He was a dead man walking, the only question was whether the Kell would kill him when he reached the bridge, or later in private. With what he knew about him, Vakaris was betting on the former. He and his company had been charged with breaking into the humans' "Academy" on Venus and preventing any guardians from gaining entry before they had striped it of everything useful.

And he failed on BOTH accounts.

They had quickly been overwhelmed by the shear number of Vex infesting the building, and the few calls for reinforcements they had managed to get out had been staunchly ignored. His company had barely been holding on in an overgrown courtyard when a blur of red and white had appeared on the field. It was a Guardian, worse a Titan. It had mowed through the approaching Vex with ease before tearing through his exhausted Dregs. When it reached him, it hauled out a rocket launcher and fired, Vakaris had tried to dodge, but the missile had glanced off of his lower arm. The explosion had thrown him clear across the platform he'd been leading from and into the barricade. Thankfully his shields had taken the brunt of the damage, but his left side was left with some nasty burns. When the world had stopped spinning, he'd climbed to his feet to retaliate, only to find the Titan had already left.

Desperate to try and salvage the situation, he'd sent his best two lieutenants after him while he stayed behind to try to regain control of the battlefield. Only later did he learn that they met the same fate has his Dregs. The Titan had gained entry into the lower Academy and taken all of its data, leaving nothing behind after he teleported away.

He knew as soon as he returned to the ship, that he might as well have let the rocket kill him, because there was no way his Kell was going to tolerate a failure of such magnitude.

So here he was, standing outside of the command deck, trying to calm his shaking hands for the first time since being made Reaver Captain. He sighed through his helmet, there was really no use in delaying the inevitable. Vakaris reached out and activated the door, standing straight as it slid open. The Winter Kell, Draksis, was standing with his back to him, while a host of Dregs and Vandals typed out commands into the various blinking computers lining the room. A few paused to look at him as he advanced toward their leader.

"That's far enough."

Vakaris froze and quickly stood at parade rest with both sets of hands clasped behind his back. "You wished to see me, my Kell?" he clicked, proud that his voice didn't waiver.

He didn't see the strike, but suddenly he was laying on floor, his head ringing. The soft chatter of the lesser Fallen that had filled the bridge was now absent, leaving the room in dead silence. Something heavy...a foot?...pressed down mercilessly on the side of his helmet, grinding his head into the deck.

"How exactly does a full company from the House of Winter walk into a building with a simple objective and get obliterated?" Draksis growled, his voice dangerously low. Before the Captain could respond he was hauled up by the neck and slammed into the unyielding door. "A few Vex and a SINGLE Guardian, and you not only fail to get the data, but you lose over half the company?!" he snarled inches away from the smaller Fallen. With a flick of the Kell's hand, he threw Vakaris to the floor, where the Captain's ribs cracked against the steps leading up to his Kell's throne.

Pain made his vision swim and he could recall little after that point, all he knew was that the beating seemed to go on forever. He could only hope that the Kell, having "vented" his frustration, would consider him punished enough and allow him to live, but those thoughts quickly died as the massive Fallen drew his pulse cannon after delivering a final kick. Vakaris peered up the barrel of the gun, up at his Kell that he had served faithfully his entire life, before squeezing his eyes shut. Distantly he was aware of the door opening somewhere behind Draksis, as the Kell threw and angry "Not now!" over his shoulder. However the gunfire that suddenly filled the room quickly drew his attention.

To his shock, a Guardian, the SAME Guardian that had foiled him at the Academy, leapt into view. Guns blazing, he jumped from console to console as he quickly killed all of the lesser Fallen in the room. It took considerably longer to bring down the Kell, but after several minutes of intense battle, the Titan stood victorious. Vakaris could only stare as the Guardian moved about the deck, claiming ammunition and weapons from the dead. As the smaller creature drew near him, he flinched back, a pained hiss escaping his mouth as he quickly moved into a submissive pose on the ground. Considering what he'd just seen, he doubted he'd be much of a match against the Titan, even if he wasn't badly injured. The Guardian stopped in front of him, the Little Machine blinking into view to hover alongside its head, but instead of drawing its weapon, it squatted down to have a closer look at him. It stared at him for a moment or two, and Vakaris had the distinct impression he was being critically assessed, before the Little Machine spoke.

"Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

He cocked his head at the piece of Light, and his reaction did not go unnoticed by the Titan

"Can you understand us?" it asked curiously.

Vakaris considered playing dumb, but if there was a chance he might make it out of this alive...

"Yes," he croaked.

The Guardian stiffened in surprise and shared a glance with the Little Machine before looking back at him.

"Well...It seems you have a choice to make now," the Guardian said softly, "Either you can join your brethren, and I promise I'll make it quick, or you can come with me."

That...was not what Vakaris was expecting to hear. The honorable thing to do would be to die with the others, and a small voice in the back of his mind urged him to do just that, but he was a survivor and he didn't feel like giving up when there was still a small thread of hope. Choosing his words carefully, "If I...go with you...?"

"I can't promise what will happen, but I'll do what I can for you."

Vakaris knew if he went with the Titan, he would be bound by the laws of his kind to serve the Guardian until he could pay him back for his life. Still, even this was preferable to death in his opinion. "Very well."

The Guardian nodded, and after a few protests from the Little Machine he called "Ghost", all three of them were teleported away.