Chapter 17

Ishtar Sink

N/Gen Branch

Tobias looked around curiously at the various devices that filled the room. It was like a command center, although it had been abandoned long ago, with lush foliage invading the room through any opening in the walls as proof that this area hadn't been in use for ages.

There was five of them in total moving together as a small unit, but there were no enemies so far.

"My radar went blank." Diana stated as she came to stop. Everyone immediately glanced at their radar, realizing that it was no longer functioning. It didn't even inform them of the whereabouts of their teammates.

"There's a lot of interference beneath us." Diana's Ghost noted. "I could be wrong, but just a forewarning…expect the rest of the display features within your helmets to shut down."

"We must be getting close to the Conductive Mind. That must be the cause of all the interference." Axel pointed out, getting a nod of agreement from the rest of the team. They continued forwards, each of them looking in a specific direction to cover all flanks in case of a surprise attack.

But everything was calm and quiet as they traveled further into the building, moving through a number of corridors and rooms before they finally spotted their first group of enemies. Vex Goblins.

They were standing guard at the exit of the room, blocking off the path that they would have to pass through. They had no choice but to engage them.

"Call out which one your taking." Diana said to them as she drew her hand cannon and lined up the sights with nearest Goblin. Everyone quickly did the same, picking out which they were going to take down before Diana gave them a count down. "Three, two, one…fire!"

None of the Goblins even had chance as they blew up, their limbs flying out in all sorts of directions as they received a hit directly to the power cores within their abdomens. All but one.

The only Goblin still standing had its head blown off which only seemed to enrage it as it began to fire the small rifle on its arm everywhere as it ran about. Diana then lined up her second shot and eliminated the remaining Goblin, silently wondering who would go for a head shot on the Vex since it was well known that taking out their power cores was the quickest means to defeat them. But it didn't take her long to realize who the culprit was.

"Were you aiming for the head Tobias?" Diana asked him.

"Yeah, and I take it that doesn't work since mine was the only one still standing." Tobias replied with a small chuckle.

"Yup, go got it. The glowing power core where their stomach should be. Aim for that. One good shot usually does the trick." Diana explained.

"When you shoot their head off, they get pissed. But it's pretty funny to watch." Axel added with a snicker.

"I hope you guys brought a lot of bullets." Dario said, gaining everyone's attention. He was already peeking into the next room which descended into an open area that was absolutely loaded with Vex.

Quietly they continued down into the last room, approaching the windows to take a look at the massive gathering of Vex. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs filled the area, surrounding a massive Hydra that was parked at the bottom of a small hill between two towering columns.

"Wow, this is going to get ugly." Tobias said softly, earning a snort from his teammates.

"Please, there's five Warlocks here. Let's annihilate them." Rox said as her hands began to glow with a distinct purple aura.

"Aww yeah." Diana added as her hands began to glow as well. Even with their massive numbers, this was nothing a group of Voidwalkers couldn't handle.

Looking down at the Vex though, Tobias noticed that one of them turned their heads to look up at the room they were in. It's piercing red eyes seemed to scope in and out for a moment before other heads began to turn. Were they sensing the energy emanating from Diana and Rox?

The sound of heavy footsteps resounded through the room as it became flooded with countless Vex units, all of which were staring intently at the group of Warlocks that were huddled together in front of the window. All of the Vex readied their weapons in unison, giving the Guardians only a moment to react.

Diana and Rox thrusted their hands forward, pitching out a pair of Shatter Nova Bombs at the surrounding Vex, clearing away a majority of them. Dario and Axel then looked toward the window, deciding that if their presence was already known, they might as well just go all out. With a shout the two of them jumped through the window, shattering the glass as they flew out into the air above the army of Vex that surrounded the Conductive Mind.

Both of them threw down a pair of Scatter grenades onto the enemies beneath them, clearing away anything that would obstruct their landing. Together Dario and Axel pulled out their weapons and began gunning down the Vex that were completely focused on the threat to the Conductive Mind. Back up in the room above, Diana and Rox were handling the remaining Vex with ease as Tobias watched them fight.

All of them were tactless and flashy. Even Diana. He had never noticed it before. Were all Warlocks like this? Tobias shook off the thought though as he heard them laughing as they fought through the comms. They were having fun! And he wasn't going to let them have all of it.

Leaping out the window like Dario and Axel, Tobias looked down at the horde of Vex and raised his hand in respond. Void Light began to spiral around his hand which he then pitched down at the enemy. What started as a small sphere quickly grew into a swirling whirlpool that devastated the Vex that had closed up around Axel and Dario. The two of them thanked him graciously as he landed beside them.

Tobias though, eyed a tall Minotaur that approached them, raising its Torch Hammer to begin firing them. Pulling out his shotgun, Tobias rushed at the Minotaur who focused on him. But in response to approaching wave of energy blasts, Tobias Blinked, straight to the Minotaur. And Tobias could tell he caught it off guard as it jumped backward, but it was too late. He fired with his shotgun, burying a spray of pellets into the torso of the Minotaur.

The taller Vex unit slumped to the ground with a large hole through it chest while Tobias proceeded to engage the other Vex units, using Blink to escape from any situation where he found himself surrounded. Steadily they beat away at the dense population of Vex, but Diana pulled out a weapon that made quick work of the masses.

"Whoa!" Dario and Axel exclaimed as they scrambled to get out of the blast radius of Gjallarhorn. Diana was laughing from up above as she fired away with the powerful rocket launcher, wiping out the Vex forces with little effort. Quickly their numbers dwindled down until it was just the Conductive Mind that remained. The massive Hydra roared at the five Warlocks that now stood before it, their weapons ready.

"Focus fire!" Diana shouted as they all threw out their grenades, battering the Mind. They then pulled out their weapons and began to firing, pelting it with bullets that did some clear damage as a pair of limbs fell off.

"Just little more!" Dario said.

"How about a lot more!" Rox declared jump up to hurl a Nova Bomb at the Conductive Mind. The three projectiles ate away at large portions of the Mind, but it was still standing after those hits.

"Together!" Tobias called out as he summoned more Void Light, but Diana raised a hand to stop him.

"No, the core has to be intact. We can't risk vaporizing it with another Nova Bomb." She said, reminding Tobias of their current mission which he slipped out of his mind.

"Well that explains why you didn't Gjallarhorn it." Tobias noted, getting a nod from Diana.

"Just keep firing, it'll drop eventually." Diana stated. And her words proved to be true. The Mind gave one last roar before it finally came crashing down. They had successfully destroyed a Conductive Mind.

"Alright, so what do we do now?" Tobias asked they approached the remains of the Mind. It was huge, towering over them even in its current state.

"We're going to cut it open, and take out its guts." Rox proclaimed.

"Ugh, you made that sound horrible." Dario said.

"Agreed." Axel added.

"That's basically what we're doing." Rox said as she stood by her earlier statement.

"Not even." Diana said as her Ghost appeared to begin examining the Conductive Mind. "You know it goes against the Vanguard to try dissecting the Vex."

Dissecting the Vex? Tobias furrowed his brow as he looked up in thought.

"Tobias, I'm close."

"Close to what?"

"Breaking the Vex encryption. There's so much to learn about these beings."

"Beings, aren't they just robots?"

"No, they're not entirely mechanical. Their power cores are organic."

"Really?"

"That's not all. The mechanical parts of their body are dated to all sorts of times in history, but it's impossible to distinguish where or when their power cores came from."

"And that means?"

"This is just speculation, but it could possible that all Vex are assembled in the future, and then sent to the past to fulfill a plan or purpose of some sort. I can't really explain it, but it's incredible to think about it. There's so much more that I haven't discovered yet."

Tobias remained silent as the man in front of him continued to ramble about the Vex. He knew this man. It was Osiris.

"Tobias, did you hear me?" Diana asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked, shaking his head a bit to clear his thoughts.

"We need your Arc Blade to cut through the outer shell of the Conductive Mind." Diana's Ghost explained.

"Oh, yeah I can do that." Tobias said as he reached inside his coat to snatch one of his tanto blades. Charging Arc Light into it, the blade began to crackle as it became finer than any two edged sword.

"Cut through these points, and that should grant us access to the power core." Diana's Ghost said as it identified the areas Tobias would have to cut open. Cafefully inserting his blade, Tobias began to carve through the metal plating of the Hydra until he had successfully cut open a portion of its shell, revealing its glowing power core within.

It was a deep blue, casting a powerful light that was almost blinding.

"Whoa." Dario exclaimed as they all drew closer to peer inside. They could see the core itself that appeared to be a dense electrical storm that was completely silent.

"This is it." Axel said as he looked around at his teammates. This was what they needed to become Stormcallers. "It's now or never."

Together they extended a hand, placing it as close to the core as they could before they began to draw from the well of power. The electricity began to circle around their hands and travel up their arms, enveloping their whole bodies. Everyone except Tobias.

"Awesome." Rox said as she began to float, thrusting out both her hands to expand the electrical field that surrounded her. They were already capable of doing all of this with just the training they had received from Ikora, but understanding how the Conductive Mind drew out this power amplified their power tenfold.

The Storm is raw power. The Trance is true understanding.

Ikora's words echoed in their minds as they realized that they now possessed the first half of what was needed to become true Stormcallers. They just needed to understand how to wield this power to its fullest potential.

"Why isn't this working?" Tobias asked himself. He wasn't drawing any power from the core like everyone else. And he couldn't understand why. Reaching further in, trying to get even closer to the core, Tobias could almost touch it. It was just outside of his reach. Extending his hand even further, Tobias barely got the tip of his middle finger on the core.

Power surged through him for but a moment as his finger slipped off the core. Did he need physical contact with it to actually absorb it? Tobias didn't bother to question it though as he reached out again, managing to get two fingers onto it this time. He could feel the Arc energy flowing through him once again. Like the first time he had used Arc Blade. But this was to a much greater extent!

"Forget this." Tobias said as climbed into the shell of the Conductive Mind to get even closer to the core. Now that it was within arm's length, Tobias placed both his hands on the core. The power rush was incredible as he became lightheaded.

"What the?" Dario began as the Conductive Mind began to shine brightly.

"Oh my go-" Diana began as she realized what Tobias was doing. But before she could call out to them as massive surge of energy was sent out in all directions from Tobias within the Mind, blasting them all away.

"What's going on?" Rox asked as she straightened up, focusing on the Conductive Mind which had disappeared inside of a blinding light.

"Tobias is in there. I don't know what's happening to him though." Diana responded.

"There's a massive energy signature in there. It's almost in league with the energy output of the Conductive Mind!" Diana's Ghost pointed out.

"Is it coming back to life?" Dario asked, presenting a possibility they didn't even think of. Everyone readied their weapons as the light began to fade, revealing what they least expected, but they were happy to see it.

It was Tobias coated in electricity, hovering in the air. He was finally channeling Arc Light, and a ridiculous amount at that.

"Tobias, are you feeling alright?" Diana's Ghost asked him, causing him to look toward them.

"Wha?" He asked in return.

"Are you okay!?" Diana shouted at him as he lowered himself down to them, but as he drew closer they began to feel an immense pressure that was clearly coming from Tobias. He was exerting an impressive force. Beyond anything they had been capable of.

Tobias remained silent as he opened and closed his fingers, the field around him growing and shrinking in response to just these small motions. Soon enough he closed his hands up into tight fists which began to tremble as he delved into his new found power.

"This is ridiculous!" Dario shouted as he fought to remaining standing beneath the massive amount of pressure on him. Fortunately for them, the electricity surrounding Tobias shorted out, leaving him to drop to the ground in a heap. The pressure was gone and all of them had the freedom to move once again.

"What happened to him?" Axel asked as they all rushed over to him. His Ghost took shape, a bit disoriented.

"I think I have the answer to that." His Ghost began as it shook itself a bit. "All of you channeled Arc Light through the core of the Conductive Mind to gain a better understand of how to draw out natural Arc energy. Tobias though, absorbed to the core."

"Absorbed?"

"Coming into physical contact with it, he basically ate it." His Ghost stated. "Now he has an Arc source of his own and he has more Arc energy than he knows what to do with."

"So he overloaded right there?" Dario asked as he looked down Tobias who began to stir.

"Basically. It's clear that he has to complete the rest of his training as a Stormcaller to control this power." His Ghost noted.

"You got that right." Axel said with a smirk as Tobias groaned, rising up from the ground.

"Morning sunshine." Rox greeted him.

"What happened?" He asked, holding his head.

"You bit off more than you could chew." Tobias' Ghost said to him.

"What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about that. Try channeling some Arc Light again." His Ghost said, giving him a small nudge. Tobias looked at his Ghost skeptically, but the small drone motioned for him to give it a shot. With a sigh, he looked down at one of his hands, focusing on it intently. Everything became silent as Tobias took in one long breath, shutting his eyes as he tried to clear his thoughts.

The landscape of his mind was barren and empty, save for a massive sphere of electricity. The core of the Conductive Mind. Approaching the sphere, a valve formed beneath it. Tobias took a moment to examine it before he began to turn the knob on it. He could hear a faint crackle at first, but this grew to be a thunderous roar. It was almost as if dam burst as the valve began to let the Arc energy flow from the core. The amount of power was tremendous!

Tobias blinked, realizing that he was floating in the air once again, electricity and wind rolling off of him in waves.

"Cut it out Tobias!"

"Hold back just a little bit for us!"

Tobias quickly discovered that his teammates were fighting with all their might not to get blown away by the sudden wind storm that had been kicked up from around him.

"Oh, my bad guys." Tobias said as he closed the valve, cutting off the flow of Arc Light. Everyone gave a sigh of relief, amazed at the amount of power Tobias could release.

'I'm definitely sending that to Ikora.' Diana said to herself while calling for her Ghost to contact the Warlock Vanguard. They had successfully completed their mission, and were awaiting further direction.

"Yes?" Ikora said once she was connected to their fireteam channel.

"Ikora, we just took out the Conductive Mind. What do we do now?" Diana asked her.

"Excellent work Warlocks. But this is only half of your mission. In order to become a full-fledged Stormcaller, you must learn the Trance. The Nexus is close to your location. There you can open your minds and finish your journey." Ikora explained, causing the team of Warlocks to nod as they received their next assignment.

Diana then made a private channel just for herself and Ikora.

"Did you see the recording I sent you?" Diana asked.

"I'm looking at it right now." Ikora replied.

"Is that normal?"

"Not in the slightest. This raw power is what you'd expect from a Striker Titan. Did he do something differently to the rest of you?"

"His Ghost said that he absorbed the core of the Conductive Mind."

"I see. That's likely the reason for his power output. Keep a close eye on him during the meditation Diana. I want a full report about whatever happens to him from this point forward." Ikora stated, receiving a nod from Diana. "Good luck."

Their line of communication was severed as Diana turned back to the rest of her team who had been waiting for her.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked, receiving a nod from each of them.

"Lead the way." Rox said as she motioned for Diana to take charge. She was the most familiar with this area after all.

Undaunted had been the fireteam selected by Ikora to travel down to the Nexus to defeat the Sekrion Mind. It had taken them several hours to fight through the masses of Fallen and Vex that had inhabited this place at one point. But after finally breaking through their forces, Undaunted trekked through a long and dark cave that eventually opened into a cavern where they could see the blue lava that flowed down below. They were well below the surface of Venus, but they still had to travel deeper to reach the Nexus.

Diana noted that nothing had changed about their journey down to the Nexus. It was exactly as she remembered it.

"It's good to be back." Her Ghost noted, getting a snort in response from her.

The group arrived at the next portion of the cave that would take them down into the Nexus. It was dark and empty. No Vex in sight and their radars weren't detecting any kind of activity. Nothing would disturb them during their meditation.

Finally they reached a ledge where they could see the structure that had previously been the home of the Sekrion Mind. It hung from the ceiling of this massive room, with various pillars circling around the beam of light that traveled up the center of the room.

"This is it." Diana said, although this wasn't needed. All of them could tell that this was the place they were looking for. It was just oozing with natural energy that had previously been fueling the Sekrion Mind.

This would provide them with all the energy they would need to learn how to tame the Storm.

All of them were silent as they jumped down to the bottom of the room, landing softly. Each of them picked out a spot where they sensed that flow of energy was at its strongest, selecting that as their spot to meditate.

"This spot looks good." Tobais said to himself as he found a nice flat area off to the side of the room. The wall in front of him was steep, with blue lava flowing down it slowly. It looked marvelous. Taking a seat, Tobias crossed his legs in front of him before looking around in search of his teammates.

The only other person he could see was Axel was who was perched on top of a column, already wrapped up in his thoughts. Tobias sighed quietly as he focused on himself, recalling what Ikora had told him to do while they were aboard the flagship.

There was energy everywhere. He just had to harness it to create Arc Light with it.

Taking in a deep breath, Tobias enhanced his senses trying to get a feel for the energy Ikora had been speaking about. He couldn't see it, or hear it. He definitely couldn't smell it and he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to taste Arc energy. And he didn't feel anything either.

He couldn't feel the energy that he was supposed to draw out. It wasn't any different, even with the core of the Conductive Mind within him. How was he supposed to harness Arc energy like this? Was he doing something wrong?

Tobias looked up in thought, trying to recall what he had done just a few minutes ago. He had done something differently. He didn't draw any power from his surroundings. The energy he had called upon before was from within in him. Emptying out his thoughts once again, Tobias found himself in a barren landscape once again, nothing noteworthy in sight.

But he could hear the crackle of electricity. Looking up, he spotted the core of the Conductive Mind, and the valve he had seen earlier began to extend from the base of the core to him. Stopping directly in front of it, a faucet formed on it that was currently shut.

So this was how it worked. The core was his source of Arc energy. This was all he needed. Opening the valve, Tobias could feel the sudden outpouring of power, coursing through his entire body. It was incredible!

It was…too much! A windstorm was whipped up around him, rapidly expanding in size as it rose to surround both him and the core. He could feel he ground beneath him disappear as he was lifted into the air. He was in the center of the storm, the eye of the tornado, but he could feel a pull that was dragging him out to the raging winds. He would get shredded to pieces there!

What was going on?! Tobias looked around frantically before spotting the pipes to the faucet he had opened. Latching onto that to stop himself from getting pulled away into the winds, Tobias sighed with relief that he would be safe for the time being. But that relief quickly faded as winds became even stronger, causing the pipes to shake violently. They creaked loudly as Tobias fought to maintain his grip, but it was like someone was doing everything they could to rip him off the pipe.

The pipe above Tobias finally snapped, and he was dragged away into the winds that rampaged about, throwing him around. What was happening?!

"To become a true Stormcaller, you must first possess the destructive force of the Storm, and then understand how to tame it power and bend it to your will."

So this was the immense power he was wanted to wield…

Tobias extended a hand toward the core, amazed at the vast power within it. He had to learn how to use it. But he was swallowed up by the winds.

Tobias…

There was a whisper.

Tobias…

There it was again. Tobias opened his eyes, blinking furiously to clear his vision. Where was he?

Thick foliage was everywhere, it was blazing hot and pouring rain. He was back on Venus' surface. How did he get back up here? Straightening up, Tobias looked around curiously before noticing that someone else was with him. A female with a mechanical face. An Exo. She stood quietly, admiring the vivid landscape of Venus.

"Hello?" He said as he rose up to his feet.

"Ah, you've awakened Tobias." She began, turning to face him. Tobias raised an eyebrow at this.

"How do you know me?"

"I'm a close associate of Osiris. One of his Disciples actually." She replied, much to his surprise. "I was instructed to contact you while we still had an opportunity."

"For what?"

"In the future, a great Catastrophe takes place that brings an end to you and the Light." She explained. It took a moment for Tobias to digest this information.

"Hold on, this is a lot to take in." Tobias said as he needed a moment to process all of this. "You're saying I get killed in the future?"

"Not exactly, but its why I'm speaking to you now. I was given the task of ensuring that future doesn't take place, at any means necessary." She continued.

"So you came to warn me? Who killed me, what do I have to do to stop them?" Tobias asked quickly, gushing the words out. There was so many thoughts running through his head now. Who was his killer? What happened to everyone when the Light was defeated? Was it even possible to avoid this future?

"I can't tell you too much Tobias. We'll run the risk of creating an entirely new timeline. But I can tell you this. Your greatest opponent waits for you in the Earth's Moon."

"You mean Oryx?" Tobias inquired, thinking about the massive Dreadnaught that had been hovering beside the Moon.

"No, someone greater. You'll meet him soon, and he will test you more than anyone else. I want you to prepare for him as best you can." She said, leaving Tobias a bit dumbfounded.

Someone that was greater than Oryx? That would test him more than anyone else. Tobias felt…eager. He wanted to fight. He couldn't wait to fight.

"Alright. And if I beat this guy, everything will work out right?" He asked the Exo.

"That remains to be determined." She replied. "But it seems as though your comrades are completing their meditation now, are you ready to return to them?"

"Yeah but, where am I?" Tobias asked.

"Don't worry about that. There's much for you to do Tobias. I hope that the next time we meet isn't under the dire circumstances that were present when we first met." She stated before raising a hand a placing it on his chest. Tobias felt a sudden gust of wind blow through the area, tearing away his surroundings. The Exo then faded away as well, leaving him alone in an empty plain.

"What happened to Tobias?" Diana asked as she approached the three Warlocks that had gathered together around Tobias who was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"After I completed my meditation I found him like this." Axel explained as Diana kneeled down beside him.

"His Ghost isn't responding and neither is he." Rox added.

"Is he breathing? Did anyone check his vitals?" Diana demanded, receiving a nod from Axel.

"Everything about him checks out. He's alive and well, just unresponsive." Axel replied.

"And it's odd that his Ghost isn't responding." Dario pointed out.

"That's why I'm nervous." Rox stated.

"What should we do?" Dario asked as he looked around at the group.

"Should we, give him a jump start?" Axel suggested, earning a look of confusion from everyone.

"What do you mean?" Diana inquired.

"I was just thinking a quick zap might wake him up if you know what I mean." Axel said as he raised a hand. Gathering some Arc Light in it, his hand began to spark with electricity as they all realized what he was implying.

"Anything's worth a shot." Dario said with a nod.

"If this doesn't work, I wanna try." Rox said with a grin.

Axel gave everyone one last look before he focused on Tobias, extending his hand toward him. Placing his hand on Tobias' chest, Tobias was immediately raised into the air by the sudden surge of electricity. And he woke up screaming.

"What the hell was that?!" He shouted after being dropped to the floor.

"My bad, that was a lot more than I intended to shock you with." Axel replied with a bit of chuckle.

"What happened to you Tobias?" Diana asked him as they all eagerly waited to find out what happened.

"I'm not really sure. There was all the wind, a tornado actually, and I was sucked up into it. It threw me around for a while and I couldn't really breathe in there until I passed out. The rest is just blank." He explained, shaking his head.

"Wait a second, you didn't tame the winds?" Rox asked him.

"I had no idea how I was going to do that. I was overwhelmed." Tobais shot back.

"Shoot, that mean you failed the meditation."

"I failed?" Tobias asked as he looked around at the others. "Does that mean I can't become a Stormcaller?"

A/N

And Tobias' journey to become a Stormcaller hits a rough patch, but I'm sure he'll pull through. And he had his first encounter with the elusive Exo Stranger from Vanilla Destiny.

I've read all sorts of theories surrounding the Exo Stranger, my favorite being that she is supposedly from a future where a catastrophe took place. The small excerpt on the Stranger's Rifles says that its composed of parts that don't exist yet, implying that she's from the future. I'd imagine she'd only come to the past to alter something to avoid the future that she witnessed, perhaps under the direction of Osiris. Hmm...the possibilities :)

I doubt either Osiris or the Exo Stranger will make an appearance in RoI, but really hope we start to explore them more in the future. Osiris especially since I'm going to be using him heavily later on.

In other news, I have some free time coming up this month, so I fully plan to update this regularly for most of August. Hopefully at least one update per week is what I'm aiming for. Let's see where this goes.

As always guys, thanks for the reading and all the support. 48 days until the launch of Rise of Iron! :D