Taikonaut here! Turns out my uncle's place has wifi, so I was able to update the story today. I'm in the Phillipenes, so I am a lot of hours ahead of you Americans. I'm a little sad though because I'm missing the Festival of the Lost. I atleast wanted the emotes. :(
I do not own any content created by Bungie/Activision, who own all the rights.
Chapter 6: Blessings of Light
Daniel's POV
Surprise was the only look visible on their faces. After all, who wouldn't be shocked to meet someone who lived with an AI capable of destroying cities?
"This must be a joke, right?" the blue exo said, shock still on his face. Wait a minute. Light blue face, orange eyes, the voice, the unicorn horn. I recognize that face from... the security cameras in the bunkers.
"Are you... Cayde-6?" I asked. I wanted to know if he was the one.
"Wow. Even in this Tower my name IS still recognized," Cayde replied. So he was the one I once saw. Time to confirm it.
"Weren't you the one that snuck in to one of Rasputin's bunkers before?" Cayde looked really surprised, as if he were caught for a crime. The other vanguard members looked at Cayde suspiciously.
"What is he talking about, Cayde?" the warlock asked.
"Nothing, nothing," he said while nervously chuckling. He turned to me.
"How'd you know about that, kid?" He whispered hesitantly. Gottcha!
"I remember a few years ago. Rasputin was shut down for the night and I was watching the cameras. I almost fell asleep when I saw you. You were stealing something from his files. Then you said,"Nailed it. Cayde-6, best hunter ever,"" I explained.
"You did say that you got the technology for bladedancers from 'an outside' source, Cayde," said the warlock.
Cayde finally gave up. "Alright, alright. It's true. I snuck into Rasputin's bunker to get the Promethean Code to make hunters invisible, ok?" The other two nodded.
"We'll discuss about your stunt later, Cayde. Let's get back to the real subject," the titan said. "You said you lived with Rasputin, and your conversation with Cayde confirmed it. Why was Rasputin willing to let you stay with him?" My answer didn't take long to come out of my mouth.
"My ancestors created Rasputin. He recognized me and took me in," I explained. "He taught me some Russian, and I eventually started fixing a lot of his bugs,"
The vanguard looked at each other as if they were talking telepathically. The Titan nodded and looked back at me. "Is there any way we can contact him? Last time we sent a team to search for him we received... unexpected results,"
I remember that incident. There was a team of three knocking on one of the entrances to Rasputin's bunker. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I never saw them again.
"You can try to talk to him, but the same thing will happen. Right now, Rasputin doesn't want to be bothered. I don't even know what he's planning, but it must be important. Unless there are extreme circumstances, only I should talk to him,"
He nodded, and motioned for the other two vanguards to have a private meeting. All I heard was whispering. There was a pause, and all three of them looked at Marcole and I for a second before continuing their discussion.
A few moments later, their discussion stopped. Cayde looked at Marcole, and the warlock looked at me.
"Daniel, was it? I think you should become a warlock. You seem to be very knowledgeable, and you must know great power if you lived with a warmind. You will make a great warlock," she said. I thought for a moment.
A warlock. I heard of warlocks. Studying many objects, discovering new powers, enhancing current powers. I feel like I would be suited. I always wanted to know a lot more about the Earth, the other planets, the Darkness(which Rasputin never talked about despite the fact that he first detected it), and so much more. I could combine new elements that I could find with technology from Rasputin.
"Thank you. I was thinking the same," I replied. She shook my hand.
"I am Ikora Rey, the warlock vanguard. It is an honor to meet you, Daniel," I smiled as I saw Cayde walk up to Marcole.
"Now for you. Judging by your backstory, your attitude, and your cloak, I think you should be a hunter. Lone wolf?" Cayde asked Marcole. The awoken nodded in response. "Good, good. Met all of the requirements already. Maybe you could take my place as vanguard one day," mumbled Cayde. Something tells me he doesn't like it here. Ikora spoke up next.
"We must now call The Speaker to infuse the Light into both of you. Only he can make living people guardians. Contact him, ghost," said Ikora to her own ghost. The ghost nodded, and floated out of the room. We all waited, but the ghost returned very shortly. Behind him was a masked man dressed in white. He has the same aura around him that I felt near The Traveler.
"You must have seen The Traveler, correct?" The Speaker said. Marcole and I nodded, while the exo looked like he wasn't so sure. The Speaker kept on talking anyways.
"The Traveler brought us a Golden Age, bringing many gifts. But then, The Darkness came. The Traveler sacrificed itself to protect humanity. When it lost its voice, I started speaking for The Traveler. I am The Speaker," Behind The Speaker, two ghosts flew into the room. Everyone but Marcole and I have one, so they aren't theirs.
"In its dying breath, The Traveler created ghosts to seek out for potential wielders of its Light. Guardians. With me right now, I bring two ghosts. Both of you are worthy," The Speaker looked at me and Marcole. "One of you befriended something who lived through The Golden Age, and saw it collapse. The other one has seen what The Darkness can do near The Reef, farther out in the system. Knowledge this great is very powerful indeed," The Speaker walked towards us. In both hands, he held what looked like orbs of clumped up Light.
"I hold in my hands Motes of Light. Guardians everywhere contributed these, and I used them to create newer guardians and ghosts. These Motes will merely enhance the amount Light that you already have, however. People without the right amount Light cannot become guardians. I cannot simply give civilians the amount of light they need. Both of you shall hold these, and they will enter your soul to cleanse it of Darkness," I was handed on orb and Marcole was handed the other. The Motes felt so warm in my hands, as if I were holding a living, bright sun full of life. Then it happened. Both of our motes broke apart. But instead of falling to the floor, the pieces floated in place. They suddenly attached themselves to us, the Light entering our bodies. It felt as if all the memories of hiding from the Fallen were gone. It was if I was reborn.
I looked at my hands. The Motes were gone, but I could still feel their presence. In a flash, my hand moved instinctively with palm open, and a void orb was formed. It was very small, not huge enough to create damage. I lived with Rasputin to know what can destroy things and what can't. I looked at Marcole, and I saw him looking at an arc-covered dagger. I turned back towards The Speaker.
"You are now guardians," he said. "You now wield the Light. You both have potential. I only hope you use that potential wisely," he said before walking away. We all turned back towards the vanguard when Cayde spoke up.
"Don't worry, guys. He always says that to everyone. He never really means it. Well, I'm pretty sure. Anywho, let's get back to business,"
"Yes," said the Titan. "Since all of you are fairly new, we decided to make all three of you a fireteam. A sunbreaker, a Reef Awoken, and a friend of Rasputin should accomplish many tasks. In the mean time, rest for a while. Get to know each other better. Your ghosts should lead you to the quarters where you can rest. This evening, we will assign you a mission. Is that clear?" All three of us nodded. Our ghosts floated together out of the room as we followed.
"So," I started. "What's your name?" I asked the exo.
"Sensō," he replied. Sounds foreign. Nothing compared to Cayde, Ikora, and Marcole. I decided to ask him more questions.
"Are you new here? Or have you been here for a while?"
"That place I first discovered you guys at was my first job in this city. Still not used to a few things," he muttered the last part. I heard a digital blink before hearing a ghost's voice.
"We should probably go to the gunsmith and the shipwright first," my ghost said, who sounds female. The other ghosts "nodded," and we all walked towards to a table with a dark blue exo near it. Behind him were dozens of weapons. Most likely prototypes.
"I still have my fusion rifle," I explained. Marcole nodded in agreement, bringing out his own sidearm.
"We still have to find primary weapons for you two," Marcole's ghost replied. I sighed in defeat, but he had a good point. As we walked towards the gunsmith, he looked over my shoulder.
"Is that a Dvalin?" he asked in a deep, deep voice.
"It's a FR005. Rasputin gave it to me as a gift of some sorts," I replied.
"Can I see it?"
"Sure," I said. I handed over my FR007 to the gunsmith. He examined it with curious eyes and gave it back to me.
"You should hold on to it. In the meantime, if you find anymore, bring them to me. The Dvalins help me regain some of my memories," he said. I nodded as he gave my fusion rifle back.
"Now, which type of weapon? Auto rifle, scout rifle, pulse, whatever you need," he asked. I thought for a moment. What I really need was something that can do a good amount of damage at a good range. It needs to be good for up close, too.
"I'll try out a pulse rifle," I said. The gunsmith nodded, and walked towards the wall of guns. He gave me a plain white gun.
"This is the latest Häkke test pulse rifle. Häkke wants it to be used against Fallen vandals,"
"Vandals? Why vandals?" I asked.
"I don't know. Maybe they're developing a special perk for all I know,"
Both the gunsmith and I turned towards Marcole, who was still looking at the guns.
"I have a Häkke Test-A hand cannon you can use, if hand cannons are your style. Häkke wants it used against Hive," the gunsmith explained. Marcole nodded. Seriously, he nods more times than Rasputin listens to ballet.
"Silent, eh? Typical hunters,"
We walked back to the the hangar we landed on earlier. I am the only one that doesn't have a ship. I see Amanda again, this time near a table. She had this tablet with a picture of what looks like a ship.
"Your Daniel, right?" she asked. "I already got your ship. You ok with the Outrageous Fortune?" She showed me her tablet with a picture of a white jet with blue stripes on it.
"Looks good," I replied. Amanda smiled and looked at my ghost.
"You're ready to fly when ever. Your ghost will assist on that," she explained.
"Thank you," I said as I followed my other teammates to wherever they were going to.
I felt my ghost teleport us(or the others' ghosts teleported them) to a hallway with doors. Each door has a different number.
"Ok," Sensō's ghost said. "Our room number should be number 1015. Should be one of the bigger rooms considering we're a fireteam,"
We all looked for number 1015. Right now we were near number 1003. How convenient. Just a few minutes of walking and we already found out room.
Sensō opened the room and we saw everything. A tv(Rasputin said they aren't used anymore. He lied), some velvet couches, and a window that shows a view of the city. This is just the main room. There was one big room that had three adult sized beds. Above the beds was a giant sign that said "Be Brave."
"Dang," I said. "Definitely nicer than Rasputin's place, that's for sure,"
"Let's sit down and rest. We've all been through a lot," Sensō's ghost said. We all agreed and sat in the main room. "First, let's name our fireteam. All fireteams have a name, though it isn't required," he said.
I thought for a moment. What sounded cool? It has to be something that sounds like we can be counted on. Something that sounds like we can do anything we need to.
"How about Infinity? Fireteam Infinity?" I asked. I don't know if that's taken or not.
Marcole and Sensō looked at each other before looking back at me. "That actually sounds really cool," said Sensō. Marcole nodded for the 20th time.
"That could work. There isn't any known fireteam with that name," my ghost replied.
"How about you two name your ghosts? I named mine Sentinel," Sensō suggested. Huh. What could I name my ghost? Ok, I was raised by Rasputin. According to him, there was a a historical figure in the 20th century with the same name. Since my ghost is female, i have to think of female people the historical Rasputin met. Good thing I got history lessons.
"What do you think of Maria?" I asked my ghost.
"That sounds really nice! I love it!" Maria, as she is called now, answered.
"I've decided on Koronis," Marcole suddenly spoke out. Silence filed the room. This was the first time in a while since he spoke.
"Well," Sentinel started. "Now that we all know each other, let's go meet other guardians, go to the gun ranges, things like that,"
"Sounds like a good idea," I replied.
We went to a gun range-like place, with targets in the shape of Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal. I tried out my pulse rifle, and it seems decent enough. Marcole seems to be really skilled, being able to hit the targets at the head with ease.
"More new guys? I didn't think-oh hey, Sensō!" I heard. I turned around and saw another warlock. He was human, with dark skin and green eyes.
"Andrew? What a coincidence," I heard from Sensō, who was right behind me. Seems to me he knows this guy.
"Who are these two?" Andrew asked.
"Part of my fireteam,"
"Wow. First day on the job and you already have a team. Next thing you know you're gonna raid the Vault of Glass in a week,"
I think I know what the Vault is. Rasputin only told me very little. According to him, the Vault of Glass is one of the greatest Vex archives.
"So, Zavala sent you guys a mission?"
"Not yet," Sensō replied. "He said he would meet with us this evening. My teammates are testing their guns,"
Andrew looked at me and Marcole. "These guys get revived or..."
"We came to the Tower with no ghosts," I answered. "I'm from a Russian Cosmodrome and Marcole is from The Reef,"
"The Reef, eh? I heard rumors that guardians were shot down over there. I'm not saying they're bad, I'm just saying it's a little unusual. No offense, though. I'm sure he's nice,"
Marcole looked at Andrew. "It's ok. I have nothing to do with the belt anymore," he said while taking out a target. He kept on training afterwards.
Andrew looked slightly surprised. "Well... ok then. I guess I'll see you guys later. I gotta go meet one of my friends, Trevis. He's one of the Nightstalkers," he said before his ghost teleported him.
So, this chapter is really long(for my story). I was going to add more, but I'll save that for next chapter. Enjoy using your Crota masks in King's Fall/Regicide/pretty much any Taken king mission with Oryx! Also, the number 1015 came from Halo's release date for Xbox.