Chapter 3

We touched down on Venus and summoned our sparrows. Our destination was in the direction of the Endless Steps, and travelling on foot would take too long. A Guardian had been through there about a year ago and located an Ishtar Collective facility that had given us much of the information we knew about the Vex. That Guardian had also supposedly gone to the Steps and killed a Gate Lord. Rumor had it this was the same Guardian that found that piece of the Traveler and lead the fireteams that killed Crota, raided the Vault of Glass, and killed Oryx. Personally, I found it a little hard to believe that one Guardian was responsible for all of that. If it was true, what would the Vanguard even need the rest of us for?

I mounted my sparrow, the Days of Wind, and fell in behind the two Warlocks. As we barreled through the canyons, I couldn't help but observe the second Warlock, Zillah. She rode an EV-37 Voidstreak, marking her as an SRL veteran. She rode like it too. Even though we were following Scott, whose sparrow was clearly outclassed power-wise, she took corners aggressively, putting herself into position to be able to pass him at any moment. At one point she rode up a small out-cropping of rock and launched into the air. I could have sworn I heard a little laugh escape her. Might not be quite as surly as her first impression would suggest.

Scott-20, on the other hand, was speeding along in a very matter-of-fact manner, nothing fancy in his maneuvers. If anything, I would say he seemed hesitant in his driving, as if he wasn't very familiar with the machine. To me, that suggested that he could be lacking field experience. Many Warlocks spent more time studying than fighting, perhaps he fit that mold. If that were the case, I would probably need to back him up more than her in any firefights we found ourselves in.

"Taken corruption detected!" Elgan shouted into my ear suddenly as we burst out of the canyon into an open space near the Ember Caves.

Despite recently suffering massive setbacks in the region, Fallen patrolled these areas. On a normal day, they were usually easy to avoid if you moved quickly enough. Unfortunately, we didn't find ourselves in a "normal" situation. The place was crawling with the dark, twisted forms of the Taken, members of various races whose will had been dominated by Oryx, who were locked in combat with the Fallen. Ever since Oryx the Taken King fell, Taken activity has lessened in much of the solar system though they still seemed to hit Venus frequently and in large numbers. I had no idea why, and the why of it wouldn't have mattered much at the moment anyway. For now, we just needed a way around them.

We tried to skirt past the conflict, keeping close to the cliff, but a Taken Captain caught sight of us as. Warping in front of us, he flung a ball of Darkness that Scott had no chance to avoid. Unable to see, he quickly lost control of his sparrow. He swung hard to the right, sending the small craft off balance and it flipped, throwing him off. Zillah and I split left and right to avoid the ball, and I leapt from my sparrow, shotgun at the ready. The Solar rounds shredded his shields and he roared. I heard the familiar "vrwoop" sound of a fusion rifle discharge, and the Captain disintegrated in front of me. I nodded to Zillah, then we both ran to check on Scott. The Warlock had come to a crashing stop as he'd slammed into a large stone. He was picking himself up slowly as we approached. Zillah and I each took hold of one of his arms and helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I believe so. Nothing feels fractured, just bruised in body and pride. We should probably be on our way, let the Fallen and Taken continue to hammer each other."

Just then, the ground rumbled as a large Taken presence began manifesting itself. The Fallen shrieked out challenges and began concentrating fire as the cloaked form of a Zealot Vex appeared in the center of the depression. More ruptures opened all around it, Taken troops pouring through.

"No," Zillah stated firmly, "we should take that thing down first."

"Are you mad?" Scott asked, a hint of panic in his robotic voice seeming to confirm my earlier conclusions about him being green.

"Perhaps," she replied, switching her fusion rifle for a black and purple scout rifle with yellow markings. "Or maybe I just know my duty."

Taking cover behind an outcropping of rock, Zillah opened fire on the hazy target. The Zealot returned fire, letting loose a few shots before turning his attention back to the Fallen due to their larger numbers. The Taken's escorts, however, were not so easily diverted. A Taken Centurion and several Vandals began advancing on our position. The Centurion braced himself and fired of a few Axion darts in our direction. I grabbed the Kumakatok from behind my back and aimed, shooting them down from a safe distance.

I followed that up by emptying the clip toward the Vandals. I caught the first with several rounds, the last hitting him in the head and causing him to go… wherever the Taken go corpses go when they vanish into the ruptures. The second put up his shield, blocking my shots. He then returned fire with his wire rifle through the shield, forcing me to take cover again. I hate when they do that; it's just not fair.

"Uh, Claney," my Ghost chimed in, "you might want to look up."

What now? I took my eyes off the Vandal for a moment to see what Elgan was talking about. A Fallen Skiff was approaching rapidly, obviously called in by their friends in the firefight. It opened fire on the Taken, vaporizing many of them. Dregs and Vandals leapt from its sides, hitting the ground and instantly joining the fight. The Zealot turned its attention to the ship, targeting its forward cannons, which exploded spectacularly. Then the bottom of the ship opened up and revealed the reason for the Skiff's arrival.

The Walker dropped and quickly oriented itself, its massive cannon swinging to target the Zealot. With a loud boom the cannon belched fire, launching a shell that rocked the Taken so hard that its cloak fell for a moment. Its cargo offloaded, the Skiff turned and fled, trailing smoke where it had taken fire. Taken Goblins moved into position, putting a force-field around their larger leader. Missiles fired from the pods along the main gun detonated around the Zealot's feet, taking out several of them. More Goblins moved in to take their place. The Zealots loud, electronic screams reverberated through the area, competing in volume with the sounds of the Walker's main gun charging for another shot.

"Zillah, pick off those Goblins," I said. "Don't let them shield that Zealot. If we're going to do this, we need it and the Walker to wear each other down as much as possible. Scott and I can handle the Taken closing in on us. Just… try not to actually hit the Zealot. We'll live longer if it's looking the other way."

"I am quite aware of that last fact," she replied, putting several precision shots right into another Goblin.

Scott aimed his auto rifle and opened fire, peppering the Centurion with shots. I called on my reserves of light and summoned a Ward of Dawn directly behind them that they could back into for protection or Blessings of Light. I then circled right, taking cover behind a different collection of rocks, giving our enemies a different angle to consider. The Centurion launched another Axion dart in my direction before turning his attention back to Scott and Zillah.

I threw a grenade at the Taken before trying to shoot down the dart. I missed with a couple shots before managing to shoot it down. I ducked back behind cover, reloaded, and then leaned out to shoot back. At that point, several things happened at once:

First, Scott and I managed to finish off the Centurion and he disappeared.

Second, the Walker fired its main cannon at the Zealot again.

Third, the Zealot warped into a different position, meaning the Walker missed it and hit whatever happened to be behind the Zealot. Which was me.

Guardians die. This is a hazardous life, after all. Not to mention the fact that we have to be dead to be a Guardian in the first place. To paraphrase an ancient film, there's dead and then there's mostly dead. As long as our Ghosts are still functioning, when a Guardian dies we are only mostly dead. Doesn't make it any less unpleasant when it happens. The next part of this, I clearly cannot remember directly, as I was dead. Elgan filled in some of the details for me.

The blast threw me like a rag doll. As soon as my corpse stopped rolling, Elgan set about trying to revive me. The Zealot hammered the Walker, causing it to fall and enter that cooldown mode they go into or whatever it is when they stop moving and the "head" pops open. The Taken seized the opportunity to inflict massive damage on the Fallen machine.

Scott chose that moment to ignited his super. Turns out he's a Stormcaller. Lightning leapt from his fingers as he left cover, Arc light burning away the Taken troops and chaining into the Zealot. There might be hope for him yet. Zillah leapt into the air and launched a Nova Bomb into the fray, three balls of Void energy exploding simultaneously, wiping out Fallen and Taken alike. Most of the minor players were off the board now, leaving the big guns.

By the time I staggered to my feet, the Walker had done the same. I took a moment to regroup and to shift focus. I am a Defender by nature. A deep desire to protect people is probably what decided my class for me, in spite of some other tendencies of my personality. I was capable of more, however. Letting go of the Void, I mentally reached out to the Arc aspect of light, felt is surge through me. Moving into the open, I began making my way toward the Walker.

Little bits of Light were scattered over the battlefield. I let those fuel me as I picked up speed, sprinting in the direction of the Walker. By the time I reached the short rise it stood on, it had trained its cannon on the Zealot and fired again. I could not see what effect it had, but I heard the Zealot scream again. Using lift to launch myself into the air, I summoned all the energy I could, slamming down into the Walker and unleashing a Fist of Havoc. Arc energy radiated in every direction from where my fist made contact, and the Walker fell.

Rolling off of it, I had Elgan give me my heavy machine gun, and unleashed a barrage of heavy rounds into its exposed machinery. The Walker attempted to struggle to its feet again, sparks leaping from broken panels. Under the barrage of fire, it collapsed a final time and exploded. As soon as it fell, I switched my attention to the Taken, and saw Scott and Zillah giving it all they had as well. The concentrated fire power between the three of us were able to finish it off, and it crumbled.

"Well, that was fun. Let's do it again." I remarked as we regrouped in the place where it fell. Neither Warlock responded. They didn't it very amusing, apparently. "No?"

Zillah gave me another one of those dismissive/disgusted sounds, and set about searching the ground. Whatever she was searching for, she apparently found it as she picked something off the ground. She stored whatever it was and turned away, summoning her sparrow.

"I would prefer a… less eventful remainder to our time here," Scott commented, summoning his vehicle and taking the lead once again. I shrugged and followed.

…

We proceeded made it the rest of the way to the Ishtar compound without incident. Oddly enough, we never even saw any opposition. There were a few phantom motion signatures, but nothing that ever solidified. We approached the building with caution, but it was clear as well. The facility was much like every other human structure still standing on Venus: worn, damaged, and covered in greenery. There were signs of recent activity and battle. Most likely that rumored Super Guardian.

The two Warlocks set upon the rusted computer consoles immediately. Their Ghosts materialized, scanning and booting up the old consoles. Long-dormant machinery whirred to life around us and lights began flickering. I took up position just outside a doorway, sitting in what appeared to be an empty window frame. After a few moments, Elgan decided to make his presence known.

"Remember your promise, Claney," my Ghost chirped.

"Yes, yes, you were good and can go scan the computer too," I replied with a grin. I watched him flit away, his shell spinning happily.

I alternated between scanning the surroundings and watching them work. It didn't take long for boredom to set in. I paced in front of the building a couple turns, then let them know I was going to take a look around.

"Don't die again, I'm too busy to do anything about it this time," was the only response I got from anyone. Smart-aleck Ghost.

Earth is lovely. I've seen quite a bit of it since my rebirth. Sadly, much of that was spent fending for my life, but that's anywhere these days. For my money, however, Venus is the most beautiful planet in the solar system. Fitting, given the fact that it was name for a goddess of love and beauty. Of course, much of its beauty is due to the Traveler's terraforming before making contact with humanity. Something else I need to thank it for if it ever awakens.

The facility was in a small depression surrounded by short cliffs. Getting a view from one would be nice, as well as tactically advantageous, so I Lifted myself to the nearest ledge. The landscape of Venus filled my view, and I took a moment to let it soak in. The mix of the swirling cloud cover, rocky outcroppings, and dense vegetation in some areas was awe inspiring. If my Light hadn't called me to be a Titan, I think I could have happily been a Hunter and just stayed out in that wild beauty forever.

Another sensor ghost brought me out of my momentary reverie. Those little flickers of motion had been coming too frequently to be nothing. Dropping to a crouch, I moved as stealthily as I could in the direction of the last blip. Granted, stealthy is a relative term for a Titan, but I think I do alright when I have to.

I tried to avoid disturbing the plant growth as much as possible, stepping lightly on exposed rock. Slipping the Kumakatok out from behind my back, I held it at the ready. Slight traces of motion pinged again, this time they seemed to center on one location. I had circled well to the left relative to the facility and was drawing near to the sensor ghost when I stopped. Glancing back, I noticed this position gave a nearly clear view of the two Warlocks. If someone was looking to take a shot at us, this would have been an excellent location. I hesitated for a moment, debating whether I should continue the search or just get back and let them know we could be in trouble, when I heard a small screeching sound.

Pushing aside the leaves of a fern-like plant, I discovered a young batadactyl eating some kind of snake-like creature. Sometimes mistaken for living Ahamkara, these dragon-like reptiles were prevalent in the area. Must be a nest somewhere near the facility. The small creature saw me, hissed, and then skittered into the undergrowth. Thinking I had found the source of the sensor ghosts, I turned to head back to the others when I felt the barrel of gun press into the back of my neck.

...

Quick follow up to the previous chapter, inspired by a moment that actually happened to me on patrol in game. Hopefully y'all are enjoying these. I wouldn't expect future chapters to follow as fast as 3 followed 2. Feeling inspired and it's been a slow week.

2360/2313