บท 80: A Swift Shadow (2)

A/N: Enjoy chapters, give reviews!!!! Give stones.

---------------------

"Eyes on the target, no movement yet, Darkbow over and out." Levi whispered to himself and traced his comms as he stalked the entrance of Consensus hall, positioning himself on the rafters behind the hangar.

Levi's voice faintly rang in Void's ear as the comms line suffered some static, the hunter flinched and cursed under his breath as he rubbed the receiver.

"....Are we really doing the codenames? Just tell me when we're ready to go." Void responded, his voice laced with an irritable tone.

"Aghm! Sorry can't hear you, Darkbow over and out." Levi intensely cleared his throat.

"I am not doing the stupid name." Void sighed and immediately refused.

Bandit hiding within his shadow chuckled, "I think you should try it out, just a bit of harmless fun, Foxfiend over and out."

Void's brows tensed as his face twitched, "Well maybe if my name wasn't f*cking Stygianchicken, I'd consider it."

The comms line was immediately flooded as Levi and Bandit struggled to hold back their boisterous chortles.

"Mmm, but complaining about the names is a no go. We all picked them fairly through my lucky draw." Bandit clicked his tongue.

"Sounds like loser talk to me." Levi chimed in.

Void felt his veins bursting with blood as he gawked at his shadow, "You sneaky rat, do you really think I didn't see you switching out the chits?"

Bandit grinned as he shrugged, "You're just unlucky."

The three were very subtle in their positions, however if anyone did manage to spot Void, they'd see an amusing sight, a deranged hunter snarling at his own reflection.

"Alright, you can just choose a new name, Darkbow out."

"Fine, how about Drearysword?"

"Negative, it's too cool for you, Foxfiend over."

"True, let's stick with the animal theme, how about Solitaryviper? Darkbow over."

Void raised his brow and replied, "I'm surprised you chose a decent one, I'll take it, Solitaryviper out."

Levi's muffled chuckle echoed over the line, "It suits you quite well, always mucking about alone and getting in trouble. Though I'll admit, you're lethal."

The trio bantered and lazed about for another ten minutes, Levi kept strict watch over the Consensus hall entrance, suddenly he spotted a few groups of guardians moving towards it.

"Alright, looks like we're up, Consensus hall just got crowded, they're off to a start, Darkbow out." Levi instantly spoke up as a team of guardians kept watch and covered the entrance.

"Affirmative, we're on the move, Solitaryviper over." Void immediately made himself scarce, pacing towards the elevator with brisk strides, Bandit tagged along in his shadow.

As all the guardians present crowded around Consensus hall, Void was at the opposite end moving towards the secret elevator. Although all the attention was currently gathered at the center of the Courtyard, he still had to be careful to not draw suspicion.

A few minutes later he was already at the terminals location.

Void traced his fingers towards the terminal as he scanned the jade token, the walls in front of him shifted to reveal an obscured elevator, he glanced around and swiftly stepped inside, the doors closed as the elevator whirred to life, plummeting towards the Praxic Fire's floor.

"Almost there, how's it looking outside? Solitaryviper over."

"Still clear, its faint but I can hear their voices. They're all riled up, Darkbow out." Levi scanned the perimeter, nothing was yet out of the ordinary.

"Let's pick up the pace, Foxfiend over."

The elevator doors opened as Void stepped out into the hallways leading towards the Praxic Fire base, his eyes spotted the odd glints in the corners of the walls- 'Cameras and sensors'

Void already knew the surveillance was tight, but before this he was never able to notice exactly how they were keeping an eye on him. He whispered into his mic and kept pacing towards the door.

"Their network is super secure, you sure we can pull this off? Solitaryviper out."

"Hmm, I think we'll be fine, Foxfiend over."

Void pulled out the Juggernauts severed dome as he stepped towards the entrance, a laser swept over him and the indicators turned green as the doors slid open.

Only two warlocks kept watch over the surveillance, the rest of the crew was too busy with the Consensus meeting, as the doors parted, their gaze settled on Void. They were already well aware of his presence the moment he had set foot on their floor.

One warlock nodded, "Void, I'm afraid Eriana is engaged with the Consensus. Is there anything else that required your presence here?"

The other was far too busy and kept to himself as he mumbled and kept his focus on some tedious paperwork.

" I'm not here for her, it's just that I stumbled on something and I thought you guys could take a look. Apparently its a golden age relic." Void waved as he scuttled closer, subtly turning his back towards the spiraling staircase.

"Relic?" His words immediately drew their attention as the other warlock stood up and shuffled closer, both eagerly waited with keen eyes. Void hurled the Juggernaut's head on the table.

Despite its corroded shell, the Juggernaut's sphere dome presented a complex internal circuitry that immediately drew the warlock's curiosity.

"This is?" One of them traced his hands over its shattered visor, completely entranced by Rasputin's manufacturing prowess.

"An odd relic, somewhat related to the golden age, I heard its related to the Warmind." Void began twisting his words to rile up their interest.

"Where did you get this?" The warlock fell right for it as he examined the detailed quality and the damage the piece had gone through.

A sly glint flashed in his eyes as Void began narrating the most passionate encounter he had with the Juggernaut and how he barely escaped from its clutches. Of course, he did omit any details that would get him in hot water with the city.

While the warlocks were busy lapping up his glorified rendition of a screwup, Bandit had detached from Void's shadow and silently slipped into the staircase.

Before anyone could notice, the rippling shadow on the ground trickled down the steps and made its way towards the vault room, finally forming back into Bandit as he spotted the ring.

"Found it, keep them occupied, I'll swipe it, Foxfiend over." His voice faintly echoed in Void's ear, an indication to keep his con going.

Void stretched the story a bit longer, much to the displeasure of the warlocks who were eager to simply disassemble and break the odd relic down.

"Wrap it up soon, the Consensus hall looks far too rowdy, Darkbow over."

Void rattled off and began describing the Juggernauts characteristics and attack patterns to the warlocks, but most importantly he led them towards the possibility of a database present within its neural network.

"Perhaps so, we'll have to look into it." The warlock took a glance within the circuity once more, his eyes gleamed with an understanding.

As he ran out of words, he sensed a puddle of shadow merge with his own, a voice rang in his ear, "I've got the ring, Foxfiend over."

Void immediately felt at ease as he sighed, the two warlocks had noticed nothing, he immediately looked to leave.

"Well, I suppose you two could probably take over right? I wanted to scrap it for parts but the droid couldn't take it apart." Void shrugged.

Hearing the word scrap, a few dark lines appeared on the warlock's face, he nodded intently, "Yes yes, of course. We can't let this go to waste. Thank you for your contribution."

Void stepped towards the door, tensed as the two warlocks discussed something in muffled breaths. His figure departed from the room as the two continued to talk about the Juggernaut.

"Did his shadow just....wiggle?" As Void left, the warlock's gaze fell towards his departing reflection.

The other warlock shot him a concerned glare, "You should layoff the paperwork, I think its affecting your brain."

Meanwhile outside, as Void heaved a calm breath.

"Guys Consensus just finished from the looks of it, Captain Sai and the others are walking towards you guys, wrap it up. Darkbow over."

Void walked towards the elevator as the doors opened, there was only one elevator, which meant that as he got to the Courtyard, he would encounter Sai's group.

"It shouldn't be a problem because my story checks out, Solitaryviper over." Void shrugged as he calmly stepped inside, the doors slid closed behind him.

Levi seemed uneasy, his voice quivered as he hastily spoke out, "You know I'd agree, but there's just one slight problem."

Void faced the front as the elevator began its rapid ascent, "What's that?"

Immediately Levi broke out into a cold sweat, "Seems like Captain Tevis is tagging along, and as far as he's concerned, you're under house arrest."

Void immediately felt his heart sink to his stomach, "WHAT!"

His eyes darted to the terminal, but it was already locked in to the courtyard. He was trapped, and in the next ten seconds, the door would evidently slide open.

----

Sai scanned her token over the terminal as it faintly glowed, the elevator rushed towards her floor, she glanced back at Eriana, Wei and Tevis, still clamoring about the recent revelation in the Consensus.

"Drop the talk, no matter what's happened, we can only deal with it." She sighed, a million thoughts and worries filled her head.

"This will be the most expensive expedition yet, do they think the glimmer grows on trees?" Tevis scoffed.

"It's more worrying that Lord Shaxx decided against the initiative, that's not normal." Eriana chimed in.

Wei sulked about, still processing whatever had happened, she wasn't in the brightest of moods. The four lingered near the hallway as the elevator shot up.

An instant later, a familiar bell resounded as it reached. All faced forwards and then, the doors sprang open....

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter. Leave Reviews!!! Leave Stones!!!! Let me know what you thought in the comments!