Fluke Episode 7: The Magnificent Show Alton stared intensely at the opening in the forest, his targets should have been there by now. He and his friends had been laying flat for roughly a hour or two and they were tired of waiting. Reports suggested that an important Cabal target was in the area, thought the morning fog played with the accuracy of the search data. Why would the Cabal be on Venus in the first place, they already claimed enough Martian sand for themselves. What purpose would Venus' tropical environments serve to them? Alton asked these same two questions over and over. It was a boring assignment, but it was better than guarding the Wall. That was something all three of them could agree on. "How much longer Alton? I'm burning up in my armor for Traveler's sake." Darian whined, but who could blame him. They all were tired of siting around and staring at rolling fog. "I don't know. Hopefully not much longer." Alton answered. The Titan stood up and started pacing around their position, his scoped rifle leaned lazily against a tree. Melody was the only person who took their mission seriously and for good reason, she was as still as a rock and her sharp eyes focused through the lens of her decked out sniper rifle. She had just bought it using the money she earned from their last mission and ever since, she's been itching to blow apart something. Alton sat up against a tree with his arms folded behind his head. He tried to relax since they wouldn't be going anywhere but the heat made his under armor sticky. A light yawn emerged to disrupt the long silence. "Could've stayed home today, maybe knock heads with the Fallen..." Darian's mumbling faded as Melody held up her hand for silence. He went up and gave her hand a random slap, his laughter began to spread all around him. "Reduced to making hand singles, Mel?" Alton chuckled. "See for yourselves." She got up and pointed towards the clearing. The two guardians joined the Huntress in staring at the clearing. Shadowy figures began to manifest, their size could only be described as ginormous. They donned dark metallic armor and large guns of freakish design. While the lackeys were less equipped, the leaders proudly marched on with protective helmets and spiked plating. They walked in a formal style with the leaders in front and the cannon folder in the back. The group of guardians watched as a force of about thirty strong stopped at one end of the field. "Finally." Darian said loudly, his teammates immediately hushed him. The leaders of the force began to converse with each other, their brutish dialect was pretty intimidating. Melody singled Alton and Darian to follow her and they complied. A short distance away was a small hill top that overlooked the view of the field. The patches of fog began to clear and the land started to truly shine in the morning light, the sprinkles of dew illuminated the land immensely. The three guardians took a seat on the ground, they stretched their legs out and relaxed as the Cabal turned to face what little fog was left in front of them. Melody leveled her rifle and Alton did the same, Darain forget to pick his up from it's resting place and ended up making a gun out of his fingers. "Aim for the ones in the back, then we'll work our way up the line." Alton commanded, the Hunter nodded and aimed down her adjusted scope. Alton was ready to unleash a ripple of lead into the back of his enemy but something about the timing seemed off. Melody looked towards Alton for a confirmation to shoot, her finger lightly tapped the rifle's trigger. "Hold up Mel, I don't like this." "You too?" she asked. "Pew Pew! Oops, my gun misfired." Darian joked, pretending as though he killed one of the leaders with his [i]Finger Blaster[/i]. Alton carefully observed the Cabal through his scope. He followed their line of sight and studied the fading fog. After a short amount of time, something began to materialize. All three of them watched as a force of Vex troops appeared from the natural cloak with guns pointed at the attentive Cabal. They were in rows with the strongest in the front and the weaklings in the far back. The mood was tense as the rows split apart and three separate figures walked forward. The middle figure in particular was easily identified as the main leader, for it wore a draped crimson cape and it's head had the most humanistic features out of the three. Even stranger was the package that the right hand soldier was carrying, it was of average size and coated in a bland grey coloring. Alton was baffled. "Company, I hate company." Darian fussed. Alton couldn't have agreed more. "I wonder what's in that box?" Melody questioned while switching her scope to a thermal mode. She analyzed the box, but the contents had no heat signature. She turned to Alton and shrugged. "I got nothing." A Cabal leader approached the humanoid Vex commander and the two began to talk, their body language suggested a peaceful deal. Unbeknownst to the guardians and the Cabal, the Vex had bad intentions.The conversation switched gears quickly and the Cabal leader started to stomp on the ground, it's anger was steadily brewing. Things really didn't begin to add up once the Vex commander swiped the box from the other unit. Alton squinted his eyes to enhance what little he could. "What's going on down there? Why are the Vex even here in the first place?" Darian question. "Do you even remember what command stated?" Melody jokingly asked, "The scan on the area was hazy at best thanks to the fog. Their sweep probably didn't pick up the Vex. Not to mention the Vex own the whole planet fo-" "Oh Gosh!" Darian cried out loudly. The others reactions were the same as an explosion engulfed the members of the meeting below. Once the smoke cleared, the remains of both negotiation parties were lying in a smoldering crater. Both sides reacted quickly and within seconds, the Cabal launched the first bullet. Like the days of old, both sides rushed each with their weapons blazing. Streams of glowing fire struck the Cabal soldiers but the attack was not hindered. The brutes swung their spear attachments and managed to desecrate a small line of robots. Alton watched the battle with great interest, it reminded him greatly of the recordings his instructors would play during combat studies. The Vex continued to use a simple strategy while the Cabal went in with little caution. Darian was murmuring something to himself. "And BOOM goes the dynamite!" Darian yelled as he began to describe the scene with a commentator's accent, "It's the bottom of ninth inning and the base are lined up perfectly for the Cabal since their most powerful players are kicking major butt on the beautiful sunny fields of Venus. And it looks like The Tank is going in for the swing and it's good, the Vex are at a lost for options as the head of a leader is going going going......it's gone, home run ladies and gentlemen. I can't believe it if I didn't see it with my own ey-Ohhhhhh the Vex are make a surprise pitch from the side and...." "Calm yourself, Darain." Melody tried to reason with the speedy sportscaster, but he was already lost in his own world. Alton couldn't control the laughter, his friend was perfectly detailing the battle as each motion happened. Even the part about the home run was gold. "Keep going buddy, hahahah. This is hilarious." "Good golly, it seems that one of the [i]Martian Cabals[/i] has an injured player. Let's rewind the footage a bit." Darian began fumbling with his hands as he began to explain the injury in a frame by frame process. "[i]Venus' Vexs[/i] pulled a sneaky move when he struck [i]Cabal's[/i] very own Scarrs, watch as the metallic bat collides with his lower leg at a clocked speed of over.... get this, a fast forty miles per hour. That's gotta hurt." " You two are so stupid." Melody said while shaking her head. "Come on, don't be so boring. Those Vex down there are doing our job for us and giving us a good show in the process, it's a double whammy." The battle settled down for a minute as the two side retreated for a time out. Once finished, they moved in and stopped once a large circle was formed. From each end, one strong member of each party entered the makeshift ring, each contender looked very intimidating. A big smile lit up Alton's lips. "I got this Darian. Ladies and Gentlemen, llllllllllet's get ready to rumbbbbbbbbble! And the crowds chant as the competitors step into the arena. On one side, we have the mighty, the ruthless, and the definitely toothless, Destructiiivvvvveeee Ddddddevastator! And on this end, we have the calculador himself, the underdog, the metalic marvel, Steelll Bannditttoooo!" Alton shouted while Darian made cheering noises. Melody continued to shake her head, but her helmet hid a faint smile. The two fighters began to make strange moves at each other without a real explanation. The guardians stared eagerly in awe as they never learned or studied such behavior before, nor has it never been reported by Vanguards. Their motions made the three laugh. [b]Continues Below[/b]