Chapter XVI: Risking It All
Absolution Arc
1407 Hours, December 19, 2714
Circle of Bones, Hellmouth, Moon
"So now what?"
"What we do now, is go down to the Summoning Pits and wipe out the source of this Infestation." Spectre said, pointing towards the door leading to the Summoning Pits and on a summit across from said door. Standing by his sides and behind him were the rest of his two teams, arming themselves with their weapons.
He didn't dare glance downwards, for there was an army of Infested aimlessly wandering about. Ancients were thrown in the mix as well, drifting about in the sea of the infected and protecting them with their healing presence. There was no way they could cut through them and make kill the source of the Infested in time. Even with all of them utilizing a sword or using non-kinetic damage, the Ancients are starting to send more than the healers.
Thrown in the mix were walking Infested tumors, boils packed to the brim and just disgusting to even behold, especially as said boils were ready to burst with a single touch. Tiny pods erupted from their backs, landing nearby and rapidly growing to spawn more Infested. There were even Infested that were wandering around like primates and their chests opening up, giving life to tinier Infested that started devouring the corpses of unfortunate Hive and Fallen like piranhas. Boilers and Brood Mothers. Wonderful. Now they have more of a pain up their asses.
Shortly after they met Eroxs, the rest of the team that were tasked with reestablishing connection to the sensor grid regrouped with Spectre's team excluding Leon and Aqua. They brought him the bad news that it was beyond their repair capabilities thanks to the Infested and they had encountered the Infested just as well. Rez and Silver had started using their Dark Drinker and Bolt-Caster ever since Cloud told them they were immune to kinetic damage. Their Fireteam leader prayed silently that the sword training he taught them didn't go to waste and weren't as reliant to their swords' special abilities to take out their enemies.
As usual, Lightning didn't immediately trust their cloak-wearing Titan friend and threw cold glances at them whenever she had the chance. She even whispered a conversation to her brother concerning their new friend on the way here. Spectre didn't want to admit it, but he too felt that something was off with Eroxs. Not of a malicious intent and stab all of them in the back, no no no. When they shook hands, Spectre sensed something familiar radiating from Eroxs. Familiar, yet not. Like they had met before.
"We need to hurry, or else we'll lose the Ocean of Storms to the Infested," Eroxs unfolded their arms from their chest and whipped out their scout rifle, slamming in a fresh new magazine and cocking the bolt.
"And how do you expect us to get—" Rez was stopped when Eroxs's scout rifle transformed back into a scythe. He gulped when the blade was close to his throat, then moved away by the wielder. "Why do I have to be on the cutting end of every bladed weapon?"
The only Exo of the team dropped his shoulders. "Well, I can think of a number of reasons, but I'm gonna say this one was accidental." He looked at Eroxs to which they nodded affirmatively and rested the scythe across a shoulder.
"Do we slaughter them or make a run for it, Spectre?"
"I want to go with option 'B', but seeing as half of us don't even know how to wallrun — which I can't blame them for being Guardians," Spectre started, hearing a small protest before being quickly silenced. "It looks like we have to charge in. No one uses Supers until I give the order to. Cloud, Reaper, you're going to run stalling the Infested as we make our way through them. You two have the capability for crowd control."
"Or we could let Eroxs run distraction for us."
Spectre looked over his shoulder to see that the hooded Titan wasn't there. Reaper and Silver were pointing in front right before he could ask and he turned his head back around. The sound of Infested howling and a blade being swung reached the team's ears and his helmet's HUD zoomed in on the commotion. He felt his hopes sink in his heart as he saw Eroxs attract the attention of the Infested on their own. So much for the easy plan.
"If you're done up there, that crowd control would be most appreciated!" Eroxs said via comms, easily taking them on with minimal effort.
"For the Traveler's sake…!" Spectre muttered, armor reverting back to his Guardian appearance and summoning the Hammer of Sol once again. "Go!" He started hurling the flaming hammers at the Infested, the rest of the team springing into action and the crowd control getting to work. After he caught a number of the Infested's attention with his Hammer of Sol, he leapt off and slammed the hammer against the ground into the swarm he caught their attention with. A flamed tsunami incinerated them within the radius, howls of agony and pain the last thing he heard of them.
As Reaper nocked in a Shadowshot and Lightningfall arrows at once and let them fly into the swarm, Cloud leapt forward from the summit like a Striker and into the swarm of infected Fallen and Hive, then stabbing the Buster Sword into the ground. Like the last time he used his Dark Knight Super, a wave of extremely volatile Arc energy and wind erupted like a tsunami as it swept the Infested off their feet and put them in a zero gravity-like environment. The Shadowshot arrow launched by the Bladedancer hit its mark and ensnared the 'free-falling' swarm in streaks of Void energy, followed by the Lightningfall arrow striking one of the Brood Mothers and chaining Arc lightning bolts between it, Boilers, and Ancient Healers along with the Void snares. In due time, they were disintegrated into oblivion.
With her Empress of the Abyss auto rifle, Tohsaka mowed down the Runners and Leapers with controlled bursts of her specialized Equilibrium rounds each enemy fallen by the bullets either vaporized, incinerated, or zapped to oblivion. Crawlers tried their best to overwhelm her and have her assimilate, only for her to stomp on them with unforgivable cruelty their blood splattering against her armored boots. She felt no remorse for the Infested, victims and plague alike. Just as Rez and Silver started slicing down Infested headed towards them, Lightning drew out Dusk Repulsor once again, followed by Reaper summoning her own Raze-Lighter as they joined the massacre.
Spectre backflipped away from where he slammed his last Hammer of Sol and changed back to his true armor, summoning a boxy, almost sci-fi light machine gun with three fixed barrels in his primary slot that started whining to warm up. It didn't take long as energy indicators all across the gun lit up and he held down the trigger. Bolts of crimson energy were fired at a slow rate, disintegrating the swarm until it started firing at the same rate as Super Good Advice effectively cutting them down to size as the bolts overpenetrated through them. He kept up the barrage until the glow in the indicators were blinking, heat cooling ports opening on the weapon to accelerate the cool down process. An indicator on his heads-up display alerted him of a cooldown malfunction. Cursing under his breath, Spectre reached for the battery pack that doubled as the front sight and main barrel housing and tossed it aside after seeing the battery's visible cells have been fried. Dammit, now I wish I packed more of the battery packs before I left years ago! Although in his mind, he wished he had a flamethrower to make it easier. And to make up for a dead battery for his energy machine gun.
The cloaked Titan swung their scythe around, hacking and slashing the countless Infested with unprecedented speed and grace. They caught one if the Brood Mothers in the curved blade of the scythe, ensuring a moment of pause. It screeched in the Titan's face and started birthing more of its spawn. Scowling at its hideous face and nauseating smell, Eroxs pulled a hidden trigger on the long handle and sliced. Their attack was enhanced with a fired round from the magazine they loaded, the massive recoil easily multiplying the slice and killing the Brood Mother before it spawned its babies to kill them. Eroxs heard more Infested coming for them and spun the scythe in the air, kicking it in their direction. As their boot struck the hidden trigger the scythe-scout rifle propelled itself towards them, cleaving them cleanly in half and flying back to finish the Infested off, Eroxs catching it mid-leap and stabbing the blade into the ground. Aligning the sights to their targets, they began the repetitive process of firing and loading a new round with the bolt-action without any form of amateurish moves, killing them in rapid succession.
Just as the Fireteam of seven were back to back in a circle, weapons aimed and ready to kill off more Infested as they approached, they were not ready for what happens next. Right before the Infested inched closer, the lights in the area started to flicker.
"You pathetic Infested! You are all useless!" As if on cue, the infected Fallen and Hive burst into blackened, Taken-like flames engulfing them in their individual hells. "I bring you back to kill them, yet you fail to! Worthless, sniveling pieces of undead!" Howls of agony echoed throughout the Circle of Bones as the Infested burned, their burns far more than the Solar flames and the fire that the Dark Knights have used before. Runners, Leapers, Brood Mothers, Chargers, Ancients, and Boilers alike raised whatever their heads were towards the heavens and let out more of their ear-piercing screams, the hunched bipedal Infested holding their heads.
Like they were all going to hell for their failure.
One last eruption of the flames engulfed the infected, and their agony multiplied tenfold. As much as the infected were given no sympathy for this, the Dark Knights felt some form of it yet a need of answers were among them. In due, agonizingly slow time, the Infested in the Circle of Bones incinerated to ashes. To Rez and Silver's hopes and expectations, they were glad Oryx didn't step in to Take them.
"You… I will make you pay for the death of Crota…" the disembodied voice rasped. Just before the team would start asking questions, the path leading to the Summoning Pits opened. An orb of the Taken membrane manifested before Spectre, glowing and pulsating. "Come down to the Pits, son of Trionus Pendragon! You cannot run from your past crimes, both from the past and now. Come with your friends, and I will hunt them down until they are dead or broken!"
The Taken aura was lifted from the area, and the ashes of the infected were blown away into the abyss. As for the orb of Taken, it phased through the door, leaving its touch on it as it the door seemingly melted altogether. An explosion rocked the area, entrances and exits all blocked by fallen rocks and collapses architecture. All seven of the Fireteam breathed a sigh of relief and they holstered their weapons, lucky that the place didn't collapse over their heads but knowing they were trapped like rats. Everyone but Spectre, who kept Duskdancer and Black King at the ready.
Lightning put a hand on his shoulder. "Spectre, you can't seriously be thinking about going down there alone," she said. What she didn't anticipate was her younger twin pulling away from her touch like he was enraged at her. "Spectre…? What's going─?"
Lightning stopped her advance when Spectre had the tip of Duskdancer at her throat, followed by Rez and Silver aiming their weapons at their leader. As though in response to guns being pointed at him, his tendrils of Darkness manifested behind his back, writhing and twitching as though in agony. Her beating heart had skipped a beat at the initial moment he did this, but now it was beating fast out of fear. Fear that the Darkness was starting to influence him into making fatal mistakes. If only she could see his eyes to hopefully prove that fear wrong…
"Spectre, what the hell's going on?" Silver interrogated, Tlaloc's barrel sparking with Arc energy.
"Have you gone loco?!"
Spectre took one good look at the Guardians and Dark Knights around him, then at Reaper with a hand over her mouth clearly shocked at his actions, and finally back to his own flesh and blood. Even he felt some intimidation from Eroxs when they put the blade of their scythe close to the back of his neck. When he sensed the Titan's hand start to quiver out of some hesitation, so did he. Even with his armor on, he could see the outline of the mark Samson had printed on the back of his hand. Only he could see it. No one else. Now he knew it. Spectre concluded that Samson was behind why he couldn't move right before he was close to becoming Juggernaut food, and now this?!
The bastard…! He wanted to tell them outright about this. But then again, they would make sure he'd never return to the field and they won't know how to find the cause of all this. Only he does. Spectre could use it against him, but the influence was working against his attempts to. He was no Batman, but he could be close to one. In any case, Spectre felt as though he was only watching everything he did and had no control over his own body. He could even feel his sister's breath hitching resonate through the sword. Even sensing her fears.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Spectre lowered Duskdancer from his sister's throat but kept his hand on the hilt. In an instant, his tendrils faded away. He looked around and saw his teammates and Eroxs lower their own weapons. "…I'm going to wing this alone. The rest of you get out of here."
Lightning scowled, but her heart was sinking at her brother's tone. "Are you insane?!"
"Do I look insane? I'm doing this to not lose anyone else and that includes you, sis. What do you think I'll do if all of you died in front of me?" Spectre questioned, looking at his sister dead in the eye and the distance almost enough to punch someone in the face or shoot them point blank. "I already lost people that I held dear to me, both family and friends. And so did you. I'm not going to lose more."
In the midst of it all, Cloud crossed his arms. "Kono shi no wana, Supekutore ha shitte i masu. You know it's a death trap, Spectre."
For a lone wolf, he knows how the hell grief works… "It's a risk I'll have to take. But that doesn't mean that I'll go down with a guilty conscience," said Spectre like it was his moment of dying. "I'll take care of myself."
"Anata no seishin joutai de ha ari mase n ga ari masu. Not in your mental state, you are."
"I've seen people manage to survive a trap like this with a similar mental state," said Eroxs, their scout rifle-scythe still in hand. "I'm sure he'll be okay." Lightning threw a scowl at the Titan, to which the receiver threw their hands up in surrender.
While Lightning and Eroxs were glaring at each other like dogs and cats, Reaper went up to Spectre. Instead of her reputation as the Predator, she started shaking and sniffling. As she looked to look at her lover in the eye, he took her in his arms. One of his hands found itself at the back of Reaper's helmeted head and pulled her in, allowing the Guardian to cry into his chest. Remorse flooded him in the form of memories he deeply cherished, yet a part of him clearly reminded him that time was gone.
"Do you have to do this alone?"
Spectre lifted her chin, their gazes meeting under their helmets. "I don't want to have you in the crossfire between me and whatever waits for me down there. I'm not going to run the risk of losing another loved one." A sonic boom rang throughout the Circle of Bones, followed by a powerful gust of wind. A searchlight shone down, illuminating the darkness of the area and ensuring no Hive could manifest should they appear. Reaper looked up and saw Spectre's Xiphos on standby, hovering over the ledge vertically like the derelict shuttles found in the Cosmodrome and hatch open. From what she saw, there was no indication of damage to the hull of the ship.
Reaper felt the urge to question him how his ship could easily navigate through the rocky tunnels the Hive created. "Promise me you'll not do something reckless and stupid down there."
Spectre smirked and pulled her in close again, letting her hear his heartbeat through the armor. You're just like Vesper… "I'll try not to. It's me, remember?" he handed her a device out of the sight of his team. She raised an eyebrow and proceeded to speak, but Spectre quickly silenced her. "Use this. Link this to your HUD and it'll relay my vitals to you so you'll know if I'm alive or dead."
The rest of the Fireteam boarded the Xiphos via the hatch, Lightning and Cloud reluctant to leave him to fight this threat alone. Rez and Silver, despite the three of them as Nero Bianco having handled threats as a team, felt the same way he would. Reaper was the last to board, who turned to see her lover tread towards the melted door leading to the Summoning Pits cape fluttering about in his stride. As though he sensed it, Spectre turned around and looked at her mournful at what he'll do. He nodded and tapped the plates composing his helmet, signaling her to keep comms between them online.
And that was before his tendrils came back, bladed appendages making quick work of the rocks around him. In an instant, the rocks crumbled before the door, cutting off access to the Summoning Pits by caving him in on the other side effectively separating Spectre from the Fireteam. Truth be told, everyone didn't see that coming. The females of the team wanted to get down from the ship and snap him to his senses, only for the hatch to securely lock itself and starting its flight out of the underground necropolis.
Alright boy, you know what to do. Help him out. Eroxs thought as the ship sped past the tunnels below the surface of the moon, the back of their neck sending out a signal with a tiny collar-like device. They didn't need to worry if the signal was to be intercepted ─ it was on a closed channel that only their companion could listen to. If they could hear the canine now, it would've barked or growled affirmatively.
-Destiny: Skyfall-
Something wasn't right here. The atmosphere was different from when he fought that abomination of an Ogre. Aw, to hell with that! Of course it was obvious. Something about it was darker than before, more deathly and nostalgic. Nostalgic in a bad way. For some odd reason or another, the vibe this atmosphere was giving was choking him with his past. As Spectre kept a hand on one of his swords' hilts since his descent, he took the time to reconcile with MI6.
"You seriously don't know when your lies will start affecting me. They never do. What is it do you think that you're trying to accomplish by going alone to fight something we don't have a damned clue about and how to put it down?" questioned MI6, holographic form pulsing and illuminating the darkness.
"I already said it: I don't want another friend or loved one to die. That's why I'm taking this risk."
Before he knew it, MI6 appeared in front of him and took a human form, still holographic. More specifically, Primus took Spectre's appearance as a Guardian, even matching his height. "So you're telling me that you're going to go to war. A war that you know you could've potentially lost before you could make your move. Not just against Oryx, but against Samson."
Spectre advanced on his A.I assuming his 'reflection'. "That son of a bitch brought the war to us. To me. Look at the casualties so far, Primus. Thousands of Cabal, Vex, and Fallen have been massacred by Oryx's Taken. What's next? Millions? How long will it be until Oryx starts making Taken Guardians and Dark Knights?" Spectre snarled, glaring at his own 'reflection' for the potential wise talk. "The only way to stop Oryx from making more of Taken Guardians and Dark Knights is taking out his first and only one."
"Even if it means you, son of the strongest Dark Knight that ever existed and true heir to the throne of the Dark Knight leadership, becomes Taken? You think I don't know about what's going on inside you? Don't you get it through your thick skull right now? You're giving Oryx the opportunity to Take a Dark Knight," MI6 argued, jabbing a finger against the side of his helmet. "I've known you since Teshin gave me to you on your twenty-first birthday, and you're going through another change. I know this isn't you, and you're just letting Oryx and Samson control you as their puppet! What will you do if you killed everyone you know dear to you, including Reaper?"
The hand around Duskdancer's hilt started to envelope in Darkness and Spectre's temper increasing the moment he entered the Summoning Pits. The area was virtually empty as he remembered leaving it. But a dark presence was here. The Taken aura was faint, yet there was no Infested biosignature here. Gone. As much as he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he knew something more powerful than a deformed quadruped was here. Phorid's out of the picture…good. Never liked fighting the bastard anyway. He leapt off the level overlooking the grounds of the Summoning Pits, landing on his knees and free hand as his cape softened the fall with an inertia dampener sown into the fabric.
"So…trying to become the big hero, aren't you, Pendragon?"
It was now that Spectre found out what — or rather who — he was up against. It was another humanoid Taken, meditating dead center in the grounds as though they were waiting for his arrival. The armor indicated that it couldn't have been a Guardian, but what he had feared. It was composed of bone-like materials for vital pieces of the armor over a leathery-like material that had to be made from processed ferrite for the bodysuit, energy emitting from the bones forming patterns. They shared a similar color scheme as Spectre but the red was as though they bathed in the blood of humans. Even the helmet had looked twisted by corruption, an elongated, cylindrical head cage-like ornament to the helmet and slitted eyes where anyone's eyes would be behind the helmet. A long flowing cape in the same colors ran to the point where the tip would touch the floor when they were standing, leathery like it was made out of skin from either the Fallen or Cabal.
Spectre drew out Duskdancer from its sheath, the blade illuminating with the Darkness he could control and pointing the tip in their direction. His hand went for Raze-Lighter's hilt, but he wasn't ready to pull it out. "And I assume you're behind the Infestation here on the moon. Sent by Oryx to draw me out."
An echoing cackle erupted from their lips, looking up from the floor and looking at their prey. "There is no place to hide, son of Trionus Pendragon. You cannot run from your past!" they stood from their meditation, hand wrapping around the hilt of a giant sword sharing a similar material and appearance to the bony armor they wore. "There is no salvation for your crimes against Crota and The Right Hand. Did you really think there would be no consequences to your actions?"
Naturally, that prompted the Excalibur-using Dark Knight to draw out Raze-Lighter and ignite the flames along the blade. Immediately after triggering the flames, Raze-Lighter was engulfed in Solar flames that blazed out of control for the first time. Even to his own. Flames so uncontrollable that it illuminated the area around him in a violent flaming orange.
"Tell me something. Do you bleed?" Spectre asked in a menacing tone, clawed gauntlets gripping the hilts of his swords and scratching the materials composing them. No response from the Taken Dark Knight. "You will."
Under their helmet, the Stalker cracked a sinister smile. Their sword started to illuminate in crimson, the patterns projected throughout the sword glowing brighter and the Taken aura seething through its surface.
"Your legend dies here, Pendragon. You shall not leave this place alive!"
A/N: And so it begins. The stalker versus the stalked, predator versus the prey. Both the Heir and Stalker are ready to play their roles here, and will Spectre find absolution? (Props to whoever catches the reference Spectre says to the Stalker and his conversation with MI6/Primus.)
Prophet: Why does it feel like you're touching on deep topics to make the reader think? Subtle, yet fairly easy to pick up on.
Me: Deep topics that make one think about life intrigue me, and I wanted to try executing them in stories.
Prophet: Fair enough.
The Crimson Commando (II-XV): Huh. I never thought of the Infested to be similar to the infected from The Last of Us, although the Infested are an enemy faction from Warframe. I really need to brush that game off my shelf… Who knows about Eroxs? You'd probably be shocked when their gender is revealed.
Guest (Cl0ud, II-II): Two things first of all. One: learn how to spell 'cliché' right, and two: read Dragons' Destiny for those characters that aren't from Destiny: Skyfall. (I assume you didn't bother to read Dragons' Destiny when I clearly said it was a joint story. Then again, you probably won't get this far to see this response to your review.)
Two separate Guests (II-V and II-VI): I'm going to say this now, this is my take on the Taken King story and I want to emphasize on my characters and their journeys rather than what revolves around the Destiny universe. Meaning, although they are in the Destiny universe and other concepts/games like Warframe, Halo, and dragons are thrown in the mix, I just didn't feel satisfied with the lore Destiny offered during Year 2 and its prior year so I want to develop my characters to somewhat be unique from the Guardians we play as and play with. Develop them and show their own struggles.
Okay, so this is somewhat of an early Christmas present from me to you guys! There will be two specials coming in the next couple of days (one for Christmas and another for New Year's), but this is officially the last chapter for 2016! As soon as 2017 rolls in, there will possibly be a chapter ready for deployment. Until then, Guardians and enjoy these last few days of the year!
