A short fan fiction for Destiny:
A Hunter's Tome
The heads up display on my H_LD Starwinder blinked twice, followed by an update on my current bounty. My ghost absently hummed a tune I recognized from the music art history archives, Paint It Black by Rolling Stones. I adjust the range finder on my Icebreaker; I felt this weapon was apropos considering the temperature had drops to a brisk negative ten degrees Celsius at any given moment in this beautiful Russian landscape. Dead Orbit had an open bounty on a Fallen Archon Devil; the details were sketchy at best considering the limited sources on the target. The Fallen, who fell into Dead Orbit's sights, was named Scourge, by more than a few guardians. Dead Orbits bounty was strictly a bag and tag, bonuses available for trophy items, house banners, docking rings, and salvageable weapon parts.
My HUD finished its update and a heavily corrupted video played. The scenes that I could make out were not pretty; Archon Slayer supported by a Servitor and at least two platoons of Dreks, nasty bastards. Where there are Dreks there are sure to be Shanks; the equivalent to hunting dogs just not as intelligent.
My four days of rations have been nearly depleted and I still have seen no signs of any Fallen, let alone this menace to what remains of civilization. I consider moving to an alternate location. I bring up the topography model of this sector; I was currently camped out on a craggy ridge overlooking an abandoned research facility at the edge of a six mile lake. The surface of the lake looked blacker than space.
The Fallen had raided every known and a few unknown facilities east of this location. I was playing a hunch, the Fallen left no stone unturned, if they were looking for something they would be here. It was just a matter of when. I tried tapping into the communications satellite but the storm was playing havoc with coms. My lovely ghost had wandered off further down the ridge, muttering about human's incapacity for proper cartography. I check the rangefinder again on my rifle. Even though Icebreaker fires solar rounds and has an internal heating, some habits die hard; you can never be too safe when hunting a mark. My main squeeze sits propped against the nearby rock, an arm's length away, a heavily modified Dead Orbit auto rifle. Void rounds, extended magazine, and my favorite modification kinetic amplification. The more I shoot the harder she hits, I nicknamed her the Purple People Eater.
As I scan the corridor once more, a secondary bounty scrolls across my HUD, I archive it immediately. No distractions, I warn myself. I need to focus on my prey Dead Orbit has many Hunters in its resources I am sure someone will pick it up, if not I will be happy to snatch up a few more glimmer. The sun is beginning to peek over the distant crags, referred to as the Urea's Maw and still no sign of my quarry. I am beginning to feel as if my luck has run out, when my radar goes crazy with activity.
A transport vessel drops into canyon entrance a few kilometers from the research facility its heavy canons scan 180 degree arcs in the front and rear as the drop bay opens up. Dreks and Shanks fall at controlled rates from the side of the ship like a swarm of armored hornets. The Servitor follow cloaked in their active shields and psionic links, which allows them to override even the Dreks natural instincts to retreat and regroup. A pair of revenant captains followed the Servitor out of the crew bay and down to the surface.
The Shanks fan out in groups of three, sniffing around the edge of their drops zone looking for signs of life. The Dreks begin forming up in their squads as the two Revenants flank the Servitor. I could hear the ships engines picking up as it readying to depart, just a basic raid group wouldn't be worth much as far as bounties went. I resigned myself to take them down and see if any of the other guilds were in the market for salvage. When a hulk of a Fallen dropped from the crew bay at a reckless speed, I could feel the impact of it's landing at my perch high above the canyon floor
This creature was a nightmare; each one of its four arms was nearly fifty centimeters in diameter, and it brandished a flak cannon that promised only pain and death. I waited almost four days for a glimpse at certain death. Dead Orbit's twenty-five thousand glimmer bounty was a bit low for the target I had in my sights. If I made it out of this alive we would have to discuss a combat bonus based on sheer size alone. This Archon has had a few upgrades, none of which I am too thrilled about either.
I scan the platoon as they march towards the facility, they were playing it cautious; after a few ambushes from other guardians the Fallen houses began randomizing their drop zones. Fallen had little respect for guardians in the beginning, now there's a healthy bit of caution on their side where we are concerned. I am kicking myself for not contacting my network for standby assistance; in case there is a prolonged fire fight.
The wind is picking up in the canyon, I wait for the column of Dreks to get closer, a rounds flight time to target could mean the difference between killing a target, and just pissing it off. I prefer the former and calculate my wind speed. I say a small thank you for the Revenants lack of fashion sense. If you are going to wear a cloak, it at the very least should be functional and not offer your enemy an advantage.
The wind speed peaks at four knots, this canyon is a wind tunnel and can play havoc with bullet travel. I wait for the optimal angle on target, the least amount of adjustments needed means for a faster shot. I am going for shock value, if I take down the main threat the others won't be so hard to deal with in the long run. I go over the battle plan in my head: Archon Devil, Servitor then the Revenants; if I can take down two of the three targets swiftly the Dreks and Shanks should be a walk on the moon.
The platoon is in range. I calm my thoughts and zero in on the bounty. My pulse is racing with anticipation, Icebreaker screams in my head to start the party. What the heck I knock three times. Before the rounds are half way to target, I drop Icebreaker and snatch up PPE, shifting my position away from my initial shot. I blink step halfway down the canyon wall to my next location, launching trip mine grenades in the midst of the Dreks. One poor creature doesn't react in time; the grenade embeds in its chests and arms. The unfortunate target's comrades attempt to scatter as the trip mine ignites. The blast takes a few Shanks and Dreks that couldn't find cover in a cloud of sulfurous fire and haze. The other mines effectively cutoff part of the platoon from advancing on my position. Purple People Eater spits void death at my next target tearing into the Servitor's glowing ring; we; my ghost and I that is, have collectively called the Eye of the Beholder.
The Servitor begins to crack as the barrage destroys its shield and protective shell. With nowhere to run or hide the Servitor overrides its escorts natural instincts and forces them from cover to fire on my position You have to love one's self- preservation overriding another's. The two escorts open up with a hail of line rifle fire on my position. The Dreks beyond my trip mines are scaling the canyon wall opposite me, most likely looking for a perch to fire down on me. I blind fire over my shoulder as I creep closer to the research facility.
A Dreks pops over the ledge a few feet in front of me; I greet him with a Hunter's kiss to the chest. The poor soul clutches at the hilt that protrudes from his breastbone and stumbles back over the edge. It lands near another mine setting of another teeth rattling explosion and sends more clouds of dust and viscera into the air. I peek over the edge outcropping and pick off Dreks that are still climbing the far canyon wall, it's like shooting ducks in a pond. The Revenants fire furiously through the smoke and dust, in my general direction; as I pick off small packs of Shanks that have made it up the wall. I leap onto a Shank that has risen further from the wall. It drops a few feet from my added weight; I fire a close grouping of void rounds into its shell before blinking across the canyon to the other landing. The dust is starting to settle and the Fallen are starting to regroup. The groan of the Servitor in its strange language told me it's really pissed off and out for blood.
I check my radar thirty-five targets left standing. I race to my next stash before the raid party can draw a bead on my location. The Revenant pair regrouped its remaining squads as the Servitor hovered over the downed Archon. The Archon Devil roared to life, loose stones scrambled from the canyon wall in response to the raging outburst. The servitor quickly connected tendrils of control to the devil, its massive face masked cracked at the point where the rounds smashed through the now dead lens. Somehow the other five glowing lens seemed to flare even brighter.
I knew they wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, but I wasn't a one trick pony either. It was time for this raid party to meet the party crasher.
Many of the Hunters I know prefer to go for the big bang where heavy weapons are concerned. Not me, give me a machine gun any day. I introduce them to my latest addition, Joy and Pain. At seven rounds a second, this little party favor is seven minutes of heaven. I unleash a torrent of hot metal death on the Servitor. It's shield couldn't with stand the barrage, within a few seconds of the firestorm the two Revenants it had leashed to its will crumbled before the might of my machine gun fury The Servitor's shields destroyed cracked and bled internal light as it ripped apart in a concussive explosion that shook the canyon walls..
The upgraded devil pummeled the canyon wall with its flak cannon, tearing chunks out of my cover with each blast. The devils cannon tore chunk after chunk of solid stone from my now dwindling cover. I knew I didn't have long before I was completely exposed. My machine gun now completely overheated would take a more time than I had to reset its cool down protocols. I had a few options each of which were a gamble at best, but that's the life of a Hunter. We live on the fringes and take chances most guardians wouldn't dare. I steel myself and begin focusing on building my inner light, a power bestowed upon Guardians by the Traveler.
I have one chance at this it's a last ditch effort, it might buy me enough time to reset Joy and Pain. If not I am prepared for a tactical retreat, Lilith; my ghost, has left my ship in close orbit. Live to hunt another day, my own personal mantra.
Overhead I hear the familiar crack of a Titan class jump ship and the boom of an object breaking the sound barrier. I have mixed feeling about what will happen next. Just as predicted a Striker classed Titan slams into the canyon floor a few feet from my quarry. The ground ripples and bucks the Archon from its footing. This is my chance; I ignite my side arm in pure solar energy and leap from my cover. My first shot hits the Archon center mass, the second shot inches from the first, my third shot punches through the Archon's torso.
I land between the Archon and the Titan Striker; Hurt Locker V is his call sign, I recognize him from Dead Orbit's top bounty hunter roster He is a prime contender for the number one spot if I wasn't already sitting comfortably in that position.. The Archon Devil remains on its feet, I snap PPE into my grasp now that its auto-reload function has finished and squeeze of a few more rounds into the smoldering hole in the devils chest. To cap things off I embed my dagger in its cracked helmet, with a resounding thud and watch as the light fades from the remaining glowing lenses.
I turn to the newcomer; Hurt Locker V crosses his arms and requests an open voice link. I already know what he will suggest, and I am feeling a bit generous. I open the link, awaiting thee tirade to ensue. "I tracked that drop ship's vapor trail here, and thought you might need a hand." Hurt Locker V says matter-of-factly. "But I can see you have everything under control. By the way what kind of facility is this?" I honestly didn't know as I gazed over my shoulder. I could have been sitting on a waste disposal facility, the ancestors were a bit careless eons ago on how they recycled their toxic materials. "To be honest I don't know."
Hurt Locker V shakes his head and chuckles. He is probably thinking the same thing I am. "Well…" he pauses and looks around as if there were an audience. "I hate to be the Greedy Gus of the bunch .but do you think I can get a few glimmer for my part here? It's totally up to you." I walk over to the target. I take tissue samples, DNA markers, its house banner and my personal trophy the Archon's mask.
After uploading the image files of the Archon Devil to Dead Orbit's servers with my ID serials, I ping my ghost. Lilith has been surprisingly absent this entire time. Normally our expeditions are filled with words of cautions or dry criticism from the self-aware AI. She is further into the canyon near the research facility. I turn to the Hurt Locker V, he can't see me smiling but I know he can hear it in my voice. "I have what I came for. You are welcome to salvage the rest." I gather the tools of my trade and summon my ship from its orbit. I don't know how long before the Archon will be missed by his house and they send in reinforcements but I hope Hurt has cleared out the salvage before then. I think he's a bit brash for my taste but he is gun with a gun and has proven himself many times on the front lines.
As I finish loading my haul onto the Raven's Feather, Lilith drops a coded message on my HUD, it's marked urgent. Lilith has hacked the ancient site's systems and according to the files a relic code named Game Changer rests beneath the waters of that black lake. The facility is a catacomb of tunnels and laboratories. At the very least a week's worth of exploration just for the first level.
I archive the find and inform Lilith to return to the ship; we are gonna need some supplies. There is no telling what we will find in those hallways but I would like to prepare for a long journey.