just be patrolling with you guys?" He suggested.

But Tevis chimed in, "That won't do. Don't get me wrong, your skill level is fine, but considering your recent adventure, I feel like we should introduce you to a new form of combat. One that you're slightly familiar with."

Void raised his brows as he sat in anticipation.

"Don't you think it's time you visited the crucible? If you've faced the renegade, you should know how important it is to learn how to defend yourself" Tevis stated, munching on a marshmallow.

Void sat there as he gasped,

"Ah!"

"Not a bad idea captain...Not a bad idea at all." Void rubbed his chin as he planned his next steps.
 
Chapter 29: Crucible Chronicles (2) New
[ The Last City, Tower]

Void walked through the courtyard, as he arrived at the Vanguard terminal. He swiftly swiped his hand over the scanner as the doors opened and he rushed inside.

Navigating through a familiar maze of hallways he arrived at a dead end and shuffled his hands around the wall as he triggered the scanner.

The walls spiralled open, revealing the elevator. As he stepped inside, Void traced his pockets for a jade token that he placed on the terminal, boosting the mechanism to life as the lift descended.

Void paced through the pressurized gas as he took a few quick turns in the hallways, arriving at the same door once more, he slowly pushed it open.

A few sets of eyes glanced at Void as he walked inside, some were familiar to him as they shot him a nod, while the others ignored his presence and continued reviewing their records.

"Took you long enough." Wei stomped towards him with a cheeky smile on her face as she slapped his back repeatedly, forcing a cough or two out of Void.

Void cleared his throat, "Aghm, I am a busy man, so let's get down to it." He spoke, raising his brows as he noticed Wei's appearance.

Unlike her usual armour set, she seemed to be in quite a lax outfit comprised of a jade ember robe that was just a size too small and a long shirt that fit her perfectly.

"Don't mind the looks, my armour is still being repaired." She brushed him off before he could even ask.

Void smirked, " I was just going to ask if that was Eriana's robe", he said, low enough for only the two to hear.

Wei blushed slightly, astonishing Void. Was it even possible to embarrass a titan?

She shook her head and walked towards a staircase behind the room, leading a few floors down.

"Follow me, we keep the good stuff down here." She gestured, scurrying down the stairs.

Void followed her down the spiralling steps and arrived at a large basement warehouse. He glanced around as he saw artifacts of all manners.

Some emitted a dark aura, and were encased within layers upon layers of barrier magic constantly circulating above them, whereas others were just hung in frames to signify their importance.

But Void knew with a single glance, that this was perhaps the best treasure collection he had seen. Every single artifact and weapon here was of the legendary tier.

Void's curiosity peaked as his eyes darted around, like a child in a toys aisle.

"May I look around?" He asked politely.

Wei was scrambling around the storage units as she heard Void.

"Hunters never change." She smirked, as she knew the young hunter in front of her was also a hopeless romantic when it came to loot.

"Feel free, the stuff here is mostly old relics from the dark age. We would have thrown them out, but the old warlock vanguard insisted that the Praxic fire store them. He said that it was our history." She replied, still shuffling through crates.

"Dark age relics?"

This piqued his interest. The Dark Ages were different. Guardians as a force had not yet been formed, and the chaotic era was ruled by an iron fist through warlords and risen champions alike.

"Yeah, armour from warlords, crafted artifacts and all that garbage. Take my advice, none of it is worth it. Just some antique scrap." She brushed him off.

Wei was right, as Void looked around, none of the items present emitted any sort of energy. Naturally, he was using his eyes of mercurio. Hence, he could somewhat estimate the history and usefulness of the artifacts on display.

"You say that as if it's not dangerous. Don't these things carry old magic?" Void replied, his hands tracing along the edge of an old spear, as he admired the corroded head.

Wei huffed as she moved a heavy crate around, " Hmph, the stuff with residual magic is usually taken by the scribes."

She placed the box down on the other side of the room as it hit the ground with a thud.

"Those maniacs hoard that shit as if it was gold." Wei spat out.

"Can you blame them? Isn't it their job to append the archives for each and every artifact?" Void replied, rubbing his fingers as he felt his skin had micro tears.

His eyes lingered on the spear head for a simple second,



Spear of Shojin (Damaged)

Rank: Legendary

"When the skies split, terror descended unbounded, the seas boiled and the earth burned. I saw him, as he wielded the spear, pushing back the devilish monstrosities that emerged. When he took his last breath, and perished within the dark. I found the spear, aiming towards the heavens once more, I fought, for him, for the future. The will of Shojin must live on."

Perk:

(Howling Winds): The wind beckons as you strike. Howling, at each thrust.

* Spear cannot be repaired


'If it wasn't completely rusted it would have made a good weapon.' He lamented inside.

"So what exactly are you looking for?" Void asked curiously.

"We promised you a reward, but the access key to that cache is stored with these artifacts." Wei answered.

Void knitted his brows as he glanced around the basement. Chests littered every inch of the floor and several glass cases held intriguing antiques on display. Blades and spears decorated the concrete walls, several banners lined below them.

"You're telling me you left the access key in this dumpster?" Void asked, dismayed.

"Quiet down, you'll get your loot. No need to put on the dramatics." Wei scolded.

Like a deflated balloon Void wandered around the basement, 'Shouldn't have truste-....Maybe Levi was righ-' he muttered.

His grumbling wasn't exactly discrete. Wei rolled her eyes, it wasn't the first time she was dealing with drama queens.

As the titan shifted around a few other caches, she found an old rustic box with golden age engravings. Clawing the tin open, she found a small circular token lined with runes.

"I found your access key so stop sulking already." She sighed, holding the coin sized key to her eyes.

Void immediately sprang up and grabbed the token, clinging to her arm. As if he had reunited with a long lost love.

He refused to let go as Wei rolled her eyes again.

"It's my reward, you're not keeping this." He retorted.

"Fine you goblin, just follow me to the cache." She replied, barely pushing him off as she walked towards another set of stairs.

"Follow me, we're going all the way down" She said.

"Hey don't you think you guys have too many stairs here? " Void frowned as he scurried behind her.

Once the two descended a few floors, Void spotted another pile of caches littered around in a small room.

Wei entered the room and brought out a rustic golden cache. Peculiarly, it had a golden hammer crest engraved at the side.

"This is?" Void asked.

"An old cache left by iron lords." Wei answered, dusting off the cache.

Void was surprised to see the Iron Lords influence be visible even after they disbanded. He immediately walked up the cache as Wei inserted the access key,

The cache triggered, as a mechanical windup slowly revealed it's contents, Void's gaze fell on the weapon carefully encased within the box.



Radegast's Fury

Rank: Legendary

"A high-impact weapon, forged in fire by the Lords of the Iron Banner."

Perks:

(Solar Damage) : This weapon causes solar damage.

(Hard Launch): More Velocity and Blast Radius. Increased recoil.

(Unflinching): It's easier to aim under fire using this weapon.

(Quickdraw): This weapon can be drawn unbelievably fast.

* This weapon can be reforged



Void gasped, reading the perks.

"This beauty is mine?" He asked, uncertain.

"All yours, just don't fire it in city limits unless you want it to be confiscated." She replied.

Void immediately embraced the launcher, unboxing it out of the case.

"It's perfect" He shouted.

Wei shook her head with a smile, "Let's get you out of here before Aunor comes back. She's somewhat of a hard-ass."

Void still caught up in the launcher, agreed as the two walked up the stairs once more. But just as he ascended a floor, a certain energy pulsed through him.

[Warning: Interdimensional energy detected!]

[Warning: Interdimensional energy detected!]

[Warning: Interdimensional energy detected!]


His senses immediately heightened as a shiver ran down his spine, Void flicked his head to see the source, finding a simple glass case, placed under a light, isolated in a storage room. His legs halted as he felt drawn in.

Void felt, enchanted, mesmerized. He couldn't figure it out, the rest was a blur as his legs moved on his own, he slowly walked away from Wei.

A strange resonating whisper filled his ears, drowning at all noise.

"....."

"V...."

"Voi."

"Void."

He felt a slight disturbance as a strange force jerked him backwards, snapping him out of his trance.

Void jolted, as if he had just woken up.

"Void, are you okay?" Wei asked, she had just seen the hunter completely out of it as he began ignoring her voice.

"Y-yeah." Void replied, a strange headache spreading through him.

His eyes landed at the glass case once more



Ring of ????? (Fragment)

Rank: ?????

"A ring forged in light and dark, shattered through time."

Perks:

(Golden Order): All healing effects are boosted to the highest degree. All damaging effects are reduced to the highest degree.

(Blessing of the Traveler): All debuffs applied are cleansed for thirty seconds at a five minute cooldown.

* Interdimensional energy detected


Void's eyes twitched.

'These perks are too damn overpowered.' He thought to himself, 'Whose ring is it?'

"Is everything alright?" Wei's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I was just wondering what that is. It seems pretty strong." Void's words nearing a whisper at the end.

"The scribes said it was a mystery. They couldn't analyse the artifact properly. It was made somewhere in the dark ages according to the age of the material, but the energy signatures matched nothing they had ever seen. This was the only fragment they found." She answered, her eyes watching Void.

"Why? Is there a problem?" She questioned.

"No....I just thought it was a strong artifact." He replied, turning towards the stairs as he walked out of the Praxic quarters, leaving the titan confused as she observed the fragment for a few minutes.


[Courtyard]

Void looked towards his hands as he felt them twitch.

"Whatever that was, it was strong. Almost too strong." He whispered.

But then a thought rose, "Why wasn't she affected? Was it only me?" He questioned.

Void recalled the warning he had gotten, "Interdimensional energy?"

'Could it be something related to the system?' he thought.

Unfortunately the system refused to function after the warning, still hibernating as Void waited for the updates to finish.

The hunter walked towards the outer rim of the courtyard as he spotted a crimson banner fluttering in the wind.
 
Chapter 30: Crucible Chronicles (3) New
The outer rim of the courtyard was built secluded from the the main hub. Naturally, it was an intentional divide. While all guardians would scour the main hub, not a lot bothered or dared to go around the outer rim casually.

Void smile as he saw some guardians subtly avoid his gaze as he walked towards the leather tent constructed directly opposite the Vanguard terminal.

'I guess the crucible doesn't have a lot of fans' He chuckled inside.

Void knew why they avoided him the moment he stepped near the leather tent. After all, guardians loved to fight, but that didn't mean they loved to get pulverized day and night.

Anybody willing to enter the crucible was surely a madman. Void had discussed it with the Nightstalkers a few times, but the reputation of the crucible was more than just a "game" here.

Of course, it was still in light-hearted fun and just a new training method, but there was glory involved. It was a gladiator showdown.

Coupled with his fear inducing appearance by donning the Nightstalker attire, and his anonymity within most circles. Void wasn't exactly welcomed with warmth.

Reaching the hem of the tent, Void slowly ducked under into the tent.

Void announced his arrival at the entrance by clearing his throat and standing at attention. Perhaps there wasn't any need for this etiquette, but the man Void expected to meet wasn't exactly...predictable.

Void didn't want to leave his first impressions up to chance as he waited for Shaxx to show up in his tent as he glanced around.

Red banners adorned the walls as a few suits of armour hung on the wall. Upon a nice fur rug, a comfortable couch surrounded by two leather chairs was placed in the middle, a few books were stacked on the glass table as the centre piece.

'Is he not here?' Void thought, standing there confused.

As he planned to wait, a redjack droid walked out with a broom as it dusted the wood floor.

Void gathered his voice as he spoke, "Where is Lord Shaxx?", addressing the droid.

Looking up from his rigorous cleaning ritual, the droid looked to Void with a confusing glance as it pondered.

As if finally deciding something, the droid walked back into a nearby room as it pulled out a gps codex.

The droid approached Void, who still stood at the entrance, as it handed him the codex, which was akin to a badge.

"Lord Shaxx is at sector 618 conducting live combat-drills, southwest of the cosmodrome. The gps codex holds the barrier override to access the arena. Please ensure you enable the masking protocol of the codex as the arena surrounds hostile territories." The redjack answered.

Continuing the list out a lengthy list of protocols to access the arena for the first time, the redjack explained in great detail at why maintaining discretion was important.

Sector 618 was an old lair for house of devil's fallen squads. However, Lord Shaxx leading a team of redjacks had secured the complex and converted it into a parkour and live-drilling course for the crucible.

Void was slightly surprised to hear the context, "To think Shaxx secured the crucible maps himself."

He had to admit, the man was a complete Chad , Void couldn't help but nod in acknowledgement.

Void immediately flicked his wrist as he appeared in his jumpship, and began triggering the launch protocol.

A few seconds later, his Ship shot through the skies, towards orbit.

"Obsidian, did you catch all of that?" He asked.

"I've already registered all required protocols to enter sector 618. We won't have any problems." Obsidian nodded appearing near the navigation terminal.

"Alright, trigger the masking and set route to 618." Void sighed.



[Sector 618]

The rustic war complex was a secluded battlefield from the dark ages, established at a hidden sector within the breached cosmodrome wall, the last city had taken control and warded off all other factions from entering the area.

From corroded bunkers, old factories and rustic dugouts, the battlefield was littered with fortified structures providing strategic strongholds in short and long range skirmishes alike.

Not an inch of empty ground remained, except that it had been littered with some form of structure to provide a cover from fire.

Suddenly, as if hell had broken out. Numerous gunshots rang out. A chaotic frenzy ensued as guardians rushed in and out of the dugouts, like enraged beasts.

Their figures but a blur as two teams weaved in and out of combat, energy running rampant in the surroundings as a few lightning staffs clashed on both sides.

Immediately, an immense sense of dread spread amongst the guardians as they immediately sought to retreat, but without a second to spare, a large nova bomb erupted, engulfing all nearby as a warlock stood nearby, clutching his hands in victory.

"Marvellous, just marvellous." Loud claps rang out as all eyes turned to the titan standing unfazed in a nearby hollow building.

A fiery coat of fur lined his shoulder blades, the titan held a bold and domineering aura as his laughter bellowed in the arena, drawing all the guardians closer to him. His helmet adorned a singular horn at the right, as the other seemed to have been roughly chopped off.

"The victor has been decided. What have we learned?" Shaxx asked with great passion.

Amos, the victor answered immediately, "As a warlock I've realized that indeed, our order is superior. My victory simply showcases the truth. My attacks were well placed and everyone else failed to see the brilliance of my plan."

He answered in a well articulate manner, his eyes shined with pride, he truly believed in his answer.

Shaxx frowned and then sighed, what else could he do?. He the legendary warlord was busy teaching these babies the art of war. Yet whenever he found a teaching moment, the esoteric guardians would somehow find a way to diminish his teachings.

'The warlocks are too prideful, the titans too headstrong, and the hunters too sly.' Shaxx lamented to himself.

"Well done on the victory guardian, but it's not always about who is better. Ensuring victory in war is an art. Regardless of which side is better, our objective is to win. Victory is attained through might and wit." His roared.

Seeing that the guardians below him were too busy celebrating their victory while they tuned his voice out, Shaxx couldn't help but shake his head.

"If only Zavala allowed me to participate in the crucible myself" Shaxx mumbled, a dangerous glint in his eyes that disappeared as if it never existed.

Shaxx shouted with a sliver of annoyance, "That's it guardians, wrap it up. We will change teams for a more balanced round. Everyone, go back to your positions."

Feeling a strange sensation, Shaxx looked to the sky as he spotted another jumpship descending from orbit.

His interest piqued as he had never met the guardian with that transmission channel.

A message quickly popped up on his terminal, asking for permission to enter the arena, which Shaxx readily granted.

"It seems we have a new guest arriving." He spoke out.

The titan eyed the guardian as he saw a sleek figure transmat into the arena. Donned in a discrete but lethal armour set, Shaxx found himself internally complimenting the posture of the guardian.

'A man who had seen the real battlefield' Was his judgement regarding Void's poise. However what really gave it away was the weapon holstered at Void's back.

'That is surely.' Shaxx entered a trance of his own as time seemed to slip back towards the era of the warlords, he stood frozen in place. The memories of those days flashed his mind as a faint light glistened in his eyes.

'Indeed it is' He nodded, knowing that if Void possessed that weapon, he had surely done something to be worthy of it.

Snapping out of his stupor, Shaxx laughed, beckoning the guardian closer.

"Welcome, welcome. I am Lord Shaxx, crucible commander. What is your name guardian?"

"You can call me Void, lord Shaxx. I am here because my captain recommended I join the crucible. I don't reckon you have a spot?" Void asked, lacing his words with some respect.

"Your Captain?" Shaxx asked, his eyes running through Void's attire once more as he spotted the Nightstalker crest faintly imprinted on his cloak.

"A surprise to see one with your abilities here Void. Although, I suppose I shouldn't be. I heard about from Zavala. He told me he found a promising newcomer? I say let's see if he was right." Shaxx slapped his shoulder as Void felt his ogre-like strength impacting his body.

'Why is it always the titans...' Void's eyes twitched.

His eyes drifted towards the teams waiting for their turn to start. As Void jumped down and entered the field.

"I will join any team, so let's get this started." He said eagerly.

Shaxx was pleasantly surprised by his demeanour and signalled the teams to be ready.


A/N: Thank you for reading. There's nothing like "reviews" on QQ, not that I know of. If you feel compelled to share your thoughts, please reply within this thread. If you just want to chat, or talk about this story, I'd appreciate your replies nonetheless.
 
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Chapter 31: Crucible Chronicles (4) New
[Sector 618]

As Void approached the seven guardians lined up against each other, he smiled and nodded his head.

But before he could even begin to introduce himself, Void felt a vexing glare from Amos. Knitting his brows, Void shot him a glance, but the warlock had a disgusted expression, like he'd somehow stepped on shit.

"Another newbie thinking he's hot shit." Amos flared his nostrils, walking towards Void.

" I don't know why you thought to join here. But I am the champion. " Amos spat out.

Void didn't understand the show of anger as a nearby gunslinger leaned in, "Screw off Amos, you got lucky once. It won't happen again."

Amos scrunched up his nose as he looked at the two hunters with disgust, He immediately turned away and stomped towards his team.

"So much for warlock's being wise and calculating. Don't mind that idiot, he just doesn't like it when Shaxx praises others." The gunslinger chuckled, offering a handshake.

"Not a problem, I guess we'll just have to smack some sense into him again." Void grinned and shook his hand.

"Warrod"

"Void"

The two hunters seemed to be on the same page as they found Amos's actions to be immature.

"I like what I hear. Count me in. I'm Jason." The titan in the team walked over, as he placed his hand above the two, like a dogpile.

"Edith" The arch warlock chimed in, "though I will apologize for that dumbass. I promise we're not all the same." She smiled and gave a little wave to Void.

"So, what's the plan?" Warrod asked, side eyeing the other team.

Void held a dangerous grin, "It's simple really, we'll smash them into the ground."

His words earned him some curious glares as Void motioned for everyone to huddle in.

-------------------------------

"Alright Guardians, planning time is over." Shaxx shouted into the arena, as he surveyed both teams.

Raising a small revolver, he pointed to the sky, "Prepare your defences, load your guns, sharpen your blades and clench your fists. When I fire this flare, on the count of three. The crucible will start." He announced with great vigour.

"Your objective? Elimination. Last team standing, wins it all. Now remember, give it your all, and don't hold back. Show them the light guardian." Shaxx's words seemed to brew excitement within both teams.

"1"

"2"

Adrenaline ran high, senses ran wild and hearts started pounding. Every blink barely scraped away the seconds as they all waited on the last number.

"3" Shaxx clenched his fingers, slamming his hand on the railings, the flare shooting up into the sky, as green hue spread across the arena.

With a fire burning in their heart, the two teams met in the middle, auras collided and the titans from each side rushed into a brawl.

Amos seemed to glide above the fight as he rapidly blinked around the battlefield, surveying the grounds.

His eyes looking for the new hunter that had just managed to piss him off. Light gathered in his palm as he flicked an empowering rift downwards, " Keep pushing forward."

The rift landed on his titan as he easily overpowered Jason, slamming the titan to the ground.

He planned to follow with a punch but as his hand moved, bullets immediately grazed through his cheek, and ripped through his shoulder.

"Keep your hands off my boy." Warrod chuckled, peering into his scope as he perched upon the warehouse roof.

Feeling multiple bullets shoot towards him, the titan jumped backwards as he blocked with his shoulder releasing a strong barricade to cover his retreat.

Amos immediately signalled his team to blitz the sniper as the two hunters seemed to flicker through the air towards the warehouse

"Not so fast boys." Feeling a jolt nearby, the two hunters immediately tensed up and leapt backwards.

Edith smirked as lightning pulsed through her fingers, she thrust forwards, barely grazing the two enemies.

Things only seemed to get worse as both sides opened fire, a hail of bullets pelted every corner of the arena.

In what could only be described as a maniacal frenzy, Edith fought two hunters at the same time, keeping them at bay with her thunder as Warrod provided long distance support. Nothing escaped the gunslinger's eyes as he scoured the field for anyone foolish enough to be exposed to his range.

Amos being the warlock seemed spooked as he was forced to provide a constant influx of rifts to keep his team alive.

While all this seemed to unfold, Jason and the opposing titan spent the entire round trying to not let the other participate. While a gritty brawl ensued,

Jason was pushed back blow for blow as the titans duked it out.

"Hey the empowering rift is messing me up. Do something" He shouted into his comms as he ducked under a blow.

"Stick to the plan Jason!" Warrod replied as he tried his best to snipe Amos out the air.

However the warlock's reactions were too fast, as he blinked just before the bullet seemed to hit.

"Running on empty here. Void?" Edith chimed in as two hunters immediately assaulted her figure.

"Ready, its a go." Void replied, his figure invisible as he lurked around the arena, setting up his smoke bombs.

Edith weaved through the blows as she swung her head to the side, the punches barely grazing her.

"Go go go" Edith shouted, alerting the two hunters as they took a cautionary leap back, enough for her to blink away towards the center of the arena.

"Comin in hot" Jason shouted as he shoulder charged through the bunker walls, the opposing titan on his tail.

"I got it" Void responded, instantly Jason felt a translucent figure jump through the shadows to the titan.

Void swung his fist, rocking the titan in the jaw. Before he could gain any semblance of balance, he wrapped his legs around the titans neck and jerked to the side while a dagger plunged into the titan's nape.

The titan's body slumped to the floor as Jason felt his mind go blank seeing Void appear out of nowhere.

"W-wha..." He slurred his words

"Save it." Void kept rushing to the center.

Amos immediately realized something was amiss as Edith blinked away. His eyes darted around the field, as he saw Jason and Void rush to the center.

"They're in the center, quick-" He held his comms as he felt a slight prick and immediately blinked a few spaces behind himself, just in time as a scorching bullet rushed through his old position.

He felt Warrod's gaze as he saw the scope glint in the distance.

"YOU fucking bug" Amos clenched his teeth, there hadn't been a single second where he wasn't targeted by Warrod's scoping. If not for his reaction timing, Amos was sure he would have been hit eliminated by Warrod ages ago.

Amos immediately flew towards Warrod as the bullets kept flying by, the warlock dodging it with a blink each time.

"Hey hey hey he's pissed." Warrod spoke as he kept firing.

"Good job, keep him there, bait it out." Void replied as their team reached the centre.

Edith reached the centre as the two hunters were hot in pursuit.

The two figures appeared to rush in as they saw Void, Jason and Edith. Without hesitation their guns glowed golden as they pointed towards the trio.

Void smiled, seeing the golden gun, he wasn't intimidated, 'I faced someone far scarier.' He smirked.

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke erupted around them as Void triggered his bombs, flashing a haunting smile, his figure seemed to disappear within the smoke, surprising Jason and Edith.

The two hunters were unable to peer through the smoke as their uncertainty grew. With only one shot each, it was foolish to waste it on something they couldn't see.

However a strange aura seemed to linger in the air as they felt a shiver run through their spine.

"Devour them" Void whispered, his spectral figure held a bow as a shadowshot tore through the smoke, engulfing the two hunters whole as their bodies were chained to the floor, light tethers sucked their power away, leaving them as lifeless corpses.

The smoke dissipated as Void finished off the hunters.

"Woah, I didn't know you could do that." Jason replied, star struck.

"It's definitely a welcome surprise." Edith laughed.

"I told you, we'll smash them into the ground." Void shrugged his shoulder as he grinned.

"Guys funny story, but I am still alone here." Warrod shouted shakily as he blitzed across the roof, jumping to other buildings.

The trio could barely spot Warrod as they saw him chased by Amos slinging energy blasts aiming to rip through the hunter.

"Fight BACK COWARD" Amos roared, as he dashed towards Warrod.

Warrod deftly dodged his blasts as he rushed towards the cente.

However, as Amos saw him run, his anger blinded him. "Fine, then run from this." He mouthed, as a great energy surged through him, his body levitated off the ground as he held his palms towards the sky.

"This is gonna be bad" Edith smacked her lips together as she saw Amos condense a frightening amount of light into his hands.

"That's gonna sting for sure." Jason gasped, as he analysed the energy surging through the warlock.

Void looked at the two as they didn't bother moving to help Warrod, "You know you guys are kinda cruel."

"Please, this handsome face can't take that nova bomb again." Jason replied rubbing his chin.

" Warlocks can be vengeful, it's best not to get in the way." Edith shook her head.

"Guys? Hey, hey I can see you three. Why the f*** are you not moving." Warrod shouted as his voice went hoarse. He looked behind him to see Amos's erupting nova bomb.

Realization set in as his eyes went wide and he saw his world turn white. "F*** me"

The nova bomb pulsed through the arena as the ground shook. Three figures in the centre looked towards it's eruption as they gasped with concern, "Told you it was gonna sting." Jason replied.

Void nodded, "Good idea, we're better off here."

Edith shrugged as if to say, 'I told you so.'

"Well, I guess it's time for work. We're not gonna win by staying here are we." Void chuckled his gun revolving in his grip.

"It's as good as done, after that nova bomb, Amos is probably all out of juice." Edith replied, loading her shotgun.

"So why did you just load up that explosive shot into the barrel?" Jason inquired.

She chuckled pumping the slide backwards, "I just don't like his face."

Jason immediately recalled her previous words about revenge, and vowed to never cross a warlock if he could help it.

The dust cleared, Amos saw the three figures approaching as he tried to take a fighting stance.

Walking towards the exhausted warlock, Void spun his hand cannon leisurely and pointed it towards him, "Oi, don't think of any sudden moves, we all know you can't block these shots" Void chortled.

"Please...against the likes of you, I-I could do this all day." Amos heaved a breath as he stood limping with shoulders slumped.

'Did he just quote captain america?' Void was shocked as his jaw dropped.

"What? Scared?" Amos laughed.

The warlock seemed to think that Void was intimidated by his pathetic stance, hence he continued his slurry of words.

"You're ju-"

Before he could finish his words, Edith pulled the trigger as the warlock's head exploded into smithereens with a single bullet.

"Bad way to go." Jason shook his head in dismay.

"Indeed" Void couldn't help but agree, as the two stood over the warlock's body.

Far away, Shaxx who had been completely thrown off by this round was speechless.

'Invisibility is quite useful' He thought to himself, however Shaxx thought it wasn't enough to qualify Void as promising.

Of course, that was until he saw the double play using the Shadowshot.

'How did he know a counter to the golden gun?' Shaxx contemplated, did he experience this before?

He was thoroughly impressed by the hunter, the titan was lost in his thoughts as he finally heard a loud bang and saw Amos's head blow up, 'Ah, that's a bad way to go.' He shook his head.

"This is Amazing! Erhm, The victor has been decided, marvellous job guardians." Shaxx shouted with an ecstatic hum in his voice.

As the round concluded, several ghost's appeared as the guardian's were slowly revived. Warrod hearing of their victory walked over to his team.

"Nice job Void" Warrod shook the hunter's hand as he glared at the two beside him.

"Don't look at me, I can't make shields." Edith threw up her hands.

Jason gave her the side eye and spoke, "Listen, all's well that ends well isn't it? You did good by attracting his attention." He patted Warrod's shoulders but the gunslinger simply gave him a dangerous glare.

"Great job guardians, your team demolished the enemy completely. Void, a word." Shaxx stepped closer as he requested Void to follow him out.
 
Chapter 32: Crucible Chronicles (5) New
"It seems that Zavala was right about you." Shaxx slapped Void's shoulders.

"Agh..Thanks." Void replied as a strange numbness spread through his arms.

" You've honed your instincts nicely. Especially your stealth, it combines great lethality with the element of surprise. You should be proud." Shaxx's voice echoed in the arena as a belated laugh followed.

"However I must ask, how did you plan on hindering the gunslingers with the smoke bombs?" Shaxx held a curious gaze as his eyes swept over Void's figure.

Void contemplated his words, his thoughts raced backwards as he recalled the encounter two days ago.

He could recall everything in that fight, as Shin used the explosive knives to create a plume of dust to separate himself from Sai. However, despite having the choice, he waited until the arc hunter dashed outside the dust explosion to try and use his golden gun.

Naturally, Void's observant eyes didn't miss such a small action. One thing was clear, golden gun worked best if used with direct line of sight. Hence to him, interrupting that line of sight with a smoke bomb was the best solution.

As for the planned smoke bombs? Luring the enemy to the center as he waited there in stealth was a standard tactic anyone could come up with. But the deciding factor were not his smoke bombs, but his Shadowshot.

Since Shadowshot enveloped a massive area, direct line of sight wasn't necessary. As long as it landed within the vicinity, the radius of the tether would envelope anyone within range.

Void's lips parted, "Golden gun is a technique requiring great precision. I didn't think they would take the risk of missing if they couldn't see me for a few seconds. On the other hand, my arrows will always find the way." He answered, beaming a smile at the old warlord.

Void could only attribute his tactics to his own realizations, after all he couldn't just share his mission history with everyone could he?

"Yes...yes. Devouring light, a peculiar attribute of the Nightstalkers indeed." Shaxx replied, his eyes lingering at Void's hands.

"It is a power that commands fatality..... and fear." Shaxx's voice dwindled to a whisper as he snapped out of his trance.

Shaxx cleared his throat, "Forgive me, I was just reminiscing. Yes, about your performance, you had me thoroughly impressed. A few more rounds like that and I would be inclined to reward you from my personal collection."

Void's eyes lit up the moment he heard personal collection, 'A crucible armory weapon... I need it.'

"Let's run it again, I can't leave without my loot can I?" Void replied, a smirk lined the corners of his lips.

"Bold and courageous. I LIKE IT." Shaxx chuckled in surprise as he turned towards the arena.

"You hear that guardians? Take your positions." With a swift flick he rolled his flare gun.

Shaxx loaded in a single flare as he cocked the gun, "Again."



[ Six Days Later, Twilight Gap]

Near the mountain valleys of the last city, winds howled, tattered and charred crimson banners fluttered as they hung high, basking in the dawn of the morning sun.

The harrowing landscape filled with a golden hue, it's grounds razed of any blooming life, reminiscent of the crusades fought in the last century.

"Here we fight, for the memory of those who stood." A solemn voice echoed through the hallowed grounds, ringing through the rusted walls of the frontier.

Shaxx looked down from his spire, gazing upon his guardians with a sombre melancholy hidden behind his eyes.

Void's figure flickered through the tall grass with dagger in hand. He leapt through the bushes towards an unsuspecting warlock, twisting his body in mid air, Void flipped upside down and swiped the dagger, etching a line between head and torso.

Like a blur, his feet touched the ground and he disappeared again,

"Here we die, for the glory of the Light that never fades" Shaxx spat out as the head rolled on the floor, his voice laced with a soft quiver.

Suddenly, the arena went dead silent as a figure cleaved through the air, whipping his handgun out.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Warrod shouted, his eyes looking for a trace of Void.

Keeping his gun cocked, Warrod darted around, trying to catch a glimpse of Void. However, catching a Nightstalker in stealth was akin to finding needle in a haystack.

Feeling a breeze gush in from the right, Warrod's eyes widened as he jerked his head forwards.

A sharp whistle sliced through the air as Void's dagger zipped past his nape, inches away from decapitating the gunslinger, before Void could reposition, Warrod retaliated, immediately firing shots at point blank range through to Void's chest.

"Oi, Oi, I thought we were friends." Warrod spoke, his hands fumbling with the magazine as he swiftly reloaded.

Void found his balance as he sprang to his feet, feeling a few heavy shots deposited in his chest plate, he reached to his side and his hands snapped towards the hand-cannon.

"I could say the same" He replied, the two hunters immediately leapt backwards as their trigger fingers settled in.

Void's eyes glistened as a strange foresight enveloped his view. His hands twitched as he saw Warrod pull the trigger.

The bullets seemed to halt as time slowed down. Void flung his arm in front, tugging on the trigger to match their trajectories.

Void felt the world move as his foresight ended, suddenly the shots rang out and the bullets collided dropping to the floor.

"How the f*ck did you even do that." Warrod growled as he yanked on his side grabbing thin air.

"Mother****er ", Warrod cursed skidding on the ground with his hands shuffling near his side.

"Looking for this?" Void teased, as he juggled a carbon mag in his hands.

A trace of understanding flashed in Warrod's eyes as he recalled the earlier dagger attack.

"You didn't think I actually missed, did you?" Void spoke as his lips tugged into a grin.

Warrod's shoulders hung low, " Alright, you got me. Fair game partner." He sighed, as he slowly raised his hands.

Void pulled down his gun and tossed Warrod the mag, but just as he chucked it, Warrod's hands jolted, as he snapped away grenades from his belt and tossed them.

"Grenade!" Shaxx exclaimed.

Seeing two grenades leave Warrod's grasp, Void's wrist twitched as he immediately fired a shot straight through one.

A strong explosion rang out as the grenades discharged in mid air, exploding near the gunslinger as he felt his face charr off, bits and pieces of his body had been blown to smithereens as he finally slumped to the ground.

"Better luck next time, partner." Void blew the smoke off his barrel as he holstered it to his side.

Shaxx slammed his hand into the metal beams, his jaw wide open, "THIS IS AMAZING."

He clapped fiercely and jumped off the spire. Shaxx hit the ground and immediately sprang up into his signature pose, chest wide open with hands resting to his side.

"THE VICTOR HAS BEEN DECIDED"

As he shouted out the conclusion, several ghosts appeared above their dead guardians, slowly condensing light into their new forms.

The guardians all gathered on Void as they congratulated him for the victory.

Jason pumped fists with Void with an impressed smile, "I gotta admit, the free for all is a badass idea."

"Maybe, I will stop holding back the next time" Jason chuckled with an amusing grin.

Edith slapped his back as she quipped, "Don't talk big when you died first."

Jason sucked in his lips as he rubbed his back, "You can't blame me, when I saw you I got lost in your eyes.... and then a fucking rocket hit me outta nowhere."

Void swayed his head, "My bad on that one, didn't mean to interrupt your little date."

Edith's eyes sparked, "It wasn't a date." She gritted her teeth.

Void raised his hands as he chimed, " Say what you want, but you also froze when he looked you in the eyes."

Edith zapped Void with a finger as she strutted away.

Void rapidly rubbed his arm to reduce the pain as he glared towards Jason, "Yeah I don't get how you fell, for that."

The titan seemed to glance towards Edith's departing figure as he replied, "Just something about her, she's like a ball of energy."

Warrod walked towards the two as he tapped shoulders with Void, "I thought I had you, you're a beast you know that?"

"It's all in the hands man." Void twirled his fingers and laughed

"You gotta teach me the last one later." Warrod replied

Shaxx cleared his throat as he took centre stage, "Attention Guardians!", all eyes turned to him.

As everyone gathered around Shaxx, the warlord pushed out his chest and spoke with vigour.

"These six days have been amazing. No doubt, the crucible has gone through many changes as suggested by Void, for that I must thank you." He gestured towards Void as everyone clapped.

"For the future, we must continue to evolve. The light finds a way guardians. Always. finds a way to become stronger by the day. We must do the same."

Shaxx looked towards the horizon, " Now, to reward our latest Victor, Void, I must say that you've continued to impress me. I've decided to give you a weapon forged by the finest gunsmiths the city had to offer."

Shaxx opened his hands as a brown auto rifle appeared within them, "We stand here, at the Twilight gap. A land of grief and horror. A land where we fought grimm battles, but emerged victorious, hence, the city stands."

"I reward you, with the true hero of the twilight gap. Grimm Citizen." Shaxx's voice resounded as he handed over the rifle to Void.

Void felt a sudden weight on his shoulders as he grasped the rifle. As if he could truly see the battles the weapon had fought. He caressed the gun's old frame, it's iron sights, the worn handle. It seemed to fit perfectly in his grip.

"Thank you." He replied with conviction.


Grim Citizen III

Rank: Legendary

"The grief and horror of Twilight Gap drove some of the finest gunsmiths in The City to elevate their art"

Perks:

(Accurized Site) : Precise Fire

(Who's Next?): A kill with the final round in the magazine increases reload speed

(Perfect Balance): This weapon has extremely low recoil.

(Spray and Play): Increases the reload speed of this weapon when its mag is empty.


The crucible resolved for the day as Shaxx recounted the old stories of Twilight Gap, reminding the guardians to always focus on improvement, and to never give up. (A/N: Ignore the slight errors in timeline for the twilight gap. We will just assume that it happened in the order that I write the arcs.)

Twilight Gap was a testament to the unshakeable will of the titans to defend the city, a heroic battle that could decide the fate of the city. Shaxx recounted how his fireteam had fought the eliksni held the city's walls and refused to fall back to the Ridgeback District.

An act of defiance that had bought enough time for the city's forces to regroup and push back against the Eliksni invasion.

After listening to the warlord reminisce, Void went to orbit as he patiently waited.

For what you ask? Well of course, the one timer that truly mattered.


{ Legendary Guardian System}

Time Left: 00 Days, 00 Hours, 00 Minutes 10 Seconds



Void counted with bated breaths as the timer hit zero and the system window refreshed.

He gulped, and slowly clicked towards the system again, as Void saw a single phrase show up on his screen, he smiled.



{ Legendary Guardian System}

~ Store Unlocked~
 
Chapter 33: A Cursed Wish New
[Venus]

A cloudy horizon weighed down on the rocky terrain, as dense gaseous smog polluted the air. Expansive volcanic plains with rugged mountains seemed to stretch infinitely.

Three guardians could be seen painstakingly scaling upwards of a rocky granite mountain as they hung thirty thousand feet in the sky, a single slip meant a slow but deadly fall that one would never wake up from.

Despite their endless stamina, ascending the seemingly titanic height had them panting for breaths, their heavy breathalysers pushing out white fumes, the guardians grunted and growled as they climbed.

With a dogged tenacity, the three pulled themselves over a narrow ledge lining the gargantuan mountain. Their backs against the rocky mountain they peered below, only to see clouds floating beneath their feet.

A heavy wheeze rang out as a guardian started beating his chest, "I can't do this anymore, it's f*cking never ending. We've been climbing for days." He clawed at the mountain and squeezed, turning the rocks to dust as it slipped through his fingers.

"Calm down Ajax, it's just a little more and we're at the top." A titan beside him spoke, as he leaned in to the rock, his legs dangling freely.

"You've been saying but I just don't understand. There's no energy signal here, we can't find it again, we've been climbing for as long as I can remember and have found nothing. Can't you see, Ray? There's something, something very wrong here." Ajax mumbled, feeling strange sense of crisis as he stared at Ray.

" You're overthinking it. Just a few more hours and I think we'll be at the top." A warlock beside him chimed in.

"Overthinking? You're mistaken. Aren't we thinking too less of it? This mountain doesn't exist from orbit, there's not even a trace of it, and yet the moment we step foot in here, it just...appears? A mountain that stretches into the horizon? The Jumpships can't even come near here!" Ajax jerked upwards as he felt a strange sensation crawl over his body.

"I just don't understand. I...I checked my sensor, we've climbed twice the estimated height of this mountain, but it doesn't end.. it just doesn't end." he held his head as a faint headache began eating away at his senses.

"Relax Ajax, sensors can be faulty. You need to calm down. Perhaps we should take a break." Ray hurriedly held Ajax with one arm to prevent him from falling over.

Ray's voice echoed in Ajax's mind as a strong migraine seemed to pulse in his mind.

"No, no we should leave this place. We should leave, yes. Look up Ray, the top, it just keeps stretching upwards. It's like a cruel trick, an illusion. I don't understand why we're doing this." Ajax held his head tight as he tried to suppress the pain.

"We can't leave, we have a mission to complete. You're just overthinking it. We need to report the energy disturbance at the top." Ray replied, placing a firm hand on Ajax's shoulder.

Ajax's mind snapped as he felt an immense sense of dread, he slapped away Ray's hand as he looked into the titan's eyes. A sour lump collected in his throat as Ajax gritted his teeth, "Why are you talking like that?"

The warlock spoke as he looked towards Ajax with soulless eyes, "You're just overthinking it, we only need to climb a little more towards the top."

His words hit Ajax like a truck, his mind went numb, hands quivering as his heart sunk to his stomach. A chill ran down Ajax's spine, "What is going on?" He asked shakily.

"Ajax, you don't look too good. Sit down, you're over-"

" I am overthinking it huh." Ajax chuckled as his hands traced over to his side, "I am just overthinking it."

With a swift jerk, he pulled a gun towards Ray's head, a finger on the trigger, Ajax uttered,

"Who are you?"

Ray slowly grabbed the barrel, "Ajax, lower the gun, what do you think you're doing."

"He doesn't call me Ajax." The finger tightened around the trigger as the cold steel barrel rested on Ray's face.

"Ajax....what took you so long?" A smile crept on Ray's lips as his eyes turned dark, sharp fangs protruding through his grin.

Clenching his teeth, Ajax furiously pulled the trigger as gunshots rang out, bullets digging into Ray's disfigured face.

Blood spluttered all over the rock wall as Ajax stood backed away from the ledge, his hands trembling.

A gruff voice came from Ray's figure as it began morphing into a serpentine draconic skeleton, "Ajax, just a little bit more to the top."

It's hands stretched into gargantuan claws, as thousands of teeth grew out of it's mouth. "Ajax, you're no fun." It spoke, it's gravelly voice grated against the ear.

Ajax started heaving as his heart began pounding. The gun in his hand was empty as he tried to pull the trigger.

The warlock beside him grinned, his figure hunched over contorting as bones and scales grew through it's spine.

Ajax screamed as he tried to scramble backwards into the rock, but the mountain seemed to cave in as he touched it, his figure sunk into the sandy grain of the rock as it began withering away. He fell as the two draconic serpents slithered towards him.

Reality itself seemed to crumble as he sunk from the horizon, the mountains turned into titanic waves as they slammed into him, the world changed to an ocean as he kept sinking to the deepest darkest depths.

Ajax frantically tried to move, but he couldn't. The ocean seemed endlessly deep, as the weight of the world pressed down on him. He felt water seep into his lungs, all life seemed to slip from his eyes, but he couldn't die.

The light revived him, into a never ending hell, he drowned again, and he kept on drowning, living and dying for what he could only say was a century.

It all seemed unreal to him, where was he? But it didn't matter. The pain was too much, it seemed as if he was trying to swim against the tide of the universe.

No matter what he tried, water filled his lungs rendering him useless. Ajax felt hopeless as he saw himself descend into the dark depths of the ocean. He looked up as the last rays of light escaped his eyes, he saw the two dragons swim through to him, their bodies enlarged as they enveloped the whole ocean.

Ajax's mind began questioning himself. What was he seeing? The dragons surrounded him as he sank further, their gargantuan bodies encircled him.

Was this a new hell he had entered? What had happened to him? What had happened to his companions.

In a state of unending death and life, Ajax seemed to float for an eternity. His body desperately gasping for air every time he revived, only to drown once again. But the dragons waited, beside his corpse. For a reason unknown to him, they did not leave his side.

His heart and mind had both collapsed as all semblance of sanity crumbled in his soul, Ajax wished he was back, back on earth. The last city, he couldn't remember it now, but he loved it there.

Anywhere, but here in this purgatory. He died once more, but this time the dragons weren't silent.

"You could go back, away from this place. Safe, with your friends, your home. All you must do is wish for it." It spoke, it's voice reverberating through the endless ocean.

"Just wish for it, you can be so much more Ajax, just wish for it." The dragons whispered as Ajax felt life return to him.

He did not understand what was happening, but he uttered with trembling lips, "I wish..."

His next words drowned out by the water as bubbles moved from his mouth. But it was enough for the dragons, as they grinned.

The oceans parted, as reality's fabric was twisted once more, a wish was granted.

Ajax's body twisted as a tear in space formed, his remains vanished into the wormhole leading to the last city, as he disappeared.

"Oh vagrant, we grant your wish. But the debt must be paid in due time." The dragons echoed as the oceans dried out, the world began to reform into the rocky plains once again.

Unbeknownst to them, the wish they granted would lead to their own demise.




[The Last City, Vanguard Quarters]

Ikorra surveyed a few documents in her office as a spectral whisp wandered behind her.

She frowned, as the warlock revealed himself, bowing before her.

"What is it" Ikorra asked, slamming her book close.

"A disturbance on Venus was detected, the energy signals don't match anything we know. The orbital imaging...showed us something unbelievable." The warlock immediately pulled out a few images.

"It's like the world...collapsed on itself. This level of a catastrophe is only possible through one means." The warlock stopped as he looked towards Ikorra, her eyes gleaming with understanding.

He collected himself before he continued. "We believe a wish was granted. The Ahamkara were on Venus, we can no longer sit back and watch them destroy our world."

Ikorra turned towards the pictures as she saw mountains disappear and appear from orbit, waves erupting in Venus's atmosphere. Her eyes were glued to them, as she couldn't believe what she saw.

Her thoughts grew grim, if the Ahamkara were capable of terraforming worlds. They had to be dealt with.

"There is, one more thing." The warlock interrupted as he brought out a gps locator.

Ikorra examined the locator as she saw it blinking, still wet. The sensor seemed to malfunction as she couldn't get a proper reading.

"A survivor?" She guessed.

"The sole survivor from the Venus fireteam. He somehow ended up here. There's only one problem. He seems to have lost his mind." The warlock's words fell with a deafening silence.

Ikorra looked to the device in her hand as she put it down, she contemplated for a few minutes as she gave out an order.

"Gather the consensus, tell all the captains to attend. It's time for a hunt."

The warlock nodded and warped away.
 
Chapter 34: Consensus New
[The Tower]

Sunlight seeped in upon a large roundtable in a vast great hall, lined with chairs. The consensus consisted of vanguard leaders, the numerous faction heads in the city, all notable guardians who commanded authority and the speaker.

The first to arrive, were the faction heads, who simply sat around. The last city heralded many factions, each spearheaded different ideologies for guardians and supported their ideas, functioning largely as a political party within the consensus. They held no concrete power, but their ideas were backed by hundreds of guardians.

The second, were the numerous squad captains nurtured by the Vanguard. Top tier combatants who had heralded the guardians into a terrifying force on the battlefield. Hunters like Tevis and Sai Mota fell into the category.

The squad captains functioned similar to a modern day military general, their presence demanded respect. They held authority and power, but were still under the top brass.

Naturally, the last to arrive were the Vanguard. The three top commanders of the last city. Zavala, Ikorra and Cayde. The three managed every single guardian in the city, and were considered the heads of their respective cliques.

As all gathered, not a word was spoken and every representative quietly took their seat. The consensus was never gathered for tranquil reasons.

Every member present understood one fact, if they had been called, some great threat had moved the Vanguard to finally gather all the viable forces in the city. They all exchanged silent glances as tension bult up in the room.

All were on edge, having no intel was the biggest disadvantage for the faction leaders. They would jump on every opportunity to promote their agendas, but the Vanguard were far too capable to let any morsel of information slip to their hunting dogs.

A characteristic shuffling reverberated in the room as Cayde played with his gun,

"Hey hey hey, why the long faces?" Cayde chuckled, resting his feet on the tabletop, as the ones behind the table seemed eerily quiet.

A faction leader, Jalaal stood up as he flicked his poncho.

Glaring at Cayde, his nose scrunched up, "You gather us at the break of dawn with no explanation, yet you still ask worthless questions."

"Dead orbit was it? Calm down princess, did we interrupt your beauty sleep?" Cayde retorted whipping his revolver back into the holster.

Jalaal looked at Cayde's feet pointed towards him, their eyes met as Jalaal's face contorted.

"if you've got a problem amigo, we can always take it outside" Cayde continued, resting his neck on his hands as he leaned back, he shot the man a glare.

The two maintained eye contact as Jalaal reluctantly swallowed his anger, crossed his arms and sat back down.

Ikorra eyed the two from the side, as she signalled the table to quiet down.

Zavala spoke up as the Vanguard commander, "The consensus cannot start until all required members are present. As it stands, we are missing a few names. Therefore, I request that all those present, wait patiently."

Avoiding his gaze, all faction leaders settled in quietly as their gaze lingered on the door, waiting for new arrivals.

A few minutes passed as Wei Ning waltzed into the room with a thundering cadence. She simply stood beside the squad captains, and the long wait continued.

Waiting for an hour or two, the room stayed dead silent as a strange aura neared the room. Everyone instantly tensed up, their hair stood on end.

Feeling their goosebumps, their eyes were glued to the entrance as a loud thud flung the door wide open. Two individuals and Shaxx donning their heavy suits of armor walked out into the hall, a gruesome killing intent threatening to spill out any second.

"I hope we're not too late Zavala." The man's voice shook apart the room, the gravitas in his words spread around the room as his charisma drew everyone in.

With a hint of respect in his voice Zavala exclaimed, "Saladin, we've been waiting." The awoken titan sauntered over as he firmly shook the mans hand.

He turned towards the one at Saladin's side, "Lady Efrideet, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zavala finally looked towards Shaxx, as the crucible commander simply nodded standing beside the Vanguard.

The hall seemed full, but a few names on Zavala's list were still not present. Hence, he chose to wait a bit longer.

This time, the hall wasn't dead silent. The arrival of the iron lords had sparked quite the conversation within the hall. Accompanied with Shaxx, the three were practically living relics of the warlord era.

"It's an honor, Lord Saladin, Lady Efrideet, I am Lakshmi-2. The future war cult remembers your legacy everyday." The exo bowed her head

Slowly, the rest of the faction leaders began greeting the Iron lords.

Small talk had already began circulating within the room as two other guardians quietly entered, slipping past the table towards Ikorra's side.

"Praedyth can't attend. He's busy, he asks for your understanding." The titan spoke, handing Ikorra a token with a rune engraved on it.

Ikorra took it in her palms as she nodded, "I understand that his research is important. But the consensus doesn't take no for an answer. You should relay that to him next time, Kabr." She replied.

"Of course, in the meantime, Pahanin and I are here to answer your call, whatever it may be" Kabr replied, as Pahanin nodded wordlessly.

Ikorra signalled to Zavala as the vanguard commander took centre stage, all eyes went on him as the room quieted down.

Zavala glanced around, at all who had gathered, a sombre frown etched over his face,

"We gather here today, to address a threat. A threat to our very exis-"

Suddenly a rumbling pair of steps rushed from behind the door, two fiery Sunbreaker's titans barged into the consensus, putting everything on hold.

"I hope we're not late." Ouros chortled, dragging Liu Feng behind her.

The consensus seemed puzzled at their presence, as Ikorra stood up,

"The Vanguard did not invite the Sunbreakers into the consensus." She spoke up, as an oppressive light emanated from her.

Ouros smiled at her threat, as she simply walked closer, with Liu Feng in tow.

"But I did" Another voice chimed in, as all eyes went to him. A man clad in white robes, with a strange mask on his face, descended from the spiralling stairs.

"Speaker" Zavala acknowledged the man's presence as he led him towards the centre of the room.

Ikorra calmed down seeing the speaker as she let go of her aura.

"The Sunbreakers will prove to be an excellent force towards our newest goal. Is that not true Ikorra?" The speaker stated with his soothing voice.

"Naturally, but I am far more concerned about their loyalty to the city than what they're capable of." She retorted.

But the speaker simply waved her off, "In times of war, one does not pick and choose, as guardians we must use all what we have to protect. The Sunbreakers have accepted to help us. We cannot reject this goodwill."

Ikorra simply nodded, knowing she would not win the argument, "As you wish, speaker."

The speaker put his hands behind his back and walked around the room, surveying all those who were present.

"My fellow guardians, the Vanguard calls upon your aid. The city needs you, your strength and your bravery. A new enemy has appeared. The light within us calls to our duty." He uttered, giving Zavala an opportunity to continue.

Zavala took a deep breath as he continued once more, "The Ahamkara are a mystical species. Capable of granting wishes, changing the very flow of reality in our world. Coming to our world with the Traveler, they feed on the possibility of what could have been." His voice died down as he pulled up some papers.

"These wish-dragons. They accrue power through our desires, and we pay dearly for them. A wish granted, is a terrible, terrible price paid. At first, we looked to them with hope. But their power has limits. It can be corrupted. With thousands of guardians ready to make wishes, the Ahamkara grow unimaginably strong. Yet every wish they grant, impacts the life of everything we hold dear."

Listening to his words, many faces held a grave look.

"Recently, these dragons have cultivated enough power to terraform worlds. It is a frightening display of power."

Zavala's eyes narrowed,

"If such a power was turned against the Last City. Humanity's last stronghold would cease to exist. Everyone in this room knows, that there are many who actively work towards such an outcome."

He heaved in a deep breath,

"The Ahamkara need to be hunted down. So that such a power never turns against us." He declared.

Zavala's orders were surprising to say the least, but the first to agree were the Iron Lords.

Lord Saladin and Lady Efrideet agreed immediately,

" To nip such a threat in the bud, it is what we do as light bearers. We cannot allow the enemy the opportunity to strike first." Saladin's voice rang within the hall.

"The future war cult is ready to face any enemy, just say the word commander." Lakshmi spoke out immediately.

However, a disgruntled scoff from Jalaal upset the mood of the room.

"So you say we must fight wish granting dragons? If they can change reality itself, who is it to say that we can even kill them?" He muttered, but his words did not escape Ikorra.

The furious warlock vanguard simply continued,

" The Ahamkara derive power from belief and desire. If we give them nothing, they are simply helpless. But I suppose dead orbit is always looking for ways to run than to confront any enemy."

Jalaal's pale skin seemed to brighten up with red hue as his eyes struck wide open, "How dare you say that? Dead orbit gives us hope, to live on beyond the sol system. It's an opportunity for life to blossom beyond this accursed world. We, are not cowards."

Ikorra's hand slammed the table, rattling the faction leader. "How dare I not? If you wish to prove yourself, by all means. Step up to the occasion."

The speaker stepped in to ease the tension in the room as he skilfully changed the subject,

"What type of fireteam do we plan to send?" He asked.

"Ideally, three in each team. If not more. Everyone gathered here has their own forces, I am sure we can manage this at least. We are up against hundreds of Ahamkara, and not a single one should be left alive." Ikorra answered, looking towards Kabr and Pahanin.

"The Sunbreakers work best alone, we will handle our own fireteams." Ouros chimed in.

"I will let the Praxic fire know, we have all the numbers we need." Wei followed up.

"It seems to me that everyone is raring to go. However, with our current firepower, we are not ready." Zavala said.

"We will need help. Humanity does not have a lot of allies, hence there is only one we can truly trust."

"You mean to say, seek assistance from the awoken?" The speaker asked.

"Their Queen posses magic beyond our understanding, perhaps, her warriors will be of assistance. Or at least her weapons will be useful." Zavala affirmed.

"It is all decided then. However, I see the two of you do not have a third?" The Speaker switched towards Kabr and Pahanin.

"Apologies speaker, but I believe we're up to the task." Kabr replied, not wanting to partner with a nuisance.

"The speaker is right. I do not doubt your ability. But the Ahamkara have a way with twisting appearances. A third will suit you the best. The city has many fine guardians. Any requirements?"

Kabr and Pahanin exchanged a few glances as they sighed helplessly,

"One who would not get in our way. Perhaps, someone who is quick and quiet." Kabr replied, eyeing Tevis.

"I appreciate the invitation, but my squad likes to work better alone too." Tevis chuckled.

Kabr narrowed his eyes, with slight disappointment, his face stooped low, until another voice chimed in.

"I do believe your squad has someone to spare does it not?" Wei interrupted.

"You can't be serious, it's a dangerous mission." Tevis glared.

"He's been through worse. Are you going to stop him now?" The titan questioned.

Before Tevis could even reply, Wei continued to speak out,

"A guardian who is quick, quiet and lethal. I have exactly the right person in mind. Isn't that right squad captain?" She shouted, drawing everyone's attention.

Tevis sighed internally as he apologized to his apprentice in his heart.

'Your life is quite difficult'
 
Chapter 35: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (1) New
[A few hours Earlier, Orbit]


{Legendary Guardian System}

~Store Unlocked~


Void stared at the screen, as the one thing he had been waiting for finally happened.

Immediately, without wasting a single second, Void clicked towards the system, and opened the store.

What could he hope to find there?

'Treasures? Weapons? Powerful Relics? I want them all!'

Greed flashed in his eyes as the store opened up. Instantly, in front of his eyes, thousands of items appeared in a grid, each with it's price on display. Void was unable to keep a track of anything, as all manners of weapons and armors were on display.

Weapons he recognized but couldn't buy. Armor sets that he recalled but were far too expensive. But everything was too cluttered in the grid. As Void immediately sorted the items by category. He found something...strange.



{Store}

~Item Categories~

1. Weapons

2. Armor

-->3. Character Cards

4. Miscellaneous




"Character cards?" Void muttered to himself.

He didn't completely understand the category of items, so he clicked it.

{Character Cards}

"Allows the user to harness the ability of a character they've met. Cards have a limited number of uses depending on the rarity. Abilities can be earned through quest rewards or simply be bought"


Void hovered over the category as he read the explanation, immediately he knew he had hit the jackpot.

He couldn't help but let out a roaring laughter, "It's over, finally it's over. It's finally my time, I will take them all, every single ability. It will be mine.", Void seemingly lost his mind, unable to even comprehend the joy he was feeling right now.

Of course, once his laughing fit was over and he felt at top of the world, Void examined the abilities he could buy.



{Abilities}

1. Shin Malphur

2. Zavala

3. Shaxx

4. Ikorra Ray

5. Cayde-6

6. Wei Ning

7. Sai Mota

8. Tevis

....

...

14. Levi

...

...

34. Banshee-44


A long list of guardians appeared before him, and as Void read the names, a shiver ran down his spine.

"Can I really?" He questioned, refusing to believe it. His finger lingered over the name.

He couldn't resist, as he immediately checked Shin Malphur.


{Shin Malphur's Abilities}

1. Golden Gun Mastery (*Locked. Host does not possess gunslinger subclass)

2. Blade Barrage Mastery (* Locked. Host does not possess gunslinger subclass)

3. Predators Gaze (Unlockable: 1,200,000 Đ)(A/n:The symbol shown is what will be used as currency)

4.??????

5.??????

6.??????

7.??????

.

.

12.??????

* Only the Abilities experienced by the user and applicable to the hosts' body can be bought.


Void's eyes were instantly glued to the third ability, as it was the only one he could unlock. His mind raced back as he recalled the battle with Shin.

When the man first confronted him, the unbearable pressure that weighed down on him, forcing the air out of his lungs, rendering him immobile.

'So that was the predator's gaze...'

Void knew one thing deep down, that ability alone was enough to outclass an enemy below oneself. If Shin truly wanted, Void wouldn't have walked out of that fight alive.

"I need to get it." He immediately resolved himself to buy it.

There was, of course, only one small issue.

{Store}

Current Balance: 0 Đ


Void's hands started shivering as he smacked his ships dashboard.

"BROKE? ME? You're Lying, WHERE IS MY MONEY." Feeling he had been stabbed through the heart, Void cried out.

System: Host's current value is calculated to be 0 Đ. The system's calculation cannot be wrong! Please earn some money!! ( o > o)


Void immediately saw red as he looked over the screen, "Can't be wrong? You f***ing BASTARD. All the missions I did, where is my glimmer. Where is MY MONEY."

He questioned the system, almost trying to grasp the holographic screen in his hands if he could.

System: No need to worry host! The answer to that question is simple, our analysis shows that all earnings before the store update do not count! As such, the host currently possess no earning, because they were not synced with the system! Please earn some glimmer through bounties!

(O - O)


"N-No....Not like this. Please, everything, everything I've done." Void felt his heart sinking.

"S-System, you're lying to me right. Come on, you can't do this to me." He begged, pleading to the emotionless neon screen.

Little did he know that the system knew no mercy.

System: Please host, don't beg. The system will ensure your growth. An easy way out is never the answer! Now, let's go earn some money!


Void felt his soul leave his body, what had he done to deserve this?

"Every story I read with a system was op. So why, why me? A F****ING SYSTEM is supposed to be a cheat DAMMIT. Why are you trying to make this fair." He felt like ripping his hair out.

But he knew he couldn't win against it. Naturally, Void wanted that skill card, he wasn't about to wait around.

"Obsidian enroute towards Skywatch, let's pickup some bounties." He ordered as Obsidian input the coordinates and the ship jumped down from orbit towards the atmosphere.



[Skywatch]

Void's jumpship tore through the skies as it hovered near the lunar command.

He transmatted out and made his way to the Nightstalker base, walking all the way towards the control room.

The control room housed numerous terminals connected to the Last City, which allowed the Nightstalkers to pick up a few bounties and even send items back and forth.

Like any squads' headquarters, the Nighstalkers had ensured they could easily obtain supplies and collect information.

Void entered the room, storming towards the terminal with no time to waste, as he briskly accepted tens of bounties, stacking up his portfolio. Naturally, there was a built-in limit to what a guardian could take on at once.

Hence, after collecting all possible missions, Void quickly summoned his sparrow and shot towards the exit.

Peculiarly, a familiar figure lingered near the exit bay, Void slammed the breaks as he slid his bike, dust welling up as he stopped next to Tevis.

Void nodded impatiently, "Captain."

Tevis saw Void's erratic behavior as he saw him rushing to get out, "Going somewhere?" He asked, calmly putting his hand on the sparrow's head.

"You know, the usual. Just earning some money." Void replied immediately.

"The usual, yes. Is that why I got reports that you were going crazy in the terminal trying to accept all the bounties?" Tevis looked at him accusingly.

Void gulped, stammering slightly, "Is that so? Maybe I was in a bit of a rush, sorry."

Tevis sighed, seeing his apprentice, " Just don't end up doing anything stupid to earn glimmer, it's not worth it. For a while don't take any dangerous missions, you should rest up."

It reminded Tevis of his old days, the nostalgia almost sent him into a trance, until Void snapped him out of it by revving the sparrow.

"What about you? Why are you standing at the exit bay, everything alright?" Void asked, seeing his captains' scrunched up face.

"Yeah, just something annoying that popped up. The Vanguard wants us at the consensus. I had a great evening planned with the squad, but I guess we'll just have to push it to another day." Tevis heaved a reluctant sigh.

"I will catch you later, it's urgent." Tevis didn't bother to explain any further, his figure transmatted away, leaving Void puzzled.

"The consensus?" Void tried to think of any reason, but as far as he knew, there were no major clues to any event.

However, since they had gathered, it surely wasn't just a formality.

Void thrust his engines as he shot towards the cosmodrome, " If the consensus really found something to fight, we don't have much time to get stronger. Obsidian, display all the bounties, nearest first."

"I've lined up everything, though I must say, the consensus hearing seems to be urgent. I can't find anything in the city's database." Obsidian began displaying all the markers on the radar.

"Urgent? That's not good news. Should be okay though, the captain's pretty strong don't you think?" Void wrung the throttle as his sparrow tore through the desert plains, shooting towards Devils' Lair.

"Indeed, Captain Tevis is ranked very high on the combat index of the city. The chances of him being in danger are lower than 8%" Obsidian chimed in.

As the two closed in on Devil's Lair, Void glanced at his target list as ten fallen came up.

"Obsidian, locate and mark the targets within the vicinity. We'll be here a while."

His lips curved into a dangerous smile as Void got off the sparrow and immediately entered stealth.

All of Void's bounties were assassinations. Naturally, the targets were fallen squads or captains in the Devil's Lair.

Void couldn't possibly fight them all at once, but assassinating them? It was a piece of cake considering his arsenal.

"Void, I am detecting emp's and signal locators within the area. The House of Devil's upped their security since last time." Obsidian cautioned, scanning the surroundings.

"Gotcha, turn off all comms channels then, we're going in dark." Void replied, "There's no way we're missing out just because of some trackers."



[The Consensus]

Kabr eyed the Nightstalker Captain, he appreciated the skill set the subclass represented, and the reason he agreed for a third to be a Nightstalker was because his fireteam needed one.

However, Tevis's quick rejection shattered all his hopes. It was truly difficult to ask a Nightstalker for a joint mission. Except the Vanguard, they wouldn't listen to any other orders. They were all quite elusive and impossible to locate.

But as Wei interjected, Kabr's eyes flashed with interest.

"Captain, if it is possible, we would like to request for that hunter from your squad." Kabr chimed immediately.

Tevis sighed, seeing as everyone in the consensus looked towards them, he knew the issue was out of his hands.

"I am sorry Kabr, it's not that I am denying you, but our newest member is still a bit wet behind the ears. Besides, he's quite the solo player." Tevis replied.

Kabr sighed, lamenting his luck, but then Zavala spoke up.

"Is this hunter the one I am thinking of?" He asked

Shaxx continued, "Indeed, if it is the hunter I am thinking of, I believe he's quite capable on the battlefield, still a bit lacking in the power department."

"That is true, I don't suppose he's that experienced with his powers yet. Perhaps he isn't that suitable." Wei replied, considering Shaxx's opinion

Hope fluttered in Kabr's heart as he considered everyone's opinion, yes even if the new hunter wasn't that capable, he could still easily have him learn from himself.

What better way to get closer to a Nightstalker?

"E-Er, If it is as you all say, Pahanin and I do not mind letting that hunter participate in the hunt with us. We will ensure his safety and take care of him." He quickly added, afraid that the moment would pass by.

Pahanin quickly nodded, catching onto Kabr's drift.

Zavala found the two veteran guardians an amazing learning opportunity for Void. Although it was a rare opportunity, he wouldn't let Void pass up on learning from the best.

"Then it is settled, the Vanguard will contact the hunter to join your fireteam temporarily Tevis, if you please." He gestured.

Tevis nodded, taking out his transponder and calling Void on speaker.

Everyone waited, as seconds turned into minutes, which finally turned into a looming awkward silence.

Tevis coughed, as he tried to call a few times, but finally gave up.

Feeling all the eyes on him, he couldn't help but take a dry gulp.

"Gentlemen, it seems like I can't connect the call right now." He laughed helplessly.

'Where the hell are you Void....'
 
Chapter 36: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (2) New
[Devils Lair]

A blur flickered through the fallen encampments, stalking the Eliksni squads through the shadows.

Void prowled unseen, his translucent figure merging with the dark crevices in the rusted complex. His eyes darted between two Fallen captains patrolling the area.

Multiple squads of Dregs and servitors were scattered around, likely in charge of this area.

"We've got a lot of company don't you think?" Void whispered.

"Apparently, after the last mission with the Praxic Fire, the House of Devils is slightly on edge. My scans show that a lot of squads surveil the area around here." Obsidian whispered back, camouflaging it's shell.

(A/N: If you've not caught on yet, Fallen or Eliksni classify themselves with a tribal system. But instead of tribes, they call it "House of ----- " , you get the gist. Devil's Lair similarly comes from the fact that the House of Devils, a very strong faction of the Fallen race, usually control this area.)

"Let's get to work then." Void mumbled, immediately flickering above the high beams in the roof. He watched from above like a hawk, surveying each and every move of the fallen.

Instantly, his eyes turned azure, as he peered through the stats of the captains.


Captain: Akhmis

Race: Eliksni

Level: 28




Captain: Shesik

Race: Eliksni

Level: 30


'Not bad' Void's eyes narrowed, prepared to target the weaker captain first. Naturally he needed an opportunity. Fallen captains were somewhat strong if attacked directly.

But an assassination? Now that was a completely different story, no one would survive if their head was cut off.

Void stood up, balancing seamlessly on the beam as he silently trudged directly above the captains. He looked down as they circled around, checking the perimeter.

His right hand twitched, as a dagger appeared in his grip, blade lined with energy.

Void waited, patiently. He stood there, still as a rock, his presence was completely erased.

About thirty minutes of patience later, Void had already analyzed the common route the captains would take.

Preparation was everything, hence he didn't leave things up to chance.

His gaze peered through their tracks, knowing that his opportunity would come, Void tensed his muscles. The moment the two captains looked away from each other and walked in opposite directions, Void would strike.

Reaching to the side with his left hand, Void silently gripped two smoke bombs. He counted his breaths, his heartbeat quickened, as the two captains kept circling each other.

Then, the moment struck, the two for a split second, walked in opposite trajectories. Their figures neared each other, as Void's eyes narrowed.

A few seconds later, as the two captains walked past each other, their backs fully exposed. Void opened his left palm.

*Klink* Two black bombs plopped to the ground, rolling slightly. The sound alerted the Eliksni, but it was too late.

Instantly, an eruption of purple smog engulfed everything, blinding any caught inside its radius.

Void dropped down, gently swooping in on his prey, his dagger glistened with aura, as he plunged it into the Eliksni's neck, jerking his hands backwards as he cleanly cut through his trachea, beheading him in a single strike, without a sound.

The cut began to singe, as the corpse burned slightly, the headless body dropped to the floor.

Shesik's eyes burned, as the smog blinded him, he heard something drop to the floor, he clutched his eyes, as a smelled a familiar scent. Instantly making his hair stand on end.

"Ether". The Eliksni was terrified and confused as it tried retreating out of the smog, but to no avail. He immediately sensed a surge of power in front of him.

His body jolted, but before he could react, Void conjured a blade, swiftly stabbing into the captain's brain, Void pulled the dagger back, cutting the Eliksni's face in half.

"Huh, easier than I thought." Void was pleasantly surprised, "The poison in the smoke bombs is a great addition, Levi's a genius for that one."

Void's lethal blade skills combined with the blinding smoke bombs were perfect for a swift assassination. However, naturally the largest factor was Void's level.

He had truly outclassed the Fallen captain's from the beginning.

Sensing the commotion in their barracks, the Dregs and Servitors were at edge, and as purple smog leaked into the open air, alarm bells were already ringing.

All fallen forces converged towards the barracks as Void watched with a frown.

"Obsidian, two done, eight more to go, what's on the list." He quickly asked, as the smoke began to clear away.

"They want you to thin down the fallen squads in the area." Obsidian replied immediately.

Seeing them all horde his way, Void grinned, "Perfect, it's time to try out Shax's present."

Void pulled out the auto rifle from his inventory, as he deftly loaded unlocked the safety and aimed down sight.

The smoke cleared, the squadron of dregs were alerted to his presence, but Void had no plans for stealth.

Dregs growled as they leapt with their arc daggers, they flooded towards him as Void stood in front of the narrow barracks entrance.

Instantly, he gripped the rifle with both hands and pulled down the trigger.

A storm of bullets hailed upon the dregs, tearing them to shreds in the blink of an eye, as the rifle fired on full auto, the barrel ignited, as the barrage of bullets seemed endless.

The rifle seemed to overheat, as the barrel was steaming hot, yet Void did not let go of the trigger. Swaying the rifle side to side, he sprayed every inch of the barracks in bullets, finally stopping as his magazine ran empty.

White Smoke and a burning smell enveloped the room as Void fanned the barrel, "Damn, this baby can shoot".

He glanced outside, making sure that all the dregs had been reduced to smithereens. Void let go of the rifle as it disappeared into his inventory.

Instead, he clutched the saber secured on his back, with a faint smile he skillfully wielded the sword taking a stance as the blade sparked with arc energy.

"The dregs are gone, but you're all still here aren't you? Don't keep me waiting." Void spoke to the seemingly empty room.

But just as a second passed, a humongous spherical machine teleported Infront of him. It's purple core spinning rapidly as it summoned smaller servitors towards Void.

"You know, I never was a fan of you servitors. Tedious little shits" Void remarked, twisting the saber in his grip.

The servitors surrounded Void, as he took a slight step back, clutching the sword tighter. Void planted his feet into the ground.

With a jolt he erupted forwards at blinding speeds, swinging his sword as he sliced through the mini servitors one by one.

Instantly, Void dashed towards the gigantic Servitor, with a heavy swing, the lightning arced as it collided with the purple energy core, the sparks charged the core beyond capacity as it began glowing bright red.

Void pushed his saber deeper, cleaving through the giant Machine, as lightning lingered in the machine's carcass, the core shined bright. The unstable energies converged and exploded outwards, engulfing the barracks in flames.

As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Void appeared huddled in the corner, bracing for impact. Most of the explosive shockwave had been absorbed by his armor, but unfortunately it had completely ruined his cape.

Void stumbled up as he patted himself clean. His hands reached his cape, now torn and tattered. He sighed, "Banshee's gonna kill me if I ask him to repair this." Void dismayed.

He shot a quick glance around, and then peeked at his radar. Confirming that all hostiles around were truly dead, Void summoned obsidian.

"How many bounties was that?"

Obsidian contemplated, "Adding in the squad of Dregs and servitors, you've completed six of the ten we took. We could easily cash them in and come back later."

Void sheathed his saber, "Really? What's up with the last four?".

Obsidian ran a few calculations as his eye blinked, "Hmm, the last four bounties aren't exactly possible. They are all tied to hunting the prime servitor and reclaiming this area."

Void frowned, "But what?"

"But, the Prime Servitor of House of Devils has been recorded as missing for a few years. No one knows where it's located. I think the bounty can be classified as a mistake. There's no way a single hunter can do all of that. We would need a fireteam at least." Obsidian immediately retorted.

"A mistake? You're telling me the city's database is outdated?" Void kicked a rock in frustration.

"I don't know about faulty, but this bounty is basically impossible. Someone must have accidentally classified the strike mission under the head hunting bounties category." Obsidian immediately recorded the mistake in his local registry.

"Great, so we're done here? Seems a bit of a waste doesn't it?" Void continued.

Obsidian glanced around the area as he contemplated, finally deciding on a course of action, "I mean, if you want to do more. You can volunteer to take care of the jamming arrays here. The cities satellites will start working in this area again. Think of it as community service!"

Void considered the offer, "Hey, as along as it's not some tedious job, it's ok."

"Hmm, considering the type of array, we'll only need to take out one jamming array to disable the entire network. Since all the fallen are dead, it's basically a waiting game. Essentially, it's a freebie." Obsidian immediately tagged the array on the radar.

"A freebie sounds nice right now." Void smiled, as he shot towards the marked location.

Climbing up the House of Devil's barracks, Void jumped from roof to roof until he ended up near a foreign satellite dish. He summoned Obsidian as the ghost started tinkering with the circuitry.

A few minutes later, the satellite dish seemed to lose it's bearings and the array jamming the cities network went down.

"We're all done here Void, we can go home now." Obsidian replied cheerfully.

Void inspected the satellite as he grabbed a grenade from his kit, ripped the pin and chucked it near the dish, flickering away.

Seconds later, the dish exploded, permanently disabling the network.

"The hack was probably useful, but I prefer more concrete solutions." Void added.

"I guess that works." Obsidian sighed, not bothering to explain the specifics of his network hacking to Void.

"So, the city satellites can access this area now?" Void inquired.

"Yup, and it's all thanks to us. Though we can expect the fallen to replace the jammers in a week at most. But that time is enough to gather crucial data using satellites and comms channels." Obsidian answered.

"Huh, you smell that Obsidian? Smells like philanthropy to me. Can't wait to tell the squad we're the reason the City can access House of Devils territory without being tracked." Void jeered.

"Ah, almost forgot. You should probably turn on the comms channels since we won't be tracked now." Void expressed nonchalantly as he summoned the Jumpship to go to orbit.

But just as he was about to transmat, his comms channel came back online, and immediately exploded with tens, if not hundreds of messages and calls from every single person in the squad.

Void's eyes went wide as he saw the notifications piling up, "W-what, what's happening? Is it an emergency? Obsidian, crosscheck."

"Accessing city's database.. No, everything looks normal to me. We're good." Obsidian replied immediately.

Confusion and anxiety built up, getting a few missed calls was the norm for hunters who often stayed outside comms range. But getting hundreds? There was a problem.

Seeing as they were all from the squad, Void connected the dots. The Nightstalkers needed him? Why?

"Obsidian, try connecting to Skywat-" Void's words were interrupted as another call came, this time from Levi's number, that had already called him at least 70 times.

Void immediately accepted the call, as a rushed voice hastily spoke out.

"Void, Void where are you. We need you at base right now. Captain's looking for you, and he's mad. Super mad. Listen, I don't know what you did, but you should be careful. He's got.." Levi's voice cut out as the signal scrambled.

Void furrowed his brows, "Hey, hello? You there? He's got what?"

Levi spoke again, this time in a faint whisper, "Listen man, he's just got people. I think you need to hurry the f*ck back to base right now. It's big."

The call disconnected before Void could reply.

Void's thoughts ran wild as he immediately transmatted to jumpship and set the course to skywatch.

He immediately thought of all the things that could go wrong.

'Could it be....They found my secret stash of golden age scraps in the base???'
 
Chapter 37: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (3) New
Void's heart was pounding as the Jumpship shuttled through the horizon.

He recalled Levi's panicked voice and the instant the call disconnected, "That bastard, if this is a prank I am not letting it go."

Did Tevis really find his secret stash? Impossible, even bandit couldn't find it, and that weasel could practically smell loot.

Anxiety bult up in his chest as Void began fidgeting his leg. The Jumpship neared Skywatch, Void swiftly maneuvered the ship close to the entry bay as he tagged the auto landing and transmatted out.

He briskly made his way towards the base as he saw Bandit and Cory atop the spires for sentry duty.

They had grave expressions etched on their face as they glanced towards Void and gestured him to hurry up.

Void's courage instantly diminished. The urgency of the whole matter wasn't funny at all. Aside from the sentry's the base seemed, quiet, too quiet.

He put his head down and hightailed it towards the central bay, but with a swift glance towards the council room, Void finally understood why the base seemed, empty.

The hall leading towards the council room was lined with all the Nightstalkers in the base, standing at attention, perfectly distanced, with hands behind their back

Void hesitated as he reached the beginning of the hall. The moment his footsteps inched closer, everyone shot him a glare.

Void stammered, unable to say a word. He felt that if he even tried to explain himself, they would pounce on him and beat him to death.

'How could I know that some scraps would get everyone disciplined, f*ck. I need a new stash location' Void mumbled, lost in his thoughts, trying to make sense of the deep shit he was in.

"Stop f*cking mumbling and get in there before I shoot you in the face." A grunting whisper came from Levi who was sweating bullets, standing closest to the door.

Seeing the desperation in his face, Void didn't bother to argue. Void hardened himself to face the music and began walking towards the door.

His footsteps stop directly before the entrance as he shot one glance at Levi, perhaps pleading for an explanation. But Levi only swayed his head, a look in his eyes that said they were all somehow screwed.

Void sighed, having tried his last resort, he prepared himself and grabbed the door handle.

With a resolute motion, he swung open the door and entered, slamming it behind him, boldly standing at attention as he immediately began reciting from the bottom of his heart.

"Captain, whatever it is, trust me, I was only following Levi's lead." Void closed his eyes in anticipation.

But seeing as no one was breathing down his neck by that point, he hesitated and opened one eye.

Void instantly sucked in a cold gasp as he saw the entirety of the Vanguard, and the Squad captains staring him down.

His words had already earned him multiple questioning glances.

Seeing this sight had almost knocked the wind out of Void, he simply stood there with his mouth wide open, unable to comprehend his next course of action.

Void stood there stiff as a rock, until Tevis scuttled towards him, immediately putting his head in an arm lock.

"I called you, ten times. Don't you know it's not allowed to turn off your comms channels while you're out for a mission." Tevis spoke through clenched teeth, as the rest watched the captain scold Void.

Void gasping for breaths, barely managed to wedge his hand in the arm lock as he spoke with a choked voice, "B-But, you're the one who taught us to turn it off so the city doesn't bother us with patrols while we're out."

Tevis's face went pale as he saw Ikorra raise a brow, he immediately clenched his arms tighter, forcing Void to struggle to stay awake,

Tevis showed a hardened smile as he laughed, "Me? Taught you what? Please, don't try to shirk your misdemeanour to others."

Tevis chuckled nervously, as he shot Void a glare that basically said he was screwed.

"Please, captain, let's hear him out." The speaker intervened, as Tevis immediately let go and Void tumbled to the floor.

Caressing his neck as he spoke softly, "Thank you, speaker."

"No problem. Now let's hear why you've turned off your comms channels. You do realize that the city insists hunters keep it on, in case of emergency." The speaker spoke with a curious glint in his eye.

"Yes, I do. However, I was carrying out a few bounties in Devils Lair, and they had a jamming circuit with a tracking network. So for safety I turned off my comms." Void replied, "Obsidian, show them."

Obsidian revealed himself to the room as he project a huge schematic of the Devils Lair satellite network to the consensus.

"We found the jamming circuit, but it had a hidden function of tracking the network and comms channel of the city. So for the security of our own comms channels and frequencies, we thought it best to turn off the comms channel till we disabled the jamming array." Obsidian immediately began his explanation.

"Wait a minute. You said Disabled?" Cayde interrupted.

Void cleared his throat, " Yes, disabled. We knew the city would need the jammers disabled so after eliminating all hostiles, Obsidian and I carried out the destruction of the jamming network. As it stands, we might just have a week of surveillance on Devils Lair." He said, while stumbling to his feet.

"Sooo, what you're saying is, not only did you carry out your bounties, you went ahead and did the city a favor? Good job kiddo." Cayde shot him a finger gun as he smiled.

Naturally, Void appreciated Cayde saving him from getting grilled in front of the entire consensus so he flashed a smile back.

Zavala was impressed with Void's sense of duty, "To think you did the city a favor. I apologize for the disturbance. The Vanguard urgently required your presence, but it seems we were too impatient. Thank you, Void."

Ikorra followed up with a resolute tap on the shoulder as she walked next to Zavala," Good job guardian."

Seeing as the Vanguard was pleased, Tevis breathed a sigh of relief.

A boisterous laugh rang out in the room, "Like I said, Void's a professional. He is bold, and talented. Let's not dilly dally, the man has done a lot for us." Shaxx dissolved all tension in the room.

"Indeed, my instincts tell me he's a capable helper. Though, every blade requires a whetstone." Saladin chimed in.

The presence of the Iron Lord shocked Void as he didn't even notice the man's presence in the room.

He simply bowed his head as thanks, 'Kindness truly derives kindness.' Void immediately said his prayers, if he hadn't disabled the jamming array, perhaps he would really be in deep shit.

"But, can I know why I was called here? " Void asked, pleased that he wasn't in any trouble.

"Of course. The Vanguard is planning an operation, your squad will be participating, but an external fireteam requested you to separately join their ranks. The guardians at question are very experienced, they can teach you a thing or two. They've also volunteered to ensure your safety." The titan vanguard explained calmly.

However, despite his calm smile, Void was internally in confusion, "Me personally? I am sorry commander, but I don't understand why they would request me. I am still not up to par to pair up with experienced fireteams." Void immediately dissuaded Zavala.

" Your confusion is understandable Void, however, it's not you that they require, but a Nightstalker. They invited your squad captain, but he refused. However, seeing as you have not fully integrated with their squad, we were hoping you could entertain this request. The benefits they offer you are quite tempting if I say so myself." Zavala continued

Void noticed that neither of the other two Vanguards spoke up. Meaning that no matter what he said, Zavala was determined to make him accept the proposition.

'I guess life is hard...' He sighed internally.

"Commander, may I ask who the fireteam is?" Void inquired, naturally he knew most of the notable guardians from the game, hence, he could easily determine if they could really ensure his safety.

"It's nice to see you interested, the fireteam requesting your presence are Kabr and Pahanin. A fireteam with the legendary warlock Praedyth, who you will be filling in for."

Void immediately tensed up, 'Kabr and Pahanin, is the vault of glass truly so near?' His mind raced, if it was truly related to the Vault of glass, Void was simply a lamb to the slaughter.

"Commander, I appreciate your recommendation, however, what is the mission?" Void asked varily.

Zavala nodded to Ikorra as the warlock pulled up holograms of Venus and other information.

"The mission, is simple. The city aims to hunt down the ahamkara, to wipe them off the face of this universe. For that, we have gathered all our forces, take a look."

Void felt his jaw drop as he glanced at the hologram, 'From the Vault of glass, to the Ahamkara Hunt'

Void sucked in a cold breath, 'Life truly is hard'
 
Chapter 38: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (4) New
The hologram came to life as it simulated the Ahamkara's image. A titanic draconic lizard with a hunched spine, on all fours, with thousands of fangs lining it's mouth.

'The last wish raid was one thing, but this...', Void gawked at the hologram's lifelike simulation. Astonished at the Ahamkara's appearance.

Real life was far scarier than the game. A real ahamkara was hundreds of times more cryptic and mysterious than Void thought of.

"This, is an ahamkara?" Void walked around the hologram, taking in it's gigantic stature.

"Not exactly, no." Ikorra replied as she flicked her wrist, and the hologram morphed into something far smaller.

"The consensus has already discussed everything about the Ahamkara, however, since you missed the appointment, we'll be doing it again. Listen carefully, I won't be doing repeats." Ikorra said solemnly.

Void immediately stood at attention, carefully analysing the hologram.

"Tevis, get the rest of the squad in here. We'll do a joint session." Ikorra ordered, pushing the hologram towards the centre of the room.

Tevis immediately complied, as he opened the door, and gestured to rush in. The Nightstalkers calmly gathered in the room as they stood in line at the side, their eyes naturally drifting towards the hologram.

Void joined the other Nightstalker in their ranks, as he lined up with them, facing the centre of the room, but he soon felt a deadly glare at the back if his head.

Void flinched, glancing back, he saw Levi staring daggers at him as he slowly creased a thumb across the neck.

'F*ck, did he hear me?' Void immediately grimaced, but chose not to show it and focused towards Ikorra.

The warlock vanguard's gaze fell on the Nightstalker squad as she took a resolute stance.

"Guardians, we gathered you here for one thing. The city, is facing a new enemy. An enemy from myths and legends, capable of twisting our very reality." Ikorra declared clenching her fist, garnering several varied reactions from the squad.

She touched the hologram, as the image of an Ahamkara appeared once more in all it's glory. It's titanic figure scaled down was imposing regardless of size.

The Nightstalkers sized the hologram up, observing its features, as several frowns appeared in the team.

Ikorra noticed the dull reactions, but continued regardless, "The Ahamkara are a powerful species, of shapeshifting, wish-granting creatures. They first joined our world with the Traveler."

Murmurs broke out as everyone looked at the draconic entity with a newfound perspective.

"The old guardians called the Ahamkara, dragons. Like fables brought to existence. Some of you might not know, but a few centuries ago, the city utilized these wish granting creatures for our own incentives. However, many notable guardians paid a terrible price for their wish." Ikorra's gaze turned deadly.

A sudden lull flushed the room as Ikorra spoke with a melancholic glint in her eyes.

"The list was long, it even included two hunter vanguards' Tallulah Fairwind and Kauko Swiftriver. After losing many guardians, we decided to shun the Ahamkara and to drive them away from earth."

Void's eyes widened, this part of history was mentioned in the lore books but, hearing it first hand had sent chills down his spine.

"What we did not know, was that the Ahamkara grew stronger with every wish they granted. Feeding on our desires, like parasites. We fought a gruesome battle, and with the help of Osiris, we were able to remove the strongest Ahamkara's from earth. Sending them drifting into space."

The room grew silent at her words, as people bowed their head in respect to Osiris's name.

Void was entranced by the history as he couldn't help but ask, " If we really did drive them out, what use is the hunt now?"

Ikorra dejectedly swayed her head, " The Ahamkara are mysterious indeed. We don't know how, but they came back. Our operatives noticed a paracausal event on Venus." She displayed the world altering event on the hologram.

The squad inched closer, anticipating her next words.

Ikorra's voice grew sullen, "Detecting the energy fluctuations, a fireteam of three went out to investigate. Only one survived, and when we found him, he had completely lost his mind."

The Nightstalkers were aghast, grinding their teeth with clenched jaws and hardened faces.

Levi stepped forwards courteously, "If the Ahamkara are as strong as the vanguard says they are, how can we defeat them?"

This question had also popped up for the other Nightstalkers, but questioning the Vanguard wasn't exactly what they wanted to do.

Ikorra nodded, acknowledging his question, " The Ahamkara feed on our wishes. But in return, if we have none for them, their power over us grows weak."

Ikorra immediately flicked the hologram once more, as the Ahamkara's stature shrunk from a gigantic draconic abomination to a small lizard barely a foot in size.

" Their form is simply a lie that they weave into the universe. Do not trust it, their true self, is far weaker than you would think."

Ikorra walked towards the squad, "But a word of caution, guardians. The Ahamkara are notorious for being able to read surface thoughts. Do not let your mind lead you astray. They can take any form you think of, but they can't copy every mannerism."

"When engaging an Ahamkara, do not reveal any information. They might be able to emulate our image, but they can't simulate our knowledge."

Void immediately perked up, "You said they can copy how we look. So how do we know which one is real if we aren't allowed to reveal any information to verify our identities?"

His question immediately stumped the squad, as they too realized the contradiction of their orders.

As the Nightstalkers panicked slightly, Lord Saladin, Shaxx and the others curled their lips into a smile.

"They can copy how we look guardian, but not our essence. If at any point, any team is faced with an Ahamkara and cannot differentiate between each other. Face your double, and pull the trigger." Ikorra gestured for a shot to the head.

Her gesture left everyone speechless, as Void frowned, "You mean to say, that we kill our copy?" He interrupted.

"The Ahamkara will do everything to blend in, copying you best they can. But they cannot copy the light. You and your doppelganger shooting each other will result in a simple skirmish. The Ahamkara will either reveal himself, or you both will die. But the real guardian can be revived." Shaxx instantly retorted.

"Do not forget guardians, the weaker Ahamkara gather their powers from deception. Don't give them a chance. As for the stronger ones, they will seek to overwhelm you, annihilate them with all your fire power." Shaxx commanded with a growl.

The Nightstalkers immediately snarled, stomping their feet in acknowledgement.

Void followed their lead, snarling with a gruff voice.

Ikorra continued to discuss the various formations for the Nightstalker squad, but as Void wasn't included in their lineup, he decided to step back and observe the room instead,

His eyes mainly lingered around Saladin.

'Lord Saladin Forge. One of the ten legendary guardians who stopped the warring age before the city. I didn't think he would make an appearance so soon.' Void's gaze met his as he nodded with respect.

Saladin acknowledged the young hunter and then promptly excused himself from the room, vanishing away.

As Saladin left so did Shaxx, leaving the squad with the Vanguard and the speaker.

Ikorra finished her long lecture of tactics, turning to Void at the end.

"Kabr will take care of your plans, his judgement is impeccable. You can rest assured, he won't make any mistakes. I suggest you meet up with them and become familiar with their pace. "

Void agreed with a nod, but his eyes lingered towards the exit, he found the meetings very exhausted.

He clenched his jaw, almost letting out a yawn, as he glanced to the side and saw Cayde eyeing him with a raise brow.

With a sly grin, Cayde yawned, stretching out his ligaments. Watching him had almost forced a yawn out of Void, but seeing Ikorra so close, he had no choice but to try his best to hold it back.

'Bastard, I swear I will loot your stashes for this' He grieved internally.

"One last thing, our forces alone might not be enough for the Ahamkara. The vanguard plans to contact the awoken to send forces and weapons for aid. So I am telling you all now, if you do anything to ostracize their people."

Ikorra flashed a dangerous frown, as everyone in the squad understood her without a need for the words to be said.

They sheepishly nodded, not daring to go and test out the Vanguard's threat.

Turning her back towards them, Ikorra looked to leave the room. Her footsteps stopped directly before the door, as she flicked it open.

Glancing back at Void she chucked him a gps node, her figure withering into thin air.

Void immediately put the node in his pocket and looked towards the remaining guardians.

The Speaker greeted everyone once more, as he humbly walked towards his ship and travelled back towards the city.

Zavala and Cayde gave each other a nod before disappearing swiftly.

With the Vanguard gone, the squad breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Void.

However, before anyone could react two figures flickered besides Void, pinning him down by the arms.

"M****F****, I should have left earlier." Realization dawned on him on what was about to happen as Void cursed under his breath.

"You dog bastard, following my lead you said? I didn't f*cking know you were so loyal to me." Levi chuckled, twisting his wrist.

"Doing what I taught you? You sure seem to have some nerve." Tevis chortled with a steeled face, as he kneeled on Void's spine.

Void felt like puking as his stomach sank, "Listen, we can talk about this, there's no need for violence" He immediately tried to weasel his way out of their grip, but failed.

"Come on, guys. Hey, hey bandit, come on." Void panicked and looked towards the squad as they all turned deaf ear towards his cries, scuttling out the room.

"Cory, Cory?"

"Guys, guys please."

The last man shut the door behind him as Void remained pinned on the ground, struggling as he tried to wobble out from underneath Tevis.

"Stop f*ckin moving, do you really think you can escape?" Tevis, patted him on the back with a smile.

"Captain, listen, I am not wrong you know? You did teach that during my training" Void pleaded.

"Not wrong? Is that so?" Levi gave him a soul gripping stare, as he placed his hand on his holster.

"W-wait, wait wait. You, you don't have to do that." Void instantly cried out.

Levi chuckled mercilessly, "It's fine Void, whatever happens, just follow my lead."

Void gulped dryly, knowing he wouldn't get out of here easily, he surrendered himself to fate, and took his beating like a man.

However, as far as some Nightstalkers were concerned, that day, they did hear something akin to a dog yelping like it was being beaten with a stick.

While the others could swear it sounded like a duck being interfered with.

None could really agree to the source of the noise, but they weren't stupid enough to check. Whatever happened in the Cosmodrome, stayed in the Cosmodrome.
 
Chapter 39: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (5) New
[SkyWatch]

Void could be seen beaten and bruised, as he limped towards the terminals.

He slammed open the door, as he carried himself till the terminal and immediately began claiming his bounties.

Void gasped for breaths, as strange mumbles slipped from his mouth.

"OHohoh, you bastards, I will... Both of you, just wait ....."

Calming himself down as he held on to the terminal Void started checking his balance.

"Obsidian, speed up the claiming process, the cities servers are too slow to verify." Void ordered, as he inched further from the terminal

Obsidian appeared as he immediately sent a few instructions to the server, confirming the completion.

Void's wrist buzzed as the glimmer transferred to his account. He immediately opened the store to see if it registered with the system.

{Store}

Current Balance: 100,000 Đ


Void exhaled a sigh of relief as he saw the number go up. Six bounties had earned him a hundred thousand. Performing a few mental calculations, Void estimated that it would take him about seventy bounties to afford the skill he needed.

"Ahh..so troublesome." He bit his lips in frustration, but then Void recalled the real reason he was doing all of it.

"That's right.... that skill, will be mine." Determined to earn the big bucks, Void immediately shifted to work mode.

Void summoned his jumpship to the exit bay and made his way through the base, analyzing the gps node he got.

"Obsidian, where does this lead us?"

A momentary scan later, Obsidian observed the node closely.

"Hmm, according to my estimates, the location is somewhere near around..a place called, the Plaguelands?" Obsidian seemed unsure as he checked the node once more.

"What's wrong?" Void asked, reaching the exit bay's dock yard.

"Nothing, it's just that. This place is listed as restricted travel by the city. The danger ratings are off the charts. Radiation poisoning levels that I've never seen. The whole area is quarantined at the edge of the old Russia."

Void transmatted to his ship as he shot towards orbit.

"I guess that just means our new fireteam chose an interesting place to meet. Don't fret about it, set navigation to the node's location." He ordered, piloting the jumpship to coast along the stratosphere.

Obsidian felt an ominous sensation as he plugged in the coordinates, and the jumpships' navigation automatically used the autopilot to steer itself.

Seconds later, the turbo engine sputtered alive as the ship blasted above old Russia, tearing though the Cosmodrome's air space as it entered the desolate airspace of the decrepit mega cities of the golden age.

The gps node pulsed as it directed the ship towards an inconspicuous mining town.

Void stared down from the cockpit, he felt a sick sensation as his heart sunk to his stomach. Signs of humanities collapse still felt, so vivid. He couldn't help but imagine the terror it brought.

Rusted skyscrapers, broken roads, oceans of toxic waste that flooded every inch of ground he saw.

Nuclear waste had clearly made the whole area barren, not a single blade of grass dared to grow, even the air filtered through his ship felt heavy and leaden.

Void put on his breathalyser mask as he saw the gps node pulse once more. The jumpship steered towards a small tunnel as it levitated above, gently rocking in midair.

A second later, Void transmatted out, fully geared up and armed from head to toe. He took faint steps, moving like a blur as he appeared near the tunnels entrance.

Void gazed into the descending tunnel as he signalled Obsidian to light the way.

Obsidian pulsed a bright light, illuminating the centuries old mine as Void carefully treaded along the steep rail lines, descending into the abandoned shaft.

The path crumbled along the weight of his steps, yet Void didn't leave any footprints behind, a discrete skill he had picked up through the Nightstalkers.

Once he had descended continuously for about ten minutes, Void heard the distinct sound of water dripping.

Void traced his hand along the sides of the wall, water droplets ran across his fingers

He estimated that the mine walls had long eroded due to the acid rain. The toxic water pooled above ground had began leaking into the mineshafts below.

Void walked along the path a bit longer, ending up at a large cavern that stretched into another dark descending shaft.

Yet his instincts roared at him to stop when he reached the center of the cavern. Void's eyes darted around but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

However, Void knew better than to question his instincts. His heightened senses scoured each inch of the cavern.

He finally noticed it. The mineshaft at the end, seemed irregular. He couldn't place a finger on it, but Void felt that if he kept walking, he would never reach it's end.

On the other hand, the Cavern felt like a strange place. It was empty, far too empty. He couldn't see through it.

It almost seemed intentional at this point. The moment Void arrived at this conclusion, his hand jolted towards his holster as it clicked open.

Void's grip tightened as he cocked the hammer. Tracing his finger along the trigger, Void surveyed his surroundings once more.

He peeked at his radar, nothing showed up, ' No enemies, yet why do I feel so uneasy?' A frown appeared on his face.

"Obsidian, cut the light." He whispered, his figure slowly blending in with the darkness as Obsidian's illumination flickered off.

Like a phantom in the night, he moved briskly. Void's eyes twitched, turning a light shade of turquoise, his gaze pierced through the drenching dark around him.

The absence of Obsidian's light had definitely triggered something. Void could see perfectly normal in the dark, one could even claim that as a Nightstalker, there was nothing more suitable.

However, for the first time ever, as he glanced around, Void truly felt like he was stranded.

He felt like a presence watched him, yet there was no one around. Like the dark was working against him.

Void had been scurrying around the room, bouncing around erratically as he tried to shake the eyes off.

But it didn't work. Whoever it was, was far beyond Void's ability to hide from.

Understanding that his efforts were futile, Void stopped darting around, and came to a halt at the cavern floor.

He took a few quick breaths, stabilizing his condition, and he waited.

If he couldn't find the presence, the presence would surely find him.

Void couldn't sense any hostility, so he wasn't at all afraid that something would happen. Void was truly shocked that someone beyond the Nightstalker squad could play him like a fiddle in the dark.

However, knowing that Kabr had called him here, it was one of guardians from his fireteam.

Void deduced quite quickly that Kabr couldn't have been the one. After all, a titan wasn't quick enough to bamboozle his senses.

That left him with two options, Praedyth and Pahanin. A hunter and a warlock.

Praedyth was hailed as a legendary warlock. But Void didn't think that it was the work of a warlock.

After all, a warlock didn't have the necessary finesse to tail him so effortlessly.

That left only one individual.

Void smirked, as he waited wordlessly in the dark cavern.

"Are you really going to continue this game with me? I didn't know the great Pahanin was so hostile to his fellow hunters." He spoke to the empty cavern.

But Void knew that his words were heard.

The darkness that had occupied the cavern, that feeling of being watched had immediately gone away the moment he said Pahanin's name.

Peculiarly, a few orbs of light bloomed in the cavern, illuminating the entire cave.

Void was perplexed seeing the orb of light bloom from nothingness, but then a chill ran down his spine as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Feeling his heart jump from his chest, Void jerked his head around, but found himself alone.

Before he could process what happened, he felt another tap on his other shoulder as he whipped back to find a hunter, an inch from his face wordlessly staring into his soul.

Void was left speechless as he glanced at the hunter, a man clad in glistening silver armor, with neon highlights tracing the edges.

He felt his legs wiggle, Void tumbled backwards, almost losing his balance as he looked closely at the hunter in front of him.

"Are you...Pahanin?" Void inquired.

The man stared at Void dumbly, as if to say 'what a stupid question'

He slowly nodded his head.

Pahanin seemed to stare at Void for a bit longer, gauging him up and down, then he finally turned around and began walking away.

"Follow me" His voice echoed throughout the empty mines.

Void gathered himself as he began pacing behind Pahanin.

The hunter walked a random route in the cavern, as he seemed to stop before a dead end.

But as Pahanin traced a symbol on the rocks, they crumbled and withered away, revealing a secret pathway leading inside to a secular hideout.

"You first." Pahanin gestured with a flick.

Void followed his words as he quickly walked through the small gap, Pahanin following closely behind him after sealing the entrance again.

As Void finally made his way through, he ended up at a large cathedral, seemingly constructed into the wall of the cave.

It seemed like a work of art, engraved into stone. Void admired it's beauty, but it wasn't long before a second voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Welcome Nightstalker, to our hideout." A titan with an armor seemingly fashioned from Vex remnants invited Void into the cathedral.

Void glanced upon his figure, the titan donned a unique helmet that obscured his eyes, instead replacing them with a single red dot.

'The man rumoured to be among the strongest titans to have ever lived.' Void met his gaze as the titan walked forwards for a handshake.

" I am Kabr." He announced, with overflowing pride.

Void shook his hand, and quietly followed him inside, Pahanin had long disappeared the moment Void saw Kabr.

As Void and Kabr made their way inside, Pahanin had already holed himself up in a corner of the room, as he seemed to be scribbling something in a tattered book.

Void spared him a glance, but then began looking around.

"This place."

He had never seen so many parts and materials gathered in one location. It was practically littered with equipment.

"Ah, don't mind the mess. Pahanin is an exceptional inventor, but it often involves a lot of experimenting." Kabr clarified, leading Void deeper into the cathedral.

The two walked towards a heavy obsidian door, but Kabr quietly stepped up and knocked thrice.

Void watched as the doors shifted to carve out a pathway for them. Kabr stepped through as he signaled Void to follow along.

"Praedyth doesn't like to be disturbed when he's working, but just follow my lead." Kabr whispered, gesturing Void to come along.

The two entered upon a small room, pages upon pages of scribblings and runes scattered all over the floor, as a warlock tinkered with a piece of armor on his workbench.

As Kabr approached him, the man jolted backwards anxiously.

"What's wrong? Is he here already?' Praedyth asked anxiously.

"Calm down, you're staring right at him." Kabr replied.

Praedyth shoved Kabr aside as he stared at Void from head to toe.

Void truly felt like he was completely exposed under Praedyth's gaze.

"Good job not falling for the loop spell. You've got a good head on your shoulders." Praedyth complimented.

"Thanks, the mineshaft just seemed... suspicious." He replied, unsure of what to say.

"You hunters and your....'instincts' they are quite troublesome to trick sometimes." Praedyth chuckled.

Kabr left the two alone in the room as he walked back outside, preparing a few things.

"So, I heard you're taking my place for the hunt?"

Preadyth jumped to the point, startling Void.

"Yeah..that is what I've heard." Void replied.

"Interesting...interesting indeed." The warlock whispered, his gaze lingering at Void's sword.
 
Chapter 40: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (6) New
Praedyth inched closer to Void, slightly intrigued by the hilt of the arc sabre.

"You wield a sword?" He asked, voice laced with a hint of excitement.

"May I?" Praedyth outstretched his hand.

For some reason, Void felt like he couldn't refuse, and unsheathed the sabre. Presenting it to Praedyth, as he gently laid it in the warlock's hands.

As Praedyth inspected the sabre, Void observed the legendary warlock in front of him. The Living myth, the man erased from time itself.

Praedyth seemed, unreal to say the least. Void looked right at him, yet he felt like he was staring at an apparition. His appearance was subtle, one that no one would notice.

He donned a tattered blue robe, grey armor underneath. His arms were wrapped in strange white bandages. There was nothing special about it.

But Praedyth's aura was frightening. As a warlock, he didn't have the habit of hiding it. Hence, Void was able to experience it, to the extent that Void didn't understand how light could be so dense.

It almost felt like Praedyth was wearing a second armor made purely of light.

Void focused his eyes, as they peered through Praedyth's stats.

Name: Praedyth

Age: ????

Race: Human

Sub-class: voidwalker

Light = ????? (Unrestricted)

Level= ????? (Unrestricted)


'I can't see through him', Void narrowed his eyes.

"Eliksni tech. Fascinating isn't it. A sabre engineered with an arc core, harnessing the electricity as a blade."

Praedyth swung the sabre around, adjusting his grip.

"Perfectly balanced blade."

The eccentric warlock finally traced his finger along the sharpened edge, as it nicked his finger, but instead of blood, a wisp of light dripped out, seemingly stitching up his wound.

"A good sword. You've got a keen eye to have picked this up." He chuckled, tossing it back.

Void grabbed the hilt and sheathed it again, taking a relaxed breath now that there wasn't a crazy warlock swinging a sword near him.

"Thank you. I guess I did get lucky finding this sword. I almost died for it too." Void snickered, recalling that day.

"Ohho? Did you now, I suppose every hunter has an odd weapon or two they risked their life for." Preadyth chortled, recalling Pahanin's antics.

"Now then, let's go. We can't keep them waiting." He snapped his fingers as the pages in his room came to life, assembling into a neat grimoire that jumped into his arms.

Void was impressed by his stellar skill as he nodded, "Please, lead the way."

Praedyth lead Void towards the roundtable room, a placed filled with holograms, screens and various other terminals constantly spewing out data.

As the two walked inside, Void saw Kabr already tinkering with the holograms, while Pahanin scoured the data nodes, running from terminal to terminal.

Kabr turned around, seeing the two approach as he gave a faint smile.

Void's eyes peered through the titan,


Name: Kabr

Age: ????

Race: Human

Title: The Legion less

Sub-class: Defender

Light = ????? (Unrestricted)

Level= ????? (Unrestricted)

"So?"

Praedyth flicked his wrist as the grimoire flew to Kabr, landing softly in his palm.

"He passed, barely."

Void furrowed his brows, "Barely?"

Praedyth rolled his eyes as he shoved Kabr aside and began flicking through the holograms.

"Yes barely, if you didn't notice the looping spell, I would have failed you. But, fortunately, you've got a good head on your shoulders." Praedyth paused, his hands froze.

"Ah, but you did manage to notice Pahanin. I was shocked. Your senses.... are exceptional." He smirked.

Kabr's eyes widened, "He did...what?"

"Surprising isn't it. That bastard can trick his own shadow, but somehow got detected by him."

Praedyth continued browsing through the holograms, Void glanced at a few, but they only seemed to show planets and moons in the solar system.

"Oi, is it true?" Kabr shot Pahanin a glance, as the hunter was still scrambling from terminal to terminal.

"Yes." Pahanin replied hastily, still absorbed in his work.

Void glanced at the hunter, this time with his skill.

Name: Pahanin

Age: ????

Race: Human

Sub-class: XXXXXX

Light = ????? (Unrestricted)

Level= ????? (Unrestricted)

Kabr's eye was full of awe as he glanced at Void, "You're better than you look."

Void sighed, "You know, I appreciate the compliment, but I do have one question."

Kabrs sight focused on Void , "Go on."

Void walked towards Kabr, "The Vanguard told me you request a Nightstalker. But, it just doesn't make sense."

His words made Praedyth and Kabr give him a confused look.

Void pointed to Pahanin who was still scurrying back and forth, "That guy, he's a Nightstalker isn't he?"

Not letting anyone interrupt, Void continued, "I have never met him, but I know he can run circles around me if he wants to. Tell me the truth, why did you request me?."

Void concluded Pahanin was a Nightstalker the moment he had somehow trapped him in the dark. Yet the system showed that he wasn't?.

Regardless, if they had someone this stealthy, why did they need him?

So he couldn't help but think why the fireteam had requested him to join.

Praedyth and Kabr shared a glance, followed by Kabr swaying his head.

" Your questions are appreciated Void, but unfortunately I cannot give you an answer yet. Don't worry, it's nothing related to the hunt." Kabr replied

Void's ears perked up, "Yet?"

Kabr nodded, "I plan on telling you, once we think you're ready."

"As for Pahanin. He, isn't a Nightstalker like you. That bastard grew up in the dark ages. He learned to adapt and survive with what he had. The concept of a Nightstalker wasn't yet invented. You'll be surprised with his abilities if you get to see them."

Void looked at the titan with curiosity, but soon an ecstatic shout snapped the three of them out of their talks.

"I found it."

Those three simple words had Praedyth and Kabr running to the terminal as they huddled around Pahanin.

"Hey, get...I said GET OFF ME...You'll mess up my helmet." Pahanin flung his arm, getting out of their small huddle as he wiped off the dust from his armor.

Void was slightly surprised at the hunters demeanour. He acted cold initially, but he could see that with Praedyth and Kabr, there was a slight spark, that just struck warmth within the trio.

Void felt his eyes turning hazy as he recalled their penultimate fate, 'Ah...it stings.'

'Praedyth, the warlock erased from his own timeline. Kabr, the titan who would face a legion for centuries in a time loop, and lastly Pahanin, the hunter who would somehow escape, losing part of his sanity. Eventually dying to Dredgen Yor.'

'Wait'

It was at this moment, that a thought struck Void....'Dredgen Yor?'

His mind raced back to the day he fought Shin Malphur.

'Why didn't I realize it sooner.' His thoughts were in disarray, as Void sprained his memory, recallinh what Shin said to Wei.

'-The last titan to survive was Rezyl Azzir, but he's ancient history....' Void immediately froze.

Dredgen Yor was an alias for the titan Rezyl Azzir.

'Dredgen Yor...is already ancient history. The future, has changed.' Void's eyes went wide.

He looked at the trio once more, particularly at Pahanin as the hunter squabbled with his team.

'Pahanin's future has already been changed. If so...could I really change the future for everyone else?' Void questioned himself.

Void was not one for ideals. Unlike the idealists, he knew what he would face in the future. He trusted his ability and luck. But something like changing the future was far too uncertain. He wasn't that strong yet.

However, as he watched Pahanin still alive, while Dredgen Yor had already been defeated....Void felt a hope blooming inside of him. He recalled the future of Wei, Eriana, Sai, Tevis...Cayde....All the one's he had grown slightly close to....

For the first time, Void truly felt that with his meagre power, perhaps he could make a difference.

Caught in his train of thought, Void was lost in a trance.

That was until Kabr and the trio stopped bickering and finally began focusing on their terminal.

"Void, care to join?" Praedyth invited, Void felt a jolt as he snapped out of his daydreams.

He walked towards the trio, reading the data they had found.

"This is?"

"The Vanguard instructed each team to find the Ahamkara. The creatures are apparently scattered around the solar system. Our team chose Mars."

Void nodded, as he began reading the energy signal from the planet's surface.

"At first we looked over it's moons, but found nothing. However, a few days ago, for some reason, the energy signal on mars spiked. Exactly at the same time as the terraforming on Venus." Praedyth commented.

"So the Ahamkara are on Mars." Void concluded.

"That is what we think. The Vanguard told us to wait for the awoken treaty, but we think it's better to go alone and verify the search. What about you?" Kabr chimed in.

Void stammered hearing his words.

"Uh..I don't think that is possible." He replied, with a slightly flushed face.

Praedyth looked at him questioningly, "Is there something wrong with the data?" He asked, refusing to believe it.

"No, no. The data seems fine but..."

Void sighed, "Err, you see...I-I don't have a Jumpship capable for interplanetary travel." He stuttered.

Preadyth immediately gawked at him with a deadpan look as Pahanin face palmed while Kabr was simply left speechless.

"..."

"Are you serious?"

"...yes"
 
Chapter 41: The Great Ahamkara Hunt (7) New
Screams echoed in the tunnel as three figures hurled Void and dragged him to the entrance.

"WAIT, WAIT, really, I really don't have the money." Void struggled to wiggle out from their grip, but to no avail.

Paying his antics no mind, Void was chucked out of the mining tunnel as he landed on his back.

He rubbed his aching spine and slowly sat up.

Suddenly, he saw a dodecahedron zip through the air, and thud as it knocked him in the head.

"F***...." He immediately held the back of his head, and looked at the engram thrown, it glowed softly.

"What the hell is this supposed to be." Void furiously grabbed the engram.

"Some extra change, for you." A figure emerged from the tunnel.

Void glanced back to see Praedyth staring at him with a disappointed frown.

"I didn't think you were this broke. Then again, I can't hope to see how you would make any good money with your skill level." Praedyth jeered.

Void clutched the engram as he stumbled to his feet, "Well my bad for not being risen a century earlier, retard."

Praedyth shook his head as he flicked his fingers dismissively, telling Void to screw off. He turned towards the tunnel, still chuckling.

"And don't come back without the ship....Dumbass." Praedyth retorted, his voice rang through the mining shafts as he disappeared back inside.

Void pinched his forehead, mumbling strange things as he took a deep breath.

A few seconds later, he triggered his transmat and disappeared.

"Obsidian, set coordinates to the city, full speed." Void asked, still a bit chippy.

"Setting coordinates for the hangar, estimated arrival, four hours." Obsidian replied, appearing in the jumpship.

Void exhaled a sigh as he began fidgeting with the engram in his palm. Using the main screen, Void browsed the various jumpships for sale at the hangar.

It wasn't that he had not considered an upgrade. He was still piloting his scrap ship, although he had gotten it patched up.

The ship had no accelerated warp drive, a big reason why it took him so long to pile up the money was that equipment was too damn expensive...

Unlike when he was in game, loot didn't just drop freely. Naturally, he could take whatever the fallen warriors were carrying, but they were never equipped well.

In the end, Void was always at a loss on how to gather equipment.

Considering the time-line, the city didn't exactly have an influx of resources, as it was a relatively "peaceful" time. The gunsmiths and technicians weren't exactly stressed about their survival.

Most operations or strikes were done without any civilians informed.

He glanced at the engram once more, its grey color was something he had never seen, "Obsidian, what kind of engram is this."

Obsidian took one look at the grey engram and began decoding it's encryption.

"Hmm, it seems that this an old-city engram. They went out of use because of their impracticality in long term storage, they were replaced by the crystal encryption engrams recovered from golden age facilities."

"Old-city engram?"

Void flipped the engram over as he gave it a closer look. 'Makes sense why I never saw this.'

"Alright, so how do we decode this stuff?" Void asked.

An engram was an encrypted form of storage, however, if the engram was out of use then how could he even begin?

"Hmm, the current cryptarch, master Rahool might have an answer. But he might have to study the engram first. Estimated, a few days?" Obsidian analyzed the probabilities.

"A few days?" Void panicked at the estimate.

He looked at the gray engram, slightly frowning, "Did Praedyth just pull a fast one on me? That bastard, he's cheekier than he looks." Void cursed.

Obsidian swerved around the engram, "Hmm unlikely. Praedyth is a very very old warlock. There were even rumors that he was missing for a century. He hasn't been back to the city in ages."

"So what you're saying is." Void slapped his forehead.

"I think he might've forgotten how old that engram is." Obsidian swayed it's eye helplessly.

Void groaned, "For a genius, he's pretty f***** stupid."

He held his head, thinking of a way to get out of this, when a thought struck him.

'System, can you decrypt that engram?'



{Legendary Guardian System}

Answer: Using the store, in the miscellaneous section the host can utilize the services of a cryptarch, but the cost can vary depending on the difficulty of the encryption.

Time estimate: 0 s


Void's eyes glistened with hope, as he immediately opened the store, scrolling all the way to the miscellaneous items.

A massive list of items propped up in front of him.

{store}

1. Ship maintenance (Mechanic)

.

.

10. Armor polishing (Leatherworks)

.

.

30. Encryption storage (Cryptarch)

.

.

40. Decryption (Cryptarch)

Void read through the options till he ended on decryption. He clicked it, and an interface popped up.

{Decyption: Cryptarch}

[ Please choose nearby engrams to decrypt]

Looking at the engram in his hand, he thought of it, as the option appeared in the store.


{Deryption: Cryptarch}

[1x Old City Engram; Price: 3000Đ]


Void didn't hesitate to pay the price as he clutched the engram in his palm.

The store took a second to process the transaction, after which the engram in his hand slowly began to disintegrate, revealing the contents inside.

A small microchip with an encrypted account number.

"W-what??" Obsidian immediately felt dizzy as he rushed over to Void, seeing the engram fully decoded.

"How did you do that? What was that?" Obsidian questioned unable to process how a few days job was taken care of in a few seconds.

Void felt his eyes get stuck wide open. Going with the flow, Void decided to use the system, but he had never considered how that would look....

He had never used the system so "openly", hence, Obsidian didn't know about it. Naturally, after today's display, Obsidian had his doubts.

He scanned Void a few times, afraid that there was an anomaly.

"Obsidian, listen..." Void felt tongue tied, how could he even start explaining the system.

Before Void could get another word out, Obsidian sighed.

"Haa....Void, you don't have to say it. I know you're...special. Compared to most guardians actually." Obsidian replied/

".....Ok, listen. I don't know how to explain it, but I can do things that others can't?" Void blurted out, as he registered what Obsidian said.

"Wait a minute, you knew? What do you mean you knew?" Void asked, puzzled.

"Of course, I am a supercomputer droid better than most artificial intelligence tech in the universe. How could you think I didn't know?" Obsidian replied.

"Ok ok, but how did you know?" Void asked, recalling his past actions.

Obsidian circled around him, as he thought for a moment, " Well, the day I met you, you were somewhat mindlessly staring at clicking things in the air. At first, I thought your mind was not fully healed, then..."

"Then?"

"Well, then you began using your powers. You weren't surprised, almost like you knew where we were. When you first unlocked your light, I was somewhat shocked. I mean, I asked a lot of other ghosts, and they just said you were talented." Obsidian explained.

"But then, I saw you talking to yourself, sometimes, you'd be frustrated, or even get angry...Almost like you were addressing something that was there. Something I couldn't see. "

"Specially yesterday as you wailed hours about losing all your money while thrashing the ship." Obsidian recalled, rolling his eyes.

"Ahh...can you just forget that." Void embarrassingly scratched his head.

Obsidian rolled around mid air, "All I am saying is, I know you've got some secrets. Some that you haven't shared with me, but it's fine. I trust you Void."

Void glanced at Obsidian's glowing neon eye,

"When the Traveler sent us all to help humanity, I spent centuries searching for someone. I wandered all around the earth. Then, finally, I found you. When I saw you, I knew you were going to be the one. I knew it was destiny that brought us together." Obsidian's voice grew soft.

Void glanced down as he chuckled slightly, reminiscing about the day he met Obsidian, melancholic tears forming at the side of his eyes.

"... I was really clueless back then huh." Void murmured.

"Void, I chose you. I have never regretted that decision." Obsidian reaffirmed.

Void grew sombre as he asked, "You said you saw me acting weird right....Why did you never tell the Vanguard, or anyone else."

Obsidian's gaze became resolute, "Ghost's don't work for the city, we are bonded with our guardians. I didn't want anyone to question your behavior Void. Whatever secret you have, it's safe with me."

Void fell quiet, as he contemplated.

A few seconds of silence passed, as his lips parted.

"What if I told you a secret that doesn't make any sense? Something that goes against this world. What would you do?" His gaze lingered at Obsidian.

Void didn't want him to answer. He was afraid. Would Obsidian judge that he didn't belong here?

Feeling his heart already sinking to his stomach, Void felt sick. Obsidian was the one who had truly been with him every step of the way.

He was irreplaceable as a companion....

Silence descended on the ship, as the two stared at each other.

"I would stand against the world, by your side." Obsidian replied, unwavering.

Void flashed a smile, as he pulled Obsidian's shell into a hug.

"Thanks."

" You're welcome...Hey when's the last time you washed your cloak."

"....."

"Void?"

"#$&#"

"What did you say."

"I said, I don't need to wash it, it's still brand new." Void flat out lied.

"Uh huh...."

"Anyways, I will explain this 'special' ability, so listen carefully." Void stated, contemplating on how to lay it out.

"Don't worry, I am all ears."
 
Chapter 42: The Queen's Wish New
[A few hours earlier, The Vestian Outpost]

Located deep within the heart of the asteroid belt, the reef was the domain of the awoken and a gateway to their pocket universe.

A race born during the first collapse, descended from the humans who tried to flee from the darkness. Originating from Exodus Green, a colony ship caught between the darkness and the Traveler's counterattack.

The awoken were immortal creations from the collision of paracausal powers, possessing strange magic that infused light and dark. Under the rule of their queen and Kell of the house of wolves Mara Sov, they thrived at the edge of the Sol system.

However, today was peculiar, beyond the reef's sunward side, through the Vestian web, in the heart of the reef, was the queen's throne.

A flurry of steps could be heard hastily ascending the flightpath as a squad of Queens Guards rushed towards the throne room, led by the awoken prince, Uldren Sov.

Uldren hastily fidgeted with his transponder, a frown lingered on his face as he reached the gate to the throne. His steps halted, as he held up an open palm.

The Queen's Guards stopped abruptly, and nodded, briskly positioning themselves around the throne room, standing as sentries.

Uldren inched closer towards the gate, his hands creeped closer, but just before he pushed it in, a melodious voice resounded, and doors seemed to open by an invisible force.

A woman with platinum blond hair and bright turquoise eyes sat on the throne as she looked towards Uldren, she smiled.

"Welcome, brother." Mara spoke, her arms folded over each other, a chirpy little ahamkara nestled in her palm as it playfully nipped her fingers.

Mara flicked her wrist and rubbed the Ahamkara playfully, but there was a slight wariness in her eyes as she glanced at the creature. She knew the Ahamkara's potential, it was a seductive power.

But the Ahamkara never granted perfect wishes, Mara knew, that nothing was ever truly free.

Uldren glanced at the Ahamkara, his face stiffened. Despite being the one who had delivered the ahamkara to Mara, he was still unsure whether his decision would bring glory, or ruin, to the awoken.

He sighed, "There's an urgent transmission from earth. They request for our aid." He used his transponder to replay the transmission, as Ikorra's figure appeared on a hologram.

Mara slightly leaned forward, her eyes fixated on the warlock vanguard. The message played, as Ikorra described the Ahamkara threat, and the last city's request for aid.

Uldren's face scrunched up as he understood the Vanguard's request. He was furious.

After understanding the Ahamkara's powers, Uldren had painstakingly searched for a young docile Ahamkara, and presented it to his sister, as a way to help the awoken prosper. Finding the one in itself had been a miracle.

'They want to take away our hope?' Uldren's mind raced as his face turned grim.

Before he could utter a word, Mara had finished contemplating, and answered.

"Agree to it."

Uldren couldn't believe those words, as utter confusion reflected on his face.

"Sister, what does this mean? The Ahamkara were supposed to help us build our dream. If we abandon that hope, we won't ever accomplish it." Uldren crept closer, pleading, his eyes fixated on the ahamkara.

Mara glanced at Uldren, with slight annoyance as she continued.

"Brother, do you wish to question my decisions?" She retorted.

As the one true queen of the awoken, Mara Sov held the entire reef in the palm of her hands. Her magical abilities alone were top-class even compared to the warlocks of the city. Uldren Sov as the spymaster of the awoken didn't dare question his queen.

Uldren hesitated facing Mara's cold eyes, but nevertheless. He insisted.

"No sister, I don't dare. But you said the Ahamkara's are our future, how can we let the light -bearer's steal it away." He replied, barely a whisper.

Mara's eyes narrowed as she held up the Ahamkara in her palm. Her eyes peering into the cosmic creature of mysterious origins.

"They are indeed our future, brother. But you misunderstand. The awoken don't need the Ahamkara, we only need an Ahamkara. The Techeun witches have studied these wishing abilities. As long as we hold one, that is all we need." Mara explained, as the Ahamkara crawled around her palm.

Mara's gaze turned cold, her eyes glistened.

"If the guardians want to do the awoken a favor and wipe out the rest of the Ahamkara, it is only natural that we should help." A faint smile crept up on her lips.

"Send them Vestian weaponry, accompanied with a squad of Corsairs. We will help the guardians hunt down all the Ahamkara." Mara ordered, glancing at the corner of the room.

At her words, two Eliksni captains donning blue garments emerged from the shadows, standing beside her throne.

They shared a glance as one briskly retreated to the shadows once more, while the other stood beside Uldren, intending to pass on the queen's order to the rest of the outpost.

The awoken prince finally understood the plan as realization struck him, "Don't worry sister, I will see to this completely. We will help the guardians wipe out every single Ahamkara, down to the last one."

He bowed slightly, excusing himself from the room as the Eliksni captain followed him.

As he exited the room, the Queen's Guards stood at attention, Uldren gestured forwards as the group marched the prince through the Vestian outpost, gathering caches of weaponry and squads of Corsairs to be sent to the last city.

However, back in the throne room, Mara silently scrutinized the odd creature resting in her palms. As if carefully studying a specimen, Mara flicked her wrist, as the Ahamkara was wrapped in a bubble of awoken energy, silently floating in the room.

Mara knew that despite it's beastly appearance, the Ahamkara could understand her well. Possessing intelligence on par with most advanced civilizations.

It was then, that she finally spoke to it.

"Who are you?" She whispered in her mind.

As the Ahamkara wrapped around her fingers, it shuddered hearing her thoughts.

It's numerous eyes matching the queen's gaze, the Ahamkara ghastly responded, with a single word.

~Riven~



[Somewhere in Orbit, Jumpship]

"So, what you're saying is, there's a system that helps you level up, with missions and guidelines? Like some sort of game? Hmmm." Obsidian narrowed his eye, as he began simulating his thoughts.

Void sighed as he reassured Obsidian for the fifth time,

"Yes, yes, I am telling you it's not like a game, it really reflects how strong I am."

"And there's a store now?"

Void scratched his cheek as he elaborated,

"Well yeah, sometimes the system gets an update. As I continued to grow stronger, so do it's abilities."

"I understand. but then..." Obsidian contemplated for a few seconds as fully digested the information.

"What's your main mission?" Obsidian prompted.

"Huh?" Void was caught off guard.

" You said it gives you missions right? What's the main one." Obsidian prompted again.

Void glanced at his screen, looking at the mission he hadn't visited in a long time.
{Legendary Guardian System}

Main Story Quest:

-> Become Legend (0/1):

The light calls for aid, become the herald of change needed in the world, push back the darkness and defend the Traveler."

Rewards: x1 {Unknown}, x1 {Unknown}, +10000 Legend Points, +10 million Glimmer.


Void smirked slightly as he answered, "To defend the Traveler."

"That's....You're a guardian, so it makes sense." Obsidian finally began to accept what Void was rambling on about.

He quickly scanned Void's body one more time and shot another question,

"Your vitals have improved massively compared to when I first found you. But how strong are you now? According to your 'system' anyway." Obsidian chirped, not accepting that the system was more knowledgeable than him.

"'You mean my level?" Void replied.

He immediately moved to his status screen, something he hadn't done in a long while.

{Legendary Guardian System}

Name: Void Blade

Class: Hunter

Level: 37

Light Level: 80

Subclass: Nightstalker Shadowfiend (Lv 2/10) (Variant)

Equipment: (LL refers to Light Level)

[Weapons]:

Primary: True Prophecy *( Hand Cannon)

Secondary: Grimm Citizen III (Auto Rifle)

Heavy: Radegast's Fury (Rocket Launcher)

[Gear]:

Helmet: Ghost Angel (80 LL)

Grips: Jackknife 2.1 (78 LL)

Chest: Sanction Six (82 LL)

Strides: Scarlight Boots (85 LL)

Class Item: Ghost Angel Cloak (70 LL)

* = 6% boost in accuracy for headshots against fallen enemies

=======================

Combat Perks: (9 Unlocked)

~Spectral Shade: In combat, enemies have a higher probability of losing your presence if you break line of sight.

~Sixth Sense: As a hunter, you're able to sense danger a fraction of a second before it occurs.

~ Dagger mastery: As a skilled blade master you're able to masterfully wield daggers whether it is in long or short range encounters.

~Void Imbalance: Grenades are likely to explode immediately when shot with void weapons or void energy.

~Acrobats Dodge: Masterfully dodge your opponents, successful attack dodges allow instant counters and parries.

~Advanced Agility: You move fast guardian!

~Triple Jump: Jump twice in the air using an intermediate mastery of light.

~Gilded Blade: Your melee attacks have a chance to trigger Void singe on champion enemies

~Void Sense: Your glare pierces through the enemies, revealing their weaknesses, highlighting critical spots.

[Passive Perks]: (1 unlocked)

~ Crafting Lv. 3/10

Remarks: If you tried really hard, just maybe, you might turn a sheet of metal into a thin chest plate.

"Level 37. Hmm, for comparison, a fallen captain is typically around level 40." Void answered.

Obsidian thought for a second as he observed Void's figure again,

"My readings do show that you have a high vitality, comparable to Fallen captains. But I can't evaluate your abilities that accurately. I suppose the system is something useful indeed." He reluctantly admitted.

As the discussion on the system ended, the main terminal lit up with the re-entry prompt, indicating that they were orbiting above the city.

Void took his seat, and the jumpship shot through the atmosphere, towards the hangar's docks.

Within a few seconds, they were inches away from the hangar and Void slammed the sonic disruptors, slowing the ship down to a halt.

The auto dock triggered as the jumpship gently floated to the designated parking spot and Void transmatted out.

Usually, he would run out to the top and spend his time in the courtyard, but today was different.

Void was here for a big purchase, and who better to ask than the resident shipwright?

His eyes drifted until he spotted Amanda, as she tinkered with another jumpship docked nearby.

Obsidian followed along as Void made his way to her, eager to check out the new catalogue.

It wasn't long before Amanda took action and went into full salesman mode, as she happily showed Void the catalogue of ships for sale in the hangar. Naturally, these included some old junk ships, some brand new prototypes and the classics.

Void was definitely aiming for something special as he pointed Amanda towards the prototypes and began browsing.
 
Chapter 43: Reconnaissance New
Amanda and Void argued as the shipwright couldn't just sell the prototypes without tests in place. There were enough cases of guardians imploding as they re-entered orbit.

However, Void couldn't exactly accept that reason, what would a hunter be without unreasonable greed.

"But they look so good Amanda, can't you just do the tests now?" Void urged, not letting go of the catalogue tablet.

Amanda frowned as she reached to snatch the tablet back, prompting Void to run around with it.

"What- Get the f*** back here VOID, I am not giving you no ship." Amanda shouted as she gave chase.

Her speed was obviously a joke as Void toyed with her, remaining only slightly out of reach at all times.

"Okay okay, I will give it back but you promise to show me the good designs, I know you're hiding the good stuff, Banshee told me all about your secret workshop." Void shouted, earning a few curious glances from the rest.

Amanda jumped at the mention of her workshop as she couldn't keep it together.

"AAAAAA-Okay okay, I get it, just give it back." She ran up to Void and snatched the tablet back as she briskly pushed her palm to his mouth and dragged him away.

She crammed Void into her small office, and slammed the door behind her, shooting him a mean glare.

Void couldn't help but smirk as he motioned for her to display the designs.

Amanda felt her brows twitch as she stared him down, she suddenly felt the urge to punch Void.

"Fine, but so help me god if you mention my workshop one more time, I won't ever service your ship." She threatened.

Void immediately zipped his lips as he eagerly waited.

Amanda began fidgeting with her tablet as she went through a few password screens.

Her anger hadn't subsided, as Void could still make out one or two mumbles,

"Stupi- f**** droid, s'posed to be forgetful...." Amanda muttered, clenching her tab.

He silently prayed for Banshee as he knew Amanda wouldn't let that go unpunished.

'I am sorry, I will definitely get you some more scraps next time.' Void resolved internally, recalling the gunsmith's fascination with golden age vaults.

After a few minutes of searching Amanda handed the tablet over, her lips curved into a sly smile.

"I wasn't gon show this anytime soon, but I've been workin on this for a while now."

Void's eyes were glued to the screen as he saw the ship, a slick jet-black frame, with a chamfered contour and trigonal boosters, he was completely mesmerized.

"Woah...Can I even afford this?" He hesitated, glancing restlessly at Amanda.

"Fine, I can work with a discount, but you owe me one. Big time." She replied, annoyed at Void's puppy eyed glances.

"Thank you, thank you, I will take it." He immediately grabbed Amanda for a hug, leaving her slightly flustered.

"Don't do that" She pushed him away,

"Oh sorry, I was just in the moment." Void held his hands up.

"No I don't mind, it's just that your cloak, it smells like shit." She retorted, slightly covering her nose.

"Huh?...What"

"Seriously, when did you last wash it." She opened the door slightly to air out the room.

Obsidian appeared behind Amanda as he stared disapprovingly, shooting a glare that said 'I told you so'

"I-....It's...it's brand new, I SWEAR." Void yelled out, but the two had briskly left the room to work out the deal, slamming the door behind them.

Void twitched with anger as the door slammed on him, taking a moment to calm himself down, he took a few deep breaths.

As curiosity crept up on him, he finally couldn't help it anymore.

'There's no way...right?' Void thought.

Slowly, he grabbed his cloak and brought it to his face.

Taking a quick sniff he felt nauseous.

"AOUGh...This shit smells like rat piss." He gagged, mumbling under his breath.

Fanning his face Void stomped out of the room, but not before making a quick laundry reservation to his room.

Obsidian and Amanda still discussed the purchase as Obsidian discussed and implemented all the changes required, specifically the inter-planetary warp.

"So, is it available?" Void chimed in.

Amanda swiped a few things on her tablet, as she estimated the costs,

"Sorta, I can get you the ship in three hours. Just need to add some finishing touches." She replied, prompting Void to a sign an electronic contract.

Void grabbed her device as he glanced over the terms, he looked to Obsidian.

"This seem all right?"

Obsidian gave his nod of approval as Void signed the contract and handed it back.

Amanda happily received it and shared Obsidian the ship's new identification codes.

Seeing as he received his new transmat code, Void chucked over Praedyth's microchip.

"This enough to cover it?"

Amanda plugged the chip into the tablet like a sim, as the screen flashed a generous number.

"Barely." She scoffed.

"Pleasure doin business with you boys. Excuse me, I gotta get some work done." She scuttled through the hangar, tagging a few service droids to follow her.

Void and Obsidian shared a glance as they saw her leave,

"What now?" Obsidian asked.

Void glanced at his wrist as a his bracelet flashed green,

"Don't know but I added some laundry services to the room." He replied making his way to the elevator.

"Oh thank god." Obsidian heaved a sigh of relief as he followed Void to their room.

"....." Void was left speechless as he shot Obsidian a dangerous look.

"You know, maybe a pink shell isn't a bad makeover." He chimed.

"Listen, we can always talk this out. Let's not resort to rash decisions." Obsidian stuttered, as he hovered just a tad bit away from Void.


[Three Hours Later...]

Void stepped out of his room, with a freshly steamed cloak.

Feeling refreshed he sniffed around his armor,

"This fragrance is insane, what did they use?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Hmm, the services listed it down as Lavender Blast" Obsidian answered.

"Lavender? Yeah, list that down as a favorite for now." Void replied, feeling quite cozy in his gear.

Giving his wrist a flick, he pulled up the interface on his visor, monitoring any new messages he might've missed.

"Anything new?" He asked, skimming through old notifications.

"Amanda said the ship will be ready in twenty minutes. Otherwise, we're completely free. It's almost too quiet. Like the calm before the st-"

Obsidian couldn't finish his words as a barrage of messages hit Void's transponder. Prompting him to quickly reply to the alerts.

"So much for timing it man." He shook his head.

Obsidian immediately brought out the hologram message from Vanguard personnel, as Ikorra appeared.

"Attention guardian, the city has received confirmation of aid from the awoken outpost. We'll be receiving weapons and a squad of personnel to help us through the hunt. The rendezvous point will be shared shortly. All fireteams and squads are to gather now. Over and out."

The message was short and to the point, Void glanced at Obsidian as the two picked up pace to the hangar.

"You got the coordinates?"

Obsidian hummed as his eye flashed, "Just received them, seems like the Vanguard don't want the awoken to linger near the city. We're meeting outskirts of Skywatch near the Lunar complex"

"I guess not, I'm surprised the awoken agreed." Void contemplated for a few seconds.

There truly wasn't much merit to Mara Sov agreeing to this expedition. At least that's what Void thought until he recalled a crucial detail.

'Of course, if Riven is involved, it's a different story.' He frowned.

The two reached the hangar as Amanda handled a few droids doing safety checks.

"Everything ready?" Void paced over, practically itching to get into his ship.

Amanda could sense the excitement oozing through his cloak as she signed off on the last few checks.

"Yeah, she's all yours. Take her away." She replied waving Void off.

Void instantly triggered his transmat and appeared within his ship, Obsidian fired the engines as a sharp 'Whoop' was heard.

The Sonic thrusters roared as the ship lifted off the dock.

"Woah...that's the new car smell" Void then felt the smooth directional steering as he maneuvered the ship to orbit, tearing through the air at Mach speed.

"Obsidian, send kabr a reminder, and set course to the Lunar Complex" Void ordered, as he slowly pulled the ship upwards, practically flying vertically upwards.

Once they had smoothly exited to orbit, Void slammed the engines as a sharp 'crack' was heard, and the warp drive pulsed.

Almost as if Void was punched in the gut, his body slammed in the chair and the ship blasted towards the Cosmodrome.

"E-Estimated trajectory" He barely formed a sentence feeling the g-forces slamming him down.

"20 minutes." Obsidian replied, as he barely stayed afloat.

As the ship warped through atmosphere with a chaotic entry, Void shot towards the cosmodrome, and steered toward the lunar complex.

Within minutes he hovered over the massive industrial complex and transmatted out, sending his ship to geostationary orbit.

He stepped towards the gates as he saw Cayde coming to fetch him.

"Heyy kiddo, how's it going. Gotta say, nice ride you got there." He bumped fists and gave Void a cheeky smile.

"Yeah but hands off, don't even think about offering a trade." Void immediately interjected, knowing full well Cayde would try the old scam.

"Come on, you say it like it's bad. Tell ya what, I will throw in some extra glimmer on the side, besides you get to enjoy the presidential vanguard jumpship as your own." Cayde buttered him up.

"Save it, we both know you've got the standard arcadia model retrofitted with a warp drive. Amanda practically begs you to have it serviced everyday."

"What can I say, I like living on the edge." Cayde laughed.

Cayde ushered Void inside as they passed through all security checks, arriving deep inside the Lunar complex.

Although the complex wasn't exactly city territory, it was a trivial task to quarantine the space and clear out any hostiles. Somewhat like a temporary foreclosure.

It was perfect to receive "allies" that the Vanguard wasn't yet comfortable with.

Void and Cayde walked out to an empty oval room,

"Take a seat kid, the others will be here soon." He said, casually kicking his feet up on the table.

Void sighed, knowing Ikorra would chew Cayde out later.

Nevertheless, Void sat down and began contemplating his next steps regarding the Ahamkara hunt.
 
Chapter 44: Reconnaissance (2) New
[Lunar Complex]

Void sat in silence, entranced by his own thoughts. His head was filled with questions, as he glanced at the empty chairs.

'Following the original timeline...the city should succeed no matter what.'

However, with the newfound changes in the future, he wasn't so sure anymore. Void frowned. A familiar 'click' echoed through the hall as Cayde played with his gun.

'Must be nice to be that strong.' Void sighed internally observing his carefree demeanour.

Void sat up straight, exhaling a deep sigh as he slapped his knees,

'Whatever it is, first priority is to make the most of every opportunity.' He resolved himself.

Cayde chuckled, shifting his seat to face Void, "Nervous?"

Void heaved a breath and stretched his arms, "Just a little." Cayde furrowed his brows as he studied Void a bit longer. He holstered his gun and leaned back into the chair.

"Ya know champ, everyone's a bit scared before a big job. Yeah, even me." He smirked.

Void chortled, " Is this your version of a pep talk?"

"Why, is it a bit too cheesy?" Cayde struck him an exasperated glance.

"My bad, go on."

".....Anyways, as I was saying. Everyone's scared, but after the job, they only have good stories." Cayde stated, slightly reminiscent.

"Yeah, that's called telling a lie." Void shook his head and shrugged.

Cayde rolled his eyes, "What would you know? Every story is true if you tell it right."

Void chuckled, rolling his shoulders, "Where'd you get that one from? Another trick in your book?"

"Nah, a friend of mine said it back in the day. You know he always had the best stories. This one time he eve-....huh." Cayde put two and two together as his eyes narrowed.

The two then sat in complete silence once more as Cayde had a massive frown on his face.

It was almost borderline awkward but then Void felt his radar blink as a few ships descended near the entrance.

Shortly after, Kabr, Pahanin and Zavala entered the hall.

Zavala sent a nod to Void as he took the chair of the centre consul, while the others simply sat wherever they pleased.

"Thank you all for making it here, the rest should be arriving soon. Let's maintain decorum as we wait." Zavala stated, earning a nod from everyone.

"Cayde, that means no feet on the table." He repeated, raising a brow.

Cayde groaned as he put his feet down and leaned on his arm, exhaling a few sighs.

"Thank you." Zavala promptly sat down, checking his comms to ensure all was on schedule.

A few minutes later, Void glanced at his radar and felt numerous ships as well as a few unknown energy signals gather above.

'Must be the awoken.' His eyes were glued to the door, but he wasn't alone.

The rest had already picked up on the faint energy fluctuations, all wore tough faces and awaited their new "ally".

Ikorra was the first to march to the hall, with all squad captains in tow. Following the group was a team of awoken scouts, armed to the teeth, donned in lilac and purple armor carrying caches of awoken origin.

However what caught Void's eye was the man leisurely walking behind his team. Bright auburn eyes, pale blue skin and a sly gaze.

Void frowned , 'Uldren Sov, to think we meet like this.' Naturally, he was someone Void was highly on guard against.

The man who seemed to be against the guardians at every turn. The one who was ultimately responsible for the murder of Cayde-6.

His eyes flashed blue as Uldren's stats appeared.

Name: Uldren Sov

Race: Awoken

Level: 32 (Max for Destiny 1 is 40)

'He's stronger than I expected'

The awoken were extremely gifted with their physical abilities, but level 32....

'Guess he isn't famous for nothing.' Void looked away, focusing on the weapon caches instead.

Ikorra glanced to Zavala as they motioned for all guardians to stand, welcoming the awoken envoys.

The guardians all formed a line as the caches were stacked ahead, following this the Corsairs stood in formation, as Uldren took the lead.

He looked towards the Vanguard, nodding.

"Queen Mara sends her regards, according to our agreement, caches of our finest weapons, and a squad of our best scouts. I hope we have a good collaboration." Uldren smiled, extending his hand to Zavala.

Zavala returned the gesture, and the Corsairs opened up the caches, revealing pristine reef weaponry.

After exchanging a few words with Zavala, Uldren took his leave, assigning his squad of Corsairs under Ikorra as agreed upon.

Void found it amusing, he along the others could easily tell that Uldren was probably just keeping up appearances. There was no need for the prince to actively participate in the hunt.

'I guess being royalty comes with some benefits.' Void thought to himself and chuckled, as a guardian who wasn't yet known, he couldn't exactly decline the Vanguard's orders.

Ikorra quickly took charge of the room as she waved her hand, and each crate of weapons flew towards the fireteams present.

"Take what you need, anything extra goes to the Sunbreakers, they've already began searching for activity on Mercury and Venus." Ikorra ordered.

Naturally, guardians weren't ones to pass up on loot, as all eagerly began rummaging through the caches present.

Kabr and Pahanin were no exception, as the duo began inspecting the snipers and the autos. It wasn't long before they aimed down sights to try and get a feel for the weapon.

However, Void wasn't any different. He had already scanned through most of the caches with his eyes, and didn't find the need to grab any weapon. His new auto rifle practically made up for it.

But just as he thought that, Pahanin shot him a glance.

"Hmm?"

He scooted closer to guess what Pahanin wanted, and as he did, Pahanin plunged his hand into cache, digging up a a silver lined sidearm.

Running his fingers across the barrel, he mouthed,

"Good."

The next second, he tossed it to Void.

Vestian Dynasty (Sidearm)

Rank: Legendary

"Long Live the Queen"

Perks:

Precision Frame: This weapon's recoil pattern is more predictably vertical.

Chambered Compensator: Stable barrel attachment. • Increases stability • Moderately controls recoil • Slightly decreases handling speed

Armor-Piercing Rounds: Rounds cause extra damage to combatants' shields and over penetrate targets. • Slightly increases range

Kill Clip: Reloading after a kill grants increased damage.

Dragonfly: Precision kills create an elemental damage explosion.


Gripping the sidearm in his palm, Void felt it's heavy rounds and stable body finish. Truly an auto sidearm that could pierce through armor like cheese.

Inspecting the weapon thoroughly, he definitely liked it.

"Thanks" He nodded, receiving a nod in return as Pahanin continued testing the weaponry.

Kabr wasn't an easy titan to impress. With a great inventor like Pahanin and the one of the smartest warlocks like Praedyth by his side, the titan had grown accustomed to weapons polished to the highest degree.

However, as he held the gigantic auto rifle in his arms, he felt it was peculiar. He felt a sudden rush of energy as his fingers lingered near the trigger.

It puzzled him, 'This must be the awoken technology' He concluded.

Handing the rifle to Pahanin for the final 'Okay', Kabr continued inspecting new weapons.

In the end, a few among the weapons were truly meticulously crafted. However, the same couldn't be said for every weapon.

Once they had gathered the best fitting weapons, the duo stepped away from the caches, signalling Void to follow along.

He obliged, knowing that although his eyes were pretty accurate, Pahanin had centuries of experience to guide his judgement, something he couldn't easily triumph with just the stat window.

Void joined the two as they waited for the squads to fully load their arsenals.

"You got the ship?"

Kabr leaned back into the wall, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer.

"Yeah, newest model with a warp drive. We're good to go."

Void grabbed a chair nearby and sat down. Their fireteam huddled in a corner as they waited patiently.

Despite the large selection of weapons available, guardians were quite picky with what they used. It was natural of course, no guardian would pick a weapon they didn't fully trust.

As such, each squad captain had singled out what they believed were weapons that would serve useful.

Ikorra saw as most captains had finalized their arsenal, hence, she stepped up one more time.

" Those present here, arm yourselves the best you can. A single bullet might make the difference between victory and defeat."

Her words caused a few to reconsider, glancing around the caches they had gathered for their teams.

Ikorra received a few resolute glances, prompting her to continue.

"Guardians, we are one step away, from victory, or from defeat. Our objective, is to hunt down the enemy, no more and no less. Don't falter in the face of twisted lies, let the light guide you."

A few stoic faces emerged following her reminder.

Ikorra smiled, knowing every single person had taken her reminder to heart.

" Every fireteam leader here has been provided a list of notable Ahamkara locations. As far as we know, they are experts at hiding. The world bends to their will. But the Ahamakara, like us, are weak to their own desires for power. Wherever you choose to search, you might have to lure them out."

Ikorra's gaze swept through the room

"Taunt them, frighten them, whatever it is you need to do. But once you find them, don't hesitate to deliver the final blow. Whatever it takes guardian, we will hunt them down, to the last one."

Her eyes went cold, a surge of aura pulsed through the room, stifling pressure building through the hall.

Void felt his hair stand on end as the aura struck him, an imminent sense of danger ran through his mind. He could feel his body trembling against a wisp of her power.

'Is this the true power of a warlock vanguard?' He thought, noting to not cross Ikorra as long as he could help it.

The room gravitated to her next words, all waiting in silence. Ikorra gave a solemn nod,

"May the light be with you, guardians."

With the last phrase, she stepped down, returning the room to a relaxed state.

Zavala and Cayde were the first to leave, their sombre faces reflected in the dim sunlight.

Cayde unlocked his holster, as he transmatted away. Not a second later, two ships shot through the horizon, warping towards orbit.

On cue, Ikorra and the Corsairs under her exited the hall, traveling to Jupiter's asteroid cluster.

"Let's go, we'll regroup at the cathedral and leave for Mars."

"...." Pahanin nodded

"I will see you there" Void replied, scuttling to the exit, as he spotted Sai and Tevis's disappearing figures, he could faintly make out a wave as they two transmatted away.

He sighed, putting his hand down.

Looking back, Kabr and Pahanin had already triggered their transmat.

Glancing around to ensure he was alone, he swiftly unholstered his hand cannon, and stored it in his inventory, instead replacing it with the new sidearm.

Tapping his wrist twice, Void's figure blurred, disintegrating into fine data lattices as he appeared within his ship.

"Obsidian, route to Cathedral," He relayed, slumping in his chair, his eyes lingering on the faint blue prompt in front of him.

{Legendary Guardian System}

(Canon Quest) The Great Ahamkara Hunt:

" The city calls for aid against mysterious creatures rumored to have been brought into existence by the Traveler during the Golden Age. Now they threaten to untangle they very fabric of reality. Deemed too dangerous to be allowed to live on. Hunt them down guardian."

Rewards: 10x Ahamkara Spine, ++Xp, 700,000Đ , +1 Store Roulette Ticket

Void's eyes perked up at the last reward, a faint smile hanging on his lips.
 
Chapter 45: Dragon Slayer (1) New
[The Cathedral]

The sun sank low, golden light drowning the evening sky, clouds marred the horizon.

Suddenly a sonic boom exploded through orbit, as a sleek black ship tore through the Cosmodrome towards the Plaguelands.

Boosting towards the mining tunnels, the ship decelerated using it's omnidirectional sonic thrusters, coming to a gentle stop near the mining tunnels, as a lone figure transmatted down from the ship, and quietly descended into the dark dreary mineshaft.

'Let's see, he pressed this one.'

Void retraced Pahanin's footsteps as he caressed the cavern wall. A few tries later, his hand grazed a hollow spot, runes shines as the walls crumbled, revealing the Cathedral's entrance.

Not wasting anymore time, he paced towards the control room.

"What's this about a briefing?"

Void spotted Kabr and Pahanin gathered around the control terminal.

"Right on time. We're analysing our entry point."

Kabr gestured Void to participate as he swiped the hologram, enlarging it for all to see.

"Entry point? Were the energy signals not accurate?"

Void spun the image, surveying the topology. 'Rocky mountains and an endless desert.' He frowned.

"No, the energy signals only helped us narrow it down to a planetary scale. If anything, we're searching for needles in a haystack."

Kabr sighed, flashing an irritable frown, Pahanin nodded, seemingly agreeing.

"Surveying all of Mars is impossible. It would take us years. Even if all of us split up."

Void contemplated for a strategy yet his head was completely blank.

'Ah...I wish a quest marker was here.' He lamented.

He didn't think that locating the Ahamkara itself would be a huge challenge. 'I mean, they're practically dragons, where would they hide?'

Or so he thought....

The trio stood in solemn silence, coming up completely blank in terms of a plan.

"But wait. How will the other teams locate them?" Void furrowed his brows. Surely someone had figured out something?

Kabr and Pahanin shared a glance as the two continued to sigh.

"All other fireteams have a very narrow search location. It can't be compared to a planetary energy signature."

"...Are we fu*ked?" his shoulders stooped low.

"Not yet. Catch"

A voice interjected, and Praedyth walked out of his study, dishevelled and lethargic. He chucked a hollow spherical node to Kabr.

"The Ahamkara emit paracausal radiation, A wavelength detected by sensitive light alloys. All we need is a compass to tune out the noise."

Kabr spun the ball as he found a small luminescent white shard suspended at its centre.

"Is this.."

Praedyth grinned, with slight pride.

"A shard of the Traveler. If you're looking for paracausal activity, there's no better material. It's extremely sensitive, and will fly to the closest source."

Void's eyes widened as he inched closer to the ball.

"Are you serious?"

It piqued his curiosity, but seeing as Kabr was holding it...

'Perhaps I should calm down.'

"I thought the speaker demanded all the shards be returned. This...is quite troublesome." Kabr grew solemn.

He handed the Orb to Pahanin, who examined it with great interest. A few mumbles followed as Pahanin muttered under his breath, closely eyeing the orb.

"..um" Void's hands itched as he stood waiting for his turn.

"The speaker won't be concerned. He owes me one, just make sure no one else knows of the orb."

Pahanin nodded deeply, handing over the Orb to Void. But just as it hovered above his palm, Praedyth flicked a finger as it swooped back into his hand.

"Wh-what" Void flinched as the orb slipped through his fingers.

Praedyth shot him a wary glance, "That means you need to keep your mouth shut. If anyone finds out about this, you're in deep shit."

Void gulped, he knew the severity of the situation. Shards of the Traveler were exotic. The great machine had long lost parts of its exterior coating through the first collapse.

These small shards that rained over earth were quite shocking. They provided great abilities to the guardians. Almost to a fault, because it also attracted prying eyes.

Void understood that guardians....were volatile people. They held a certain thirst for power. A hunger to prove themselves against the world. To face the darkness. But that cultivated greed. Greed wasn't bad, but when it exceeded one's limits....things turned sour.

Guardians would sooner kill each other endlessly than surrender the shards. That was when the speaker stepped in. Gathering the remaining shards and destroying them through unknown means.

Void looked expectantly towards Praedyth. He didn't know how he had a shard, but it was an opportunity of countless lifetimes.

"Fine, but if a single word comes out of this. It's your ass on the line." Preadyth caved and handed the Orb over.

Name: Praedyth's Compass

Rank: Legendary (Artifact)

"Even within the darkest depths, under the deepest oceans or beyond the seven skies, the compass will always guide you towards the energies of the universe."

Void caressed the orb carefully as he felt a jolt run through his body.

"Wait"

Praedyth frowned, as he rubbed his nose. Raising a brow at Void, he leaned closer.

"Did you finally wash your cloak?"

A stiff frown etched onto Void's forehead as he tightened his grip around the orb.

"Uhm....SO, how does this thing work anyway."

Preadyth rubbed his chin as he studied Void's face.

"Hmm. It's quite a simple principle. You'll need a fast ship, circle around Mars a few times. Analysing the orbs reaction through a few rotations will allow us to pinpoint the area with the highest density of Paracausal activity."

"That's it?" Void was astonished.

Praedyth, on the other hand, cackled like a mad dog.

"What? You expected some complicated formulas and spells? We both know you're too retarded to even comprehend those, so I kept it short and simple."

Void's brows twitched, as he narrowed his eyes.

"Huh? Old man, you're practically ancient. I am surprised your aged mind can even remember formulas. Let's not mention that you gave me centuries old engrams to decode either."

He scoffed looking at Void fiddling with the orb.

"Alright, that's enough, give it back, you'll damage it with your brute hands."

"Tsk."

Void reluctantly passed the orb over, he rubbed his fingers together, feeling lingering power on his skin.

Kabr chimed in solemnly.

"Pahanin, show Void the gear, and pack everything up. We're leaving soon."

The hunter nodded, as he turned towards the door.

"Follow me."

Void thought nothing of it as he tagged along with Pahanin. He considered it a boon. Although Pahanin wasn't very social, his gadgets and artifacts were always legendary. It wouldn't hurt to see what he had worked on.

The two hunters scuttled out the room, leaving Kabr and Praedyth behind.

They shared a glance as the air grew heavy.

"Any progress?"

Kabr's words were vague, but the warlock frowned, knowing exactly what he meant.

"No. I don't know who made it, or how it's there. But that Vault is impregnable. There's no other way to enter it."

Preadyth shook his head with a deflated sigh.

The two shared a second of silence, as the titan continued.

"We've spent a decade, waiting, studying. It's clear we need a more direct approach."

Kabr insisted.

"No. The vault is dangerous, Vex networks scour the place. There's only one way in, and that's suicide. There's no data on anything inside, spatial coordinates are disrupted through unknown means."

"It's a trap Kabr, a death-trap designed for those who dare try. The vault is a curse. It plagues the mind, it draws you in, but the moment you enter, it's like you've vanished from this world."

Praedyth's voice carried slight terror, his face turned pale recalling the archaic vault deep in the heart of Venus.

The Vault of Glass they called it. A decade earlier, their fireteam had found it, there was only one way to enter, through legions of Vex, unlocking a gate leading to a never ending chasm. Knowing it was impossible to trek through, they had given up.

Biding their time, collecting information and gathering equipment. Yet, they still couldn't figure it out. Something deep within the Vault called to them, it urged them to rush inside, like an itch in the soul.

Praedyth wished to forget the Vault, to move on. But alas, Kabr had other plans. He couldn't let the titan rush in alone, hence, he tried and he kept trying. Not willing to see the man he admired walk to his death.

Praedyth's gaze softened as he glanced at Kabr, a solemn frown growing on the titan's face.

"Try again. We need to try again Praedyth. You know it. There's something that calls us, beckons us inside. We can't stop now."

Kabr felt incensed for a second, as he heaved a sigh.

"Kabr please, I implore you to see reaso-"

"No. Not now, we can talk after we finish the hunt. Until then, please keep working Preadyth."

Kabr interjected, leaving before the warlock could reply.

Praedyth glanced at Kabr's departing back, words stuck on the tip of his tongue, he clenched his fists and exhaled a sigh.
 
Chapter 46: Dragon Slayer (2) New
[Cathedral, Workshop]

Pahanin and Void walked across the hall, heaps of trinkets and gadgets were scattered across the floor.

Void felt intrigued as his eyes darted around. However a second later he furrowed his brows.

'They're all broken or damaged.' He sighed, slightly disappointed.

"Here."

Suddenly, Pahanin threw him a helmet.

"Hmm? This is ?" Void inspected closely, as he grabbed the sleek headpiece.

Anti-Extinction Mask (Helmet) [Reforged]

Rank: Legendary

""Let us describe the art of mapping a dream. First, all former dreams must be crushed. This makes the ink with which we draw."- ????

Perks:

Heavy Armor: Improved Resilience

Restorative: Increases Health Recovery

Atmospheric Disruptor: Allows disruption of toxic atmospheric gases


"Take it, your armor filters won't hold up." He chimed and continued to rummage through his workshop.

Void nodded, and switched out his gear. He sucked a quick breath in, feeling refreshed.

'The improved Resilience is definitely active'

"Did you make everything in here?" Void began looking around once more.

Pahanin nodded, "Centuries of work."

His eyes seemed to shimmer as he recalled those days, but soon snapped back to reality.

Pahanin continued rummaging, as he finally found a few odd looking chips, neatly banded in a small transparent cache.

"What are those?" The case caught Void's eye, and the microchips were quite exquisite.

"Isometric-harmonizers." Pahanin answered, handing one to Void.

Void questioningly stared at the chip in his palms, as he saw Pahanin gesture towards his transponder,

He flicked his wrist and clicked open his bracelet, adding the chip into an empty slot.

Void did the same as he felt a sudden influx of static flush his ears. But a second later, a beep sounded.

Pahanin tapped his wrist lightly, and Void felt the vibrations resound in his ears.

"Woah, these are way better than the City's comms."

"Yes, emp-resistant." Pahanin was quick to reply, almost reveling in his own inventions.

Void looked around at the piles of trinkets, "Neat. Do we have any other gadgets to take?"

" Just one more." Pahanin answered as he carefully pulled out another dusty cache from the pile.

Void's keen eyes caught on, as Pahanin opened it to reveal more intricately packed chip modules.

"GPS-Node. You will always see where we are." He threw one to Void.

"Obsidian" Void called out as Obsidian appeared and quickly copied the node data to a backup and linked the chip to his visor.

Void inserted the chip into his bracelet as Pahanin closed the cache. The two made their way back to the control room as they saw Kabr striding out.

"Are you ready?"

Kabr seemed irritated as he quipped.

"Good to go." Pahanin tossed him the two chips as Kabr swiftly inserted them into his transponder.

Void nodded, as Kabr lead them outside, three Jumpships hovered closer and a moment later their figures disappeared inside.

Void swiftly brought maneuvered the ship as Obsidian appeared beside him. The sonic engines blasted as they shot through the horizon, in line with Kabr and Pahanin.

A static sound buzzed as Kabr's voice resounded.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Ok. Follow my lead, we'll shoot towards the minor asteroid belt and warp from there." Kabr's ship launched across the stratosphere as streaks of light lingered behind.

"Affirmative." Void answered, as he sucked in a breath and went full throttle. A shockwave reverberated through the skies as the three ships exited earth's atmosphere.

"Preparing for warp. I've sent you the coordinates." Kabr chimed in, as his warp drive activated.

The space ahead began to twist, as a slight whirlpool formed and Kabr's ship accelerated inside, disappearing from view.

Pahanin was the next to follow, plunging into the wormhole.

Void felt slightly nervous as he blasted forwards into his first jump.

His ship entered the wormhole. For a few seconds, the world had stopped for Void. Gravity fluctuated as an extreme load burdened his body, yet he felt light as a feather.

'F***' Void squeezed his steering tighter,

The horizon outside twisted into itself, colors previously impossible seemed to emerge, as light itself raced alongside him. Then, a sudden crack propagated as space unfurled.

He took it as his signal and steered closer, it took him in and spit him out to the other side. A jolt ran through his ship

"That was...amazing" Void took a deep breath as he saw the red planet in view.

A few jumbled words resounded in his ears as the signal attuned.

"Void, follow my lead, we'll orbit the planet at hyper-speeds until the orb gives a reaction." Kabr announced. His ship steering into view.

"Alright."

The fireteam circled around until Kabr felt a slight deviation in the shards position.

"Change trajectory, eastern side. Follow me."

All three ships zoomed towards the eastern hemisphere of Mars. Kabr held the orb tight as the shard began spinning, ultimately pointing downwards.

"The shard is directing us here. Prepare to land." Kabr ordered. steering downwards.

Void pushed his ship down, "Preparing to transmat, entering land zone in four minutes."

"Affirmative."

The horizon shook as three Jumpships pierced through the dense Martian sand clouds, racing towards the surface. Sonic thrusters triggered as the ships hovered to a halt.

Void, Pahanin and Kabr transmatted down, a fierce sandstorm erupted, dusty plumes hung in the air, hindering all vision. The red rocky surface of Mars churned under their steps.

Kabr scoured the area, "Mission Log #001, establishing ground zero, scouting peripherals, over and out."

"The dust is too heavy, my sensors are clogged." Void fidgeted with his Visor but his radar seemed to glitch.

An eerie sensation permeated through, "The shard is reacting. We are not far. Keep your guards up" Kabr clutched the orb putting it safely in his pocket.

His words seemed to stiffen the air, as Void and Pahanin pulled out their rifles.

Kabr glanced at Pahanin , "Set up the network array, make sure we're transmitting to the city."

"I will stand guard and secure the perimeter. Void yo-"

Void switched over to his sidearm, "Scout out the area? I am already on it."

"Good, if you run into anything, transmit first. Do not engage." Kabr shot him a somber look and Void nodded.

Kabr turned away as he chucked a few trip mines around the area, "Meet us back here in ten."

"You got it."

Void flickered away as his figure turned translucent, blending in like a phantom in the raging dust storm.

'To think the Martian storms would be this fierce', Void felt the howling wind sting through his armor.

He focused his eyes, his pupils turning blue. Void darted around the area at lightning speeds, surveying absolutely everything.

Halting his stride, Void stood at the peak of a rocky cliff, gazing down at the vast Martian desert. Endless red dunes stretched towards the horizon, not a trace of life to be seen.

"Obsidian, find anything?"

"Hmm, according to analysis, everything seems...normal. Far too normal, no energy signatures detected."

"Nothing? The orb definitely reacted around here." He furrowed his brows, gazing with a skeptic eye.

"Reporting, all status normal. No signs of activity." Void pressed near his ear.

".....Affirmative, circle back to camp. We'll move in a group." Kabr replied, slowly a frown appeared on his forehead.

"Roger, moving back soon." Void replied, as he zipped away.

Kabr looked to Pahanin as the city's comms node seemed to have sprang to life.

"Any problems?"

"No, we're transmitting to the city. All signals are normal."

Kabr glanced at the orb with curious eyes. However, he knew better than to question Praedyth's device.

A gust of wind flushed the camp as Void entered the perimeter his cape fluttering and steps heavy.

Pahanin and Kabr shared a glance.

"How's it looking outside?" Kabr asked shuffling around the node.

"The dust is bad, but it's nothing serious. We should probably gather the others and start searching."

Kabr felt a faint smirk tug on his lips as he turned towards Pahanin.

"Yeah, we're setting up the comms relay now, the reserve team should be here soon."

"Did you already setup the satellite?"

Pahanin dusted himself off as he stood up, "No."

"No need to worry. Void, you reckon you could put down this node for us on a mountain nearby?" Kabr reached into his pocket as he pulled out the orb.

Void scratched his head, "Yeah, that'll be easy don't worry about it."

Kabr's eyes lingered on the shard, "Thanks." He chucked the orb to Void, his own hands lingering towards his side.

A second later, it fell into Voids palm.

Pahanin and Kabr locked eyes, as Void looked strangely at the orb.

And then.....the shard twitched.
 
Chapter 47: Dragon Slayer (3) New
Kabr felt a devious smile grow on his face, a chuckle escaped his lips as he towered over "Void"

"This is amusing...."

Void seemed puzzled as he stared at the orb in his hands.

Instantly, Kabr's aura erupted as he punched out.

"Wai-"

Before Void could even say a word, the blow rocked him in the gut. Fist's the weight of mountains blasted him backwards as the ground cracked, gusts of wind whipped and howled.

His crimson red eye shined, a deathly pressure weighed on everyone around, "To think you would walk to your own death, lizard."

"Void" who was completely caught off guard, lay sprawled on the ground. All life seemed to have been taken out, however, a second later, umbral energy seeped into its husk.

The body began to rot as bones and crooked teeth protruded from its hunched figure.. What was once Void had malformed into a ghastly horror, it's pitch black eyes gazing at Kabr, the dragon licked its lips.

~I see it, your wish, Oh Prideful One.~

Kabr cracked his fists as he walked forward, "As I thought, I will just have to break that mouth of yours."

~Wish for it. The Vault will be yours.~

An enchanting voice echoed, leaving Kabr frozen where he stood.

It's smile deepened, stygian eyes focusing on the titan.

~Lordly peasant mine, wish for it. I can grant you everything.~

It's thin arms outstretched and nails grew towards him. Entrancing the titan in its bewitching gaze. The creature spoke, incoherently, it whispered to the inner most desires of Kabr's soul.

Kabr inched closer to its slithering arms, and the ahamkara grinned.

~Come to me, O lofty desires~

Its voice seeped into the world, beckoning. However, just before he could embrace the titan. a silver streak flashed forwards.

The ahamkara felt danger, like never before. it panicked jumping backwards, but a lightning swift slash sliced through the air as it cut up the lizard into pieces, leaving only its head intact.

Pahanin flickered besides Kabr, tapping him on the shoulder, "You okay?"

Kabr felt drowsy, as he rubbed his forehead, "Ergh....I am fine, thanks." A streak black frown etched on his face.

"It had a strange power." Kabr glanced towards the Ahamkara's head, his heart quivered for unknown reasons.

Pahanin nodded as he walked towards the dismembered corpse, a thin short sword in his hand.

~W-what is your wish, O killer mine~

Pahanin slowly embedded his blade in its head, his eyes boring into the Ahamkara's.

"I do not need you to grant it." He whispered back.

Sensing its end nearing, the creature embraced it, as it peered into his killers soul.

~Ahh, how peculiar. O Killer mine, your desires. ~ The Dragon spoke its last, as the blade reaped its life.

Pahanin swiped his sword as the blood dripped down.

"The Vanguard said that the Ahamkara's feed on our desires. That power, it was the devils whispers."

Kabr clenched his jaw, "To think I almost fell for it."

Void's figure flickered nearby as he hurried to ground zero. "What the, I could swear I heard a bomb go off."

His gaze trailed off to the severed Ahamkara corpse, his face stiffened. Void walked over to the body as he picked up the orb, dusting it off.

The shard spun around, but it didn't glow. Pahanin and Kabr heaved a sigh of relief.

"It took your form, but it misspoke."

Kabr, Pahanin and Void shared tense glances.

"I couldn't detect anything, and I didn't sense this one either. It can only mean.." Void felt the anxiety flush his face.

"They somehow altered our perception. Was it the moment we touched land? Or perhaps, later."

Kabr looked puzzled, Pahanin inspected the comms relay again.

"Communication is fine. However, that one coming here." His eyes lingered at the corpse.

Void understood at a glance, "Trying to alter our Comms relay, they're trying to cut down our options for backup."

Kabr nodded, "Most likely, it's an iron trap. The longer we stay here, the more we're affected. If we lose the comms relay....We'll be headless chickens."

"But it doesn't make sense. If we've really stepped behind enemy lines, their retaliation should be more than that. Unless.." Void contemplated.

"Unless their numbers aren't high. They can't risk direct fights." Kabr chimed in.

Void shook his head.

"The Ahamkara's strength doesn't lie in numbers, it lies in the wishes they've gathered. The ones here could be far weaker than the ones on Venus."

Silence took over the trio, as their minds raced.

"Retreat isn't an option. The other teams are too busy for assistance. If we can't complete our mission, who knows where the Ahamkara will go." Kabr's face grew solemn.

"If we push hard now, we might have a chance at eliminating them for good. But the risks are high."

Kabr clenched his fists, and Pahanin whipped out his sword to his side.

Void flashed a resolute look, "If that's how it is, I'm not backing down." His hands traced to his rifle, -click- He reloaded.

Pahanin smirked, "Good. Then I have an idea.", glancing towards the orb.

Void chucked it back to him as he got to work, carefully dismantling the orb, Pahanin skillfully pulled out the shard inside.

"The shard is attracted to the Ahamkara. But its too small. If we use the comms relay to transmit its frequency, and test the response. It is possible to track them down."

Kabr thought it through as he moved towards the comms relay, "But, the relay won't work anymore. Isn't that so."

Pahanin sighed, "It is true. The relay cannot handle two sources at once. At most, it will survive for a few days."

Kabr grinned, "To chase a slippery enemy and cut off our comms, or to retreat and let it go. This is the final decision, choose carefully, you're risking everything." His eyes wandered to Void.

Void held his silence, 'Kabr and Pahanin won't die. Or so it was, but with Praedyth missing there's a risk....of failure.'

He frowned internally, 'To chase or to run away.' Void chuckled.

"You know, I haven't been a guardian for long, and I am nowhere near as strong as I want to be. But if I was scared of dying, then I would've never come this far."

"I won't run away." He stepped towards the titan.

Kabr tapped him on the shoulder, "Brave words kid. Pahanin, do it. Let the hunt begin."

Hearing those words, the hunter tweaked the relay, as a pulse resonated throughout Mars. A silent echo, replied back, deep within ravines and caves, the Ahamkara heard, springing to life.
 
Chapter 48: Dragon Slayer (4) New
A wave of energy washed over Mars, as the trio wore solemn looks.

Void felt like his skin crawled with ants, his body twitched as he felt sharp pinches.

Kabr took in a deep breath as he tweaked his visor.

"Looks like we're not dealing with a small number. Configure the signal to match our radar."

Pahanin swiftly reprogrammed the relay to coordinate with his microchip, "The frequency is matching. You'll see them now."

Void focused his vision as his radar lit up, hundreds of red dots scattered around mars.

'Is each of them an Ahamkara?' Void felt cold sweat roll down his back.

Kabr surveyed his radar, "Clusters packed into underground ravines. They're all hiding, the closest pack is five minutes from here. Let's strike before they can see us coming."

Immediately, he summoned his sparrow, and revved the bike, its thrusters roared.

Void brought out his own, "Ready", he jerked the handle as a neon light sparked.

"Let's go." Pahanin swiftly mounted his sparrow as he shot towards the nearest cluster.

"Don't fall behind kid." Kabr shouted, blasting off behind Pahanin.

Void immediately sprang into gear as a trace of neon light erupted, he ripped through the sandstorm, shooting towards them.

Like spears shearing through the storm, the trio cruised at breakneck speeds. Pahanin's riding skills could only be described as legendary.

The Martian terrain was rocky, uneven and crumbled under high speeds, however, Pahanin had not once slowed down, no matter what twists or turns came, he kept his pace.

'Talk about reaction time' Void felt strained to just keep up at speeds beyond sound, but Kabr and Pahanin seemed completely fine.

"Kid, can you hear me? We're close, hang in there."

Void looked towards Kabr as he waved a hand, picking up the pace to match Pahanin, Void took a breath as he wrung his accelerator fully, barely catching up.

A ravine came up ahead as the trio slowed down.

"We're here." Pahanin's voice echoed across the channel, he planted his foot in the sand as his sparrow skidded, drifting across as he stopped just before the edge.

Pahanin gazed at the abyss below, Kabr and Void braked to a halt beside him.

" Damn, I can't see a thing." Void squinted his eyes, but the ravine remained pitch black.

"It's probably just a trick." Kabr equipped his rifle again, feet lingering near the edge.

"We're going down, don't mess up the landing." He glanced to Void, and nodded.

Void gave a nod back, as Kabr dove straight into the Ravine, Pahanin followed, nimbly plunging to the depths.

Void equipped his own rifle, as he gave it one last reload.

-click-, swift as a phantom, Void leapt inside, nosediving to the bottom.

'It's pitch black, I can't sense anything.' His fall seemed to be go on for too long.

'Is this another mirage? No, I saw those two go in.' Void kept freefalling down into deep.

He tried to spread out his senses but it was like trying to catch his own shadow off-guard, impossible.

A minute had passed, Void felt a cool breeze brush past him, as he continued to plunge deeper into the ravine.

'I am close' Void instinctively pushed himself down, like a needle.

Void had seemingly lost his sense of balance, yet surprisingly he didn't feel it impossible to make the landing.

He smiled recalling his first death, 'Compared to that, this is nothing.'

Light gathered at the soles of his feet as he spread his arms to slow himself down, feeling the closer than ever, he swiftly kicked the air twice, an impulse rushed through him, as he softly dropped down.

A second later, he felt the firm bedrock as he gracefully landed on his toes, 'I guess captain's training wasn't all that useless..'

Void pressed his ears as he felt the comms static, but soon the channel seemed clear.

He whispered, "It's me, if you can hear me, reply through the comms."

Although Void couldn't sense anyone nearby, Pahanin's comms channel was active, there was a slight hope that the network was still working.

" Its @#$@#$ .....I can ...@#$@#$ you. We are @#$@#$, we're separated, @#$$@ forward. @#$@#$ you soon."

A painful static buzzed through his ears. The message seemed far too distorted, but Void could decipher what he needed.

'Move forward'.

He stood up and activated his stealth, his eyes focused on his radar, a few enemies lined up ahead.

Void gripped his rifle, as he stealthily prowled the dark ravine. His figure molded with the shadows, his pupils glowed a faint blue.

It wasn't long before Void encountered it, a spiny serpentine husk, coiled around a boulder. Hollow eyes, and crystalline fangs, the creature hadn't noticed Void in his spectral form.

Void knew instinctively, it was an Ahamkara. Some eerie energy just seemed to spill out from the creatures aura.

'It seems miniature compared to the holograms. But how strong is it.'

He couldn't just take a guess. A single strike, if he couldn't finish it within that, Void didn't know how the Ahamkara would react.

His left hand still held the rifle, as his right palm seemed to conjure a dagger. Void felt his heart skip a beat.

The Ahamkara seemed to look above, in a trance. It looked towards the faint horizon, high above, as if it could read the stars.

Void stirred his light, as it coated his dagger, a thin streak on its edge. Taking a quick breath, Void was ready to pounce, yet his body felt...frozen.

Or perhaps, it was the world.

'It's this feeling again', Void felt, weightless, but stiff. Nothing could move now, not even him.

It all grinded to a halt, yet Void could feel his right palm, or rather, his dagger.

'It's small, but there's movement.'

Void took a fraction of a second, as his thoughts aligned, 'Of course, so it's like this.'

Instantly, a thin coat of light spread around Void's body. 'Just as I thought', his legs twitched, as he plunged forwards, piercing through the frozen world.

The gears of time seemed to shift once more, Void moved at speeds beyond comprehension, he flickered above the Ahamkara. The creature sensing his power, seemed alarmed, seeing this crisis, it sought to hide.

It pulled the seams of space, to escape.

'As if I'd let that happen.'

Void's dagger cut through, as a swift strike sliced through the Ahamkara's head, a streak of purple light corroded the remains.

Its head rolled to the floor, as Void gently slid across to a halt.

"That's one down."

Void felt a blue screen pop up, as a notification appeared.

Passive Perk Acquired: Time's Tempo (Imperfect)

Ability: On rare and random occasions, the world stops for a brief second, allowing you to move with it.

Remarks: "Guardian, the bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot"

* Skill can be perfected to be an active perk


'So this is what I've been feeling.' His thoughts lingered around the imperfect tag.

'If I could perfect this skill.' Void's mind raced with the possibilities, but it was no time to daydream. He shook his head and got back to his senses.

A glance at his radar showed a couple more Ahamkara lying in wait. 'It's possible they've sensed me, either way, I can't stop here.'

Void picked up the pace as he merged with the shadows once more. Stalking the ravine, he flickered like a phantom. The radar showed they were directly ahead, as Void snuck through to a cavern.

However, no Ahamkara were to be found. The cavern seemed empty. That was until he heard a voice, and it whispered to his soul.

~O Strange one, why must you hunt us. You and us are the same. Wanderers in this universe.~

The ghastly voice seemed to echo, as Void felt a shiver run down his spine, he looked up.

"Is it your hobby to hide like cowards? Or are you just scared for your life." Void smirked.

At his taunt, a few draconic serpents crawled down the roof of the cavern, dangling as they faced him.

An Ahamkara smiled at him, as it spoke, almost like it was reminiscing.

~O strange one, is life and death so different? Either way, we continue, drifting across times. Isn't that true?~

"If it's no different to you, then you wouldn't mind dying right?" Void immediately aimed his rifle, as he held down the trigger, hundreds of bullets shot towards them, as smoke built up in the cavern.

Seeing as the barrel went red hot, Void let go of the trigger. However, that wasn't the problem.

'Their energy is still here', Void frowned.

The smoke cleared a second later, revealing the Ahamkaras dangling, jovially staring at Void.

~O brother ours, do you truly not remember?~

~Brother mine, why must you forget everytime?~

~Clumsy brother~

~Brother~

Several voices resonated within the cavern, as Void felt a sense of oppression.

! Warning: Host is being affected by an external energy

! Warning: Host is being affected by an external energy

! Warning: Host is being affected by an external energy

[ Host is recommended to use his light!!]


Void immediately felt nauseous, as the Ahamkara's slithered closer, with fanged grins, their bodies deformed, elongating like ophidians.

He noticed the system's warnings, and just as before, Void coated himself with a thin film of light.

'This pressure, it's wearing off'

Seeing as their cryptic ways wore off, the Ahamkara froze in place, eyeing Void. Sensing his dangerous aura they crept backwards.

"So normal bullets won't work huh." Void let go of his rifle as it transferred to his subspace, instead he unsheathed his saber.

The blade arced, now coated with a lilac aura. Void eyed the Ahamkara, he could see they were afraid. Afraid of his light.

He inched closer, knowing that they weren't as strong as they seemed. He recalled Ikorra's words.

"The weaker Ahamkara use deception." Void grinned.

"Since you bastards couldn't do any tricks, you're pretty weak huh."

His words made the Ahamkara's shift backwards, as they seemed to whisper in an unknown language.

However one spoke out.

~O brother mine, speak your wish, we shall grant it.~ It seemed hopeful as Void seemed to halt his steps.

"My wish? You wouldn't believe me if I told you" With those words, Void flickered.

Before the Ahamkara could get another word in, he clutched his sword, with a swift movement, he slashed through the cavern, as the lightning arced sending out a horizontal slice.

In one move, Void had dissected all their heads. He stood over their corpses, as he crept closer.

Void picked up the bones of the Ahamkara he had just killed, examining them closely.

Ahamkara Bones (Crafting Material)

Usage: Can be used to craft weapons or armor of all kinds.

* Upon crafting, there is a possibility of a cursed item being made.

Void squinted at the description, 'I will take that chance'

He collected all the bones in his inventory and walked away. Moving forward through the ravine.

Yet as his figure disappeared, a very faint whisper echoed, muttering away.

The Ahamkara's severed head twitched, it's eyes sparkling for a second, as it finally died down, embracing death.
 

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