[i]((Before we start: I'm doing this for fun, for the enjoyment of my clannmates and decided to post it here just in case someone else may like to read it as well. If you like it, great! Let me know. If you hate it, move along. I honestly don't want or need to hear about it. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but keep it constructive. I'm not going to put a TON of time and effort into editing everything to keep it perfect, so if there's a grammar/spelling error, I apologize in advance.))[/i] [b]The Old Vets of Destiny - Chapter 1[/b] [spoiler] My ghost finished playing the recording we’d took and the last sounds echoed in the silence of the empty Vanguard Hall. “This is very concerning.” Ikora’s eyebrows were pulled down into a frown. Zavala growled his agreement, “This needs to be dealt with immediately. I’ll have a bounty-” “No.” Cayde interrupted, “We know so little about the nature of this situation. It is too dangerous to post a simple vanguard bounty; it’ll just get good guardians killed.” “Are you proposing establishing a specialized strike team to send in?” Zavala asked. “The strike team would still need a guide to the location.” Ikora’s calculated gaze eyed me thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I bowed, “I just wish I could have done more than run when I first encountered it.” “Not to mention the target likely has moved from the location,” Cayde affirmed, “Why not send Kal, she just returned from a reconnaissance on Mars and will be reporting in any minute. We can send others to fill out the fireteam as soon as we’re able to contact them and call them back from the field.” “Guardian,” Ikora turned to me, “Thank you for this information, please wait outside while we discuss this.” I bowed once more and turned, the singed and torn hem of my warlock robes billowing out in a smooth arc. As I left the hall, another guardian was entering. She had this hip-rolling, arrogantly dangerous swagger that only a hunter could pull off. Her ice blue eyes swept over me from foot to head, and a single bleached white eyebrow lifted up in acknowledgement before she strode by. Her beaten and torn cloak flapped after her like the wings of a black crow. Moments later, an unfamiliar voice echoed from the vanguard’s hall “You want me to do what?!” Ikora found me in tower’s small library precisely forty seven minutes later. “Your objective is to secure the guardian you spotted, as well as learn what you can about why and whatever is happening there. If your fireteam is confident enough after the completion of those first two objectives, remove any and all threats. Returning to the tower with the intel is your primary goal, so if killing all threats situated there is too risky, you are instructed to fall back and return here.” I nodded my understanding. “We have a guardian that will assist you with returning and dealing with the threat you’ve found.” She brushed the dust off an ancient and crumbling pre-golden age book before placing it back in the shelf. “More specialized guardians are being contacted and called in, but it may take some time.” “She didn’t sound too pleased.” I noted. “And a hunter at that. Not to doubt you Ms. Ikora, but are you sure?” “Absolutely.” Ikora gestured for me to follow and she led the way back to the Vanguard Hall. “She’s a veteran. And a seasoned one at that. She was a part of the battle of the Vault. She stormed Crota’s sword world and slew him with his own sword.” I whistled in admiration, “So she’s one of the guardians Oryx personally hunted.” Ikora nodded, “And she not only survived, but marched into his realm and defeated him on his throne.” “So she’s qualified.” “More than you know.” She stopped and turned to me before we entered the hall, “Red,” She had my full attention; she’d used my name, something the Vanguard leaders rarely did. “While you are with this guardian, watch and listen to what she says and does. She has more experience than you can even realize, and you can learn much from her.” “But ma’am,” I protested, “She’s a Hunter, what can we learn from them that we don’t already know?” “Each guardian class has something they can teach the others,” Ikora explained with an annoyed look, “Each class excels at something the other classes can’t. Only the foolishly arrogant guardians believe their class is superior..” I bowed my head sheepishly, my cheeks aflame in shame “Sorry ma’am.” She put a finger under my chin and lifted my head to look into her eerie Awoken eyes, “Do not be ashamed. Once is a mistake, and that is how we learn. But I hope you learn and never say such things again. Do you understand?” I nodded. She studied my eyes a moment longer, then released me and turned, leading the way into the hall. Cayde stood at the table, examining a map of Venus. I recognised the area I’d barely escaped from- the area we were returning to very soon. But the hunter, my guide, wasn’t there with him. She was talking with Zavala, the Titan mentor. I frowned. “Kal.” Ikora called and the hunter nodded a quick goodbye to Zavala before walking over to joing us. “This is the Guardian who managed to anger pretty much everything on Venus?” Her voice was quiet, but there was a gleam of mischief in her eyes. A twist at the corner of her mouth somehow conveyed her amused approval of the entire event. “Kal,” Ikora frowned disapprovingly, “This is a serious situation. The information-” “Is invaluable, yes.” She interrupted, “But that’s the thing that bugs me most about the warlock mentality; there’s no room for a sense of humor.” Cayde, despite having no physical means of naturally making the sound, snorted from the other side of his map. “I told you Ikora, she’s a hunter at heart.” Ikora rolled her eyes. “I think you all forget that there’s a guardian that needs our help and the sooner you go, the sooner he can receive it.” “Well then, I suppose we should be off then.” The hunter shot him a crisp salute, bowed to Ikora, and exchanged a look with Cayde. At Cayde’s ever so slight head nod, she turned and left. I hurried to follow. “So, Venus?” She said as she stopped briefly at the vaults to withdraw some weapons. I saw a shotgun as well as some sort of rocket launcher briefly appear before disappearing into her ghost’s transmat storage, along with a few other items that I didn’t immediately recognise. “Yeah.” I answered, restocking my supply of ammo synths from the collection I kept in my valult. “And a pretty remote part too; well outside the normal patrol routes held by the Vanguard.” She waited for me to finish and then led the way into the ship hanger. “How did you find it?” “I was investigating some coordinates I’d decrypted from the Archive when I stumbled upon the Kell and his band.” I explained, “He spoke better than even Varix, and his band was transporting- not killing- a guardian. I have no idea where to though, or why. It was everything I could do to get away.” I shuddered, the memory of the guardian’s voice still sending chills up my spine “The guardian though-” “ ‘Don’t let them get your ghost!’ “ The hunter quoted. “So let’s avoid that if possible.” Her red, frontier-shelled ghost said, “I’d rather not find out first hand why he shouted that.” A ship roared into the hangar, drowning out all other sound. Amanda waved us through. We’d apparently been given priority clearance to leave the tower; we were waved past a small line of other waiting guardians. “What do I call you?” I asked, “I don’t feel comfortable just calling you ‘Hunter’ or ‘Guardian’.” “Kal. You can call me Kal.” She stuck out her hand for an old-fashioned handshake, “And you?” “Red.” I answered, clasping and shaking her hand. She smiled, eyeing my hair and beard, “How… original. Well, nice to meet you Red. I will do my best to keep you alive and help you track this new Kell.” “Same. I appreciate you dropping everything like you did.” My ship had been retrieved, it was a glory class jumpship, painted in the bright blue and orange of the Vanguard. A small ship similar to the Waning Star model but colored purple and emblazoned with the Queen’s golden emblem, rose up to the deck as well. “It’s no problem.” Kal smiled, “I had just finished up a job, and plus, I like doing this kind of thing anyways.” She shrugged. “Goodluck guardians!” Amanda waved goodbye with a grease-covered hand. I nodded to my ghost and the tingling sensation from the transmat energy crawled across my skin. “I’ll follow you.” Kal called out before disappearing in her own shimmer of transmat energy. Her ship roared to life as I settled behind the controls of mine. My gut fluttered in nervous excitement as my ship drifted out the hanger bay and accelerated into the upper atmosphere. [/spoiler]