Destiny, Side Episode I: Mare Imbrium
Previous Episode: Episode VI, Skywatch
Next Episode: Side Episode II, The Speaker
The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 011
Lisset entered her bedroom and collapsed, exhausted, onto the small bed that took up almost all of the area's space. The Fireteam had returned from the Cosmodrome to the Tower almost immediately after the Wizard had been killed, but the very instant they had hit the deck, they were summoned to the Hall of Guardians. The debriefing took nearly three hours, and it had been only a few minutes to midnight when they had arrived at the City. While the Corsair respected the Vanguard's need for information and detail as to this latest of threats, she couldn't help but feel like it had been almost more of an ordeal than the five minute firefight had been.
Her armor fizzled away in blue light, replaced with her simple off-duty clothes, as she flopped onto the bed, her eyes heavy. Dal floated over her, moving slightly about but otherwise remaining unusually quiet. The Ghost had never been nearly as talkative as Koga's was, but for him to so silent for so long reminded Lisset more of rigid, ever-thinking Boudica than it did of the dry, weary Dal. She turned in her bed to look up at him, and watched as the Ghost hovered more or less in place. He wasn't looking at her, but rather seemed to be staring off into the distance, his eye fixated on some imaginary point. Lisset frowned; something was wrong, and he had been like this since he had seen the first signs of the Hive's presence in the Cosmodrome.
"Dal, are you okay?" Lisset asked, hesitantly. Dal seemed to shake himself back to reality, before turning to face his Guardian. If Lisset didn't know any better, she would have thought that the Ghost was surprised she'd ask such a question, and it'd be no surprise he'd feel that way given her "less than cooperative" behavior in the past. "You seem upset about something."
The Ghost didn't speak at first, and Lisset almost wondered if her question had somehow offended Dal, but after a moment he beeped before talking. "I apologize for worrying you," he started, his voice curiously faint. "It's just that... I had hoped it would be a long time until I saw the Hive again." Lisset frowned at that.
"You seem to know a lot about them. More than Kita or Boudica." She replied. The Ghost bobbed slightly, an approximation of a nod.
"I've encountered them before, once. A long time ago." Dal paused, before floating down to where the Corsair lay, hovering level with her head. "Has anyone ever told you about the Battle of Mare Imbrium?" The Hunter shook her head slowly. "It's a region on Luna, and its where the City had its greatest defeat in over four hundred years."
"Were you there?" Lisset spoke gently. The Ghost seemed so distant that it was almost as if he was barely there at all. If she was to keep him comfortable enough to expel his demons, Lisset knew she needed to sound as comforting as she could. She was curious, but as she watched Dal, that need for learning began to be replaced with something much darker: concern. "At the Battle, I mean?" She quickly tagged on to the end.
"I was." Dal answered. He sighed quietly before continuing, and his eye seemed to stare off again into infinity. "It was not long after the Battle of the Burning Lake. The Guardians had managed to defeat a substantial Hive force, and that had emboldened the City's Consensus enough to start pressuring the Vanguard to make a move." Dal scoffed. "Thrice-damned politicians had never seen the outside of the Wall except from the top. They didn't know what the Hive was. Very few did. I don't know what finally convinced Commander Zavala to sign off on the assault, but I know that Lord Shaxx decried it as insane up until the ships launched."
"How many went?" Lisset asked, sitting up in her bed. Dal spun in place, shrugging.
"Thousands." He replied. "Only Six Fronts and Twilight Gap came close to matching it." He paused, his mind drifting as he remembered. He could see as clearly now as he did so long ago the sight of the Sword.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dal floated just inches above the Lunar dust as the battle raged. Purple bolts streaked across the terrain, joined by blue starshapes that were Boomer shots, and interrupted by a myriad of Guardian firearms. It had gone to hell the moment the Guardians had assembled on the Moon's surface. Like someone had opened a tap, thousands of Thrall had rushed out to meet them, followed by half as many Acolytes and even fewer Knights. Massive hulking Ogres roamed the field, firing streams of Void energy from their hidden, mutated eyes.
"Damn it!" He shouted to no one in particular. It wasn't like anyone could hear him: the Moon, despite a Traveler-augmented gravity, still had no atmosphere. The cacaphony of war, and the distressed voice of a Ghost caught in the middle, was lost to the abyss of space. He had come to watch a glorious victory for the City, and take the opportunity to search for his Guardian, but now he very much doubted that he'd make it off this forsaken dead rock alive.
There was a rumble, and something profane began to speak. Words spoken in a tongue as alien as the edge of reality echoed across the wartorn plane of Mare Imbrium, the silence of space parting before the power of the one who spoke. The battle waned, the Hive retreating and drawing back into their caves. No one was fooled. No one thought the battle had been won. Dal watched as hundreds of Guardians prepared for what abomination the Hive would throw at them next.
They did not expect a God.
Dal watched as a Hive Colossus strode the field, bullets impacting uselessly against its glowing green hide. There was unending malice in those three burning yellow eyes, and when it swung its Sword, no Guardian that took its blade stood again.
Dal ran, as did the survivors. Nothing damaged the monster, nothing even fazed it. The call to retreat repeated in a thousand headsets, and a fleet of Guardian ships hurried for Earth, leaving Luna to the enemy. Dal would have been left too, had he not managed to hitch a ride on a Guardian just before he transmatted away. When Dal looked back, he saw a crack in the Moon where Crota had been risen.
He didn't look back again.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset had sat quietly as Dal had told the tale, watching as the Ghost sank slowly down lower and lower before he rested on the bed with her. When he finished, Lisset leaned forward. Gingerly, she scooped Dal into her hands, and lifted him up so that they could see eye to eye. "I know it was hard for you to tell me this." She spoke, softly. "Thank you." There was a pregnant pause, neither Ghost nor Guardian saying a word.
It was Dal who broke the silence. "We should get some rest. I doubt that tonight's debriefing will be the only one." The Corsair nodded, patted Dal on the head, then let the Ghost fly away. "Good night, Lisset."
Lisset smiled sadly back at him. "Good night, Dal." She said, before lying her head against the pillow. Dal watched quietly as she drifted off to sleep, then turned and floated to the window. He looked up, and saw the pale Moon shining down on the City. He stared at the crack, zooming as far as his optical sensors would let him. All he could see were dark things at work.
"I won't let you have Earth." Dal whispered. "I won't let you win."
Next Episode: Side Episode II, The Speaker
The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 011
Lisset entered her bedroom and collapsed, exhausted, onto the small bed that took up almost all of the area's space. The Fireteam had returned from the Cosmodrome to the Tower almost immediately after the Wizard had been killed, but the very instant they had hit the deck, they were summoned to the Hall of Guardians. The debriefing took nearly three hours, and it had been only a few minutes to midnight when they had arrived at the City. While the Corsair respected the Vanguard's need for information and detail as to this latest of threats, she couldn't help but feel like it had been almost more of an ordeal than the five minute firefight had been.
Her armor fizzled away in blue light, replaced with her simple off-duty clothes, as she flopped onto the bed, her eyes heavy. Dal floated over her, moving slightly about but otherwise remaining unusually quiet. The Ghost had never been nearly as talkative as Koga's was, but for him to so silent for so long reminded Lisset more of rigid, ever-thinking Boudica than it did of the dry, weary Dal. She turned in her bed to look up at him, and watched as the Ghost hovered more or less in place. He wasn't looking at her, but rather seemed to be staring off into the distance, his eye fixated on some imaginary point. Lisset frowned; something was wrong, and he had been like this since he had seen the first signs of the Hive's presence in the Cosmodrome.
"Dal, are you okay?" Lisset asked, hesitantly. Dal seemed to shake himself back to reality, before turning to face his Guardian. If Lisset didn't know any better, she would have thought that the Ghost was surprised she'd ask such a question, and it'd be no surprise he'd feel that way given her "less than cooperative" behavior in the past. "You seem upset about something."
The Ghost didn't speak at first, and Lisset almost wondered if her question had somehow offended Dal, but after a moment he beeped before talking. "I apologize for worrying you," he started, his voice curiously faint. "It's just that... I had hoped it would be a long time until I saw the Hive again." Lisset frowned at that.
"You seem to know a lot about them. More than Kita or Boudica." She replied. The Ghost bobbed slightly, an approximation of a nod.
"I've encountered them before, once. A long time ago." Dal paused, before floating down to where the Corsair lay, hovering level with her head. "Has anyone ever told you about the Battle of Mare Imbrium?" The Hunter shook her head slowly. "It's a region on Luna, and its where the City had its greatest defeat in over four hundred years."
"Were you there?" Lisset spoke gently. The Ghost seemed so distant that it was almost as if he was barely there at all. If she was to keep him comfortable enough to expel his demons, Lisset knew she needed to sound as comforting as she could. She was curious, but as she watched Dal, that need for learning began to be replaced with something much darker: concern. "At the Battle, I mean?" She quickly tagged on to the end.
"I was." Dal answered. He sighed quietly before continuing, and his eye seemed to stare off again into infinity. "It was not long after the Battle of the Burning Lake. The Guardians had managed to defeat a substantial Hive force, and that had emboldened the City's Consensus enough to start pressuring the Vanguard to make a move." Dal scoffed. "Thrice-damned politicians had never seen the outside of the Wall except from the top. They didn't know what the Hive was. Very few did. I don't know what finally convinced Commander Zavala to sign off on the assault, but I know that Lord Shaxx decried it as insane up until the ships launched."
"How many went?" Lisset asked, sitting up in her bed. Dal spun in place, shrugging.
"Thousands." He replied. "Only Six Fronts and Twilight Gap came close to matching it." He paused, his mind drifting as he remembered. He could see as clearly now as he did so long ago the sight of the Sword.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dal floated just inches above the Lunar dust as the battle raged. Purple bolts streaked across the terrain, joined by blue starshapes that were Boomer shots, and interrupted by a myriad of Guardian firearms. It had gone to hell the moment the Guardians had assembled on the Moon's surface. Like someone had opened a tap, thousands of Thrall had rushed out to meet them, followed by half as many Acolytes and even fewer Knights. Massive hulking Ogres roamed the field, firing streams of Void energy from their hidden, mutated eyes.
"Damn it!" He shouted to no one in particular. It wasn't like anyone could hear him: the Moon, despite a Traveler-augmented gravity, still had no atmosphere. The cacaphony of war, and the distressed voice of a Ghost caught in the middle, was lost to the abyss of space. He had come to watch a glorious victory for the City, and take the opportunity to search for his Guardian, but now he very much doubted that he'd make it off this forsaken dead rock alive.
There was a rumble, and something profane began to speak. Words spoken in a tongue as alien as the edge of reality echoed across the wartorn plane of Mare Imbrium, the silence of space parting before the power of the one who spoke. The battle waned, the Hive retreating and drawing back into their caves. No one was fooled. No one thought the battle had been won. Dal watched as hundreds of Guardians prepared for what abomination the Hive would throw at them next.
They did not expect a God.
Dal watched as a Hive Colossus strode the field, bullets impacting uselessly against its glowing green hide. There was unending malice in those three burning yellow eyes, and when it swung its Sword, no Guardian that took its blade stood again.
Dal ran, as did the survivors. Nothing damaged the monster, nothing even fazed it. The call to retreat repeated in a thousand headsets, and a fleet of Guardian ships hurried for Earth, leaving Luna to the enemy. Dal would have been left too, had he not managed to hitch a ride on a Guardian just before he transmatted away. When Dal looked back, he saw a crack in the Moon where Crota had been risen.
He didn't look back again.
+ + + + + + +
Lisset had sat quietly as Dal had told the tale, watching as the Ghost sank slowly down lower and lower before he rested on the bed with her. When he finished, Lisset leaned forward. Gingerly, she scooped Dal into her hands, and lifted him up so that they could see eye to eye. "I know it was hard for you to tell me this." She spoke, softly. "Thank you." There was a pregnant pause, neither Ghost nor Guardian saying a word.
It was Dal who broke the silence. "We should get some rest. I doubt that tonight's debriefing will be the only one." The Corsair nodded, patted Dal on the head, then let the Ghost fly away. "Good night, Lisset."
Lisset smiled sadly back at him. "Good night, Dal." She said, before lying her head against the pillow. Dal watched quietly as she drifted off to sleep, then turned and floated to the window. He looked up, and saw the pale Moon shining down on the City. He stared at the crack, zooming as far as his optical sensors would let him. All he could see were dark things at work.
"I won't let you have Earth." Dal whispered. "I won't let you win."
Comments
Post a Comment