Hunger for Excitement - A Destiny Story
It was an early Monday morning in the Tower. Ikora was going over her presentation for the weekly Vanguard meeting. Zavala sat in his chair looking over maps and scouting reports. Cayde-6 was late, again.
"Well, Zavala, shall we begin without him as usual?" Ikora was obviously not surprised.
"Yes we shall, at least it'll be a productive meeting this week." Zavala sorted his notes in preparation.
Ikora raised her hand to the room. The usual attendees got to their seats. Shaxx at the end of the table, Saladin beside him. Hawthorne up front to the left, directly across from Zavala. Shiro-4, Sloane, Osiris, and Brother Vance filled in the middle.
"Welcome everyone. Now that The Dawning celebrations are concluded I would like to start reconciling the past years events," Ikora commanded the room with a reassuring speech, recapping the events of The Red Legion, The World Eater, and the events that brought back Osiris.
"We have Eris on conference call. Eris has been scouting The Taken as well as a bit of a sabbatical. Eris? Are you there?"
"Yes, I hear your words, Ikora. I thank you for allowing me this..."Eris droned on.
"Man, she STILL is a wet blanket, huh?" Hawthorne whispered to Shiro-4. They both had a slight laugh. Ikora shot a look, and a slight smile.
"...with the precipice of all matters of fate, I..." The door swung open with a bang cutting Eris off.
Cayde-6 was standing in the door way, catching his breath (that he didn't actually have, but was obviously meant for dramatic effect), disheveled and battle worn.
"Guys...I need a fireteam. Immediately"
Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde-6 all gathered around the table, the other Vanguard members had exited back to their posts. Cayde-6 threw down a map on the table, stained with coffee, and notes that appeared to be made in crayon. He leaned forward and began with a serious tone.
"Sorry to cut off Eris Mourn of what I'm sure was a riveting and uplifting.."
"I'm still here, Cayde..." Eris interjected through the com.
"Ah, hey there kiddo, how's the ole' spiritual journey going?" Cayde-6 awkwardly asked.
"Sorry, Eris, we shall have to call you back" Ikora ended the conference call and gestured to Cayde-6 to continue.
"Ok, so, I've gotten intel from my Little Cayde's that a..."
"Wait, you call your informants, Little Cayde's?" Ikora scoffed.
"Well, yeah, I originally called them 'The Cayde-6 9' but I couldn't say it without giggling...cause there's nine of them...and it's like...nevermind. ANYWAYS, I received intel that a rogue faction of The Fallen have found something in our old city. Something of great importance."
"Is it some sort of weapon? Perhaps leftover schematics of some sort?" Zavala stood now, rifling through his notebooks to see if he had any clue as to what it could be.
"No. It's much more important, and somewhat personal." Cayde-6's voice took on a rare serious tone "Look, I need a team. I'm requesting to pull some kinderguardians from the training grounds to take with me on a quick smash-and-grab"
"Well, right now we are slow. Most of our Guardians have already done everything that can be done. Besides we have our best guardian out there cleaning up. I suppose a small mission wouldn't hurt." Ikora pondered this thought. She knew that this would be one of those small wins with Cayde-6 she could hold onto. It gave him a little purpose and, most importantly, kept him busy.
"Ok, Cayde, I grant your request. I do, however, expect a full report upon your return." Ikora gave him a stern glance, deep down she knew, she wasn't getting a report.
"Thank you, Ikora, this is important to me. You won't regret this." Cayde-6 grabbed his map, and briskly exited the vanguard meeting room.
Back in his quarters, Cayde-6 began packing a scout bag and equipping his gear. He picked up his hand-cannon, polished the barrel with his cloak, kissed it and with a twirl put it into its holster. "Hmm, glad no one saw that" he muttered to himself.
It was late afternoon now, the training camps were just about to let out for the day. All the trainees were packing up and getting ready to head back to their quarters, or the local market for some relaxation. Shin-ro and Shin-re, twin brother and sister Hunters, were the last to leave.
"Wait up, Brother!" Shin-re shouted out, grabbing her bag.
"Don't worry, Sister, we won't be late!" Shin-ro replied assuringly.
The Shin siblings were well known for their skills as Hunter's, their parents, once respected members of the First City guard, were killed in the attack by The Red Legion. Since then, they have trained day and night and taken any mission available. They were known to be brutal, reckless, and unrelenting. Shin-ro, an Arcstrider, was deadly with a Quickfang, while his sister, Shin-re as a Nightstalker, was an unmatched sniper.
As they walked out of the barracks they saw a small group across from them. Approximately four of them, all seemingly waiting for the siblings.
"Ugh, this, now?" Shin-re was clearly not in the mood.
"Well, I suppose it's best we get this done now, better than spending the weekend mopping up the locker rooms when we get punished." Shin-ro dropped his bag and began stretching his arms and neck. "Oi, you there! Can we get this over with quickly? We have plans tonight" Shin-ro called out to the angry gathering.
"Because of you, assholes, we had to do extra miles today. Every time you lot show off, WE get the brunt of it. It's time you learn your place!" One of the angry boys shouted as he ran up to the siblings. With a quick dodge, Shin-ro and Shin-re were behind the boys. Shin-re spun on her heel sending a quick kick to one of the brutes head, knocking him to the ground. Shin-ro, squaring off with two others, gracefully hopped to a railing behind him and with a quick flip was up over their heads and behind them. He tipped his head back to avoid a punch, grabbed the brutes arm and threw him toppling into the other. Now, only one was left. The Shin siblings slowly walked up to the obviously shaken boy as he shouted "You'll regret this!" He grabbed up his defeated friends and hauled off down the alley.
Shin-ro, clearly annoyed, grabbed his and his sisters bags and handed it to her. "It's like once a week now with those idiots." Just as they proceeded up the stairs they stopped in front of a very stunned Cayde-6. They dropped their bags and immediately gave a salute.
"Sorry, sir!" Shin-re on point shouted. Clearly ready for a reprimand.
"What...was...that?!" Cayde-6, still stunned looking around befuddled.
"Well, sir, we...I mean, they..." Shin-ro began to stutter.
"That was...BRILLIANT!" the twins shot him a surprised glance as he jumped for joy. "I mean, wow!" I actually came here to talk to those boys, but now that I've seen you two...Oof!" Cayde was pacing with glee, recapping the scene with absurd sound effects.
"You're not...angry, sir?" Shin-re asked.
"Are you kidding? You remind me of...well...me when I was in training." Cayde-6 put his hands on each of the siblings shoulders. "Oh boy, do I have a job for you two. Wanna get a drink and make some bad choices with me?" The siblings looked at each other, and smiled.
"Ok, so let me get this straight" Shin-re spoke over the noise of the pub "there's something of great importance to the Vanguard left at the old city. You think The Fallen are after it too, we have to get it fast, AND you can't tell us what it is?"
"Yup." Cayde-6 said as he threw back another shot.
"Well, we're in." Shin-ro took a shot.
"Great! We leave at 8pm tonight. Be ready." Cayde-6 motioned to the bartender for another.
"Cayde...it's 8:35pm right now." Shin-re motioning to the clock behind the bar.
"Well, damn, we should leave."
The siblings took a few minutes to prepare and suit up. Cayde waited for them at the city gates. As they left the front gate Cayde motioned for them to join him at the start of the road.
"Come on, kids, let's get this show going." Cayde summoned a sparrow.
"Wow, we've never been on a mission with a Vanguard legend before. It'll be great to see if you can live up to the story of your performance." Shin-re was almost gushing.
Well, they don't call me Cayde-Se..." he quickly checked himself "I mean, yeah, this is a treat for you kinderguardians."
"Kinderguardians? Is that really a thing people say?" Shin-ro quipped.
"Uh, yeah, totally. Everyone says it. It's cute. Anyways, Sparrow up!"
They zipped down the road. The Traveler was bright and high in the sky. Almost pulsing as they rode through the broken down city. The siblings rarely left the new city. It was quite the sight to see it outside the lights of the tower. They pulled up to the entrance to the old market. Quietly got off their sparrows, and began silently proceeding inside.
The city was a disaster. Buildings completely demolished, broken guns and armor littered the streets. That of both Guardians and Cabal. The siblings looked around, but stifled their grief. They knew that their parents had died somewhere in this city. But, now was not the time for grief. They had much more urgent matters.
"Ok, so, our scout spot is roughly three blocks up. But the reports say there are some Fallen scavengers sulking around the city streets. Keep your eyes peeled, especially to the buildings. Those little creepers tend to climb around up there." Cayde was focused on the street ahead as he gave his warning. They slowly pushed forward, guns at the ready. Shin-ro had his trusty Nameless Midnight, while Shin-re loaded her Crimson hand-cannon.
Just as they pushed forward they heard a noise, like claws on cement, scampering. Cayde motioned for them to stop. He glanced back at the siblings, gave a quick wink and tossed an incendiary grenade into the alley way ahead. The explosion was fierce, the group readied their weapons to fire away at whatever remained standing. As the blast and smoke cleared they leapt forward ready. But the area was clear.
"Aw, come on man, that was supposed to look heroic, and cool! You're ruining my opportunity to be awesome!" Cayde shouted to the blast spot. He then realized his loudness as he heard the wailing of a Fallen Vandal in the distance. "Ah, ok, so, yeah, totally just drawing them out. Right on time." Cayde attempted to remedy his mistake.
"Let's go, to cover, over here!" Shin-re pointed to a nearby building with a large blast hole in the side. The group ran to the spot to prepare. As they crouched, several Fallen Dreg's and two Vandals appeared from the shadows in front of them. They were investigating the blast site. Shin-re glanced at Shin-ro and in sync, gave each other a nod. Shin-ro tossed out an Arcbolt grenade and it struck two of the five Dreg's.
"Now THAT is a grenade" Cayde said as he jumped out of cover behind the siblings.
The Vandal's backed up to get space to line up their sniper shots. Shin-re immediately pushed forward with her Crimson firing bursts at one of the nearby Dreg's. It pounced around making it difficult to get a shot in, but a few landed causing it to flinch. She lunged forward with her melee knife and took the Dreg out. Shin-ro was approaching the other two Dreg's, all the while dodging sniper shots from the Vandals. He started firing away at the left Dreg, while Cayde from behind took out the right. He got a headshot off on his Dreg and proceeded to look for the Vandal. He saw his Sister taking it down, with great ease. Without notice, arms wrapped around his torso restraining his arms and weapons, while another set of arms held a knife to his throat. The Vandal shouted something at Shin-re who was approaching swiftly, she raised her hands to show compliance. She slowly stepped forward as the Vandal cursed. Shin-ro saw a flash, then heard a pop. The arms slid off him and he heard the collapse of the body behind him. He turned to see a flaming dagger lying next to the now headless Vandal's body. He looked back to see Cayde walking confidently towards him.
"Hey, it's not all just bad jokes and drinking" Cayde picked up his dagger and placed it into its holster and began to walk up the road. Shin-ro shot Shin-re a glance, they were very impressed.
Further up the road they approached the scout zone. A Captain was standing over a group of Fallen troops giving a speech. It was in a language the twins had never heard before.
"Cayde, what are they saying?" Shin-ro whispered.
"I am the great and powerful Oz! The almighty, the..." he trailed off laughing "Ha, I have no clue, it just sounds like gargling to me. Let's inch forward. Our destination is that building to the left. He motioned to the building directly behind the Captain.
"Well, Fireteam lead, what do we do?" Shin-re asked while loading her sniper.
"Well, we shoot 'em, grab our loot, and run. Emphasis on the loot part. Oh, yeah, also don't die. That'd be bad."
They moved into position behind a car. Waiting for the right moment to strike. The Captain's speech was over, the Fallen roared in approval. A Vandal hopped up near the Captain and shouted. As the crowd cheered, a single shot rang out loud. The crowd fell silent, the Fallen looked back to the Vandal as they saw smoke rising from the hole where his head used to be. As he tipped back they screamed in anger and averted their gaze to the team of Guardians standing in the back.
"Oh, hello! Is this the free cupcake rally? Or, is that later?" Cayde flipped out his hand-cannon and started firing into the crowd. Shin-re jumped from the roof of the car they were using for cover and fired her bow into the middle of the Fallen mass. It tethered most of them as Shin-ro slid in. He hopped over the head of a Dreg and activated his Arcstrider slamming immediately down into the tethered pile. Dreg bodies flew everywhere. The siblings fought fiercely. Bullets flew everywhere, ammo drops lit up the street. Only a few Fallen remain, the siblings squared off with them. Shin-ro had his Quickfang at the ready, he ran towards the group as they fired relentlessly at him. He slid toward them and with a swipe had relieved them of their arms. They fell to the ground. All that was left now, was the Captain.
"Cayde! Where are you?" Shin-re shouted scouting the area.
"The scout zone, he's in there! Let's go!" Shin-ro motioned towards the broken down building.
"Ok, it's gotta be here somewhere." Cayde muttered as he rifled through papers in a cabinet. Finally finding the one he was looking for he jumped up and exclaimed "This is it! I have it! Oh praise be the Traveler." Shin-ro and Shin-re were standing in front of him, looking terrified over his shoulder.
"What? What is it? You see something? Oh...it's the Captain, isn't it?" Cayde slowly turned around. "Really? You're gonna do the whole, looming over the shoulder thing while I talk gag?" A flash of red blinded the siblings, as they focused they saw Cayde in full Gunslinger mode "Because, I don't do cliche's." Three shots thundered in the building. A puff of smoke and ash littered the air. The Captain was gone. The siblings were in pure awe as they looked upon Cayde-6, his super now fading. He held out the paper, he wiped away an imaginary tear from his face.
"You just, don't understand what this means to me." The sincerity of his voice caused Shin-re to get up and place her hand on his shoulder, consoling him. "What is it?" She asked.
"It's the recipe to the best Spicy Ramen I have ever had."
Cayde folded the paper gently and placed it into his bag.
Shin-ro darted up and lunged at Cayde, Shin-re barely holding him back. Then a noise from overhead.
"It's a Fallen dropship" Cayde readied his weapon once again.
The Fireteam walked slowly out of the building as the Fallen Walker fell to the ground.
"Well, kids, you ready for round 2?"
The End