Chapter 12
The man collapsed, exhausted. As Celeste and Tanton gently helped him to his feet, my sparrow and helmet materialized almost simultaneously. Around me, I could see other sparrows springing to life, Guardians preparing to rush into danger despite their lack of Light.
"I'm going to have my Ghost put a helmet on you so we can talk," I told the man, and he nodded. "Elgan!"
One of my other helmets phased into existence around the man. "Whoa," he said between heavy breathes as the HUD flicked to life.
"Get on a sparrow," I told him. "We need you to come with us to show the way."
"Okay," he replied after the briefest hesitation and staggered to climb onto the back of the nearest sparrow, which happened to be Kana's. She turned her head toward me with a confused tilt, and I shrugged and waved for her to just go with it.
"Which way?" I asked, and he pointed. Kana started her machine, and everyone else followed. The man riding behind her grabbed tightly around her waist as sparrow leaped forward. I made sure the channel was open to everyone before continuing the conversation. "You said you ran into a patrol. What happened?"
"We were evacuating from the City on a transport ship," he said. "We were flying aimlessly, searching for possible sanctuary, until we picked up a transmission about the Farm. Once we did, we started heading this direction. Unfortunately, the ship must have taken some damage in our escape, because it gave out on us and we he had to put down before we made it.
"We continued on foot, trying to make it here. Through caution and good luck, we made it most of the way before running into the Fallen. I don't think they were looking for us, we sort of stumbled into each other. At least, they looked about as surprised as we did. Or, maybe not quite as surprise, since they started shooting first."
If the Fallen hadn't been aware of refugees passing through the area, that was a good sign. It meant they weren't aware of the migration to the Farm yet. The key would be making sure this group didn't report back so that we kept them in the dark. The last thing we needed now was a full on assault without a wall to offer some protection.
An unknown voice chimed in and asked, "Was your group all civilians?"
"No," the man said, shaking his head against Kana's back. "Most were, but there were a few Guardians who had gotten on board for protection. It was one of the Guardians that told me to run here."
"Hopefully they've managed to hold out," Celeste added.
The path was not very wide, so we had to fall into a column to travel. I lost sight of the other members of my squad as they mixed in with the other Guardians who had answered the call. I wasn't overly concerned about them at the moment. We could always regroup once we reached our destination.
What exactly would happen once we got there was a different story. When racing into a group of enemies like this, I tended to prefer a full on charge, leaping off my sparrow at the last minute and letting it plow into whoever I was charging at. It was a pretty effective distraction, and let me get into the thick of things. Without Lift to ease my landing, or a revive if I mistimed anything, that seemed like a bad plan. Hoping for enough space to maneuver around and fire from the sparrows seemed unlikely. Coming to a complete stop and then stepping off the vehicle seemed to just leave us open to the enemy to get the first shots in, though.
An image came to mind then. I was seeing through the eyes young child on a seat suspended by two chains. Swing, came the word. The child slowed just enough to make a running dismount as the swing arched down and forward. Was this a memory? Regardless, it made the answer seem obvious now.
"Elgan, when we get there, we'll decelerate on approach. I want you to transmat the sparrow out from underneath me, and I'm going to try to hit the ground running."
"You realize you're probably just going to fall down and then get shot, right?" he asked.
"Well, if that happens, feel free to laugh at me about it later," I told him.
"I can't do that if you're dead."
"Good point. I'll try not to get dead."
Sparrows cut travel time by an enormous amount, but it still felt like it took us some time to get there. It was an impressive distance for him to have run, at least a half marathon. He must have pushed himself hard to get to us, knowing every second had to count.
By the time we reached our goal, the path had widened a bit, enough for us to have thickened our lines to four deep, but, as expected, not enough to use the sparrows for mobility in the conflict. We passed several bodies, both our kind and Fallen, before getting to the main conflict. The refugees had either been driven back by the Fallen, or deliberately chosen to fall back. Perhaps to move them away from the Farm? I was a little surprised they hadn't completely broken and run, given the large percentage of civilians involved.
There was little in the way of defined battle lines, but that was to be expected. Fallen moved through the trees along the trail, popping out to attack the besieged humans, Exos, and Awoken, who in turn were trying to use the trees and natural terrain to find cover and return fire.
One alien, one of the new ones with the spears, caught sight of our approach and squawked out a warning. As they turned to face our approach, a cheer went up from the refugees. Time to give them something to cheer about.
I slowed my sparrow. "Now," I said to Elgan, and the machine disappeared from between my legs. Adjusting from seated to a run was tricky, but I managed to do it without falling on my face. Drawing the auto rifle I had obtained at the Farm, I opened fire. Around me, the other Guardians dismounted in various ways and joined the attack. Someone was yelling an inarticulate war-cry, which was picked up by others.
The Guardian to my left took a bullet and went down. It was the only loss we suffered in the short skirmish. Caught between us and their original foes, the Fallen had been cut down quickly. One Dreg tried to turn and run at the end, but Tanton shot him before he could escape.
"We've got injured!" someone called from the group we had just rescued. Several of our Guardians rushed forward, seeking to help anyone that they could. The rest of us milled about, checking bodies or scanning the area to make sure there were no enemy combatants that we had missed.
Looking around, the loss of life bit deeply. These had been civilians, unarmed, not prepared for a fight, fleeing one horror only to run into yet another. My fists clinched and released helplessly over and over again. Powerless.
"Claney?"
My head snapped up at the sound of my name. It hadn't been anyone from the fireteam, and sounded more like they were questioning what they were seeing as opposed to calling to me specifically. A woman in damaged Titan armor was looking in my direction. When she saw me respond to the name, she reached up and detached her helmet, revealing pale skin, blue eyes, short dark hair, and giving me a strange sense of deja vu.
Dallyce Lua. The two of us had teamed for an evening of Crimson Doubles then dinner in the City months ago. A date set up by Celeste and Astrid, with an assist from Cayde-6. She gave me a crooked smile, then stepped in and gave me a hug that caught me off guard.
"Man, is it good to see a familiar face. Or, helmet, as it were," she said, stepping back and then rapping her knuckles against my faceplate. "And another Titan at that. How did you get out?"
"I wasn't in the Tower when the Cabal hit," I told her. "My fireteam and I were on a mission on Mars, of all places."
"And you made it back here?" Her eyebrows arched upward. "I'll be that's a story."
"No better than yours, I'm sure," I said, gesturing toward the group she had been with.
"No story there," she replied, a bitter note in her voice. "We got our tails handed to us by the blasted Cabal and ran. Ran while our brothers and sisters died around us."
I placed my hand on her shoulder, "Someone had to help the refugees. You did what you had to."
"You weren't there," she shook her head and twisted so that my hand fell away. "Blessed Traveler, be thankful you weren't there. We had no idea they were coming and then they hit us so hard. I could hear frantic calls from all over. The Vanguard trying to rally the troops. Ikora saying that the Speaker was gone. And then that cage closed around the Traveler and our Light was ripped away..." She paused, catching her breath. "They were slaughtering us then. Lightless Guardians, in that moment of weakness before we could recover, just started mowing people down.
"Once we recovered, we fought back, but it was a losing effort then. Without the Light, we couldn't hold them back. Zavala had ordered the civilians evacuated when the attack began, but after that it was a full-scale retreat. The Stoneborn were still trying to hold the Wall as we left, though, they refused to leave."
I took off my helmet then, not wanting the next words to be hidden behind the faceplate. "I'm sorry. We lost one of our fireteam at that same moment as well. You can't beat yourself up over what you couldn't do, though. Those people," I pointed again to the refugees, "need us. They need you. We'll find a way to retake the City and repay the Cabal for every wound they've inflicted on us, don't you worry about that."
"Still so earnest. Good to know not everything has changed," she said, the ghost of her previous smile crossing her face again. "Have you made it to this Farm?"
"Yes, briefly. We were there for a little bit before leaving to check on something, then had barely gotten back when your runner found us."
"Does it seem like it is going to hold up?"
"Maybe," I said. "It isn't the City. There's no Wall for protection, but the people there seem resourceful, and it looks like they have been building up a little community for some time now. It's definitely a good start."
She nodded, then her voice dropped in volume as she asked, "Have you heard Zavala's rally call?"
"No," I shook my head. "I hadn't heard about any rally. When we saw the City, we picked up the transmission to abandon the planet."
"It came through shortly before we landed, on a channel that had been static. Something must have helped it push through."
I remembered lines of static that had cleared up before that had led us to the Farm. Whoever was boosting signals must have kept at it. "What did it say?"
"Titan," she said. "He called for 'any Light in the system' to rally at Titan."
"Why Titan?" I wondered aloud.
"There are Golden Age facilities there. I haven't heard of anyone finding anything of particular value, but maybe he knows something he hasn't shared?"
"I wouldn't put it past the Vanguard or Consensus to keep secrets," I admitted, "but if they knew of something that could turn the tide of a battle like this, I can't imagine they wouldn't have used it before now."
"Are you and your team going to try to go?"
I thought about it for several moments, then shook my head. "No. I'm going to stay here and try to help the people finding their way to the Farm. Like I said, they need us."
"Zavala might need you just as much," she said
"Somehow I doubt that very much," I said, feeling the sting of the Traveler's rejection again.
Movement caught my eye and I turned away from her to see Celeste, Tanton, Kana, and Zillah approach. They each removed their helmets as they stepped up, likely because we both had ours off. Celeste's eyes darted back and forth between the two of us, a look of mild amusement on her face. Tanton and Kana wore expressions of polite curiosity. Zillah's look was unreadable. I made quick introductions.
"Dallyce, you know Celeste. That's Tanton and Kana, the other two members of our fireteam, and this is... a friend, Zillah. Team, Dallyce."
"It's great to see you again," Celeste said, laying it on a little thick. She gave the Titan a hug and then winked at me.
"Are we going to just keep running into Guardians you know today?" Kana asked.
"If we're lucky," I replied. "Because that means more made it out. But it is getting late, so I doubt it."
"Most of the wounded seem to have been stabilized," Tanton said. "What should we do next?"
"We should only call one or two ships, get the wounded and the dead out of here," I said. "Not too many, or we might draw unwanted attention. We should probably do something about all these Fallen as well. If anymore come stumbling through here, we don't want them on high alert."
He nodded, and we all put our helmets back on and got to work along with the other Guardians who had made the trip. Several of us dragged Fallen bodies away form the trail, leaving them in amongst the trees so they would be less visible. Others made sure our dead were lifted with care and transmatted to a ship that was flown in, along with the injured and the oldest and youngest refugees, those who the travel might be difficult for. The rest would have to walk.
Between those of us that responded to the cry for help and the Guardians that had been on the ship, we were able to surround the civilians fairly well for the trek back. We had to go slower than I would have liked to accommodate some people not used to the effort, which made me uncomfortable. It would be late when we made it back, and, if there were still Fallen around, they always had an advantage in the dark, but I didn't see another option.
Celeste opened a private channel to me. "I have to say, I like this unexpected guest better than the last one."
"Celeste..." I said in warning.
"I know, I know, 'Be nice.' All I'm saying is, feel free to invite her to tag along if you want."
"Noted."
"Aside from a possible improvement in the quality of stray Guardians, finding this group does give me some hope," she said.
"Oh?"
"Well, if ships full of people were able to slip past the Cabal, it increases the likelihood that Astrid could have been able to slip by as well."
I nodded. "I'd almost guarantee it."
"She'll be happy to see we ran into Dallyce again, too. Trying to set you up on a date was mostly Astrid's idea."
"I remember," I grumbled.
"Oh, don't be grumpy about it, Old Man," she laughed. "The kid just cares about you."
"I know," I said.
Night had fallen and fully taken hold by the time we reached the Farm. A small cheer rose up from the group of refugees when we cleared the treeline and they caught their first good look at it. I didn't relax until we had passed the security checkpoint and made it into the center of the compound. Once I let my guard down, everything we'd been through over the course of the day hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt a deep weariness settle on me.
We'd never taken a moment to try to find a place to settle down here, and any available beds were going to be needed by the crowd we had just lead to safety. Thankfully, I had the Lost Days to use as temporary quarters. I gathered the team to me.
"It has been a very long day, Painted Truth," I said. "There are people here who can help the refugees get settled. Right now, I want each of you to get some rest, but those people will need any available beds. Retire to your ships for now, we can work on other arrangements in the coming days."
They each nodded in turn, with Kana, Tanton, and Celeste transmatting shortly thereafter. Zillah and Dallyce had joined us when I pulled the fireteam, and lingered.
"You aren't part of the team," I told them, "so I suppose you don't have to listen to me if you don't want to. Still, some rest might be a good idea."
"I know, on both counts," Zillah replied with, her look turning pensive.
"Something you needed to talk about?" I asked.
"I..." she began, then stopped, casting a glance to the side. "No. Goodnight, Claney."
She disappeared in the shimmer of a transmat. I stood, looking where she had been standing.
"Friend, you said?" Dallyce asked, a mysterious smile on her lips.
"Yeah. We... we worked together in the past, but she'd been gone for a while before we just ran into her."
"Huh."
"What?"
"Nothing," she said, then echoed Zillah, "Goodnight, Claney."
I watched her walk away, then let myself be taken by transmat as well. Once aboard ship, I stripped off my armor, leaving the under-suit. I had intended to crash on my bunk, but found myself drawn to the pilot seat. I sat and leaned to the side, elbow on the arm of the chair, chin resting against my hand.
I stared out at the stars until I eventually drifted to sleep.
…
AN:
Thanks to Halogien for the story follow!
There was a bit of a delay in getting around to writing this update. A.) I had an idea for a Tales update, as well as a story suggestion that had been sitting around not being followed up on I decided to write. B.) I transferred all of A Not so Simple Patrol, Tales We'll Tell, and this story over to Archive of Our Own. To do that, I went through and re-read everything, fixing some typos and story bits that needed adjusting. That took some time to do.
Hopefully the opening here didn't feel like a let down, not really getting into the combat, but I really didn't want to spend a lot of time on the shooty-shooty right now. Honestly, part of me even regretted ended the last chapter the way I did and didn't want to have an action scene here at all. Of course, that was weeks after posting it in in the first place. A little late to have second thoughts once it's out in the wild.
Dallyce originally appeared in chapter 15 of Tales We'll Tell titled, appropriately enough, "The Date". But I'm sure you already knew that, as that collection of shorts gets many more readers than this story does.
This is the part of the story I have trouble with, this middle section. I had the opening planned out and got to moments I'd been thinking of before I started writing, and I have an ending that has several moments I am looking forward to writing. Taking the time to actually get there is going to be a test of will.
Thanks for reading. Favorite, follow, and comment!
