Kendrix's body became motionless as his mind went spinning off into a maelstrom of questions and confusion, his brain struggling to contextualize what he was seeing and deduce its implications. He was not given much time to attempt the feat, either, as the giant metal creature, faster than anything its size had a right to, shot out one of its clawed hands to grab him.
Kendrix vanished, reappearing a few meters back from where the metallic talons pierced empty air. Curiosity took a backseat as instinct grabbed the wheel. The thing looked at him with its hollow eyes , the expression of its mask-like face incapable of change. It made it impossible for Kendrix to determine what the entity was thinking, though he doubted it was anything friendly.
"Fascinating," the thing murmured in that same uncannily smooth voice, its tone cold and clinical. It lunged forward, and Kendrix blinked again, this time to the opposite side of the alien machine. His Duke materialized in his hand and he started firing on the monster's back, strafing backwards in hopes of buying himself enough time to formulate an actual plan.
It didn't work. The robot turned around, almost lazily, the bullets making noticeable holes when they managed to fly past the black, stone-like plates of armor, but seemingly causing no great discomfort to the machine. It swiped again, but it was slower, more calculating, anticipating a Blink. So Kendrix didn't. He sidestepped the swipe with a glide, then immediately struck back, blasting the robot's almost skeletal fingers with Void force. The attack was seemingly effective, as the hand recoiled and the robot snarled, its talons singed by violet embers.
"So be it," the alien hissed through the grate where its mouth should be. Its injured hand clenched into a fist, then shattered. The change wasn't as smooth as Nova's, looking and sounding like bones being broken then immediately reset. The end result was the same, however, and the machine leveled its hand-turned-cannon at Kendrix, its barrel glowing with the hungry light of Void. Milliseconds ticked by as Kendrix desperately prepared to Blink out of the projectile's path. But the moment never came.
A roar of hateful thunder split the air, and a large metallic shape slammed into the alien warrior from the side, forcing it off the ground and towards the horizon. Kendrix watched in awe as his jumpship swept his attacker away. The vehicle's body reformatted midair, hands closing around the other robot's torso. The thrusters on its back flared, forcing its opponent into the ground, dragging it through dust and stone as the pair rocketed away.
We're losing them, come on.
Kendrix nodded, hopping onto his Sparrow just as it appeared and boosting off after the battling titans.
Nova's processor felt like it was overloading. He didn't recognize the thing he was attacking, he couldn't, his memory was still far too incomplete. And yet, he somehow knew that he hated it. Hated it more than anything.
Evidently the other machine hated being dragged across the surface of the moon, as one of its fists jabbed up into his torso, causing pain to flare across his body. Nova's hands unconsciously released his prisoner, and the warrior kicked against him, sending the two of them tumbling across the lunar landscape in different directions.
After a moment or two, Nova managed to reformat one of his hands into a pile driver, digging it into the rock and causing him to grind to a merciful halt. He scrambled to his feet, only to see that his opponent had already done so. But it wasn't attacking.
It was laughing.
"After all these years, finally!" the machine howled, his voice- Nova suddenly felt certain he knew it was a he- filled with cruel jubilation. "And here I was starting to think I'd never see another Cybertronian again. Never get another proper fight!" The thing laughed again, his body shaking slightly, causing a purple symbol on his chest to intermittently flash with reflected light. "What is your name, little whelp? I insist on knowing the name of every person that is to fall to me."
Nova didn't reply, and he doubted he would have even if he could. He just reformatted his hands into his dual cannons and pointed them at the stranger who seemed so familiar.
"Not very forthcoming, are you?" the machine chuckled darkly. He began to methodically walk forward, slowly closing the distance between him and Nova. "I take it from your unprovoked attack and that gaudy symbol you wear that you're an Autobot?" It took Nova a moment to understand the other bot's meaning. Then, comprehension dawning, he looked down at his own chest, seeing the blocky, red face emblazoned there. He'd noticed it the other day, and as with so many things in his life it was unknown to him yet strangely familiar. "That would explain why you acted in defense of that insect," the stranger continued, practically spitting the last word. "Then again," he drawled, his voice instantly switching back to cold indifference, "Autobots don't tend to act alone. Where are your precious teammates, then? Are you one of those hotshots they seem so fond of, always running off to challenge the enemy on your own? Or is there perhaps another reason you are so utterly alone?" The other bot was drawing close now; a few more steps and he'd be within arm's reach. Nova resisted the urge to step back.
Suddenly, the robot froze. Then, his head cocked to the side, slanting his helmet over his empty eyes, filling them with an unnerving glare. He spoke again, voice suddenly deadly soft.
"...you know, it's the funniest thing. You actually remind me of another Autobot I met once. He wore the same colors you do, was the same height and build… he was even a rather quiet person, just like you." The stranger took a step forward, left hand breaking and reforming into an energy cannon. "... or at least, he became one, after I ripped his voicebox from his throat."
Nova fired.
The other robot fell into a crouch just as the screaming bolt of Arc ripped through the space where his head had been. Carrying onward with his momentum, the bot lunged forward and fired his own bolt of energy. Nova stumbled in an attempt to dodge, causing the Void charge to rip through a shoulder plate as he went down. The stranger was on him in less than a second, one foot pinning Nova's arm and chest each, while a clawed hand wrapped around his throat. The robot's blank, eerie face lowered until it was mere inches from Nova's, its black, hungry eyes staring into his.
"It is you," the stranger whispered.
Nova swung with his free arm, trying to push his enemy away. But the machine's other hand, no longer a cannon, caught his fist and forced it to the ground.
"You're the one who damaged my ship's hyperdrive all those years ago. Who stranded me in this accursed, primitive system, for centuries!"
Nova tried to kick, to buck the other bot off of him, but to no avail. The other bot was a head taller than him, and despite the leaner form, he was strong. Too strong.
"All this time, I'd assumed you offlined when I sent your ship crashing down onto that miserable blue rock," the skeletal machine continued, his voice rising with venomous hate. "And yet, here you are, irritating me again!" Suddenly, he chuckled, and his tone of voice changed. "There were so many times I wished you'd survived. Wished that I could see you again, make you suffer for confining me to this wretched cluster of worlds. And now… here you are," he murmured, his voice suddenly hushed. "What… providence."
The claws around Nova's throat blazed to life with emerald fire, scorching his body and mind with pain unimaginable. And through the suffocating fog of agony, Nova could see that same fire glowing in the monster's eyes.
Then, there was an explosion, and Nova's gaze went white.
"Did I hit him?" Kendrix groaned, sitting up next to a flaming piece of wreckage. He glanced over to the body of the giant skeletal robot, and to the flaming shape of what was left of his Sparrow protruding from its chest.
Yeah, you hit him.
There was a loud groaning of metal as the alien's body moved, and one of its clawed hands closed around the Sparrow's form.
...unfortunately, I don't think it did all that much.
With a single, swift motion, the robot ripped the vehicular debris from its chest. It tossed them to the ground with contempt, and slowly stood, trying to regain its balance.
He's hurting, but not as much as I wanted. Kendrix muttered mentally.
Yup. So what are you gonna do to fix that?
Kendrix looked to where Nova was laying. He was trying to get up, but it seemed to be a struggle. Kendrix was running solo for the moment.
Buy some time.
Kendrix went sprinting towards the enemy robot, a grenade coiling into being in his hand as he did. Just as the metallic monster was about to make it to its feet, Kendrix leapt into the air, a Glide carrying him over the creature's head. He threw the grenade down with as much strength as he could muster. His efforts were rewarded when it exploded in the robot's face, sending him back down, only this time clothed in burning Void.
Kendrix snatched his Khvostov out of transmat, deciding it would be better at keeping his target's attention, and was firing off rounds before he even touched the ground. The Void of his grenade faded after a few seconds, and the robot rose again, his black eyes turning to Kendrix.
"You are persistent for an insect," it hissed. It swiped at Kendrix, talons blazing with green fire, but he Blinked out of the way of the attack.
"And you've got a pretty bad memory for a living computer!" Kendrix called out right before filling the machine's back with another magazine. "That's like, what, the third time you've fallen for that trick?"
The warrior snarled, spinning around and firing a blast of Void from his transforming fist. Kendrix dodged to the side with a Glide, barely avoiding the projectile. The energy cannon whined as it prepared another shot, tracking Kendrix as he sprinted across the landscape. Right as it was about to fire, a pair of blue shots slammed into the robot, causing its own bolt to go wide, sailing harmlessly up into the starry sky. Kendrix and the skeletal warrior's heads turned in unison to see Nova shakily holding himself up, eyes and cannons bright with determination. The robot attempted to fire back, but Kendrix slammed a Void-filled fist into the back of his knee, causing his leg to buckle. Nova took the opening and slammed a piledriver into his face, jerking the skull-like head back.
For a few moments, Kendrix and Nova rode that wave. They laid down blow after blow, never giving their opponent a chance to recover or counterattack. Bullets and fists flew one after the other, strike after strike after strike, wearing the enemy down. Until…
"ENOUGH!"
A pulse of green energy forced Kendrix and Nova back, catching them off-balance and separating them from their target. The alien robot's normally empty eyes were blazing emerald with fury, and Kendrix watched as he launched himself into the air, landing with inhuman grace at the peak of a nearby rock formation.
Kendrix felt it, then, what he had had no time to notice before. It was swirling around the monstrous metal man, tearing through space and time as an invisible inferno, like the aura of a vengeful god. Even against the hunger of the Hellmouth, Kendrix felt the Dark in him.
"I will not be bested by an upstart Autobot grunt and his organic plaything!" the Cybertronian snarled. He reached his hand towards the dark abyss of space above, as if to snatch one of the stars from its twinkling expanse. His hand filled with green fire, and with the same scream of the Hive Tombships entering the battle Kendrix had witnessed, he ripped something into existence.
It was a sword.
The blade of the weapon was long, looking to be at least twice as long as Kendrix was tall, and with a subtle curve from the hilt to the sharpened tip. Its surface was somehow blacker than the empty night into which it was held aloft, except for on its edge, where it blazed hot with the same green light that filled its wielder's eyes.
Now he really looks like a samurai.
What's a samurai? Kendrix asked, taken aback by Proxima's sudden commentary.
We make it out of this alive, and I'll tell you.
The 'samurai' leapt off the outcropping and landed on the ground with an earthshaking thud. The green pinpricks inside his sockets flickered from Nova to Kendrix and back. Then, he moved.
With speed that seemed somehow greater than his previous displays, he surged towards Kendrix, sweeping his blade in a long arc, longer than Kendrix could hope to dash out of. So he Blinked, disappearing just as the sword was about to reach him and reappearing on the backside of its swing. That's when the talons closed around him, and Kendrix's nerves screamed as they began to be burned away by emerald flame. Kendrix screamed with them, and the pain so eclipsed his thoughts that he couldn't even find the focus to Blink.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain ended as he was wrenched free from the samurai's grip. As the agony subsided, he distantly saw Nova tackling the other robot, pushing him aside. The two struggled for a moment, each trying to overcome the other. Then, there was the terrible sound of metal tearing apart, and Nova froze.
Kendrix watched in horror as the cruel point of a black blade sprouted from his friend's back.
The samurai yanked his weapon free, and Nova fell to the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably. The samurai turned his sword over a few times, then gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high, its tip pointed straight down.
Hanging over Nova's heart.
"Until all are one," the samurai spat. And then, he plunged the sword down.
Time fell away as Kendrix's mind went blank, swallowed by the abyss blooming within him. He felt it surround him, engulf him, felt its hungry song fill his ears. He was afraid of it. More of it than of anything else he knew.
But a life was at stake, and fear was a luxury he couldn't afford. So he allowed the eruption, gave it life. Willingly. He could feel it, power running from his heart into his arms, then his hands. His hands, which he brought together, focusing on a point between them, an infinitesimal point, a nothing, about to be filled with everything.
And then it was.
The collection of Void bloomed out into the world with a battlecry like harmonic thunder, its ovoid form sailing almost leisurely through the air from its inception point between Kendrix's palms. The samurai froze, turning to look upon the sudden, all-encompassing light. But it was not fast enough. The attack hit, and then it exploded.
The samurai was thrown backward through the air, its whole body alight with violet fire. Even through the roaring in his ears, Kendrix could hear it screaming.
It fell to the ground with a thud, twitching softly. Kendrix lurched towards it, completely spent, rifle hanging loosely in his hand. As he approached, the samurai slowly rose to its knees, then, even more slowly, its feet. Its body heaved, still tinged with violet with embers, and one of its arms hung limp and motionless at its side. It raised its face to look at him, eyes devoid of emerald might. Kendrix raised his rifle, his hands surprisingly steady, and waited. The two of them stood there for a moment, staring into each other's eyeless visages.
Then the samurai grunted.
"We are both spent. The day is not mine, nor is it yours, wretch. But it is done." The warrior raised its sword. Kendrix tensed his finger around the trigger. But the robot just swung it in a lazy arc away from him. As the blade moved, it cut open a sickly, screaming wound in reality. "Make no mistake. Fate is not yet finished with our tale. We will meet again, and I will have my vengeance." The machine's head turned slightly towards Nova's broken form. "On both of you." Without another word, it stepped through the rift, and was gone.
As soon as the portal vanished, Kendrix let loose an exhausted sigh. Then, he rushed to Nova's side.
"He's in a bad way." Proxima stated, flashing into existence at Kendrix's shoulder. Kendrix found he had to agree with her assessment.
Nova's body was leaking fluorescent blue fluid in at least a dozen places, but the worst offender was clearly the gaping sword wound in his gut from when he'd been impaled. His body was shaking erratically, and the blue light of his eyes flickered on and off with as much irregularity. A white beam of light struck his skull as Proxima worked to access his mind.
"His processor is going ballistic. It seems like he's going into some form of shock. I'm not sure how much longer he'll retain consciousness, assuming he hasn't already lost it."
"Shit."
Suddenly, an ethereal, howling scream tore through the air.
"Hive."
"Shit!"
"That Nova Bomb you chucked at our samurai friend had more concentrated Light than anything else you're ever put out. It would've been a beacon to the Hive, and now they know we're here."
"We have to get out of here, now."
"How?! Even if Nova can get us airborne, if he goes unconscious mid-flight, we're screwed. His brain took the place of the jumpship's nav computer, so I can't pilot it remotely!"
"I'll fly him."
"What?!" Proxima whipped towards him as if he'd gone insane.
"I'll fly him!" Kendrix insisted. "Even if he goes unconscious, his manual systems should still be intact, so I should be able to fly him!"
"But you don't even-! ...fine, whatever, no time for alternatives."
Kendrix nodded, then went over to Nova's head.
"Hey, buddy," he said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. "I know you're in a lot of pain right now. But I just need you to turn into jumpship mode, and then you can go to sleep. I'll get you home and we can work on fixing you up. Ok?"
It was hard to tell through all the shuddering, but Kendrix thought he saw Nova nod. He nodded back, then stepped away several paces. After a few moments, the robot's body shattered and reformatted into its jumpship state. Proxima wasted no time transmatting Kendrix into the pilot's seat. He fiddled with the controls for a few moments with Proxima's guidance, then, when he was confident the jumpship would still function well enough to fly them out, he hit the throttle.
It was a rocky start as they went soaring up into the sky, and it took a minute for Kendrix to figure out where he needed to keep the steering so they wouldn't go careening all over the place. But he eventually found his groove, and thanks to the moon's low gravity and lack of atmosphere, was able to guide them fairly smoothly up into space.
Going back to the Tower was out of the question, that much was clear. It was a miracle they'd made it back to Earth with how beaten Nova was, and if he took a jumpship this busted up to the hangar, Holliday would insist on performing repairs, no question. And then their cover would be blown. So instead, Proxima set a course for the only other place she and Kendrix could think of.
They arrived in the Cosmodrome a few minutes after disabling the interplanetary drive, and flew down into the rusted out hangar where they'd faced Riksis.
"We come down here so often." Proxima said thoughtfully. "We should get a timeshare."
"What's a timeshare?" Kendrix asked, too exhausted to muster any actual curiosity.
"...my comedic genius is lost on you."
Kendrix slowly and carefully landed Nova's sleeping form on the floor of the hangar, then climbed out once it had settled.
"I've sent in our report to the Vanguard, so we shouldn't have anyone bugging us for a while." Proxima said as she floated down next to him.
"Good. That means we'll have plenty of time to work on fixing all of…. this." Kendrix replied, gesturing to the countless dents and scorch marks covering Nova's unconscious frame.
"Yeah. It'll take a lot of Glimmer, but-"
Suddenly, Proxima vanished in a flash.
Movement.
I see it. Kendrix replied, glancing at the red indicator that briefly flashed on his HUD.
Lost it. Probably a stealth Vandal. Be careful.
Will do. Kendrix thought as his Duke dropped into his hands. He held the hand cannon out in front of him, and began slowly moving towards the spot his HUD had marked. It was one of the large pillars supporting the roof of the building. Easy cover, and an easy spot to stage an ambush. Kendrix went up to the pillar and put his back against it, reading himself. He took a deep breath, counted down from three, and…
Kendrix whipped around the pillar, finger a hair's breadth away from pulling the trigger. But there was nothing there. Not even the faint hum or reflection of a stealth generator. After a moment, Kendrix sighed and turned back towards the ship.
And came face to face with a yawning black void.
"Jesus!" Kendrix shouted, jumping back in surprise.
As it turned out, the black void was just the faceplate of a white helmet, surrounded by a largely black set of armor. Including a cloak with green and purple patterns on it. Recognition filled Kendrix's mind, and his eyes narrowed under his helmet.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
The Hunter from the elevator cocked her head.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing," she replied in a voice that was far too casual.
"Stalking me again, I take it?" he grumbled sarcastically, too tired to bother hiding his irritation.
"Don't flatter yourself," she replied in the same even, nonchalant tone. "I got here first. Didn't know you'd be barging in." She paused, then glanced over her shoulder at where Nova was resting. "Your ship took quite the beating. You accidentally fly into an asteroid or something?"
"No," Kendrix replied as evenly as he could, ignoring the insult. "I was doing some recon at the Hellmouth. Had a run in with… a particularly nasty Tombship."
"You were at the Hellmouth?" she said with a derisive snort.
"Yeah. You can check my Ghost's field report for yourself, just submitted a few minutes ago. Unless you think I'm faking those too?"
The woman turned back to face him, her expression unreadable beneath her eerie helmet. Seemingly ignoring his jab, she continued speaking.
"Why bring your ship here? Why not take it back to the Tower for repairs?"
"Well…" Kendrix started, trying to sound as casual as possible while thinking up a lie. "...my Ghost suggested we take this as an opportunity to get to know the ship a little better. Get some basic repair skills down, in case we end up downed offworld and need to patch things up to get home."
You're getting better at this lying thing.
Please don't say that like it's such a good thing.
"They've got countless mechanic texts and classes in the City, you know," the Hunter countered.
Kendrix shrugged.
"I learn better by doing." Kendrix waited for her to challenge him again, but she seemingly didn't feel the need to say anything else. "Alright, I told you why I'm here. Now you return the favor." The Hunter made no move to speak, simply crossing her arms. Kendrix glanced around the room, and his eyes couldn't help but settle on the headless corpse of a Devil Archon. "Oh, I get it," Kendrix stated, understanding. "You came to investigate the scene of the crime. See Riksis dead for yourself." For a moment, the woman didn't move or speak.
"His body is covered in Arc burns," she stated, tacitly refusing to acknowledge Kendrix's guess at her purpose here. "Bit strange for something killed by a Voidwalker, don't you think?" Kendrix's eyes narrowed under his helmet.
"In case you forgot, I was less than an hour old when I fought Riksis. I didn't really have the whole 'magic space powers' thing down yet. I killed him with a shock grenade I took from a dead Dreg. Got in real close and let the thing detonate right on top of us."
"The blast would have killed you too."
"It did. Fortunately, the little voice in my head assured me that death wasn't a permanent thing anymore. Sure enough, I woke up, but the bastard was down and out. Cleaned up the handful of Fallen who hadn't already turned tail, then took this beauty of a ship and headed to the Tower," he finished, gesturing to Nova. "Now may I have some privacy, or do I need to reason through some more of your far-fetched suspicions?"
"I have what I came for," the woman stated, the slightest hint of irritation present in her otherwise completely businesslike voice. Kendrix took a small amount of pride in that. The woman turned and began walking towards the hangar exit. Kendrix waited until she was almost at the door, then hollered after her.
"By the way, what's your name? Cause all I've got for you right now is 'creepy stalker lady', and that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue."
The woman glanced back for a moment with what Kendrix was positive was a glare, despite the helmet. Then she walked out and disappeared into the waning daylight.
"Bit of an ass there, chief, don't you think?" Proxima said somewhat judgmentally as she materialized next to him.
"I don't need her to like me, I need her to leave me alone. Besides, she absolutely started it."
"Even still."
"Alright, alright," Kendrix conceded. "I'll be nicer in the future if I see her again."
"You mean when you see her again, right?"
"Yeah, probably. But hey, a guy can hope." Kendrix paused, taking one last look out the top of the hangar as he watched the Hunter's jumpship retreat into the sky before turning back to Nova. "Anyway, let's get to work."