Hello Sp4de here sorry it took me a long while to get this chapter out. I've been very busy with school work and actual work.
Laurine: As well as with procrastination
Not even just that, also destiny has been taking up most of my time, gearing up for hard raid and Trials of Osiris. Enough about that let's get on with chapter. I hope you enjoy and comment if you have any questions or critiques.
-Is everyone who we expect?
On my ride home I thought to myself, Why did the speaker only send me, to investigate that situation. Maybe it was a test or something, well somehow I survived it. All I know is I owe Adaline for once.
Pulling my ship into the dock, I noticed that basically everyone's ships was here but no one was in the bay. The Shipwright was here with her robots that help her maintain the bay and the ships but, they're always here. Cautiously I exited my ship and corridor to the courtyard. On my way to the bar I noticed a commotion going on there. That allowed me to drop my guard. On my way there I caught a glimpse of couple, sitting out of the way of everything enjoying the view of the citadel below. I continued to mind my own business until realizing that the woman with the blue skinned Titan wasn't wearing any type of armor or robes. Pausing my quest to the bar, I hid around the corner to discover more about the couple. The Titan's onyx colored armor was sleek, nimble even, unlike most titans. What stood out the most was his shoulder blades, the size of small shields that curved in slightly with a symbol of the sun forged in gold onto both sides. His messy silver hair blew slightly in the air along with the women's short raven colored hair as they embraced each other. Somehow not noticing my gaze upon their blissful moment. I let out a soft sigh remembering that I'm still single.
"Why are you watching them?" Asked a voice from behind startling me, causing a small yelp to escape my lips as I turn to face the voice. Finding it to be the Titan from the bar earlier, I believe Tristan was his name.
After figuring out who the voice belonged to, I shot the owner an angry look.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." I whispered in hope that the couple didn't hear me.
"Sorry, but still, why are you spying on them?" He asked
"The woman isn't a guardian she's a civilian, and last time I checked civilians aren't allowed in the Tower."
"And why do you care? They aren't causing any trouble. So just let them be."
I paused for a second to think about what he said. Turning back to discover that the couple had disappeared.
"Welp, they're gone now." I shrugged turning back to face him. Silence filled the air while he stood slightly taller than me, his dirty blond hair flowing to his shoulder blades that were bulky like every other Titans.
"On another note, Adaline is waiting for you at the bar." He spoke breaking the silence.
"How'd she know I made it back?"
"I don't know, she just told me to go get you."
"Whatever..." I say resuming my quest to the bar, Tristan keeping the same pace as me. The only sound in the air being our footsteps.
"Oh and by the way my buddy Allen is interested in you but, he can be pretty shy around girls. He just needs to be around you a bit more and he'll be the funniest person you'll ever know." He blurted, somewhat smiling. He's the guy with the exotic gun 'Hard Light' isn't he. I'd almost forgot about him.
"Okay I'll give him a chance."
"Great, I hope you two get along."
We walked into the overly crowded bar, sifting through it to find our table. Tristan spotted the table first before leading me to it. Adaline and Allen were sitting on opposite sides of the booth from each other. I sat on the side Allen was on and Tristan sat on the other. Sliding into the booth I ended up getting pretty close to him, painting a faint blush onto his cheeks.
"What took you so long to get back?" Adaline blurted being able to be heard clearly in this noisy environment, moving from her nonchalant composer to basically leaping over the table to hug me.
"S-Sorry I took so long..." I muttered a bit surprised at first but embracing her still. After leaving each other's comfort she went back to her nonchalant attitude.
"Anyways, what did you want to tell her?" Tristan asked barely being audible.
Adaline adjusted herself, leaning on the wall resting her arm on the table before saying,"Well first Laurine owes us some drinks."
"Actually I owe you drinks but, I'll buy everyone a few rounds." I said reluctantly scrunching my face a bit. Looking from Tristan to Allen, I caught glimpse of a smile that formed on Allen's face as he looked at me. Suddenly I felt my cheeks get warm. After the realization I was blushing I quickly turned away and shouted,"Hey Waiter, can I get a round of drinks over here for my buddies and me?"
Luckily I caught the attention of one of the waiters moving about. He made eye contact and, nod to assured me that I was heard.
Once the drinks were on their way Adaline's ghost exited her body and opened itself to its spherical shape presenting us with an image. The image being a pulse rifle but not like any I've ever seen. Having the frame of an auto rifle sporting a bayonet with dried blood splattered on it as well as some on the spikes protruding from the area near and on the barrel. Tristan, Allen, and I leaned in closer inspecting the image.
"Red Death is her name, and she has a very mysterious story behind her." Adaline said spinning the image abit,"As a reward for restoring Rasputin, the Warmind on earth. The Speaker gave me this image and its last known coordinates."
"Woah woah, back up. You restored Rasputin?" Allen questioned, this being the second time I've heard his voice. This time it had a deeper tone..
"Yes I did and it was not an easy task. Not only were there Fallen scavenging the Warmind but, there were these creatures that consumed the light around them. Thriving in the darkness they created within the Warmind, those creatures quickly dispatched the Fallen there. My ghost warned me on engaging them. Considering the fact that they engulf the light that they come in contact with. Finding the right opportunity I used my arc blade, slashing waves of arc at them killing a good amount of them. At least I thought I did but they didn't stopping oozing out of the darkness. Since that didn't work in my favor. I pulled out my hand cannon once my arc blade disappeared. Shooting the husks until spotting an opening to the control console. Once I accessed the consulate my ghost did the rest to turn on the Warmind. While the Warmind was booting up I continued fighting off the creatures. Reloading was a very big hassle as I tried to keep them away. As soon as I was able to I used my arc blade again. Giving me enough breathing room to reload my handcannon. It took a while but once the Warmind was fully activated it instantly sensed the threat. An alarm went off as a bunch of sentries exited the walls. Driving the creatures back and out of the Warmind."
Listening closely to her I thought to myself, I don't want to run into those creatures. They don't seem like a fun or fair fight. I slouched into my seat leaning against Allen who glanced at me for a second before a waiter arrived placing a tray of shot glasses on the table with a few bottles of Vodka drawing all of our attentions. Adaline grabbed one of the bottles opening it and pouring some into each of the small glasses.
"Let's toast to your success in the field." Tristan announces taking one of the glasses and holding it up high toward the middle of the table.
Each of us grabbed a glass and put them together against his before simultaneously downing the shots. Hating the taste of Vodka I reluctantly swallowed it, slamming the glass on the table. In sequence they each slamed their glasses on the table secretly trying to see who was the fastest.
"Wait a minute. Did you tell the Warmind to save me?" I asked leaning in a bit while Adaline began pouring another shot for herself.
"Well, once the creatures were gone symphonic music began to play. Having my ghost translate, it said there was a Warlock was in need of some assistance. It then pulled up an image of you fighting off a horde of Fallen. It then sent a massive amount of missiles to aid you."
"That explains the music my ghost received." I shrugged looking around the bar noticing everything die down.
"So who wants to volunteer to help me locate this beauty?" Adaline threw in the air as her ghost retreating back inside of her body.
"Can't, I have a bounties I need to take care of by tomorrow morning." Tristan said pouring himself another shot.
"Wish I could join but my ship is currently being repaired." Allen chimed in. Adaline gave him an intrigued look before shifting her gaze to me a evil smirk slowly forming on her face.
"You can just catch a ride with Laurine. I'm sure she won't mind." She spouted as Trisan downed his shot.
"Woah hold a sec, I didn't say I was going to help. You know all I want to do is go to my apartment and pass out."
"But you're my best friend so I know you'll help me." She replied smugly while pouring two shots for herself and downing them. I let out a sigh knowing she's right. Getting up from the booth taking the bottle from Adaline as she was about to pour another shot and placing it back on the table.
"If you want our help, then we're leaving right now." I asserted. Allen took my lead, silently getting out of the booth and standing next to me.
She rolled her eyes before calling for the bill and taking the bottle. Once the waiter came I gave him my card and he zipped away with it. Not long after disappearing he reappeared on the other side of me and handed me my card.
After twenty minutes of complete nonsense, trying to get the coordinates from her we just agreed to follow her. Getting Allen and I into my ship was pretty cramp but we managed to get it to work. Having him stand up really close to my chair hovering over me.
"Why is it so cramped?" Allen complained for the twelfth time causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance.
"Oh quit your bitching, it's not my fault this model of Photon ships is made for a single guardian." I snapped looking up at him not realizing how close our faces were to each other. Feeling my face grow warm I quickly looked forward seeing Adaline's ship off in the distance. Then she went into low earth orbit. It didn't take long for me to pulled the ship close by hers.
"We're here, I guess. Now get the fuck off my ship."
"You mean jump from here? Aren't you going to go further into the earth's atmosphere?"
"This wouldn't be the first time I've jumped from here. Although, there has to be a reason for Adaline leaving her ship in orbit and not dropping herself off first. So gear up."
"Obviously we should follow her lead, she couldn't possibly be wrong." Allen mumbled having his ghost spawn his helmet in his hand before securing it on his head. Hearing him I shot him a dirty look before doing the same with my helmet. I didn't even want to be here in the first place. I could've been in the comfort of my bed. He's lucky that he's cute otherwise I would've dumped him on mercury.
"Ladies first." He joked causing another sigh to leave my lips.
I materialised myself outside of my ship into the void, silent and cold, feeling earth pull me closer to her. Seeing my ship get further and further away as I started to enter earth's atmosphere. Once I broke through the thermosphere and the mesosphere I felt myself start to catch fire as I enter the stratosphere trying to keep my breathing stable and my body straight. It took a while to break through the stratosphere and into the troposphere. Upon entering I opened up my arms and legs turning around to see the surface. Quickly analyzing the area. Searching the waste land of sharp terrain for a good position to land. After finding one I began steering myself in that direction. Getting closer to the mountains that stood high, destroyed trees densely closing the gaps between them. Aiming for a small area where there wasn't much destruction. Flipping my body to center my legs facing the ground, then gliding slightly every once in awhile to slow my momentum. Even with the slight glides I had to roll once hitting the ground. Materializing my scout rifle on my back.
God I hate landing,I thought to myself grabbing my rifle from my back checking the magazine that was already loaded before looking around for any type of threat. Surveying the area and coming up clean caused my eyebrow to raise. What was the point of dropping in from orbit if there isn't a threat? I really hate Adaline sometimes. I shouldn't put so much faith in her. I bet she did this just so I would spend sometime with someone other than myself and her. I let out an irritated growl as I secured my rifle on my back. Not too long after I heard Allen come in for a landing. Using his jetpack to thrust him up counteracting his momentum allowing him to have a soft landing.
"Oh looks like there isn't a threat anywhere. I guess there wasn't a point to drop in from orbit." Allen said smugly summoning his ghost to hover over his hand.
"Whatever… Next time I won't follow Adaline's lead, but was it really that bad?"
"Not really. I just don't like doing it. Did you see Adaline on your way down?"
I stopped to think for a second realizing that I didn't. That brought me to another thought, where the hell are we.
"That's a great question, also do you know where we are?" I said about to summon my own ghost before he answered me.
"My ghost is saying we are in Canada. There should be a guardian outpost in that direction." He pointed the right.
"Hopefully she's there." I sighed as we began our journey in said direction.
I've never been this far from the citadel while still on earth. According to the archive, this place is usually snowy this time of year but something isn't right here. Once we got through the thick destroyed tree line we could make out a distraught looking town in the far distance.
"My ghost is saying that the outpost is stationed in that building in the middle of town." Allen pointed at a tall building in shambles his ghost fading back into his body. Hearing a ship fly over head I instinctively looked up. A red Fallen House of Devils insignia painted across the broad side.
"Shit fallen are here!" I cursed summoning my indigo colored sparrow .
After climbing aboard my sparrow there being enough room on the seat to Allen to climb on. There was a bit of hesitation before he climbed on behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. Once his arms locked around me, I revved the engine before zoomed toward the town.
-end of chapter
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