Elistia Vale, Hangar 7, 2nd day of the Red War
She had been fighting for hours. Literally hours. All evening, all night. Actually- fun fact- according to Circus (her ghost) they had been at it for 14.6 hours and had fired a grand total of 15,063 rounds of ammunition. Why she needed to know that last part, she didn't know. Circus must've thought it was important.
Now her Light was gone, and Elistia was certain she was more exhausted then she had ever been in both her previous life and this one combined. She ached all over, the dull pain that usually was ignorable with combat (and her Light) now gripped her very bones. Her friend Krix, who she had grown very tight with (considering she had just met him five days ago), was still going like a well-oiled machine.
"You do know that's because he is one, right?"
She flushed and glanced down at her ghost in consternation. "Circus! I told you to tell me next time I started talking out loud!"
He gave a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle. "Sure Eliss. I don't know how you don't notice you do that sometimes."
She was about to say something snarky when a burst of howling and clunking outside silenced her, and she lept up and grabbed her Badlander. It only been about five minutes since Ciara had sealed the doorway, but it was clear the Cabal where close to bringing something up that could breach the fragile walls caging them in.
The gunsmith above her let of a long burst from his rifle then gave her an awkward thumbs up. "All clear kid, at least for now. I just wish he'd hurry up."
Both glanced over to the 'he' in question. Krix was in the middle of the hanger, surrounded by a horrendous tangle of cords and ropes, as well as a cluster of civilians and soldiers. Jumpship-wise, the hangar was empty. All of the civilians that could had already flown off, the pilots eager to get going to avoid Cabal fighters and Harvesters. All that was left was the three surviving Guardians, Tess, Ella, and Banshee, and a motley assortment of the most fit and capable workers and civilians left. Overall Krix had to figure out how to get 21 people out of the hangar alive.
To his credit, he was trying. She was sure this was his best idea, but as soon as he started making harnesses out of lengths of rope and giving the survivors a crash course in rappelling did she feel the need to confirm what he was thinking of doing.
"Uh… Krix?"
He was angrily yanking at a tangle of cords in a 'I-don't-have-time-for-this-so-fix-yourself-or-I'll-throttle-you-faster-than-you-can-say-knot' sort of way. "Hrmgh-sonofa-yeah?"
She twisted her hands together. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bother him but she had to know what he was planning. "You uh… mind telling me what your plan is? You know, for us to get out?"
He sighed and tossed the tangle to the ground. With a finger he pointed at the ceiling. "Pretty simple. Rig the charges the Cabal set, use those crane wires and these hand-made rigs to rappel down the wall. If the Cabal show, we blow the explosives they set earlier. That should clear all witnesses to our escape. By the time the rest figured out what we did, we'll be long gone. It's risky, but it'll get us on the ground, outside the wall."
"And after that?"
He sighed and scratched the back of his head, one eye evaluating the frustrating tangle. "We'll figure that out when we come to it. That's secondary to just getting out in one piece."
They both winced as an explosion echoed from outside, followed by a stream of insults and gunfire from Ella.
She nodded then stared at the tangle for a second. "You mind if I tackle that? Ciara, Ella, and Banshee's got the breach covered and I need something to do."
He shrugged. "Go for it. I've got to help with the rigging up top anyways." He turned to leave, then paused, giving the mess a glare hot enough to shrivel a Hive witch. "Good luck with that infuriating knot. I swear…"
She plopped down and started working on the mess, tuning everything out as her exhausted mind locked onto the simple problem in front of her. Weave this end out of that loop, undo that knot, cut this wire here… It was undone faster than she wanted it to.
An incredulous noise came from directly above her.
When she looked up, Krix- currently hanging from a crane head with a hammer- was staring at the un-tied cord in front of her incredulously. "I just got up here and you're done already?!"
She glanced down dumbly, wondering what he was talking about. The tech across from her, a pretty blonde who had one heck of a black eye, started laughing.
And miraculously, the whole hangar started as well. In the middle of a literal hell on earth, everyone started laughing. And although it was quickly cut short by another round of explosions outside, it had a calming effect, almost as if those starting to panic where able to get their head back on straight and focused on the job at hand.
A little while later, she found herself standing at the edge of the massive hangar door, staring out over the black landscape. The red glow of the burning City lit the tops of the farthest peaks, reflecting prettily off of the melting snow of the spring.
"Alright, everyone on the edge, with your harnesses! Chen, don't forget to double check each person's set up before they go over!"
She looked to see the group lining up in five roughly even lines, the Guardians and best-armed soldiers on the far end. Five long cables attached to ceiling cranes where dangling over the edge, all of the way to the ground a few hundred feet down.
Chen, the old hangar master, was giving final instructions to the group as Banshee and Ella reluctantly jogged in from their post at the wall breach. "Remember, fist to your back to stop, fist out to your side to go. Keep up the pace, and whatever you do, DON'T FREEZE ON THE LINE. If you do you'll delay the person following you. Just keep that downward momentum up, and you'll be at the bottom in no time."
A yell came from the Krix. "We gotta go! The Cabal're on their way, and they brought a tank!"
At that cry the first five lept off of the edge, bouncing (mostly) gracefully down the wall. As soon as their feet hit the ground, the people next in line went for it. Ella, Banshee, Ciara, Krix, and Elistia where set to be the last to go, weapons pointed warily at the wall opposite.
They waited for long seconds, listening as the people behind them slide down behind them. Ella's line was done well before the others for some reason, and soon she too was disappearing over the edge. Over Elistia's helmet's com system, she heard a "You're clear" from the soldier that was behind her. Time to go.
She holstered her weapon and was about to hook up her harness when the wall across from her exploded in a mass of fire and concrete particles. Without flinching, Krix, Ciara, and Banshee all opened fire into the new gap, ducking as a storm of Cabal bolter fire flew through the breach.
"GO! Go go go go go go go!"
And with that, she lept off of the edge. She flung her right hand out, and could feel her stomach push up as she dropped. She flew toward the wall and she slowly tucked her hand behind her back, slowing her decent enough to solidly plant her feet on the metal surface before pushing out again. She glanced up and saw Banshee and Ciara closely following, weapons dangling as they dropped as fast as they dared.
Krix's cape could be seen fluttering over the edge as he fired away into the hangar, the sharp shinks of his Steelfeather bouncing around in her head.
Come on! Why don't you go already?
She answered herself. He's trying to get as many Cabal in the hangar as possible.
She didn't have long to wait. After her fourth rebound off of the wall, she could see him hurl himself off of the wall and drop straight down. A row of Red Legion heads popped over the edge and began firing at him.
They were answered by a storm of gunfire from the civilians on the ground and the Guardians still dropping down the wall. Krix slowed himself and assumed the bouncing decent the others were using, and with one evil-sounding growl, hit the detonator on his grips. With an explosion nearly 10 times that of the one that the Cabal used to breach, a shower of screaming Cabal and debris came hurtling out of the hangar doors above them, effectively demolishing any and all witnesses to their escape.
As soon as their boots touched the ground, the group started sprinting into the relative shelter of the dark woods, heading for the mountains.
The elation of their escape quickly wore off as the miles passed by and the enormity of their situation hit them, but as one, they continued to walk under the eaves of the woods. Friends could be mourned later. Homes could be rebuilt later. Right now? The priority was the second half of 'Escape and Evasion'.
A sudden thought struck Elistia as she started on her third hour of walking. They had survived. After all of that hell, all of that danger, they had survived. How had a three-week-old kinderguardian survived all of that when centuries-old Guardians didn't?
"Destiny."
She gave her ghost a quelling look. Krix shook his head as he pushed past her from his rear-guard position to the front of the group. "No, that's superstitious bullshit. We were just lucky."
He stopped the column when he made it to the front. "Ok everyone, we need to set up a plan. Where are we going, how we are going to get more food, current ammunition count, everything. We should be far enough out from the City for now, so go ahead and sit down. Take a rest, then we'll start discussion."
Elistia could tell everyone had long crashed from their adrenaline rushes. Eyes were moist, breaths were ragged, and hands were shaky. Ciara straight out fell asleep as soon as she sat down. The group as a whole had used their long walk to realize the gravity and ramifications of what they had just escaped- possibly the final doom of humanity. Some started quietly crying as Krix surveyed the group. Chen, the old hangermaster, hobbled up to him.
"So. What's the plan Guardian?"
Krix shook his head. "I shouldn't be the one to figure that out. I'm younger than almost everybody here, and I'm unfamiliar with this terrain. My experience is laughable compared to even some of the new CDF scouts over there. I was thinking you should take charge now. Especially since we're roughly clear of the City."
The old human shook his head. "That ship has sailed young man. You're already in charge." He surveyed the exhausted group around him. Three Lightless Guardians, 7 of his own technicians and mechanics, 3 shopkeepers from the Tower, 3 civilians he didn't recognize, and 5 City Defense Force scouts and soldiers. "We need a decisive and confident leader right now, especially to inspire hope for survival. You've filled the shoes perfectly since you arrived at my hanger, so don't step out now. So-" the man's sharp eyes peered up at the mechanical hunter. "what's the plan?"
Krix sighed. "Distance." The hunter slung his auto rifle and cleared his throat, the blue lights of his auditory LEDs seeming extra bright in the dark of the oncoming night. "Can I have everyone's attention please?"
The little rag-tag band of survivors shuffled around as they turned to face him. Ciara woke up with a snort and propped herself up against her machine gun.
"I think proper introductions are in order. My name is Krix-13, and this is my ghost Beeper. If you can't tell, we're in a little bit of dire situation. Even though we are clear of the City, we're not home free yet. I'm sure you know that Ciara, Elistia, and I are currently Lightless and very much mortal right now, even though our ghosts do have limited healing capabilities. Unfortunately, I'm fully expecting Red Legion hunting parties and patrols to set out and try to catch as many enclaves or survival groups they can find, which means-" his eyes slowly scanned the group "-we're going to be moving. A lot. I want to put as much ground between us and the City as physically possible over the coming weeks. So be prepared for a lot of walking."
No one moved, just tired silence answering him. "Also, we're going to be acting like a military unit in hostile territory, so complete radio silence, moving at night, constant rotating watch, and minimum trash or marks to hinder the enemies' chances of picking up/following our trail. You guys should have a good idea of what I'm talking about." He gestured to the handful of CDF soldiers in the group. All five of them nodded.
"So, now that we have a rough idea of how exactly we will move, I need someone who's familiar with this territory to give me an idea of where we should head. I'll be honest, despite my being a hunter, I am completely unfamiliar with the surrounding territory. I know many of us Guardians will try to gather somewhere and maybe organize a counter strike, but for right now, our personal survival takes priority to linking up with a very visible and vulnerable camp."
The most senior CDF scout slowly raised his hand. He was a native German whose gruff accent still shown through. "Vell sir, if we're trying to simply get some distance between us and ze City, zen we need to make for Twilight Gap to our North-Vest. Za problem with dis is that everyone else will also be trying to take the same route, and the Red Legion will for sure be watching the pass like a hawk. Our chances vill be… slim."
Krix nodded. "Good point. Any other ways past the mountains besides the Gap?"
The old mountaineer shook his head. "Near here? Nein."
"What about not near here?"
"Vell…" the graying man thought for a bit, before pointing toward the West. "Ve would have to skirt the City walls for many miles, but it is possible to find the main watershed out of the valley in the opposite direction of de Gap."
"And I'm assuming the Red Legion wouldn't be expecting someone to head toward the City so soon?"
The scout nodded. "Ja. It's risky, but it's possible."
Krix nodded in thanks. "Then it's decided. We'll make a round-about course for the main watershed and possibly take boats out. We'll need to keep a constant eye out for any resources we could use- particularly food- as we travel, but overall now we have a goal."
The group quietly nodded as the low rumble of approaching thunder sounded from miles away. Everyone could still see the red glow of the City as it burned, no matter how hard they tried to ignore it.
Krix sighed as he unslung his rifle. "Yeah. Everyone give me an ammo and food count- if you got it- then get some shut-eye. Me and Banshee'll take first watch, since us Exo's don't need sleep. Ella, Kinder-" he pointed to the only other Exo in the group- "You guys will get second. Who you pick after will be up to you." The worn gunsmith nodded and grabbed his Uriel's Gift as he slowly stood up.
Elistia watched the two of them quietly confer before fading into the shadows of nearby trees, blue eyes peering out keenly into the darkness. She shook her head as she settled done onto her piece of moss.
Krix was still there when she woke up later that evening, having slept almost 20 straight hours. Everyone else was still tucked away, sleeping off their grief and horror. The Hunter sat in the crook of a great tree's roots about a dozen feet away, unmoving, water droplets from the day's rain leaving streaks of clean metal among the dirt and ash that had built up over the course of the battle. His eyes were locked unblinking onto the trapped form of the Traveler, hands clutching his Steelfeather with a death grip.
She wiped the rain from her eyes and peered at him again. The quiet static of a radio whispered from the helmet at his feet. He had evidently been listening in on the common broadband all day. Distress calls, no doubt. But what caught her attention was his eyes. They weren't watching the Traveler with prayer, hope, or questions, but something else so intense that it made the young warlock start to worry.
Anger.
/
The Guardian, Tower Café, Present Day
"Oh. I should've figured."
Both you and the hunter glance at your ghost, neither of you glad of the interruption.
"That's where your dislike of the Traveler started, huh?"
Krix shook his head. "Yes and no. As a Guardian? Yes. Was it the true origin? No. That I found out later. And I wasn't the only one to think that way."
You nod. "I can understand that, in a way. If you ignore what the Traveler did during the Reclamation."
The Exo shrugged. "Lemme remind you, I was on the ground when the Traveler broke free. Believe it or not, it breaking free didn't help my feelings toward it at all."
"Oh?"
Krix looked grim. "I'm not going to go into any details, but I lost a couple friends when my team got trapped deep in the Cabal barrier network. Both from the band I escaped with, and a couple Guardians I was working alongside until then. One died- with her ghost- less than a minute and half before the Traveler freed itself. I know. I counted."
He cast a glare at the calm, smooth orb hovering not a mile away. "It reinforced my belief that it doesn't give a shit for us, and only did something when it's power was directly threatened. Damn piece of-" he stopped, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry. I still haven't processed everything I felt when I saw the Traveler free itself over the corpses of half of my fireteam."
He shook his head and settled back into his chair; dirty boots propped on top of the nearby railing. "But that's besides the point. I could go into detail of what happened in the weeks after our escape, evading Cabal hunting parties, linking up with Devrim, getting shipped to the Farm, my part in Zavala's assault on the City, yada yada. But I already covered the important bit."
Your ghost sputters in that indignant way of his. "Wha… you're just gonna skip all of that?! That's a lot of stuff, you know!"
Krix grinned a humorless smile, the blue of his vocalizer becoming more distinct in the failing light of the afternoon. "Yeah, it is. Nothing important to your inquiry though."
"Oh, and what part of your story so far was? You can't just leave it hanging like that."
The hunter leaned back and took another sip of his drink. "Well, you want to know what drove us to Europa right?"
You nod.
"Well, I wouldn't have even left on said travels if it wasn't for me discovering I had experimental combat… well, programs stored in my brain during the Red War. Technically they're subconscious-integrated combat subroutines, but that's extra. It was those and an infuriating sense of déjà vu. I didn't even know Exos could even have memories after being Risen, but that's what tipped me off."
"Wait, Exo's keep their memories after being Risen?" Ghost gives you a queer look.
Krix shrugged. "Sorta. Best I can gather organics wake up completely blank. Exos however, still have fragments back there. You gotta remember: our memories are on hardware. Not so easily removed. Even though much of our last imprints are fragmented from our re-boots, it's not impossible to access some of them."
He paused for a second. "Take Cayde. You should know this better than I do, but you remember how he was obsessed with playing cards? Beyond the normal hunter addiction?"
You nod again, a bit reluctant. His loss, despite how long ago that was, is still painful.
"Well, he had a system in place. Apparently, before he became a Guardian, but after he became an Exo, he tied his most important memories to certain playing cards. How he did it, I dunno, but it worked. After every reboot, all he had to do was look at his deck of playing cards and he had access to the jist of all of his most important memories. And somehow, when he woke up, that memory recall system still worked. To an extent. Which means those memories where still in his head."
He grinned and tapped his head. "See? Hardware. Now my… 'playing cards'- so to speak- were those combat programs. The adrenaline of the situation broke 'em out of whatever they were stuck in. Now the jail's broke, I can get in. And they were the source of many of my first clues."
Your ghost still looked a bit droopy. "So we won't hear at least a summary of what happened after?"
Krix outright laughed this time. "Man, you do have one interesting ghost. Sure, I'll give you a run down. It ain't gonna be too interesting, but here you go."
He emptied his mug and handed the waitress some glimmer. "We were basically in the woods for two weeks. We were one of the late comers to the Farm, but one of Suraya's people found us eventually. I'm proud to say we didn't lose a single person during that whole ordeal. We got back with just enough time to rest up for Zavala's counter assault. Which I'm sure you know about."
He plopped his long legs on an unoccupied chair as he began counting on his fingers. "I went in with a full fireteam. Me, Ciara, Elistia, Ella, one of Hawthorne's scouts named Ming, and Taeko-3. Taeko had apparently run off from Hangar 7 before the we lost our Light, and I fully expected her to be dead. But she wasn't." He gave a little grin. "She just told me she had a knack for surviving tight situations. I guess she was right."
Your ghost frowns a bit. "Wait, did you say Taeko-3?"
"Yeah. Cocky Exo Warlock. Praxic Order. You know her?"
Both you and your ghost shake your heads. "No, never in person. Haven't you heard? Taeko sacrificed herself so that we could kill a giant Shrieker in the Archology some time back. It was in the middle of one of the biggest Hive rituals we've ever seen."
Krix's face fell a bit. "Oh. Well damn, I've been farther behind the news than I thought."
He sat in silence for a bit. Then, with a sigh stood up. "And I'm suddenly not in the storytelling mood anymore. I'll be in town for a good bit, so if you want to hear more I'll be back here."
With a farewell nod he disappeared into the shadow of the doorway.
"Well." You ghost turned to you as you stand up. "I probably shouldn't have said anything. Same time tomorrow?"