Blank Slate Ch.23: Blueprints (Part 1)

Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 This chapter is a crossover with Delta by Cyborg4281. The following link leads to his Master Post. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/224417569/0/0 ______________________________________ The sound of gunfire was getting louder. Knowing I was close, I moved faster, my walking stick tapping on the rocks. The worn brown cloak wrapped around me tugged in the wind as I heaved myself over an outcropping. Now the ground sloped downwards, ending in an open area and a high bluff of stone riddled with small caves. Fallen were scrambling through the rocks. A Guardian in red armor stood at the edge of a grove of trees, shooting into the throng. As I watched, a Captain led a small detachment away from the mass. They curved around the battle, towards the Guardian's flank, staying low as they slipped between boulders. The Guardian didn't see them coming. Without a second thought, I hopped down the slant, moving as quickly as possible while favoring my damaged leg. I came to a stop behind a large stone on a small ledge. The Fallen's path would lead them straight to me. After a minute, the group passed below me. When they were halfway past, I leapt down. Landing carefully on my good leg, I spun, shattering my walking stick on the neck of the nearest Vandal. It fell to the ground, clutching at its mutilated throat. Before the others could react, I pulled my sidearm out from under my cloak. The Fallen converged around me, brandishing their weapons. I shot a Dreg in the head and a Vandal in the chest before a Dreg tackled me from behind. Knowing I couldn't counter the momentum, I flipped forward, causing the Dreg to land under me. A Dreg lunged at me with a shock dagger, but crumpled to the ground after two pulls of my sidearm's trigger. Quickly standing, I shot the Dreg I had landed on. The Captain's shock blade tore a hole in the sleeve of my cloak, narrowly missing my arm, and I hopped away. I released a spray of bullets, but they were rendered useless by the Captain's thick armor. My gun clicked, empty, and I tucked it back into my cloak. Pulling out my knife, I surveyed the remaining Fallen. The Captain stood in front of me, brandishing his swords. Two Vandals were behind me, with blades of their own. The Captain huffed and clicked something in their language, and the Vandals pounced. The first Vandal swung its shock blades. I blocked one with my knife, then caught the other arm's wrist with my free hand. The second Vandal slashed at my back, but I sidestepped and spun, blocking the attack with the first Vandal's swords. Freeing my knife from the mix of rapiers, I stabbed the second Vandal in the side of the head. It screamed and collapsed as the first Vandal shoved me to the ground with its lower arms. My knife clattered to the side as I landed on my stomach. I quickly grabbed the blade of a dead Fallen and rolled onto my back. The Vandal cleaved down, knocking the weapon out of my hands. I used my good leg to kick the Vandal's shin. It fell, and I pulled out my sidearm. When it tried to stand back up, I kicked it again, then began to reload. Kicking it a third time, I stood. The new clip clicked into place, and I shot the Vandal in the head. As I picked up my knife, something moved behind me. Remembering the Captain, I pivoted and stabbed at the motion. It caught my arm. Taking in the scene before me, I relaxed. The Guardian held my wrist, the knife mere inches from his chest. The Captain's corpse lay on the ground behind him, and the Fallen in the clearing were dead. "Howdy," I greeted. • • • The Exo was light brown, with yellow eye and mouth lights. Some of his plating was scratched, worn, weathered, and even rusted. He sat carefully on a rock, being careful with his injured leg. "Your Guardian doesn't have to do that," the Exo insisted, nodding towards Keis, who was breaking a branch off of one of the nearby trees, "I can find a new walkin' stick on my own." "It's our pleasure," I replied, "You deserve it." The Exo nodded hesitantly. "You don't need to be humble," I persisted, "You're not even a Guardian, and you helped us with those Fallen." Keis returned, holding a large branch, though it was covered in knobs and points where smaller branches had been snapped off. "Time to introduce ourselves," I resumed, "I'm Blanc." "I'm Echo-4," the Exo said, "Nice to meet ya." "I am Keis-51," Keis greeted, "My regards. May I use your knife?" "Yeah," Echo permitted, pulling out his knife and handing it to Keis. Keis sat on a rock across from Echo and began carving the branch. I hovered between them. "So," I continued, "Why are you out here, Echo?" "Just travelin'," Echo answered. "Traveling?" I inquired, "Why? What do you do?" "Well," Echo said, "I just wander 'round. Sometimes I run into other people. Help 'em if they need it. That's all." "That's dangerous," I fretted, "You could get killed. Why haven't you gone to the Last City?" A worried look passed over Echo's face as he replied, "Goin' there would be more dangerous." "What? Why?" I questioned, floating closer to him. "Hey," Echo halted, putting his hands up, "You don't need to worry 'bout me. My story's not important. I've been out here plenty long, and I'm fine." "What's dangerous?" I pressed. "Nothin'," Echo screened. "You just said the City was dangerous!" I exclaimed, exasperated, "That's not nothing!" He endured, "There's no-" "Echo-4," Keis interjected militantly, looking up from his carving, "Pardon my coarseness, but do not upset Blanc." Perceiving Keis' request as a threat, Echo sighed in defeat, "Fine, I'll talk." I tried my hardest not to giggle. There were perks to having Keis as my Guardian. After being with him all one hundred and sixty-eight years of his life, he wasn't happy if I wasn't. And he just so happened to be able to kill anything that bothered me.