Just 'cause I get away with it
It doesn't make it right
It doesn't make the deeds I've done any less a crime
Even if the world sees me on that righteous path
I'm not an innocent man
Innocent Man – The SteelDrivers
November 05, 2591; Ishtar Sink, Venus
Azra was not a big fan of stakeouts.
She lay flat on the ground, eye pressed up to her rifle. She was buried up to her shoulders in leaf litter, her scope carefully masked to not cast a glint. She'd been here for several hours already and the moisture was slowly but surely working its way to her base layers. She was antsy.
Strangely, the addition of another Guardian on the stakeout made her more tense. There was just something about Shin Malphur that made it impossible to relax when he was around. There was a dangerous sharpness in his eyes, the way he spoke like every question was a test. Azra was doing her best to put it aside, but, well…
"You're sure she's still in there?" Shin muttered. It was like he was accusing Azra of lying.
"There aren't any Gates in that site," Azra said. "So unless she found a connection I haven't, the only way out is the way she came in."
"And you're sure there's no connections."
"You're sure she's worth hunting?"
The tension made her spout off a bit at the mouth. It was hard to stand under the questioning, the not-so-subtle glances, and not throw some doubt back yourself.
"Believe me," Shin said. "She's done quite enough to deserve this."
This wasn't the first time Azra had hunted a person. There was always the hope that it would be the last, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe it. But back in the day when Jaren Ward would call her up, she never had any doubts as to the morality of the situation. And if she had any doubts, Jaren would make damn sure she understood the whole of the path laid behind them before asking her to move forward.
Shin raised an eyebrow at her, looking suspicious, like if she wasn't on board with hunting down Linwood then she might as well be working with her.
There had always room for nuance with Jaren Ward. Even if she couldn't go to sleep at night knowing if she'd done the right thing, she didn't have to drag around regrets.
"I don't know why you asked for my help on this," Azra said. She shifted a bit under the leaves, flexing her right toe, then the left, trying to keep her muscles limber enough so she could move if she needed to.
"Besides all of the Darkness-courting, Linwood has been playing with Vex tech," Shin said dryly. "I figured you if anyone would know what kind of tricks she could have up her sleeves."
"Ain't no tricks that wouldn't hurt her just as much as us," Azra said. "Vex systems aren't designed to be directed. You don't point them at something and say, 'go fuck that up'."
"Huh," Shin said.
Azra had to wonder how much he knew. She had done her best in the past to ignore the impact the Vault of Glass had left on her. She could count the number of times she'd verbally mentioned it on one hand, the times she'd actually used it in any meaningful way on one finger.
"If anyone asks," she said, "I got another charge out of the teleporter."
Spark calculated as if for a transmat, even though the distance was much too far. Somewhere, very far away, water echoed in meaningful patterns. The walls glittered with subtly shifting facets of glass. Space was tangled up with time. Being in one place and then another was as simple as breathing, being in one moment and then the next. She had been there. Now she was here. Next, she would be-
She reached for the future, loosened her grip on the present, and Stepped.
But Shin looked at her like he knew.
Azra kept her mouth shut. Once things were said, you couldn't un-say them.
Shin made a noise in his throat. The Light flashed with his surprise (with his eagerness) as he turned back to look at the entrance to the Vex site.
A half a second later, Azra saw the shadows move. "Not Vex," she murmured. Vex didn't hide.
Shin reached a hand for the gun lying ready on the ground next to him.
