4 The Deep
All I could see was darkness. Pitch black darkness as I fell endlessly inside the mining tunnels. I almost thought there was no end to the tunnel. But then reality hit me.... almost like a truck as my body crashed into the floor.
Painful was not enough to describe what I felt. Excruciating, gut wrenching, agonizing and endless pain as my body plummeted to the floor, hitting the rock hard mine interior. See I was under the impression I could just jump before landing...
Little did I know, I couldn't see shit, and ghosts light was barely enough to illuminate the tunnels. As I tried to struggle and get up... I realized I had broken every bone in my body.
No... it was far worse than that. As I tried to call out to ghost for help, I could feel a slightly rustic taste fill my mouth... Ah.. yes the warmth. But from where.
I felt something embrace me, as it drenched me from the inside..flowing ever so slowly. As I tried to take a breath, it filled my lungs, and I coughed it out.
A crimson red stained the floor, and it was all I could see through the measly light emanating from my ghost. Then I saw only red, and only red till I drowned in it. Death yanked me to its doors, and I felt a chill embrace my soul as I yelped my last breath....
*Guardian Down*
The light, it flowed through me like a bright sun. Pushing away the cold as I was brought back to life, and my eyes jolted open. My body jerked awake, like I had just woken up from a slumber.
"Are you alright guardian"
I looked at ghost, and then back at myself. Damn...did I just respawn. I can't lie...I thought that was it. That I had died. But fortunately, somehow ghost could still revive me down here.
But it was a great example of what not to do the next time I tried venturing somewhere deep.
Springing up from the ground, I walked around to see where I was..
As I took a few steps, ghost's light showed the basalt in the floors. The floor tiling had long since rusted, as small streams of water flowed and converged to form a wave as it hit a vault door.
The walls had grown fauna, and it looked similar to a lost sector. The vault was locked, but I could see sharp claws on its door. Someone had tried to break in. But it was simply impossible.
Just from a distance, I could spot the 12 inch thick steel bolts on each side of the vault door. Only a tank could burst through. With no other locking mechanisms in-sight, the only logical conclusion was that the vault ran through an AI or automated system.
Fortunately, I too had a supercomputer at hand.. Well you know what they say.
~With its dying breath the traveler made ghosts, to open doors- Eris Morn~
"Ghost, can you open that vault door." I said, nudging him closer
"Hmm, this is golden age security. It will take me about three minutes. But I have to warn you, we might trigger a safety protocol. Or worse, whatever is inside that vault. It creeps me out."
Hearing his reaction, I could definitely say I would have to fight.
Gripping my sidearm as I trained it on the door, I instructed him to begin.
At this point, I was cautious. Having died once, I wasn't eager to experience that pain. Besides, something in my gut told me...dying in that vault....it would be a lot more permanent than I would like.
Unfortunately, although I was ready, I only had about 45 bullets left...I could only lament not picking up more ammo along the way.
The top of my HUD glowed slightly. That's right the super bar... It was about half full. If it was fully charged then I wouldn't be scared. Shadowshot was practically almost a missile. Sadly, I was only level 1, so I couldn't guarantee it would be stronger.
Ghost's lasers poked and prodded the gate. A few minutes later I heard a loud click as a the pistons around the vault door began to contract, unlocking it.
"We're done guardian. Honestly, that was easier than I thought. Suspiciously, the security protocol wasn't even complete. It barely put up a fight. Something is fishy, the golden age security might be outdated, but it's not normally this weak."
"You're right, I can also feel it in my gut, inside that vault is something that shouldn't be here. Stick close."
Both ghost and I crept closer to the vault door as it slowly opened, it's joints screeching when the rust finally peeled away.
A big rush of cold wind blew on me, and I felt it. But more importantly, I also saw it. The one prompt everyone hates....
========================
{Legendary Guardian System}
⚠️⚠️𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡⚠️⚠️
*Respawning Restricted ☠️*
========================
As expected..
I took a deep breath in as we stepped in, minding my step as we ventured inside.
My sidearm was trained for headshots, and with the improved aptitude I was sure to get some. Checking every single corner as I passed through, the gut feeling worsened every second. My left hand had already nudged closer to my void grenade.
As I trudged with leaden steps, anxiety clouded my mind. I noticed that I had began to sweat a little. Perhaps, it was slightly getting hotter down here...
Navigating the dark corridors, I stumbled upon an empty hall..
Sneaking in slowly, I made sure to camouflage ghost.
Step by step, nimbly I hid within the shadows and leapt up in the ceiling. Crawling through the roof supports, looking for enemies... But my radar was blank.
There were no hostiles...weird.
After I had confirmed that a few times, I jumped back down, but no one reacted to my movement. Instead, I noticed that there was a lot of rubble lying around.
The walls, they were caved in. Something had dug that out.
With gun in hand, I moved slowly towards those cavities. But as I did, suddenly I felt something crisply grab my ankle.
A huge chill ran through my spine as I spun around at blinding speeds. Before my brain could even process it, six shots rang out as I unloaded it into whatever was behind me.....
"Fuck fuck fuck."
My heart raced, but as I recognized what it was, a glitching robotic voice rang out.
"Cccan I help... you Si#@#$@#$@"
and the old robot laying on the floor had its core blown to pieces.
"A maintenance robot? What's that doing down here"
"The robot was probably here to assist transport of materials guardian. Though I suppose since the vault was closed, it could never exit on its own."
My heart slowly calmed down as I realized what it really was.. Thank god... I almost thought I was about to get dragged into the pits of hell.
But the threat was not yet over... See I knew those holes in the wall, the walls that had been dug out, to make slight cocoons. There was only one race known to do it, and I wasn't too fond of them.
Since I couldn't exactly find them, and there was no way to leave the tunnel. There was only one thing left to do. Bait them out.
Finding the highest ground I could, I cleared my throat as I held my gun, reloading it as slowly as I could.
"You can come out now. You can all come out now. Don't let me come and find you, I know you're here. Watching me in your little ant hills and your cocoons. You're scared of me aren't you? Scum, you all. Spineless cowards. Yeah , that's right. I know who you are." I exclaimed
"Hive Scum" I shouted
When I finished, the ground almost rumbled and quaked as a swarm of hive rushed to the surface while I stood on the elevated ground. It was quite comical how fast I was surrounded as their bloodthirsty shrieks resounded in the vault.
With a headcount I could almost guarantee there were more than 45 thralls that had encircled me...maybe the whole speech thing wasn't a good idea.
I stood there weak in the legs. The thralls drooled as their sharp fangs and claws surfaced, the hounded towards me at once.
Luckily just before they pounced I had used my shadow melee to concuss the surrounding enemies and immediately jumped to the roof boards.
Thralls might be lethal in large numbers, but they were only sitting ducks from this position
"It's over you idiots, I have the high ground" I shouted as I pumped lead straight into their skulls with great precision.
Ammo conservation was imperative, hence I had only done headshots. Suffice to say, my skills as a hunter were improving drastically by life threatening encounters.
But I had forgotten to take one thing into account. The game was far too restrictive....real life was not so easy..
The thralls began to pile up as they created a ladder towards me. A swarm of them rushed upwards climbing each other with fervor.
It was not long before my gun ran out of ammo and I couldn't hold them back any further.... It was time for the ultimate tactic...
I chucked a void grenade and immediately began running around the room.
Hey don't get me wrong, I might be a hunter right now, but with no ammo all I could do was melee.
But glancing at the enraged swarm chasing me at every second, the minute I turn around, it was a wipe. I would forever sleep here in this hive nest.. and that was not gonna happen. Not now.
"Ghost, search for any ammo, any weapons around us and do it fast."
"Got it guardian, stay safe"
Ghost's aura scanned the room multiple times, but it was simply impossible. Nevertheless it was not time to lose hope.
Peeking at super bar as I deftly dodged around the room.
It was 95% done.... the last 5%
I needed to get creative, galloping above the roof once more, the hive instantly began to pile. They had already gotten used to my tactics, what a bunch of freaks.
Their shrieks got louder as they clawed towards me, but I clenched my first and rammed it straight through the jaws of one thrall, ripping its head off...
"That's right fuckers, come and get it." I screamed enraged
A power built up within me and I kept going, punch for punch, blow for blow as I leapt out of their range, thrusting my hand through their skulls. It was a primitive way of killing them, and not something I could sustain for long.
My fingers had already started to bear the burden as my nails began to bleed with hive skin contaminating them. But that did not stop, in sheer desperation, I used everything around me, be it chucking rocks, or ripping their heads apart with sharp blows, I stopped at nothing.
Bit by bit, I could see the bar build up, then the next second, it shined yellow.
"Time's up cunts" I bellowed
The void curved beneath my fingers, as I darted into the air with the most force my legs could muster. Gripping the void bow as I pulled with all my strength.
~Draw from the void, light the way~
The arrow filled with light shot to the ground, impact everything in its way. Blowing it to smithereens as the orbs of power gushed forth.
Radiance took over me, as my power surged to the peak, and I mowed through every living and breathing thing.
In the end, I dropped to my knees, drained....exhausted. My ghost rushed to me, and its light began to rejuvenate my broken body.
A sly smirk crept up my face..
"I had succeeded."
==========================
{Legendary Guardian System}
⚠️⚠️ATTENTION⚠️⚠️
*Host has completed a secret mission
+ Golden Age Vault Encounter 1/15
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chap. Leave comments if you liked it, and don't forget to leave a review.
