Twilight Gap was something to behold.
The fortress stood atop a frozen peak. Two sentinel-peaks stood guard to the North and South of the Bastion. Its outer Perimeter was lined with weapons of war, barracks within held all manner of gadgets and instruments of destruction.
The two Warlocks arrived an hour after noon, ferried up the hill by a Vanguard Operative going by the name of "Fenchurch", his ship wafting with the smell of Vanilla. Stepping out of the Agent's ship, the Warlock pair were greeted with brown grass, steel scaffolding, and melting snow. The loud bang of gunfire caused the New Light to flinch slightly.
Lightbearers floated and ran about the fields, clambering up the steel and concrete to gun each other down with apparently senseless violence. Blood and oil littered the Bastion and so do the weapons of the fallen.
"Newcomers! Eyes Up!" a voice shouts at the pair as the high-pitched whir of a rocket makes itself evident, the accident that is about to occur.
Mithra quickly wrapped her arms around her New Light and stepped in front of him, her arms alight with Vacuum Energy, ready to deflect the incoming projectile. However, as fast as Lightning, a Warlock blinks before them, grasping the speeding rocket in a fistful of Void and tossing it aside. A puff of smoke and the explosion that follows is proof of the potential destruction that could've occurred.
The Warlock who had saved the pair gently floats before the two, whisps of Light trailed behind her shoulders as she glided down. Mithra eyed the Warlock with contempt, The New Light could only awe.
"Eresh... how warm a welcome for us..." Mithra sarcastically quips, letting her Light dissipate from her arms.
Eresh landed gently before raising her right hand over her heart in a respectful greeting. "Mithra... How... unexpected."
Behind the helmet, Mithra wondered as to the expression Eresh wore. Was it surprise due to seeing an old comrade again? Or perhaps a teasing grin for Mithra, having the gall to come crawling back to the Vanguard.
"We're here so I can grant my New Light the education and Resources he needs to develop..." Mithra gestured to the Lightbearer beside her as she gritted her teeth slightly.
"Oh... A New light?"
Eresh attempts to walk closer, but Mithra intercepts her with a cold glare. Eresh only chuckles in response before raising her hands in surrender.
"Haha! If it makes you feel better, Yazata, I'm here with my New Light as well... She's..." Eresh tilts her head to the right to look over at Mithra's New Light. "She's a lot more violent than yours, I admit."
Mithra grumbles. "Where is Rey, I need to get him acquainted with the rest of the Warlock-gist."
Eresh gestures with her helmeted head, shrugging it to her side. "Over at C-flag... helping clean up the remains of a Thanatonaut who thought killing himself is an appropriate response to a charging Striker Titan... Blood and guts everywhere."
Mithra's New Light shivers behind his magister while Mithra herself just sighs in frustration. "Can we expect to see her?"
"Well... no... Not you... You're not even supposed to be here... Your New Light, however... he can go ahead and walk down the Cannon-way." Eresh nodded to the Lightbearer standing meekly behind Mithra.
"What's its name?"
"He doesn't have one. Not yet..."
"Is that so... Well then, Blueberry. Come along, don't hug your Magister's leg any longer... Don't worry, I don't bite."
A deep, rumbling sound emanates from Mithra's throat. "You do worse things than bite."
Eresh chuckles a sharp, regal laugh. "What I did to those brigands back in Accra I was within my right to do... Not my fault they had stolen what rightfully belongs to us... Come, Blueberry, don't chain your Magister any longer."
Eresh gestures for Mithra's New Light to follow suit, turning around and walking toward the Bastion. The rumbling of gunfire and the sounds of explosions make the New Light hesitant.
Mithra turns to look at her New Light with tender eyes.
"You'll be fine... The rest of us will be waiting back at the farmhouse... you have the coordinates, right?"
"Y-yeah... I do..."
Mithra pats her New Light on the shoulder, her gloved hands over the New Light's plated shoulders. She tenderly pats the New Light's helmet-ed cheek as well.
"Have fun... don't strain yourself, okay?"
After hearing her New Light's grumbling approval, Mithra then walks back inside the catch of Fenchurch's ship. With one last glance, she smiles at her New Light just as the doors of the vessel close and the ship flies back towards the City.
"You coming, or what?" Eresh shouts at the New Light still looking up at the departed ship.
Orion turns back towards the Bastion and at the Warlock calling him over. With a breath, he holds out his hand, willing for his helmet, summoning the steel construction. He adjusts the seal around his chin as he pulls the helmet over his head. The sound of pressurized air reverberates inside his helmet as he mentally prepares himself.
Orion walks to Eresh.
Eresh herself is tall, clad in striking red armor. The cloth of her dress frayed at its edges looks more like feathers, with intricate white and red patterns. Her helmet and pauldrons glinted a striking gold. It almost hurt for Orion to look at her with the sun reflecting off of the shaded-steel she wore.
Compared to Orion, whose gear was cooler with unshaded gunmetal plates and dark-maroon cloth, the two of them are a night and day difference in splendor. It almost made Orion jealous.
Almost.
He is not that vain.
Walking into the main structure of Twilight Gap, there were strewn boxes of steel and metal. The guns adorning the defenses pointed towards the western horizon, the wires feeding electricity throughout the complex pinned together in neat webs of energy.
"Get used to the layout of this place... We call this gun battery A-flag... The gun itself is Cannon A..."
Simple enough... Orion's Ghost quips inside his head.
"down this hallway and up, we call it A-Lobby. To the left is the Gap's arsenal, we call it A-Heavy..."
Eresh walked perpendicular to the direction of the arsenal, walking, instead, out to a courtyard-like area.
"That railing over there, we call it the catwalk. This place here is A-Courtyard..."
A Titan lifting himself up with the Light catches both of the Lightbearers' attention. The silver-glinting armor of the warrior shining bright in the midday sun.
"Look out, below!" The Titan shouts as her body is wreathed in Lightning, sending the Titan's body down to a metallic platform jutting due East from the Bastion's location.
Eresh chuckles as she explains more. "That was Wei Ning... a Titan in everything but her brain size... where she landed is B-flag... the steel platform is simply referred to as B-zone. There's a pathway into the platform above and below with side entrances at the side... come up, let's see the aftermath."
Eresh gestures for Orion to follow as she floats onto the steel catwalk, walking over to the large building hanging over the side of the Bastion.
Looking into B-zone, they find this Wei Ning as she sits upon a pile of ashes, laughing boisterously. Several Ghosts float about, scanning the remains.
"I take it, they weren't spread out enough?" Eresh muses teasingly, looking down at the lounging Wei Ning.
"Haha! They were sticking together the entire time, my friend, they needed a lesson taught!"
"Psh... Good for you, Ning... have fun, don't traumatize them too hard..." Eresh turns back around, gesturing for Orion to follow as well.
Orion doesn't follow immediately. He instead looks upon the ashes of the fallen Lightbearers and how their Ghosts reforge their body, piling the ashes like they're making sandcastles.
"That's death for you, my friend... Best to get used to it." Wei Ning raises a fist in acknowledgment from her lounging state.
Walking back to Eresh, Orion tries to use his light more for movement, subtly trying to continuously float off the ground, gliding and burst-jumping as he makes his way back to his new teacher. For her part, Eresh made her way further into the Bastion.
"That... is C-flag..." Eresh gestures over to a section of the Bastion covered in Gore.
Orion's mouth gapes as he looks over at the horrid sight. Several Warlocks and Titans scraped bloody pastes off the concrete walls of the section with light. Several Hunters pass a Ghost pink entrails.
Yuck
"Is that..."
"Yup... Some Thanatonaut exploded when a Titan pushed for him. Bastard exploded... and you got... this."
It was then that a figure floated up from the yard beneath them. From the way they were dressed, the figure must've also been a warlock, but she lacked the signifying bond around the left forearm. The stranger also wore armor and cloth shaded a deep red, but instead of the striking, bloody red of Eresh, this stranger had a deeper maroon, cut into by lines of purple.
"Ah... Lilith... Killing well I hope?" Eresh calmly greets the stranger.
"Too well, they don't want to play with me anymore..." Lilith mourns as she lands. "Who's this?"
"A New Light like you... he's learning the ropes as well... though because of his background, you may have had a little more of a head-start."
"What?" Orion questions but he is soon cut off.
"Oh... would you like to play with me?"
"If by play- you mean fight... then I politely decline. I'm not ready."
Eresh chuckles as the New Lights ingratiate themselves with each other. "You're gonna be alright... Ikora is over by the Containers- let's say hi."
The three of them walk towards a room past C-flag. Orion was thankful he wore a helmet capable of blocking the stench. He did not want to smell the iron of the bloody mess he had passed.
A Warlock dressed in brilliant purple floated with her arms crossed as she looked over at a group of Guardians training. A large Titan clad in white and orange armor with a fur collar and a horned helmet shouted obscenities at the group training. A finely dressed Lightbearer channels the void to create targets out of scrap metal. The Guardians training heave and cough into their helmets as they jump, slide, and float after the targets that are swarming them, taking shot after shot, tossing ball after ball of Light.
"Throw more grenades! Remember this! One can never through enough grenades!" The horned Titan shouts at the group of Guardians.
"Lord Shaxx... I think that's enough..."
"I meant what I said, Ikora... one can never through enough grenades!"
"No... I mean... I think they've had enough- they look like they're about to keel over..."
"Ah, they'll walk it off. Five more minutes, Rookies!"
Eresh coughs gently, the sound reverberating out of her helmet radio. The purple-robbed Warlock floating just off the ground looks over at the trio behind her. Eresh bows slightly, raising a fist to her chest in a salute to the Warlock before her. Lilith, her protege, remains standing casually, her hands at her hips.
"Ikora Rey, we're here to initiate a New Light to the ranks of the Warlocks... and provide him training with the other Lightbearers present here..."
"I see... you look well armored for a New Light... I would've considered you a Titan instead of a Warlock." Ikora analyzes the New Light before her, looking up and down his armored body.
"I've been told that before... I wish to learn to how to expand my capabilities with the Light and of my gun-"
"We don't wish here... that's for the Dragons. We strive. Put in the effort, and you'll get what you desire..." Ikora Rey turns around to look at Shaxx, still berating the other Lightbearers. "Lord Shaxx! New Light inbound."
The large, armored Titan turns around. Though his gaze is eyeless, Orion could feel the power radiating only from attention alone. Orion could now see that though his helmet has two horns, one of his horns was broken off.
"Go on... join them..." Eresh coos from behind him.
"Come on, New Light. Don't be shy." The armored Titan, Lord Shaxx, encouragingly gestures to the mass of Void and metal floating about the room.
Orion took a breath of preparation before he stepped forward and drew his rifle from the Light. His rifle materializes in a flash of Cerulean Blue, the one Mithra had given to him, the Morass-Ar4.
He sighed disappointed at how he had still yet to fire the thing before he lifted the rifle up, pointing it at one of the metallic scrap-orbs floating with the help of the Void, and looking down the sight of the gun. After aligning the small, red German-Reticle, he pulls the trigger.
The gun roars louder than he thought. Its rate of fire was faster than he had anticipated. Seven shots rang out. Only two hit their intended target while the rest made new holes in the flimsy sheet metals of the surrounding complex.
Orion lowers his gun, satisfied at finally letting it breath the fire it was intended to.
Despite the majority of the shots he fired missing, the orb he had aimed at had shattered in the air. The scraps fell like snow. Lord Shaxx laughed boisterously.
"Keep it up! At this rate, the Fallen will learn to fear you! Join us!" Shaxx gestures to the other Lightbearers he's training, their armors smoldering from Light and their guns' barrels red with heat.
Orion smiles underneath his helmet.
"What would you have me do?" Orion asks Lord Shaxx.
"This is a contest of Endurance, New Light. Shoot as many targets down as you can... all the while, make sure they don't hit you. You can wait until this session is over, or you can help them now and relieve them."
Orion knew what to answer the hulking Titan. "I'll join."
"Good! Good! Taeko! Fresh boots!"
With Shaxx's roar, the Warlock manipulating the floating masses of metal turns her attention to Orion, launching a cascade of steel which Orion narrowly avoids. Orion fires a salvo of lead in return, shattering several orbs, a few of which that were going to collide with the other Lightbearers there.
A few of the other Guardians laughed in relief as Orion joined in on the fun. Orion himself laughed as he fired his weapon and used what he had learned from Mithra. Every glide and burst as a dodge into a different direction gave Orion more and more confidence.
That was until he was forced into the air by a shard of metal launched straight for his legs.
He remembered how vulnerable he was during his training with Mithra, how she had easily she took advantage of his inability to move through the air. And thus, he decided that he will not succumb to it now.
Directing his Light towards the air right above him, he pushes himself downward, orienting his legs so he lands on his feet. Just in time as a salvo of shrapnel narrowly misses him, only grazing his armor and causing several scratches.
Orion laughed. He laughed for the first time in seemingly, his whole life. He enjoyed the exhilaration. The dodging, the weight and recoil of the rifle in his hands, the Light which bends to his will.
Orion laughs. The consequences of having to fight a Forever War no longer seeming so daunting.
As the New Light laughed, he did not notice the subtle smile on Ikora Rey's face or the undivided attention he had earned from the Titan with the broken horn.
Indeed, Lord Shaxx had noticed something. Something subtle about the New Light.
It wasn't his skill. He would've gotten hurt eventually.
It wasn't the ferocity of his movement. No, he'll get tired eventually.
It was the subtle influence of his Light.
The New Light had a weak spark. It's to be expected. But the spark the New Light had carried did not feel natural. It felt modified in a way Shaxx did not understand.
As Orion had befriended the weary, tired trainees alongside him, Lord Shaxx's blink-less gaze did not falter.
The ins and outs of the City-Proper held every good under Sol.
Foods of all kind, meat of every variety, spices not seen since the Collapse of Humanity's Golden Age. Weapons of all kind were traded in for Glimmer and marks.
However, it was not luxury a Guardian and her New light sought in the alleys and boulevards running up and down the Last City's Sprawl. The pair sought people. Agents. Agents to the Authority of the City. Agents of the Vanguard.
"Is the fear of Dredgen Yor... or anyone so vile... really enough to warrant non-Vanguard Lightbearers not being able to access the resources they need?" Caravel speaks up suddenly as she and Sera turn a corner into an alleyway.
"It doesn't matter what we think... it matters only to the Vanguard who leads the City..." Sera whispers as she looks around the alley she has led her New Light into. The light cream of cinderblocks spattered with dirt and paint made Caravel recoil slightly in disgust.
"You know how much power Lightbearers like us have, Cara... You know why some of them may feel a little... Ängstlich around us." Sera chides as she runs her hand along a dirty brick wall.
"I know that. But even so... Is there no better way to do this? I don't need another teacher..."
Caravel looks around the damp and dark alley, wondering why Sera had taken her here. She voices her concern accordingly.
"Why are we here?-"
"Sei still..." Sera whispers, pushing against a section of the brick wall. "Mal sehen, ob... das..." Sera strains as she continues to push against the brick.
It looked as pathetic as it sounded. Sturdy red brick refusing to budge against the lithe Hunter who pushed against it. Miraculously, the brick did eventually give way, but instead of crumbling like what's expected, it slid as though it was a door.
A whole panel of brick swung inwards slowly as Sera pressed into it. As soon as it was wide enough for both of the Hunters to enter, Sera stands back, her face sweaty from exertion.
"Alright... Komm schon." Sera gestures as she walks into the secret entrance.
Caravel doesn't know why they're going here but she follows suit anyway. Sera shuts the door behind them both.
"What are we doing here?- was machen wir hier?" Caravel stutters, switching between English and German as the musky air inside hits her nostrils.
"We're here to meet with the Vanguard's Agents." Sera answers resolutely, walking past an empty kitchen and living quarters to a flight of stairs leading downwards.
Inside a crap-hole like this?
Muhlif's concern echoes inside Caravel's mind. She shares the same thought as her Ghost. Why would a Vanguard Operative even think of staying somewhere so... disgustingly secretive.
It was then that Caravel heard the music.
It was soft at first, barely registering. But as Caravel walked down the steps right behind Sera, the music only got louder and louder until Caravel could make out the lyrics.
Some Hope for the Future... Some Wait for the Call... To Say that our Destiny will be the Best of all!
It sounded very familiar, but a lot of things were when Caravel first awoke so she didn't think much about it.
The walls soon ended as they neared the stairs' endpoint, revealing a dizzying sight.
It was a room filled with Hunters.
Caravel counted around seven Hunters immediately, picking out several more as she analyzed the room. All of them present eyeing Sera and her with a multitude of expressions. From suspicion to amusement. Some of them wore helmets which made their expressions harder to discern.
A man-sized jukebox sang music in the back-right corner of the room from where they had entered down the stairs. There were small, rectangular windows around the upper portion of the room, some of them open.
The Hunters themselves were all in varying positions of laziness. Some sat with good postures in the middle of tinkering with their rifles. Some had their Ghosts by their side. Some were sitting with their backs to the floor and their butts to the wall.
None of them seemed like agents.
"State your business." An Exo Hunter calmly spoke, never once looking up from his datapad.
Sera raised her hand and elegantly spoke. "Fairwinds have blown us to our current course... and we landed on an island with Prospero's Daughter..."
Immediately, the Hunter with the datapad looked up with a surprised expression, revealing navy blue metallic skin. Sera's words, despite sounding like utter nonsense, must've been code.
"Fairwind's aloft... You're stuck with spots..." The Exo Hunter taps several items on his Datapad. "Caliban?"
A camouflaged Hunter stirs from the blankets beside the Hunter with the datapad, pulling down his hood to reveal his, equally metallic, dark-orange skin splattered with cyan paint. He unceremoniously yawns, his mouth glowing a gentle cyan before dissipating.
"Oh... you must me the Hunters the Speaker told us about." Caliban spoke, eyeing the two Lightbearers with mechanical, cyan eyes. "Yeah... Thank you, Hunter-Senior, you can leave your New Light here..."
Caravel looks over at Sera who stairs back at her with a shrewd, almost guilty, smile before she sighs. Sera's smile fades as she looks over at the Hunters. Though they looked lazy, their arms located at the grips of their rifles and hand-cannons showed that they indeed had discipline.
An Awoken Hunter scoffed, eyeing Sera with an angry glare.
"You're one of Mazdam's whores aren't you?" The Hunter insults with a toothy grimace.
"Call me that again and I will not hesitate to gut you." Sera fires back, as though she expected it.
"You stole our carrion, little twit! Took several of our men with you! murdered their Ghosts!"
Sera grimaces slightly, turning to leave. However, the Awoken did not let up. "Your crimes against us will not go unpunished- I swear to God!-"
A red-hot blade impales itself to the wall mere inches from the Awoken Hunter's face.
"Dax... That's enough... The Senior is not our focus..." Caliban chides.
Caravel looks at Sera with confusion. Murdered Ghosts? Caravel knew Sera could be harsh, but she didn't know she could be that harsh. Questions formed in Caravel's mind as the Awoken Hunter's words echo in her mind.
Carrion? Stolen? Murdered Ghosts?
The Hunter, now simply known as Dax lays back, a growl reverberating in his throat.
Sera sighs as she wraps and arm around Caravel. "Give us a moment..." she pleads as she wraps her cloak around the both of them, urging the Light around them both to turn them Invisible.
Within the field of Invisibility, Caravel could barely make out Sera's face and register her words due to the questions reverberating in her head.
"The world is a cruel place, Cara... Out there in the wilds... the language of commerce is far too similar to the language of war. I hope you'll understand."
Caravel stares past the shimmering form of Sera as she feels soft lips touch her forehead.
"If you need anything, I'll be back at the farmhouse... but for now... Goodbye. You'll do great... No stress, okay?"
Sera's presence retreats up the stairs silently as the field of invisibility fades around Caravel. Now she's there, alone with ten or so Hunters staring eagerly at her.
"You just gonna stand there all pretty?" Caliban teases, tossing a Hunter's dagger in his hands.
"I don't know what I'm doing..."
"That much is clear, Beautyberry. You're a Hunter now. Under us you'll learn how to stalk... shoot... carve up with knives and... whatever the Vanguard considers 'Hunter Duty'". Caliban shrugs his shoulders, clearly not caring much.
Caravel is perplexed by their calm demeanor. "Aren't you all Vanguard Agents?"
"That's right... But we really have little reason to care. It's always Scout-Shoot-Loot- it gets repetitive. The only people that do care, or have to care, is Miss Fairwind and Spots sitting over there-" A masked Hunter twiddling with an assault rifle's barrel points a cold steel pipe at Caliban.
Caliban shrugs before sitting up to properly assess Caravel, his cyan eyes scanning up and down her figure makes Caravel squirm uncomfortably.
"Do you have a rifle?" Caliban suddenly asks.
Drawing from the Light, Caravel's old-Earth rifle materializes in her hand. The sight of such an ancient looking gun piques the interest of the Hunters eyeing her.
Some chuckle here and there, jesting about "Exotic rarity" and other terms Caravel couldn't understand.
"Where did you get that?" A Hunter asks.
"The... -In Europe..." Caravel stutters a response.
a Hunter scoffs. "Looks like one of you bastards missed a spot..."
"You can't find shite in those woods! I bet you've passed that thing multiple times without seeing it just as I've had!-" a Hunter shouts in protest.
"Enough." Caliban scolds before continuing his interview of the New Light. "Is it damaged?"
"It works just fine..."
"Is there anything... unique about it?"
Perplexed at the question, Caravel answers. "No..."
Another scoff from a different Hunter. "Other than its bullets probably shear off shrapnel from the barrel every time it's fired..."
"It's cleaned..." Caravel declares, frustration rising in her voice. The Hunter she had replied to raises their hands in a surrendering motion.
Caliban continues asking questions. "Mm... Awoken armor... you've been on a Hunt?"
"Yes.."
"You're in a Clan?"
"Yes."
"You understand that by joining the Vanguard, you'll be required to forfeit your connections to your clan for the duration of your time with us?"
"Yes- I think..."
Caliban raises a metallic brow in response to Caravel's answer but lets it be. "Every mission you complete, Strike successfully fulfilled, and bounty cashed in you'll be entitled to the award listed upon said Bounty and activity including Spoils of Conquest and War..."
Caliban stands up before continuing in a fast, almost hard-to-understand tone. "Though your gains are many, you'll be at the Vanguard's beck-and-call. Any mission that calls for you, you'll be expected to answer upon and join. Do you Understand?"
Here you go...
"Yes."
"Cool. You're a Vangaurd Hunter now. Congratulations... drinks over by the kitchen and don't touch the Jukebox unless you know a song we'll all like- we'll kill you if we don't." Caliban finishes with a casual point as he relaxes.
Note to self, don't touch the jukebox...
Caravel sighs as she relaxes, unsure about what she was expecting. The weight of anticipation suddenly lifts as the Hunters resume doing what they were previously doing. For many in the room, that was nothing. Not knowing what to do now, Caravel dissolves her rifle into the Light and slowly walks down the remaining steps of the stairway.
"Make yourself at home..." Caliban gestures to the room.
Caravel, not knowing what she should be doing, finds an unoccupied spot in a corner of the room and sits down, her tensed body relaxing as she realizes she's no longer the center of attention.
"Is this really what it's like to be Hunter for the Vanguard?" Caravel thinks to herself, her mouth scrunching up in disappointment.
As minutes pass, the Hunters didn't change their activities that much. Some began to dance as the music cycled through the jukebox. Others began to drink. Some Hunters left to answer calls. Notably, Caliban had left the room, climbing up the flight of stairs leading out of the basement with an entourage of two following closely behind him.
One of the Hunters, the one who cursed out Sera- Dax, stands up casually and walks over to the corner where Caravel was sitting on a heap of fabric, dead-eyed and bored out of her mind.
"Sera's brat..." Dax greets as he crouches onto one knee in front of her.
"I have a name..." Caravel dejectedly answers.
"And that is?"
"Caravel..."
"Like a boat?"
"How did you know?"
"Museums hold valuable goods..."
"Mmm..."
"I don't blame you for the actions of your Hunter-Senior... but I don't want you going around following her orders without at least a question or two..."
"que-você-quer-dizer- what are you trying to say?"
"She's a follower and nothing else. She may think herself a leader, but Sera's spineless. She has null on morals and even less of a threshold on anger."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I don't want you following rules without question."
"Que irônico... " Caravel spits out with the venom of boredom lacing her words.
"What do you want?" Dex asks suddenly, splaying out his hands to expose his palms. "... from all of this..."
"To learn..." Caravel answers with slightly gritted teeth.
Dex hums slightly before standing back up and walking back to his area of the room. "You'll learn enough from your time in the Vanguard. You'll love it here."
Very convincing, isn't he?
Muhlif's voice inside her head teases her, trying to make light from a drowsy situation. Caravel, for the first time since her immediate resurrection, felt alone. She was surrounded by Hunters, people she should be talking to and relating with, but she herself wanted nothing more than to be with Sera, and Mithra, and Orion...
Don't think about him if if the thought hurts you too much...
Curse you, damned Ghost. Caravel almost wished she were dead so she didn't have to put up with the boredom. However, the sound of heavy boots on fabric and the rustling of clothes draws Caravel's eyes up. A few of the Vanguard Hunters approached her. The ones without a helmet smiled at her.
"You seem down... we understand what it's like to be so alone... especially being so New to this beautiful Universe of ours..." One of the Hunters plops herself next to Caravel on her left, a glass bottle in her hands filled with orange liquid.
"Don't intimidate the poor Berry, now... Don't mind her, she can't resist talking to New Lights." Another Hunter sits to her right and hands Caravel an unopened glass bottle, also filled with orange liquid. "Fanta... short for Fantastisch... care for one?"
"Fantastic..." Caravel mumbles to herself before giving an affirmative and taking the bottle. Not knowing how to open it, Sera looks around before her Ghost appears beside her head and undoes the cap. The drink fizzes a little before settling down. Taking a large gulp of the orange goodness, Caravel is pleased if only for just a moment.
"Good right? The guys who used to live in Trostland sure knew how to make a drink... Even though I'm fairly certain this flavor is only a hint of what it used to be..." The Hunter to Caravel's left knudges Caravel's scaled torso. "Oh, to live in those Golden Times... how pleasurable it would be..."
The Hunter to Caravel's right chuckles before moving the conversation along. "You get enough pleasure torturing New Lights... Anymore and you might actually die from it..."
"Death from Pleasure? Boys and girls in the Den probably can confirm..."
"They got their pelvises crushed and their heads squeezed! No shit, they die in droves there!..."
Their conversation slowly drowns to white-noise as Caravel drinks her orange soda, emptying the bottle. She lays it down flat before resting herself against the wall. Caravel takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
Her first day as a Vanguard Operative had just begun, and it was not anything close to what she was expecting. She expected a mentor. A teacher of some kind. Not mindless rabble wasting away like caged dogs awaiting to be released. Slowly, Caravel removes the magazine of her rifle. She pulls back the rifle's bolt, making sure it's not loaded. And then, she began to play with it. Slowly sliding the bolt of the rifle forward and backward, relishing in the sound of the steel stick moving smoothly across its path.
It was a habit she picked up as soon as she picked the rifle itself. After having it cleaned by her Ghost, she marveled at the ancient craftsmanship and fell in love with the sounds it made.
She continued doing it for a while, not counting the time. The Hunters around her had soon left her to her own devices and the light from the window slowly began turning orange.
Caravel had many thoughts. She wondered what her mentors were doing without their New lights to attend to. What about Orion and his own teachings? Was he doing as poorly as she is?
Secretly, she hoped he was doing better. She can now safely say, no one deserves the torture of boredom.
Two Senior Lightbearers returned to a gentle farmstead surrounded by wheat.
It was quiet in an unnerving way. The senior Hunter and Warlock did not speak to each other as they entered their home, them being the only inhabitants of that home for the foreseeable future.
Sera relaxes on the living-room couch, shedding off her armor and skinsuit before fishing out a t-shirt and shorts from the Light. Her Ghost chirps as it takes Sera's armor and floats upstairs. Mithra gazes out a window in the adjacent kitchen, filling up a glass of water at the sink. Neither said a word to each other for several minutes.
That is before Mithra breaks the silence, looking back at Sera.
"They'll be alright..."
Sera looked up, her eyes displaying a hint of unsureness unseen for decades, humming an affirmative. "The Hunters I gave her to weren't very happy with me..."
"Why?" Mithra turns her body and leans on the kitchen counter as she looks from the kitchen over to the living room.
"They're from a Clan we screwed over back in Yucatán... Dax Etono and the rest of his group..."
"They became Vanguard Ops?"
"Ja... After we took their things they must've felt desperate enough to turn to the Vanguard for assistance... And they look pretty well off, so I think they got it."
"You're afraid they might say bad things about you to your New Light?"
"No... well... they will. But I'm not worried Caravel will take after them... No, I'm worried that they won't be easy on Caravel."
"We're Lightbearers, easy doesn't come easy to us. I'm sure they'll be fine. Caravel especially..."
"Ach, so you think yours is having a more difficult time?"
"Ereshkigal... she's taken a liking to him..."
"Queen of the Undergrowth... Now, isn't that luck?"
"Luck is... relative. I'm certain Eresh wouldn't be too hard on him, especially since she and her group are all Vanguard Ops too... There's... just something uneasy about all of this I cannot understand."
"About the situation? Or about the New Lights?"
"New Lights..." Mithra mumbles her answer as she turns to produce a cup of water from the sink to drink.
Sera hums as she lays back on the couch. "They called me a whore..."
Mithra almost spits out her drink but she forces it down her throat before that happens. "Seriously?"
"Ja... Mazdam's Whore specifically..."
Mithra chuckles as she shakes her head. "Who said it?"
"Dax Etono- who else?"
"Don't suppose you want to kill him for this?"
"Not worth it... And it wouldn't look good for Cara, seeing me all angry from a rash insult like that..."
laughing slightly as she pours out another glass of water for herself. Hearing the shuffling of fabric and metal behind her, Mithra turns to see Sera reclined on the couch, her forearm over her eyes. Understanding the need for a nap, Mithra turns out to look over at the sky, seeing how the gentle blue slowly turns itself orange.
After taking her drink, Mithra climbs upstairs to take a shower. Before she steps in, she takes a moment to procure fresh clothes. As she looks over at the messy blankets and cushions splayed in the upper room, a smile emerges on her lips at the thought of their New Lights. Mithra steps into the shower and disrobes before turning on the water.
Sera had her eyes closed for a while. It wasn't any different to any of the other naps she had taken previously, but this nap was deeper than what Sera would usually hope for.
Sera's unconscious mind raced with memories of her past.
Surviving on rats and hunted beasts in the wildernesses of the European South-East. Finding Mazdam in the Taurus Mountains, Mithra and her almost killing each other on the banks of the Euphrates, Finding Jalus shivering in snow in Old Archangelsk.
Of the wars she had waged, the people she killed on their way to the City, the Shadow of the Traveler. How her Light became as sharp as her shot. She found herself under the Leadership of Legends and joined the Aegis for the promises she was told.
Then, finding a New Light, covered in Ghost-Forged Armor, eyeing her surroundings with naïve, bright purple eyes.
The rustling of wheat outside and the thumping of dirt signaled incoming presences, causing Sera to rub the sleep from her eyes and sit up. Listening to the squeaking of floorboards and the tired breathing of the people outside, Sera got up from her position on the couch and walked to the front door of her Clan's farmhouse.
Opening the larger, wooden inner door, Mazdam and Jalus' sweaty figures became visible through the outer screen door. Both were covered in grime, channels carved through the dirt on their faces by sweat.
"Had your fun, Männer?" Sera teasingly asks as she opens the screen door for both of them.
"As much fun as we could have with a bitch who did nothing but run across the banks!" Mazdam curses as she walks into the living room. Jalus grimaces as he follows suit, setting down his machine gun by the door.
Sera chuckles as she closes the two entrance doors behind them. "Were they a runner?"
"You'd never believe it... they started running the moment we raised our guns... Hate to admit it, they had a good strategy going- fucking Parthian Shot."
"Haha! Go rest and wash up... Mithra's in the shower if you want to loosen up..." Sera laughs as she sits back onto the couch, watching the two tired Lightbearers make their way to the kitchen to drink water.
"Too tired... Might sleep in the fields..." Jalus groaned before dumping his head underneath the tap to let the water cleanse him of the grime.
Mazdam takes wet paper towels, dampens them with water, and cleanses his face with fiber. "Scooch... let me..." He murmurs as Jalus frees himself from under the tap. Mazdam takes his place.
Sera shook her head as she watched the two Lightbearers clean up. She walks back to the couch and reclines back onto her side.
She watches as Jalus heads out the back door, into the backyard, probably to hose down both himself and his armor. Mazdam undoes his armor, letting his Ghost dissipate the Kevlar and steel into the aether. His ghostly blonde hair wet from sweat and sink-water.
Mazdam's green eyes catch her blues. A look passes between them. A look Sera knows all too well. Before he has the chance to offer, Sera shuts him down.
"No. If you want fun, you go with Mithra upstairs in the shower."
Mazdam groans. "You're no fun..."
"I'm stinky as is... I'd rather not be stinkier than I have to be." Sera smiled as she rolled to her back, covering her eyes with her forearm as heat creeps into her cheeks.
"Not even just a little fun?" Mazdam asks as he creeps up to her on the couch, slinking his arms around her waist.
In response, Sera strikes her knee his chest. Laughing, Sera chides. "You're not as hot as you think you are, Spargeltarzan."
Mazdam laughs too, raising a hand to his chest, half in pain and half offended. "I'm not that skinny."
"I know you aren't, but I'm serious. Team leader's orders." Sera says, this time with seriousness.
Mazdam stands back up, raising his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine... I'll go wash up, have a good nap."
"Will do... If you two want to blow off steam that bad, there's no shame in calling Jalus over to join you two." Sera chuckles, shaking her head as she closes her eyes.
"Maybe later..." Mazdam smiles as he climbs up the stairwell.
Suddenly, he stops halfway up, looking down at Sera's half-unconscious body before speaking down to her.
"Hey... I thought you might want to know... The Iron Lords have left the City."
Sera took a while to respond. Her brows furrow before she opens her eyes. "What?"
"Yeah... they're gone. All of them. Their dens and apartments are empty."
"Really? Warum?" Sera sat up as she processed the information.
"No clue... Although, some said Felwinter was a little antsy last he was spotted... So was Radegast and Perun. Flight records have them leaving intermittently, probably to reduce suspicion and panic."
"Hmm." Sera relaxed, lying back down and closing her eyes. "I'm sure they'll be fine."
"Yeah... they probably would be. Just thought I'd let you know."
"Thank you, Mazdam. Now shoo." Sera dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
"As you command, Fireteam Leader." Mazdam rolls his eyes as he walks up the stairs.
The last thing she hears before unconsciousness finally takes her back is the surprise in Mithra's voice as Mazdam opens the bathroom door upstairs.
Sera chuckles before falling into a deep slumber.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Re-released this chapter because the last bit got cut off when I posted this.
As always, criticism is welcome! Point out mistakes in grammar and let me know what you think so far!
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
