"Give me the details on that Vanguard briefing again, Chips," Anishia said to her Ghost, who she had named Chips, due to the dents and chips he had in his chassis due to close calls with the foes of the Last City. "Right, from Zavala. In the Outskirts of the Cosmodrome , near the decrepit city of Old Moscow, there's a rogue guardian. He's been dark for years now. Vanguard's sent out countless spy drones but this guardian destroys them, each and every time. Zavala feels that this guardian has abandoned the Vanguard and the tower entirely, and is now controlling the territory that is Old Moscow on his own agenda. They've tasked us with the responsibility of finding out this agenda, and if it goes against the the goals of the Last City, then we put him down." "Sounds pretty exciting. Never had a reason to venture this far out into Old Russia, but I guess today is my lucky day, huh?" Anishia smiled. Anishia was a Bladedancer, a very seasoned one at that. Coming from Awoken Origin, she still considers Earth her home. The xenophobic tendencies of her people in the Reef rubbed her the wrong way, and much prefers the humble personality of the people of Earth, and the Last City. Anishia and her Ghost flew high in her Phaeton, before flying down and transmitting out of her ship into the flooded city below. The skyscrapers had accumulated an absurd amount of moss and vegetation over the centuries, and it look like it was more nature than man-made buildings. The streets were cracked and old, with rusty cars lining them, some of them even crashed into sides of buildings. The street lights had been bent and cracked, hanging over the sides of the sidewalk. "Damn," Anishia said. "Place is beautiful, isn't it?" "Your definition of 'beauty' is odd, but nonetheless, this place is quite fascinating. Just imagine how this city looked in it's prime." Chips said, his singular eye staring around in awe. "Nah," Anishia said, waving her hand. "Something about aged architecture just catches my eye every time. But that's just me." She drew her hand cannon, Banshee had geared up well for this mission. Her gun held rounds that with the right aim, could put any sort of danger down in an instant. She inspected it, admiring the craftsmanship, before giving the barrel a good spin. "Nice. Alright, come on, Chips. That Guardian ain't gonna find himself." The hunter said, walking forward deeper into the heart of Moscow. Anishia looked around as she walked, before turning her attention to Chips. "Do you have any reports on this place? Like enemy occupations? This place looks like a good refuge for Fallen, with all the old buildings. Maybe the Hive could've even shot a few seeders down from the moon, and made this place into a breeding ground. It's damp enough for it," Chips hummed to himself. "Hmmm. I wish I could tell you something but my databanks don't have a thing. That rogue guardian has kept this place on lockdown, the Vanguard don't know anything about this place." "Alright then, so be it. Guess we'll just be surprised then." The pair kept walking, Anishia hopping on cars now and again to avoid the nasty water that had flooded some of the streets. Before they knew it, they came across another Skyscraper, the biggest one they'd seen yet. "Now, if I was a rogue guardian.." Anishia started, before pointing to the building. "[i]That..[/i] is where I would set up shop." "You also keep your Strange Coins in a pink piggy bank." Chips said, plainly. Anishia looked at her mechanical companion with an eyebrow raised. "So?" "So, I'm just saying. People do different things. He could've set up shop in one of the abandon donut shops we passed." Anishia sighed, and then chuckled. "You're a smartass. Anyway, we're checking that building first. Onward, Chiii- aaaAAAHH!!!!" Anishia didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence before tripping and falling face first into a disgusting puddle, no doubt the water that had busted up from the sewer pipes from below the city. She got up, spitting like a madman and dusting off her cloak and wringing it out, which was pretty much drenched for the most part. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Groooosssss!!!" Anishia whined. Her Ghost looked at her with genuine compassion. "Anishia, I'm so sorry about your cloak. But I just want you to know that if I had lungs, I'd probably have a hard time using them because I'd be laughing too hard." Anishia gasped. "Hey, you little..! C'mere!" Anishia made a futile attempt to grab her Ghost and show him what for, but he quickly zipped around her, literally making circles and making her look like an idiot. "Hey, now. Don't get too fiesty. Remember, I'm the one who's gotta bring you back if you mess up and die out here," He said, playfulness in his voice. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Like I'll die out he-" [b][i]Spllkkk![/i][/b] The sound of Anishia's skull splattering was sudden and abrupt, as her body was flung into the puddle she just fell in. Chips did not hesitate to hide behind a nearby car to process what had just happened. "Anishia!" He shouted. He examined her body from behind cover. "She's been shot dead, and that's a type of iridium core bullet. Only a sniper rifle would have the firepower to shoot something that dea- [i]woah![/i]" Chips shouted in fear, another shot had been fired, and it almost grazed him. He quickly hid behind the rusty car and wasted no time to revive his guardian. He materialized her, and she sat on the pavement behind the car, taking several deep breaths. "What happened?!" She shouted, panting. "You were shot in the head. But you're fine now, I got you." "Right, thanks, Chips. Even though that really sucked, glad they shot me and not you." "Yeah, but it's not like I wasn't a target, either. Whatever, or whoever is shooting at us obviously knows how to put a guardian down." "It's gotta be him, then. The Rogue Guardian. Guess we don't have to waste time discussing details then. We're gonna put this guy down." "Right! I think he's in that building that you pointed out, he's armed with a sniper. Don't peak." "You should tell that to him. Give me a sniper, my Eirene, please." Anishia said, holding her hand out. "You sure this is a good idea?" Chips said, materializing her Eirene anyway. "Of course. Who doesn't like a good old fashioned sniper duel?" She took her position behind the car and looked down her scope, eyeing the building. "Come on.. show yourself.. take another good peak, I dare ya.." She whispered to herself, her finger rubbing the trigger anxiously. In her peripheral vision, she saw a flash, a red light. She held her breath and moved her gun to her target, and pulled the trigger, the sound of the Omolon rifle resonating throughout the old city. She hit her target, and saw it fall out of the window down onto the hard street below, where it made a very loud metallic crashing sound. Anishia removed her eye from the scope. "Huh? That.. That wasn't a guardian. That was.." "A Frame..?" Chips said, finishing her sentence for her. "How did this guardian manage to get Frames? Think he may of stole a couple of dormant units from Rasputin's bunker and installed his own programming?" "Doesn't matter. All I know is that they are hostile and he may not be different himself. Let's move." Anishia strapped her Eirene to her back and switched back to her hand cannon as she booked it to the building. She vaulted over two cars that were in front of the main entrance, where she kicked the doors down in one swift kick. As she entered the building, she took her pace slow as she had her gun drawn. "This is Anishia, Guardian of the Vanguard and proud Hunter. I've come to bring you in and find out what exactly you have planned. You've already shown one act of agression, but I will forgive it if you come out peacefully now." She said, her voice echoing throughout the old building, which appeared to be the lobby of an old Hotel. She heard the sound of an elevator go off, and she looked ahead. Before she could even process who or what was coming out of the elevator, a hail of bullets came flying out of it, before the door even opened fully. "Shit!" Anishia cursed, dodge rolling behind an old couch in the lobby, where it did little to protect her from the onslaught of lead. As it was chewed away from the gunfire, Anishia made a brave move, rolling out of cover and standing up, where she threw a Flux grenade as if it was a baseball at the attackers. In this moment, a couple of bullets manage to hit her, but luckily her shield took most of the damage, leaving her, for the most part, unhurt. After she threw her grenade, she dodged into another form of cover, this time it being a pillar that extending from the floor to the ceiling. She waited for the explosion, and heard it go off. [spoiler]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220886294/0/0/1[/spoiler]- continued in comments.