[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/197415283?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1]Catalogue of Art and Fics related to Fireteam Daybreak[/url] [i]A short prequel to a previously posted Fic[/i] --- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/192305887]Cataclysm- pt. 1[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/196793547/0/0]Cataclysm- pt. 2[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/186131461/0/0/1]False Hope- pt. 1[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/186756601/0/0]False Hope- pt. 2[/url] [b]Characters[/b]: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Community/Detail?itemId=186797556]Nikel[/url] (mentions of Minnie, Nyx, Mara Sov, House of Kings, ) [b]Word Count[/b]: 1,245 ----------- The last Dreg fell with a gurgling screech as the void anchor consumed what lingering life remained in its body. It cried feverishly with a hollow pitch until the scar devoured every last atom, and the void reached out, looking to fill, looking to feed the empty, droning wail with anything trapped within its aura. Boots crunched against glass and gravel, metal grieving under the weight of the hunter as he ascended the steps, fussing with the cuffs of his gloves. Eliksni bodies littered the floor at random, a result of deliberate and precise violence unmatched. The Kings were notorious for their cunning and their craft, but he was even more dangerous- he had thwarted death by their hands several dozen times on his own since the Gap, not by dumb luck but through thorough planning, meticulous, stalking, and calculated risks. Sunlit eyes lifted from the rounded workstation in the center of the Watch and drifted around the room to scan the House Banners draped from the ceiling, one end of the room to the other, then glanced out the broken window across the expanse of the graveyard. No skiffs in the sky yet, this was a good sign. A brisk shift of his feet and he turned back to the quiet ghost that had been following him from a distance… not his, but a fledgling searching for a guardian with which to bond. It had failed to form a permanent connection with him when they had first crossed paths, and although it was outside of its power to resurrect him if he fell, the arrangement was still beneficial. The ghost was able to provide storage and technical expertise where he fell short in ability or knowledge, and in turn he provided protection from the dangers of the wild. Together they’d survived like this for nearly four years, all the while knowing the day would come when they would have to part ways; because of this, he’d never given it a name, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t grown to like the little guy. Compared to Callie, he was certainly something different. “They’ll be headed this way within the hour,” he noted pointedly as he bent down and ripped open a panel on the console, then started fussing with the wiring. The ghost rolled its optic, twirled and twitched its appendages and whirred in frustration. “If you’d just give me a few minutes, I could have that up and running…” The dark-haired Awoken smirked and popped his brows without looking away from the tech. “I know, but where’s the fun in that…? I’ve gotta stay sharp… it’s not like I’m gonna have you around to do it for me forever,” he replied in a tone more hopeful than the Ghost could reciprocate. He could tell by the way a dejected whine accented its speech. “No… I suppose not.” Fingers paused amidst twisting two stripped wires together and his eyelids fluttered. The man almost opened his mouth to tease him again but realized the thought of having to leave him probably hurt the bot as much as it hurt him to think about losing his shadow, [i]again[/i]. With a snap of his wrist, he gave the wires one final twist, slammed the door shut, and threw the switch; there was a loud lurch as the generator kicked on, and one by one the lights in the rafters flickered to life. “See? Little elbow grease can do some good once in a while too,” he threw up his hands triumphantly with a laugh, then stood and brushed his palms together to knock off the dust. “I would [i]hope[/i] you hadn’t forgotten basic electrical…” it mumbled as it drifted toward the mainframe and beamed holographic light down onto the broken monitors, transposing data as it searched storage banks and sifted through the information. “So have you finished writing those algorithms I asked for…?” The Hunter asked as he started dragging bodies to one corner of the room and throwing them into a pile. “Were you able to crack that encryption alright?” The Ghost chirped with an impatient timbre, almost insulted. “What kind of question is that…? Of [i]course[/i] I cracked the encryption. It was [i]child’s play[/i].” A good-natured grin climbed up into his cheeks, and he stopped, dropped the Dreg in his hands and threw back his head with a rolling laugh. “Okay well… don’t ever tell that to Cayde, you’d probably hurt his pride.” “[i]Pity[/i],” it commented sarcastically, “I was really looking forward to gloating about [i]this[/i] shining achievement. Is there something you’d like me to do with it?” The hunter’s smile faded away into a more serious look as he shifted back to business. “Yes,” he answered with a brief pause before returning to what he was doing. “Take all the data we have on the House of Kings’ movements and [i]bury it[/i] in that console. Don’t make it too hard to find though… put it somewhere only a ghost would look.” This time, it paused to look up and regard him with doubt. “Are you sure about this…? If the Queen finds out…” “The Queen doesn’t have to know,” he interjected. “And she won’t find out…” he stated with an expectant pop of his brows. “[i]Right[/i]?” The little light rolled its optic and half-lidded its lens shutter. “Of course she won’t, I have [i]no reason[/i] to help that woman…” it explained with a pause. “I just hate to imagine what she’d do if she even [i]remotely[/i] thought you were sharing the Awoken’s secrets with the City.” The man tossed the last body onto the pile, turned to the machine, shook his head and crossed his arms, kicking one toe into the dust then switching to the other in idle thought. “I may be loyal to the Vanguard, but right now the Reef comes first- I think Mara knows I wouldn’t divulge sensitive information about the Awoken to the Vanguard, but the Kings are a danger to the city; we can’t let them be blindsided by this.” His reasoning was logical, the Ghost agreed, but he often put a little too much faith in others and it was cause for concern. But with those voiced, it agreed to let the topic go. “How do you know they’ll find it?” He beamed a confident smirk as he glanced out the window again. “Minnie and Nyx are thorough… if they’re looking for information, they won’t leave any stone unturned.” “You mean if they make it here.” “That last transmission was pretty clear, they’ve picked up the Patrol beacon and verified the bounty availability with the Vanguard. Merric won’t leave it for someone else to pick up." It blipped and twitched a couple more times as if it were trying to make up its mind… then floated back to the computer. “Alright… I just hope you know what you’re doing.” “Thanks, bud. Just get it done and we’ll get out of here before the Fallen regroup.” The Ghost stopped, hesitated just long enough to look up and examine him with a sad look as something occurred to it. “You really don’t want to tell them you’re alive…?” Nikel’s expression hardened into something complicated- guilt, pain, and determination mixed with regret, clouded his optimism. “No,” he replied with cold inflection, “For now, they’re better off not knowing.” But because he was who he was, Nik grinned and added, almost as an afterthought, “Just remind them Spectre’s lookin’ out for them.”