6 Vanguard Summons
I stood still in the Hangar as Amanda walked away.
As I stared at the prompt in front of me, slight anxiety had started to build up. You might ask why, but if you were in my position, it would frankly be the same.
After all who were the vanguard? A group of guardians that had lived for centuries defending the last city. They were at the peak of their class, simply the culmination of hundreds of years of training and combat. Absolute monsters in the shape of guardians.
You would be a fool to believe these people were sane in the head. Now that I was actually in this world, the vanguard seemed far too distant, the gravity of their power was apparent. The vanguard held full authority over city guardians and were also responsible for any strikes or raid missions.
Matter of fact, they were also the ones holding back the corrupted guardians from ever surfacing. Though that had been a bumpy ride, the praxic order would investigate any guardian of wrong doing, and by the vanguards hands, their light would simply be extinguished.
You'd think the guardians were immortal... but no.
"Nothing kills you faster than a guardian." I mumbled
All of a sudden, answering to an immortal authority seemed sketchy, but its not like I had any choice. In the end, I wanted to be an independent guardian. There were already many who thought like me, but to gain that kind of independence, you had to showcase power.
Currently, my power was laughable, a mere smidge of light that could easily be snuffed out. So there was no choice but to wait, bide my time and grow stronger.
In the end, I soon paced towards the elevator. For now anyways, I would be complying with the vanguard.
Once I had reached the elevator it took me directly to the top floor of the tower. Which was a breath of fresh air...literally.
The tower was humanity's stronghold, a place where futuristic design met cultural culmination. I walked towards the edge of the main bridge and peered downwards.
I saw the last city, in all its glory. Millions lived here in this final city graced by the traveler. I could see thousands of houses and factories under the tower, banners and flags lined the balconies of houses, with symbols celebrating the guardians and the peace they had created.
As I stood glancing below the tower, I suddenly realized that the tower itself was actually a skyscraper. A foolish thought that I had never once considered. The tower was home to the guardians at the top floor, but what of the rest?
The tower was where technologies from other planets and earth met, I could see it in the infrastructure, everything was organized and automated through robots and AI. Science had advanced beyond what I would even consider possible in my last life.
As I had finished roaming around the towers Annex, I got a notification from ghost.
"Guardian, the vanguard have sent a notification requesting your presence in the conference room A290" Ghost chimed in.
It seems I had to cut the tourism short as I stepped towards the labyrinth of stairs leading down the tower. A few floors later I had reached the 290th floor, where there seemed to be quite a fuss in a nearby room.
I walked towards it, as a few scanners went over my body and the energy shield blocking my way was removed. I could still hear a few voices from the secured room past the checkpoint, and as I stepped towards the gate, it scanned my identity and let me through.
The mechanical lock whirred and the door slid open.
I could see a long conference table lined the room, and at the end were three figures seemingly arguing over a few details.
"Cayde I've already told you, you can't assign hunters to a patrol mission for "fun". Those guardians have duties that they must fulfill, do not abuse your authority."
"Ikorra's right Cayde, the guardians trust our judgement. It would be rude to not convey our sincerest leadership for their service."
Two voices concurred.
"Relaxxxx, guys, you're taking it too formal here. All I said was there could be a potentially important archived document in the hands of the fallen that was stored in their camps, how would I know he'd rush in and die immediately. But it's all fine all right, I rescued him and his ghost, and he got revived. So what's the big deal."
"The big deal is that you had him risk his life, for a document you clearly made up, does the vanguard authority mean nothing to you? " Ikorra slammed the table.
"Alright, I take this job very seriously. Look I even apologized to the guy and gave him a new gun, personal collection of mine, and he was very satisfied with it. Let me tell you, he was just going on and on about-"
Cayde rambled on for a few seconds as he glanced at Ikorra not happy with his sidetracked story.
"Fine, I won't do it again. Pinky promise, I will be good." Cayde gestured a zipped lip as he apologized.
"You two should leave the matter for another day. Looks like we have a new guest to attend to. Welcome guardian, good job making it to the last city. The Vanguard welcomes you with open arms." He nodded at me, as his bright blue eyes glanced in my directions.
Seeing I was allowed to enter, I walked towards the three waiting at the other end.
Ikorra greeted first as she turned towards me with a slight nod.
"You must be our new hunter. My name is Ikorra ray, the warlock vanguard. Welcome to the last city."
"Thank you, my name is Void Blade."
I refrained from a length introduction as I simply had nothing else to state.
"Cool name, I dig it. Name's Cayde-6. Your own hunter vanguard. If you ever need any help, let me know, I've got your back."
"Thanks" I responded.
"I am Zavala, the tower's prime strategist and vanguard leader. Void is it, I will remember that name, I hope you joining us is an occasion to celebrate for years to come." He extended his hand towards me.
I gripped his hand and I could already feel the power difference between us. It felt like I had somehow tried to move a mountain.
Similar to the him, Ikorra's presence was... in a way extremely overwhelming. Where as Cayde, I had no words to describe him, he was all fun and games until a sobering moment that would instantly overturn his personality. Like a predator, his real fangs were hidden the whole time.
"Your light is strong for a newly risen, Void." Zavala commented.
"The vanguard has much to discuss with you but first, I believe we owe you a day's rest. I've transferred the details to your ghost. Try spending a day in your room and freshen up, till then guardian, see you in the frontlines tomorrow."
As he had said, I could see a faint white marker appear on my HUD that probably led to my room. I nodded and began to walk towards the door.
But a voice immediately stopped.
"Hey, wait right there. Void, hmmm, something missing." Cayde pointed a finger at me as he tried to figure out what he meant.
"Ah that's right, you don't have a cloak. That won't do at all, no hunter of ours is outside without a cloak, you're really besmirching my name in the streets here."
Cayde reached into his pockets and fiddled with a tablet for a few seconds.
"Right there it is, I've issued you standard city gear in your room, probably better to equip that than whatever you have on right now. Also, your firepower's looking kinda weak, I've given your name to the gunsmith, make sure to collect a better weapon for your convenience."
"Thanks again." I nodded once more and stepped out towards my room.
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Honestly, I didn't expect the tower to be so...big.
"Ghost which floor is our room on again?"
"Floor 285, guardian. Your room has been already been marked for you."
I tried to navigate the tower and as big as it was, even with direction it took me about ten minutes to get to where my room was. But once I reached, I saw a hallway that stretched to almost hundreds of rooms, that had identical doors.
I soon found mine that had been numbered 234 on the door and as I touched the handle, I heard a small green light pop up that scanned me.
~Access granted~
The door clicked open, and the interior was exceptionally designed. The room was far spacious than one would expect. It was practically closer to an apartment residence than just a room.
Including a bathroom , a bed and also a lounge where I could review my daily tasks and missions. The room also included a tv, that seemed quite a fancy addition. It was a slim screen with added holographic functionality.
Near my bed, a parcel had been neatly wrapped and stowed on the side.
"That would be my supplies."
But right now, that's not what I was really excited about, in fact the thing that I really needed was a good night's sleep. I had dozed off for a few hours in the ship before, but the fatigue of fighting for a few days and training had already caught up with me.
It felt like I really needed to rest, or perhaps that was just a psychological burden ingrained in my psyche as a human. But once my body hit the mattress, I immediately dozed off.
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[8 Hours later]
My body kept sinking into the soft mattress. A level of comfort I couldn't describe, as the cool air in the room pleasantly blew past me, I felt at peace.
I turned around and laid on my back, my drowsy eyes peering at the ceiling as I groaned.
"What....happened."
I rubbed my eyes as I struggled to get them open, sitting up on my back.
I tried my best to recall what had happened after I entered my room,....But nothing came to mind.
"Ghost are you there?" I called out.
Ghost appeared from within the room, as he floated above me.
"You're finally awake guardian. I was a bit worried since you slept for so long. Well once you're ready you can equip the new gear we got issued. I will tell you what, Cayde definitely didn't skimp out on the equipment."
Ghost spun around the crate near my bed.
"That's right, the equipment!"
I eagerly got up and hurried to open it up.
The crate lock flung open as it revealed the contents hidden inside.
A standard hunter vest, a helmet, grips, strides and also a specially made hunter cloak.
"This is quite the stuff."
Just feeling the material was enough to know that it was durable and lightweight, perfect for a hunter that valued mobility but also wanted to be safe from enemy fire.
I immediately donned the new equipment and checked my stats.
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Name: Void Blade
Class: Hunter
Level: 2
Light Level: 6
Subclass: Nightstalker Lv. 2/10
Equipment: (LL refers to Light Level)
>Primary: Traveler's Chosen*(0/0) 5LL ] Armor: (Helmet) > War Mantis(Rare): 5 LL
>Secondary: None ] Armor:(Gauntlets) >Shadow Specter (Rare): 5 LL
> Heavy: None ] Armor:(Chest)> War Mantis (Rare): 5 LL
> Ghost Lv1 ] Armor:(Boots)>Scorched Hunter Strides(Rare) 5LL
] Armor:(Cloak)> A Cloak Called Home (Legendary) 8LL
* = 4% boost in accuracy for headshots against fallen enemies
Combat Perks: (2 Unlocked)
~Spectral Shade: In combat, enemies have a higher probability of losing your presence if you break line of sight.
~Void Imbalance: Grenades are likely to explode immediately when shot with void weapons or void energy.
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A slight smile crept up my face as I saw my new figure, I looked extremely intimidating with the War Mantis mask and armor, in fact I hadn't even recognized myself. The equipment portrayed a battle ready hunter.
"How do I look"
"Stronger than ever guardian, now lets pick up our weapons from the gunsmith, I am sure Zavala has some missions for us later. He did say come tomorrow, but it never hurts to be early."
"Come to think of it ghost, you've been with me since I revived, but you haven't really told me a name." I pondered.
"Well, most ghosts are usually not given a name until they find their respective guardians. So I was thinking you could give me one."
I sensed a slight upbeat tone in his robotic pitch, which meant that he was eager to receive a name...The problem was that I wasn't exactly someone creative.
After examining his appearance for the nth time, I decided to name my ghost...
"How does Obsidian sound for a name?" I asked
"Is it obsidian because my shell is pitch black...It's not as good as I expected, but I guess it will do."
"Yeah, let's gather our weapons and set off then. We've got a long way up Obsidian."
I wondered where this road would take me, now that I had joined the last city. I did have to uphold some responsibilities. Naturally, I planned to build up my strength, piece by piece, until I would finally get a say on how things go around here.
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, leave a comment and also please leave a review if you did. If you're interested in Harry Potter fanfics, you might like my other work called "Harry Potter: The Mad Duelist". It's not exactly a typical HP fic, so it might not be up to your taste, but give it a go and see how it feels!
