Oh, there's a river that winds on forever
I'm gonna see where it leads
Oh, there's a mountain that no man has mounted
I'm gonna stand on the peak
Out there's a land that time don't command
Wanna be the first to arrive
No time for ponderin', why I'm a-wanderin'
Not while we're both still alive
Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron
-
September 2, 2868
It was a quiet day at the Tower, 'quiet' being a relative term. There was still plenty of shouting and bustling and preparing going on, but at least Azra had no obligations to be a part of it. She'd settled down in a little-used meeting room to do gun maintenance (since she still had yet to request a permanent space of her own). It was pretty far off the beaten path. The hum of the City was ever-present in her ears, like a mosquito's whine. The sound of distant engines and the whoosh of the air system always managed to set her on edge after a while.
Of course, being far off the beaten path didn't stop her from being interrupted. Andal poked his head through the door and spoke without warning. "How'd you like to do your first official Vanguard strike?"
Azra jerked involuntarily from surprise, knocking into the table. Gun pieces rattled. A spring lazily rolled off the edge. "Where did you come from?" She asked as she hastily began re-assembling the gun, if just to keep the pieces from scattering further.
"Sorry." Andal retrieved the spring. "But anyway, if you're down for it, there's a certain Dust Giant that needs killing."
She paused her assembly to eye him skeptically. "Dude, I'm like, a month and a half old. Bit early for strikes?"
He shrugged and rolled the spring between his fingers. "Gotta learn sometime, right? Besides, the rest of the group's top-notch. Real... A-list material." He flicked the component back towards Azra.
She caught it and slid it into place. "Oh."
"So, are you in?"
"I mean, if you think I'd be useful." Azra had no delusions of her own ability. She knew she was greener than spring grass still.
"You seem like you're catching on to things." Andal gestured to the auto rifle she'd just reassembled. "You haven't spent the last month sitting around, have you?"
"You're lucky you caught us in the City," Spark said. "We haven't even spent two percent of our time here in the past three weeks."
Andal shot Azra a look. She shrugged. "A Warlock gave him a lecture on the power of statistics or something. Don't look at me." She frowned as she pulled the trigger. "Darn thing's still sticking."
"Give it here." Azra shrugged and tossed it to him. Andal jiggled the trigger, flipped the gun over, and pulled out a knife. "I've used one of these before," he explained as he dug around in a crevice in the stock, "Always gets gunk stuck up the-ah!" A chip of some hardened material fell out. He tested the trigger again, nodding in approval. He handed the rifle back to its rightful owner and bent to investigate what caused the blockage.
It was a shard of chitin. "Hive gunk. You've been off-planet?"
"I've been around," she said noncommittally, peering into the crevice in the stock. The main blockage was cleared, but there was still plenty of lint.
"Sounds like you're ready to me." Andal tested the tip of the knife and slid it back into its sheath. "Sundancer'll shoot you the coordinates. Strike starts at 0300 tower time the day after next. Don't worry, it's noonish local time. Zavala's got night watch duty."
"Of course he does." Azra was fast learning that Andal had a habit of following through on his crazy suggestions. You had to watch your mouth around him, lest you get pulled into his schemes.
YOU ARE READING
You've Got Time ( a Destiny Story)
Fanfiction"No one can open the Vault alone. I opened the Vault. There was no one with me but I was not alone." A team of six entered the Vault of Glass. Kabr fought and died. Praedyth was captured. Pahanin ran. Two were cut away, and one hid. This story story...
