Chapter Nine: The Whole Armor of God
"Everything that the light touches is my kingdom," Commander Roy proudly exclaimed. He added, "I heard that in a movie once."
Phoenix and Roy stepped out of their jumpships and into the wide open, dingy brown metal docking bay of the Fallen ketch. Round cargo crates littered the floor, streaks of dust cut across the floor betraying the haste with which the Fallen had tried to prepare a landing space for them. Phoenix stayed close to Roy as he approached the welcoming party waiting patiently at the end of the bay.
A dozen Fallen vandals, in slightly varying height and musculature, bowed their heads deeply in deference toward Commander Roy. The titan, still carrying the unconscious Koru Sen over his shoulder, returned the slight gesture as best he could. Each of them wore a tattered violet cloak emblazoned with a gold jolly roger skull and crossbones.
Roy approached the four-armed alien in the center of the group and smiled wide. "Randall!" He exclaimed happily.
The vandal looked up and chittered happily behind his mask.
"Here, hold this." Roy said absently as he nearly threw Koru's limp body at the nearest subordinate Fallen. The alien squealed under the warlock's weight and nearly crumpled until he was caught and supported by another vandal. Roy paid it no mind and reached out to grab Randall by the shoulders. The titan looked deep into his glowing blue eyes, then tilted his head back and slammed it forehead-first into the alien's face.
Stunned silence overcame the entire bay. Randall took a step back woozily and shook his head before rushing in and returning the gesture, hitting Roy with a headbutt, sending a resounding SMACK through the huge open space.
Commander Roy took a step back, nodded in appreciation, and embraced Randall in a tight hug.
"Uhh, what the fuck was that?" Phoenix asked, beyond befuddled.
"Huh?" Roy smiled and let the vandal go. "Oh, that's just how we say hello."
"With a headbutt?" The hunter was still clearly confused. "I don't get it."
"Yeah." Roy mused, "Me either. But it works." He stepped back and grabbed Phoenix by the shoulders, jabbing at him with his index finger. He spoke slowly to the assembled Fallen. "This. Is Phoenix. Fee-nix. Friend. Not food."
"Roy, do they eat people?" Phoenix seemed to shrink behind Roy. He tried to slip out from under his arm, but the titan's grip was too strong.
"Haha. Anyway," Roy went on, "Welcome to the House of Spirits ketch, lad!"
Phoenix looked up and around at the space. Dirty, oil-stained metal plates lined the entire room, the ceiling rose up in a dome fifty feet or more above his head. Their two jumpships were parked in the center of the room, taking up the bulk of the floor space. Koru's was being hoisted up on thick black chains to rest against the ceiling via a winch system. Circular doors led into wide hallways with low ceilings, illuminated with softly humming orange lights.
The hunter finally allowed himself to look back at the Fallen. They were jovially chittering and chattering among themselves, heads bobbing with each burst of ecstatic conversation. The lone exception was the leader, Randall, who stood still to look Phoenix up and down. A few of the vandals were practicing their new greeting on each other now, their scuffed and dented helmets clanking off of each other. He saw that one of the vandals had called a team of lower ranking dreg soldiers to carry Koru off somewhere.
Roy grabbed Phoenix by the shoulders and threw him toward Randall. "Go say hi!"
"Wha?!" Phoenix yelped out as he stumbled forward and just barely caught himself before he ran into the Fallen vandal. His face was barely an inch away from the vandal's scarred chestplate. He looked up tentatively. "Uhh… hi, Randall." He tried to wave in greeting.
Randall worked his mouth behind his helmet in a chittering response before he grabbed Phoenix under the arms and helped him stand straight. Before the hunter could utter a word of thanks, however, Randall slammed his helmeted forehead into Phoenix's unprotected one. He caught Phoenix so he wouldn't fall, then laughed and turned him toward another vandal.
"Ow, fuck you. Wait, wait!"
Phoenix was too late. The second vandal headbutted him as well, nearly knocking him back. It shouted happily in a language that he did not understand.
"Fuck. Ow. Shit. God. Damnit!" Phoenix cursed, his words growing steadily more slurred and unintelligible as he was passed around in a circle of headbutting Fallen vandals, gleefully introducing him to their ship via repeated concussive blows to his face. At last the circle dispersed and Randall shoved Phoenix back toward Commander Roy, who promptly caught him and wrapped him up in an uncomfortably warm embrace.
"Did you make any new friends?" Roy asked with a grin, looking down at the hunter in his arms.
"Go lee fuck ham sandwich, again." Phoenix muttered as he closed his eyes. His head was throbbing, a thin trickle of blood dripping down the bridge of his nose from the rapidly swelling bruise in the center of his forehead.
"I will take that as a yes." Roy smiled and looked back to Randall and the other Fallen, "Thanks Randall, you can keep the chair. You earned it."
Randall bowed his head and pounded his fists against his chest before turning around and beckoning his crew to follow him back to the bridge of the vessel. He held back as he watched his men filter into the main hallway. He turned back to Roy and pointed down the hall then to the left, as if to convey a message to him. He struggled out a few garbled words in English. "Fr-friend. Rrr…ready."
"Got it." Roy gave the vandal a thumbs-up and nearly dragged Phoenix behind him and into the hallway. He hummed to himself as he wound his way through the hall and to the left, down stairs and around support pillars. He liked Randall, he made being a kell easy. And it didn't hurt to have someone around who tried to learn English.
"Where dirty bread we am what?" Phoenix muttered weakly, barely even managing to make his ramblings resemble a question.
Roy guessed his intention and responded. "Koru's in the ready room, so we can hang out there. Which is good, because I think you need a nap."
Skye burst into being in front of Roy, staring him down with her diamond-shaped green eye even as she hovered in the air, keeping pace with him down the hall. "What are you doing to my guardian?" She demanded.
"Don't worry, I'll tuck him in. I might even read him a story. I think he will like the ones Koru reads to me." Roy waved Skye's concerns off and laughed.
"No you are not! You gave him a concussion, Roy!" Skye yelled.
"I didn't do shit. That was Randall."
"You let it happen!"
"I thought he wouldn't be a bitch, my bad." Roy shrugged. He looked down to Phoenix, who he was now dragging by the scarf around his neck. The hunter weakly struggled to keep his head up. "You doing all right buddy?"
Phoenix managed, "Poop." before his head lolled back down.
"We need to make sure he stays awake, Roy. Take him to the ready room first, we'll figure it out from there." Skye's voice shifted from outrage to concern borne from protective instinct.
"I don't have any pizza. Do you?" Roy inquired absently as he bent to pick Phoenix up and carry him bridal-style through the hall. He could see the door a stone's throw away ahead of them.
"No. We need to try something else." Skye replied.
"Eh, I will just have the cooks make him one. Here we are." The door opened for him automatically.
The ready room was a relatively large circular chamber. Along the back wall was an electronic monitor displaying a view of the outside cosmos; Roy saw the slowly shrinking planet Earth disappearing into the deep nothingness of the universe. Under it and along the left wall was a semicircle of plush, but well worn and torn, couches pushed up against the wall. Centered between the sofas was a large, low rectangular steel table that already had a few drinks set out on it. Tucked away to the left of the door was a collection of electronically sealed crates with easy-access lids; he hoped they were fully stocked. To the right was a smaller door, and while still circular, it appeared to be one of the only ones that operated with a hinge instead of an automated pneumatic detection system. In the back right of the room was a small area that was only partially walled off; Roy spied the edges of a water basin behind a thick black curtain. The entire room was lit from above by a single flickering warm lamp.
Commander Roy laid Phoenix down on the nearest section of the couch and let Skye attend to him while he inspected this new part of the ship. He had never even stepped foot on this ketch before, but it was starting to feel like home already. He picked up one of the drinks on the table and opened it, taking a sip. "Gross, warm beer." He grimaced and went to put it away in the refrigeration crate.
"Don't your minions have any medical supplies or anything?" Skye shone her light in Phoenix's eyes, who smacked at her weakly and groaned in protest.
"Hey, I don't like that word. They are my crew. But I can call and you can ask." Roy checked the contents of the rest of the coolers, nodding in appreciation. Most of them were six-packs of chilled ether, leaking out white mist from their bottles, and a few crudely canned packs of alien snack foods. Still, at least they tried. "I wonder where they put Koru," He thought out loud to himself as he peeked into the room on the right and saw a small, cramped space with a low ledge with a hole cut into it. Bathroom, he noted.
"Well, call them. I don't know if I can keep Phoenix awake long enough like this. And get that pizza." She muttered down to Phoenix, who was writhing on the couch and holding his head. "Come on, not like this."
"Yeah yeah, hold on." Roy peeked behind the heavy black curtains in the corner to see a few cots and a trough filled with water. Koru was in the nearer cot, sleeping peacefully on his side. "Aww," Roy smiled, "What a little drunken angel."
"ROY!" Skye yelled. "CALL THEM NOW OR SO HELP ME-!"
Commander Roy bristled and stood up, quickly walking over to the intercom system installed just to the side of the door. He cleared his throat and pressed the button. "Hey guys, I need to place an order for one doctor and a…" He looked over his shoulder as if to reassess the room, "And two large pizzas. And a bottle of rum. Make that three. No, seven."
Skye watched him from across the room. She heard the confused chatter from the other end of the system and her frustration grew exponentially with each passing second of uncertainty. At last Roy stepped away from the speaker and sat down on the couch next to the still-reeling Phoenix. She gave him a stern gaze. "Think they got all that?"
"I don't know, probably." Roy shrugged and looked out to the passing stars and asteroids on the screen above them.
II
"This is it, gang." Cayde-6 craned his neck to look up the jagged stone stairs and the ominously dark hallway beyond. He could just barely see the wall engraved with a twenty foot tall triangular pattern. "You ready?"
Zavala brushed past him and stomped his way up the stairs. "Of course." He huffed, his massive heavy machine gun crackling with electric energy all along its frame.
Ikora stopped next to Cayde and placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. There was no hint of humor in her eyes. "We came here for a purpose, Cayde. We should not forget it."
Cayde watched the titan and warlock ascend the steps for a moment. To himself, mostly, he whispered. "How could I?"
As they approached the stone door, the angled engraved pattern upon it flared to life with a sudden intrusion of bright blue light and a cacophonous sound of stone grinding against stone. They stood, poised to move, and watched as a triangular doorway became apparent within seconds. Some sections of the wall slid away, some vanished into nothingness. Zavala stepped forward through the door and motioning the others to fan out behind him. He kept his machine gun up and ready.
The three of them took a snapshot assessment of their surroundings. Center floating platform, branching paths leading up to separate Vex portal gates, met back up in the center opposite the platform. A massive staircase leading up to the apex of the room flanked by gigantic, glinting immaculate pillars of floating glass.
Zavala squinted and looked up the stairs, taking point and jumping up onto the floating platform between the sections of the room. He slid into cover behind a slightly raised section of it. He raised his hand behind the wall and motioned, catching Ikora's eye. He signaled that he saw their target at the apex of the stairs.
Ikora nodded gravely and gripped the stock of her shotgun tighter. She came around the nearer side of the Vex gate and took cover behind it to assess their target.
Cayde slunk around wide, passing through the shadows and keeping his back to every wall he could also use for cover. He peered around the corner of a low barrier to the top of the center stairs. A lone figure, clad in all black, was standing with his back to them. His hand was outstretched toward a bright pillar of white light, casting a long shadow down the stairway behind him.
A voice, harsh and deep, boomed throughout the chamber from all directions. "Welcome to the leyline of infinity. It is a wondrous locus of the energies of the universe, is it not?"
The warlock at the top of the stairs perked up, but he did not turn to face them.
"What's he doing?" Zavala whispered. He emerged from his thin cover and hopped across the gap to the central arena, proudly marching toward the stairs. His eyes darted around the room, and he spied cover behind a thick stone pillar a stone's throw to the left. It would have to do if this gambit did not pay off.
Cayde watched the warlock intently for a moment. The man's outstretched hand appeared to be holding something up to the light. Something small, round, floating… "Shit." Cayde muttered.
"What is it?" Ikora hissed, descending down a flight of stairs to take cover behind a thick stone pillar ahead of Cayde, nearer to Zavala.
"I… I think he's using his ghost to tap into the Vault." Cayde replied.
"Is that even possible?" Zavala addressed his question to Ikora.
Ikora could only shake her head. "Anything is possible, but…" She trailed off and looked up to the warlock. "What's our plan of attack, Commander?"
Zavala clenched his jaw. "Full frontal barrage followed by a tactical flank. After that," He sighed, "Improvise."
"Understood." Ikora took a deep breath.
The warlock took a tighter grip on his ghost and shoved it toward the pillar of light. It remained lodged in the construct. Cayde thought he could hear the faint, but unmistakable, wailing cries of unfathomable pain. At last the warlock at the top of the stairs turned toward them.
"On my command." Zavala barked out and trained his weapon's sights on the enemy.
Judas spoke calmly, though a hint of underlying fury painted his every breath. "It has been too long since we've spoken. Remind me once again, I beseech you," He stepped down a few feet and promptly sat down on one of the steps, laying his staff across his lap. "How long has it truly been? Time in this place has no meaning, after all."
"Seventeen months." Zavala answered. "I would have preferred forever."
"And yet, here we are, all four of us, again united." Judas brought his hands together slowly.
Ikora looked once to Zavala, then up to Judas. It was too much. She pleaded with him, her stern facade broken into one of desperation. "Please, Judas. You could end this madness, you could return to the Tower. Why are you doing this?"
Judas was silent for a moment. "I do not recall you making such an offer when I was first condemned. Quite the opposite, in fact. All of you betrayed me. But you, Ikora. You were my mentor. My first exposure to the Light. You knew me better than anyone, and I had thought I was respected enough for my words of warning to be heeded. But no. You were weak like the rest of them. You, my best friend, chose to cast me out. Such a betrayal is tantamount to murder!" He roared, yet did not rise from his seat upon the stairs.
"We did what we had to." Ikora shot back.
"As did I. As I am doing now." Judas sat up straighter.
"It was our choice to send you away. It was yours to become a monster." Zavala called out. "You earned this for yourself."
Judas rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers as if in thought. "How ironic. If I were to say, then, that it was your choice to be swayed by the darkness, and mine to enact rightfully upon your misdeed, what then?"
"I'd say," Cayde popped up out of his cover, "that you're a misguided psycho whose plans are not only just plain stupid, but will only put thousands of innocent lives in danger. But hey, that's just me."
"Ah, Cayde." Judas bowed his head as if in greeting. "I was wondering when you would lend your voice. As colorful, but pointless, as it ever was."
"Hey," Cayde shrugged, "Don't blame me, I voted for the death penalty. I'm just here for moral support. Never underestimate the value of a good cheerleader."
"Hm. Or are you here to ensure your secrets don't make it out of here?" At last Judas got to his feet, taking his staff in his left hand wreathed in coiling serpents' tails. "Surely you must be curious as to the whereabouts of your scouts?"
Zavala's finger hovered over the trigger of his gun.
Ikora tensed, feeling the rushing energy of the light itself coursing through her body.
Cayde rested his left hand on the grip of the hand cannon at his hip. "What did you do with them?" He asked tentatively.
"I admit," Judas continued as if not hearing him, "It was inspired, no, poetic, to send my old team after me. They have been struck down, killed and rendered molecule by molecule, scattered across time and space." He took a step down toward them.
Zavala clenched his jaw. Furrowed his brow. Soon.
Judas gripped his staff tight and tapped the end of it against the ground thrice. "Exile. Execution. Prison, I'm sure, would have been on the table as well were it not for my talents. I am sure that in your warped and wicked hearts, you saw these as the right actions. Yet, the truth eluded you for the sake of a false prophet's goodwill. Was I not, in truth, innocent?"
"Well," Cayde started.
"ANSWER ME." Judas roared, his voice crashing through the chamber and the void of infinity beyond alike.
Cayde sighed. "I admit, we made the wrong call. But that's what the job is about. We sit up in our office and we move guardians around on missions and diplomatic affairs. And sometimes we lose them. Sometimes we make bad calls, and they end up dead." He looked to Judas now. "Or worse. So yeah, we fucked up. But that doesn't make you right, and I'm pretty sure it means we have to put you down."
"Now," Ikora added desperately, "We can settle this without resorting to violence."
"No." Judas shook his head. "Your appeals mean nothing to me. My heart is hardened." He took a moment to gather himself. His mind raced a thousand and more again thoughts in every instant. Such was infinty within the finite. "Tell me, my betrayers, what do you know of sword logic?"
The warlock vanguard raised an eyebrow, but did not respond.
"All of the Hive understand the sword logic." Judas explained, "It is the one true, infallible philosophy. The strong reap the weak. At the end of existence, there will be but one victor. It will not be the Light, nor will it be the Darkness. It will be me. Once I have wrested the Traveler from you, I will set the Darkness to devour itself." He took a deep breath and looked to the three of them in turn. "Woe to the rebellious children who take counsel, but not of me."
"Enough." Zavala called out. "Now!"
And battle erupted.
III
"Ugh," Koru Sen groaned and struggled to lay his hand over his eyes as his vision was assaulted by the sudden intrusion of a bright light. "Stop it, go away Dari." He tried to wave the light away blindly, giving up and rolling away from it.
He felt a hand bat at his shoulder, a voice grumbling in displeasure. He brushed it away and tried to settle in for more sleep. His head was pounding in his skull, and he could hear Roy and Phoenix arguing about something from somewhere nearby. The warlock had finally managed to settle into a comfortable position when he felt the hand return and try to turn him onto his back.
"Let me sleep!" Koru nearly cried in frustration. He turned over again and sat up, struggling to keep his head still as his vision swam behind his still mostly-closed eyelids. He grunted with some effort and held his hands over his face, peeking out between his fingers to filter how much light came in. Even in this surprisingly dim room, it hurt to even look around.
He felt the hand come in again and grab his wrist. Before he could push it away or voice any protest, it yanked his hand away from his face and shone a bright light directly into his eyes. He hissed and shut his eyes against it, slapping at the source and sending it bouncing to the ground with a dense thud of metal on metal. He sighed and held his temples, massaging them gently even as each heartbeat echoed throughout his entire skull in painful rhythm.
"Forget it, guess I'm up now." He muttered down to his lap and sucked in another painful breath. He thought he could sense a presence nearby, just outside of arm's reach, but he dared not test his luck. He kept his eyes closed and tried to bring himself to complete wakefulness slowly.
Koru felt something cold press against his forehead and urge him to tilt his head back. He resisted for only a moment, then relented and leaned back. Then he felt something cool and solid press against his lips. A voice, soft, reassuring, and unintelligible, spoke with dulcet tones. It hardly mitigated the screaming headache, but it was comforting nonetheless. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting and swallowing what little saliva he had mustered down his bone-dry throat.
A humanoid form clad in shabby brown armor stood above him, looking down with four luminous blue eyes shining through its helmet's visor, each rimmed with a ring of glowing gold. He gasped and opened his eyes wider, and damn the pain. He was face to face with a Fallen dreg. One of its hands was pressing a jury-rigged cold compress to his forehead, the other was tipping up a cup to his lips in an effort to get him to drink. Curiously, he noted that this one's lower arms, which had once been ritually docked to stunt its growth, were regrowing, though they were still short and spindly and useless. He looked up to its eyes again, to its rusted helmet and shock of long red hair sticking up and flowing down the nape of its neck.
Koru blinked once in surprise and took a sip of the liquid it was offering as he pondered the situation. At last, after a long silence, he spoke. "Uhh, hi."
The dreg-going-on-vandal chittered happily as if in greeting. It pulled away the cold compress and the cup Koru was drinking from, It straightened up to face him head-on, then rocked its head back and slammed its forehead into his with a resounding smack.
The pain nearly blinded Koru in a flash of white and red. He shouted out in a garbled mix of surprise, shock, and guttural rage. "FUCK!"
He heard Roy chuckle from the other side of the curtain. "Looks like he's awake."
As if nothing had happened, the dreg returned to its duties, shoving the cup into Koru's hand and using both of its hands to steady the warlock's head and press the soothing ice pack against his forehead and swollen temple. It cooed softly and smoothed out his black hair.
"What was the purpose of that?" Koru asked loudly. "Why did you hit me?"
It looked to him with its unblinking gaze. It spoke, this time in pidgin English. Koru saw it struggling to make certain sounds with its throat. "For hellooo. Greeting."
It had a similar, but not quite so prominent, drawl as Variks the Loyal in the Reef. Koru shook his head to clear his mind of the largely unpleasant memory of that day. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he distantly noted that his talk with Variks, however brief, had been amicable.
Koru closed his eyes again and took another sip of water, forcing it down with some effort. "You know English?"
It nodded. "Yesss. You learn Eliksni." It patted the top of his head as if to praise him. "So, learn your words baaack."
Koru looked into the glass of surprisingly clear water. His head hurt more than before, but he was coming down off his headache. "Wait, wait." He was at a momentary loss for thought itself as he tried to place together the pieces of the puzzle in his mind's eye. Then finally it dawned on him. "You know me?"
It nodded again. "Yeeees. Earth." Its voice dropped low, "Squad die. Purple and green humansss."
The warlock gently pushed the dreg's hand away and held the ice pack to his own head. He turned on his cot toward it, swinging his legs out over the edge to dangle over the floor. "Right. I remember you now. I was with Eve, we saw you. She tried to kill you."
The dreg nodded gravely. "Who she? Red humaaan. Your… mate?" Its voice lifted in genuine inquiry.
"I guess so, yes." Koru agreed almost blindly. "Or, well, it's complicated right now. No?" The words all seemed right, but none of them fit.
"Oh." The dreg seemed to accept all of this without question. Curious. "Where she nooow?"
"That's a long story." Koru took another drink from his cup, downing it completely.
"Oh. We talk Eliksni now, yeees?" It asked, clearly eager to return to its own language. It took a step back into the small space that had been cordoned off, nearly into the center of it now. It plucked the empty cup from his grasp and dipped it into a trough of water to fill it up, then handed it back to him.
"Uhh," Koru took another long drink of water. "I don't actually speak Eliksni."
The dreg tilted its head in confusion. Its bright blue and gold eyes flickered slightly behind its helmet's visor lenses. "But. You talked. Told me, find Spirit House. Live like... kell."
Koru shrugged. "Sorry. That was a trick. I had my ghost translate for me to make it sound like I was speaking your language." He slid off the cot and stretched his arms across his chest, cracking his neck and knuckles as he scanned the room for his gear. It was sloppily folded and placed in a pile under his cot. He bent to gather his things, throwing his ice-white coat around his shoulders first. Being dressed down in only pants and a thin shirt did not give him peace of mind in an obviously alien craft. He pulled on his boots and clasped the metal bands around his wrists, but left his helmet off.
The dreg looked down, dejected. It looked down to its three-fingered hands and seemed to curse in its native tongue. It looked up to him now that they were standing nearly eye-level with one another. "Hoursss to learn. I not sleeeep. For… trick?" It sighed and made to step out of the room.
Koru stopped it with a hand on its shoulder. "Wait, what's your name?" He asked. He pointed to his chest with his free hand. "I am -"
The dreg looked to his chest, to his white coat. "White…" It trailed off and looked to his face, with his glowing blue skin and fiery golden eyes. "Blue humaaan?" It guessed.
Koru shook his head. "No. I am Koru. Koru Sen. Who are you?"
"Yubo Ixasis, vel redha drah Ferksis, vel redha drah Dramixis..." It replied with a flurry of alien words in response.
Koru stared blankly for a moment. "Bless you?" He tried to smile.
The dreg huffed and pointed to itself. Simply, it said, "Ixasis."
"Oh. Nice to meet you, I guess." Koru held out his hand in greeting. "Icky six. Ick-sah-sis. I… I'll try later."
The dreg took his hand and shook it slowly. "Kooorrru." It tried saying his name. "Try laterrr." It sighed and bowed its head as it turned to leave. It slipped out of the room between the black curtains hung up haphazardly.
Koru followed it out and shut his eyes as the room's light assaulted his vision anew in the brighter area. "Ugh, right." He held his throbbing temples and pressed his slowly melting and dripping ice pack against his forehead harder. He saw the dreg, Ixasis, holding the handheld flashlight he had apparently knocked away and stepping out of the door. It looked over its shoulder to glance at him as the circular door shut behind it.
"Hey there sleepyhead!" Commander Roy laughed and patted the seat of the couch next to him. "Have a good nap?"
"Welcome back to land of the living," Phoenix added. "Did you dream about me?"
"Naw," Roy guffawed, "He was dreaming about his new Fallen boyfriend."
Koru groaned and muttered, stumbling forward with his eyes still mostly closed. "Both of you reprobates shut up, or at least talk quieter. And slower. Besides, you don't dream when you get knocked out."
"Whoa," Phoenix was clearly taken aback, "Don't gotta be an asshole about it, bitch."
"And why are you being such a confrontational dick?" Koru asked, stopping at what he guessed was the edge of the couch.
"I was in a coma. And then I had a concussion." Phoenix paused and rubbed the back of his head, then massaged his still-bruised forehead. "What's your excuse?"
Koru sighed. "I got dumped."
Phoenix immediately changed his tune. "Oh shit bro, I'm sorry. Hey, sit down and get a drink. Take your mind off her."
"Yeah." Koru pulled the ice pack away from his forehead and pressed it to his right temple. It was swollen from the vicious left hook that Commander Roy had landed to knock him out earlier. He remembered that much, at least. He opened his eyes against the pain of light stabbing into his eyes. Phoenix was sat down on one end of the couch, leaning forward and looking up to him with his vibrant green eyes. He was dressed down in just black pants, shoes, and T-shirt.
He looked to the other end of the couch to Commander Roy. Roy was also dressed down, but was in actuality nearly naked. Wearing only a pair of white underwear, against which the massive bulge of his manhood strained, he sat back and looked up at Koru with a smile. Despite his thick black beard, his body hair was surprisingly sparse.
Koru quickly averted his gaze. "Roy, why aren't you wearing pants?" He asked in exasperation as he covered his eyes again, making a point to only look toward Phoenix.
"Why would I be?" The titan asked. "It's way more comfy this way. You should try it."
"I'll pass." Koru said simply.
Phoenix laughed. "Ha, well it could be worse. I had to talk him into putting underwear back on. And we made an agreement that he has to put pants on again in a few minutes."
"You said an hour." Roy shot back.
"Well I can't read." Phoenix responded as if it would end the argument. Surprisingly, it did.
"So, anyone want to fill me in on what's going on," Koru looked up to the glowing monitor on the wall above the couch. It showed the vast expanse of space dotted with millions of stars. "Or am I left to establish my own theory?"
"We are going to Pluto." Roy answered. "I called in the House of Spirits so we don't have to worry about flying separately."
"Well, at least we can sit back for a few hours. Didn't we destroy their ketch?" Koru asked, admiring the view of the cosmos. It must have been real-time. "I seem to recall there was a very large explosion at the bottom of a canyon."
"Oh, yeah." Roy waved his question off. "They stole this one from some other Fallen like, a week ago."
"Only a week?" Phoenix interjected. "Won't the other Fallen want it back?"
Roy shrugged. "Yeah, probably."
Koru pondered for a moment. "Then it may be of mutual benefit to take us out to Pluto. It lies beyond any known borders that anyone would care about, and is far enough out that it would be troublesome to follow us that far. While we go dwarf-planetside…"
"Planet." Phoenix interrupted him. "Pluto is a planet."
"Whatever, shut up." Koru grimaced. "While we're out there, it gives them time to make repairs and other necessary changes. Swapping out the banners, for one. Did they ever decide on a new house color?" He asked absently.
"Purple. I keep telling them they should use black, but I don't think they're listening." Roy answered, not without a hint of disappointment.
The door to the ready room hissed open and a pair of Fallen dregs stepped inside and bowed low toward Commander Roy. The first held two wide, white, flat boxes in its arms. The second carried a crate fashioned into a bucket full of ice and several bottles of liquor. Koru was surprisingly relieved to see that Ixasis was not among these servants.
"Nice, pizza's here!" Phoenix nearly jumped out of his seat and pushed past Koru to grab the boxes from the dreg. He quickly carried them over to the center table and set them down.
"Rum too." Roy beckoned the second dreg over and grabbed the bucket from it when it offered it to him. He set it down next to the pizza on the table. "Good ol' Captain."
Koru looked to the two dregs, who were watching with anticipation, wringing their hands nervously. "Thank you." He told them with barely a smile. He nodded toward the door, and they took the hint, nearly falling over themselves to leave the room.
"What the fuck is this?" Phoenix asked, staring down into the box he had just opened. "Koru, what the fuck is this? Roy?"
Koru looked down into the box. The pizza was large, circular, and its crust was baked a perfect golden brown. White-yellow melted cheese glistened with grease, topped with tender ham sections and…
"Pineapple. That's pineapple, Phoenix." Koru patted the hunter on his shoulder. "It's a tropical fruit native to -"
"I know what it is, smart ass. I meant, why is it on a pizza? Can I even call it pizza now?" Phoenix never took his eyes from the box. His eyes scanned across the surface of the pizza, wishing the dreaded fruit didn't blend in so well with the cheese.
"Well, the sweetness of the pineapple bits offsets the salty flavors of the rest of the ingredients." Koru offered. "It's called Hawaiian style, and I personally find it quite delicious."
"Wow, no wonder Eve broke up with you." Phoenix closed the lid of the box in disgust. He nearly tossed it aside, but instead let it fall to the ground next to the table. He made to open the next one. "Swear to god, if this one has pineapple too, I'm gonna flip."
"Shots." Roy said, barely listening to the conversation as he produced three shot glasses from seemingly nowhere, then poured dark liquor into them from one of the bottles. Koru noticed it was one hundred proof alcohol. Roy handed Koru a shot glass.
Koru shrugged, grit his teeth, and tossed the shot back. It burned harder than his usual choice of alcohol, and after he drank it he had a hard time resisting the urge to spew it back up, but he kept it down.
Phoenix lifted up the lid of the second box. His disappointed frown grew quickly into a twisted visage of pure revulsion. "Oh my god, they gave us two pineapple pizzas. What the fuck, Roy, why don't your guys know what an actual pizza is?" He shut the lid of the box and shoved it away. He threw his hands up and his head back. "Like, holy shit, they ruined pizza. Fuck these guys." He stood up.
"You probably deserve that." Koru set his shot glass down and crossed his arms over his chest. Commander Roy went to refill it without a word.
"Yeah fuck you too, buddy." Phoenix stood up and nearly shoved Koru out of the way. "I'm gonna go find your cooks. I'm gonna fuck them up, fuck up their brothers, and their sisters, and then I'm gonna fuck up their dog. And the dog didn't even do nothin'."
"You don't even know where they are. I don't even know where they are!" Roy called out. "Come back and take a shot."
"No, I'm livid. Fuck these guys." Phoenix stepped up to the circular door. It slid open at his approach. "Oh and Roy, put some damn pants on!" He yelled as he stormed out of the room and up into the hallway.
Roy shrugged and tossed back his shot, then reached out and grabbed a slice of pizza. "He'll be back. Besides, it's not that bad."
Koru nodded in agreement and sat down on the couch after grabbing another cup full of water for himself. "More for us." He picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite, savoring the flavors of the sweet pineapple chunks with the salty ham slices. After a moment, he looked over to Commander Roy. "I would appreciate it if you put pants on, though."
Roy rolled his eyes. "Fine. For you."
IV
Judas bowed his head and outstretched his staff to the vanguard before him. A wall of impenetrable, solid darkness formed and deflected the barrage of electrified lead that Zavala brought to bear. The other vanguard stared, almost dumbfounded, for a brief instant.
It was all he needed. He had taken enough of their time.
He spoke softly, and his voice rocked the entire chamber with its gravity. "For the great day of his wrath has come." He raised his head and sent the shield away to dissipate into smoke. "And who shall be able to stand?" He tapped the end of his staff against the stone on the ground and commanded the forces of the void to raise him up from the floor with his arms aloft. In his right palm he held a growing ball of violet energy.
Cayde watched, optics wide and mouth agape. "Uhh, guys, I don't mean to sound -"
Ikora snapped back into focus. "Scatter!" She yelled and took a blind leap backward, hoping against hope she could land upon the floating platform.
Judas swept his hand in a wide arc in front of him. A deep violet swirling mass of pure energy was lobbed down at where Ikora had once stood, and it split into two others that careened down toward Cayde and Zavala.
Zavala's eyes widened with sudden realization as he watched the nova bomb drop down to the ground in front of him. Thinking quickly, he planted his boots firmly on the ground and spread his arms wide, feeling the void light from within pour out from his very being. A softly humming dome of thick, indigo light formed around him. He was shrouded within his own ward of dawn bubble shield as the explosive mass erupted into a turbulent roil that rocked the entire room. He grit his teeth and concentrated, grabbing the edge of his shield and forcing more light, more strength, into it.
Cayde nearly tripped over himself as he wheeled around and tried to outrun the devastating blast. He felt the ground shake behind him. He threw his arms out in front of him and leapt down the broken stairs, twisting into a rolling dive as he did.
Judas-33 floated high above the chaos. As the dust cleared, he saw the vanguard peering up at him with fear, hatred, and panic burning in their eyes. Zavala dropped to his knees within his own protective shield that flickered and whined. Ikora stared up at him with dismay behind her normally calm eyes. Cayde-6 peered out from behind a corner, his optics flitting about their arena as if searching for an escape. It was glorious. He rose his staff, Erebor, higher. The flared cross atop it almost glowed with radiating blackness. From its arms and head shot three tendrils of pure darkness toward his enemies. They lanced through the air, screaming.
Zavala watched in horror as the lance of darkness sliced through his ward of dawn. He threw himself to the side and pulled himself back onto his feet. He roared in rage, and fear from deep down, as he let loose another volley of fire from his thunderous machine gun at the floating warlock. "You will fall today!"
Cayde slipped back into cover and took a wide step to avoid the rushing spear. It punched through the very stone he had once thought of as adequate protection. It writhed and thrashed, eager for him. Instinctively, he drew a knife from his belt and slashed at the horrid thing. The tendril recoiled, its amputated tip melting into thick acrid smoke.
Ikora took half a step and turned to the side to avoid being skewered by the attack. She saw it crash through the stone platform she was standing on, but it did not move beyond trembling. She looked up to Judas. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was not the man she had once known. This was not the hopeful guardian she had nurtured. Not the warrior she had been proud to call her student. She blinked away the hot tears welling in her eyes.
"Hey guys, if anyone has a plan, that would be real swell right about now." Cayde offered, drawing his pistol, its matte black finish accented with a white spade design. "'Cause this is a little out of my league, if I'm gonna be totally honest with you."
Judas brought up another shield of pure darkness to stop Zavala's hail of lead. Within a breath his tendrils of darkness dissipated into thick smoke. He looked over his shoulder to the bright Vex light construct, and his ghost being steadily enveloped by the alien technology. Somewhere in the back of his mind, from the annals of infinity, he could hear its wailing cries of agony.
Zavala grunted with some effort and backed up to take cover, however potentially useless, behind a thick stone pillar. "How do we break through? Ikora?"
The warlock vanguard clenched her jaw. The shotgun in her grasp seemed to be a manifestation of her failures. She needed to focus, to find a way to conquer this obstacle. By the Traveler, she thought, I never thought this day would come.
"Ikora!" Cayde shouted. "What do we do here? I'd say run, but, well, the door is shut so that's not an option." He checked to affirm his statement, and saw that the stone door they had entered from was closed off once again, its triangular engravings gone dark.
Ikora Rey looked up to Judas, her eyes calm but her voice on the verge of dropping into a quivering breakdown. "Bring him down. Bring him to me." She clenched her fists and took another breath, a sharp inhalation.
Zavala frowned. "How do you propose we do that?" His luminous eyes scanned the room. "Unless…"
"Hey, Zavala!" Cayde called out. He waited until he caught the titan vanguard's eye. "Pull." He stated simply as he crept around to ascend the stone stairs again.
The titan nodded with a smile barely touching his lips. "Understood."
Judas nearly laughed as he watched his ghost, Strix, meld with the Vex pillar. Soon.
Zavala summoned a ball of pulsing purple light in his left hand. He called out to the warlock, breaking him from his stupor. "Judas! Catch!" Before the warlock could respond, he tossed the ball up toward him, leaving a faint purple streak trailing through the air in its wake.
Judas turned to see the grenade arcing toward him. He moved midair slightly and watched it miss him completely, rising up above his head. It pulsed once with a bright flash, but did not explode. He looked to Zavala with palpable disappointment. "A grenade? I expected more."
Cayde took careful aim and fired a single shot.
Judas snapped his attention to the hunter and raised his staff for defense and retaliation. He saw the bullet whiz by behind him. He relaxed and nearly let out a chuckle. "How the mighty have fallen."
Too late Judas heard the grenade pop with a forceful explosion above and slightly behind him. His entire world went white and faded to black. Distantly, he could feel his control on the void slip, and his grip on Erebor falter. Was he falling? There were no answers, or time to seek them.
Cayde rushed up after his shot and did not bother to check if he had made it. He threw out his wrist-mounted magnetic grappling hook to coil around a jutting section of Vex metalwork high upon a massive pillar. He jumped and swung wide around the pillar, shifting his weight and kicking out his legs. There was no time to enjoy the rush of wind or the exhilaration of careening over a bottomless abyss. He planted his boots into Judas's back as he dropped from the sky and kicked the warlock down onto the platform Ikora was waiting on. He dropped down and watched as Judas landed hard on his back at Ikora's feet.
Zavala leapt down onto the platform as well, opposite Ikora. He met her eyes and nodded. He planted his boots and took a deep breath as she readied herself.
Ikora raised her right hand to the ceiling, her gloved fingers twisting in incantation. Energy jumped between her fingers and palm with crackling sparks. At last she slammed her outstretched palm down on Judas's chest. A massive bolt of lightning rushed down from the abyss above and rocked his entire body with a resounding thunderclap. "Now!" She yelled as her entire form was overcome with waves of crackling energy and bolts of jagged lightning that almost seemed to lift her off the ground.
Zavala grit his teeth, weathered the storm, and summoned the void once again. This time he held it out and away from himself, forming a protective shield with his ward of dawn that encased the two warlocks. The lightning streams emanating from Ikora's trance were completely contained, bouncing along the walls of the shield and arcing back on themselves. Even as Zavala pressed his palms to the dome to keep the walls solid and to keep the warlocks confined in the small space, his muscles spasmed and his teeth chattered with the current rushing through his body, as well.
"Yeah!" Cayde called out victoriously, "Welcome to the Thunderdome! Haha… hey Zavala, name that movie."
Zavala shut his eyes tight to focus on the task at hand.
Draped within the protective canopy of Zavala's ward of dawn, Ikora caught Judas's form in a web of arcing electricity with one hand, and lifted him up with the electromagnetic forces at her command. She threw a punch that caught him in the metal jaw. She felt the satisfying crack of broken metal and its pathetic scrape as it ground against itself. She rained blows down on him, each fueled by the storm raging in and around her.
Judas forced his eyes open and was immediately overtaken by the wracking spasms of torrential pain that twisted his entire body in painful convulsions. He screamed.
Ikora thrust her palm against his chest and sent him slamming into the wall of the dome. She rocked his head with merciless punches, crying out now in fury and wailing with each successive strike. "It didn't have to be this way!" Her voice broke and her eyes, crackling with lightning unconstrained, were wet with tears. "You could have changed! You could have been a hero!"
Judas struggled to maintain his grip on Erebor. He managed to bring it before him, grasped it with both hands, but it could not effectively stop his old mentor's tirade. He tried to plant it upon the stone, and found no comfort even when he managed such a miniscule task while being torn asunder by her rage and light.
Ikora at last felt the rush of the storm fade from her being. She rushed forward and grabbed Judas by one shoulder, using her right hand, balled into a shaking fist, to repeatedly rock his metal skull with increasingly sloppy blows. The electricity faded to a steady current, then blinked out of existence as she channeled her excess energy into each punch. Her grip faltered. Her eyes dripped with tears as she stared upon the broken, twisted face of the man she used to know. She threw another punch.
Judas slumped against the wall of the dome and his optics darted around wildly. He had weathered the storm. He clutched Erebor to his chest and gathered his wits slowly even as Ikora continued to assault him. He barely heard her words anymore. His head rang more with each hit.
"Why? Why did it come to this?" She watched as Judas slumped and slid down the wall, his body limp but still convulsing. "Why couldn't I see this coming?" Ikora backed away and clutched at her chest, eyes wide as she began hyperventilating against the wall.
Zavala looked through the bubble to Judas lying prone on the ground, then to Ikora and her discarded shotgun on the floor. "Finish it, Ikora!"
Ikora looked up as if she were being addressed by a stranger. At last she understood. "R...R-right." She muttered weakly as she bent low to pick up her weapon. She stepped over to Judas and leveled the barrel at his face. Her finger twitched on the trigger.
Judas stared up at her. His body lay mangled and his face was a tattered mess. He stared into the barrel of Ikora's shotgun, its orange glowing sights bearing down on him. Her eyes were still streaming tears, but she was not so visibly panicked any more. The darkness of death was deeper than that of infinity, he realized. She planted one boot on his chest.
Zavala loomed above him after dismissing his ward of dawn.
Ikora pulled the trigger.
Judas summoned a deep vortex where the buckshot would have torn into him.
In a flash of darkness he was gone from beneath her.
He reappeared behind Zavala.
He formed another vortex, this one facing the titan. The buckshot pellets shot out from the void and slammed into his back. Zavala grunted in surprise and pain before falling down to his knees.
Ikora stumbled when he disappeared from under her foot. Her eyes were wide with fright. When Zavala fell, she held back a panicked scream. She tried to take another shot at Judas.
Judas jammed the head of his staff into Ikora's throat as she stumbled forward. He thrust and cut into her windpipe as he lifted her up off the ground and let her drop hard. He stabbed the blunt end of his staff into her chest. She let her shotgun fall from her grasp and clutched madly at the metal rod in her chest. She coughed up blood.
Zavala groaned and tried to roll over. He reached for something on his belt.
Cayde gasped and fired high impact rounds into Judas's back. The warlock did not seem fazed, though his body jerked with each one. "Okay, back up and let them go, man." He tried to plead with him.
Judas kicked Zavala hard in the side, turning him over onto his back. The titan looked up at him with hate in his bright blue eyes. The warlock lifted up his staff and swung it down toward Zavala's skull swiftly. With a hard crack, the titan vanguard's head lolled to the side and a sheet of dark blood flowed from his temple to stain the dry stone. His arms went slack at his sides. Judas took another swing for good measure, dark blood splattering the flared cross at Erebor's head.
Cayde backed up a few steps. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be. He reloaded his hand cannon. His fingers felt clumsy. He dropped a few shells onto the ground, and they clattered and rolled away uselessly.
Judas looked to Cayde now. Dark energy from the void swirled around his legs and lifted him up a few inches above the ground. He hovered across the gap to land opposite Cayde. His optics flitted up to the Vex pillar. And he laughed, a hollow macabre echo of joy. "Rejoice." His jaw was barely hanging on by a tenuous string of inorganic sinew. The word came out messy and inhuman.
Cayde fired another round into Judas's chest. The warlock's body jerked as it was rocked by the impact, and he stumbled, but he did not stop his approach.
The mad warlock's face contorted horribly for a moment. His jaw reverted back into place, his Vex eye's lens uncracked itself, and even his body seemed to straighten up. The holes in his black robe were filled in with their original fabric. Lead bullets that had been shot into his back were pushed out of his metallic flesh and dropped to the ground. When he at last stopped his approach to stare Cayde down, he looked as untouched as the moment when they had arrived.
"That's a really neat trick, Judas." Cayde tried to muster as much confidence as he could. He raised his weapon and fired again, again, again. Each bullet punched into the warlock's body and face with no resistance from his target. Almost immediately after each one dug its way into him, however, they reversed direction and dropped to the ground harmlessly, even the entry wounds disappearing. Cayde continued to back up as Judas approached. He needed a way out of this.
Suddenly, Judas was gone.
Cayde wheeled around and was now face to face with Judas. The hunter drew a knife from his belt and slashed at the warlock.
Judas hissed in pain and brought his staff up to bear. Cayde dropped into a low combat stance, reversing the grip on his serrated combat knife.
Judas teleported again. Cayde turned and kept his optics open. When Judas stepped out of the darkness with his staff poised for a strike, Cayde was able to duck out of the way. He fired once into his enemy's chest, but it was quickly healed like all the rest.
"Come on, I can do this all day." Cayde rolled his shoulders and kept his head on a swivel. Right. He feinted left and stabbed Judas in the throat. Left. He stepped back and fired twice at him. Behind. He dropped low and rolled away, no chance for a counter. Front. He took a wild slash at the warlock's knees that didn't even come close to connecting. Behind. He fired again, but nothing. Left. He tried to bring up his knife, but found himself slashing at an inky void.
Cayde's heart would have stopped if he had one.
"Oh shit." He muttered.
Another inky void appeared from the other side. He felt the sting of his own blade dig into his left arm, just shy of the wrist. He recoiled and kept his weapons close to him. He could not see Judas at all.
Another void appeared, and another. Bullets he had fired that missed punched into his chest, back, gut, and legs. His fingers spasmed and he nearly dropped to his knees.
Judas reappeared directly in front of him, holding his staff in both hands. He spoke, his voice restored to the booming volume it had been. "Your injury has no healing. Your wound is severe."
Cayde took a seething breath and rose up straighter. "The fuck did I just say?" He gasped in pain and brought his gun to bear again. He could barely keep a steady hand as he tried to take aim at Judas. "I can do this… All day, fucker. Let's go."
Judas tilted his head slightly, his metal jaw contorting into a frown. He swung his staff hard and knocked the pistol out of Cayde's shaking grasp. It went skittering across the ground and fell down into the infinite abyss.
Cayde grunted and rushed forward, switching his knife from his right to his left hand as he did. His steps were slow, and each footfall shot searing pain up his legs. He tried to leap, but could only muster enough jump to take a slightly bigger step toward the warlock. Nonetheless, he went in for a quick slash at his face.
Judas's arm shot out and caught Cayde by the throat. The hunter's slash fell pathetically short. Cayde stabbed the knife into Judas's arm to no avail. He lost his grip on it, and when the wound healed and forced the blade out, it fell to the ground as well. Judas forced Cayde's left arm behind him, and his right arm clutched madly at the warlock's hand on his neck.
Judas spoke triumphantly. "Behold, I am against you. I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; fire shall devour the bars -"
Cayde interrupted him, his voice weak and strained. "Yeah, yeah that's cute Judas. You beat us. But," He paused as he struggled to speak with Judas crushing his voicebox. "I know something you don't."
The warlock humored him. "What could that possibly be?"
Cayde almost smiled. "I am not left-handed."
The hunter vanguard raised his free right hand and in a flash of golden light, a gleaming handgun as radiant as the sun itself flared to life in his grasp. His entire body seemed to glow a vivid, flaming orange. Cayde took aim at Judas, point blank, and fired a red-hot bullet charged with the light of the stars into his center mass.
Taken aback, Judas nearly dropped Cayde. He stared down at the hole in his chest. A lesser guardian would have immediately crumbled into ash. As it was, the wound was slowly expanding and eating away at him, its progress slowed by the mysterious healing process. After a tense moment, it was completely reversed.
Cayde shrugged weakly and pulled the trigger again, again, again, again, again.
The pain burned into Judas's very soul and he was forced to throw the hunter to the ground. He clutched at the expanding holes in his chest and stomach, gasped as he choked on dust and ash that burned his insides. His mind was racing, boiling, and frozen all at once.
At last Cayde seemed to run out of bullets from his golden gun, and lay on the ground looking up to the ceiling. He coughed, a hollow tinny sound. "Well, I tried, guys." He craned his neck to see Ikora and Zavala laying upon the floating platform, unconscious and bloody.
Judas howled in excruciating agony even as the burning consumption of his being was reversed. He slammed his staff on the ground and leaned heavily upon it as he healed from his grievous, near-fatal wounds. The torment of fire dwindled and he found himself able to stand tall again. He strode slowly over to where the defeated hunter vanguard lay on the rocky ground. He pressed the end of Erebor against his stomach.
Cayde looked up to Judas with a mighty effort. His arms were limp at his side, his legs splayed out. He was exhausted. With a croak he managed, "What have you become?" He hoped it was profound enough to give the warlock pause.
Judas looked down at him for a long while. Then he spoke. "God."
Cayde felt a stabbing pain in his gut and yelled out, trying to grab at the staff and pull it out of himself. It was useless and the staff was slick with blood. His vision swam and faded red, then black, before he finally felt the world disappear around him.