Chapter 34: Valus Ta'aurc
"Of all the tactics we have to use against the Vex, shutting down their gates may be the most effective. You may have saved Freehold from being overrun. I sense a pattern here – a connection between this Vex outbreak, the Black Garden, and the Vault of Glass… I need to know more." -Ikora Rey
"What?"
The startled question was so unlike Katake that, even in the midst of pitched battle, Crimiq-5 couldn't help but glance at his companion after putting down another Cabal Legionary with nearly a full clip from his auto rifle. "What do you mean, what?"
Katake pointed, and Crimiq-5 stopped and stared. That left him vulnerable to a Cabal Centurion that pile-drove him into the ground, killing him instantly, but after Sola and Katake drove them off for a moment and his ghost revived him, Crimiq-5 still couldn't help but stare.
From this high up on Clovis Bray's dust-covered skyscraper, he could see that he'd been wrong. The skyscraper's shaking hadn't been from the fury of the fighting and explosives – it had been from the rumbling of the biggest tank he'd ever seen. It wasn't even a tank, really – it was like… a rolling city. A fortress on treads. He couldn't even count how many weapon systems were on that Cabal monstrosity, and Harvesters were taking off from it now, loaded down with fresh troops headed straight for the tower.
"Guys, I think it's time to call for some backup."
…
Ikora Rey sat back in her favorite chair in her library, a warm mug of hot chocolate in one hand and Whisper's latest report in the other as the first snowfall of the winter flurried in the brisk November air outside the window. She frowned deeply as she read about the battle beneath Freehold. She appreciated Whisper's developing style of writing, but the contents of her reports tended to leave her feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Today's report was no different.
The current Vex operational plan in Meridian Bay - to the extent we assume they have operational plans – appears to involve an attritional campaign on the surface, supplemented by disruptive use of gates to bypass Cabal hardpoints. However, given the sharp drop-off in the Vex offensive against the Cabal after the destruction of the Prohibitive Mind, two things seem clear. On the strategic level, this plan was put into place and driven by the Prohibitive Mind, rather than the entire Vex network. This supports the theory that Vex operate several, parallel networks rather than a single massive network. And on the tactical level, it seems clear that Vex Axis Minds are individual Vex hulls that contain local instances of all parameters to meet a single objective. This frees other nearby Vex to conserve processing power by focusing only on local tasks. This introduces a centralized weakness, but the Vex seem to consider the tradeoff worthwhile.
Her comm buzzed with Zavala's signal. She glanced at the report one more time, then set it aside to join the meeting in progress at the Vanguard's headquarters.
…
Zavala began as soon as she stepped through the doorway.
"I have Fireteam Guardian on the line as they are on the ground. Fireteam Family has located Valus Ta'aurc, who we believe to be the Fleet Commander of the Siege Dancers Legion, outside Freehold."
Cayde-6 tapped his head thoughtfully. "Ta'aurc… Ta'aurc… that sounds familiar… Oh! Nut-job yelling from the top of a turret on a stupidly big tank?"
The Vanguard Commander grimaced. "That's him. He is leading an assault to retake Freehold from his armored seat of power aboard the Cabal land tank known as the Cerberus Vae III. Fireteam Guardian, this commander's name is feared throughout Meridian Bay, and the tread-marks left by his tank have come to signify the expansion of the Cabal's ever-widening Exclusion Zone over the past few centuries. None have wanted to face that tank directly, and for good reason. It boasts the firepower of an entire army."
"Which is why we shouldn't face it directly," jumped in Ikora. "From these readings, it's clear what he wants – Freehold. If we know where he is and where he's going, we can hit him from high atmosphere, out of range of the Harvesters."
Zavala nodded. "Good thinking. He'll have to accept significant damage to his tank or break off his attack. At a minimum, he'll have to slow down his advance while we get reinforcements in to relieve Fireteam Family, who are now pinned down. Cayde, signal Fireteam Sentinel and Fireteam Elistor to move in."
…
Erik Landsmen had learned to ignore the teasing from his fellow members of Dead Orbit over his name. It was easier than usual in moments like this one as he lovingly rubbed the arm rest of his LRv1 Javelin jumpship floating in orbit over Mars. Most of the other small craft in loose formation around him, and when you came down to it, controlled by any of the City's factions, were little more than civilian transports. He glanced down at his sensors and grimaced at the signals on the extreme edge of sensor range at the Cabal fleet. It was like painting up a little harbor boat and sailing out to see pretending you were a match for the warships just over the horizon.
Bolting on weapon systems only got you so far.
But the Javelin, his prized Leslie, was different. She may have started life as a Phaeton-class long-range jumpship, but she was one of the few militarized craft from the golden age they'd found, and her triangular shape gave her a decidedly lethal look, reminiscent of ancient fighter jets.
Named after his beloved wife killed by four-armed alien raiders, he'd dedicated every waking moment since to restoring and rebuilding the rusted-out hulk, and he was proud to be in among those called upon by Arach Jalaal for this mission. Speaking of…
He switched from the squadron frequency over to the main communication band from Dead Orbit headquarters. He knew the whispers about Arach Jalaal, about all of Dead Orbit – that they were fanatics, whose fatalism had turned into theology and obsession with leaving Earth behind. That, he'd found easier to ignore than the teasing as he contributed to the great work of building up the fleet, cobbling together viable starships from the ashes of the past and the spoils of war.
"Alpha Squadron, this is Arach Jalaal. Earth is lost and the City is a fatal trap. You know this. I know this. Only an alien miracle prevented human extinction during the Collapse. We dream of a diaspora to come, humanity ascendant, scattered across the stars too far-flung for any single threat to reach. The Traveler is not our only salvation. Another future lies out among the light of the stars."
He paused a moment, letting the words sink in.
"On the day our ships are ready, the City will see us blast into the sky. We will make a new home out among the stars, and then we will know peace." Their leader sighed in quiet sadness. "But that day is not today. For now, we defend ourselves. For now, we cooperate. For now, we build, we learn, we prepare. That is why you are here today. This mission will assist others in the City, assist guardians fighting for what they think is right. It will also serve as a test, to see whether we are ready to face what lies beyond the stars. Go now. Your success will bring us one step closer to that great day of freedom. Jalaal clear."
Erik nodded firmly and switched back to his squadron's frequency. As the only military-built craft in his flight, he took lead position and lowered the nose of his jumpship down into atmosphere, the distant sun reflecting off the white strip painted across Leslie's nose so he would never forget why he was up here.
…
Sara made it to cover in the shadow of the ancient skyscraper as her two fireteam members closed the gap behind her. On her HUD she could see Fireteam Elistor closing in on the opposite side of the building while above Fireteam Family covered them from the fifth floor. She squeezed off another round at a Legionary falling back and breathed a sigh of relief as they broke contact.
It seemed even the Cabal would break off if you kicked them in the teeth hard enough.
She grinned at Korbin as the big titan rumbled over and took cover. "See, I told you. Nobody stands up to the Light, not for long."
The titan grunted. "And when you are too exhausted to use the Light? What then?"
"Then you call for some help."
The air ripped apart with the scream of small craft tearing through atmosphere.
…
Erik squeezed the trigger, disengaging the locks and dropping off four heavy bombs right on the designated coordinates just ahead of a building. He pulled back on the stick and blinked. That… that was a building, right?
…
Valus Ta'aurc gripped his command chair tightly as the first bombs dropped from the City's aircraft. They were pathetic, completely unarmored and barely armed, buzzing around like insects. He felt the slightest tremor running through the Cerberus Vae III Imperial Land Tank as the heaviest bombs the City had impacted just ahead of them.
Val Bou'urc snorted in derision. "They can't even aim. This is hardly worth our time, Valus."
Valus Ta'aurc stood, regal in his brilliantly polished dark green combat armor with orange trim, marking him as an elite Dust Giant, and faced his Val. "Primus Ta'aun of the Skyburners has requested our… assistance in probing the human forces to determine their strength before his campaign against them." The Cabal in the room, all in Siege Dancer blue with yellow trim other than the Valus and his handpicked Val companions, looked at each other, then back to Valus Ta'aurc with hooded eyes.
If a Primus was asking for help, that showed how seriously the Skyburners were taking this threat. And the command structure remained… in flux. After Primus Ta'aun of the Skyburners executed the Primus of the Siege Dancers for treason in staying loyal to the old regime, Ta'aun had unceremoniously appointed Valus Ta'aurc of the Dust Giants to lead the Siege Dancers. The exact relationship between Ta'aun and Ta'aurc, and between both of them and high command on Phobos, remained unclear, and nobody in the room felt the need to raise the point just now.
"As you command, Valus," said Val Ku'uran, the highest-ranking Siege Dancer present, lowering his eyes.
The moment of challenge over, Val Ca'aul glanced over at Ta'aurc and the transplanted Dust Giants took a small step closer together to discuss without the prying ears of the Siege Dancers they commanded. Ca'aul nodded towards Bou'urc as another series of bombs landed outside. "Bou'urc is an infantry commander, not a tank commander. Tanks are what I know, and the humans did not miss. They are signaling their intentions, Valus. They want us to break off from attacking the ruins. They will continue the bombardment while we move forward, but want us to know what actions they would consider less hostile."
The Valus stomped a foot in derision. "Less hostile? Are they truly so weak?"
Ca'aul nodded. "It has been many campaign seasons since, but I faced the humans when we first arrived. They were weak, though some of them were filled with strange magics that made them somewhat more troublesome. But even those lacked strength and discipline, and they abandoned the planet. It has taken them centuries to grow the tusks to return, despite our being tied down this lengthy campaign against the machines."
Ta'aurc's deep voice rumbled through the room, deliberately loud enough to be overheard. "I have claimed more ground on Mars than any other Cabal commander. I will not let some gnats dissuade me from my duty. Ignore the bombardment and continue forward to the objective."
…
"They're not breaking off."
Zavala's knuckles were white under his death grip of the Vanguard's display table. Oh what he would not give to be up there on Mars, taking direct command, doing something other than sitting here and talking. But that was his duty, a duty that at moments like this weighed like a stone. He stared at the display, watching the time-lagged indicators sent from Dead Orbit's ships as they broke off to rearm, their limited weapons capacity spent. He considered calling out to the fireteams defending the Dust Palace, but held his silence.
Instead, he glanced over at his companions in the Vanguard. Ikora frowned deeply, allowing the worry she let so few see play across her usually serene features. He could almost see her mind moving a million miles a minute, weighing new information, planning, thinking.
Across from her Cayde stood completely stone-faced, allowing his mask to fall away completely. Cayde blinked and returned his gaze, then gave the tiniest of shrugs. They all knew it. It was too late.
…
Crimiq-5 jerked his eyes over from the abandoned streets beneath the Dust Palace as the buzz of jumpships faded away, but the deeper rumble he'd thought were explosions kept growing louder.
Taking up the entire view and more was an enormous crawling fortress, and it leveled a single enormous gun. "Take cov—"
His words were swallowed up by a roar louder than the end of the world.
…
The single shell, larger than a jumpship, detonated at ground level on the eastern wing. The entire side of the building erupted in fire and dust, then with a shriek of metal far beyond the breaking point, collapsed down in on itself. Sara had just long enough to look up before a mountain of rubble buried her.
…
Valus Ta'aurc nodded as an entire side of the building collapsed. Impressive engineering to withstand a direct hit. The building, however, was far stronger than the weaklings who inhabited it. All returning fire had disappeared. The human gnats were scattering as fast as they could flee in every direction.
"Hold our position here, then prepare to return to the Rubicon Wastes. Deploy Harvesters and secure the ruins. I claim this land for the Cabal Empire this day. Let the humans learn of this defeat and fear us." The Cabal around him roared in approval. "And notify Primus Ta'aun that he has nothing to fear from these humans. He can attack the third planet at any time."
Val Ku'uran grinned, the rivalry between the two elite units forgotten in the moment of triumph for the empire and turned towards subordinates. "Send in Century 2 of Second Cohort. Bracus Dra'ang and his squads should be more than enough to clear the rabble."
…
Sola Scath woke slowly, her head ringing. As long seconds passed her vision began to stabilize, and she realized where she was – buried up to her chest in a mountain of rubble. Above her was an enormous support pillar. Blown sideways, it had torn through at least two stories of exterior wall before getting stuck and supporting the weight of the unfathomable tons of rubble above her, creating a tiny pocket of air in the endless destruction.
Her weapons were lost, her helmet cracked through, but she could feel the Light of her two companions nearby, buried in rubble, but protected in their tiny bubble of safety. "Thank the Traveler," she wheezed through the dust, then froze.
The two other fireteams… of them she could feel nothing at all.
…
Commander Zavala stared at himself in the mirror in his office. He should be up there planning, taking action. But he needed a moment to recenter himself. Refocus.
Two priceless fireteams lost in an instant because you underestimated the Cabal's resolve. You knew better than this!
He stared into the battle-hardened eyes across from him. "You've learned a lesson. You paid far too high a price for it, but you've learned a lesson. The Cabal will not leave until they get what they come for. And you must never forget it. But for now, you've got a war on your hands. Get back out there and lead."
LORE REFERENCED
D1 Grimoire:
A Rising Tide
Prohibitive Mind
Valus Ta'aurc
Dead Orbit
Dead Orbit Faction Rep
Bounties:
TARGET: Valus Ta'aurc
Gravity Slingshot
Guiding Star
Items:
LRv1 Javelin
Dunemarchers (implied why we never see the Siege Dancers Primus)
Miscellaneous:
Ghost Scan: Dantalion Engin
