Emoting In The Moonlight

by harebrainedmissiletita

Arthur-13, an orange Missile Titan, was keen on helping a new light Hunter from the tower by the name of Chuck who couldn't beat this new lost sector boss on Europa Nok'Keerz, a disgraced Warrior's Enforcer of House Salvation, was sent to the Concealed Void Lost sector to serve as Guardian fodder. Two warriors would soon be locked into a fight that would change there lives forever.

Nok'Keers, Warrior Enforcer for House Salvation, crossed her two sets of arms as she marched through Europa's blizzard in the Asterion Abyss. She was not cold, an Eliksni gifted with Stasis such as herself was immune to such a paltry thing. No, She was absolutely livid. Eramis, that self-righteous, "Kell of Kells" had stripped her of her Enforcer status. No longer would she oversee operations around the Eventide Ruins. She had been unceremoniously reassigned to the newly occupied Concealed Void lost sector for failing to be at her post when the Young Wolf attacked and defeated Eramis. There she would serve as the next sacrificial dreg to slow down Guardian exploration. She could see it in the distance now, a small hole in the wall of the glacial alcove in an area dominated by the Vex, with two ether starved vandals standing guard outside.

"And this is what happens to the undisciplined." She gripped the throat of a half-frozen vandal who stood guard outside the lost sector. "It matters not that each of you sorry wastes of ether have been sent here to die. I expect you to die upright as you push back against the Machine Spawn!" She tossed the vandal aside, then glared at the other. "Inform the rest that there is a new leader and she wants no guardian to survive." As the vandal scurried away she continued behind it at a sedate pace into the Lost Sector. Taking stock of the hurried movement and panicked shouting that followed in the wake of her "messengers" passage, Nok'Keers sneered at the gutter trash she had been given to work with. "I've seen Brigs move faster with one leg! Move your chitin or I'll smash it to pieces!" She slammed her stasis-coated fist into the wall, forming a large dent in the vex metal. This would be a long occupation.

While the detachment worked themselves into a flurry of movement at the threat of their new leader, arming the explosive shanks and gathering supplies. Nok'Keerz busied herself in an abandoned Braytech Lab deep within the Lost Sector. She felt equal parts contempt and envy, as she gazed upon the lost technology of the human's Golden Age preserved within. Nok'Keerz made sure the door was shut before taking a meditative pose as she retrieved a small device from the pouch on her hip. She looked over the strange piece of archaic human tech and ran her coarse, chitinous fingers over its plastic shell. It was something she had retrieved from the depths of the Cosmodrome during her time in the House of Wolves. This tiny box was the reason for her demotion. It was both a memento and a reminder of her disgrace, but she just couldn't bring herself to smash it. She couldn't just cast it back into the cold where it came from, because this small box spoke to her. This ancient human music box held within it an extremely fragile film that sang to her when she jury rigged it to her helmet's audio system.

Though she knew this was not the time, she couldn't stand it any longer. She had to hear it again. Nok'Keerz connected the device and hit the small button on the side. The tape began to play its tune, and her shaking hands calmed, the hoarfrost that had been building upon them receding. These brief moments of calm allowed her time to refine her control over Stasis. This music was a blessing and a curse. On one hand, she would fight with increased ferocity and mental clarity. In its absence, she'd be lost trying to recapture the magic in the music. Several hours would pass, and the world itself faded away as she honed her Stasis to its finest edge, oblivious to the rest of the lost sector.

***

"Hey Mister Arthur-13, thanks a'plenty for agreeing to clear this here lost sector with me." The New Light Hunter hollered from his Sparrow, "It's been a pain in my butt all day!" He did well to follow the comically small golden sparrow that was overshadowed by its colossal orange Titan rider.
"No problem Chuck! Trust me when I say that I have died PLENTY of times in there. It's not easy! Even before the new management you told me about." They flew over the snow and ice as they approached the Concealed Void Lost Sector.
"So some new Salvation bug took hold of the place after Teliks got taken out?"Arthur-13 inquired as the guardians spied two fallen vandals standing outside the entrance to the lost sector. One seemed to be going into depth on the meaning of life while the other gave him an odd look.

"That's right! That new fallen enforcer is no joke! Nearly off'd me for good with that ice of her's had I not snuck out."

"Well how about this time we give them the old reliable?"

"What's that?"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" Arthur-13 screamed to the heavens driving his valiant gold mini-sparrow into a very unaware vandal who was half asleep from exhaustion. He was barely able to react before the mini-sparrow pinned him against the icy wall. A loud *thud* and *crunch* were quickly followed by the gurgled hissings of a dying bug. The sparrow backed away and the body fell limp. The other vandal fumbled for his spear, his charge was cut short as a sniper round splattered his brains across the icy walls. Arthur-13 took some time to admire the aftermath before facing Chuck, "Nice Shot!"

"Thanks man, I love this gun!" Chuck said while rubbing his Long Shadow.

"Very Nice! What perk roll do you have on it?" Arthur-13 hopped off his mini-sparrow.

"Snapshot Sights and Ambitious Assassin."

"That's awesome! I've got Ambitious Assassin on my hand cannon." He brandished his Seventh Seraph Revolver. A Small detachment of Fallen poured out of the entrance. Without missing a beat, Arthur unloaded a staggering twenty-two rounds into the Fallen, reducing them to bloody chunks as the shells from the gun sank into the carapace and exploded. "I don't even know where they come from!" He turns around to a rather awe-inspired Chuck, trying his damndest to make a cohesive statement.

"So did you want to lead the way or shall I?" Arthur-13 gestured at the cave entrance.

"Uh, feel free to blow through the thing. I'll keep sniping from behind, but good luck with that new Enforcer. She's a handful."

"Oh I'm looking forward to it!" Arthur responded with boundless excitement. " I've been a bit restless only repairing folks' homes as of late, so I really need a good fight!" Arthur-13 swung his revolver around while walking down the corridor "Alright! Time to go clubbing!" Arthur's hollering echoed down the hallway. Steeling his resolve, Chuck leveled his sniper and scanned for any oncoming threats. Their mission was now underway.

The Guardians fought their way through Vex Geometry and Fallen Tech. Many of the Eliksni were still scrambled and spread thin in their efforts to fortify the Lost Sector. Their work would go unfinished as the Guardians carved a bloody path within the vex structure. A patrolling dreg was blinded by a flash of Orange as he was scanning the room for threats. The last thing he saw was a Titan standing over the vaporized remains of another Dreg. He would join soon after, as a shot from Chuck's Ace of Spades knocks him into the Radiolarian Pools.

"Two down, plenty more to go!" Arthur-13 laughed as he slid underneath a wall and into the next room. Upon arrival, a mixture of Vandals and Shanks and a heavy shank were ready to fire on the Titan. Arthur-13 smiled beneath his helmet. "YIPE" Arthur-13 yelped at the sudden gathering of fallen. Holstering his pistol, Arthur-13 deployed a barricade that safeguarded him from the volley of shank fire.

"Hey Chuck, y'still there bud?" Arthur-13 turned around hoping his new friend wasn't too far behind. It was rather surprising then when he was nearly face-to-face with a vandal. Even more surprising still was the way it fell forwards. The Vandal's back was scorched and stabbed to hell. Chuck standing over the bug with his knife still in hand, catching his breath.

"Gotcha covered buddy." Chuck drew his Ace of Spades as he stood behind the barrier. In Unison the two let loose a loud cry of "YEE HAW!" as Arthur-13 charged with his crown splitter blade and Chuck fired his Ace at the horde of fallen.

As the body count climbed and the distance to the main chamber of the lost sector became shorter, Arthur-13 hatched a plan to deal with this powerful foe. The final alarm in the chamber blared, alerting Nok'Keerz of the intruding guardian who had been trying to loot this lost sector of its glimmer and resources for the past six hours. She transmatted into the room, scanning the walls as her gaze fell upon the hunter leaning against a nearby wall, flipping a knife?

"Come to perish again, Light-spawn? I'd thought you'd learn by now that I am far out of your league."

"You're not wrong on that! However, I'm not the one you have a date with." Chuck grinned beneath his blue hood as he pointed the knife in his hand to the Enforcer's left side, which caused her to look over and up at the bright orange titan currently traveling at mach 5 towards her face. She quickly ducked the projectile combatant as Arthur-13 sailed overhead and into a nearby ice wall, causing a large crack to form.

"Aww c'mon Arthur! I thought you said you was gonna hit her?!" Chuck grabbed his sniper and leveled it at the Eliksni warrior.

"Yea, Yea my bad!" Arthur-13 said as he climbed to his feet, crown splitter blade in hand. "Didn't expect the bug to duck."

"I AM NO MEER BUG, YOU ORANGE FOOL!" Nok'Keerz rushed Arthur-13 with all four of her fists encased in ice as her eyes turned red. she let loose a flurry of blows into Arthur-13 that overwhelmed his guard and left him vulnerable. Arthur-13's armor dented and sundered under the assault of ice-hard punches from the aggression of the Stasis Enforcer. She smashed through Arthur-13 and pummeled the orange exo to look like a golf ball with all the craters across his body.

"Impudent fool! I'll crush you to dust!" Nok'Keerz hissed.
A final hit sends Arthur flying into the already cracked ice wall behind. Arthur-13 collided with a loud slam then fell to the ground, groaning in agony.

"Gah! HA!" Arthur coughed up blackened exo fluids that seeped out of his helmet.

"Now for that little blue pest!" Nok'keerz clanged her fists together as she stared down the blueberry hunter again.

"HAY!" Arthur-13 yelled, catching the attention of the large eliksni warrior. "I didn't hear no bell."

"There are no bells here you fool!" She turned to face where Arthur-13 was, but then she realized where he actually was when she didn't see him standing against the wall and instead felt two arms wrap around her midsection from behind.

"Then I'll ring your HEAD!" Arthur-13 lifted with all his might and thruster power from his lion rampant and suplexed Nok'Keerz into the ice crack formed by Arthur-13's Thundercrash. Causing the fissure to open further. The Ice fractured, echoing the deafening sound of shattering ice all throughout the chamber as it began to collapse. Arthur-13 was still hanging onto Nok'Keerz as her lower set of arms tried to punch the stubborn titan off her back. The two fell away into the chasm that was quickly forming.

"Arthur!" Chuck cried out as he shielded his face from the debris of falling ice and vex metal. Chuck ran for the exit with viper-like movement as he weaved and darted through the cascade of falling glaciers littered with vex. Chuck powerslid between the legs of a minotaur as he ignited his golden gun. Fanning the hammer into the crowd of vex as he blazed a trail to the surface and leaped through the cave entrance in time to not be crushed by a falling ice chunk the size of a steamroller.

"Arthur-13! Arthur! You ok buddy?! Respond! Over." Chuck blared into his comms as he landed outside, thrusted into the distance by the rush of air leaving the collapsed cave. However, his cries were only met with static when he rolled to a halt. "This is Chuck Dobervan, Vanguard Hunter. We have a man MIA in a collapsed cave! Please respond!" Chuck took his hand off his comm-piece, leaving the S.O.S. signal going. before looking at the collapsed entrance to the concealed void lost sector. "Don't worry you big orange bastard, I won't give up on you that easily." He chuckled as he knelt down to the ice and began moving rubble from the entrance.

45 Minutes Later

Nok'Keerz vision was foggy and fractured, her visors had cracked. As she ripped off her demolished mask from her rebreather, which had a new screeching sound every few breaths, she looked around and saw not but darkness. That was until a hand started glowing bright blue and illuminating the small room with a dull, blue-grey light.

"Hey, you! You're finally awake." The battered orange armor of the titan shone in the light and alerted Nok'Keerz as she quickly tried to stand to her full height, and hit her head on the ceiling of the small ice cave deep underground.

"Woah! Easy! Time out!" Arthur-13 crossed his glowing hands into a T. ``I've been up for a bit, there's no way ou-." Arthur-13's sentence was cut short as he ducked a dark blue light emitting from Nok'Keerz glowing fists.

"I'LL SNUFF OUT THAT DAMN LIGHT OF YOURS!" Nok'Keerz screamed as she crawled on her legs and lower two arms while throwing furious haymakers at Arthur-13, with one catching Arthur-13 square in the jaw and violently jerking his head.

"NEVERMIND! YA DAMN ROACH!" Arthur-13 retorted with his own scream as he matched her attacks blow for blow. Arthur-13 took every miss as an opportunity to land a counter strike that would shatter Nok'Keerz' armor and cause her to violently recoil as if holding onto a ship battery. However the spasms didn't last long and soon Nok'Keerz was back on the attack.

"DIE LIGHT SPAWN!"

"YOU FIRST!"

The two brawlers exchanged blows and laid into each other like savage animals. Both warriors became extremely battered and bloodied over the obscenely long time they were trapped. So much so that every inch of the small room was covered with chunks of armor, eliksni blood, exo blood, or all of the above. Time was irrelevant to them but before long four days had passed and both fighters sat on each end of the room marked by being covered in the respective fighters' blood splatters on the walls, indicating neither gave any ground. Exhausted and exhaling heavily, the two fighters could barely move. Arthur-13 sat with his forearms resting on his knees as his back was against the wall.

"P-Prepare to m-muh-me your Doom!" Arthur-13 tried standing up but then fell back against the wall with a grunt as his head cracked the ice behind.

"Puh-pAthetic light-bulb. I! WILL! KI*cough**cough*." Nok'keerz 'lower two were broken in 6 different places and held against her battered abdomen, the pelt on her back was a fried mess and she heard a constant static from the rebreather. She struggled to hold herself up with her upper right hand that was frostbitten from overuse and convulsing from the left over electrical nerve damage. However, she still held an ice ball formed over her left in case the orange titan had any funny ideas.

"Yea… Yea, you'll kill me. I get it." Arthur-13 sighed as he let himself rest against the ice.

"Welp! I'm having a drink." Arthur-13 reached for one of the thermos' on his belt and began to slowly unscrew it unsuccessfully with his hands twitching constantly and him not being able to feel them. It gets to the point he makes his helmet vanish to show the concave left side of his head and icy coating that locks up the lower half of his face as he starts using his mouth to open the thermos. Nok'Keerz looked confused, and then angered.

"What are yo-?H-how DARE! You think you can consume anything in MY presence." Nok'Keerz' respirator had a new scratching sound with every intake as her upper left and lower right eyes were swollen and bleeding.

"Oh! D-don't like a mid-fight refreshment? come and take it then." Arthur-13's half-functioning left eye gave him a look that dared her to come closer, Nok'Keerz simply scoffed and growled.
"Seeing as I am an esteemed and honorable warrior, I'll grant you a moment's rest." She said as she let herself roll onto her back and dissipate the ice around her upper-left hand. With a heavy exhale she let her lower pair fall and her abdomen pulsed with pain and cracked chitin.

Arthur-13 gave a small laugh as the large eliksni rolled over and splayed herself out over her blood-covered corner of the six-foot ceiling cave. Arthur-13 opened his mouth as wide as he could, grabbed the open top of the thermos filled with hot chocolate, and leaned his head back, chugging the contents in seconds before letting the container clatter to the ground.

"GAH! That's the good stuff!" Arthur-13 exhaled as hot steam rose out of his mouth like a chimney.

"Quiet you insufferable welp!" Nok'Keerz was annoyed at the obnoxiously vibrant titan who's flicking and twitching hands were the only source of light. She soon pulled a spare rebreather and mask from her large pouch. Once she reassembled them with relative ease she then reached for her-

"It's not there? It's not there. Why is it not there?!" Nok'keerz reached around each of her pouches in a panic and found a hole she just noticed in her pouch, where she keeps her device. She leaned up in pain, using her lower two to grab her abdomen again as she looked around the dimly lit room. When she looked at Arthur-13 humming a tune, his helmet reappeared on his head.

"If you're looking for that film device, it's over there." Arthur-13 pointing with his chin to a part of the wall where the blood-border meets. Nok'Keerz pulled herself over with her upper left so she could look down on half the device as it was shattered when the ice collapsed, leaving only scraps of plastic and film.

"No… YO-"

"AH! AH! AH! I DIDN'T DO NOTHIN!" Arthur-13 yelled as loud as his worn body would let him. "I was gonna tell you about it BEFORE you attacked me but-"

"You invaded our territory, YOU are the aggressor."

"Well… yea, but you guys are trying to kill the Last City with darkness voodoo. Plus you guys were really mean to my buddy Chuck."

"The blue one who kept repeatedly doing those weird gestures of yours on the corpses of my subordinates?"

"Ok, we all commit war crimes from time to time. He told me about how you guys ate part of his legs and arms."

"THAT WAS MY WRETCHES! I DON'T DO SUCH THINGS!" Nok'Keerz slammed her fist to the ground with a slight rumble and a splat from the layer of gore.

"Not anymore."
Arthur-13 remained silent. His hands were still as stone so she could see what was left of her device. She picked up the pieces and put them in her pouch, then sealed the hole shut with a small ice patch. The silence droned on for hours, neither speaking. Nok'keerz layed on the ground of the extremely confined room, her head spinning from pain and anger. Her usual mood had been compromised as now she only boiled in her rage. Was this some punishment sent by her Mistress of Darkness? For being so infatuated with such an obscene trinket? Her mind wandered but was brought back to reality when the annoying orange in the corner started to hum louder.

"Would you silence yourself, you… you…"

"Yea? Cmon. What did you come up with this time? Light-spawn? Machine-whelp?" Arthur-13 sat still, himself too worn to move but his armor had been reconstructed by his light in the break they've had.

"Grrr, you! GAh! Whatever! Just stay quiet."

"Well sorry I like to hum along to my music! By the way, nice choice with Gathering Ruler." Nok'Keerz froze, then slowly turned her head towards the light emitting titan.

"Yo-you know that name?"

"Yep! I looked over the film while you were still knocked out and I was looking for a way out."

"Then you know my great shame, I really can't let you live."

"Hey! What's bad about Gathering Ruler? Sure they were only a one hit wonder but tHAA!" Arthur-13 squeaked as an icicle embedded itself in the wall where his head was.

"I'll never hear peace again, but I'll be damned if the last thing I hear is your insufferable tones."

"Then do you want to hear that music again?"

"... What are you planning?" Nok'keerz glared with perplexed anger

"No plans! I have a warlock buddy who LOVES collecting old music and will kill an entire species for just one page of notes. I do wonder how Freddie is doing these days? But anyways! I have that exact album." Arthur-13 slapped the earmuff headphone on his wildwood helmet with his still numb hand. "Right here."

"And what do you want? A crayon?" Nok'Keerz said in a sarcastic tone.

"Heheha, No, all I'm asking is for you!" Arthur-13 pointed at her, using his left arm to lift the other. "To help me!" he pointed to himself. "Out of here!" He pointed to the ceiling, then let his arms fall to his sides. "Last thing I want is to be stuck down here and away from my buddies." Arthur-13 let his head drop slightly.

"...Fine, you give me the file and I'll not try to kill you as we escape."

"Sounds good to me! Now does your helmet have a music player in it that I can send the file to?"

"Of course it-" Nok'Keerz remembered that she was wearing her backup mask, the older model that she had been meaning to replace but never got around to. "It… It does not, my last one had it but SOMEONE slammed my head into a wall!" She glared daggers at the orange.

"My bad! Well then, can your helmet take this kind of plug?" Arthur-13 pulled out a universal interface plug.

"Y-yes, but why does that matter?"

"Well if your helmet has a sound system then I can just plug my helmet into yours so you can listen to the music with me."

"That was NOT part of the deal!"

"Well I'm sorry you're broke and can't have nice things, but it's either listen with me or nothing at all." Arthur-13 offered the cord again.

"... *Sigh* Fine! But once we are out of here I will end you." Nok'Keerz slumped herself against the wall while Arthur-13 got up and limped over to his side of the border and slumped against the wall, handing Nok'Keerz the end of the cord. Arthur-13 then formed a small screen out of light that had the cover art and names of songs displayed as he scrolled over to Engine Work by Gathering Ruler.

"Can I ask a question?" Arthur-13 inquired

"No." Nok'Keerz replied.

"Ok." Arthur-13 responded, then pushed play and leaned against the wall as the music began. The two sat still as they listened to the exact album that Nok'Keerz had a vintage cassette tape of. However this recording was clearer and sounded deeper. She couldn't admit that she was hearing sounds from her favorite song that she never even knew existed until now, her body was too sore to do anything anyways. Nok'Keerz just decided to let herself rest while she could and finally passed out against her side of the blood-walled ice cave. Arthur-13 sat in place and never moved so as to keep the cord connected, and stayed silent to let the large eliksni rest. A pocket in the depths of an ice planet, this was no place for a warrior as good as her to die. He had to get her out. But how? Using a Thundercrash isn't optimal and the light down here was thin, Arthur-13 could barely move still after the match he just had.

"Finally you two are done! I didn't think I'd get the chance, Arthur." William finally appeared and started speaking into Arthur-13's private comms. "It's about time that barbarous bu-"

"AH!" Arthur-13 interrupted.

"What?" William inquired.

"Ex-nay on the bug-ay. It REALLY made her mad. We don't need her waking up."

"Are you actually caring about the opinions of the enemy?"

"Well if we're gonna get out of here I should care, right? Why's that so surprising? Also it's an observation, I'm two for two on her getting livid after saying the b-word. It'd be best to play it safe."

"Arthur-13 you and I both know you enjoy going to the cosmodrome to go "hunting" every now and again, remember?" William rotated and expressed his doubt through his finely jewel-encrusted shell.

"Ok, point made. But, but… look, she's the best fight I've had in a long while and I'd hate for her to end up dying down here in a hole. It wouldn't be right." Arthur-13 slumped deeper against the blood-splattered wall.

"My dear Arthur there are plenty of other stasis-wielding fallen across Europa, including Eramis, that you could drown yourself in, why is this one any different?" William interrogated.

"When's the last time one could punch like that?! She's awesome!" Arthur-13 raised his hands slightly as he said this.

"Wait a moment." William said pointedly, "Did you just… compliment a fallen? My word this is Titan all over again! What with you making more "friends". They don't even know how a soda machine works!" William lamented.

"Hey now those are very complex machines, I was confused too." Arthur-13 mussed. "Plus she seems a bit lost, a warrior of her caliber heading a lost sector is a bit out of place. I would think she'd be accompanying the Kell herself with that kind of power. Wonder what she was doing being assigned here? Maybe helping out some refugees that crashed out in the Asteryon Abyss again?"

"Arthur-13 that is an ENFORCER! The ones who HUNT the refugees!"

"Ok, Look, if she's so bad? Why is she willing to let me, a guardian, play music for her while she sleeps? I could sense it when we fought William, she's misguided, like Crow was. Who's to say this isn't all she's ever known? A lot of Eliksni have some pretty screwed up lives."

"Oh Arthur you hopeless Agonophile,*sigh* Very well."

"Thanks for understanding buddy. Oh! By the way, do you think you can fix her old mask and upload my music library to it? I think she'll fight even harder if she has those on her."

"I'm not your tech support lackey, Arthur, I am a sophisticated individual with-"

"We'll get tickets to the Ballet downtowWwWwn!" Arthur-13 said in a sing-songy voice.

"You mean the one that I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in? Ha Oh! my dear, boy, Arthur-13 you're gonna have to try harder than that."

"Balcony seats AND you get the tiny binoculars."

"... And you wear a nice suit WITHOUT your Lion Rampant."

"fRi!… deal." Arthur-13 succumbed to the demands of Lord William Inigo Laurent XII.

"HAHA!" William bounced around in victory as he got to work repairing the eliksni tech.

"But I get to bring a plus one." Arthur-13 layed down one more claim.

"That's fine Arthur-13, completely fine." William said as a silent beam ran over the mask in the pouch, with a little maneuvering and clever placement, William worked his magic.

"Good job buddy, *Yawn* I think I'm gonna get some shut eye too, see you when things go sideways again William." Arthur let his head drop forward as he passed out.

"Indeed my King, Indeed." William said in a hush tone.

Several hours later

Nok'Keerz awoke from her slumber slowly, her head still beating like her heart was in her brain. However, her body had recuperated enough that she was able to move somewhat and see something was scanning her with a light. Her reflexes reached out her upper left and took a hold of the light source.

"Oh DEAR!" the voice called out as William was grappled by the large eliksni.

"And here you are,(small chuckle) I could crush you so easily." Nok'Keerz hand started to build up frost on William's shell

"Oh come now, you and I both know you have no intent to kill me."

"And what would make you so sure of that, little bauble?" Nok'Keerz glared into the ghost

"Because you and I both know that if that orange orangutan wanted you dead you wouldn't be sitting there."

"How DAR…" Nok'Keerz was about to rear forward until she felt the extra weight resting against her right side. Still passed out was Arthur-13, leaning against the lower-right arm of Nok'Keerz.

"You said it yourself." William spoke up, "That you were an 'Esteemed and Honorable warrior', and right there is all the proof I need."

"What proof?" Nok'Keerz raised a furrowed brow at the ghost's claim

"That what you said was true! His instincts wouldn't allow him to lean against you if he did not trust your word." Nok'Keerz sat statue still, the voice of the annoying bauble drowned out by the internal argument she was having. She could squash his ghost right now and then find her own way out. However, his weight on her arm felt… warm? He was an exo under the helmet? How could he be so warm? He was like a small furnace. Nok'Keerz 'eyes began to grow heavy from the fatigue still on her. "Wuh…Tell me, little light. Why were you scanning me?"

"Measurements and repairs. If I'm to help plan our escape I'll need to take your frame into account. Also you'll find your other mask fully repaired. However, there is a bit of storage taken up by the new music downloaded."

"New music?" Nok'Keerz looked perplexed.

"I did some cherry picking from his library, I picked out what was similar enough and the same time frame as the tape you possessed. A true shame such a relic was destroyed. Tell me, where did you acquire such a thing?" William asked.

",,, (low growl) In what you call the cosmo…brone." Nok'Keerz speech became slurred as she drifted back into sleep, her grip lost on William. The Lord spun his bejeweled shell and casted the frost off as he slowly distanced himself from the chilled enforcer.

"Yes, The cosmodrome, that's where I found him." William gestured in Arthur-13's direction.

"Amazing what can be found, if one is to just simply look. What do you seek?" William asked softly to the tired warrior.

"... Belonging." Nok'Keerz said before letting her head fall away and allow herself to sleep.
"Hmm. Then there might be a chance after all." William spoke in an upbeat tone.

Three Days Later, Back on the Europa Surface

The cave to the Concealed Void Lost Sector was being excavated. Chuck's S.O.S. signal was able to be caught early on and numerous guardians trickled in until a week later a full excavation team was deployed by the Vanguard. Funding and heading the operation was Arthur-13's battle brother, Levia-10. Who is sparing no expense if it means retrieving his comrade Arthur-13. However the digsite crew stared briefly at the incoming ship that was transmitting Vanguard verification codes. Her ship flew low and her transmat manifested a purple-cloaked figure upon the ice-hard surface of Europa. Samsara, Awoken Vanguard Voidlock, approached the camp set up underneath the ice shelving in the Asteryon Abyss. leading to the cave where a modified drill-tank was making excellent progress carving away at the collapsed entrance to the lost sector.

"There you are Levi." Samsara called out to the behemoth titan clad in black, blue, and gold as he was looking over a datapad of charts and seismic readings.
"Ah! Samsara, it is good to see you." Levia-10 nodded in her direction in his lowered, noble tone. "It will take exactly 8 hours, 27 minutes, and 47 seconds to reach the main fork in the lost sector where Arthur-13 would have descended. Assuming he's in that chamber and not one of the twenty eight below it." Levia-10 said as he swiped through the different graphs on the datapad..

"Jeez, Arthur, what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time." Samsara shook her head adorned with her purple nezarec's sin helmet, gazing at the loud machine currently eating away at the ice. "So, is he down there alone or will he be bringing us a horde of vex that are chasing him to the surface"

"From what I gathered in my debrief with the hunter Arthur-13 was working with at the time." Levia-10 walked over and set the datapad down on a pop-up table nearby as he sat in a portal chair.

"He was last seen gripped around the waist of a House Salvation Warrior's Enforcer, a particularly powerful one at that."

"Well," Samsara took the seat on the other side of the small table.

"At least he won't be hungry down there if he has a bug to eat, I almost feel sorry for the thing." Samsara reached from the carved ice wall that was used to cool soft drinks and retrieved a CrowcaCola.

"Funny how that new hunter guy already has a sponsorship deal." Samsara retorted to seeing the awkward smile of Crow on the soda can.

"He's not a bad model, just inexperienced." Levia-10 sat up in his seat, retrieving a Shaxxsta from the wall of soft drinks. "As for Arthur-13, I already have the Vanguard on speed dial for when we see him."

"Light, this is him getting stuck in the Ascendant Plane all over again." Samsara leaned on the back two legs of her chair as it tilted back.

"Or when the Vex tried to steal him during their assault on the city." Levia-10 rolled his eyes.

The two Guardians sat puzzled with their drinks as they reminisced about their troublesome orange friend. Until a loud crashing sound was heard from the cave entrance.
"Oh what could be happening no-MY DRILL!" Levia-10 dropped his drink as he now stared down the massive hole that was now where the lost sector was. "That was a rental, THIS IS GONNA COST ME A FORTUNE!" Levia-10 collapsed to his knees at the edge of the pit. Samsara walked up behind with no visual change in her expression "Well that can't be good." Her helmet disappeared so she could sip from her soda.

Meanwhile, 10 miles below Europa's surface

The rumbling of the small, blood splattered room awoke the two warriors from there slumber as the walls began to shift

"OoOoOh LlIiGHhtT!" Arthur-13 spoke as the floor of the chamber shook violently before falling away to a dark void. Arthur-13 and Nok'Keerz were in a freefall with their former chamber falling just above them.

"WILLIAM! FIND A WAY OUT! NOW!"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING! Ok… Marked!" William shouted as he plotted a course and displayed it in Arthur-13's HUD.

"Alright!" Arthur-13 activated his Lion Rampant thrusters to jet over to Nok'Keerz who was pushing Arthur-13 away.

"Back Off, Lightwhelp! I don't need your help." Nok'Keerz then gathered her darkness energy in a meditative stance similar to the Dark priestess as Nok'Keerz encased herself in a large ball of darkness ice.

"That works!" Arthur-13 shouted as he walked along the surface of the ball, lined up a shot with his thumb, then gave the large ball a ballistic kick that bounced down and out along a ricochet path. The ball plinked off the ice as Arthur-13 pushed the falling, blood-covered ice ceiling to pursue. Nok'Keerz was sent barreling to the bottom of the chasm and clashed with more of Europa's icy crust. She was stuck, but she was safe. It didn't matter if a planet were to fall on her now, she'd weather any storm and simply crawl her way out, like she always did. However as she opened her eyes slightly she saw small streaks of lightning. Her vision focused and she saw how frequent the streaks became, Nok'Keerz was able to see a small orange dot at the tip where the lightning would be. It was that damn titan, running and jumping from falling ice shelf to icicle. Nok'Keerz then saw that dot of orange come closer, and closer until in only thirteen blinks did she suddenly see the orange helmet with the earmuff, barreling down as the rest of Arthur-13's body was an electric outline of his armor. Then the force of an entire hurricane crashed down on Nok'Keerz, sending her drilling into the ice for another mile beneath the frozen planet's crust until the ball stopped. Now Arthur-13 gazed around within a twelve foot wide tube in the ice capped off by the earlier tremendously large debris.

"heheHAHAHA! THAT WAS AWESOME! William PLEASE tell me you recorded that!"

Arthur-13 bounced up and down on top of Nok'Keerz. However, before the large eliksni could release the ice around her and strangle that orange pest, another loud crack was heard beneath her. Arthur-13 stopped bouncing and then both him and Nok'Keerz were in freefall again, this time falling into a large opening in the ice that had the planet's vast ocean beneath. Nok'Keerz fell with a large splash and plunged into the water before bobbing back to the surface. As the stasis pod steadied, the ice began expanding around the ice sphere, forming a small glacial platform before Nok'Keerz burst out from her stasis cocoon. She gazed out at the vast ocean cavern, with the wide ocean only being doted with smaller icebergs that scattered across the distance. When she saw no orange in sight she looked around skeptically, wondering if the block of orange sank into the ocean. As she walked, the ice expanded to accommodate her path along the edge of her small glacier. Looking around the waters, waiting to spot that damn orange, not a stir in the still ocean. Gazing into the deep abyss sent a shiver down even Nok'Keerz' spine as its endless darkness beckoned her to look closer. Until she looked left of her reflection and saw the orange titan hovering high above the water.

"Spooky huh?" Arthur-13 spoke, catching Nok'Keerz off-guard and into a fighting stance with all four hands sheathed in their crystal bludgeons.

"You do know we're not out yet, right? We just went deeper." Arthur-13 crossed his arms while hovering in the air. "I did a scan and found a Vex anomaly fifteen kilometers out, Think you can make a boat?"

"Do I look like an engineer to you? I am a warrior raised from birth to ANNIHILA-"

"Nooooo" Arthur whined "like a simple raft? Y'know? To get around the water?" Arthur-13 gestured to the surrounding void of salty ocean as he drifted over the small stasis island.

"Well… like I said I'm not an engineer so I don't even know how." Nok'Keerz crossed her arms and looked away from the titan.

"Well then can I come down and guide you? I'm running low on woAHH!" Arthur-13's high pitched squeal was then cut short as he fell with an audible crack from his shins snapping in his legs. "Ah HAA! OW LIGHT! AH-HAAA the pain." Arthur-13 knelt from his improv superhero landing. "Ow I really gotta save some to get down." Arthur-13's knees creaked and moaned as he stood up, which distracted him from an odd sound. "Hey did anyone hear a pig just now?" Arthur-13 looked around perplexed.

"Arthur-13, my good man, what makes you think you'll find a PIG underneath the Europan surface?" William spoke as he materialized

"... Mermaid-pigs?" Arthur-13 shrugged, then noticed his ghost was materialized in front of the enemy. "William GET DO-"

"There's no need for that, you orange ouf." Nok'keerz slowly turned her head back towards Arthur-13.

"Oh hey that was a good one." Arthur-13 remarked

"If I'm going to snuff out your light it will be when you are at your brightest!" she held a frosty fist forward."But for now," She dismissed the stasis from her hands, "We work together so as to not die in this hole. Now tell me how to build this… raft?" She crossed her upper right over her stomach so her upper left elbow could rest on her wrist, leaning her chin on the top of her hand as her lower two rested on her large eliksni hips.

"Well," Arthur-13 tapped his index and thumb together which caused a small red light to appear on Arthur-13's index finger. "I'm thinking if you can layer the stasis together and make it nice and long, we can have a lot of speed and not go too deep into the water itself while remaining lightweight." Arthur-13 drew out long and detailed prints in the air using his finger as a marker in the sky that he changed color by tapping his fingers together again. Nok'Keerz was impressed that an… odd light-spawn could actually create detailed plans of how to make and construct with her stasis. As she got to work following his light and filling the outlines with stasis crystals, albeit begrudgingly, they managed to make a sizable and sturdy longship that could accommodate the two.

"Well then light-spawn, what is the point of this tall post you've had me construct in the middle of this raft?" Nok'Keerz glared as she growled through her rebreather.

"Oh right, the sail. Hmm? well we can't make that out of ice, however there's no wind so we'll worry about it later. For now can you make two sticks like this?" Arthur-13 drew two oars, " about… yea that should be long enough." Arthur-13 blew up and stretched the oar of light to fit with the ship, Nok'Keerz then filled the light example object and created a stasis version to fit the space, then made another.

"Awesome! I always wanted to make a ship!"

"Ship? I thought you said this was called a raft? Have you played me for a fool?!" Nok'Keerz' eyes glowed red through her repaired mask as she stared down the exo.

"Nonono a ship is just a bigger raft, and it's a lot roomier than your floating icicle. Now could you please hand me those oars?" Arthur-13 pointed to the two sticks.

"Grr. fine! Just… get us out of here." Nok'Keerz tossed the two oars to Arthur-13 as he caught them clumsily. "Sweet! Thank you!" Arthur-13 then put the oars in place and started rowing.

Nok'Keerz jerked back suddenly. " Wha? Yes. right." staggered out suddenly before sitting down in a meditative posture as Arthur-13 rowed on towards the vex anomaly.

The ship seemed like a small waterstrider on a vast ocean with the overhead sky being the light-blue glow of the Europan ice-solid surface. The glacial ceiling spanned for miles as its glow cascaded down and gave a kiss of the same hue to everything under its light. The boat resonated and showed an eerie dark blue light to contrast the light-blue of the sky. As Nok'keerz meditated, her gaze was drawn in by the dark waters below. The waters being slowly pushed aside by the oars.

"Why do you move so slowly? Hurry along!" she barked through her rebreather.

"Enjoying the view! It's not everyday you see something as beautiful as this. I'll need to get some pictures." Arthur-13 picked the oars out of the water and placed them gently on the deck.

"This won't take a minute."

"It better NOT." Nok'keerz growled.

Arthur-13 then made a small square of light, held it sideways, and started clicking away. taking pictures of the underground glacier, himself with the glacier, the boat, the boat and the glacier, himself and the boat, and then… her. Arthur-13 had Nok'Keerz in his sights and was ready to take the shot but was finding himself at a pause. She looked sad, a sadness he was familiar with.
"Hey. Want me to take your picture?" Arthur-13 offered.
"And give you a record of me for your Vanguard? No."
"Who said anything about the Vanguard? If you want I could take it and give it to you?"
"And what is to prevent you from holding onto a copy?"
"My word. It would be rude to fight and tell without your approval. If you don't want anyone knowing I won't tell a soul. Wouldn't be the first secret I've kept from the Vanguard. There was that time I pushed my buddy Devil-3 off the tower for twenty glimmer. But I gave the glimmer to him and we've been friends ever since. He showed me how to dive off the tower in the right neighborhoods so the property tax stays low."

"...You're a wordy little orange aren't you?" Nok'Keerz narrowed her gaze from her seat.

"Yep!" Arthur-13 agreed.

"*Sigh*" Nok'Keerz used her upper-right hand to hold her head. "Fine! But then you take us straight to that vex anomaly you spoke of. No stops, no breaks!" Nok'Keerz glared as she took her hand off her head to point it at the titan.

"Deal!" Arthur-13 reached out and shook her large eliksni finger.

"What. Are. You. Doing? Did I say to touch me?" Nok'Keerz wrenched her digit from the orange titans warm grip.

"Oh! I thought we were agreeing on the deal? Do Eliksni not have a similar gesture?"

"I-*sigh*, just take the picture."

"Right! Thanks!" Arthur-13 then got positioned to take the picture. Nok'Keerz simply cast her gaze back over the water, unknowingly giving Arthur-13 the angle he needed to capture her, the boat, the ocean, and the vast blue glacial sky all in one picture. Arthur-13 took the picture, then lowered the camera made of light to gaze on the view himself. This was a new feeling, Arthur-13 gazed at the eliksni enforcer's profile and found himself mesmerized and unable to look away. Arthur-13 then snapped back to reality and walked over to the oars and began rowing again, this time much faster as the ship glided across the water at a breakneck pace. The stasis longship made headway for the location William marked in the distance. While Arthur-13 rowed, Nok'Keerz decided to switch her mask and rebreather back to the repaired, white and blue mask marked by House Salvation. As she pulled it out she looked back at the rowing titan and then back to the mask before resuming switching them out. Once Nok'Keerz had her more advanced mask and rebreather on she resumed sitting in her meditative posture and did find having an actual database of the music she found long ago quite pleasant. Now she can tap into the music and listen whenever she wants. It took a good deal of time, blood, and glimmer to afford such a luxurious helmet in the first place. To her dismay, she never did find some way of copying the tape-box to code or someone to do it or found the time. As Nok'keerz now scrolled through her new music library she noticed what the little bauble was talking about. Hundreds of songs with so many weird names. This Dru'Deck seemed like a good start. She played the first song on the list called "Acquire Five'' and let the music play on. It was utterly beautiful to hear. She was calmed by the smooth sounds of the wind instruments as the metal vibrations sent shivers through her carapace. It felt safe, too safe. She felt her form fall lax and her concentration become engrossed in the music. Was this still fatigue from the fight with the orange? Still? No. This was calm. She felt as if there were no threats around? But the light-spawn was right there?! moving the ship. Arthur-13 sat facing her as he longstroked the oars through the water at a lightning-fast pace and had William hovering above and instructing him.

"Very Good Arthur-13! Keep it up! At this rate we'll be at that vex installation in less than half an hour." William informed as he twirled and spun around Arthur-13.

"Sweet! Hey by the way, can I ask you a question?" Arthur-13 asked Nok'Keerz

"No." Nok'Keerz replied

"Ok." Arthur-13 continued to row.
The sailing was simple and Arthur-13 kept up his pace to the approaching anomaly. It appeared as a small island made of perfectly square vex material. As the longship neared, there was a sudden bump underneath that caught the attention of the two warriors.

"AH! Oh, that spooked me. What did we hit?" Arthur-13 looked over to where he heard the bump.

"We had a deal, light-spawn, No stopping." Nok'Keerz stared at Arthur-13 with murderous intent.

"It's fine, gotta make sure the ships' ok anyhow." Arthur-13 got up and looked over the side of the longship. "Oh! What do we have here? It's bulky but I can get it." Arthur-13 reached into the water. Nok'Keerz glared at the titan, who was on his knees and leaning into the water. She thought of expanding the ice from the boat to hold his head underwater. Or maybe run him through with an ice blade? Nok'Keerz sat and toyed with the idea as she looked over the strange titan. His bulbous pauldrons, that horrendous shade of orange, and the oddly large and round armor on the titans' rear. Wait, wasn't he wearing a satchel? She looked around the boat and saw the titan's cloth sack next to the seat for him to row in. As Nok'Keerz noticed the orange guardian struggling with hauling the unknown object, she quickly crawled over to the seat, reached her upper left over and unzipped the top of the bag. Nok'Keerz then reached inside and grabbed a fistful of what felt like wax. She then quickly went back to her spot on the end of the ship and resumed her meditative posture.

"Huuurgh! OH! Man, this thing is dense and BULKY!" Arthur-13 struggled as he lifted what appeared to be a small submarine onto the ship. Arthur-13 bent his knees and slowly lowered the aquatic device onto the deck of the ship as William scanned over the rather ancient technology.

"Oh I do say this is a SPLENDID surprise!" William bobbed and flew in circles of delight. "This, My dear fellows, is a BrayTech aquatic surveillance system. An older form of environmental scanning from the Clovis Bray foundation."

"Wow William! How'd you know all that?"

"It's written on the side." William gestured to the side of the machine. Displayed on the chassis was the Clovis Bray Foundation logo with a mk.6 designation towards the bottom.

"Does it still function?" Nok'Keerz looked over the oval shaped water camera.

"YES! It does! I can follow the signal back to the foundation and get a message out to those with access!"

"And who would that be?" Nok'Keerz gave a skeptical glare.

"ELSIE!" Arthur-13 blurted out.

"Correct Arthur! Go get a crayon from your satchel as a reward."

"YAY!" Arthur-13 walked over to the seat that had his satchel leaning against it. Meanwhile Nok'keerz was looking into her upper-left hand that still held the… oh. Nok'Keerz opened her palm and saw nothing but a fistfull of crushed crayons wrapped in paper and marked with 'Wayola Crayons' logos.

"Wait a minute? Hey William! Did you take a fistful of crayons out? I'm missing some."

"Arthur-13 that bag is an advanced relic of the golden age that can store an extremely large amount of useful supplies. Yet you insist on only using it to store your absurd amount of Wayola snacks. How can you even keep track of how many you have?"

"Because there's a large, fist sized hole in the crayons." Arthur-13 held the bag up and the clear divot in the sea of crayons that was Arthur-13's satchel was made apparent. When he held up his bag, Arthur-13 noticed Nok'Keerz looking at her hand. Full of smashed crayons.

"OH! I didn't know you liked crayons! If you wanted some you could have asked, I'm always happy to share." Arthur-13 offered the bag in Nok'Keerz direction.

"I! What? This is some wax? Color? Thing? This isn't edible?!" Nok'Keerz hissed through her rebreather.

"Fallen aren't usually allies. Guardians don't usually use the darkness. But here we are in times of both. I think you have to either be a titan or acquire the taste, but nothing is ever as it seems. That's something my buddy Kandri told me one night while at the ramen stand. A real ray of sunshine, that guy. It was so late I could have mistaken him for the sunrise!"

"Is there a break between here and the point, fool?" Nok'Keerz grew impatient with the guardians' ramblings.

"Right! Sorry'!" Arthur-13 scratched the back of his neck, "The point is that because something exists as one thing, doesn't mean it can't be used in another manner. What was once a piece of wax can become either a snack, or a beautiful work of art." Arthur-13 grabbed a handful of crayons and started drawing on the bleach white pod. "What was once a giant egg shaped camera, is now." Arthur finished up covering the pod in crayons. "Is now a giant WATERMELON! With a smiley face." Arthur-13 gestured profoundly to his crude representation of a watermelon that the camera was slightly resembling with all the smudged wax all over it. "What was once an enemy," Arthur-13 offered Nok'Keerz a purple crayon, "Can become a friend."

"... I'm going to die down here aren't I?" Nok'Keerz held her forehead with her unwaxed hand and gave a heavy sigh of confusion "Please go back to rowing." She turned around and sat down on the end of the ship and washed her hand in the waters of Europa.

"Sure thing!" Arthur-13 happily got back in his seat and resumed his rowing pace while William worked on the camera signal.

30 minutes later, On Europa's surface.

The Exo Stranger, Elizabeth Bray, rode to the Asterion Abyss after one of her friends asked for her assistance. Elizabeth's sparrow rode towards what was once a lost sector and is now a massive sinkhole that swallowed a large portion of iced surface, leaving only a network of vex structures spiraling down into the misty depths of unknown peril. Along the edge of the hole was an impromptu camp with numerous guardians being moved in and out as Levia-10 provided contracts and bounties to those exploring the hole.

"Looks like they have you working full-time," Elizabeth commented as she steered her sparrow over and parked next to the pop-up tent Levia-10 was working from. "I would have expected you to pawn this job on someone else, Why are you here?"

"Thank you for coming Elsie, I called you to a-" Levia-10 was cut off as a ringing came from Elizabeth's comms.

"What the? Why am I being contacted by? My Father? What does that vat of radiolaria want with me?" Elsie then opened up the video request and her darkness skyfish projected the incoming feed.

"ARTHUR?!" Levia-10 spoke dumbfounded as he saw his jubilant orange friend bouncing up and down on a large stasis ship.

"HI ELSIE!"

"Hello Arthur-13, what did you do this time?" Elsie asked calmly.

"I missed a thundercrash and got stuck under the ice. But I made a friend!"

"That's wonderful, Arthur. Your brother Levia-10 wishes to speak with you." Elizabeth had the screen rotate towards Levia-10.

"Brother Arthur-13 what are you on about being stuck under the ice? Wait, are you THAT DEEP! And who is this new friend of yo-" Levia-10 was cut short as a loud screech was heard through the comms, then in an instant something knocked the camera over into the water with Levia-10 last seeing Arthur-13 being tackled by a-

"IT'S THAT LIGHT-DAMNED BUG! HOW HAS ARTHUR-13 NOT KILLED THAT SLIMY ROACH YET?!" Levia-10 screamed in anger seeing the fallen attack his battle-brother. The feed cut out as dozens of lasers were seen shooting at the boat.

"Arthur?! ARTHUR!" Levia-10's usual calm had been compromised

"Calm Down Levi," Elizabeth rested her right hand on Levia-10's shoulder, "This is Arthur-13 we're talking about, he's gotten himself in worse situations before." Elizabeth then patted Levia-10 on the back.

"Yo! Elsie!" Samsara piped up as she approached the camp from a makeshift ramp that descended into the pit. "How's the ice training going these days? Still up for poker at your place?"

"Ah Sammy! It's so good to see you! New lights are being shown that the darkness can be used for good thanks to the efforts of The Guardian and other practiced stasis wielders. Also the poker game may have to wait. It seems Arthur-13 will be late."

"How so?" Samsara inquired.

"He's under the ice, and still fighting that DAMN FALLEN!" Levia-10 formed an icicle in his hand only for it to shatter with his trembling fist.

"Wait? That Enforcer? It's still alive?" Samsara looked to the fuming Levia-10 with confusion and mild surprise.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about the fallen." Elizabeth hopped back onto her sparrow. "I'd say they're getting along quite well." She then sped off back to her camp near the pyramid ziggurat.

"Samsara, could you please clarify what she meant by "getting along?" Levia-10 resumed his normal cold composure.

"I don't know why you're looking at me. I can never get a read on that woman." Samsara shrugged as a guardian tapped the little bell on Levia-10's portable desk. Only for the two guardians to see a massive line had formed by other guardians waiting to grab bounties.

"Traveler," Levia-10 lamented, "This is gonna be a long... Samsara can you?" Levia-10 looked to where Samsara was but then realized she was already handing out bounties left and right.

"OK! Ten minotaur kills for you! 25 headshots without dying for you! And gather 15 Glacial Starwort for you. Alright, who's next!" Samsara held up a stack of bounties as the guardian crowd threw up their hands.

Meanwhile, Below Europa's surface.

"Her name is-" Arthur-13 was cut short when a loud unintelligible eliksni scream caught him off-guard and the large warrior's enforcer tackled Arthur-13 to the deck of the ship

"STAY DOWN YOU GIBBERING ORANGE FOOL!" She screamed at Arthur-13 while her full weight was on top of him as he barely caught sight of red laser fire coming from port-side. Nok'Keerz raised the ship's wall to allow full cover for her and sprang up with two shrapnel launchers, one in each lower hand. As the fire stopped, Nok'Keerz peered around the side, she was suddenly pulled by her belt and saw a red flash of light cross a millimeter from her vision.

"Their angle is going wider, they're trying to flank us!" Arthur-13 materialized his Arsenic Bite-4b longbow.
"Are you seriously going to throw sticks at them?" Nok'Keerz blind fired one of her shrapnel launchers around the corner as she scoffed at the guardians armament. Arthur-13 ran up the icewall and flew to the top of the main mast. Mid-flight he knocked an arrow, gazing down his sight-lense to reveal the red outlines of cloaked vex hobgoblins, minotaurs, and hydras. All of them seemingly standing on nothing but water.

"Oh me oh my!" Arthur-13 landed on the topmast with his left foot. "We've got VEX!" Arthur-13 screamed as he lined up a shot with a hobgoblin core. Arthur-13 loosed the arrow but missed as the hobgoblin teleported and fired back, with all of the other vex as well.

"Do please try not to die down here Arthur, there's so little light that it'd take me far too long to revive you." William warned Arthur-13 as he bounded and twisted through the air as he dodged the larger shots while having the lesser rounds bounce off his pauldrons.

"Roger William. Let's see if we can shed some light on the situation." As Arthur-13 backflipped off the topmast and began floating, he loosed an arrow into a hobgoblin, hitting it in the eye and deactivating its cloaking field. The bot immediately went into repair mode as the arrow vanished and its lens was restored. This was the only vex to survive the onslaught of molten projects from Nok'Keerz twin shrapnel launchers as the rest of the surrounding hobgoblins were decimated before they had the chance to activate their regeneration. Nok'Keerz ducked back into cover as she saw two large purple projectiles appear from seemingly nowhere.

"Woah! That's a spicy pair you've got!" Arthur-13 complimented her carnage.

"Shut it orange! Try to actually HIT The enemy." Nok'Keerz hissed at him through her rebreather as she ducked back from the minotaur fire.

"What? Like this?" Arthur-13 said as his arrow found purchase in the radiolarian core of the surviving hobgoblin that unfortunately had the advancing cloaked minotaurs flanking it. The Hobgoblin exploded in a shower of lightning and confetti, accompanied by the laughter of children and small fireworks.

"What in the darkness?" Nok'Keerz looked befuddled
"WOOO! I love it when I do that!" Arthur-13 screamed from above the topmast as he loosed another arrow while he hovered in the air. This one hitting its mark on the right minotaur and then exploding, vaporizing the left minotaur in another shower of confetti and fireworks. Before Nok'Keerz could question if there was something wrong with her ether tank, she was then bombarded by the two hydras.

"I bet my silence for the rest of the time we're down here that I can kill a hydra faster than you!" Arthur-13 bet while squating on the top mast as he landed on it again. Nok'Keerz heard the offer and knew this orange ketch-scrap was playing a card she couldn't refuse. She had her darkness, Nok'Keerz was in her element, she knew she could win.
"Alright, Orange light. I'll play your game. If you win I'll answer that question you keep pestering me about, Deal?" Nok'Keerz looked above to the titan as he manifested a large green blade.

"DEAL!" Arthur-13 readied his crown splitter blade, blasting his Belenus Boosters to overdrive as he charged for the hydra. Nok'Keerz had time to blink once before the bright orange was above the left hydra, she glared at the hydra with all her malice. She kicked over the ice wall she had been using for cover and then unleashed her upper two for the sky, two chains of ice formed around her wrist and connected to the topmast of the ship. She heaved forward with all her might and caused the longship to capsize, the topmast now in her hands. In her swift thinking Nok'Keerz brought the longship down on top of her hydra in unison with Arthur-13's crown splitter heavy slam. Both hydra's were instantly vaporized by different means of complete decimation. One felt the force of a black hole power a blade that ended the silicon scrapheap. The other had an entire longship made of stasis crystals hit it square over the hydra's shields and flatten the heavy vex unit. The darkness shaped vessel detonated in a massive Ice-splosion that reduced the flattened vex into fine snowflakes that exploded. A stasis mist befell the spot on the vast ocean beneath the glowing glacier sky with only two voices yelling out.

"HA! You lose Light-welp! You can proceed with staying silent!"

"That's a load of scrap! I was already on top of mine before you even had the mast in hand! I told you that would come in handy!"

"*Sigh* Fine! What is your absurd question?" Nok'Keerz facepalmed

"What's your name?" Arthur-13 asked.

"I, what, why do you care about my name? I want to murder you!"

"And I want to know the name of the warrior who gave me the greatest fight of my life!" Arthur-13 yelled with surprising volume. Nok'keerz was stunned, and confused.

"What do you mean greatest fight? Is this some kind of game?!" Nok'Keerz raised a frosty fist towards the titan.

"I mean what I said. I enjoyed fighting you and nearly dying more than any other opponent I've faced. Quria, Panoptes, The Barons, the Deep Stone Crypt, Insurrection Prime, The Shattered Throne, The Hell Pit, all of it wasn't half as good a fight as those… What week? Hours? Who cares! The point is, You're an amazing warrior. If I must perish at your hand, then so be it. But I'd at least like to know the name of my slayer."
"You are the most insane light-spawn I have ever met. I wouldn't give my name to you if it were my last breath." Nok'Keerz said plainly.

"Oh c'mon! We had a deal!" Arthur-13 exclaimed as the vex structure began to rumble.

"The deal is off! I have no interest in associating anymore with your weird, warm, light spewing, harebrained, wretched words." Nok'Keerz shooed the titan away with her lower left as her upper two were crossed, she looked away from the orange guardian with a huff from her rebreather.

"*Sigh* FINE! I should have known a damn roach wouldn't honor their agreement, try to make a fun little wager and then-"

"What did you call me?!" Nok'Keerz turned back with her eyes glaring red at the orange guardian. Ignoring the noise coming from the increased rumbling noises.

"Since I can't call you anything else I called you a DAMN! DIRTY! CREEPY! CRAWLY! BUG!" Arthur-13 screamed as he turned back with his eyes glowing white with lightning. Both were ready to start throwing blows at each other when they realized the ground began to shift beneath them. The colossal vex structure began to warp and change with the two bickering warriors stuck in place on a square that slowly had an electric fence around it. Around the area rose great walls that encapsulated the arena and shed bright light all around. The two warriors now found themselves stuck in an electrical vex cage.

"GREAT! Now we're stuck in here! I knew I should have just ran you through while you were out." Arthur-13 let the lightning dissipate from his eyes as he walked away to the other side of the cage.

"Like you would even have the chance, light-spawn."

"I DID HAVE THE CHANCE!" Arthur-13's voice boomed in the confined vex cage. His voice bounced off the walls and floor that surrounded the containment field like a wrestling arena. Catching Nok'Keerz off guard as the orange finally snapped.

"Every fiber, fluid, and bit of metal in my body said to cut your head off in your sleep, while YOU were knocked out! Remember?" Arthur-13 stepped forward, his footstep denting the floor of the arena. "But no. I spared you, thinking you'd look past all that darkness-light war hogwash because you were a clever and 'worthy' opponent. Because you threw punches that made my head spin in place." Arthur-13 took another step, reigniting the spark in his eyes. "Because you've probably had a scrap life and I wanted to help you! After all, I haven't met one eliksni who hasn't had a past of doing something against humanity while also having a horrible story involving the death of someone close to them!"
"Enough of this!" Nok'Keerz grew tiresome of the guardians ramblings and opened a barrage of fists into Arthur-13. Each and every strike connected, However, Arthur-13 just ate them. His posture didn't change, his helmet never moved. "Wh-What?! H-HOW! WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE." Nok'Keerz threw a heavy right haymaker for Arthur-13, he responded by headbutting the frozen fist. The stasis shattered against the orange helmet, Nok'Keerz grip loosened and suddenly her arm was in the grasp of the titan. His grip was hot, Nok'Keerz saw the smoke coming from her arm as the titan's grip tightened.

"I. WON'T. DIE!" Arthur-13 twisted his grip, forcing the large eliksni to take a knee.

"Because!" Nok'Keerz was now eye level with the titan and saw the mixture of fire and lightning in his eyes, with her response being a left swing that was quickly intercepted.

"BECAUSE!" Arthur-13 gripped her upper pair, each arm caught in a hold that Nok'Keerz could not wrench free from. The heat emanating from the orange guardian was like that of a sun, Nok'Keerz couldn't maintain the ice around her lower two as she began to bake in the heat. Was this her end? Has this guardian finally had enough? These thoughts were quickly dashed away when in an instant the titan released his grip and let the heat around him dissipate.

"Because I can't get you out of my head." Arthur-13 dropped his arms as the fire in his eyes vanished.

"What?" Nok'Keerz didn't pull away and instead just knelt on one knee as she gazed at the titan with a perplexed and flustered look.

"Oh! I don't know what it is!" Arthur-13 turned away and gripped his head with both hands, shaking it back and forth. "Ever since we fought I haven't been able to stop thinking without including you. So… yea."

"I-I… Yu" Nok'Keerz tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out.

"I get it! You'll kill me! I might as well hand you William so I won't have to listen to this."

"Arthur-13! How, Dare You!" William appeared in front of the pouting titan. "After all we've been through and times we've shared you'd throw me! Lord William Inig-"

"Inigo Laurent the twelfth! Yes WIlliam! Yes I Would! Oh Even better! How about I off myself and you leave my body behind to go find that precious warlock you've always wanted!"

"Arthur-13! I would never!"

"Yes you would William! Samsara told me! Face it, I shouldn't even be here." Arthur-13 walked to the corner of the cage. "I should have never been a guardian." Arthur-13 sat with his head in his knees as he faced the corner. Nok'Keerz gazed at the orange titan. What was this feeling? A sense of curiosity? A desire to know more? Why did she feel concerned for… him?

"*sharp inhale* If I give you my name." Nok'Keerz spoke.

"Keep it! I don't want your damn name anymore." Arthur-13 sharply cut off the Eliksni enforcer before she could speak more.

"Gah! Whatever you warm worm!" Nok'Keerz threw her hands up in frustration and then occupied the opposite corner of the vex cell. The droning silence of the cell called back to the small ice cave, Nok'Keerz simply looked over her weapons and the burned armor and arms she now had.

"Need some help with that?" She heard from her helmet's communications

"So you did more than add music. What do you want, little bauble?" Nok'Keerz asked in a dismissive tone.

"Well considering you're more open to talk than my own guardian at the moment, I was wondering if you'd like me to repair your armor?" William offered

"Seeing as I have no other way," Nok'Keerz held her arms out. "It would be appreciated."

"Well! You're certainly more agreeable." William remarked before he went to work on repairing Nok'Keerz armor.

"Wil'am? Yes?" Nok'Keerz tried pronouncing.

"William. Try another E after the Wil." The Lord instructed

"Wil'Eam?"

"Close enough, what did you need?" William asked as he still restored the fibers and materials of Nok'Keerz arms.

"He, the orange, said he should have never become blessed by the great machine? Why is that?" Nok'Keerz tilted her head to the side.

"Oh! That story.*sigh* If I tell you this please keep it closely guarded, it's not something I or Arthur enjoy hearing about. These were… dark times."

"Not even under threat of docking will I tell a soul." Nok'Keerz nodded.

"Very well. First I must ask you, are you aware of an event known as the Red War?" William inquired

"Ah yes! I remember my bastard of a father laughing when he saw the huge cage on the tower. I remember finding it quite amusing myself." Nok'Keerz hid a smirk beneath her helm.

"That was Arthur-13's first day as a guardian." William looked down and had to stop working on the armor.

"What?" Nok'Keerz' tone turned from one of amusement to shock.

"I remember that day, I was meeting with a merchant from outside the city. That day I saw a star, shining in the distance that just… beaconed me closer. He's not wrong when I said I was looking for a warlock. I had amassed a wealth of resources for his arrival! Armor, guns, a house. It is amazing what you can achieve with some words and glimmer." William boasted. "But I digress. That day I found his shiny white head with its two blue little lines and immediately resurrected him with hardly a look-over. Oh William you beautiful fool."

"You arose him, by accident?" Nok'Keerz raised a brow to this information. Also all this knowledge of how well ghosts could operate in the last city, as well as how guardians are actually created.

"Well yes, but actually no." William gave a so-so look as he twirled his shell and resumed repairing Nok'Keerz armor.

"I told myself I would have a shining star for a guardian, I believe I did find him. However when he first arose, Arthur-13 was innocent." William let out a heavy sigh.

"What do you mean by… innocent?" Nok'Keerz asked.

"You said you found your tape in the Cosmodrome, correct?"

Nok'Keerz nodded

"So you're familiar with the wonderful hospitality it offers?"

"I'm familiar with fighting off dregs for scraps, then… gathering other means of sustenance." Nok'Keerz looked away from the ghost.

"Well then you'd be happy to know that when Arthur first saw a vandal, he tried to hug it. He exclaimed 'they have four arms, they're obviously made for hugs.' Then the vandals stabbed him in the sides. I raised him again and again and it wasn't until the seventh time I revived him that Arthur-13 got the idea to hug them hard enough so he wouldn't fall asleep after." William explained. Nok'Keerz was slightly endeared by the story.

"He? Did not try to kill? I heard that the new guardians are the most bloodthirsty. My father told me about them."

"Most of the time your bastard of a father would be correct, but Arthur-13 was, well is, a gentler soul. However I wouldn't see that side of him for quite some time after the fall of the city." William grimaced. "We had been guided to the Last City by Samsara, the first other guardian we'd met. When we came into range the first thing we saw was the column of smoke coming from the tower. As we got closer, Samsara was pulled away to help on other fronts. As cruel as it was to leave Arthur-13 she thought it better he survive on his own instead of facing the extremely powerful enemies she was being called away to deal with. Samsara did instill Arthur-13 with his core virtues that day. She spoke to him
'Protect the Weak, Smite the Wicked, that is your job, got it?' and by my word did he get it." William said with pride as he finished repairing Nok'Keerz armguards.

"This is the first time I've been around your kind. It is strange that, even after our fight to the death he still…" Nok'Keerz drifted into silence as she failed to find the proper human word.

"Cares about you? I understand your confusion. Arthur-13 only developed the palette for combat after Lord Shaxx personally threw him into the Crucible. Ever since then fighting has been one of Arthur-13's favorite things. That and building, helping build, helping cook, helping clean, helping fight! Now that's his absolute favorite. In case you didn't see the pattern, Arthur-13 likes to help. After all that's why he was down here to begin with."

"He… enjoys… helping?" Nok'Keerz was confused. "In my younger moltings, I was taught to fend for myself. My father may have been an ether hoarding oil rag but he knew how to survive. When I joined House Salvation, It sickened me to realize how right he was." Nok'Keerz clinched her lower left into a fist.

"Well who's to say he was? After all, I wouldn't call Eramis' recent actions exactly 'sustainable' , what with allying with pirates in possession of darkness artifacts."

"In possession of what?" Nok'Keerz was surprised, she never heard about thes. Had she really fallen that far down the ladder?

"Small vessels of some kind, I personally tried to analyze one to determine resale value only to find they REEK of a horrid stench. *shiver* I can still remember the smell, and I lack any form of nostril." William flashed back to the first time Arthur-13 found one after helping deal with the Blademasters, Thagh'Urn and Tagh'Al.

"I see, then, there really is no place for me to call home." Nok'Keerz looked dour.

"That is not actually true," William commented.

"What do you mean?" Nok'Keerz raised her brow at the little light.

"Well like I said, Arthur-13 helps above all else. He's done a huge amount for the Eliksni living in the city. From helping erect new structures to aiding in the repair of House Light's shrine to the Traveler, Arthur-13 lives and dies to not only protect, but support. 'Titans are strong so that they may lift others when they feel weakest' I've never seen a guardian do it with as big of a smile as his." William expressed with a deep sense of pride.

"I wouldn't have been able to crush that hydra so easily were it not for his plans in designing the ship. And it would seem that… he is of a giving nature. Maybe that… mindset is beneficial." Nok'Keerz crossed her arms as she looked away.

"Oh My! So it is true! Ohhhohoho!" William laughed in a coy manner.

"What is so funny, little bauble!?" Nok'Keerz eyes glowed red with murderous intent.

"*cough*cough* Oh forgive my frosty impression but yes, you would be correct in thinking working together is beneficial to our survival, yes, very good. However this still doesn't solve the problem of mister grumpy-boots over there." William looked back to Arthur-13 who was still sitting in the opposite corner with his head in his knees.

"Still cursing me is he?" Nok'Keerz checked her music library and began to select a track.

"No, sadly only himself." William answered plainly.

"What? Himself? For what?" Nok'Keerz inquired towards the ghost.

"...After the city fell, and the traveler was caged. Arthur-13 panicked at the thought of dying permanently and ran as far into the woods as he could, then hid under a rock. I explained to him that he needed to eat, and then he made me regret those words. He started eating whatever meat he could find, he'd gobble things down like a wild animal! He'd never become sick from eating anything. But I certainly did when… oh traveler no…" William simply looked away and floated low to the ground.

"What troubles you? What transpired?" Nok'Keerz carefully wrapped her upper two hands around the bejeweled ghost as William floated in her large eliksni palms.

"I-I'm sorry I cannot talk about that day. It disgusts me so much!" William's shell shivered.

"You have spoken a great deal, Wil'Eam, so I feel it is my turn to share." Nok'Keerz stood up and walked behind Arthur-13, standing over the titan and catching a whisper

"Damn idiot, if you hadn't been brought back those hatchlings wouldn't have-"

"Nok'Keerz" She stated plainly.

"Huh?" Arthur-13 picked his head up from his knees, as he stared straight up to see the large eliksni enforcer standing over him.

"My name," she knelt and then wrapped all four arms around the orange guardian. "Nok'Keerz, that is my name." She then tightened her hold on the titan, drawing his helmet against the fur pelt she wore. "I was hatched in what you call the cosmodrome, born from the House of Wolves. My father was a wolf guard and started to teach me his ways. Despite him not being able to keep his mandible straight and… hitting me with an ether bottle when he thought I did not learn his lesson, he taught me how to survive. Before the Taken War, my father abandoned me. I had to scrounge through the dirt, steal, kill, and lie to survive. The first human I came across… was a welp, not even 4 or 5 molts. I… I…" Nok'Keerz 'arms began to tremble before she felt two large arms reach across her chest as Arthur-13 returned the hug to the large eliksni.

"Did what you had to do to survive." Arthur-13 nuzzled his helmet into Nok'Keerz armor. "I get it." The two stayed embraced for what felt like a small minute before letting go, then looking into each other's lenses.

"It's strange, Never in my days have a sensed one as warm as you…Ar'Tur-13." Nok' Keerz complimented.

"Thanks. You're… cool. Like really cool. I… can't really think of any other words." The two realized the awkward prolonged lens contact and broke their gaze from one another.

"Oh! Sorry for staring. Like I said you're… cool."

"No! I-It's fine I-I was meditating with my eyes open is all! *low snarl* Why are we trapped in this DAMN CAGE!" Nok'Keerz slammed the electrified walls only to have her punch bounce off and throw her off balance, causing her to shove the unaware Arthur-13, knocking him to the ground as he let out a high pitched squeal.

"oooWAAAH!" Arthur-13 fell with a thud and heard another odd sound. "WHY AM I BEING HAUNTED BY BACON! IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU'RE DELICIOUS!" Arthur-13 ranted as he picked himself up from the ground. Looking around the room for the source of the ghost pig.

"*Sigh* Whatever! Now as for getting out of here, I have the perfect thing!"
Arthur-13 reached into his satchel, going elbow deep in the crayons, then wrenching out from the Wayola filled bag a Splicer gauntlet. Then dawning the glove on his right hand as he began to access the local vex network.

"You? Are a Splicer?" Nok'Keerz stood up as the orange titan began to look over multiple different screens of white vex code that hovered in front of his helm.

"Yes Ma'am, I am! With extra emphasis on the Sacred!" Arthur-13 said as he happily typed out on a three-by-three set of holo cubes with his right hand gloved in the splicer gauntlet. "Oh! So that's why the vex locked us in here." Arthur-13 then manifested a large screen of light for Nok'Keerz and William to see what was going on.

In the Asterion Abyss

"INCOMING!" Samsara screamed from her cover as another vex goblin ballistic slammed into the sandbags she was using for cover. She shot it twice in the radiolarian core with her riiswalker shotgun as the robot was blasted into another, causing both to detonate in electrical light and stasis crystals. Minotaurs charged in with wild abandon swinging swords twice as large as them, cleaving unfortunate guardians in half only for the remains to be flattened when they rolled as unstoppable boulders of stasis ice. Though the guardians came back, there would be ten more vex of varying oddities that caused most light bearers to retreat from the brutal onslaught.

"Samsara, This is Commander Zavala, What's the situation?" The Vanguard titan's epic voice rang through the void warlock's comms.

"We've got hordes of unordinary ve…" Another confetti explosion is heard when a hobgoblin floats above on rocket feet and snipes Chuck, his head bursting into arc light and party favors. " Unordinary vex with abilities of light and LOOK OUT!" Samsara screamed as a wyvern slammed its way through the guardian's cover. This was one unlike any she'd ever seen before as the wyvern possessed four arms with each ending in a spiked stasis mace-fist. The wyvern charged Samsara ready to unleash a flurry of powerful blows, but not expecting a condensed nova bomb shoved directly into its radiolarian core and kicked into the amassing horde of vex pouring out from the massive pit. The large swarm had a sizeable chunk removed from it as spralls of vex parts covered the battlefield and void vapor filled the air. "Bastard stasis wyverns, It's a mess down here Commander, we're holding ground but it's bloody on both ends, however there are no reports of final deaths. Not yet anyways." Samsara stated into the comms on her purple Nezarec's Sin helmet.

"Indeed, Keep me posted Samsara, I'm ordering more Vanguard deployments to Europa. We cannot let the vex take over that world."

"Yes Sir."

"And tell Arthur-13 I want to see him when this is all over, I have a lot of questions for that titan. Zavala out." The Commander then deactivated his comms as he looked over the railing in the tower, gazing over the Last City, then up to the Traveler. "*Sigh* Arthur, Arthur, Arthur, what kind of mess have you found yourself in this time?"

Underneath Europa

"So… that's new." Arthur-13 stated as they watched the vex infused with darkness and light swarm out of the chasm that formed from the collapse of the Concealed Void lost sector.

"HOW ARE THOSE MACHINES ABLE TO HARNESS OUR POWER! I'LL DISMANTLE EVERY LAST ONE INTO SCRAP!" Nok'Keerz tightly squeezed each of her fists into a solid ball of dark stasis energy.

"It seems to be some piece they've acquired of us while we've been in here. They've… copied the powers of light and dark." Arthur-13 stated as more smaller screens of light appeared.

"How? That's preposterous!" William exclaimed in confusion.

"I'm not sure what it is, but I am able to find the source. Anyone fancy a trip to the vex network? I actually have a really good signal in here!" Arthur-13 expanded his amount of keys to a full board so both his hands could rapidly interact with the vex network. "Hmm. wait a minute? What is this?" Arthur-13 had the multitude of screens he had hovering around converged into one screen. On the display was a network of wires that looked like a giant tree set into a vaporwave music video. "This is the system that is sending out the signal to what is making the gifted vex, all of these branches emanate from one source. That source is where this chamber sent the code of our abilities to be mass-produced within new vex constructs. I was able to find enough scraps of the original transmission to find the rough area where in the vex mainframe we will need to hack into in order to cease the means of vex production. Any questions?" Arthur-13 looked up to Nok'Keerz who was holding her chin in deep thought.

"What do you mean by 'we' for the hacking? I am no Splicer." Nok'Keerz asked

"Oh that won't be the only hacking we'll be doing. You see, I can't open a portal directly on top of whatever this signal code emitter thing is. I tried but I cannot get past this… I'm gonna say firewall? Anyway, that's why we'll have to fight a LOT of vex." Arthur-13 then tapped the screen to show the density of vex activity on the vaporwave vex network example. The bright red glow emanating from the base of the diagram then fizzled out into a dull green towards the ends of the limbs. "I can only assume the manufacturing is less guarded due to them immediately shipping out the models. Also they're not at all expecting us to break out."

"And why would that be?" Nok'Keerz inquired

"They thought we'd just keep trying to kill each other. Which is why we're just stuck in here with no real security measures, yet. The second we bust out of here they'll know where we are. However, by using an rx modulator subroutine to conduct a mainframe into the cell layer and hack us up into the download, we'll be like a cancer they can't cure." Arthur-13 tilted his head forward so the light of the cage reflected brightly on his helmet's lenses.

"Meaning?" Nok'Keerz scratched her head at the return of the orange titan's ramblings

"We can go in and break the vex's stuff without worry. They'll be too confused chasing our shadow as long as we stay on the move." Arthur-13 dismissed the screens and interfaces, pointing his glove towards the center of the cage. With a loud laser firing into the ring, the portal to the vex network opened. A large swirling void of grid and code stared menacingly at the two warriors. "After you." Arthur-13 gestured forward.

"Well then, if we have to fight through vex, how about one more bet?" Nok'Keerz kneeled to the titans eye level.

"Oh? Sure! What did you have in mind?" Arthur-13 looked at Nok'Keerz with intrigue.

"Whoever has the greater kill count can ask one question that the other must answer truthfully."

"Sounds like a wonderful challenge! William! Could you please keep score for us?"

"Not a problem my good fellows, may the best warrior win." William projected a scoreboard above himself with A13 representing Arthur-13 and NOK representing Nok'Keerz.

"Very Well," Nok'Keerz stood to her full height, then cracked all four of her fists. "Let's begin."

"Wait!" Arthur-13 interrupted, "One more thing! I think there's music that would go perfectly with this! And If we're on the same song, we'll have the same tempo."

"Hmm, I see your point. Which song did you have in mind, Ar'Tur-13?"

"OH! You're gonna love this! Go to the one with 'reputation' in its name. I cannot get enough of it!" Arthur-13 projected the album cover of the song. Nok'Keerz shrugged and had the song queued up from her newly expanded library. The Duo then descended into the vex mainframe to remove the source of the Vex's new found power.
There was a flash and a great big change, their molecules got all rearranged and put back in place as they slowly descended the lattice tube of code that was almost like an elevator. Nok'Keerz looked in awe at the surrounding pink and blue cosmos filled with walls of pillars jutting up from a seemingly infinite void. Then she heard the thwip of arrows come from above, her eyes flinched but nothing else as she saw the arrows fly and hit a floating vex cube. The cube exploded and Nok'Keerz heard through her comms.

"Alright! Once we touch down, we run! Ready to lose?" Arthur-13 taunted as he put away his combat bow and drew his crown splitter blade.

"Oh you don't have a chance, just focus on not getting us lost, here."

"Lost? Oh no, the longer we're in here the more this becomes my domain!" Arthur-13 flexed his splicer gauntlet to have a stream of white light surge forth and formed the platforms leading to a shortcut they could now see from the tube. As they touched the ground the calm blue environment suddenly turned bright red. "Let's get HACKIN! AHHAHAHAHA!" Arthur-13 cackled to the heavens as he charged forward with Nok'Keerz beside him, all four of her fists emanating a fine mist of ice. The two warriors worked in tandem as the horde of vex would spawn too late to catch them or just in time to be chopped and pulverized. Nok'Keerz focused down any enemy in her path with a vicious assault of blows from her fists. While Arthur-13 hack, chopped, and cleaved his way through the numerous gifted Vex. Airborne hobgoblins would line up a shot before swiftly being executed by Arthur-13's quick hand with his bow. Any unfortunate minotaur that was distracted by the bright orange titan causing electrical confetti explosions was hosed with white hot shrapnel fire from Nok'Keerz twin shrapnel launchers. As the vex network became increasingly complex in structure, so too would Arthur-13's bypassing of their security measures. Any firewall erected would soon become walls of harmless dancing cartoon pigeons and pits would have tower regulated bridges constructed in seconds.

"My oh my are these two raking in the kills! There is enough dead vex to make even Saint-14 blush." William pondered openly as he watched and recorded the duo turn the vex into little more than mulched silicon from the safety of the backpack.
The two ventured deep into the core of the vex mainframe leaving trails of Vex and radiolaria to find an extremely large chamber with a massive orb, radiating with immense power. This orb had a dyson sphere-like contraption of vex technology surrounding it.

"So then, We've finally arrived." Nok Keerz reloaded her shrapnel cannons as the pair approached the power source.

"About time! And that has to be the source of the gifted vex." Arthur-13 pointed his crown splitter blade at the giant black and white light emitting orb of power. "Let's smash it and get out of here! EEYAAA!" Arthur-13 charged head first into the invisible barrier that caused him to bounce off. He sprang off the ground multiple times before landing face down at Nok'Keerz feet.

"*Sigh*, orange fool. Even I can see the vex cubes that must be destroyed to bring down the barrier." Nok'Keerz pointed with her lower pair to the vex cubes she referred to. Each cube was on the end of a long walkway that flanked the opposite sides of the orb with each cubicle vex component surrounded by a barrier.

"Oh! Yea I didn't notice those, I'll deal with them." Arthur-13 loosed an arrow into the cube, only for the word immune to appear on his HUD. "Oh c'mon? really! Looks like we'll have to smash them the old fashioned way." Arthur-13 lamented. "I'll go left, you go right?" Arthur-13 asked as Nok'Keerz nodded. The two split up to take care of the projectile immune cubes. As Arthur chopped and Nok'Keerz punched, they didn't notice the radiolarian fluid from the fallen vex being slowly absorbed by the orb. As Nok'Keerz was the first to reach and break her orb she chimed into her comms.

"Mine is destroyed, Ar'Tur, Hurry up so we can get out of here!" Nok'Keerz spoke into her comms but received no answer, then she saw a bright orange projectile coming her way. She held her iced-over fists up to block Arthur-13's headless corpse bouncing off her. "ARTUR!" Nok'Keerz looked shocked as her gaze was now on the absolutely enormous vex minotaur holding Arthur-13's head in an icy grip as two of its lower arms held massive swords. emanating the same energy as the orb that she had just noticed was gone. "Where did that thing come from?" She looked to the pedestal where the ball was and the destroyed other cube.

"NOK! MOVE!" William screamed.
Nok'Keerz dodge rolled out of the way and into cover from the electrified ice shard that pierced her previous position, then exploded with electrical light and confetti.

"What the HELL!" Nok'Keerz screamed.

"Everything is ok!" William reassured. "I'll have him back up in fifteen seco-" William was interrupted.

"THAT WAS MY KILL DAMMIT!" Nok'Keerz flew into a howling rage. She lept over her cover and shot herself forward as a growing ice shard sent her barreling into the colossal Vex. The Darkness surrounded the upper fists of the four armed minotaur as they hardened into ice, then sparked to life with arc light. Nok'Keerz speed was able to allow her two solid punches to the left leg of the Vex giant. She then quickly brought up her guard to fend off the Vex onslaught of exploding punches and colossal sword swings, each hitting and exploding the fist and blade for only another to take its place. Nok'Keerz couldn't handle the ballistic yield of each hit for long until one lucky hit from the Vex's lower right slashed Nok'Keerz face and sent her flying into the red wall of solid code behind her. She fell with a *thud* and a *crack*. Her carapace fracturing beneath her armor.

"Huh… huh…" Nok'Keerz was spent. Her head was spinning and swirling, the Massive Minotaur crawling its way forward with tentacles of radiolaria reaching out from its core and towards William.

"Oh dear! Oh my! Ew! nononONONO! AH!" William squealed and squinted at his assimilation.

"VEX-SPAWN ABOMINATION!" Nok'Keerz howled with all her might,causing the large vex to stop.
" I am no mere vex, flesh-bag. I am janus. Gatekeeper of infinity." The Vex then turned around and only saw a flicker of the fallen and an ice column that launched Nok'Keerz into the air. As she summoned all her power into creating an enormous hurricane of ice that soon solidified, Janus looked to the sky and from the storm above a massive meteor of ice manifested in the open vaporwave void. The Meteor fell and shattered. Sending the ripples of shock outwards for miles but only seemed like small waves in a massive cyber pond. As the snow dust settled and Nok'Keerz teleported to the ground she collapsed to her hands and knees in the snow.
"No Mere… Vex… My… Used filter." Nok'Keerz then fell on her side. The last thing she saw was a pair of large orange boots walking towards her.

In her dreams she found herself in a vast open snowstorm. Not a landmark for miles, only the howling wind. She was a welp. Small. Frail. Hungry. She ran into the storm chasing the faint scent of blood in the air. She ran, ran, and ran. Soon she saw a small child, human, limping, and bleeding. She ran on all six limbs chasing the child. Until she slowed down. She got up on her legs. She started to walk. Then she slowly tread through the snow. she stopped. The faint silhouette was gone. The scent had faded.

"No." She said, clutching her limbs. She was cold, so cold. "Not anymore." See spoke to herself. She walked off in a different direction, away from her former trail. She walked for hours, the cold of the storm built up and frostbit her toes until her claws fell off , she fell. Her face in the snow. She was going to die. She couldn't feel any of her limbs. When she's about to give in to the slumber, she was in the vast under-glacial ocean. Now she was cold, however she was not dying. It was the same calling feeling when she stared into the void of the deep ocean. It was silent. Eerie. Only the vast open shadow of Europa's aquatic unknown. She flipped over, the gorgeous glacial ceiling staring her in the face. It took her breath away. On the edge of her vision she saw streaks of lightning. She couldn't keep up. Then ink-like shadows surrounded the edge of her vision.
"You are gifted
You are strong
Reach for the star
And bring forth salvation"
Then she saw through the vast open ice as it became clear. She could see the stars. One was bright in the distance. The bright orange star was small and shined just enough for her to see it. Then, in a blink it became closer, then another blink made it closer, then closer with another. After she blinked thirteen times she saw his helmet in the core of the star. Then his face for a flash of an instant. The sight was warm. Then she was above the Cadmus Ridge. She was naked. Fully grown. Falling. Before she hit the ground in her dream, she shot up from her sleep with a loud scream.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nok'Keerz screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Arthur-13 screamed in a higher pitch.

"WHERE IS THE SCRAPHEAP?! I-AH!" Nok'Keerz gripped her face as her bandaged jaw made an audible *crack* from still being slightly cleaved.

"Easy! Easy!" Arthur-13 held up both hands to the large eliksni. "Were fine, were ok. I was able to get us out!" Arthur-13 pointed to the open dark landscape of Europa. The night sky was dotted with the uncountable stars above and a large moon dominating the sky. "Feels like it's been years since I've seen the open sky. The moon looks amazing!" Arthur-13 stood in awe.

"Y-you… carried me out?"Nok'Keerz looked at the orange titan with surprise.

"Of course! You're my greatest fight! I'd never let you meet such a horrid fate." Arthur-13 walked to Nok'Keerz 'side and sat down. "So… you got another question? You killed the boss and that's worth, well more than my severed head that's for sure." Arthur-13 rubbed the back of his neck.
Nok'Keerz responded with a low growl as her lower right reached up and patted the orange titan's helmet. "I did. Earlier you described my favorite musicians as a 'one-hit wonder' . What does this mean?" Nok'Keerz tilted her head slightly.

"Oh It means that they only had one song become popular while the rest are not as liked."

"Hmm. Which song then? Oh, of course it must be Engine Works, right?"

"Actually, no. Their most beloved song is 'Emoting in the Moonlight' if you can believe it."

"What a stupid name for a song." Nok'Keerz scoffed. "I could never understand what that 'dancing' they were talking about was."

"Wait, you don't know what dancing is?" Arthur-13 looked up to the large eliksni. Her hand moved to rest on Arthur-13's right pauldron. "Dancing is great! The best part is you don't need to be good at it to have fun."

"What are you on about little orange?" Nok'Keerz sat calmly as she rubbed his shoulder. Then she felt her hand be taken up by Arthur-13's.

"Well, if you're ok with it, can I show you? It's like fighting but instead of trying to kill the other person you're enjoying their presence." Arthur-13 stood up while still holding her lower right.

"Well… seeing as I don't have anywhere to go, I could be… interested in learning this 'dancing' a little." Nok'Keerz stood to her full height and held her lower pair of hands with Arthur-13's.

"William, could you play the electronic dance mix?" Arthur-13 looked over his shoulder as his bejeweled ghost appeared.

"Certainly." William spun and began to play the electric beats that initially confused Nok'Keerz, but then she became familiar with the tune.

"Follow my footsteps, that is if you can?" Arthur-13 teased as he started a simple two step.

"Oh please." Nok'Keerz placed her upper pair on Arthur-13's large, round titan pauldrons. "If that's all dancing is, you'll have to prove it more entertaining than that!" Nok'Keerz then flipped Arthur-13's hand and started to take the lead as she led Arthur-13 to her steps.

"*Excited growl* Now that's what I'm talkin about. You're a natural!" Arthur-13 giggled as the two danced to the beat with as much ferocity as they're fighting, oblivious to the proud and recording Lord William.
Nok'Keerz never felt warmer on that frozen wasteland, and Arthur-13 learned that he was not being haunted by a pig, But falling from the sky for a…

Meanwhile on the trail leading out from the Asterion abyss to the Cadimus Ridge

"God damn bug." Levia-10 cursed under his breath.

"Are you sure this is where you picked up the signal?" Samsara spoke into her comms.

"No doubt about it, it's the same readings as one of Mithrax's portals into the vex mainframe."

"And Arthur-13 can do that?" Elsie opened up with intrigue.

"Yes, don't give him any ideas. Ever." Levia-10 spoke sternly as his radar lit up with a friendly signal. "I've got him! He's over this ridge."
The trio of Vanguard aligned individuals crested over the hill and were treated to the spectacle of Arthur-13 dancing with a Fallen Enforcer and laughing like newlyweds.
Samsara stared for a solid second wondering what day of the week it was.
Elizabeth pondered the sight for a moment before turning her attention to Levia-10 loading his heritage shotgun.

"Levi." Elizabeth said sternly.

"I just wanna talk to him. I just wanna talk to him." He said while loading shells into his shotgun. "I just wanna talk to him. I just want to kill him. I jus-" Before he could continue, Levia-10 found himself frozen in an Ice pillar from Elisabeth's own stasis.
"I think it'd be best to let him cool off." Elisabeth bemused.

The two women watched as the duo danced and laughed away without a care in the world. As the song came to a close, the two warriors stayed in each other's arms for a brief moment. Nok'Keerz used her upper left to cup Arthur-13's head in her large eliksni hand and Arthur-13 didn't look away from her shining eyes. Nok'Keerz then noticed a roaming band of pikes coming around the corner. She picked up Arthur-13 with her upper pair while he was still entranced. She then delivered a headbutt so hard it echoed through the chasm, sending Arthur-13 headfirst into the snow and ice, leaving only his legs sticking up. Nok'Keerz made eye contact with one of the pike drivers, jumped on and kicked the vandal off, then hit the gas as she sped off towards the Eventide Ruins.

"Arthur!" Samsara yelled in concern. The two unfrozen friends of Arthur-13 then ran over to help their stuck comrade.

"Arthur-13! Are you alright?" Elisebeth crouched beside the titan who could only mutter nonsense through the ice and snow his head was currently submerged in.

"Ok then. Elsie you get the left leg, I'll get the right. We pull on three. One. Two. THREE!" The duo pulled with all there might and pulled Arthur-13 out of the ground with a loud *POP*.

"Heeehaaha, but mAma I don't wAnna go to school, I don't have trousers!" Arthur-13 spoke as his head was spinning and had holographic tweety birds flying around his head.

"Arthur? You ok buddy?" Samsara asked with concern towards her orange companion.

"Oh I think he'll be just fine Sammy, After all," Elisabeth let go and pointed to Arthur-13's right arm covered in scratched numbers, "He's got a new friend, or should I say girlfriend." Elisabeth stifled a chuckle with her hand at the remark.

"Oh Arthur, How are you gonna explain this to the Commander? Ah well, c'mon Arthur-13 let's go get you some hot chocolate." Samsara then flung the large titan over her shoulder and began transmatting. Arthur-13 looked up from his dazed vision on Samsara's shoulder to spot Nok'Keerz pike as she ran from and shot the other pikes. Arthur-13 was able to look into her eyes one last time and receive a wink from Nok'Keerz upper left.

"Hehe, NoW I hear rInging!" Arthur-13 said before passing out.

Samsara rolled her eyes with a smile creeping on her face as the guardians left the planet and Elizabeth Bray rode back to her camp.

FIN