The Frontier: Light Among Darkness - Ch. 2: Lost and Found

And welcome back to The Frontier: Light Among Darkness once again! Now, I said in the last chapter that you should not expect any chapters, but it turns out I have a bunch of time to kill on this road trip I am doing. So, surprise! In this episode, a mini-crossover from the series The Path We Choose is happening. It is only temporary, and I have a larger one coming a little bit later, but for now this is it. What looked like a shooting star was streaking through the sky over Mars, the Red Planet. The “star” came closer, and soon it was recognizable as some satellite or debris that had fallen from orbit. Maybe it was a Warsat from Charlemagne, the half-dead warmind controlled by Rasputin, or perhaps just an old golden age ship. In any case, it was going to crash, and for a certain team of people, it was their job to find it. “Look alive, team. We've got a ship to find.” Geren said, a black auto rifle slung on his back. The night was dark, but various fires, explosions, and lights pitted the landscape. “Geren, I don't know why you keep saying that. Clearly that satellite that just fell is the ship we were looking for. It is too similar to be a coincidence.” Myra teased, knowing it would irritate him. “We don't know that.” Said Geren for about the 20th time. “It could just be a coincidence. Coincidences do happen, you know. None of that ‘The Traveler intended so’ or ‘the Darkness puppeted us’ Mumbo jumbo.” Myra grumbled, but said nothing, especially because she knew how stubborn Geren was. The banter continued for a while, until they happened open the exact crash that they were looking for. “Geren… check this out.” Said Moron, holding a piece of metal gingerly. Like pre-golden age humans playing hot potato, he passed it to Geren, who dropped it after a few seconds. The metal was still boiling hot fifteen minutes after re-entry, and even the cold temperatures of Mars were not changing that very fast. He inspected the metal, and compared its appearance to the description his employer had given him. “It is a blue-and-grey craft.” The voice message had said. “Most of the outside plating matches those colors.” Thankfully since Mars had a much weaker atmosphere than that of Earth, the reentry was less dangerous, so the blue-grey coloration of the plating was still there. “We’re on the right track.” Geren called out. “Let's keep moving, watch for hostiles. Vex like to come out during the dark.” More and more parts of the crashed ship appeared in greater density, until they reached the center. The poor vessel was crushed beyond belief, its large size compressed down to a size much smaller than it had originally been. “Search the crash. If there is anything important or valuable, it is our job to find it.” The crew split up and began to do just that, covering large amounts of ground and inspecting any debris. Gradually they moved to the largest, most intact part of the wreck, which also happened to be the center. Sully blasted the hull of the ship with his grenade launcher to get inside, and entered. Inside, sitting areas lined the walls and the doors had been shut tightly, their openings mechanisms fried during reentry. A crumpled shape wearing a spacesuit similar to the ones the company provided was pushed against the seating areas, and was clutching at something. Grunting, Sully bore the corpse up on his shoulders, package and all, and went out the way he came. He dropped it on the ground, where it sprawled out and made the unmistakable figure of a human body. “Captain, I found a body!” Called the weapons expert, observing the dead man’s broken shape. Clearly the crash had not been kind to him. His twisted frame has been crunched from the force of the crash, his chest caved in and the metal frame of his suit badly damaged. “Did you find anything on him?” Asked Soren, making his own assertions and observations of the corpse. “Well, he does appear to have a bundle in his arms.” Silly pointed out, grabbing the lumpy shape. “Shall I unwrap it?” He asked Geren. “Sure.” The captain said. “Perhaps this will give us insight on what happened.” All of them worked on cutting through the tough tape wrapping the object, until they cut through and the object unfurled just a little bit. “It's an armored vest.” Observed Myra. “How special.” Geren glared at her, and then turned back to those that were being helpful. “Is there anything inside it?” He asked. Moron grabbed the vest and shook it, until a small object fell out and plopped onto the sand. “Apparently so.” He said. The captain picked up the device, and observed it. “It is a recorder. This must be why that man wrapped this up! Because it contains proof of what happened!” He was about to hit the play button, when an amplified voice rolled over them and said “Evening, fellas.” All of them drew their weapons and looked to where the noise had come from, and saw a lone figure standing about two dozen yards away. “Whoa whoa, let's not do anything we'll regret.” The figure said, entire body covered in combat armor. “Guardian.” Growled Sully, aiming his rifle a little bit higher to sight the guardian’s head. —————————————————————–– Doing the same as the mercenaries had, Orion had followed the metal pieces to their source, only he had told Spark to estimate where the ship landed and set a waypoint there, and then done some tracking to find the main wreck. He had used a special night-vision modification in his helmet to see in the dark without the light of his Ghost. Equipping his stealthiest armor, the hunter had snuck up to the site of the crash, only to find that there were already people there. After a quick scan, Spark had determined that the most important item there had already been looted, resting in the hands of who Orion could only assume was either a lowlife thief, or a dirtbag gun-for-hire that did whatever the highest bidder wanted them to. “I am not here to hurt you or apprehend you. I merely want to inspect the crash of this ship. More specifically, the device you now have in your hands.” His voice echoed, amplified by the settings in his helmet, and the way Spark was currently acting as a speaker. “This crash is ours to loot, and ours to return to the person who paid for it, Devil.” Snarled one of the crew mates. Another one of the mercenaries was aiming a weapon in his direction threateningly, a clear indication for him to back off. “That's funny. Last time I checked, I was the one protecting you from destruction and death at the hands of horrors you can't even understand. And you call me a devil?” Orion responded with fake cheer, secretly starting to dislike these people. “You don't seem to be doing any protecting right now, thief.” Said another mercenary sarcastically. “Back off, or we’ll make you.” Orion’s fists tightened. These dirtbags had insulted him, withheld possibly important information from him, threatened him, and called him a thief. That was the worst one. He hated theives. Beneath the group of people was clearly the figure of a human body. Orion grew more angry. Maybe these people were more concerned with their payment than life. In his hotheaded State, he made a snap judgement. Without a word, the recorder in Geren’s fingers started to dematerialize, and before long disappeared in transmat. The recorder transmatted into Orion’s hands with a quiet whoosh. “Now, let's see what this thing is that is so important.” Orion said bitterly. It was then that the mercenaries opened fire on him. Geren, Sully, Myra and Soren kept firing, until Moron shouted “Stop!” At them. “What?” Asked Geren. “Do you want him to live?” “No!” Moron said quickly. “He disappeared!” He was right, there were only faded footprints where the guardian had been seconds before. They scanned the area with the lights on their fund, and Soren let out a yell. “Agh!” He said, thrown a dozen feet by a powerful, invisible force. The blurred, cloaked figure of the guardian was there, so the crew opened fire again, but he just evaded the bullets. Orion punched Myra in the face, hard, and threw her into Moron, knocking both of them over. Orion went after Geren next, kicking him in the chest and driving him to the ground, knocking all of the wind out of him and stunning him. Sully yelled opened fire on the hunter, putting burst after burst after burst where Orion was and landing all of his hits on target. Orion staggered, and then ran at the man again. He kicked the weapon from his grasp and pushed him back, disarming him quickly. Ignoring his bad odds, Sully lunged at the guardian, putting all of his strength in a left hook that swung around towards Orion’s helmet. Orion simply stopped and watched as Sully helped in pain from the force of his punch on Orion’s protective helmet. Orion dropped him with a single punch to the head, putting in just the right amount of force to put him under for a few minutes. “You know what this is?” Orion said, labored, to the mostly conscious crew, clearly in pain. He played the recorder. The grisly recording played, and the crew was slightly more suspicious towards the person that had hired them. “People are dying. Massacred by an enemy that shouldn't even be there. I don't care why you are here, but you are going to take me to your employer, or we will have problems.” Geren was gruff, but at heart he was a man of honor. “He's in the Reef. Based under the prison of elders.” Orion turned to regard him, and gave a curious glance. “Thanks.” The guardian dropped the recorder by their feet, and walked out of their lives.