Yo, Luka here.

Cried over edge runners, replayed cyber punk again, went on a vault of glass raid, and suddenly I got an inspiration boost to write something new.

I was going along with my day when I remembered Asher Mir had a sick ass vex arm. Well, according to him it wasn't as cool as I thought seeing as he got turned into a harpy.

So I thought, what about the vex find a way into the world of cyber punk, then I realized that would've been a short story seeing as they would most likely just assimilate everything so I thought of a new concept.

Unwillingly vex augmented guardian finds themself in night city and go on from there because Vex space and time magic.

Won't completely ditch the story I'm currently working on, nor will I ignore this one, I'll update what I choose to update when I feel like I'm capable of delivering something of decent quality.

Also if you need help visualizing what kinda armour the guardian is wearing look up the Nerigal Savant set from Destiny 1.

Anyways without further ado,

Onwards to the show!

DISCLAIMER: Cyberpunk and Destiny 2 belong to their respective owners and franchises.

?

Pain.

Pain was something that all guardians were used to, phycological or physical, yet here he was pathetically lying down in the dirt on Venus as pain wracked his body.

He looked to his side to find the motionless shell of his ghost, his partner and best friend, dead.

The little light had its life and light drained away by the taken, who were advancing on his very position.

When had it all gone so wrong?

The mission was simple, investigate sudden vex absence from the designated area. It went as smoothly as most mission with his fire team do, until the taken appeared in droves and he was separated from his team.

Now there he lay, legs incinerated in an explosion, left arm sheared off by gunfire, unable to heal, and no feasible way to fight back.

In his current state he wasn't going to die in a blaze of glory, but in a pathetic whimper. Thats if he were lucky too, he shuddered to think what would happen to him if the Taken wanted him alive.

Letting his head fall he stared at the sky as he awaited his end, looking at the towering skyscrapers that once dominated the city and the starry night sky above it.

Gunfire erupted in the distance, and the foreboding feeling that the taken brought with them everywhere retreated.

Had his fire team come back for him?

His hoped were dashed as he stared at the menacing red-eye of a vex hydra.

He screamed as he felt the encroaching feeling of radiolaria crawl up the stumps that used to be his legs.

Nikolai Trivoski's fire team would never find his body, the only clue to the Warlock's demise was his ghost's dead shell.

Night City
Santa Domingo District
Mega-building H4

David Martinez kept his eyes down to the ground in front of him, careful not to look anyone in the eye. It had been another tiring day at the Academy, and the Tanaka bastard had been up to his usual antics again. Worse yet it was also his mother's day off too, while that might sound heartless and deep down he was really glad that his mom finally had a chance to rest, but it also meant that he was unable to go about his favourite past time of watching one of Kurosagi's special XBDs.

Walking up to his apartment door he heard the sound of a vacuum? Strange, he told his mom that he would take care of everything today so she could take the day off. Shrugging his shoulders he pressed the panel next to the apartment door and entered inside to see his mom in a cleaning frenzy. For once stray clothes weren't all over the floor, the trash had been taken out, and the floor was cleaner than when they first moved in too.

Looking up to see her son enter the apartment, Gloria Martinez stood up straight and smiled, stretching her back in the process too.

"Hey D! How was school?" She asked, sitting down on the couch and crossing her legs.

"Same old stuff," He shrugged. "Question is, whats gotten into you? Whats with the sudden cleanup?"

His mother's face brightened at the question, as if she's been waiting for a chance to answer it.

"I think I've finally solved some of our money problems!" She beamed. Seeing his mom happy made him happy too, but the deal she had apparently struck still sounded too good to be true.

"Alright I'll bite, how?"

"The building administration contacted me earlier today, said the the entire building was at capacity and offered me a deal. We let a person room with us from now on and we split the rent, that means I can spend it on more important things like your school. Better yet, the person that they chose to throw in with us already decided to pay rent for the next two months,"

Gaping, David stared at her as if she were insane. "Wait, you're letting a random person in just like that!? What if they're insane? What if-"

His rant was cut off when the apartment door was rattled by someone's knocking.

"Oh that must be him!" Dropping her cleaning implements, she stood up from the couch and ran too the door and opened it.

Beyond the doorway was a blonde man of Russian decent, his glowing dull red eyes that meant he was augmented, his face bore no signs of surgery but David could still make out the sockets on the side of his head, and while his long dark clothes covered much of his body, David was willing to bet he had more chrome under all that gear he had on.

"Is this the Martinez residence?" He asked,

"Uhm yes, My name is Gloria and this is my son David," Gloria introduced herself, gesturing to her son also. "I presume your the person that the admin wanted us to room with?"

"Yes that'd be me. Nikolai Trivoski, glad to meet you Mrs. Martinez,"

His mom laughed at the awkward politeness the man had before waving it away. "None of that Missus crap, call Me Gloria,"

"Only if you call me Nik," David almost gagged. This entire exchange was about as cliché as one of his mom's trashy soap operas.

Gloria let out a little laugh at his reply, apparently she found it at least a little funny.

"Well then, do you need any help with your bags?"

"Ah no, I don't pack much," Nikolai emphasized the point lifting up a small suitcase which probably held what belonging he had. Stepping into the apartment and closing the door behind him.

As he stepped in, Gloria pointed to the room on the right of the apartment, behind the couch. "That's a spare room we have, it's not exactly big but it's all we have,"

Nikolai waved off her concern with a laugh, "No it's fine, I don't have much really. I just need a safe place to crash after work,"

David tuned the rest of the conversation out, wishing for anything to drag him out this mess.

A notification in his feed, and a message from his ripper doc came in at impeccable timing it seemed.

'Hey choom, wanna help your doc out with another delivery?'

David perked up at the mention of deliveries, usually that meant brain dances, and if he were lucky; Kurosagi's brain dances too.

'Yeah, I can. Hey uh... you got any of JK's Cyberpsycho XBDs I can keep?'

' 'Course you can! You're helpin' me out after all. Sending you the detes now,'

'Alright nova! I'll get on it straight away doc!'

Closing the communication screen from his view, he was greeted by the sight of his mom and their new room mate chatting on the couch.

Throwing off the Arasaka academy jacket and throwing on a much more casual one, he stopped by the door on his way out and called out to his mom.

"Hey I'm gonna go out with some friends! Be back before dinner!"

He stepped out and into the mega tower atrium before he heard his mom reply, already on his way to the package he was suppose to deliver.

Back in their apartment Gloria frowned as she watched her son exit the apartment.

Letting out a sigh and pinching her nose she heard Nik chuckle from across the couch.

"Kids these days, always making their momma's worry,"

She groaned as she slid down the couch, feeling the exhaustion kick in. Dammit maybe she should have taken it easy.

"You don't know the half of it, David's a smart and talented kid, but he's always getting into all sorts of trouble! I can't help but worry every time he steps outside those doors, that one day I'll be picking him up into an ambulance,"

"If David's as smart as you say, then you got nothing to worry about. He's at the age where he needs to learn how to fly, but the important thing is you need to let him now that you're their to pick him up when he falls,"

Gloria was silent after he little spiel, seemingly digesting his words until he let out a tired chuckle.

"Goodness me, what kind of person am I? Not even a day here and I'm already unloading my problems onto you,"

"Hey I said I would help in any way I could didn't I? Though I admit, this isn't exactly what I had in mind,"

"Well I'm grateful anyways," the pair sat in an awkward if not comfortable silence, having run out of things to talk about.

"So, how has Night City been treating you so far Nik?" Gloria asked, finally breaking the silence.

Letting out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his neck, Nik let out a small shrug. "Oh it's been something alright, just arrived here a few weeks ago and already been one hell of n experience,"

Gloria blinked in surprise. "Oh a new arrival? What was it like getting into Night City?"

"Oh... there were a few bumps here and there..." Nik trailed off with a hidden grimace, remembering that his entrance to the city wasn't an entirely pleasant one.

Night City
A few weeks ago...

Warlock Nikolai Trivoski awoke with a gasp, chains that bound his arms to the wall as he tried to pull is arms away.

He looked around in panic, several others were locked in captivity beside him, bound either by chains or rope.

His memory was hazy and his sight blurred, where was he? Where was his fire team? Where was his ghost?

At the mention of his little light some of his memories returned bit by bit, the fate of the companion that had been by his side since his rebirth saddened him greatly.

Speaking of his memories returning he was surprised to see his limbs largely intact, he distinctly remembered being reduced to only to his right arm right before he...

Oh...

He had heard tales of Asher Mir before his disappearance, how the vex had altered the Gensym scribe irreversibly; although, Mir's vex appendage was clearly vex in origin, his restored limbs showed no sign of vex tampering.

Not taking a gift horse in the mouth, he would examine his new limbs later, he gathered light around his hands-

Only to find his reserves of light were pitifully small compared to what they once were, his thoughts travelled to his fallen ghost and without his little light to connect him to the traveler he was limited to what his meager light could provide him.

Odd, your actions deviate from previous observations. Why?

A feminine voice spoke from his head, reminding him of how his ghost communicated with him. Only problem was, his ghost sounded male.

Speaking to the voice as he would his former ghost, he voiced his thoughts to the voice in his head.

'You're not my ghost, who are you? What are you doing in my head? How are you even in my head?'

I bear no identity you would understand, for I am but a small piece in a larger entity. And I have implanted myself within my modifications to your biology to avoid destruction. You have not answered my query, why do your actions deviate from the norm?

Their answer flew his mind into overdrive, replaced limbs, the red eye he saw before he blacked out, and their answer gave him enough pieces to form his own answer.

'Are you, Vex? Did my save my life?' He tentatively asked.

Vex; the designation your race has given my kind. Yes, I am vex, and yes, I have indeed repaired your body while maintaining their original design. The Vex mind answered, before adopting an irritated tone. This one has answered your questions so far and has not received one in turn, is it not custom to repay those that have done you flavor?

He had the decency to look sheepish under his helmet. Best not to piss off the Hydra in his head, who know what it could do to him. Ah sorry about that, just having a few issues adjusting right now.

Even if he couldn't see their face he could feel the blank stare directed at him.

You still haven't answered my question.

'What would I even do in this situation, my weapons are gone, my ghost is dead and so is my link to the traveler. Any attempt at escape in my current state only endangers me and the other captives.'

Incorrect. Their answer was immediate, as if stating fact, and an answer Nik wasn't expecting at all. Was he really going to be getting a pep talk from a vex mind of all things?

'What?' He asked incredulously 'You gonna say something that'll inspire me? That I should never give up?'

No. Came their blunt and unamused response, Your new limbs are more than mere replacements, they're augmentations too. They should be able to carry you to victory for now.

'Oh.'

Flexing his left arm, he found that instead of straining his muscles against the metal chains, he heard the faint whirring of motors as they worked to free him from his bonds.

CLACK!

The chain snapped with a loud noise, no doubt alerting the guard who was probably suppose to guard them. Noise also awoke some of the other captives, who looked up to him, he quietly urged them to stay silent with a gesture as he snuck up to the door, already hearing the guard coming in from the other side.

Crouching beside the door, he gathered some light left in his pitiable reserves in his palm, shifting uncomfortably as his left arm began to shift. Faux flesh gave way to the vex metal underneath, exposing lines of radiolaria that ran across the machinery.

The door opened and out came a man, Nik almost did a double take at what he looked like. Covered head to toe in grafted skin and exposed implants, even his face was replaced by 2 menacing red eyes.

"Oi what the fuck is going on-" The cyborg never got to finish his sentence, a light empowered blast from his left hand crushed his ribcage and lingering void light ate away at the impact sight.

Taking one last look at his captors, Nik returned his gaze to his arm, which was shifting back into its regular form. What ever alterations the vex mind had done to his body, at least it worked to augment his light.

Speaking of which he was gladdened to already feel the light he had expended return once more, albeit at a snails pace than what he was used to. Seems that he would have to rely more on the vex cybernetics, no matter how uncomfortable the thought made him feel.

The rest of the compound has been alerted.

Their voice snapped him from his thoughts, he gazed up into the ceiling outside the cell door was a camera, its red optics staring straight at him.

I have taken the liberty to display tactical combat information through your new eyes through our neural link.

As soon as they finished speaking Nik felt pain in his head spike for a brief moment before it quickly subsided, blinking rapidly, he noticed the new additions to his vision. A heads up display that highlighted various objects around him and fed him small snippets of information, including a short list of his augmentations which were slowly activating bit by bit.

'Wow, thanks.'

Thank me later, you have enemies approaching.

Snapping up to his left, where a new group of thugs gathered around a corner, weapons in hand.

Charging void light supplemented with vex radiolaria into his hand, he chucked the grenade into the hallway before the gangsters could get into position.

He heard their screams before they were cut off as they were instantly consumed by the ferocity of the void grenade.

Picking up a discarded hand cannon from the dead, he made his way through the compound, occasionally encountering another group of enemies.

Now armed with a weapon, he made use of the decades of experience being a guardian granted him. Keeping cool even under the intense pressure of gunfire, he picked off the heads of each enemy one by one with a blast of his newly acquired hand cannon.

A lone brave thug jumped up from a corner and sprayed him from the hip with his assault rifle. The bullets didn't leave a scratch, his robes, while still paling in comparison to titan armour, was still made to defend him from the forces of darkness. Some unempowered assault rifle just wasn't going to cut it.

Having enough of this farce he brought up his revolver to bear and blew the man's brains, implants, and skull out from the back of his head.

Striding past the dead bodies he left in his wake, he came upon a door that lead into a large warehouse space where thugs hid behind crates to halt his progress. His new eyes already told him the number of thugs and their positions.

Bracing himself, he kicked down the door and blinked to the left behind a pillar, leaving confused shouts as the thugs just saw their former captive teleport out of thin air.

Keeping his breathe steady, he gasped for air as the short ranged teleport had taken much from his already depleted reserves.

I would advise against your more complex light based abilities, I have yet to configure the radiolaria converter to supplement the light drain on such powers at this time. Came the late, but at least helpful advice from his new tenant in his head.

Checking the ammo in his hand cannon, he waited for a lull in the gunfire before stepping out from his cover t fire away at his enemies.

Letting out 3 consecutive shots before he ducked down behind a concrete barrier, he heard three shouts of pain and another 3 dots disappear from his motion sensor.

Seeing their comrades die, the remaining thugs poured even more fire into his cover, attempting to peek out and fire, he quickly realized his mistake when a round was deflected by his helmet.

Pressing his back against the wall, while he was confident his armour would protect him, the sheer volume of gunfire would surely wear him down.

'Hey, think you can help beyond what ever your doing right now? kinda in a tight spot here.' He asked the vex mind in his head.

I am able to access their implants remotely, one moment. There was a brief pause in gunfire when several thugs spasmed in their position before their neural implants were detonated remotely within their skulls, one by one their heads exploded in a gruesome cacophony of blood and gore that showered their surviving comrades.

He grimaced at the brutality of it all, still he couldn't deny Vex efficiency.

Leaping over his cover his started blasting away at the remaining thugs who were still in shock of the entire situation.

Their morale shattered, and numbers slowly decreasing, the remaining thugs decided that their base wouldn't be worth defending anymore and swiftly retreated from the warehouse, leaving their dead behind and tails between their legs.

Holstering his new hand cannon, he quickly looted any bodies around for valuable loot, he found strange rolls of paper that greatly reminded him of old world cash before pocketing it and returning to the cell where he and the other captives where kept in.

Upon reaching the door he saw the other prisoners looking up to him with a small amount of light in their lives, breaking their chains one by one, he urged the freed captives to call the authorities of what happened. He received a few incredulous stares in return be they did so anyway.

By the time the police arrived one scene a criminally long time later, they were greeted by the rotting corpses of the Maelstrom thugs.

Night City
Martinez Residence
Present Day

Nik suppressed the urge to wince, he had spent days struggling to adapt to his new environment, even with his new companion to help. Vex would scour the net for opportunities to ply his trade as a mercenary as his own personal fixer to help him bring in the eddies.

It was only recently when he had been able to afford a small place to rest in, even if he had to share, but these folks didn't seem to bad.

He was snapped from his thoughts when Gloria let out a small laugh, having come to her own conclusion at his rather open ended answer.

"Yeah, not like the city of dreams it was advertised as, was it?"

Taking advantage of her misunderstanding he nodded, laughing lightly. "It's taken a bit to adjust but I'm making it work,"

Their conversation was cut short when he received another notification from his personal link.

Another of my contacts has asked for our assistance, it seems your getting popular, this one seems important. Client's package was lost travelling through Watson, suspected culprit is another group of Scavs thought to be operating in that area.

Seeing his eyes focus one something else, Gloria spoke from the side, "Something wrong?" She asked. Despite knowing her for 2 hours, worry had already tinged her tone.

"Work is already calling me back, I swear it's like they can't handle anything without me there to baby them," he joked and half lied at the same time.

"Do I know the feeling," She said before letting out a yawn, exhaustion finally seemingly catching up to her. "Well, I'm going to finally get some sleep before I get called in to work tomorrow, I'll leave dinner in the fridge for you and David,"

Nodding in thanks, he stopped by the door, "Hey do want me to get anything from the store on my way back?"

She threw a thumbs up from her position on the couch, "That'll be great, I'll send you a list."

Receiving another notification from his personal link, from a contact simply labelled 'Gloria M'

Accepting the list he silently went over the list as he descended the Megatower atrium.

And that's a wrap!

lucy? Rebecca? Nah Gloria's the one for me. Actually thinking about it I may have a type, ah well I'll deal with that later.

Also any suggestions what should he call the Vex mind vibing in Nik's head? I've been struggling to think of one, so maybe I'll let you guys decide.

Oh and the hand cannon that Nik picked up during the flashbacks was the DR-5 Nova, don't worry though, he's gotten a few more gadgets since then.

How'd you guys like it? Leave any suggestions and critics in the review so I know what to improve.

A little treat before you guys leave! Chapter 2 sneak peak!

Night City
Watson District
Kabuki

Dodging another swing from the blade that came from the cyberphsyco's arms, he tried to bring his shotgun up to bear towards the man's face, only for the barrel to be sliced off.

Tsking in annoyance he jumped back and gathered void light in his palm, arms shifting and revealing the machine underneath.

The phsyco leaped towards him again, only for to be blasted back by his vex augmentations empowered by his light. To the crazed man's credit he wasn't killed immediately, instead heaving weakly as the void energies ate away at his chromed out torso.

No matter how sorry he felt for him he knew that he was a danger he couldn't afford right now.

Grabbing his hand cannon from his revolver. He briefly empowered the bullet in the chamber, and fired the light infused round into the man's skull, finally killing him.

Sighing tiredly as he looked around the alleyway he had fought in, the bodies of Scavs, and the unfortunate Cyberpsycho surrounded him.

"Holy shit..."

The familiar voice made him spin around in surprise, seeing the shocked face of David Martinez gazing at him with shock and awe as he was covered in blood, gun smoking, and surrounded by dead bodies.

"Ah shit." He swore.

Sneak peak end!

See ya guys next chapter or something.