The Vex was small, "standing" only two feet high. It clicked around on the four spindly legs attached to its spherical head (it had no bottom). Eyes sprouted randomly all over its bronze-colored body/head. It swiveled its largest eye towards Asdon and chirped. Asdon aimed his weapons at the
Vex, itching to pull the trigger, but the Vex didn't do anything overtly hostile.
After deducing that the Vex wasn't a threat, Asdon instantly swept his guns back to the door, waiting for more Vex to pour out of the door. None came. Asdon checked his motion tracker again and realized something odd. Just to be sure, he swept his head side to side to be sure, then realized that the massive signal was coming from the small Vex. The Vex... Scrambler, Asdon decided to name it, merely chirped again.
Asdon casually lowered his gun down to the tiny machine, but before he could fire, it let out a screech akin to nails on a chalkboard. The Scrambler leapt four feet straight into the air, right at Asdon. The Vex tried to attach itself to Asdon's head, but Asdon managed to dodge out of the way just in time. He was glad he did; a small laser unfolded from the bottom of the Vex and fired straight down exactly where Asdon's head would have been. Asdon figured it must be for digging small hiding holes, considering the Scrambler's purpose, but he didn't focus too long on that, not with that particular laser aiming at him. The Vex screeched and jumped again, but before it could latch onto Asdon a "Shit!" rang out in the cramped room and the Vex fell away, broken in two by a powerful LMG round.
The motion sensor signals instantly stopped. Asdon nodded to Jun as thanks, then continued through the door the Scrambler had come from. The next room was fairly spacious and was covered in various machine parts. No contacts blipped on the Risen's sensor. Most of the parts were rusty pieces of junk covered in rust, but one particularly shiny piece caught Asdon's eye: a sleek, bulky pulse rifle with a large drum magazine.
Asdon pulled a few gears off the rifle, then held it in his hands, testing its weight and balance. The rifle felt good, great even, almost as if it were made for Asdon. Smart-sensors on the grip and fore-end molded to fit Asdon's hand, the gun's stock extended to Asdon's exact arm length, and a HUD readout appeared on top of the rifle, informing Asdon that the rifle currently had a full magazine of sixty Void rounds. Asdon briefly wondered why someone would leave such a magnificent rifle in an awful place like this. Then the answer hit him: literally.
A large, triangular piece of metal fell from the top of a precariously balanced pile next to Asdon, and the piece rammed into his foot. Without the armor, he definitely would've walked away with a broken toe or two. Asdon flinched and pulled his foot away from the piece of metal, then realized a second later what it was: the head of an Exo Guardian. Jun looked at the "skull" and swore. Asdon searched through the pile of parts, finding an arm here, parts of a leg there, but not what he was looking for. "No Ghost."
Jun swore again. "Great, another thing to find. Any ID?"
Asdon shook his head, "No, the Ghost would have been the only thing to identify him."
"OK," Jun responded, "Let's get goin-"
A screech filled the air, and three Scramblers popped out of various piles of junk, completely filling Asdon's motion sensor with contacts. Without even thinking about it, Asdon pointed his new rifle at the Scramblers and pulled the trigger. Streaks of purple light pulsed out of its barrel at about 700 rounds per minute. The streaking lasers struck two of the small Vex and instantly shredded through them. The third Vex, however, jumped out of the way and onto the wall, then jumped again, this time at Jun. Jun ducked, but not quickly enough. The Scrambler grabbed hold onto the Human's head, but before it could use its laser it had a giant dent punched into it by Jun.
Jun pulled the damaged Vex off his head, and threw it into the air. He pulled out his shotgun and yelled, "Pull!" then pumped off a round. The Vex flew apart like the clay pigeon it was imitating.
"And you called me a showoff." Most of Asdon's motion sensor cleared, but a few ghosts remained. He waited for the faint dots to fade, but they didn't. Must be a glitch in the system, he figured. The dots finally faded, and Asdon moved forward. Jun followed behind.
Together they crawled deeper into the facility, out of the light of day and into hell.
Another cliffhanger!
