Chapter 9
2 Days Later
Ryan struggled against the voice in his mind. He had lost control of his body, and was fighting to regain control from the oppressive power of Oryx's mind. The Guardians around him knew nothing about the battle waging on in his head, all they saw was Ryan moving swiftly towards the dorms. Swiftly, he turned the corner into the dorms and headed for Jace's room. Ryan fought every step, but Oryx was much more powerful than he. He knocked on Jace's door, and Jace answered it. With overpowering force, Oryx forced Ryan to leap forward and grab Jace around his neck. The two of them fell to the ground and Ryan began choking Jace to death. Only seconds before Jace fell unconscious, someone grabbed the back of Ryan's armor and pulled him off and went to throw him out the door. With his perfect Hunter skill, and Oryx's knowledge and intelligence, he turned the throw into a flip, wrenching the person's hand from his armor. Ryan turned and tackled the Guardian behind him, who he barely identified as Baris-7. Baris-7 struck for his head, and managed to knock his helmet off, and his eyes widened as he saw Ryan's greenish skin with his glowing green eyes. Oryx shoved his will further upon Ryan, and forced him to pin Baris-7 down. Ryan felt something strange begin to rise up from within him, something beastly and full of bloodlust, and Oryx supplied it with power and strength, then let it loose. With a snarl, the beast within took over and Ryan balled up both fists, the spikes in his knuckles slid out and he began to pummel Baris-7's head. Ryan threw punch after punch, and he smiled, the beast within pleased with the feeling of metal bending and snapping under his fists, the sound of electronics sparking and failing. Only a few feet away, Baris-7's ghost materialized, and with the reflexes of a savage Hunter, Ryan sprung off Baris-7 and smashed the ghost back into the wall with one fist, feeling it crumple under his massive strength. Ryan heard Oryx laugh in his head as Oryx suppressed his beast and then withdrew from his mind. Ryan gasped and stumbled as some of his power vanished, leaving him weakened. Ryan fell to his hands and knees and looked over at Baris-7, or at least, what was left of Baris-7. Ryan had smashed Baris-7's head to the point that there was no possibility that he could survive, and he had smashed his ghost, so Baris-7 was gone. Ryan looked over at Jace as he felt his heart sinking, and for a moment, Jace looked dead to him, but then he saw Jace's chest moving. Ryan knew that he could not stay here, and that if he was caught, he'd surely be executed. Ryan stumbled to his feet and ran, going straight for the hangar. It was only a matter of time before Jace and Baris-7 were discovered, and Ryan planned to be long gone when they were. Ryan transmatted to his ship once close enough, fired up the engines and shot from the hangar, reaching orbit and then jumping half-way across the solar system in only a few seconds. Ryan leaned back in his chair and cursed himself for being so stupid. If he hadn't deactivated those beacons, those people wouldn't have died, and he never would have felt bad enough to accept that request from Eris. Ryan sighed when he realized he'd left his helmet in Jace's room, but then tilted his head when he realized his vision was weird. He could see more than before, and he could see Hive Tombships traveling in through their portals. Ryan turned his chair, got up and went to look in his mirror and froze and gasped when he saw his reflection. His skin had turned a blackish green, and he had developed a third eye on his forehead. The feeling, the Beast within him, stirred again, and Ryan pushed it back down. Whatever Oryx had done to him with his powers, Oryx had set in motion something Ryan knew could not be reversed. Ryan was becoming a full Hive Knight.
Shannon grunted in pain as a large piece of rock hit her in the chest, causing her to stagger. Shannon regained her balance and counted her trek through the deserts of Mars, right through the middle of a powerful windstorm, carrying Je5u5 on her back, him covered with what was essentially a tarp. They had been going for awhile, only during the day. Shannon went to take another step but her foot only met air and she pitched forward and they fell down into a shallow cave. The two of them rolled to the back of the cave and Shannon groaned and opened her eyes. Standing right above her, staring down at her curiously, was a Fallen Vandal. He bore no crest or markings and seemed to be alone in the cave. Shannon slowly pulled herself to her feet and moved the tarp of Jesus, allowing all his cursing to be heard.
"Fuck. That fucking hurt. Where are we now?" Jesus growled, rolling himself onto his back, his leg still destroyed.
"You… are… on… Mars. This… is… my… Home." The Vandal slowly said, hesitantly, as if he knew English, but couldn't quite remember how to speak. Shannon lifted Jesus up and propped him against the wall in a sitting position and went over and placed a shielder in the entrance of the cave, allowing the air purifier within to make the air inside breathable and the air outside to stay outside. The moment it was breathable, Shannon began to strip out of her armor and dump the sand and dust from the joints and to get the sand out that had somehow gotten into her boots and gauntlets. The Vandal sat back down on the floor and watched curiously. "You… are… a… Guardian?" The Vandal inquired.
"We both are. We're trying to find our way back to our ships. There's a bright gold ship and a dark purple. You seen them?" Shannon responded, setting her armor aside and sitting down and leaning against the wall next to Jesus.
"Did the… gold… one… have a… hammer on it?" The Vandal asked, quickly becoming more used to talking. Jace nodded and the Vandal made a noise which sounded disappointed and a little sad. "The Taken destroyed them. The rubble… is over to the… uh… North." Shannon and Jace swore quietly and sighed.
"Then we're trapped here. No comms, no ships, no nothing. I've tried everythi… wait." Shannon started, stopping as she realised she hadn't tried to broadcast to Baris-7 and the rest of the Arc Devils yet. Shannon quickly input the numbers into her comm unit and hit the broadcast button. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the green success light lit up. Shannon smiled, but then something happened. A message appeared on her comm unit. She quickly brought it up and she felt her heart sink. They could not come get them. The Tower was on lockdown, and according to what she was reading, Ryan was wanted for killing another Guardian in cold blood. Shannon shut down her comm unit and shook her head. Whatever had happened, Shannon refused to believe that Ryan had had anything to do with it. Jesus leaned back and sighed, he knew that there was no help coming for them. Shannon looked over at the Vandal, who had fallen asleep, and soon, Shannon was asleep as well.
Ana awoke in her room, curled up around one of her pillows and slowly climbed out of bed. Ana stumbled into the living room in her nightgown and found Edward, sitting on the couch with their Daughter, Belen, in his arms, singing to her quietly while feeding her a bottle of formula. Belen was more Human than Hive, and the only Hive traits she was showing so far was her immense strength. She had pale white skin and glowing emerald green eyes with bright gold-red hair. Ana smiled and sat down next to Edward, who looked up at her and smiled. Ana leaned her head against Edward's shoulder and watched Belen hungrily devouring the formula.
"I think maybe we should consider Cayde's offer. Being discharged from the Vanguard and living in the City permanently is probably the best thing we can do for Belen." Edward said suddenly.
"What will we do about her when she gets older?" Ana asked Edward, not really expecting an answer. "She's so strong already, almost as strong as you or me. What shall we do if her strength gets the better of her and she hurts another kid? What if she breaks something, or someone? They'll segregate her from the rest of the children and they'll treat her like the other guardians treated me when I first showed up." Edward sighed and shook his head in response, and Ana sighed as well.
"We'll figure it out when we get there. For now, let's just appreciate what we have." Edward said quietly. Ana closed her eyes and tucked her legs up and quickly fell asleep.
1 Hour Later
Zeph looked around to make sure no one was watching as he started up his ship. He and Zara needed to leave the tower. He had received a distress call from Shannon, and although he'd sent her a return message that he wasn't coming, only because Cayde was watching the channel, he was going to get her. Zara quickly slipped from the hidden tunnel as Zeph waved her over and the two of them transmatted onto the ship and shot out of the hangar in mere seconds. Instantly, the ships comms came on and Zavala's voice came through.
"I don't know where you think you're going, but we are under lockdown. You have 10 seconds to turn around and return to the hangar." Zavala growled.
"With all due respect, Sir, I cannot, in good conscious, leave a fellow Guardian on a hostile planet to die alone. And you should know, with my ship, 10 seconds is much to long." Zeph responded, right before he activated his hyper drive and made a jump. Right as they activated the hyperdrive, a single blast from one of the Tower's guns hit them and knocked out the navs, then they made the jump. Zeph turned the ship in a circle, unsure of where they were, but stopped when he heard Zara gasp. Zeph looked at her and looked up, and he felt his heart sink. They were currently in orbit of an unknown planet, and coming off the surface of the planet were hundreds of thousands of Hive Tombships. Zeph quickly pivoted the ship and did the only thing he could think of, he dived towards the planet. He had no nav system, so any jump would be a bet on their lives, and he was not about to do that. So he dived, quickly building up speed and heating the air up around the ship to the point that they became a fireball in the sky. With his ship being smaller than the tombships, he was able to escape them quickly, but the light flashing on his dashboard worried him. The engines were damaged and were being expected to give out any second. At the exact moment this occurred to Zeph, the engines spluttered and then stopped working. Behind him, Zara made a little squeaking sound, and 3 seconds later, they crashed into the ground. The ship bounced once, then went nose first into the ground and drove a massive trail in the ground, both it's side wings snapping off and the sound of metal grinding and tearing, until it came to a shuddering, hissing stop. Zeph was thrown back in his seat at the stop, but it didn't matter. The initial impact had thrown him forward and he'd hit his head on the front view window and he'd been knocked out. Zara was knocked out by the final stop, as her head slammed back into the wall behind her.
3 Hours later…
Zara came to, not quite sure who or where she was. All she knew was that the back of her head was cold and sticky, and she was dizzy and didn't want to be here anymore. The noise that had awoken Zara came again, a loud sparking and grinding noise, like someone cutting through metal with a laser cutter. Zara opened her eyes and looked around. She seemed to be in a ship, and if the beeping coming from the front and the smell of burnt something wasn't clue enough, this ship had crashed. Zara reached up and felt the back of her head, which was strangely sticky and her hair was matted. She pulled her hand back and dimly registered that her hand was covered in blood. The noise that had awoken her drew her attention, and turned her head to the back of the ship and it took her a moment to realize the sparks coming into the ship and the red line on the metal was an indication that someone was cutting into the ship, and they were almost in. Zara tried to get up, but found that she had no control over her legs, and the world tilted around her. Zara managed to push herself from the chair, but she just fell to the floor, where she watched the cutting stop and someone pulled the metal back to reveal a blinding light, and beyond the light, darkness. Some strange two-legged creatures ducked into the Ship, and right before Zara lost consciousness, she came to the conclusion that they were Humans.
12 Hours Later…
Zeph awoke to the quiet sound of people talking, and groaned as his massive headache kicked in. Zeph heard the muttering stop, and suddenly there were people touching his arms and legs, lifting him into a semi-sitting position and trying to get him to open his eyes. Reluctantly, Zeph opened his eyes, squinting against the light, and looked around. Around him were 10 Humans, all dressed in Black with face masks on, but Zeph could tell they were Human because of their eyes. One of them held a cup of water to Zeph's lips, and he drank thirstily, grateful for the water. An eleventh one showed up at his bedside, and from the size of her hips and breasts, Zeph assumed it was a She, and he was right.
"I know this may seem strange, but do you understand me?" The woman said, with a semi-high voice with a strange accent. Zeph nodded, or tried to, but he couldn't move his head enough to do that. So he tried to speak. The first three times, he couldn't get anything to come out, but he tried clearing his throat and speaking again.
"Y-yes." Zeph croaked, his voice hoarse from lack of water. The woman let Zeph have some more water, and he drank it and sighed, his throat feeling much better.
"What's your name?" The woman inquired. Zeph opened his mouth to respond, but he came up blank.
"I… I don't know." Zeph said truthfully, now worried about himself.
"Do you know how you got here?" The woman asked.
"Not really. I remember flying, then these strange black ships, and then a bang. The nothing." Zeph said. With a small flash, Zeph's ghost materialized next to the bed and all the people around his bed jumped back and grabbed for their guns.
"Do not worry. I am just a Ghost, I am here to take care of him, my Guardian. His name is Zepheron and he is an Awoken who comes from Earth. From what I can tell, he has suffered minor brain damage and considerable Memory Loss due to the crash." Zeph's ghost said as it turned to face the Humans. The humans visibly relaxed, but the the woman spoke.
"What, may I ask, is an Awoken?" She asked, curiously.
"Too long a story to tell right now. In the essence of things, he's a more physically and mentally superior Human." His ghost replied before vanishing.
"Wait… There was a girl with me… her name is… is… Zara." Zeph said, trying to get up.
"Calm down, we have her too." The woman said, keeping Zeph from getting up. "She suffered as much memory loss as you, plus she managed to crack her skull, and as far as we can tell, her spine was broken at about low rib level. If she survives the procedures, she'll be paralyzed from the waist down, forever." Zeph closed his eyes and sighed, relieved that she was alive, but then another thought popped into his head.
"What about…" He began.
"She lost the child she was carrying in the crash, if that's what you were gonna ask about. I'm sorry, but the child was too far gone by the time we got there." She said, interrupting Zeph, and answering his question. Zeph cursed silently and laid back, feeling his heart sink in pain, even though he barely remembered why he cared so much. Zeph closed his eyes, and darkness quickly consumed him and he was asleep once again.
Oryx leaned back in his throne, looking smug but slightly irritated. He had implanted the seed of evil within Ryan, making him more easily controlled. He had used his new puppet to take out a powerful Titan, and had managed to strand those two Titans on Mars. The only thing that irritated him, is that while he may have discovered his Daughter's treachery, he had shot them down, but was unsure if they had died. According to the Hive that found their ship, it had crashed, but someone had cut it open from the outside and they were gone. Oryx heard the doors open behind him and he turned to see that one of his generals had entered his chamber.
"How much progress have you made?" Oryx growled deep in his throat.
"The ritual is almost complete. Give us just a few more days, and he will rise again." The Knight growled back.
"I have already given you more than a month. I want him back in 2 days, or you will suffer. Now get out." Oryx snarled. The Knight bowed and scurried from the room, shutting the doors and Oryx turned his chair back around to stare out at the planet he had come from, or at least, what remained of it. Oryx sighed, he had hoped he would be capable of controlling Zeph, but it was not going to happen. He was either going to have to release the Beast dwelling within Zeph, or kill him. Oryx stood and laughed. He had the weapon he needed. Oryx moved over to the cage hanging from the ceiling. The cage was barely big enough to hold a full grown man, but for the 12 Year old Awoken child within, it was plenty of space. The girl had been kidnapped by a group of Humans, clearly bounty hunters of some kind, so Oryx had taken the liberty of killing the kidnappers, and taking the girl to use for his own plans. As Oryx approached the cage, the child within drew back as far away as she could and curled up, trying to hide from his sight. Oryx laughed, and the child began to cry. Oryx hit the cage, bringing a cry of pain and fear from the child as the cage rocked and spun a little, throwing her around.
"You do know why you are here, don't you, child?" Oryx growled at the girl. She answered by shaking her head and then curling up on the floor of the cage. "Well, let me tell you. Your father, your 'daddy' took my daughter from me. So, I took you from him. You are here because of him, he doesn't love you anymore."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" The little girl shouted as she jumped up to her feet. "My daddy loves me. My daddy is a super hero. He'll come beat you up and save me, you overgrown roach!" Oryx snarled at her, angered by the roach insult and he shot a single spike of Hive magic into the cage, stabbing it through her right shoulder. The girl screamed in pain and crumpled, holding her shoulder and crying, curling back into a ball on the floor.
"Your 'daddy' will not make it in time. By the time he gets here, you'll be dead, and my son, Crota, will live again." Oryx snarls, before laughing darkly and stalking away, leaving the throne room and slamming the doors with a resounding boom.
This Chapter is shorter, yes I know, but while it was shorter, a lot of things are happening. I figured I'd end it here to give you guys(and myself) a little time to process what just happened. To recap real quick, Shannon and Jesus are stranded on mars, in a cave with a docile Fallen Vandal, Zara and Zeph are stranded on an unknown planet heavily populated by Hive, Baris-7 is dead, Jace is in critical condition, Ryan is on the run and slowly becoming full Hive, and everything is going well for Ana and Edward.
