Destiny, Episode V: Restoration
Previous Episode: Episode IV, A Fireteam Rises
Next Episode: Episode VI, Skywatch
The Cosmodrome, Old Russia, Earth
Day 007
Next Episode: Episode VI, Skywatch
The Cosmodrome, Old Russia, Earth
Day 007
They left the Tower at noon, their ships screaming out of the Hangar before looping around and back toward where Koga had fled only a few days ago. Returning to the Cosmodrome wasn't something the Warlock was horrifically excited about, if he was honest with himself. Being hunted through dark, abandoned corridors left a bad taste in one's mouth. Still, what had to be done had to be done.
The plan, if you could call it that, was embarrassingly simple, though not necessarily for no good reason. The Tower, despite all of its technology, was actually quite limited in its ability to extend power beyond the Wall. It had no satellites to provide an orbital map of a space, meaning that the Cosmodrome, and presumably everywhere else Guardians had touched, had to be charted by hand. The maps were, of course, digitallized, but every time Koga looked at them, he half expected a bit of text on the corner to say "here there be dragons."
In any case, the plan was straightforward as can be: touch down at the Cosmodrome in a relatively open space known as "the Steppes", and attempt to investigate any lead to see if an Arcadia-fitting NLS drive could be found. It was no master plan, but Koga appreciated the simplicity.
As his Arcadia flew past low mountains and deep forests, the Warlock sighed and settled into his seat, focusing himself. The Cosmodrome awaited him.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset smiled despite herself as she flew her Galliot. Every second showed her something she had never seen before, another corner of the universe revealed as her ship streaked ahead of her two companions. Below, mountains turned into hills, and hills into forests, and forests into steppe. It was her Ghost that spotted the Cosmodrome first.
"There!" Dal shouted, moving to the edge of the glass. Lisset squinted, her eyes nowhere near the capable of enhancement a Ghost's synthetic one could. As the seconds ticked by, the vague shape of something massive appeared just above the horizon. "That's the Wall of the Cosmodrome." Dal spoke almost reverently as the image became focused. Lisset felt her heart skip a beat when she saw it, a massive rusted fortress that stretched almost infinitely off into the distance in both directions.
"It's incredible." She whispered, awestruck. Her awe began to flood away when something else caught her eye. What she had assumed to be roadway finally revealed its morbid secret to her: cars, abandoned and forgotten, stretched for miles beyond the entrance to the Wall. Her Galliot flew over them with a roar, her eyes transfixed. "What happened here?" She asked, quietly.
"The Collapse happened." Dal answered. There was a pause as Lisset looked down into open courtyards and warehouses, before she turned her attention forwards. She had been chosen to be the fireteam's scout, its eyes and ears, and if she wanted to keep her team, let alone herself, alive, she had to center herself.
"I'll put us down." Dal said, and a moment later the Galliot began to decelerate. The craft made a wide circle over a snowy cliffside before coming to a halt. "Ready to go?" He asked. Lisset nodded, and felt the chill of a transmat. When she opened her eyes again, the world was tinted behind the glass of her helmet, and her sleek Trax Callum rested in her hands. It was a streamlined weapon, Gunsmith standard issue, with a strange bullpup magazine that seemed like it was part of the frame. Semi-automatic, the Trax was a marksman's weapon, and to Lisset it just felt right. She raised the weapon to her shoulder, and took a knee, her Ghost quietly analyzing the situation as the Galliot automatically swooped away from the Cosmodrome. Their arrival had to have attracted some attention, and the Fallen were more than capable of shooting down something if they wanted to.
"Scanner is clear for the moment." Dal announced, somewhat relieved. "We've probably stirred the hornet's nest, though."
"I know." Lisset replied, frowning. "The sooner we get this done, the less time they'll have to organize." She lowered her rifle slightly before opening the channel to her fireteam. The armor interlay with the subconscious worked both ways. It'd feed her tactical data, and in return it allowed her to control ancillary systems at the speed of thought. Internal temperature, sound processed by the suit, and radio communications were all adjustable by mere whim, meaning that all it took for Lisset to ping her fireteam was the simple thought of doing so. If it wasn't for the fact that she had an extremely high chance of being shot at in the next five minutes, Lisset might have found it almost wondrous. "This is Lisset, the drop point is clear."
She spoke clearly, her eyes never wavering from her surroundings. It was a cold looking steppe, and behind her was a sheer cliff face that must have dropped off for a hundred meters or more, leveling out into a valley that stretched on into the distance for miles. Around here were a mix of nature and of rusted shacks that might have fulfilled some grand purpose once upon a time, but were now simply relics of a long-past era. There was sadness mixed with the beauty of the place, a lost opportunity summed up in the massive colony ships, with their equally huge bulbous fuel tanks stacked one on top of the other, sitting uselessly in the distance. More than that, though, there was a hidden danger, and the echoing howls of Fallen only reminded the Hunter of that.
"We're coming down now." Basilisk warned, a second before the roar of his ship's engines split the still. His craft was an angular looking ship, a Tower-made Regulus 22a. They were made using Golden Age specifications, but the technology at hand couldn't even dream of matching what was used in making the originals. Still, despite their origins, they cut an imposing figure as Basilisk's drifted down to a halt just above Lisset. There was a flash of blue light, and suddenly there stood the Titan, his pulse rifle in hand. As the Regulus streaked away, Koga's Arcadia came swooping in like some massive blue-and-gold bird, and didn't even pause for a moment as the Warlock materialized. Lisset raised an eyebrow under her helmet; it was a bit of showmanship she didn't expect from the man.
"It appears we are all here." Koga started, his hand holding a heavy-looking revolver to his side. "What now?" Basilisk didn't respond at first, as he quickly glanced about the area. As soon as he finished getting his bearings, he raised his hand and opened his palm. From it appeared his Ghost, who hovered into the center of the group.
"Boudica, any leads?" The Titan asked. The Ghost beeped as she processed the request.
"A Guardian ship was shot down recently in this area." She replied, stoically. Out of the corner of her eye, Lisset notice Koga nervously shuffle his foot at that. The news wasn't exactly morale-raising. If Boudica noticed, she didn't act like she did. "If the Fallen haven't scavenged it completely, we might be able to see if there's any intel worth looking at." Basilisk nodded as Boudica vanished back into his armor.
"Scanner is clear for the moment." Dal announced, somewhat relieved. "We've probably stirred the hornet's nest, though."
"I know." Lisset replied, frowning. "The sooner we get this done, the less time they'll have to organize." She lowered her rifle slightly before opening the channel to her fireteam. The armor interlay with the subconscious worked both ways. It'd feed her tactical data, and in return it allowed her to control ancillary systems at the speed of thought. Internal temperature, sound processed by the suit, and radio communications were all adjustable by mere whim, meaning that all it took for Lisset to ping her fireteam was the simple thought of doing so. If it wasn't for the fact that she had an extremely high chance of being shot at in the next five minutes, Lisset might have found it almost wondrous. "This is Lisset, the drop point is clear."
She spoke clearly, her eyes never wavering from her surroundings. It was a cold looking steppe, and behind her was a sheer cliff face that must have dropped off for a hundred meters or more, leveling out into a valley that stretched on into the distance for miles. Around here were a mix of nature and of rusted shacks that might have fulfilled some grand purpose once upon a time, but were now simply relics of a long-past era. There was sadness mixed with the beauty of the place, a lost opportunity summed up in the massive colony ships, with their equally huge bulbous fuel tanks stacked one on top of the other, sitting uselessly in the distance. More than that, though, there was a hidden danger, and the echoing howls of Fallen only reminded the Hunter of that.
"We're coming down now." Basilisk warned, a second before the roar of his ship's engines split the still. His craft was an angular looking ship, a Tower-made Regulus 22a. They were made using Golden Age specifications, but the technology at hand couldn't even dream of matching what was used in making the originals. Still, despite their origins, they cut an imposing figure as Basilisk's drifted down to a halt just above Lisset. There was a flash of blue light, and suddenly there stood the Titan, his pulse rifle in hand. As the Regulus streaked away, Koga's Arcadia came swooping in like some massive blue-and-gold bird, and didn't even pause for a moment as the Warlock materialized. Lisset raised an eyebrow under her helmet; it was a bit of showmanship she didn't expect from the man.
"It appears we are all here." Koga started, his hand holding a heavy-looking revolver to his side. "What now?" Basilisk didn't respond at first, as he quickly glanced about the area. As soon as he finished getting his bearings, he raised his hand and opened his palm. From it appeared his Ghost, who hovered into the center of the group.
"Boudica, any leads?" The Titan asked. The Ghost beeped as she processed the request.
"A Guardian ship was shot down recently in this area." She replied, stoically. Out of the corner of her eye, Lisset notice Koga nervously shuffle his foot at that. The news wasn't exactly morale-raising. If Boudica noticed, she didn't act like she did. "If the Fallen haven't scavenged it completely, we might be able to see if there's any intel worth looking at." Basilisk nodded as Boudica vanished back into his armor.
"Alright, here's the plan." He said, the Exo pointing at Lisset with an open, knife shaped left hand. "Hunter, I want you to push ahead of us, try to clear out our flank as we secure the crash site." His hand then pointed at Koga. "Warlock, you're sticking with me." Basilisk put his hand down, putting it back on his rifle. "Our landing will have attracted a lot of attention, so let's get this done quick, okay?" Koga and Lisset nodded, and without another word, she turned and started moving down the ridgeline away from the others. She didn't look back as she readied her Trax Callum.
= = = = = = =
Basilisk watched as Lisset took off like a rabbit before turning back to Koga. The man stood there, revolver in hand, with a stiff pose. "So, you've been here before?" Basilisk asked, trying to keep things light. The Warlock nodded slowly.
"Yes, I have." He gestured to the massive Wall looming against the horizon. "My Ghost found me on the other side." Koga stared out blankly, thinking. "I was lucky to find a ship. The Fallen were hunting for me from the moment I was Risen."
"Well, this time you're not alone." Basilisk replied. The Titan scanned the area, trying to plan his next move. A crash site shouldn't be all that difficult to find, or so he hoped. If the Fallen had picked apart the debris, it would make their lives a whole lot harder. As soon as he started looking, a small white triangle had appeared at the edge of his motion tracker, pointing off into the distance.
"I just pushed you a waypoint, sending it to the team." Boudica interrupted, before falling silent again. The Ghost was not much of a conversationalist, but she knew how to handle herself out on the frontier.
"Thanks." The Exo replied, before waving his offhand in the direction of the objective. "Come on, then; that crash-site won't secure itself." Koga hefted his revolver up from its resting position at his side, grabbing it with both hands and taking off the safety.
"Lead the way." The Warlock said. Basilisk didn't need any encouragement. Hefting his pulse rifle, the Titan began to follow the path around the rocky outcroppings that made up the area, careful to stay clear of the sheer cliff face to his left. Almost immediately, his motion tracker went off, and a heartbeat later a patrol rounded the corner. A Vandal, Dreg, and Shank appeared, wary and armed. Basilisk didn't let them have the chance to think, lobbing his grenade into the mix. The flashbang went off with a resounding bang, and the guards were sent flying. The Shank in particular spun madly out of control before smashing into the ground with a crash. "Looks like we are not alone." Koga muttered.
"Yeah, we're not." Basilisk replied. He kept moving without skipping a beat, passing by the scorched mark on the earth where his grenade had detonated. As he made a right around a mound of stone, the road bent down into the earth, where it continued next to a massive steel object jutting out of the ground. There was a drag mark behind it, like someone had taken the thing and scooped it along the terrain like some toddler in a sandbox. Smoke drifted lazily from it, barely perceptible against the afternoon sky. Next to it were some extremely aggravated Fallen, who quickly spotted the Titan and began firing. Basilisk rolled out of the way, finding respite behind some ancient debris, as blue bolts of plasma curved by.
Koga rounded the corner Basilisk had rounded only a second ago, and raised his magnum to his eyes. The heavy Duke Mk. 10 hand cannon roared twice as Koga aimed for the chest of one of the distant Vandals. The thing screeched as the bullets impacted with the force of a freight train, and it collapsed backwards into the dust. Basilisk poked carefully around the lip of his cover and sighted up one of the other Vandals, but before he pulled the trigger he noticed three Dregs trying to rush the Guardians' position. "Watch it!" He shouted, before quickly turning the pulse rifle on them. Three quick pulls of the trigger, and the aliens went down wordlessly, though not before one of them lobbed a stick grenade at the Titan. It landed next to him, and beeped alarmingly as its detonation sequence ticked closer to firing. Without thinking, Basilisk jumped backwards and to the ground, and almost immediately the Fallen weapon exploded with a hiss of electricity.
"Are you okay?" Koga shouted as he fired his Duke again, blindly hoping to nick one of the guards.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Basilisk yelled back, unsteadily getting back to his feet and behind cover. "How many more of them?"
"None." Koga replied, and then suddenly darted forward without warning.
"Hey, wait!" Basilisk shouted, but the Warlock didn't seem to hear. The Shank and Vandal remaining immediately focused their fire on Koga, their rounds impacting against his armor with splashes of blue and yellow. His Light defended him, but it couldn't take a pounding forever. Koga didn't give them the chance, suddenly sliding underneath the Shank he had been running at and slamming his palm against it. The drone exploded out from the opposite side, mechanical parts flying everywhere as it smashed into the ground in a heap. Enraged, the last Fallen rushed forward, but the Warlock merely stood and delivered a single shot into its cranium at point blank range. An eerie silence followed, punctuated only by the sound of Koga reloading his revolver. Basilisk walked over to where he stood, next to what was unmistakably the smoldering ruin of a Guardian ship, dumbfounded. "Where the hell did that come from?" He managed, shocked.
"It was a risk." Koga replied, humbly. "I am glad my shield lasted for as long as it did, and that the Vandal decided to run at me rather than simply shoot me." Basilisk shook his head in disbelief.
"Well, now I know how you made it out of here in the first place." He muttered, before turning to face the crashed ship. The thing was a tangled mess, the nose bent up at a horrid angle from the impact, as was the dorsal fins. Despite this, the craft was shockingly in one piece; a testament to Holliday's engineering, or at least the schematics all Tower-made ships were produced from. Koga opened his hand, and his Ghost appeared, floating off to examine the thing. Once he got close, Kita began to fire a blue beam at some exposed wiring.
"The avionics are catatonic, but I can cull their last transmission." Kita announced. "No sign of pilot or Ghost. Maybe they made it out?" Somehow, Basilisk doubted that.
"Play the recording, Kita." Koga said, softly. The Ghost beeped, and a second later it began to play. The acoustics were awful, but that was to be suspected when dealing with a black box recorder. Basilisk could barely make out the words at all, but it was impossible to ignore the sound of an explosion, alarms playing in the cockpit, then everything falling all to quiet all too suddenly.
"I didn't get anything from that." Basilisk admitted. Even though he was more machine than man by a massive margin, he still wasn't a supercomputer. No more so than the average human, at least. Thankfully, a Ghost had no such shortcomings.
"If I'm understanding this correctly, they managed to restore an information hub here, down in the tunnels below." Kita stated, before floating back to Koga's awaiting hand.
"Any idea how to get to the tunnels?" Basilisk asked Boudica, who had been silently listening. The Ghost paused a moment before feeding another waypoint.
"Be warned, there's likely a patrol waiting for you down there." She noted, concerned as always, and she was more than probably right. The Fallen liked their nooks, their little corners of the universe where they could feel safe and alone.
"I just pushed you a waypoint, sending it to the team." Boudica interrupted, before falling silent again. The Ghost was not much of a conversationalist, but she knew how to handle herself out on the frontier.
"Thanks." The Exo replied, before waving his offhand in the direction of the objective. "Come on, then; that crash-site won't secure itself." Koga hefted his revolver up from its resting position at his side, grabbing it with both hands and taking off the safety.
"Lead the way." The Warlock said. Basilisk didn't need any encouragement. Hefting his pulse rifle, the Titan began to follow the path around the rocky outcroppings that made up the area, careful to stay clear of the sheer cliff face to his left. Almost immediately, his motion tracker went off, and a heartbeat later a patrol rounded the corner. A Vandal, Dreg, and Shank appeared, wary and armed. Basilisk didn't let them have the chance to think, lobbing his grenade into the mix. The flashbang went off with a resounding bang, and the guards were sent flying. The Shank in particular spun madly out of control before smashing into the ground with a crash. "Looks like we are not alone." Koga muttered.
"Yeah, we're not." Basilisk replied. He kept moving without skipping a beat, passing by the scorched mark on the earth where his grenade had detonated. As he made a right around a mound of stone, the road bent down into the earth, where it continued next to a massive steel object jutting out of the ground. There was a drag mark behind it, like someone had taken the thing and scooped it along the terrain like some toddler in a sandbox. Smoke drifted lazily from it, barely perceptible against the afternoon sky. Next to it were some extremely aggravated Fallen, who quickly spotted the Titan and began firing. Basilisk rolled out of the way, finding respite behind some ancient debris, as blue bolts of plasma curved by.
Koga rounded the corner Basilisk had rounded only a second ago, and raised his magnum to his eyes. The heavy Duke Mk. 10 hand cannon roared twice as Koga aimed for the chest of one of the distant Vandals. The thing screeched as the bullets impacted with the force of a freight train, and it collapsed backwards into the dust. Basilisk poked carefully around the lip of his cover and sighted up one of the other Vandals, but before he pulled the trigger he noticed three Dregs trying to rush the Guardians' position. "Watch it!" He shouted, before quickly turning the pulse rifle on them. Three quick pulls of the trigger, and the aliens went down wordlessly, though not before one of them lobbed a stick grenade at the Titan. It landed next to him, and beeped alarmingly as its detonation sequence ticked closer to firing. Without thinking, Basilisk jumped backwards and to the ground, and almost immediately the Fallen weapon exploded with a hiss of electricity.
"Are you okay?" Koga shouted as he fired his Duke again, blindly hoping to nick one of the guards.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Basilisk yelled back, unsteadily getting back to his feet and behind cover. "How many more of them?"
"None." Koga replied, and then suddenly darted forward without warning.
"Hey, wait!" Basilisk shouted, but the Warlock didn't seem to hear. The Shank and Vandal remaining immediately focused their fire on Koga, their rounds impacting against his armor with splashes of blue and yellow. His Light defended him, but it couldn't take a pounding forever. Koga didn't give them the chance, suddenly sliding underneath the Shank he had been running at and slamming his palm against it. The drone exploded out from the opposite side, mechanical parts flying everywhere as it smashed into the ground in a heap. Enraged, the last Fallen rushed forward, but the Warlock merely stood and delivered a single shot into its cranium at point blank range. An eerie silence followed, punctuated only by the sound of Koga reloading his revolver. Basilisk walked over to where he stood, next to what was unmistakably the smoldering ruin of a Guardian ship, dumbfounded. "Where the hell did that come from?" He managed, shocked.
"It was a risk." Koga replied, humbly. "I am glad my shield lasted for as long as it did, and that the Vandal decided to run at me rather than simply shoot me." Basilisk shook his head in disbelief.
"Well, now I know how you made it out of here in the first place." He muttered, before turning to face the crashed ship. The thing was a tangled mess, the nose bent up at a horrid angle from the impact, as was the dorsal fins. Despite this, the craft was shockingly in one piece; a testament to Holliday's engineering, or at least the schematics all Tower-made ships were produced from. Koga opened his hand, and his Ghost appeared, floating off to examine the thing. Once he got close, Kita began to fire a blue beam at some exposed wiring.
"The avionics are catatonic, but I can cull their last transmission." Kita announced. "No sign of pilot or Ghost. Maybe they made it out?" Somehow, Basilisk doubted that.
"Play the recording, Kita." Koga said, softly. The Ghost beeped, and a second later it began to play. The acoustics were awful, but that was to be suspected when dealing with a black box recorder. Basilisk could barely make out the words at all, but it was impossible to ignore the sound of an explosion, alarms playing in the cockpit, then everything falling all to quiet all too suddenly.
"I didn't get anything from that." Basilisk admitted. Even though he was more machine than man by a massive margin, he still wasn't a supercomputer. No more so than the average human, at least. Thankfully, a Ghost had no such shortcomings.
"If I'm understanding this correctly, they managed to restore an information hub here, down in the tunnels below." Kita stated, before floating back to Koga's awaiting hand.
"Any idea how to get to the tunnels?" Basilisk asked Boudica, who had been silently listening. The Ghost paused a moment before feeding another waypoint.
"Be warned, there's likely a patrol waiting for you down there." She noted, concerned as always, and she was more than probably right. The Fallen liked their nooks, their little corners of the universe where they could feel safe and alone.
"With me, Warlock." Basilisk barked, raising his rifle again. Koga didn't say a word as he moved with him, the two heading straight for a large rusted building surrounded by the wrecks of ancient vehicles. Nature had reclaimed them, as it had most of the place. Still, the faded paint on their sides, legible despite the centuries, read the same as many other signs in the Cosmodrome: "РФБА". The words underneath, presumably the definition of the acronym, were unfortunately written in the same, indecipherable language. The Exo made a mental note to ask a Cryptarch about it some other time.
The building proper was more like a garage or loading dock, with a large area exposed to the outside world. In the back, however, was an ancient staircase that led into the space beneath. "That must be the entrance." Koga muttered.
"I'm not getting anything on my tracker." Basilisk frowned. "I doubt the Fallen up and left; keep your guard up." The Warlock made a quick inspection of his Duke in reply, making sure the weapon was fully loaded. Sure, he gave a quick nod to the Titan, who returned the gesture. "Go ahead and take point." Basilisk said, moving out of Koga's way. "Your hand cannon is a lot less unwieldy in close quarters than my rifle."
"Understood." Koga stepped forward, and began to slowly descend the steps, one foot at a time. The old metal creaked and groaned in ways that were far from comforting for the man, but nothing gave way. The stairway led to a landing that was quite empty, but there was yet another flight of stairs straight ahead waiting for them. An odd blue light reflected faintly off the wall next to that stairwell, adding an ethereal air to the otherwise drab rusted ruin.
"Down we go." Basilisk whispered to himself as Koga kept the lead. As the Warlock started down the stairs, he immediately gave a shout as the motion tracker filled with red. The Titan hurried down the stairs to find Koga wrestling with a Vandal attempting to cleave the Guardian's head off with a blade. Basilisk growled as he ripped the alien off of its prey and flung it against the wall with a bone-shattering crunch. Another attempted to avenge its partner, screaming in its tongue, but the Exo merely kicked it to the ground before finishing it with a burst from his rifle.
With the chaos over, Basilisk turned and extended his arm to Koga, who was dazed on the floor. The Warlock gratefully took it, and was wrenched back onto his feet. "Are you okay?" The Titan asked. Koga brushed down his simple robes, smiling sheepishly under his helmet.
"Yes, only a touch stunned." He admitted. "It moved so fast, I had no chance to fire."
"Well, you're still alive, so you did fine." Basilisk clapped the Warlock on the shoulder before taking a chance to look at their surroundings. The room was small, but there were tall boxes of equipment dividing the space into thirds. At the far end of the room, opposite the stairs, there was a dividing wall, and behind that was what looked like a massive computer monitor.
"The operating lights are still on." Koga remarked, fascinated. "How could there be running power in a place this dilapidated?" Basilisk shrugged. It was a good question, but he had no idea what the answer was. The Warlock's attention was drawn to the screen in the back. As they got closer, Koga seemed struck by recognition. "A map?" He muttered, before pulling out his Ghost.
"This is exactly what we needed." Kita announced, as he happily floated to the controls beneath the screen. "Let me try to access the facility's inventory. It should let us know where to look." The Ghost fired its blue interface beam at the console, which beeped and buzzed. On the map, a green arrow appeared over a small structure in the lower corner of the map. Kita stopped what he was doing to look up at it. "Well, I've got good news and bad news."
"Positives first." Koga asked, his voice calm.
"I have found a NLS drive. It's in Hangar Thirteen, where we found the Arcadia." Kita answered.
"And the bad?" Basilisk pressed. Kita turned to look at him.
"Security records say that the place is currently... Occupied."
"He means Fallen, and a lot of them." Boudica interrupted. "And our Hunter is about to walk right into them."
+ + + + + + +
Lisset moved as quietly as she could from one piece of cover to the next. It was hard to ignore the firefight that had occurred only a few minutes prior, and even harder not to notice the sudden surge of Fallen forces into the Steppes. Two Skiffs had appeared, flying low over the buildings before stopping at the entrance to a large building. The structure was elevated, accessible by a simple staircase, and the Skiffs were parked right above that single access route. From the dropships came two packs of Fallen, armed to the teeth and looking quite agitated. "What're we looking at here, Dal?" Lisset hissed, peering through the sights of her scout rifle.
"I detect eight total; two Vandals, two Shanks, and the rest are Dregs." The Ghost replied quickly. "We should be able to engage most of them safely from range. If we wait any longer, more reinforcements are likely to come." Lisset nodded, and tried to line up the shot. It was no good: the distance was simply too much, and the basic scout rifle she had been armed with lacked the proper magnification optics that would make shooting at this distance practical. She would need to close the gap somewhat in order for her irons to do the trick.
"Well, let's get to it then." She muttered, getting up from her prone position and into a low crouch. Carefully, she moved forward, keeping her profile about as low as she could. The Fallen weren't moving anywhere, just standing about, weapons in hand. They seemed to be waiting for something, or maybe someone, and they didn't look like they were about to move on before it arrived. The Hunter grimaced as she took her position new position, now considerably closer to her targets. She took a bead on the first of the two Vandals, lining up the shot as carefully as she could. Her first shot would be the one that the Fallen wouldn't see coming. The second would be the one that the enemy would react to with force. Both would have to kill the leaders if she was to stand a good chance.
Lisset stilled her breath, her lungs paused where they were, as she rested her Trax's sights on the Vandal's head, and softly squeezed the trigger. The scout rifle bucked, and the round had deadly deadly impact, the Vandal's head disintegrating into white mist before her eyes. The reaction was immediate; the Fallen began to panic, scrambling for cover. She turned her rifle to the next Vandal, moving to a large truck covered in moss to protect itself. Another squeeze of the trigger, and it never made it to its destination. Almost immediately after firing that second time, bolts of angry blue light hissed towards her, an overwhelming volley of massed and frenzied fire aimed at the Corsair. "Damn!" She shouted as she ducked behind her low cover. Most of the shots impacted uselessly against the earth, but she could feel one or two splay against her Light. The barrage showed no sign of halting, and her shields continued to drain. She needed to shock them, keep them off guard. It was time to try something new.
It had taken her the better part of her week at the Tower to learn the trick, but it was a damned good one. Lisset stood, firing her scout rifle at the two Shanks. Each hit earned another kill, the drones spiraling to the ground uselessly, but the incoming fire from the four remaining Dregs continued. With both of the machines dead, Lisset made her play. Swapping to her shotgun, a poor replacement for her sidearm, but replacement none-the-less, the Hunter let out her most fearsome battlecry as she sprinted forward towards the Dregs. The Fallen seemed to pause, their fire halted for an instant, as they were caught off guard. Then, they simply turned their fire towards the rapidly approaching target. Round after round hit her failing shields, but Lisset kept moving. At the last possible second, she jumped-then she jumped again. She could feel the world warp beneath her as her Light made the impossible possible, and she felt a sudden sympathy for the crow, the world beneath her feet as she soared. The Dregs looked up, stunned, and were met with the roar of her Preacher. The shotgun obliterated the first target, then the one behind it. The remaining two turned to run, the first going down almost immediately from her weapon, the next being run down and thrown to the ground before taking a knife to its back for its troubles.
The air stilled, the two Skiffs that had churned the old place's turf long since gone. It was just her now, alone with her Ghost, as she stood triumphant. She could remember what Cayde had told her echoing about in her head, about thinking outside the box. As insufferable as the man was, the old Exo had been right. The Dregs had expected the power and fury of a Guardian, but they hadn't expected the impossibility of one. As the adrenaline of the fight flooded away, she grinned a toothy grin, sliding shells into her shotgun pumping the action. For now, this little corner of the Cosmodrome was hers, but the mysterious building in front of her still remained unexplored. It was high time that someone changed that, Lisset thought, and she used her world-bending jump to scale the ten-feet gap between the ground and a torn-away section of the wall, allowing her to bypass the stairs the Fallen had died defending. "What is this place?" She asked no one in particular, as she got her surroundings. The building was completely dilapidated, or at least this section of it. Through the door right in front of her, she could make out very little of the chambers ahead, only that they were decently lit and curved deeper into the facility.
"Tower records refer to it as 'Hangar Thirteen.'" Dal replied, his voice somewhat unsure. "Information beyond that is rather scarce, unfortunately. At one point, this is probably where they stored equipment or a small utility craft."
"And maybe an NLS drive?" Lisset added. She began to move forward, shotgun at the ready, heading for the door into the hangar complex. "We might just get lucky." Her Ghost was far less confident than the Hunter was.
"I think we ought to be more concerned about why the Fallen threw a squad at the doorway." Dal muttered to himself. "Lead the way, I suppose." Lisset rolled her eyes, and pushed through, heading through a room that had collapsed perhaps centuries before. The floor had caved in on itself, a pit that revealed some of the piping and electric work hidden beneath the tile.
"I'm amazed as much of this place exists as it does." Lisset noted. "One would think the entire Cosmodrome would look like this after centuries of decay."
"The people of the Golden Age built things to last." Dal answered. "You aren't wrong, though; I would expect more decay than what we're seeing. It's almost as if it's being preserved to some extent."
"Huh." Lisset muttered. "Seems like a bit of a waste of effort to me; it'd be far more efficient to just leave this place to rot and set up somewhere else rather than try to rebuild." She climbed over the pit, moving through yet another doorway, which revealed a low staircase.
"Perhaps, though there is something to be said for the work done by those who have come before-" Suddenly, the Ghost was interrupted by another voice, one that was unmistakably an Exo.
"Hunter, stop!" Basilisk shouted through comms. "You're walking right into a horde of Fallen!" At that moment, her motion tracker burned bright red in the direction of the area just beyond the stairs and a large doorway. Something massive laughed in a booming roar. Lisset could feel the blood draining away from her cheeks as she hurriedly backed up the stairs and behind something solid.
An Archon Priest was here.
- - - - - - -
Koga hurried as fast as he could to Lisset's position, taking advantage of the beachhead that she had created for them through her one-woman offensive. Basilisk was right behind, following the Warlock while at the same time screening every possible direction with his rifle in case the Hunter had missed something during her assault. It didn't take long for the two of them to find Lisset, who was gripping her rifle so tight that Koga could swear she was bending plasteel. "Lisset, are you okay?" He asked, to which she nodded.
"There's an Archon in there." She said breathlessly. "Do either of you know what that is?" Koga slowly shook his head, as did Basilisk.
"An Archon is a high ranking member of Fallen society." Boudica interrupted, appearing again over their heads. "If he is here, then the Fallen intend to kill us. They probably knew that we'd be coming to this structure since we arrived." Koga grimaced at that thought; it was a bit too directed for the House of Devils to deploy one of their best to a random hangar in the middle of the Cosmodrome.
"What do Archons look like?" The Warlock prodded. Boudica turned to him, and beeped before replying as she thought to phrase a description.
"First, they're massive. Fallen rely on a substance known as Ether to survive, which can effect their mass and height in a variety of ways depending on how much they consume. Archons are near the top, so they get more than almost any other, hence them being massive. Expect ten feet tall at the very least." Boudica paused before continuing, and Koga couldn't help but notice Lisset's grasp on her rifle grip tighter. She seemed more than a little aware of what an Archon was, and while her fear wasn't crippling, it was strong enough to tense her up like an iron bar. "Second, they tend to wear better armor and use heavier equipment than other Fallen. I believe the Archon Priest for House Devils wears a massive pronged helmet with multiple red 'eyes', which allow for-" Koga held up his hand, stopping the Ghost in her tracks. His suspicions were right on the money.
"That thing is not here for us." He said, his voice low. "When Kita and I escaped from the Cosmodrome, I saw a massive Fallen with that exact description attempting to shoot me down as we left. I think it is here to kill me, revenge for my escape." He raised his hand cannon, and looked over at Basilisk. "Do you think we can kill it?"
"I don't see much of a choice." The Titan replied, readying his Psi. "If we want that drive, we're going to have to get through this bastard. We'll just need to fight together if we're gonna stand a chance." Boudica floated back to her Guardian, fizzling into his armor as the Exo continued. "Here's the plan; Koga, this thing wants you specifically, so you're going to be bait. Keep its attention on you, and keep in cover. I'll try to make a dent in it, and I want Lisset keeping any of its friends off my back. Understood?" He looked around at the others. Koga gave a simple thumbs-up, a gesture that felt natural somehow, while Lisset merely nodded her agreement. "Alright, let's go." The Titan gripped his rifle tight, and started down the stairs, with Koga following close behind. Lisset took up the rear, her shotgun in hand and ready to go.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the landing, the three rushed to cover behind sections of the wall between them and the hangar proper. In his mind's eye, Koga could still see where the Arcadia had been, trussed up by wires, when he had fled the Cosmodrome only seven days prior. Now, a massive beast of an alien stood in its place, holding a weapon that was as big as the Warlock. The Archon looked around, occasionally sniffing at the air, while three or four Vandals, plus one Captain, scuttled about at its feet. "Big crowd." Kita muttered, concerned.
"It's nothing that we can't handle." Basilisk replied. "On three." A pause, and Koga readied a grenade in his hand. "One." The void energy swirled in his grasp, calling for release. "Two." Lisset pulled out a shock grenade of her own, which beeped softly. Basilisk, meanwhile, put his rifle on his shoulder and readied his own Preacher. Curiously, the weapon hung to his side, leaving the Titan barehanded.
"What are you-" Koga started to ask, but was cut off when Basilisk sprinted forward.
"Three!" The Exo yelled in a battle-fury, before jumping up, hands locked as one. The Archon spun in place, shocked, as did the two Vandals at its feet, and before it could do a thing, the Titan hit the ground with a roar like thunder. The ground erupted in arc light, exploding outwards with the fury of a bomb around the Titan. The two Vandals disintegrated into ash, burning away in fierce blue light, but the Archon itself seemed considerably less than amused. Before it could fire, Koga rounded the corner and fired his Duke into the thing's chest.
"Over here!" He shouted, his voice barely audible over the din of weapons fire, alien shouts, and the crackle of arc-channeled Light. The Archon turned on a dime, and immediately spat shards of solar fury at the Warlock as soon as it saw Koga standing there. Despite being blown back by the Titan, the thing had plenty of fight left, and its rage was quickly fixated on the Guardian who had dared escape it. As the monster moved closer, Koga fired a few more rounds from his Duke before sprinting away, moving to better cover. Off in the other side of the room, a Captain swung its blades at Lisset, who deftly ducked underneath and obliterated one of the alien's legs with a shotgun blast, before letting the Preacher finish its dirge with a pull to the head. Basilisk, meanwhile, began peppering the Archon's thick armor with shotgun rounds, but to little effect.
"This thing is tough!" Basilisk shouted, pulling back into cover to reload. "I can't tell if we did a thing to it!" The ground exploded at Koga's feet as the Archon fired at him, the heavy weapon in its hands belching fire every time the Fallen pulled the trigger. Lisset swapped back to her scout rifle, and began firing at the Archon's helmet, but her rounds bounced off of the thick plating; the thing was practically bulletproof.
"Anyone got any ideas?" Lisset shouted, reloading before firing again, desperate to get a shot through the armor. A flash of inspiration struck Koga as he ran, finishing the reload on his own weapon. He could remember the book sitting on his bed, the one that he had spent hours pouring through at Ikora's request. A book about the Void, and how to channel it. The Warlock stopped running, and turned to face the Archon. The monster seemed to be amused, and stopped firing, though it didn't stop moving forward, one heavy footfall at a time.
"I have one." Koga growled, before closing his eyes. In his hand, he could feel the energy of the Void churn and grow in his palm, a storm of null energy growing larger and larger as he focused. The Archon barked some insult in its tongue, but there was fear in its voice now, and it began to haphazardly fire its cannon at Koga. The explosions rippled across his Light, but Koga paid no attention.
"Koga, what are you doing?" Lisset yelled, firing her scout rifle in an attempt to draw the Archon away. "You'll be killed!"
"No." Koga replied, his eyes snapping open. "But this will be." With that, he thrust his hand forward, the momentum caring him forward. The ball of purple energy surged from his hand where it had been forming, and streaked towards the Archon with a whistle. For a second, Koga could almost feel the air grow hotter just before the nova bomb hit its target. There was a world-shaking boom as it detonated, the Archon screaming for just half a second before its entire form was consumed in purple light before vanishing entirely. The beast had been destroyed by the power of the deepest of forces in the universe, wielded by a once-dead man armed with Light and knowledge. There was a pause for a second as the two other Guardians and their Ghosts tried to process what happened. Then, Basilisk let out a triumphant shout.
"Hot damn, that was incredible!" The Exo shouted as loudly as he could, rushing over to the Warlock's side to punch the man in the arm in exaltation. "What was that? How did you do that?"
"I could ask you the same about what you did, Basilisk." Koga replied, dimly. His mind swam as he tried to gather back his senses. He felt quite drained; releasing so much Light all at once took something out of a Guardian. The Exo didn't seem to even process the statement, laughing as he took in the victory. Koga felt a tap against his back, and he turned to see Lisset, who had her arms crossed.
"Nice work, Koga." The Corsair said, trying to sound aloof. It didn't quite work; it was hard not to be impressed when someone vaporized their foe in an instant.
"Thank you, Lisset." The Warlock replied, smiling under his helmet. He gave a simple bow to the Hunter, who returned the gesture as gracefully as she could before turning away to examine the room.
"Now, about that warp drive." She muttered, before pulling out her Ghost. Dal hovered about for a second, before Koga let Kita join his comrade. It didn't take long for there to be a result.
"We can thank our Fallen friends for this one." Kita announced cheerfully. "Looks like the Archon found one by accident, and left it lying around for the taking." The two Ghosts floated back to their Guardians as the group caught its collective breath. "We just killed an Archon, and we got the warp drive." The Ghost continued, hovering over the Warlock's palm. "This could cripple the House of Devils. Without their Archon, there'll be a power struggle for sure."
"As for now, let's check in with Zavala." Basilisk interjected. The sound of engines echoed in the wind as the Guardian's starships approached. "Good work, everyone. Let's go home." With a brief chill, the world vanished before Koga's eyes, only to reappear back in the cockpit of the Arcadia. He smiled, staring at the world sprawled out before him.
"Good work indeed." He repeated, before setting a course for home.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset moved as quietly as she could from one piece of cover to the next. It was hard to ignore the firefight that had occurred only a few minutes prior, and even harder not to notice the sudden surge of Fallen forces into the Steppes. Two Skiffs had appeared, flying low over the buildings before stopping at the entrance to a large building. The structure was elevated, accessible by a simple staircase, and the Skiffs were parked right above that single access route. From the dropships came two packs of Fallen, armed to the teeth and looking quite agitated. "What're we looking at here, Dal?" Lisset hissed, peering through the sights of her scout rifle.
"I detect eight total; two Vandals, two Shanks, and the rest are Dregs." The Ghost replied quickly. "We should be able to engage most of them safely from range. If we wait any longer, more reinforcements are likely to come." Lisset nodded, and tried to line up the shot. It was no good: the distance was simply too much, and the basic scout rifle she had been armed with lacked the proper magnification optics that would make shooting at this distance practical. She would need to close the gap somewhat in order for her irons to do the trick.
"Well, let's get to it then." She muttered, getting up from her prone position and into a low crouch. Carefully, she moved forward, keeping her profile about as low as she could. The Fallen weren't moving anywhere, just standing about, weapons in hand. They seemed to be waiting for something, or maybe someone, and they didn't look like they were about to move on before it arrived. The Hunter grimaced as she took her position new position, now considerably closer to her targets. She took a bead on the first of the two Vandals, lining up the shot as carefully as she could. Her first shot would be the one that the Fallen wouldn't see coming. The second would be the one that the enemy would react to with force. Both would have to kill the leaders if she was to stand a good chance.
Lisset stilled her breath, her lungs paused where they were, as she rested her Trax's sights on the Vandal's head, and softly squeezed the trigger. The scout rifle bucked, and the round had deadly deadly impact, the Vandal's head disintegrating into white mist before her eyes. The reaction was immediate; the Fallen began to panic, scrambling for cover. She turned her rifle to the next Vandal, moving to a large truck covered in moss to protect itself. Another squeeze of the trigger, and it never made it to its destination. Almost immediately after firing that second time, bolts of angry blue light hissed towards her, an overwhelming volley of massed and frenzied fire aimed at the Corsair. "Damn!" She shouted as she ducked behind her low cover. Most of the shots impacted uselessly against the earth, but she could feel one or two splay against her Light. The barrage showed no sign of halting, and her shields continued to drain. She needed to shock them, keep them off guard. It was time to try something new.
It had taken her the better part of her week at the Tower to learn the trick, but it was a damned good one. Lisset stood, firing her scout rifle at the two Shanks. Each hit earned another kill, the drones spiraling to the ground uselessly, but the incoming fire from the four remaining Dregs continued. With both of the machines dead, Lisset made her play. Swapping to her shotgun, a poor replacement for her sidearm, but replacement none-the-less, the Hunter let out her most fearsome battlecry as she sprinted forward towards the Dregs. The Fallen seemed to pause, their fire halted for an instant, as they were caught off guard. Then, they simply turned their fire towards the rapidly approaching target. Round after round hit her failing shields, but Lisset kept moving. At the last possible second, she jumped-then she jumped again. She could feel the world warp beneath her as her Light made the impossible possible, and she felt a sudden sympathy for the crow, the world beneath her feet as she soared. The Dregs looked up, stunned, and were met with the roar of her Preacher. The shotgun obliterated the first target, then the one behind it. The remaining two turned to run, the first going down almost immediately from her weapon, the next being run down and thrown to the ground before taking a knife to its back for its troubles.
The air stilled, the two Skiffs that had churned the old place's turf long since gone. It was just her now, alone with her Ghost, as she stood triumphant. She could remember what Cayde had told her echoing about in her head, about thinking outside the box. As insufferable as the man was, the old Exo had been right. The Dregs had expected the power and fury of a Guardian, but they hadn't expected the impossibility of one. As the adrenaline of the fight flooded away, she grinned a toothy grin, sliding shells into her shotgun pumping the action. For now, this little corner of the Cosmodrome was hers, but the mysterious building in front of her still remained unexplored. It was high time that someone changed that, Lisset thought, and she used her world-bending jump to scale the ten-feet gap between the ground and a torn-away section of the wall, allowing her to bypass the stairs the Fallen had died defending. "What is this place?" She asked no one in particular, as she got her surroundings. The building was completely dilapidated, or at least this section of it. Through the door right in front of her, she could make out very little of the chambers ahead, only that they were decently lit and curved deeper into the facility.
"Tower records refer to it as 'Hangar Thirteen.'" Dal replied, his voice somewhat unsure. "Information beyond that is rather scarce, unfortunately. At one point, this is probably where they stored equipment or a small utility craft."
"And maybe an NLS drive?" Lisset added. She began to move forward, shotgun at the ready, heading for the door into the hangar complex. "We might just get lucky." Her Ghost was far less confident than the Hunter was.
"I think we ought to be more concerned about why the Fallen threw a squad at the doorway." Dal muttered to himself. "Lead the way, I suppose." Lisset rolled her eyes, and pushed through, heading through a room that had collapsed perhaps centuries before. The floor had caved in on itself, a pit that revealed some of the piping and electric work hidden beneath the tile.
"I'm amazed as much of this place exists as it does." Lisset noted. "One would think the entire Cosmodrome would look like this after centuries of decay."
"The people of the Golden Age built things to last." Dal answered. "You aren't wrong, though; I would expect more decay than what we're seeing. It's almost as if it's being preserved to some extent."
"Huh." Lisset muttered. "Seems like a bit of a waste of effort to me; it'd be far more efficient to just leave this place to rot and set up somewhere else rather than try to rebuild." She climbed over the pit, moving through yet another doorway, which revealed a low staircase.
"Perhaps, though there is something to be said for the work done by those who have come before-" Suddenly, the Ghost was interrupted by another voice, one that was unmistakably an Exo.
"Hunter, stop!" Basilisk shouted through comms. "You're walking right into a horde of Fallen!" At that moment, her motion tracker burned bright red in the direction of the area just beyond the stairs and a large doorway. Something massive laughed in a booming roar. Lisset could feel the blood draining away from her cheeks as she hurriedly backed up the stairs and behind something solid.
An Archon Priest was here.
- - - - - - -
Koga hurried as fast as he could to Lisset's position, taking advantage of the beachhead that she had created for them through her one-woman offensive. Basilisk was right behind, following the Warlock while at the same time screening every possible direction with his rifle in case the Hunter had missed something during her assault. It didn't take long for the two of them to find Lisset, who was gripping her rifle so tight that Koga could swear she was bending plasteel. "Lisset, are you okay?" He asked, to which she nodded.
"There's an Archon in there." She said breathlessly. "Do either of you know what that is?" Koga slowly shook his head, as did Basilisk.
"An Archon is a high ranking member of Fallen society." Boudica interrupted, appearing again over their heads. "If he is here, then the Fallen intend to kill us. They probably knew that we'd be coming to this structure since we arrived." Koga grimaced at that thought; it was a bit too directed for the House of Devils to deploy one of their best to a random hangar in the middle of the Cosmodrome.
"What do Archons look like?" The Warlock prodded. Boudica turned to him, and beeped before replying as she thought to phrase a description.
"First, they're massive. Fallen rely on a substance known as Ether to survive, which can effect their mass and height in a variety of ways depending on how much they consume. Archons are near the top, so they get more than almost any other, hence them being massive. Expect ten feet tall at the very least." Boudica paused before continuing, and Koga couldn't help but notice Lisset's grasp on her rifle grip tighter. She seemed more than a little aware of what an Archon was, and while her fear wasn't crippling, it was strong enough to tense her up like an iron bar. "Second, they tend to wear better armor and use heavier equipment than other Fallen. I believe the Archon Priest for House Devils wears a massive pronged helmet with multiple red 'eyes', which allow for-" Koga held up his hand, stopping the Ghost in her tracks. His suspicions were right on the money.
"That thing is not here for us." He said, his voice low. "When Kita and I escaped from the Cosmodrome, I saw a massive Fallen with that exact description attempting to shoot me down as we left. I think it is here to kill me, revenge for my escape." He raised his hand cannon, and looked over at Basilisk. "Do you think we can kill it?"
"I don't see much of a choice." The Titan replied, readying his Psi. "If we want that drive, we're going to have to get through this bastard. We'll just need to fight together if we're gonna stand a chance." Boudica floated back to her Guardian, fizzling into his armor as the Exo continued. "Here's the plan; Koga, this thing wants you specifically, so you're going to be bait. Keep its attention on you, and keep in cover. I'll try to make a dent in it, and I want Lisset keeping any of its friends off my back. Understood?" He looked around at the others. Koga gave a simple thumbs-up, a gesture that felt natural somehow, while Lisset merely nodded her agreement. "Alright, let's go." The Titan gripped his rifle tight, and started down the stairs, with Koga following close behind. Lisset took up the rear, her shotgun in hand and ready to go.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the landing, the three rushed to cover behind sections of the wall between them and the hangar proper. In his mind's eye, Koga could still see where the Arcadia had been, trussed up by wires, when he had fled the Cosmodrome only seven days prior. Now, a massive beast of an alien stood in its place, holding a weapon that was as big as the Warlock. The Archon looked around, occasionally sniffing at the air, while three or four Vandals, plus one Captain, scuttled about at its feet. "Big crowd." Kita muttered, concerned.
"It's nothing that we can't handle." Basilisk replied. "On three." A pause, and Koga readied a grenade in his hand. "One." The void energy swirled in his grasp, calling for release. "Two." Lisset pulled out a shock grenade of her own, which beeped softly. Basilisk, meanwhile, put his rifle on his shoulder and readied his own Preacher. Curiously, the weapon hung to his side, leaving the Titan barehanded.
"What are you-" Koga started to ask, but was cut off when Basilisk sprinted forward.
"Three!" The Exo yelled in a battle-fury, before jumping up, hands locked as one. The Archon spun in place, shocked, as did the two Vandals at its feet, and before it could do a thing, the Titan hit the ground with a roar like thunder. The ground erupted in arc light, exploding outwards with the fury of a bomb around the Titan. The two Vandals disintegrated into ash, burning away in fierce blue light, but the Archon itself seemed considerably less than amused. Before it could fire, Koga rounded the corner and fired his Duke into the thing's chest.
"Over here!" He shouted, his voice barely audible over the din of weapons fire, alien shouts, and the crackle of arc-channeled Light. The Archon turned on a dime, and immediately spat shards of solar fury at the Warlock as soon as it saw Koga standing there. Despite being blown back by the Titan, the thing had plenty of fight left, and its rage was quickly fixated on the Guardian who had dared escape it. As the monster moved closer, Koga fired a few more rounds from his Duke before sprinting away, moving to better cover. Off in the other side of the room, a Captain swung its blades at Lisset, who deftly ducked underneath and obliterated one of the alien's legs with a shotgun blast, before letting the Preacher finish its dirge with a pull to the head. Basilisk, meanwhile, began peppering the Archon's thick armor with shotgun rounds, but to little effect.
"This thing is tough!" Basilisk shouted, pulling back into cover to reload. "I can't tell if we did a thing to it!" The ground exploded at Koga's feet as the Archon fired at him, the heavy weapon in its hands belching fire every time the Fallen pulled the trigger. Lisset swapped back to her scout rifle, and began firing at the Archon's helmet, but her rounds bounced off of the thick plating; the thing was practically bulletproof.
"Anyone got any ideas?" Lisset shouted, reloading before firing again, desperate to get a shot through the armor. A flash of inspiration struck Koga as he ran, finishing the reload on his own weapon. He could remember the book sitting on his bed, the one that he had spent hours pouring through at Ikora's request. A book about the Void, and how to channel it. The Warlock stopped running, and turned to face the Archon. The monster seemed to be amused, and stopped firing, though it didn't stop moving forward, one heavy footfall at a time.
"I have one." Koga growled, before closing his eyes. In his hand, he could feel the energy of the Void churn and grow in his palm, a storm of null energy growing larger and larger as he focused. The Archon barked some insult in its tongue, but there was fear in its voice now, and it began to haphazardly fire its cannon at Koga. The explosions rippled across his Light, but Koga paid no attention.
"Koga, what are you doing?" Lisset yelled, firing her scout rifle in an attempt to draw the Archon away. "You'll be killed!"
"No." Koga replied, his eyes snapping open. "But this will be." With that, he thrust his hand forward, the momentum caring him forward. The ball of purple energy surged from his hand where it had been forming, and streaked towards the Archon with a whistle. For a second, Koga could almost feel the air grow hotter just before the nova bomb hit its target. There was a world-shaking boom as it detonated, the Archon screaming for just half a second before its entire form was consumed in purple light before vanishing entirely. The beast had been destroyed by the power of the deepest of forces in the universe, wielded by a once-dead man armed with Light and knowledge. There was a pause for a second as the two other Guardians and their Ghosts tried to process what happened. Then, Basilisk let out a triumphant shout.
"Hot damn, that was incredible!" The Exo shouted as loudly as he could, rushing over to the Warlock's side to punch the man in the arm in exaltation. "What was that? How did you do that?"
"I could ask you the same about what you did, Basilisk." Koga replied, dimly. His mind swam as he tried to gather back his senses. He felt quite drained; releasing so much Light all at once took something out of a Guardian. The Exo didn't seem to even process the statement, laughing as he took in the victory. Koga felt a tap against his back, and he turned to see Lisset, who had her arms crossed.
"Nice work, Koga." The Corsair said, trying to sound aloof. It didn't quite work; it was hard not to be impressed when someone vaporized their foe in an instant.
"Thank you, Lisset." The Warlock replied, smiling under his helmet. He gave a simple bow to the Hunter, who returned the gesture as gracefully as she could before turning away to examine the room.
"Now, about that warp drive." She muttered, before pulling out her Ghost. Dal hovered about for a second, before Koga let Kita join his comrade. It didn't take long for there to be a result.
"We can thank our Fallen friends for this one." Kita announced cheerfully. "Looks like the Archon found one by accident, and left it lying around for the taking." The two Ghosts floated back to their Guardians as the group caught its collective breath. "We just killed an Archon, and we got the warp drive." The Ghost continued, hovering over the Warlock's palm. "This could cripple the House of Devils. Without their Archon, there'll be a power struggle for sure."
"As for now, let's check in with Zavala." Basilisk interjected. The sound of engines echoed in the wind as the Guardian's starships approached. "Good work, everyone. Let's go home." With a brief chill, the world vanished before Koga's eyes, only to reappear back in the cockpit of the Arcadia. He smiled, staring at the world sprawled out before him.
"Good work indeed." He repeated, before setting a course for home.
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