Chapter 1: Two By Two

Cosmodrome Old Russia, Earth

It had been a rather hot day inside the Cosmodrome. The insects buzzed and swarmed while small animals scurried through the grass. The gold and brown rusted carcasses of old world machines littered the area. Some of the fuselages were mostly intact, while most were without wings or ripped into segments. The heat rose off of their metal bodies, distorting the air around and above them. The grass in some places got knee high, and other areas it got taller still. Old ran down buildings developed odd patterns as their tin and metal bodies began to rust and decay. The windows were long gone and many doors lay rusted shut or open. Several stairwells leading down into the ground had been left exposed to the elements for a great deal of time. They too rusted and many collapsed over the years.

A pair of Titans had taken cover inside one of the small shacks that dotted the Cosmodrome. It happened to provide an excellent field of view over a smaller area known as the Mothyard. The first Titan had armor donned in blue, with a black underlay. The way the armor fit around the torso gave away that it was a female. The gate of her stance was human. This was Multi. Her armor jutted at the elbows and knees. The helmet she wore was reminiscent of the Roman Centurions of Ancient Earth. The other Titan was clad black whose helmet gave way to the form of a Knights head. The figure from what the armor gave away was very much so male. The small perfect movements gave away that this was an Exo. And he had the most formidable appearance of the two. This was Tidy. For as different as these two were, they were quite inseparable.

From where they were they could easily see the strewn wreckages of at least six fuselages. One was torn into thirds upon its ancient impact, two were in halves, and the rest laid about in pieces on the ground inside the trenches they formed when they hit the earth long ago. This was the area they needed to keep watch on. Fallen activity had been increasing over the past several months; they were here to find out why.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Multi asked, her soft voice breaking the silence that seemed to last forever.

"Positive." Tidy's calm, deep, somewhat metallic voice chimed back.

Multi sighed. They had been in this building for a good spell, and there was still no sign of their team leader. There was no sign of the Fallen for that matter as well. Her HUD flickered with information as she checked and triple checked their objectives, position, and mission parameters. She knew Tidy was right, Multi had just grown annoyed and anxious at waiting. It is not exactly a well known Titan trait to wait for combat after all.

Tidy scanned the area constantly. He didn't like surprises, and he preferred to know the battlefield as well as possible given how fluid combat typically became. He took note of patches of grass that were taller than others, noting them to be good hiding places for Shanks or Dregs. He took into account how many of the wreckages had dark areas were the sun did not shine, leaving a black hole where any number of enemies could be lurking. Those places he prioritized above the tall grass for they could hide Vandals with wire rifles – snipers. The last thing him or Multi needed was to be suppressed by the orange beams of light that would cut them down in moments if there were a good number of snipers.

"I don't like this." Tidy chimed. An entire day of trekking and hours spent inside a shack and no contact. He had become quite concerned, and very suspicious.

"Me neither." Multi replied,

"Not a single patrol. No dropships. Not even the occasional pot shot!"

Tidy turned away from the window and slumped against a wall, facing Multi. Multi in turn turned her head from a hole in the wall she had been peering out of. Both of them confused, trying to piece a mystery together. All the reports of increased activity, yet today there was seemingly none. Either there was a trap which was Tidy's suspicion, or perhaps there was something more going on as was Multi's thinking. Both speculated over their respective thoughts for a few minutes when their comms broke into static and Zavala, the Titan Vanguard leader, spoke.

"Listen up Titans – you're sure this information is correct Cayde?"

There was a slight pause as Cayde's voice broke the background.

"Hey Zevran, how about we make a bet? If it's false I'll go fishin. If it's good you go fishin. Either way the beer should be, uh, some…what…good. Better yet-"

"Thanks Cayde that'll be all. Ok Titans listen up. Some Hunters have made contact with a very large group of Fallen near your position."

Multi and Tidy faced each other. Tidy rose up off the wall while Multi stacked up on the right side of the door way.

"We are getting ready to move-" Multi began but was swiftly interrupted.

"No, the Hunters are holding their ground. The information they relayed back is what you're gonna be going after. There's apparently an Archon making his way from them towards you. We intercepted Fallen comms and he's bringing down a Ketch. You two are the closest ones to the landing zone. Get to the Ketch's landing zone, eliminate the Archon, and board the Ketch. Once aboard plug your Ghosts into the nearest console so they can draw out whatever information they can. This is the biggest break we have in finding out what the Fallen are up to and we have to seize this opportunity."

Muti's eyes went wide inside her helmet.

"That's a pretty tall order…sir."

"I know Guardians, and I wouldn't send you without help if I could. Right now you two are the only ones all ready inside the area of operations and the others in your area are tied up in combat inside a labyrinth of old tunnels running beneath the whole area. The Fallen are searching for something and we have Hunter parties mapping the tunnels while Warlocks are determining what's in the area that's of such importance. Almost all of them have run into resistance. That Archon might have something. Stop him and find out what the Fallen are up to. Transmat a beacon for reinforcements but I am telling you now it will take some time for help to arrive. Give 'em hell Guardians."

With that the comms fell silent after another brief moment of static. Multi's and Tidy's HUD's flickered to life as they received new information from the Tower. Their updated objectives placed them travelling just past the wreckages north of their position, the only area clear enough for a Ketch. The news of the firefights in the tunnels beneath them cleared away their confusion. What confounded them for the time being was how they missed any possible entrances to the tunnel system. Pushing that aside they focused on the tremendous job ahead of them.

Multi exited the shack first, her auto rifle up and arms tucked down to support recoil. Her steps moved with stability and speed, her torso pivoted side to side on a ninety degree angle and vertically on a thirty degree angle. She kept checking for Shanks, Dregs, and any ships that may jump in. The terrain was open until the wreckages. Either situation was dangerous to be in, but Multi would rather have cover than be caught in the open if a ship jumped in. Thankfully Tidy was perched up in the shack with his sniper rifle. If there was trouble, he'd be the first to know.

The issue they both faced was crossing the graveyard of machines to the clearing on the other side. Tidy could cover Multi for maybe half of that distance, but then Tidy would have to catch up with Multi. Without any support for roughly seven minutes, Multi would be vulnerable. While Tidy advanced there could be enemies waiting or a drop ship could jump in catching him in the open as he made his way to Multi. If Tidy advanced with Multi they would lose the advantage of spotting enemies before they got too close and the sniper rifle would become pointless. So, making a gamble, Tidy pronounced,

"Multi, I will cover your advance. When you get to that wreckage –" Tidy pointed to a fuselage that was ripped in half upon impact, the tail end was surprisingly still intact.

"Take cover in the back until I get to you."

Multi nodded.

"Don't keep me waiting or I'll come back and carry you myself."

"Maybe I'll leave a few Fallen to keep you occupied, eh?" Tidy retorted.

Multi chuckled, regained her composure, and proceeded towards the wreckage. She didn't like being in the open, exposed to fire, even with Tidy watching her back. Multi sprung into a full on sprint, hoping to close the distance with the wreckage and to get out of the clearing as fast as possible. She hurdled a boulder using one hand to support herself as she cleared the rock. She grunted on landing and continued running. The tall grass whizzed by her knees, and she found herself particularly thankful to have her armor. She couldn't imagine how her ancestors dealt with such grass. She looked ahead and judged no more than another minute or so to her destination. Good thing too, the armor was heavy and she was beginning to need to catch her breath. She neared the wreckage and turned her back to it, slamming into the side with a loud thud that reverberated throughout the wreckage.

Multi took a moment to catch her breath, then readied her rifle.

"How does it look from there, Tidy?"

"You're clear."

Multi pulled her rifle into her shoulder and began taking smaller, more controlled steps towards the shredded entrance of the tail. The entrance however, could not be seen from the shack. Multi was going to have to move carefully, and lure any Fallen out for Tidy. She slowly crept along the side of the wreckage, her rifle up ready to fire. It only took a few steps before she neared the entrance. And it was then Multi realized how quiet it had gotten. She got a sick feeling in her gut. Dropping to one knee, Multi pulled out a magnetic grenade.

"Tidy, you better be ready for a party."

"Copy."

Tidy focused down his scope and brought Multi into view, watching her creep slowly towards the wrecked tail's entrance. He saw her turn the corner and disappear for a brief moment. In that moment blue trails of energy exited the wreckage followed shortly by the cracks of arc gunfire. Multi returned back into view sprinting as fast as she could towards the boulder she had hurdled earlier. There was an explosion and a Dreg's screams of pain filled the air while his arm flew out the entrance.

Then they came. First two, then six, then ten. The Dregs poured out the entrance and came down both sides of the fuselage. There was a ferocious D-KOW sound as Tidy fired his sniper rifle, effectively removing the head from one Dreg on the left. The next sound was that of an empty shell hitting the shack's floor and the metallic sound of his rifle loading the next round. Tidy fired again, the sniper rifle's recoil moving it up and to the left slightly with every shot. There was another alien scream of pain as a Dreg held his chest with both hands, blue blood oozing from the entry wound. He fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground.

Now Multi's assault rifle added to the chorus of gunfire. Tracers went flying down the right side of the fuselage causing three Dregs to chatter angrily at her as they attempted to take some kind of cover. Taking advantage of this Multi let loose another volley of fire, catching a Dreg center torso. His body shook violently as ten rounds shredded through his body before falling backwards. Multi dropped behind the boulder for cover. In this time Tidy managed to drop two more Dregs on the left flank. What Tidy saw through his scope caused him some alarm as the remaining three Dregs had simultaneously thrown arc grenades at Multi. Multi must have seen this because there was a translucent purple bubble surrounding her.

There were more screams, three explosions, and Multi was laughing. Why she was laughing in the middle of combat was beyond Tidy. As the smoke cleared Tidy soon discovered why. The three Dregs had thrown their grenades and charged. Multi's bubble having protected her kept the grenades out. All that was left was Fallen body parts scattered about. Tidy couldn't help but to smile slightly at the sheer stupidity of their opponents. Their moment of comedy soon passed. Metallic shrieking and whirring heralded approaching Shanks and deep guttural voices signaled Vandals. There was more of a fight ahead of the two Titans.

Wasting no time, both Titans rushed to the wreckage they had agreed upon. Tidy would have stayed at the shack, but the Dregs were a vanguard and he knew their best odds of survival would be together. It didn't take long for Tidy to catch up with Multi, but now they were dodging the orange wisps of energy Tidy so much was hoping not to see and blue pulses of energy. The time it took them to get to the tail seemed like an eternity. They took a few hits from arc blasts, dodged the orange lines of energy from wire rifles of the Vandal snipers, and kept firing. Every step seemed to be an hour, every round missed a life before their eyes. Finally drawing near to the fuselage they dove to the ground where Multi was earlier. Clambering back up the quickly stacked, Tidy behind Multi, and rushed to the entrance. Their radar showed no enemies in the immediate area and they took no time getting into cover.

"How many did you count?" Multi asked, breathing heavy.

"At least twenty. Five snipers, maybe another three Vandals, and definitely a Captain somewhere. The rest have got to be Shanks and Dregs." Tidy replied in a very calm manner. There was a bright light and Tidy's Ghost appeared.

"I am detecting many more hostiles in the area. And many more are coming. I would believe the Archon is on his way here."

"How long?" Tidy asked.

"I am not sure. The buildup of enemies nearby suggests soon."

Tidy looked at Multi.

"Make sure you got lots of ammo. Now it's a real party."