Hunters Den
A crude cavern, carved through rock with what seemed like sheer force. Void's eyes darted as his gaze swept the Den. Secluded deep inside an asteroid crater, in his opinion it was the perfect spot for a secret hideout. He almost couldn't believe his own luck that Tevis had dragged him here.
Just as he was about to thank the veteran hunter, he felt Tevis swoop him away, flickering further as he realized what was happening.
A boisterous titan from among the four guardians around the table eyed her cards suspiciously. She was clad in heavy ivory armor, a jade Cong covered her right hand.
But the moment her mood soured, the aura of light around the table had immediately turned suffocating, she moved faster than Void's eyes could see, he could only notice a faint lightning aura covering her hand as it planted into the table, a frightening shockwave rippled through the Den.
'Fuck is that storm fist?' Void immediately slammed into the wall despite trying his hardest to absorb the resonating waves.
"CAYDE. How Dare You!" She barked.
"Aaand cue the ominous music." Cayde retorted with a smirk, his hand slyly placed on his holster.
Void gulped as the strange woman and Cayde suddenly wanted to rip each others heads off, and it wasn't reassuring that Tevis was crouching defensively. Void had already noticed that Tevis was ready to use smoke bombs to disrupt the situation.
But before either side took action, a sharp voice resounded, it was warlock watching over the game. Clad in fiery robes as her very presence demanded respect, she snapped.
"Wei, stop this nonsense. You know I am in no mood for work." The warlock's fierce glare dissuaded both guardians as the two parties calmed down.
"Tsk, consider yourself lucky this time. Just so you know I am not paying for that round." Wei scoffed.
"Hey hey hey, come on now. I won that fair and square, you can't possibly go back on the bet. Your honor I demand justice". The Exo hunter smacked the table and pointed accusingly at Wei.
The Warlock furled her brows as she heard Cayde, Void could only describe it as shooting him the "Do you think I am an idiot?" look.
"What?...." Cayde looked around the table innocently...
Only to find that everyone else simply deadpan glared at him.
"...Fine, I might've uh...Used some underhanded methods, but I swear it was just to liven up the party. Right guys, I mean who wants a boring game. Last time we were stuck in the same game for six hours. I really just saved your time here." Cayde changed the topic swiftly.
"And casually pocketed the difference is that right." The lean huntress casually commented.
"Woah woah woah, what do you think you're saying. I won't tolerate this insubordination, I am your vanguard I will have you know." Cayde turned to lecturing the huntress but she simply rolled her eyes and sighed.
"That's enough of your spiel" The warlock sighed, the corner of her eyes settling on Tevis and Void huddled in a corner.
Tevis did a little hand wave as the warlock looked over, her eyes keenly set on Void, she looked like she wanted to say some words, but her lips didn't part.
Instead, everyone's eyes fell on Tevis and Void as the guardians finally acknowledged their presences.
Cayde's voice pierced through the moment of silence,
"Young blood? Hey I thought this place was invite only, what are you doing here?"
"He's tagging along with me. Your man was in quite a predicament. You would know if you ever kept the damn transponder on." Tevis retorted clearly annoyed over some past business.
"Ignore your deranged commander, how about you give your seniors an introduction?" Wei smiled curious to know who the mysterious hunter was.
Void gulped, he couldn't believe this was the same woman who had almost shattered this cave system a second ago. Titans were terrifying in a sense.
"I am a new hunter, my name is Void Blade. Pleasure to meet you all. I look forward to learning from you" Void blurted out the last line without thinking.
He bit his own tongue the moment he ended that sentence.
'Fuck...I accidentally said the generic introduction for university seniors...." He looked towards Wei with some awkwardness.
But the titan chuckled hearing his odd greeting. In fact not just her but almost everyone was barely holding in their laugh.
Most guardians were reclusive and didn't like to talk. However, for a hunter like Void to suddenly say such an innocent greeting, almost like they were academy buddies....The warlock and huntress couldn't keep it in together either.
"Yeah nice to meet you, I am Wei Ning, but you can just call me Wei." She thrust her arm forward and grabbed Void's hand with a firm grip and did a good handshake.
Void could only wince in pain as his bones had almost gone numb.
The huntress next to Wei glanced at Void, "Sai Mota" she spoke and nodded.
Void simply nodded back, basic etiquette between hunters.
The Warlock remaining looked at Void, her apprehensive eyes seemed to be piercing through his very skin as she finally said.
"Eriana of the Praxic Fire." She shot him a solemn glare and Void responded in turn bowing his head very slightly.
It was not out of respect that Void had done so, but the Praxic Fire was a special command of guardians. One that existed solely to discipline guardians internally. In a way, Void had just encountered a very troublesome individual hence he decided to show some respect to not cause any problems.
Furthermore, Void began jogging his memory as he heard all their names, he almost couldn't believe who he had met. In his opinion they were legends....If not myths.
'The first fireteam in the Dark Below...These three were definitely in it.' He thought to himself.
"Well I suppose everyone already knows me bu-"
"Shut it Cayde." Eriana interrupted.
The Hunter Vanguard looked displeased but he was still too new in his position hence he didn't want to piss off Ikorra's praxic order. Dealing with that woman was like a nightmare for Cayde.
"So I don't suppose you called me here urgently just for a game of cards?" Tevis spoke up.
"No, but there was a reason I called you two here. I will jump straight to the point, I need a scout." Eriana looked towards the Tevis and Cayde.
Everyone's ears perked up at the mention of a scout.
"Wait, you called me here to be a scout? Sorry, to break the news but uh.. I don't think you can afford me." Cayde replied shrugging.
" You can't be the scout, you're too high profile. I need someone, invisible. Last I checked the nighstalker corps excelled at it, isn't that your field?"
Tevis frowned, "I don't recall the Praxic order needing to watch their steps while finding a scout. For you to take such a precaution, it can only mean one thing."
Eriana's eyes narrowed, she looked at Void.
Void felt her glare as he understood that perhaps he wasn't meant to listen in, but Tevis shook her off.
"Don't worry about him, if you mean what I think you do, then he's the least suspicious one among the entire hunter corps."
His words brought some confusing stares but he continued,
"Void here has only been an active guardian for three months. I reviewed his records earlier. Which means there's no wa-"
"There's no way he's associated with them." Eriana finished the sentence.
Void was confused at the current events, everyone was simply speaking in vague terms.
Eriana looked a little relaxed as she heard Void's circumstances.
She continued, "We found another one, two days ago. As we expected it was done in one shot, just like last time. Only ashes remained. Near the graveyard above King's Watch."
The tension in the room sprang up, everyone except Void had understood the severity of the situation.
"Who was the Victim?" Cayde chimed in.
Eriana simply swayed her head, they ashes weren't even enough to identify who they belonged to.
The air had immediately gone stale, a perverse aura gathering as the veteran guardians contemplated.
"Are you really sure it was him? Eriana last time you said your squad had hunted him down." Tevis argued.
Eriana's forehead creased, " The Praxic squad did manage to track him down but...He escaped. Injuring most of our elite operatives. At the time, Ikorra advised that we announce him dead just to ease the tension in the Tower."
"Besides, there's only one man capable of reducing a body to ashes with one shot."
Hearing this the Hunter's face hardened.
"So this scouting job?" He questioned.
"Sai managed to pick up his energy signal. She can track it but. We're not sure who's on his side. If anything gets out, her life is immediately in danger. We need someone from your corps, unseen, invisible to others." Eriana urged.
At her reply Tevis looked shocked. "I am sorry but its not possible, my corps will ultimately be stationed in Skywatch. The Vex activities on earth are getting stronger. I can't abandon that front."
But before Eriana could argue Tevis spoke again, "However, I do know of a solo nightstalker. Unseen and unknown, I don't suppose he would be interested." His eyes lingered towards Void.
Void's eyes widened, 'Fuck how did I get dragged into this.' he mumbled.
He wasn't idiotic, the way these guys were discussing the events, there was certainly someone powerful behind them. It was far beyond his caliber. He wanted to refuse but before he could even speak up, everyone's eyes had already settled on him.
"I...."
"Save your words Void, I know you might consider it dangerous but, you're our only chance. No one else available fits the criteria, and I won't let you do it for free. The Praxic fire will be indebted to you, I assure you we can be very useful." Eriana pleaded.
Void contemplated, he was interested in the mission, but he was also well aware of the saying "Curiosity killed the Cat".
"I will consider it but, what does the mission entail?"
"I can't reveal the specifics unless you accept but, you're only job would be to track the signal and maintain distance with the target. As long as we can use you to triangulate the target's location, your part will be over."
Void's eyes flashed as a blue prompt appeared in front of him.
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{Legendary Guardian System}
+New Mission:
* Praxic Order's Plea: Scout the mysterious man responsible for the incident. Maintain a minimum distance of 1.5 Km with the target!
Rewards: System Lv 3. (Store Unlocked!) , +++Xp, Praxic Fire Seal
Remarks: The strings of fate intertwine, what has the great web of fate spun into? Do the risks outweigh the gains? Perhaps only destined one's shall know. Those willing to risk it all.
[Accept]/[Decline]
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His jaw almost hit the floor... SYSTEM LV3. !!!
Void couldn't believe it, didn't he just unlock Level 2?
He sucked in a cold breath of air, the rewards... they were outstanding but. The remarks were simply too vague.
Should he take the risk? He contemplated as everyone around him awaited an answer..
It was true that Void wanted to play it safe, he wanted to play it smart but. The System Lvl 3 unlock unlocked a store. He didn't know what it contained but, it definitely had to be something amazing.
Lastly, there were no penalties to failure. If worst came to worst, Void knew he could definitely abandon the mission, he might earn the Praxic Order's enmity but they wouldn't hold it against him to not take huge risks.
Considering all these factors, Void glanced at Eriana, and finally agreed.
The warlock's face lit up with relief as he did.
"I've agreed to the mission now so I want to ask, who's the man I will be scouting?"
Void had a premonition that it wouldn't be easy, listening to the descriptions of their target he seemed to be extremely powerful.
Eriana looked at Void and sighed,
"It would be better for you to not know, but since you volunteered I will tell you."
"Our Target is, The Man with the Golden Gun, Shin Malphur." She answered.
Void immediately tensed up as he heard the phrase....
'It's him!' His eyes shuddered.
'I am fucked aren't I' Void thought to himself and despaired.
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed.