Destiny, Episode XVII: The Ishtar Collective

Previous Episode: Side Episode VII, Queen of the Reef
Next Episode: Episode XVIII, The Archive

The Tower, the Last City, Earth

Day 038

            The hammer finally dropped two days after the excursion to Venus. A message had been broadcasted to the Ghosts, complete with Vanguard tags and composed of only a single word: “Now.”

            They were expecting it, of course. While no one had stopped and given them a long list of regulations to follow, the Paladins were fairly certain that what they had done was breaking more than a few rules. It hadn’t mattered to them then, though – they were going off to help Koga find the truth, and they had done it together.

            Koga tried not to think about exactly what kind of trouble he had stirred up as he went down the stairs, his friends walking beside him, and into the Hall of the Vanguard. The usual civilian presence was gone, an oddity given that it was a fairly average day at the Tower. Of course, the Warlock really didn’t expect that the Vanguard wanted an audience when they laid down the law.

            Sure enough, around the table stood all three members of the Vanguard. Ikora watched them like a disappointed mother, while Zavala’s piercing glare was that of an angry Commander. Cayde was the odd one out – he seemed rather happy about the whole affair. “So.” Zavala began, his voice echoing in the small room. “Would any of you like to explain why you left the Tower in the middle of the night, flew to Venus, and then one of you visited the Reef?” There was incredulousness in his voice, a kind of surprise that said that he hadn’t expected this behavior, not from this Fireteam.

            “I am to blame for this, Commander.” Koga spoke first, cutting ahead of the rest. “This was my idea. They went with me so that I wouldn’t go alone.”

            “While that’s a noble sentiment,” Cayde replied, folding his hands, “you weren’t the one to fly off to the Reef.” The Exo glanced over at Lisset. “Hunter, you do realize that there has been decades of bad blood between us and them, right?” Zavala glanced at his compatriot.

            “Cayde raises a valid point.” He continued. “The Reef have not allowed a Guardian ship through their territory for decades. Why are you the exception?” There was a pause as the Paladins looked amongst each other, unsure.

            “What we want now is an explanation, Guardians.” Ikora finally spoke, her voice flowing but sharp. “Start from the beginning. Hold no detail back.”

            And so Koga began talking, his mind scrambling to put the narrative together as he went. He started with that first brief glance he had of the Stranger on the Moon, followed by her reaching out to him directly seconds before he went into the Hellmouth to find the Chamber of Night. He spoke of how the Stranger contacted him directly, and gave him the date and location of a meeting in the jungles of Venus. He spoke of his decision to leave the Tower in the night, and how his teammates came with him so that he would not fight alone. He spoke of their arrival on Venus, and of their first encounter with the Vex. Finally, he spoke of the meeting with the Stranger, and of the Black Garden.

            A chill filled the room at the mere mention of the place, and a passing look of shock rippled across Ikora’s face.  When Koga was done, she was the first to speak. “The Black Garden.” She repeated slowly. “Are you sure that is what she said?”

            “I have the entire conversation recorded.” Kita answered. “I can send it to you at any time.” Ikora nodded slowly.

            “Please do that.” She replied, before looking back at the Guardian. “If what you say is true, then the situation has changed.”

            “I do not see it that way.” Zavala said, his voice firm. “They endangered each other and the City with their actions. There has to be a penalty for this kind of behavior.”

            “The kind of behavior that answers a centuries-old mystery?” Ikora countered, looking back at her fellow Vanguard. “The Black Garden is one of the greatest enigmas about the Vex. If it does exist, it is a place of unspeakable Darkness, and these three have given us a chance to find it and destroy it.”

            “What do you suggest we do, then?” Zavala replied, sternly.

            “Give them new gear and send them out again.” Cayde interrupted. The other two Vanguard members turned to look at the veteran Hunter. Cayde merely shrugged. “They’ve figured something out that we’re missing. I say we send them out again, let them chase the leads down.”

            “I agree.” Ikora said. Cayde glanced at her, surprised.

            “Cayde is a Hunter with over a century of experience.” Zavala replied. “We know how he thinks. We can’t send three young Guardians out there to go toe-to-toe with the Vex.”

            “With all due respect, Commander,” Basilisk suddenly interjected. All eyes turned on the Exo, stunned that he would make his voice known. Basilisk was a soldier, and had shown nothing but the utmost respect for Zavala since he had arrived on the Tower. Koga stared at his Titan friend – meeting the Vex had changed him. “You can’t just ground us. It’s a waste of resources, and it’s a waste of time.” Zavala folded his arms behind his back, staring straight at Basilisk. “If this Heart is as dangerous as everyone says it is, then we will want to hit it, and hit it fast. Having us cool our jets while someone else tries to do our job is only going to end poorly.”

            “He has a point, Zavala.” Cayde prodded. “They actually got an audience with the Queen. When was the last time that a Guardian did that?” Zavala sighed slowly, a long, drawn-out exhale. He slowly nodded.

            “I respect the judgment of my peers.” The Commander started. “You are correct – Fireteam Paladin is best put to use on the field. As much as I’d rather have you ‘cool your jets’-“ he glared at Basilisk, disapprovingly, “-you have done what others could not. You will have new gear transferred to you within the hour.”

            “Thank you, Commander.” Lisset said, bowing graciously. “We won’t make you regret this choice.”

            “If we do, I doubt we’ll be around long enough to care.” Cayde noted dryly. Ikora rolled her eyes at the Exo before looking back at the Fireteam.

            “Speak to the Cryptarch, Guardians.” She said. “He will know where you should start to look.” The three Paladins glanced at each other, still somewhat wary. They had expected all hell to break loose, and it nearly had. They had expected a lot of things, but being sent back out there was not one of them.

            “You are dismissed, Guardians.” Zavala flatly declared, a hint of irritation in his voice. The Paladins quickly turned to leave, hoping to get out of the line of fire before someone decided to change their mind. They had almost made it out when the Commander’s voice boomed out. “Titan!” The Exo stopped dead in his tracks, and slowly turned on his heels to face his mentor. A curious look crossed over the Awoken man’s face, suspiciously close to a smile. “Keep up the good work.”

            “Will do, Commander.” Basilisk replied. He snapped a quick salute, a gesture that was returned, and then paced up the stairs to catch up with his comrades.

            As soon as the Guardians were out of earshot, Zavala turned his gaze on Cayde. The veteran Hunter stared blankly back at the Titan. “Something on your mind, Zavala?”

            “There are enough Hunters in the Tower, Cayde.” Zavala replied. “I would appreciate it if you stopped giving my Titans any ideas.” Cayde smirked as well as an Exo could, and leaned forward on the table.

            “I can’t help it.” The Exo dryly retorted. “It’s not my fault everyone wants to be me.” Zavala rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the tablet in front of him, endless battle reports streaming down the screen. Ikora snickered under her breath, and Cayde looked up at her. “What?” He asked, confused.

<><><><><><><> 

            A few hours later, the Paladins were standing again on Venus, their improvised landing zone now marked officially by the flag of the City. Someone had come by in the days between their first excursion and this one, taking advantage of the relatively secure site to turn this into a place for incoming Guardians to deploy safely into the Ishtar Sink. There wasn’t anyone there now, though – if there was anyone else in the Sink, they were already out on patrol, leaving the fireteam alone at the LZ.

            It had taken some time for the requisitioned equipment to come through the system, slightly longer than the hour that Zavala had predicted. Someone was going to have an incredibly irate Titan on his or her hands because of this. Koga found it hard not to feel bad for whoever that poor soul was. Still, the new gear was more than appreciated. The Warlock himself had gotten a new set of green-colored Axiom Coven robes, reinforced in crucial places with bronze. There were more pockets and pouches on the gear than he knew what to do with, but it was nice to know he’d never have to worry about space. A new bond wrapped his arm, glowing with inner power – a reminder of what the Warlock was, and what powers he was tapped into. In his hand, Koga carried a bronze-and-red colored hand cannon, the Hoss Mk. 51. It was a heavy thing, but with that weight came awesome power, and he was quietly eager to put it to the test against the Vex.

            Lisset now wore the brown and yellow colored Mangala Skin armor pattern, rugged and armored in preparation for firefights to come. Hunter gear was usually quite formfitting, but with that lack of space came agility and stealth that wasn’t present in other kinds of armor. At her hip sat a rather long knife, ready for use, and draped down from her shoulders was a fairly ornate looking cloak. It was a replacement for the one she had been using since the Cosmodrome, a gift from Cayde. If she was embarrassed as to who gave her the present, the Hunter didn’t show it. In fact, she seemed quite pleased to have it – perhaps she had a flashy side after all? Lisset had a new scout rifle at the ready, the red-and-black colored Thanatos SR5. It had a proper scope instead of the rough iron sights that the Hunter had to deal with on her older rifles, and it was hard not to see that she was rather pleased about that – accuracy was her watchword.

            As for Basilisk, the stalwart Titan had received a striking set of red and bronze-colored Highlander-pattern armor. The heavy plate looked cumbersome, disguising the surprising amount of dexterity that a wearer had inside. The armor was reinforced using a rare post-Golden Age material known as Relic Iron, something that could only be collected on Mars, now one of the most dangerous corners of the system. To receive a set of Highlander armor was a mark of recognition by the Vanguard, a sign that he or she merited the resources required to wear it. A new mark hung from his hip, a simple design that bore the sigil of the Titan Order. It was a gift from Zavala, though what the mentor meant by it was a mystery to the Exo. From one hand hung a matte gold-and-red painted Catena MSc pulse rifle, a blocky red dot sight mounted just behind the carryhandle. There was a rough look to the weapon, one that demanded respect, and one that seemed eager to prove itself in the field.

            Lisset was the first to break the silence. “I honestly didn’t think we’d be coming back here so soon.”

            “We were lucky.” Basilisk replied. “If Cayde and Ikora hadn’t spoken up for us, we’d be sitting in our room for the next month.”

            “Instead, we are now here, looking for a possibly world-ending threat.” Koga dryly noted. “Indeed, we are lucky.” Basilisk glanced over at the Warlock.

            “Would you have it any other way?” Koga shook his head and smiled wanly.

            “Not at all.”

The Titan nodded, and outstretched his hand. His Ghost flashed into existence above it, Boudica staring up at him through his heavy helmet. Her shell was tilted askew slightly, a sign of concern, and she had good reason to be. The last time the Titan had encountered the Vex, he had fallen into a berserker rage before slipping into an unresponsive fugue state. As soon as the three had returned to the Tower, Basilisk had a private conversation with his Ghost about his behavior, past and present. Whatever they had said remained a secret, but it was hard to miss the Boudica’s continual worry.

“Boudica, recap the mission for us.” Basilisk said clearly. The Ghost nodded, and floated between the three Guardians before displaying a holographic map of the area into the sky. A small corner in the southwest, located at the junction between two twisting roads, was marked green to represent their location.

“Because we’ve been tasked with completing an insane promise,” Boudica started, glancing over at Lisset, “our first step should be to understand our enemy. The Cryptarchy has given us several research sites that would allow us to do just that, but most are deep inside Vex or Fallen territory. There is one, however, that is close enough for us to be able to safely access.”

“’Safe’ is a relative term.” Dal noted.

“I’ll take less people shooting at us than more.” Lisset replied. “Sorry, Boudica, please continue.” The Ghost bobbed her shell in the Hunter’s direction as a kind of thanks before picking up where she left off.

“If we’re going to learn about the Vex, then we need a sample to enter into the Collective’s computers.” Boudica spoke clearly, as a mother would to her children. It didn’t come out as condescending, though – merely concerned for those that rely on her. “I recommend finding the largest Vex, destroy it, and turn in its core. A sample like that will probably have a wealth of data onboard.”

“Luckily for us, I think I have just the target.” Kita slid into the focus of the conversation, flashing into existence. Further up the map appeared two dim red lights, one representing the ancient research site, while the other standing in for the location for Kita’s Vex. “There have been patrol reports of some form of autonomous defensive structure here. If we destroy it, we should get a rather large core out of it.”

“Then it’s a plan.” Basilisk said, his Ghost returning to the safety of his armor. Kita did the same, apparating away in sparkles of blue light. A second later, the Titan’s Sparrow transmatted to the surface from his orbiting jumpship high above, and he clambered onto it. The small vehicle’s engine hummed to life, and it lifted off the ground effortlessly. “Get your Sparrows, Paladins.” Basilisk ordered, grabbing the controls. “We’re going Vex hunting.”

<><><><><><><> 

The fireteam wasted little time moving up the coast. The entrance to the Ishtar Collective was a blur against the horizon as the Guardians raced passed it on their Sparrows. A few Fallen attempted to interdict them as they moved through the broken campus, but their arc shots trailed lazily past, impacting uselessly into terrain and structure.

A few twisting turns later, and suddenly the beautifully built structures of the Collective were gone, and the Guardians were passing through what seemed to be a crevasse or canyon, light trickling through the jungle canopy high above, the walls of the pass sheer stone. They were leaving the settled part of the region, the part where Humanity had made its presence known. The frontier belonged to the Vex. That fact became ever more clear when the canyon opened to reveal another cliffside jungle plateau, the grey stone of Vex structures jutting out from the ground like teeth. With human architecture, you could see some attempt to have synthesis with the land and with nature. For the Vex, there was no attempt to rectify the two – every single chunk of Vex stone seemed to be a perversion upon the land.

“The signature is further along.” Boudica reported, a touch unnecessarily. The marker Kita had pushed to the fireteam’s HUDs still lay not too far in the distance. Basilisk brought his Sparrow to a halt, his comrades stopping next to him. The Titan clambered off of the vehicle, which transmatted away in a haze of blue light, and readied his rifle.

“We’ll walk from here.” He said, his head panning left and right to look for immediate targets. The blue-white cloaked Fallen lying in the shadows regarded the newcomers from a distance, unsure of whether or not to launch an attack. The Tower’s scouts that passed through the area rather regularly had beaten a form of wary respect into the collective skulls of the House of Winter. They would come out to fight eventually, Lisset was sure, but for now they were cowed into silence. The Vex, meanwhile, simply regarded everything with a rather blank stare. The round-dished basic Vex machine, known by the Guardians as “Goblins,” weren’t in force out in the relatively open space of the plateau. The sniper machines, “Hobgoblins,” were far more prevalent, but they kept their weapons at the side, in a passive ready position. For Lisset, it was strange to be ignored after weeks of being shot at as soon as she was seen.

Cautiously, the Guardians continued to move forward, picking their way through as to not draw much attention to themselves. This was difficult to do, given that they were traipsing right through the center of what was ostensibly a war zone, but not a single shot was fired at them. Down a slight slope they went, until they found themselves at the base of a large brick platform. Kita’s marker rested right above it, but there were no Vex in sight.

“Nothing here.” Koga muttered, frowning. “Kita, are you sure that-“ The Warlock was cut off when the air began to darken with clouds. Static electricity arced from the air and the ground, sparking against the Guardians’ armor and any piece of metal nearby. When the clouds broke, a massive bronze structure rested on top of the platform, humming as energy flowed through it. The machine turned to look at the Guardians, and an orb of purple energy began to form and grow at its center.

“Scatter!” Basilisk shouted. The three dodged out of the way just in time as the massive cannon shot landed right where they were standing, exploding violently.

“Looks like we found the target!” Lisset shouted as she began to fire her scout rifle as quickly as she could at the machine. The rounds splayed against the bronze armor, some penetrating a few centimeters in, others ricocheting off. Regardless of how they hit the plating, it had about as much effect as if the Hunter had been throwing stones. Another cloud broke, revealing a wave of Goblins, all of them immediately opening fire at the offending Guardians.

“That’s not going to do it!” The Titan called, pointing his hand like a knife right at the center of the Vex construct’s powerful cannon. “Hit that thing right in the middle! Make it hurt!” Koga aimed his new revolver straight at the target that Basilisk had pointed out, and squeezed the trigger once, twice, three times. The hand cannon roared in his hands, and even from where he stood he could see the heavy slugs punch right through the specialized parts that made up the machine’s firing mechanism. There was a flash, and suddenly parts of the thing exploded off of the turret. It remained operational, but it began to move about erratically, firing quick pulses of power in all directions – right into the midst of the Vex line of battle. Goblin parts were sent flying as their frames were torn apart by the blasts, spraying white fluid everywhere like some ethereal ichor.

“We stunned it!” Koga shouted, rounding a small rock to take cover and reload. “Finish it off!”

“I have it!” Basilisk roared, sprinting forward. Arc energy sparked across his body, and just as the Vex turret began to regain control of itself, the Titan jumped up. His fists connected straight with the bronze plate, and his Light flowed through it like a conduit. The construct exploded into fragments, heavy chunks of bronze and indecipherable tech scattered to the winds. The remaining Vex wisely realized that they were outgunned, and suddenly flashed away, vanishing as if they had never been there in the first place. It wasn’t the familiar blue of a transmat, or even the twisted green of Hive sorceries – it was something very different entirely.

“Nice!” Lisset yelled, rushing over to her winded teammate. She clapped Basilisk on his back, smiling broadly under her helmet. “Good hit, Bas.”

“Thanks, Set.” The Exo replied. The Exo straightened his back, his chest expanding and contracting rhythmically as his stamina returned to him. At this point, Basilisk had stopped asking why his robotic body tried to approximate a human one so closely – it was still strangely cathartic to have fresh air flow into his lungs, and that was all that mattered.

 Koga paced up to the two, his hand cannon still at the ready. “Are you okay, Basilisk?” The Warlock asked, concerned. The Titan nodded slowly, and it was answer enough. Out of the corner of Koga’s eye, an object glittered in the midst of the debris, still humming with internal power. Cautiously, Koga kicked away some of the pieces of broken Vex covering it, revealing a bronze-and-white device. It flashed out of existence, announced with a cheerful chirp from Kita.

“That’s the core we were looking for.” The Ghost reported. “Alright, on to the research station.” A second later, the Guardians’ HUDs updated with another marker, further ahead.

“Of course.” Basilisk growled. “Deeper into Vex territory.” One of the advantages of being an Exo was that it gave a form of emotional counterbalance to the mind. It was the kind of thing that required conscious preparation, a willful desire to prepare to meet this or that kind of strong feeling in order to remain calm on the battlefield. No doubt, it was a system designed for soldiers like Basilisk once had been, a subroutine that allowed one to decide just how human they wanted to be.

When the Titan had met the Vex for the first time in centuries, however, he had not been prepared. To link the ephemeral bronze rivers of death that had swallowed him time and again in his nightmares to a real enemy was not something he had thought to do, and he paid for it. When the first Vex appeared in the Collective’s Library, the only sensation that Basilisk could feel was horrible realization, followed by an unyielding, unceasing, unending rage. Something had connected in his mind, a memory lost to time and space and Light. He had seen his friends gunned down, destroyed mercilessly, coldly, methodically by the Vex, until it was just him.

How could he not have acted the way he did?

Here and now, though, he knew what he had signed up for. He knew the stakes better than most, and he knew that others were counting on him. So, before he had left for Venus, Basilisk had made sure to remove most of his emotional response to seeing the Vex again, just so that he’d be on the top of his game. Not completely, though – he still wanted to feel that twisted satisfaction with seeing the machines die.

“If you do not feel comfortable, you do not have to come with us.” Koga started. He was trying his best to sound respectful, but all Basilisk heard was incrimination. Another thing he hadn’t prepared himself to encounter beforehand. He turned to face the Warlock, his eyes narrowing.

“I’m not going to run away from this, Koga.” He growled, his hands balling into fists around his rifle. The Warlock took a step back, surprised.

“I meant no offense, Basilisk.” He said apologetically. “Please, accept my-“ The Warlock trailed off as the Titan brusquely pushed past him, towards the steps leading further beyond. Lisset paced to the Warlock, watching as the Titan paced ahead alone. “I did not mean to upset him.” Koga muttered.

“I know, Koga.” Lisset hushed, watching with concern. “I know.”

<><><><><><><> 

More Vex had come out to intercept the Paladins, but they were met with a particular brutal efficiency that neither Koga nor Lisset had ever seen before. There was a hatred in his movements, a malice aforethought. It wasn’t that they were surprised to see it, but rather just how he made it a violent extension of himself. Gone was the rage from the library – here was a murderous efficiency that would make the Vex themselves pause.

Eventually, they reached a doorway leading deeper into the Vex ruins. The eternal hum of hidden machinery was maddening, but Koga knew better than to turn down exterior sound – any broken branch could be a portent of oncoming death. The urge to take off his helmet was far more insidious. The air was crisp and clear, as safe to breathe in as on Earth, save for one problem – it was thick with Vex nanites, smaller than any naked eye could see, even Basilisk’s. Koga didn’t know what would happen if he inhaled them in, but he wasn’t about to test.

When the Vex hallway ended, it opened up to reveal a relatively open area. While their monolithic architecture loomed in the distance, this area was relatively untouched by their endless spread across the virgin landscape. Human structures took their place, brown prefabs marked with serial numbers and the starburst emblem of the Ishtar Collective. A sign buried into the ground read in white stencil “Campus 9.”

“This must be it.” Lisset said, readying her scout rifle. They weren’t alone, of course, but thankfully it was not the Vex waiting for them. Instead patrolled Fallen, the blue-white colors of the House of Winter marking their armor.

“Kita, where is the computer we need to access?” Koga asked, swapping to his new fusion rifle. The Nox Cantor was charged with void energy, a perfect counter for the heavy Minotaur combat droids that had pressured Koga in the library.

“It should be just ahead, in the central building.” Kita answered.

The Warlock wrapped his fingers tight around the weapon. “On to the terminal.”

The Guardians needed little further encouragement, bounding forward with their weapons at the ready. The Fallen realized that they were not alone within seconds, but it made little difference. The rattle of gunfire broke the peace of the rainy jungle, a rain of bullets unleashed in the direction of the aliens.

A wave of Dregs moved to respond, Vandals providing support. The Captain or Servitor leading the pack was absent, hiding or elsewhere. It was only a matter of time until it arrived on the scene of the firefight. Without their commander, the Vandals struggled to guide their subordinates, and the Dregs fired in a blind panic in the general direction of the onrushing Paladins.

An arc shot splayed against a Guardian’s shield here or there, but the chaos was working to their advantage. In seconds they had pushed across the cracks and crevices in the ancient earth and were within feet of their foes. There was nothing that the Fallen could do but die. A mechanical roar announced the arrival of a Servitor, but even it was little match to massed firepower, a swarm of scout, pulse, and fusion rifle shot that pounded its spherical hull until it exploded into fragments.

With the Servitor gone, the remaining Fallen wisely conceded the Campus to its rightful owners, and fled into the jungle to regroup and plan their next sortie. By the end of the day, Campus 9 would be back in the hands of the House of Winter, assuming that the Vex didn’t secure it first. Such was the nature of reclaiming a solar system, Basilisk thought to himself.

Kita apparated into existence, floating away from the group and towards a small structure constructed next to a sheer rock wall stretching upwards and coated in moss and vines. Part of its side had been removed, perhaps to allow for easier viewing. There was no glass separating interior from exterior, oddly enough, though Koga was not sure as to why. The Warlock kept pace with his Ghost, moving carefully to not trip in the underbrush.

The station was fairly simple in design, prefabricated in origin and assembled on site centuries ago. Strangely, the place seemed to be more intact than the Collective’s library a few kilometers away, the signs of rust and decay seemingly absent. Something about the materials used, Koga supposed. He bent down at the doorframe and formed a slight pulse of energy in his hands before pushing it against the wall. A small piece of it plopped off with a quiet crack, landing softly in the Warlock’s gloved hands before being gingerly placed into a pocket: a miniature mystery of the Golden Age worth investigating.

Koga got back to his feet and joined Kita at a terminal, ancient in design but extremely durable in design. “Is it revivable?” He asked. The damp environment certainly didn’t lend itself much to electronics, unlike the frigid Cosmodrome.

“They built these things to last.” Kita answered, probing it with his energy beam. There was a soft hum from the computer, and suddenly the small display flickered to life, displaying a simple background image and a text prompt asking for input. Kita floated about the device, rather pleased with himself. Koga smiled under his robes.

“Good work, Kita.” The Warlock commended. From the way the Ghost’s shell shifted in response, he could tell that Kita would be blushing if he were physically capable of doing so. “Go ahead and connect the core to the system.” There was a soft sound, like a whisper, as the alien technology materialized in a small slot connected by thick black wires to the computer. The slot adjusted automatically to fit the thing, making sure it had a tight hold on it. The white fluid inside sloshed slightly as its container shifted. “What exactly is that fluid?” Koga wondered aloud.

“It’s biological.” Dal answered, cutting in over comms from where he was nestled in Lisset’s armor. “Radiolarian fluid, definitely alive. Doesn’t match anything from Earth.”

“Maybe they’re from Venus?” Lisset asked, frowning.

“Impossible.” Dal replied. “The Vex exist on other worlds than Venus, all of them incredibly hostile to life. They’re as alien to the system as the Hive or Fallen are, it seems.”

“I don’t care where they’re from.” Basilisk muttered, pacing towards Koga and his computer. “I just want to know how to find this Gate Lord. How long until you have an answer?” Kita spun to face Basilisk, staring into the Titan’s smooth, expressionless helm.

“Just a few minutes.” The Ghost replied, though he sounded unsure. “I’m not sure how the Collective’s computers are accessing the data, but I do know the ETA on the task finishing.” Basilisk tapped his trigger finger impatiently against his pulse rifle’s casing before turning to face the others.

“Alright, set up a perimeter.” The Exo barked. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Almost as if it was on cue, a dark cloud began to form just outside the station. The Guardians dropped to a knee, and readied their weapons for what was to come. The Vex were here to reclaim what was theirs.

<><><><><><><> 

The clouds parted with a flash of lightning to reveal six hovering machines, their metal armor bronze like the rest of their brethren. Unlike the others, these had no legs, floating a feet off the ground in some shell-like state. Behind them trailed undulating cords or wires, and in their center glowed a single red eye. They screeched in some indecipherable machine-speak before unfolding to reveal large fan-like wings, bristling with guns.

“Open up!” Basilisk shouted, squeezing the trigger of his pulse rifle. The others joined in, their weapons clattering as the Vex machines engaged as well, firing angry red bolts of energy at them, like the ones a Goblin fired from its rifle. The firefight descended into a flurry of tracers and solar fire, each side shooting at the other at point-blank range. The Vex broke first, exploding into parts that clattered to the floor in a heap of debris.

In the distance, more clouds formed and broke, revealing line after line of Goblins, supported by furtive Hobgoblins. “Watch the snipers!” Koga shouted, pointing them out as he rushed out of the doorway and towards any form of cover he could find. Every second that passed saw more clouds appear and vanish, birthing even more of the robotic war machines. From below, leading deeper into the Vex ruins, from above, back the way they came, and from right on top of them. The Vex did not need to worry about flying into the battlefield, unlike the Fallen or the Hive – they simply willed a place to be one, and it was so.

“Keep them back!” Lisset shouted, her scout rifle cracking against her shoulder. When the rifle ran dry, she threw it away, the weapon transmatting away midair, and switched to her new shotgun, a black and bronze colored Impulse ESc. The weapon boomed as she shoved the barrel into the guts of a Goblin and fired, spraying white fluid through the hole the shell made in the back of the machine’s container.

“How much longer, Ghost?” Basilisk yelled, ducking underneath a heavy swipe as the first of several Minotaurs made their appearance. The Titan had his own shotgun, a red and blue Chasma ESc. Unlike the Hunter’s shotgun, Basilisk’s lacked a stock, and the weapon kicked like a mule without it. The Exo had to lock his arm servos every time he fired so that the recoil wouldn’t sprain some system – or worse, wrench his wrist off.

“Fifty percent and climbing!” Kita replied frantically. “Keep it up, I’m almost done!” If Basilisk had some witty reply, or cutting retort, he was too busy slamming into the assaulting Minotaur, pushing it back with a roar before leveling the Chasma at it and pulling the trigger once, twice, three times. The Minotaur stumbled and fell, obliterated by the Titan’s aggressive attack.

Koga unleashed a Nova Bomb at another wave of incoming Vex, the Void Light explosive shaking the earth as it erupted in the middle of the newly arrived Goblin battle line. The unstable energies that Koga had tapped into consumed the parts of broken machines near ground zero, greedily consuming everything it could. The respite the explosion had created was a short one, as another cloud formed and broke, revealing more of the floating Vex combat frames.

“Don’t they ever quit?” Lisset shouted in dismay, lobbing a grenade into the center of the pack. The self-seeking ordinance split off and hunted down the nearest targets, but the miniature explosions destroyed none of the machines.

“If this keeps up, we will have to retreat!” Koga noted, dodging back to avoid a grenade launched by a Hobgoblin. The Vex ordinance thrummed before jumping up and slamming into the ground in a purple blast of energy.

“We’re not retreating!” Basilisk growled, his fingers digging into his weapon. “We’re not going to give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing us run!”

“Would you rather give them the satisfaction of seeing us dead?” Dal drolly noted.

Machine after machine after machine phased into reality, all of them marching steadily towards the Collective outpost and the Guardians defending it. A Fist of Havoc broke their line, but the gaps were filled as more appeared. It was an endless tide of bronze hulls and burning red eyes, the air thick with their weapons fire. The Guardians had long since ceased returning fire, taking cover behind the sturdiest thing they could find. They were suppressed, and the Vex knew it – they were closing in for the kill.

And suddenly, as quickly as the onslaught had started, it ended. The Vex disappeared, transmatting away in a flash of blue light so bright that it made the entire world seem turquoise. There was a long pause as the Guardians waited for the hammer to drop. Minutes felt like hours, but the peace of the jungle had returned to this corner of the Ishtar Sink. Lisset slowly peeked around the lip of her cover to see an empty battlefield, devoid of even the spare Vex parts from the earlier firefight – they had been reclaimed, as if to leave no evidence of the defeat.

“They’re gone?” She said, stunned. The others got out from their cover only to see the same sight as hers – the battlefield was theirs.

“What happened?” Koga asked. “Where did they go?”

“They must have known they were too late.” Kita answered, floating from the Collective outpost and towards his Guardian. The Warlock turned to face his Ghost, confused. “I have the data.”

“What did you pull from the core?” Boudica asked, phasing into reality just above Basilisk’s left shoulder.

“A lot.” Kita replied. “The Vex are incredible. They are a hive mind, a single consciousness for a million units.”

“That must be why they react so fast.” Lisset noted, folding her arms around her weapon. Kita nodded at her.

“They’re capable of moving across entire star systems in an instant, though I don’t know exactly how. It has to do with the network that binds all of the planets they’ve invaded together.”

“And the Gate Lord?” Basilisk pressed, slapping a new magazine into his pulse rifle.

“I know how to find that, too.” The Ghost answered. “If I can get into the Vex network here, I can draw out the Gate Lord. Then, we can destroy it.”

“Good work, Kita.” Koga commended, patting the Ghost’s shell gently. Kita spun his shell against the Warlock’s palm, happy to be recognized for his work. “We should return to the Tower, tell the Vanguard about what we’ve learned.”

Basilisk looked down at the mud starting to cake into the bottom of his boots, and the white Vex ichor staining his plate. “The sooner we get off this rock, the better.” The Titan muttered. “Let’s go, Paladins.”

In a flash, all three were gone, leaving the outpost behind. For the age-old machines, it was as if nothing had changed. The terminal returned to sleep mode, awaiting its next user. For this small section of Venus, at least, peace had returned.