25 Entering the Lion's Den
(A/N : Uploading cuz one of you guys somehow found me in another fics comment section.....and called me out. Yeah anyways enjoy xd. I tried writing it well. Sorry for the slow updates though, it's Ramadan and I am fasting.)
[ The Divide]
At the break of dawn, white clouds slithered in the skies, golden light springing forth illuminating the horizon.
Deep within the windy valleys, beyond the rocky hills of the steppes, three figures could be seen lingering near the edge of The Divide's granite canyon.
As cold gusts of wind brushed through them, the three figures remained stout. Their breaths faintly turning white as they looked towards the sky. A ripple formed in the clouds as a Jumpship broke orbit and entered towards them, gently hovering over their location.
Eriana slowly sauntered below the ship as a figure transmatted out.
"You're late." She stated.
" I would instead argue that you guys are too early." Void sighed, as he flicked his wrists.
"I am about five minutes early." He pointed towards his watch.
"Fifteen minutes early, is still ten minutes late." Eriana retorted turning away.
Sai analyzed her scanners as she coordinated the route.
"We should go now, we have a thirty minute window where a dust storm and sunlight will blind Devil's lair scouts. On your sparrows." She signaled as her sparrow appeared beneath her. (A/N: If you've not caught on, a sparrow is a fast rocket/sonic bike that can hover. )
Immediately, the remaining guardians mounted their sparrows, roaring to go.
A channel appeared in Void's transmitter, and Sai's voice came through to his ears.
"Confirming comms operation, am I audible?"
"Affirmative" he replied, revving his thrusters.
"This is the delta team's comms channel, new discrete frequency tech used only by the Praxic Order. Even the Vanguard can't unscramble our messages. Whatever occurs in this mission, these logs can never be distributed. Am I clear." Sai stated.
"Crystal" Void replied, his visor picking up navigational routes from the channel.
"I've sent you all the route, proceed in dart formation, don't break the line. The fallen satellites are old, they're technology relies on erratic self reflecting energy reading. Maintain the formation, and we will rush through undetected." Sai's voice echoed in the channel.
"T-minus 28 till solar curtain expires" Eriana reminded.
"Ready when you are" Wei's thruster pulsed.
Sai closed her visor as she faced forward, her sparrow ever so slightly gleaming at the edges, golden flames spluttering at the exhaust.
"Take your positions. Don't break Radio silence till we cross into Rocketyard." Sai cautioned one last time.
No words were spoken between the four guardians as time seemed to slow down. The sparrows growled, neon light spilling from their exhausts as they grew restless.
"Delta team, going dark." She whispered, as the comms went dead silent.
A fraction of a second later, all Void could recall was a sonic shockwave pulsating through him as they all burst forth.
Before he knew it, he was right behind Wei, cruising at breakneck speeds as the dart formation slowly emerged.
The sparrows blasted through the Divide, like ants scurrying through the dessert. Untraceable.
Void's instincts were running at max, his eyes darting every second as his hands deftly maneuvered the sparrow at each sharp turn. The route Sai planned was a maze, with lethally sharp turns and several decoy straights.
A route specifically made to mislead any pursuers.
Just as Void thought he had the hang of it,
'They're slipping away!' He immediately sensed their speeds increase.
With no other choice, Void grit his teeth and fully snapped his throttle, immediately catching up with the group, their figures blurred like lightning, zooming through the canyons.
As Void glanced at his radar, the route seemed to motion precisely through the Divide's close cut corners as their group slowly edged towards Rocketyard's tunnels.
With a lengthy straight between them and the tunnels, the group of hunters blitzed through at supersonic speeds as Void saw his radar leave behind the Divide's characteristic canyons.
Instantly as they crossed the boundary into the mining tunnels, the channel sprang to life, Sai's voice echoed through their ears.
"Status report" She demanded, their formation breaking loosely as they slowed down to a halt.
"Visuals impaired, radar's not picking up any terrain inside the tunnels." Wei replied.
"Affirmative, perhaps the fallen installed a new jammer nearby." Eriana contemplated.
"Ditto, I can't pick up any signals either." Void added.
Sai glanced at her map and their own timer.
"It must be the dust storm, City's satellites aren't strong enough to relay back here." She answered.
"Fifteen minutes to go till the dust storm breaks over, we must reach King's watch by then. Follow my lead, ignore the terrain map." She commanded, her sparrow kicking into gear as she swiftly swerved deeper into the tunnel.
"Jax light up the way." Eriana voiced, her sparrow immediately following behind Sai.
A shimmering ghost shell appeared, illuminating the old mining lines, barely thick enough for a single cart, spiraling endlessly deep into the unknown abyss.
Void called out obsidian as he soon followed suit.
"Follow close, and don't slip, no one knows how deep these mines go, one wrong move and your corpse might as well be littered along the sea floor." Sai muttered.
Her sparrow smoothly following the trail as the group followed through in a single line, akin to moles burrowing into the tunnels.
Void's eyes drifted towards the right as he saw the dark below, he forced a dry gulp as his sparrow barely edged over, knocking a few pebbles perpetually tumbling down.
Cold sweat streaked down his spine, as the group began speeding up, erratically moving through the rail lines.
After what seemed like an eternity, the guardians shot through a rocky burrow to the other side, finally arriving into the eroded plains of King's Watch.
Void gasped for fresh air, as he felt his lungs cough out a metric ton of dust, the group's sparrows stopped inches away from the boundary of the plains.
Sai motioned to the timer, only a few seconds left before it expired, she nodded with a smile.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they had finally crossed through the first half of the operation.
Void jumped off his sparrow as he dusted his armor and stretched his legs.
The rest of the team disembarked collectively, as Eriana began calculating their spatial coordinates.
"We'll start here." The warlock stated, a thin imprint of light stained the ground, her eyes glowed, as if inspired through infinite wisdom.
"Keep this safe" Sai casually chucked a small device towards Void.
"Tuner I am guessing?" He replied, catching it.
"I recommend you attach it on your body. Remember, don't stay in one position too long. As long as your within his 1.5 km of his vicinity. We'll be able to start tracing his coordinates." Sai mentioned.
The warlock spoke, her voice echoing with a multitude of presence
" Once the tuner turns blue, that's when you know you're done. However, if anything goes wrong, crush the device first." She stated.
" Normally, warping into unstable coordinates is dangerous. However, the tuner was manufactured with light seeking crystals. They might not have locked on to the target, but if shattered immediately, it's enough of an impulse to let me prematurely teleport us in. If you get into trouble, it's your one saving grace." Eriana reinforced.
Void nodded solemnly.
"Stay sharp, hunter." Wei breathed.
Void immediately hooked the tuner to his belt as his body turned semi-translucent. A faint lilac aura surrounded him.
His figure flickered into King's Watch as he rushed towards the tuners signal. Knowing full well that he might just be rushing into a lions den.
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[ Somewhere in King's Watch]
A man with a jagged crimson cloak crouched on a boulder, his gaze unwavering. A revolver juggled between his fingers.
His eagle eyes suddenly glistened as he looked far into the distance, a sharp smirk appeared underneath his mask.
"One." He whispered.
The man flicked his wrists as the chamber slid out, a singular bullet fell into the hole as he rolled it back in.
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a like and comment what you liked! Don't forget to leave a review !!!
