Destiny Story: Chapter 2: Shore leave
For legal references, please read 'Chapter one: Welcome to Devil Squad.' It is at the top in bold. Again, Codex entries will be at the bottom of the Chapter. Thank you for reading, please don't forget to Review, it helps more than you could possibly imagine. *maniacal laughter.*
"Septus, wake up Septus." A metallic voice sounded, rousing me from my sleep, much to my chagrin.
"Ugh, why, why in the holy name of Lucifer do I have to get up?" I asked rhetorically, I knew the reason perfectly well, even in my groggy state.
"You asked me to wake you up at this time, when asked for a reason, you simply replied: 'I still have bullets and Jessie needs a workout.'" The floating ghost said, sarcastically playing an audio recording.
"Dammit, did you count my kills last night?" I ask, worried that my kill count would be ruined.
"Seventy four explosive kills, added to you previous count, that makes a grand total of one thousand, three hundred and fourty three. Congratulations."
"Are the others awake? I want to get this patrol done with." I say, wanting nothing more than to feel the freedom of the skies again.
A moment passes before he answers. "They're being woken now, and will meet you by the 'Solar Glory.' I still have trouble understanding why you named your ship that."
"Every ship needs a name, it's considered bad luck otherwise, normally, I'm not one to believe in this sort of thing, but why risk it? The Solar reflects my capes colour of black and yellow, just like a solar eclipse, one of the most glorious sights to behold, hence Solar Glory." I explain. My Ghost simply looks at me as if to say: 'You are an idiot.'
"You're an idiot." He says, in the most condescending way possible.
"Aww, that's probably the nicest thing you've said to me. Thank you Sol." I reply, equally condescending.
-Thirty Minutes Later, Tower's Hanger-
I stood patiently by my ship, the black and yellow paint job standing out in the sea of blues and greens, reds and whites. The ship certainly wasn't cheap, I had to find the blueprints first, and then had to fund the construction of it, as well as the paint. The original name had been 'Laughing Behind Their Backs' but that was of a bygone era, and I needed something new, fresh, and more importantly, more me. So I had rechristened it 'Solar Glory.'
"Septus, there better be someone dying or so help me God, you will regret that your designers thought vocal processors would be a good idea!" Sha'ria shouted from the door, on the opposite side of the hanger.
"Why would that be? Did I forget your birthday again?" I ask, knowing full well what she meant.
"No, but I still haven't forgiven you for that. Now why are we up so damn early?"
"Fallen encampments would be easier to destroy when they're still groggy, and we won't have to blow it up, so better loot."
A moment of silence passed.
Another moment.
"What?! You got me up this early because of LOOT?! If you weren't made of metal, I would punching you right now."
"Well, let Little Light drive so you can have a nap." Sha'ria shuddered at the mention of her Ghost flying her ship.
"I've already had my coffee, so it doesn't matter anyway."
"Septus, if I wasn't sure that Sha'ria already gave you an earful, I would be. Let's get on with it so I can go back to bed." Prometheus said, his silent footsteps allowing him to sneak up on the pair.
I simply shook my head in amusement of their reactions.
-Scene Change, Earth, Russian Cosmodrome.-
We flew over the Cosmodrome, our respective Ghosts searching for any distress beacons or mission probes from the Tower that were sometimes launched by Tower Control, allowing patrolling Guardians to do quick missions in exchange for favour.
"There's nothing here! You told me they're would be good loot!" Sha'ria berated me over the comms.
"I never once claimed there would be good loot, just Fallen encampments that have a high probability to contain some form of loot. I also suggested that you let your Ghost drive so you could catch up on sleep." I said, my voice calm in comparison to her rage.
"Damn your logic."
"Hehehe, he is a robot, he's practically operates on logic. Well, he's more robot than us." Prometheus said, coming to my aid. He had obviously gotten over his morning temper.
"Okay, I admit, the Tower might not have sent out missions yet, I'll see what I can get from the Speaker if you really want some action. Personally, I hate all this down time."
"What? How can you hate leave? You're alive again, and have some of the best technology Humanity can create, and you hate having time to just sit back and admire the new age?" Sha'ria asked, dumbfounded by my admission.
"Exactly my point. There's too much time for me to think about my past life, who I left behind and all that mopey stuff." I said quickly, not wanting to go into my past. It had always been a sore point for me. Most Guardians had moved on by now, but I just couldn't, I felt like the past had to be remembered, but I couldn't bare the pain.
A short while passed in silence, the other two probably thinking about their past. "There's no need to be so down, tell you what, I heard that some big shot Fallen was somewhere in Russia, I'll call some others, and we'll sort that out, that'll help, 'eh?" Prometheus supplied.
"What the hell, I'm in, you call the others, normal set up, we'll meet them there, you lead." I said immediately.
- Scene Change, Strike, Third Person-
The group of three stood in a clearing, their ships clearly visible behind them. The ground was scorched by year of fighting, and not even grass grew. In the backdrop, was a large complex, it's angular style and sharp edges betraying it's military origin.
The female Awoken lent on her ship, the royal blue reflecting the glaring sun. "You know, you Humans were so violent, so destructive. Only now do I see that you were prepared. But not ready." She said, her voice wobbling as she looked over the distant building.
The massive Titan simply nodded. "Yeah, we did what we could, but we just couldn't be peaceful, then The Darkness came, and I joined the army. Six months. That's how long my regiment lasted. What 'bout you, Sha?" He asked.
"Well, I came to earth along with hundreds of others, culture trip for university. I liked this little blue planet. It holds so much beauty, survived so much trauma. So after I earned my degree, I moved here permanently. Your people were kind and polite. Figured that it wouldn't be too bad, so I took some money I had earned from my job, paid to have my family move here." She said, but her voice became weaker and weaker as she traversed through the memory. "Their ship was shot down when The darkness invaded." Tears dropped freely from her eyes, the Titan and Hunter both stood back, heads bowed in sorrow, resentment of the Fallen, and paid their own respects to those lost. "Not long after that, I was conscripted into the army, some sort of last ditch attempt to understand them." She sniffed hard, and wiped her eyes with the back of her armoured hand. "Guess I'm not quite over it yet."
The Hunter's shoulders sagged. "I know, it's hard. You don't want to remember because of the pain, but you feel as if they deserved to be remembered. That, somehow, the pain is your punishment for them dying, while you survive. It's hard to know what to do." He looked up to the horizon. "These guys better get here soon." He said, his voice darkening, the other needing no other hint as to what he was feeling.
The clouds continued to move, and the wind kept blowing, when suddenly, six silhouettes blazed across the sky, leaving a vapour trail behind them.
- P.O.V Change, Prometheus, 5 minutes after first sighting -
The six Guardians stood in front of us. Two Hunters, both clad in dark fabrics, two Warlocks, both favouring the blue that they shone when they used their powers, and finally, two Titans, their armour resembling mine, piercing white and red, dark visors.
"Guardians! As of this moment, you take orders from us, Hunters, Follow Septus, he will discuss your part in the coming battle, Warlocks, go with Sha'ria, she will explain, Titans, you will stay here with me!" I shouted, my voice echoing across the barren plain.
As the Hunters and Warlocks dispersed, I drew in close to my Titans. "You are now in Titan squad, you take orders from me, and do so without hesitation, is that clear?" I ask.
"Yes, Sir!" Two voices shouted back at me. I nodded my approval.
"Good, we will be the main strike force. The Hunters, under command of Septus will scout ahead, and find an overwatch position. The warlock will provide us with barriers. Use them. In the building we have Fallen, and lots of them, Ghost recon scans show small encampments around our entrance point. Hunters will provide more detail later." I say, only beginning the debrief. "Now, we currently have the element of surprise, we want to keep that. We're going in low, and attempting to remain undetected. You wait for my signal to start firing, as soon as you do, Warlocks are going to be moving in from the left flank, while recon Hunters are positioned on the right. You have no support for this bit."
I point to the Titan on the left. "You are Titan 2, you are Titan 3" I said, finishing as I shoved a large finger at the last Titan. "I am Titan 1. When we storm the base, there will be three different routes to the center.
We want to eliminate all Fallen from this area, so we're spreading out. 2 will cover the left flank, you will be accompanied by Warlock 2 and covered by Hunter 2. Titan 3 will take right flank, assisted by Warlock 3 and Hunter 3. We move up as a group, no man or woman left behind. Is that clear?" I shouted at them.
"Yes, Sir!" The pair screamed back, snapping to attention.
"Good, that's it for this debrief, expect an update at a later time. Now meet with your Guardians." I said, as I began to walk off. The other two heard what I said, and moved towards the Hunters small group first, just as Septus moved over to me.
"They know what they're doing. We're going to move ahead in the night, set up an observation post. I will then radio you and Sha'ria in the morning, give you enemy estimates and then provide sniper support. I would prefer to keep our presence here off the radar. So me and my squad will be using suppressors and only taking shots when you're in trouble or there's a big guy. If you're lucky, we might even set a few bombs." Septus said, informing me on his side of the coming conflict. Nodding at his plan, I spied Sha'ria slowly moving over to us, while Titan 2 and Hunter 2, along with Titan 3 and Hunter 3 met with their barrier support.
"Well, if you do, I'll have to go back to the casino," I said, with barely contained sarcasm. "Oh wait, you love explosions too much to pass the chance up." I finished with a cocky grin.
"And don't you forget it Prometheus." He said, chuckling.
"I don't know what you boys are chuckling about, but I have a feeling I don't want to know." Sha'ria said as she moved into our little group.
"Ah, shut up and give us your end of the plan." Septus said, waving off the accusation.
Sha'ria sighed, then relented. "Fine, Me and my Warlocks will be providing cover bubbles, as well as medium ranged attacks, but don't expect that too often, we do need to keep our energy." She said quickly, shaking, in what I believed to be anticipation of the coming fight.
"Fair enough." Septus, our de facto leader said casually. He turned to the two groups of three that now stood apart from each other. "Now hear this! We begin to move out early tomorrow morning. Check your weapons, shield generators, Ghost Uplinks, and get to know your squad. You'll bleed together 'fore tomorrow is out!" Septus shouted.
I realised that I hadn't checked my Uplink for some time. The uplink was a connection between a Guardian and their Ghost, established when the Ghost revived the dead, in this way, the Ghost can communicate and track the Guardian without some sort of implant. "Ghosty, you there?" I ask through the link.
"Of course Guardian, what is it you require?" Ghosty asked. I could see the distant look in the others eyes as they went through the same thing.
"How's our link looking?" Having done this many times before now, I start to check my weapons while waiting for his response.
"The Uplink is stable, factoring in The Fallen's technological status, I foresee no problems in the future." He says.
"Cheers, Keep me updated about Fallen ship movements in the system. Send a message for Septus's Ghost to do the same." My weapons check is done, Full automatic Rifle in perfect condition, Ghallanger launcher low on ammo, but fully functional. Time for a shield check.
"Message Sent, traffic will be monitored." Ghost said. All was good on my weapons and shields, only thing left was the assault. On a heavily fortified base. With only nine people.
This is going to be fun I thought sarcastically
- Authors Note:
I want to thank you guys that read this, it really does help me with my Qualification, This chapter is maybe a hundred words longer than the first chapter, so this might be trend, depending on what you think. Please tell me what you liked, didn't like, and how I could improve. Little question of the story for you. What do you specifically look for in a fantasy novel like this one?" please answer in the comments, I'll be sure to reply. No codex entry today, sorry.