Krix-13, 7th Street's Hunters Den, 1 Month After Xol's Defeat.
It was noisy in the Den, as always. Gambling tables, weapons, and drinks abounded. Dart boards littered the walls, and curtained-off alcoves lined the back for any private business that needed attending to. A massive array of trophy heads hung on the walls, Hive, Vex, Fallen and Cabal- all testament to the lethality of the occupants. Hunters lounged everywhere, laughing, drinking, or brooding dangerously in a corner.
Krix fell in the latter category. He sat in one of the many dark corners of the room, slowly working at some acid-green colored drink as he thought. His meeting with Raya had answered many of his questions (for which he was extremely grateful)… but left the most important one unanswered: what do I do about it? The old warlock had been frustratingly cryptic, her only answer to his repeated inquiries concerning action was 'I can't guide you on what to do. Only the Traveler can do that. If it's your Destiny to continue on your path than you need only to wait, and the next step will show itself.'
Traveler. Psh. It hasn't done shit for him or anybody here, why would it start now? And 'Destiny'? What did either of those things give him to do? Nothing. So his next step was to apparently wait for fate to get off its ass and give him something to do.
Little did he know fate was already at work. As he fumed in the corner a stranger descended the stairs and stepped into the room. The black and gold Exo warlock stood straight and tall, and her metal lips formed a humorless, determined line. Orange eyes glittered as she evaluated the room, searching for something.
The older hunters, despite having been the first to notice the intrusion, easily recognized the signs of a dangerous individual. But they didn't care. Why would they give a single playing card for what some warlock wanted? As long as she didn't bother them they were good.
Some of the younger (and slightly more inebriated) hunters, however, did care for the outsider. One such individual, hand on his knife, approached the warlock as she stood just a few paces from the door.
"Hey Wizard! This is Hunter territory. Whaddya want?"
She gave him a cold stare before scanning the room again, her orange eyes piercing the shadows in every corner.
"Oi! I'm talking to you! Unless you got official business w' one of us get out!"
Her head swept from side-to-side, evaluating each of the occupants one by one. Her voice was cold, hard. "As a matter of fact, I do."
Her gaze locked onto Krix's shrouded form. "With him."
She brushed past the young hunter and approached his table. He was too busy with his own thoughts to notice, staring hard at his half-drained glass without moving. She bet she knew exactly what he was thinking about.
And she would've been right. His mind was traveling in the same worn circles it had been for the past few hours. I can't just forget about this whole thing anymore, I have to resolve this. How? There's nothing you can do. Your only option is to just forget and move on. But I can't. These flashbacks are gonna keep coming.
He was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat above him. "Hunter."
He glanced up, icy blue meeting fiery orange. He just grunted in response, annoyed at being interrupted.
She continued undeterred. "I overheard your conversation earlier today with the Elder Raya. I believe we can help each other."
His eyes narrowed a bit, studying the brazen warlock. Eavesdropping eh? From a warlock? Pfft. Wow. Nevertheless, he gestured to the rusty chair across from him. "Do you now? Alright, have a seat. Want a drink?"
She lowered herself down across from him and eyed him critically. "No. My name is Jass-14. Warlock of the Praxic Order. You?"
He wasn't taking kindly to her snappish tone, but he answered anyways… hostility and sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Krix-13. It's an absolute pleasure to meet you."
"Hero of Hangar 7?"
His eyeplate raised just a bit and he leaned back, setting his drink down and crossing his arms. "No."
A flash of uncertainty blinked in her eyes, but it was gone before he could confirm. "Oh? Where were you during the Red War then?"
He grunted. "I was at Hangar 7. Don't give a damn about this 'hero' business though."
She tilted her head just a tad, the single golden stripe traveling down her forehead glinting in the firelight. "Interesting. So you were the one that utilized golden-age combat subroutines during the evacuation, hmm?"
He leaned forward with a jerk and his eyes flashed. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but that's private business, and none of your concern. So you better get down to exactly why you're here and pissing me off, and fast."
She didn't bat an eye. "If you wish. I have them as well."
That cooled him. He slowly sat back, suspicion in his eyes. He scoffed. "Yeah? Prove it, miss superior."
She sighed, the emotionless façade dropping a bit. "I discovered them during the Red War, just as you did. I was in the central district of the City when the Cabal captured our Light- in the middle of a firefight, no less. As you know, that was an instant death sentence for many of us. I was barely able to dispatch my opponents without sustaining too great of injuries to myself or my ghost. All thanks to my programs."
She gestured to herself, specifically her robes. They were unsoiled, crisp, and smooth, crossed with gleaming leather straps. A level of cleanliness to be expected from a high-end warlock- but not the equipment on it. From those straps hung a variety of long rifle shells, worn grenade pouches, and a long knife. "I am not a hunter. Before that day I never traveled in the shadow, for I preferred to walk up to my enemy and simply blind them with my Light."
An old uneasiness overtook her eyes. "But… as soon as I finished dispatching those demons I was fighting when I lost my Light, I remember one thing, clear as day: I panicked, and a line of code scrolled lighting fast across my vision, so fast that I only caught the last two lines: Activate Programs, and Yes."
Her eyes grew sharper. "the next thing I know is that I wake up 48 hours later WELL outside the City wall, shot, burnt, my robes in taters, and curled up next to a small fire that I know I set. I have absolutely no memory of those 2 days. None."
She spread her hands out in supplication. "After that I tried to forget. It frightened me, for I don't know what I did to escape the Red Legion's clutches. In the months since I have done little in terms of research or action- until I overheard your conversation with the Elder Raya."
She leaned forward at his unmoving form, intensity permeating her stance. "I can find you the next step in your quest, and I'm willing to help you all of the way to the end. This issue concerns us both, and I wish to see it resolved."
His sat there, considering. "There's always two sides to a coin. What do you want from me?"
She smiled ever so slightly. "Two things. One: I want to know how to purge these things from my head, once and for all. Which should be easy considering you want the same thing."
He didn't blink. "And two?"
"I want to come with you. On the ground. It's not that I don't trust you, but I don't."
He started laughing. "Lady, last time I did the whole fireteam thing, I lost half of them in the span of 30 seconds. The next time I tried that was the same casualty rate but only over a minute. I'm not sure you want that. Besides, I'm a hunter scout. Lone Wolf is my middle name." He smirked. "An uptight bookworm would just slow me down in the wilds."
She leaned back and crossed her arms. "No deal unless both conditions are met. I'm perfectly fine letting this issue fall to the wayside and getting back to being a Guardian. I'm not the one on the roadside to insanity."
He growled, both parties fully aware that it would be stupid for him to refuse. "…Fine. Deal."
"Hmm. Wonderful."
The hunters that watched the two leave the Den had a good laugh: the warlock strode out with ill-suppressed victory rebounding in her every step, and the hunter stalked alongside with a sullen gait that everyone there had utilized at one point or another. They didn't know what the two had bet on, but everyone could tell who had lost.
They climbed the stairs and stepped outside into the darkening sky. Krix glanced up and sighed. "It's getting late, so we'll start tomorrow. Meet me at my apartment at 0800, full kit. I'm expecting we'll have a somewhere to go to, so be prepared for a quick departure. I'll have Beeper send you my address."
Krix held out his palm. His ghost appeared with a small flash. "Beeper, send this warlock my apartment location." The ball glanced over at the dangerous-looking woman and gave his guardian a look. His next words where in Beepanese.
{*Seriously? She looks like the type that would kill you after*}
Jass glared at him. Suddenly understanding that she probably understood the jist of what he said, he gave a little wheep of alarm and disappeared.
She gave Krix's empty palm one more hard stare before nodding. "All right, 0800, apartment 21-896B. I can do some research beforehand, so I might already have a lead for the morning. But we'll see."
The hunter nodded and started down the road. "Good. In the morning then."
She watched him walk away and melt into the shadows with a sigh. This was going to be… interesting to say the least.
It would be the first time she worked with anyone else in a long while.
/
Jass-14, The Tower Underlevels, Roughly One Year After the Red War.
The hunter's apartment was easy to find. Technically, she wasn't doing the looking, her ghost was, but still. She arrived outside a plain door with a scratchy 21-896B on it. 0759. She took a deep breath.
A cheery and condescending voice spoke into her ear. "You know, you REALLY need to be nicer. Especially if you really ARE going to be working with him."
Jass gave her ghost a quelling look. "Lil'lite, I know. Now shhhh."
The ghost, sparkles of cheery Light literally popping off her shell, bounced a little higher into the air in indignation. "Why?"
0800. She gave the door a single firm knock. She could hear his voice on the other side, slightly muffled, and a little bit… resigned? "Come in." She did so and leaned her scout rifle on the door frame, taking a quick look around the enclosure.
The apartment was a small one, single room. It was clean, but obviously one worse for wear. He must've been relocated due to the continued re-construction going on. The occupant in question was sitting on a small bed, neatly made, cleaning a glistening Steelfeather Repeater assault rifle. He glanced up at her, gleaming blue staring at her, reading her, evaluating her in the clear light of day. She stared right back.
She had no idea how long they would have been dueling with their eyes unless Lil'lite hadn't decided to introduce herself.
The bright little thing appeared in a shower of white sparks, positively (and literally) beaming at her Guardian's new teammate. "Hi! I'm Lil'lite, Jass's ghost. It's so amazing to meet you! What's your name?! Oh, HA! Nevermind, I already know, Jass told me!. But what's your ghost's name? I haven't met him yet and I hear he's just-" Jass swiped her ghost out of the air and shoved her in her pockets. She had never been so glad she was made out of metal and physically could show how angry she was.
Lil'lite squeaked then appeared again, well outside of her Guardian's range. "Hey! Rude! You know if we're going to be working together, we have to get to know each other!"
Krix had a grin slowly appearing on his face as he watched the exchange unfold. Jass was about to order her ghost out when she heard "She's right you know."
She glanced at her new partner; eyeplate raised.
He nodded at floating ball radiating with bright Light. "I'm sure you know this isn't going to be a walk in the park. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point both of our survival depends on us working together."
He stood up, gently placing his weapon on the bed. He stepped up to her and (with a resolute sigh) stuck his hand out. "So let me reintroduce myself. My name is Krix-13, Arcstrider by trade. You didn't catch me in the best mood last night, so I'm sorry for the tension." Suddenly a grinned. "And the odd insult."
She stared at the hand proffered to her. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. What was she supposed to do? Accept it? Then he would probably think she was weak for… well…
The hand hung in the air. Krix almost began to uncomfortably withdraw when she grabbed it and gave it a strong shake. "Jass-14." She tilted her head respectfully (and a little awkwardly) "It's an honor to meet you."
He nodded and sat back down on his bed, returning his attention to his Steelfeather. He gestured to one of the cheap folding chairs by the mini dining table. "You can sit down if you want. We have some talking to do before we go anywhere."
Lil'lite was staring at her in blatant shock. The warlock mouthed a 'what?' at her, and was answered by the ghost just floating off in a starstruck manner toward the kitchenet, where the sounds of Beeper trying to do something with the fridge came from.
Jass elegantly crossed her legs and stared at the hunter. He glanced back. "Where do you want to start?"
She shrugged. "How about you tell me why you are quote-un-quote 'stuck'?"
He snapped the weapon up to his shoulder, sighted down it, and nodded satisfactorily. "Long story short, Failsafe told me that I was a former crew member of hers, and I got picked up under orders from a lab deep in the New Pacific Archology on Titan. Needless to say, it's a bit hard for a lone wolf figure to get into that area. So I'm waiting here for a Strike to head that way. And apparently the last one didn't go so well, so matchmade missions there are on hold right now."
He shrugged. "And that's my only lead."
She glanced behind her as Beeper and Lil'lite got into an animated conversation. "Huh. That all?"
He shrugged and took out a pristine Golden-age sidearm. "That, and I'm Braytech built. According to Failsafe anyways."
"Aren't we all. So you would have links to the main Bray facility on Mars?"
"Theoretically."
"Hmm." She opened a holographic notepad on her wrist, the projector cleverly hidden in the black leather that bound the cone of golden Ahamkara feathers around her forearm. "What's the last five digits of your Exo ID number?"
He recited them out of instinct. "2-2762. You know what I just realized? I can introduce myself as: Krix-13, commander of the Exodus Black's Force Recon Detachment. Damn. What a way to make myself sound cooler than I am."
She made another scholarly noise. "Interesting. So here is what I propose."
She glanced up at him. "Ana and her Warmind should have access to that facilities' deeper databanks by now. I suggest we go there and run our ID numbers through their records."
He drew his long knife out of the forearm sheath and began sharpening it. "And that'll help us how?"
She swiped the screen away and sighed. "Exo's ID numbers work similar to a physical library file's ISBN. Or a better example is the ID codes that Amanda puts on all of the Sparrows that come out of her shop. That number has a wealth of information hidden within, like what type of engine it was originally occupied with, what model chassis it is, etc etc. I've already run my number with the Tower's and the City's databases and it came up completely dry. What I'm suggesting is that since Ana has found us a new database to sift through, we start there and see if we can't find any new clues to run off of. We should find something on you at least, if you really are originally Braytech."
He held his blade up to the light filtering in through his one window and nodded again, sheathing it in one fluid motion. "Sounds like a plan." He stood up and open the closet standing next to his bed, revealing a modest armory of sorts. "When do you want to leave?"
"The sooner the better." Her eye caught on an elegantly curved sword with clear Awoken runes on the pommel. It looked… familiar. "Where did you acquire that blade?"
He twisted around. "What, this one?" He gestured to the blade in question. She nodded curiously. "A Warlock that fell at Hanger 7 left this behind. I nabbed it in a tight spot and brought it along with me in the escape. I've used it since. My Steelfeather has the same story, actually. Why?"
She held her hands out. Krix wordlessly handed her the blade. "This was Chronos Vera's sword. He was one of my teachers… for a time. He was immensely proud of this, and went everywhere with it. I wasn't entirely sure when he had fallen, but…" She traced the runes on the pommel again. "A genuine Awoken Black Talon. The sword of Paladins." She handed it back to him, her face once again emotionless. "Take it. Wield it well."
He nodded then slotted in onto his back. "I definitely clean it well. Still gotta see about the 'wielding' part though. I never let my enemies get within sword range." He slowly took out a beautiful sniper rifle and racked the bolt back, staring into the chamber. "How 'bout we meet in the main Tower hanger in say… an hour. Sounds good to you?"
She nodded. "Tower hangar, one hour from now."
He glanced back at her. "I'll handle the departure paperwork… speaking of which- you have anybody you wanna bring along? Two doesn't make a good fireteam, 'cause, you know, there's a reason three is the Vanguard min, and I don't really know anybody currently hanging around, so…"
She shook her head and waved for Lil'lite. "No. I don't know anyone. My previous fireteam experiences haven't been… well reviewed, and honestly?" She looked right at him. "I don't like people. In general."
Lil'lite flew up (still spilling excess Light) and beamed at him. "And I love everybody, so we make a perfect team!"
"Lil'lite. Backpack."
Krix was grinning again as he took out the last of his weapons and had Beeper store the rest. "Well then, two-man fireteam it is." He walked over to his door and opened it, and (to her surprise) took a step back and gestured toward the exit, waiting for her to leave first. "I should be at the hangar in an hour. If not, just assume clearance issues and wait thirty more minutes."
/
As Krix made his way toward the Tower elevators his mind was mulling over the meeting. This Jass girl was… interesting. This whole trip was definitely going to be interesting in any case but- she intrigued him. Pissed him off more often than not, but he found her ghost hilarious. At least.
When he got to the Tower, he began his normal mission prep cycle. Picked up a couple bounties and had a quick chat with Banshee, stopped by the vault and cleaned out his inventory a bit. Stopped by Tess to see if she had anything new since he last checked and picked up a couple Dusklight Shards from Kadi that (for some reason) had been sent to his mailbox last time he was in the EDZ.
Then he headed for the Outgoing Mission sign-off stations. He was in the middle of filling out the form when he heard a cluck from behind him.
He spun around, hand on his knife and a big 'gotcha' grin on his face. Standing in front of him, in quite the guilty pose, stood Cayde-6, with a chicken on his head. The Hunter Vanguard immediately snapped to a nonchalant stance, sending Colonel squawking off into the air. "Heeeeeey buddy, good to see you still have your wits about you."
Krix relaxed and leaned against the station, folding his arms. "Bored again?"
Cayde flung his arms up then leaned against the wall, mimicking his scout's position. "Out of my mind. I'm not only bored, I'm also impatiently waiting to leave, which is the worst kind of bored, because you know that you're soon not going to be bored, but you still are, which just makes it insufferable."
Krix raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Zavala's letting you into the field? Zavala?"
Cayde looked genuinely excited, his hands moving everywhere as he explained the circumstance of his upcoming freedom. "I know, can you believe it?! Apparently, Petra wants some help tracking down a much of mutated Fallen Barons or something, I don't know, don't care, the more the merrier! But I've already gotten a fireteam- of sorts- together and we'll be leaving soon."
Krix tilted his head. "Fireteam?
"Yeah! Dude, I have the lineup of a century for this type of thing. It's me, Ol' PV, Jin, Suriya Hawthorne, one of my trackers, Nadiya, and believe it or not, but I persuaded Banshee to come as well. It's gonna be so GREAT! Even though we have to CAPTURE these suckers not SHOOT them. Oh well. Anyhoo, what about you? I haven't seen you in the Tower for a while."
Krix tossed his head toward the station he was working on. "Me and a friend are headed to Mars to do some research."
"On Exo's?"
Krix glanced at him in surprise.
Cayde nodded. "Yeah, Failsafe already told me and got Zavala all angry. She didn't tell me the name, but as soon as she said mentioned you led the Exodus Black's 'special forces' or something like that I figured it was you."
"How did you?"
"How did I what?"
"Figure it was me?"
Cayde started laughing. "Well, you're the first Kinderguardian to snap to attention when a member of the Vanguard entered the room without even knowing they were Vanguard!"
Krix made a face. "I had just forgotten about that."
Cayde was laughing a bit more. "That was quite the story, lemme tell ya. Ahhhh… great to watch." His face turned serious. "But I have to ask you a question. Don't get too nervous, I'm not going to try to stop you, but how deep are you planning on going?"
"Whadda you mean?"
"I mean…" Cayde's hands twirled as he searched for the proper phrasing. "I did a little looking myself, ok? Way back when. It's how I found all of my old caches and journals, yada yada. But I only went so deep. Six lives as an Exo, one as a human. That's a lot of stuff, and at some point one's got to let go and move on. Focus on the future."
Cayde paused for a bit. "I guess what I'm saying is, I know what going on in your head. I figure it's ok for a little bit since we don't have an Earth-shattering enemy attacking us right now, but…"
He sighed. "Just remember, you're first responsibility is to the City." He threw his hands up. "I'm not saying AT the City, gosh no, but don't get so deep as to forget that we need you sometimes. Alright? Jeez I sound like Zavala. I need to get out of here."
Krix nodded. "You got it. Our comm channels are always going to be open."
Cayde wacked him on the shoulder. "Good to hear. Speaking of which! I have something for you."
"Oh?"
Cayde pushed off of the wall and started strolling toward the Vault. "Yeah, don't sweat the form, I'll write it down as a scouting trip. I forget to turn those things in all of the time. Puts Zavala in a constant tizzy, lemme tell ya, but anyways…"
He got up to a terminal and punched his password in. He spent the next few seconds muttering through his stored stuff as Krix stood awkwardly next to him- "Oh… I forgot about- Whats that? Damn it, Ikora's thing is still in here… wait is that masterwo- Hey! That's were that went. I've been lookin' for that. May or may not have made a turn-out or two over the PA system. Huh. Now lemme see, where is… AH HA!" He stuck up a finger "Found it!"
His finger fell. "Ah shoot, nevermind. Hold on a sec, would ya? Let's see, let's see, … damn it! Where'd I put it?"
Sundance materialized and quietly scrolled back to the top.
"Hey, what're yo-! Oh. Thanks buddy." Cayde punched a few buttons and the mini door next to the terminal opened, revealing a studded hunter breastplate and a light-blue triple-pronged submachine gun.
Cayde gently took them out and held them up, inspecting them with a critical eye. "So, I know you're a big Arc guy, and uh… I'm not. So here. My Arcstrider setup." He handed Krix the studded chestpiece. "That right there is the Lucky Raspberry. One of my best scouts used to wear that, way back when. Shiro-4. Helped us out during the Siva outbreak, if you remember your history books. He gave it to me when he became a full-time Nightstalker to go after what's left of the House of Devils. I'm never going to use it, so… all yours. It does something with your Arcbolt grenades, can't remember what though."
Krix hefted it and ran his fingers along the front. "Damn. This is-"
"Oh! Hold that thought, I'm not done." He held up the light-blue machine gun. "This is the Riskrunner. A submachinegun I built. Some punk said I couldn't make a gun that shoots lighting, and I won that bet. It feeds off of excess Arc energy. I did something wrong- safety broke or something- so it kinda hurts when you use it, but it's also kinda awesome. Anyways, yet another thing I'm never going to get around to using, so it's yours. Debt included."
Krix opened his mouth but was cut off again.
"No refunds."