18+ Become Legend

Dante smiled as a fresh magazine clicked into place in his auto-rifle. He had never been good at clearing jams, but at least he got this one sorted. When it mattered. He could hear them on the other side of the wall, scurrying and clicking and crying shrill cries to one another. From the sensors in his helmet, he could tell there were at least four on the other side. And right now, the only thing separating Dante and the Fallen was a few inches of concrete.

There was no door, but he was going to go through regardless. The room was lit only by a single strip light dangling by its wires from the cracked ceiling. The green water that swirled around his ankles was stagnant, having flowed from a broken pipe running along the walls in the boiler room. The water supply had long since dried up. An old coal-powered boiler, huge and ancient, sat watching in the far corner of the room. There were still a few coals sitting inside, black and crumbling. They had been there for years. This building had been there for even longer. During the Golden Age buildings like this had been demolished and great new structures erected in their place. This one however... no one cared enough to knock it down. They figured it would come down on its own eventually.

A red light flashed on Dante's HUD, and when he glanced up at his motion sensor he saw that it had come alive with movement. At least 8 dots now were dancing around on the other side of the wall. He heard a shriek and what sounded like running footsteps, and then his HUD was quiet once again. Now he had second thoughts about going through the wall. "Tower Control, this is Dante, come in." His voice was hollow with a sort of vibratory quality, high-pitched even for an Awoken. He wanted to remove his helm and wipe the sheen of sweat from his bald head, but his sensors hadn't quite figured out if the air was safe yet.

"Dante this is Tower Control, we hear you. What's your status?" The woman that responded, a human, had a deeper voice than Dante.

"Not good, Tower Control. I have no way through from here but to blow the wall, and I have mixed reports on the number hostiles on the other side. How should I proceed?"

"Do what you must, Dante. That Ghost carries information pivotal to repelling the Fallen if our reports are to be believed. You must reach it, no matter the cost."

"Understood, Tower Control. I'll radio in once I have the target," he said with a sigh.

"Roger that Dante. Good luck. Tower Control out."

Then Dante was left alone with his thoughts once again. They hadn't actually answered his question, and now he had to formulate a plan. He had never been good with plans. There was only one way forward and that was through the wall, that much he knew, Now it was just about doing it the right way. He saw a hole in the corner, large enough if he crawled through on his stomach. It would have to do. Dante placed his auto-rifle against the wall and checked to make sure his shotgun was loaded, before pulling out a small rounded explosive. He found a weak point in the wall and attached the device, before collecting his rifle and moving to the hole.

On the other side, things were worse than he had suspected. A Fallen Captain stood on a high perch at the far end of the cavernous room, with around four snipers on the surrounding catwalks. At least a dozen Dregs were roaming the floor, scrapping and scavenging. Dante had picked the wrong day to leave his machine gun at home, and now he would pay for his carelessness. On the bright side, he could see the target. The Captain was throwing the crumpled AI back and forth between his lower pair of hands, holding a cruel-looking hand-cannon and a blade in the upper pair. Just Dante's luck.

A massive boom filled the room as rubble and chunks of concrete flew into the crowd, killing three of the Dregs. They were all focused on the source of the explosion as Dante made his way quietly to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Captain's perch. He shuffled up, until he was just behind the Captain. Just as he got behind him, the Captain whirled. The barbed claws on either side of Dante's shotgun barrel sliced deep into the Captain's stomach, and held onto chunks even as the shot sent the rest of the Captain flying from his perch. All of them turned and looked at him, surprised as their captain fell. A shriek went up, and then the room erupted into gunfire. Dante killed two sniper with his auto rifle before they got their guns up, and the other two missed under the pressure. Dante rolled back to dodge a shot from a Dreg, and crouched behind some barrels. From his belt he pulled a flashbang grenade and hurled it into the crowd. As the Dregs stood startled and screaming, Dante stood and unloaded into the two snipers on the far side of the room, and then threw a frag grenade into the shrieking horde. A few arms went flying as Dante's black armor got a new crimson coat.

When the gunfire ceased a few moments later, only bodies remained of the Fallen. Dante strolled over to the Captain's mauled corpse, its lower arms and most of its ribs blown apart by the force of the shotgun. The Ghost was still curled up in his fist.

"Tower Control this is Dante. I've secured the target, repeat, the target is secure. Requesting immediate extraction." A sigh of relief came from the other end, the same human woman still there.

"Glad to hear it Dante. Sending your extraction now. Make your way to the primary LZ, ETA 10 minutes. Tower Control out."

"Understood. Dante out." He hated being called Dante on the radio. All of the 'proper' Guardians got a callsign. Dante hadn't reached that stage yet. Being called by his name made him feel so powerless. Hopefully they would see after this, his fourth successful mission.

"A beer, please. Surprise me."
Katey leaned against the bar, handing over the money to pay for her drink. The bartender took it, nodding and filling up a glass with a deep, rich, brown ale. Taking the glass, she smiled at the bartender in thanks and went to sit down at one of the many empty tables.

This was one of her favourite pastimes; sitting in the bar and just watching the people that passed through. Some came to drown their sorrows, some to celebrate, and others for no reason other than to enjoy a night out. On this particular day, not too many people were present. There were a small group of men chattering loudly in the corner, laughing heavily every so often at a joke one of them had said. There was a couple, sat opposite each other, apparently on a date. And really, not much else.
Must be a busy day for most of them.
She rearranged her cloak to slip over the back of the chair, so that she was more comfortable, and as she did so, another man walked in. An armoured Awoken man, helmetless, with a square jaw and sharp features, narrow eyes, and a shaved head. He looked interesting, to say the least, and his eyes were jittering over all the inhabitants of the bar, examining them closely. His eyes lingered on Katey for a moment, before sliding away. He ordered a beer and sat down at another empty table.

Katey thought no more of it, but started to get interested again when she noticed him periodically glancing at her, eyes narrowing every time, as if he was trying to discern something from her mannerisms and appearance. She eventually stood up, taking her drink with her, and walked swiftly over to him.
"You mind if I sit?" she asked, gesturing at the chair opposite the armoured man. He shook his head, allowing her to sit down. "A girl could get nervous, with a strange man eyeing her up like that." She paused for effect, leaning in closer and raising her eyebrows slightly. "Now, I may be female, but I'm no girl. I've got no issues asking you personally. The way you walked in here, staring up everyone in the place; it's almost like you're looking for someone. And I get the feeling you're not really looking for anyone in particular. Am I right?"

"Of course I got the damn job done. Sir" Azarias stared at the general who stood across from him, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on Azarias's helmet, as if searching for some kind of emotion, but unable to find any behind his mask. "With all due respect Sir," Azarias continued, his tone of voice rather sarcastic and disrespectful. "That, was a suicide mission you sent me on. I'm lucky I made it back alive."

The General paused for a moment before he replied, pacing around the table, his form towering above Azarias as he looked down on the guardian with a stare that would intimidate the bravest of soldiers. "With all due respect Azarias," He began, mocking Azarias's earlier words. "I don't care about you. You got the job done, that's what I care about. Sure, we lost a few men, but you made it back. This mission was important, and you got it done. You're a tactical genius Azarias. But don't let your loyalty to your fellow shoulders drag you down. You are now dismissed. Go to the bar and get yourself a drink or something. Dante may want to speak with you"

"Yes...Sir" The two men stood in silence for a few moments, before Azarias grudgingly turned his back on the general, and took his leave of the war room. He had rarely entered the bar, his hate of alcohol being the reason for it. All it did was instil people with false confidence. Pathetic.

There was something different about this girl. Normally the sight of an armor-clad Awoken man carrying a shotgun was enough to keep civilians at bay. Either she was brave, or she was stupid. The two often got confused. Nevertheless, she was a civilian. It was against everything he had every been taught to expose vital operations to those that weren't to be a part of them. He was about to respond when a man walked in. A familiar man. Azarias Drexel, a man Dante knew all too well. A man without respect and without honor. The only Titan he knew that had done away with his traditional cloth. He shot a wry smile at Dante, mocking, and he realized how him sitting opposite a woman like this would look to Azarias. He sighed. Azarias was sat at the bar pretending to play with his helmet whilst listening to see what Dante had to say. "I... I'm sorry ma'am, I'm not allowed to discuss my intentions with civilians..." Azarias lifted an eyebrow. "For god's sake Azarias, if you're going to listen just come here already." He turned his attention back to the woman who, in all honesty, seemed to be disappointed. Two days. Only two days. He was desperate. He needed fighters, but this woman wasn't one. Azarias was. Maybe he could persuade him to help. But this woman... "I'm looking for people. For Guardians. I'm assembling a team. I'm sorry ma'am, but seeing as how you're not a Guardian, I'm afraid I'm unable to tell you what I'm gathering a team for, and I'm afraid that I must ask you to step aside. I see no reason for you to be involved in this sort of business. It's not pleasant." He saw something flicker in her eyes. Disappointment? Sorrow? No. Excitement.

Katey smirked to herself, reaching down to pull out her loved Magnum and set it down on the table.
"Civilian, am I?" She saw an opportunity here; she may not be a Guardian herself, but she felt she had the ability to. All she needed to do was to prove it somehow. "Listen, I know I'm not a Guardian. I'm reminded of that far too often. All I want is a chance to prove it, a chance for adventure."

The man seemed unsure, but Katey held out her hand politely before he could say anything, trying to conceal the burn marks circling her wrists.
"And the name is Skjaervo, Katey Skjaervo. Your name is...?"

The gun on the table was impressive. Not a civilian weapon, that much he was sure of. "Dante." He hesitated a moment, not quite sure where this was leading him. "Dante Vornoyya, Titan and Guardian of the Last City. No ranks or titles I'm afraid. Not yet." This woman wasn't like the rest. She was passionate, and determined, and he was pretty sure now that she was more stupid than brave. No one would put themselves forward like this, to throw themselves onto the frontier against monsters, if they knew what being a Guardian truly entailed. "You own a gun. Can you shoot it? You reckon you could take on the Fallen outside those walls? Prove it, and I'll think about giving you a shot." Azarias hadn't moved just yet. "Azarias, I know you're listening. Just get over here. I want to talk to you too."

She was almost offended at his attitude, but understood. If she was in his position, she'd probably do the same thing.
"I've lived out there for years. I'll gladly show you what I can do, if you give me time to grab my equipment."
Looking into Dante's eyes, she tried to instill an air of confidence without appearing too arrogant. She knew that she would at least impress him, and that might at least get her a good reference to the Tower. But she wanted a definite answer; to go with Dante would be a surefire way of proving herself to the Guardians.

Now that caught Dante off guard. Not many had lived beyond the wall for extended periods of time and lived to tell the tale. He couldn't be sure if she was lying, or if she was just trying to get out there. These days, you could never know who was trustworthy. Even most of his Guardians weren't trustworthy. "I got back from a mission a few hours ago and I'm not due on patrol until tomorrow. But that doesn't mean we can't go out there. Go and grab your stuff and meet me in the hangar in half an hour. I'm going to get my equipment and talk to the General, up at Tower Control. If I'm not there... leave if you want. Wait if you want a chance." He stood from the table and bowed, before walking over to Azarias. "I need to talk to you, and it's damn important. Russia's becoming a major hot-zone, and I'm gonna need your help. Find me later, I'll either be in my quarters or at the quartermaster." He put a hand on Azarias' shoulder. "There's no room for our rivalry on this one, Az." He turned and walked out, rubbing the top of his hand, feeling the cold metal plates rub over his scalp, leaving the din of the bar behind him as he headed back up to the Tower.

"I'll be there," she said, standing up and shuffling round Dante as he spoke to his acquaintance, Azarias. She headed straight for her small apartment; she'd only really lived in it a few weeks, after she'd returned from the outside world, but it was definitely... lived in.

Shutting the door behind her, she stripped off and took a quick shower, drying her hair quickly before getting back into her armour; tight brown leather trousers, with a red top, brown and black gloves, and a black cloak accented with red. She opened the locker in the corner, grabbing out her belt full of specialist equipment, along with her sniper rifle and scoped scout rifle. The Magnum slotted into a holster on her right thigh, while the two rifles fell into holsters strapped to her back, under the cloak. Throwing her hood up over her face, she headed out to the hangar.

Dante wasn't there yet, but it didn't take him long.
"Hey there." He was clad in deep black plate armour, carrying a large collection of heavy weaponry. Or at least, it was heavy compared to Katey's weapons of choice. He held his helmet under his arm; black, solid, with a large red visor. Katey respected his choice, but she would never wear such heavy armour like that, or use such heavy weapons. She preferred speed and agility to power and resilience, precision and elegance over stopping power and fire rate. Equally, Dante seemed skeptical of Katey's choice; he grimaced slightly at her lack of armour, and looked very hesitant upon seeing her sniper rifle and scout rifle.
"We going out now, or do you have to give me some bloody safety briefing?"

She was headstrong, reckless. Wearing next to no armor and eager to go. "I don't know where you lived, when you lived outside these walls, but where we're going, it ain't gonna be pleasant. I've decided we're scouting. You do what I say here. I'd say I have no doubt of your abilities but I'd be lying. I don't know who you are, what you're capable of, and I know I shouldn't be doing this. But when you're out there, you need to respect that you're out there with me. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high. What we're doing is absolutely vital, more-so than you can imagine at the moment. I don't want to sound like an ass, but I will anyway. You're not a Guardian yet, but get this right and you may just make it. Prove that can't obey orders and are good at jeopardizing a mission, and you'll never have your chance." He looked at the open door of the dropship, and began the walk towards it, fastening on his helmet and listening to it click into place with the rest of his suit. He powered up his shields and turned on the HUD. He hopped up to the door and climbed inside, turning to call out. "So, it may not be a safety briefing, but it's close to it. These things will tear your limbs off whilst your alive just to laugh at your screams and paint pretty pictures with your blood. And they'll enjoy every second of it." He paused for no reason is particular. "Come on," he said, turning and getting into his seat. "Yugo. North Russia. The Kayutski Dam."

I am crouching quietly in a field outside the wall. It's a simply mission. Head to an old ruined farm house and take out a group of vandals and dregs that have been stirring up trouble. Usually, if a guardian is as experienced as I am they hate missions like this. I don't. I like the break from difficulty. It can be oddly relaxing to just kill some four armed jerks and head to the bar, and that is all you need to do.

I see a vandal step into view. He is on the second story, standing on the edge of the floor where the wall has since been destroyed.

"Tower Control. I'm at the location." I radio in as I begin my approach toward the house.
"Allright Rogue. Get in, take out the targets, get out. Simple." A woman responds on the other end of the radio. I can't tell who it is.
"Man, you really take the fun out of it."
"Just get it done."
"I always do."

My back is pressed against the wall of the farm house. The door is on my right. I activate my thermal vision and spot two vandals along with three dregs. Easy enough. I step through the doorway into a rather opened and ruined building. None of them spot me oddly enough. One of them is just two feet in front of me, back turned. I tap it's shoulder and meet its turning head with the blade of my knife. That got their attention.

Next thing I know I am sprinting up the stairs and have tackled the vandal I was watching from the field not long ago. I stab him between two plates of armor. I hear footsteps behind me and grab the vandal's gun by the barrel. I turn and deliver a hard blow with the weapons stock to the head of a dreg. I step down hard on it's head and hear a quiet crack. Two to go.

One is below me, the other across the room from me. I notice his weapon is up and dive out of the way just in time to avoid a bullet. I roll and grab my knife by the blade, throwing it at the dreg. It reaches it's mark. The last target has it's gun up too, but I don't dive. I run straight towards the hole in the floor and jump down onto the last dreg.

Collision. The dregs neck gets snapped somewhere under my left ribs, but it didn't work nearly as planned. I make a mental note to neve tackle people on floors below me again. I roll off of the dreg, now facing up with a clear view of the sky. I take off my helmet, not worrying about how healthy the air is. It's fine.

I can taste blood on my lower lip. I guess that I must have banged it on something during this event. I better clean it. I know the perfect cleaning substance too. Whiskey. I get up with a grunt, grab my knife from the floor above and begin to make my way to the bar.

"Targets down. Objective complete."
"Good job Rogue. You're free to do what you want with the rest of your day."

I reach the bar and head in. My helmet is between my arm and my hip. My black hair is matted down against my forehead from my helmet. I take a seat at a stool. The bar is pretty empty. I count two titans. One is sitting with a young girl. Theres a magnum on the table and that interests me. Titans don't use magnums very often, but neither do civilians. The other titan is obviously listening in on their conversation. Making certain facial expressions at parts of the two's conversation. This titan doesn't have a sacred cloth though. Interesting.

The bartender brings me a glass of bourbon and I nod to her as I pay. I try not to eavesdrop on the two's conversation as well. Focusing on my whiskey. I do end up hearing odd bits of information. Patrol. Guardian. Civilian. Not a Guardian. Then one odd bit of information hits me. Outside the wall. I shake out of my trance and finish my whiskey, obviously a bit shaken. I head back to my quarters.

What Dante was saying made sense, to be fair. She nodded, realising how he didn't value her attitude; he saw her as reckless, rather than confident.
"Right, sorry. I know I'm not a Guardian, and you are. Orders come from you." She hoped that didn't sound sarcastic. "So where are we going?" she asked as they stepped inside the dropship. Dante answered her indirectly, speaking to the ship's navigation system, apparently. His answer surprised her greatly.
"Yugo. North Russia. The Kayutski Dam."
"Russia?" Dante glanced at her, warning her. "Sorry. Can I ask what's at the Kayutski Dam, then? What exactly are we scouting for?"

Russia was a hot zone, and the girl knew it. He felt bad that her trip with him had to be under these circumstances but he felt he could use her for this. "Back in the bar, I said I was looking for Guardians, for a team. On the mission I went on this morning..." He leant over and turned off the AI for a moment before they left so that nothing could recorded. "The Fallen seem to establishing bases in Russia. Big ones. And one of those, the smaller at the two, is being made in that dam. The team I'm assembling is to take it out. You and me, we're gonna go see exactly how much progress they've made, find a few entries, look at numbers, take out patrols, you know, all that sort of stuff. Any sort of information we can get our hands on before the Op is going to help us in more ways than you could think of." He let it sink in for a moment. "Any questions before I turn Yugo back on?"

I reach my quarters, or rather, my apartment. I have never really gotten used to calling it that since I bought it. I still have the habit from when I lived in the standard issue quarters they give guardians. Tiny little places.

The door leads to a very short hallway that opens up the the main room. The room is my entire apartment, very open. The only other actual room there is besides this one is the bathroom. The kitchen is to my right, but I step down to the second level. It's only a small difference in height, but it makes the room feel a bit more sectioned. My bed toward the far end of the room, against the window that makes up the wall. I take off my armor and through and through it on my couch.

I take a shower and clean up a bit before I change into a pair of jeans and a black shirt. I head to the window and look out at the view. It's not the best, but it's nice. The view is the only reason that the apartment costs as much as it does. I don't care though, it's not like I have anything else to spend my money on.

I do various things around my quarters but for some reason can't seem to stop thinking about the three people at the bar. I can't figure out why they interest me so much. I decide that I might as well go back to the bar and see if the titan without the cloth is still there. Maybe talking to him will get my mind off this. I grab my best knife and attach it to my belt. I stick another small one in my boot. Then I head back down to the bar.

"The lights don't go out" He simply replied, glaring at the man now seated before him. He didn't like when people judged his toys. "Hunter. Sneaky. Weak. Cowardly. Shall I continue, or are we done here?"

It was unusual to be approached by some random guardian in the bar, and Azarias felt immediately on the defensive. The man before him didn't say anything for a few seconds, and as such Azarias went back to ignoring him, playing with the various wires and technology in his helmet, adjusting every little detail so that he might be as deadly as possible.

"The lights don't go out" The man replied. I don't quite buy it. All technology will have issues at some point in time, whether it be a gun jamming or a helmet failing. Knives however, will be trusty until the very moment they dull or break, at which point I can simply use another knife. You can't carry around eight rifles on you, like you can knives.

"Hunter. Sneaky. Weak. Cowardly. Shall I continue, or are we done here?" The man said. This both amused and annoyed me. I rather enjoy putting people on edge and messing with them, but I also am not a fan of someone this rude.

"Whoa, Whoa, Man. Didn't mean to offend." I say, choosing to take the passive road, rather than stab his kneecap under the table. "I noticed you don't have that odd little sacred cloth on you? Why exactly would that be?" I say. Still walking the line between kind and rude.

I glance down to make sure my knife is still at my side. It is. Hopefully this man isn't as violent as his words make him sound.

Azarias shrugged his shoulders as his gaze jumped to the man, then back to his helmet. "The lights have yet to go out" He murmured, correcting himself, and hopefully clearing the rather tense atmosphere he had created between the two men. "As for the sacred cloth, I do not wear it as I believe it is nothing more than a liability. It causes more trouble than it's worth. Our armour isn't supposed to be pretty. It's meant to stop a bullet lodging itself in your gut"

He sighed as he set the helmet aside, his gaze now fixed solely on the man before him. "Sorry for the rude intro, I get a little tense when I haven't got to shoot in a while. Care to join me at the firing range?"

Ash started up the stairs from the Vanguard table. She hadn't gotten as much glimmer as she would've liked to from that last job. All of the rummaging and sifting through the pile of scrap for a useless ghost. It didn't have any intel on it at all, and not even a usable part that she could mod to Shade. Then her mind shifted to the ghost she had been working on for months now. As she started up the second set of stairs towards the space docks, she pulled the little orb off of her belt. It wasn't the shape of the new ghost models, which were more of a star, but her ghost was a dark sphere, with a dark red reticle. But she still couldn't understand why she couldn't get it to work.

With light squeeze, Ash listened to the boot up noises as it rose from her hand. She felt a bit of excitement, but that feeling fell short, as the ghost dropped back to her hand. A feint grunt of frustration rose from beneath her mask. "What are you missing? I wish you could just tell m-"

Her voice was cut off by the chatter of her radio in her ear. "Ash, you read?" the familiar echo of Banshee-44 called in. It was good to hear her friend's voice, after half of a week of digging through useless scrap. "Ya, I got you Ban. I'm on my way up to the shop right now."

"Fantastic," the old Exo's course voice responded, "The parts have come in, and you are going to like what was included." Ash almost skipped in excitement, she had been waiting for these parts for a month now. "It's about time. Did you look at them all? What about the ghost motherboard?"

"Yes, Shade's motherboard came in with them all, but I'm not sure it will help or not. And your new sight and fore-grip came too. That, and a whole lot of other useless scrap." He spoke with a slight taunt. Ash placed her hand on the ear of her helmet, interrupting her transmission with the Exo. She picked up a crushed oil can that sat on Banshee's store counter, and chucked it at the back of his head as his back was turned. The exo turned around violently, with a muffled cough of surprise. "How is that necessary?"

Ash pushed the latch at her neck, and pulled her helmet off, chuckling in the process. "Don't insult my taste in modding supplies. You know what I can do with all of this," she spoke, trailing off as she poked through the packages. She set Shade down on the desk, and unholstered her sidearm. "I should've ordered a cylinder modifier for Ignazio. I would like to push for 10 shots."

Banshee leaned against the counter as ash sat at the small desk in the corner, digging through her new parts. "Yes, because 7 of those .44's shot out of your Duke isn't good enough," his sarcastic tone ended, as he was approached at the front. Ash didn't look up from what she was doing. Her hands carefully dropped the new ghost motherboard into Shade's casing. "Ash, Tracer is back. Says he's having troubles activating his holo-sight."

"Is it jammed?" She called back, not even turning her head, now carefully tightening her ghost's new component, waving the Exo over to her. She turned in her chair, and took the rifle in her hands. Examining the sight, it was stuck in it's folded positioning. She turned to her bench, and picked up a small screwdriver, which she used to loosen one of its fastening screws, which allowed it to pop up to aim. She then flicked the rifle, which switched it to it's down position and rose from her seat. "Just an over tightened screw this time Tracer. Have a good day." She turned back to her desk and sat back down, to rebuild Shade's casing.

"Well, aren't you just a social butterfly," Banshee spoke again, back to leaning against the front counter. Ash turned around in her chair with a whip, "I just spent 2 days searching through dead Exo parts, and scrap to find a Ghost that was supposed to have some sort of top notch intel, but didn't. So excuse my attitude." She turned back with a sigh, as Banshee let out a small laugh.

"The lights have yet to go out" The man mumbles.

"As for the sacred cloth, I do not wear it as I believe it is nothing more than a liability. It causes more trouble than it's worth. Our armour isn't supposed to be pretty. It's meant to stop a bullet lodging itself in your gut" He adds. I can respect that. He prioritizes efficiency. Smart move. It seems like something that I would do if I was a Titan, but then again, I wouldn't be a titan.

"Sorry for the rude intro, I get a little tense when I haven't got to shoot in a while. Care to join me at the firing range?" The man asks.

I haven't been to the firing range in quite some time now that I think about it. That's because I am not exactly that well acquainted with guns.

"Alright then. Lead the way." I say, motioning with my hand. I suppose there will probably be some knives there I could throw.

The tower was a large place. It was filled with many Merchants and armored Guardians. Dax always wanted to join the ranks of being a Guardian, but he never got the chance. None of the higher-ups ever noticed him, which was odd. He always carried his Viper and Duke, on his left and right hip respectively and was clad in gear that represented his magic abilities.

He had Red Robes with very light armor underneath and a Black Mask both under the category of "Warsinger". They helped him with his Magic more than his boots and gloves, which fell under the "Moonshadow" category. All of his equipment helped him cast magic faster, cast it wronger, and cast it without straining himself. There was still a cap on how often he could cast anything.

By the time he had reached the top of the Tower, it was close to the evening. He should have walked faster than he was.. Time was precious to him. He had come to The Tower to apply for a Guardian position, if you could cal it that. He was going to walk up to the General and ask him for a Guardian-ship.

"General, sir. I would like to join the Guardians." Dax spoke with a confidence that was rare when anyone spoke to The General. "My name is Dax 7-0C3 and I am a Warlock. Firesinger, to be specific.

"You got a pair, soldier. Are you sure you're not a Guardian already? That is pretty uncommon gear you have there. You aren't likely to find a spare one of those many places." The General was audibly surprised at Dax and his gear. "Listen, I can get you signed up for a spot in the Guardians. You'll have to do what we say, when we say."

"Yessir. I will fulfill any duties you give me." Dax was playing it safe. He didn't want to push anything too far. "Do you have any mission heading to Old Russia, perhaps?"

The General raised his eyes up at Dax. It was the first time he recognized a slightly robotic tone to his voice. "You're an Exo, aren't you?" Dax nodded slightly without saying a word. "We don't have many of you wanting to be a Guardian."

"Are you avoiding the question I asked, sir?" Dax realized his mistake a little too late.

The General sighed at this question. "We have a team of soldiers going to Russia, yes…" Dax had to try to contain his excitement. He had heard of a Fabled Weapon that was owned by someone. It could be a man, it could be an alien. He wouldn't know until he searched.

"Go find this man. Dante Vornoyya. He will be your captain for this mission. Here's his picture." The General spoke as if he knew it was a death sentence, but didn't want to say it out loud. "In the meantime, I will get you a Guardian title. You're free to go." The General waved Dax away as if he wasn't worthy of any more words. Dax put the picture in his pouch and left.

Many questions buzzed around Dax's head. Where should he look? Who is Dante? And most importantly, will he find The Thunderlord? No one could know for sure, but Dax could hope for success. He went down to The City. It was nightfall by the time he reached his apartment.

He walked in his room, which was unlocked still. He shouldn't be so careless about any minor activities. He immediately grabbed his heavy machine gun which he called "Super Good Advice", because that's what was carved onto the side of his gun. He put his Bond on his left arm and fastened his grenades to his belt. He grabbed his Black Cloak and walked out of the apartment. Dax didn't need sleep. He may be sentient, but he never got tired.

He stepped out into the City. The wind was blowing his robes to his right. It would of been an epic picture, if only he could see himself. He headed back to the Tower and looked out to the city. He waited for the sun to rise… All he said was, "Where?"


His gazing to the city was stopped when he heard a voice of an Awoken Female. Most likely a servant or someone not important. "The General would like a word with you, Dax." Dax wasn't surprised. Although, he thought he was being watched. How would anyone know exactly where Dax is? Cameras maybe?

"Listen, Dax. I like you. You look strong and powerful, but I'm going to have to see how you do with patrolling and combat." The General spoke in a monotone voice, as if he were disappointed or just had no emotion. "In two hours, you will patrol the North Wall until sunrise. After, you will go outside the wall, and you will exterminate a Fallen Camp a few miles North of the North Wall. I need to see how you do in stressful situations before I can send you anywhere… dangerous."

"I will do as you command, sir" Dax was in sorrow. He didn't want to have to do petty jobs before the big missions. "What about Dante, the Awoken man?"

"I'll tell him about you if I see him. For now, you need to do your initiation."

An aircraft waited to take him to the North wall. Was the City really that big? He had never been to the North wall. Only the west and south, where his apartment resided. The trip took around 12 minutes. Dax counted the seconds, although he may of lost track on the way.

"This is where you get off, soldier" The Pilot was yelling as the ship was still on and it was loud. Dax hopped off onto the top of the wall, over an hour and a half away from his ship. The aircraft flew off towards the Tower again, and Dax found where all the resting Guardians waited. It was an unkempt room, crawling with bugs and smelling of meat. Dax's sensory modules were invaded more than he usually experienced.

The time passed slow as molasses and the wait was killing him. It would be time for Dax to patrol the wall in a few minutes. No one talked to him the entire time. The room was a bunch of humans and Awoken speaking to each other and Dax sitting there, all by himself. There must of been a discrimination amongst patrol guards towards Exo. At least, that was what he thought.


Dax grabbed his Viper, put the strap over his shoulder, and started walking back and forth, repeatedly. There was no action, no enemies, nothing. The only stimulus he had was the slowly rising sun. He waited, and waited until the sun finally rose. It was time for his first real mission, albeit a small one.

"Hey, Warlock, come here." A woman Warlock with even better armor than he was calling him. "I'm taking over your shift. Go grab a shrike and do your mission. Orders from The General"

Dax went down the wall. It was a long, zig-zag of stairs leading to the main gate of the North Wall. He hopped on a Shrike which was painted black and red, like his armor and waited by the Gate for it to open. He liked this vehicle. It was slim, fast, and matched him. Maybe he would buy it one day, but he had next to no Glimmer.

The door opened and he zoomed out. It wasn't long until her reached the Camp of Fallen he was told about. He scouted it a bit. He could see multiple Dreg, two vandals, and one captain. He took the Dreg out with one of his Vortex grenades. They shouldn't have been so close to each other. He whipped his Viper off of his hip and started shooting at the Vandals. One of them went down in little time, but the other took quite a lot of his ammo. The captain approached him and he took out his Duke. Slow but powerful shots did a lot of damage. The Captain smacked his hand cannon down, leaving him vulnerable. Dax punched the Captain in the face, to no avail.

The Captain shot at Dax and it punctured his over shield, leaving him vulnerable. He took his heavy machine gun off his back and started shooting at the Captain. The knock back and damage of his weapon made quick work of the Captain, and made him think why he didn't do that at first. Dax checked the loot that they dropped. All of it worthless to him, except he scavenged 24 Glimmer from the beasts.

It was only around 7 in the morning when Dax was done with his mission. He hopped back on the Shrike and went towards the City again.


The City was booming. People were walking everywhere, and most of the Markets had opened up. It was around the time when Dax should head to The Tower to claim his reward. It was a successful mission, he thought. Even if it was only a few weak enemies.

Dax dropped the Shrike back off at the Rental Shop. It was free if you were a Guardian, and you returned it. He looked up at the Tower. It was very large compared to anything else he's seen. He always wanted to leave the planet to find somewhere with an even larger Tower, if that was even possible. With those thoughts of wonder bouncing around in his head, he walked to the Tower.