Destiny: Legend Untold, Chpt 10 Pt 1

[u]Chapter 10: Class Rank[/u] Part One I was tinkering in the Hangar, a couple books opened and laying around me on the floor I sat on. Amanda had been more than happy to let me sit on the ground next to the crate she was usually perched on top of, and far more excited to be assisting me in my tinkerings. My helmet was placed in my lap with the opening facing upwards and the small tools in my hands delving down into it. "Make sure you tighten the screws all the way," Amanda advised as she peered down over my shoulder, "You wouldn't want any earsplitting noise or a bunch of static to interrupt a conversation." "You're right about that," I chuckled, making sure everything was tightly in place. I was installing a translator into my helmet's sound relays, so now when something spoke in a different language I wouldn't have to rely on Rush so much. And the Hangar was the perfect place because it had all the parts and tools I needed and someone who was good at putting this kind of stuff together. Speaking of Rush... "Are you sure that's in the right way? Is that screw in tightly enough? Is this even gonna work?" Rush sputtered on, zipping around from one of my shoulders to the other repeatedly and looking to Amanda for verification on that last question. When she nodded he went back to doing laps and pestering me. Unfortunately distractions would always find you, no matter how convenient the workspace. "These books tell me exactly how to do it, Rush," I sighed, "And if I do something wrong I have you and Amanda to help." "Well I don't see the point in this, anyway," Rush continued as if I hadn't even complimented him, "The only thing you'll be able to understand now by doing this is Rasputin or anything else we run into that speaks old Earth languages." "Better than having to rely on you for a translation every time; there may not always be a chance to wait for you to repeat what was said or for me to read whatever you put on my visor display," I told him, "And we can always add more languages as we learn them." "How are we going to learn more languages?" Rush questioned me. "Maybe if we find some Fallen or Hive information center," I shrugged. "Like that's gonna happen," Rush muttered, rolling his one glowing eye. "You're like an old married couple," Amanda said, stifling a laugh. "Hey, we aren't romantically engaged in any fashion!" Rush snapped, trying to defend his dignity. "Why would I get romantic with you, Rush? I could do so much better," I laughed, "She means we bother each other a lot, but we still like each other." "Whatever," Rush muttered, seemingly offended by my first remark but satisfied that no one actually thought he and I were romantically involved. "Aaaaannnd, done," I said, tightening one last piece into place, "Why do you have to put in so many tiny pieces to make one thing? Why can't it just be a couple of slightly bigger pieces? It would take so much less time to put everything in place." "Because life doesn't want to make anything too easy on us, now does it?" Amanda laughed. "Thanks for helping us put that together," I told Amanda, placing my helmet on my head and picking up the books and tools. "Not a problem, you're welcome anytime you like," she responded, then immediately proceeded in yelling at a deckhand to make sure they put spare parts in the right crates. "Let's go, Rush," I said, walking away and dropping the tools in the box I had grabbed them from. He floated after me, scanning my helm with blue beams from his optical receptor. "It's not going to explode or anything, quit pestering," I sighed. "Better safe than sorry," he chimed. "Just get in there and input all the languages you know into the translator," I commanded. "Fine, bossy," Rush sassed and then transmatted into my armor matrix with a flash. My ear drums were almost automatically assaulted with an earsplitting whistle. "OW! Hey! Quit messing around, if you break it I'm making you fix it!" I yelled. "Fine, fine, I won't ruin the toy you worked so hard on," Rush teased. I arrived in the Hall of Guardians and walked around the large central table to the bookshelf that lined the area behind Ikora's usual place at the table. Zavala was the only member of the Vanguard currently at the table; the Tower seemed almost inactive this morning, so Ikora probably went looking for something to do while Cayde was probably off trying to enjoy himself. "Ah, William," Zavala called when he looked up from his maps and noticed me, "I have a favor to ask of you." I put the book up on the shelf and walked to his position at the far end of the table. "Yes Zavala?" I asked. "We're short on available Guardians right now and I need some Guardians to take out a unit of Fallen Devils. Another Guardian encountered them earlier, but was unprepared and forced to retreat; when he came in he reported a large and heavily armed group moving nearer to the City Wall. We believe they aim to capture one of the few operational outposts that remain outside that wall," his gaze was a bit more serious than usual as he explained this to me. "I'm in," I said, nodding, "Let me get my fireteam together." "One of your members, Drew-22, is currently out with a squad of Titans to reinforce an old Part of the wall opposite that of the side the Fallen are on, and there he will remain," Zavala told me, "Your other member, Sierra, is reported to be in the Tower, but with most Hunters there is no guarantee that they will bother to notify the Vanguard of their activities." "She'll join me," I said confidently, hoping Zavala didn't realize that she was as unpredictable to me as to him, "You think two will be enough?" "I would hope so, but to be safe I'm filling your team with the Hunter that found the Fallen party. He strongly wishes to finish what he started," Zavala said, a cold tone in his voice hinting to me that the Hunter was vengeful. "Good," Zavala sighed, relieved, "I told him to wait out in the Hangar until I got him a team. His name is Leonard Crag. Be sure that you all come back." "Leonard Crag, got it," I repeated, "We'll leave as soon as the team is together." "Leonard Crag has the coordinates with his Ghost," Zavala said, waving a hand in dismissal and going back to his maps. I turned and began walking away. "Send a message to Sierra," I commanded Rush, "Tell her she's needed." "Already on it," he responded. The grounds on the way to the Hangar were barely more active than whenever I had entered the Hall of Guardians a few minutes ago, but Guardians were clearly filtering back into the Tower from whatever missions, bounties, or activities they had been performing. Most of the people in the Hangar were either workers performing their tasks or Guardians just leaving or boarding their ships, so it didn't take long to find a lone, cloaked Guardian standing in a corner. I approached him, taking in his black and dark green armor and the way he had his hood pulled over his head, shadowing him in a way that you could barely see that he was wearing a helmet. He tilted his head up slightly to watch me come up to him. "Are you Leonard Crag?" I asked him. "Just Crag," he growled quietly. "Alright Crag, I'm William," I said, sticking out my hand to him, "I'll be part of your fireteam today." He glanced at my hand and made no move to shake it, so I lowered it after a moment. "There's another member?" Crag asked in a quiet drawl. "Yes, she should be here shortly," I replied. "Good, I'm sick of waiting," he said in another growl. "He's just buckets of fun," Rush whispered from inside my armor matrix, unable to be heard by anyone else. The scrape of metal on metal startled me and I looked down to see that Crag was sharpening two knives on each other. I took up a place several feet away from him and waited for Sierra to come, my feelings of awkwardness diminishing as I was soothed by the rhythmic ring of Crag's knives. He didn't want to talk and I gave him space, so we sat in a mutual silence. ___________________________________ Link to Chpt 9 Pt 5:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/215289691/0/0 Link to Chpt 10 Pt 2:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217492494/0/0 Link to ToC:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0