"Another one down, boys!" We cheered to our latest strike, downing a mug of city beer in a matter of seconds. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and let out an impressive belch, prompting laughter from most of my fireteam. Ollie, my little brother, was the only one who didn't find much amusement from such antics. He simply kept slurping his ramen, introverted as usual. Joanna had just finished a serving plate full of braised short ribs when she spoke up.
"Hey Karsk, no offense, but you really have to find us some better bounties. I barely feel like I'm breaking a sweat over these small fry." I gave her a look, and before I could respond, she was talking again, raising her gauntleted arms defensively. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't want us to get caught up in a Dark Zone and die. But come on, what's life without a little risk?" Urthan, our second hunter, twirled a knife between deft fingers.
"You hear how many guardians went to the Dreadnaught?" He said, waving down a server for another drink. "Too damn many. Yeah, they killed that Hive god, but only one of those dozens of fireteams ever came back." He took a sip from his newly filled mug. "Personally, I'm content being a local hero."
"Explains a lot," Joanna said snidely, prompting a chuckle from Urthan.
"Joanna, one of these days you're gonna get caught. I know you Titans love your armor and all that, but that's just the reality. And besides, someone's gotta take out the local trash. And if that happens to be us, so be it." Joanna obviously didn't like that, as she started to get up out of her chair.
Oh boy. Whether the alcohol was causing this or not, I really didn't care. It was a bad look for Guardians to fight each other outside of the Crucible, especially down at the city. The Vanguard was strict about that sort of thing.
"Hey. Knock it off. Both of you." My laid-back tone from earlier was gone, replaced by something more serious. They both looked at me, and I motioned briefly to the cafe, reminding them where we were at. Joanna sat back down, slowly. The steel chair (the normal wooden stool broke under her weight) creaked as Urthan stopped his knife-twirling, gazing around the cafe, where several onlookers were watching. Their faces were a mix of emotions: Some looked excited, some annoyed, and others, including the cafe owner, were simply frightened.
"Come on, Karsk," Urthan said. "You know we'd never fight out here. We're a family, remember?" Sarcasm dripped from his words, but I ignored it. Ollie had ignored the whole ordeal, and was studying some tome filled with indecipherable runes. Well, it was indecipherable to me, at least. I left him to his devices, and flagged the serving lady down for another round. Hopefully more beer would leave them a little more docile. If not, well, I suppose getting cleaning duty from Cayde wasn't all that bad.
She arrived with fresh mugs, and besides Ollie, we gladly took them all. Most of the rest of the night was spent drinking, eating, and laughing at dumb shit. Paid by our Vanguard stipend, of course. At this point Joanna was barely awake, and Ollie was still studying that book, sober as a plate of coleslaw. Urthan, however, just became more…. Urthan.
"Hey lady!" Urthan called over the server. She arrived, obviously exhausted from taking orders the whole night. He continued.
"I got the rest of the night off, you trying to fuck a Guardian?" I smacked him on the back of the head, forcing more cackles out of him. The girl made a face and rushed back to the tap, taking another table.
"I was joking, Boss!" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Those heroes in fairy tales always save the world, always kill the bad guy, but that's it! They never get laid!" The owner of the cafe came out of the back, and began walking to our table along with the girl.
Great. Guess I'm gonna have to cover for his ass again. I got up from my stool, an entire speech prepared to convince the owner why he shouldn't report this to the Vanguard.
"Hey, I'm really sorr––" Something stopped me. I heard engines outside. Everywhere. My fireteam seemed to hear the same, and so did everyone else in the cafe. Joanna stirred from her drunken stupor, her Ghost zapping the alcohol from her blood as she got up, machine gun in hand. Urthan checked something on his vid-pad, frowning. Ollie stood frozen. Vehicles were indeed a thing, but they were typically reserved for moving armed combat units across warzones.
What's the Vanguard up to? We didn't hear anything about this. And do I hear… ships?
Something shot through the wall in a red-orange blur, striking one of the citizens. She was down without a sound. Adrenaline pumped through my blood. In an instant I was up, rifle ready. Another series of slugs ripped through the wall as if it were tissue paper, rounds ripping through furniture and people alike.
"COVER!" I yelled, and we dove behind the bar itself, along with the few people who weren't killed in the initial volley. More slugs exploded into the room, sending glass, splinters, sparks, and cauterized flesh into the air. Those slugs neared our position; I could feel their heat as they cracked right over and around me.
"Barrier up!" Joanna yelled over the din, arms creating a force-field of light in front of us, shielding everyone behind the bar. The rounds ricocheted off her barrier, deflecting into the ceiling or onto the sides. After an entire minute of barrage, the Crack! Crack! of explosive slugs slowed and stopped. Joanna recalled her barrier. There was only a small bit of serviceable cover left to protect the people, so I motioned my fireteam out of cover, scattering across the room. Heavy footsteps sounded behind the wall, and most of the engine noise had gone past, replaced with distant booms, shots, and screams.
Cabal. How? How did they even get to the city? I shelved the question as a massive fist punched through the wall, tearing through concrete. Behind a fallen table, I held a fist for my fireteam to see. They knew it meant to wait. Another break in the wall, and a Cabal boot was seen.
Bastards. They're checking for survivors. I cocked my rifle. It was an antiquated piece, a wood-steel construction of some time long past, nothing like the light-infused weapons of the modern era. I braced it on the table. All I knew was that it pierced through armor very well. Whether that particular quirk came from my light or the ammunition, I really didn't care. Despite its ancient bolt-action mechanism, it just felt right to me.
The entire wall shattered, and the first of the Cabal came through, a "Phalanx". Its left side was exposed: My side. I pulled the trigger, and felt the familiar kick as its helmet crumpled like a can, head crushed inside. Black blood leaked from under its armor as it fell over. Joanna followed up with a grenade, a streak of purple arcing out the massive hole in the wall, and sticking to some out-of-sight Cabal. It exploded, eliciting screams of pain outside and shaking the building. After a second it exploded again, taking the rest of the wall and silencing most of the cries. One of them still stood, a lone legionary. I heard a sound akin to lightning, and a beam of pure light shot forth and pierced through its torso, dropping it dead.
I turned and saw Ollie, his gun leveled and leaking light from the barrel. It was one of those prototype weapons, given to him by Banshee-44 after we'd gathered a bunch of Hive worm corpses. It channeled light into a weapon, no ammo needed. Since Ollie was a Warlock, and the most talented of us when it came to manipulating light, majority vote decided he'd take it, despite him wanting to give it to me.
"What is happening?" Joanna asked. She made her way to the wall and stepped over outside, looking up. Her helmet hid her expression, but I knew something was up.
"Karsk, you better come see this. It's bad." She called over to me without taking her eyes off of whatever she looked at. I followed, looking up and down the alley to make sure no Cabal was trying to get a cheap shot in. I followed her gaze, and the sight nearly made me vomit.
The Traveller. The Cabal completely surrounded it, shooting down any ship that dared fly close. Worst of all, they were trying to get some claw-shaped device around it. I checked my comms, trying to see if I could get anyone on the line. No answer. Not even static.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Ollie said quietly. "What are they trying to do?" I snapped out of my haze, turning to them.
"Doesn't matter. What we need to do is regroup at the Tower: The Vanguard is definitely preparing some kind of counterattack. We'll meet up at the frontline, hold out against their siege, then push back when they're weak. Understood?" They nodded. I turned, took a deep breath, and started down the alley. They followed.
We'll get through this. I know we will.