Destiny, Episode VI: Skywatch
Previous Episode: Episode V, Restoration
Next Episode: Side Episode I, Mare Imbrium
The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 010
Next Episode: Side Episode I, Mare Imbrium
The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 010
The news of Devil Archon Riksis' death spread like wildfire throughout the Tower as soon as the Fireteam returned from the Cosmodrome. It was hard to ignore the looks that the three of them got, especially when it came from a Guardian. They had become miniature celebrities in the span of a day, and not one of the three were quite sure how they felt about that. Koga appreciated that the installation of the NLS drive onto his Arcadia was quietly bumped up to the front of the line, and Lisset had been embarrassed publicly more than once by Cayde-6's boasting. It was Basilisk who felt the best about what had happened, though. He had delivered the news to Commander Zavala himself, and the approving nod he had gotten when the debriefing was concluded felt like a pile of weights had been cast off of his shoulders. The Titan had passed his first test, and that was something to celebrate. The three of them had shared drinks in a small little corner of the Tower Hangar, and waited for their next assignment.
The first news to reach them was that all three of them were getting new room assignments, which was to say that they were being piled into one space. As far as the Tower was concerned, they were a proper Fireteam now, and that meant that they got the big rooms. The apartment was a nice one, with a living room, bathroom, and three bedrooms for each of the members of the team. The view wasn't all that bad either, overlooking the City and the Traveler hanging quietly above. It was a reward for a job well done, but no one was deluded into thinking that they could rest on their laurels. With the fame came an expectation, and as the days passed without incident, it was hard not to think about what they would be asked of next.
Basilisk had spent the time training, as was his custom, but he had spent a little less time on the range and a little more time shadowing some of the more veteran Titans, asking for advice over leadership, warfighting, and using one's Light. Boudica had silently taken notes, and it became a regular occurrence for him to run through them with her every night before recharging. The nightmares remained regular, too, and although Basilisk had expected every time he had come out of the cycle eyes wide open she'd say something, the Ghost had stayed ominously quiet. She was concerned, that was obvious, but Basilisk couldn't understand why she wasn't making that known anymore. He had intended himself to ask some of the older Exos about the nightmares, but whenever he had wanted to actually pose the question, some part of him held himself back. Perhaps she had been more fruitful in her attempts to understand, but if she had learned something, Basilisk had the horrible feeling that it had scared her quiet.
The others had kept up their own routine, with the three of them meeting typically in the late evening as they unwound for the night. Discussions were brief, and usually were about some extraordinary thing that they had encountered during the day, but occasionally they would talk about tactics, coordination, and the like. As far as teambuilding went, Basilisk hardly rated it as a strenuous exercise, but as the nights passed, the tense attitude that three strangers had between each other had begun to fade into a comfortable familiarity. It had been during one of those discussions that the Ghosts made a simultaneous beep that echoed around the room. A message had been sent to the three of them, arriving at the exact same moment, with the communiqué stamped with Zavala's ID. They were needed in the Hall.
- - - - - - -
Koga followed Basilisk and Lisset through the Tower, making their way up to where the Vanguard held their regular sessions. Ikora wasn't there that night, nor was Cayde, leaving Zavala as the lone sentinel for the evening. The look on the aged Awoken's face was as calm as ever, but he seemed slightly more stiff than usual, his shoulders taught. Something had gotten the man's attention, but it hadn't been concern enough to call the other mentors to session. Basilisk came to a halt between Koga and Zavala, and snapped a quick salute, which was returned. "You sent for us, Commander?" Basilisk asked, evenly. The massive Titan gave a slow nod in affirmation.
"I just received a transmission from a veteran scout of ours, Shiro-4. He is reporting that the House of Devils has begun to reposition troops throughout the Cosmodrome." Zavala paused before continuing. Koga heard a quiet psst in his ear, and turned slightly to see Kita floating there.
"The Fallen don't generally mobilize in large numbers unless something important is happening." The Ghost whispered.
"What do you think it is?" The Warlock replied, his voice hushed. The Ghost simply spun in place, unsure of what to say, Kita's closest equivalent to a shrug.
"According to Shiro, one of the locations being fortified is the old Lunar Array Station, in the Skywatch complex." Zavala continued, his voice echoing through the empty room. "These facilities once connected the Cosmodrome to the rest of the System. If the Fallen are establishing themselves there, they might be trying to screen a high value target or important piece of salvage."
"What do you want us to do, sir?" Lisset interrupted, a determined look on her face. The Corsair hadn't said much to Koga about what she had done with them, but the few times she had mentioned them, she had noted that recon work had always been her speciality. A situation like this was her bread and butter. The Commander turned his eyes onto her, his lips taut, before turning back to Basilisk.
"Titan Basilisk, I want you to take your Fireteam and infiltrate the Fallen defensive perimeter." His voice had become lower, a booming commanding tone to fit what he had to say. Koga had to admit, the man's knowledge of the subtleties of speech was as impressive as his armor. "Strike any targets of opportunity you uncover, but if you become engaged by a larger force than you can manage, fall back to Shiro's position and await reinforcements. This is recon work first, assault second. That will come later." Basilisk nodded, but stayed quiet as his superior concluded by standing up to his full height, arms behind his back. "May the Traveler protect you, Guardians. Good luck, and know that the Speaker himself is watching this operation."
Basilisk saluted, which was returned, and the three began to walk away, but Zavala's words bounced about in Koga's mind. The Speaker himself, the Commander had said. The man was enigmatic, working and living almost exclusively in his observatory in the northern section of the Tower, but Koga knew little of him. Rumor had it that the man was a prophet of some kind, capable of understanding the Traveler itself, but whether or not that was true was not for Koga to know. Either way, the man was the lynchpin of Guardian society, a religious leader in many aspects, and Zavala looked up to him as such. To have someone as important as that taking notice of what they were about to do was to be expected given the Fireteam's newfound fame, but it was hard not to wonder why a simple task such as this would merit his attention. There was something missing, but Koga did not know what.
+ + + + + + +
It had been three days since Lisset had last stepped foot on the Steppes of the Cosmodrome, but as she scanned the horizon, her Galliot streaking up and away from the landing zone, it didn't seem like much had changed. The death of Riksis had caused upheaval for the House of Devils, but the scavengers had thankfully not taken out that rage and fear upon the environment. The Corsair found the whole thing ironic; an invading force had been defeated by the defenders, but they were incapable of returning in kind by destroying anything vital they could find because they needed those things as much as the City did. Perhaps that was why they were making a push to secure the Skywatch, she mused. "What're we looking at?" Lisset asked her Ghost.
"I'm not detecting any movement. The Fallen seem to have abandoned this area since you swept it." Dal replied. "I've been receiving periodic text updates from Shiro's Ghost. It seems that Fallen comms have gotten suspiciously quiet at Skywatch." She raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"I wonder what they're hiding..." She muttered, as she commed her teammates. "DZ is clear, team. Come on down." A few seconds later, Koga and Basilisk came screaming out from the horizon, fizzling into reality as their jumpships soared upwards at a speed several times faster than sound. Their roar was something that Lisset could feel her heart tremble to-a reassuring sensation, reminding her that she really was alive again. There had been days where she had wondered if she was just a corpse with feelings, simulating life, but to feel her chest shudder in sympathy, and it beat faster in response, was a sensation she treasured. "What's the plan, Basilisk?" She asked, her Trax in hand.
"We'll try to move as quick as possible to the Lunar Station." The Titan replied, lowering his pulse rifle to his side. "We've got a fair amount of ground to cover, and the Fallen are tightening their security by the minute." As he mentioned his teammates' names, his hand pointed to them in turn. "Lisset, I want you on point. Lead us past any patrols, and let us know if we need to make our presence known. I'd rather we didn't, though. Koga, I want you on my side. If we encounter something heavy, I'm going to need you to pull that little magic trick of yours." The Warlock nodded, smiling underneath his helmet. The nova bomb, as it was called, was a hell of a weapon, and Koga seemed to take more than a little cathartic pleasure from releasing it. Lisset smiled tautly herself, her hand patting the blade holstered to her chestplate. She had been working on a little surprise of her own. With the roles given, Basilisk raised his rifle, and looked over to the Hunter. "Lead us out." He said, and that was all the encouragement she needed to start moving.
The ground crunched beneath the soles of her boots as she moved quickly through the frigid terrain. Snow dotted the ground, a product of the Cosmodrome's vicinity to the mountains, but there wasn't enough for it to be a hinderance. She moved at practically full jog as she moved past where Basilisk and Koga had engaged the Fallen trying to scour the downed Guardian ship. The craft was gone, though Lisset wasn't sure if it had been the Tower or the Fallen that had managed to secure it in the end. She hoped the former; the wreck was bad, but it wasn't impossible to repair something like that. The City could use everything they could get their hands on.
As Lisset moved, she paused only when about to cross a large open space, taking her time to scan for contact. When she was sure there was none, she started again, continuing in her relentless advance through the Cosmodrome. While earlier, the Fireteam had gone east, towards Hangar 13, this time they were moving west. As soon as a few obscuring structures got out of the way, Lisset could see their objective looming in the distance. The Skywatch was a massive compound of buildings, each adorned with large radial dishes and antennae that were meant to monitor and study, and all of them had been built on a hill that dominated the plains. It was as imposing as it was breathtaking.
Continuing forward, the Hunter reached a steep decline down into what looked like some ancient runoff canal of some sort. The roadway looped through it, which she found odd, but the direct approach was the quicker one. Without hesitation, she jumped, and let herself skid down the slope to the bottom, before doing it yet again to reach the very bottom of the pit. Dal suddenly chimed in.
"You know, this place must have been amazing before the Collapse." The Ghost said, his voice somber. "Thousands of humans boarding colony ships, off to board cities beyond." As he spoke, Lisset stared up at the massive starships left rotting at their launchpads against the horizon, and let her imagination take her away for a moment. She could see them in their full glory, crystals of ice falling from their sides like a rain of white as they rose on top of a plume of fire. She shook the image away, but a pang of sadness stayed with her. This was a graveyard now, where potential had come to die.
The first news to reach them was that all three of them were getting new room assignments, which was to say that they were being piled into one space. As far as the Tower was concerned, they were a proper Fireteam now, and that meant that they got the big rooms. The apartment was a nice one, with a living room, bathroom, and three bedrooms for each of the members of the team. The view wasn't all that bad either, overlooking the City and the Traveler hanging quietly above. It was a reward for a job well done, but no one was deluded into thinking that they could rest on their laurels. With the fame came an expectation, and as the days passed without incident, it was hard not to think about what they would be asked of next.
Basilisk had spent the time training, as was his custom, but he had spent a little less time on the range and a little more time shadowing some of the more veteran Titans, asking for advice over leadership, warfighting, and using one's Light. Boudica had silently taken notes, and it became a regular occurrence for him to run through them with her every night before recharging. The nightmares remained regular, too, and although Basilisk had expected every time he had come out of the cycle eyes wide open she'd say something, the Ghost had stayed ominously quiet. She was concerned, that was obvious, but Basilisk couldn't understand why she wasn't making that known anymore. He had intended himself to ask some of the older Exos about the nightmares, but whenever he had wanted to actually pose the question, some part of him held himself back. Perhaps she had been more fruitful in her attempts to understand, but if she had learned something, Basilisk had the horrible feeling that it had scared her quiet.
The others had kept up their own routine, with the three of them meeting typically in the late evening as they unwound for the night. Discussions were brief, and usually were about some extraordinary thing that they had encountered during the day, but occasionally they would talk about tactics, coordination, and the like. As far as teambuilding went, Basilisk hardly rated it as a strenuous exercise, but as the nights passed, the tense attitude that three strangers had between each other had begun to fade into a comfortable familiarity. It had been during one of those discussions that the Ghosts made a simultaneous beep that echoed around the room. A message had been sent to the three of them, arriving at the exact same moment, with the communiqué stamped with Zavala's ID. They were needed in the Hall.
- - - - - - -
Koga followed Basilisk and Lisset through the Tower, making their way up to where the Vanguard held their regular sessions. Ikora wasn't there that night, nor was Cayde, leaving Zavala as the lone sentinel for the evening. The look on the aged Awoken's face was as calm as ever, but he seemed slightly more stiff than usual, his shoulders taught. Something had gotten the man's attention, but it hadn't been concern enough to call the other mentors to session. Basilisk came to a halt between Koga and Zavala, and snapped a quick salute, which was returned. "You sent for us, Commander?" Basilisk asked, evenly. The massive Titan gave a slow nod in affirmation.
"I just received a transmission from a veteran scout of ours, Shiro-4. He is reporting that the House of Devils has begun to reposition troops throughout the Cosmodrome." Zavala paused before continuing. Koga heard a quiet psst in his ear, and turned slightly to see Kita floating there.
"The Fallen don't generally mobilize in large numbers unless something important is happening." The Ghost whispered.
"What do you think it is?" The Warlock replied, his voice hushed. The Ghost simply spun in place, unsure of what to say, Kita's closest equivalent to a shrug.
"According to Shiro, one of the locations being fortified is the old Lunar Array Station, in the Skywatch complex." Zavala continued, his voice echoing through the empty room. "These facilities once connected the Cosmodrome to the rest of the System. If the Fallen are establishing themselves there, they might be trying to screen a high value target or important piece of salvage."
"What do you want us to do, sir?" Lisset interrupted, a determined look on her face. The Corsair hadn't said much to Koga about what she had done with them, but the few times she had mentioned them, she had noted that recon work had always been her speciality. A situation like this was her bread and butter. The Commander turned his eyes onto her, his lips taut, before turning back to Basilisk.
"Titan Basilisk, I want you to take your Fireteam and infiltrate the Fallen defensive perimeter." His voice had become lower, a booming commanding tone to fit what he had to say. Koga had to admit, the man's knowledge of the subtleties of speech was as impressive as his armor. "Strike any targets of opportunity you uncover, but if you become engaged by a larger force than you can manage, fall back to Shiro's position and await reinforcements. This is recon work first, assault second. That will come later." Basilisk nodded, but stayed quiet as his superior concluded by standing up to his full height, arms behind his back. "May the Traveler protect you, Guardians. Good luck, and know that the Speaker himself is watching this operation."
Basilisk saluted, which was returned, and the three began to walk away, but Zavala's words bounced about in Koga's mind. The Speaker himself, the Commander had said. The man was enigmatic, working and living almost exclusively in his observatory in the northern section of the Tower, but Koga knew little of him. Rumor had it that the man was a prophet of some kind, capable of understanding the Traveler itself, but whether or not that was true was not for Koga to know. Either way, the man was the lynchpin of Guardian society, a religious leader in many aspects, and Zavala looked up to him as such. To have someone as important as that taking notice of what they were about to do was to be expected given the Fireteam's newfound fame, but it was hard not to wonder why a simple task such as this would merit his attention. There was something missing, but Koga did not know what.
+ + + + + + +
It had been three days since Lisset had last stepped foot on the Steppes of the Cosmodrome, but as she scanned the horizon, her Galliot streaking up and away from the landing zone, it didn't seem like much had changed. The death of Riksis had caused upheaval for the House of Devils, but the scavengers had thankfully not taken out that rage and fear upon the environment. The Corsair found the whole thing ironic; an invading force had been defeated by the defenders, but they were incapable of returning in kind by destroying anything vital they could find because they needed those things as much as the City did. Perhaps that was why they were making a push to secure the Skywatch, she mused. "What're we looking at?" Lisset asked her Ghost.
"I'm not detecting any movement. The Fallen seem to have abandoned this area since you swept it." Dal replied. "I've been receiving periodic text updates from Shiro's Ghost. It seems that Fallen comms have gotten suspiciously quiet at Skywatch." She raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"I wonder what they're hiding..." She muttered, as she commed her teammates. "DZ is clear, team. Come on down." A few seconds later, Koga and Basilisk came screaming out from the horizon, fizzling into reality as their jumpships soared upwards at a speed several times faster than sound. Their roar was something that Lisset could feel her heart tremble to-a reassuring sensation, reminding her that she really was alive again. There had been days where she had wondered if she was just a corpse with feelings, simulating life, but to feel her chest shudder in sympathy, and it beat faster in response, was a sensation she treasured. "What's the plan, Basilisk?" She asked, her Trax in hand.
"We'll try to move as quick as possible to the Lunar Station." The Titan replied, lowering his pulse rifle to his side. "We've got a fair amount of ground to cover, and the Fallen are tightening their security by the minute." As he mentioned his teammates' names, his hand pointed to them in turn. "Lisset, I want you on point. Lead us past any patrols, and let us know if we need to make our presence known. I'd rather we didn't, though. Koga, I want you on my side. If we encounter something heavy, I'm going to need you to pull that little magic trick of yours." The Warlock nodded, smiling underneath his helmet. The nova bomb, as it was called, was a hell of a weapon, and Koga seemed to take more than a little cathartic pleasure from releasing it. Lisset smiled tautly herself, her hand patting the blade holstered to her chestplate. She had been working on a little surprise of her own. With the roles given, Basilisk raised his rifle, and looked over to the Hunter. "Lead us out." He said, and that was all the encouragement she needed to start moving.
The ground crunched beneath the soles of her boots as she moved quickly through the frigid terrain. Snow dotted the ground, a product of the Cosmodrome's vicinity to the mountains, but there wasn't enough for it to be a hinderance. She moved at practically full jog as she moved past where Basilisk and Koga had engaged the Fallen trying to scour the downed Guardian ship. The craft was gone, though Lisset wasn't sure if it had been the Tower or the Fallen that had managed to secure it in the end. She hoped the former; the wreck was bad, but it wasn't impossible to repair something like that. The City could use everything they could get their hands on.
As Lisset moved, she paused only when about to cross a large open space, taking her time to scan for contact. When she was sure there was none, she started again, continuing in her relentless advance through the Cosmodrome. While earlier, the Fireteam had gone east, towards Hangar 13, this time they were moving west. As soon as a few obscuring structures got out of the way, Lisset could see their objective looming in the distance. The Skywatch was a massive compound of buildings, each adorned with large radial dishes and antennae that were meant to monitor and study, and all of them had been built on a hill that dominated the plains. It was as imposing as it was breathtaking.
Continuing forward, the Hunter reached a steep decline down into what looked like some ancient runoff canal of some sort. The roadway looped through it, which she found odd, but the direct approach was the quicker one. Without hesitation, she jumped, and let herself skid down the slope to the bottom, before doing it yet again to reach the very bottom of the pit. Dal suddenly chimed in.
"You know, this place must have been amazing before the Collapse." The Ghost said, his voice somber. "Thousands of humans boarding colony ships, off to board cities beyond." As he spoke, Lisset stared up at the massive starships left rotting at their launchpads against the horizon, and let her imagination take her away for a moment. She could see them in their full glory, crystals of ice falling from their sides like a rain of white as they rose on top of a plume of fire. She shook the image away, but a pang of sadness stayed with her. This was a graveyard now, where potential had come to die.
From the bottom of the gulley, Lisset worked her way back to the top, scrambling up the other side. She took full advantage of being a Guardian, however, while doing so; whenever she could, she would jump, then feel the space beneath her feet warp and churn before she jumped again. It felt good to be able to climb a hill in less than a minute without touching the ground all too often. The others behind her followed in her example, but neither of them seemed to possess the same ability that she had. Basilisk had arced forward in a steep parabola, energy whistling as he went, while Koga had gracefully floated forward, gliding up and down like a bird in the wind.
As Lisset reached the top, she quickly got low to the ground and began to sneak forward, looking for a good piece of high ground. There was a small rocky bluff off to her left, and she beat a path for it the moment she noticed it. Clambering on top, she raised her scout rifle and peered through the sights. The area before her was nice, flat terrain, but the space was cluttered with debris. Half a dozen massive aircraft, rusted and in pieces, blanketed the landscape like the carcasses of ancient dragons. Watching silently above them was Skywatch, and tracking through the bones made of steel were dozens of Fallen.
"I'm seeing multiple patrols." Lisset reported, slowly tracking her rifle about to scan the whole area. "There's enough cover to where we might be able to sneak through, but it might be best to push straight down the middle." She squinted to help her distance vision, and she noticed a winding access road in the distance that led up to the mesa the complex was built on.
"The longer we take, the stronger the Fallen will be." Koga said over comms. "I do not think we have much of a choice."
"Agreed." Basilisk replied. "Lisset, come on back to us; I think it's time to show the Fallen what we can really do."
= = = = = = =
The first sign of trouble the Dreg detected was the sound of multiple heavy footfalls in rapid succession. She straightened her back, an adrenaline kick working down her spine, as she tried to look as much like a guard as she could. If a Captain was coming this way, this fast, it was very, very mad, and a Dreg not looking like it was doing its utmost to defend some hulking wreck would get an Arc Sabre for their trouble. But as the footfalls got louder and louder, confusion began to build in the Dreg's mind. The pounding was rapid and forceful, but it didn't sound like a Fallen Captain's shoes at all. In fact, it sounded something like-
Before the Dreg could finish her thought, Basilisk burst into the open and rammed the alien with his shoulder. There was a terrific crack as the blow snapped bones, and the Dreg was sent flying, collapsing on the ground in a heap. The sound did not go unnoticed, and several more Dregs and Vandals began to move to the noise, weapons at the ready. They were met with gunfire, as the Fireteam pushed forward like a freight train. If something poked their head out, they'd be met with withering fire. Of course, that went both ways; blue arc bolts and burning red shards lanced out at the three as they pushed right down the middle, smacking against the ground and shields alike.
"Captain on the right!" Lisset shouted as a caped figure hopped down from the top of a rusted hulk. She began to fire at the Fallen, but her rounds dissipated uselessly against its shield.
"I've got it!" Basilisk shouted, lobbing his flashbang the Captain's way. There was a subtle tink as the explosive bounced to its feet, before a blinding flash and a bang that rattled the ancient airplane husks. The Captain's shields disintegrated in the face of the explosion, and a quick double tap by Basilisk put the alien down. Two more Dregs rushed out from a cave dug into the rock, grenades in hand. They were met by two shots from Koga's cannon, their ether flowing out like a spigot with a low hiss.
Before the Dreg could finish her thought, Basilisk burst into the open and rammed the alien with his shoulder. There was a terrific crack as the blow snapped bones, and the Dreg was sent flying, collapsing on the ground in a heap. The sound did not go unnoticed, and several more Dregs and Vandals began to move to the noise, weapons at the ready. They were met with gunfire, as the Fireteam pushed forward like a freight train. If something poked their head out, they'd be met with withering fire. Of course, that went both ways; blue arc bolts and burning red shards lanced out at the three as they pushed right down the middle, smacking against the ground and shields alike.
"Captain on the right!" Lisset shouted as a caped figure hopped down from the top of a rusted hulk. She began to fire at the Fallen, but her rounds dissipated uselessly against its shield.
"I've got it!" Basilisk shouted, lobbing his flashbang the Captain's way. There was a subtle tink as the explosive bounced to its feet, before a blinding flash and a bang that rattled the ancient airplane husks. The Captain's shields disintegrated in the face of the explosion, and a quick double tap by Basilisk put the alien down. Two more Dregs rushed out from a cave dug into the rock, grenades in hand. They were met by two shots from Koga's cannon, their ether flowing out like a spigot with a low hiss.
With the last of the Dregs down, an eerie silence fell over this corner of the Cosmodrome. "Alright, reload your kit." Basilisk muttered into comms. The sound of metallic clacks was nearly entirely obscured by the rush of a strong breeze as the group let used magazines slide free of their mounts and slapped in new ones. Koga spun his revolver's cylinder when he finished, checking for any damage to the weapon. When all fell quiet again, Basilisk took point. "On me, team." He ordered, his pulse rifle dissipating to make way for a bulky Preacher-series shotgun. Lisset, noting this decision, did the same.
Koga glanced at the Preacher, then up at the structure looming over them. "What defenses do you expect in there?" He asked. Basilisk shrugged.
"I think what we pushed through were their defenses." The Titan answered. "Whatever is left in there is going to be either some scavengers, or the guard of some Fallen HVT." He pumped the shotgun, readying it in his hands, before pointing at a dilapidated staircase. "We go up that, we should be right at the building. After that, we find a door, or we make one."
Lisset didn't do anything other than nod before scrambling up the stairs. Basilisk gaped, about to say something, but clamped his mouth shut. Even if he needed a second still to be ready didn't mean that his team needed to be held down by him. He merely readied his shotgun and clambered up after her, Koga not far behind.
- - - - - - -
The entrance to the Lunar Array was a simple double doorway, the doors long gone from centuries of neglect. Beyond it, Koga could see walls that were peeling and crumbling away, panels discarded on the floor where they had fallen from the ceiling. As with the other buildings in the Cosmodrome, utility lights were still, impossibly, working, shining an eerie blue light against the abandoned halls.
"It's quiet." Kita muttered to his Guardian, ill-at-ease. "Too quiet." The Warlock nodded. There was something not right about any of this. There weren't any more Fallen howls echoing, either across the flat plains of the Mothyards or inside the structure.
"Did they retreat?" Koga asked, following close behind Basilisk and Lisset as they tentatively began to walk inside.
"I don't know." Basilisk answered. His voice was a low, nervous growl-Koga wasn't the only one on edge. "Keep sharp; once we reach the center of the building, we'll comm the Commander and get out of here." The Warlock gave a quick nod, and gripped his cannon tighter. In the corner of his eye, he watched as Lisset did the same to her Preacher.
The only sounds that echoed in the dead space was the sound of their footsteps as they pressed through the building, following the hallways wherever they led them. Eventually the walls opened up to reveal a slightly larger space, empty as the others had been. On the far side of the room was a metal security shutter draped over a doorway.
"Koga, get that door open." Basilisk ordered, scanning the room. Koga stepped forward, and in a flash of blue light, Kita appeared beside him. The Ghost floated over to a small panel to the right of the door, and began to scan it with his beam.
"Hm." Kita said as he did his work. "The Fallen locked this door on purpose. They really didn't want anyone getting in."
"Or out." Dal chimed in.
"Or out." Kita repeated, ascenting. "Cracking the seal in five." The seconds passed laboriously, until there was a loud beep from the panel, followed by a low hiss as the shudders retracted.
"What the hell is that?" Lisset exclaimed, taking a step back. A thick gas fumed through the open doorway, a cloud that had been pent up behind the gate and now took advantage of the sudden release in pressure. The stuff moved quietly through the room, and as far as Koga could tell, it was nothing more than a dark cloud. When it settled, the Guardians quickly checked their equipment for damage, but quickly came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong. Their attention returned to the space before them, and what they saw was something unsettlingly alien.
It looked like a sea of black barnacles had covered the entire space, sprawling across the walls and the ceiling. Strange glowing green crystals sat in the corner, humming softly and providing an eerie green pallor to the space. "What is this?" Kita muttered, floating towards them but maintaining his distance. "This is biological in nature, but I don't see how they could of gotten here. They're expelling some kind of gas."
"Probably the gas that flooded the room when we opened the shutter." Boudica interjected, concern in her voice. "Basilisk, I don't think this is the work of the Fallen."
"If not the Fallen, then who?" The Titan replied, surprised. "I don't think this is something Terrestrial." He trailed off, before reading his shotgun. "Alright, Fallen or not, we're going to finish our mission. On me, team." Slowly, Koga and Lisset formed up behind him. The two shared a glance-they were stepping into something very new, and in this world, something very new was something very dangerous.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset gripped her Preacher tightly as the Fireteam rounded the corner and began to climb a rusted set of stairs. The lights got darker and darker as they approached the top. Before Lisset could ask if there was some way to get some light projected, there was a flash of blue as Dal apparated next to her. His eye blinked, then began to shine like a torch. It wasn't night vision, but it'd have to do. As they got closer to the top, her motion sensor spiked. "Woah!" She shouted, stopping and readying her shotgun. The others reacted almost identically, moving off to the side of the stairwell and pointing their weapons for the top of the stairs.
"That was a lot of movement." Dal noted, his voice low. "What is this?" No one had an answer. After a few moments had passed, the group got back into their formation and continued up the stairs before turning left at the summit. Through the narrow beam of their Ghost's lights, Lisset could make out tall boxes that dotted the room, keypads placed upon them to interface some long-forgotten device. More of the barnacles filled the room, but there were no crystals this time to illuminate the space.
"Spread out." Basilisk barked, moving off to the left. "Call out contacts as you see them." Lisset nodded, and kept pacing forward, her Preacher tucked against her shoulder. If something lunged at her, it'd quickly regret its mistake. A moment passed, then two, then three. Then came a scream unlike anything Lisset had ever heard before, and her motion tracker absolutely filled with red. The Hunter spun to face it, and saw a swarm of thin, bone-colored creatures sprinting out of a doorway a few steps above the floor like a wave.
"It's the Hive!" Dal shouted, alarm in his voice.
"Open fire!" Basilisk replied, his Preacher roaring. The light of his muzzle illuminated the creatures better, but Lisset had no time to examine them between ducking out of the way of one of them, its claws glowing blue as it swiped at her. She jumped back before firing her shotgun into its gut. The monster disintegrated as soon as the round hit, forming a pile of ash on the floor where it had been killed. Another ran at her, but was met by another shot by her Preacher. To her left, Koga fired his revolver rapidly into the swarm, each round being met with an unearthly cry as the slugs hit true. There was another howl, and more creatures began pouring out. Again, another one of the beasts tried to claw her mask off, but Lisset let her knife do the talking. The blade became instantly caked in ash as it slashed through the thing's tough skin. It was a natural armor, like the exoskeleton of a bug.
"What are these things?" Koga shouted, switching to his fusion rifle and firing off a burst of powerful blue into the horde.
"Thrall, a swarm of them!" Dal replied, barely audible over the screams of the Hive. "Just keep killing them!"
"You don't have to tell me that!" Lisset yelled, firing her shotgun again, then again. There was a click as her shotgun finally ran dry, and she threw it away to swap back to her scout rifle. The shotgun dissipated before it hit the ground, and as soon as the Corsair had the rifle in hand, she began to fire it as rapidly as she could, aiming each round for the oncoming Thrall's skulls. Each successful shot seemed to spark a firestorm, and the beasts burned away from the inside out, leaving behind not a trace of themselves behind.
The flow of Thrall began to slow, then trickle down to nothing. There were still more Hive in the room, and they made their existence known by firing down at them. Bolts of purple hissed towards the Guardians, impacting against debris and Light alike. "Acolytes." Dal explained as Lisset hurriedly reloaded her scout rifle. "A lot of them. There must be a wizard here-we have to kill it."
"One thing at a time, Dal!" Lisset hissed before rounding the corner, lining up on one of the acolytes. Like its Thrall brethren, this creature also burned away as her bullets struck it in the skull. Basilisk ran forward, his shotgun still in hand, and he blew another Acolyte away with a roar of buckshot. Koga, meanwhile, tossed a grenade their way, which exploded in a deep purple light that cast the room with a faint glow. When the screams finally died away, Lisset moved towards the others, breathing heavy. "What the hell is this? What is the Hive?"
"They're one of the most dangerous enemies the City has." Boudica replied, hovering over Basilisk's shoulder. "We know little about them, but they seem to worship the Darkness and have powers unlike anything we have ever seen. If they are here, then they're here in force. This can't be their only outpost on the planet, let alone in the Cosmodrome."
"We need to alert the Vanguard." Basilisk said, looking at his Ghost. "If the Hive is as dangerous as you say, then we need to react quickly."
"I agree." Kita interjected. "I'll send a message to Shiro's Ghost, and to Zavala." There was another howl, coming from the doorway the Thrall had poured through.
"We need to kill the Wizard. It's running this nest, and if we don't kill it, then we'll have Hive pouring out of here in the hundreds, if not the thousands." Dal stated, determined. "It's up to us to deal with this, for now."
"I agree with Dal." Koga added. "Who knows how dangerous these beasts could be if left to their own devices?" Basilisk sighed, but nodded.
"Alright, let's hurry upstairs, then." The Titan barked. He began to slide slugs into the Preacher, readying for the fight ahead, before turning and starting towards the doorway. Lisset did the same, readying and reloading her own shotgun. Koga, meanwhile, pulled away a spent battery on his fusion rifle before replacing it. The weapon hummed softly, blue light arcing from its barrel.
"I hope you're ready for this." Dal muttered as the Guardians began to move through the doorway and up yet another stairwell.
"Me too." The Hunter said, steeling herself for what she was about to do. As they climbed, the darkness began to yield in the face of some kind of illumination, though Lisset couldn't identify the source until they reached the top. There were two rooms, connected via a large bay door that had been left open, and service lights filled the room with a soft yellow light. As soon as they reached the top, there was a scream, and out came a half-dozen more Thrall sprinting towards the Guardians.
"Scatter!" Basilisk shouted, firing his shotgun into the horde. Koga complied, jumping to the left and firing his fusion rifle with a meaty choom, but Lisset stood still. She reached for the knife against her breastplate, and closed her eyes as she unsheathed it. She was dimly aware of her teammates shouting at her to move, but she drowned them out as she focused. In her mind's eye, she saw a spark of light, then another, then another, until her imagination was filled with a blue light that crackled and hissed. When she opened her eyes, her entire body crackled with energy, Arc Light surrounding her and her blade.
The Hunter lunged forward, knife in hand, at the first Hive before her. Her knife connected with the beast, but she didn't feel a thing as it touched. The monster didn't make a sound as it disintegrated into electric blue light. The Thrall behind it met the same fate, and the Thrall behind that, and then the Acolyte behind them all that was trying to manage the pack. Another rushed forward to take its comrade's place, but it reached the same end. Lisset felt like she was in a trance, hypnotized by the power flowing through her like a live wire.
As suddenly as the power had coursed through her, it stopped, the energy flowing through her dissipating into the ground. The trance ended with it, her mind snapping back to reality with the realization that she felt horribly drained. She moved back behind cover as quickly as she could as she heard something scream at her. The ground where she had been was suddenly filled with a dark gas like the one before, but one that seemed to hiss like it was alive and seeking its prey.
"Lisset, are you okay?" Koga shouted, firing his revolver blindly.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" The Corsair managed after a moment. "I just need a sec."
"You'll get more than that." Basilisk growled, putting away his shotgun and rushing forward.
"Basilisk, what are you doing?" The Warlock yelled at him, shocked.
"You two aren't the only ones without a trick up your sleeves!" The Exo yelled as he broke into a sprint. Between the oncoming fire and the rushing Thrall, Basilisk saw the face of his enemy. A being, clothed in tattered rags and floating a foot off the ground like some kind of phantom, screamed at him, and charged blue energy in its claws, preparing to attack. It never had the chance. The Titan clasped his fists together, and with a shout that shook the room, he jumped and brought them down. There was a crackle as Arc Light formed around him, too, but it was dispelled in a flash of blinding blue light and a roar like the roll of thunder. The explosion rippled around him, disintegrating everything it touched, including the offending Wizard in his path.
The room fell quiet, the soft sparks of Arc dying away. Basilisk slowly walked back to where Lisset was catching her breath, and Koga hurried to join them. "What was that?" The Hunter asked, surprised.
"The 'Fist of Havoc'." Basilisk said, sounding rather pleased with himself. "It's a Titan trick-focus your Light into your fists, and let it shake the world." He looked up at Lisset. "I could ask you the same thing, y'know. It was damned dangerous of you to run out like that."
"Like what you did wasn't just as bad?" She laughed, straightening as her strength returned to her. "Just something that, uh, someone taught me." She paused as she had scrambled not to say a name, but Dal gave a dry glance at her. He knew full well that it had been Cayde who had taught her how to Bladedance. "So, what now?"
"We head back to the Tower." Boudica answered, concern still in her voice. "Leave this for more veteran Guardians."
"Shiro and Zavala both got the message." Kita added. "If the Hive are here, they've come to claim the Earth. They've been waiting for centuries, waiting for their gods to return. I guess this means they're back."
"Gods?" Koga repeated, surprised. "What do you mean, 'gods'?" Kita paused for a moment before replying.
"There's a reason why there's a crack in the Moon."
It looked like a sea of black barnacles had covered the entire space, sprawling across the walls and the ceiling. Strange glowing green crystals sat in the corner, humming softly and providing an eerie green pallor to the space. "What is this?" Kita muttered, floating towards them but maintaining his distance. "This is biological in nature, but I don't see how they could of gotten here. They're expelling some kind of gas."
"Probably the gas that flooded the room when we opened the shutter." Boudica interjected, concern in her voice. "Basilisk, I don't think this is the work of the Fallen."
"If not the Fallen, then who?" The Titan replied, surprised. "I don't think this is something Terrestrial." He trailed off, before reading his shotgun. "Alright, Fallen or not, we're going to finish our mission. On me, team." Slowly, Koga and Lisset formed up behind him. The two shared a glance-they were stepping into something very new, and in this world, something very new was something very dangerous.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset gripped her Preacher tightly as the Fireteam rounded the corner and began to climb a rusted set of stairs. The lights got darker and darker as they approached the top. Before Lisset could ask if there was some way to get some light projected, there was a flash of blue as Dal apparated next to her. His eye blinked, then began to shine like a torch. It wasn't night vision, but it'd have to do. As they got closer to the top, her motion sensor spiked. "Woah!" She shouted, stopping and readying her shotgun. The others reacted almost identically, moving off to the side of the stairwell and pointing their weapons for the top of the stairs.
"That was a lot of movement." Dal noted, his voice low. "What is this?" No one had an answer. After a few moments had passed, the group got back into their formation and continued up the stairs before turning left at the summit. Through the narrow beam of their Ghost's lights, Lisset could make out tall boxes that dotted the room, keypads placed upon them to interface some long-forgotten device. More of the barnacles filled the room, but there were no crystals this time to illuminate the space.
"Spread out." Basilisk barked, moving off to the left. "Call out contacts as you see them." Lisset nodded, and kept pacing forward, her Preacher tucked against her shoulder. If something lunged at her, it'd quickly regret its mistake. A moment passed, then two, then three. Then came a scream unlike anything Lisset had ever heard before, and her motion tracker absolutely filled with red. The Hunter spun to face it, and saw a swarm of thin, bone-colored creatures sprinting out of a doorway a few steps above the floor like a wave.
"It's the Hive!" Dal shouted, alarm in his voice.
"Open fire!" Basilisk replied, his Preacher roaring. The light of his muzzle illuminated the creatures better, but Lisset had no time to examine them between ducking out of the way of one of them, its claws glowing blue as it swiped at her. She jumped back before firing her shotgun into its gut. The monster disintegrated as soon as the round hit, forming a pile of ash on the floor where it had been killed. Another ran at her, but was met by another shot by her Preacher. To her left, Koga fired his revolver rapidly into the swarm, each round being met with an unearthly cry as the slugs hit true. There was another howl, and more creatures began pouring out. Again, another one of the beasts tried to claw her mask off, but Lisset let her knife do the talking. The blade became instantly caked in ash as it slashed through the thing's tough skin. It was a natural armor, like the exoskeleton of a bug.
"What are these things?" Koga shouted, switching to his fusion rifle and firing off a burst of powerful blue into the horde.
"Thrall, a swarm of them!" Dal replied, barely audible over the screams of the Hive. "Just keep killing them!"
"You don't have to tell me that!" Lisset yelled, firing her shotgun again, then again. There was a click as her shotgun finally ran dry, and she threw it away to swap back to her scout rifle. The shotgun dissipated before it hit the ground, and as soon as the Corsair had the rifle in hand, she began to fire it as rapidly as she could, aiming each round for the oncoming Thrall's skulls. Each successful shot seemed to spark a firestorm, and the beasts burned away from the inside out, leaving behind not a trace of themselves behind.
The flow of Thrall began to slow, then trickle down to nothing. There were still more Hive in the room, and they made their existence known by firing down at them. Bolts of purple hissed towards the Guardians, impacting against debris and Light alike. "Acolytes." Dal explained as Lisset hurriedly reloaded her scout rifle. "A lot of them. There must be a wizard here-we have to kill it."
"One thing at a time, Dal!" Lisset hissed before rounding the corner, lining up on one of the acolytes. Like its Thrall brethren, this creature also burned away as her bullets struck it in the skull. Basilisk ran forward, his shotgun still in hand, and he blew another Acolyte away with a roar of buckshot. Koga, meanwhile, tossed a grenade their way, which exploded in a deep purple light that cast the room with a faint glow. When the screams finally died away, Lisset moved towards the others, breathing heavy. "What the hell is this? What is the Hive?"
"They're one of the most dangerous enemies the City has." Boudica replied, hovering over Basilisk's shoulder. "We know little about them, but they seem to worship the Darkness and have powers unlike anything we have ever seen. If they are here, then they're here in force. This can't be their only outpost on the planet, let alone in the Cosmodrome."
"We need to alert the Vanguard." Basilisk said, looking at his Ghost. "If the Hive is as dangerous as you say, then we need to react quickly."
"I agree." Kita interjected. "I'll send a message to Shiro's Ghost, and to Zavala." There was another howl, coming from the doorway the Thrall had poured through.
"We need to kill the Wizard. It's running this nest, and if we don't kill it, then we'll have Hive pouring out of here in the hundreds, if not the thousands." Dal stated, determined. "It's up to us to deal with this, for now."
"I agree with Dal." Koga added. "Who knows how dangerous these beasts could be if left to their own devices?" Basilisk sighed, but nodded.
"Alright, let's hurry upstairs, then." The Titan barked. He began to slide slugs into the Preacher, readying for the fight ahead, before turning and starting towards the doorway. Lisset did the same, readying and reloading her own shotgun. Koga, meanwhile, pulled away a spent battery on his fusion rifle before replacing it. The weapon hummed softly, blue light arcing from its barrel.
"I hope you're ready for this." Dal muttered as the Guardians began to move through the doorway and up yet another stairwell.
"Me too." The Hunter said, steeling herself for what she was about to do. As they climbed, the darkness began to yield in the face of some kind of illumination, though Lisset couldn't identify the source until they reached the top. There were two rooms, connected via a large bay door that had been left open, and service lights filled the room with a soft yellow light. As soon as they reached the top, there was a scream, and out came a half-dozen more Thrall sprinting towards the Guardians.
"Scatter!" Basilisk shouted, firing his shotgun into the horde. Koga complied, jumping to the left and firing his fusion rifle with a meaty choom, but Lisset stood still. She reached for the knife against her breastplate, and closed her eyes as she unsheathed it. She was dimly aware of her teammates shouting at her to move, but she drowned them out as she focused. In her mind's eye, she saw a spark of light, then another, then another, until her imagination was filled with a blue light that crackled and hissed. When she opened her eyes, her entire body crackled with energy, Arc Light surrounding her and her blade.
The Hunter lunged forward, knife in hand, at the first Hive before her. Her knife connected with the beast, but she didn't feel a thing as it touched. The monster didn't make a sound as it disintegrated into electric blue light. The Thrall behind it met the same fate, and the Thrall behind that, and then the Acolyte behind them all that was trying to manage the pack. Another rushed forward to take its comrade's place, but it reached the same end. Lisset felt like she was in a trance, hypnotized by the power flowing through her like a live wire.
As suddenly as the power had coursed through her, it stopped, the energy flowing through her dissipating into the ground. The trance ended with it, her mind snapping back to reality with the realization that she felt horribly drained. She moved back behind cover as quickly as she could as she heard something scream at her. The ground where she had been was suddenly filled with a dark gas like the one before, but one that seemed to hiss like it was alive and seeking its prey.
"Lisset, are you okay?" Koga shouted, firing his revolver blindly.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" The Corsair managed after a moment. "I just need a sec."
"You'll get more than that." Basilisk growled, putting away his shotgun and rushing forward.
"Basilisk, what are you doing?" The Warlock yelled at him, shocked.
"You two aren't the only ones without a trick up your sleeves!" The Exo yelled as he broke into a sprint. Between the oncoming fire and the rushing Thrall, Basilisk saw the face of his enemy. A being, clothed in tattered rags and floating a foot off the ground like some kind of phantom, screamed at him, and charged blue energy in its claws, preparing to attack. It never had the chance. The Titan clasped his fists together, and with a shout that shook the room, he jumped and brought them down. There was a crackle as Arc Light formed around him, too, but it was dispelled in a flash of blinding blue light and a roar like the roll of thunder. The explosion rippled around him, disintegrating everything it touched, including the offending Wizard in his path.
The room fell quiet, the soft sparks of Arc dying away. Basilisk slowly walked back to where Lisset was catching her breath, and Koga hurried to join them. "What was that?" The Hunter asked, surprised.
"The 'Fist of Havoc'." Basilisk said, sounding rather pleased with himself. "It's a Titan trick-focus your Light into your fists, and let it shake the world." He looked up at Lisset. "I could ask you the same thing, y'know. It was damned dangerous of you to run out like that."
"Like what you did wasn't just as bad?" She laughed, straightening as her strength returned to her. "Just something that, uh, someone taught me." She paused as she had scrambled not to say a name, but Dal gave a dry glance at her. He knew full well that it had been Cayde who had taught her how to Bladedance. "So, what now?"
"We head back to the Tower." Boudica answered, concern still in her voice. "Leave this for more veteran Guardians."
"Shiro and Zavala both got the message." Kita added. "If the Hive are here, they've come to claim the Earth. They've been waiting for centuries, waiting for their gods to return. I guess this means they're back."
"Gods?" Koga repeated, surprised. "What do you mean, 'gods'?" Kita paused for a moment before replying.
"There's a reason why there's a crack in the Moon."
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