Archive of Our Own ^beta

All the little pieces of metal and wires on her Splicer Gauntlet shivered and folded when Hawke landed on the moon. Vanguard had the Vex network dives open for normal Guardians with the right clearance so Hawke didn't recognize anyone with her on sight. Her friends had sat out for the day. They knew what it meant to take a day off. Day off? Sounded fake. She didn't know how to do those. So she was working.

That and someone had to use the Splicer Gauntlet on these things and Mithrax only trusted so many Guardians with it. Usually he sent one of his Eliksni Splicers along if Hawke wasn't around to crack the Vex Network.

It wasn't hard work but the Vex were always shocked and pissed when Guardians showed up to wreck their shit. Especially on the Moon. As if they could let the Vex get a foothold here on the Moon. That was too close to Earth for everyone involved's comfort. But the work let her mind go blank and she just focused on the shooting, the Light. She was a terror with her throwing knives and caused plenty of muffled explosions on her side of the battlefield to take her full attention. She kept off local comms, not interested in the banter really. She just wanted to do the job.

She only really came up to the surface to remember other Guardians were here with her when she heard the snap of Stasis and she looked around half expecting one of Eramis' lieutenants. She wasn't always in touch with the common Guardian so she was genuinely surprised when she was in time to see a Hunter launch a Silence and Squall. She considered herself a good shot and have excellent aim but both kamas landed right in the eye of two different hydras. The precision needed for a throw like that from twenty feet in the air was no fluke.

She punched a goblin as it shambled over to her as the ice storm ripped through the higher rank Vex, freezing them solid in Stasis. Before they could start to chip and shatter a Nova Bomb seemed to just aparate inside the chassis of one of the Hydra and exploded it. Shards flew everywhere, covered in Void goop that stuck to the rank and file Vex making them shutter and become volatile. A Void grenade made them explode in a magnificent display of Light. She'd never seen another Guardian use Stasis before other than her own clan, let alone use it in combination with a Light.

"Woah," she said and her eyes were drawn to the Hunter who landed on the dilapidated habitat who made a familiar and shocking hand sign at a Warlock on the ground. She'd only seen other Hunters use that sign language together. The Warlock responding in like surprised her enough that a Minotaur got close enough to slap her to the ground.

Fucking Minotaur.

She surged to her feet, shoving Solar Light into her gun with a tremendous crack as it became empowered and golden in her hands. One shot shattered the shield, the next took the head off the Minotaur and the third went through into three Vex behind it. She unloaded the rest of the shots into some Hobgoblins taking sniper shots around the edges of the old houses.

A bullet whizzed past her helmet and a Wyvern shrieked from a bullet to its core. She'd been focused on the hobgoblins and hadn't heard the weird chicken Vex approaching.

She didn't have time to contemplate who'd been watching her back. Her Splicer Gauntlet shivered and all the metal bits moved in unison, pulling her towards the conflux. She still wasn't sure quite how this worked but she was able to manipulate the lattice into a construct. The unlocking tower rose like a great tumbler of teal and magenta energy. She had to keep it going, the gauntlet spinning and clicking as the other Guardians correctly sequenced the lock. The tumblers engaged and it rushed into the ground, creating a great sink in reality.

Just by proximity Hawke jumped in first and the rest rushed to follow. The Vex Network anywhere not around Hawke was unstable for Guardians so they kept up. She wondered if she was recognized. Maybe not. She was wearing similar armor as the rest. When your gear wore out your Ghosts recreated it out of what was around. It was wires and cables and scrap pieces of metal and plastic. Other than the Gauntlet she didn't look dissimilar to several other Hunters running the Splice.

They didn't get far into the Network before catching the attention of a higher mind. The Hydra roared in its horrible machine voice as they came upon it. The Hydra put up defenses; impregnable walls, immunity shields, and summoning an endless stream of Vex for them to fight. But this mind was nothing. She'd faced worse. It was nothing compared to Aetheon, or Predothos. The mind shattered but the way ahead of them was sealed, the way for the Vex to get out was also closed.

Hawke finally switched over to local comms to gather everyone up. They needed to get close to avoid missing their ticket out of the Network. There was a ton of cross talk but Hawke narrowed it to the Hunter she'd seen using Stasis outside.

She was standing over a Warlock who was poking at the remains of the Hydra they'd just killed. "There's nothing there, babe, just get over it," she sighed, holding her gun- a long barreled scout rifle Hawke mistook for a sniper rifle at first- up and resting on her shoulder. Her armor was almost the same color as the Vex Network, all aquas and magentas with splashes of yellow like she'd been spat out of a candy store except for her helmet which was a blank black glass front. Her cloak trailed down to the heels of her boots, an older Hunter who took care of their cloak. But her armor itself was... weird. Hawke couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"No I was sure I saw part of it disjoin before it broke apart," the Warlock said, a mechanical buzz to his voice Hawke recognized as belonging to an EXO. He matched her in vibrant colors, his robes a well polished leather. He'd been the Warlock with the Nova Bomb, had to be with the Nezarac Sin.

"Well you can't spend all day poking at Vex guts," she said in a surprisingly patient tone for how insane this Warlock sounded. Hawke noticed a change in her stance and their gaze met through their helmets. "You need something, Young Wolf?" she asked, not meanly just curious.

Well she hadn't meant to be noticed, just be nosy. "You used Stasis," was all she said, their comms narrowed enough she wasn't across all comms. Which was good since Saint and Mithrax were bickering with Osiris about... something.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"That's my business," she said defensively.

"Didn't think the Vanguard allowed it," she'd sure been chewed out by Zavala about it. Not that she really cared.

"Vanguard doesn't have much authority on Hunters nowadays," she said simply with a shrug. Hawke had never considered that. She always just did what was needed or what she wanted. It didn't occur to her that normal Hunters actually did heed the call of the Hunter Vanguard.

"You got a heck of an arm," Hawke said. Landing the kamas so precisely back on the moon was impressive. She wasn't even sure she could do that. And the ice storm had come around a few times after that initial one too.

"Heh, yeah I guess-

"Yeah she does!" the Warlock cried.

"Hawke, you need to get out of there," Saint suddenly boomed in her ear, startling her.

"Right," she said, nodding.

"Everyone form up," Polaris said over comms and the other five Guardians came to stand around.

"Come on, stop fussing with that," and the Hunter dragged her Warlock over to Hawke. He'd been poking at the Hydra carcass again.

The Gauntlet shivered and spun, all the pieces snapping into position to create an elevator up and out of the Vex Network. The tunnel spat them out into the air high above the moon's surface and allowed for about ten seconds of free fall. Two Guardians fucked up their falls. One face planted, one broke all the bones in their legs. Hawke landed lightly, catching herself at the last minute on the Light.

She went over to properly close the Splice, the Gauntlet whirling around her arm and wrist. The other Guardians started transmatting away or getting onto their sparrows if they'd just come from patrol. The Nezarac Sin Warlock came over as the Gauntlet worked, she helping it along. Mithrax just said think about what she wanted it to do and it'd do it. Sounded crazy but it usually worked.

"So how does one get one of those? Or on the list Mithrax trusts?" the Warlock asked curiously over a narrow beam comm. Not quite private but private enough.

"Uh... don't be a fuck head I guess?" Hawke said not knowing how to answer that really. The Warlock laughed.

"Or you know a guy, or girl," Polaris said.

"So I could know you?"

The Hunter came over, having left her sparrow when the Warlock didn't join her. "Savant are you bothering the Young Wolf?" she asked, annoyed with him.

"What? Noooo! I was just trying to be friendly," he whined. Hawke smiled slightly in her helmet despite herself. It was funny. The Hunter was about two heads shorter than the Warlock, Savant, and he was whining at her and slouched.

"My friends usually get on the short list, yeah," Hawke said slowly.

"Really!" Savant asked.

"Short list of what?" the Hunter asked.

"Who can wear a Gauntlet."

"You do not need to wear a Splicer Gauntlet."

"But it's so cool!"

The Hunter looked at Hawke. "Young Wolf, don't let my precious idiot here anywhere near a Splicer Gauntlet."

"You never let me have any fun."

"This was fun!"

"... I guess."

Hawke giggled as the Gauntlet finished what it was doing. "Who are you two?" Polaris asked for her. Thank the Traveler. She didn't want to appear rude.

"I'm Savant-3," the Warlock said.

"Eric," the Hunter said. "And he does not need a Splicer Gauntlet," she shot him a look through her helmet.

"But it would be so helpful with my research-

"You have so many dead Vex on your ship, and in your apartment, and in your workshop-

"Yeah but those aren't from the Vex Net!" he insisted. "These are different."

Eric just sighed and looked at Hawke. "Do not put him on the short list," she told her, deadpan.

Hawke... laughed. "Sure. Whatever you say," she said.

"What? You'll listen to her but not me?" Savant asked dramatically.

"We're Hunters," Eric said.

"Uggggh! Fucking Hunters," he groaned and marched off all in a huff. Eric giggled.

"Is... he going to be okay?" Hawke asked Eric.

"Yeah," she said and Hawke could hear the smile in her voice. "He's just moody he couldn't collect any Vex from the Network. Even though he has some already."

"Do you guys help in Splices often?" she asked casually. These two were fun.

"Sometimes. We were on the Moon and passing by. Better than being stuck in that Endless Night," she crossed herself in a traditional Hunter way to ward off bad luck. Hawke didn't do that kinda stuff or was even that superstitious but she found herself mimicking the motion.

"So maybe you'll be around for the next Splice I find?" Hawke asked.

Eric took a beat. "Sure," she said.

"Eric now you're the one bothering the Young Wolf," Savant's voice came over comms sounding so dejected and whiny.

They both giggled. "Maybe see you around," Eric said and gave the casual Hunter two fingered salute before walking off. Again Hawke found herself mimicking it. She went over to her sparrow, a sleek SIVA inspired thing and saw Savant looked like someone had peeled an Eliksni pike and covered it with bones and chains and set it on fire. So some weird Eververse thing Hawke was shocked was even allowed. They must have been talking over private comms for a moment because there was some gesticulating before they turned their sparrows around and sped off.

"Well they were neat," Polaris said. "Ready to transmat?"

"And search for another warp in the net?" Hawke asked.

Polaris sighed the sigh of 'my Guardian never sleeps', "Yes. For another place to splice," she allowed.

"Yeap," Hawke said and Polaris transmatted her back up to her ship.