The walls of the city were bustling with activity as Phaetin relayed new orders across the entire region. The ketches were grouping into formation, and humanity below could tell something major was about to happen.
Phaetin hastily walked through the halls of his flagship, giving instructions to his loyalists as he went. "Bring all commanders up to speed on my plans. That includes Brakson, Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde," he told Darius.
"Of course, sir," Darius replied dutifully. "But, remind me again: what exactly is the plan?"
By then, the trio was standing within the ketch's war room. Eliksni dregs and vandals scurried about the chamber, ensuring all strategic maps were up to date with current information.
"Good question," Phaetin acknowledged. "I do so love when my subordinates disregard my words the first time," he hissed, expressing his irritation. However, he then proceeded to pull up a holographic map of Mars without incident. "The Cabal have rerouted all ships to Fleetbase Acropolis, but most still have yet to breach the atmosphere. We shall use this fact to our advantage, and assault them from behind. Their ships will not be able to turn and face us in time, allowing for easy kills," Phaetin explained. He then zoomed in on the map so that the Martian surface could be seen. "While our fleets mop up Cabal stragglers, we will simultaneously land units on the ground. We will surround the fleetbase, with Vanguard forces leading the charge. They will be supported by factional units, with a detachment of my Fallen joining as well."
"Sounds like a sturdy plan," Darius admitted as he observed the map.
"Indeed," Phaetin concurred, clearly satisfied by his plan. "However, that is not all. With help from Variks, we have located several hidden entrances to the Cabal tunnels beneath the fortress. I will want the both of you to join Brakson and his Knights of Earth in gaining access to the facility. It is likely the Cabal will attempt to use their tunnels as a means to flank and encircle us. This must not be allowed."
"Of course, boss," Roxy acknowledged with a nod of the head.
"So, we are clear on the plan then?" Phaetin asked, eyeing Darius as he did so.
"Yes sir," Darius swiftly replied.
"Excellent. Then I'd suggest the both of you get moving. I will oversee the fleets along with Zavala," Phaetin stated, though he seemed unenthused by the prospect of commanding alongside the head of the Vanguard.
/
Guardian jumpships were fueled and ready to go within the hour. Ketches moved into position; their formation resembling that of an arrow. The Vanguard's fleet roared to life as well, flying up alongside the ketches in preparation for their warp to Mars. The Vanguard Fleet was made up of massive frigates and old destroyers modeled after those from the Golden Age.
"All vessels are standing by," Zavala informed Phaetin from his own flagship known as Tenebris Praedo.
"Good," Phaetin replied. The warlock then gazed out at the wide world beyond the confines of his ketch. "Move all ships beyond the atmosphere. From there, we will warp to Mars." With that, all fleets accompanied by thousands of guardian jumpships pushed past Earth's atmosphere so as to not harm the Last City with their warp drives. Then, once all ships were floating freely in the vacuum of space, Phaetin gave the order. "Jump!" he shouted from his bridge. Signals were sent out across all channels, and the thousands of vessels shot forth unto the stars.
Moving near the speed of light, it took mere minutes for the fleets to arrive at their destination. When their speed finally slowed, they found themselves on the edge of Mars's atmosphere, and easily spotted the dozens of Cabal warships still in orbit.
"There they are," Phaetin remarked with sadistically cruel eagerness. "Fire on those ships!" he shouted. The fleet of ketches rushed forward, their weapons unleashing barrage after barrage of destruction on the exposed engines of the Cabal vessels. The Vanguard Fleet soon joined the battle, with factional fleets also arriving to give aid. Meanwhile, guardian jumpships and skiffs sped to the Martian surface to begin the second half of the battle. If all went according to plan, the Cabal would be defeated within mere hours.
As fleets collided in orbit, Cayde-6 spearheaded the landings on Mars itself. With Ikora flying by his side, the two swiftly reached the rally point outside Fleetbase Acropolis. Other guardians were quick to join, with Jorgan and Diana being some of the first. Zephyr-9 and Lex also found their way to the rally point, while other factional guardians met at points further away from the fleetbase. The plan would be for the Vanguard's forces to strike first, with factional forces and eliksni warriors eventually providing support to prevent any line from truly breaking. Cayde's group established themselves north of the fleetbase while a second contingent of Vanguard units rallied south of the fleetbase, led by Rolan Izin. There, guardians such as Arden, Brutus, and Icon met. Still, further away landed guardians like Quinary, Porter, Hercules, Jax, and Pulsis.
"Rolan, we good to go?" Cayde asked over comms. "The guardians are getting rather anxious."
Rolan observed his unit of rowdy warriors, and reluctantly nodded his head before replying. "Yes, Cayde. I believe we are good to go."
"Beautiful," Cayde beamed before cutting communications with his subordinate. He then looked to Ikora and the others. "Alright people. We've got one job to do: kill Cabal. I hope you all are good at causing chaos." With that, he whipped out his Ace of Spades and fired a shot into the air, signaling for the battle to commence. The army of guardians rushed past him, with one gruff titan nearly knocking him down the sandy Martian hillside they stood on. However, Ikora was quick to grab him before he lost his footing, and together they charged down the slope with the others. Cabal harvesters swung around to the north of the fleetbase in order to counter Cayde's advance, only for Rolan to begin his assault from the south. Cabal phalanxes quickly assembled to defend against Rolan's assault, and the two forces collided in what would soon be the bloodiest battle of Phaetin's campaign.
/
As conflict raged in the distance, Darius and Roxy watched impatiently as Brakson and his Knights of Earth met a mile outside of Fleetbase Acropolis.
"About time you showed up," Darius grumbled.
"We didn't exactly have front row seats within Phaetin's flagship," Brakson retorted as he approached. Nearly a hundred titans were at his back, with a dozen additional hunters and warlocks to complement them.
"Whatever the case, let's just get this operation started before the Cabal have enough time to reposition their forces," Roxy stated. Between Phaetin's loyalists and the Knights of Earth laid a large hatch.
"I take it this is one of the Cabal's tunnel entrances," Brakson theorized.
"Indeed it is," Roxy replied. "Variks has granted us access to schematics of the tunnels, thus allowing us to move through them with efficiency."
"Let's get this hatch open then," Brakson urged. Together he and Darius moved to lift the large hatch open. However, after a brief struggle, they found they could not make it budge.
"What's wrong, boys?" Roxy questioned. "Is the little hatch too tough for a pair of guardians?" she mocked.
"It must be sealed from the inside," Darius replied.
"Then we'll open it by other means," Brakson stated. He then looked back to his men, and a pair of titans rushed forward. They carried explosives, and swiftly attached the devices to the roof of the hatch before hastily backing away. Brakson and the loyalists did the same, and a moment later the hatch was blown open with a fiery explosion.
"Let's get in there!" Darius shouted to the guardians as he sprinted back toward the hatch. He then leaped down the shaft and found himself within an unusually large Cabal tunnel. "Okay, I didn't expect these tunnels to be so large," he commented as the others dropped down around him.
"They have to be large enough to transport vehicles," Brakson pointed out.
"Such as goliath tanks?" Darius asked.
"Yes. That was oddly specific though," Brakson replied with a hint of confusion.
"That's because they're coming down the tunnel!" Darius shouted, pointing down the tunnel to a line of goliath tanks moving in single file. They were flanked by colossi.
"To arms, guardians!" Brakson proclaimed as he whipped out Origin Story. His titans leaped into battle, with the rest quickly joining. They had to close the distance before the goliaths could fire. Otherwise, they were done for.
/
Phaetin watched as one Cabal warship after another erupted in flames. He knew many other ships were in atmosphere, but nonetheless felt something was off. As he began to ponder the battle, Zavala opened communications with him again.
"Our gunners are reporting successful hits on all decks," Zavala beamed. "We are tearing through the Cabal lines."
"So it would appear," Phaetin said in a soft voice.
"Something wrong?" Zavala questioned.
Phaetin eyed the battle, failing to give Zavala a response for at least another minute. Then, finally his voice returned to him. "I think I'll take a page out of your book and err on the side of caution." He then stood from his sprawling throne within the bridge and walked over to a side terminal. "Variks!" he shouted. "Bring up all this vessel's data on Cabal."
Variks did as instructed, pressing a plethora of keys in order to bring about what his master requested. "As you wish, Phaetin."
Numerous holographic images popped up in front of Phaetin, with each displaying different forms of information. Some were images while others were detailed documents describing various Cabal strategies.
"Something just seems off about all this," Phaetin stated. Then, he found a piece of information that peaked his interest. As he scanned the documents, a single sentence stood out. He began to laugh. "How could I have been so stupid?!"
"What are you talking about?" Zavala questioned.
"Look to that fleet, Zavala," Phaetin instructed. "Notice the color patterns of the warships. Yes, they are from various legions but one is missing. Where is the Red Legion?"
"Indeed. We don't have any reports from the surface indicating their presence either," Zavala noted.
Again Phaetin eyed the battle. Several of his ketches were moving in closer, hoping to loot the ruined Cabal warships for plunder. Phaetin thought of his strategy, and how he was encircling the enemy within Fleetbase Acropolis. Then, his eyes went wide. "What is the status of Crucible location Black Shield?" he asked Zavala.
"I'm sorry?" Zavala replied in a confused tone.
"Check the status of Black Shield!" Phaetin abruptly demanded. Silence filled the comm channel for a period of two minutes.
Then, Zavala returned with concern. "Lord Shaxx reports the location has gone dark. His Redjacks are not responding."
"There!" Phaetin shouted. He looked to the eliksni pilots. "Turn us about to Mars's moon. They're on Phobos!" The ketch turned, and surely enough Phaetin spotted objects coming from the far side of the moon. "They're going to encircle us, just as we are encircling them," Phaetin remarked.
"Moving fleet to engage now!" Zavala bellowed.
"No," Phaetin swiftly stated. "Have your fleet continue to pressure the Cabal warships on Mars. My ketches will be enough to deal with the Red Legion."
"With all due respect, your Fallen are no match against Red Legion forces," Zavala pointed out.
"You are correct," Phaetin admitted. "But it is not an eliksni kell leading them; it is me. Fear an army of sheep led by a lion rather than an army of lions led by a sheep."
As the Vanguard Fleet pursued Cabal warships to the planet's surface, Phaetin redirected his ketches to engage the fast approaching horde of Red Legion vessels.
/
Coated in red, the former centurion stomped to the bridge of his flagship, The Invincible. He had recently crowned himself primus of the Red Legion, and knew he had one shot to prove himself worthy of the position. "Faster!" he roared to his subordinates within the bridge. "Ready the legion for combat drop. On this day we shall defeat the Light-bearers, or be turned to ash," Primus Ur'azur proclaimed.