Okay, Homecoming mission, that's the setting. I did try to use 100% of the Homecoming dialogue, but I do apologize if more came through than I intended...
...
Evan and Lena went separate ways because they had to go to different areas of the Tower. When he was making his way out to the Plaza, he ran into trouble, and that trouble that was in front of him is called… Cabal? What were the Cabal doing on Earth? More importantly, why are they in the Tower? Questions for another time, Evan needed to contact the Commander.
Commander Zavala's voice crackled through the comms, "Guardians we are under attack, any available Guardians rally on me in the Plaza, we must push them back!"
Val replied for Evan as he electrocuted a Cabal Phalanx, "We'll be right there. What's everyone's status?"
"Cayde is somewhere around, Ikora went after the Speaker." Zavala replied before yelling, "MISSILES! Stay inside my shield!" then multiple booms filled the Guardian's eardrums.
"We're close," Evan said, determined to find out who did this. On the way up, Evan saw Lord Shaxx, helping civilians.
"Ah! Saladin's Young Wolf!" A pause as they exchanged greetings, "My armory is open to you. The path will lead you to the Plaza. If the Cabal wants war, give...them...war." Shaxx said as Evan dipped past him, hightailing down the path to the Plaza.
Cayde eventually joined the conversation, "My Ghost is tagging these guys as 'Red Legion', Ikora, what do you got?"
"They are ruthless, and rumor is they have never known defeat. These Cabal are savages compared to the Dust Eaters." Ikora said while the sounds of Void energy were heard in the background.
"They will today. Today, they face Guardians." Zavala said boldly.
Evan made it out to the Plaza after making it through the Tower Hangar and crawling through the collapsed hallway. Emerging on the other side, Evan reached the outer edges of the Tower facing the City, his mouth dropped while Val exclaimed, "The Traveler! What have they done to it?"
"We'll ask the bastard responsible after I'm through with them," Evan said through a clenched jaw, his hand gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white. He may have gloves on, but he knows that these 'Red Legion' crossed the line. Multiple lines in fact.
Heading to the main courtyard he only sees utter destruction. The Vaults looked worse for wear. Sections of them were missing and one of them wasn't even standing anymore. The pathway down to the Hall of Guardians was completely decimated. There was a multitude of bodies scattered about. The civilians that worked in the Tower, some of their limbs no longer on their bodies. What made it worse is that there were Cabal who would step on them like they are the dirt on the ground. Evan had to tear his gaze away from it all to keep his focus intact. These people didn't deserve this fate. The Cabal were dropping from these circular pods from the Command ship. Meaning, Evan had to get there and disable the ship, permanently.
"Over here, Guardian!" Zavala's voiced boomed from the apex of the Plaza.
"Commander, what's going on?" Evan said firm, but respectfully.
"We must defend this position while we buy time for civilian transports to get away. You watch the left flank; I will watch the right. When the missiles come in, keep moving." Zavala ordered, unintentionally avoiding Evan's question.
"Sir, what of the Speaker?" The Speaker is a kind fellow, one who is welcoming of all-new Guardians, he still remembers a lesson he told him. 'Trust in your Ghost, she will be your guide and closest friend.'
Snapping back to reality, Evan and the Commander were laying down fire and ducking for cover in bursts. They would kill one wave of Cabal only for two more squads to show up. Evan let loose upon the Cabal, these home invaders. Evan didn't hold back. He was in an unbridled anger and forced these Cabal to experience the lethal side of the Storm, putting more force and effort behind his Light. It was intense, so much so, that his combat robes were beginning to fray from the amount of Arc energy he was channeling. His whole body felt like it could power a few hundred Dawning trees.
"Evan! You need to pull back a little, you'll end up electrocuting yourself if you don't!" Val screamed into their neural link. Seeing as Val is right, he could feel his insides disagreeing with the amount of Arc energy he unleashed. Evan pulled back and retreated back to Zavala.
"That command ship is next on my list. Guardian, go assist Ikora with the Speaker, I'll handle this." Zavala stated confidently.
"But sir.." Evan started but didn't finish.
"That is an order Warlock! Now go!"
There was more fire and more gunfire as Evan ran for Tower North. He rounded the corner and saw a sweeper bot and about four Cabal corpses. Evan let out a chuckle, "Remind me to not mess with sweeper bots."
"Noted." Val said, "Come on, hurry, Ikora needs us." The door opened and Evan sees four Cabal, and he readied his scout rifle, but they were obliterated by a Nova Bomb from none other than Ikora Rey.
"Ikora!" Evan shouted to his Vanguard and Mentor.
"The Speaker is gone!" She stated as she looked at Evan. "Red Legion! You will take no more from us and you will find that I have no mercy for you!" Ikora declared as she leaped into the air, tossing another Nova Bomb, destroying an engine on the Cabal ship. It was going down and Ikora was going with it.
"Ikora!" Evan shouted, "Zavala, The Speaker is gone, what now?"
"I'm sending Holliday to pick up and bring you to the command ship. We have to face whoever is in charge." Zavala stated. These Red Legion weren't messing around.
Another 'dropball', as Evan called them, landed and he threw an Arcbolt grenade, killing the three Legionnaires as they arrived. The door opened to where a storage room, previously blocked to all Guardians, and a new type of Cabal foot soldier was standing there. It had this blow torch of some kind. Evan didn't react fast enough as it blasted him and threw him backward. He was dangerously close of falling off the Tower. Half of his body was over it and he had mere seconds to catch himself.
An explosion was heard and he was about to fall, but a voice said, "Come on Evan, we need you! Stop laying around!" Evan knew this voice. He opened his eyes beneath his helmet and saw Lena, his wife, his Huntress.
"Lena…Am I glad to see you..." Evan got up with the help of Lena, and he took a long look at his wife. Her armor had tears, her cloak was mostly shredded, a protective plate missing. "Why do you look in worse shape than I do?"
"These assholes have dogs. They will rip through your armor and fabric. I got nicked by a couple, as you can tell. Zavala told me where to find you." Lena explained as they rushed through the storage room, leading to the rendezvous where Holliday was set to pick them up.
"Why did it have to be dogs? Do we know why they're here?" Evan inquired.
"It may have something to do with that contraption they are fastening to the Traveler. My Light flickered; it hasn't done that since my training days. Something is going to go wrong. You were right. This feeling you had. It was right, yet no one listened!" Lena exclaimed, utterly furious.
Evan took his and her helmet off and kissed her, "Come on Love, we have some Cabals to kick." he snickered after breaking the kiss, putting their helmets back on.
"You did not just make that joke." she swatted his shoulder.
"I did, now come on, Holliday must be waiting," Evan said as if on cue, a City Hawk flew over the area.
Holliday's voice came over the speakers, "Heard you two lovebirds needed a ride?"
"Your timing is perfect, Holliday. Let's go, Lena," Evan commanded as he helped her up into the ship, all while copping a feel on Lena's ass.
"Hey! Don't do that here, now is definitely not the time Evan," Lena scolded as Holliday sped off to the command ship.
What happened next was a series of ace flying and some seriously skilled evasive maneuvers. The couple heard Holliday mumble something about 'I've got those Guardians you never seem to shut up about.'
They didn't hear the reply as they continued soaring through the air. Explosions were all around them, it was almost a nightmare to hear the explosions and not see them. Holliday did an emergency U-Turn as got them behind the shield of the command ship.
"This is where you get off. Time to kick 'em where it hurts. I'm rooting' for ya!" Holliday cheered as she flew away to assist in the aerial battle.
They were outside the ship and headed inside. Val and Quinn both needed access to a console that displayed a holomap of the ship. Their main objective was guiding their Guardians to the shield generator to allow the City to launch a counterattack. To save what was left of the City.
Evan was leading the two of them through the ship and they had to engage some more Cabal. This time, Evan got to see the 'dogs' Lena mentioned earlier, and they looked like some mean SOBs. Thankfully, they worked like Hive Thrall. A lot means 'uh oh', a single one means 'easy mode'.
"We're on board the ship, Commander, what's your status?" Evan inquired through comms.
"I'm fine, the Plaza is clear for now, but I suspect there is more Cabal to be had," Zavala reported, "Cayde, what's your status?"
"Uh, a little low on ammo and the whole flaming pistol kept burning out prematurely. Has anyone heard from Ikora?" Cayde added, which brought everyone to attention.
Evan replied, "Not since she went for the Speaker. She jumped on a Cabal ship and was off the side. Haven't heard from her since."
"Guardians, you need to stop this. We are counting on you. Bring the fight to them," Zavala belted at Evan and by association, Lena.
They continued out onto the upper deck and were ambushed by more Red Legion. They each took a couple of shots to their bodies. Their Ghosts healed them behind cover. Lena took her sniper rifle and let loose some Arc charged rounds. Evan took a more direct approach and revealed his Auto Rifle, Red Spectre. He was gunning down Psions and Legionnaires alike, these aliens who dared trifle with Guardians.
A giant Centurion was waiting towards their objective, a corridor that leads to the shield generator. A shot from their weapon knocked Evan off his feet and into a wall. He stepped out of it and unleashed his Stormtrance. During the trance, it flickered, almost quitting out, but came back. They, Lena and Evan, have cleared the area, but Evan was still shocked. Was this why the Traveler embraced him four years ago? Was this a sign? It knew and it didn't let everyone know?
He shook his head as Lena appeared next to him, "Let's go, we have a space rhino to kill," Lena smiled under her armor, yet she was worried. Worried about Evan, herself, the City as a whole. Will they prevail? We will. Lena thought.
As Evan walked through the next door, a hidden sensor was tripped, splitting them up. Lena attempted to touch the barrier, but it burned her, "Sonuva… Evan, I can't through and we don't have time to find another way around."
"Lena, we can-"
"No! You have to go, now. I'll see if I can't kill more Cabal on the ship. I love you, Evan Vaash. Let the Light be your guide." Lena proclaimed, her hand over her heart.
Evan was at a loss for words, but eventually said, "I love you too, Lena Tham, may the paths light your way," Evan put his hand over his heart as well. Their departure felt so much like a goodbye, no matter how either one of them put it. It felt too official for them. They silently prayed that they wouldn't be separated forever.
Evan, once inside, looked over a ledge and had no choice to jump down and see only a few enemies standing between him and the shield generator room. He threw another grenade and used his electrical melee to eradicate an unlucky Psion.
The door opened and Evan saw... a revolving piston? He's not an architect, so he doesn't really give a damn. There were three openings in the floor that had cooling fans. Val told him to disable them and the shield should be gone. He hopped straight down and open fired on the first cooling fan.
"Good, now there is two more!" Val said over the noise of the room.
The piston passed over him and he hopped up and bolted to the next cooling fan, following the way the piston rotates. He slid into the next opening and disabled that one too. He followed suit with the third one.
"Zavala! The shield is down! I repeat the shield is down!" The comm crackled, but there was no response. Evan then attempted to contact Holliday. "Amanda, come on in and pick us up!"
Evan was stressing now, what happened? He tried again, "Zavala!" No response. "Amanda!" No dice.
"What is happening out there?!" Val exclaimed, equally as worried and stressed.
The door to the big landing pad, presumably, opened. Evan sprinted out to inspect what was going on.
"How do we come back from this?" Val asked, looking at her Guardian.
"You don't." a heavy, guttural voice rang out from behind them. "Welcome to a World without Light." the mystery person said, waving a hand towards the Traveler. An orange glow consumed the Traveler, causing time to still. There was a snap and it felt like the bond to the Light just got pulled out from beneath him.
Val stuttered in the air, "Evan, something's...wrong," she fell out of the air and landed with a thunk. Evan, a moment later, fell to his knees. He pulled Val's shell close to him as this Cabal, the leader by the looks of him, walked over to Evan's body.
Evan got a good look at him. He was wearing all white and a mask that looked like Bane's, that villain from the Batman series. His red eyes were burning into Evan.
"Do not look at me, creature!" It snarled and delivered a strong kick to Evan's abdomen, sending him flying across the deck. Evan lost his grip on his weapon but held onto Val. She was his only lifeline now. "You are weak! You are a coward! You disgusting vermin hiding behind walls." He continued walking over to Evan, knowing he couldn't put up a fight, "You're not brave nor courageous. You have merely forgotten how to fear death," the leader leaned down close to Evan's face, "Allow me to reacquaint you."
Evan finally stood up, coughing up blood in his helmet. Unlucky for him, this Cabal backhanded him, with a grunt, like he was a rock on the street, sending Evan flying once more. This time his grip relinquished on Val's shell, skidding off the edge. "VAL!" Evan bellowed as his closest companion disappeared through the mist that covered the City's burning rooftops.
Evan turned around, to face this monstrosity, on his knees, "You vermin never deserved the Traveler's blessing. It now belongs to the Red Legion! I am Ghaul... And your light... is mine." Ghaul said as he gave Evan a light kick and he fell, unceremoniously towards the ground. He has accepted his fate; he is ready to die. He has done his duty.
The last thought he got out before his free fall was, I love you, Lena, with all my heart. Forgive me.
Lena was killing Cabal left and right, she ran out of ammo a corridor ago. They just kept coming and they didn't stop coming. Lena's armor was missing a lot of pieces, her cloak now reduced to a hood. Her protective plates have been removed from her armor into some unlucky Cabal. She thought she had the upper hand, but then she sees something in the reflection of the ship, an orange glow. The next second it knocked the wind out of her. Lena crumpled to the ground with a cry of distress. Quinn was unresponsive, and the severity of the situation kicked in, they were cut off from the Traveler, the Light, our Ghosts; Everything.
"You bastards took everything, but I won't go down without a fight." she snarled at the remaining Cabal. She winced as she tried standing up, but only got as far as her knees. What took her by surprise is the fact that they weren't shooting her now. They easily could just kill her and go on with their day. Yet, they didn't. That was, until a Centurion stepped forward, his weapon charging. Lena was already dangerously close to the edge. The impact from the gun will knock her off, and she will likely die from the impact upon hitting the ground. Without a Ghost, it is impossible to come back, to resurrect.
Then, she heard something in her mind, 'I love you, Lena, with all my heart. Forgive me.' and that was it. She assumed that they killed him, her love. Her Warlock, her Cruz.
Lena then turned around, facing out towards the City, where she gazed upon the burning remnants, seeing her failure. Failing is one thing, but seeing the place she was supposed to protect, fall and burn... It hurts to know that she failed. So many lives will be lost and she will soon join them.
The charging of the weapon reached its peak and opened fire. Lena was blasted off the edge with a scream but soon blacked out. But, not before seeing another figure fall at the same time as her.
It was Evan. Her Cruz. I love you too, Evan, with all my heart. At least we'll die together, my love...