Before this chapter starts, I'd like to tell you that when I'll be remaking the missions from The Taken King, it will be written in third person…with a few chapters having exceptions.
Also, I'd like to give kudos to The Crimson Commando for not only making Fireteam Nero Bianco's first cameo appearance in Dragons' Destiny, but for also writing (and thankfully cutting to the chase) of how Spectre and his Fireteam witnessed the start of the Taken War on Phobos. I know I'm repeating myself from my review, but I look forward to working with you.
Chapter V: Cayde's Stash
How?
How did it turn out to be like this?!
One minute, she was hunting down the Fallen for the cryptarchs, now the Taken are here?! Why!?
Reaper, with Night Predator at the ready, ran for cover in the Divide and Shadestepped to it, back against it as she loaded an arrow. So far, she evaded the Taken Vandal's Wire Rifles and fired her bow from behind cover, taking out a few of them in rapid precision with some Arc energy-tipped arrows and ones made directly from the Arc…but some of the arrows bounced off by some of their 'Ward of Dawn' shields, which were erected as soon as the arrows were feet away from striking some of the Vandals. She kept her head down when the Fallen were thrown into the mix, who caught sight of the Huntress and started to focus on her as well as the Taken.
How did they…! She noticed that one of the Taken Vandals had their sights on her, and she ducked. However, when she ducked, the Vandal had already fired and her Celestial Nighthawk was knocked off her head, exposing her head. The golden helmet rolled in the snow, far from Reaper's reach until it met its demise at the side of the cliff, where it plunged into the icy waters of the Russian Cosmodrome. As much as she wants to fight back, she knew how many Guardians fell when they had no helmet on. Knowing the Fallen, they would have some Vandals with Wire Rifles at the ready, aimed right at her head as soon as she pops her head out of cover.
"Rex, get me another helmet!"
"I can't! Our transmat has been blocked!" her Ghost frantically cried, trying to gain access to her Guardian's inventory and vault to no avail, no doubt due to the Taken presence. "I sent out a distress signal to help us out, hopefully─"
The sound of a hammer slamming against an anvil rang out in the area, to which she saw a glimpse of a Hammer of Sol sailing towards the Taken and Fallen, melting and incinerating all who met its fiery wrath, whether it be from the explosion radius when it lands or if it slams into its victim's face. A symphony of explosions followed as the Solar ability struck its victims, chaining from one victim to another until a fiery inferno was all that's left in the crossfire.
"What the…?" She peeked out her cover, seeing only ashes of the Fallen falling like snow and pillars of Solar flames shrouding the area.
"And here I thought you were the careful one between the both of us. Turns out you need someone to watch your six from time to time."
She turned around. Standing behind her was none other than Spectre. He had a hand out for her to help her up. Her face tinted red as she took it, getting back up on her feet and dusted herself.
"Wait, didn't you go back to the Tower? I saw your ship leave."
"I did, but Cayde sent me back here to get something for him," he explained, clarifying the Huntress on why he returned. "By the way, you're no Hunter without one of these."
"How did you─!" In Spectre's hand was a Celestial Nighthawk, the hawk design staring back at her.
"I called in a favor. It's not the one you lost, but I hope this replacement can suffice. Plus, who'd want to use a soaked Celestial Nighthawk that's been sitting in the icy Russian waters for at least ten seconds?"
"By 'favor', you mean 'hacking into the Hunters' Exotic Armor Blueprint kiosk back in the Tower and using one of your plentiful Exotic Shards and 2500 Glimmer to reproduce a Celestial Nighthawk for an unfortunate Huntress who lost hers'." Primus joked, chuckling until his partner turned his head and started growling frustratingly. "…Just can't seem to take a joke, can you Spectre?"
"Not with you pulling the jokes. Especially with the ones concerning a female Guardian."
"T-thanks." Reaper took the replacement of her lost helmet and put it on, allowing her the protection she needs when she will fight any snipers.
"Spectre, you at the Cosmodrome?" Cayde called through Spectre's Duskrender, to which the Titan gestured Reaper to allow him to take the contact. She nodded, and Spectre turned around with two fingers pressed against the side of an audio receptor.
"Of course I'm at the Cosmodrome, Cayde."
"Oh, you got your lady friend with you. Good. She'll tell you where I hid the stealth drive."
"Cayde, don't you dare think about just leaving me here without any directions to─"
"Relax, every Hunter knows where I keep my stash. Told 'em myself. Plus, can't let Ikora in on our little operation. Bye." With that, Cayde signed off, leaving a pissed off Spectre to the mission.
"Goddamn slippery bastard!" he yelled angrily, punching a nearby concrete structure and melting part of it off, the rest turning into rubble. "'Can't let Ikora in on our little operation', my ass."
While the Titan was cooling off from his short temper tantrum, Reaper walked next to Primus and whispered, "What's going on?"
"Oh, Cayde just left him directionless on a mission. Said something about all the Hunters knowing where he keeps his stash and whatnot…"
Reaper began to laugh uncontrollably, catching the attention of the Sunbreaker sent by Cayde. "Seriously? Well, I suppose that's why Cayde tells all the Hunters about where he keeps his stash and not the Titans and Warlocks."
"Where? Where does he keep it?"
Instead of telling him straight up, she points up towards the derelict shuttle launch towers. "Right up there."
Spectre trudged towards the launch towers, but the Huntress stopped him dead in his tracks, standing before him and blocking his path. He tried to move forward by walking around her, but was stopped again. "What do you think you're doing? I have a mission to fulfill."
"Only way you're getting up there is with a Hunter. Me."
"Tch, how hard can it be to get up there?"
"Very difficult," she, with Rex hovering over her shoulder, looked at the Titan and his Ghost, "especially with the entrance to get up there."
"Where do we start?"
"The House of Devils' Lair, in the Blast. Beyond that point is the entrance to the dome, and Cayde's stash." She signaled him to follow her before having Rex summon her S-34 Ravensteel and mounting it. Spectre had Primus repeat the same thing and transmat his Ravensteel.
-Destiny-
As soon as the Huntress and Titan approached the Blast, they were met with a gruesome sight.
Taken.
And Fallen.
Both species at war with the other, with the House of Devils fighting to defend their home from the new threat.
Both Guardians mounted off their Sparrows and armed themselves with their relatively new handcannons with their swords and respective special weapons, followed by Primus coming out of his hiding spot and contacting Cayde.
"Cayde…we got a real problem down here."
"Let me guess: four arms, wear cloaks…smell real bad?" the Hunter Vanguard took a shot in the dark, cracking a joke as well.
"Not Fallen─Taken!"
Cayde cursed under his breath. "…thought we'd have more time…"
"Well, what do you think: fight them, or make a run for it?" asked the human Huntress, noting how outmanned─and outgunned─both Guardians were against the Fallen and Taken.
"Seeing as how many heavy hitters are out there, and the fact that my Super's not charged to deal with them yet, I'd say make a run for it."
"Lucky for us, I know how to slip by them…" just as Spectre was about to ask how, Reaper threw down a smoke grenade, enveloping the both of them in smoke and making them appear invisible. The two darted across the conflict, avoiding the number of shots from both sides and slipping by the number of Fallen and Taken outside and past the gate that led to the lair of the House of Devils. Spectre hit the button and the gate slammed back down, preventing any of the enemies to enter. The invisibility effect from Reaper's smoke grenade wore off, allowing the two to be seen again.
"Great, more of this stuff," Spectre grumbled, seeing the area infested with the Taken parasitic membrane as well as the Taken blights. The Huntress knelt down to examine the stuff, but Spectre pulled her away from it. "Don't. Unless you want to end up like Silver, then don't touch it. So watch your step, or where you're putting your hand."
"Noted."
"How bad is it?" Cayde communicated to both Guardians' comms, prompting them to press their fingers to their helmets' audio receptors.
"Taken everywhere. Fighting the Fallen."
"Earth's gonna look a lot like Phobos if you two don't find that stealth drive." Cayde warned the two, sending the chills of the thought down their spines. "Reaper, since you're here, why don't you crack open the door for our Titan buddy?"
"Got it, Cayde."
They pressed on to the lair, where the Taken began to appear. Both Guardians opened fire on their weapons, blasting the Psions and Vandals to oblivion and some that got too close with their own fists and knives. More of them began to appear, and they continued to shoot and melee the hell out of them. As quick as the Taken invasion had been, the threat inside the House of Devils' Lair had been vanquished within a magazine's worth of handcannon, shotgun, and bow ammo as well as some fists and knives.
As soon as Spectre rolled his arm after swinging punches wildly, his comms went live. "Spectre, it's 20. You there?"
The leader of the Ancient Vanguard responded, "Yeah, I'm here. What's going on?"
"Listen, you remember what we were talking about in my workshop? About some '2.0' materials?"
"About damn time you got some!"
"Well…not really. We were able to create some prototype armor and we need some field testing to see if it works."
Spectre looked over at the Huntress, who was fiddling around with one of her knives while he was taking a call. "20… See if you can spare another set, this time for a Huntress."
"Got it. Transmat ETA for second set will be in two to three minutes. I'm sending over the field test to you now."
The field test armor transmatted in front of his feet. He knelt down and picked it up, equipping the more resilient plates over his current armor and allowing the 1.0 and prototype '2.0' materials to merge. Spectre cracked his neck, adjusting to the new weight added to his current armor and testing the plates around his knuckles by punching his palm with his good hand. Huh, not bad at all. Feels like I punched an iron wall instead of my fists. He flexed his fingers and turned them into fists, checking to see if the joint articulation synced perfectly. Articulation's good. Durability's great, now for the real test…
He walked over to a puddle of the Taken membrane, dipping his fingers in it. The pale-blue membrane jumped on his hand, spreading to envelope it entirely and maybe to compromise the armor and convert a warrior of the Light to Oryx's side. Not a good thing. Just as soon as the goo breached his armor, it was met with energy plates covering Spectre's weak points in his armor, the blue light pulsing like the No Backup Plans gauntlets. As swift as the energy came, the parasite leapt off his armor, 'howling' painfully as it vanished back to the realm it came from.
"Sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations. Silver came up with the idea of having the armor being something like a Defender's Disintegrate shield. The plates are the generators and respond to any breaches in the armor."
"Figured as much. Is the field test done?"
"You did one half of the test. The other half deals with some Taken. We're getting reports of some Taken Majors being able to use the parasitic membrane as projectiles."
"Got it. Is the other set here?"
"Check your feet." Spectre looked down, and there was an armor set for a Hunter. "Don't thank me. Thank Silver and the others for it."
"Humble as ever," the Titan muttered as 20/20 signed off the comms channel before proceeding to pick up the armor set. Reaper sat on the edge of the platform, swinging her legs back and forth and looking up at the sky until Spectre set the armor set down next to her. "Sorry if that took a while. Here, you're gonna need this."
The Huntress got back on her feet and started to add the armor to her own, adjusting to the weight added to her armor-to-cloth ratio. "Don't worry about making me wait. Knowing how much you and your Fireteam works to help us in the frontier and the front lines, I'd understand."
"How's the armor?"
"Little heavy, but I'll manage." With the both of them equipped, they walked down the stairs, only to notice a giant orb sitting in the side destroyed. Primus, out of curiousity, popped out of his pack and began to scan the ball. It was a Prime Servitor.
"You guys remember when Sepiks Prime was our biggest problem?"
"Thank the Traveler it's over."
"Damn Servitors." Spectre cursed, remembering how bad the fights with Sepiks Prime and other Servitors like it were. The huge Void blasts, the amount of damage they soaked up─especially with Kaliks Reborn, goddamn piece of Fallen shit─, it brought up just the bitterness as Reaper leapt across the ruined bridge in the back of the room, calling out to the Titan to follow her. Spectre broke into a run and Lifted off the ledge, gliding over to where the Huntress was and walking off the landing.
"Well, that's new."
"Wait, it's supposed to be closed!" Reaper gasped, seeing the entrance to where Cayde kept his stash opened. Even if there was a trick to get through it, somebody got through!
"Cayde, the door's already open; we're inside."
"And the Flux grenades didn't detonate?"
"They're all gone." Reaper answered, and the two Guardians heard the Exo Vanguard groan.
"I gotta get out of this tower."
Spectre and Reaper continued on to the area, with the Titan following the Huntress all the way to an abandoned elevator shaft leading to the Devil's Spire. The Taken blight in the area let out a flash of light, blinding both Guardians as Taken Thrall appeared around the two, surrounding them as soon as the flash stopped. The twisted Thrall twitched uncontrollably, ready to take more to their king.
Both Guardians stood back to back in the middle, looking around their environment and conditions. No way to jump up and out of the ring. "Now what?"
"Just kill them and clear a path." Having no choice, Spectre pulled out Raze-Lighter from his back, the blade materializing and engulfing itself in Solar flames as his shield came back to his arm. Under her helmet, Reaper smiled and brought out her own Raze-Lighter and the two began swinging the flame-engulfed swords wildly, slaughtering the Taken Thrall by the swing.
After the threat in the area has been cleared out, both of them put away their swords and made their way to the elevator, where a shutter closed the two of them as soon as Spectre got in.
"What are the chances the elevator still works?" as though to answer the Ghost's question, the elevator activated, the metal moaning after what has to be a long time since its last use. "We're headed up. Cayde? When's the last time you rode this elevator?"
"Relax, it works fine! …But…stand by for resurrection, Primus." Cayde reassured the Ghost, but somehow, that second part didn't seem to convince him.
As the elevator was slowly getting up to the top, Primus and Rex began to analyze the energy readings in the Cosmodrome. Reaper was checking out her knife, making sure it's in top form. However, her eyes glanced over at the Titan, who was staring out into the wilderness of the Cosmodrome, a hand out as though he was looking at something in it before it was engulfed in Solar fire.
"Hey, you okay?" Reaper caught the leader of the Ancient Vanguard's attention, and the Solar-engulfed hand was extinguished.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just spacing out."
"That, coming from the protégé of Commander Zavala? That's new."
Spectre shrugged. "A leader has their moments." They reached the top of the spire, and the both of them got off the elevator…which collapsed and fell back to the bottom. "Well, there goes our lift."
"How do we find your stealth drive?"
"There's a bridge from the tower to the ship. It took me days to get it working; it's a little unstable, so watch your step."
Spectre found the controls for the bridge nearby. Unfortunate for him. That, and that the bridge has been locked into place in another position. Reaper, after inspecting the controls, looked upwards to see something to reroute the power.
"Cayde, someone moved the bridge, destroyed the controls."
"Yeah, that's the Fallen─probably trying to keep the Taken off their backs. See if you can reroute the power," the Exo Vanguard took another crack at guessing what happened, sparking flying in Spectre's view. "Once you get the bridge working, my stash is in the ball on the top of the colony ship."
"We're still waiting for details on this plan of yours, Cayde."
Shit, we've been compromised. Spectre mentally face palmed at hearing the Warlock Vanguard's voice. As much as he wanted to pin the blame on Cayde, it was probably the Warlocks' goddamned knack for being curious that got them under the microscope.
Just as soon as comms ended, the Bladedancer came landing down next to the Sunbreaker. "No need to worry about rerouting the power."
"Why's that?" The bridge began to creak and moan, waking up from its slumber. It began to move to the right, connecting the gap between the towers from the one the Guardians were on to the one with Cayde's stash.
"Did it while you were talking to Cayde."
"Just how much of a lone wolf are you?"
"More than all the lone wolf Titans I know." As Spectre just got burned, the middle of the bridge began to fall apart as soon as the end connecting the bridge to the other tower met. It fell apart, the bridge now in half as though a giant just ripped it in half.
"And I assume this is where things get difficult for us Titans and Warlocks?" he turned to face the Huntress, but she wasn't there. In her place was a note, which he picked up. Meet you at the other side.
"Goddammit."
-Destiny-
Reaper sat on a steel beam next to a Fallen grav-lift, legs swinging over the edge and humming a tune as she waited for a certain Sunbreaker. Her replaced Celestial Nighthawk sat next to her, the golden scheme glistening in the afternoon sun.
"How long do you think it'll take for him to be here?" her Ghost hovered over her shoulder as normal, alternating between looking at the sun and at her partner.
"If I had to make a guess, I'd say right about…" she caught the sound of Titan boots clanging against the metal that made up the tower as well as an argument between two people. "Now."
"How was I supposed to know that the Phalanx would launch you that far?! Even more, be able to block your fusion grenade that quick?!"
"Are you kidding me?! Primus, you're a Ghost! Your job was to resurrect me when I'm down and help me out with the Golden Age doors; not goddamn laughing at me when I was knocked off the platform!"
"Admit it, it was funny considering you died from a combination of a fusion grenade and that Phalanx's shield blast." (A/N: This actually happened to me when I was playing Cayde's Stash once. I died from both my Fusion Grenade which was on that Taken Phalanx's shield at the hatch and the shield blast. *Insert 'fus ro dah!' or any other joke that involves someone or something being launched here*)
"Yeah? How about I put you in that situation instead of me!?" Spectre stopped mid-rant to look at the Huntress and her Ghost staring at the two of them, a hint of amusement in their look.
Reaper got up from the beam and put her Celestial Nighthawk back on, facing the Titan and his Ghost. "Are you two done arguing?"
"It's pretty amusing to see something like this, I'll admit." Rex chuckled.
"…One minute." Spectre turned to face Primus and wrapped one of his hands around Primus' shell.
"Hey, what are you─ yeow ow ow!" smoke began to fume from Spectre's Ghost shell-holding hand, followed by a mild flame of Solar energy encasing it. "Okay, okay! I'll do my job next time!"
Spectre let go of his Ghost and extinguished the Solar energy from his fist. "Don't do your job one more time, and it'll be more than just having a burn mark on your shell. Maybe I'll even melt off one part of your shell!"
"Lesson learnt, Spectre." With that settled, Primus returned to his place in Spectre's pack on his mark, never to bug him while he's still pissed off.
"Are you done?" asked Reaper, and the Sunbreaker nodded. "Why in the name of the Traveler would you do such a thing to a Ghost?"
"As much as he gets on my nerves─aside from Rez─, it's him either bugging me about a topic I don't enjoy or just being annoying and pushing my buttons," clarified Spectre, looking out into the afternoon sky just like the Bladedancer next to him. "Grav-lift the only thing left until we enter the dome?"
"Yep. Just get on it and we're inside the ball." The two got on the Fallen machine and they were taken straight into the ball where Cayde kept his stash… Only for there to be a group of Fallen already there. The Huntress and Titan whipped out their respective custom handcannons and started shooting at the Vandals and Dreg. Just as soon as Spectre was about to punch a Dreg with his Sunstrike, a violent shockwave erupted in the area, wiping out the Fallen and sending the two Guardians into the walls. Reaper was able to survive the impact without much of a problem. The Titan, on the other hand and despite being in heavy armor, was thrown into it so hard that a crater formed as soon as he hit it.
"Agh, dammit…" Spectre groaned, definitely feeling the shockwave as his helmet began to blare out red like crazy. "Reaper!"
"I'm okay! Look!" the center of the room began to warp with a dark aura, with the aura transfiguring into a Hive-like creature with wings. "That has to be Oryx!"
"WHAT CROTA BEGAN, I COMPLETE! VENGEANCE FOR CROTA!" the shadow raised his hand towards the Huntress, the signature aura produced by Wizards' Darkness Blasts beginning to ignite.
"Get out of there!"
Reaper ducked for cover just as soon as the Echo of Oryx started firing its Darkness Blast, Shadestepping at the last second when the blasts were mere inches away from hitting her. Holstering Starfall, she drew out Night Predator and nocked in three Solar tipped arrows into the Sapphire Wire-made bowstring, pulling them back and aiming at the Echo's face. She let go, letting the arrows fly and strike the Echo in the face. The Echo howled painfully and lashed out at the Huntress by firing more Darkness Blasts, this time more overwhelming than before. Again, the Huntress ducked with her Shadestep, but not unscathed like the last time. Some of the blasts caught her mid-Shadestep, draining some of her health. Her prototype Anti-Taken armor had helped repel the Taken parasite off her armor, and thankfully it didn't malfunction.
Spectre, after freeing himself from his spot from the wall, collapsed to the floor, his regenerative abilities not even kicking in. He looked up painfully as the Echo continued to shoot Darkness Blasts at his Huntress partner with apparently no defining limit. Dammit, what the hell can I do? My health's not regenerating, my field test armor's probably busted from the impact, and I can't get back on my feet without getting on a knee… He punched the ground defeatingly, melting off part of the metal. There's only one thing I can do… Painfully, he got back up with a bit of a struggle and watched as Taken blights took the stage before him and sent off many Taken Psions.
"Bring it!" he called out and summoned his Hammer of Sol, jumping upwards and slamming it against the metal. A wave of devastating Solar energy similar to a Striker's Shockwave ability erupted from the hammer and the ground colliding, tracking its unfortunate victims and incinerating them to ashes. Just as the Taken Blights showed up, the Sunbreaker charged towards them and swung it, causing them to all explode in fiery Solar energy and never allowing the Taken to come to the battleground.
"Hey Oryx!" the Echo turned around, stopping his onslaught of Darkness Blasts and allowing Reaper some breathing space. "You looking for me!? Huh?! Because I was the one who killed your son?!" just before his Super energy ran out, he transferred the Solar energy from his Raze-Lighter into his Sunbreaker subclass, practically giving it the effects of Boundless Light and ensuring that his Super remains charged until he finishes off the clone. "Well, send your armies of Hive and Taken after me and my team! Once I'm done with your doppelgänger and armies, I'm making sure you join Crota in the grave!"
He started to throw more Hammers of Sol at the Echo, enveloping the shadow of the Taken King in flames and allowing Reaper to heal up and nock an arrow into her bow. She pulled it back, aiming at the Echo and channeled the energies of the Void into the arrow before letting it go. The arrow struck the Echo from behind, preventing it from warping away to safety.
"Now, Spectre!"
"No need to tell me twice!"
The Titan broke into a running start and leapt up to match the height of the Echo of Oryx. Just as he was eye to eye with the doppelgänger, he left hooked the Echo, leaving a Solar mark on one of its jaws, then raised his hands over his head in a Fist of Havoc-like motion and slamming the shadow down to the ground with his fists. The Echo crashed into the floor, and Spectre stomped down on its spine, making sure it doesn't get back up. As much as the Echo tried to free itself from the Sunbreaker and the Shadowshot, it howled painfully as the Titan on its back began to claw at where his wings and his back met until Spectre ripped them off like they were just props on a costume. The shadow tried to escape by shaking Spectre off of it, but Reaper shot down another Shadowshot arrow and tethering it down further.
"Come anywhere near the City or me and my Fireteam, and this is what will happen to your armies and your damned doppelgängers you send after us!" his good fist began to infuse itself with Solar, Arc, and Void energy as he pried open the Echo's jaws forcibly with his other hand.
The Echo watched frozen and horribly as Spectre threw his fist down its mouth, the burning, electric, and disintegrating feeling of the three elements starting to do their job with their respective feeling when struck. The shadow of the Taken King began to disintegrate from the inside out, howling while the Titan's fist was still in its jaws followed by an eruption of flames. However, as there were Solar fire, there was also black fire erupting from the Echo. After what seemed to be an eternity of agony and suffering, the Echo ceased its howls of agony and was violently pulled in from a pocket black hole to whence it came, removing the blight of the Taken from the area…for now.
Just as the threat was dealt with, Spectre stood back up, breathing heavily as he removed his Duskrender and let it fall next to him before he fell to his knees. The aura produced by Sunbreakers when activating their Supers faded away, heaving him back to his black-colored armor. Out of the reflection on his helmet's visor, he saw a horrifying sight.
Dammit, no! No! His steel-blue eyes wasn't blue.
It turned to a sinister gold. And there was blood on his face.
No, no, no, NO! Why?! He shook his head, hoping it was just another hallucination. Spectre looked back at his helmet's visor. The gold eyes and blood had faded away, and the blue came back.
"That thing seemed pretty mad. Oryx must still be holding a grudge against us. You know…killing Crota?" Primus popped out of his hiding spot, looking at his partner while he was still trying to assess why his eyes turned gold instead of blue. "Here, you might need this." The Duskrender helmet hovered right before Spectre's face, and the Sunbreaker took it, slapping it back on and hiding his face again under the guise of the Duskrender.
"Spectre?" said Titan turned around as soon as he got back on his feet and at the Huntress who helped him on the way up here with a Stealth Drive in hand. "Here. I was able to acquire it while you were dealing with that…thing."
"…Thank you." Primus stored the Stealth Drive in the Titan's inventory for him as Reaper's Ghost materialized next to her. The Huntress took off her helmet and pulled her hood down, letting her long brunette hair tumble down and her gray eyes out of the visor.
"You're not hurt, are you? That was a pretty bad slam, if you ask me."
"Primus, you know better that I've endured slams to the wall far worse than that," he rolled his arm that had the infused elements used to slay the Echo, feeling numb from all that trouble. "Thanks for the help, Reaper."
"It's not a bother, Spectre. Because like you and The Ancient Vanguard, I want to help out my fellow Guardians, even though I'm a lone wolf a lot of the time," she stared at the ground, facing away from Spectre's gaze. "Hey, um, if you don't mind me asking, but do you─"
"Want to go on a date?" Spectre finished, and that caused the Huntress to look at him. "Didn't you ask me for a Grudge Match earlier?"
"Um, it's fine if you don't want to! I understand completely!"
"Hold on, let me finish." Reaper stopped acting flustered at her sudden boldness and Spectre sighed, admitting defeat against his own Ghost. "As much as I know, every human female Guardian has asked me the same thing. But I always knew that they only wanted to use me as a thing to brag about. And honestly, that's not how I roll. Don't take it the wrong way, but how can I be sure that you're not going to just use me?"
Her face started burning crimson red, and she turned around to avoid Spectre's helmeted gaze. "That's not my intention! I just want to know you better. Better than everyone in the Tower knows about you. That's what I meant by going out on a date."
"…Very well," the Huntress looked up and looked at Spectre. "Since we'll be going out on a date, I suppose this will cancel out the Grudge Match?"
"Yes."
"Well then, how about tomorrow? Because I'm pretty sure I won't have to deal with any shenanigans for the day. Aside from the normal crap with Rez and having an earful from probably Zavala and Ikora today when I get back."
"Yeah, that'll work."
"See you tomorrow." Spectre gave a two-fingered salute at the Huntress before he had Primus materialize back into his palm and transmat him to his custom-colored Fatal Vision, leaving Reaper in the dome where Cayde keeps his stash. As for the Bladedancer, she remained frozen in place, speechless and not having enough time to say goodbye. Instead, she gave a half-wave at where the Sunbreaker stood before he was transmatted.
"Hmm…" Rex's red and gray-colored shell whirred open and close, the blue 'eye' brighter as though it was scanning something.
"W-what is it, Rex?"
Rex closed her shell, facing her Guardian partner. "That didn't go according to how you wanted it, didn't you?"
"What are you talking about? Of course it went how I imagined it!" the Huntress argued, her face still red.
"I knew it. You like him."
"No I don't!"
"Don't lie to me, Reaper."
"Stop it."
"Come onnn, admit it."
"Little─"
"Fine! I'll cut it out!" yelled the Ghost, the two having a moment of silence before Reaper jumped off a nearby edge of the dome and begin to parkour her way down instead of going down the conventional way. Instead of going with her, Rex stayed behind for a while, her shell in scanning mode. As soon as her scan was complete, she closed it, the rear part whirring in a disappointed notion.
[That's odd…] She faced where the Echo of Oryx faced its demise by the Sunbreaker, then up towards the sky. [For a second, I thought I picked up a powerful concentration of the Darkness just as that shadow was being incinerated alive by Spectre's element-infused Sunstrike…]
[It can't be…can it?]
