Ilos...
"We're in the pipe, five by five." Noble-Six reported over the comms as the pelican entered Ilos airspace.
While she would never publicly admit it, Shepard knew that her skills driving and piloting vehicles were rather lackluster. So while she wouldn't say it to his face, she couldn't help but feel rather impressed as Six casually weaved the multi-ton airship through the ancient alien sky scrapers.
As per the plan, the spartan kept the pelican's altitude low in order to avoid any geth radar. And while flying that low would make it easier to be seen by any patrolling ground forces, the territory of Ilos itself was big enough that it was impossible for the geth to keep watch over its entirety. All Six had to do was avoid the locations of known patrols and checkpoints, and it was smooth sailing.
Soon enough, Six flew the pelican the closest he possibly could without setting off the Geth sensors, and opened up the loading bay. Wordlessly, Fireteam Mantis filed out of the dropship, leaping feet first into the city of the dead.
As the fireteam dusted themselves off, Six's voice crackled over the radio. "I'll keep the engine running, but remember, until you can take down their sensors I won't be able to pull you out without kicking the hornet's nest."
Shepard brought two fingers to her ear to radio back. "Roger that Six. Just sit tight and we'll do all the hard work."
"Affirmative commander. Try not to have too much fun without me." With that, Six turned the pelican around and retreated back to the edge of Ilos, staying close enough to help if needed but far enough to maintain secrecy.
With that, Fireteam Mantis slowly began working their way into the geth controlled cityscape. They moved with a practiced ease and efficiency befitting their experience as special forces. Snake took point, keeping a sharp eye out for any patrolling synthetics. He would move forward by a city block, with the remaining squad members keeping overwatch in case he stumbled into an ambush. After the Boss made sure the next area was clear, he waved the rest of the fireteam forward, allowing them to leapfrog past him to the next block where they could then do the same maneuver.
They maintained this pattern for several minutes, slowly, surely, and most importantly safely moving through the city. And soon enough, their efforts proved worthwhile as they remained undetected as they came across a geth outpost.
The outpost was fairly standard by geth standards, 3 curved walls came together to form a broken circle, with spaces at the 12, 4, and 8 o'clock positions that allowed entrance into the interior. These entrances were protected by a watchtower each with a total of 3 geth on sentry duty. In the center of the outpost was some kind of communication station, with a radio triangulation tower connected to geth computer terminal.
As per his normal operating procedures, Boss marked each of the geth with his iDroid, a 1, 2, and 3 appearing over their heads on everyone's HUDs. Targets were divvied up, Boss and Thane sniping troopers 1 and 2 while Shepard would handle number 3. The commander, running a more close quarters set up of her suppressed N7 Eagle heavy pistol, Geth plasma shotgun, and her power axe, stuck to the waist-high walls and overgrown trees as she crept closer to the outpost while Snake and Thane set up their shots.
"In position." Shepard whispered out, as she leveled her heavy pistol on the Geth's flashlight head, her sealed helmet preventing any sound from escaping.
Boss sounded over the radio after her. "Take them down in three… two… one… fire."
The sound of 3 muted gunshots was barely noticeable over the ambient noise of Ilos. However, the sound of 3 geth bodies hitting the floor was far more audible. Lucky for the Legion, no one else was there to hear it.
Sentries taken care of, the Fireteam Mantis made their way into the outpost. T3 immediately moved to the unguarded terminal and began slicing in. Several uncomfortable minutes of waiting later, and T3 was in, making his way into the geth battle network.
"Beep-beep-doot-weet." T3 rang out as some sparks flew from the terminal, and the Legion could hear the tower losing power.
"That was on purpose, right T3?" Shepard sardonically asked.
"Doooot." the utility droid let out a sad beep.
Shepard felt a pang of guilt and rubbed the droid on his head. "I was only kidding." Shepard then opened up her radio and contacted Six. "Six, T3 says he shut off the geth's radar and disrupted their communications. Only way they'll see you coming now is through direct visual contact."
"Roger that commander, standing by for your signal." the spartan called back.
With a nod, Shepard ended the conversation and Boss began moving them out. They needed to increase the pace. The disrupted communications would only be temporary. They had to reach the Armory and take what they needed before the geth knew what was happening.
Moving double time, Fireteam Mantis continued their way. While still maintaining good cover and properly keeping an eye for hostiles, they pushed forward at a light jog. Soon enough, the Armory came into sight.
Much in the same way the Archives was an unembellished pyramid in the middle of a swamp, and the Temple of Order a monolithic obelisk along a ruined wasteland, the Armory stuck out against its surroundings. Compared to the ancient, eroded, and angular skyscrapers around it, the Armory was a short, stout, and simple cube of a building standing 5 stories in length, width, and height. It was made of some kind of unidentified white stone material, and the walls had no windows or any decorations. The only visible entrance was a pair of blast doors on the face directed towards the Legion.
The exterior of the Armory seemed to be protected by another line of geth-made walls and watch towers, this time fully enclosed with a single gate as the entrance. A squad of Geth troopers could be seen walking the perimeter with a few snipers stationed in the towers.
"What's the call Boss?" Shepard asked as she leveled her shotgun.
Snake thought for a moment, considering all of their options before speaking. "With the communications disrupted, they won't be able to call for reinforcements so there's no point in taking it slow. We hit them hard, fast, and take them down before they have a chance to dig in." He then turned to face the commander. "Shepard, you take T3 and go right for the gates, Thane and I will cover you."
The legionnaires all pinged their acknowledgements as they readied to attack. Snake and Thane moved to line up their sniper rifles on sentries in the watchtowers while Shepard pulled out a C-12 shaped charge and T3 overcharged his shields, encompassing him in a blue glow.
"Fire!" Snake commanded as the sniper shots rang out, quickly overpowering the geth's kinetic barriers and killing them.
Shepard and T3 broke out into a sprint, charging right for the gates. The geth reacted immediately to the destruction of their two comrades, activating kinetic barriers and running into cover. T3 opened fire with his blasters, pumping bolts into the barriers while Thane and Snake took any shots that presented themselves. Meanwhile Shepard moved like a football player, clutching the satchel charge close to her body as she moved to the gate, getting ready to throw it as far as she could.
About halfway to her goal however, a series of explosions erupted around her. Shepard felt her kinetic barriers failing as heat and shrapnel enveloped her. Her shields gone, she was forced to dive roll to the side, crouching behind a waist-high wall as she looked up and saw what had stopped her.
A squadron of geth rocket drones were flying in to support the beleaguered infantry. Shepard cursed, as the geth must've been keeping the drones hidden in reserve just in case of an attack like the one they were currently performing. The rocket drones saturated the area with explosives, forcing Shepard and T3 to hunker down. Both Thane and Snake were also forced to retreat further into cover as the drones began a volley against them as well.
With the Legion was suppressed the geth troops advanced forward. As they opened fire, Shepard quickly realized that they were not using their usual mass effect weaponry or their pseudo-plasma weapons as bolts of red laser energy flew over her head. One of the bolts slammed into the stonework behind her, cracking and shattering stone.
From that impact alone, Shepard could assume that each of those laser bolts fired at around the same strength as a .50 caliber sniper round. Unfortunately for her, the Imperial Guard M-G Short Pattern lasguns the geth were using were also firing at a respectable pace of 220 shots per minute.
"T3!" Shepard shouted into her comms. "Take them down!"
"DWEEET!" T3 gave a sharp whistle as his servo-wheels kicked into overdrive, dashing forward and approaching rocket drones.
As he drove close, two rocket drones broke off to intercept him. They fired a salvo of explosives that forced the utility droid to serpentine while screaming. Scuffed with a few burn marks and new dents, T3 was soon in range to begin a wireless hack of the two drones.
The drones staggered as T3 began slicing his way through their firewalls. The geth may be a collective of hive-minded VI, but T3 was in fact a true AI that could overpower the synthetic's cyber defenses. Electricity sparked around their chassis as within nanoseconds T3 infiltrated their systems and turned them to the Legion's side.
The hostile geth, sensing the two drones were no longer part of their collective, turned to fire upon them but were too slow. The hacked rocket drones opened fire, missiles crashing into their former allies and sending them spiraling to the ground in flaming heaps. The geth troopers on the ground immediately shot upwards, destroying their hacked brethren but the damage was already done, and the geth's air superiority was gone.
Recognizing the opportunity Shepard stepped out of cover. In front of her she poured all of her biotic might into creating a concentrated biotic barrier. With the rocket drones dead, the geth troopers then refocused back on the ground, and quickly acquired the moving biotic shield as their next target. Shepard grit her teeth as repeated las bolts impacted against her barrier, eating away at her strength.
However, as she pushed forward, drawing all of the aggro of the geth troopers, this allowed the rest of her squad to emerge from their own cover and return fire. First, T3 sent an overload that destroyed the kinetic barriers of the clustered geth. Shots then rang out once more as Snake and Thane's sniper fire put down trooper after trooper. Seconds was all it took for over half the squad to be turned to scrap, forcing the rest to retreat.
No longer threatened by the hailfire of las bolts, Shepard dropped her barrier and sprinted for the gate once more, ignoring her screaming muscles and mind-rending headache from her biotic overusage. Grabbing the C-12 satchel charge once more, Shepard focused her cybernetic and aura enhanced strength and gave it her best football throw. The explosive lobbed forward, arcing through the air until it landed on the gate house with an unceremonious plop.
Shepard pivoted and dove behind some nearby cover before activating her omnitool and hitting a hard light button. The satchel charge pinged once before erupting into a massive explosion. The heat and force of the detonation not only blew the gates open, but also enveloped the retreating geth troopers, incinerating them in an instant.
A high pitched ringing was all Shepard could hear for several seconds following the explosion. As the ability to hear in that frequency range died, Shepard picked herself up as her aura began healing the wounds she gained from overexerting her powers and physical abilities. Shepard hummed in appreciation of the power, as such minor injuries would normally build up, or slow Shepard down enough that she was more likely to be hit by a lethal attack.
With the immediate threat gone and the geth defenses blown open, the Legion now had a straight shot for the Armory. The squad regrouped at the gate, quickly checking themselves over for any wounds. Satisfied with the status of their health, Fireteam Mantis advanced for the Armory itself and whatever lay inside.
The Capital Wasteland…
Tassadar strode forward with purpose, each step barely touching the ground as he kept himself partially aloft with his psionic might. Behind him Johnson kept pace, the glowing hologram of Church beside him.
"Hey Big-T, don't suppose you'd be able to give any actual information of what we're running headlong into? All the security cams in this place are not only a couple hundred years old, but apparently run off fucking vaccuum tubes still so I can't interface with them for shit." Church called out to the alien warlord in front of him.
As per usual with the duo, Johnson sighed at Church's tone, but Tassadar seemed unperturbed as he responded, "I sense two beings, warriors such as us. But they are confused and disoriented by their surroundings, no doubt the cause of their fight."
"They're fighting each other?" Johnson asked as more gunshots rang out. "What makes you so sure they're not tangoing with our big, yellow friends?"
"I sense no other minds besides the two we approach. And it is unlikely that the local savages are hiding their own minds, as they lack even the most basic forms of psionic protection that any sentient species have. No doubt the result of some form of engineering or modification. Regardless, I believe that if we are able to intervene in this conflict, the two shall be amiable to discussion."
Church crossed his arms. "That's all well and good, but what if-" Church's complaints were cut off by a deafening CRAASH above them.
The trio looked up as they saw a cloud of dust coming out of a brand new hole on the side of a skyscraper. Out of the dust, a figure that could only be described as a cyborg ninja emerged, standing on the edge of the breach. He had a decidedly male figure, with a body that looked to be made from metal armor shaped to emulate a male's musculature. His torso, and forearms were painted a dark, navy blue, while his thighs and shoulders were colored a contrasting orange. His helmet was a fully enclosed, gray-white helmet, with two small slits for his eyes, and a bright red-orange light in the center of it. Unknown to them, the trio looked up at the form of the legendary FOXHOUND operative Gray Fox, aka Frank Jaeger.
In Gray Fox's right hand was a straight edged ninjato, complete with a golden tsuba crossguard. While it was difficult to see at the distance they were, Church's enhanced sensors could see that the blade itself was vibrating at an extremely fast frequency, making it far more lethal than any regular blade.
Another gunshot rang out, the bullet flying right for the cyborg ninja. With practiced ease, Gray Fox swung his sword, his blade slicing the bullet in half, the two pieces harmlessly flying past him.
"I have to say ninja man, that was pretty slick. You've got some moves that would make quite a few of my hunters green with envy." the shooter called out, his voice having a very distinctive synthetic twang to it.
The three then turned to the shooter, who was standing atop his own skyscraper. The shooter was quite possibly the purest, physical manifestation of a gunslinger they'd ever seen. Wearing clothing that seemed to be made of some kind of dark leather with minimal amounts of armor plating, and a dark brown hood and cloak draped over his shoulders. In his right hand, he spun his revolver, a futuristic looking weapon despite the archaic firing mechanism, which was painted black and white, with a white Spade printed on the side. The most distinctive part of his face however, was that it wasn't human at all, but a robot. A synthetic skull painted blue and white, with glowing blue eyes, and a single horn extruding from his forehead. This was Cayde-6, Guardian and former Hunter Vanguard.
Gray Fox only stared blankly at the exo hunter, before crouching low with his sword at his side. In a move that was faster than the human eye could track, the cyborg assassin exploded from his perch, dashing right for Cayde. Gray Fox crossed the distance between the skyscrapers in an instant, his HF blade moving to slice the throat of the exo. But the blade was stopped inches away from the vanguard as he raised his revolver, the Ace of Space, and blocked the attack, the sword biting into the barrel of the gun.
Weapons locked together, Cayde-6 leaned in and said, "You know, you may think that the strong, silent stereotype is cool, but in all honesty it just makes you look like an asshole."
With his own superhuman dexterity, Cayde then slipped his offhand to his belt and drew a dagger, shoving it into the cyborg ninja's chest. Gray Fox retreated, narrowly escaping the blade as he leapt back to the edge of the building. Before Gray Fox could land however, Cayde aimed his gun not for the ninja, as he knew how futile that was, but instead aimed for the concrete Gray Fox was going to land on.
Before Gray Fox could land Cayde fanned the hammer. The rounds flew underneath the ninja, slamming into the concrete beneath him before he could get a foothold, destroying the stonework. His footing gone, Grey Fox slipped, distracting him for a second to regain his balance. But a second was all Cayde-6 needed as a flaming dagger was already leaving Cayde's fingers.
The dagger sunk into Gray Fox's torso, and the subsequent fiery explosion knocked him off the skyscraper. As the cyborg ninja plummeted, falling at full terminal velocity, the assassin began to twist and spin. Despite having been stabbed with a magic, fire dagger and falling off a building, Gray Fox was able to reorient himself, twisting so he was falling feet first. And as he hit the ground, he bent his knees and slammed his fist into the ground,performing a perfect three point landing.
"Just saying, I could do that too!" Cayde called out as he aimed the Ace of Spades at the roof beneath him, empowering it with solar light and transforming it into a Golden Gun.
Firing several light-empowered shots, the building creaked and groaned, until it began to collapse. Massive slabs of concrete fell off the building, aimed right for Gray Fox. Despite the literal hundreds of tons of stone falling for him, Gray Fox remained collected. Raising his HF blade up, holding the blade parallel to his eyes, Gray Fox then jumped into the air, moving right for the falling debris.
Gray Fox became a tornado, his weapon moving at an impossible pace as the HF Blade sliced through the concrete as if it were tissue paper. Everyone present watched in awe as the massive chunks of concrete were sliced into hundreds if not thousands of tiny pieces that fell harmlessly to the ground. The debris destroyed, Gray Fox then allowed himself to fall with it, gingerly landing on the ground as he flicked his sword and sheathed it onto his back.
"Ok, that was cool." Cayde couldn't help but clap. "Don't suppose you're willing to trade for that fancy sword of yours?"
"Don't you ever shut up?" Gray Fox finally spoke, his voice raspy and overlaid by a synthetic vocalizer.
Cayde shrugged. "What and deprive the world of my hilarious one liners and genius wit? That is just a crime against humanity." Cayde then retook his gun slinging stance. "Now bring it on ninja man. If you won't trade I'll be more than happy to take it off your body."
Gray Fox retook his own stance once more, drawing his blade as the two stared one another down.
"ENOUGH!" Tassadar's mighty psionic voice rang out as he called down a lightning bolt between the two fighters.
Both Gray Fox and Cayde-6 stepped back, on guard as they appraised the newest entry. Not far behind Tassadar, Johnson walked out of cover, holding an assault rifle level as Church's holographic form floated beside him. For a beat, all 3 sides stared at one another, waiting to see who would make the first move.
Cayde was the first to break silence. "Hey hey hey big blue. If you're here to get your ass kicked too you need to take a ticket. I'm tired of having to take on several dudes at once."
"Heh, that's what she said." Church snickered, channeling his inner Tucker.
Cayde smirked as he kept his gun level "First off, nice. Second, that's not what I meant. Thirdly. Is thirdly even a word? Anyway, thirdly, what's your play here, big, mouthless, alien man? You got me and cyborg ninja over here quivering in suspense." Gray Fox was in fact, not quivering, and seemed quite annoyed at being grouped together with the Hunter.
"I am here to stop all hostilities between you two. We are not your enemies, nor are you enemies with one another. We together are all allies in this strange place." Tassadar spoke, his composure unbreakable despite Cayde's immaturity.
"I find that hard to believe." Gray Fox rasped out first, blade still raised high.
"Yeah I'm going to have to side with ninja man over here" Cayde added on.
Tassadar seemed to be losing patience at this point. "Well it is fortunate for us that regardless of whether or not you believe in it, the truth is the truth." the protoss growled out. "If you have not pieced it together for yourselves yet, this world is not the same one you are from. You both must have questioned where you are, and what this realm is? It is some kind of alternate dimension that has drawn us all here from our own dimensions for a purpose."
Gray Fox remained stoically silent, mulling over Tassadar's words while Cayde muttered to himself. "Damn it really? A pocket dimension connected to the multiverse? What kind of Vex-ian bullshit is that? Damn I wish Sundance was still here, she'd be all over this." Cayde sadly shook his head.
"And what is this purpose?" Gray Fox asked, now staring intently at Tassadar.
"That, Frank Jaeger, I do not know." Tassadar said, casually flexing his psionic might. "Where we are specifically, what our purpose here is, none of these are questions I know the answer to. But I do have my theories."
"Which are?" Church asked, annoyed that the goddamn cryptic asshole was making him ask.
"Tell me, all of you. What is the last thing each of you remember?" Tassadar questioned, drawing a pained reaction from everyone around him.
A/N, 8/31/20: Hey look, 2 chapters in a row, that hasn't happened in a while. Essentially I decided that in order for me to have both Legion of the Damned and Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger end at around the same time, I'm going to focus more on LoD for now. This'll be a short hiatus for my other stories, only a month at most.
Anyway, now we got 2 new characters! Now I'll be honest, I am not the biggest fan of Destiny. I joined in on 2 and found its lore and storytelling to be confused and incoherent. Not to mention I play solo so I haven't gone through any raids. That being said, it's gameplay is butter and Cayde-6 is a great character. And Gray Fox from Metal Gear is always a classic, though some of his abilities may resemble more Raiden from Metal Gear Revengeance.
No review responses for now. Stay happy, safe, and I'll see you in the next one!