"You just don't quit, do you?" Kendrix said with a disgruntled sigh.
"I said I'll be asking the questions," the Hunter growled. "So you'd best only speak when spoken to. Or else."
"Or else what?" Kendrix shot back, growing more irritated by the moment. "You'll shoot me? In case you haven't heard, that isn't much of a threat to people like you and me."
"You're not as immortal as you think," the woman replied coldly. "Or did the man who slayed Riksis somehow forget that Guardians can die?"
Kendrix actually had to laugh at that. "Even if you can put me down for good, do you really expect me to believe that you would? You've been investigating me for days, and now you've followed me across space into the heart of hostile territory on literally another planet. Whatever info you've convinced yourself I'm hiding, it's clearly too important to you to risk losing by killing me. So how about you cut the bad cop routine, calm down, and-"
Kendrix's rant turned into a cry of pain as the handcannon round shattered his left knee. He went down, blood roaring in his ears and breath hissing through his teeth.
"You Warlocks never change," the woman said, chuckling darkly. "Always thinking you're so much smarter than you are." She knelt down next to him, tilting his head up to face her with the still-smoking barrel of her gun. "But here's the thing. I've been living this life for a long, long time. When I'm out in the wilds on patrol, I know which way is north. When I'm heading out for a new bounty, I know what guns to bring. And when I'm reading up on some new Light wannabe hero-"
She used her foot to shove him onto his back before placing it onto his chest.
"-I know when they're hiding something. And then it's only a matter of time before I get the truth out of them. So how about you make things easier for both of us and just tell me what I want to know. Let's start with that Exo I saw you talking to. Who is she?"
"Hell if I know," Kendrix muttered through pained gasps as his knee slowly healed. "She contacted me on the Moon, sent me some coordinates, and told me to come find her."
"And you just did, no questions asked? Without telling anyone in the Vanguard?" the Hunter asked derisively.
"No, I did not tell the Vanguard I was going to spend my day going on a wild goose chase for some random voice on my radio," Kendrix said with a relieved sigh as the pain in his leg finally vanished. "I was mostly coming out here to familiarize myself with Venus, get some practice in navigating and fighting Vex. Didn't expect to actually find her here."
"What did she want with you?" the Hunter pressed.
"I'd ask my Ghost to play you a recording, but given how quickly you were on me after the stranger left, I'm guessing you heard it all already," Kendrix said pointedly. The woman paused for a moment, and Kendrix allowed himself a small smile. He wouldn't be caught in a lie that easily.
"It doesn't make sense," the woman muttered, almost to herself. "Why would she ask you of all people to hunt for the Garden?"
Kendrix shrugged. "Maybe it was how I held my own against the Vex? Maybe it was how I managed to free a shard of the Traveler from the Hive?" he suggested half-seriously. "Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I single-handedly defeated one of the Cosmodrome's most dangerous Fallen when I was basically a newborn?"
That recaptured the Hunter's attention, and Kendrix felt her heel dig into his sternum as her grip on her gun tightened.
"You did not kill Riksis," she said through what sounded like gritted teeth. "It's not possible."
Kendrix was about to let out another sarcastic remark when a voice in his head cut him off.
You said you'd be nicer. Proxima chided.
Yeah, well, she's not exactly giving me much reason to!
Maybe not, but she also has a gun on you and seems very ticked off. So unless you want me to have to pick another couple bullets out of you, cool your jets, ditch the ego, and behave yourself for once.
Kendrix let out a sigh. He knew she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"Look, I don't know what I can do to make you believe me, but what I told you in the hangar was true. I did kill him, I just… got lucky. I understand it's hard to believe, but I don't know what else you think might've happened. Like, do you think some other Guardian killed him and is letting me take the credit? Or that he got backstabbed by another Fallen and I somehow made off with his head?"
The Hunter remained silent, but Kendrix could feel the uncertainty in her all the same, so he decided to keep pushing.
"I'm not sure why you're so interested in Riksis, if it's just that he killed so many Guardians, or if it's something more personal. Whatever the reason, I shouldn't have been such a jerk to you. I'm still new to all this and I've been feeling the stress, and I kind of took it out on you. That wasn't fair, and I'm sorry."
It was hard to tell with the helmet and how high-strung she seemed, but Kendrix thought she looked taken aback.
"But I can't live the rest of my life worried that you're gonna pop out of the bushes, put a gun to my head, and ask me a bunch of questions I can't answer. So can you please just tell me what I have to do to get you to leave me alone?"
For a moment, the Hunter didn't react.
Then, she stepped over him and walked over to the statue in the atrium's center, staring up at it.
"There's nothing you can do."
She didn't sound suspicious or threatening anymore. Her voice was just… empty.
"There's nothing that will ever make it make sense. Nothing that'll ever make it fair-" She cut herself off as her voice hitched. Kendrix sat up, then slowly stood. The Hunter sighed. "Word of advice: you're not the first Warlock to go poking your nose in the Vex's business. If you're seriously dumb enough to go looking for the Black Garden, don't do it alone. You'll need all the help you can get."
Now it was Kendrix being taken aback.
"I won't," he finally managed to reply.
"Good." She glanced back at him over her shoulder. "Look, I-"
Whatever she said next was drowned out by a sudden thunder explosion of blue light, high above them in the sky. Kendrix was confused until he saw the three beetle-shaped ships dip down from out of the cloud layer.
"Fallen!" Proxima called out over their comms. "They must've detected the conflux going down. They're probably here to scavenge what's left, see what tech and data they can scrounge together."
"We should go," the Hunter said nonchalantly.
Then one of the Skiffs burst through the atrium's roof and hung there as several Fallen leapt out onto the upper balconies.
"Or not," she amended irritably, pointing her handcannon skyward and blowing a few insectoid heads off.
Kendrix moved behind some cover as his Khvostov materialized in his hands.
"Don't suppose you have an exit strategy?" he called out to the Hunter as he unloaded a clip into a handful of Shanks that came hovering down towards his position.
"Not really, given my Ghost says the other two are swooping around to drop their crews off outside and we're now basically surrounded."
"Great," Kendrix said with a sigh. "Any idea how many?"
"Too many," she replied grimly.
"What about our jumpships? Any chance of flying one close enough to transmat out?"
"Not unless you've got some guns on yours. Otherwise the Skiffs will blast them out of the sky before they get anywhere near transmat range."
Well, when she put it like that…
Proxima, ping Nova.
You sure you want to bring him in with Riksis superfan over here?
Tell him to stay in vehicle mode, and to keep at a safe distance. It's risky, but it's our best shot at making it out of this.
If you say so.
Kendrix heard a series of energetic beeps over his comms as Nova moved to respond.
"I've got a plan," Kendrix called across the room to where the Hunter was cutting down three dregs with a single swing of her knife. "We just need to hold out a little longer until the calvary gets here."
"You better not be pulling my leg, Brand," she called back, seemingly unconvinced.
"You too?!" Kendrix cried out in frustration as he forced a dreg's head off of its shoulders with a force-filled palm. "How many people does Oroa even know?!"
Kendrix tried his best to pick off the enemy, but the Fallen were playing it smart, keeping back and taking pot shots while they waited for their comrades to arrive. There was even one vandal sniper who almost took his head off from where it hid high in the rafters.
Soon, Kendrix could hear a cacophony of alien chattering and machine humming building in the distance as the Fallen's reinforcements made their ways through the surrounding ruins. Kendrix moved towards the Hunter, positioning himself back to back with her.
"Running out of time," she muttered anxiously as she lobbed a grenade towards where a Captain crouched behind a collapsed wall.
"Just a little longer," Kendrix replied as he mowed down a pair of vandal swordsmen who were trying to sneak up on them.
The sounds of the approaching Fallen were nearly louder than the gunfire now, and Kendrix could spy the sinister blue glow of their eyes picking their way through the rubble at the very edge of the room and-
The sound of a distant explosion boomed through the air around them. The Fallen briefly stopped their assault, looking around in confusion and fear. At the top of the atrium, the still-hovering Skiff rose up and began to turn, its weapons aglow with charging power.
Then, in an instant, it exploded as a giant blue bolt of energy lanced through it like a needle through cloth.
The Fallen screamed and dove for cover as the Skiff's flaming remains crashed down into the space below. Kendrix felt the heat and smoke blast across him as the impact shook the room. Before he could even fully react, another shape dove in after the Skiff, but it was one that was much more whole, and much more familiar.
Nova had remained in jumpship mode as requested, but that hadn't stopped him from forming a crackling arc weapon on the underside of each wing. As he hovered above the ground, the disguised robot spun around in circles, letting off volley after volley of charged, seeking shots that arced through the air to hunt down their targets with deadly precision.
Dreg, vandal, Captain. The size and rank of the Fallen were irrelevant. None of them could survive the barrage. Even when their reinforcements poured into the space, a swarm of flares from Nova left them all blind and sizzling, perfect targets for his real weapons.
As the room around him filled with screams of agony and scorched corpses, Kendrix had to force himself to look away, to ignore it all. Until it was done.
After what felt like far too long, the room went silent, and Kendrix slowly rose out from behind the collapsed pillar he'd hidden behind. He waited for an attack, a movement, anything. But there was nothing but the low hum of Nova's thrusters as he hung in the air above.
"Don't see many jumpships with guns like that," the Hunter noted as she too rose, dusting herself off. She glanced around the room, then at Kendrix, the blank black plate of her visor staring into his soul.
Kendrix shrugged. "It was like that when I found it. I stole it from Riksis' crew. Maybe they made some modifications?"
"That'd be a first. Fallen tend to just strip any human ships for parts, not retrofit them."
Kendrix just shrugged again. Then, after a moment of silence, asked, "So, we done here?"
"Yes, I think that's enough trouble for one day," the Hunter replied with a sigh.
"Yeah. Maybe next time you should interrogate me a little closer to home, huh?"
She actually gave him the slightest of laughs at that. "Would you believe me if I said I felt more at home out here?"
Kendrix laughed back. "It would explain some things." He glanced up at Nova's hovering form, and couldn't help but be grateful that the robot was with him. He was beginning to lose track of how many times he'd saved his life. "I guess I should head out. Have to visit the Awoken, it seems."
"You're really going through with it," the Hunter replied.
"I want to see where it goes," Kendrix said. "Whoever she is, she went through the trouble of contacting me and me alone. I have to find out what she has planned for me, if I can stop the Black Garden."
"And if you can't?"
Kendrix shrugged. "If what she said about it is true, I can't afford not to try."
"Well, be careful. The Awoken may be human in the loosest sense, but they're not always friends of the City or the Traveler. Tread lightly."
Kendrix nodded as Nova lowered down towards him. Then a thought occurred to him.
"You know, you still never even told me your name. Gonna need that for when I file a complaint with the Vanguard."
For a moment, the Hunter just stared at him. Kendrix couldn't tell if she was debating whether or not to tell him, or whether or not he was serious.
"Alistra," she finally said, having evidently made up her mind. "Alistra Dawn."
Kendrix nodded again. "Nice to meet you properly, Alistra Dawn. Best of luck." Then, he disappeared in a flash, and Nova's form rose back up into the greenish sky.
"You too," Alistra murmured to the empty air.
As Nova flew through the clouds towards open space, Kendrix let out a sigh.
"Thanks for the assist, bud. You really saved us back there."
Nova let out a cheerful series of beeps and whirs in reply.
"See what happens when you're actually nice to people?" Proxima said with a mental smirk as she manifested over his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, you told me so," Kendrix laughed as he playfully shoved her away. "I just hope the Awoken are as easy to reason with."
"Yeah well, we can figure that out tomorrow. Right now we're taking you back to the Tower so you can get some proper sleep."
Kendrix opened his mouth to argue, but all that came out was a loud, low yawn.
"...yeah, ok," he finally managed to say.
His eyes slowly closed as the starry void around him bloomed into a brilliant tunnel of light.
Kendrix awoke the following morning to the sound of a loud knocking. With a groan, he stood up out of bed, slipping on his undersuit as he moved towards the door. After fumbling with the electronic lock for a moment, the metal panel slid open with a hiss, revealing the form of a hulking purple and gold Titan standing just beyond the threshold.
"Oroa?" Kendrix said with a yawn, still blinking the sleep from his eyes. "What time is it?"
"It is oh-six-hundred!" the woman replied with her characteristic cheer. "Just before dawn!"
Kendrix winced slightly at the very thought of being up before the sun. "And why have you come hammering on my door this early in the morning?"
Oroa laughed a deep bass laugh that beat against his ears like a war drum. "For training, of course! There are many more available Crucible grounds before sun-up, so it is an excellent time for 'prime real estate', as they say, yes?"
"I thought you guys were gonna train yesterday?"
"We were!" Oroa said with an excited nod. "But since you could not join us, Beckett rescheduled for today so you would not feel left out! He is very considerate."
"Yes, yes he is," Kendrix muttered. "Well, the thing is…" he started to say, ready to spin some excuse as to why he could attend so he could slip off and meet with the Awoken. But as he looked at Oroa, her face beaming like the sunrise with excitement, he found that he didn't have it in his heart to turn her down. Beckett was one conniving bastard, sending her instead of coming himself. "...I just need to get my gear together first," he finally finished, lamely.
"Wondrous!" Oroa replied, clapping her hands together. "I will wait here until you are ready!"
Kendrix let out a small sigh and closed the door.
A few minutes later he opened it again, clad in his armor and weapons close at hand. Oroa's smile widened, somehow, and she clapped him on the shoulder. "Come! The others are waiting for us in the arena."
As they made their way over to the hangar, Kendrix noticed very few other people moving through the Tower's main plaza. One person he did spot, however, was Banshee, standing in his shop and bent over a table, sparks flying from whatever he was doing. As they walked by, Kendrix recognized the form of his scorch cannon, and noted that it was already looking much better than when he had turned it in the previous day.
"You've made a lot of progress," Kendrix commented as they passed within earshot.
"Good morning to you too, kid," the gunsmith replied with hollow sarcasm, without turning around.
"I appreciate you putting in so much effort," Kendrix added with a tired smile.
"Your gratitude is noted," the Exo said blankly. "But unless you have something else for me, I suggest you repay me by letting me focus on my work."
"Actually, there was something," Kendrix said, ignoring the barb. Transmat flashed as the Hobgoblin head he'd taken on Venus materialized on one of the tables in front of him. "I was hoping you could take a look at this, see if you can figure out anything useful."
Banshee slowly turned, and froze when his eyes fell upon the object. Kendrix thought he saw an almost imperceptible change in the robot's eyes. An edge of memory, of understanding, the barest hint of humanity. It somehow made the gunsmith all the more unnerving. Like seeing the eyes of a beast suddenly glinting in the shadows.
He turned those changed eyes to meet Kendrix's own, and the Warlock had to repress a shiver from crawling down his spine as the Exo actually smiled.
"Playing with the Vex, are we?" the Exo said, mouth flashing a sickly orange. "Maybe you're my kind of crazy after all."
"Maybe so," Kendrix said uncomfortably.
"I'll have a look," Banshee continued, grabbing the head by a horn and hoisting it up. "It could prove useful in this little project of ours."
"Thank you, Banshee," Kendrix said hastily, before turning to continue towards the hangar.
"You fought Vex?" Oroa said with a hint of surprise as she easily matched his stride. Then she laughed and shook her head. "You continue to bring much honor to your name for one so young, Kendrix. Your future grows brighter each day!"
"Thanks, Oroa," Kendrix replied, allowing himself a small smile. Then something occurred to him. "Say, when I was on Venus, I bumped into a Guardian I hadn't met before. A Hunter, by the name of Alistra Dawn. Any chance you know her?"
For perhaps only the second time since he'd met her, Oroa's smile disappeared. She sighed, and looked ahead of them, her gaze suddenly distant. When she spoke, her words were colored by a quiet sadness.
"Yes. Alistra and I worked together for many years as part of a fireteam, before I joined with Beckett some time ago."
"What?!" Kendrix cried, taken aback. Oroa nodded softly.
"We served together under Lucia Dawn, a mighty Sunbreaker Titan, and the bravest woman I've ever known."
"Lucia Dawn," Kendrix echoed, noticing the repeated surname. "They were sisters?" He hadn't heard of any Guardians being family before.
Oroa looked at him, a faint line of tears reflecting the stars that glinted in her eyes, and shook her head. Realization struck, and Kendrix felt his heart stiffen.
"Oh," was, for a moment, the only answer he could give. Then, "What happened to her?"
Oroa took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
"One day, a member of our fireteam, a young warlock named Raynor, was captured by Devils while on patrol. They brought him to their master, the one who's cloak you wear, and the Archon killed him. And his Ghost."
Kendrix said nothing, his mind growing numb.
"Lucia flew into a black rage. She wanted vengeance, and wanted it swiftly. We tried to convince her to wait, to plan, but she would not listen to reason. Even Alistra could not stay her wrath. She left the Tower, speeding towards Raynor's last known coordinates. We followed, of course, but her ship was faster than ours, and she would not wait for us."
"The Devils were stronger in those days, their hold over the Cosmodrome more secure, their settlements more fortified. Even Lucia could not face them alone." The tears were flowing freely now. "When we arrived, it was already too late. The Archon was gone. And so was she."
Oroa sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"With Raynor and Lucia both lost, our fireteam splintered. Alistra fell into a deep sorrow, and strayed further and further beyond the City's walls, running from her grief. She blames herself, for not doing more to convince Lucia, for not stopping her from doing something foolish."
And she blames me for living where her wife died. Kendrix silently added.
"But it is good that you met her," Oroa said, a small smile returning to her face. "I am sure she finds some peace, knowing that Riksis is gone and Lucia avenged. By your own hand, no less. Perhaps it will remind her that none of us are as alone as we convince ourselves we must be."
"Yeah," Kendrix said softly as they stepped out into the hangar. "Perhaps it will."
AN: Crazy to think I've been setting up this confrontation since way back in Chapter 8. Not quite everything I'd hoped it'd be, but it was still nice to finally get to write properly about this character and her storyline. Hope you all enjoy!
