Vrack could remember the exact moment he got the idea for this plan. He remembered watching the light wielders advance on his patrol party, the smell their weapons made with each shot, the burn and sting from their light born attacks, and the awful pain as one's blade severed his lower left arm in one fluid motion.
He remembered fleeing disgracefully as the others fell to their power, Eliksni blood soaking the frozen ground. To this day he was still ashamed that as they were slaughtered he hid. He had been a coward at the time, young and foolish. When all were dead and the light wielders moved on he returned to base, another foolish choice, and had been met with a less then welcoming response.
House of King was know for its surveillance, the whole base knew what had happened. So that was the day with burning shame he had been reduced to the rank of lowly Dreg. The Captain furiously removed his remaining lower arm and stripped him of his rank publicly. Once left to himself and his thoughts his mind returned to the fight and how one sided it had all been. As the lower ether consumption kicked in slowly he bitterly thought about how easily they had killed his patrol. How effortless it had seemed on their part.
He didn't know if it was because they had more experience and skill, or if it was truly this easy for all of them. He couldn't tell. All he could think of with bitter hatred was that they had been strong, while he and his party had been weak.
The next time he had returned to such thoughts was when he had re-earned the right to grow his arms back and resume his role as a Vandal. With the increase in ether came more complex and intelligent thought. He hadn't even realized he'd missed it until it was returned.
With that in mind he began contemplating the light wielders again. There was no question they were strong, he'd seen enough by now to know even a lone one was dangerous and even inexperienced ones was dangerous in their own right, if not very wise in tactics they still had a default level of power behind them that was no laughing matter.
Even the Hive that the Eliksni battled with routinely for territory were threatened by them and reports came in that Cabal and Vex too struggled with their power. While they may be confined to a single city they were certainly no laughing matter and he secretly wondered how they had managed to push them down to that single city. With The Great Machine on their side it was a wonder how it happened. But why did The Great Machine remain with them? Why did it leave the Eliksni to perish? What made them worthy of it but not the Eliksni?
The more he entertained these thoughts the more annoyed he got. They were supposed to be lesser creatures and yet here they were using power he could only dream of. And why? That question had no answer, and that frustrated him further.
He tried to cast off such thoughts after awhile but to no avail. Temper ever rising he finally concluded he'd need to get something of an answer. Easier said then done. It quickly became apparently they lacked much detailed information on them aside from 3 known species seemed to be involved, on a machine itself which gave him even more questions, battle information and schismatic for various areas, along with patrol information.
If he wanted this information he'd have to get it himself.
So every chance he got he watched them, studied them. It wasn't easy at first, they were perceptive at worst and at best seemed to know where he was before he got there. Eventually however he noticed more and more which made spying easier and easier. He picked up more on their physical language, learned it was the ball they seemed to talk to that followed them that found him first, and even managed to scavenge their equipment and bodies for more information. Even on occasion picking them apart to learn more.
As he delved more he gained more questions and insight together giving him an advantage over the others. Certainly he shared his finds, and while hesitance had been shown at first, as the information piled up they became more and more encouraging to his studying. More and more patrols were becoming successful, they were learning their weapon systems. And it all looked very good on him.
However it wasn't enough for him. So much was still in the unknown, and he was quickly realizing they knew far more about the Eliksni then they did of them. He needed to know their language, the root of their power, and what made them so damn special to receive it.
It was after an incident inspecting a dead male Awoken's body that he actually came up with the plan. He was inspecting the damage a blow to the chest piece had done when a nearby male, female, one he'd thought dead, started to move. Immediately he had aimed ready to finish her off but she hadn't gone for her weapon. Instead she dragged herself to the male and started speaking to it. Vrack's couldn't understand what she was saying but judging by the amount of blood she was loosing she wasn't going to be around much longer so he watched her.
She reached out to touch the males helmet but couldn't get it off so instead she looked at him. He aimed his gun, ready to strike if she tried to attack with her power but she didn't. Instead she spoke in her tongue. He listened but didn't know what she was saying to him. Her voice was strained but rather calm up until the end where it sounded harsh and bitter. Likely an insult. He started to question her but it was too late. She went limp and all signs of life were gone. Further inspection proved right that she was indeed dead leaving him with another unanswered question.
In that moment he made his choice. If he wanted answers he needed a light wielder alive. It was beyond risky and containing one, much less keeping them alive, would be no easy task. He'd need to imprison it long term to get all his answers. Catching one without killing it would be hard enough, he didn't think he could do it much more then once without alarming them and even if he could containing it would be rough enough. But if he could succeed it would be a first and oh the wondrous information he could get. Aside from a living subject to learn where their power came from he could gain insight in their language or even information on the City.
He knew he couldn't do it as he was, he needed more authority over the base to even try it. Otherwise they'd never let him keep one alive in the base, much less keep the others from killing it on sight from hatred. Still it was a start, and while he didn't know it it was a beginning to an end for him.
It took many moons and many seasons, he had a head start as his research had earned him much respect and a clear advantage. However it still took far to long for his liking to rise in rank. However the day he reached Captain rank was a day of satisfaction in more ways then average. He could finally begin, and with even more ether in his system it only became easier to prepare his plan.
After two season of work and preparation he had found and tracked his target. A young female light wielder. She had appeared a season ago meaning she was still very inexperienced and less likely to be able to catch on to their movements. She was learning and growing powerful at an alarming rate to him. He had personally observed her habits as she patrolled and noticed her tendency to be alone in her work, early on she had two companions but they had long stopped coming with her, likely leaving her to work alone. Even better she typically kept to the quite and secluded areas outlining the usual scavenging area. Few traveled so far out but she seemed to avoid her own kind for the most part which made things even easier for him as odd as that seemed.
Regardless he wasn't about to turn down the easy opportunity. He'd kill two Dreg's with one sweep. Catch his new toy and remove a quickly growing threat from their territory.
Hey guys this is my newest story that Im gonna be updating as regularly as I can. I have a few chapters already written on paper but they need editing and what not first and I need the patience and focus to to that. Still Ill try to be regular.
Be fair warned this wont have lemon for a while. Its a long story with a gradual buildup, no rushing.