Chapter Two: The Discovery
And so it has been written that Guardians drained of Light are two things: dead, or part of the Darkness themselves. Rarely do they fully live their lives out in the Light. -Anonymous
Until the creeping shadows of nightfall approached, Sasha, Nate, and I scouted the hotel's perimeter. Sure enough, the Vandals on the roof had Wire Rifles after a closer look, and the security outside was a fairly large force compared to what was inside. Almost like they were more distracted with keeping things in than out. This wasn't entirely strange. If the Hive had retreated back underground, then the Vanguard would make sure they didn't come out again. I was surprised that they hadn't actually buried the Hive before we'd gotten there. That, Nate noted, was what was strange. That meant that the Fallen probably had business with the hotel or with the Hive down below. Neither scenario boded well for us.
"So, what's your story?"
Nate's inquiry drew me from my thoughts, and I looked over to him in mild surprise. It seemed like a pointless thing to ask while we were on mission. But then, this is Fireteam Spearhead. They have a reason for everything. With that in mind, I tilted my head slightly as we made our way back to the forest on the rear of the hotel.
"What do you want to know exactly?"
Nate shrugged, the motion sending a ripple through the cape he wore. On closer inspection, I could tell it was the same cape Sasha wore, the Strength of the Pack. Hunters were never really alone, after all. My own cape was the old frayed cloak of a lead scout. Short and torn, it was a plain brown color that helped to keep me hidden alongside the coal black armor coloring I donned. Nathan, unlike Sasha, had opted to spring for a red and white armor coloring. I wondered what environment he hoped to hide himself in.
"Everything? You've been a Guardian for just as long as I have, right? You must have some stories to tell."
Stories? Sure, but nothing as legendary as his. My most dangerous mission had ended with a wrecked ship, several days in recovery, and one very pissed off Holliday. I wasn't a grand specimen of what a Guardian looked like. Why he was curious was a mystery. But perhaps he just wanted to know what I brought to the team we had.
"Well, when I was revived, I found that I connected to the Void better than I did to the Arc and Solar disciplines. I trained as a Nightstalker, and Cayde mainly uses me as a scout. I don't really see as much action as you guys do. Ikora sends me out too to gather information for the library too-"
Nate stopped me with the motion of snapping his fingers.
"So you're the Bookworm Hunter that Jessie always complains about. Each time he asks Ikora if anything needs done, she always says, 'not today, Guardian Drake took care of what I needed.' I must say, it's an achievement to out Warlock a Warlock. And it's no hardship to see Jessie peeved. Know-it-all, book-thumping-"
"Teammate," was Sasha's interruption, a hint of a smile in her voice. "And for all you two argue, you saved each others' lives in the Pit of the Moon."
This had Nate fall into silence, so Sasha picked up the conversation.
"A Nightstalker huh? I'm surprised Cayde doesn't monopolize more of your time. How much of a grasp do you have on the Void?"
A faint smile crossed my face under my helmet, and if Ghost had a physical body, I knew he'd be puffed up in pride.
"I've mastered it. Ask me to do something with my bow and I can probably do it. As long as it's within reason of course. I have a Voidwall grenade that can roast anything that goes through it, and I also have nanites in my smoke bomb that will give us active camouflage for a few seconds."
Very few Hunters became Nightstalkers. Those that were almost always mastered the Void due to the rigorous training Cayde made them go through to be able to survive on their own. I hadn't had a partner for over a year, preferring to just keep company with myself and Ghost. Spearhead was the first group of Guardians I'd agreed to work with for a very long time. Part of the reason I hated working with others, besides the attitudes some Guardians seemed to have, was I didn't like being responsible for any life other than my own. And maybe that was selfish, but it was too much pressure to deal with. Too many variables, too much dependency on everything going right, too much potential for everything to just go wrong. Shaking away the thoughts, I pondered what else to add.
"You make it sound like a resume," Sasha teased as we came to where our rally point was. "No worries, you're already hired for the position on our team for today. Well, you already know that Nate is a Bladedancer, and I'm a Gunslinger. With that Shadowshot of yours it's going to make taking down the bigger guys even easier."
Nate nodded, ending his uncharacteristic silence.
"We haven't actually gotten to work with a Nightstalker before. We're glad to have your skillset." He paused for a moment before adding, "and the improvement to the view around here too."
Flushing slightly I squatted next to a tree stump, keen to brush the flirting off and get down to business.
"So what's our plan for getting in?"
What we came up with was simple, but hopefully effective. Since Nate had the active camouflage, Sasha was going to lend him her sniper. From the woods, he'd pick off enough of the Fallen on the roof to draw attention, and hopefully encourage the majority of the forces posted outside to hunt him down. Then Nate, using his camo, would evade the Fallen and regroup with Sasha and me and sneak into the hotel while the Fallen were distracted. It depended wholly on speed and correctly judging the tactics the Fallen would employ. Of course we hadn't decided to send Nate after the Vandals on the roof for no reason. Without overwatch, our job would be made marginally easier.
Lying prone within the trees, I kept one eye on my motion tracker to try and keep the anticipation from getting to me. Any number of things could go wrong, and the stress of it was going to get to me if I continued to think of all the worst case scenarios.
Calm down, Cassidy, my Ghost implored. These two are both among the top Hunters the Vanguard can deploy. Everything will be fine. You know it will be. You're just stuck on your own experiences. I blinked and took a long exhale. He was right. Past failures had no bearing now. Not with the experienced team we had at the moment. Besides, these guys had survived both Crota and Oryx, in addition to Skolas. They could take on anything these Fallen Shadows could throw at us, and so could I. If a problem was truly too large for Sasha Carrington to handle, we were all probably in trouble. I felt my heart slow down and settle in a more calm rhythm even as the first audible crack of Nate's sniper echoed through the darkness. One Vandal toppled over, headless, which drew the others into an alert howling. Judging from the sudden increase in noise and activity, it was safe to say Nate had their attention.
Another Vandal dropped on the roof, leaving two more, which quickly fell to one as a third shot rang out. By now the last one had a general location of the Bladedancer, and two teams went out. Both had Vandals with Shock Rifles and Dregs with their pistols, but the Captain with the shrapnel launcher also accompanied them, leaving the one with the two swords to stay back and guard the entrance. The lone Vandal on the roof fired once, sending a line of Arc through the shadows that briefly lit up the drive leading to the hotel, but it was not to happen again as Nate's retaliatory shot dropped the last rooftop assailant. At this point in the plan, Nate was to disengage and make his way to us, and thankfully, that seemed to be going right.
"Did you see that shooting, ladies? Just one of the many talents I possess."
Sasha snorted in amusement and looked at me, shaking her head in mock exasperation.
"Yes, and I'm sure I'll have a chance to show you who the real markswoman is later," she promised smugly.
Again I found myself struck by how casual she was. Even in a setting as dangerous as this - with a mission no doubt more dangerous - she was joking around with a teammate like she had no cares in the world. It was worrying, but luckily she swapped the topic to business almost immediately.
"Are you getting clear, Nate? Looks like you stirred up more of a party than we anticipated."
"Have no fear my dear, your Bladedancer is well versed in escapes like this." He fell silent for a bit. From the sound of bushes rustling, it was clear a patrol was passing by. After a couple moments of waiting, he began talking again. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Nathan, out."
Well, at least the plan was going off without a hitch. At least so far. With the Darkness, it was always best to celebrate after the mission was completed. You just never knew what could go wrong or when. Even at the eleventh hour things could go stunningly FUBAR without so much as a warning. So I waited in tense silence as time ticked away for Nate to show. But any worry proved to be unfounded as a mere minute later, the other Hunter appeared, no doubt wearing a devil-may-care grin. Without a word we surged towards the hotel. The back of it had a small patio leading to what had either been a restaurant or a waiting room. The glass windows had long since been destroyed. The lack of remains meant that it had to have been done years - if not centuries - ago. The outside of the hotel had looked fairly good for its age, but inside proved to be less welcoming. Foliage had crept inside and was climbing the decaying walls. There were holes in the floor and the walls, the wooden structure clearly rotting thanks to the lack of care. The air outside had to have smelled earthy and grim, amplified by the 'modifications' the Hive had tried to make before the Fallen had moved in.
Sharp architecture jutted from the walls more frequently as we moved to where the entrance to the basement was. The Hive growth permeated the building, casting an eerie glow on everything. The only upside was that we didn't need our Ghosts to light the way, and that our helmets kept the decomposing stink of the hive from entering our air. The noise of the Fallen on floors above us was a symphony of alertness. We slipped into the basement, guns up and ready. Sasha was on point with her Hawkmoon out and ready. Nate had chosen to take up the position on our six, with his weapon of choice being the Invective. Ikora had mentioned giving away her weapon to Spearhead, but she hadn't mentioned who. I had assumed on impulse that it had been Jesse or Zack - Spearhead's Warlocks - that she had given it to. That Nate had managed to earn not only her respect, but a prized possession as well, made me feel marginally less weird about doing so much for the Warlock Vanguard.
I didn't have any weapons that were of a kind like theirs, but I still felt secure with the scout rifle in my hands. Even in tight quarters I was confident I could use the gun to its full potential. You didn't need a scope to be accurate if you knew how your gun worked.
As the basement leveled out, I let a grimace cross my face. The Hive had been busy indeed. Tunnels dug into the earth, bypassing the foundation of the building to the point where I was shocked the entire structure hadn't collapsed. Even more disturbing were how many entrances there were. Five total into the ground, and only three of us. We had no idea what kind of resistance there was beneath our feet. I was loathe to split up, but we'd cover more ground that way. In addition, all three of us were trained and prepared for working solo better than Titans or Warlocks. We were made to dive into places like this alone. Sasha took stock and nodded slightly before turning around to face us.
"A delightful horror movie we've found ourselves in. We're going to split up, but I'm not going to leave these other two entrances unguarded. My tripmines are on a timer, so they won't last near long enough. Suggestions?"
This I had a solution to. When enemies needed to be captured as opposed to killed, it was the Nightstalkers that Cayde called in. Our bows weren't just made for destruction. However, the trap I had in mind was an immense drain on my Light, and I wasn't able to use any other ability while the trap was up, as Ghost usually needed it to recharge my grenade or my smoke bomb. Without either, I was seriously limiting myself. However this was exactly what I had been trained for.
"My Shadowshot doesn't just kill enemies. I can use a shot from it to lay a Void trap down. I can keep it up for a max of ten minutes."
In a fight, ten minutes wasn't long, but this was just for recon. And if I kept it up for too long, I'd collapse from exhaustion. That I had had to figure out while in the field, and it had taken me three days of bedrest to recover from the extended use of my ability. Both of them seemed surprised by this, assuming that their swapped glances were of surprise. Nate was obviously impressed.
"That sounds like the best course of action. We're not mapping the entirety of these tunnels after all. Just trying to see where they go today. An assault would require several fireteams at least. Sasha?" Nate questioned the fireteam leader.
"Sure," she agreed with a nod. "Lay the trap and we'll get going. We'll take the three tunnels next to each other. Cassidy, you go down the middle. Nate, take the tunnel to her right, and I'll take the one on the far right. Regroup after eight minutes. If you get into trouble, try not to scream like a girl and retreat without telling the rest of us."
I took a second to gather my strength and then summoned my bow. Made completely of Void energy, it had whorls and swirls all along it, with a string of pure Void energy. An arrow was summoned as I drew the string back, and I aimed it at the position between the two tunnels we wouldn't be going down. I released it after a second, and the energy stuck to the ground, a dormant threat to any creature of Darkness that happened to pass by. Nodding to the other two, I stepped into my tunnel. The very air felt foreboding: too still to be natural, and too... alive. Like the atmosphere had a mind of its own and was monitoring my progress. All the while, I could feel my Light still attached to that Void trap further back. I had to get a move on.
I moved on swift but silent feet, all too aware of the mounting tension. Something felt profoundly wrong down here, and it was sending my nerves skittering along the edge of unadulterated fear and anxiety. I took several deep breaths to calm myself as I moved along. The caverns were warm, with water dripping down and landing on my armor every so often. Hive growth was still apparent everywhere, but there had yet to be a single Hive around, even a Thrall. With the amount of Hive on Earth, the lack of contact in the tunnels was bizarre. All the while I could feel my strength slowly leaving me the longer my Light when towards the Void trap. How long had it been? Five minutes? The feeling of weakness would only progress the longer I was down. Only three minutes until I needed to make my way back up to meet with Nate and Sasha.
"Ghost? Anything at all on radar?"
"No. This is unnatural for the Hive. They wouldn't stand for the Fallen encroaching so readily on their territory, especially on territory so close to one of their lairs."
Great. Just what every Guardian wanted to hear. Unnatural behavior led to an unpredictable enemy, which did not bode well for being on hostile territory. Frowning, I tried to ignore the headache starting to build and the sweat trickling down my face. Three minutes until I had to release my hold on the Shadowshot. One until rendezvous. That was when the tunnel opened up in a subterranean gathering point. The area the Hive had dug out had to have been at least the size of three city blocks. My radar suddenly lit up with red, and it took everything I had not to jump in surprise. Seasoned as I was, it was still shocking to see so many Hive in one place. Acolytes, Knights, Thrall, and several Wizards. To my growing shock, there was also a couple Ogres mixed into the group. There had to have been at least two-hundred Hive packed into this one place, and in the middle...
There was a projection. It looked like a Hive Wizard, but older. Somehow more regal. Its face still had that withered mouth full of teeth. The helmet all Wizards had was perched on her head, but the horns on it were large and rounded as opposed to straight up. I hadn't seen any other Hive with that design. The eyes on the projection were glowing white, and I shuddered at the memory of the Taken. But what chilled me to the bone was the fact that this Wizard - this Hive matron - was speaking in a language I could understand.
"Your king has fallen. His son, dead before his father. Now I stand before you to say that the Light will fall, and we will all take it from the Kingslayers together. We will rise as one being and destroy their City as they destroyed our master. And when we strike, it shall be without mercy and it shall be absolute. Their Light will belong to the Darkness!"
A frightening chorus of roars and shrieks of agreement rose up in unanimous agreement, and my breath caught in time for the world to start spinning.
"Cassidy, release the trap! It's taking too much of a toll on you. We need to get back to the others."
Right, the others. Rendezvous had been two minutes ago.
I backed away into the tunnel, using every ounce of my willpower to push against the tide of fatigue threatening to overwhelm me. The headache had come on as a constant pounding now, as if a Titan was laying haymakers on my helmet with unconstrained strength. I'd long gotten used to the layer of sweat pouring down my face. Just as I thought I was going to finally pass out, I burst up into the entrance of the basement, allowing the Void to collapse in on itself. A pair of arms caught me as I stumbled forward, followed by a low chuckle.
"Didn't think you were the type to fall into a man's arms so easily, Cassidy. I'll keep that in mind for the future."
Despite the humor in Nate's voice, there was a very clear undercurrent of concern. I didn't even have the strength to flush and pull away like I wanted to. I just needed to be off of my own feet.
"Cassidy, are you ok?"
Sasha's voice cut through the air, but it was my Ghost that answered.
"Whenever Cassidy uses her Shadowshot to lay a trap as she did, it takes all of my focus and her Light to keep it up as long as it needs to be. That's why she can't use her other Nightstalker abilities. Everything goes into that trap. However anything past the ten minute mark is too much of a drain on her Light. It will take time for her to recover."
I nodded faintly in agreement as Nate set me gently next to the wall. I didn't care if the ground was cold at this point. I just wanted to sleep, but that would have to wait until we got back to the Tower.
"Did you... did you guys see the Wizard?" I questioned in a murmur, closing my eyes.
"Not me," Sasha said, the question clear in her tone. Nate responded with a negative too, and I felt strangely comforted that at least I'd seen this new threat. If this projection was seen across Earth, or wherever the Hive were, the City was going to have a serious problem on its hands besides just cleaning up the rest of the Taken.
"We need to get back to the City. The Vanguard... has to know what's going on. We need to...prepare."
Adrenalin wormed its way through my system, but I still felt like a sack of bricks. Nate strode over and helped me up, wordlessly taking an arm and wrapping it around his shoulder.
"Then let's go," he said, all business. I'd at least spooked them a bit, but I didn't have the energy to really go into detail of what I'd seen.
Sasha took point immediately, and Nate swapped his shotgun for a handcannon, and I wasn't sure why I was surprised that it was The Devil You Know. Still, he was alert as he followed up after Sasha. He clearly trusted her a lot to just follow her wherever she was going. I figured that she was going to get clear of the hotel and then lock in for transmat out of there. The Fallen, however, were still in an uproar. Getting out without a fight was going to be a miracle. Luckily, I had two of the Guardians with me that could make miracles happen. We hadn't even stepped outside when Sasha lit up in a brilliant blaze of flame, drawing an equally flaming pistol from her belt. Four shots sang out, followed by explosions and alien cries of pain. The Golden Gun. I'd seen it before, but Sasha had fired off four shots instead of the usual three. Must be an artifact from Xur, I dimly realized. The Symbiote. Looks tainted by Hive, but it clearly augments her Light. I'd been personally saving for a gun, but armor seemed wise after witnessing Sasha's display, and as Fallen came out back to further confront us, Nate also took center stage. I barely noticed as he passed me over to Sasha, who was wielding her Hawkmoon one-handed to great effect. But all of my attention was on Nate.
His Arc Blade came to life in a flash of light, and he, too, as a whirlwind of destruction. The Fallen he hit disintegrated at each slice, and while the hardier captains could take a couple blows, that was all. Nate carved his way through the Captain with two swords like it was paper, only a grunt over the comms telling me he'd taken a blow for his troubles. He returned to my side almost immediately as we broke for the trees, again looping an arm over his shoulder to help me walk. Sasha had taken over watching our backs, sniper slung in her hands as she kept anyone else approaching at bay. However it was just a stall tactic. As soon as we reached the relative safety of the trees, she came over to help Nate and I, and our pace quickened towards open road.
The hum of our ships sounded overhead, drowning out our rapid breathing.
"You're going to ride with me, Cass," Sasha immediately said, appraising my condition. I felt a bit better with the brief respite from doing anything, but I was far from being able to pilot effectively. Heat rose to my cheeks, and I was thankful neither could see my embarrassment. I still felt like a burden when compared to these two. They were legends, and here I was being dragged around like deadweight. I couldn't muster a protest as Ghost teleported me into Sash'a ship, a sleek and exotic-looking ship. It had three separate wings, and even a kid could tell it was of Awoken make. The Gunslinger took her proper place in the pilot's chair, her Ghost whirring into life.
"Setting a course for the Tower. Shall I alert Cayde ahead of time for him to call the Vanguard together?"
"No, Legion. Cass needs to rest. We'll let her recover for a day and then have her brief Cayde and the rest of us. Let Zack and Jesse know that we'll need to meet them when we land. We'll set her up in our bunkhouse so they can watch her."
A delayed hint of surprise wound through me at the nickname.
It was almost like she considered me part of the team.
I fell asleep at some point on the ride back to the Tower. When I next woke up, it was in a soft bed, but only my helmet had been removed. I silently thanked Sasha for her thoughtfulness. She was in the room idly sharpening her knife, and she wasn't alone. Sitting across from her was one of Spearhead's Warlocks. I honestly couldn't tell who it was. Zack and Jesse were twins, and they both had short black hair and blue eyes. The major difference between the two of them were their personalities. Zack was shy but polite from what I'd heard, and Jesse... well, for a Sunsinger, he was pretty cold. Easily annoyed and short of temper from what people said. I took stock of my condition. I still felt kind of sluggish and had the remnants of that murderous headache, but it was lessened to a tolerable degree. Actually, all things considered, I felt pretty good.
At my movements, Sasha looked up, a smile brightening her face. Without the helmet, Sasha looked like any regular person. She had friendly green eyes and brown hair in a sharp pixie cut. A scar marred her left cheek, and I wondered what the story was behind it. She rose from the chair, as did her Warlock companion. With the frown on his face, I immediately guessed that it was Jesse she had been sitting with.
"So you're the Hunter with a death wish?" He questioned tartly, not even bothering with a greeting. I frowned immediately, and from the lack of amusement from my Ghost, it was pretty clear he wasn't impressed either.
"And you're the Warlock with a bad attitude?" I retorted flatly. Really, how could this guy be a Sunsinger? Most of them had personalities as bright as their specialization. He, however, did not. Funnily enough, Zack was the Voidwalker of the group, a talent more suited for his brother after this first impression. Sasha laid a restraining hand on Jesse's shoulder as the Warlock curled his hand into a fist.
"Come on now, we're all friends here. Cass, this is Jesse. Jesse, this is Cass. He stayed by your side for a few hours and popped his Radiance a couple of times. We decided to try an experiment to see if his Radiance would help your Light recover faster. Looks like a resounding success. You were only down for the few hours Jesse was here after you fell asleep."
I felt my temper only slightly abate. Enough, at least, to say neutrally, "thank you for your help, Jesse."
The Warlock in question snorted slightly, moving to depart. Sasha stopped him with a light slap on his shoulder, and he heaved a large sigh.
"You're welcome," he said with great reluctance. "Try not to be so suicidal next time."
And with that, he departed, leaving me feeling very un-Guardian-like, and Sasha heaving a great sigh of the long-suffering. I felt pretty bad that she had to deal with a guy like him on a regular basis. That exchange was the only time thus far where I'd seen her discouraged. Though to be fair, I'd only known her for a few hours. If randomly joining up with someone on a mission counted as 'knowing' someone. With Jesse now gone, I took stock of the room I as in. It wasn't the medical ward of the tower. That I was certain of. Sasha had said something about bunking me in Spearhead's quarters, but I didn't imagine they'd have a guest room. A couch made up like a bed caught my eye, and I raised an eyebrow curiously. Sasha followed my gaze.
"Yeah... we didn't really have a guest room ready, so I just had you crash here at my place. Nate was pretty insistent that you stick with him, but I figured you'd be more comfortable here."
I nodded my thanks as I ran a hand through my hair. The red strands had rats in them, no doubt thanks to my helmet. I had no idea what my eyes looked like, but blue never looked good with bloodshots. Hopefully I'd had enough rest to ward any of that off.
"No worries, you can take a shower before we leave too." Sasha had read my mind, though I tilted my head in a question. "We're going to see the Vanguard and brief them on what you saw," she explained further, unnecessarily. I was more wondering why her fireteam, besides she and Nate, felt the need to come along.
However I wasn't about to argue. If what I saw came to fruition, we'd need the entirety of the City's strength to fight the Hive.