Broken Mind
(A/N: Following the conclusion of the first story arc, which may or may not be this time or next, or the time after, minor credits will be included. Credits will contain such things as Grimoire references, inspirations, etc. Also, as of the start of this document, this story has over 1,500 views! A big thanks from me in the form of information: this story is planned to be 100,000 words and be completed before the release of The Taken King. It's a challenge I'm undertaking for myself. I will do my best to take as little liberties with the source as I can, but please keep in mind that the grimoire is fair game as well. Thanks again for reading!)
Enki was sitting down next to the conflux, the same one the fireteam had tried accessing before. His helmet was off, and the rest of the team were guarding the room.
"Enki, think about what you're saying!" said Azariah.
"This is insane. You're insane. And you're not even listening! Earth to Exo!" said Blytz.
"Will you all just let him try?" said Soren.
"With all due respect," said Kaara, "They're right. You know the reports."
"Kaara, the reports you're referencing are Exos attempting to access their own partitioned memories after a number of memory resets. You and I weren't even online until the Collapse, and those Exos had been around long before then. On top of that, we've spent long periods either inactive or sifting through our memories and removing huge chunks of repetitive data. We planned for this kind of thing. I'll say it again, and this time, really think about what I'm saying."
Morik watched the door he had chosen, but looked over his shoulder at the old Exo.
"I'm going to have my Ghost act as a proxy, and I'm going into the network here. It's a closed loop, so there should be a lot less data than anywhere else the Vex use confluxes. I'll be absorbing and deleting data I don't need until I find something useful. At that point, I'll have my Ghost pull me out. I have fail-safes in place where if I don't react to my Ghost within a few ticks, it will pull me out anyway, and so on. We need answers. If we can't find a way to beat the Vex here, or find what they're hiding, or even escape, then this is our only option. Take the intel right from the source."
Morik looked back out the door. "Enki is right. With no plan, Vex will wear us down. Light may sustain you, but my ether will run dry. Death, here, would kill many possibilities as well. We can only trust, and watch."
Azariah bit her lip in her helmet. Kaara settled into her stance, looking down her scope and watching a hallway.
"Just do what you think is right," said Soren. "Not like I have any better ideas at this point."
Enki shifted, his legs crossed, hands on his knees. His Ghost lined up facing him and the conflux, lighting up brighter and brighter.
"Initiating proxy dive into the closed Vex network. Three… Two… One…"
Kaara shifted her stance again, the fifth time in under a minute.
"Time?" asked Soren.
"Twenty-five minutes, eighteen seconds," said Kaara.
Soren huffed. "This is absolutely nerve-wracking. How do we tell if he's ok?"
No one answered.
The entire team whirled when they heard sounds like Vex vocalizations. It was Enki, his usual orange lights flashing white, coolant spitting from his mouthpiece. He sat still for a moment more then jerked like someone waking from a nightmare and scrambled across the floor away from the conflux. Stopping in the middle of the floor, he laid on his back, every coolant tube in his neck bulging. Smoke issued from his eyes and mouth and his lights continued to flash sporadically. Kaara was by his side faster than anyone else.
"Enki!" she cried out, lifting his head and pulling him into her lap. Her hands hovered over his head, like someone at an emergency keypad who couldn't remember a life-saving pass code.
Enki's head moved in quick snaps, registering each person in the room until his Ghost hovered over. He fixated on his Ghost and made more distorted Vex noises. The Ghost shone its light on him and he stilled.
"Guys!" said Enki, his lights still flashing, his mouth not moving. "I've-I've got i-i-it. The r-room, at the cen-ce-center. It's another-ther heart! Ack!"
He shook his head violently, flecks of coolant spraying from his mouth. He sat bolt upright, clenching his fists and shoulders. All his lights turned on, as bright as they would go, then shut off. He remained upright, his Ghost's light still on his face, until his orange eyes turned back on.
"Guys!" he said. "I've got it. The room, at the center. It's-"
"Another heart?" said Azariah.
Enki stopped, taken aback. "You guessed?"
"You just said that…"
Enki looked around, but no one contradicted her.
"Did I? Sorry… I almost didn't make it out. I found that last bit of information and started to get my Ghost to yank me, but the heart latched on. It started… I don't know, asking questions. Unspoken questions. I could feel the curiosity, focused curiosity, down to exactly how it might word each question, but it never used words. Not just words in a language we know, I mean anything close to comprehensible in spoken medium. The second I realized that and started to wonder, started to ask my own unspoken questions, it started answering. Fast. Too fast. Like it was starving for any kind of interaction. Any new information at all."
Enki put a hand on the side of his head, which had stopped smoking.
"I'm going to need time to recover… I need to dump a lot of data, reindex, defrag, the works. After this whole thing is over, I never want to see another Vex anything as long as I function."
The team was back on the surface, waiting for Enki to recover. Morik used the last of his stored ether, looking disappointedly at the synthetic ether he was supposed to be using to fuel his Siegfried. The weapon was full, and he had plenty of fuel left over, but he still had no idea if it would really work as a substitute. Another twelve hours of inactivity and he'd find out, whether he liked it or not. Much sooner, if he was forced to fight.
Enki started moving again, putting his helmet back on.
"Ok. Sorry for the scare, but I should be back to normal. I didn't find much. The heart in the center of this place isn't like the heart found in The Black Garden. First of all, the room is gravitized like the rest of the construct. Secondly, there are no Vex worshiping this heart. Thirdly, and most troubling, the Exo we came across wasn't the only Guardian to find this place. Or end up here, I should say. This place is where the Vex are sending anything too powerful or too dangerous to leave alone. Anything that could disrupt their plans, whatever those may be. There are few Vex here because the mechanism of the construct does exactly what we think, it uses localized time-distortion to reverse damage done to recognized units of the Hezen Protective. Few Vex, however, means relatively few. Two hundred units never leave the inside of the construct."
"Wonderful. Any way to get out of here? Or deactivate the closed loop? Or shift gravity in our favor?" said Soren.
"We have two options, as far as I can tell. We can do this Kaara's way, and try to sneak into the center of the construct. Destroying the heart will most likely force the Vex to undo the network lock. After that, we could just find a conflux and a gate and get out of here. The other option is my way. The time distortion always goes back a set number of seconds. If we can use grenades that stick to their frames, or use physical attacks, we could time it in such a way as to destroy the Vex twice. Once to force the reverse, but at just the right moment so as to get them to reverse right into the second time."
"Enki?" said Blytz. "You just said make them die once to reverse into their second death. That makes no sense."
Enki stared at Blytz for a moment. "It doesn't?"
"Either you've gotten worse at explaining things, or you're not thinking of time the same way we all do anymore," said Soren.
"I'm saying we stick grenades to them to blow them up, then fire at where they were standing a set number of seconds before the explosion. They'll revert back into the bullets and die."
"Won't they just revert again?" said Soren.
"No, I mean…" Enki paused. "They only ever go back a certain number of seconds, right? What I'm saying is that they can't reverse and then reverse again."
"So why complicate things? We can just kill them twice," said Blytz.
"That won't work," said Enki.
"Why not?!" said Blytz.
"Because they would die the first time, revert, fight some more, die, then revert again."
"But you just said they couldn't do it twice! Make sense!"
"They can't. Only once. But when they revert, it's like they never reverted, so they can revert again. We have to change the state they are reverting TO to a state where they are already going to die. Then kill them. They will revert and die for good."
"Ok! Time out! Everyone just shut up! You're giving me a headache!" said Azariah. "Let me get this straight! What Enki is saying is that these things don't have perfect reaction time. They need a second to recognize that they'll die so they can revert. So if we set them up to die the instant they reform, they won't have a chance to reform. Right?"
"Well," said Enki, "They all share one mind. So, yes and no. They don't have perfect reaction time, but they are linked."
"Oh, my- Will it work or won't it?!" yelled Azariah.
"It will work! I'll show you how first, if it helps."
"Yes! Please! Do that. Now can we go?!"
Enki's visual receptors refocused. "I don't feel right…"
"Big surprise!" said Azariah, throwing her hands up.
Everyone was quiet, looking at Azariah and Enki. Azariah noticed, looked around, then looked at Enki. His head was tilted, and he was sitting on a chunk of the construct slumped over. He looked like a confused child, not the well-put-together Vanguard officer she'd gotten used to.
"Wow… I'm sorry. Enki, that conflux really did you in, didn't it?" she said, deflating.
"It's fine," said Enki. "To be honest, I had to dump a lot more than I thought. I lost a lot of data. A lot of memories that… The bottom line is that I'm not myself. I won't be the Enki you remember for quite a while. I'll have to sync with Kaara to make sure I didn't lose something important. The heart… It corrupted a lot of data on top of all the useless garbage I got out of it to begin with."
He paused, refocusing again. "I don't feel right…" he repeated.
"Estimated time of reversal is one second. Standing at a sufficient distance and firing Truth will create the proper window, due to low velocity," reported Kaara. "Sniper fire is the only thing powerful enough to kill them in one shot, but only Icebreaker will do enough damage for armored Hobgoblins."
"Physical method should be left to me," said Morik. "For Minotaurs or Hydras."
"How many rockets do you have?" asked Soren.
"After transmatting the Vex from the surface earlier, I've got a full three shots. No reserve, though," said Blytz.
"Good enough. Kaara, you've just got to give us the timing or the distance, then Blytz and I can handle the coop fire. Like you said, I'll need to take the shots on Hobgoblins," said Azariah.
"Roger," said Kaara. "Route plotted, marker set. Everyone check equipment and form up. Me first, cloaked. Morik next, scorch cannon ready. Azariah and Blytz next, combination weapons ready. Enki on rear guard, Hard Light to lock up Vex in case of emergency. Ready?"
They confirmed, one after another.
"Moving," said Kaara, her stealth field shimmering into place. Her IFF started down a hallway.
The team jogged after her, keeping a steady pace. They rounded a corner to an intersection, followed Kaara to the left and down a long ramp, around another left corner, into a large room. A Hydra appeared at the other end and three Goblins teleported into the room, in the center but spread into a wide arrow formation.
"Fire Truth on my mark," said Kaara, her IFF up a wall on a chunk. "Mark."
Blytz fired the second the M sound hit his ears. Kaara fired twice in rapid succession. The rocket flew past the first Vex, into the center of the three before exploding. Two of the Vex fell in pieces.
"Slightly early. Your reaction time is unexpectedly high. Please wait for the complete statement before firing next time. Azariah, fire on the remaining Goblin's mind core on my mark. Attempting a prediction shot."
Kaara fired a shot just to the left of the Vex, her stealth breaking. The Vex fired at her, stepping toward her. "May not work. Mark," she said, shooting the Vex just above its glowing white core.
Azariah fired, and the Vex reverted. It stumbled, its case cracked, but it still stood. The Hydra started moving into the room, firing over the Goblin's head.
"Prepare Truth. Fire on my mark. Morik, prepare scorch cannon to fire on my second mark."
"Ready!" said Blytz.
"Mark," said Kaara.
Blytz fired and she shot the Goblin in the mind core. It reverted and the rocket struck it, blowing it to pieces.
"Second mark is my first bullet. After firing, move in, circumvent its barrier, and attempt physical method. Ready?"
"Ready," said Morik, aiming the scorch cannon.
Kaara fired several times, Morik's cannon shot travelling quickly and barely making it past the Hydra's barrier. It started to fall to pieces and shimmer as Morik dashed from the hallway across the room. He blinked past the Hydra as it reformed. He turned, his scorch cannon vanishing into his Ghost's storage, and shoved his hands into the seams of the Hydra's frame from behind. Lightning pulsed through him and he ripped off the top third of the Hydra then brought his hands down to where they'd been. The Hydra reformed around his hands and he ripped it apart again. It began to overload, as Hydras all did as a last resort. Morik jumped back.
"Success!" he announced.
"Still untested against shielded Minotaurs, but for now certainly a success against all enemy types. Hobgoblins may require further coordination as well if they're armored."
"Good to see I didn't half lose my mind for nothing," said Enki. "Radar's still clear, by the way."
"Do you remember the number of Vex that stay below the surface?" asked Soren.
"You want a count of how many are left. I can't give you one, because other Vex from the outside can teleport in and receive the same effects from the construct. The official standing army is two hundred. If you can somehow tell the difference, I can give you a count."
"Hydra was different. Perhaps Hezen Protective, but certainly much older than other Vex from Mars patrols," said Morik.
"A Descendant?" said Azariah.
"Hard to say," said Kaara. "Unlikely, however, given the dating experiments done on Vault of Glass examples."
"Why, what did those come up as?" asked Soren.
"If memory serves, it was several billion years."
"Is that even possible? Isn't Sol supposed to last about five billion years?"
"The Vex aren't bound by space and time. They could be from somewhere and somewhen else."
"We can leave the theories and questions to the Warlocks and Cryptarchs," said Enki. "Let's keep moving."
"Back to formation," said Kaara. "And onward."
"Lots of movement. Vex interference, like on Venus. Continuing could be hazardous. Time to target at current pace is under five minutes. Time to ambush is under one. What should we do?" asked Kaara.
"I'm charged. Continue," said Azariah.
"Same," said Soren.
"We've been fine this far, might as well finish the job," said Enki.
"I can't even tell where we are anymore, with all the changes in gravity," said Blytz. "But I'm good to keep going."
"Light still recovering, but I can fight," said Morik. "If you suspect ambush, may be better that I go first."
"Move up to me," said Kaara. "We'll go together. Everyone else, stay within sight of Morik, but far enough away to react."
Morik checked his shrapnel launcher's ammo as he ran up the hallway, faster than his fellow Guardians. He caught up to Kaara and she leapt onto his back, climbing onto his shoulders.
"Excuse me," she said.
Morik kept running, headed for Kaara's adjusted marker, a room up ahead. According to their map, it was the last room before the center.
"Attention," said Enki's calm-toned Ghost over comms, "Current scans indicate similar activity to The Black Garden. Previously, scans were not alarming or extraordinary. Vex activity has now reached peak levels, and is continuing to rise. Recommend immediate reassessment of situation."
Goblins teleported into the room with Morik and Kaara, along with an armored Minotaur.
"Physical!" said Kaara. "Truth shot, now! On the Minotaur!"
"I'm out," said Blytz. "Not enough to transmat!"
Morik was already tearing the Goblins to pieces and snarling. His shields took a few shots from the Minotaur before dissipating. The next shot hit him in the back and left his armor smoking. He spun, firing his shrapnel launcher and shattering the Minotaur's shields, rushing forward and ducking under another shot from its Torch Hammer. The shot hit Kaara, whose shields broke, causing her to fly off Morik's shoulders. She landed deftly on her feet as Morik slammed into the Minotaur, grabbing it. He stepped in and spun, twisting the Minotaur around so its back was to his team. He kicked it, reloading his shrapnel launcher with his lower arms. Kaara shot it up at an angle, through the shoulder joints so she didn't risk her bullets going through and hitting Morik. A Stormfist from Morik and the Minotaur shattered, immediately reversing time. Its shields were still gone, but it was already taking aim when Morik unloaded his shrapnel launcher. The Minotaur fell to pieces a second time.
"Radar, down the hallway!" said Enki. Vex were teleporting into the hallway by tens, crowding it completely and marching forward. The fireteam started running forward, away from the Vex who were quickly teleporting up the hallway in bursts.
"This is the last hallway! Enki, you have Hard Light, shoot at them!" said Azariah.
"We're inside the construct. Shooting them will just be a waste unless I can kill them all twice in under two seconds. Just keep running!" said Enki.
Blytz' head cocked to the side while he ran. "Hold on a damn second!"
He floated off the ground, Void light gathering all around him. He spun, still moving with the team, and waved his hand across the hallway. Three small Nova Bombs, Shatter, flew from his palm and struck the first line of Vex. They began to vaporize, exploded into more Void energy, Blooming, and reformed. The Bloom effect killed the Vex behind them as they reformed, completing the cycle and killing them a second time. The chain reaction continued all the way down the crowded hallway, a spectacle that stopped the fireteam in their tracks. In the end, only the last line of Vex survived, having reformed after Blooming. Blytz started to curse the result as not being perfect, but Kaara had taken a knee and aimed, killing all five survivors in one burst. All was silent.
"Blytz?" said Soren.
"Yup?"
"Why didn't you do that every other time we had to fight a crowd?"
"Because the other ones we could handle, and they weren't so bunched up?"
"Why are you saying that like you're unsure?"
"..."
"You just now thought of that, didn't you?"
"... Maybe…"
"Less of questioning, more of moving, yes?" interjected Morik.
Soren shook his head and the fireteam took off at a jog again.
"Lack of gravity distortion confirmed," said Kaara's Ghost. "Orientation confirmed. Vex readings match Black Garden reports."
"So, we can drop in but we can't get out. And we might be fighting a Vex 'god?'" said Soren.
"Gravity is distorted within the chamber. Escape will be impossible under current conditions."
"All in favor of staying out here to die, raise your hand!" said Blytz. He looked around. No one raised their hand.
"If we go in there and we kill it, will it undo the closed loop? Or the gravity distortion?" wondered Azariah.
"Only way to find out is no way to find out," said Morik.
"Do you have a better idea?" said Azariah.
"Morik, you're going to have to be first. You'll make the biggest entrance, and we can control our falls much better," said Enki. "Go ahead. We'll be right behind you."
Morik looked at them all, then at the square hole at the end of hall, big enough to fit a Cabal Interceptor. A dull purple light flickered from within, and a sub-sonic thrumb filled the air, something any living thing could feel in their bones. He stepped forward, his armor shifting and clinking together between a few plates, manifested his Siegfried and stored his shrapnel launcher, and jumped. The room was massive enough to hold the main decks of a Ketch, just like the mapping showed. When he neared the bottom he blinked, appearing on the floor unharmed. It was a trick he learned from Kaara. Immediately, he leveled the Siegfried, scanning for targets. He was the first to see the inside, where the Vex network of energies and the active construct prevented outside scan data from travelling through the air uncorrupted. In the center, high above, floated a "heart" like the one in The Black Garden. It shifted and pulsed, its many facets strobing from pitch black to light steel gray and back, veins extending from it into nothing and fading from sight. It glowed in the purple light that had been escaping from the opening. Swirling energy escaped the heart, diffusing into the air. Minotaur variants, Praetorians, began to rise from the walls, the ceiling, the floor, in squads of three. They were a steel gray color, their models completely foreign to any experienced by Guardians before.
"Enki!" came Azariah's voice over the comms. The other Guardians landed, Enki collapsed in Soren's arms, his lights flaring white again. He was twitching uncontrollably.
"Focus! Vex are incoming. We must assume, as within Black Garden, killing Vex kills enemy heart!"
Everyone but Enki looked at Morik.
"Kaara will protect Enki. All others, on me. We will not wait; be passive. Advance, kill squads while they are apart."
"How can Kaara keep up and cover Enki?" said Soren.
"... Wait," said Blytz. "Morik, hold still."
He motioned for Soren to bring over Enki. In a few seconds, Blytz had removed his overcoat, used his Ghost to reform it into two large belts.
"Help me strap him on," said Blytz.
"Are you crazy?! You're gonna handicap Morik to save Enki?! He could be dead right now, for all we know. He barely recovered last time this happened!"
"No arguments. Do it," said Morik.
The two Warlocks strapped Enki to Morik's back, like a large rocket launcher, his arms bound to his sides, his legs tied together.
"One last thing," said Morik.
Everyone waited.
"I will run out of ether if I do not act. Synthetic ether 'should' serve as replacement. Siegfried is only half-fueled."
Morik's Ghost transmatted a canister into his hands.
"You sure that stuff is safe?" said Azariah.
"No," said Morik, already consuming it.
Indomitable coming soon...