Act I - Nothing Left But The Fall
[Old Russia, Earth, The Steppes]
It was time. Nestled into my cozy Jumpship, Ghost and I made our way back to the remnants of the Cosmodrome to find the missing piece to our ship, if we were to escape Earth to fight anywhere else we'd need the Warp Drive, what we failed to mention to Commander Zavala, was that we were going up against an Archon Priest.
"Say, Ghost? What is an Archon Priest?" It wasn't that I didn't know what it was, I just wanted to understand more as to how the Fallen work. So far, Dregs, Shanks, and Vandals made up the lower ranking members, Captains were their leaders, next to something called a 'Servitor', next were these Archons, I think?
"Archons are fallen priests that are seen as a Kell's most trusted adversary. They are stronger than a fallen captain and also are sometimes seen as the link between a houses servitor." Yet, even though that was informative, the only thing that Ghost did not really explain was how exactly we were supposed to fight back against something that trumps the size of a Captain
"Still, there's so little left out here. We're lucky to have found this ship in good condition. A Guardian can't do much to push back the Darkness without a means to travel far. The Cosmodrome is the last place I can think of that has a working Warp Drive, if we are to fight beyond Earth we'll need to break through the Archon first."
"We survived the Fallen before, Ghost, we can do it again!" I wasn't going to let my fear get the best of me, they were pirates and killers, I need to remember that if I'm to survive, I need to stay strong this time. Grasping the handles of my Jumpship, I pushed down to begin my descent into the Cosmodrome once more
In a flash of white light, my boots struck the snow-covered ground of the Cosmodrome again, my armor finally keeping the cold out for good this time. My Suros ADM tightly held close to my chest as I jogged down the small metal platform and into the world around me, gunfire sounded in the distance, and I did see a blue blip to my far left, another Guardian maybe.
"A Guardian's ship was recently shot down here. If the Fallen haven't gotten to it there might be more working pieces we can scavenge." Ghost logical reply was worth a shot, who knows, we may actually find a Warp Dive in it. "I wouldn't hold our breaths."
During my jog towards the marker, I felt light refract into my gaze to my right, forcing my hand to raise against it, for a moment I nearly missed it, but something strange was sticking out of a few rusted containers on the ground next to a rocky mound. Lowering my hand I came to see a strange, blue shrub, only...made of metal?
"Spinmetal, this can be useful in augmentation for our gear later down the line, best we collect anything of value while we're here." In a flash of light, I watched as Light left my palm and consumed the plant's being, leaving behind a small fizzle of glimmer as it did. "Done, sent into the Vault."
"That is both lazy and effective." Shrugging at the simplicity of gather resources I pressed on towards that burnt remains of a ship buried under soil and snow. But apart from the fire and smoke that rose from the remains, a small, blinking light was still going
Quickly checking the area around us I raised my hand, Ghost constructing before my eyes, I smiled a little at such a fascinating way that Light worked, from storage, to power, and to vanishing and appearing from thin air, it really was breathtaking. Ghost slowly moved over the breached hull of the ship, a blue spotlight scanning the light in question.
"Hmm...the ship's avionics are completely catatonic." Uhh, what? "The ship doesn't work." Oh. "But I can cull their last transmission."
I jumped slightly at the sharp sound of metal turning and snapping in places, while a near inaudible voice spoke into the mic, static and gunfire overriding any other sound of life, the last thing I could make out was the crash before the transmission cut out with Ghost's disappearance. I hope those Guardian's made it out ok.
"They managed to restore an information hub here. Down in the tunnels below, but that voice..." Ghost seemed lost in though now
"You know the person?" Curious, I awaited his response as I walked through a small overpass before my eyes were a few dead Fallen, a...some strange, purple goo was left splashed across the shipping crates and equipment like paint, what did this?
"I do now. This is void remnant energy, and only one Guardian I know of speaks in another language when in trouble." This sounded off entirely. "Morbin-7. But if this was his doing we won't have to worry about any dead Guardian's, I'm more worried for the Fallen."
"You that concerned for them?" I mused, stepping down a rusted staircase and into the poorly lit basement below
"Only a little." I giggled at that, shaking my head as the two of us passed through a small passage to another flight of steps to our left, so Ghost appeared before me, his eye amplifying the light so act as a torch
Yet to my tense muscles, my eyes saw the red that had been sighted on my scanner, covering the thin line across the three top slices. Great, he didn't clear them all out. Stopping next to the broken doorway, I stared into a room that was exposed to a massive, blue light in the back room, two machines placed in the middle of the room, splitting it, but they were there, a Vandal wielding two swords, and two Dregs.
Hmm...reaching for my waist, I felt my fingers slowly wrap around a small ball. Idea.
Crouching, I steadily rolled the silver ball across the round, until the Vandal noticed this, the silver orb touching its foot, by then it had already reacted poorly to the sudden flash of orange that cracked through the seal of the ball. In seconds, fire erupted from the ball, throwing the Vandal flying into the glass, with two Dregs flying into an open door to my left, their body scorched completely.
"Nice. Come on, there's a map of the entire area here we can use." Nodded in silence I moved around the door-frame and towards the back room where the glow came from, it was a massive, holographic map of the Cosmodrome, with pinned locations and names for each sector
Awaiting Ghost's final scan of the map, I noticed my objective change to...where we got our Jumpship. Oh no...
"This is the only known location of a Warp Drive, meaning we either take on an Archon or we remain grounded to one planet." Is that really so bad? "Ceres." I know, I know. Can't blame a girl for trying
Sighing, I turned back around to follow the marker, but I pointed Suros ADM towards the shrouded door firing a single round from the clip into the head of a Dreg that tried to ambush me. Seriously, even a blind man could have thought of a better strategy than that.
[Dock 13. WARNING: Darkness Zone]
Ugh! I suddenly fell against the side of the wall heading into the Dock, my body suddenly felt strange in the moment I entered the station. Ghost?
"We have to be extra careful now, this entire place is suppressing Light." That means...I could...die. "Stay calm, as you said, we survived against them before. I'm not going to let you die again."
"..." I pushed my body back up again, slowly breathing through my nose and out my mouth. "Thank you."
To my left on a small bench sat a golden chest of some kind, maybe luck was finally on our side? Moving closer to the object, I flicked the seals and opened the hatch to reveal...woah!
"That's more like it." I agreed with Ghost. Lifting to my wondrous eyes, I held up a large, black rocket launcher. A black breech stretched to the muzzle itself, a massive optical site on top. Yet the bottom piece looked like a rifle, same receiver, stock, hand-guard, only all attached to the bottom, with the orange Vanguard symbol on the side. There was also a massive handle on the front
"I think we got this." I grinned, easily lifting the heavy weapon and placing it beside my Preacher on my back, yet the weight was hardly noticeable, the more time I spend as a Guardian, the more fascinating the world seems to become, not wanting to draw out my time in this Darkness Zone, I pressed forward into the next room, passing by a large ditch
"Eyes Up, Guardian." You got it, Ghost. Moving down another, and hopefully the last flight of stairs, I stopped before the open hanger, the whole half of my scanner turned red, I froze at this, grasping Suros shakily, and I felt my heart skip
...
"Time to roll the dice." My words spoke, I ran into the hanger, quickly pushing myself behind a pillar, thankfully, none of the Fallen moved at my motion. Dregs, Vandals, Shanks. You named it, they were ready to gun me down once the first shot sounded. Luckily, my CLG was ready again, but with how spaced out the Fallen were it be best not to waste it, since I couldn't spot the Archon yet
But I felt my arms reach up for the newly acquired rocket launcher titled 'Harbinger'. replacing my Suros with it and holding the black RPG in my hands. I'll save my CLG for the Archon, but I have one round in this so I better make it count. I went to jump out into the open, where a few shanks and Fallen had gathered, but to my feared-shock, I was...gliding through the air!?
*Fwoosh-BOOOOSH*
A strong blast of wind pushed my feet back to the ground again, the blast throwing the Fallen around, while four Shanks and two Dregs were torn to pieces, metal, and ether staining the ground. By this point the other Fallen had already sprinted into spots to shoot me, so I spun behind the second pillar, switching back to my Suros ADM, flicking the safety off I turned to look out the edge of the pillar, yelping as three Wire Rifle bolts struck the beam.
My radar was beginning to detect them moving inwards to circle me, so I pushed my foot against the pillar, forcing my frozen back to dash into the open to move across the hanger, lining my Suros with a Dreg, pulling back on the trigger lightly, the rounds splashed in the pool of water, before two shots struck its chest, knocking the Dreg down. Jumping and essentially gliding around the first pillar, I narrowly skimmed a few Arc bolts, lining my optical sights on the first Vandal, to my relief I managed to shatter its sights. Landing, I crouched and shot the Vandal point blank, killing it immediately.
*Splatt-Splatt*
"Ahh!" My loss of momentum came from the electrical slice in my body, a Dreg had sneaked in from behind the pillar next to the dead Vandal. I tumbled to the ground in pain, my right hand clutching my arm where I...I was bleeding, its knife sliced through a small gap in my armor like paper, and the pain combined with its arc knife made my arm twitch with a cold flare of stiffness
"Ceres, are you ok?" Ghost called to me quickly, the Dreg stand over me with its gun pointed down on me, but my instincts kicked in, I felt my legs push up again, wrapping their length around the Dreg's arm, with a twist and cry from the Dreg, I used my back to throw the Dreg over my body, slamming it into the wall behind me. "Wow."
"I'm okay, he just grazed me." Standing back up I turned my right shoulder, another trace of bolt energy hitting the Dreg behind me, knocking it down for good. Grabbing Suros I ran towards the Vandal and Shank that remained, the two firing their arc weaponry, but I bent my knees, pushing up with my toes to glide straight over their head, allowing me to fire a burst of rounds into the Shank, destroying it, and two more through the Wire Rifle of the Vandal
Grazing the ground, the Vandal attempted to slice me with a knife, but I skated back on the slope, reaching back with my left arm, pulling Preacher from its holster. A small turn forced the Vandal to stumble in front of me, that's when I raised the muzzle against its head.
"That's for my arm." I pulled the trigger back, hard. The burst of lilac mist shot out like a fountain from its neck, the body crumbling into the soil and tarmac. Wincing, I carefully placed Preacher back into its holster, wincing as I felt my arm twitch at the cold air hitting my arm, but slowly I saw the blood cease its flow, and my peachy skin remained with only a tiny white line across the gash. "Ahh, much better."
"Ceres..." I froze too, I was standing in the middle of the hanger and the rock around the hole in the wall shook, from the pit rose two massive arms, the large, horned head of the Fallen poking through, within its upper right arm was a huge gun, similar to that of a shotgun that was dripping with liquid fire. If I wasn't afraid of dying now, I was absolutely terrified by now. "Find cover!"
I ducked behind a Fallen storage case, the Archon jumping out of the hole, causing a blast to throw smaller items across the area in its wake, rising to its full height again, it held the shotgun in both hands, the others raised to its sides.
Riksis - Devil Archon
The moment the weapon was raised Riksis opened fire, molten slugs rained down on my location, so I ran, feeling a few embers touch my legs, while more slugs were fired straight after, chasing me as they struck the other side of the hanger. Taking this as my opportunity, I threw my solar grenade towards Riksis, but my heart dropped when I saw the lower right arm backhand the orb away, over to where to Vandals had crawled through, to my slight amusement the two were burned before they could understand what was happening. A stroke of fortune maybe.
"More Fallen are bound to show, we need to take him down," Easier said than done, Ghost. Sadly he was right if I stalled it wouldn't do much good, yet he lacked any shield so I had some chance to beat him. "You're left!" I didn't turn in time
*BLAM*
My body flew back slightly from the shockwave of his illuminated hand striking the ground, but I jumped in time to glide across the wall and onto the side the hole was. This did little to phase him as the Archon turned around, firing three massive bursts of fire my way. Moving back, I held the trigger down until the magazine was dry, the round either missing or striking Riksis' head directly, disorientating him for a second.
I moved to my right, running to stand on the opposite side of the Fallen container from before. He was strong, but his slow movements left him exposed to heavy fire, flicking a new magazine in, I continued to suppress him with a hail of bullets, most of which he allowed to strike his body, only grunting when some hit vital points in his armor.
Suddenly, my radar turned completely red, I spun around, my back pinned to the container as my rifle held back the knife of a Dreg, the sparkling blade millimeters from my helmet, so I kicked him hard between the legs, before grabbing his arm and twisting it around his back, holding the Dreg out for Riksis to rupture with slugs of fire, while the thoughts of using this Fallen like a meat shield was horrible, I found the fact he shot his own brethren to be sickening.
Dropping the dead Fallen I turned around the pillar and swapped to Preacher, pulling back on the forearm, a shell leaving the chamber, I pointed the barrel towards the Archon's chest, blasting him with his own medicine, causing the large Fallen to stumble back, then with a hard pump again, I fired a slug into his helmet, shattering one of the horns.
*Bam-Crack*
"Oomph!" I felt all air leave my lungs the force of the large fist striking my gut painfully, throwing me into the air, while there I felt another fist strike my chest, my ribs shook violently and I was sent flying across the hanger, my back slamming against the back wall with a spasm of agony, my scream snared in my throat. "a-ah..."
I couldn't feel Preacher in my hand anymore, my clearing vision spotting the shotgun meters from me now, and I was down on my knees, hands sinking into the snow as I felt air push back to my lungs, while I could live without air, the sensation was comforting, it made me human. But this pain did too, how my ribs felt close to breaking, my nerves flaring at the impact with the wall, how the heat threatened to burn my eyes, that made me human again...even if I couldn't die.
My hands were slowly feeling warmer again, as was the rest of my body. But to my rising head, I saw only death. The Archon stood back as two Vandals lined their Wire Rifles to me, four Dregs too, they had gathered to strike me down, a girl too scared to fight...why did I feel so angry?
"Ceres, get up!" Ghost's voice begged me to move, but I only felt more heat rising to my body, I felt so ashamed, I was given the power to save lives, to do better than whatever I had done before. These creatures take from us what little we have, and here I was about to give them more!
I felt my fingers dig into the snow, now turned to water while my flames burned across my hands and arms in tempo with my emotions, this raging flame, this searing light...was mine. I slowly felt my legs move under me, them too illuminating the walls with an orange glow of fierce flames, the Fallen all seemingly frozen at the sight of my Light turned Solar.
"I'm...a Guardian..." I clenched my right fist, a crank of iron crashing against an anvil clapped in the air. "A Titan."
Rising into the air again, the Fallen shot their rifles and pistols towards my body, yet I smiled as the Arc energy fizzled around my flames, negating their own power. With a flaming weapon in hand, I lobbed a vulture-shaped hammer down on the group of Fallen, and to my star-filled eyes, the source of the hammer erupted as if it were a solar flare, throwing the Fallen across the hanger like fireworks.
Falling down towards the Archon again, he raised his shotgun, firing a continuous stream of molten slugs into my own flames, but it did nothing but make me feel mightier than he was. With another hammer held tightly, I swung down, the edge exploding upon contact with Riksis' head, throwing the Fallen Priest back into the dirt.
I touched the ground again, feeling as though it was finally over, but to my surprise and anger, a massive arm pinned itself to my body, pushing us both against the wall again, cracking the weathered concrete at our impact, my body was beginning to feel weird now, I didn't have much longer to use this Light, I needed to make it count, a final shot.
Pushing back with a cry of defiance, I wedged my feet against the Archon's face, pushing back against the wall and wrenching the arm off my stomach. Placing my feet atop the Fallen's head, I leapt into the air, a final hammer raised in both my hands with every ounce of strength coursing through the head of the weapon.
"HYYYYAAAH!" Descending atop Riksis, the blunt edge of my hammer shattered his helmet with a barrage of flaming shards of hardened light and helmet fragments. I rolled across the ground, stumbling onto my feet haphazardly, my head turning with a triumphant smile as Riksis, the Archon Priest roared a final time, falling down to his knees and turning to smoldering ashes
"I-I did! I used my Light!" I was ecstatic, jumping into the air while throwing fist, I felt like the energy I had lost was suddenly regained through defeating the Archon Priest. Lifting my trusty Preacher off the ground, I placed it back into my hands, sighing as I saw the strange, glowing object next to the remains of Riksis
"You just killed an Archon! And we have our Warp Drive." Ghost sounded just as thankful we were still alive, leaving me to pick up both it, and a select few green and white Engrams left by the Fallen, hopefully of some value, or that's what Ghost told me back on the Tower. "I'm proud of you, Ceres."
"Thank you, thank you." I bowed giddily, the hanger was finally silent again
Time to - n...not more. I saw that behind me the red lines turning to triangles as more Fallen seemed to arrive for a fight. Pumping Preacher I turned to face the Dreg that came running towards me, I could still fight no problem.
"Alright, Ghost, lets -"
*Shiiiiing*
I felt a surge of pain slice through my shield in an instant, nearly gutting me if not for my armor taking the brunt of the strike for me. That didn't mean I couldn't feel the impact throw me to the ground again, but Preacher was still locked in my hand, so I was still safer than last time.
"Ceres, Run!" What, I-I'm fine I just- "No, we can't fight him, run!"
Who did he - I was completely struck with horror at the sight of...what were they!? These...things with pale...chitin as their skin, hollowed stomachs and bloodied teeth, skulls covering their eyes. Ones with red stood with weapons raised in their arms, while three emerald eyes looked off towards me or exit points. But it was the shadow that suffocated my own that had me gripping Preacher tightly, my finger slowly snaking into the trigger guard.
A creature with hardened, bony spikes on its body, a deep crimson coating its body with a flaming blue ember atop its head, turning its emerald eyes a murky blue. In its claws was a massive, crooked cleaver with a jagged edge on the front, almost like it was a saw. But this...thing, it looked like a Knight.
Suvar - Fanatic of Crota
"What are the Hive doing on Earth?" Ghost? Hive? W-what are they...and...who's Crota? I couldn't bother asking questions anymore since I raised my shotgun to Suvar's rising cleaver, but I felt...weaker, my arm was trembling with a sudden wave of exhaustion, no...why is it affecting me now!? "Guardian, we need to move, anywhere but in Suvar's path, go!"
I did as best as I could, pulling myself back far enough as to have the cleaver strike the ground between my legs, the dirt and water hitting me directly. But with a slow, almost painfully long drawback, Suvar raised his cleaver again, this alien had appeared from nowhere. Did it wait until I was weak to attack me? I played right into this thing's hands.
I'm done for!
"Look out beloooooow~!" I was about to close my eyes, but the voice from above caught me by surprise, another Guardian! Thank you, God, thank you, thank you, thank you! I released a breath finally, seeing - GAH!
"Ow..." Both I and someone else groaned. Upon looking up again, I was met with the helmet of another Guardian under a white hood, his black scarf tightly hugged his neck, and from what I could see he wore whites, light blues, and greys, a hazel sash across his plated chest and coat...he was also pinning me...this was awkward
"Uhh...hi?" I muttered, but he suddenly grabbed my shoulders and spun us atop one another to avoid the cleaver from slicing us in two, dirt flying everywhere with the water we stumbling in. Quickly, the man jumped to his feet, standing over me as I crawled back to my knees on the dry land next to us
He had armor on his arms and palms, shoulder plates, knee plates, and shin guards, all over white clothing with little black or blue details. His belt aligned with pouches and even a rifle and sword on his back, the rifle a black with blue dotting the receiver and stock, while the sword was completely black with a green tint to the blade. He was a hunter, even as his hood blew back it revealed a smooth face-plate with no holes for eyes or a mouth.
"Su-Su, you know better than to run from a fight, I thought you were better than that?" Was he...toying with this...Hive? I couldn't find any words to comprehend what was going on or why these 'Hive' are here. But the Hunter turned to look at me, raising a handcannon I've seen before, that Ace on the side of the chamber. "You all good? Su-Su being annoying, I am so sorry for his behavior."
"I-Umm...you..." Smooth, first guy who isn't an Exo and you slaughter your words, Ceres. But he just chuckled to himself
"I thought Titans were meant to be like the walls of the Vanguard...well, guess the Hive can surprise anyone these days, shame, I had a joke for this moment too..." With a sigh he slowly raised his handcannon to Suvar, the Hive in question slowly shambling back towards the crowd of Hive that stood by like statues, all screaming and clawing in our direction
"Just sit and recover your strength, Titan Lady." With a spin of his handcannon, I heard a chime ring from the chamber. "Time to go to work!"
"Him...of all the Guardians I expect to see, I never thought it would be him." Ghost sounded suspicious of our savior, who stood by as Suvar retreated into the crowd of enemies, and I slowly held Preacher in both my hands again
"Who is he?"
"The Hunter who did something not many Guardians know about, even I know very little of what happened but..." I looked to the Hunter again, and he stood by waiting for the Hive to make their move, this smothering feeling of darkness and sorrow, he was the only thing keeping it at bay now. "He's the Hunter under Cayde-6's wing, The Worse One."
To Be Continued...
[Advancement]
Hammer of Sol - Complete
Sunstrike - Complete
Titan Codex I - Incomplete
4 Chapters, the plot thickens and our two Guardians meet, what will happen next? I guess since more of you are enjoying this you'll be seeing what unfold between Zane and Ceres next time. Hope you enjoyed the big baddy that started it all, seeya in the next chapter Guardians!
Next Chapter: Equinox Act II
With the aid of the strange Hunter, Ceres finds herself trapped with him as they plan their next move against the Hive. With Ghost not wanting to trust him, and all other options seemingly gone, Ceres will have to once more, roll the dice.
Author's Notes: The Hunter is wearing A Dream-Eater Mask with Rustburner 1.5 armor.