Well...ya, I'm still alive...College takes up more time then I originally expected it to. But hey I got this next chapter here now. As always, please rate, review, and enjoy.
Chapter 12: It's a good day to die
Six guardian ships descended into the ruins of the city of Chicago. They flew low to the ground in a tight formation, Jewel in her 'Hebridean Thoughtcrime' in the center. The ships got close to the warehouse and landed a few miles away behind a large hill. The six guardians exited their aircraft then gathered together at the base of the hill.
"So let me get this straight." Lance said. "Cayde just sent us out on a rescue mission because he knew we needed to save Aaron but the others said no?"
"Essentially." Jewel said.
"Well son of a bitch."
"Alright everyone we only have one shot at this so let's make it count." Jewel said as she grabbed her scout rifle from her back.
"What's the plan?" Kore asked.
"I'm working on it...I'll get back to you on that."
Jewel led the fireteam to the hill that separated them from the warehouse. Slowly and quietly they climbed the hill until they could peak over the top. Below they saw the wreckage of Aaron's ship. Fallen dregs and Vandals were swarming the craft tearing it apart piece by piece and they were hauling the pieces into the warehouse.
"Umm, any luck with that plan jewel?" Kore asked.
"I'm open to suggestions."
"We could do what we always do." Syd piped in.
"Shoot our way in?" Lance asked. "Sydney are you nuts?"
"If the Fallen are made aware of our presence they will not only likely kill Aaron but we will likely die as well. Stealth is the only advantage we have." Max stated.
"Well I hate to break it to ya but there's an army of aliens below us and there's six of us here. How exactly do you plan on getting all of us in unseen?" Kore complained
Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and the six guardians vanished from sight. After a few moments of surprise they reappeared and Kore looked at Val who was holding 2 small smoke bombs in her hand.
"That'll work." Kore said.
Val threw another smoke bomb in the middle of the group and they all took off down the hill. Before they reappeared Val threw her second smoke bomb to keep them concealed. As their cloak broke they managed to gather inside a side door. As soon as they stepped in Jewel threw 2 knives, each of them silently dropping a dreg inside the door. The group gathered inside and stared in awe at the ketch inside.
"Well….shit." Was all Kore said as he looked at the ship.
"Aaron must be inside. Let's get moving." Jewel took a step toward the ketch when Lance held her back.
"Hang on Jewel, let's take this one step at a time."
"We don't have time to waste Lance."
"Look I want to get him out as much as you do but it won't do him any good if you die in the process." Jewel was silent so Lance continued.
"So first off we have another job to do now. We need to take out this ketch or at the very least figure out why it's here." Jewel thought for a minute then gave in.
"Fine." She huffed. "We'll divide and conquer. Lance you take Val, Max and Syd and find out what the ketch is doing here and if you can take it out. Kore and I will focus on finding Aaron."
"Splitting up probably isn't the best course of action." Max said when Jewel suddenly grabbed him by the collar and held one of her knives to his throat.
"Damn it Max we don't have time to be logical right now." Jewel said in an aggravated whisper. "Now you do your job and I'll do mine. Show a little faith for once instead of being the cynical bearer of bad news." Jewel returned her knife to it's sheath and turned toward the ketch.
"Come on Kore." Jewel said as she and Kore maneuvered their way to the Ketch followed closely by the others. Once on the ketch the group divided and after making sure they were alone Jewel approached a terminal and brought up Opal.
"Opal can you see if you can find Aaron?"
"I don't know. I don't have experience with Fallen technology. It may take a while."
"No need ladies just take a seat." Kore said as he approached the terminal. "I got this."
Jewel watched as Kore stepped up to the terminal. He stood there and he started to crack his knuckles...then his back...then his neck. Then he started deep breathing. In through the nose (or what an exo constituted as a nose) and out through the mouth. Jewel looked at him in confusion at what he was doing.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jewel whispered.
"Just getting in the mode that's all." Kore took another breath and his fingers took off over the console. He navigated the system with relative ease, scouring every nook and cranny of the files, all the while humming a happy tune. He worked at the terminal for about a minute before Jewel started to get frustrated.
"Can't you go any faster?" Jewel asked.
"This isn't exactly a walk in the park you know. I'm not a ghost."
"But you are a robot so really you don't have an excuse."
"Ya ya, shut up."
Kore continued to work for a bit until suddenly he stopped and looked at the ceiling as he uttered a quiet "Bouya." He looked at his ghost and said, "grab this."
"What did you find?" Jewel asked.
"I found that Aaron is not only alive, but I also got his cells location, his equipments location and access codes for every door on this piece of junk. Am I awesome or what!" Kore stated the last part a bit louder then intended and a Vandal with 2 Dregs came down the hall. Jewel threw a knife into each dreg killing them and she threw her scout rifle at the vandal to keep it from shooting. She used that time to sprint up to the vandal and she plunged another knife into its chest and snapped its neck. Jewel grabbed her rifle and turned back to Kore.
"Sorry." Kore said barely loud enough to hear.
"Just lead the way."
Kore brought his Hawkmoon hand cannon to the ready and led the way down into the ketch. They traveled in silence the only sounds being heard were their footsteps and the quiet cries of the fallen they were killing. After a few minutes of travel they rounded a corner and found two Vandals exiting a room. Each carried a spear in their hands and they took post at each side of the door.
"That's his cell." Kore whispered. "Now the question is how do we get close enough to kill them without being spotted and alerting the ship."
Suddenly Jewel pulled Kore back away from the corner. Jewel took a silenced sniper from her back and easily killed both Vandals with perfect headshots.
"I thought you had a different sniper rifle." Kore asked.
"You always have other weapons. Especially silenced weapons." Jewel said as she walked up to the door. She looked to Kore and he nodded.
After a few moments the door unlocked and opened. Jewel gasped in fear when she saw Aaron. Aaron was facing the door, his wrists still chained to the wall. His head was turned to the floor and the wall behind him was spotted with blood stains.
"Aaron!" She said as she ran up to him. Kore followed behind and harnessed solar energy in his hands to melts the chains releasing Aaron.
When free Aaron's limp body fell forward into Jewels arms. The back of his undersuit was torn open and his back was covered in numerous lacerations. His face was bruised and bloody and his body was covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises. Suddenly Rex appeared.
"Jewel, Kore! I'm so glad to see you here."
"Rex what happened?" Kore asked.
"That Fallen shot down his ship when we tried to escape and they captured him. Since then they've been asking him questions and he refuses to answer, so they've turned to torture. Damn buggers have been beating him nearly to death just to let him recover a bit and then do it again."
Jewel held Aaron close as she started to cry.
"I shouldn't have let you go." She said through tears. Aaron groaned and moved slightly.
"Not, your, fault." He said weakly. Kore stepped up to speak.
"This is a very touching reunion guys, really it is. But we should probably get a move on." Kore said as the alarm suddenly began to blare
"Shit!" Jewel said as she deactivated the signal jammer she had.
"Lance talk to me, what's going on?" She heard the sound of gunfire and explosions on the other end.
"We're a little busy at the moment Jewel!"
"What happened?" Jewel asked.
"Let's just say we're not as sneaky as we thought."
"Well it doesn't matter. We've got Aaron, you guys finish up and get your asses out of here."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Lance severed the comm link and Jewel looked to Kore.
"Grab Aaron and let's get the hell out of here." Kore nodded and put his hand cannon back on his hip and snapped a few arcs between his fingers, ready to use his stormcaller subclass. He then grabbed Aaron by his left arm and hoisted him to his feet to support him.
"Lead the way Jewel."
Kore directed Jewel down various halls toward where Aaron't equipment was being stored. As they rounded a corner a captain with a few other troops spotted them and opened fire. The guardians ducked behind cover and Jewel began to return fire. As she did three dregs entered the hallway behind them. Before Kore had a chance to react Aaron grabbed Kore's Kawnmoon and killed the dregs with 3 quick headshots.
"Damn man even as a tortured cripple your still one hell of a shot." Aaron smiled and weakly stated.
"Got, your, six." Kore nodded then grabbed a storm grenade from his belt.
"Enjoy buggers!" He yelled as he chucked the grenade down the hall into the middle of the fallen group. The explosion killed all but the captain who Jewel dropped with her scout rifle.
They continued down the hall till they reached a room. Once inside they got Aaron's gear back to him. From there they made their way to the exit. As they exited one of the halls into the main entry way they found Lance, Max, Val and Syd engaged with a massive fallen force.
"Lance sitrep." Jewel called out as she ducked behind cover and opened fire.
"Trying not to die. Any ideas?"
"We need to make one collective push. Everyone load up and get ready." Kore carried Aaron over to Val.
"Val I need you to help Aaron. He can walk but he needs support. I'll help lead the push." Val nodded as she let Aaron lean on her.
"Everyone ready? On three. One, two, three!" Val hopped up and fired her shadowshot into the middle of the fallen forces.
Meanwhile everyone tossed a grenade and Lance threw his Nova Bomb while Jewel drew her Golden Gun, Max grabbed his Arc Blade and Kore entered his Storm Trance. As a team Jewel, Max and Kore pushed the Fallen back in a mass slaughter. They pushed to the entrance of the ketch when Syd jumped over the group and dropped on the last Fallen line with her Fist of Havoc.
"Alright let's haul ass!" Jewel ordered as all seven guardians jumped down from the ketch and ran out the doors of the warehouse. They ran for the hill that their ships were hidden behind when a loud rumbling caused them to turn around. The warehouse was crumbling to the earth as the ketch rose up into the air. As the ketch rose multiple turrets pointed toward the guardians. Aaron ripped himself from Val's hold and as he fell to the ground he thrust his arms to each side and his Ward of Dawn formed around the group just as the ketch opened fire. After a few volleys of shots the ketch turned and started to accened up toward space.
"They're running." Kore said.
"Not for long." Lance exclaimed. "Syd?"
"On it." Syd said as she pulled a small trigger from her belt. "Fire in the hole!"
With a click of the trigger a few small explosions were seen around the hull of the ketch. After a few moments more explosions began to detonate causing a horrific chain reaction that quickly tore the ketch apart. Soon the ship lost its velocity and started to plummet back to the earth. Soon the ketch fell to the ground and as it made impact the whole ship detonated in a vibrant explosion that created a massive cloud of smoke and dust off in the distance.
The seven guardians stood in silence for a few moments watching the smoke and dust float in the air. Soon the silence broke when Kore uttered a harty "hell ya!" The other members of the team began to celebrate their victory and Jewel dropped to the ground an hugged Aaron as he just laid there on the ground. Despite the pain that still wracked his body Aaron found himself smiling and laughing a bit as Jewel laid down next to him.
"You, did, good." Aaron said through heavy breaths.
"It would have gone smoother if we didn't have to carry you around." Jewel joked.
"Oh, sorry." The couple shared a tender laugh together. Time seemed to slow down as they looked at one another. Despite their helmets they looked straight into each others eyes and smiled. Nothing could ruin this long awaited moment.
"Incoming!" Lance yelled out of nowhere.
Everyone looked to see a battered skiff gliding through the air toward them as fire and smoke bellowed from it's engines. The skiff dropped and passed about 15ft over their heads before hitting the ground and sliding across the dirt until it came to a halt at the base of the hill.
"The hell?" Kore said as he jumped to his feet and pulled his Perun's Fire fusion rifle from his back. "How did this thing survive?"
"The only way the skiff could have survived is if it launched some time between the detonation of the explosive charges and the ketch's impact with the ground." Max stated as he drew his scout rifle.
"Really, ya don't say." Kore replied his voice thick with sarcasm.
Ignoring the two bickering guardians Lance approached the downed skiff Invective in hand, and Val with her Hakke pulse rifle was close behind. As Lance approached the wreckage he examined the ship.
"That crash landing sure did number on this thing." He said.
Lance and Val rounded around to the front of the skiff. The cockpit remained mostly intact surprisingly. The two guardians shared a glance and then Lance stepped forward and gave the glass panel a solid kick. He waited, weapon ready, for any kind of sound or movement. Nothing. He kicked it again. Still nothing. A third time, he kicked cracking the glass in the process. Lance let out a breath he didn't realized he'd been holding.
"I think it's clear." Lance said to the others. "Whatever was flying this thing is probably dead."
Suddenly the cockpit burst apart and Velkis rushed out and grabbed Lance in his hand and swatted Val away. Velkis snarled as he held Lance close to his face.
"How dare you! You destroy House King's ketch!"
"Ya that was kinda the idea." Lance said as the rest of the team opened fire on Velkis.
Velkis snarled again as the shots connected with his shield. Velkis threw Lance right into Max and both fell to the ground.
"Medling humans! You pay for what you do!"
"Umm actually." Kore said drawing everyone's attention. "Two of us are blue people and I'm a robot so by calling us all humans you're only half right." Velkis roared as he brought up his Scorch Cannon and fired at Kore who narrowly avoided the explosion.
"Die!" Velkis yelled.
"I couldn't agree more." Jewel said. "Take him down!"