THE LAST CITY, MANY YEARS AGO
In an instant, he was awake.
Years of training and experience told him that something was wrong, and he was already reaching for his knife from under his pillow with one hand while he used the other to rouse the sleeping Exo next to him.
"Honey, wake up- something's happening."
Her eyes winked on, the blue glowing rings of her irises shining bright in the dark of their room. "Hmm? What do you-"
He held a finger over his lips, and she became quiet in an instant. The two of them were fully on alert now, listening intently to the world around their abode.
There- a staccato of gunfire erupted somewhere outside. It was faint- not too far off, but nowhere in the immediate vicinity. He could hear muffled voices; some of them yelling, others crying out unintelligibly. And there was some kind of high pitched noise not unlike the whistle of a kettle, steadily growing closer and louder-
"Get down!" he shouted, covering her with his body and diving off the bed. It wasn't a second later that they felt an intense wave of heat as their roof exploded, showering them with chunks of metal debris.
The seconds passed, and no second explosion seemed to be coming- it must have been a random shot. Hastily moving to stand, they looked up through the new hole in their roof and were greeted with a horrific sight.
Ships danced around each other in the sky, shooting at each other as stray missiles fell off course and impacted randomly in the city. Screams pierced the air- some from fear, others from loss.
"Oh my god," he heard his wife mutter beside him. Looking farther in the distance, he saw the tower as it colored the clouds orange from the flames burning atop it.
"Stay here," he muttered, briskly walking away towards the front door. At his side, his Ghost appeared and immediately went to work transmatting his armor over his body. He hadn't worn it in years- it felt odd, but familiar to him. A hand grabbed his shoulder from behind as his wife ignored his direction and followed.
"You don't think-?" he heard her ask him fearfully.
"It's the Trinary Star," he confirmed, his voice grim. "That's the only explanation."
She caught up to him, her own Ghost moving around her to equip her as well. The old white and red scheme of her Titan armor still suited her. "Then you must be joking, thinking I'm staying here-"
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," he said forcefully, his tone making it obvious that he wasn't going to debate this. She debated him anyway.
"Last I checked, you don't tell me to do anything!" she argued, stopping his path as she came to stand in front of him. "You're my husband, I'm with you- that's the deal you agreed to when you married me!"
"Ash."
He held out a hand as he spoke her name, letting it come to a rest upon her shoulder. "This isn't some enemy we can gun down- the Star has the city's support." He gestured to the area around them, indicating the city- a place that had once been their home, and was now their prison. "Even if we managed to fend off this attack …"
"This is it," she breathed, realizing what he was saying. "There's nothing left for us here."
He nodded. "Find Aria and Tali, follow the contingency plan. Wait for me here- I'll get the others, then we can leave."
She was silent for a moment, then gave a nod of understanding. Confident that she knew what to do, he turned and ran down the street towards his target- the tower.
There were confused and frightened people running everywhere- some of them civilians, some of them Guardians. He caught their attention as he sprinted by in his armor, his cloak flowing freely behind him.
"Is that …"
"A Hunter?"
Most of the Guardians had found their influence waning in the last several years, but none more so than the Hunters. While all were legally prohibited from leaving Earth, the Warlocks and Titans had at least been integrated into the City Task Force. Hunters, on the other hand, were completely decommissioned and confined to the city. The new living blocks they'd been appointed were less like apartments and more like internment facilities.
To see a Hunter running through the street must have been quite the surprise for these people- but he had a feeling that he wouldn't be the only one returning to the line of duty tonight. He caught sight of another similarly clad individual near the base of the tower, looking up at the tower in horror.
"Shiro!"
The Exo turned around to see him approaching quickly from behind. "Mathias? That you?"
"What's happening?" he asked, skipping the pleasantries in the wake of such an event.
Shiro shook his head in shock. "I- I don't know. One minute, the night was silent- the next, everything's exploding around us." He looked up to the sky again to stare at the foreboding flames rising from the tower. "You're the Vanguard- what's our play?"
The other Hunter knew full well that he hadn't officially been a Vanguard in years- but it was nice to see that he still respected him as one all the same. He pointed to the elevators.
"We need to get up there, fast."
The two of them dashed through the lobby, all but abandoned save for a few Frames who still tended to their duties. Shiro pounded the buttons with his fist, then swore.
"Power's been cut- these cables aren't moving anytime soon."
"Maybe," he muttered, "maybe not. Seraph, can you reroute power from other hardlines in the building?"
"I can try," the Ghost said apprehensively, materializing in his hand and moving to inspect the panel-box. Focusing her beams onto precise parts of the wiring, it was roughly thirty seconds before a noticeable hum began emitting from the generator atop the elevator.
At once, they began to move up. Staring out through the glass doors, they all stood in silence at the view before them; a city under siege from its own people. Fires raged, explosions blossomed, and the air was shrill with the cries of the damned.
"How do we make it out of this one?" Shiro asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Matt didn't answer.
—X—
Ash stepped through the entryway of the building, checking her corners with her auto-rifle out of habit. "Tali? Talia, where are you?"
The lights had been switched off, leaving the interior bathed in shadow. Either the site had lost power, or there was someone trying to hide. She slowly walked around the furniture, looking around her for signs of her niece-
Movement caught her eye, and she looked to see a blue blur racing towards her. In an instant, her hands and gun were up in the air. "Tali! It's me!"
The blur slowed to a halt in recognition of her voice. "A-Auntie Ash?" Hesitantly, the Awoken girl stepped out of the darkness. Her whitish hair hung haphazardly in front of her face, and she held a dagger in her right hand. Nodding encouragingly, Ash pulled off her helmet.
"Yes, it's me! I'm here to get you out of-"
She felt Talia collide with her, wrapping her arms around the Titan and choking back a sob. "I don't know what's happening, I just heard screaming- my mother ran out to help, and I don't know where she is-"
Aria's daughter may have been nearing thirty, but that was barely an adult in an Awoken's lifespan- and the light of the Traveler didn't hurt with keeping her young.
"Your uncle is looking for your mother right now," Ash assured her, brushing the girl's hair out of her eyes. "We need to leave- the Trinary Star are attacking Guardians."
Talia swallowed hard. "It's him, isn't it? My brother?"
Ash hesitated. "I don't know yet. For now, we need to focus on following the contingency plan. Alright?"
A few seconds passed, then Talia nodded.
"Okay- let's go."
Leaving the building, Ash looked up and down the street for watchful eyes. A smoky fog crept over the ground, helping to obscure them from those who might wish to hurt them. She beckoned to the girl behind her, and the two of them ran down the road back towards Matt and Ash's residence. The screams had quieted now- the oppressive silence was almost worse than hearing them.
"This way," she whispered, entering an alleyway and running its length before it opened up into the next street over. She could see their building now, its roof still partially caved in on one side from the explosion.
"Is it safe?" Talia asked from behind her. Ash held a hand up to silence her as she analyzed the road. It didn't look like anyone was here …
"Stay close," she ordered. "If anything goes wrong, you run. Get to the safe-point, and lay low. Understand?"
Talia looked like she wanted to argue, but Ash continued to glare at her. She wasn't about to put her niece in harm's way. After a few moments, the girl reluctantly bowed her head.
Satisfied, Ash stealthily moved out of cover. She held her gun forward, seeking out potential targets. None made themselves apparent. Talia trailed closely, her feet moving silently as she'd been taught from growing up in a family of Guardians.
Ash leaned against the now crumbling wall of her home, peeking in to see if anyone was within its walls. If there was, she couldn't see them. She beckoned to Talia with her fingers.
"Hurry, let's-"
That was as far as she got before a blast of void energy nearly took her head off. In an instant, she was diving into the street, dodging more energy projectiles that came from up the road. Rolling into a crouching position, she saw her attacker leap from a nearby rooftop into the center of the road.
They wore slim and gleaming white robes, ribbons of bright blue light cascading down from underneath a shadowed hood. Curved pieces of armor seemed to flow from random points within the folds of their outfit, giving them an almost alien appearance. Without waiting to give her a respite, they flexed their hands in an almost reflexive manner and sent more beams of void spiraling towards her.
Raising her hands in front of her, Ash conjured up a shield to take the brunt of the force. She fought void with void, holding it out in front of her as she kept herself between the attacker and Talia.
"RUN!" she yelled, hoping to buy her niece time to escape. When she sensed an opening, she rolled out of harm's way and threw the shield at her foe.
"No, please!" Talia pleaded, moving to help. The white-robed assassin held out a hand to stop the shield in mid-air, then reflected it back towards the Awoken girl. Ash had no choice but to intercept it, leaping and being blown backwards by her own tainted light reconnecting with her. It was hers, but it felt … different. Wrong.
She turned in horror to see another assailant land from above behind Talia, this one much broader shouldered. The girl stumbled backwards momentarily, then reached forward and swung her dagger at them. Raising a hand, blue light appeared around the Awoken girl and froze her in place. With another wave, she was tossed backwards and over their shoulder.
"TALIA!" Ash screamed in fear for her niece. Pushing herself up, she crouched and launched herself like a missile towards the man who'd dared harm the girl, her body crackling with arc energy. Slamming into their back, she took great satisfaction in watching them blast forward and skid across the street as they tumbled without control.
"I told you to run!" she shouted, running to Talia and pulling her onto her feet. When she was stable, the Exo shoved her towards an alleyway. "I'll be fine, now go!"
Truthfully, she had no idea whether she'd come out of this fight or not- but her niece wouldn't leave her side otherwise, and risking Talia's life was not an option.
Before either could continue, Ash felt something not unlike a ton of bricks slamming into her. She had no time to react, her prone form rocketing backwards and crashing into the side of a building. The wall came apart from the impact, and it crumbled on top of her.
She looked at her arms, the vestiges of arc energy dissipating as they made their last rounds traveling up and down her armor. Again, it felt like her own light had been redirected into her- but twisted somehow, not quite pure anymore.
Groaning, she clawed her way forward and out of the rubble. The two aggressors moved in on her, their steps slow and heavy.
Rising to a knee, she pushed herself to her limits and summoned a flaming hammer in her right hand as her body ignited into flame. She threw it at the leaner one while she charged the other.
They caught the hammer by the handle, almost stopping its momentum completely in an instant. Something black left their fingers and infused itself with the weapon before they tossed it to her current target. Catching it easily, her would-be victim swung it in a backhanded arc right as she came within range. The ensuing shockwave of light against light was enough to knock her off course and send her sailing right into the middle of the street.
"Ugh …" was all she could say as waves of pain rippled across every inch of her body. Parts of her armor had been completely broken off, and her helmet had been cracked to the point of almost falling off. Feebly tearing it away, she ran a hand over her face and felt various edges and dents from the broken metal that had manifested as a result of her beatdown.
The patter of feet running to her side told her Talia still had not heeded her warning. "Auntie, please …"
"Save … yourself," Ash managed to choke out, words becoming too difficult to string together. Her mind was swimming from its blow with her corrupted hammer. She could barely keep her sight focused, let alone fight these two off for much longer.
"I won't leave you!" Talia cried, holding tightly onto the Exo.
Suddenly, a shadow descended upon them, putting itself between them and their attackers. Landing lightly their back them, they turned slightly to look at Talia.
"You heard your aunt," Aria spoke firmly, her voice low. "Go."
Finally, it seemed that sense made its way through to Talia. Listening to her mother, she turned and ran in the opposite direction towards the outskirts where the safe-point was hidden.
The two attackers had stopped moving in on Ash at Aria's arrival. Taking advantage of the moment, the Warlock helped pull her old fireteam member to her feet.
"Looks like I got here just in time," she mused, her lilac hair messy and dirty from fighting. Ash grimaced, holding her side in pain.
"A few minutes ago wouldn't have been so bad."
"Got held up," Aria replied curtly, turning once more to face their white-robed opponents. "Seems that we've got a bit fairer of a matchup now."
Ash only held her fists out in reply, blue lightning beginning to emanate from them. Aria mirrored her action, her hands producing flames which she prepared to wield against their assailants.
Before they could engage, however, a third adversary joined the two white demons. Unlike the other two, however, they weren't dressed in a brilliant white. Instead, they wore a heavy winter cloak which trailed off their back and much of their front. Underneath it, they wore yellow and blue dressings- the colors of the Trinary Star.
But what was most disconcerting was their head- instead of a helmet, they simply wore a mask carved from the skull of a stag over the front of their face.
"Who are you?" Aria called, her breathing unsteady. They cocked their head to one side and stared, those empty skull sockets boring directly into the two of them.
"Ten years … were they enough to forget my voice?"
Ash heard Aria nearly choke in recognition- she herself found her arms becoming weak as a loud buzzing began to overtake her mind. It couldn't be- not like this …
The Stag chuckled quietly.
"Let us talk."
A/N: Had to split this one up into two chapters, was getting to be too long.
Please review the chapter, your thoughts always help me to improve.
Until the next time,
- Matteoarts