hallarider | And the Light Shines -- Destiny AU

And the Light Shines -- Destiny AU

[for

pavus_redemit]

The Traveller was always meant to be a safe haven for what pieces of humanity still remained. Though their numbers had actually been increasing over the last several years, there was still darkness that needed to be kept at bay. There was still so much that needed to be reclaimed, so many enemies that continued to beat at the doors and threaten what remained. That was why the Guardians always fought so hard. Whether it was tactical strikes, routine patrols or special assignments, the Traveller was home to all sorts who stood for what was Good. The Guardians swore to protect their home at all costs, venturing planets over with their Ghosts lingering nearby, their direct connection back to the Traveller and to the Speaker.

Bramen was no exception. The Awoken Hunter was always eager to serve, ever since he recalled waking up to the Light. Though he tried to be cautious, a number of routine training exercises proved he was often a bit too over-enthusiastic, the poor man facing a number of embarrassing defeats in the Crucible tournaments. Good thing that something like that could be overlooked, particularly for someone so dedicated to aiding the vanguard. There were plenty of others like Bramen - but there was one person in particular that he found himself more than willing to fight alongside. One person could get him to go right into the bowels of Venus and straight into enemy fire on Mars. There was always one man he could trust to watch his back, one Warlock who just needed to look his way and the Hunter would be ready to go at a moment's notice.

That particular Warlock could often be found down in the tavern beneath the hangar, out near where Dead Orbit would congregate. The Awoken of that faction would often glance every time Bramen walked back, follow his movements - it was unnerving but they always kept a close eye on everyone who would come and go. He'd heard from a reliable source they were seeking out new talent. Bramen couldn't help but wonder if his Warlock friend knew about it.

Bramen made his way down to the tavern, taking the steps two at a time as he looked around the modestly crowded area, his bright yellow-green eyes glowing in the dimmer light. He caught sight of his friend, the man seated on a couch with a drink in hand, drinking and chatting with a very bulky Exo Titan - I-R0 N. Bull if Bramen recalled the man's name. One of the more acclaimed raiders that he knew of, a man who commanded his own unit of men and women, his own raid faction. It was an impressive sight to see when they all went off and recorded their run, bringing back what information the city needed. The Exo knew just about everyone in this city - it was no surprise he was friendly with Bramen's own companion.

"Dorian," the Awoken called out, raising his hand in greeting before moving closer to where the men sat, greeting them both, "I've been looking for you."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The rockets from Dragon's Breath didn't hit many, but the spray of fire scorched a few of the Fallen Dregs, the explosions causing them all to gather closer to the warsat. The Hive were still charging forward, a few Thralls distracted by Dorian's appearance - they began to rush towards him, despite that void grenade that he'd dropped. They shrieked and lurched away from the void energy that threatened to pull them in. A few Vandals looked over to where Dorian was, letting out a cry and hefting their guns towards him in anger. They began to move forward--

Only to have Bramen charge forward and press his Last Word up against a Vandal's head. He pulled the trigger, a stream of liquid and bits of glimmer falling from the Vandal. Bramen swiftly whirled around and did the same to the next two, spinning the barrel of his handcanon and reloading as he kept an eye out for any more incoming foes.

"New plan," he began, speaking for Dorian to hear him in his helm, "Let's spice up this wager - dregs are worth one point, vandals two, all hive are one except for those Knights - Knights and Captains are all worth 5. Loser buys drinks still."

Some thralls shrieked as they spotted the Hunter, racing towards Bramen now, brandishing their claws and gnashing their teeth. He put away his handcanon and wet is lips, hand moving towards his blade. "Excuse me a moment - I need to handle these Thralls."

His blade glinted on his hip as he grabbed it, an energy surrounding the Hunter as he leapt forward, slicing through one Thrall after the next in a Bladedance. He moved with ease and grace, cutting through the thick hide of the beasts, fluids from their bodies spraying out and covering him. It drew the attention of a few Acolytes - but they were smart enough to run towards the cave again for cover. A couple of Dregs were not - and they were caught on the wrong end of Bramen's blade.

"You can't change the rules of the bet after it's been made!" he protested as he kept his eyes focused down the sight of his pulse rifle.

He aimed for the chest and let the natural pull of the gun bring his hand up until heads exploded. It was a very satisfying feeling. He dodged blasts from the Fallen rifles and as soon as his grenade was recharged he threw another in to the mess, splitting the group.

On one hand it made it easier to pick off enemies one by one but it also spread them out so Bramen had a bit longer to dance before his flashing blades connected to the enemy. If they were counting points he was going to make things a bit hard. It was a friendly competition.

Dorian focused his attention on the big targets. The Captains. He switched to his secondary weapon and weakened one's shields then switched back to his rifle to finish it off. This put him inches away from the second Captain who said something in his native tongue.

He grinned at him, ducked under his shot and came up with the Void in his hand. He slammed the blast in to him. The shot split off in to three, one shot hit the Captain in the chest and he dissolved in to nothing and the two others branching to the side to destroy the Vandals that closed in to try and help their Captain.

"That's half the fun," Bramen retorted with a laugh, even though he now had a longer distance to move between his strikes. The light around him and his blade faded and he settled, shoulders relaxing a bit as he tucked the knife away, opting to grab his handcanon once more. He fired at a few Thralls he'd missed, bullets sailing right into their weak points and sending them down. A hail of bullets from a few Dregs and a Vandal but he managed to avoid most of them, tossing out one of his arc grendades to send them scattering. One of the Vandals tried to jump onto the grenade, to shield the others from the blast - though once it went off, there was little the creature's body did to stop it.

"Don't get too cocky now," the Awoken cautioned, racing over towards some rocks where a group of Acolytes had huddled. "Those Knights near the cave mean business - and there'll be some Shanks closing in real soon!" Of course, Bramen threw caution to the wind and immediately dove into that group of Hive behind the rock. He tore out his knife and started slashing into them, a swift melee on the ones closest before he pulled out that handcanon with a flourish, picking off the last two.

He spun the barrel and reloaded, keeping an eye up for any incoming drones. "Besides... So far, I think I'm winning."

"My ghost is keeping a tally for me," Dorian said with a laugh as he turned towards the knights without a single sign of fear. It was hard to fear death when he could resurrect himself.

He had no knife to slash with but blasted pure Void from his fingers in a shotgun blast that staggered the first knight. He followed it up quickly with an actual shotgun, firing as quickly as he could get the weapon to fire.

The other knight came to his friend's rescue, swinging with the aim of cutting Dorian's head off. He laughed as he leapt out of the way and glided away. In midair he switched back to Dragon's Breath and unleashed a rocket between the two knights.

The first one died and the other began to burn. When Dorian's feet touched on the moon surface he pulled out Red Death and destroyed what little health the bastard had left.

"We'll see who's winning."

"I am," Bramen said cooly, activating another bladedance as he charged in behind Dorian, slicing through a few Dregs that were trying to sneak up on the Warlock. He moved with extreme speed and precision, jumping up to slash apart a few Shanks that had moved in to try and see what was happening. The Acolytes that remained waved to one another, signalling a retreat as they raced back towards the cave, not even bothering to look back at the carnage that remained in the wake of the two Guardians. Whatever remaining Fallen appeared to have turned tail as well, a few Shanks disappearing into the distance and away from the warsat.

Bramen's dance finished, he was left kicking a few Fallen corpses to make certain they were good and dead. The ones he'd managed to take down with his handcanon were missing their heads in that moment, he could only assume those ones wouldn't be getting back up. "All that, didn't even need to fire wildly with my auto-rifle," he smirked, taking out his ghost to re-equip it. He pressed a few buttons on the virtual screen it produced, a glow surrounding the warsat they'd defended.

"I'll send this back to the ship for now... Did we want to take it back to the tower now? Or should we continue on? The old colonies aren't too far from where we are, we might as well continue investigating."

"Oh no, we are finding what we came here for. The warsat will be perfectly safe on your ship in the meantime," Dorian said firmly. He came all this way for his prized data and he was not leaving without it.

He slid his pulse rifle on to his back and stretched his arms above his head. The battle got his energy flowing, Void and Light and adrenaline mixing. He wanted to discover something or shoot more Fallen whatever came first.

"I will let you think you've won our little wager for the rest of our trip and will only crush your hopes and dreams once we're back on your ship." They were close to where Dorian needed to go anyway. They could kill two birds with one stone as the old Earth saying went.

They would be rewarded handsomely for the warsat. Bramen would have plenty of money to spend on drinks for them. It was so nice to win a friendly wager.

Bramen kept his rifle in hand, gesturing for Dorian to follow once the warsat was safely secured and disappeared, teleporting back up to the Awoken's ship. "You keep thinking that," Bramen said with a bit of a laugh, not about to let the Warlock get too smug. "I suppose we're bound to encounter something more though, and you might stand a chance of catching up," he said, waggling a finger in his friend's direction as he turned his head towards the man.

"Come on. The colonies should be just around this next bend," he said, leading his friend onward. "Do you know where we'll find the information you're looking for? Provided the Fallen haven't scoured it yet... Though I suppose that warsat would've kept them busy, likely drove most of them out this way."

At least it might be quiet while they were poking about the old colony - if they were unlucky, they might encounter a servitor. They could take one down easily enough though. Captains tended to be the real pain and hopefully there weren't any more of those kicking about. A couple dregs or vandals would be a cakewalk.

He would keep thinking that because he knows he won. Bramen could brag all he wanted but Dorian was confident his large kills would make up for all the tiny kills that Bramen made. He did get through many in his bladedance but he would not doubt his skill with the Void and rifle.

"I have an image scan the Cryptarch gave me," he said as he jogged after his friend. He kept his gun tucked away so he could look around the colony ruins and study the signs of ancient humanity. "I'll recognize it when I see it."

His memory was incredibly good especially for visuals. He had a great memory for words and text but visual was his best asset.

"I'll keep an eye out for the enemy, you focus on your task," Bramen nodded towards Dorian as the man caught up to him, walking with a graceful and easy stride now. He knew it was best to keep alert and not get too cocky about things - but it was sometimes hard not to when the adrenalin was pumping through him like this.

"The Cryptarchs trust you with a lot of things, don't they?" he asked, though he knew the answer simply enough. "It's a high honour to have, a rather prestigious role... Was your father a Cryptarch?"

Dorian scoffed under his breath which was hard to do when he was wearing a helmet that was keeping him supplied with oxygen.

"Yes, my father is a Cryptarch. He is very focused on Venus and the Ishtar Academy." Which meant Dorian rarely saw the man growing up and he was incredibly disappointed that Dorian knew how to snap necks and slice things open instead of spending his day buried in old data.

The sex with his adviser back when Dorian was young also had something to do with it but he liked to ignore that.

"I still earned the rank I have," he reassured him. "I found the same engranms and did favors for them as you did."

"I wouldn't have expected anything less. Even from among their own, the Cryptarchs demand a great deal," it was obvious that Dorian wasn't keen on speaking about his father - or people may have assumed he got his rank based on heritage. Bramen never thought that for a moment but Dorian's passion for history went beyond that of most Guardians. He knew there had to be purpose behind it.

"You do good work, Dorian. I'm glad they recognise that," he added. He did respect the things Dorian did, what the man strived to accomplish. He did do a great deal of good for the Tower in the end. No matter how many engrams he found or items he turned in to Rahool, there was seemingly no end to what Dorian was able to find. Bramen respected him, many of the factions respected him. he'd more than earned his rank.

"You'd do better to stay with Dead Orbit and the other Awoken," he mused as he scanned the colony buildings around them. He saw the markings he was looking for - N7 emblazoned on a building - and headed in that direction.

"Not that the Cryptarchs aren't a good faction to be friends with but Dead Orbit offers more for Guardians in terms of weapons and armor." He pulled his ghost off his belt and set it loose among a bank of servers. The ancient technology made him smile.

"Dead Orbit's a hard faction to join," Bramen said as he followed the man, glancing about the area for any sign of Fallen activity. So far, things seemed relatively quiet - how long they would stay that way, they'd see. "Getting a recommendation from someone's not easy, for a group of Awoken, Dead Orbit is harsh on their own. I suppose they need to watch their backs though, New Monarchy is often breathing down it, it's no wonder they need to make certain there isn't someone trying to infiltrate them..." The group had a rather bleak view but it was understandable all the same - the Darkness was always steadily growing stronger. The Traveller alone wasn't going to be enough to withstand an attack, particularly if their enemies began to work together.

So far, they'd managed to survive - but survival was never a guarantee. Bramen would rather be among those striving for the future than caught dwelling in the present.

"I've been trying to catch their eye for a while now. I think my role with the Vanguards has them a bit wary though. Cayde said that New Monarchy asked about me in the past - he told them I'd speak to them myself if I was interested."

"Iron Banner is worse, those noble idealistic bastards."

Which was an odd thing for Dorian to say as he was rather idealistic as well. He believed they could stop the Darkness, restore the Traveler and bring Light back to the Universe. It would take a great deal of time and hard work but he knew they could. "But if you keep working as hard as you have been they'll take notice."

His ghost made a pleased beep sound and Dorian went over to it. It had found the exact bank he wanted which was marked just as the picture had been. He grinned. "Yeah, data mine that one. I'll check the other one."

He stepped over to the bank next to the one his ghost was working on. This bank was already broken open and Dorian pulled out the actual motherboards and memory banks, looking for one that was not damaged beyond hope.

"I'll just have to keep working at it," Bramen said with a smile as Dorian took notice of the data banks. He knew there was no holding the man's attention now, opting instead to look around, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. Again, it was still quiet - though he thought he saw a Shank in the distance. Narrowing in on it with his rifle, it passed over a ridge and left his sight. No doubt a scout, though it was patrolling somewhere else. No doubt the AI on it was programmed to focus on one path, at least that made things easier.

"Once you collect that, we can head back to the ship?" he asked, glancing back towards his friend as he lowered his rifle, half expecting Dorian to ignore him for now.

"Hm?" Dorian didn't look away from what he was doing but at least he was half aware of Bramen standing with him. "Oh, yes, I just need this and we can go."

His ghost chrips at him, apparently done with its data mining. It got something, at least. "Good, scan this, tell me where the good bits are."

He took a few of the broken ones anyway. He likes to play with them when he has down time.

Bramen pulled out his own ghost and let it hover before him, the robot blinking its lens towards Dorian and the man's own ghost. "I'm set up to return to orbit as soon as you give the okay," he said, still wondering if the man was really paying attention. If these were the data banks they were after, there likely wasn't going to be too much else worth scouring here.

"And then once we're on the ship, we'll see just who really won that competition of ours."

"Lovely, yes. Perfect." It wasn't clear if he was talking to his ghost which was beeping excitedly or if he was talking to Bramen. It was probably both but Dorian was very wrapped up.

He took some electronics out from deep within the data bank and put them in a pouch on his belt. His ghost darted around his head and then hovered in front of him. It began to project data in front of him.

It would be wise for Bramen to take them to orbit otherwise Dorian would stay here without consideration to his surroundings.

"Last chance," Bramen said, giving the man another minute. The Warlock just continued to mumble to himself, fiddling with what information his Ghost was projecting - it seemed safe enough to head up into orbit. His own Ghost blinked its lens and beeped a few times, teleporting the pair of men back up and into the ship. If Dorian protested, they'd return but for now, it looked as though he had what he needed.

The Hunter settled in his seat, his own ghost connecting into the controls of his ship once more, charting their course and taking control. The Awoken glanced over to Dorain - who materialised onto the ship in the passenger seat, his ghost still projecting information before him. Bramen smiled, seeing Dorian still so engaged in what he was doing. He wondered if the man even realised they'd gone into orbit.

"We'll be back at the tower soon," he said with a small laugh, "Think you'll have time to go over your findings here?"

Even though his ghost was still showing data the sudden change in lighting and lack of helmet was enough to snap Dorian out of his reading.

"What on earth... we're back in your ship." He looked over at Bramen with a slightly scowl. "When did we get back in your ship?"

He had the data he needed and that the Cryptarch's wanted. They didn't need to stay on the moon any longer. He did tend to get lost in data.

"Are we going back to the Tower?"

The Hunter laughed and shook his head, all but rolling his eyes at his friend. "No, I was going to see how you'd fare in the crucible after all that," he teased before reaching over, giving the man's shoulder a pat. "Of course we're returning to the Tower - we need to get this warsat into the right hands. Not to mention I'm sure you want to get that data to the Cryptarchs. I figured it was best to get us on the road before you stood there for a few hours analysing everything."

If things went Dorian's way, they'd no doubt still be on the moon's surface, waiting for the Fallen to circle in on them again. Bramen wasn't about to let that happen at this point.

"Besides - I thought you'd like to start buying me drinks as soon as possible."

"Bramen," Dorian frowned ridiculously exaggerated at his friend. "You're delusional. I won. You lost. You need to accept this. My Ghost has the numbers. Ghost!"

Dorian waved a hand at his Ghost which blinked to clear the data it had been projecting. It switched over to the data from the fight. It did a little math as it watched the replay. In the end, though, Dorian's number was higher than Bramen's.

"Ha!" He said with a grin. "You are buying drinks tonight, my friend."

As Dorian's ghost calculated up the numbers, Bramen's lip turned into a bit of a disappointed sneer. The numbers were close but Dorian was the clear winner. Those Knights he'd picked off had put him in the lead, despite the second Bladedance the Hunter had managed to pull off.

"Huh. I suppose you're right..." He could demand a recount, he could insist his own ghost interpret the data as well - but even if ghosts tended to have their own personalities, when it came to facts and figures, they weren't liars. The Hunter sighed, letting his shoulders sag.

"I guess your drinks are on me tonight - if I can pull you away from your research long enough."

"Oh the data can wait. You and I are going to drink ourselves back to the Golden Age," he said with a laugh.

His ghost looked pleased that his Guardian was so happy with him and happily returned to his belt. Dorian didn't have any time scheduled with the crucible or any missions for awhile. He was going to research until the data was deciphered.

"Unless you have something important to do?"

Bramen did manage to smile, knowing it was cause for celebration in a lot of ways. They'd recovered a warsat, gathered up important data that Dorian would be able to decipher, fought off quite the army - they deserved a moment to relax and celebrate.

"For you? I've got plenty of time," he said, beaming a little at his friend. So what if his pockets might be a bit lighter after all of this? At least he was going to spend longer at Dorian's side. It was nice to be able to enjoy some downtime, especially with a friend.

"Plenty of glimmer for your drinks too. We'll enjoy ourselves tonight."

Easter :9 get a chocolate bunny?

My niece did. She was quite pleased.

Excellent. I still am dying of the plague and apologise if anything is incoherent.

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did we want to gloss over them being at the bar and skip right to going back to dorian's?