Couldn't wait any longer! Hope you enjoy it! I'll try to do a biweekly thing and keep this regular!
The Tower room was full of guardians and worried humans, people who ran the City, people who knew what they were doing- all at a total loss. The sky outside was dark. Vanguard Commander Zavala was trying to connect to the city's outer satellites, Ikora Rey was looking at their access history, and Ferdy- Federico Veltrone- was following her around. He was absolutely certain that she didn't mind. They were on solid terms now, after beating Shaxx in this year's Ultimate Crimson Duos competition. Higher-ranking guardians could team up and compete, and the final duo that survived faced Lord Shaxx alone in the final round. No one had ever beat Shaxx, ever, but Ferdy and Ikora had managed it, with a few last-minute well-thrown grenades- ah, the irony of that! He hadn't expected her to even say yes to competing with him, but she had, and she had been amazing.
Hearing heavy bootsteps thunk-thunk across the ground, Ferdy looked up to see the Hunter vanguard striding in, his cape somehow managing to flap behind him even though there was no wind in the sealed upper room. "Cayde's finally here," he called to Zavala. "What took you so long?"
Cayde ignored him, saying, "Ikora, if you tell me this is a practical joke. Well, it kills me to say it, but I - I would be really impressed."
"Impressing you, Cayde, is the easiest thing I'll do all day."
"Let's get serious, people," Zavala said sternly.
"Zavala! This is my serious face," Cayde said. His robotic face rarely ever changed its metal expression, but his eyes continued to twinkle with mischief. "Can't you tell?"
Zavala sighed, and turned to where Ikora was standing on the side platforms above them. "Ikora, what have you got?"
"Someone or something has sabotaged the Skyline Defense Systems."
"And comms have been spotty for the last few hours. Every sensor beyond the wall has gone dark," Cayde added, coming to a stop in front of a little screen displaying the outer wall sensors. All of them were flashing red. Disconnected.
"Hmm… Maybe it's just the storm." Zavala turned to the windows outside, saying, "Maybe it's… What are the sat feeds telling us?"
"Nothing." Ikora frowned, working with some of the settings. Ferdy could see that they clearly weren't running at all.
"Well, that's good, right?"
"No!" Ikora snapped, frustrated with Cayde's misunderstanding. "I mean, they're not there. There are no satellites!"
"And… that's not good," Cayde said quietly, finally understanding their dilemma."
Zavala strode over to the window, staring out into the dusty darkness beyond. A flash of lightning suddenly illuminated a horde of shadowed ships approaching. Zavala spun around, crying, "BATTLE STATIONS! Everyone with me, NOW!"
Ferdy could now see a whole fleet of cabal warships, leaving dark, smoky trails behind them as they sped toward the city. A dozen flashing projectiles hurtled toward them as Zavala channeled his light to form the Ward of Dawn. Every human in the room scrambled to get within its protection, but Cayde's arm lit up as he summoned his golden gun, firing several rounds at the warheads, even as the first few struck the room, sending Ferdy toppling to the ground. Ikora leapt off the deck, grabbed Cayde, and void-warped into Zavala's bubble. Ferdy remembered how she'd taught him to bend his own force to snap through time, space and gravity, and there he was beside her. She had just turned around to look for him, and he met her gaze, he saw the worry in her dark eyes ease a little.
"Hang on!" She cried, as Zavala struggled to hold up the bubble protecting them, sliding backward with the force of his effort. Zavala let out a gasping groan, and the bubble vanished just as several beams from the roof began to crash down toward them. Ferdy grabbed Ikora, diving under a broken desk and curling himself over her to protect her as the whole world seemed to fall down around them.
When the dust cleared, he looked up to see the sky filled with Cabal ships..
"Uh oh," He muttered, "We're in trouble this time."
"See that storm ahead?" Oliver nudged her elbow.
"Uh-huh." Kenzie pulled her seat forward. She liked to keep it leaning back so she could relax while she flew, but under adverse conditions, she leaned over the controls to get a better grip on them. The mountains surrounding the Last City were still covered in winter snow, and thick storm clouds surrounded it so they couldn't see what was going on, but an eerie red light shone from between each peak, like a great fire beckoning to them.
"Repeat, Tower Approach, this is City Hawk seven-two-three. Anyone home…?" Cap tried again and again to connect to the Landing Tower, but his only response was static.
"What's going on back there?" Juliet asked him, spinning the corners of her rosy shell around and around, nervous.
Kenzie shrugged. "We'll find out in hmm… five minutes, according to Nav."
Cap flashed his Eye display impatiently. "Remember when I told you that you fly too fast? Forget that I said that. Fly fast."
"Oh, dear, I had better buckle up." Oliver sat down in the copilot's seat, strapping himself in as the hunter grinned, thrusting the controls forward. The engine groaned with the force of her acceleration as they sped through the storm clouds that changed from dark blue-gray to a blinding orange. The sight that met them on the other side was an awful one. The City was up in flames. Smoke columns rose high toward the sky in every direction, the atmosphere was choked with Cabal ships, and some strange mechanism seemed to be attached to the Traveler.
Kenzie's grip on the controls slackened, her mind seized by horror and disbelief. Her home. The one place she thought she was safe. All of it was burning. And the Traveler-
"See if you can find us somewhere to land, Kenzie," Oliver said, his voice calm and quiet. He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly, and some of the breath went back into her lungs. She nodded, unable to form words. Oliver was always calm in a crisis. She wanted that skill, but she was always afraid. Out there, out in the wilds with Cayde and Shiro, she knew she was taking risks but she also knew that anytime she wanted to stop, she could come back here and be safe. This was the place her enemies couldn't touch. This was humanity's stronghold. This was… impossible.
"I can't get us a landing, but if Cap can stow the Ship, we can hop out right there!" she said, circling an exposed hallway.
"I got it. Autopilot engaged. You can get out… now!"
Cap opened the bottom hatch and they leapt out, landing on the Tower Watch. There was smoke and fire everywhere. Kenzie made sure her helmet was set to recycle her oxygen before moving forward.
"Let's get moving. We need to find Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde," Cap said.
"And Ferdy… he was supposed to be here, wasn't he?"
"Well, he wasn't SUPPOSED to be, per se, but it's where he last checked in." .
A legionary loomed out of the smoke in front of them. "Cabal!" Cap cried, disappearing. Kenzie had already put an arrow through its head. Oliver shot the next legionary with his hand cannon. As they sped down the hallway and around a corner, Cap said over their headset, "This doesn't make sense. The Cabal conquer systems by blowing up planets."
Kenzie tossed a seeker grenade at another group of charging legionaries.. "I thought we were on okay terms with the Cabal, weren't we?"
"Calus's imperial Cabal. These aren't imperial Cabal. They've got a different sort of faction symbol," Oliver said, inspecting one's armor.
"Whatever they want, it must be here – in the Last City," Cap decided.
A broadcast connected to their channel, and Zavala's voice filled her earpiece, saying, "This is Commander Zavala. Civilians: report to evac points. Guardians: rendezvous in the Plaza. Our City will not fall."
"Well, we had better get to the Plaza, then, hadn't we?" Oliver grabbed Kenzie's arm, pulling her away from a chunk of falling debris, then they rushed off. Kenzie barely recognized the corridors and corners she had spent so much time in, so mangled were they by the attacks. A pair of doors slid open and they were met by a familiar face.
"Cayde!"
"Hey, you two," He panted, nodding at them. "Gimme a sec." He whipped out his golden gun and vaporized the Cabal charging him.
"Have you seen Ferdy?"
"Yeah, he was just here, following Ikora around like an abandoned puppy. Wherever she's at, I reckon he can't be far off. Zavala's doing the hero act in the Plaza. Me? I've got a date with whoever's behind this. It'll be a short date."
"I'm not worried, then. Cayde has experience with short dates," Kenzie told her Titan companion, grinning. Cayde scowled, then transmatted away.
The next corridor was filled with Civilians, with Lord Shaxx at their lead. He stood when he saw them. "Ah, Saladin's Young Wolves. My armory is open to you. Follow the path from there. It will lead you through the hangar to the plaza. I'll take care of these people. If the Cabal want war, give them war." He pulled the door open for them and they hurried through.
"You need any new weapons, K?"
"Nah… I got that SMG from when I found one of Cayde's stashes. This baby's beggin for another test run." Kenzie pulled Riskrunner from her inventory and strapped it to her belt. "You?"
"This revolver looks like it hasn't seen enough war for its liking." Oliver picked up an intricately designed hand cannon. "Sunshot, sent from a collector on Io. Let's see how she does."
They hurried through the halls, following Juliet's map to the Plaza. They had to take the long way around to avoid several obstructed hallways. They finally made it onto a side deck and stopped short, staring at the Cabal ship approaching.
"Look at the size of that thing. It must be their command ship." Cap cast a healing light on Kenzie as a flaming piece of stone knocked into her shoulder.
"Thanks, now- watch out!" Kenzie pulled riskrunner out and fired at the legionaries. "Huh, where's your special trick now, silly gun?"
"Kenzie!" Oliver gave a shout of warning as a legionary with an arc rifle took a shot at her.
"There it is!" She yelled as the gun powered on, triggered by the electric conduction. Her magazine refilled itself as she fired charged bullets at the cabal. As soon as she hit the first one, the big one with the arc gun, bolts of electricity jumped out between them, disintegrating the whole crowd.
"No way!" Oliver cried. "Now, that isn't fair!"
"See what yours does, then!"
Oliver fired a round at the shielded centurion. The bullet exploded as it hit him, blasting a nearby legionary into a wall and taking out the centurion's shield. One more bullet finished them both.
"You're gonna need it, for what's coming," Juliet whispered. "They're not just assaulting the tower! Look at the Traveler!"
"What are they doing to it?"
"We'll see. We have to get to the Plaza!"
They had to crawl under the wreckage to get through, as Cayde plugged into their channel, saying, "OK. My Ghost keeps tagging these Cabal as "Red Legion." Ikora what do you got?"
"They're elite. Ruthless. And rumor is, they have never known defeat," Ikora's voice told them.
"Until today. Today, they face Guardians." Zavala had logged on, too. Now they were just missing Ferdy.
"But Zavala! They're attacking the Traveler!" Ikora protested.
"The Traveler waits! We protect our people. At any cost."
Oliver and Kenzie finally leapt across the broken railing onto the plaza, where Zavala and a line of ragged guardians were blocking the way into the rest of the Tower. Between Riskrunner and Sunshot they provided quick relief to the tired warriors.
"These Red Legion are well trained. But we are better. We will hold this line until the last civilian is safely away," Zavala ordered. The sky lit up and Kenzie's tracker beeped a warning: Nuclears inbound. Zavala pulled out his Ward of Dawn, yelling, "Incoming! Fall back to my shield!" Oliver and another titan put their hands on Zavala's shoulders, strengthening his super through their own light. Oliver mostly channeled Arc light, but he could cast a Ward, and he knew several void and solar grenades, as well as a solar hammer melee he was particularly fond of. They waited inside Zavala's bubbles until the last of the missiles had struck and then hurried out to fight the next swarm as a dozen Cabal landers shook the Plaza. "Don't let them past the gate! The evac shuttles are back there!"
"Oliver- Zap me!" Kenzie shouted.
"What?"
"Zap me! To power up Riskrunner!"
Oliver's fingers crackled with Arc energy as he touched her shoulder, and then they blasted through the next wave of Cabal. All around them they could hear the others calling to each other.
"The Iron Howlers are here!"
"We are saved!"
"The Howlers and the Vanguard, they'll show the Cabal what's what."
"Missiles!" Zavala howled. "Stay inside my shield!"
Most of the guardians clambered to cover, but Oliver and Kenzie were too far away. Oliver cast his own Ward of Dawn, covering a young hunter who had fallen to the ground. Kenzie helped her up, as they waited for the blasts to end.
"More Red Legion! Show them what Guardians are made of!"
Another wave of enemies battered them, and they fought until magazines were empty and no cabal was left standing. Ikora's voice sounded in Kenzie's earpiece again, saying, "Zavala, the last of the shuttle is away. But the Speaker - he never made it. I'm going to look for him."
"I've got the plaza. Go with Ikora. Find the Speaker!" Zavala responded.
"On it, Commander!" Cap said. "Come on, Kenzie, Oliver, let's go find Ikora."
"Now, hold on," A third voice spoke into their comms. "Zavala, if you need 'em, you can keep 'em. I've got Ikora."
"Ferdy! Where are you?"
"I'm sending Coordinates now," Venus's voice chimed in.
"Venus, no! I've got it, I- Oh come on!"
"Another barrage! Go Guardian! Just go! I'll take care of these." Zavala pointed toward the doorway leading down to the bazaar.
"We need to find the Speaker," Juliet reminded them.
They hurried to the North Tower. A swarm of Cabal hurried toward them, but before they could get close, they were blasted into oblivion by a nova bomb.
"Ikora!" Cap called, trying to get her attention as Ferdy landed in a crouch behind her, sending a vortex grenade into the remaining Cabal.
"The Speaker is gone!" Ikora snarled, preparing another attack. "Red Legion, you will take no more from us. And you will find no mercy in me!" She leapt through the air, sending another Nova bomb into a Cabal Interceptor's wing. It shook below her as she landed on top of it, before descending downward.
"Ikora!" Ferdy yelled, jumping after her. "Ikora, no!"
"Zavala-" Cap started, but the Vanguard Commander interrupted, saying, "They'll find the Speaker. We need to move that command ship. Now head to the North Tower. I'm sending Amanda Holliday to pick you up."
"Got it! We're on standby."
A group of legionaries swarmed in. Kenzie and Oliver fought them as rain poured down. The legionaries were joined by a group of centurions and several Colossi. Zavala's voice echoed through Kenzie's headset, shouting, "Guardians, get out of there!"
"Holding on Holliday!" Cap responded.
At that moment shiplights pierced through the storm and Amanda's voice said, "Someone told me you needed a ride!"
"Activating Transmat!" Juliet called. Kenzie braced herself as her atoms were torn apart and put back together inside Amanda Holliday's ship. From the cockpit they heard her say, "Zavala, picked up those guardians you never shut up about." Zavala's voice came back over a speaker saying, "Get them on that command ship - Now!"
"Hold on back there!" Amanda called as she accelerated hard. She gazed at the Traveler, murmuring, "Come on, Big Guy. Do something. Ugh!" she cried as the ship was rocked by an explosion as they pulled around to an unshielded rear part of the Immortal. "Alright, Guardians! Time to kick 'em where it hurts!"
Kenzie and Oliver transmatted onto the stormy deck of the Immortal and ran for the doors. A door opened to shoot out a Cabal transport shell and the two guardians jumped through, opening fire on the legionaries manning the transport mechanisms.
"Let us know when the shields are down and we'll hit that ship with everything we got," Amanda said.
"That hologram could help. Let me take a look," Cap suggested. He scanned and downloaded the data from a diagram of a ship and its engines as Juliet hacked through the barrier keeping them in the transport bay. "Ok, the shield generators should be at the bottom of the ship." They fought their way toward the engine rooms as Zavala shouted "Cayde! What's your status?"
The reply was interrupted by static. "Uh… little low on ammo. The whole flaming pistol…. burning out. Anyone… heard from Ikora?"
"Not since she went… for the Speaker. Form up!...on me!"
They ran out onto a deck, avoiding fire from Psions and trying not to slip in the rain, shooting and reloading their way through a crowd of enemies to get below deck into the engine room. Kenzie summoned her golden gun and shot one of their leaders, identified as Brann, six times in the head before finishing him off with a machine gun. Oliver took down a leader called Kreth with his Thundercrash and sword.
"The shield generator should be straight ahead!" Cap called. They ran through a series of doors and stopped in front of a huge rotating generator. "All right. Destroy the turbines. The shields should fizzle." Kenzie leaped down into the cracks, kneeling down and aiming riskrunner into the unprotected first core. "Yes! Just like that!" Cap told them. Oliver followed into the second core, and Kenzie jumped over the rotating part to take out the third.
"Heat levels rising!" Juliet warned. "It's working!"
"Zavala! The shields are down!" Cap transmatted. "Zavala?"
The only reply was static. Oliver and Kenzie ran back out the way they'd come as flames roared through the engine room. Cap tried to reach Amanda. "Amanda! We're headed topside! Amanda! ANYONE?"
They ran out onto a platform where Amanda should've picked them up. No one was there. They stared at the Traveler. The huge chains had completely locked around the Traveler.
"How do we come back from this?" Juliet whispered, frightened.
"You don't," A gravelly voice behind them said. They whirled around to see a huge cabal in white armor of a Dominus, flanked by two colossi. "Welcome to a world without Light."
Kenzie felt a ripping sensation in her chest as if a part of her was suddenly gone. "Kenzie… something's wrong…" Cap croaked. His eye flickered and went out. He and Juliet simultaneously hit the deck floor. Kenzie collapsed, coughing. Oliver stood over her protectively as the Dominus approached, grabbing Juliet and slipping her into his pocket. Kenzie reached out and grabbed Cap and stuffed him into a pouch as the Dominus snarled, "Do not look at me, creature!" and kicked Oliver across the deck. He landed in a puddle, gasping, and the Dominus continued, "You are weak. Undisciplined. Cowering behind walls. You're not brave. You've merely forgotten the fear of death. Allow me to reacquaint you." He picked up Kenzie by the neck and strode over to where Oliver was standing up defiantly, then threw him over the platform edge. He dropped Kenzie, who gasped for breath and screamed, "Oliver!"
"Your kind never deserved the power you were given. I am Ghaul. And your light… is mine!"
Dizzy, Kenzie spat out a mouthful of blood and looked up at Dominus Ghaul as he kicked her off the platform after Oliver, and she tumbled down toward the burning City, thousands of feet below.
