Finger tense and ready to squeeze, a Hunter stared down the barrel of a sniper rifle. He was in a position far beyond awkward; his back was pressed against a wall, the soles of his boots ground into another. He kept himself far above ground like that, hiding in the shadows. It was the only non-visible sniping position he could locate. His pistols hung from magnetic strips on his upper thighs as he waited for his shot.
"Eris. I'm in position." The Hunter whispered very softly. Jojo knew that being caught so far from home could mean a true death; this mission was only ever meant to be recon for the strange, brooding woman. He was one of the few to take regular assignments from her.
She was a former Hunter; one with a very interesting career. Even in her reduced state, Jordan had a large measure of respect for her. Without her input, the Hive may have taken Earth five times over by now. While most Guardians saw her as an unfortunate freak with a weird, glowing, crystal cantaloupe, Jordan saw someone who ought to be listened to more often.
"Ah. Good work, Fool." Eris' voice was stern, but pleased. It had that unusual, deep, malignant purr. So, pretty much the norm. "Your ghost is streaming your visual."
Through Jordan's eyes, all he could see was hive. Acolytes and Knights tromped about on the dusty fields of the European Deadzone. The Hunter had schlepped all the way out here on Eris' hunch, and it turned out to be right. Hive, bereft of a leader, were moving in solemn rows as they exited their ancient, black tombships.
There weren't enough to panic over, but FAR too many for Jordan to consider fighting on his own. His rifle was loaded, but he kept his finger off the trigger, using it as a tool to observe. "What do you suppose they're doin' out here?" Jordan tensed his left leg, keeping himself firmly wedged between the buildings. He wished this particular building had a fire escape he could sit on, but the wrought iron stairs had long ago fallen, and lay twisted and wrecked in the alley below. He was at least on the thirtieth floor, so his ghost was on standby.
For all the idiotic stunts he pulled, he had comparatively few deaths to show for it. Most of his falls were actually administered by fairly valiant means. His risks usually paid off.
"Keep your voice low and scan the crowd. I cannot know their meaning here without more information on their ranks. Do you see a wizard darkening their numbers?" On the order of Crota's Bane, Jordan began scanning the squads. The Hive had burrowed deep into the ground, erecting pylons. Tombstones, punctuating the grief of their master's fall aboard the Dreadnought. The unstoppable Oryx was reduced to shadows, and his remaining lieutenants.
Yaaaaaaaaay.
Ghost, remaining on comms duty, suddenly appeared over Jordan's shoulder, hovering above the butt of his gun and focusing. "...Turn your gun a few centimeters east." Her voice was a startlingly loud tweet, almost making Jordan shake with horror. The Hunter turned and shooshed the ghost.
"STAY. QUIET." Jordan hissed. His ghost's white and powder blue shell rotated around the single eye, then lowered. "Sorry," he quickly regretted snapping at the poor thing, and did as she bid. Turning his rifle only a hair, he spotted a Wizard standing beside a robust, pale armored knight. In one arm, the powerful knight sported a boomer with ornate carvings in the side that Jordan's sharp eyes couldn't quite make out. In the other arm, there was a cleaver.
"Guardian. Do not aim your weapon at the wizard." Eris' breathed a low warning, voice lined with hostility. "That is Paelon. Bonechewer, and Lieutenant of Crota. He was sealed for his insubordination when he led an early assault on the Moon to impress his consort, who hovers over his shoulder. She is Olipok, the Seer. If you cast eyes on her, she will sense you."
"Neat," Jojo said. "Any idea what they'd be here to do?"
"Likely staging an assault. Paelon, for all his power, is spineless and desperate to please his lover. He will seek out the grandest prize he can achieve, and attempt to use it to appease her."
"Aw. So romantic." Jordan's Ghost performed a quick somersault over his waist, looking down at the aspiring couple. "Well, it seems like a pretty toxic dynamic, but that's the closest to a love story I've ever seen the Hive come to."
"Oh. Have you never heard of Alak-Hul, the Darkblade?" Jojo, feeling chatty, engaged his Ghost, lowering his rifle and looking up at her as she floated above his head. "He apparently went against the Taken King to imp-"
"GUARDIAN. She sees you. BEWARE."
"WHAT?" Jordan looked up, and could see Paelon lifting his blade and pointing it. His attending knights lined up their boomers as Olipok moved behind a small group of Acolytes, her hands raised and glowing with darkness as she prepared a spell. "We didn't look at her! How'd she spot us all the way over here?!"
Eris made no words, simply growling into the microphone for a moment. Jojo got the message; he and Ghost had been talking too loudly.
Throwing his rifle down, Jordan summoned all the strength in his legs he could muster, and pushed himself upwards. He grabbed hold of a gap in the bricks, his gloved hands clawing at decaying brick until he found purchase in a window sill on the other side. The wall beside him burst as a boomer's cannon struck it. The Hunter began clawing his way up the wall, teeth grit under his mask.
Ghost grabbed his rifle in midair, transferring it into storage and hovering up beside Jordan. She disliked riding during exciting moments, choosing to figuratively "stand by" her master until he ordered her to move aside.
Clamboring up the wall, Jordan felt the building shudder as boomer shots struck near him. Knights weren't known for long ranged precision, but they could shell a location into nothingness in a jiffy. "MOVE LEFT!" Ghost, spotting an on target blob of baleful darkness, shouted the warning just in time. Jojo planted his feet on a windowsill, and leaped as far as he could, grabbing hold of the next building over. The shot demolished the spot where Jojo had just been.
"Thanks Ghost!"
"No problem! Get inside!" Jordan brought back his fist, and smashed through the glass in front of him, climbing into the building.
It was an ancient place; dust and cobwebs beset abandoned cubicles where workers of the old world once toiled over their computers. Jordan, with no time to observe the scenery, ran out of the room, grabbing the doorway and veering into the hall. He moved well, his short cloak rustling behind him.
"Through that window! There's a smaller building outside you can jump to!" Ghost hovered beside his head, and vanished inside of him. She disliked watching Jojo leap and fall. He jumped and extended his heel, kicking through the window. As she said, he landed and rolled over his shoulder on the gravel of a small building.
Before he could find his feet and stand, he felt a dull, powerful thump on the side of his helmet. The blow sprawled him, but he quickly recovered to see an Acolyte. The beast had stricken him with its weapon, and was leveling the shredder at him. The Hunter stepped to the side, avoiding a hail of shots and drawing one of his pistols. He pulled back the trigger, lining up his shot easily and firing. The bullet struck home on the Acolyte's face.
"Behind you!" Ghost's warning was unnecessary this time. The Hunter could hear the crunch of footsteps. He turned, braced himself, and thrust his elbow back. The Acolyte behind him was CRUSHED by the blow, knocked heels over head by his rebuff. As it hit the ground, Jordan stepped on its chitinous chest and fired his pistol, striking it in the head.
The two Acolytes slain, Jordan turned and heard thrall. They clambered up the walls like monkeys, gaining purchase by virtue of their gnarled claws. The Hunter brought up his pistol and emptied the clip. Every shot was on target, each resulting in a successful kill. When his clip emptied, he brought up the pistol in his left hand and repeated the process, dumping Thrall to the ground with precise pulls of the trigger.
As his left hand worked, firing shot after shot, his right hand was not idle; he lowered his arm, fastening his pistol to his thigh and reloading bullet by bullet. His hand moved quickly, cycling the cylinder and sliding each round in with his thumb. For a man with such terrible handwriting, he could reload a pistol in the blink of an eye.
"Impressive, but futile. Flee, before Olipok approaches!" Eris watched the skirmish. Her glowing eyes intensified as she willed the Hunter to follow her command. Jordan obliged, turning and fleeing as he fired over his shoulder.
THUD.
Jordan ran right into a sword carrying knight; literally. He thumped off of its armor and hit the ground hard. "BUH." He gasped, and scrambled to his feet as the Knight brought down its howling sword. The blow knocked a hole in the floor that slowly expanded at the Hunter's feet as he backed up.
A weight landed on his back. A thrall had caught up to him, and was hoping to take a slice into the Hunter's neck. Jordan grabbed the Thrall's arm, twisted, and threw the beast over his shoulder and off his back. The Knight, walking around the fresh hole in the floor, took another swing at Jordan. The horizontal cut nearly caught him on the head, but he ducked under it, drawing another gun; the Watchtower IV. A shotgun of his own design, the weapon shined in the light as Jordan lined up his shot and fired from the hip. The blow tore into the Knight's leg, dropping the beast to a knee. Jordan fired again, blowing his head off.
He turned and backed up, firing slug after slug into the loose crowd of Thrall who hissed and charged him. One got in close, and he swung the butt of his gun, cracking it on the mouth. Another moved in, swinging down its claws. Jordan lifted his gun and blocked its arms, then he shoved the gun up hard, feeling the creature's elbows break. He fired his last shell into the Thrall's face as he slowly lost room on the roof.
Before he could draw his knife, a sudden jerk tore him off his feet. Olipok gripped his hood and cloak, pulling him off the ground with little effort.
OH YOU DID NOT JUST GRAB MY FUCKING CLOAK. Jojo yanked his knife free, furious and choking. Olipok intended to HANG him. Her grip yanked his hood in one direction and his hanging cloak in the other, tightening the indestructible cloth around his neck. The ascendant Wizard released a long, giddy laugh.
Until Jordan angled his gun up and fired.
The shot from his pistol raked across Olipok's headdress, and she released him, blue eyes shutting as she wailed with pain. He landed on the guard-rail of the building, keeping his balance by a hair, but rotating his arms desperately as he tried not to fall backwards.
Falling instantly became a moot point, as the Wizard floated backwards, her hands glowing. She pointed them forward; not at Jordan but the broad side of the building. She fired a pulse of black and white magic, and Jordan felt the air around him grow cold.
Other than that, nothing happened.
Then, the building suddenly lowered a foot, jerking Jordan downwards. He balanced on the guard rail, until it bent as the building's support structures turned as weak as chalk. Floor by floor, the building collapsed, as Jojo fell forward, clawing the air desperately.
"I've got you!!!" Ghost, thinking very quickly, summoned Jojo's third most prized possession; his modified Nomad. The vehicle boosted underneath him, and he mounted it quickly, diving straight down and landing on the street. A piece of rubble pinged off his head as he swerved, driving down the road.
Olipok watched him go, burning blue eyes trained on him. She brought back her hand and flung a volley of spread energy. The shots missed as Jordan lifted his hand, and extended his middle finger.
"Eris. I'm in position." The Hunter whispered very softly. Jojo knew that being caught so far from home could mean a true death; this mission was only ever meant to be recon for the strange, brooding woman. He was one of the few to take regular assignments from her.
She was a former Hunter; one with a very interesting career. Even in her reduced state, Jordan had a large measure of respect for her. Without her input, the Hive may have taken Earth five times over by now. While most Guardians saw her as an unfortunate freak with a weird, glowing, crystal cantaloupe, Jordan saw someone who ought to be listened to more often.
"Ah. Good work, Fool." Eris' voice was stern, but pleased. It had that unusual, deep, malignant purr. So, pretty much the norm. "Your ghost is streaming your visual."
Through Jordan's eyes, all he could see was hive. Acolytes and Knights tromped about on the dusty fields of the European Deadzone. The Hunter had schlepped all the way out here on Eris' hunch, and it turned out to be right. Hive, bereft of a leader, were moving in solemn rows as they exited their ancient, black tombships.
There weren't enough to panic over, but FAR too many for Jordan to consider fighting on his own. His rifle was loaded, but he kept his finger off the trigger, using it as a tool to observe. "What do you suppose they're doin' out here?" Jordan tensed his left leg, keeping himself firmly wedged between the buildings. He wished this particular building had a fire escape he could sit on, but the wrought iron stairs had long ago fallen, and lay twisted and wrecked in the alley below. He was at least on the thirtieth floor, so his ghost was on standby.
For all the idiotic stunts he pulled, he had comparatively few deaths to show for it. Most of his falls were actually administered by fairly valiant means. His risks usually paid off.
"Keep your voice low and scan the crowd. I cannot know their meaning here without more information on their ranks. Do you see a wizard darkening their numbers?" On the order of Crota's Bane, Jordan began scanning the squads. The Hive had burrowed deep into the ground, erecting pylons. Tombstones, punctuating the grief of their master's fall aboard the Dreadnought. The unstoppable Oryx was reduced to shadows, and his remaining lieutenants.
Yaaaaaaaaay.
Ghost, remaining on comms duty, suddenly appeared over Jordan's shoulder, hovering above the butt of his gun and focusing. "...Turn your gun a few centimeters east." Her voice was a startlingly loud tweet, almost making Jordan shake with horror. The Hunter turned and shooshed the ghost.
"STAY. QUIET." Jordan hissed. His ghost's white and powder blue shell rotated around the single eye, then lowered. "Sorry," he quickly regretted snapping at the poor thing, and did as she bid. Turning his rifle only a hair, he spotted a Wizard standing beside a robust, pale armored knight. In one arm, the powerful knight sported a boomer with ornate carvings in the side that Jordan's sharp eyes couldn't quite make out. In the other arm, there was a cleaver.
"Guardian. Do not aim your weapon at the wizard." Eris' breathed a low warning, voice lined with hostility. "That is Paelon. Bonechewer, and Lieutenant of Crota. He was sealed for his insubordination when he led an early assault on the Moon to impress his consort, who hovers over his shoulder. She is Olipok, the Seer. If you cast eyes on her, she will sense you."
"Neat," Jojo said. "Any idea what they'd be here to do?"
"Likely staging an assault. Paelon, for all his power, is spineless and desperate to please his lover. He will seek out the grandest prize he can achieve, and attempt to use it to appease her."
"Aw. So romantic." Jordan's Ghost performed a quick somersault over his waist, looking down at the aspiring couple. "Well, it seems like a pretty toxic dynamic, but that's the closest to a love story I've ever seen the Hive come to."
"Oh. Have you never heard of Alak-Hul, the Darkblade?" Jojo, feeling chatty, engaged his Ghost, lowering his rifle and looking up at her as she floated above his head. "He apparently went against the Taken King to imp-"
"GUARDIAN. She sees you. BEWARE."
"WHAT?" Jordan looked up, and could see Paelon lifting his blade and pointing it. His attending knights lined up their boomers as Olipok moved behind a small group of Acolytes, her hands raised and glowing with darkness as she prepared a spell. "We didn't look at her! How'd she spot us all the way over here?!"
Eris made no words, simply growling into the microphone for a moment. Jojo got the message; he and Ghost had been talking too loudly.
Throwing his rifle down, Jordan summoned all the strength in his legs he could muster, and pushed himself upwards. He grabbed hold of a gap in the bricks, his gloved hands clawing at decaying brick until he found purchase in a window sill on the other side. The wall beside him burst as a boomer's cannon struck it. The Hunter began clawing his way up the wall, teeth grit under his mask.
Ghost grabbed his rifle in midair, transferring it into storage and hovering up beside Jordan. She disliked riding during exciting moments, choosing to figuratively "stand by" her master until he ordered her to move aside.
Clamboring up the wall, Jordan felt the building shudder as boomer shots struck near him. Knights weren't known for long ranged precision, but they could shell a location into nothingness in a jiffy. "MOVE LEFT!" Ghost, spotting an on target blob of baleful darkness, shouted the warning just in time. Jojo planted his feet on a windowsill, and leaped as far as he could, grabbing hold of the next building over. The shot demolished the spot where Jojo had just been.
"Thanks Ghost!"
"No problem! Get inside!" Jordan brought back his fist, and smashed through the glass in front of him, climbing into the building.
It was an ancient place; dust and cobwebs beset abandoned cubicles where workers of the old world once toiled over their computers. Jordan, with no time to observe the scenery, ran out of the room, grabbing the doorway and veering into the hall. He moved well, his short cloak rustling behind him.
"Through that window! There's a smaller building outside you can jump to!" Ghost hovered beside his head, and vanished inside of him. She disliked watching Jojo leap and fall. He jumped and extended his heel, kicking through the window. As she said, he landed and rolled over his shoulder on the gravel of a small building.
Before he could find his feet and stand, he felt a dull, powerful thump on the side of his helmet. The blow sprawled him, but he quickly recovered to see an Acolyte. The beast had stricken him with its weapon, and was leveling the shredder at him. The Hunter stepped to the side, avoiding a hail of shots and drawing one of his pistols. He pulled back the trigger, lining up his shot easily and firing. The bullet struck home on the Acolyte's face.
"Behind you!" Ghost's warning was unnecessary this time. The Hunter could hear the crunch of footsteps. He turned, braced himself, and thrust his elbow back. The Acolyte behind him was CRUSHED by the blow, knocked heels over head by his rebuff. As it hit the ground, Jordan stepped on its chitinous chest and fired his pistol, striking it in the head.
The two Acolytes slain, Jordan turned and heard thrall. They clambered up the walls like monkeys, gaining purchase by virtue of their gnarled claws. The Hunter brought up his pistol and emptied the clip. Every shot was on target, each resulting in a successful kill. When his clip emptied, he brought up the pistol in his left hand and repeated the process, dumping Thrall to the ground with precise pulls of the trigger.
As his left hand worked, firing shot after shot, his right hand was not idle; he lowered his arm, fastening his pistol to his thigh and reloading bullet by bullet. His hand moved quickly, cycling the cylinder and sliding each round in with his thumb. For a man with such terrible handwriting, he could reload a pistol in the blink of an eye.
"Impressive, but futile. Flee, before Olipok approaches!" Eris watched the skirmish. Her glowing eyes intensified as she willed the Hunter to follow her command. Jordan obliged, turning and fleeing as he fired over his shoulder.
THUD.
Jordan ran right into a sword carrying knight; literally. He thumped off of its armor and hit the ground hard. "BUH." He gasped, and scrambled to his feet as the Knight brought down its howling sword. The blow knocked a hole in the floor that slowly expanded at the Hunter's feet as he backed up.
A weight landed on his back. A thrall had caught up to him, and was hoping to take a slice into the Hunter's neck. Jordan grabbed the Thrall's arm, twisted, and threw the beast over his shoulder and off his back. The Knight, walking around the fresh hole in the floor, took another swing at Jordan. The horizontal cut nearly caught him on the head, but he ducked under it, drawing another gun; the Watchtower IV. A shotgun of his own design, the weapon shined in the light as Jordan lined up his shot and fired from the hip. The blow tore into the Knight's leg, dropping the beast to a knee. Jordan fired again, blowing his head off.
He turned and backed up, firing slug after slug into the loose crowd of Thrall who hissed and charged him. One got in close, and he swung the butt of his gun, cracking it on the mouth. Another moved in, swinging down its claws. Jordan lifted his gun and blocked its arms, then he shoved the gun up hard, feeling the creature's elbows break. He fired his last shell into the Thrall's face as he slowly lost room on the roof.
Before he could draw his knife, a sudden jerk tore him off his feet. Olipok gripped his hood and cloak, pulling him off the ground with little effort.
OH YOU DID NOT JUST GRAB MY FUCKING CLOAK. Jojo yanked his knife free, furious and choking. Olipok intended to HANG him. Her grip yanked his hood in one direction and his hanging cloak in the other, tightening the indestructible cloth around his neck. The ascendant Wizard released a long, giddy laugh.
Until Jordan angled his gun up and fired.
The shot from his pistol raked across Olipok's headdress, and she released him, blue eyes shutting as she wailed with pain. He landed on the guard-rail of the building, keeping his balance by a hair, but rotating his arms desperately as he tried not to fall backwards.
Falling instantly became a moot point, as the Wizard floated backwards, her hands glowing. She pointed them forward; not at Jordan but the broad side of the building. She fired a pulse of black and white magic, and Jordan felt the air around him grow cold.
Other than that, nothing happened.
Then, the building suddenly lowered a foot, jerking Jordan downwards. He balanced on the guard rail, until it bent as the building's support structures turned as weak as chalk. Floor by floor, the building collapsed, as Jojo fell forward, clawing the air desperately.
"I've got you!!!" Ghost, thinking very quickly, summoned Jojo's third most prized possession; his modified Nomad. The vehicle boosted underneath him, and he mounted it quickly, diving straight down and landing on the street. A piece of rubble pinged off his head as he swerved, driving down the road.
Olipok watched him go, burning blue eyes trained on him. She brought back her hand and flung a volley of spread energy. The shots missed as Jordan lifted his hand, and extended his middle finger.