Midnight Mutiny
Shielding his children, a citizen peeked out of a window. Outside in the street House of Light fought House of Kings, Tower foundry weapons against salvage-made shock pistols and rifles. Fallen Eliksni and born-again Guardians, locked in combat the likes of which the citizens had never seen.
Inside the Tower, Cayde finally made his return, and just in time.
"Disregard those new targets in the field. They're… Presents. From our very own Kell, right to the enemy."
"You want us to let them march right into the City? What if they aren't on our side?" said Zavala.
"Then give 'em a ring and find out yourself. We've got bigger problems. The Kings are pushing in, street by street. They don't have air support, but neither do we. Can't be destroying our own buildings trying to drive them out. Guardians are having to fight covering citizens, evacuations, and avoiding damage to infrastructure. We're at a huge disadvantage, despite this being our home. This'll be the gamechanger."
"I'll contact Gravian about it. She's the only Archon not on that Ketch. If we try to contact Morik and his fireteam, we'll give away their position," said Ikora Ray.
Morik and his fireteam had weapons ready, Morik with his auto-rifle, Ramiks with his pulse-rifle, Viksis with his hand cannon, and were walking down a major service corridor toward the main decks of the Ketch.
"Our first objective must be to capture the Pilot Servitor," said Morik. "After that, we head for the throne room and confront the Kell."
"There won't be much point to stealth. No matter what we do, they will find out we're here. The Ketch is just too large for us to clear out every single enemy without proper control of the ship and back-up," said Ramiks.
"There are modern legends of Guardians…" said Viksis. "A fireteam that has slain a Hive 'god,' and infiltrated the Vault of Glass. They continue to build their legend, even now. If there are such warriors among our fellows, we can do no less than meet that standard."
"I've heard," said Ramiks. "But being so strong, I wonder how much fun any battle can be. Without a challenge, it must take quite an exercise in spirit to keep motivated from battle to battle."
"The thrill of combat is not something that should be sought after, Ramiks," said Morik. "Even so, you are right to say it is a motivator, logic aside. We are here in part to put an end to this assault on the City, on the Traveller, and in part for my own plans. Selfishness, I admit to, but it is not without benefit for others."
"Your selfishness is a given to us, my Kell," said Viksis.
Ramiks tilted his head, looking at Viksis. Astounded by the audacity of the statement, but unwilling to, in his eyes, dishonor his Kell by defending him. Morik completely ignored it, instead responding as an equal.
"The expectation is no excuse, Viksis. It is our way to follow traditions of old, but I have worked hard to reshape our House as one worthy of the gift of Light. We were abandoned for refusing to progress, stagnating in our traditions and bloodlust. By some chance, of those who are Fallen who turn away, I was in the right place at the right time to be forged in Light. Even more unlikely was receiving the help of Variks and his Kell, and having friends who taught me and were patient with me when I had trouble understanding. Friends who gave their lives fighting by my side. I understand better than anyone how it feels to fight against one's nature, to think of myself as a Guardian before a Kell, before an Eliksni… But I also cannot ignore what I am. I must choose to meet expectations that show myself, House of Light, and our race in a positive light, and fight to avoid those expectations that show us to have not changed at all."
"And it is such thoughts that compel those like myself to follow you," said Viksis.
"I do not concern myself with it all," said Ramiks. "I will be Eliksni first, and serve my Kell as I know I should. That you are a Kell worthy of serving only makes it easier, and keeps me from the persecution of others."
The fireteam walked in silence after that, the corridor ending in a large sealed hatch. Morik manifested his Ghost, and they waited for the door to be opened.
"This is Kaara-00, reporting success of insertion."
"Transmission acknowledged. You have a pending notification that requires response."
A familiar voice played over the comms into Kaara's jumpship as it landed.
"Time to go, Kaara. No time to fix your make-up."
"... Yessir."
"You, Soren! Get to the top of block 7, building 3. We've got Sunsingers preparing to wall off a main street."
The transmission cut before Soren could ask any detailed questions, so he broke from the firefight he was in and ran away down the street. With a few gliding jumps, Soren gained the roof of an apartment building. Scared faces in the windows, who were seeing Guardians in action for the first time, watched in awe as several other Sunsingers practically flew through the air in the streets. The Fallen were only interested in advancing through the City, toward their Great Machine, and hadn't bothered to attack power facilities or other infrastructure directly. Yellow streetlights still lit the early night air, making the cloaked Warlocks look like oversized moths darting for the glow. In moments, six and seven story buildings had five Sunsingers atop each, their Solar Light gathering. This close to the Traveller, the gathering Light looked like small floating sparks, fireflies to match the moth-like Warlocks.
"All teams, declare when ready. We'll count down and raise the Light together!"
The Warlocks looked out over the shorter residential buildings, seeing the blue flashes of Fallen weaponry and feeling the Light of their comrades responding in kind, team by team sounding off.
"Three! Two! One! Raise!"
Throwing up their hands together, fingers pointed up, palms to the stars, a wall of Solar Light, like a raging firestorm, erupted from the empty street below. The line of fire stretched all across the City, from wall to wall. No Guardian or citizen that passed through would be harmed, but allies of the Darkness would be burned alive… Provided the Warlocks could keep the fire burning.
"King Baron! We need a sniper!" reported a Hunter ducked behind a concrete barrier. His Ghost placed a waypoint over its head, far behind the enemy lines issuing orders and organizing intel. The Hunter popped up again, trying to get a shot with his scout rifle, when he saw a wire rifle bullet strike the Baron's shield, rupturing it.
"Gravian to support defense. Mark important targets!"
She fired again before the Baron could escape, the thin filaments from her wire rifle carving right through the Baron's helmet and out the back if its head.
"Is that an Archon?" said a Titan hiding behind a wall.
"Yeah. House of Light's got some crack shots."
"They're cheating! They've got four eyes!"
"Haha! You're just mad she took that thing's head off before you!"
A sniper rifle went off, the unintroduced Guardian scoffing.
"Just you watch! I'm not in the business of losing to anyone in marksmanship."
"Shock grenade!"
A Defender reached over cover, punched the head off a Dreg to activate her Force Barrier, and dove on the grenade. There was a bright flash and she flew back into a large ground floor window, into the waiting room of an apartment complex office.
"Someone see to her! Swarm grenade out! Let's see how they like it!"
Five Guardians responded with their own grenades, the last one a Striker.
"Flashbang! Get ready to push forward!"
The blue sphere bounced in the middle of the street, popping up right in front of the enemy line. Guardians ducked or looked away, heard the grenade go off, and bolted from cover…
"Dispatch my Archons," ordered the Kell of Kings. "They will bring down that wall of flame. The Silent Fang are to focus on House of Light only now. They and their Ghosts are top priority."
"Yes, my Kell. We also have an intruder on the upper decks. It is not a Guardian, like the three Eliksni on the main deck."
"See that it is dealt with, regardless. We can have no distractions."
"Archon, coming up the street," said a Voidwalker, perched on a balcony with a sniper rifle.
Below, several House of Light Captains were helping to hold the street. King Vandals faded into sight, right behind each of them, shock blades burning right through shields and armor. The Archon fired a scorch cannon, disrupting the Guardians trying to counter. A second wave of Vandals appeared, Silent Fang, to destroy the exposed Ghosts.
"No!" yelled a Bladedancer, drawing his knife and charging with Arc Light.
Seeing his ally preparing to counter, a Defender jumped over cover toward the Archon, throwing up his Ward of Dawn to block any further long range attacks. The Bladedancer cleared the unarmored Vandals and other Guardians revived their downed allies. The expectation was for the Archon to reinforce the advancing Fallen, but it ran right through the line and kept coming. As it reached the intersection between them, passing into a higher end residential district, the Archon blinked up onto a balcony. It blinked again at the end of that balcony to another, then to another, until it was running on the rooftops. Nothing stood between it and the Sunsingers on the roof ahead. Rather than blink, the Archon jumped for the next roof, only to have a sniper bullet hit its shoulder and send it spinning into the wall. It crashed into an alley and two Guardians blocked either exit, kneeling and firing up to avoid shooting each other.
One success was followed by few others, however, as other Archons made it through to the rooftops. Guardians defending the streets couldn't abandon their lines or risk letting the main force slip in, but they'd lose their safety net if the Sunsingers' flames died out.
"Now!" came an male Exo's voice, followed by streaks of metal rising out of the flames. Fireteams of three lept onto the rooftops with the Sunsingers, workers from the foundries and delivery services and hanger, older Guardians who'd been retired. A Defender was among each team, using the massive resonance with the Sunsingers to deploy a Ward of Dawn to cover each group of five. The center team were two Exos, veteran Vanguards, and the leaders of countermeasures.
"Kaara!"
Kaara raised her knife, mirrored by many other Bladedancers down the line. Arc Light, straight from the Traveller, struck their blades like lightning. Where there were not Bladedancers, two Guardians worked together, and duels broke out across the City to defend the Warlocks.
"This close to the Traveller, we might be able to take a page out of the Warlocks' book! Channel your Light, maintain your Wards! When these Archons fall, and they will fall, we head to the streets!"
Enki, inside his Ward, raised his hands. Smaller Void Light spheres surrounded his hands, drawing "embers" from the flame wall. As the small motes of light rose above the rest, they spun in on themselves, turning purple and shifting polarity in midair. Enki's body locked up, his face to the sky, arms over his head, feeding everything he had into radiating Light. Outside his Ward, Kaara fought. The Archon swept arms at her, kicked, jumped back and fired its scorch cannon, blinked over and over, but Kaara was always a step ahead. The glimmer-infused concrete reacted to her Arc Light, small sparks dashing from her body to the floor and back with even a single twitch. She used Razor's Edge over and over, shocking the Archon who only fought on, heedless of its smoking armor. Kaara slid between its legs and did a spinning hop, releasing Arc Light in a burst, her Showstopper. The Archon stumbled, dropping the scorch cannon and hissing, calling up a large amount of its ether and charging its body. It blinked, swinging its fists in a looping punch, from low near its knees, right into Kaara's chest. She flew back, tumbling into Enki's legs and knocking him over. Kaara's blade trance ended and she struggled to stand.
"Stay in here. Let me have a turn," said Enki, getting up and shaking out his limbs. He was out of the Ward before Kaara could protest.
"It's been a while since I sparred with an Eliksni," said Enki aloud.
The Archon snarled back, not understanding.
"Oh, right… You're just Fallen." He raised his fists.
The Archon laughed at him, walking forward with heavy steps, arms splayed to the sides, fists clenched. A faint blue glow accompanied the Archon, its ether diffuse about it, eyes flashing blue. Enki didn't move an inch. With the distance almost closed, the Archon lunged suddenly, hooking two fists at Enki. Enki raised his arm, stepped in, and took the blows across the Archon's forearms and his own ribs. He threw his arm down, trapping the Archon's arms, jumping, and kicking it in the face while flipping over its arms. He landed on his feet, snapping out a Disintegrate punch at the Archon's ribs. Meant to break down enemies, Disintegrate wouldn't fade until the target was completely gone, and with Enki filled with Light it was as strong as ever. The Archon swung again, this time with one arm lagging behind the other. Enki ducked the first, blocked the second without so much as budging, and punched the Archon in the thigh, then again just above the knee. Unprofessional in hand-to-hand combat, the Archon was off balance, and was forced to one knee when it gave way.
"Hmph. What do your superiors teach you?" said Enki, disgusted. He punched the Archon in the face-plate. Everywhere his fists had touched was slowly vanishing, the Archon's skin showing through the growing holes in its armor. Its face became exposed, but rather than lash out in rage, the Archon held stock still, as if in awe or fright.
"Just imagine, if I'm this bad, how bad is that?" said Enki, pointing over the Archon's shoulder.
Gravian had just landed on the rooftop, still holding her scout rifle.
One final slug from Viksis' hand cannon and the Baron's shields failed. Ramiks threw a perfect Flux grenade, sticking it to the Baron's chest. The enemy vanished in a flash of Arc Light, leaving the hallway to the Pilot Servitor clear.
"Forward!" growled Morik, running first to take point, reloading his auto-rifle with his lower arms. Dregs and Vandals fired their weapons as Morik and his Archons smashed them against the walls and floor, careful not to harm terminals or pipes.
"You vermin should learn to clear out before you die! This ship will belong to us!" said Ramiks in Eliksni, throwing a Vandal through the air and bowling over a Dreg who was shooting at him.
"Viksis, watch our backs. When this room is clear, we capture the Servitor," said Morik.
"Speaking of," said Viksis, peeking around the corner and firing at a Servitor moving down the hallway they'd come from. While he reloaded, Viksis threw an Axion Bolt grenade at the other entrance, the motes of Void Light it released chasing down two Vandals attempting to run away. With the enemies in the room dead, Morik rounded a set of terminals to fire on the Servitor. Between Viksis denting its shell and Morik's rounds peppering it, the Servitor lost power to a lucky bullet and collapsed to the floor.
"There are three entrances, my Kell. I can cover two," said Ramiks, standing at the other end of the large room.
"I will begin working on capture of the Pilot Servitor. When my Ghost completes his work, we will find the throne room."
"Approaching unknown," said Viksis, still looking down the corridor. "It is no Fallen King."
The tall figure cloaked in black and gold was walking boldly down the hallway toward them. Viksis leaned out of cover, aiming his hand cannon.
"Identify yourself or be fired upon," said Viksis, in English.
The figure put its hands up, pulse rifle in one hand, held by top of the gun near the red dot sight. "Friend," came a growling Eliksni voice. With the other hand, the figure swept back its hood to reveal an opaque domed helmet, mostly of a kind of black glass. Inside the helmet were the four glowing eyes of a Captain.
"This one has come from Osiris to render aid. 'From a fellow seeker of knowledge,' is the master's message."
"You are Eliksni?" asked Viksis, using his native language.
"No race to speak of, only truth," responded the Captain in kind.
"We have no time for cryptic statements and cliche ideals. Your Light is sick. I can feel it."
"He's from beyond the Reef if he's with Osiris," said Morik.
"Turn and leave," said Viksis, voice level.
The Eliksni stopped walking but didn't turn.
"You have questions, do you not?" it said in Eliksni. "Osiris has answers. I have answers."
"My questions," said Morik, also in Eliksni, "Only go so far as such unknowable things as how the Light may sustain humans and Awoken and Exos, but we still need ether. My questions are nothing you need to answer for me."
Morik took a step forward, his auto rifle swapping for the Siegfried Rising.
"You will turn and you will leave."
"You lie to yourself, Kell of Light. All Guardians question their character. Their morality. What the Great Machine is and why it is hunted. Who the Speaker is and why he never answers such important questions. If Guardians have individuality or are made as they are by the Light to serve the Light. You cannot fool yours-"
"One more word," said Viksis, the air around him twisting with Void Light, "And you will not live to regret it."
"Viksis," said Morik, in English, "Your anger is uncalled for. Unless you do entertain such questions?"
"I do not, but I know there are those that do. Less for that reason and more for his presumptions of our allies and ourselves."
"Presum-" began the visitor, still using Eliksni, cut off again by Viksis palming a Scatter grenade and throwing it right at him. The Captain blinked forward, hands still up, to avoid the blasts.
"My Kell! I want to kill him."
"Viksis."
"He is from Darkness. His sick Light poisons the air."
"Viksis."
"He was Guardian before us, stolen from the Light."
"Viksis!"
Silence.
"He has spoken," said Morik, in Eliksni. "He dies."
The Captain blinked backwards, reappearing facing away from them and already running.
Enough Sunsinger teams fell that the wall of flame guttered out. Staggered lines with the support of the Silent Fang continued to push back Guardians, now fighting over the main street where the flames had once been. One squad of Fallen Kings in particular happened to be in a street straight away from a breach in the Wall. A Dreg looked over to another and saw a red dot on its friend's back. The two chattered in confusion until a bright flash and powerful blast took out most of the squad. Far down the street, a stolen Walker charged its shock cannon, making a slow march down the street.
Inside a large garage, behind enemy lines, fifteen House of Light Eliksni hid to coordinate the twelve Walkers.
"Transferring fire control," said Gravian, her Ghost out. "Dreskin, Yviks, maintain overall control. Big picture, yes?"
"Yes, Archon!" said Yviks, straightening.
"You are returning to fight?" asked Dreskin.
"My responsibility is helping House of Light survive this battle. You will be safe here, but others are not safe. Defenders are useful in teamwork. An Archon Defender is even better."
The two Captains bowed their heads and went to work. Gravian peeked out of the garage, making sure the area was clear, stepped outside, and slid the vertical door shut as quietly as possible. She took off at a run toward the fight, leaving the side street and intercepting Kings reinforcements. Silent Fang spotted her and moved in through alleys, cloaking as they got close. Gravian finished the approaching squad and turned to run again, only to have a Silent Fang Captain appear in her way. Her head popped up a bit, indicating her surprise. The other Captain, cloaked behind her, took the chance to stab her in the back. One of Gravian's lower arms clamped down on the Captain's wrist, causing it to look up and see her head turned to look back at him. The glow in her eyes turned purple as she spun and used Disintegrate to punch the Captain in the head several times, holding her scout rifle up and out of the way with her other upper arm. The Captain died, dissolving into Void Light to create a Force Barrier. During that time, the other Captain and three Vandals moved in, the Vandals staying cloaked. Gravian cast her Ward of Dawn, stowing her scout rifle and waiting. Her attackers stopped and would not enter the Ward, all appearing and circling around it out of reach. Gravian drew her wire rifle, a Queenbreaker's Bow, and charged it while stepping out. The shot fired as the barrel cleared the Ward, burning through a Vandal's head and jetting ether.
"This is not a fight you can win," said Gravian in Eliksni.
"You Light think so much of yourselves," said the remaining Captain, "But you are, and will always be, Eliksni. These vermin will never trust you, will never learn their place under your boots, and your suffering will be brought by your own decision."
"House of Kings could do better for us, then?"
The Captain stayed silent.
"A Guardian is Guardian first. Even if the citizens in the City do not trust us because of Fallen like you, we have comrades. Our Kell seeks true progress, not simple power as others do. We may never tell him, but few in his ranks believe he is Kell of Kells."
The Captain laughed, still circling, spiteful. "Blinded by your own Light, the lot of you. When that barrier falls, we Fang will put an end to your delusions."
As if waiting for that moment, Gravian could feel the Ward begin to fade. She stowed her wire rifle and readied her fists. Her Force Barrier had faded inside the Ward, but she still had one more idea. The Ward fell, the Fang descended, and Gravian threw down a Spike grenade, fighting within the Void Light.
Viksis, Ramiks, and Morik reloaded, checked their ammo and other weapons, and readied. They approached the door to the stairs, went up the stairs to the last door, and burst into the throne room all at once. It was empty, save for two Archons and the Kell of Kings, sitting in his throne flanked by his chosen best.
"Kell of Light," said the King, "It is an honor to meet you at last…"
Dark Dawn coming soon...