There you are.
Swirling, whirling dark, spinning her around and around and around, Kipo's voice ripped from her by the jaws of timespace, her eyes purpling as chaos and fear surge through her veins with blood so hot in a speed so cold, spinning, pulling, taking
You are the anomaly.
Her very soul tearing as the whispers, the whispers, the whispers echo all around/within her, telling her she's powerful and majestic and needed where she is going. Confusion, terror, rushing, spreading, her claws out and trying to cut the universe
You are worth preserving.
Kipo cries out, for all she knows is fear at the darkness raging just outside the light of her eyes. She shouts [desperation] for her friends, cries [separation] for her family, rages [destruction] at her helplessness, all blending together in a surge of burning, transporting-
Follow the Light, child of beasts and wonder.
Light. There was light, and Kipo saw it. She screamed and pushed forward, onward, upward, away from the pulling dark, the hungry void, the taking Deep. She reached out and held the Sky in her hand
It will guide you home.
...
Somewhere near the European Dead Zone, one year after the events of Forsaken.
The sun was setting, just behind the Shard. It illuminated the ruins of the ancient human city in a warm golden glow, and Kelsik breathed a sigh as she allowed herself to relax. For a raid day, today had been fairly good. A morning picking around the ruins, an afternoon watching for anything approaching on the horizon, and a constant vigilance to keep Cariks from erupting in anger. Finally she got a chance to relax after the occasional deflation, and she wasn't about to waste it actually scanning the forested horizon. If the other crews were coming, they'd reach out on the radio channels.
To be fair to the Captain, today was not one of his better days. The other raid teams hadn't arrived yet, and their refusal to communicate was definitely taking a toll on their entire crew. The slender Eliksni looked up at the sky, oranges and pinks beginning to appear as dusk settled in, and settled her wire rifle on her shoulder. The time for the raid on Firebase Hades was approaching, and the other Eliksni crews hadn't arrived yet.
Footfalls reached her ears, and she rolled all four eyes. "You couldn't be any stealthier?" she called, and the Eliksni, Toriks presumably, growled.
"You try being quiet in this rubble!"
"I'm not the one training to be a Marauder." Kelsik turned, and confirmed her suspicion. It was Toriks, with frustration in his posture and shock blades in his hands. The younger Eliksni slumped out of a supposed stealth stance, four arms falling dejectedly. He moved beside her, and she closed two eyes at him. "Good evening, Toriks."
"Hi, Kelsik," he muttered, slumping his lanky frame on the ground beside her, sheathing his swords.
"You look immensely excited."
"Why would I be? We're just grabbing another cache of supplies from those stupid Cabal again."
"We need materials, Toriks."
"Eia, eia!" He threw two hands up. "I get it, I'm hungry too. I just want to do something… more interesting! More dangerous! Why not raid a human camp? They got all the good stuff, yes."
"They're too powerful, you know that. They'll just chase us and wipe us out like a bunch of blind hatchlings." She readjusted the grip on her rifle. The memory of her wire bolt bouncing off a guardian's chestplate came back. She'd had to run a long way after that.
Toriks groaned. "You sound just like father."
"Eia. Captain Cariks has a lot on his shoulders, you and your brother's safety most of all."
A huff. "You'd know, I guess."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Toriks narrowed two eyes, looking away coyly. "You and father, you two aren't, like… courting or any-"
"No!" she cried, standing up straight. "Of course not!"
He put all four hands up, chittering in laughter. "Ah, ah, but you wish, yes!?"
She batted at him with a lower arm, closing two eyes against her will. "Quiet, impudent kiko, treat your elders with, with-" Kelsik couldn't get out the words and burst out laughing as well, the stress of the day getting to her.
With an explosive CRACK, light flashed, illuminating the entire area. A shockwave followed soon after, stopping their laughter cold. Kelsik snapped the rifle to her shoulder, and beside her, Torik drew his blades. Cries sprang up around them, and with two of her arms, Kelsik scrambled up the ruined wall behind her. At the top, she aimed her rifle in the source of the sound, and all four eyes widened. A circular portal- which had very much not been there before- lay on the rooftop across the way, spitting white light and spinning with ferocious energy.
"Kelsik! Do you have a visual!?" came Carik's commanding tones from her radio.
"Yes! A Vex portal, north by northeast! Fourth story-" her voice trailed off as something large and… pink was flung from the whirling portal at an incredible speed. It cried out as it flew, then a distant crash was heard as it met the ground.
"Do you see any hostiles?" the Captain demanded from her radio.
Blinking, Kelsik considered her words. "Keep your eyes open. Something strange is here with us."