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The ring fragment rested within his Palms. Despite radiating energy, it was cool to the touch. Void felt the engravings in its bore, faint and almost imperceptible by the naked eye.

'Strange markings..'

Upon closer inspection, the engravings were shallow, and didn't represent anything legible. In fact, they resembled the crude carvings of the Hive.

The fragment seemed only one third of a complete ring, as for what the carvings meant? Void had no way to know. However, holding the ring in his palms did prove beneficial.

Although he couldn't use the incomplete artifact, the mere residual energy gave him a considerable boost. Yet his question remain unanswered.

'Why was the ring the only way?'

Void understood the severity of Zamyr's requests. The Ahamkara had foreseen distant futures and timelines, ensuring that without the ring, Void would indefinitely fail. But why?

As far as he could tell, the ring didn't prove to be a nigh-inexhaustible source of energy. Neither was it an all-powerful weapon. It was a mere fragment. Taking Zamyr's warning to heart, the ring definitely held more secrets than he could see.

He nestled his blade closer, hoping to stir Zamyr's presence. But no such thing happened. Void recalled its last words.

"Souls to satiate the blade." Void shuffled the sword around, perhaps that was the missing piece, and if that truly was the case, then Void had no choice but to wait.

It seemed that his questions would only be answered on the moon.

Recalling the conversation between Tevis and the others, Void could readily estimate that there wasn't much time left. The City was sure to announce their campaign in efforts to gather a large enough force.

Preparation was key, and the Vanguard wouldn't dare half ass it. Not when the fate of thousands rested within their hands.

Void braced his back against the wall and waited. There was much to consider while he found solace in his isolation.

Hours had passed as Void fidgeted with the ring, he had tried many things. Siphoning power into the ring, forcing more power out of the ring. But nothing had really stuck. If he didn't know any better, he'd describe it as somewhat dormant.

Suddenly, his transponder seemed to ring, a direct line unilaterally forced an open channel onto his receiver.

"Attention. This is Tevis speaking." His sullen voice echoed with rustled whispers.

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Void pocketed the ring as he snapped to attention. He sought to reply but the receiver kept blocking all outgoing communications on the channel.

"Tsk...I can see you're all desperately trying to reply. Sorry but this call's one way. We haven't got much time." Tevis sucked his teeth, his voice was languid, as if his mind was occupied elsewhere.

The next five seconds passed, only static transmitted through the line.

"Listen carefully. As your Captain, any orders I give now, are your top priority. Understand?"

Tevis chuckled softly, "....I will take the silence as a yes. We can't back out of this anyway."

"Well then, unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know the Vanguard is planning a lunar assault to deal with the Hive excursion. One week...that's all we have, so I suggest you all gather your secret stashes, trust me you'll need every advantage you can get."

"I would've liked to give out some more information, but things are moving too fast with the Consensus. No one's sure of the plans, but they're bringing in some wackjob from the Warlock Orders. The only thing I can say? It will be a brutal war."

Tevis reclined in his chair, his eyes scanning the war council channel ever so often. Every few minutes, new strategies and plans were proposed for consideration.

With the help of various Ghosts, each plan was analyzed and evaluated in seconds. In theory, it was similar to a nexus-mind capable of meticulous calculations. Conclusively, the city would only attack in the best possible position, with the highest rate of success.

Yet Tevis knew something more, something he learned through the centuries. The universe was always privy to their plans, and it held a unique hatred towards predictions.

Or in other words- Shit would always hit the fan. His hands reached the transceiver by his ear.

"Good luck, I think we're all gonna need it."

--

Void heard a familiar beep- the call had disconnected. He looked over the transceiver, the channel was locked, there was no way to return the connection.

But Tevis had planted some seeds of curiosity in his mind.

"Obsidian, can you gather a list of operatives from the Warlock Order?"

Seconds later, Obsidian appeared beside Void, hovering as it hummed, "Warlock Orders are a private organization. Pulling any records is technically against City regulations...."

His eye drifted to Void's inquisitive glare.

"But, if I match their mission statements and the city's log....With enough correlation, we can...narrow it down."

Obsidian projected a list of names that shuffled through various iterations. Ultimately landing on a few names. Among them, there were many which had been crossed out, indicating that the guardian was either MIA or dead.

"A lot less than I expected.", Void reached out as he scrolled down. The quantity wasn't what Void was concerned about.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned through the list. At most, he could recognize a handful of names.

'Some wackjob from the Order...who would it be?'

Void sighed and heaved a breath. "It's not enough. I need more information."

As far as he could recall, no such Warlock was in charge of the Lunar mission. It was either buried something overlooked within the lore....Or perhaps, a change induced by his presence?

Void's brows furled.

'Whatever it is, I need to find out.' Time was of the essence, identifying each variable was necessary to understand the chain of events. The City would fail to breach the Lunar front, there was no doubt.

But at the least, he needed to save those he could. He sheathed the blade and continued, lost in a train of thought.

That was until-*Beep*

A message popped up.

[Crucible Complex, 1 hour~ Shaxx]

Void glanced at the time, it certainly wasn't an idle summons. "Obsidian, tell the Hangar to prepare the ship"

"Sure...umm, didn't Tevis ground us though?"

A cheeky smile crept on Void's lips, " I guess you'll have to make sure he doesn't find out."

'That smile...it's always that damned smile', Obsidian rolled his eye and reluctantly began tinkering with the ship's signature.

===