The standard units vanished, leaving the higher ranks to their work. The hovering platform slowly lowered onto the roof of the construct,
connecting to it like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The heavy blasts fired by the two Cyclops's forced the six Guardians to seek cover. And
having drawn out the Axis mind they had been hunting was supposed to be a good thing even though it made things far worse.
Tralion raised his spare arm skyward. Small shockwaves blasted outwards from the energy he emitted within his hand. This caused the wall the
Guardians had been hiding behind to disappear.
"Ghost! Bring in the ship for Ariel support now!" Icarus shouted as he and the others moved to the next place to seek cover. As the new wall they
hid behind was dematerializing as well, they saw a blue-grey ship soaring above them, launching missiles at the three vex. The Cyclops's became
severely damaged, but the Eradicative mind that commanded them was protected by a green force field that had emerged to deny the attack.
The large silver vex arsenal by the sides of Tralion went into violent fits as they launched random projectiles towards the guardians. The guardians
had to evade the attacks by sprinting to the left section of the rooftop. Icarus however, had tripped on a dead vex and fell victim to the oncoming
shots.
Phoenix turned in horror as her partner was disintegrated from the void shots of the Cyclops. But she knew it wasn't too late. He just needed the
attention off his body. Tralion and his guards turned to the rest of the group, firing away their weapons meanwhile the Ghost of Icarus went to
work bringing its guardian back to life.
Phoenix summoned her Hammer of Sol and lanced it at the left Cyclops. The Hammer smashed directly into its eye, igniting the circuitry and
causing it to explode in a purple cloud and chrome garbage. She summoned it back and did the same to the other Cyclops, it received the same
fate as the other. She tried once more with the Axis mind, but to no avail thanks to that wretched shield. With the Platform completely lowered,
Tralion stepped forward to take matters into his own hands without his two guards. From the perspective of the guardians, Tralion appeared like
the silhouette of a colossal, one-eyed devil before the sun.
Phoenix banished her hammer as she pulled out a machine gun from transmat. On the other side of the rooftop, Icarus returned to life thanks to
his ghost and began firing at the Axis Mind with a rocket launcher. The shield deflected the rockets and bounced them off into random areas of
the sky.
The Guardians attempted to penetrate the shield of Tralion, a task that seemed hopeless with the exception of one of them. It seems that the slap
rifle of Independence, while pathetic towards the hull of Tralion, had been able to pass straight through the shield regardless.
Anxiously, Independence shouted to the rest of the Guardians. "Warriors! Tralion had no reason to make his shield immune to his own units! Claim
Whatever Vex Weaponry you can find and use it against him!"
As Claw evaded shots from Tralion's Torch Hammer, she shouted her response. "Do any of us appear as if we knew how to use vex weapons? Even
if we did, you don't seem to be leaving too many marks on this beast regardless!"
"If we can penetrate the shield we can at least begin on seeking Tralion's weak area! I can also show you how to use these!" Independence
responded as he leaped from a shockwave caused by Tralion punching the ground.
"Are you absurd? You're going to show us how to use weapons in the middle of a battle!"
"Would you rather assault an impenetrable shield until we fail?"
Claw Growled in surrender to her comrade and sprinted for the corpse of a Hobgoblin. She snatched the Line rifle from the dead chassis before
leaping behind a cubical barricade. Claw raised her weapon up from the barricade for Independence to see. "Ok! Now tell me how to use this
before I lose this cover as well!"
Independence saw the Line Rifle in her hand. "There are no triggers on the weapons! The one who wields it must simply will the gun to fire! Almost
like it reads your thoughts!"
Claw stood up from cover and aimed the Line Rifle at the massive Vex mind. As she willed it, a beam of orange power launched from the barrel. It
passed through the shield without any resistance and left a smoking black spot on the Eradicative mind's thigh. The Machine turned towards its
new assaulter to meet another shot into in the yellow eye between its horns.
Tralion reached for its eye while letting out a significantly deep variation of a Vex cry. Ever Guardian on the Construct now possessed a Vex
weapon they had collected and turned their attention back to the target.
The Axis mind was now under fire from weaponry of its own kind. Kestral didn't know where inside he had hit. But he hit some part inside the
torso of Tralion that seemed to be responsible for the emerald shield around it. With a low hum, the shield faded away, and Tralion was exposed.
The most of the Guardians set their Vex arsenal aside and armed themselves with their best weaponry to finish off the enemy. Tralion flew into a
rampage, firing shots, swiping his enemies, stomping.
Dents and burns littered the plating of the enormous Vex now. Tralion reached out his hand towards Bracus and a vague beam of green light
appeared between them. Bracus was launched into the Hand of Tralion by what may have possibly been the same technology they had used to
board this fortress.
Bracus could feel the metal fingers beginning to dent in his armour. He would be crushed by his own gear. He felt small. Weak. Despite his
strength he was but a rodent beneath the clutches of this metal god.
He was strong but had to be stronger. He felt heat. A hot desire to protect from forces such as Tralion. Bracus could feel the fires within him begin
to forms around his armour. And the heat that encased him welcomed any cold within the air in order to harden itself. The mix of internal fire and
cool air formed powerful rock armour to layer Bracus's own.
Now with His Slag Armour gifted to him by his newfound solar abilities, Bracus grabbed onto the fingers that clutched him. He began to laugh
harshly as he pried the hand open. The rock armoured Cabal climbed on top of the massive hand. Before his expanded weight caused the hand to
drop him, he leaped forward towards the glowing yellow eye. He latched onto the Horns of the Vex and began punching the damaged eye.
In the center of a bullet storm, Tralion struggled to pull of the annoying little brute from his face. Bracus had managed to punch a hole into the
head of Tralion, feeling the complex machinery within. He pulled something out, causing the machine to let out a powerful scream. Driven by
pain, Tralion finally tore Bracus off, raised him high in the air like a champion who had won their trophy, then slammed the cabal full force into the
surface.
The rock armour split into shards, firing in all directions of the platform. Bracus was now immobilized from such a catastrophic blow. The Axis
mind dizzily stumbled back a few steps before falling onto one knee. Bullets continued to litter its hull. And in moments, Tralion activated his
teleportation to escape from known space.
The Guardians rushed towards their injured comrade. Bracus bore his standard, ornate Armour again. The remnants of his slag armour had
scattered along the mess of dead vex.
Independence gestured to the others to keep a mild distance as he examined the Cabal. Heavy indents had been done to the armour. The helmet
a waste. Independence removed the Helmet from Bracus to give him air. The Cabal's beady eyes were half closed and his jaw appeared to be
broken.
Before Independence could examine anything else or form a medical plan (even though he had no medical experience), the other Guardians
watched as the life faded from Bracus.
Kestral fought his heart to keep from shedding new tears. Claw subconsciously understood death as but an inevitable phase of existence and
accepted it quickly what was happening. Independence refused to stop. He became almost angry as he searched through his liquid mind for a
solution. Before he could burst out in rage and abandon logic, Bracus's ghost emerged.
"Hold on Guardians. Don't prepare a funeral just yet. Our Friend is going to be fine."
"The Ghost is right, Guardians. As long as we have them, we all live on." Icarus added.
The servants of Osiris were confused, but watched as the Ghost went to work on fixing the damages done to the dead Cabal then sent in a pulse
of light to jumpstart his heart.
The Cabal awoke to the other Guardians gathered around him. Next thing he knew, the Vex Goblin and the fallen warrior hugged him tightly at
once while the Acolyte and Sunbreakers remained where they stood.
As the Ghost watched the Guardians learn another benefit of what they had become, it spoke. "With us Ghosts, we can revive you Guardians
without end. Without us around your lives hold the same standard as your previous. Only with these ones, you keep your memories. Just don't let
immortality go to your head. Don't get arrogant with this gift. Osiris had to deal with things that try to make you to think that way. Things . . . best
left trapped forever."
