The Deep

All he could see was darkness.

Pitch black darkness as he fell endlessly inside the mining tunnels.

Void almost thought there was no end to the tunnel. But then reality hit him.... almost like a truck as his body crashed into the floor.

Painful was not enough to describe what he felt. Excruciating, gut wrenching, agonizing and endless pain as his body plummeted to the floor, hitting the rock hard mine interior.

As he tried to struggle and get up… Void realized he had broken every bone in his body.

No... it was far worse than that. As he tried to call out to ghost for help, he could feel a slightly rustic taste fill my mouth.

'Ah.. yes the warmth. But from where?'

Void felt something embrace him, as it drenched him from the inside..flowing ever so slowly.

As he tried to take a breath, it filled his lungs, and he coughed it out.

A crimson red stained the floor, and it was all he could see through the measly light emanating from ghost.

Then he saw only red, and only red till he drowned in it. Death yanked him to its doors, and Void felt a chill embrace his soul.

*Guardian Down*

The light flowed through him like a bright sun. Pushing away the cold as he was brought back to life, and his eyes jolted open.

Void's body jerked awake, like he had just woken from a slumber.

"Are you alright guardian?" Ghost asked.

Void gawked at ghost, and then back at himself.

'Damn...did I just respawn? I can't lie...I thought that was it.'

He had died. But fortunately, ghost could still revive him down here.

But it was a great example of what not to do the next time he tried venturing somewhere deep.

Springing up from the ground, Void walked around to see where he was..

As he took a few steps, ghost's light showed the basalt in the floors.

The floor tiling had long since rusted, small streams of water flowed and converged to form a wave as it hit a vault door.

The walls were stained a mossy green, and it looked similar to a lost sector. The vault was locked, but he could see sharp claws on its door.

"Someone tried to break in." Void traced over the marks.

Just from a distance, he 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, he 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?" Void 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, Void knew he'd get dragged into a fight.

Gripping his sidearm he trained it on the door and instructed ghost to begin.

At this point, he was cautious. Having died once, he wasn't eager to experience that pain.

Besides, his instincts told him...dying in that vault....it would be a lot more permanent than he would like.

The top of his HUD glowed slightly. That's right, the super bar.

It was about half full. If it was fully charged then he wouldn't be scared. Shadowshot was practically almost a missile.

Sadly, he was only level 1, so Void couldn't guarantee it would be stronger.

Ghost's lasers poked and prodded the gate. A few minutes later he heard a loud click as the pistons around the vault door began to contract, unlocking it.

"We're done guardian, but something is fishy, the golden age security might be outdated, but it's not typically 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." Void nodded.

The two 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 Void, and he felt it. But more importantly, he also saw it.

========================

{Legendary Guardian System}

⚠️⚠️𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡⚠️⚠️

*Respawning Restricted ☠️*

========================

As expected..

Void took a deep breath and stepped in.

Checking every single corner he passed through, his gut feeling worsened every second. His left hand had already nudged closer to his grenade

As Void trudged with leaden steps, anxiety clouded his mind.

Void noticed that he had begun to sweat a little. Perhaps, it was slightly getting hotter down here...

Navigating the dark corridors, he stumbled upon an empty hall..

Sneaking in slowly, he made sure to camouflage ghost.

Step by step, he nimbly hid within the shadows and leapt up in the ceiling. Crawling through the roof supports, looking for enemies.

But his radar was blank.

'No hostiles...weird.'

After he had confirmed that a few times, he jumped back down, but no one reacted to his movement.

Instead, he noticed that there was a lot of rubble lying around.

The walls were caved in. Something had dug that out.

With a gun in hand, Void moved slowly towards those cavities. But as he did, suddenly he felt something grab his ankle.

"Cccan I help... you Si#@#$@#$@"

An old robot laying on the floor stuttered, its core had been blown to pieces.

"A maintenance robot? What's that doing down here" Void felt his heart skip a beat.

"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." Ghost answered.

But the threat was not yet over... Void 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 he wasn't too fond of them.

Since he 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 he could, Void cleared his throat.

"You can come out now. You can all come out now. I know you're here. Watching me in your little ant hills and your cocoons. You're scared of me aren't you? Spineless cowards. Yeah , that's right. I know who you are." Void exclaimed.

"Hive Scum!" He shouted.

When he finished, the ground almost rumbled and quaked as a swarm of Hive thralls rushed to the surface.

Void stood there weak in the legs.The thralls drooled as their sharp fangs and claws surfaced, hounding towards him at once.

Just as they pounced, Void shot up towards the rafters.

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" Void shouted as he pumped lead straight into their skulls with great precision.

Ammo conservation was imperative, hence he had only done headshots. Suffice to say, his skills as a hunter were improving drastically by life threatening encounters.

But Void 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 him. A swarm of them rushed upwards climbing each other with fervor.

It was not long before Void's gun ran out of ammo and he couldn't hold them back any further.... It was time for the ultimate tactic...

He chucked a grenade and immediately began running around the room.

But glancing at the enraged swarm chasing him at every second, the minute he turned around, it was a wipe.

He 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 the super bar as he deftly dodged around the room.

'95% done.... the last 5%'

He needed to get creative, galloping above the roof once more, the hive instantly began to pile.

They had already gotten used to his tactics.

Their shrieks got louder as they clawed towards him, but Void clenched his first and rammed it straight through the jaws of one thrall, ripping its head off...

"That's right fuckers, come and get it." He screamed enraged

A power built up within him and he kept going, punch for punch, blow for blow as he leapt out of their range.

Thrusting his hand through their skulls. It was a primitive way of killing them, and not something he could sustain for long.

His fingers had already started to bear the burden, his nails began to bleed with hive skin contaminating them.

But that did not stop, in sheer desperation, he used everything around him, be it chucking rocks, or ripping their heads apart with sharp blows.

Bit by bit, he could see the bar build up, then the next second, it shined yellow.

"Time's up c*nts" He bellowed.

The void curved beneath his fingers, he darted into the air with the most force his legs could muster. Gripping the void bow as he pulled with all his strength.

~Draw from the void, light the way~

The arrow filled with light shot to the ground, impacting everything in its way. Blowing it to smithereens as the orbs of power gushed forth.

Radiance took over him, his power surged to the peak, and he mowed through every living and breathing thing.

In the end, he dropped to his knees, drained....exhausted. Finally, ghost rushed to him, and its light began to rejuvenate Void's broken body.

A sly smirk crept up on his face..

"I succeeded."

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{Legendary Guardian System}

⚠️⚠️ATTENTION⚠️⚠️

*Host has completed a secret mission

+ Golden Age Vault Encounter 1/15

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