rekindledtitan | Excerpt 002: Traveler's Rest

Entry tags:

Excerpt 002: Traveler's Rest

TYPE: Personal log

LOCATION: The Last City, Earth

PARTIES: Three [3]. One [1] Ghost-type, [1] Guardian-type, designate Blaze-37, Class Titan [

rekindledtitan ], One [1] Unconfirmed, designate Willis, Verity [

brave_heart_verity ]; [other parties redacted]

ASSOCIATIONS: Multiversal Nexus; Verity Willis; Earth; The City; Vanguard; Blaze-37; Glass-smiths

An Exo ought to be good at waiting. They're soldier and machine both, trained for stoicism and designed for tireless analysis. Blaze sometimes thinks she’s the only one built who ever gets bored. (Aside from Cayde, maybe, and he makes it sound like he's had a very long time to learn.)

Her patrol concluded without much incident, she paces back to the Forum, guns still dozing at her back and her Ghost zipping curiously from one side to the other ahead of her. It murmurs its observations to her in passing, and she responds gladly. A fight would be better, but she’ll take the idle chatter. Her memory is brimming with new half-processed data, even from one patrol in the Nexus – odd discussions heard and alien kitchens smelt, the weird spiky grass in the park crunching under her boots, so many- one hundred and forty-three new faces since the last trip, ninety-one human by visual-

But she isn’t one for dwelling on things. So she circles the Forum to take in the sights, cutting her route through the spot where she and Verity last spoke to make sure of spotting her friend.

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"The first time? Nah. Been rebooted a few times since then It's the same with every Exo." If it's personal, Blaze is pretending otherwise. Besides, it's hardly a secret when everyone has it.

The Ghost moves over to Verity's side so it can keep an eye for signs they're going too fast. "Well, I'm in favor of a good time." It's not planning to be in on the dance, but it can appreciate their fun vicariously. That might be what Blaze is for.

Bring home the Groot. Become legend.

She'll let it pass without further comment. It's maybe not a secret around the City, but it's all a mystery to her still. But not every mystery needs to be solved.

Ghost gets a smile. She's been going running with Samus so much, she's pretty sure she can keep up with Blaze for a while. She'll get to rest in the elevators, after all. "Then it's unanimous. Next time you two have a great victory, you'll have to tell me, and we'll throw an epic party to celebrate." Catering will be easier with Nexus resources.

Verity's always believed Blaze would be famous.

Ghost will be keeping watch all the same. After all, Verity's had those shots and who knows if Blaze will remember to ask if she's getting hungry?

"Yeah? It'll have to be something special to spend a whole night celebrating." Blaze laughs. Not to mention figuring out all that catering stuff, but she's not taking the suggestion so seriously as to ask those practical questions. "Why don't you throw a party sometime? You must have birthdays and things."

Blaze always figured there'd be a bloody last stand involved, but Bringer of Groot is a good title until she can find one.

Ghost is thoughtfulness personified. Maybe not entirely in a poetic fashion either.

"I don't really celebrate my birthday usually. And I don't think Naugus would like me inviting a bunch of people over, he prefers things quiet." The joys of having a roommate. "When there's something to celebrate, though, I will definitely throw a party."

Verity would prefer there not be a bloody last anything for Blaze. It's not something she likes to think about, as much as she needs to accept how likely it is for so many people she knows.

“Good!” There will be parties and this is the main thing. Blaze keys the door open while she asks out of curiosity, “Naugus is that… sort of warlock guy, right? With the wings? Maybe he’d want to join in.”

She’s heard about Naugus. Verity may deduce she hasn’t heard much detail beyond ‘the magic guy with bat wings who makes portals’ and ‘for a good time, ask him what species he is’. Verity may also deduce Blaze is the best roommate ever. Or would be if she, you know, used her room ever.

They’re not alone when they emerge into the shadowed hall: there’s a Hunter by the Ahamkara bones, holding the real one up to his hooded face and cocking his head to listen.

There will be parties, yes, and Ver will make sure Blaze is invited to them all. "Yeah, that's Naugus. He can be nice when he wants to be." She can imagine what Blaze and Ghost have heard... and seen... "He might, but he's... not really a people-person. And he can't retreat to the quiet of the tower if I've filled it with people and music."

For all his many social sins, Naugus has been very good to Verity, and she's careful to not take advantage. Blaze would probably be a better roommate right up until it was time to sleep.

Verity glances at the Hunter in passing, wondering what he's listening for; she won't ask. She wants to, but she won't. He does get a little wave in passing.

“Whoa, whoa- we’re throwing a party and nobody told me?” The Exo Hunter lowers the bone in his hand and pulls a hurt expression at them, big blue optics and all. Blaze double-takes.

“Cayde!” She snaps a salute, glancing to Verity. “S- uh. Didn’t expect to run into you down here.”

“Yeeahh, eheh… no-one ever does.” He returns Verity’s wave with his free hand, tossing the bone back into its place in the display beside him. A single horn on his forehead pokes out from ounder the hood, blue like most of his paintwork. In contrast to Blaze’s plate, his armor looks mostly like light mesh and leather under his long cloak, layered but flexible to let him move unhindered. “Cayde-6, Vanguard for the Hunters. I’m the one who keeps tabs on all our wandering souls out in the wilderness.” He nods to the Titan. “Blaze here I know, but you must be Verity. Can I call you Verity?”

Verity waits politely for the introduction, although she's watching Blaze out of the corner of her eye. "It's nice to meet you, Cayde. And sure. I didn't know news of my visit had gotten around quite so much."

She doesn't mind. She did expect it would; there's a lot of people in a military chain of command who'd know when Blaze and Ghost want to bring around a guest. Lots of people who'd need to be consulted for permission before she would ever set foot on Blaze's ship, nevermind in the City.

"We were talking about having a party next time one of us has something to celebrate. I'm guessing you want to be at the top of the guest list?"

“I’d love to, but I’m trapped in the Tower these days.” Cayde sighs wistfully. “I miss out on all the good parties.”

Blaze gives a sympathetic grunt. She’s quite at ease around this guy. Respectful, but not stiff or unsure. Cayde is always good news. She just knows if she calls him ‘sir’ he’ll make fun of her. “Guess we’ll have to bring the party here sometime.”

“Sounds good. We could throw it in the command center. Put up some streamers, dance around the table… Zavala could wear a little hat.” Neither is a real possibility, but he gets a laugh out of the Titan at the image. “Anyway, I just happened to sneak a peek at the clearance requests-” totally untrue, “-and got a little curious about our new visitor.”

"You made it down here," she points out. "And I seem to recall there being some open spaces around. The best venue for a party is the most accessible one." Or the one with a waterslide. It's a tough call when those are the options.

"And now that you've found me, do I pass inspection?"

"Aha! Plotting to invade!" Cayde winks an optic at her. "Seriously, though- you want to throw a party around here, I know where to get the best drinks. And! I can bring games!" Gotta have games! And cheating!

"It's not so much about inspecting you as your, uh, powers of inspection." He nods to the Ghost that appears by his side. This one has a bigger shell than the others, more elongated and marked with orange bars. "My buddy here has a few audio files I'd like your opinion on. You mind taking a listen? Won't take long, I promise. I know you've got important... fun to go have."

"What kind of files?" Blaze asks curiously, her Ghost drifting in closer to the conversation.

Cayde shrugs. "Intercepted comms traffic, mostly Fallen. Beyond that- well, we're hoping Verity can tell us."

"Caught me," she admits with a smirk. "I'm planning to invade and throw you all awesome parties and then go home and make everyone else clean up. I'm dreadful, really, you should discipline Blaze for letting me in."

This new model of Ghost gets her attention, but she's still listening. "I'd be happy to help however I can."

“Absolutely. That’s why she’s on clean-up detail.”

“Uh-huh.” Blaze doesn't need special powers to know better.

As soon as Verity agrees, Cayde nods to his Ghost, who floats in between them. “All right, brace your eardrums. Take it away, Ghost.”

His partner abruptly changes configuration; the pieces of its shell split apart as the light within expands, forming a glowing blue orb around which the shell plates spin. The audio it emits is harsh and definitely non-human: growling, guttural speech conversing with a higher-pitched voice that chitters and snarls in answer.

Blaze stirs immediately, but Cayde lifts a finger and shushes her, optics flicking back to Verity as the clip ends. “First clip.” He lifts another finger. “Second.”

The next is similar speech, both deep voices – but this time one of them is lying.

That's unpleasant to listen to, but she'll endure it. The first recording gets a shrug from her, but the second has her frowning. "There's a lie in that one. Play it again? I'll hold up a finger when I hear it again."

Cayde's expression doesn't flicker as he watches Verity, and the Ghost doesn't wait on his word to repeat the audio. The lie comes more than halfway through, one part of a rapid argument from voice number two.

Blaze's Ghost seems to be listening raptly; she's shooting hopeful looks at her partner in case it knows something she doesn't.

"There. The second voice. Beyond that, I can't tell you anything, because I don't know what they're saying." She gives a little shrug; her powers have their limits ~~until Schon gives her a magic translation bauble~~. "I hope that helps."

“Not bad.” Cayde glances at his Ghost. “Okay, give us a few more.”

The next trio of clips is shorter; the first doesn’t sound like it’s from the same species at all. The rhythm is more ponderous, the pitch so low that to human ears the syllables blur into one another. It sounds angry, threatening, but contains no deceit. The two that follow are more Fallen comms, only the second of which contains a lie. Once Verity points that out, Cayde will nod thoughtfully and cue the last recording.

This is slightly different, and Blaze’s Ghost starts visibly: more Fallen, but the deep voice that roars out (thankfully the bigger Ghost turns down the volume) is answered by a succession of others. Each answer is somewhat similar to the others, as if they’re repeating phrases. But from one, right near the start, it’s a glaring lie.

Ghost's reaction didn't go unnoticed, and he gets a worried look from Ver. She almost reaches up to touch him, but... maybe not in uncertain company.

"Mm, someone doesn't buy the party line," she remarks when the last recording is finished. "I'm assuming that was a call-and-response ritual?"

Ghost seems to have settled down again, but he's listening intently, looking between Cayde and Verity. Blaze is shifting her weight a little: she can hold back her impatience, but not disguise it.

"Close enough. The head honcho gives the order and all ships report in." Cayde lifts his brow ridges and cocks his head. "So who's telling tales to their boss?"

Sorry, Blaze, but there's a price of admission. This seems to be hers.

"Ah. Close enough. It was the second one. Big lies, possibly including the pronouns."

"Woah! You can tell down to the individual words?" Cayde's optics flash brighter blue: he's impressed. And amused, a second later. He waves a finger at her, his Ghost folding into its usual form and floating back to his shoulder. "You are a very dangerous woman, you know that?"

"I recognized that audio," Blaze's Ghost says, for the sake of all those in the dark. "We intercepted that transmission during our mission to the Citadel with Samus."

"Right! After we got jumped by a pack of Fallen trying to steal something important!" Blaze is much happier all of a sudden. She pounds a fist into her palm. "So what are they up to? And where do we find them?"

"Am I?" Surely, if she were dangerous, someone would have done something about it by now. SHIELD doesn't just let dangerous people walk away unsupervised...

"Samus will be pleased to know she scared someone into lying," she points out with a smile. "Does anyone know what they were saying?"

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you?” Is that a curious look from Cayde, before the joker returns? “If you know how to gamble I’d call you downright lethal – at least to our glimmer accounts.”

They definitely have to tell Samus the good news. Once they’re clear on what the good news is, anyhow. It’s Cayde who answers the question. “I got a translation earlier. Doesn’t mean much on the surface. Some interesting little numbers, a dash of grovelling, everyone claiming they have no idea why Vex are falling out of the sky… except now we know one little Baroness was lying.” He nods to Verity. “Thanks for the tip. Could be just what we need. I’ll get my scouts on the trail and see what they turn up.”

“This mean we’ve got a mission?” Blaze asks eagerly.

“Oh, I’ve got work for you, don’t worry. You know someone dropped half a Citadel on the Ishtar Sink, messed up all my charts of the place?”

The joke is met with a delicately arched eyebrow and a deadpan tone. "I'm a fucking lady. I don't gamble." Don't ever take her to the local casino, in other words.

"You're welcome. Happy to help."

She glances up at Blaze, and it's harder to maintain the expression now. "Ah, sounds like it's time for me to go."

“Ooh, of course. I'm so sorry.” He lets out a soft ‘whew’, miming a relieved wipe at his brow.

Blaze looks startled at the suggestion that Verity should leave. Sure, she wants to hear about the Venus situation, but… “But you just got here! And you didn’t- I mean, we’ve- still got a lot to do.”

Using this trip to cheer Verity up is the one incomplete objective, after all. And the primary reason she wanted to bring her friend here.

“Hey, don’t cancel the party on my account. You’ve given me everything I need for now. I'll go put it to good use.” Cayde nods to each of them before he heads toward the Warlocks' door. “You know where to find me, Titan. Verity, good meeting you."

I woke up two weeks later and there are white rabbits everywhere

And even the flamingos are being agreeable.

They're still refusing to play croquet though. ):

Well eff that, I'm going to teach the giraffes how to play soccer.

I'll get the popcorn.

Bring a lot. They're hungry.

I brought a canon NPC?

Thus enters the light armor specialist?

aaaagh I lost this one for way too long, I'm sorry!

It's okay. Holidays, etc.

<3

:-*

We go now to our Fallen correspondents...

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