We Are
Blackness. Paralysis. Asleep, eyes closed, but conscious. From panicked flight and numbness in body to nothing. A voice rang out, clear as day.
"In my quest for truth, Kell of Light, you are the first to sway me. But you know nothing of truth. I laid the way before you and you refused to walk it. You should be commended for finding your way to the Light on your own, but even that proved difficult for you, and too little too late against my followers. To reward you, now I will show you something you didn't know you didn't know. Behold, the harnessed power of the Vex. Behold the truth of time, space, and Light as they join hands. Though we will never meet again, I will never forget you. May you be the last to die, starved and alone, far from anything familiar. It is what ignorant warriors like you deserve for raising a hand to me."
"-way then, if you've got something."
Enki's voice. Comms?
"Hey, Morik's awake. How're you feeling back there? There was an error with NLS. For all of us. We have no idea where we ended up, even though it was a short jump. In that amount of time we should be less than a fourth of an AU from where we started, but the surrounding space isn't mapped at all. Star charts aren't helping either."
"O-... Osiris…" choked out Morik, stirring.
"Hey, hey, don't move too much. There's not a whole lotta room in here. What're you saying about Osiris? You think he did this?"
"He did… I heard him..."
"How could he interfere with NLS travel?" asked Soren over comms."He wasn't anywhere near us, I don't think. I never saw him, and a guy that important would at least have a unique ship or paint job."
"He mentioned Vex… Harnessed power…"
"Vex?"
"The Vex have many frightening powers," said Kaara, her voice over comms crackling. "They can warp thousands of lightyears away in an instant, they exist removed from time, and they are a collective mind. I always wondered why they seemed so weak in combat for something that sounds so all-powerful. The only feasible explanation is that Osiris used this power somehow to warp us here before NLS could completely take us away. Our navigation, sensing an unreasonably distant exit point, decided it was an error and pulled us out. To us, a short distance trip, but in reality we only moved from one pocket of empty space to this one. The real distance covered was when we were warped against our will."
"So? What do we do about it?" said Soren. "None of us can access the Vex network remotely and there are no nearby planets. Or stars. We could queue up NLS to take us to the nearest system, but billions to one, it's empty."
"We're immortal," said Enki, "We'll think of something given time."
"Scanning the surrounding area," said Kaara.
Morik looked around the cramped jumpship. Thanks to his interface with the Light, he no longer had to worry about ether as long as there was enough surrounding matter to be changed into it. Now that he was in a cramped ship, it was back to waiting to starve to death. Ramiks must be in the same position. A few minutes went by before Kaara's voice came over comms again, still crackling.
"I found something. There's an unlit object nearby that's giving off a lot of interference. It's very close to me."
"Is that the fuzziness coming from your voice?" asked Soren.
"Fuzziness?"
"Your comm's been full of static since we got here. I figured it was an error with my ship after what happened."
"I hear it too," provided Enki.
"Ok, so, send us the data. Could you make out a shape?"
"Only with sonar, so it's distorted. Anything more advanced is getting scattered. There is some kind of atmosphere, or it wouldn't work at all."
They all went silent, looking at whatever Kaara had sent. Morik couldn't see, since Enki's head blocked the main interface from view.
"Is the scale right? Why can't we see it blocking stars?" said Soren.
"It's right," said Kaara. "I'm not sure why. I'll make a landing attempt."
"No," said Soren, "Let me. You and Enki have passengers. I'm alone. Stay put. I'm coming close."
"You still awake, Morik?" asked Enki.
"I am."
"Mind pulling up all the records you've got on Osiris?"
"My Ghost will not respond. Not since I awoke in that tower."
"Damn… I'll do it, then. Hey, guys, gimme a sec, alright? I wanna do a bit of reading while you two figure out that object."
Osiris removed the helmet. Osiris froze the body. Locked the system. Osiris gifted the helmet to another, who would later fall and pass on the relic. Osiris looked into the lights, the eyes, and spoke. Spoke death, spoke fear, spoke mystery. Osiris banished the lights. He said the words. Always those words.
"May you be the last to die, starved and alone, far from anything familiar. It is what ignorant warriors like you deserve for raising a hand to me."
The boots hit ground but the eyes saw none. There was the Light. Always the Light.
"Where are we?" The voice of the fragment.
"Did he kill us?"
The fragment unlocked the system. The lights were alone with the fragment.
"What do we do?"
The fragment vanished. "I guess we just start walking," it said.
And so they walked.
"To the unidentified vessel," came a distorted voice over comms. "This is Saint-14, an Exo Guardian. If you can hear me… If you understand me… I need help."
Morik's head almost hit the roof of the jumpship cockpit.
"Did you all hear that?!" said Enki.
"No doubt. But that's impossible!" said Soren. His voice was nearly as distorted as the transmission.
"Mapping confirms one Guardian," said Soren's Ghost. "His Light is… Incredible. I'll set him as a waypoint. Using his stance to judge, I can also transmat from the ship."
"Do it. And keep the ship a safe distance away. See if you can clean up the signal."
Soren vanished from his ship, landing on empty space next to a Guardian with no helmet. His armor was heavy, like a Titan's, and mostly made of well-worn metal. His Mark was torn off, scraps of cloth left attached to his belt and nothing else. His lights were a violet color and he seemed to almost radiate energy all on his own.
"Are you really Saint-14?" asked Soren.
"You know of me?"
"I don't think there's a Guardian who doesn't know your name at least. Your helmet is a treasure to Titans. They say it makes a Defender's Light blind minions of Darkness."
"I don't know how much of that to believe. I was working on such a technique before… how long has it been since I came here?"
"You don't know?"
"All internal clocks have ceased functioning. For my Ghost as well. I can't even time a lap here."
"How did you get here?"
"Osiris," spat Saint. "He was spotted on Mercury and I was sent after him on the tale end of my last mission. When I arrived I found myself quite alone, so I started tracking Osiris. He wasn't doing much hiding, so I assumed he felt safe. Even so, I was ready for a trap, but not ready for the kind of trap he'd set. If you are here, he must have shown his tricks to you as well?"
Soren covered his shock well, and explained.
"He used Vex technology somehow and warped us out of the air, while we were moving, to a spot nearby. We'd just barely started NLS, and we ended up here. We never even saw him. My Fireteam is here as well."
"I gathered that from your use of pronouns. Well, company will be nice at least."
"Company? Is there no one else here?"
"The others Osiris, or someone, sent have died. There are small Vex drones here that appear quickly and try to pierce soft spots. If the decompression didn't kill them, the cold and lack of air did. No other Exos have appeared."
"Thanks for the warning…" said Soren. He started to say something over comms, but Saint interrupted before he could get a word out.
"It won't save you…"
Soren chose to ignore the comment and continued.
"There's solid ground, but it will be dangerous for Ramiks, Morik, and myself. Saint says there are drones here that specifically try to compromise vacuum-rated armor. Exos are safe, though. He's also completely pessimistic about leaving. He said 'company' would be nice to have, not 'help.'"
Kaara responded, distorted.
"Let's not jump to conclusions. I recommend returning to your ship before you're attacked. Enki and I will go to the surface instead."
Soren returned to his ship and pulled it away from the invisible object. Enki and Kaara drew close and transmatted to the surface near Saint, leaving Ramiks and Morik alone in the ships. The instant Enki drew near, Saint reacted.
"You!" he said, rushing up to Enki and grabbing his helmet. "You've got Vex constructs in you, don't you? Take of your helmet! Right now!"
Enki threw Saint's hands off. "What are you saying? Get off me!"
Kaara put a hand on Enki's shoulder and stepped forward, not quite between the two.
"Why do you know that?" she asked.
"He's serious? Since when?" asked Enki.
"Are you kidding," said Saint, "I've been here Light knows how long. I know what Vex signals feel like, and he's got them."
"Feel like? Kaara, really, what's he talking about?"
"I never thought to bring it up," said Kaara, "But you were once infected by Vex technology. I thought we had removed all traces, but during your reset they found small constructs forming. Short of deconstructing you, they can't be removed. The creation of Exos is a lost art, and so deconstruction is out of the question."
"Now that someone's vouched for what I already know," said Saint, "why don't you do like I asked? I need a look at those constructs. If I can use them to relay into the local network, there's finally a small chance I could escape."
Enki removed his helmet, handing it to Kaara. His orange lights burned in contrast to Saint's purple ones, and if an Exo could eye another with skepticism, Enki would have been doing so. Saint walked around behind him and popped open his casing. Sure enough, small cubes and angular wires the width of a human vein spidered around inside Enki's head. White sparks passed between surfaces from time to time.
"Just like I thought. Hold still, Guardian."
Saint called up his Ghost and the two went to work.
Soren's voice came over comms, distorted.
"What's going on down there? Everything ok?"
"Saint is doing something with the Vex constructs in Enki's head. He thinks he might be able to access the local network and find a w-"
The interference cleared. "-ay out."
"Kaara?"
"Your signal has cleared."
"Yours too."
The construct Enki, Kaara, and Saint were on shimmered, appeared for a moment, and vanished again.
"Damn… Locked out," said Saint. "They stopped me from going any further than clearing a channel for us. I've got some corrupted map data as well, but my Ghost needs to clean it up before we can use it. If you have preparations to make, I suggest you make them, Guardians. I'm leaving when that map data is available, and I don't feel like waiting very long."
He closed Enki's casing and spun him around. "Sorry for poking around like that. What's your designation?"
"Enki-1," he answered, receiving his helmet from Kaara and replacing it.
"'1'? Only woke up recently, huh?"
"Actually, according to Kaara-0," said Enki, gesturing to her, "I've been around since the Titans were founded. The same Vex constructs you just used were what forced me to take the reset."
"And have you been around as long?" asked Saint, looking at Kaara.
"Yes. We first awoke on the same day."
Saint looked from Kaara to Enki. "Interesting… But better saved for another time."
"We'll return with the rest of our team in a moment," said Kaara.
Enki reappeared in his ship. "Still awake? Are you feeling any better?"
"Awake, yes, but very weak. We have direction?"
"Looks like we might have a chance, yeah. Saint-14 is down there, and he's a legend. We're all going down to, I guess, conduct an impromptu Raid. There'll be six of us, after all."
"If there is usable matter on the construct, Ramiks and I will regain our strength soon."
"There is, you just can't see it. I'll have to transmat you first. Here goes."
Morik felt the familiar sensation, vanishing in one place and appearing in another, recovering quickly after having experienced it so many times… Just not fast enough in his fatigue.
"Fallen!" yelled Saint, leaping at Morik and gripping him around his neck. The massive Titan tried to carry Morik to the ground with the force of his tackle and his weight, but Morik stayed his ground. He grabbed Saint by his sides, all four arms for control and dexterity, and ripped the Titan away, tossing him so he would land on his back far enough away for Morik to counter should he attack again. Saint hit the nothing, a shotgun already in his hands. He aimed in an instant, clear mastery in his form. Morik presented his shoulder, bending his right arms up to protect his head. His Light responded, forming a Juggernaut shield as well. The shells all blasted into the Juggernaut shield, collapsing it after the first shot. Saint had already pumped the gun to fire again when a large boot sent it sailing from his grasp. Ramiks lifted Saint, one arm around each wrist and ankle, holding him upside down.
"We are Guardians just as you are! Stand down!" said Ramiks.
"Bullshiiii-" Saint started as Ramiks tossed him, flipping him over and catching his limbs again. Ramiks slammed his helmet into Saint's head case, not hard enough to damage but hard enough to send quite the message.
"We did not survive this long to be killed by you and your ignorance. Legendary Guardian or no, if you raise a weapon to the Kell of Light again I will tear every limb you have from your body!"
Ramiks let go of Saint's arms, raised him on his legs and slammed him onto the ground on his back again, letting go. Enki was standing in front of Morik, Soren and Kaara behind Ramiks, all looking at Saint. Saint was shocked beyond words.
"We want to return to the Tower, just as you do," said Morik. "We will need your help, and you ours. It is sudden, I recognize this, but we must have your understanding. If not your understanding, at least your tolerance. Our Light will be proof enough, I am sure."
Saint stood up, looking from one Eliksni to the other, both twice his height. He took note of their armor, Morik in stylized Titan's armor with a Mark he didn't recognize, Ramiks in Hunter-style garb with a cape and the same symbol.
"They aren't lying, Saint," said Soren. "We've been a Fireteam for a long time now."
"When is it that minions of Darkness came to serve the Traveler?" asked Saint.
"When the Traveler," said Morik, "recognized me as a potential ally. I was the first, and so I became Kell. And Kell I remained by my leadership."
"'Remained?'"
"It is hard to say whether I will still be recognized as such should we return to the Tower. I was sure I would die, and entrusted my position to a Defender who was an Archon of mine, Gravian."
"Hmm…" said Saint, considering it all. He went to collect his shotgun.
"The map data's done. We're on a metal and stone construct with some incredibly powerful readings below the surface. If we want to leave, we need a conflux. Let's get searching."
He started off, not looking back at any of his new Fireteam members.
"Kaara!"
Heads snapped in Soren's direction, then looked for Kaara.
"She fell! There! There's gotta be an opening!"
Soren ran for where she'd vanished, slowing when he got within a meter and shuffling forward. Suddenly his foot lost purchase and he flailed off balance. Ramiks blinked in behind him and yanked him back.
"Kaara? Can you hear us?" asked Enki, staying calm.
No answer.
"I'm sure I opened a channel for us," said Saint. "You all stay here. This wasn't on the map…"
Saint walked forward and fell in, with an audible splash after a few seconds.
"Water?" said Soren.
"What do we do now?" said Enki. "If they're just dead, we'd be killing ourselves too. If we wait here, they might never come back. If we move on, we might leave them stranded here again."
"Jump." "Jump."
Ramiks and Morik responded at the same time.
Soren and Enki looked from one of them to the other, then at each other. Soren sighed.
They all jumped in.
Instantly, Morik lost sight of the others. Everything went dark, like the bottom of the ocean. He could tell there was light, because his glowing eyes provided enough for him to see his own arms in front of him. He could tell there was matter, because the water resisted more than air and his ether was still rising. He could move and think and even blink, but aside from himself there was nothing. Without doing anything, he felt his body tilt until his legs were straight down. His boots met solid ground and suddenly the water was gone.
Morik blinked and the blackness was replaced by the Black Garden. Solid white trees with red blossoms lined a path before him. Cool light blanketed the scene from above, emanating from an unknown source. As the light passed through the trees, words formed clearly in their shadows. Just looking at them gave Morik headaches, forcing his eyes shut. His upper left hand on his head, Morik walked forward. His path narrowed as it reached a massive cliff. Where the path narrowed into a point grew a flower. As Morik approached, it bloomed into the shape of a Ghost, with four white petals and a glowing center. Morik reached out to it, to cradle it over his left palm as he would his own Ghost, only to draw back in pain. Ether leaked from a cut on his hand, from a thorn on the flower's stem.
"You are a dead thing," said the Ghost, "made by a dead power in the shape of the dead. All you will ever do is kill. You do not belong here. This is a place of life."
"The Traveler is life," responded Morik. "You are a creature of Darkness. You seek to deceive me."
The flower wilted and scattered, its petals fluttering past Morik, drawing his eyes back up the path behind him. As he watched the white join the red petals beginning to fill the air, doubt stabbed his heart. He felt the warm wind flow over him, smelled the sweet sap of the trees. There was a dread in his very soul he could not shake, the sense that he had certainly been deceived, but by what and when he did not know. It had escaped his notice all along and only now did he recognize the feeling for what it was, far too late to see the source. As he stood, paralyzed by the scene, the softly falling blossoms, the words clearly visible on the path, the smell, the warmth, even the sound of the wind passing over him and through the branches, he felt himself become displaced. It was a feeling he'd experienced many times, and would many times more...
"Guardian? Guardian? Eyes up, Guardian."
"... Ghost?"
"It worked…! You're alive…!"
Morik opened his eyes, finding himself on the ground and sitting up. He was in a cave of some sort, red sands blowing in from around a corner. Sunlight leaked in as well.
"Where are we? Do you remember anything?"
"I think we're on Mars. The last thing I remember is the Ketch."
"It will take time to explain. For now, we must find Ramiks, Soren, Enki, Kaara, and Saint-14."
"Did you say Saint-14? That can't be right… And Viksis is dead? I have his body..."
"I did say explanation would take time."
"Right…"
His Ghost vanished and Morik stood.
"My weapons?"
His auto-rifle appeared in his hands and he advanced to the corner. Outside the cave was more sand, dunes as on Mars.
"No signal here. We need to get out into the open."
"No. Contact no one. Mask our signal, if you can. We do not want to be found."
"Are you sure? It sounds like we need help."
Morik aimed down his sights, ether wafting from a cut on his left hand.
"I'm sure…"
The Shores of Time coming soon...
A/N: Sort of a ride, ehh? I thought so just writing it, but it felt right so I kept going. The cards to reference here, to possibly abate the fury from fans, are in Legends. They are "The Black Garden" and "Saint-14," as well as "Ghost Fragment: Darkness 3" under Darkness. For the "Sea Of Time," Ashes To Ashes by Tennen feat. KAITO. (VocaDB song #5800)