Chapter 16

We'd barely set out when a call came in. Celeste, released and looking to get back in the fight. I was tempted to ignore it, wanting to give in to the fantasy that she would take the hint and stay out of this one. I knew better than that, of course. If I didn't respond, she would probably manage to track us down anyway. Probably hid a tracker on my sparrow or something. I had Elgan send her the coordinates and ETA, instructing her to meet us there. Knowing her, I figured she would try to beat us there, so I had him fudge the second number a bit.

We followed the signal to the closest signal that Scott-20 and Zillah's modified sensors had detected. The trail led to a large wall of rock. We came to a stop outside a small opening that looked too perfectly circular to be a natural formation. The Fallen might have been going for stealth, hiding whatever was going on here underground, but SIVA had pretty much ruined that. Tendrils of the stuff snaked out of the cave, spreading out in every direction.

"I'd say it's safe to assume that this is the place," I said, climbing off of my sparrow, which promptly disappeared.

The others followed suite. The two Warlocks took a step toward the cave and I motioned for them to stop. I held up a hand with all five digits extended, then counted down 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Right as the last finger dropped, Celeste transmatted in, a full minute ahead of the time I had Elgan tell her we would be there. She looked at us one after the other, stopping at me.

"You cheated," she said finally.

"Yep. But only because I knew you would too."

"Fair enough," she conceded. "Hey, Scott."

"Hello, Celeste," the Exo Warlock replied. "It is good to see you again."

"You too," she told him. Then, "Zillah."

"Celeste," Zillah offered. "Well, now that that's out of the way, can we get down to business?"

"Yes, lets," I stated. "Alright, kiddo, quick catch-you-up: big SIVA signature in the hole, we're going down to shoot stuff."

"Got it," she responded, drawing her hand cannon.

I took the lead. No motion showed on my HUD, but that was quickly determined to be from interference. Not sure if it was something in the Fallen tech, the SIVA, or just the rock itself. Had to be something that we were in proximity to, given the ship had managed to detect the energy signature. Regardless, it became clear that it was interference when we rounded a bend and nearly ran right into a lone Dreg. It had been strolling right toward us and seemed completely shocked to see us. It wasn't even holding its gun. Celeste moved lightning quick and took it out before it could make a sound or draw a weapon.

Much to our surprise we discovered that the Devil did not seem to be modified by SIVA. Feivel emerged and scanned it, confirming that it was indeed free of the technology. Zillah held out her hand and her Ghost returned. No time to ponder the anomaly now. I lifted the corpse and set it off to the side. There was nowhere to hide it, but it was at least a little less obvious here and a Fallen might pass it unseen.

I hated the idea of continuing on knowing we were going in blind, but we needed to see what exactly it was we had detected. We pushed onward, SIVA threads casting an eerie glow on the stone walls. Revealed in the light, the walls themselves were smooth enough to confirm my earlier thought about the cavern being artificial. The Devils had clearly been burrowing into the area here for a long while. An image of the Plaguelands being hollowed out by Fallen like the Hive had done to the moon flashed through my mind. That thought was interrupted by Celeste.

"I know what you were trying to do, old man," came her voice over a private channel.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, please," she continued, "you know you can't lie to me. You were trying to ditch me. Why else would you have come here with Scott?"

"Scott is a very capable...," I began, but she cut me off.

"Yes, I know what he can do, just like you know that isn't what I meant. You had to know I wasn't going to be on the shelf that long. You could have waited for me. But you didn't. You went and grabbed the first Guardian you could and set back out."

"You're right," I admitted. "After what happened before, I didn't want you back down here. I didn't want anything else to happen to you."

"I'm not a child anymore," she stated. "I'm a Guardian. A Hunter. And a pretty good one at that."

"Yes, I know that," I replied.

"Then act like it. Give me some credit and let me do what I do," she snapped. There was a brief silence, then, "And I'm not your sidekick."

She cut the line after that last word. I was about to reopen it, when my attention was drawn back to the task at hand. A bright red glow illuminated a bend in the cave ahead of us. Thinking we might be nearing the source of the SIVA reading, we slowed our approach. No need to stumble upon an entire group of Fallen unexpectedly. When I reached the curve in the path, I motioned for the others to wait, then crept to the edge. Cautiously, I leaned out, peering around the corner.

From here, I could not get a great view of what lay beyond. I could see that it opened into a much larger cavern, with strands of SIVA stretching every which way. The sound of Fallen voices echoed from in the room. I glanced back to the others, motioned for them to wait, then crouched down and slowly made my way forward.

The cavern ahead stretched high over head, but also expanded downward. The path we were on ended on platform overlooking the room. Steps on both sides led downward. SIVA stretched from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, crisscrossing in an ominous spider's web. Slick, angular constructs covered much of the cavern's walls and odd shapes hung from the ceiling. Everything was lit blood red. There were several openings around the cavern as well, leading to different rooms, snakes of SIVA flowing through them. On the far side of the room, I could see several Fallen. None of them seemed to be looking in our direction. I slipped back far enough to motion to the others, then we all moved into the space.

All of the Fallen save one knelt in a semi-circle around the lone standing figure. That particular Fallen looked similar to the SIVA infused Captains we had seen before, though appeared slightly larger from this distance. Around the gathering of Fallen stood four large SIVA nodes, all open and leaking red nanites. Open nodes hung from the ceiling as well. Similar collections of closed nodes scattered the landscape.

The central figure raised all four arms in the air, and I realized this Fallen was the source of the echoed voice earlier. It seemed to be chanting something. The kneeling Fallen bowed low to the ground, prostrating themselves before this figure. The motions were clearly religious and ritualistic in nature. The standing figure must be a priest of some sort. As we watched, the Priest raised and lowered its arms several times, crying our in their odd language. The bowed Fallen raised back to a kneeling position, arms stretched upward as well. Then the SIVA moved.

The nodes began spraying large clouds into the air, blanketing the gathered Devils. Tendrils of the stuff lashed quickly down from the ceiling, coiling around individuals, covering them completely. Cocooning them. Each chrysalis was then pulled upward. I followed the movement and my jaw grew slack when I realized what the odd shapes I noticed earlier had been. Hundreds of cocoons hung from the ceiling. An army waiting to be reborn.

"By the Traveler," Scott whispered.

I had a very strong suspicion that we had found the right place. Even if not, I had no doubt that this place, and every other one like it we had detected, needed to be destroyed. One thing I did question was whether or not we had the firepower to do it. Aasim's reports had mentioned getting the SIVA chamber that had been the Iron Lords tomb to self destruct. Maybe there was a way we could get a similar result here. Of course, that meant pushing further in this place.

Its ritual completed, the Splicer Priest stood still in the cloud of nanites, then turned suddenly, stalking down one of the tunnels. Behind him, the SIVA nodes closed, the red clouds dissipating. The room was still, the only sound being a faint creaking noise coming from the ceiling as a few of the cocoons rocked slightly.

"Ideas?" I asked the others.

"A well placed charge in here, if the detonation was powerful enough, could bring the cavern down," Zillah opined," and destroy what is here. That could trap any SIVA production further in beneath the rubble. Now, whether that would actually contain it or if it would just eat its way to the surface...," she trailed off with a shrug.

"Containing it is possible. The Iron Lords sealed it away for decades," Scott replied. "I do not think it would act of its own accord to burrow out."

"What about pushing further in and finding out exactly what is going on here?" I asked, making sure we covered all bases. "It could be valuable intel, and we know there is at least one Devil in here who would be capable of directing the SIVA if it survived the explosion."

"I don't like the idea of going down those tunnels," Celeste added, "but I like the idea of leaving that Priest behind even less."

"Agreed," I said. "I think pushing in after the Priest is key. We can't leave someone that could keep working with any SIVA that survived the explosion. Destroying this room is mandatory as well. We can't let whatever is happening up there," I indicated the ceiling, "come to fruition."

"I hate it when Titans make sense," Zillah muttered. "Fine. Let's kill us a Priest, then blow this place."

"Next question," I continued, "how exactly do we do that? I don't know about you, but I doubt that a few rockets will do what we need to destroy all of this."

"With some time, I believe I could construct a device with the proper yield," Scott offered. "I will need to get exit these caves and send a signal to my ship to bring some supplies down."

"Get on it," I told him. "We'll go after the Priest."

He nodded then turned and headed back through the tunnel toward the surface. The rest of us continued onward. When we reached the floor of the cavern, we were careful to try to place our feet between the SIVA strands that covered the floor. We weren't quite sure what might happen if we were to step on it, but we were in no hurry to find out either. Having seen that at least some of the tendrils were capable of moving made us very wary.

We crossed the room without incident. A quick glance down the tunnel revealed no Fallen, so we continued in the path of the priest. This tunnel was nearly identical to the one that had led down to the cavern. Knowing we were following definitely following an enhanced Devil, I kept my weapon ready and trained ahead. A glance at Celeste revealed a similar posture, holding her weapon in a two handed grip. Zillah was not holding a gun, but there was a faint purple glow around her hands, revealing that she was ready to unleash her own attack at a moment's notice.

The tunnel gave way to a wider room after a short distance. The stone surroundings gave way to fabricated walls and floor. On the right side of the room stood what appeared at first glance to be some sort of storage compartments. The left was dominated by large metal shutters above a computer console. A closed door stood opposite our entrance.

Zillah instantly turned to the console, Feivel appearing over her shoulder. I held out my hand and Elgan materialized, darting over to that side of the room as well. Celeste moved to the other side of the room to take a closer look at the compartments. I chose to keep closer to the center of the room, watching the entrances to the room.

I cast the occasional glance between the two women. The two Ghosts were scanning the console while Zillah had taken a seat and seemed to be examining the machinery. Celeste was opening doors, revealing that the other side was indeed storage. Fallen weaponry, as well as pieces of armor, filled many of the lockers. Others held what appeared to be salvage from the Devil's scavenging in the Cosmodrome. A sounds snapped my attention back over to Zillah.

"What was that?" I asked.

"No idea," she responded. "I didn't touch anything."

"That, uh, might have been me," Elgan admitted sheepishly.

"What did you do, Ghost?"

Before he had a chance to answer, it became obvious. The metal shutters began to open and pull to the sides, revealing a large window. Zillah rose from her seat with a gasp, and Celeste and I hurried over to her side. The window was overlooking a cavern at least twice the size of the one we had left behind. The size was not what had caused Zillah's reaction, but what it held.

If SIVA had taken over the room before, it completely dominated here. The cavern was completely covered with the now-familiar red strands and black pyramid of nodes. Large cauldrons of molten material stood in several places around the room, strands of SIVA roping off of them, stretching to walls and the floor. Suspended in the middle of the room by massive cables was a large diamond shape constructed of the same slick black material as the nodes.

Dozens of Devil Splicers moved through the room, their actions indecipherable from here. The Priest we had been before stood among them, seemingly directing the activities. As the shutters peeled back, a couple of the closest Fallen looked up in our direction and froze. They seemed shocked by our sudden appearance, but that passed quickly. Their mouths opened in cries that we could not here and gestured in our direction. Every Splicer down below turned, and then started flooding toward the door below us and disappearing from view in a door we could not see.

"Sorry," Elgan squeaked, then disappeared back into my armor.

Feivel vanished from sight as well. The three of us spread out around the room, taking position where we would not be immediately visible in case the Fallen came in firing. Our eyes trained on the closed door and we waited. They didn't make us wait long.

The door opened and Dregs poured in. The fired blindly as they entered, shots scoring the wall opposite the door. They began to fan out, and Celeste sprung into action. She drew her dusk bow, loosing a Void arrow at a Dreg near the center of the group. The arrow pierced the alien and it cried out before the Void energy blossomed out, streams of Light lancing out to tether the other Dregs to their fallen comrade. Zillah then released the energy she had been storing as well.

She launched her Nova Bomb which split into three parts, pounding the trapped Fallen. The aliens were vaporized under the assault, which shook the small room. The assault wiped out the aliens in the room and served to cause the rest to hesitate. Instead of charging in as their brethren had, the next line of Fallen troops attempted to fire through the doorway, blasts of energy streaking into the room and striking the wall. A Void Spike grenade tossed through the opening brought a satisfying scream as the hallway was momentarily illuminated in purple.

Seemingly realizing that trying to stay outside the room was not going to work out for them, the Fallen renewed their push. They poured into the room again, once again firing, but attempting to do so in a wider pattern than before. We were forced to dodge blasts this time, allowing them more time to try to take hold in the room. With no cover, there was nowhere to hide from the attacks. I was able to avoid most, but one struck, putting a strain on my shields.

Celeste hit the Fallen with a smoke grenade, causing some chaos as she obscured their view. She then turned to the storage lockers behind her and began to pull. I realized after a second that she was trying to bring them down to create some cover. I targeted the Fallen nearest her, taking it out to give her a little breathing space. Zillah quickly darted over to help her.

I took advantage of the confusion in the Fallen ranks to wade into the middle of them. The first one disintegrated and I felt the familiar surge of the Force Barrier surrounding me, protecting me from any retaliatory strikes of the Devils. I was grateful for that barrier when I was suddenly struck with unbelievable violence and thrown across the room. I slammed hard against the wall and my vision went black for a moment. The remaining Fallen cleared the doorway as the Priest entered the room.

I groaned and struggled to rise. Before I had made it to my feet, the Priest was on me. Grasping me with all four arms, it lifted me from the ground and spun to the side, flinging me toward the window. The glass put up no resistance. It shattered and I could feel myself falling. In the distance I heard a voice call my name.

My hand lashed out and I barely managed to grab the window sill. My forward momentum stopped in an instant and I swung back, slamming into the wall hard. The blow knocked the wind out of me. I gulped air, reaching my other hand up to secure my hold on the window frame. I dangled there for a moment, glancing back over my shoulder.

Elgan's voice sounded in my ear, "Please don't fall."

"Didn't plan on it," I grumbled as I worked to pull myself back up through the shattered window.

I flopped back into the room, rolling down the computer monitor. The Fallen were all focused on Celeste and Zillah, apparently assuming I was no longer an issue. The two women had managed to take out several of the Splicers, but were still outnumbered. I saw my shotgun paying where I had dropped it when the Priest hit me. I scrambled over to it and scooped it up, quickly reloading it and then rejoining the battle.

A load of buckshot to the back reminded one of the Vandals that I was there. It stumbled forward, then whirled around, red SIVA starting to flow over it. Remembering what happened last time that happened, I fired twice more in quick succession. The Vandal staggered again, then fell over. I was forced to dodge a swipe from the Priest, who then opened fire with its shock rifle. I barely managed to avoid being shot, then returned fire with my last shell.

"Elgan, I need something with more ammo," I yelled, diving to avoid another burst of fire from the Priest.

Zillah turned her attention briefly to the Priest and fired a few rounds from her scout rifle, diverting its attention from me for a moment. I heard the sound of a transmat and saw my Zombie Apocalypse machine gun materializing near me. I hefted the big weapon and was grateful to see that it was fully loaded. I depressed the trigger and ceramic-jacketed rounds peppered the Priest, which warped away from the barrage and into the hallway.

Zillah and Celeste managed to finish off the other Fallen. I heard the sound of the Priest coming through the shattered window. It had retreated completely into the SIVA chamber.

We ran to the empty frame and looked down. The Priest was leaning over an open node, letting the SIVA flow over him. He seemed to be trying to use it to heal or recharge. I turned to head down the hallway when Zillah stopped me.

"Claney, shoot the supports."

"What?"

"The supports," she said again, pointing through the window.

I followed her finger to see the large cables holding up the diamond shape in the center of the room and realized what she meant. I took aim with the machine gun and opened fire. The Priest flinched at the sound of gunfire, but stayed where it was when it realized it was not under attack. The bullets chewed through one of the support cables and it broke free. I changed my angle, leaning out the window a little to target the next one.

It snapped and the large object shifted. There was a loud groan and then a snapping sound as the others gave way from the strain. The construct tipped and fell. Unfortunately for the Priest, it didn't noticed until it was too late. The Fallen let out a cry of alarm, then was crushed beneath the structure as it crashed to the ground. The closest vat tipped over, spilling its molten contents onto the ground. Where it spilled, the SIVA burned. The rest of the stuff carpeting the ground began to writhe like a living thing in agony.

"We should probably go," Celeste stated.

"Best idea I've heard all day," I agreed.

The three of us quickly headed back up to the first chamber where Scott was preparing the charge to collapse the cavern. The light emanating from the tendril of SIVA moving upward was changing, growing more unstable. A few of them were starting to, for lack of better word, squirm. It was almost as if what was happening below was spreading upward and making the stuff uncomfortable. Suddenly, one of the ropes extended from one wall to the other, blocking our path.

A quick blast from the Curtain Call cleared it out of the way. More of the SIVA began to writhe like tentacles, reaching from the walls as if searching for something. We fell into a single-file line, passing through the center of the tunnel and trying to avoid the probing tech. I found myself wishing that I had learned to master Solar Light and become a Sunbreaker so I could just burn our way through. I heard a crash and then Celeste cried out behind me.

"Zillah!"

I turned around and saw that Zillah was on the ground, one of the tentacles wrapped around her ankle. It must have pulled her to the ground and she was struggling to get away from it. Celeste fired her hand cannon, missing with the squirming thing with her first shot, but clipping it with the second and punching through with her third. Zillah scrambled to her feet, then shot it one more time for good measure.

"Thanks," she told Celeste with a nod.

"Anytime."

"We should probably go faster," I stated.

"Agreed," Zillah replied.

We sprinted the remainder of the tunnel, occasionally ducking or twisting away from an outstretched tendril. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally reached the first cavern. The SIVA in this room was flickering with the same instability we had seen in the tunnel, though so far none of it was moving. So far. I could see some sort of metal contraption in the center of the room that was not there before, but could find no sign of Scott-20. Where was the Warlock?

"Scott?" I called out, striding toward the object I assumed to be the bomb.

Celeste and Zillah called out for him as well, but received no response. Something wasn't right. I couldn't imagine that he would abandon us, and he had built something here. As I drew closer to it, I froze. There was a body lying on the other side of the device.

"Scott!"

I ran to where the Warlock was sprawled out on the ground. A large hole was punched straight through his helmet. It didn't look like damage from a Fallen weapon and there was no sign of SIVA on him. Some instinct screamed danger and I swept my arms out to the side, putting up a Ward. As the Void shield surrounded me, I heard something strike it and whirled around toward the source.

Jaeger-10.

The Hunter was perched on the far side of the room, staring through the scope of his sniper rifle. He slowly stood, striding out of my line of sight. Scott's Ghost appeared to my left, startling me.

"I was unable to emerge before," it said. "I was afraid the Hunter would shoot me as well."

"Can you get him back to his feet?" I asked without looking, watching for Jaeger to reemerge.

"Yes, I can," the Ghost said and then set about its work.

"Jaeger's here," I called to Celeste and Zillah. "He shot Scott. Keep your eyes open."

I stepped out of my Ward, circling to try to get a view of the Hunter. I spotted him standing still with his back to me. Wary of a trap, I crept forward, eyes scanning for anything out of place. I was getting close enough to think I could make some sort of move against him when he spoke.

"I know you are there, Claney. No point in attempting to be stealthy any longer. Don't fear, I'm not going to attack you again. Not this time. Maybe the next."

"You shot my friend. You took a shot at me. You've attacked me unprovoked twice now. Please, tell me why I should believe that."

The Hunter raised his hands and then slowly turned around. He stepped to the side to reveal that he had been standing in front of a closed SIVA node.

"This," he said gesturing toward it. "This was the missing piece, the one thing I didn't understand. But you lead me to it. I owe you a small measure of gratitude for that. As for your friend, I needed him out of the way briefly, and I'm sure his Ghost will be able to fix the damage. It was a clean shot."

"You really need to start making some sense."

"All will be revealed in time," he said. "We still have a date with destiny, you and I. However, I believe it is about time for a different piece of my legend to be written."

The SIVA node flickered to life and the top half split and opened. A cloud of red mites released, covering the surrounding area, including Jaeger. I expected the Hunter to move away, but instead he moved toward it, shoving his head into the opening.

He screamed suddenly, hand gripping the sides of the node, his body going rigid. I stared, thrown off by the turn of events. When I got over the shock, I did the only thing I could think to do. I shot him.

Once, then twice, the blast of the shotgun kicking him backward, forcing his body away from the node. He hit the ground and did not move. His Ghost did not emerge. It seemed a mercy under the circumstances.

I took several steps backward, then turned and ran to the others. Celeste and Zillah had taken up defensive positions near Scott and the device. Their weapons snapped toward me as I came into view.

"Where is he?" Celeste asked.

"Dead. Scott, glad to see you on your feet. Is your bomb ready?"

"Yes," the Warlock nodded, his voice sounding like he was still shaking off the effects of the resurrection.

"Then let's blow this place."

Scott started the detonation sequence and the four of us turned and sprinted back toward the surface. As we ran past the corpse of the Fallen we had killed earlier, I noticed thin lines of SIVA snaking from the larger tendrils, covering and infiltrating the body. No time to do anything about that. We cleared the cave opening and sprinted into open air. Sensor data began to flicker back onto my HUD as we got out of the interference. Quickly, we dove behind cover as the echo of an explosion came up through the hole in the rock wall. The ground shook and then the tunnel collapsed, blowing dust out and past where we hid.

"Good explosion, Scott," I exhaled, leaning against the broken structure I had taken cover behind.

…

AN

Daydreamer B.A – Hopefully it will end up just being a little bump on the road in terms of disrupting enjoyment of the story as a whole. Claney has mostly worked alone or with a revolving door of partners rather than a regular team for a good little bit now, but he might be finding that he enjoys having the same people around for a while. You're probably right, he might not mind if she decided to stick around.

Amberstar of Thunderclan - *in a British accent* What? What? But... What?! *and... scene* Related to the email... I miss chili cheese burritos.