1363 Years Ago, 2351, Twilight of the Golden Age
Earth, England, London
For Humanity it was a time of miracles. It had been over three centuries since the Traveler arrived in the Sol System, and every since the day it was found on Mars everything change. In little under a year, a new age of enlightenment begun for mankind as the Traveler bestowed its timeless knowledge upon its chosen people like many before them. All conflicts that were brewing on the Earth's surface ended almost imminently. Technology jumped ahead by centuries, new fields of once unimaginable science opened, the average life span of a Human tripled.
It a matter of time, Humanity's reach extended beyond the confines of their homeworld. Cities were built on Mars, and Venus. Mercury was turned into a garden world. The methane oceans of Titan became home to many and became the envy of the rest of the system.
But as grand, and far as Humanity had come, There was one planet that stood as its pride, and joy. Over the centuries, Earth was still home to billions of souls. Many worked for the continued benefit of everyone as the Traveler itself was in the process of terraforming Io, unaware of what was coming for them all.
One of these individuals was an orange-red hair woman that had just finished her shift at work. Traveling across the sky, she drove in her personal skycar in the middle of one of the many air traffic lanes residing over the city. Looking out the window, other skycars flew alongside her's, many varying in color, shape, and size. Further out, another lane could be seen, that one filled with cargo transports until they broke off from the path to deliver their shipments.
Staring out at the advance metropolis that the city had become since the Traveler's arrival, she was only broken out by the ringtone from the call she was getting. "Answer," Kelly told the onboard computer.
With a ping, the call went through. "Hello, my sweet." A German-accented voice said.
Recognizing the voice immediately, Kelly smiled before saying, "Hello, Paul. It's so nice to hear from you again!" Who she was talking to was her recently become fiance. It had been over a month since he proposed to her, but the memory was still fresh in her mind. The sight of him getting on one knee, the ring he offered, the memory still put a smile on her. She just wished her parents could have lived long enough to see the day.
They spent some time planning the wedding. The both of them agreed to an outdoor wedding out on the coast, but it still took time to prepare. Sending out invitations, meeting with the planner, making arrangements with the caterers, etc. The wedding was still two months off, and Kelly was counting the days.
Recently Paul was sent with a research team to Io to study the Traveler's terraforming capability while it was there. It had been some time since the two spoke to each other, and it was a relief for both of them. "It is nice to hear your voice too. How have you been?"
"I'm fine. I just got off from work, and I'm going home right now. I still have a lot of studying to do for my exam." What she was talking about was her test to become an archivist. It had always been a dream of her's to be one of the one responsible for the vast knowledge gifted to humanity by the Traveler, even back when her parents were still alive. But after they died in that terrible accident, she had dropped out of school, and focus on maintaining an income to support herself.
Working as a flight navigator she found that it came rather easy for her after a few years, but deep down wasn't what she really wanted. It was after meeting Paul, and they started living together that she was able to find the spare time to pursue her career. Another thing she was thankful for meeting him. "And the wedding planner wants to schedule another meeting. Apparently, there was some kind of mix up with invitations." Kelly let out a sigh. It wasn't the first mix up they had to deal with, and honestly, it was starting to get tiresome.
Paul, sitting down on the other end of the call, was feeling guilty for not being there. He had tried to request for some vacation time so he could help out at home, but his superiors didn't have anyone who could replace him for the moment. He looked outside of the mobile transport ship that they used as a monitoring station and saw the white orb they were there to study.
No matter how many time he looked at it, it was always just as fascinating. There was so much to learn about it, so many questions to answer. What was it? Why was it here? Where did it come from? Was it a God, or a machine? But even all those questions and the possible answers for them couldn't make him forget his beloved. "I'm so sorry I'm not there. They might be able to send a replacement for me in a week, or two, but I'm stuck here for now."
"It's okay. I know its not your fault. It's just been exhausting having so much to do by myself."
"I know. I'll to get home as soon as I-" Paul stopped his sentence at the feeling of vibrations traveling from the floor up to his body. The transport rattled, loose pieces of equipment making low vibrating sounds, some falling off whatever stand they were on, hitting the floor with a sharp crashing sound. Paul was silent, unmoving until he was sure it was over.
Trying to keep her focus on flying, Kelly could help but be distracted by her fiance's sudden silence. "What is it?"
Paul's head shot in several directions before responding. "...Just tectonic activity." His voice was unsure. 'The scanners didn't detect anything.'
His answer did sit well with Kelly, who didn't notice her vehicle was drifting to the side. "Are you sure everything- Oh shit!" The loud sound of a horn coming from a shuttle flying next to her brought her attention back to driving. That's when she realized she was only feet away from colliding with said shuttle prompting her to straighten herself out. Making sure she was stable again, she let out a sigh, not noticing the other driver was giving her the finger from his cockpit. "God damn it, that was close."
"What happened!?" Paul let out the breath he was holding when Kelly's ordeal began.
"My fault. I wasn't paying attention."
Paul figured it was best for them to talk some other time. It was clearly dangerous to talk, and drive at the same time. "I call you back later. Right now I have to-" Suddenly there was another quake, this one stronger than the last, far too strong to be an aftershock. It rattled Paul, causing some stacks of data pads to fall out, and causing him to lose his footing. He grabbed onto a grip built on the roof in case of turbulence. "Something's not right! I'll have to-"
The audio was cut off leaving only the image of Kelly's fiance struggling to stay upright. "Paul! Paul what's happening!" She never got her answer as the image slowly turned to static then was replaced by a black screen with a red [Connetion Lost] in the middle.
On the other end, the shaking stopped again. Still feeling rattled, Paul shook his head to get reacquainted with balance. When his vision steadied he let go of the grip checking the terminal he was using to see that the connection was lost. "Schaper!" Paul turned towards the exit, hearing one of his colleagues shout his name before he appeared. "Are you alright?
"I'm fine. What was that? There were no indications that there was to be any seismic activity on the scanners."
"I don't know, but you need to come see this." He left gesturing Paul to follow.
Paul did so, leaving the shuttle were he was greeted by the sun's ray momentarily blinding him, and saw the rest of his team by the cliffside. They were all wearing the same white scientific EVA suits designed for traversing the rocky terrain on Io. Many of them were carrying various scanners, cameras, electronic pieces in response to the newest activity. "What's going on?" He asked.
Another colleague of his took notice of him, walking over to hand him a datapad. "Look at this."
Taking the datapad in hand, he scrolled through the data that was being continuously updated every second. Paul'sface turned to one of confusion. "It stopped it's terraforming process?" The two of them looked into the distance where the topic of discussion was still floating in the same position it was for the past few days. "But it's not finished. why would it-"
Paul didn't get to finish when the Traveler a very loud, and very unanticipated blare that could be heard for miles. The noise was earsplitting, forcing many of the humans watching to drop what they were holding to cover their ears. But even that didn't help much. No one was sure how long it lasted, but soon enough the sound giving everyone a headache slowly died down, much to the relief of everyone.
Paul took his gloved fingers out of his ears, rubbing his scalp while the sound was still ringing in his head. "What was-" He stopped dead in his sentence when he looked back up at the white orb, seeing its new activity. "Where is it going!?"
It took a minute for everyone to recover before they could properly process his question. One by one they all saw what he was referring to. The Traveler was no longer where it was. It was moving now.
Back on Earth, Kelly had just gotten back home, the conversation she had minutes ago played back over, and over again. What happened? Is Paul Okay? These and other questions raced through her mind as she parked her skycar in front of her house in the suburbs. The door opened, and Kelly stepped out into the sun.
Her home was quite lovely. The grass, and plants line along the stone walkway leading up to the front door was carefully tended to thanks to the automated gardening system that the couple bought. The blue, and white color scheme covered the outside of the one-story house made of synthetic matter made from glimmer. By the front door, a single green, and white Frame was tending to the plants, various gardening tools attached to its chassis. "Hello, miss Vale." It said in a kind electronic voice, turning its single eyed head to her, "I hope you had a nice day."
Kelly didn't even acknowledge it, and it simply returned to what it was doing. She didn't bother trying to head inside. leaning against her car, she couldn't help but worry. On the way home, she tried to call Paul back after their call was cut, but she couldn't get through. Not to Paul or anyone else. The network was down which was highly unusual on its own. Such a thing rarely happened unless the system was getting a large scale reboot for an update, or the satellites were damage. And there was no warning of a reboot.
Kelly went back inside her car, leaving the door open as she fiddled with the console built into the dashboard. Now it wasn't just the phones that weren't working, it was everything. The internet, maps, news feeds, nothing was working. They all had a [No connection], or [Signal Lost], furthering the panic inside her. "Shit." Kelly banged the back of her head into the seat. "What the hell is going on?"
None of this made sense. First, there was a serious earthquake where Paul was, then everything she could use to get more information suddenly goes offline. Kelly pinched the bridge of her nose. "This can't be good." Her thoughts went back to her fiance who was on another world entirely. It wasn't the first time the two of them were able to reach each other, but this time was more suspicious. But then again, it could be nothing at all. Perhaps by tomorrow, she would be able to call him again.
She sat in her car for a bit contemplating things while staring at the dashboard that was being illuminated by the shining sun. Then the warm shin got a bit dimmer. Kelly thought nothing of it, probably a stray cloud in front of the sun. When the light got darker she thought, 'Big cloud.'
She closed her eyes wanting to put everything out of mind when the sound of an explosion entered her ear. Her eyes shot wide open, and she scrambled to get out of the car. At the same time, the neighbors had also started filing out of their homes, looking every which way for the source of the commotion. Kelly by then had already gotten out of her car, unsure of what it was she was looking for. It was when she looked up that her heart skipped a beat.
The sky, that had once been the same orange-red shade as it usually did at sunset, was now turning pitch black.
Present day, Nightime
Earth, Last City, Tower
Kelly's eyes shot open with a gasp, her cheek numb from the pressure her fist put on it while holding her head up. She lifted her head up, giving her cheek some much-needed relief. Groggy, she rubbed her eyes, arching her back to give it a stretch, wiping off the stream of saliva running out the side of her mouth. "What time is it?" she yawned out.
"1:00," Her Ghost answered. "You nodded off two hours ago."
"I did? Why didn't you wake me?"
"Why? You seemed so peaceful, and it's not like there was an emergency."
"Maybe because I prefer sleeping in a soft bed." Blinking a few times her vision cleared up. She was sitting in a corner section of the Libraries with very few other people around. In front of her was a datapad with information recovered from the Black Garden. I was mostly unimportant data such as historical which to the Vex means they recorded every second they were there. Every stupid uneventful second. No wonder she fell asleep.
In truth, it's not really how she wanted to spend her time at the moment. In the past, she did strive to one day become an archivist, but during her time as a Guardian, she discovered new tastes. And while she was never gung-ho like Bitsine was, the battles, and adventures she'd been on left her with a hankering to see more. Something she couldn't do while she was on suspension. "I'm bored. When is my suspension suppose to be over?"
"Not for another week. You know Pekis is back in your room. You could go and see if he is up for some private R&R, wink, wink."
"Hmm, tempting, but that's not the excitement I'm thinking of." Thinking of Pekis reminder her of the problems he was having. Something that was eating at him. He still refused to talk about. The Vanguard didn't really say much other than the intel he gave them. And his Ghost didn't say anything either. Guess they thought it wasn't their place to be spreading his secrets around. "I wish there was something to do."
"You're the one who burned someone's testicles off. You should have thought it through first."
"So you think he didn't deserve it?"
"Not to that extreme. You could have just given him a slap, or simply just kicked him in the balls."
Kelly thought about it. "Nope. A guy like him needs to feel special pain if he's going to learn something."
"And what exactly were you trying to teach him?"
"To keep his mouth shut."
"Well next time, could you talk to me about it first? Your not the only one who's been bored staying in the Tower."
"What about that game you like playing."
"It's not the same as fieldwork."
Kelly got up from her seat, picking the datapad up she headed for the exit. If she was going to sleep then it was going to be on a soft pillow. Thinking about her talk with her Ghost, a nagging question came up. "Ghost, I wanna know, do you have a name?"
"A name? No. Ghosts aren't born with names."
That really didn't seem right to Kelly. How could an intelligent being not have his own name? "Well is there one you would like to be called?"
"One that I want?"
"Yeah, it is your name after all, so is there anything you like?"
"Huh?" Kelly's Ghost though that was incredibly nice of her, letting him decide what it would be. Normally Guardians would pick, and choose for them. Even Pekis did for Aepvis. And he was pretty sure Aepvis was a Fallen name. "Hmm, a name. Uh, oh, how about-"
"Kelly." The Warlock turned to see Ellie approaching. Reluctantly, Kelly's Ghost stayed quiet, annoyed at the interruption. And he was sure he had a good one. "Your still here?"
"I fell asleep. The Vex should learn only to record important things instead of everything."
Ellie knew where she was coming from. "Yes, they should."
"By the way, how your work going?" What Kelly was referring to was the assignment that Ellie was apart of. Ellie and a select few others were tasked with tracing the information the Vex gathered to wherever they were sending it.
"Better. We manage to narrow down the search to somewhere on Venus. We should have the exact location pinpointed within a few days or so."
"Good for-" Kelly let out a yawn. "Sorry, but I'm gonna go get some shut eye. Talk to you some other time."
"Sure thing."
Before Kelly got more than three feet, her Ghost pop out in front of her. "I'm getting an emergency message from Bitsine." That woke Kelly right up.
At the same time, Ellie's Ghost did the same thing. "And I'm getting one from Crux."
"Crux?" That was unlike him. Ellie knew Crux was recently sent to Venus to help out with patrols, but never before has he ever sent an emergency message before. He usual could handle himself. What could he have gotten himself into this time? "Play it."
Her ghost did as she said. The next thing she heard was Crux who didn't sound like his usual cheery self. "Oh, crap." It sounded like he was in a bit of pain. "Um, Ellie, Avez. You're probably wondering what could be so wrong that someone as amazing as me would be calling for help. Well let me tell you that it is really bad, and um, me, and Bitsine could really use some help. We managed to hide for now, but that thing is still on our ass."
Kelly also had the message for her play, and the voice of a concerned Bitsine came through. "I don't have much time. Pekis, Kelly, if the two of you could take some time out of your busy ass schedules could you please get to Venus. What? Oh, shit. There's some crazy new Vex kicking the shit out of us! It destroyed our ships so we can't escape! And my Ghost, fuck he needs help! got to go." The message ends leaving Kelly with a sense of dread.
"I got of go get Avez."
"I'll call Pekis, and meet you in the hanger," Kelly said taking off.
"What about your-"
"Screw my suspension! Bitsine's in trouble!" The two Warlocks rushed off out of the Libraries, determined to help their teammates, and desperate to get there before it was too late.
Meanwhile, after returning to the tower, Pekis went back to his room. Removing his shirt, leaving his torso exposed, he hit the bed, wanted to get good a rested before going back out into the wilds of Venus to retrace the steps of the late Hunter, Pahanin. The final entries that Pekis had been reading delved into Pahanin's last recorded expeditions into the Vex ruins on Venus. He hadn't finished it yet, but from what he could tell so far, Pahanin, and the other Guardians he went with were onto something big. Big enough that they prepared for a great battle.
Whatever it was, it was good enough for Pekis to follow up on. But thinking back to the time he spent before the black Garden, he might have had an idea of where it would lead. But there was a problem. Pekis couldn't sleep. His body twisted, and turned under the blanket, his mind too focused on the trip to settle down. Fed up, Pekis had Aepvis act as a light while he reopened the book, hoping that it might do the trick of putting him to sleep.
flipping the page, the first sentence really caught his attention. [His name was Kabr. He wasn't my friend...]
Before he could read any further his Ghost interrupted him. "I'm receiving an emergency message from Bitsine."
"Bitsine?" that was unexpected. "What is it?"
"A recording. I'll play it-" Aepvis stopped mid-sentence for something. "And now Kelly's calling. Which do you want to hear first?"
"Kelly first." Pekis moved his legs off the bed, planting his feet firmly on the ground ready to move if necessary. First an emergency message from Bitsine, then Kelly calls? Something was up.
The line opened up, the first thing to come through was Kelly's voice sounding frantic. "Pekis!"
"Kelly, what's wrong?"
"It's Bitsine. I just got a message from her saying that she's been attacked by some kind of Vex on Venus. Crux is with her, and they need help. Ellie went to get Avez, and we're gonna meet back up in the hanger. Please hurry."
By the time she finished Pekis had already gotten up, his body glowing light blue before he felt the weight of his armor. The sound of his breath being filtered by his mask filled the room as he stomped his feet on the floor, making sure everything was fitting right. "I'm on my way." Pekis left the room with Aepvis sending him the quickest route to the Hanger.
"So I guess this means storytime is for another time."
"You think!?" Pekis made it to the elevator, heading up his head was plagued by thoughts. Something was not right. There were too many coincidences going on. First the Black Garden, this "Project" that Ellie found out from the mind cores, The lead he was following from the Errata, and now this.
Something was going on Venus.
One Hour earlier
Venus, Ishtar Sink
Following their battle against the Vex, Crux, and Bitsine choose to have a sit-down, and chat. The cloudless night sky revealed the millions of tiny specks dotted all across the void. The only lights present were those made by the eyes, and mouths of the Exos as they talked. Their Ghosts floated around, involving themselves in the conversation while keeping their scanners active for more threats.
The two sat on stones across from each other with a small Vex construct between acting like a table. Crux placed a bottle of synthetic fluid, and two glasses on it. He was glad that Exos came built with stomachs. Or containers in their abdomens fill with acid that needed to be cleaned out every now, and again, but tomato-tomahto.
Crux took another swig from his glass. "So while I was running I looked behind me, and I saw those psions were still chasing me, and didn't see the stairwell I ran into. I fell down, and hit my head on the bottom. I was out for about a minute, but when I came to there was a legionary standing over me with a damn slug rifle in my face."
Bitsine put her glass down, leaning forward enthralled. "So what did you do?"
Crux grabbed the bottle, and started refilling his glass. "I decided to try putting my charm to use. I look right at his face, and said, "Sorry, I'm the new intern here. Could you show me how to find the parking lot?" Guess he didn't have a sense of humor, because no more than two seconds later he shot my head off." What Crux was talking about was the day he was first resurrected on Mars years ago.
"Come on, Crux," Soul started, "Don't blame the Cabal. You never had a good joke to begin with." Bitsine laughed.
"Ow," Crux placed a hand over where a Human heart would be located to be dramatic. "That hurt."
"Oh, stop it. You still got us out of Mars."
Crux perked up, leaning back, and putting both his feet on the construct. "Yes, I sure did. Soul brought me back when the Cabal were sure I was dead, and I snuck onto one of their landing pads, and we stole a transport to get off the surface. By the time they figure out we were long gone. When we got back to Earth we thought we were in the clear, but we forgot it was a Cabal ship we stole."
Bitsine could already guess where this was going. "So what happened?"
"The City was in our sights, but before we could open a comm channel we were getting lock-on warnings out the ying-yang. We hadn't even gotten two words out before I was dodging missiles left, and right. I managed to get closer, but then we got winged, and I had to manage a crash landing."
"Damn, you crash!? what did you hit?"
"The side of the Wall," Soul answered. "I transmated us out at the last second, and boy let me tell you Zavala was not happy."
"I probably wouldn't be either if I made the Tower think the City was under Cabal attack," Bitsine responded chuckling.
"No, it was because the crash caused a chunk of the wall that was protecting an armory to break off, and a bunch weapon crates fell out the hole."
Bitsine slapped her leg and laughed. "Holy, shit!"
"Glad we manage to find our own ship instead of stealing one." Bitsine's Ghost said.
"Yeah," Bitsine started calming down. "right at my old base no less." The two Guardians sat there quietly. Crux got to thinking about the chewing out Zavala gave him, and Bitsine just thought about things.
Crux stood up, putting the bottle, and glasses in his inventory. "The night's still young so why don't we hit the House of Winter where they live, and see how much damage, and stuff we can steal before we have to make a run for it."
Bitsine like that idea. "Sure, I just hope Pekis doesn't have a problem with it. You know with the whole..."
"It'll be fine. If he did have a problem with it, we wouldn't be here right now." Crux unholstered his Last Word, making sure it was fully loaded.
Bitsine got up, pumping her Crash shotgun. "lead the way, my good sir."
The two Ghost look at each other with wariness in their eyes. Their Guardians sure like to push what they could do no matter how dangerous. Before they could summon their sparrows they pick something up. "Wait a minute. I'm getting something." Soul said checking her scanners.
"Me too."
The two Guardians stood where they are. "What is it?" Crux cocked his hand cannon.
"Hmm..." Soul's body twisted, and turn trying to figure out what she was detecting. "I'm pretty sure it's a Vex but..."
"But nothing!" Bitsine declared looking around for another six-foot robot to shoot. "If the Vex want to keep playing, then we can play too. So where is the stupid thing?"
The Ghosts were too distracted to answer. What they were reading from their scanners was unusual for a Vex. Such bizarre energy. They didn't have much more time to before the sound of a Vex call filled the air. Its electronic tone resonated in their ears, too deafening to accurately pinpoint. When it finally stopped Bitsine call out, "Come on! where are you!? Come get some!"
"Uh, Bitsine," Her Ghost started, "Maybe we shouldn't just be gung-ho about this. It might be best to-"
The Ghost never got to finish. A red beam shot the Ghost in the air, taking out a chunk of his shell, damaging his core body leaving a scorch mark. Fragments of the shell scattered, showering Bitsine, the sounds of shell on armor contact drowned out in the background. Bitsine herself was too dumbfounded to say anything. Turning to see that her Ghost had just taken enemy fire did something. His body spun in the air, the impact giving him some increased altitude before he started to fall. Dropping her gun, she slid down catching her Ghost before he hit the floor, cradling his damaged body in both hands. The light of his blue eye flickered rapidly, showing that there was still some amount of life in him.
Crux, shocked from the event, manage to recover, and follow the path of the shot back to its point of origin. Staring high above them, he could make out the shape of a Vex perched above their position on top a Vex ruin. Its white colored eye fixed on them as the rifle it was holding charged for another shot. Crux could see well enough when it adjusted its aim in his direction, but he had a theory that it wasn't him it was aiming for. "Soul!" Frantic, the Hunter reached out grabbing his Ghost in a vice grip just as the Vex fired. His hand took the brunt of it, the energy-burning a hole through with the last bit of it doing some minor damage to Soul's shell, but keeping her life out of danger.
"Crux!" Soul managed to wiggle her way out of his damaged hand, narrowly avoiding a second shot that barely grazed her shell. "Oh, shit!"
"Take cover!" Using his other hand, he grabbed Soul again, taking her as he vaulted over a pile of rocks for cover. More shots followed the previous two. He let Soul go, raising his other hand up to his face to see that he could look right through it.
"I'll fix it." In a flash of light, the hole was gone.
Crux flexed his hand, the damage undone he was able to focus on the situation at hand. "Bitsine, you okay!?" the lack of a response was unsettling. "Bitsine!?" Still nothing. "Shit is she..."
"No, she's still alive." Soul informed
Hearing that Crux attempt to peak out from cover, only getting a glimpse of Bitsine on her knees holding her damaged Ghost in her hands before more energy rounds hit the rock he was behind, encouraging him to keep his head down. "Crap!"
Luckily Bitsine was cover by some same ruins, not that she was aware of them though. In fact, she was almost oblivious to what was transpiring. "No." Her voice was above a whisper. She continued staring at the Ghost in her hands, the remaining shell fins still attached to his body twitched. "No, please..." She begged.
"...B-B-Bit-Bitsine..." The Ghost said weakly. His eye glowed slightly brighter with every sound he muttered.
Bitsine was pulled out of her shock. Hearing that her little friend was still alive put some joy back into her being. "Yes! I knew you were tough. You can do this."
"Bit-Bitsine..." Then the Ghost began to move more diligently. His body moved side to side, trying to get upright. His eye glowed brighter, flickering on, and off as the damage he sustained still need to be repaired. "Bitsine..." He started to levitate slowly, at first only getting an inch off her hand then fell back.
"Come on. You can do this."
Crux was exchanging fire with the Vex that put a hole in his hand. His 1000 Yard Stare booming after every pull of the trigger. Normally, one or two shots would be enough to put down any other Vex. But this one was not like other Vex.
The Vex in question was proving itself to be very problematic. Not only was its aim spot on, but its evasive skills far surpassed regular Vex, whose only method was to teleport a short distance away. Instead, when Crux opened fire at their attacker, the Vex jumped out of the way, dodging the incoming bullet, and took cover just as they did.
Crux was dumbstruck. "When can a Vex move like that!?" The movement was so agile, and limber, not slow, and blocky like other Vex.
Soul, who had dematerialized into the safety of Crux's inventory, continued scanning their adversary. "That's no normal Vex. Keep shooting!"
"No need to tell me twice."
Bitsine kept her hands cupped, the gunfire of little concern for her at the moment. Her Ghost continued his attempts to fly to no avail. The damage was too severe. "Bitsine..." His voice was getting stronger, little by little, but was a far cry of his usual self.
"I'm here little guy." She said assuringly.
"...We have to move. Get...back to the City...for help."
Those words were music to her ears. "You got it!" Bitsine stood back up, the dire feeling she had fading with new hope. Before she could say anything else, another beam of hot energy shot right past her head, an inch away from striking her in the cranium. "Shit!" Dropping to the ground again, Bitsine pressed her Ghost against her chest to protect him. "You better hide. Me, and Crux will deal with that thing!" She finished in anger. It was her Ghost that was shot. Her's! And she was going to take every ounce of inner pain she was feeling out on that Vex's metal carcass.
"But Bitsine...we need to get back to the City."
"We will, but we got to deal with that son of a bitch! Shouldn't take too long."
Realizing there was no dissuading her, Bitsine's Ghost vanished, taking refuge in the safety of her inventory. He only hoped there wasn't more to this Vex than meets the eye. A hope he feared would be dashed away.
sticking her head out, Bitsine laid eyes of the vantage point the Vex was using to snipe at their location. Crux had his back to the rock he was hiding behind while he reloaded his rifle. With a final cock, the Hunter turned around ready for another exchange of bullets when he saw Bitsine was finally back in the game. "Alright, your back!" Another shot from the Vex forced him to duck again.
Seeing this, Bitsine decided enough was enough. "Yup, and I pissed!" It was payback time.
The Vex itself was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the effectiveness of its current methods. In previous Guardian encounters, a single shot would do in the small constructs that accompanied them, then when they were in shock by the loss another would see that the termination was followed through. Had it not lost its footing on a small pile of gravel, this encounter would have been the same. Its white eye saw movement from the Titan's, adjusting its aim it saw the target standing in the open with something mounted on her shoulder.
Zooming in, it saw what it was. "Danger."
"FUCK YOU!" Bitsine fired her Warpath launcher, sending a rocket to the spot the Vex was.
Seeing the threat, the Vex moved quick, faster than any other standard Vex model.
The rocket hit its mark, blowing the stone, and ruin to rubble in a grand explosion. Smoke and dust shrouded the impact area, only the Ghosts being able to tell if something was still alive or not.
It was.
Bursting out of the smoke, the Vex mind jumped high into the air virtually unharmed, only its silver-blue plating covered in dust was any indication it was in an explosion. As quick as it took air, gravity took effect, plummeting the Vex down until it hit the bottom with enough force to make the ground beneath the Guardians shake. The impact kicked up some loose dirt into the air.
Seeing as their enemy was right before them, the two Guardians also moved out into the open weapons drawn. Bitsine brought out her Thunderlord, trigger finger itching to be used, and Crux his Last Word drawn. They stood side by side, looking over this odd looking Vex. The paint job itself was an attention getter. Not the Brown, or bronze colors like most of its race. As it straightened itself out, they could tell its build was different. No glowing chest piece, probably hidden inside the body. The structure was a bit smaller, and more humanoid looking.
"Given up on life have you?" Bitsine tightened her grip on her weapon.
"That was some nice air you got." Crux commented. "Soul, you got something?"
Soul was combing through file copies of Vex data she retrieved from the Libraries, looking for anything the Vex might have on the mind threatening them. Layers, and layers of information turned up little. Scattered images, and recordings from different planets, each involving one or more Guardians. She didn't get the whole picture, but some places she was sure weren't recorded on any chart in the City. Then she found something else. Images of a Vex dwelling that she was sure was underground if the stone walls, and caverns were anything to go by. At the center, a staircase leading up to a collection of glass pillars angled to take the shape of a small pyramid. But through it all, one name kept coming up. A name that reminded her of something. "Its call the... Legionless Mind?"
"It's about to be the Scrapheap Mind!" Bitsine pulled the trigger, round after round of electrified metal striking the radiolarian metal. Each one hit with enough force to cause it to stumble back. Crux followed her example, his hand canon drowned out by Bitsine's gun.
After a few seconds, the Legionless Mind found its footing, and stood firm, raising its arm to cover its eye. It felt no pain, but it registered every impact on its body, every dent left in its chassis. Even so, its core was secure, shielded from any damage from the outside.
A minute passed, then all was quiet. Both weapons had been emptied, only the sound of Bitsine repeatedly pulling the trigger just to get a click sound. When it was certain it was over, the Legionless Mind lowered its arm, fixing its white optics on the two shooters. Just as Bitsine dropped her emptied clip to insert a new one, the Vex mind started to glow.
Crux, being the first to notice, tapped Bitsine on the shoulder. "Bitsine?"
"What?" She turned to Crux who was pointing at the Vex. When she turned back around she saw what she was looking at. It was glowing. It was glowing a bright orange color that was the same as a hobgoblin's defense mechanism. Reaching her arm out, Bitsine felt the heat coming of its metal body. So much like the sun, but this power was not welcoming. The dents their bullets left suddenly popped, and the plating was nice, and even, Just how it like it.
The heat faded, the glow that illuminated the immediate area dimmed until the lights of the night sky were the main source of light again. "Damage repaired. Level one measures: ineffective." The Legionless Mind's voice was dark, and electronic.
The two Guardians stood where they were, both completely dumbfounded by what they just bore witness to. Crux was the first to speak. "Did...Did that thing just talk!?"
"Good that means it has a jaw I can break." Bitsine holstered her machine gun on her back, getting closer to settle things the old fashion way. Winding her arm up, she was just a foot away from the Vex that kept its eye on her, monitoring her every action while it ran simulations on the current situation. With a howl, Bitsine let loose a punch with everything she had, sparks of electricity dancing on her knuckles only to be stopped with ease. "What!?
The Legionless Mind caught Bitsine's fist, demonstrating unusual reflexes. Bitsine watched its white eye adjust itself, zooming in on her.
"Bitsine!" Crux reloaded the Last Word, firing, and taking care not to hit Bitsine. The sound of metal hitting metal rang through Bitsine's helmet, sparks bounced off both her's and the Vex's armor with every impact.
Crux's gun was emptied, and the Vex stood right where it was, largely unfazed by what happened. Bitsine tried pulling her fist away, but the Vex had a solid grip and was not letting go. "Let go!" Bitsine threw her other fist, the Legionless Mind responding by catching it just like the other. "Damn it!"
"Requesting authorization to experimental systems."
Bitsine had no idea who it was talking to, and she didn't care. "Eat me!" She lifted her leg, delivering a roundhouse to its side. Its frame was moved, but did not falter. It cast Bitsine's fists aside, and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground, and silencing any further outbursts from her. 'Damn, he's strong.'
Bitsine struggled to try getting the metal hand off of her, unaware of the communication taking place. In the Vex network, the Legionless Mind's request was more than words. A transmission it sent went to the deepest parts of the Network where time was at the Vex's mercy. The intended recipient contemplated it. Said systems were just as it was said, "Experimental". Even after all this time, which to the Vex time was relative, they still didn't fully understand the power that they were created from, which tended to lead to some complications. During all their experiments, they managed to cultivate that power, restoring it from the small spark it had once been reduced to long ago, and repurposing it for their plans, but it was far from perfect.
But every use of them gave them more data to work with, another step to perfecting them.
'Authorization granted.'
After a bit of work, Bitsine managed to pry the metal fingers off her throat. She fell on her side giving Crux an opportunity. His body lit up in flames, the gun he was holding turning bright gold. Detecting the sudden energy spike, The Legionless mind eye went from pure white to light blue. Crux fired the first shot of his Golden Gun, a beam of solar power flew straight at the Vex when in a flash it was Gone. "What!?"
Bitsine was back on her feet. She like Crux was looking around, his fires still burning waiting to be used. "Did it teleport?"
Soul was scanning the surroundings. The energy she got off the Vex wasn't something for teleportation, but there was something familiar about it. examining its previous location, she detected the faint traces of its power, using that to find that it was behind Crux. "Crux, behind you!"
The Hunter turned around to find the Legionless Mind, the dirt around it kicked around with a small dug up trench leading up to where it was standing. "There it is!" He fired another shot.
Seeing the incoming fire, the Legionless Mind's legs lit up with arc power, sidestepping out of the way, its feet slide across the ground for a few feet out of harm's way.
Crux's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" Another shot, the Vex responding with the same maneuver, the power surrounding it becoming more intense. "Fuck!" Crux attempted to get another shot off, but his super wore off, leaving him open for when the Vex took its next step, this time sliding right in front of him. "HOOOLLLYY SHIT!" The next he knew, a metal fist dug itself into his abdomen, enough electricity being sent through him to keep him immobile when he was lifted off his feet, and sent flying away.
"HOLY SHIT!" was all Bitsine could say when Crux hit a rock with enough force to shatter it. Pieces scattered everywhere, showering the Exo's prone body with small thumps all over his body. Seeing that, Bitsine aimed her gun again, and pulled the trigger.
Covered in debris from the exploded rock, Crux laid on his side with an arm around his stomach as Soul worked to heal him. "Ohhh, what... was that?" he groaned. The sounds of gunfire roared yards away, drowning out the shouts of frustrations Bitsine was giving off from her continued misses. In seconds, Crux was back on his feet ready for payback. "Alrighty then."
Bitsine held down the trigger hard, case after case flying out her Thunderlord as bullets were sent in pretty much all directions. The Legionless Mind proved itself vastly superior with maneuverability, being able to accurately calculate the trajectory of each shot to avoid being hit. Not that it would have been enough to destroy it, but the less damage taken the better. Ignorant of this, Bitsine didn't let up until she once again ran out of ammo. "Shit!"
Seeing the opportunity, The Vex closed the gap getting right in front of her, arms charged it reached out to strike her.
"Fuck!" Thinking fast, Bitsine knock the fist away with her gun, letting it go to return the favor with little effect. After a loud clank sound, she sent her other fist to repeat the process only for it to be blocked by a metal forearm. It then grabbed her arm, pulling her towards it to deliver a mighty blow to her head, the metal helmet cracking from the pressure. Losing her balance, she began to fall when a knee reached up to bash itself into her gut, lifting her a few inches before an elbow struck her back pushing her flat on the ground. "Damn." She wheezed.
Trying to get up, an electrified prosthetic kicked her in the chest, sending her rolling away for a bit until she was stopped by a rock wall.
From the confines of her inventory, the injured Ghost monitored the situation. Seeing his Guardian take a beat down was not sitting well with him. He tried to undo the damage, but his wound made that difficult. There was no quick healing, no few seconds of waiting until it was all better. With most of his power use to keep himself alive, it would be a slow process lest he'd risk overexerting himself. "B-Bitsine..." he called out to her.
"Don't talk." With a groan, Bitsine got back up. "Is that all you got!" Stepping forward in challenge, Crash shotgun in hand. "COME ON, BITICH!"
"Yeah I'm still here you second rate junkheap Frame!" Crux stood on top a ledge with his Gheleon's Demise.
The Legionless Mind tilted its head. "Durability: Moderate. Challenge: Accepted." Its body surged with power again. "Insult: Noted." It took a running start, the arc aura surrounding it leaving behind a trail when it leaped, focusing it energy on a retracted arm, targeting the space between the two Guardians.
The nonexistent hairs on the back of Bitsine's neck stood up, a familiar feeling washed over her bringing up memories from Crucible. "Get Back!" Bitsine ran not wanting to be too close.
Crux took her advice, backing away, but not fast enough.
The Vex slammed the ground, the power from its arm created a beautiful blue explosion, rocking the area with immense vibrations as a shockwave extended out from its position, electrifying everything in range.
Bitsine, for the most part, got away unscathed, minus a push from the force of the blast sending her tumbling to the ground. Crux, however, was not so lucky. Being the closer one, he received the full force of the explosion, cape torn, armor busted, thousands of volts of electricity fried him from the inside out. His body made the sounds of circuits blowing, unable to make any recognizable sound with his voice modulator taking damage. With a loud thump, his lifeless body hit the dirt, smoke rising out from him, marking an end to another one of his lives.
"Damn it! not again!" Soul said frustrated. Her body appeared over Crux's, beginning the revival process, leaving her vulnerable in the open air.
The Legionless Mind slowly stood back up, steam rising from its chassis, its limbs twitching as its mind core registered several system failures. 'Warning: overheating detected. Mobility hindered. The cooling process to initiate.' The outer plating of its body separated and extended outward allowing hot air to exit at a rapid pace. 'Recommend lower power consumption for prolonged usage.' Temperature returning to acceptable levels, the plates retracted back into position. Its scans showed Soul out in the open again, keeping Crux's connection to the land of the living intact to bring him back. A line rifle form in its hand, readying to end the Ghost this time. The rifle charge then a rock hit the barrel with a bang, throwing off the aim as it fired, barely missing the Ghost.
"Oh, fuck!" Was all Soul could think of.
"Oh, hell no!" Bitsine charge firing a shell from her shotgun. Sparks bounced of the Vex like firecrackers with every metallic pellet the struck it. It refocused back on the Titian, taking a shot at the weapon, hitting the ejection port, and jamming the gun. "Crap." Bitsine tossed the broken weapon, letting her Light consume her as she ran forward. She jumped, coming back down to land on the Vex only for it to simply zip out of harms way again.
Bitsine left a crater when she landed, her body still glowing with power as she call out, "Get back here!"
The Legionless Mind did as she said, reappearing right in front of her. The two powered entities locked eyes, Bitsine being the first to throw a punch at its head, her own power surging through its body, the electricity from both sides connected, creating a type of bridge between the two. Bitsine could feel it, feel the power coming from the Vex. It felt so familiar, but also strange. Where did it come from? But those question could be answered after it was dead.
She threw another punch to the chest pushing it back, her fist being grabbed halfway with crushing pressure, arm getting twisted eliciting a yelp of pain out of her stopped by a blow to her stomach. Sucking it up, she managed to break free of the hold it had on her so she could retaliate, tackling it, and ramming it straight into a Vex pillar. The pillar rocked, pieces of it breaking off, An shallow impression of a Vex being left in the radiolarian solid. Bitsine didn't let up, punch after punch creating bright blinding flashes from the two colliding powers. "Just! Fucking! Die!"
The Legionless Mind was dug deeper into the stone with every hit, its power granting it some protection from Bitsine, but could still feel its chaise rattle. Bitsine super was beginning to run out, even faster with her relentless assault. With everything she had left she delivered one final attack to its head, more specificity its currently light blue eye, cracking the glass layer protecting it, and pushing the metal around it in. And that was it. The glow surrounding Bitsine faded, her energy depleted her shoulders sagged, fatigue washing over her, and with her Ghost in his damaged state, there wasn't much he could do at the moment.
Bitsine stepped back to inspect her work. An Exo equivalent of a smile spread behind her helmet. The Legionless Mind was bust up, metal plating cracked, and dented, limbs hanging loosely twitched as remnants of its power sparked every now, and again. Its eye smashed in, chips of glass fell out, the light flickered implying it was still online. "How do you like me now?" Her victory was short live. When it seemed the day was won, there was a glow. Bitsine stepped back wide-eyed. "Fuck, I forgot."
Orange light engulfed the Vex mind yet again, the heat sealing the cracks, repairing the injuries it sustained. Limbs jerked back into place, it pulled its body out of the rock, running a quick diagnostic to ensure everything was working. "Damage repaired." The white light coming from its head turned red, focused solely on Bitsine.
Bitsine became unnerved. She may not have known everything about the Vex, but she could tell when something was pissed off. It stepped forward, making her back up further. Her Perun's Fire appeared in her hand, trying to fire off a volley before it was too late. The Legionless Mind swatted it away, grabbing her by the neck. still weak from the fight, Bitsine didn't do much when a current of electricity flowed through its arm, entering her body with a vengeance.
Screaming in pain, her body stiffened, unable to move except for the spasms that were the result of electrocution. It stopped, giving her some respite that was cut short when it turned around, and ramed her with crushing force into the pillar. The first ram knocked the remaining wind right out of her, making a shallow impression of her on top of the Vex's into the radiolarian stone. It pulled her back, pushing her back head first with even greater force causing fissures to crack open in the pillar. A third, and final slam utterly destroyed the pillar, sending the Titian falling through a waterfall of stone, and metal, hitting the floor with a loud groan.
Bitsine was beaten, half buried in rocks, and half fried, barely any energy to get up. Overcoming the pain, she managed to lift herself up on her elbows only to get pushed back by a metal foot stomping on her chest. "Ohhh, fuck! You're heavy!" She grabbed the leg trying desperately to push it off with no success. She gave up, letting her arms fall where they may, looking up at the now bright white eye looking back down right at her. "Is that all you got... you fucking pussy." she finished chuckling.
Adjusting its head, the Vex reached down, taking hold of Bitsine's helmet to pull it off, revealing her Exo face to it. "Target subdued." It crushed her helmet in hand, throwing it away to replace it with a line rifle. "Termination commencing in..." The rifle was aimed right at her. "3,"
Bitsine Ghost, being completely aware, was terrified. He didn't know if he could bring her back, but he would try even if it meant self-sacrifice in the process.
"2," The rifle was charging up, about to release a burst of life taking light.
Bitsine closed her eyes, ready for the nothingness that was about to take over. Remnants of memories of her old life, her old friends, family, and teammates that were lost long ago. One that stood out was a man she was walking hand in hand with before she had this metal body. His face was lost to her, but that feeling of comfort she got from him was still there. That memory made it easier.
Her mind clear, she uttered the last thing she would say with little more than a whisper. "See you soon, John."
"1," Just then, a knife made of burning fire struck the weapon, blocking the exit so it couldn't fire. With nowhere to go, the charge continued to build up until the gun couldn't hold it anymore, ending with it exploding.
The sound broke Bitsine out of her trance, bits of hot metal hitting her face. "What the!?"
"You forget about me!?" Crux, back in the land of the living, Took aim with his 1000-Yard Stare.
"Crux, that doesn't have enough stopping power to kill it." Soul informed.
"Wasn't trying to." Through the sights, he saw the Vex throw the destroyed weapon away, turning its attention to him. "Now you see me," He pulled the trigger, a single bullet traveled across the air, hitting the Vex in the eye, blinding it. "Now you don't."
The legionless mind stumbled back, taking its foot off the wounded Titian. The bullet was lodged in its eye, making visibility an impossibility at the moment. Something stuck to its chest, barely enough time to register its presence when it exploded into a cloud of debilitating smoke. Whatever it was made of, the smoke caused the Legionless Mind's sensors to go haywire, making it unable to know what was going on around it until more impacts force self-preservation protocols to kick in, and in a flash, it was gone.
Certain it was over, Bitsine sat up, pushing the rock holding her down off when Crux ran up to her. "Bitsine, you alright?" He asked frantically.
"No," She stated bluntly. "I feel like hammered crap."
"Come on." Crux grabbed her helping her get back on her feet.
"Is it gone?"
"No, it'll be back. We have to get out of here. Soul, call our ships."
"Got it." The Ghost responded. She did a scan on Bitsine's, seeing that his life was slowly fading. "We need to get your Ghost back to the City to help him. He won't last like this."
Still weak from the fight, had to lean on Crux for support. "Let's go then." On the outside, she tried to come off as her usual self, but on the inside, guilt was eating her up. He told her that they need to get back to the City for help, but she didn't listen.
"How the hell did that Vex do all that stuff." was what Crux couldn't figure out. "I mean first it takes a storm of bullets then fixes itself like a hobgoblin. Then it can charge up, and attack with arc power like...like..." Crux didn't want to finish.
"Like a Titian?"
"...Yeah..." It sounded worse to him out loud.
The roar of their ship's engines drew closer, but against the night sky they could quite make out where they were. Soon enough they could be seen, two ships coming in hot for a pickup.
"Finally." Crux said relieved. "We need to get back to the Tower, and-" There was flash. Bitsine, and Crux stared up into the stars. A bright purple beam of light lit of the sky for miles around while the two Guardians look on in awe.
"That beam in void power!" Soul warned. The beam extended farther out into the sky, more specific in the direction of the ships on approach. "Oh, shit!" Soul panicked trying to pilot the ships out of the line of fire, but was too late. The beam stuck Bitsine's ship then faded moments later, hitting the back side, destroying the engines, and replacing them with bright orange flames attached to the now free falling cockpit.
"My SHIP!" Bitsine pulled away from Crux, stepping forward, and grasping her head tightly. "God damn it!" The piece of the ship left behind a trail of smoke, next to invisible under the night sky, following it to the up to the point when it hit the ground with another explosion half a mile away. "FUCK!" She stomped the ground, her earlier tiredness all but forgotten, and replaced by rage.
"Soul, what about ours?"
"Working on it." With only one ship left, Soul double timed the engines. For a second they seemed to be in the clear when a second beam was fired. Soul tried her best to evade, but it was for nothing. The beam cut through the middle, splitting it into two burning halves, One of which was heading right for them.
"RUN!" The Guardians kicked dirt, Bitsine trailing behind Crux, narrowly avoiding the burning metal that hit the ground with a bang, dragging itself across the dirt leaving a trench filled with burning metal pieces behind. "Crap." What all Crux could mutter staring at the bonfire that use to be his ship.
"Please tell me we still have our sparrows." Bitsine's said with a low tone.
"Yes." Was Soul's answer.
"Then let's get out of here." Just like that two sparrows were in front of their drivers. "We need to find a place to hide."
Bitsine mounted her's, revving the engines thinking about what Crux said when another light was shined on them. Above them, the Legionless Mind stepped out of the forest onto the edge of the cliff overlooking them, its repaired eye now purple color, beaming at them like a flashlight. What they couldn't see was the state of its arms, the metal partially melted, and burned, thin smoke rising from them.
"FLOOR IT!" Crux hit the throttle hard, Bitsine doing the same no more than half a second later with the sole intention of get the hell away from that thing.
'We need to get help!' Was all that was on Bitsine's mind as they headed deeper into the ruins of the Ishtar Sink.
The Legionless Mind watched them, its eye turning white again as it examined the damage its attack did to its arms. The damage was far more extensive than previous injuries. More than what it could fix on its own. 'Standard repair protocol insufficient. Requesting assistance.' The Vex collective answered its call in the form of another Vex. Materializing before the Mind, a silver-white hobgoblin stood at attention, the golden plating reflecting the light coming from the Mind. The precursor got on one knee, glowing brightly as it begun sacrificing itself, its body vanishing, the material being transferred to the Mind, replacing the damaged limbs with new ones. At first, the new arms were the same color as the Vex they came from, but became the same smooth silver-blue color the Legionless Mind was.
'Replacements sufficient.' It activated its scanners, tracking the energy signature of the sparrows. 'Proceeding with pursuit.'
60 Years Ago, The Year 3654
Venus, Vault of Glass
Deep in the Vex controlled reality of the Vault, A lone figure was on his knees. No longer what he once was, his Vex bronze armor that he crafted from radiolarian parts now acted at his actual skin, impossible to remove.
His Ghost was gone along with Praedyth, both taken by Vex's power over the Vault. They had managed to find a passage to sneak past the Templar, and its impenetrable shields, hoping to find a temporary haven to discuss their next move, but were not so lucky for they found themselves in the maze of the Vault's watchdogs.
Where the Templar had the power, with use of the oracles, to accurately calculate, and counteract the negative effects brought upon by using the negation ritual to erase intruders from history, The watchdogs had the power to erase any threat that entered her vision regardless of whatever consequences, acting as the blunt instruments of the Vex ontological arsenal, and that is how Praedyth fell. Having been spotted by one of the Gorgons, Kabr watch as the Warlock vanished before his eyes along with his Ghost leaving him as the last one standing in the Vault. Pahanin fled for his life when he saw that the Vex had to power to judge what existed, and what didn't. Kabr couldn't blame him. Fleeing sounded like a good idea to him, but that was impossible for him now.
Trapped in the Vault, and the Vex infecting his blood, and brain, Kabr had one last plan before he lost himself. Having killed the Gorgon that rendered him the last one, He brought the pieces of its body to a secluded cave, and began his work reconstructing the Gorgon's body into a new design. Laying on the ground before him was a shield crafted from the thinking flesh of the Vex. The metal was the same bronze color of the Vex, its handle the shaped like an hourglass, perhaps symbolizing the Vex's power over time.
A shield meant to end the threat of Time's Conflux for good, but it was not complete. Its design was finished, but lack the power to do what needed to be done. For that Kabr had to make the ultimate sacrifice. Focusing all his Light, his body glowing brighter than it ever had before, he channeled his power into the Aegis, inscribing his last words into the metal, and turning it into a superweapon of the Light with the power to break the unbreakable. To change one's fate. When it was done, it floated off the ground in front of him, radiating with Kabr's former power.
It was done. His last hope. The hope that Praedyth was told to keep, the hope that Pahanin could not, the hope that Kabr was proud to die for.
Now he had nothing left. Nothing, but one last spark that was soon to fade with the rest of him. He could hear them calling to him. The Vex reaching out to him, wanting him to join them as his conversion was nearing completion. There was a moment of peace. He felt content in his last moments, having made a crack in the Vault's defenses for a future fireteam to take advantage of. The shield would be their deliverance. it seemed like his work was done.
But Atheon had other plans for him.
Kabr could feel the last of himself slipping away, everything that he was being replaced by the Vex programming. His last thoughts, the very last thoughts of Kabr, The Legionless, were that of the yellow stars that sung to him. In his madness, he cracked one open believing that consumption would have given him the strength to prevail. What a fool he was. 'It tasted like the sea...'
That was it. Sensing that its creator had now been fully corrupted, The Aegis vanished, using its own power to hide from the Axis Minds that would try to destroy it, until another warrior of the Light could make use of it, and allow the sands of time to run their proper course.
The Vex stood at attention, its connection to the Vex collective complete, it waited for a new directive, a purpose for it to fulfill. There were many voices, many divisions, and Vex subtypes calling it, wanting it to join, but one stood out. One that silenced them all. It called it to come before the Glass Throne with the purpose it was certain would be best for the former Guardian.
the Vex accepted.
If he spoke again, he was not Kabr.