Jamming it Up (2)
A/N: Enjoy Chapter!!! Please leave a review if you haven't yet! I really appreciate those. Throw some stones!
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[Cosmodrome, Earth]
A Jumpship tore through Earth's lower atmosphere like a knife, cutting through cloud layers above the wastes of the Cosmodrome.
Void soared across the desert expanse, monitoring the incoming Fallen signals, eager to catch any leaked info on the open channel.
"Obsidian, monitor the House of Devils frequencies, if they slip up, let me know." He scrolled through the channels, looking for leads.
"Got it. The House of Devils really amped up their network though, City can barely hold on to the grid." Obsidian sighed.
"What? How'd that happen?" Void curse under his breath, without the City's network nodes it was impossible to spy on the Fallen.
"How? You don't remember?" Obsidian flittered beside him, shaking his head, "We blew up their jammers last time. Entire network was ours. But once we left for the War, they were quick to recover."
Void clicked his tongue, "Guess you can't outdo the scavengers. Bastards always have something up their sleeves."
The Jumpship swerved in the air, locking onto the SkyWatch landing dock, its thrusters flared, and sonic dampers triggered, the ship grinded to a halt mid-air as Void transmatted out.
"Since we're already here, might as well take over the network again." Void dusted his palms and walked to the edge of a hill, looking over the dry sea.
Just then, he saw a squad of sparrows kick up a dust storm in the distance as they darted across.
Void's system window lit up, a new chat section appeared inside, before he could react, he was flooded with messages.
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[SYSTEM] Chat functionality enabled. Proximity channels: LIVE.
[SYSTEM] Player Count: 50[GENERAL CHAT - Cosmodrome]
[IEatPaint]: "Checking near Skywatch. Saw a skiff maybe its a squad?"
[TheOneWhoKnocks]: "Splitting off to Mothyards. Something's brewing."
[Undecided]: "Anyone else find anything?"
[BearSpray]: "Looking around Kings Watch, just normal mobs. They do a lot of damage though."
[Gandalf]: "Brb guys, my moms calling"
[Waffles]: "Nothing near The Divide. Anyone find an event?"
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Void's eyes widened behind his visor as he saw the player count, "Motherfu-" He immediately scrolled through the player chat, almost all fifty players were searching the locations around Cosmodrome and he had no idea why.
All he could gather, was that they were looking for an event.
Void paused, gears turning in his mind. "Obsidian, how many network arrays again?"
More messages kept flooding in—players combing every crevice of Old Russia, searching for loot, public events, or answers. He could feel it now. The player activity was booming.
Now, something stirred within him—something mischievous.
Obsidian answered in seconds, "Two possible relay arrays within patrol distance, but they're guarded pretty well."
Void smirked. "Just what I needed. Tap into their comms protocol. Identify the node locations, send it to my radar."
Obsidian obliged, and more icons blinked into existence on his map. Three glowing sigils pulsed red—Fallen network hubs hidden across the Cosmodrome.
"Time to have some fun."
Void opened his system window, eyes gleaming behind his visor. He swiped through the interface, scrolling down to an option he'd never used.
[CREATE QUEST/EVENT].
He typed in the parameters manually.
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PUBLIC EVENT: Jamming it Up!
OBJECTIVE: Destroy Fallen Network Nodes
BONUS OBJECTIVE: Hijack Communications.
REWARDS: +30 Reputation [Players]. [Public event rewards are decided by player contributions and are randomized. User does not get extra rewards if the event is self issued.]
Cost: 10 Reputation [Players]
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Void read through the quest interface and marked a few locations on the map. Then, he placed his finger on the submit button, 'Let's hope this works'.
His system window shimmered, pulsing faintly.
Then, an alert triggered across the Cosmodrome's general chat. Curious Guardians received the notification with a flicker of interest. Every player in his proximity received an event call.
The event had been issued and as Void saw that, he summoned his sparrow rocketing down across the Steppes. Void rushed towards the first location, the player chat finally had a reaction.
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[GENERAL CHAT - Cosmodrome]
[Undecided]: "Holy shit, we actually found one."
[IEatPaint]: "F*ck, I am rushing, let's get there first, there's 30 seconds on the start timer."
[Waffles]: "OUT OF MY WAYYY!"
[TheOneWhoKnocks]: "Dibs on the loot."
[BearSpray]: "Do the event first bro...."
[Gandalf]: "Sorry guys, my mom said I have to log off."
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Thirty seconds remained on the event timer.
Void stood across the first hidden relay network. One neatly hidden in a grotto beside The Devil's Lair and Mothyards boundary. He immediately spotted trip mines and and cloaking drive planted at its entrance.
"How creative."
Void looked over his shoulder, the players weren't far. He gripped his sidearm, and shot the mines, deftly disabling them.
The moment he did, the grotto rumbled.
"That...doesn't sound right." Obsidian looked at Void. Immediately Void grabbed the ghost and vanished.
The next instant, an explosion thundered across the entrance, echoing off derelict walls and rusting towers. Moments later, a dust cloud erupted. Void flickered back into place, heaving a sigh, "You know, aside from the terrible security, they really aren't good at welcomes."
Obsidian rolled his eye, "Don't think they'd want to welcome you anyways."
"Please, I'm a pleasure to have around", Void grabbed his sidearm spinning it on a finger, he pulled the trigger, and five shots rang out. As the dust settled, a group of cloaked Vandals dropped dead.
Then, the sky split open, Skiffs gathered overhead, and squads dropped in formation. Fallen captains leading the charge. Troops scrambled from teleport beacons, their shouts echoing in metallic cadence.
Void laughed quietly to himself, he stared down the approaching army and waved, stepping back into the shadows.
"Let's see how they handle this."
On cue, a rush of fireteams blinked into the area—IEatPaint, Waffles, Undecided, TheOneWhoKnocks and at least a dozen other players he didn't recognize.
The Fallen opened fire. The players responded in kind. Void watched crouched behind rusted pipework. Arc bolts danced. Warlocks surged forward in radiance, Titans collapsed entire squads with a thundercrash.
Servitors dropped from the skiffs, boosting the Fallen Captains.
They barked orders, but it was chaos. The players leapt in without fear, died, revived, and pushed again—driven by the intoxicating rhythm of a true firefight.
Void weaved through the outskirts of the fray. Occasionally, he snapped off a suppressive shot, killed a sniper with surgical precision, or downed a heavy shank before it could flank a Warlock. He made sure to never draw too much attention. This was their fight. He was the ghost in the machine.
Of course, that was also because he had other things to do. As the fight raged on outside, Void hacked into the cloaking and stepped inside the cavern. Rushing underground.
As the last Captain outside collapsed in a flare, the players made their way inside. Shocked to find a cavern leading down to a hidden Fallen relay.
Void looked over his shoulder and smiled. Undoing his stealth, Void walked to the network relay.
Just as he revealed himself, the players noticed him on their radar. With his back turned to the players, Void directed Obsidian to the node.
[NETWORK ACCESS GRANTED. Nodes (1/2)]
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[GENERAL CHAT - Cosmodrome]
[Waffles]: "That's him!" She jumped.
[IEatPaint]: "What's his name again? Cobra something?"
[TheOneWhoKnocks]: "It's Viper dumbass."
[Undecided]: "Damn, we really found him."
[BearSpray]: "Wait, we got one more node to go...."
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The players walked up, and Void glanced at the chat, smiling. Then he turned towards them. Is was time to pull out his best performance.
"So its you. We meet again." Void eyed the players, Obsidian returned to his palm and blinked away.
"I was wondering what the ruckus was at the entrance. Seems like you triggered the mines." Void spoke, walking towards them, "But your skills aren't half bad. To keep the House of Devils at bay is no easy task."
Void looked at his wrist, the quest window blinked highlighting the remaining two nodes to the players, "I've got more to do. Tag along and we can chat later. I'll see you there."
Before the players could say a word, he vanished, disappearing into the shadows.
"Dude's got style though. That teleport looks sick." Undecided summoned his sparrow, "Looks like we'll have to finish the two nodes for loot."
"Race you there!" Waffles jumped onto her sparrow, and shot out the cave. A dozen players summoned there sparrows rushing to the next event site.
As the Cosmodrome rushed with activity, the House of Devils finally caught on to their relay array being sabotaged. Far in the distance, a dozen skiffs took off from the heart of Devil's Lair, rushing to protect the remaining arrays.
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[Rocketyard, Cosmodrome]
Void leapt on to his sparrow mid air, barrelling towards the ground he revved the thrusters riding at supersonic speeds.
The second network relay was on the top of an ancient spacecraft, hidden cleverly using borrowed cloaking tech of the House of Kings. The House of Devils had a very active stronghold nearby.
Fallen activity in the zone was at its peak. But with leading the players to the exact objective. There was no way for the Fallen to react fast enough.
Void dismounted and an event timer started. He quickly surveyed the area, and found the network relay.
As the players followed, rushing the broken complex, the Fallen inside were overwhelmed. Dozens of fireteams flooded inside, eliminating every Vandal or dreg they found. Void darted towards the network relay.
He summoned Obsidian and disabled the comms protocol, installing trackers and jammers in every line.
[NETWORK ACCESS GRANTED. Nodes (2/2)]
A dozen skiffs appeared in the sky, but by the time they'd reached, it was too late.
"We've got complete access to the Fallen network. Uploading City protocols online. I've connected it." Obsidian pulsed.
"Just in time, the party's about to start." Void counted the skiffs as the players watched them approach.
[Public Event Updated!]
[Legendary Public Event Unlocked: Rocketyard Raid]
[Stop the Fallen retaliation on Rocketyard (0/1)]
The system window flared up alerting Void and the players.
"F*ck. An event inside an event? What is this." IEatPaint heaved reloading his last few rounds of special ammo into the shotgun.
"Bozo, that just means better loot!" TheOneWhoKnocks exclaimed, using his scope to pre-emptively fire rounds on the skiffs.
"Don't waste rounds dumbass! You're not even damaging them!" Waffles barked.
"Wait..." Undecided took a closer look as the Skiffs approached, "What's that below the ship?"
He spotted a circular ball locked under the ship.
The players looked up with jaws wide open.
"Are-Are we getting nuked or something?" BearSpray nervously asked.
"I...don't know." Waffles took a cautionary step back.
Void's eyes narrowed, "Obsidian, tell the City to hack the power relays across the Dry Sea. Tell them the Fallen are really committing to the Rocketyard relays we've got a walker drop here. They don't have enough hands on deck to defend on two fronts."
"Already ahead of you. But uh...is it too late to tell you that the Vanguard's spamming the open channel with calls?" Obsidian narrowed its eye.
"Right..." Void took out Radegast's fury, "Just pretend you didn't see it."
"At this rate....might have to establish that as a protocol." Obsidian blinked away.
As the Skiffs flew closer, the magnetic lock on the Walker turned off and it dropped. The ball of metal burst open, revealing a titanic hexapedal arachnid tank that struck the ground with a shockwave.
An arc wave tossed away everyone beside it, then a high velocity solar cannon planted emerged on its head, the Walker roared to life.
A squad of shanks and Fallen captains dropped to its side and they charged the players.
Void leapt into the sky, locking on the legs. He hastily pulled the trigger as three rockets struck the ground erupting in flames. With Rocketyard engulfed in smoke and ash a new battle began.
The players got to their feet and channelled their supers while the Fallen sent in elite reinforcements. Both sides had all hands on deck.
Void equipped his auto rifle weaving through a storm of bullets as he targeted the Walker's legs.
Then, the world seemed to slow down. His Sixth Sense triggered. Void looked up, a familiar violet streak descended towards Rocketyard like a comet.
Void smiled, "That son of a bitc-"
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A/N: Enjoy Chapter!!!! Leave a goddamn review!