Wow this chapter took a lot longer then it was supposed to. This is a longer chapter then the others but I also had a school work to do and there a huge time of writers block near the end. Though I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
As always please rate, review, and enjoy
Chapter 5: Assault and Battery
Jewel's ship flew over the transmat zone on the Dreadnaught. As soon as her boots hit the ground she pulled her sniper rifle, the "Hereafter", from her back and made quick work of the Hive and Cabal that fought in front of the Cabal vessel. Jewel returned her rifle to her back as she took her Omolon scout rifle in her hands and ran off toward the downed Cabal ship. Opal appeared next to her as she ran inside.
"Jewel I really think this is a very bad idea. You're running blindly into enemy territory intent on killing two of their commanding officers should have asked for help."
"No. I'm not putting anyone else in danger. I'm making that same mistake again." Jewel said as she crouched behind some cover and observed the movements of the Cabal.
"Jewel that wasn't your fault, you didn't know what would have happened and you know as well as I do that Christian…" Opal was cut off when Jewel started to fire upon the Cabal.
Jewel quickly killed three Psion's with one headshot each before the rest started to fire upon her. She darted from cover and threw a Tripmine grenade over a few Legionaries. The explosion came a few seconds later as a Cabal fell down dead. Jewel quickly killed a few more soldiers with her rifle and knife before taking cover from two Phalanxes' and a Colossus. She pulled her Golden Gun from her hip and with three shots took out her three targets.
"Well that was…fast." Opal said as she reappeared next to Jewel.
"These things aren't going to slow me down. I will kill those Shield Brothers and avenge him." Jewel said as she entered a large room with a secured door at the end. Opal was shaking in her shell.
"Jewel I have a very bad feeling about this."
"Will you stop worrying so much?"
Just then the blast doors slowly opened and a patrol of Cabal entered the room followed by a Goliath Tank that aimed its main gun at Jewel.
"Can I worry now?" Opal asked. Jewel just pulled out a Suros rocket launcher.
"No."
Aaron and his fireteam returned to orbit around Venus after a successful mission.
"Good job everyone. That was a fun job." Lance said over the team comm channel.
"If by fun you mean a total cake walk then your right Lance." Kore replied
"Kore's right." Aaron said. "When you said we were going to fight a Fallen Archon Priest that was broken out of the Prison of Elders I was expecting more of a challenge."
"Well I hate to break it to you Aaron, but I guess we're just too awesome." Syd joked which caused everyone to laugh a bit. Afterward Rex appeared next to Aaron.
"Sorry to interrupt but we have an incoming transmission from Cayde."
"Cayde? Alright put him through." Red nodded then disappeared. After a second of static Aaron and Cayde were able to speak.
"Thanks for answering my call guardian."
"Of course Cayde. What can I do for ya."
"Okay so before anything else I just want to make sure you're the Titan that's been spending time with Jewel recently. Am I right? You know hunter, blue eyes, black hair, kind of scary in a fight?"
"As a matter of fact I am. Why do you ask?"
"Well you see we have a bit of a problem. You see the Vanguard recently decoded some Cabal data that some other guardians retrieved and we found out that two infamous Cabal commanders are on the Dreadnaught. About half an hour ago Jewel took off from the Tower without telling anyone where she was going after her ghost accessed those files on the Cabal. I think she's going after those commanders and trust me she's in over her head."
"But that doesn't make sense Cayde. She's not stupid why would try a stunt like that by herself?"
"I don't know the whole story myself but I do know that she had a run in with those brothers before. She hasn't told me anything about it but when she got back here she was pretty shaken up. Kept mumbling something about how she got "him" killed. Look I'm worried about her. These Shield Brothers have a scary rep and I can pretty much guarantee she won't survive this alone. I know I'm asking a lot of you but…"
"I can see where you're going Cayde. Don't worry I'll bring her home. I promise."
"Thank you guardian. Good luck."
"If what you say about these guys is true, we may actually need it." With that Aaron ended the transmission and reconnected with his fireteam.
"Alright guys lock and load. We're going to Saturn."
"You mean to the Dreadnaught?" Syd asked. "What are doing there?"
"Bringing a friend home."
With that Aaron led his fireteam to the Dreadnaught. When they arrived they were dropped off at the transmat zone and they investigated their surroundings.
"I'll see if I can track Opal. But if Jewel is trying to not be found then it may take some time." Rex said
While his team looked around and talked about tactics Aaron's eye caught something on the ground. Kneeling down he grabbed a bullet casing from the ground. I was a sniper rifle casing, 50 cal. to be exact. Though the thing that made it unique was that it wasn't a golden color like most other casings, it was white. Aaron only knew of one weapon that had white bullet casings. The same rifle that Jewel preferred to use, the "Hereafter". Aaron couldn't explain it but for some reason he knew this casing belonged to her. It was as if some force, some need was pulling him toward her. And that feeling was pulling him in the direction of the Cabal ship. Standing back up Aaron started running toward the ship.
"Aaron where are you going?" Kore asked chasing after him.
"She's this way Kore. I know she is."
Jewel jumped to the side as she dodged another shot from the Goliath tanks main cannon. Popping out from behind her cover she fired on the last undamaged thruster on the tank. Jewel stopped when she heard the cry of a Cabal behind her. Turning she saw a Colossus behind her about to stomp right on her back. She jumped from her cover and aimed her scout rifle at it. Before she fired she heard the tank behind her setting up for another shot as the Colossus fired a volley of missiles at her as well. Jewel smiled as she jumped in the air as high as she could. The missiles from the Colossus missed her and instead hit the tank full force causing the tank to drop to the ground and explode into thousands of pieces. Shocked at what it had just done the Colossus stared at the wreckage until Jewel dropped back on top of it and killed it with a few shots to head with her scout rifle.
"Well now that that's over with, let's get moving. Where to know Opal?" Jewel asked as she started walking out of the room.
"How about back home? Jewel this is a bad idea. You're in way over your head, this is just stupid. Why are you so determined to do this know and alone?"
"Because first, I'm not going to drag anyone else into a dangerous situation where they could die, not again. And second, we don't know how long we have to deal with these brothers. The intel that the Vanguard had said that the brothers had plans to destroy the Dreadnaughts core and the entire ship along with it. Now which way do we go?" Opal sighed.
"There's a hallway through that door to your right. That's where the brothers are."
"Good let's go." Jewel ran up to the door but stopped as she heard gunfire coming from the direction she had come when she entered the ship.
"Opal can you seal this door? We don't want any Cabal getting behind us." Opal nodded and after a few moments closed and locked the door behind them.
With the door sealed Jewel continued down the hall and toward her targets.
Aaron dropped the last Centurion with a quick shot from his "Chaperone". With the Cabal cleared from the area Aaron directed his team to search the area and see if they could find any trace of their guardian. As everyone split off to search Val made her way into a separate area.
"Hey guys, you may want to see this." She said over their comm link. Everyone rushed to her position to find the remains of the destroyed Goliath tank. Aaron approached the wreckage to investigate.
"Umm Aaron?" Syd asked. "How many guardians did you say we were looking for?"
"Just one."
"Ok that's what I thought. But know the question that comes up is, who the hell are we looking for? I mean you're telling me we're looking for a guardian that took out a Goliath tank and a platoon of Cabal alone? Who are we looking for, the deadly love child of Shaxx and Saladin?"
"I think I have an idea who it is." Kore said as he walked up to Aaron. "It's your hunter friend, isn't it Aaron?" Aaron sighed as he turned to face his team.
"Yes It's Jewel we're looking for. She left the Tower in pursuit of the Shield Brothers Valus Mau'ual and Valus Tlu'urn. Cayde thinks it maybe something about revenge but he doesn't know what for. Cayde wants us to bring her back because he thinks she's in way over her head and we don't help her she will die."
"I find that a bit hard to believe." Max said "I mean from the looks of it she brought down a Goliath tank and a Cabal platoon by herself. Maybe she can do this on her own." The rest of team nodded in agreement.
"She's good but not that good. She could bring down the tank alone most likely because she was familiar with how it works, it weaknesses, and she's probably hyped up on adrenaline. I looked into what we have on these brothers before we got here. It's not much but what we have pretty scary. Between the two of them we have eight confirmed guardian kills. Who knows how many more there are that we don't know about. I have a feeling that if we don't help her she will die. I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark but I thought if I told you what was going on than…" Aaron was cut off when Val rested a hand on his shoulder.
"You have nothing to apologize for Aaron. We're a team but we don't just help ourselves."
"We help everyone we can." Lance said stepping forward.
"And we're going to bring her home." Syd said.
"And if we can, we'll kill the brothers too." Max said with a smile.
Aaron looked around at his team and smiled under his helmet. "Thanks, all of you. Your really are the best team any guardian could have."
"Enough pleasantries Aaron we're running out of time." Kore said.
"Right, Rex any luck finding Opal?"
"Almost, got it. There should be a door back in the other room to the right. If we go through there and follow it we should be able to find her."
The fireteam ran over to the door only to find it locked. "Damn it it's locked. Rex see if you can…"
"Stand back!" Syd yelled. Aaron barely moved back before Syd ran and smashed the ground in an explosion of Arc energy. Her First of Havoc ripped the door from the wall allowing them to pass. "No time to waste right? Come on let's go."
With that all six of them took off down the hall as Rex directed them toward Jewel. Now all they could do was run, and pray that they aren't too late.
After fighting her way through more Cabal patrols Jewel slowly creeped her way toward the Dreadnaught's power core which was at the end if the hall she was currently in. She was slightly uneasy due to the numerous bodies of both Hive and Cabal the littered the floor. Entering the next room she looked at the glowing pillar before her that was covered in some sort of Cabal machine.
"This is very very bad." Opal said as she looked over the power core. "The Cabal have covered the core with explosives. If we don't defuse these bombs the Cabal will blow up the dreadnaught and a good chunk of the system goes down with it."
"Can you defuse it?"
"I'll see what I can do but I think you have bigger problems right now." As Opal said that the door behind Jewel closed and a large door at the opposite end of the room opened. From the other side a large Cabal clad in red armor stepped out. With her scout rifle held firm in her hand Jewel stepped forward to face it.
"It's about time you showed your ugly face. You're going to pay for all the guardians you and your brother have killed."
Valus Mau'ual started to laugh, or at least it seemed like laughing. Taking her chance Jewel pulled her sniper from her back and fired two quick shots into his head before he brought up his shield to protect himself. With a loud battle cry Mau'ual jumped in the air was used his jetpack to launch himself at Jewel. Jewel quickly jumped to the side before being pushed further away by the shockwave of Mau'ual's impact. Jewel fired a few more rounds into Mau'ual's helmet as she strafed to the right. With another loud cry Cabal forces started to funnel into the chamber from multiple doorways. Jewel jumped and dodged as best as she could, taking out the other Cabal with expert precision.
Jewel looked up from the sight of her rifle to see Mau'ual diving toward her again and again she jumped to the side. However Mau'ual was ready and while she was in the air Mau'ual turned surprising quickly and slammed her back with his shield. Jewel flew backward into one of the barriers surrounding the power core. Dazed from the impact Jewel couldn't move as Mau'ual walked up to her and prepared to finish her with his shield. However before he could the gate leading into the chamber suddenly collapsed from multiple explosions, filling the chamber with smoke and dust. Mau'ual looked toward the doorway only for a blue disc of arc energy to slam into him, knocking him backward. Jewel looked to the doorway as the smoke cleared to see a Titan wielding the "Bolt-Caster" slowly walking toward Mau'ual.
"You get the hell away from her!" The Titan yelled as he fired another disc at the Valus. Behind him five other guardians filed inside and started to make quick work of the other Cabal troops. Valus Mau'ual stared down the Titan, crying at him and striking with his shield. The Titan simply dodged and fired another bolt into the Cabal.
"Scream all you want. It won' t change your fate!" He said as he fired two more bolts at the Valus. Mau'ual then turned and ran back through the door that he came from.
"That's right, run you coward!" The Titan yelled as he stopped and helped Jewel to her feet.
"A-Aaron, what are you doing here?" Aaron simply grabbed her rifle from the ground and pushed it into her chest for her to grab.
"Thank me later Jewel. Now let's get out of here." Aaron turned to leave but Jewel grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"We can't leave. The Cabal have rigged the Dreadnaught's core to blow. If they are allowed to detonate Saturn turns to dust."
"Aaron we've got company." Lance called out as the second Shield brother, Valus Tlu'urn entered the chamber.
"Damn it." Aaron said under his breath. "Rex, see what you can do about those charges. Everyone focus fire on the brother."
The seven guardians began firing at Valus Tlu'urn only for a large protective shield to cover him. The Valus looked out at them before he started firing large blasts of concussive energy into the air from the cannon on his back.
As his team turned their attention to the other Cabal in the area Aaron watched the blasts the Valus had fired. He watched them shot up toward the ceiling in confusion until their velocity fell and they began to plummet toward the ground.
"Ah shit! Guys heads up, the Valus is firing artillery on our head." The team turned their gazes to the ceiling only to quickly dodge whatever blasts where falling toward them.
"Aaron I don't like this guy. Let's take care of him quick." Max said over their comm.
"Agreed, alright everyone time to get up close and personal, into the shield. Lance, Val, keep the grunts off us. Everyone else hit that green goblin with everything you've got."
Standing back for a second Jewel watched Aaron as he commanded his team. What surprised her was not only the amount of tactical knowledge he had and how quickly he could make a plan and execute it, but also how willing and how quickly his team could act when given a directive. Quickly she ran into the Shield to join the fight.
Valus Tlu'urn did what he could to fight back against the constant fire from five guardians. His cannon never ceased its fire and he repeatedly jumped around the arena. After a few minutes another door opened. From it Valus Mau'ual ran back into the fray. Mau'ual hopped into the air before propelling himself down in the middle of the five guardians.
"Aaron what do we do about both of them?" Syd asked in desperation.
"Focus the red one. He's the biggest threat. Once we take him out move on to the green." Almost like mechine who just had their programming change. The fireteam shifted their focus from Valus Tlu'urn to Valus Mau'ual. The red brother cried out in rage as he tried to smash the nimble guardians with his scorching shield. After a little while of focused fire Mau'ual ceased is assault and he fell to the ground.
"Alright one more to go." Aaron said as he turned toward Valus Tlu'urn in time to see the green brother fly to his fallen brother. Tlu'urn then grabbed the shield from his brother as a few other Cabal help to hoist Mau'ual's jetpack onto Tlu'urn as well. Tlu'urn let out a mighty war cry as he dash over at Arron with unexpected speed.
Arron jumped to avoid his attack but as he was in the air the Valus swiped his free hand and smacked Aaron into a wall causing the guardian to fall limp on the ground.
"Arron!" Jewel cried out as she ran over toward him only for the Valus to stand in her way and knock her back. The rest of the fireteam shifted their focus back on the Valus. They were determined to take the giant Cabal down so much that they didn't notice Aaron slowly getting to his feet. Aaron looked over to the battlefield through his newly crack Spearhead Type 0 helmet.
The titan stumbled to his feet and began marching over to the Valus despite the fact his weapon wasn't with him. Cabal foot soldiers turned to fire on him. Their mistake as those who got to close were beaten and incinerated by Aaron hands are massive amounts of solar energy coursed through them. Looking again to the Valus Aaron set out in a dead sprint.
The other six guardians stopped firing when the saw Aaron running to the valus. "Arron don't." Kore tried to warn but it was too late. The Valus noticed Arron and swung his brother shield at him. Aaron simply jumped over the attack and landed on the Cabal's chest as his Hammer of Sol formed in his fist. Aaron brought the scorching hammer down on top of the Valus head only to draw it back and do it again.
"How does it feel brute?" Arron yelled as he kept his attack up. "You mess with me and my team. I'll make sure there's nothing left of you!" Arron hit the Valus across the cheek as Kore, Syd, and Max kneeled down with their rocket launchers aimed at Valus Tlu'urn.
"Arron incoming!" Max yelled out. Arron looked at them over his shoulder as they fired. Arron kicked off Tlu'urn into the air. The blast from the rocket propelled him further toward the ceiling as the Valus kneeled from exhaustion and pain. Arron fell back down from the sky his hammer still in hand. As the titan plummeted toward the Cabal he uttered one more word.
"Die!" Arron yelled as he slammed his hammer down on the Valus in a mighty explosion of fire as Tlu'urn's body slowly durned to ash before his eyes. The titan sat there on one knee in front of the ashes for a few seconds before he stood as the rest of his team came over to check on his condition.
After insuring them that he was fine, Arron turned to look at Jewel. She couldn't see his face, but judging from how his right hand clenched back into a fist she guess he wasn't happy. The titan marched over to her until he was close enough to grab her arm in a firm grip.
"You and I are gonna have a little chat Jennifer." Arron said sourly as Rex and Opal came to their sides.
"Rex get us to my ship. Kore make sure those explosives are taken care of." Kore could only nod before the titan and hunter disappeared.
"I guess she's gonna meet his dark side." Kore said to himself as he walked over to the bombs.