Chapter 7
One Month later….
Ashes. That was all that remained. Shannon walked through what had used to be the outer district of the last city. There was nothing left. All the buildings, all the people, all the everything, it had been burned and destroyed in the attack. Shannon looked back at the rest of her new fireteam, they were walking around among the destruction, all of them as stunned as she was. Shannon reached the main square of the outer district and stared at the symbol burned into the ground. A Sun with horns and wings. The symbol of the fireteam that was supposedly all dead. Rumor had it that they had been killed while fighting the Cabal. But that rumor had been proved wrong when the six of them showed up with an army of Cabal and attacked the Last City. Shannon and several others had attempted to defend it, and they had succeeded, but to Shannon, they had failed. Shannon knew they would be back, and she was going to be ready when they did.
One month earlier….
Shannon sat in the only chair in her entire dorm and looked up from her research. Shannon had wondered about the strange symbols that Zepheron and Arya had on their armor, so naturally she began looking into it. What she had discovered so far interested her. The symbol belonged to one of the three best fireteams to exist. The fireteams were Fireteam Arc Devils, Fireteam Solar Serpents, and Fireteam Voracious Voidlings. They were mainly referred to as The Devils, The Serpents, and The Voidlings. According to the Vanguard records, The Devils and The Voidlings had disbanded but still lived, but the Serpents had gone missing on a mission to destroy the Cabal War Leader. The Voidlings had apparently retired and were no longer Guardians, but the devils were still active. The members of the Arc Devils were listed at the bottom of the page. They were, Zepheron(Leader), Edward(Sniper), Baris-7(Big gun), Jace(Support), Ana(Sniper and weapon master), and Arya(Assassin and tech expert). Shannon read further and saw that there was a twelve digit code underneath the names and Shannon gasped. Shannon remembered that code. During her training, she had been sent on a mission and Baris-7 had given her that code. 'If you are in trouble and can't get out on your own, broadcast this code across all networks. We will find you and get you out as soon as possible. Just remember, only use it if you are going to die if you don't. This calling code carries some weight.' That's what Baris-7 had told her before giving her the code and sending her on her way. The code was something Shannon had been trying to figure out for a long time. 14-26-35-79-08-42. She'd been trying to figure out what it was really for, and now she knew. The numbers corresponded with the numbers that the guardians had been assigned by the vanguard. Shannon yawned and laid her head down on the desk, tired from 6 straight hours of research, and she was asleep in a moment.
Ryan leaned back in his chair and sighed. It'd been three weeks since the 'Incident' and Ryan was bored as fuck. Cayde had shown up, threatening to remove his status as Guardian in front of Ikora and Zavala, but then laughing and joking with Ryan about it when the other two were gone. Zavala made Ryan in his weapons to Banshee and he had a cuff put around his wrist which prevented him from using his light. Ryan looked back at his screen and sighed. Ryan had gotten a message from someone that he had never even heard of before. It was a message asking him if he'd like to join some dumb fireteam called Solar Serpents, and apparently, you were required to use Solar powers ONLY. So naturally, Ryan had refused it, But now, Ryan was curious. He wanted to know who they were and what they did, so he had hopped on his computer and done some research. Fireteam Solar Serpents, they were a Fireteam of Six that had gone missing during a mission. Ryan had then employed his computer skills and his knowledge of hacking, and had traced the message sent and found that it was authentic. It had been sent to him from one of the messengers that had been lost with the team, which begged the question, where was it, and who had it. According to the records, they were all dead. It had been four years with no contact from them, why would they message him now? With this information in hand, he did the only thing he could, Call Zavala.
"What do YOU want?" Zavala snarled.
"I found something that you want to see." Ryan said, staring in surprise as another message from them popped up.
"Oh really? Are you going to pull some, I didn't do it, I was framed, bullshit?" Zavala laughed maliciously.
"No, I totally did that. I just thought you'd like to know that I'm getting messages from a Fireteam that was supposedly dead. I traced the message signal, it's coming from one of their communicators." Ryan said, smirking.
"What? Which Fireteam? What communicator?" Zavala snarled.
"A fireteam formerly known as The Solar Serpents. They are messaging me from one of their communicators and according to this, they're on Mars in the heart of a Cabal base." Ryan said. "But if you don't care…"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Zavala yelled, interrupting Ryan. "I want you to head to the Vanguard war room and bring all your findings with you. I want them all on the presentation screen before I get there. You have ten minutes. Get going." Zavala snarled before he hang up. Ryan quickly transferred the data to his handheld tablet and opened the other message as he went to open the door. Ryan temporarily forgot about what he was doing because of what the message said. 'You will regret your denial. You and yours will burn.' and that was it. Ryan shook his head and rushed to the War room, accidentally bumping into Zeph on the way, without even noticing.
Zeph watched Ryan continue on towards the Vanguard's area and sighed. Zeph shook his head and continued on his way to his own meeting. After being here for three weeks and seeing his old Fireteam, he knew that there was no way he could get them killed. So, he had a plan. Probably not a good one, but a plan nonetheless. He was going to tell them, everything.
Arya sat in the old Arc Devil's meeting room with the other members of the old fireteam. Ana was leaned up against Edward, asleep. Edward wasn't wearing his armor, which was odd to Arya. Ana had one hand resting on her stomach and Edward had his hand on top of hers. Jace was sitting in a rolling chair, laid back with his feet on the meeting table. Baris-7 was standing in the back of the room, tossing a Hammer of Sol around. Everyone but Ana, who was still sleeping, looked up when Zeph opened the door and stared at him expectantly.
"Edward." Zeph said, looking over at him, "Will you please wake up Ana?" Edward nodded and shook Ana's shoulder, startling her awake. Baris-7 stopped tossing the hammer around and let it fade.
"What do you want from us?" Arya asked, yawning.
"Well, I'm sure you've all heard the rumor that I'm working with Oryx to destroy the Tower," Zeph started, getting nods from everyone, "This rumor is being spread by the Hunter, Ryan. Well, here's the truth. It's not exactly a lie, but neither is it the truth. For the first part of the rumor, yes, I am working with Oryx. For that second part, not really. I am not truly loyal to him. I do not want to destroy the tower, I want him to trust me so that I can get near him. Then, when he trusts me, and puts me at his back, I'll take him out and take his crown as Taken King."
"What is the point of that?" Ana snapped, irritable about being woken.
"Well, I have reason to be believe that our old rivals, The Serpents, are back. We know that they weren't dead, but I think that they've either allied themselves with the Cabal, or they've taken over the Cabal. Oryx has informed me that several Hive planets have been attacked by what appeared to be six guardians leading a Cabal army. So, my planet is to get the Arc Devils back together, minus Ana, and be in waiting for the Serpents when they get here." Zeph said calmly.
"Hey, I may be pregnant, but I'm not defenseless." Ana snapped. "I won't get in any real firefight, but I could just be a sniper."
"Okay then… You guys are taking this rather calmly. It's slightly disturbing" Zeph said.
"What do you expect? We know you well enough to know that you will do anything to protect The Reef, and we know that The Reef is one of Oryx's targets." Edward said. "Also, we will allow you to fight, Ana, but if your position is compromised, you WILL retreat as quickly as possible. Do you understand me?" Ana huffed in response and nodded her head.
"Alright, I want the five of you to meet my new addition to our Fireteam. I know that 6 is the typical number, but it seems efficient to get another." Zep said as Zara walked through the door. "Guys, meet Zara"
"Hello." Zara said. "My name is Zara. I am the youngest of Oryx's children, and I'm the only one left. Unlike my brother Crota, I am a wizard with the ability to take on any shape I please. Also, I'm afraid that the Titan in the back is considering throwing that hammer at me." Everyone looked back to see that Baris-7 had summoned his Hammer of Sol and was tensed up as if he were going to throw it. Baris let the Hammer fade away and huffed at the group.
"We can't trust her. Especially if she's Oryx's child." Baris-7 said.
"We can trust her fine." Zeph snapped, "If she weren't trustworthy, she wouldn't be carrying my child." Zara gave Zeph a dirty look and sighed. The rest of them just shrugged.
"So what do you want us to do?" Arya asked.
"I have different jobs for all of you. Arya, you're our tech expert, I want you to hack into the Vanguard's files and extract all useful info on the layout of the city and the tower, I also want to know the patrol habits of the city guards. Ana, you are our weapons master. I want everyone's equipment up to par, and give it a bit more Solar resistance. Edward, you are to help Ana. Jace, you are to place detection and shield beacons around the city to warn of an attack and slow it till we get there. Baris-7, you will do what you do best. Flirt with Holliday and get her to upgrade our ships. I'll be in charge of corralling the Taken and Hive, and we'll deal with Oryx. Oh, I almost forgot. Ana, that thing you have with the House of Devils. Could you get them to help?" Zeph instructed.
"No, they have become a little tied up with The House of Wolves." Ana responded.
"Alright then. That's all I needed. Arc Devils, dismissed." Zeph finished. Out of instinct, Edward, Ana, Jace, Baris-7, and Arya stood and gave him the salute they had come up with. The salute was simple, one fist over your heart, with arm held horizontal from wrist to elbow, the other behind your back at the same angle. Zeph returned the salute and left with Zara.
Shannon woke to an incessant pounding at her front door.
"I'll be there in a minute." Shannon grumbled as she sat up from her desk and stretched. Shannon looked at the time on her monitor and swore. She'd slept for 9 hours. Shannon got up and walked over to her door and flung it open. Standing in the hallway, looking irritated, was Ryan. Ryan pushed past her, walked into her living room, and flopped onto the couch. Shannon shut the door and walked into the living room and sat by Ryan.
"What brings you here Ryan?" Shannon yawned.
"I was taken off House arrest and I wanted to come visit my Fiance. Does that bother you?" Ryan said jokingly. Shannon leaned against Ryan and rested her head on his shoulder. "I have a question for you Shannon."
"You have questions, I have answers. Probably." Shannon mumbled.
"So, you're a Titan, I'm a hunter. So how am I taller and more muscled than you?" Ryan asked teasingly. Shannon scooted over a little and punched Ryan in his arm and gave him a look. "What, it's a fair question. No need to hit me." Ryan grumbled, smiling and rubbing his arm.
"You may be bigger, but I'm stronger." Shannon said, trying to pretend to be angry.
"You may be stronger, but I can last longer." Ryan said back.
"Oh right, that coming from the guy who can't handle me." Shannon teased. At that moment, Shannon's comm link rang. Shannon snatched up the link and answered it.
"What the fuck do you want?" Shannon snarled.
"That's your last warning Guardian." Zavala snarled. "I need you and Ryan to report to my office. Now." Zavala then hung up. Shannon sighed and got up. Ryan rolled his eyes and jumped up off the couch. Ryan transmatted his armor from where ever it was straight onto him.
"I'll wait in the hallway." Ryan said before walking out in the hallway. Shannon quickly donned her armor and stopped to stare at her helmet. Shannon had been a guardian for 3 years now, and she had died and come close to death more times than she had ever wanted to. Why her? Of all the people that could be revived, why her? What made her so much more special than all the others? Shannon shook her head and put on her helmet. Shannon grabbed Harrowed Doom of Chelchis and placed it in the harness on her back. Shannon went out into the hallway, locking her door behind her as she went and the two of them made their way through the tower and to Zavala's private office. Shannon knocked on the door and an answer came immediately.
"Enter." Zavala said through the door. Shannon and Ryan went into Zavala's office and were surprised at what they saw. Zavala's office was almost completely empty. There was nothing on the walls, no tables to hold things, no chairs against the walls for visitors. There was a single mahogany desk in the center of the room with a large velvet armchair behind it that Zavala sat in, leaning back with his fingers laced. Zavala stood when they entered and snapped his fingers. 2 navy blue chairs appeared in front of Shannon and Ryan, up to Zavala's desk so they could sit at his desk. "Sit." Zavala said. "We have much to talk about."
1 Week later…
Ryan lay still on top of a building and watched through the scope of the sniper he had got from Zavala as Jace looked around, believing himself unnoticed, and set down and activated a beacon in what he thought was a hidden area. Slowly, Jace stood and slipped away into an alley, out of Ryan's sight. Ryan waited several minutes before getting up, placing the sniper in the harness on his back and moving towards the beacon. Ryan went to one knee next to the beacon and flipped open the control panel. Ryan quickly deactivated the beacon without turning it off, this way it would still show up on their scans, but it wouldn't be able to be used for it's intended purpose. Ryan smiled and stood. He had been following Jace around every night, watching him place the beacons and then deactivating them once Jace was gone. Ryan knew that this was the last beacon, he had heard Jace say so when he had passed underneath his vantage point a while ago. Satisfied that he had done as he was told, Ryan turned and began making his way back towards the tower.
"Do you even know what those beacons are for?" Ryan's ghost grumbled as it materialized next to him.
"No, not really. What's it to you Ghost?" Ryan muttered back, ducking around a corner to avoid a guard patrol.
"Those were shield and detection beacons. Whatever they are doing with them, they're clearly preparing for an attack from outside." His Ghost hissed.
"So What?" Ryan asked as he quickly scaled a building and began running across the rooftops without making a noise.
"So, that means if we ARE attacked, and anything is destroyed, the blame for the beacons not working and innocents dying will be on you." His Ghost said, trying to stress this to Ryan, who just shrugged and kept running. His Ghost just sighed and dematerialized, she knew there was no point in talking to him anymore.
1 Week later…
Shannon sat at her desk as she tried to hack into Arya's computer for the third time, with no success. Shannon sat back in frustration and sighed. Shannon leaned forward to start again when her computer started going haywire. Anyone else would have panicked, but not Shannon. Shannon knew what was happening, Arya had detected her hack attempt and was sending her own. Shannon sat up and began furiously tapping away at her custom keyboard, trying to stop the hack, but she was too slow. Shannon was being outpaced by Arya, and was losing the fight. After only a single minute, Shannon lost. Her computer shutdown, and then flicked back on. The little green light that signaled that her camera was on, flicked on.
"So, you're the pest trying to hack me. Hasn't anyone ever told you not to hack a computer expert?" Shannon jumped when the voice, all distorted and strange, came from the speakers. "This is my computer, my business. It is none of your business, and you better be glad that all I did was wipe your computer. I could have fried your motherboard if I so pleased, so don't fuck with me. Got it bitch?" then the green light flicked off and her computer restarted. Shannon was devastated when she saw that Arya hadn't been kidding, the entire computer had been wiped. All of the stuff that Shannon had built and found over the past 2 years was gone. Her custom hacking software was gone, and in it's place, sat a folder that was named 'Don't try me'. Shannon opened the file and nearly choked. In the folder was a single picture. The picture was of Shannon's biggest mistake since becoming engaged to Ryan. A few years ago, Ryan had been sent out on a mission and Shannon had been alone for 3 months. One night, she'd gotten drunk and slept with a male titan she didn't know. She had no idea when that picture could have…. Wait, yes she did. This was the same picture the Titan had tried to blackmail her with before he went on a mission to investigate a Hive incursion and was killed. Shannon had been trying to keep it secret from Ryan, and had mostly forgotten about it. Now though, she was going to have to be careful. Shannon noticed that there was a text file in the folder also and opened. What was inside made her want to cry. Inside was a screenshot of Arya's screen. Arya had her email open and had made a draft to every Guardian in the tower, with the picture as the only Message. Underneath, all it said was 'Don't Mess with Me again'. Shannon closed the files and exited the folder. As quickly as she could, Shannon deleted the folder and shut down her computer. This was going so badly for her. She hadn't heard back from Ryan yet, but Zavala probably had him doing more stuff. Shannon switched on her communicator and prepared to tell Zavala that she had failed.
2 weeks later…
"Why do I have to stay up here?" Je5u5, the newest Titan, asked Shannon from atop a ledge overlooking the hangar.
"Because I said so." Shannon sighed. "I need you to keep an eye on the Hangar and make sure Zeph doesn't leave." Je5u5(mainly called Jesus) sighed and leaned back and looked out the Hangar bay doors. Jesus saw a strange black dot falling through the bright cloudless sky and squinted out at it.
"What is that?" Jesus asked, pointing at the dot.
"I can't get a full scan from here but speed and trajectory of the object indicate that it is a missile of some kind." Jesus's Ghost said.
"Thanks Bax." Jesus said, calling his Ghost by the name he'd insisted on giving it. Shannon turned to look right as the dot hit the far outer edge of the city, and there was a flash of light where it hit. Immediately, all the alarms in the Tower started to go off, and Jesus jumped down. The two of them heard the intercoms crackle, and then Zavala's voice come out.
"ALL GUARDIANS! GET TO THE CITY! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" Zavala roared through the comms. Jesus sprang from his perch and transmatted onto his ship, then him and his Ghost took off for the fast approaching Cabal fleet.
Zeph, Zara, Arya, Ana, Edward, Jace, and Baris-7 met in their old meeting room, fully armored with their weapons.
"Jace, you were supposed to place those beacons. What the fuck?" Zeph snarled at Jace.
"He did place the beacons, they showed up on the map. I think someone followed him and deactivated them." Arya snapped. "Maybe even the same person that tried to hack me. Either way, we need to get out there." The Seven of them rushed out of the meeting room, the newly painted Arc Devils insignia on their armor flashing in the sun, and transmatted into their ships and set off.
"I don't care. Burn it all." Sorn growled at his fellow Serpents. The 5 of them started chucking more fireballs into the city as Sorn watched the destruction. The Cabal continued pouring around them and into the city with murderous glee, slaughtering any living creature they came across. Sorn's head whipped around when he heard a shout of surprise from some of the Cabal and an accompanying sound of a Nova Bomb going off. A Guardian walked out into the clearing and a bunch of the Cabal charged him, only to be taken out by another Nova Bomb.
"Why would you do this Sorn? These are your people." The Guardian asked Sorn.
"These are not my people." Sorn snarled. "The Awoken are my people, and I thought you would understand the threat these people pose, Varex." Varex took off his helmet, revealing that he was Awoken, and stared at Sorn.
"You disgust me. If I hadn't retired and still had my gun, I'd blow your brains out right now." Zarex growled.
"Good thing you don't have your gun then." Sorn laughed before pulling his hand cannon, Thorn, out of it's holster and putting 3 bullets into Zarex's head. Zarex's ghost appeared to revive him, and Sorn dashed forward and smashed the ghost in his hands. Sorn opened his hands and let the smashed Ghost Shell fall to the ground. Sorn stomped on the Shell and ground it into the concrete with his boot and laughed. A Cabal legionary rushed in front of him to follow a citizen running across the street, just in time to take the sniper bullet that had been meant for Sorn to the head. "SHIELDS UP! WE GOT SNIPERS!" Sorn yelled before grabbing the titanium shield off his back and crouching down behind it. Sorn saw that the other 5 had down the same thing, and in response, the snipers, he could tell there were at least two because of the different angles and directions the bullets were coming from, began taking out every Cabal they could hit. Sorn made a quick motion to retreat when he saw the 30 or so Guardian ships heading straight for them. The Six Serpents placed their shields on their backs and took off back towards the Cabal ship, which had long been emptied of it's several hundred soldiers, to escape and leave the Cabal behind. The Six of them ran into the ship and began taking off as soon as they could.
Shannon watched as the Cabal ship took off and sighed. She would pursue, but scanners indicated there were 437 Cabal running around the outer edge of the city. Shannon transmatted down into the city and began firing at the nearest Cabal the second she touched the ground. Within a few seconds, Jesus and Ryan had joined her and they began spearheading their way into the hoard of Cabal that had started charging them.
As one, the 5 Arc Devils transmatted into the city and began to drop every Cabal in sight. 4 of those 5 Guardian were in perfect synch with each other, the fifth was Zara, who did not know their routine, but she was a fast learner. After only a few seconds, Zara fell into sync with the others, and they began a Dance of Death, destroying every Cabal that dared approach them.
Ana sat ontop of a building in the city, sniper over the ledge and scope to one eye. Ana took a few more potshots at the fleeing Guardians and then switched to firing at the Cabal. Ana killed Cabal after Cabal, but they just kept coming. Ana shifted her sniper to look up at the Cabal ship and caught the slight glint from the back window. Ana sprang to her feet the moment she saw the unmistakable glint of the sniper scope and turned to run, but she was too late. Ana felt the bullet impact her upper back, right below her shoulder blades, and shred right through her armor. Ana felt the bullet lodged in her spine, and she fell to the ground, unable to move. Ana couldn't hear it, but the bullet split open and the 5 grams of liquid potassium was released. The potassium reacted with the water in Ana's blood, and Ana felt the bubbling in her blood before the Potassium went off like a bomb, tearing a large hole in her back and shredding most of her internal organs. Ana let out a single scream in agony, and then everything went dark.
Ana jerked back to Earth, revived again, inside the building she'd been on top of,with a strange feeling in her stomach.
"That was too close." Ana's ghost sighed. "If that bullet had hit an inch lower, you would have lost your child. It suffered a little trauma, but nothing serious. I'm sorry for not noticing the sniper."
"You don't need to be sorry, that was my fault. What you need to do, is give me that gun I gave you to hold onto." Ana snarled, charging up her arc energy till it was swirling around her like a mini storm with her at the center. "I have some Cabal to kill." Ana's ghost materialized the gun into her hands and then vanished, probably back in her bag or something. Ana smiled evilly down at the gun she'd lovingly named The Night Stalker. Ana looked up as a Cabal Legionary busted into the house. Ana smiled and pointed the gun at the Cabal before pulling the trigger.
Edward looked over towards Ana's perch when he heard the loud boom, and all he saw was the empty roof. Edward stared over at the building for several more seconds, wondering what had happened. Edward started when a louder, much more powerful boom was heard and the front of the building Ana had been on top of exploded outwards. Edward saw Ana charge out of the building and she holstered the weapon she was carrying. Edward sprang to his feet and went to run for Ana but then she just vanished.
Ana activated her Arc Blade and shot forward with enough speed to cover the 20ft distance between herself and the nearest Cabal in only a second. Ana dashed through the Cabal hoard, stabbing and killing every Cabal she could reach, until her Arc Blade ran out. Ana collapsed to her knees in the middle of a group of Cabal, exhausted from her murder spree. Ana looked up at the Cabal Centurion in front of her, and stared as it pushed a button on it's arm, and a red light blinked to life on all the Cabal. Ana's vision darkened and she fell forward, unconscious. Before she hit the ground, Ana's ghost transmatted her up to her cloaked ship and set it on autopilot to the Tower.
Shannon saw the red light blink to life on the Cabal, and she quickly switched to Defender and put up her Ward of Dawn. Jesus and Ryan didn't even think to ask, instead, they dashed into the Ward, only moments before the bombs attached to all the Cabal went off, destroying everything in their blast radius. Shannon stared, horrified, as the solar bombs wiped out everything, buildings, people, plants, animals; Everything was destroyed. As the smoke cleared and the Ash settled to the ground, Shannon spied several more Wards of Dawn, each with several Guardians, some she knew and some she didn't, within. Shannon dropped her Ward of Dawn and stared out at what used to be the Outer Housing District. Shannon's communicator beeped, and she checked her message. Shannon sighed, she would have smiled but the death and destruction around her was too much. Shannon's request for a three man fireteam was approved. She had been assigned leader and was given Ryan and Jesus as her allies. Shannon looked around again, hoping that something may have survived, but all she saw, were the Ashes.
So, a lot just happened. I'm sorry it took me so long to write this Chapter, I kept writing and rewriting it. I could never decide on what to do. I like the way it turned out this time. I haven't posted on Twitter in awhile, I'll start doing that more. So, if you want regular updates, follow me on Twitter HiveKingCrota. Next time, on The Other Side, more things will happen to advance the plot.
