Chapter 18: Vex surge and... A new teammate?
The day following the charging of the Gate Lord's eye, the Sin duo were busy just chilling in the Tower doing their own things. Alex was playing with Nyx in his room while Vulcan was elsewhere, namely writing a letter to the Queen noting their progress and anything important, as well as asking how things were at the Vestian outpost.
The two awoken had been doing this quite often as of late, and in one of Mara's latest letters, she had mentioned how the Techuns may have found a way to at least attempt to help Vulcan recover some of the memories of his past life. Though this was merely speculation at that point.
Alex had also kept in touch with Byf regarding anything on the original Void Reapers. So far, even now, there was nothing. For some reason, the Exo didn't feel all that down about it. On top of that, he felt like he was about to regain something he lost soon, but couldn't figure out why. He was also very curious about what he might recover.
As the fireteam of two were doing their own things, Zavala's voice suddenly spoke up on the intercom.
"Fireteam 'The Seven Deadly Sins' report to the Vanguard hall immediately. You have an assignment waiting for you. That is all. Zavala out." He said before he ended the call.
Alex looked over at Nyx before the small creature crawled across his arm and rested around his neck. "Alright, let's go." He nodded.
He then made his way to the Vanguard hall and saw that Vulcan was already there. As he walked in, Ikora took notice of Nyx being around his neck. She also noted her new look.
"Alex, I don't believe I asked this, but how did Nyx come to look like that?" She asked.
"I guess it's because of her feeding on light." He shrugged. "She hasn't really grown much either."
"Yeah, she seems to only get fatter instead of bigger." Cayde nodded, patting the worm's plump body, causing her to purr.
"Is that really a good thing, however?" Zavala questioned.
"At least she's content and not getting an ever growing appetite so far. That should count for something. And she's only grown by one inch." Snake chimed in.
"What's the assignment?" Vulcan asked, wanting to get back on topic.
"Right, that. Some of my scouts have reported a huge surge of Vex activity beneath the martian surface. They tried to get eyes on what's going on, but they were forced to pull out before they got killed." Cayde briefed them.
"We need you two to get in there and find out what's going on." Zavala added.
"My Hidden have also been getting a distress signal from the Hellas Basin on Mars. I'd like you to check on it in case it's a Guardian in need of help." Ikora stated as well.
"Got it. We'll check it out once we deal with the Vex." Alex replied with a nod.
"Very well then, you're dismissed." Zavala told them.
The two Guardians nodded before they left to prepare for the mission and, in Alex's case, dropped off Nyx at his room. He then realized he still hadn't gotten that exotic engram from Mara decoded.
'I should take care of that.' He thought as he picked it up. After getting his gear together, he made his way to Rahool to get his gift decoded. Upon reaching the Awoken Cryptarch, he held out his engram.
"Up for a challenge?" The Exo asked with a grin.
"Let's see here." The Cryptarch said as he started decoding the engram. "Here we are." The man said as he handed Alex back a helmet. The helmet was rather odd looking. Its front looked like it was made of nothing but a strange purple haze.
"... Odd, but okay." Alex said as he looked at his new exotic with a raised eyebrow. He then shrugged before putting it on and immediately noticed how different his motion tracker functioned. "That'll come in handy." He mused before walking to the hanger bay.
As he arrived at the hangar, Vulcan, who was already there, then called his ship along with Alex and the two disembarked for Mars to fight some Vex… Oh, and rescue a fellow Guardian.
(Elsewhere)
-Hellas Basin, Mars, Clovis Bray Warmind Bunker-
Cortona was currently trying to keep warm with her Ghost, Hawk, inside the bunker of the Warmind, Rasputin in the Clovis Bray facility on Mars. And it was becoming increasingly difficult, not to mention they were running out of food. And they had just found a massive infestation of Hive frozen under them.
'Please don't wake up, please don't wake up, please don't wake up…!' She chanted in her head like a mantra. She then turned her attention to Hawk. "Please tell me someone got that distress call." She pleaded desperately.
"Yeah, they got it. Now all we gotta do is wait for someone to come back." The Ghost nodded. "I just hope that we don't run out of food by the time they get here."
"I hope so, too." She whimpered, the stress of what's happened so far affecting her mind.
(Elsewhere)
-Martian subterranean surface-
Alex and Vulcan had just arrived in the subterranean level of Mars and were greeted by a platoon's worth of Vex of all types. There was even a Cyclops. Right now, they were pinned down by all of the solar energy shots being sent their way.
"Okay, what are we gonna do about this?" Alex asked as he threw a grenade over their cover.
"I could send a Cruel Sun at them." Vulcan offered as he threw a grenade of his own over their cover.
"No, that'd just cause a cave in. I'd use my Assault Mode, but I'm not angry enough for that." The Exo declined as he leaned out of cover and took out four Vex Goblins and a trio of Harpys.
"Is your scythe charged?" Vulcan asked as he grabbed a nearby Hobgoblin and turned it to slag.
"Almost… And now it's charged… Wait, and so is my Assault Mode?" Alex said in confusion.
"I was under the impression of them being two separate things along with one needing you to be angry to use." Snake spoke up.
"Same here, but we can save that for later. We got Vex to scrap!" The Exo exclaimed before he activated his Assault Mode and blurred between the Vex before reappearing behind the Cyclops. The moment his state of power ended, every single Vex exploded in a spray of radiolaria. Vulcan looked at the scene and couldn't stop himself from feeling impressed at the sight.
"Is that all of them?" The Titan asked.
"Almost, I think. Snake?" The Hunter asked his Ghost.
"I've got nothing on the tracker. We're clear for now." The small drone replied.
"Should we go to the Hellas Basin now?" Sentry asked..
"No. There's gotta be something in the middle of this, and we need to find out what. We go deeper in." Alex replied.
The Titan and his Ghost nodded as they went down deeper into the martian underground, and as soon as they reached the main cavern… They were met by even more Vex. On top of that, they were guarding a series of warp gates.
"... Vulcan, would you kindly?" Alex asked.
The Titan then rose a finger as his signature sun attack formed. "Cruel Sun!" He yelled as he hurled the sun at the murderous robots. To their credit, the Vex actually let out robotic screeches of horror when they saw the miniature sun flying at them. The second it hit them, every Vex was reduced to molten sludge. The Hunter took notice of a conflux in the center of the cave and walked up to it.
"Snake, see what you can find." Alex ordered his Ghost, who wordlessly went to work. After a moment, he found something surprising.
"This… Isn't an invasion." He said, much to everyone's surprise.
"It's not?" Vulcan asked with wide eyes.
"No. They're returning home. Something is calling them back to the Black Garden." Snake replied.
"Okay, I actually didn't see that coming." Sentry cimed in.
"None of us did. Anyway, let's head to the Hellas Basin. We got a Guardian to rescue." Alex said before he transmatted back to his ship, Vulcan following suit moments later.
-Martian skies, on the way to Hellas Basin-
"Snake, can you get us in contact with our Guardian down there?" Alex asked.
"Let me try." The Ghost nodded. "Attention Guardian, we received your distress call and are on approach, are you there?"
"Yes! I can hear you!" Came the reply of a woman, though there was some static in the call.
"Good. Are you in any danger down there?" Snake asked.
"No, but if you have anything heat related with you, leave it on your ship." She advised, much to their confusion.
"Why?" Alex asked.
"Because there's a massive infestation of Hive frozen in the ice here." She replied, much to the Sin duo's shock.
"What?! How long have they been there?!" Vulcan asked in alarm.
"I'm not sure, but they're not showing any signs of waking up anytime soon, and I'd like it to stay that way." The woman replied.
"Agreed. Send the coordinates of where you're holed up." Alex requested. A moment later, Snake received the coordinates.
"There. Now come get me and my Ghost out of here. It's fucking cold and I'm running out of food. Please…!" She pleaded.
"On my way." Alex replied before the call ended. "Vulcan, if what she's saying is true, then I want you to sit this one out." He said to his Titan friend.
"Understood. Be careful down there." He urged his fellow Sin.
"Roger that." The Exo replied before descending to the frozen surface.
-Mars, Hellas Basin surface-
Alex transmatted to the surface of the Martian ice cap and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, but he still kept his eyes open for those frozen Hive in case they woke up.
"Snake, waypoint our destination from here." He ordered.
"One moment… Waypoint set." The Ghost replied as the waypoint appeared on Alex's hud.
As the male Exo went to the waypoint, did indeed see Hive frozen there, and also saw ships frozen under the ground and lastly a MASSIVE Hive Worm frozen behind a block of ice with a male hive wizard standing next to it.
"Snake Eyes, record everything here. The Vanguard MUST know of this!" Alex-7 ordered his Ghost seriously.
"Way ahead of you." The Ghost replied, already taking footage of the frozen Hive in the ice. "Wait, this isn't any Hive Worm, it's a Worm GOD! And that male wizard, I'm not sure who he is, but he looks really familiar somehow."
"A Worm God? In our solar system?! Son of a bitch! Let's double time it! We can think about the male wizard later!" The Exo cursed as he booked it to where the Guardian was holed up at. This was a colossal discovery, and he needed to inform the Vanguard ASAP!
As he traversed a bridge of ice, he narrowly got across as it collapsed under the pressure of his weight. After that, there were no more real incidents. Eventually, he managed to reach the bunker door that stood between him and his quarry.
"Snake, can you hack this?" Alex asked as he looked at the doors.
"Not a problem." The Ghost said as he got to work. "Accessing locking mechanisms, finding access keys, entering key codes, yada yada yada, and…. Open says me!"
Right on cue, the bunker doors opened. Alex had to let out a chuckle at his Ghost's words and the timing they had.
"Okay, that was kinda funny." He chuckled.
As soon as they entered the bunker, they found a female Warlock curled up into a ball who was rocking back and forth in front of a makeshift fire, scared out of her wits. An old IKELOS hand cannon was laying next to her.
When Alex saw her in this state, he felt the urge to just grab her and hold her close while saying comforting words into her ears to make her feel better. She looked so… Vulnerable. Shaking the desire from his head, he carefully walked towards her. When he got close enough, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and turn to him in fright. When she registered that he wasn't hostile, she clung to him like a lifeline and cried as she let the stress that built up out.
"You came! YOU ACTUALLY CAME!" She cried in relief as she continued holding onto him, her voice revealing that she was an Exo.
Alex looked at her with wide optics before he returned the embrace, the urge coming back full swing.
"Yes, I'm Alex-7, and you are?" The male Exo asked. The female Exo in his arms got her emotions under control before she picked up her IKELOS hand cannon and got to her feet.
"Cortona-54." She introduced, now sounding much more calmed down.
This caused something in Alex's brain to click, and as if someone had just flipped a switch, memories came flooding into his head like a typhoon. The male Exo stumbled back as the memories hit him hard before he collapsed.
"Alex? Hey Alex!" Snake Eyes said as he flew to his Guardian. "I can't believe it, he's out cold."
"What happened?!" Cortona asked in concern.
"I don't know. Hang on, I'm gonna see what's going on in his head!" Snake replied before running a diagnostic on Alex's head. "Memories? How in the hell? Okay, I need to get you two out of here. Yo Hawk! Transmat your Guardian to our ship!"
"Gotcha, Snake Eyes!" Hawk replied. He then transmatted her Guardian to Alex's ship before Snake followed suit with the unconscious Alex.
-The Tower, a few hours later-
After getting to the Tower, Vulcan went to report to the Vanguard after getting the data he needed from Snake while Cortona took Alex to the infirmary. When the three Guardian mentors learned that the Vex were returning to the Black Garden rather than invading Mars, they were actually surprised. When they learned of the Hive infestation frozen in the Martian ice cap they became concerned, which was justified when the Lion Sin revealed that a Worm God was identified amongst the frozen Hive.
"This is incredibly troubling. The presence of a Worm God in our solar system is something that we haven't expected." Ikora stated as she looked over the data with a concerned look.
"Indeed. What I'm confused about, however, is how they came to be frozen there to begin with." Zavala stated.
"The thing that confuses me is what happened to Al." Cayde pitched in. "From what I've gathered from Snake, he suffered from an unexpected memory surge when Cortona told him her name. From what I recall, that stuff doesn't just happen randomly. Those two know each other somehow." He said with narrowed optics.
"But how? No guardian has ever regained their memories, save a rare few." Ikora noted.
"That doesn't mean it's impossible, Ikora. If those few can regain their memories then there are bound to be others." The Hunter Vanguard rebuked.
"Regardless, we'll need him in top condition to destroy the Black Garden." Zavala stated firmly.
"I'm aware of that, Zavala. Just don't expect him to be in top condition overnight." Cayde stated with just as much firmness.
Meanwhile, Alex was just starting to wake up when he saw the uncovered face of Cortona watching him.
"Huh… Cortona?" He groaned as he sat up.
"Oh good. I was so worried." She said in relief as she grabbed his hand.
"Yeah. I don't know what happened, but as soon as I heard your name, a massive wave of memories came back to me. And I don't know why." The Hunter nodded.
"Are they important ones?" The Warlock asked.
"I'm not sure. I haven't exactly sorted through them all yet... But you seem to be in a lot of them, for some reason." He replied, surprising and confusing the new Warlock.
"I… Am?" She asked in surprise.
"Like I said, I'm not sure why either…" He started before he closed the hand she was holding. "But I feel like it's really important." He finished.
"Okay." The woman nodded as the two sat there in silence again. After a few minutes, Alex decided to start another conversation.
"What's your subclass?" He asked.
"I'm a Stormcaller." The Warlock replied casually.
Alex looked at her in surprise when he heard that, though it wasn't all that big of one. He's been a Nightstalker since Snake found him, so Cortona being a Stormcaller wasn't as big a surprise as it would've been for someone else.
"Well that's a shocker." He joked unintentionally, causing her to chuckle.
"Yes it-" Cortona started before his words fully registered. She then narrowed her optics at him, which caused Alex's to cover his mouth with wide optics when he realized what he just said.
"Okay, that was an accident!" He tried to defend himself as he held his hands up before the female Exo started playfully smacking him, causing him to laugh.
"That was a horrible joke, and you should be ashamed of yourself for it!" She said without any heat behind her words smiled. Alex just kept laughing as he tried to defend himself from the faux onslaught. Off to the side, Snake and Hawk watched the interaction between their respective Guardians with amused looks in their optics.
"These two are gonna get along real good. It's too damn obvious to say otherwise." Hawk noted as she watched the two Exo's interact with each other..
"Got it in one. I can't wait for when she's introduced to Nyx." Snake chuckled, causing Hawk to look at him.
"Who's Nyx?" She asked.
"I'll let Alex do the explaining on that one." The reptile themed Ghost replied, earning a shrug from his fellow Ghost… Or whatever counts as a shrug with them.
"Fair enough. It better be interesting, though." The female Ghost said.
"Hey, come on to my room, there's someone I want you to meet." Alex said as he got up. after their little faux fight.
"Who might that be?" Cortona asked curiously.
"You'll see." Was all she got from him. After he got his bearings back together, he led his fellow Exo to his room. When the two entered, the mechanical Warlock looked around and saw nothing resembling the one Alex wanted her to meet.
"Um… Who am I supposed to meet?" She asked in confusion. That was when she felt something nudge her leg, prompting her to look down and was surprised when she saw a lavender and white colored Hive Worm at her feet looking up at her with three curious purple eyes. The surprise was short lived when something else took its place, however. It was replaced with…
"SO CUTE!" Cortona squealed in delight and adoration as she scooped up Nyx and held her to her robot chest. "You are the most adorable little cinnamon roll I've ever seen! Yes you are, yes you are!" She exclaimed happily as she gushed over how cute Nyx was, said Worm purring very loudly in happiness at the attention she was being shown.
Alex looked at the sight and chuckled along with Snake, who was recording the whole thing to show to Vulcan and Sentry later.
"Snake, please tell me you're recording this." He whispered to his Ghost.
"Oh yeah. This is too good to pass up." Snake whispered back, an audible grin in his voice.
"Good." Alex whispered with a grin of his own as he watched Cortona continue to dote over Nyx, who snuggled into her body with joy.
Today was a good day. He had gained a new member of his fireteam, and got a possible piece of his past back in his life.
This was a definite success.
Author's Note: Here you go. Cortona-54 got to the tower with help, we saw Xol and the rest of the frozen Hive before Warmind happened, and we saw Cortona gushing over Nyx. Everything is fine for now.
Dragon Emperor0: And of course for all you Seven Deadly Sins fans, we're going to make sure she embodies the personalities of both of the top 3 best girls: Diane and Elizabeth. Don't you worry. And on top of that, Alex may start acting more like Meliodas soon, so keep an eye out.