Chapter 10: The King's Gold
Inside Caldwell's apartment, Upper Housing Districts, The Last City…
It's for the better of us all. A voice said, swiftly followed by Caldwell jerking to an upright sitting position in his bed. The voice having come from within his own head, it was the tail-end of the same dreadful, recurring memory that wouldn't leave him alone. Getting out of bed, the Exo Warlock walked from his relatively small bedroom to the living area, which was loaded up with a variety of items. Along the far wall opposite him, there were multiple Thrall skulls, Knight helmets, and random bits of Acolyte plating mounted on the wall. Sitting atop a table below that was a dormant Cleaver, the Darkness within it having been sapped out and nullified. In addition, the masonry jars filled with the decrepit, grotesque flakes peeled from dead Acolytes proved Caldwell had a bit of an obsession with the Hive. But where someone like Toland wished to understand the Hive, Caldwell merely wished to learn better ways to destroy them.
Walking up to a board stuck with multiple pins mounted on the wall to his right, said pins were holding up a number of cropped-out newspaper clippings. Looking at one of them in detail, Caldwell only did so in light of his recurring dream:
Hakke R&D Facility on Europa Blown Up After Falling Siege to the Hive, Sole Survivor Tells the Tale The clipped-out article read, Caldwell's optics moving down to a particular section of the article after that. In addition to the military force sent to reclaim the facility, along came famed field-reporter and Exo engineer Launce Henrik. While Launce perished in the facility's destruction to stop the Hive, his bodyguard and personal creation, the Exo Caldwell-83, survived. Having been the one to stop the Hive from gaining a better foothold on Europa by detonating the facility per his creator's orders, the Exo is being hailed as a hero, and rightfully so.
"I'd say hero's an arguable title." Caldwell mumbled to himself, stepping back to look at the rest of what was there. In addition to just about every possible different news clipping relating to the incident, Caldwell even had recorded versions of the news broadcasts relating to the tragedy, which were all stored on separate disks and kept in a single stack. That being off to the side of the table, right in the center was his choice of arms at the time, an ancient Khvostov-model assault rifle. Being from back when he was just a tin soldier and not a Guardian, Caldwell kept it around as a reminder of what he once was. Even having his old military-issue dogtags from that time hanging by another pin on the board, one could say he was obsessed with the dark point in his past that claimed his maker's life.
"That's you in some of those clippings. Old source of pride?" A synthetic, Exo-like voice asked from behind Caldwell, finally deciding to show herself. Having known she was there, Caldwell was just waiting for her to speak up as he calmly turned to face her. A fellow Exo like him, this one's visible face was white, blue optics, and a Hunter-like hood hiding most of her head. Unlike normal Hunters, hers had a large, leather-like collar covering everything between her bust and her chin, as well as the cloak mostly hanging off to the left to conceal her left arm. Her right arm noticeably exposed, Caldwell vaguely remembered her from that series of scouting photos Hunters took on the Moon. Further confirming his suspicions, the female Exo even had the unusual, unique Pulse Rifle seen in those images clipped to her back.
"More like an old source of guilt. I keep it around to make sure I don't forget what happened, even if I've come a long way since then." Caldwell answered, referring to how he went from a single gear in humanity's defenses to one of humanity's last sources of hope. Giving his answer with a rumbling tone of loathing, Caldwell's current appearance fit his mood quite well. Having none of his gear except his pants, this made it possible to see that Caldwell was one of the later Exos to be made. Having an all-grey frame to match the head most got to see, his was broad-shouldered, yet smooth and streamlined in its appearance, even possessing curved shoulder-plating that melded into his biceps. Not possessing any visible moving parts or cables, his systems ran totally silent as well, not even emitting any light from within. Through that, one could almost say his vibe and chassis matched: Cold, grey, and devoid of most signs of life outside of the fact that he walked and talked.
"While remembering the past so you don't repeat your mistakes is good, it honestly sounds more like you're torturing yourself. But, that's not why I'm here." The Exo Stranger changed subjects, not wanting to belittle Caldwell's personal choices. Currently standing in Caldwell's unused kitchen as she waited on him, the start of their conversation prompted her to walk towards him, taking a seat in one of the white chairs placed around the room. Crossing her legs, the Exo Stranger looked like she wasn't exactly happy-go-lucky herself as she tried to explain her intrusion. "I wasn't exactly upfront with the last Guardian I spoke to, so I'm going to be upfront with you: I'm not from this point in time. The future I come from, we've lost. The Darkness won, the City's gone and the last of the Light's been forced to scatter and hide among asteroids like rats. Even the Awoken were overpowered, but it doesn't have to be like that."
"So you've come back with guidance on how we can deflect this outcome away, haven't you?" Caldwell guessed, still standing where he was when he turned around. Easing up slightly, he was more intrigued by her claims and less concerned by her infiltration into his apartment. Walking over to sit on the couch opposite this stranger, she thoroughly had his attention.
"In my time running from the Vex, I sometimes got access to their communication lines. They frequently made mention of something on the dark side of the Moon, like it was a containment area for something. I don't know if they're protecting experimental weaponry or keeping a potential ally to our cause secluded from our dimension, but whatever is in there, the Vex sounded like they want it to stay in there. If you trust me, you'll go to these coordinates and see what you find. Just be warned: Once you get there, even I don't know what you might find exactly." The Exo Stranger explained, standing up and walking over to pass a small piece of paper into Caldwell's hand. "Also, some woman named Alvara wants you to come to her place and 'spend the night fine-tuning her electronics', not sure if that's supposed to be code for something."
Turning the Stranger's piece of paper over, Caldwell found that she wrote the coordinates on the back of a note Alvara must've snuck under his door. Seeing the note was asking for exactly what the Stranger claimed it said, Caldwell could see how that would be misunderstood.
"It's uh…..small hobby of mine. Takes my mind off things." Caldwell awkwardly answered despite Alvara's request being literal, not an innuendo for something. Putting the note in his pocket, Caldwell went from dreary to awkward as he waited for the Stranger to say something else.
"Well, whatever that's for, it's your business, not mine. I've told you all I know on the subject, so I'm going to depart. Wouldn't want to interfere with however your Fireteam operates after all." The Exo Stranger lightly saluted as she began to turn and walk to the door. Being stopped as Caldwell made a half-choked up, awkward 'uh'-like noise, she turned to see what he had to say.
"If you, uhm…..find yourself in this time again at any point and need some place to hide, feel free to come here. You know…..just as an offer." Caldwell awkwardly offered, not quite sure what was catching his eye about this person. The Exo Stranger giving a small nod and a wave as she seemed to almost digitize into thin air, this left Caldwell alone once more. Looking down at the note he was given, he was hesitant to follow up on it. "Hey, Ghost? Can you get a line open to Merikh? Just him…..need to get his opinion on this."
3 hours later, the Dark Side of the Moon…..
Landing…somewhere, it was difficult at best for the Fireteam to tell what exactly they landed on, only knowing that it was flat ground. All 5 Ghosts appearing, each one separated their plates to emit a bright, radial floodlight from their cores. Almost like their normal flashlight taken to an extreme, each one spaced themselves out enough to illuminate the area without blinding anyone as the group examined their surroundings. Seeming like a rock quarry of sorts, it was quickly realized that while there was most certainly excavation being done, it was not stone slabs they were surrounded by.
"I'm no expert on the Vex, nor am I claiming to be, but….aren't these their structures?" Kyra warily pointed out, poking one-such white stone-block with the end of her Wire Rifle. Taking a closer look around, the rest of the group realized that the white stone slabs and squares piled around them were, in fact, Vex architecture. Strangely, dotted around the area was also signs of the Hive, including their mysterious, massive lanterns and the black slop commonly associated with the presence of Thralls. Some rudimentary, basic Hive architecture being built into the walls around them, it almost seemed like it was the Hive doing the excavating. Carefully advancing, the fact that the site seemed abandoned wasn't serving to ease any nerves.
"That's strange…the small signal emissions I'm able to get from the Vex architecture around us sounds like the Vex here are't alarmed by the Hive. It'd take a direct link with a Conflux to tell you exactly what they're saying, but this still isn't good. Why aren't they alarmed?" Caldwell's Ghost wondered, expecting the Vex to be up in force and spilling out of Transfer Gates by the dozen to erase any traces of Hive presence on their territory. Going down a dusty hill leading further into this excavation project, the area started to get enclosed. With two tall, monolithic vex structures walling their descent down the hill into a straight path, they saw that this meager excavation operation was far more than that. A myriad of different Vex constructions in varying, yet all angular shapes and sizes, these seemed to have been built over by Hive walkways and catwalks, showing they had quite heavily moved in. With their banners hanging off the walls and their strange, chain-hung candles and talismans dangling from the roof, the Hive that must be here gave off the message that they resided here at all times. Reaching the bottom of the hill, things very sharply took a tense turn as the structure around them seemed to come alive, a small pulse of energy passing through before a number of Transfer Gates, both high and low, all flashed to life. In addition, Hive of all kinds began to howl and sprint from whatever dark corners of their excavation site they hid in, ready to attack the Light intruding on them.
"Did somebody hit a tripwire or something? Because we really kicked a hornet's nest now!" Merikh asked as he ran for cover, their worst problem emerging from the massive Transfer Gate at the far end of the room. About 40 feet away from the Fireteam, out of this Gate formed the pieces to a massive, easily 30-foot tall Minotaur-type Vex. Painted black as night, the Minotaur had a Manticore's left-forearm shield and hoof-like feet, but lacked the back attachment or the tubes in the right arm. Having a head with a small, vertical optic in the front, the head's overall design looked like a skeletal, futuristic version of a Goblin's fan-like headpiece. Armed with a Manticore's quad-barreled shotgun, the machine's name was registered as Vudron, Gate Lord in their HUDs. Alarmingly, the midnight-black Hive spilling out not only ignored the Gate Lord, they seemed to run and take cover in tandem with the golden, white-striped Hezen Protective Vex coming out, almost as if they worked together.
"Not sure if this bothers anybody else, but the Hive and the Vex look like they're on the same side. Doesn't exactly spell 'good times', right?" Barrett pointed out, half the Fireteam going right while half went left as they found themselves at a T-split, with the straight path being where they came from and two doorways across from each other, one to the left and the other to the right of that path's end. Holding position in that region, each half of the Fireteam mostly hid around their respective doorway to avoid the Gate Lord's fire. Seeing the oncoming enemy force getting closer, some new things stuck out quickly, especially to Carwyn as a Hallowed Thrall leapt for him. Maintaining the basic structure of a normal Thrall, the Hallowed Thrall had what looked to be a massive armor increase, possessing a thick, dusty chestplate with guillotine-like collarbone ridges that was bound to its body. With similar infused armor plating on the Thrall's arms and legs, even the head had a more protected, armored look in the form of a carapace-like plate concealing the upper half of its head. The Thrall's claws seeming relatively untouched, its offensive ability was nonetheless bolstered with a series of small knuckle-studs, one on each knuckle, that were painfully fused to its hands. Also possessing a small loincloth, almost like a sized-down version of what Acolytes had, the Hallowed Thrall gave off an air of respect not given to normal Thralls.
Having scrambled over the blocks of Vex architecture, the Hallowed Thrall exhibited more complex behavior as it leapt for Carwyn's back, wrapping its legs around his hips and holding onto the Titan's left shoulder. Using its free right hand, the Hallowed Thrall made a ravenous attempt to bludgeon the back of Carwyn's head with its closed fist, alternating in some raking slashes every now and then. Catching the Thrall's right arm with his left hand, Carwyn forcefully pulled the Thrall off, the rickety skeleton-creature slamming onto the floor back-first as it was yanked whole-heartedly over Carwyn's right shoulder. Still holding the Thrall's arm, Carwyn's attempt to flatten the Thrall's skull with his boot was actually only half-successful, the armored plating causing a cracked jaw to be the worst of its injuries as it thrashed back to its feet. Four more normal Thralls scrambling over the same bits of architecture the Hallowed one did, these were far more uncoordinated as they pushed each other down, each one wanting to be the first at Carwyn's Light.
Getting some backup, Merikh was the first to help as he hurled a knife at the Hallowed Thrall, the force of the blow throwing the jittery mess into a frontflip as it impacted the back of the Thrall's head. Firing his Hand Cannon at the other Thralls, they were quickly cut down, and even cut apart, in the crossfire between him and Carwyn. Turning and reaching for Merikh, the Hallowed Thrall's dying action was to try and rip a chunk out of Merikh, being stopped by a point-blank Hand Cannon round to the stomach. Moving to see what was closest to them, Merikh had to quickly jerk back from the line of incoming fire. Coming from a Cavalier wielding one of their strange, spike-throwing corrupted Auto Rifles, the hail of gunfire was backed up by a Manticore and a pair of Necrochasm-wielding Marauders. Throwing an Incendiary Grenade, the small blast of fire was enough to incinerate one Marauder, the other having scrambled up a wall while the Cavalier and Manticore simply took the blast in stride.
Seeing the surviving Marauder attempt to wall-run at him, Merikh threw the agile Hive off-balance with a round hitting its ankle, the killing blow being a thin, metal wire through the head as it fell to the ground. Knowing exactly who caused it, Merikh turned his attention back on the Manticore and Cavalier. Carwyn throwing his grenade into the mix, this near-totally fried the Manticore's shield as it advanced, vanishing in a quick blip of light. Reappearing just in front of Merikh, the wirey Hunter was able to more or less make a controlled fall, going right under the Manticore's surprise left hook. The swing knocking a bit of the Vex architecture's marble-colored outer layer off, the Manticore's fist showed no signs of damage from it. Throwing one of his knives from his near-seated position in front of the Manticore, Merikh was able to wedge this one in the Manticore's shoulder-socket, causing its left arm to lock up awkwardly. Fingers splayed out in random directions, the Manticore's left arm seemed completely unusable now. Swinging a kick to try and knock Merikh's head back like a pez dispenser, the Manticore's sensor overload from its damaged shoulder was throwing off its aim.
Crawling between the Manticore's legs, Merikh jerked to his feet as fast as he could and fired a round into the Manticore's back, puncturing the generator for its Hydra-like shield. Turning to face Merikh, this left the disadvantaged Manticore open for more back-shots as Carwyn perforated it with his Pulse Rifle. The power supply within being irreparably damaged, this left the Manticore on a self-destruct course and Merikh forced to either run at the enemy, or try to run by the Manticore before it blew up. Choosing the former, Merikh tried his luck with the Cavalier as the Manticore blew to pieces in an explosion roughly similar to that of a dead Hydra. Turning his Hand Cannon on the large Hive creature, it was at this regrettable moment that Merikh realized his Hand Cannon's cylinder was empty. The Cavalier opening fire unopposed, Merikh turned and fell back to a better position as the glowing green spikes slammed into the dust near him. Chasing after Merikh, the Cavalier's stride was stopped awkwardly by a thin piece of metal piercing its collarbone. Actually stumbling backwards from the unseen Wire Rifle shot, a second surprise came as Kyra, who crawled up onto some of the Hive-built walkways, sprinted for the Cavalier. Coming at a diagonal angle from the Hive beast, Kyra's Wire Rifle was on her back and Shock Dagger in hand as the Gate Lord tried to shoot her, the rounds impacting not far behind as she leapt off her raised position and onto the Cavalier.
Holding the Shock Dagger upside down, it quickly found its way into the Cavalier's shoulder, then the side of the Cavalier's head as Kyra repeatedly attacked the Cavalier. Crawling up the Cavalier's chestplate and onto his back, Kyra got herself out of Merikh's way as he reloaded, assisting in the takedown as he landed a shot between all three of the Cavalier's eyes. Not dead yet, the Cavalier jerked its shoulder forward, throwing Kyra off with a tumble. Her Shock Dagger ripping a searing gash over the Cavalier's shoulder, it cared little as it roared in anger, bypassing her to give Merikh a hard kick to the chest. Succeeding, the Cavalier became distracted at the sight of rockets being launched, turning to see as they impacted the Gate Lord it was protecting. Not staying on the thought for long, the Cavalier's attention was drawn back to the fight as a now-recovered Kyra slashed the back of the Cavalier's left knee, almost separating the creature's thigh and shin. Falling to a kneel, the Cavalier tried to lash out and swing its gun at Kyra, only to get incinerated mid-swing by a prominent burst of Light.
Coming from Merikh's Golden Gun, the Cavalier vanished into a golden mist, gun and all as Merikh turned the other two shots on the Gate Lord. Searing two bullet wound-like holes in the Gate Lord's pectoral plating, the large Vex still ignored Merikh in favor of Barrett, Alvara, and Caldwell. Surprised that Merikh of all people would help her out, Kyra's chance to point this out was cut short by a group of three Axis Goblins advancing across the middle of the room, having passed over from the other side to reinforce the now-missing Cavalier and Manticore's side. Painted just like any other Hezen Protective Goblin, the Axis Goblins each possessed a head similar to that of the Gate Lord, as well as more prominent, curved shoulder-pads and leg plating. Wielding what looked like a modified Slap Rifle in place of their right forearm entirely, the weapon fired three times in quick succession, each round sounding like a sharp crack in the air. Each one having a somewhat sized-up left forearm, the purpose for this was revealed as Merikh casually blew the middle one in half with his Hand Cannon. Responding to this threat, the remaining two raised their left forearms in front of their torsos, the plating splitting open to project a golden, circular energy shield in front of them.
Just large enough to protect each Goblin's torso, thighs, and the majority of its head, this forced Kyra and Merikh to rethink their strategy as the Axis Goblins continued to fire unhindered. Kyra going left while Merikh went right, they tried to divide the fire and catch each Axis Goblin in the back. Merikh rolling an Incendiary Grenade past one's shield, this caught the attention of both as they focused fire on him. Largely ignoring Kyra, the Axis Goblins would come to regret this as a Wire Rifle round found its way into one Axis Goblin's lower back, just short of piercing its Mind-Core. Considering the attack a top-priority threat, the damaged Axis Goblin turned just in time to catch a followup round with its shield. Not having any grenades or other methods to subvert the shield, Kyra had to instead try and speed up the death of the one attacking Merikh. Trying to lean far enough past her Axis Goblin to hit Merikh's, her hasty shot missed the Axis Goblin's head, instead impacting the backside of its shield. Finding the round's sudden appearance strange, the Axis Goblin turned back to Kyra, Merikh's quick usage of his throwing knives ripping the Axis Goblin's head off. The shield dissipating, this seemed to be the key to killing them.
Able to blow apart that Axis Goblin quite easily, the two simply double-teamed the second one, Merikh getting its attention while Kyra wedged her Shock Dagger into the back of its neck. Prying the head off as if her Dagger were a crowbar, the Axis Goblin made a last-ditch attempt to deck Kyra in a 180 swipe with its gun-arm as its Mind-Core erupted, causing the upper half to spin and flop off the legs whimsically. Turning on the Gate Lord, it was already severely damaged from the other half of the Fireteam's barrage, the left arm slightly dangling out of its socket. Obviously losing the fight, the Gate Lord's Mind-Core was beginning to crack when it made a strong move forward. Swinging a punting kick at Merikh, the large Vex connected the hit, but the lack of momentum left Merikh effectively clinging to its foot rather than flying into a wall. Hearing Barrett say something, Merikh fell off the Gate Lord's foot as he tried to look back at his Titan ally. Running up to the Gate Lord, Barrett leapt the last few feet as he became enveloped in Arc energy, slamming his fists into the floor. Knocking the Gate Lord back, the large Vex stumbled back-first into its massive Transfer Gate.
The Transfer Gate not being currently set to accept entities passing through, the Gate Lord's systems were shocked with an intense burst of Arc energy. Not quite dead, the entire Fireteam was able to gather in front of it as the Gate Lord stumbled forward from the Gate, hunching forward slightly. Raising its weapon to fire, the Gate Lord had its life extinguished as the Fireteam lined up and let loose, puncturing the Mind-Core. White radiolarian fluid leaking out, the Gate Lord's left hand came up to try and shield the Mind-Core as more rounds blasted through it, smashing the Mind Core to pieces. Falling to its knees, the Gate Lord flopped forward, the upper and lower halves separating halfway through the fall. Placing its left hand flat on the floor, the Gate Lord tried to raise its head up and look at the Fireteam, Caldwell stepping up to meet it. Looking right into the Gate Lord's optic, Caldwell brought his hand back, throwing it forward in a traditional Warlock melee to blast a hole through the Gate Lord's eye. Finally dying for real, the Gate Lord's body almost disintegrated, atomizing into a grey nanite dust.
"Weren't we supposed to get into that Gate? Because this is…not really Gate-Key material." Alvara pointed out, getting a handful of the nanite dust in her left hand and letting it seep through her fingers.
"A Gate Lord's Gate isn't that secure. If those Hive don't come back, I might be able to get it adjusted in….6 hours?" Caldwell's Ghost pitched, giving an admittedly unfortunate estimate. The Fireteam looking at him with a shared look of dread, the loathing was offset by surprise when the massive Transfer Gate let off a loud boom, the energy within bobbing like a wave. Changing color to a slightly darker blue with a golden tinge, the Gate's behavior was anything but normal.
"Uh…..Ghost, what did that Gate just do?" Merikh asked with slight nervousness, worried the Gate was going to explode. Appearing and flying over to investigate it, Merikh's Ghost was just as confused.
"It…..changed. The polarity's been modified from the inside. Whatever's on the other side was able to force it into letting us pass. I don't know what we're going to find in there, but whatever it is, it wants to be found." Merikh's Ghost answered, backing away from the Gate. "I'll leave it up to you about if we want to go through."
"We came here to find something, but it's hard to tell if this is a trap or not….." Caldwell mumbled, the other members hardly hearing him over a loud roar and rumble overhead. Looking up, two sets of large, boney claws dug into the edge of the Vex architecture above them, each claw being roughly the size of a man's torso. A head poking over the edge too, it was reptilian in nature with an arrowhead-shaped jaw, jagged teeth, and patches of scales and skin missing. Its eyes enveloped in green fire, the large creature pulled itself forward, swooping down to land behind the Fireteam. Shaped like a dragon, the creature was 30' in length from the end of its head to the tip of its jagged, spiked tail. Its large, skeletal wings were interlinked with a thin film of skin, and the end of each bone had another glowing green spike on it. A visible green flame flaring from within its ribcage, the creature turned around to face them, their HUDS labeling it Kulurak, Ahamkara Wraith.
"Time to go?" Merikh suggested, the keyword Ahamkara making the situation worse.
"Time to go." Caldwell comedically agreed, the Fireteam turning and running into the Gate as Kulurak walked towards them. The Gate shutting down once the Fireteam was in, Kulurak was shut out. The Fireteam getting propelled through the Gate, they landed on the other side in a bizarre land hardly resembling reality. The land looking like normal Vex architecture, they were surrounded by a strange, purple-blue void that sat still, almost like a diluted sky. Seeing that this sky existed over the edge below them too, the area was beginning to look like a prison.
"This is…..uh…." Barrett tried to comment, stopping out of a pure loss for words. The Fireteam grouping together at the edge of the large, marble-white square platform they stood on, they weren't sure what to do. The marble outer-layer peeling away, a bridge started to form out from the platform, the inner-Vex machinery almost sprouting out in the shape of a bridge all on its own. Leading up to a smaller Transfer Gate, the bridge was the only way to go. Seeming visibly hesitant, Caldwell nonetheless led the way to the smaller Transfer Gate, the Fireteam walking through slowly. Coming out the other side, the dreary sky was still present, but the land was different, the Fireteam coming out standing in a shallow body of water. Only going up to their ankles, the small pool of water was gently flowing in from a river up ahead of them. The river being bordered by stones and small patches of incredibly vibrant, saturated green grass, the architecture was making less and less sense with every passing second. Walking forward, the Fireteam continued to follow Caldwell's lead as they followed this river down its length, noticing two tall rock walls bordering them in.
Silver-plated Hobgoblins with a head similar to that of Vudron walking to the edge of both rock walls, they were unarmed. Noticeably watching the Fireteam, they did so silently like a series of statues, only slowly turning to keep watching.
"This is very, very bad. We need to find what we're looking for and get the fuck out." Alvara advised, looking up at the Hobgoblins warily. Finding a marble pathway resembling Vex architecture cut into small squares, they followed it up a wide set of stairs, the design reminiscent of a Mayan pyramid. Silver Goblins with the same head as Vudron standing at each tier on the pyramid, it seemed like these Vex were waiting for them. Reaching the top, they were greeted by a large collection of silver-plated Vex with the same head design that were armed, yet not attacking. Stepping off to the side, the group of Vex parted to make room for a large, golden-plated Manticore with the same head design and more elaborate, ridge-covered shoulder armor. In its right hand was a large weapon reminiscent of a big Slap Rifle with a thicker, bulkier barrel region, numerous vents along the barrel, and a small cylindrical power cell noticeably attached to the left side.
"I think we found what we're looking for…." Merikh whispered to Alvara, keeping his finger on the trigger. Walking up to the Fireteam, the large Manticore stopped in front of Caldwell, looking down at him. Watching the Manticore, both Hunters noticed quite quickly that this one's movement was more fluid and natural, rather than rigid and almost programmed like a normal Minotaur/Manticore. In addition, the Manticore's shoulders sagged and rose, and its head lowered, rose, and leaned off to the side like a real sentient creature trying to size someone up.
"I have to thank you: Killing Vudron like that? That sadistic entity was more like a jailer than a Gate Lord. With him gone, perhaps we can finally escape and separate the Darkness from our people." The Manticore thanked, speaking in a masculine, synthetic, bass-heavy voice. Strangely, the Manticore's voice even had inflection and tone that flowed naturally, rather than sounding pre-recorded.
"And you are….?" Caldwell inquired, hoping for a name. Taking his finger off the trigger of his Pulse Rifle, the Exo Warlock was going to try and trust this machine.
"My true name isn't very outstanding, so you can call me Midas. Of all the stories from your race's past, it's certainly the most fitting to draw a name from." Midas answered, displaying an odd knowledge of old Earth culture. "Now, to not get off on the wrong foot, allow me to clarify some things: My people do not support the Darkness, nor the Vex who do support it. We were trapped in here and suffocated under Vudron's gaze to keep us from intervening in the Darkness' goals, but with him gone, we can repay the favor to your kind. How we do so will need to come with your input, but for this service, I speak on behalf of my people when I say we're in your debt. Perhaps…I could aid you in your travels personally."
"You want to come with us?" Caldwell asked, not sure if he heard that right. The rest of the Fireteam easing up too, the tension started to die down as Midas backed up somewhat.
"In the end it's your decision to permit that I come with, but I certainly feel it would be a step in the right direction to gain your trust. I possess no sympathy for the Darkness-associated Vex and their stiff, unfeeling Programs they use to divide our race into job-specific groups like a set of input codes. Their desire to perpetuate the existence of our race has gone too far, and one could almost say they've sold their souls to a false god. If saving them from themselves means destruction of all who follow the Darkness, then so be it." Midas explained, sounding exceptionally passionate about his hatred for the Darkness.
"Alright…..your argument's good, but what about the Vex network? Assuming your people have your own sub-net you use, doesn't this mean you'd need an entourage of multiple Vex with you to work properly?" Caldwell pointed out, not wanting his Fireteam to turn into a 40-person platoon comprised largely of Vex.
"If you were to acquire the service of a Darkness-aligned Vex, that would be a problem. Personally speaking however, I'll fare perfectly fine on my own. Yes, we do use our own network in a similar manner to the other Vex, but I can operate without it. Call it….an advantage. The Darkness Vex have reduced themselves down to a logic-obsessed super-computer, devoid of culture and free-thought; devoid of a large part of what defines sentience. I, on the other hand, can process and execute my own decisions, exhibit emotion, and formulate thoughts and opinions without the need for input from a greater collective, which would allow me to come with you….what's the phrase? With no strings attached?" Midas cleared up, showing he was much more than a normal Manticore in a greater computer system. Sold on the idea, Caldwell offered up his free hand, Midas returning the gesture in an awkward, size-mismatched pseudo-handshake. Despite the revelation that friendly Vex existed, Merikh still had something to interject with:
"I understand this is a very big deal, and I'm personally quite happy to see not all Vex are bad, but…..even if Midas is what we got sent here for, we've still got a big, angry, undead dragon waiting for us outside that Transfer Gate. To boot, we don't even know if we can turn it back on after it shut behind us." Merikh pointed out, not wanting the group to lose sight of their predicament.
"We can get the Gate running again, we shut it off to seal the beast out and prevent it from killing all of you before we could meet. And besides, perhaps we could call me aiding you in the monster's death an exercise in trust?" Midas suggested, knowing he'd still need to earn trust. Putting their faith in their new teammate, the moment to test it would come much faster than anticipated as a loud, screeching roar could be heard, Midas turning around to see Kulurak flying in. Not quite understanding how this happened, the large Manticore didn't stay paused for long as he emitted what sounded like a command in a more code-based language, which prompted the group of silver-plated Vex to teleport away.
"Any particular reason you just made some good backup leave?" Barrett asked, having seen a few Minotaurs in that group.
"There aren't many of my people left. Until we can expand beyond this prison and gain a foothold somewhere to process and develop into a larger population, I'd rather I die than any of them." Midas explained, gripping the barrel of his weapon with his free hand as all 7 combatants watched Kulurak fly overhead. Spotting its prey, the large, undead Ahamkara went into a nose-dive, forcing the group to scatter as it impacted the floor of the pyramid. Emitting a green, fiery shockwave upon landing, the large dragon's impact was targeted at those bearing the Traveler's power. Afflicting all five Guardians with a sort of draining curse, they were disadvantaged, but not dead. Seeing Barrett as the best target, Kulurak made a lunge for the sluggish Guardian, able to get the impaired Titan under its front right foot. Trying to flatten the Guardian underfoot, Kulurak was forced off by a high-powered cluster of ionized red plasma impacting its boney, decrepit chin. Actually ripping the tip of its chin off, the rapid succession of followup blasts showed that Midas' weapon was, effectively, a full-auto plasma shotgun. Driving Kulurak back, Midas' advantage took a turn for the worse as Kulurak, now knowing a ground-fight with Midas would end in the Manticore's favor, leapt forward to take off into the skies again. Nearly blowing Midas over with the gust of wind it caused, the large Ahamkara flew a small distance away before turning around, intending to kill Midas with strafing runs.
"Hey, thanks for that…." Barrett thanked amidst his heavy breathing, the green fire he and the other Guardians had been coated with slowly dissipating as his strength came back. Midas grabbing Barrett's left arm to help the Titan back up, the two had to make a run for it as Kulurak swooped in, Barrett doing a dive-roll while Midas simply teleported out of the way. Scraping a series of parallel grooves into the floor with its claws, Kulurak ascended from its strafing run to fly off and back around, not wanting to chance it with Midas if it didn't have to. More of the Fireteam getting their bearings again, Merikh was the first to attack Kulurak, taking aim with his sniper in hopes of putting some holes in the Ahamkara's wings. Seeing what the Hunter was doing, Midas and Barrett, followed by the rest of the Fireteam, all took aim at Kulurak's wings. Flying in despite the heavy gunfire, the large dragon would come to regret this decision as it was thrown off-balance. Some of the rounds no doubt clipping its wing, the Ahamkara fell into a sideways roll across the length of the pyramid top, jerking back upright once it came to a stop. None too happy, the Ahamkara went for Caldwell and Carwyn this time.
Charging forward and rising onto its hind legs in an attempt to smash the two Guardians underfoot, the initial slam missed, but a followup swipe at Carwyn succeeded in knocking the Titan off his feet. Singling the Titan out, Kulurak incited a storm of retaliation on Carwyn's behalf as Caldwell, Barrett, and Alvara each threw their grenades while Merikh and Kyra aimed for the eyes with their rifles. Finding the damage to be a distracting nuisance, it really was a distraction as the Ahamkara failed to notice a pair of thick, metal feet place themselves on its back. Having clambered up Kulurak's back left leg, Midas was intent on making sure the dragon didn't take to the skies again as he opened fire, the rapid blasts of plasma ripping Kuluak's right wing off at the base. Feeling the sharp pain it caused, Kulurak let off a loud roar, rolling its shoulders and stomping the ground to try and throw Midas off. Grabbing hold of Kulurak's other wing for stability, Midas used this to his advantage. Digging his feet into Kulurak's back, Midas pulled upwards, slowly and painfully separating the decrepit skin and decayed muscle as the large Manticore ripped Kulurak's other wing off by hand. Not having any other handholds, the Manticore was finally thrown off, landing with a loud clang as he flopped onto the floor.
Now totally wingless, Kulurak lost its main advantage as the Fireteam relentlessly pelted it with gunfire. Resorting to making swipes with its claws, the Ahamkara's fatal mistake came from its decision to continue chasing Carwyn, the Awoken Titan being smart enough to keep his distance. The descent into a loss for Kulurak starting with Caldwell hurling his Nova Bomb into Kulurak's side, this was quickly followed up by Kyra and Alvara clambering onto Kulurak's back. Kyra using her Shock Dagger while Alvara charged her knife with Arc energy, the two blade-wielders began savagely stabbing and digging into Kulurak's encrusted armor, ripping entire plates and chunks off to expose the bone underneath. Kyra aiming for the top of Kulurak's skull while Alvara tore up its back, Midas decided to take away another tool of Kulurak's, grabbing hold of the dragon's tail before effectively barrel-stuffing it with his shotgun, severing the mace ball-like tail-tip from the dragon's body. Grabbing hold of the small segment of spine linked to the tail-tip, Midas then went around to Kulurak's front with the tail-tip in hand to bat the currently-overpowered Ahamkara with it. Lodging the spikes into Kulurak's armor, it was followed up with a point-blank plasma blast, ripping what was left of the Ahamkara's nose wide open.
Howling in protest at the battery it received, Kulurak's wide-mouthed roar was used as an opening as Merikh hurled an Incendiary Grenade, landing it right through Kulurak's open mouth. Ceasing its roar in surprise, the glow of the Incendiary grenade could actually be seen as it rolled down the length of Kulurak's neck, finally exploding once it reached the hellish fire in Kulurak's chest. Sending some rib-shrapnel flying, the blast must've struck a vulnerable core as Kulurak slowed down. A strange, green fluid beginning to drip from the Ahamkara's jagged mouth and its slowly-fracturing, illuminated back-spikes, Kulurak fought harder and harder to move, eventually emitting a weak moan as it fell down. Not getting back up, what little was left of the dragon's body instead crumbled into dust, leaving nothing but the skeleton used to bring it back to something resembling life. Gathering around the skeleton, all 7 combatants could hardly believe they killed it.
"Friendly Vex, Vex and Hive working together, a full-fledged Ahamkara back from the dead, and one that can evidently get into a Limbo-Prison dimension. What's next? Cabal ballerinas?" Merikh half-quipped, half-griped at how wildly good-yet-bad today has been. Eliciting a perplexed stare from Midas heavily evident by his body language, everyone else knew the Manticore would come to expect these remarks in time. A group of the silver-plated Vex teleporting in, the entirety of the group were Manticores and Minotaurs, which quickly set about collecting Kulurak's bones.
"If you'd allow us to, my people will hold onto the beast's skeleton. We know the power their bones contain can be harnessed to great effect, so we'd like to show our gratitude for freeing us by fashioning some armor for you from the remains. If you'd permit it, of course." Midas offered, the group of silver Vex having rounded up the bones and began waiting for a response, effectively looking for confirmation that they could take the bones away. Caldwell giving a silent nod of approval, that was all the group of Vex needed as they teleported away in a cloud of smoke and lightning, the bones vanishing with them. "Unfortunately, word from the Gate leading out of this prison is that it's active. That means either the beast had knowledge on how to operate and activate our Gates, or the Darkness-alined Vex truly are working with those bone-creatures that excavated Vudron's Gate and let it in. I advise we make a swift escape once outside of this prison."
Meanwhile, deep within a Cosmodrome Control Center, Old Russia…
Kyra's old helmet in hand, Riksis hoped it would be enough to fool Nassik. Kicking open the doors to Nassik's private dwelling, the large command center was heavily populated by Devils and Winter of all sizes, Nassik standing at the far end.
"It's done." Riksis lied, throwing Kyra's helmet to Nassik. Catching it, Nassik inspected the helmet as he thought on Riksis' words. Seemingly unimpressed, this didn't bode well for Riksis.
"That's funny, because I sent a group of Winter Fallen to double-check your work, and they never reported back…" Nassik almost teased, sounding like he was gaining a bit of sadistic pleasure from calling Riksis' lie out. Further backing up the thought that Nassik knew the truth, all the other Fallen in the room slowly began to rise and brandish their weapons.
"Perhaps they got slaughtered by some Vex or Hive on their way there. Either way, you and me have no reason to further this issue. She's dead, that's what you asked for." Riksis insisted, putting up what would be a convincing act if not for what Nassik had to say next.
"Right….Vex and Hive wielding Wire Rifles and able to stomp with the seismic force of an Archon…not to mention the burns that look quite similar to a Shrapnel Launcher the size of yours, Riksis. The followup group also found no body in sight except those of the dead Winter backup. Awfully strange that a dead woman was able to kill an entire group and leave." Nassik pointed out, Riksis realizing that lying was completely and utterly useless. A Captain wielding two Shock Blades starting to slowly advance on him, Riksis considered diplomacy a lost cause, instead seizing the Captain by the head with his upper-left hand. Hurling the Captain into a dysfunctional, large-screen monitor mounted on a pillar nearby, Riksis cut ties with the Devils in an instant. Smashing his foot down to blow away the nearby Dregs, the former Archon ran straight for the glass at the far end of the room. Effectively running at Nassik, the physically-smaller Baron knew a bad fight when he saw it, giving RIksis the right of way as Riksis charged shoulder-first out the window. Doing so intentionally, Riksis landed atop the rusted roof 30 feet down with a resounding crash, one destination in mind as he then leapt off the roof:
Poland.
Author's Note
Firstly, apologies for the delay, I was going to have this up days ago, but it would've ended right after Midas said they could get the Gate running again because, just from eyeballing it based on the scroll bar (TextEdit doesn't have a word count as far as I know), it looked like the chapter was getting incredibly long. I actually submitted the old document, got all the way to the Add Chapter page, clicked the dropdown to pick the document, and saw it was actually around 2K words shorter than the last chapter. I also realized I didn't have a Chapter title unlike usual, and had to stop and think what the hell I was doing. Between that and the fact that killing Kulurak was going to get bumped off to the next chapter, I literally said "This bullcrap behavior isn't what people are following the story for" and just stopped myself, spent a few days, and added in the Kulurak fight and Riksis' escape. Next chapter's off to Europa for a far-less action-ey, more dialogue and character-development-focused chapter. There'll still be something bad happening, but it's one enemy, not a swarm to be cut down and blown apart, so there are more down-time moments and places for long spurts of dialogue. And plus it'll let me rectify badly underselling the first fan-submitted Guardian I ever got through that shitty, brief appearance in a teaser that only served the purpose of asking people how I should handle a Raid-focused chapter, not exactly smart on my part.
Secondly, the last chapter wasn't too bad was it? This might just be my own concerns with no real proof to support them, but when a chapter in an otherwise really well-noticed story like this one gets near-no reviews, and the ones it does get are all vague or unrelated to the specific chapter's content, my first conclusion is that the chapter was just so craptastically bad that nobody even knew where to start on describing how craptastically bad it was. Again, probably nothing but my own paranoia that my work sucks, but still, when a chapter does a bunch of things like introducing a new character (Sivala), new enemies (The Imperial Colossus, which I want to belt my own dumb-ass in the forehead with a shovel for calling an Imperial Goliath. Going to go back and fix that embarrassing blunder sometime soon), and being a part-2 to a previous chapter's setting and kinda continuing its events, my primary concern's that Sivala looks like a shitty, uninteresting character, the Imperial Colossus is a joke of a design, and that the whole chapter was just underwhelming and didn't deliver on what people expect. Hopefully I'm wrong about that, but it's better to just ask and admit it might've under-performed than keep going blissfully unaware of my low-points.
Finally, I'm actually going to finally give names to that Hive Auto-Rifle and the small black spike-throwing SMG next chapter, been putting that shit off way too long. One thing I'll say without waiting for an in-story explanation to deliver it right now is that Vudron, Midas, and all the "friendly" silver Vex, just in case my description was off, are using the same heads as the Precursor Vex from the VOG and the Overmind Minotaur in the Prison of Elders. Obviously the heads for Hobgoblins look different than those for Goblins and Minotaurs, but it's that "Style" out of the three we've seen (Precursor, Descendent, and Normal). Also going to explain how Midas' gun works and why it's got a cylinder stuck to the side of it, which I'll say now is not an ammo supply. All I really need to figure out now is how to jam an ex-Archon inside a Jumpship without making it sound like Jumpships are flying clown-cars.