A/N: So, what does everyone think of the Age of Triumph so far? Yeah, I know its rehashed content. But hey, the old Raids are relevant again.
So, in light of the changes, the Vault of Glass, Crota's End, King's Fall and Wrath of the Machine arcs will use the slightly altered versions.
Example, the 'hold the line' sequence just before the Templar and the Templar's legions will match the updated version.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a non-profit fanfiction. Destiny is owned by Bungie, Activision and High Moon Studios. I only Kayla and other OCs. Please support the official release.
Saga 01: Guardian Rising
Arc 01:Devils and Kings
Chapter 003: Panic Attack
The next few days Kayla spent on patrol and familiarizing herself with the Cosmodrome. The City was nestled somewhere in Old Russia and the Cosmodrome wasn't too far north of it. The Wall apparently went on for miles and kept out much of the Fallen, save the few that had nestled in the Cosmodrome. Ghost had explained that the Devils refused to attack the City head on since Solkis was killed by old Guardian named Saint-14 and they were even less likely to do so now that Riksis had been defeated.
The Cosmodrome itself was home to the shipyards, an old spaceport and three large stations: the Terrestrial Complex, which handled Mercury, Venus and Mars; the Lunar Complex, which handled the trade ports on the Moon; and the Jovian Complex, which used to maintain contact with all colonies beyond the Asteroid Belt. Kayla felt like a woman out of time. It seemed like yesterday that everything around her was clean and shining, the pinnacle of humanity's Golden Age. Now it was decaying and rotten, a monument to a once proud race and a once proud time. She sighed to herself sadly.
"Do you want to go back?" Ghost asked, sensing her sadness.
"No," Kayla said, sighing heavily. "It won't change anything."
The pair continued onwards. Ghost thought deeply as they trekked across the hills. "How are taking all...this?" he asked after a moment.
"How do you think?" Kayla asked back. "I'm still unable to grasp the fact that it's 2716 not 2400! And yet here it is." She motioned to the rust graveyard of planes and complexes around her before sighing again. "Sorry...I try not to think about it too much."
"No, no," Ghost replied. "I understand. Most of the newer Guardians at least have some idea of what's going on? Do you remember what attacked you that day?"
"Flashes...They looked like monsters. Something that Satan himself swallowed and then spat back out. And the noise. That horrible screeching noise..."
Ghost looked at her, concerned. Could it be...?
The conversation was interrupted by a small green Ghost. "Help! Help!" she yelled, floating up to them. "Y-You two look helpful! Are you?"
"Calm down," Kayla said gently. "What's happened?"
"My Guardian is down! I can't heal him on my own, I don't have enough power! Oh, what do I do...?"
"Where are they?" Ghost asked.
"B-By the Mothyards! Please, hurry!"
Kayla took off, sprinting after the green Ghost. The Ghost led them to a medium sized building, outside of which laid an Awoken Titan. He was bleeding heavily from his stomach.
"M-Mr Delta," the Ghost said, flying up to her Guardian. "It's ok, I brought help."
The blonde-haired man stirred slowly. "Good girl, Sal..."
Kayla went up to him. "Don't move," she ordered. "Let me help, I'm a doctor. Well...kinda..."
Kayla gently put the man in the recovery position, taking off his chest piece. There was a large gash on his chest that looked like it had come from a sword and, judging by the burns around it, the sword and been electrified. "Do you know who do this?" Kayla asked.
"I-It was a Captain," the Ghost, Sal, replied. "He was a big brute, yes, he was!"
"Is he still here?"
"No," Sal said, shaking from side to side. "He ran back to the Devil's Lair. I hope he doesn't come back..."
"He won't, just calm down. Delta?"
Delta stirred again, groaning. "I haven't seen you around before."
"Never mind, you look like you were stabbed, right?"
Delta nodded. "I got careless."
"Don't worry about it. Just relax, I'm gonna have Ghost heal you."
Kayla slowly pulled Delta around as gently as possible, laying his head on her lap and exposing his stomach. Ghost flew in and healed the deep gash with his light. Delta hissed in pain as the flesh fused shut. "Ahh, that stings..." he said, sitting up slowly.
"I'm gonna take you back to the Tower," Kayla said. "You need a new chest piece anyway." She held up the armour piece, showing the metal torn open with blood covering the edges of the gap.
Delta laughed. "Damn, no wonder that hurt, haha. I'm Delta," he said, holding out his hand.
"Kayla," she smiled back, shaking it.
Earth, City, Tower
Kayla was surprised the Tower had infirmary, though Ghost explained it was more of a 'just-in-case' than an actual hospital. Delta was sat on a hospital bed with a large bandaged around his abdomen. Sal was flying around him quickly, worrying over him.
"You have to make sure you eat and drink plenty!" she said. "And get lots of sleep! And not strain yourself!"
Delta chuckled and pet her. "You worry too much. I'll be fine."
Sal made a worried squeak. Ghost looked at Kayla, then Sal. "Sal, why don't you come tell me more about you and Delta?" he asked. Sal gasped and nodded, the pair flying to the windows.
Kayla watched her in amusement. "She's like a little kid."
"Mhmm, I know," Brankev replied. "Sees me as an older brother than anything else." The blonde Awoken shifted round slightly. "That's the about the ghosts, they're all individuals just like people. But Sal's a good girl. Bit nervous in fights, but she can handle herself." Brankev smiled at the pair of ghosts then looked at Kayla. "Haha, first meeting and I've already got my shirt off.
He motioned to his blue, toned and heavily scarred body. "I see this one," Kayla smirked, pointing to the bandage. "Isn't the first."
"You like it?" Delta teased.
"Not interested," Kayla chuckled, sticking her tongue out.
"Don't worry, I'm only messing around."
"I must say, Delta," said another Awoken man who was striding up to them. "You really are careless."
Delta groaned. "It's just a flesh wound."
"And you could have been killed," the man said patronizingly. "Dead Orbit could have lost a valuable member if it had not been for her." He pointed at Kayla.
Kayla's eyes narrowed on his finger. She looked up at the man, raising an eyebrow. The man looked at her. "Forgive me," he drawled. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Arach Jalaal."
Kayla looked the man over. "Kayla," she said politely.
Jalaal was a tall, thin man with a long face framed by thin black hair, a pointed nose and a beard on his chin. His eyes were a dark white, grim and serious, matching the gold-laced blacks and greys have his attire. The man held a clipboard and his face seemed to be forever stuck in a constant patronizing scowl, even when he attempted to smile.
"A pleasure to meet you, Kayla, Jalaal said, shaking her hand. "If you would please excuse us. Delta and I need to have a little...talk."
"That's what he says..." Brankev winked with a loud whisper.
Kayla nodded and called Ghost then left quietly. When they were far enough from earshot she turned to the little robot.
"Who was he?" she asked.
"Arach Jalaal," Ghost replied. "The leader of Dead Orbit."
"And Dead Orbit is...?"
"There are a few groups known as factions in the City. There's a fair few, but the main ones are Dead Orbit, Future War Cult and New Monarchy. One believes we're all doomed, one believes war is forever and the other wants to have a King instead of a republic. I tend to stay out of politics, too much hassle."
"Eesh...sounds like it," Kayla said, heading out to the balcony. "Do you think he'll be alright?"
"Delta? Probably. His ghost, Sal, said he's survived worse than a Captain's sword." Ghost faltered slightly. "Oh, hang on...hmm...message from the Speaker..." Ghost's eye glowed for a second before he turned to Kayla. "There's a locked door in the Cosmodrome."
"...A door?" Kayla repeated sceptically.
"Apparently the Fallen are keeping it locked, meaning it's important. Could be one of their Barons."
"Alright. Let's get to it."
Earth, Old Russia
Cosmodrome, Steppes
Kayla arrived in the Cosmodrome. Taking a moment to get her bearings then set off west. As she trekked through the rusted paths Kayla noticed that the Cosmodrome had been awfully quiet since Riksis was killed and she wondered where the House of Devils had actually disappeared to. She wasn't one to complain though and Kayla was glad for the lack of Fallen, though she remained wary in the silence.
"You know, this place must have been amazing before the Collapse," Ghost said. "Thousands of humans boarding colony ships, off to build cities beyond."
"It was..." Kayla murmured.
Ghost looked at her. "The door is in the Skywatch on the other side of the Steppes."
The pair headed down a steep hill near what appeared to be an old floodgate.
"Where is it?" Kayla asked.
"You can see it when we get over this hill."
Kayla hiked up the other side of the floodgate, panting when she got to the top. Like the rest of the Cosmodrome the area was covered in coarse sand and rusted buildings, with addition of several long abandoned planes. However, she noticed the first since of Spring. Flowers had appeared, adding specks of red yellow and blue to the wasteland, something Kayla was thankful for. Ghost flew ahead of her a little.
"You that building in the distance?" he asked. "The one with the radar?"
"Yeah," Kayla replied staring at a large domineering complex of buildings in the distance.
"That's the Skywatch."
The Skywatch was on top of a plateau and looked similar to old buildings of the late 20th Century, red and brick and mortar. Around it was several extensions looked to have been added several centuries apart from each other. It had about a dozen disused generators next to it that had been torn apart, presumably by the Fallen. The radar on the top took up half the roof and was collapsing due to rust and centuries of disrepair. There was also an observatory with the telescope removed. Kayla made her way up a small driveway and kept close to the wall of the building. The only entrance she saw was an open garage, and that was guarded by a Captain and a trio of Vandals.
Kayla sighed. "Why can't this be easy?"
"It's less fun that way?" Ghost suggested.
Kayla shook her head and silently picked off one of the Vandals with a clean headshot from her Pulsar. A second Vandal turned but was taken down as well.
"You're getting good at this," Ghost noted.
"I'm a fast learner," Kayla said, dodging the sword of the last Vandal and smacking it with a Palm Strike. The Vandal roared and swung its swords again. Kayla whacked it with the butt of her gun, switching to her shotgun and blowing its head off, making Ghost grimace.
The Captain roared and charged her but Kayla fired her shotgun again, stunning it. The Captain growled and lunged at Kayla, slashing her arm. Kayla grunted in pain but fired back again. With its shield down the Captain backed off slightly, just enough for Kayla to throw a Void Grenade. The Captain panicked as the small vortex surrounded it, sucking all life from it. With a faint whimper the Captain fell to the ground, lifeless.
"I was expecting more resistance," Kayla said, stepping over the Captain's body.
"The Devils must have retreated to Sepiks Prime," Ghost mused. "With the Archon dead there's no one to protect it. That's the only explanation."
"Then...what's behind the door?" Kayla asked, a little anxious.
Ghost remained silent as the pair walked through the dusty, cobweb filled building. They arrived at what Kayla recognized as a storage bay. The grey concrete walls were covered with scorch marks and bullet holes and the large metal corrugated gate in the wall had several dents in it, as though something on the other side had slammed against it.
"This was one of the Skywatch's old array stations," Ghost said to himself. "The Lunar Complex, a link to the lunar colonies. Obviously."
"Something's wrong," Kayla said nervously. "If this is meant to hold a Baron then why are there no guards? And why would a Baron do this?" She motioned to the dents on the gate.
Ghost was apprehensive. Kayla was right, something was off. There a was crushing sense of dread in the air and a faint, foul stench of death. Hesitantly Ghost went to the door controls, scanning them then grumbling to himself.
"What is it?" Kayla asked.
"It's locked tight..." Ghost replied, hacking the control panel. "The Fallen really didn't want anyone getting in...or out."
Kayla gulped and readied herself. The gate slowly rolled upwards, the creaks and groans of the gears showing its age. As the gate slowly opened the foul stench engulfed them like a wave. It stank of rotting flesh and dirt, making Kayla want to throw up. She gagged and coughed.
"Christ!" she gasped. "What the hell is that?!"
Ghost watched, thankful he'd turned his olfactory sensors off. There was only one thing that gave off this horrible stench and he was silently praying to the Traveller that he was wrong.
Kayla composed herself and stepped forward. The room was pitch black but Kayla could hear the crunch of bones under her feet. Around her were all manner of disgusting insects: cockroaches, moths, slugs and the sound of flies buzzing filled her ears. Every fibre of her being was screaming at her to leave.
The sound of metal falling spooked her.
"Careful, lots of movement up ahead," Ghost warned.
Kayla slowly ascended the iron stairs in front of her. Despite her firm grip on her gun she was trembling slightly. She recognized this smell, but she couldn't place from where. Ghost followed behind, lighting the room as best he could. The room at the top was tall and full of old, broken computers. Kayla saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Gripping the gun tighter she turned and fired, the gunfire briefly lighting the room.
Nothing.
She had the scuttling of footsteps and the hairs on the back of her neck stoof on end. Then came the only ear-splitting screech.
"No...!" Kayla gasped, eyes widening in horror.
They came charging out of the darkness. Grey, spindly, vaguely humanoid creatures. They were tall and gangly with thin limbs and razor sharp claws. They had no eyes but long flared nostrils and jaws of dozens of needle-like, gnashing teeth that were constantly chewing.
The first couple charged Kayla, forcing against the back wall. Kayla pulled out her shotgun and fired at them in panic. A pause from the onslaught and Kayla found herself still pulling away at the trigger. It clicked hopelessly. She looked and fumbled for more ammo, dropping most of it on the floor. Then the Thralls came again. Kayla screamed in fear, whacking one with her Scattercast and throwing a Void Grenade at the mob. With the thin creatures down, more came out of the gloom: thicker, nimble but well built with reddish-brown armour and three glow eyes on their heads. They fired at her with void-based plasma. Fighting down the urge to throw up Kayla grabbed her Pulsar and fired blindly, managing to pick off the monsters with some difficulty. Then she slid down the wall, shaking like a leaf with tears in her eyes.
Earth
Cosmodrome
Several Centuries ago
"Stop pushing!" Kayla huffed. "Mum! Tommy won't stop pushing me!"
"She's lying!" the little boy next to her said innocently.
Kayla's mum turned around in her car seat. She was a beautiful women with long black hair tied into a high ponytail and beautiful blues eyes that glistened in the morning sun. Although she was in her early forties she had a youthful look about her.
"Tommy, stop pushing your sister!" she said sternly. "And Kayla, you're 21 years old, you really should be above fighting with your little brother."
Kayla glared slightly at Tommy who stuck his tongue out when their mother wasn't looking. The family were in a car driven by Kayla's dad in a large tailback on the high heading into the Russian Cosmodrome. They were heading to Ishtar on Venus to see a family member who worked for the Collective but, due to a large science fair happening in the same region the road was packed up for miles.
Kayla stuck her headphones on and looked over at the spaceport, admiring all the ships lined up waiting to ship people of to the stars. The Traveller had given humanity so much since its arrival and, after years of rapid advancement, they were finally looking to head outside the Sol System.
"Oh, David," Kayla's mum said to the father of the family. "Why couldn't we just get one of those hovercars." She pointed to the air traffic above them flying over the crowded highway.
"Look, Alex," David said calmly. "It would have cost more to buy the hovercars than the tickets to Venus. Besides, we don't need one of them. Ol' Sally's given us plenty of happy family memories."
Kayla chuckled at her dad's nickname for the old people carrier they were in. David was a incredibly tall man and, at 6'8'', easily dwarfed many other people. He had a small brown beard and shoulder length brown hair, looking a throwback from the hippy era many centuries before though, as Kayla was well aware, late 20th Century culture had made a comeback in the Golden Age.
Looking out over the Caspian Sea Kayla couldn't help but wonder how life could be any worse than this.
"Oh, my god..." Kayla heard Alex gasp over the music in ears.
Kayla took her headphones off and leaned over to get a closer look through the car's front window. A large...portal of sorts had opened up above the Cosmodrome, throwing out all the hovercars heading to and from. Any movement on the highway came to a halt as several more portals opened in the sky. Out of the portals came ominous flying ships that looked like alien sarcophagi, casting great shadows over the highways. Many people had got out of their cars to get a better look at these new ships, Kayla's family included.
Then one of the ships fired on the highway, the screams of people splitting the eerie silence apart. More of the ships fired and a sudden surge of people rushing backwards spilled up from the highway.
"Run!" David yelled as a large glob of purple plasma collided with a nearby car, causing it to explode and kill anyone inside.
The family pushed down the highway with the rest of the frantic crowd. Before they could gain any distance more 'tombships' appeared in the sky, the bottom of the ships opening up and spilling out a horde of gangly grey, zombie-like creatures that made a dash for the crowd with an ear-piercing screech.
"What the hell are they?!" Alex gasped in fright as the horde barrelled into the highway and began tearing into the people around them.
"What the fuck...?" Kayla breathed as she watched these creatures rip limbs and chew through flesh of innocent people. Tommy fearfully grabbed her hand.
"Alex, take Kayla and go," David ordered.
"But-!"
"Now, Alex!"
Alex nodded and grabbed Kayla's hand, dragging both her and her terrified brother behind her. Kayla couldn't make sense of it all. What were these creatures? What had humanity done to cause this? Why were they doing this?
Kayla kept running, charging through the crowd and now abandoned cars as the shrieking of these creatures, explosions from turretfire and the screams...she would never forget the tangled mess of throat crushed, twisted, fearful, terrified screams of men, women and children.
Alex, Kayla and Tommy pushed through the crowd, ignoring whoever the trampled in an attempt to get to safety. Soon they came before a tangled mess of crashed, burning cars.
"We've got to get through," Alex said as they came up to it.
"But Mum, what about Dad?" asked Tommy, bravely fighting back tears.
"He's fighting to protect us," Alex lied, knowing full well her husband was probably dead. The ferocity of these creatures was unreal. "Come on, Kayla, you first."
"R-Right!" Kayla said, clambering over the wreckage of the cars, her heart pounding.
"Ok, now bring up Tommy."
Kayla crouched, avoiding the dancing flames from the exposed, simmering engine of the car she was on and lifted her brother over the wreckage. "Stay close to me, Tommy!" Kayla said desperately.
"O-Ok!" Tommy nodded before letting out a blood curdling screaming.
Kayla turned just in time to see her mother get pounced by one of the grey creatures. Alex tried feebly to fend the creature off but the strength of this thing was unreal. All she could do was get her children out of here.
"RUN!" Alex screamed as the creature bit into her throat.
Kayla watched in frozen in fear as her mother's blood splattered on her face, Alex weakly telling Kayla to run once more as the alien back to twist its jaws and digging its long thin claws into her chest.
Still watching her mum's body get pulled apart mercilessly by this creature Kayla grabbed her brother's hand and dashing away from the monster. She could hear Tommy bawling as she dragged him through the frenzied crowd and, although she wanted to do her best to comfort him, Kayla could not stop herself from crying as well. She could still hear the crunching of bones and ripping of flesh clearly in her mind.
Kayla dashed through the crowd, ignoring Tommy's crying. All she could think about was getting to safety. In the frantic escape she could see more and more ships appear, more of those alien creatures descending into the panicking crowds.
Then it dawned on her.
Was this happening everywhere?
Kayla tripped over someone, falling onto the bonnet of a car. She stopped herself with both hands.
Wait, both?
Then where...?
"Tommy?" she said, voice filled with dread. "TOMMY!"
K...a!
Kayla turned and pushed back through the crowd. How could she have lost him? When did she lose him? She had one job left to do and that was to keep Tommy safe. Kayla frantically pushed back through the crowd, screaming desperately for her little brother but the surging mass of people and aliens made the task impossibly difficult. As looked around the crowd had thinned as the aliens gained control of the highway, herding people into small groups to pick off with ease.
K...la...!
And then, in the middle of the road Kayla could see a head of brown hair matted with blood, a small body with its chest ripped open, ribs sticking out and dozens of cuts and lacerations on it. Kayla could gasp in shock and fright as she stared at the lifeless body of her brother as the creatures feasted upon it, a look of sheer terror frozen on his face.
Kayla...!
Kayla couldn't move. She collapsed to her knees, screaming in vain against the horde. She felt one of the creatures barrel into her but at this point she didn't care. Utterly defeated, all Kayla could do was watch as it pulled back its blood drenched claws and snarl.
KAYLA!
Earth
Old Russia
Cosmodrome, Lunar Complex
"Kayla!"
The Warlock found herself back in the Lunar Complex, frozen in fear. Ghost was in front of her face, calling her.
"Kayla, it's the Hive!" he said. "More are upstairs, we can't stay here!"
"It was them..." Kayla croaked out between panicked tears. She looked at Ghost, terrified. "They were the ones who attacked Earth. They were the ones that...oh, God!"
Ghost watched as Kayla broke down, realizing the severity of what had just happened. There were no records of the Collapse but he wouldn't put it past the Hive to at least be partially responsible.
"Kayla, look at me," he said calmly. Kayla stared at him, eyes glazed and whimpering. "I can't begin to understand what you're feeling but if you don't stand and fight we will die here. Understand? So, please, do this for your family, don't let them die in vain!"
Kayla inhaled deeply, shaking. She stood up and swallowed her fears, keeping them down as best she could. With machine-like determination she continued up the Lunar Complex, coming out to a large control centre beneath the old observatory. More Hive swarmed and Kayla fired on them blindly, smacking back the grey ones with her Palm Strikes. Inside she was screaming, wanting to turn and run away, and keep on running until she was far away from this nightmare.
Ghost looked into a large circular room. Floating above the Hive was a medium-sized, feminine Hive. It had no legs and its body was covered in sharp teeth-like protrusions and flowed like a long tattered cloak. Like the others it had thin arms ending in long claws, and its head was horned, with three glowing green eyes and a beaked mouth. Upon seeing Kayla it screamed and fired blasts of electrical Darkness at her. Kayla hissed as it burned through her cloak.
"I got you," Ghost said, healing her. "That's pure Darkness, it'll sting for a while. Just take out the Wizard."
"T-The what?"
"The floaty one."
Kayla nodded and fought off the remaining Hive before focusing on the Wizard. Kayla switched to her Pulsar and steadied her aim, firing burst after burst at the creature. The Wizard screamed as the bullets embedded themselves in its rotting skin, attempting to fly away. Kayla gave chase, dodging Darkness blasts as it flew around the control centre. The Wizard fell to the ground, allowing Kayla to finish it off. The Wizard burst into flames, dissolving into ash and embers.
With the Wizard dead Kayla stumbled onto her hands and knees, throwing off her helmet and retching up vomit. She coughed, half crying as she shook in fear.
Ghost mused to himself. "That Wizard came from the Moon..."
"Really?!" Kayla snapped sarcastically, throwing up again. "That's fucking fantastic!"
Ghost looked at her. "S-Sorry, I er...look, we need to get you back to the City. And we need to see the Speaker about this."