Linvana has seen her fair share of logic-breaking and awe-inspiring creations of the Vex. The sprawling radiolaira conduits of Mercury. The floating gardens of Venus. The sunken crypt-labyrinths of Mars. But here in the Belt, free from the shackles of planetary gravity, they've built something else entirely.
The core of the vast structure is a twisting helix of stone and metal. It's easily a hundred kilometers long, the ends lost in the grimy violet haze of the atmosphere bubble. Countless satellite platforms surround this backbone; so thick in some places they obscure its spiraling layers. Even from their perch just a few kilometers out, the details are all just grainy smudges of dark stone and red metal.
It's simply too big, too complex to take in at once. So instead she examines it through the scope of a sniper rifle. The lenses give her a magnified window into the floating warrens, letting her pick out individual shapes. Cylindrical nexuses, branching confluences, shimmering warp gates.
"Hold on a sec," Linvana mutters. She nudges her rifle back to watch a blood-red goblin march across a narrow span of stone. "I recognize these Vex. They're the ones you keep in the Prison of Elders."
"That they are," Simin replies. The Corsair is lying prone beside Linvana, her own rifle against her shoulder. The two of them are perched on one of the furthest satellite platforms, keeping lookout as Telysa and Ollin scout the inner regions.
"I've seen them a few times planet-side, but not often," Linvana notes. "This place is absolutely crawling with them."
"The Cryptarchs call them the Aphix Invasive," Simin says, "Whatever that means. All I know is that they came crawling out of Fortuna after we smashed Tinette into it. Turned the remains into…whatever that is."
Linvana resumes her scan. No sign of Fallen yet, which is a good thing. They'd flown in on the far side from Khariss's compouned so they wouldn't be spotted. She spots a crimson minotaur servicing a warp gate. When it's finished it steps through the gate and vanishes.
"How do you keep them in there anyways?" Linvana asks.
Simin glances at her. "Them?"
"The Vex. In the Prison. Can't they just teleport away?"
"Ah, you'd think that, wouldn't you? We actually don't keep them. We didn't even capture most of them in the first place. One day, a gate-lord and its minions just walked right in, made themselves at home in one of the cell blocks."
"You're bullshitting me."
"It's the truth. They want to be in that prison. They even tolerate the warden dragging off a few of them for experiments and whatnot."
Yep, I know nothing about the Vex. "Damn…"
Simin chuckles. "That gate-lord must have some grand plans for the Prison. Or at least it did before that hot-shot Guardian rolled in and scrapped it."
"Hotshot Guardian. If I didn't know better, I'd say it's the same one that killed Crota and Oryx."
"Well actually…"
Linvana gapes. "No way. No. Damn. Way."
"I'm afraid so."
She turns her attention back to the ruins. Great. "Seems that Guardian is all I ever hear about."
She can hear the smile in Simin's voice. "I know, right?"
Despite only knowing the Corsair for a few hours, Linvana finds herself liking Simin. She feels like a practical, no-nonsense kind of person. Little time for theatrics, lots of time for just getting stuff done.
She picks out where Telysa's and Ollin's ships are parked beside a distant platform. Shouldn't they be back by now? They would have broken radio silence if something went wrong. Unless the Fallen or Vex had some kind of jamming field set up…
Relax, she tells herself, it's a big area to scout.
"So," Simin says, "You and Telysa."
"What about us?" Linvana snaps. Kind of a rude thing to just bring up.
"Easy there. I'm just curious. When I uh, met Telysa, she'd sworn off of relationships forever. And last time I asked her to do a job, she was all mopey and refused to tell me why. A few months later, she comes back with you in tow. So I was wondering if you two were a thing or not."
Linvana sighs. "Good question. We went through a rough patch not too long ago, now we're trying to fix it up. Slowly. We're more just working together than anything else, but at the same time…well, it's complicated."
"Relationships with her always are. She's not good at being alone, but she's not good with people either. I'm just glad she finally found someone."
"Yeah, me too."
Simin lets the conversation lapse. Linvana finds herself stealing an occasional glance at the Corsair. Something about what she'd said isn't sitting right.
Before she can figure it out, Telysa's voice crackles in her ear. "Team? I've got eyes on the axis mind. We're going to need more firepower."
The Sunbreakers had fought a Gatelord when Linvana was training with them. She'd watched from a distance as Liu Feng and two other Sunbreakers fought their way to its feet and smashed it with their flaming hammers. It'd taken them three hours to reach it, pushing through a swarm of goblins while the Gatelord bombarded them with its torch hammer. By the end of it ground was a cratered mess and half the surrounding forest was on fire.
The colossal minotaur patrolling the span below makes the Gatelord look like a minnow.
The towering chassis is at least three times taller than the biggest Gatelords Its oily red armor grinds with each movement, and the whole structure shakes each time it takes a step. The kilometer separating them from it doesn't feel like it's remotely far enough to keep them safe from its ten-foot long torch hammer.
"We watched it drive off one of Khariss's crews earlier," Telysa is saying. "Took a fully charged scorch cannon blast straight to the eye. Didn't even phase it. And now half that crew are dead."
"That armor has to be at least six inches thick," Simin says. "I can't think of any gun that would get through it in a reasonable amount of time."
"There's that giant laser some Guardians built out of warsat parts," Linvana muses. "That could probably do it."
"Would you happen to have one of those giant lasers?" Telysa asks.
"Um, no."
"Great. So, Simin, I think it's about time you call in an airstrike."
"An airstrike out here? Not a chance. And before you ask, we're flying light scout ships. Only armament is some middling plasma cannons."
"The only other option is we get more Guardians out here," Telysa says.
"Yeah, that won't be easy if you can't offer anything to pay them," Linvana notes. "We'd have to go to the Vanguard, convince them to authorize a strike protocol. That could take a while, even if they agree to it."
"What about your powers?" Ollin asks. Linvana jumps a little. The young Corsair has been silent so long, she'd forgotten he was there.
"I watched a Guardian take down an Overmind Minotaur in the Arena," he explains when Lin and Tel don't respond. "Had a flaming gun, blasted its head right off. This one's bigger, but you could aim for the midsection."
"I'm not that kind of Hunter, kid," Telysa says. "Solar Light doesn't mix well with me."
"I'd try my hammer," Linvana adds. "But I'd need a few hits at least. And if I'm in a spot where I can throw my hammer at it, it will just melt me with its gun."
"My Arcblade probably could do it, but getting close will be virtually impossible."
"Hmph." Linvana looks out across the sweeping layers of the Vex structure. There has to be a way they can get close.
"Well as entertaining as it is to watch you brainstorm," Simin says. "Ollin and I have a date with a Fallen ringleader." She starts retreating along the narrow platform, to where their ships are parked at the end.
"Wait, you're just leaving?" Linvana asks.
"Sure are." She motions for Ollin to follow.
"But we might not even be able to kill it!"
"All the more reason to have that talk with Khariss. He's already made the situation worse then we imagined."
Linvana watches as the two Awoken walk away, leaving her and Telysa alone with the giant Vex.
"So is this how it usually goes?" Linvana demands. "Simin calls you, you rush over, then she leaves you to clean up the mess?"
"Relax Lin," Telysa replies, still watching the minotaur. "There's nothing between us, never has been. Nothing to be jealous of. Besides, look at that thing. They don't have Ghosts, they would only have gotten in the way."
Linvana starts to say she's definitely not jealous, but stops immediately. They're technically not dating now, so does it really matter? Besides, there's still something about what Simin said earlier…
She forces herself to focus on the task at hand.
"I'd kill for a Gjallarhorn right now," Telysa muses.
"Yeah…Something that big is going to be really slow. I figure either of us could do some serious damage, if we could just get close to it."
"Then we need a distraction."
"The Fallen?"
"I doubt they'll be back soon with Simin kicking at their nest."
Linvana sighs and peels her eyes away from the minotaur. As far as remote corners of the system go, this is one of the most desolate. No backup, no resupplies, nothing at all except a bunch of drifting rock and stone.
"Say Tel," Linvana says as a ridiculous, completely deranged plan sprouts among her thoughts. "Want to take your jumpship for a spin?"