Chapter 21
Guardians
10:47 pm
While I wasn't sure where to bury Arla, I was not going to leave her in the street. She'd sacrificed too much to be left as carrion. After spending several minutes fruitlessly thinking of ways to honor her passing, Dea walked up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "And where have you been?" I spat.
"The ship called in for a status report, and I didn't hear you calling," she said solemnly, not buying her own lie. "If it makes things any better, the suits have will self-destruct soon enough. We don't need to bury her." Dea crouched beside me, putting away her weapon. She looked at Arla's now-peaceful body, her hands still clasping one of mine. "Look, a nanoshot wouldn't have done her any good," Dea admitted with a sigh. "She'd lost too much blood from the bullet wounds. I'm still sorry though. I truly am. I didn't want anyone to die, but unfortunately sacrifices have to be made for something of this magnitude. I've lived a thousand lifetimes, and the cuts get deeper every time. That's why you keep fighting." She threw an arm across my shoulders. "Come on. We have a job to do, or she dies in vain." With that, she stood up and began talking over the radio, but I didn't hear her. I remained in my own thoughts, reflecting on the good and bad of my relationship with Arla. I could see now what she went through when I'd been buried under the rubble. I felt the heartache, the sadness, the overwhelming urge to lie down and face a similar fate, but something more divine pushed its way into my head, consoling me slightly, but ultimately occupying my mind enough to digest this new reality. Gently and respectfully, I loosened my hand from her grip and unlatched her pistol and knives, attaching them to me and then clasping her hands together across her chest. "I love you too, Arla," I whispered with a hand on her forehead. Finally, I let go and walked back to the dark area I left my weapon in, grabbing it and then walking back to one of the untouched sparrows stashed on the side of the street. I secured my weapons and hopped on. "You ready?" Dea asked, handing me my helmet.
I powered up the sparrow, feeling the power of its engine beneath me. "It's time for E.T. to go home," I shot back.
"I like it," Dea said, a tinge of excitement in her voice. I gunned the throttle and made my way directly for the palace.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The palace wasn't terribly far from where we were, but we knew we were getting close when the spires peeped over the buildings, but oddly enough, nothing shot at us. Ahead we saw a few armed figures standing outside of a makeshift checkpoint. I prepared myself to draw Arla's pistol and grapple away and hide above them, but as we drew closer, I realized that these armed figures were dressed in the same white uniforms that Dea wore. My helmet scanned them from afar, marking them as green allies, a fact that surprised me. "They took the palace?" I asked Dea.
"No, but they took the gate and courtyard," she responded. "We encountered the only patrol our agents saw leave the palace. Aside from a few missteps, we're right on time."
"Then what was all that mess back there?"
Dea chuckled. "That? That was an inexperienced commander getting impatient. The Illusion's Kell went off world. Scanners picked up a cloaking signal around Meridian Bay on Mars, but then it just disappeared."
"He's going for the Black Garden." Dea and I stopped at the checkpoint and hopped off the sparrows.
"Precisely." Dea turned to one of the guards. "What's the situation Torres?"
A tall soldier carrying his helmet at his side handed a datapad to another, turning and walking towards Dea and me. "Not good, ma'am," he said with a salute. Dea returned it. "The Illusion have holed up inside the palace and sealed the doors."
"What about the civilians?" She nodded to the soldier atop the wall operating the gates. A piece of the wall that surrounded the palace raised, revealing a grisly scene inside. The main courtyard traditionally had been a well-kept green space with a few sidewalks cutting the grass into much more manageable sections. Several beds of flowers would grow in the center of these patches for passersby to enjoy, but all of that was gone. In its place was death rather than life. Soldiers in white pulled bodies from the ashen ground. Blood salted the soil, and much of the green grass was brown with death or black with char. What once had been a shining beacon of elegance and beauty had become yet another dismal mark on a war torn landscape.
Upon the gates lifting, Dea's eyes widened, and she grabbed Torres by the collar. "I thought you said you had this under control," she questioned. She flung a hand towards the squads cleaning up the mess. "This is not under control. What happened?"
Torres walked through the gates with Dea and me in tow. "We kept to the shadows like you told us to, but after we'd dealt with most of their guards…" He stopped, the words gathering in his mouth clearly bothering him. "They sent children rigged with explosives."
Dea swore in disbelief while I said nothing, shame and sadness the only things I felt. I knew that they were cruel, but those tactics were unethical. Then again, I never took pirates to be the ethical type, especially when they were trying to rid themselves of an entire civilization. "How many did we lose?" Dea asked after an ensuing stunned silence ended.
"The children ignored us when they were released...ran right to their families. The few remaining civilians have already been extracted per your orders." Dea immediately shot him a glare that probably could have killed him on the spot.
I stepped in. "What do you mean, 'extracted?' I haven't seen any ships flying around here." It sounded angrier than I had intended.
"Don't worry about it," Dea shot, continuing that glare. She pulled away her squinted gaze and said, "They're safe, and that's all that matters. How many more do you think they have?"
This man was extremely disturbed at the moment, his press-forward attitude only a shallow facade. Seeing things like that would change a person, something Arla told me several times when we discussed her time with the Awoken military. Those ghosts haunted her from time to time, appearing in her dreams every so often, especially after a hard day. She never really talked about them, but after the Black Garden ended, they returned fiercely. I recommended that she take some time off, but she found some mental solace in that Heksis fellow. Even now I was suspicious of him, and, as far as I knew, he escaped Dea's ship before anything happened, going who knows where. I wouldn't be surprised if we opened those doors and found ourselves staring down the ends of his hand cannons or battling against him hand-to-hand.
Torres seemed to sink away from his own being, his eyes glazing over like that of the living dead. "There's no telling," he relented. "That definitely wasn't all of them."
"Well, we're wasting time. Prepare your men to breach," Dea ordered. "Maximus, we're leading this. You think you've got a Nova Bomb in you?"
I nodded and followed her towards what looked like a makeshift cache of supplies. A few of the soldiers saluted us as we walked by. She returned a couple of them half-heartedly and exchanged a few words with a woman holding a datapad while I stood a few feet away with my arms crossed, eyes on the ornate and dusty doors that shielded the palace. I didn't think about what was inside, didn't want to. Instead, I simply stared and came to grips with what I was going to have to do again, where I was going again, and what I may have to ultimately give up. I was ready if that was the case. I lost pretty much everything I cared about in the last couple days. If I were human, I probably would have lost it, and that's probably a very conservative estimate.
I snapped my head up at the sound of me name. Dea was calling from a metal crate with a pair of triangular objects in her hands. I jogged over and caught the flying pieces when she threw them a moment later. "Time to load up," she announced. "This is it."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The Queen's Private Chambers
11:02 pm
Gone was the exquisite interior of the room. The cedar table now lay broken and pushed off to the side, fabric curtains ripped off their rungs and tossed into the corner of the room, a large metal plate welded onto the window blocking out the night. Artificial light baked the room, the air stained with sweat and ringing with shouts in a tongue foreign to any besides the Fallen. Zavala stepped through the ornate doors and shut them unceremoniously, grunting in distaste as he joined the Queen and his fellow Vanguards at the table. Each of them looked stressed and exhausted, annoyance swimming across their faces as they sat around a holographic projection of the battle occurring around the City. Presently, it was zoomed in around the palace. A few red markers on the outside of the barricade indicated there were events beyond the courtyard, but none of the Vanguard nor the Queen paid them any mind.
"What's the status?" the Queen, Vulkra, demanded.
"There's only two here," Commander Zavala, Klim, responded. "The Warlock and the Agent."
Vulkra's face snapped from fatigue to suspicious confusion. "What do you mean there's only two? There were supposed to be three. The Warlock, the Agent, and the Huntress! Where did the Huntress go?!"
Cayde, Kelpat, rose from his chair. "Calm down Your Highness. She'll come. We just have to wait. It's all of our heads on the table, not just yours."
Klim turned away from the door and stood by the table with his arms crossed. "You need to have faith in your troops. Like Kelpat said, she'll come."
"If she doesn't, then this is on you Zavala. That was your team that got themselves killed."
He leaned over the map. "My team following your orders, Vulkra," he clarified, emphasizing his lack of command.
The Queen returned the hateful glare he was shooting. "My orders based on your intel," she spat, the final words falling dead at the door. Zavala continued to grimace, but eventually took his place around the table. The Queen sent a steely gaze at each of the Vanguard, the temperature in the room seeming to drop several degrees. "Now if there's any more dissent in the room, you can take all grievances up with my gun. We have a battle to win and bickering won't solve anything, especially while the Commander is off sealing our victory." She paused for a moment, but no one said a word. "Good. Now Klim, I want you to reroute one of your patrols and tell them to search for the Huntress in the vicinity of her final transmission…" She moved the map away from the palace momentarily and highlighted a road near Traveler Plaza, the furniture store. "...She's likely on foot…" A notification nearby diverted her attention. "What's this?"
"What's it look like?" Klim grunted sarcastically. "Another squad wipe. The Agent and Warlock were reported to be behind that one. Looks like ordinance was used too…"
"Change of plan," Vulkra announced. "Get a team over there immediately." Klim opened his mouth to speak, but Vulkra denied him that luxury. "Don't question it. Get a team over there, or I'll kill you after I do it." He shot daggers at her as he exited the room.
Ikora, Thuzia, waited until the door shut before she opened her mouth. "Why do you think the Huntress is there?"
"Because," Vulkra began, pushing the map back to the palace and then straightening herself with her arms clasped behind her back. "They rescued Arla, and I think that's where they lost her."
"I thought you wanted her alive?" Kelpat asked.
Vulkra nodded. "No, I don't want her alive. We need her alive. Which is why I hope I'm wrong…" Suddenly, shouts and cries echoed through the hallways outside. The entire palace shook as something nearby shattered the air in an explosion of sound…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Stay out of the open!" Dea ordered to our small team of four as a volley of shots from the sniper nest smashed into the side of the palace. Each soldier, battered and bruised physically and mentally from the day's assaults, returned back with a swift and sharp "Yes ma'am!" as they fanned out, taking cover in the alcoves or behind some concrete structure. We moved two by two. Dea and I moved first while the other two, Potter and Mandella suppressed the snipers. Then it was their turn while we covered their movement. Essentially, it became a game of leapfrog with hints of Old Russian Roulette.
Getting an actual visual on the snipers proved to be more problematic than I had originally thought. When Torres' men breached the front doors and began fighting their way towards the throne room, the gunshots echoed in the night, audible despite the fact we were on a flank of the palace. Lights all around the palace and the nearby grounds flooded the area as if it were daytime, making the snipers' positions an indefinite, black mass.
After five minutes of dodging and covering, I was finally in range for a nova bomb. On Dea's word, everyone except for me hunkered down while I charged a massive ball of energy in my hands, yelling, "Everybody down!" I shifted the energy to my right hand and jumped, rearing back the arm and then shoving it towards the snipers' nest.. A purple explosion of sound and light drowned out anything, a cacophony quickly replaced by that of the structure falling in on itself.
"Good work Maximus," Dea complimented. She looked back to Potter and Mandella. "We've got our way in. Let's move!" On her signal, we resumed our "leapfrog" tactic until the other two arrived at the base of the tower first. Most of the structure had collapsed on top of the a part of the palace, placing our insertion point a little higher than I would have preferred. Thick shadows still disguised any activity that may have been taking place on the roof, making the maneuver that much more risky. I swapped the Multi-Tool for Arla's pistol. I hadn't handled it much in the past, but I was able to figure out how to switch it to grappling mode. 'Alright Heksis,' I thought. 'Don't let me down now.'
"We're heading up," Dea called out. "Cover us."
"Roger," Potter and Mandella confirmed simultaneously.
I grabbed one of her knives as well and held the pair as Arla had taught me, knife hand under the gun hand at the wrist. With a tap on my shoulder and a hissing sound, Dea sprang towards the wall and began ascending. I aimed the hook at the ledge and fired into it. When I pushed the trigger forward, the wire went taught and yanked me towards it. Taken slightly aback by the strength of the sudden tug, I buried my shoulder in the the side of the building, the cloth on my armor dragging against the rough surface as the hook reeled in its line. Dea grabbed me by the shoulder and back just before I reached the top, hauling me on top of the roof and unhooking the grapple. "Potter, Mandella. You're up," Dea signaled.
"Copy," Mandella called back.
"We won't bury ourselves in the wall," Potter snided.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Save the joking for later," Dea warned. "Maximus, make sure the area is clear." I switched the gun back to pistol mode and holstered it, pulling the Multi-Tool back out. Now that we were in the envelope of darkness that proved so troublesome earlier, I could finally see out of the night vision. Marking nearly everything, I cautiously approached the hole, going prone to take a glimpse inside of it only taking my eye away from the scope for a moment. The corridor below was covered in shadow, night vision barely able to make sense of some of it. The HUD couldn't detect any enemies, but I had the sneaking suspicion that I wasn't alone. "Power's out at least in this sector of the palace," I reported. "It's surprisingly quiet too."
"Torres just told me they rerouted a few of the troops they're fighting to investigate the explosion," she relayed. "Keep a sharp eye for them."
"Should I head down?" I asked.
"Stay put. We're almost done here." I pulled the Multi-Tool away from my eye and turned back to see Dea hauling the Potter over the side. Something seemed off for a moment, their forms blurring for a...I rolled out of the way just as a knife buried itself where my head had been moments before. "Holy...!" I exclaimed, scrambling to my feet and seeing the Multi-Tool begin hovering where I'd left it. Two shots rang out, one burying itself in my right leg and the other in my torso. Before it could let off another, I squeezed the pistol's trigger as fast as I could, spraying the shots around where my weapon floated. The spent magazine dropped to the floor in unison with the Fallen's bullet-riddled body. Alive but hurting immensely, I dropped to the ground as well and rolled onto my back. My shields recovered after a moment, but when I skimmed a finger over where I'd been hit, I felt it sink into a very noticeable dent. A sharp piece of metal slid out and pinged on the ground.
"Maximus, you alright?" Dea asked, the three of them running over.
Potter extended a hand that I readily accepted. Mandella poked the corpse with his foot and assured himself that it was dead. "Yeah," I said, already beginning to feel the impacts as I was pulled to my feet. Mandella wrenched my weapon from the corpse's hands and deposited it in my hands with a nod. I turned back to Dea, gesturing to my attacker. "I don't know how he slipped by me, but that was too close." I lightly rubbed the dent on leg. "This thing kicks like a horse."
"And steals souls like the devil," Potter quipped. Mandella chuckled to himself and patted Potter on the back.
"Ready up," Dea ordered. "We're going in." Potter and Mandella marked the rooftop as Dea and I dropped into the darkness. The ground crunched beneath our feet when we landed, the sound repeating itself when the other two came down. A map of the Palace popped up on the HUD with a room a few floors down and towards the center highlighted. "They're probably commanding everything from the Queen's private chambers. There are two ways in. The first is through the actual door." She pointed to Potter and Mandella. "You two are going to make your way there. Maximus and I are going to find the Queen's private route. Intelligence from before the attack indicates that the nearest entrance is the throne room. If we can get there and find the door, they'll be flanked.
"Watch out for the patrol they sent after us. It's likely going to be heavier units. Keep your heads low. When you get to the room, hide and wait for my signal. Am I clear?"
"Yes ma'am," Potter and Mandella said in unison.
"Get a move on," she ordered. "Let's go Maximus."
The two soldiers darted off in one direction of the corridor, while Dea and I headed off in the other. Everything was quiet as we snuck through the hallways. Slowly, these dark and claustrophobic corridors turned into the streets of the City, recently populated but currently desolate. Much of the lavish interior remained as it was, albeit slightly disheveled in the more well-used areas. The corridor eventually opened up into a large, square room with a grand staircase that led down into an even deeper darkness. "What's with the power?" I asked. "Thought we moved out of the affected sectors." I glanced at the small map Dea had uploaded to confirm my suspicion.
"We did," she muttered, pausing. Suddenly, something whirred beneath us, exploding with light and sound just after and causing the entire structure to lurch. Dea and I were thrust forward onto the ground as cracks split their way across the ground. The building rumbled as pieces of the floor crumbled beneath us. "Tank!" Dea shouted, trying to lift herself off the ground. Another shot shocked the floor and splintered it, sending us flying. I flipped myself around in the air, just in time to see a Fallen spider tank stretched across the very bottom floor, aiming directly upward. Dea and I smashed into its hard body and rolled off the side along with the other debris, narrowly escaping its massive feet and legs. The Multi-Tool shrieked unpleasantly against its armor, but other than that, we were unharmed.
I immediately surveyed the area for something that resembled cover. The ground floor was open in design, the only obstructions being the dual routes up the staircase to the second floor where they merged into one giant flight for the remainder of the way up. Massive, polished stone pillars stretched to the ceiling, but that was it. "Slight change of plan?" I called out, drawing my weapon sprinting towards one of the pillars.
My mind flashed back to the Devil's Lair with Arla and Advira. Perhaps the biggest difference between then and now was who remained alive. "You're telling me," Dea returned. "You remember how to topple it?"
I popped out of cover momentarily and deposited a couple shots into one of the six legs. It's rapid fire turret swiveled my direction and lit up the room like a blue strobe light. "Take out the legs!" I yelled as chunks of stone fell from the walls and pillar. I put another pair of bullets in its legs. "Then take out the core."
"And don't get blown up again," she added.
"Right." The turret swiveled my direction again and stripped the pillar of more rock. Looking up at it, large sections had gotten noticeably thinner, weakened enough to the point of collapse. "Dea, draw its fire. I'm moving cover"
"Roger." Several volleys of bullets deposited themselves in the Tank. The turret snapped around to Dea's pillar and carved a large section out of it. "My turn to move," she stated as I pumped bullets into its back legs. Dea sprinted from her cover and slid behind another pillar. A sharp, mechanical growl echoed through the hall. When I looked up, I was staring into the barrel of the main cannon, a fiery, red glow gathering deep within. I rushed forward, running towards it and rolled just as the shot demolished the ground around me, splinters of stone and other material pelting me as I pulled out of the roll and dashed to the tank's right. Firing into the middle leg as I ran, I pulled behind Dea's old pillar without realizing it.
Now that I had gotten a little closer to it, albeit briefly, I noticed that the tank was a fair bit smaller than the ones we'd previously encountered. Its firepower still packed as much of a punch as its relatives, perhaps even more, but this more compact version was scarcely the only one here, and considering they had at least two of the weapon foundries, perhaps all of them. Admittedly, it would be a risky build, to develop, ship, and deliver. Not many people would take too kindly to having a Fallen Walker be flown over the City, especially given past experiences.
"Maximus!" Dea shouted, forcibly moving me out of the way as the pillar crumbled around us. She dragged me to the next one and unceremoniously deposited me as the turret sprayed ever more debris around us. "I've got an idea," Dea yelled above more shots.
"What've you got?" I called back. These legs remained stout no matter how many bullets we deposited in them.
"Toss me a scatter grenade and start charging up. We're about to end this thing. When the head goes forward, burn a hole through it."
I grabbed one of my grenades and tossed the silver metal ball to her. Slipping it onto her belt, she dashed out of her cover and kept firing until she came to the crumbled remains of my original cover. She didn't fit behind the small stump that remained, leaving her partially exposed, but she didn't stay there long, slinging her weapon onto her back and charging forward. "Going for it."
I changed magazines and continued trying to draw its attention, but the main cannon lowered itself and took aim at Dea as she rushed out of cover, but suddenly, she wasn't there. Just as she left, she leapt into the air and tossed the grenade directly in the center of the tank. A shower of purple sparks flashed through the blackness. Metal crashed against the floor, and a large, mechanical groan filled the room as the plates on its legs split into several pieces and fell. Immediately, I began to summon that glow once more. Just like earlier, I told myself, envisioning myself back in Omolon, watching Starco fly away forever.
A second metal groan followed the appearance of a red-hot column of metal and technology, sparks and electricity shooting off of it. I spun out of cover and flicked my right arm at the elbow. A hazy, off-white glow gathered around my fingertips, a warm sensation starting in my chest and consuming my entire being. I reared back that arm, planted my feet, and thrust it forward. A blinding shaft of light shot out of my hand, causing me to shut my eyes and look away. I felt the light battling against the darkness that forged the tank like two swords crossing in my mind's eye. Initially, the Darkness fought back, trying to physically slice through my light, but the longer it resisted, the harder I focused, the hotter its blade became. The shadowy swordsman dropped the sword and took to blocking my light with its hands as I drove it ever farther, ever harder. Suddenly, the shadow faltered, and the light shot through its chest, slicing through it like a hot knife and dissolving it within a second. I stopped the light and lowered my arm, dropping to my knees in exhaustion. When I looked up, I could see the other side of the darkness through the tank. White hot bolts of electricity shot across the gap for a few seconds, and then the entire frame collapsed on its failing legs. Dea marked it for a second as she slid over to me. By the time she helped me to my feet, the physical weakness had dissipated, leaving only the mental fatigue.
"Interesting as always," she said, heaving me to my feet.
"Thanks," I responded. As I refocused my vision and tried to wave away the afterimage, I grabbed my weapon from my back and followed her into the darkness. Each step she took was planned and deliberately taken, each sweep of her rifle calculated and precise. This was her element.
"Potter, Mandella," she radioed. "What's your status?" Static was the only answer. "Of course they're running interference," Dea muttered to herself. She momentarily turned back to me. "We're almost there."
As we walked, that overwhelming sense of being watched grew stronger. Given that the tank had been hiding in the darkness, any sort of ambush could be waiting for us. Soon after, the corridor split horizontally not long after. Without hesitation, Dea grabbed her knife and shoved it into the wall, slicing through easily and cutting out a hole as fast as she could. It was only a couple feet tall and not much wider, and I couldn't see anything through said hole, but it got us out of the open. "Cover me," she said, sitting down and setting her weapon next to her.
"On it," I replied, marking the black hallways. Behind me, Dea grunted several times, straining against something behind me. An outline appeared on my HUD, compounded by a couple other rushing highlights in the darkness to my right. "We've got company," I whispered, going prone and trying to make myself as unnoticeable as possible.
"I'm almost through," Dea whispered back. "Should be less than a minute."
Suddenly, a volley of energy screamed in my direction, narrowly missing my shoulder. "They've opened up," I called to Dea, rolling out of the way and getting to my feet as quickly as I could. The deafening booms of shots from both sides echoed down the hall as I scrambled to the corner of the wall for cover. I looked over to where Dea had just been, seeing that she'd pulled herself into the wall completely. I took aim at one of the red outlines and squeezed the trigger. There was a burst of white color from the top of the outline, and then it ceased to exist. As the first red lines faded, more took its place from behind. I pulled out of cover and fired several more shots into the gathering crowd, several bolts jarring me and ultimately forcing me back into cover. I shoved another magazine in and fired once more. Just a little closer, I thought. A couple more fell dead with the next few bullets I sent their way, but they were equally as accurate. Just as with the first, more outlines replaced the fallen one. "Dea, I don't think I can hold this for much longer." Loud shrieks echoed down the hallway. "I do not like the sound of that."
A deafening metal clang screeched through the hall. "I'm through!" Dea called out. "Hurry!" Pressing myself against the wall as yet another volley seared the air next to me, I slid the Multi-Tool onto my back and clenched a grenade. I planted my right foot, pivoted out of cover, and tossed it directly into the front line. White and purple sparks lit the hallway long enough for me to dash across the floor and slide into the hole. As soon as I was on the other side, Dea grabbed me by the hand and hauled me to my feet, nearly dragging me with her as she started sprinting.
"Where're we going?" I asked her, blindly following each of her footsteps and turns as she sprinted down the hallway.
"Torres lost control of the front entrance. The tank we faced wasn't the only one," she said, grabbing hold of a metal pipe and swinging herself around it with her momentum.
I did similar. "I didn't think it was, but how can you tell Torres was overrun?"
She paused at an intersection in the dark tunnel, looking back at me momentarily. "That wasn't a small division sent to get rid of us. That was their front line, or at least what remained of it. You cut them down a good deal. If my hunch is correct, we were going to be sandwiched by an entire platoon in about twenty seconds."
"So then, why did we just enclose ourselves in a tight space?"
Dea stopped and looked at the wall. "This'll do," she muttered to herself, grabbing something off of her belt and placing it on the wall above her head. "Because we're going to seal them in here. Our entrance was one of very few that get anywhere close to an interior or exterior wall without being far underground." She grabbed a second device, placed it, and then did the same with a third. After motioning me onto the other side, she moved her hand straight down. Faint red lights glowed for a couple seconds until they faded into oblivion. Motion charges.
"That ought to slow them down," I said.
"Precisely. Let's keep moving. We're getting close." With that, she dashed off with me in tow once more. The path cut off at a door that materialized out of the darkness like a shadow. A dusty, metal plate lay on the ground just to the right of the door. I stooped down and picked it up, swiping my glove across its metal surface. "Queen's Private Chambers," it read. I gently set it on the ground and drew my weapon.
"They're here," a voice that sounded strikingly like Ikora's whispered from beyond the door.
Immediately, I looked at Dea. She held up a fist and whispered, "I sent the signal. Now, we wait for theirs. You just be ready to knock down the door." I nodded and took up a position behind the door with my feet firmly planted into the floor and poised to strike the door on her order. Everything on the other side went still for several moments, an eerie hush commanding the air until the severely dampened sound of gunfire pierced the air. Dea's fist dropped and mine shot forward. The seemingly-sturdy door flew off its hinges with a low groan and plowed through whatever was in its way until it rattled to the ground and skid into the opposite wall. A chorus of voices shouted at the room to "Get down!" and "Raise [their] hands!" I marked Zavala and the Queen as I eased myself into the room. Cayde made a reach for his weapon, but Mandella put a bullet in his hand and the weapon he had just barely managed to touch, rendering each useless. Slowly but surely, the Vanguard and Queen realized their defeat, raised their hands, and lowered themselves to their knees.
While they were disarmed and dealt with, I scanned the room for more hostiles. After a few seconds of nervous sweeping, I concluded that the room was empty save for us. Curious, I peeked outside of the doors and saw several Fallen bodies littering the hall as well as a discarded grate from a now-open vent in the wall. Bullet holes and plasma burns scarred the walls, and I couldn't help but stare until a chilling voice pulled me back. "She's dead isn't she?" the Queen called out. Potter moved to silence, but I intervened. "Let her speak," I said, pushing her weapon to the side. "I want to make sure I heard her right."
"The Huntress," she clarified, her eyes trying to see through me. "She's dead isn't she?" It almost sounded like a taunt, but I could detect a genuine curiosity in her voice as if she wanted to confirm a suspicion in order to prove a point.
"Arla's more alive than any of you," I spat. I signaled Potter, and she shoved the her rifle's stock in the Fallen's face, the Queen dropping to the ground in a heap. Just as she hit the ground, a white-blue ball appeared in the center of the room. The air and my vision went grainy. The ball of energy pulsed, sending streaks of growing intensity across the room until they enveloped everything, and as soon as the lights began, they ended. The air dropped several degrees, the artificial light of the Quarters replaced by a natural haze. Suddenly unsteady on my feet, I fell to my knees, catching myself before I collided with the overgrown dark metal that was the ground. Vines etched dark green lines in the textured metal, snaking their way indefinitely across the ground as if to ensnare any that stepped on it.
"Welcome back…" a cold, calculated, and familiar voice greeted. "...to the Black Garden!" A man in white armor gripped me by the collar and lifted me effortlessly, the Speaker, or at least his shadow. "This has been a long time coming," he nearly whispered. "I sense you've lost your Ghost, but not your light. Interesting. Let's see if we can change that." Suddenly, the Speaker's grip tightened with inhuman, almost robotic strength, a maniacal, mirthful laugh bellowing from behind the helmet. A void opened in my chest, and everything ran cold, sapping my strength rapidly until I felt like a shell. I felt myself go limp. My eyes, once trained on the helmet, drifted shut as my head slumped forward. Without warning, the Illusion Kell dropped me to the ground. "Pitiful," he spat, turning around.
Back flat on the ground, I felt weak, unable to push myself back on my feet and fight, like my power was seeping from me like blood. After several seconds of darkness, I found the strength to open my eyes.
Potter, Mandella, and Dea each shared a similar position to my own, but they were each cuffed at the hands and feet and forced to the ground rather than what their Kell had done to me. Over them lorded each of the Vanguard while the Queen stood near the edge of the metal platform looking over the metal structure that once contained the Heart of the Black Garden.
"Did you find the Huntress?" the Kell asked.
The Queen bowed her head. "We did, Commander Gilmis." Gilmis lowered his head and growled something that could have been a slight chuckle. "Good," he grumbled. I tried to force myself onto my feet but only succeeded in turning over onto my stomach. My mind felt cloudy and a floating sensation gathered in my stomach. As I looked over at their Kell, I saw one thing above all else: a faint glow around him…
The faint glow of the Light.
"Vulkra, bring her to me," Gilmis ordered. He raised an arm, white-yellow energy gathering at the palm until it was saturated with pure power, my power, the Traveler's power. It sliced through the air like a knife, literally splitting the air and leaving a glowing gash in the air, nearly as blinding as a star, but all of us simply stared as he gripped one edge of the gash and pulled it open with little effort. The initial glow grew brighter as he pulled at it, the aura about him radiating like the Sun and forcing everyone to turn from it except for him.
Shying from the light, the subordinate looked to her Kell with a confused expression at first but, ultimately, lifted a tentative leg over the edge. Her figure dimmed the light for a split second but returned after she disappeared beyond the portal. "This! 'Speaker!'" Gilmis roared. "Is the true power of your Traveler, this Great Machine! Far too long did you make yourselves slaves to a God that perished long ago. You predecessors feared its power so much, they limited its use." He let go of the edge of the portal and pointed a hand at Potter and Mandella. Their guards tore themselves from their Kell's display and lifted their prisoners to their feet. "Behold! The true power of the Light in the hands of someone brave enough to harness it!" Light gathered at his fingertips and joined at the palm. A flash brighter than the portal flooded everything for a fraction of a second. In that instant, Potter and Mandella slumped backwards and faded in an outline of yellow until they no longer existed.
A surge of anger and hopelessness flowed through me, battling in my mind and body as a hand protruded from the portal. Gilmis lowered one arm and grabbed the edge of the portal with the other, opening it for the Queen hauling a body with a familiar face. Arla.
She unceremoniously hauled her through the portal and deposited my fallen friend next to Gilmis. The Kell let go of the portal and closed it by running his hand over the seam from bottom to top like a zipper. His aura returned to normal and his attention shifted from where the portal had been to the Queen and the body before him. He let out an audible, angry sigh and tsked. "Vulkra, I thought I ordered you to bring them alive," he seethed.
Vulkra stared at the ground. "There was an incident with some...ordin-" A furious hand suddenly clasped her throat.
"I. AM. YOUR. KELL!" Gilmis shouted. "I am THE Kell! You do as I say! You have failed for the last time." He brought her close and stopped shouting, speaking through his teeth. The Queen remained stone-faced, didn't even choke. "You have brought nothing but disgrace on your family's legacy and slowed our progress. I knew I should have never had a female Lead Captain. So irrational. You took the wrong risks every time…" Her head fell backward and body limp. "Enjoy thinking about your failures." With that, he effortlessly swung Vulkra across his body and slung her off the edge of the platform and into the infinite abyss below. Gilmis turned slowly to the rest of us, making eye contact with each of his remaining Captains. All three had lined up a few "As for you three, we have work to do. Your failures must also be atoned for later." His head snapped around to Dea who had somehow gotten to her feet despite her restraints. I looked closer and noticed that her feet were freed and that her upper body was tensed, like she was trying to break free…
Suddenly, her hands flew outward and a sound like glass breaking echoed against the metal walls. From my position on the ground, I shook my head, but, with one last and longing look towards me, a look that seemed to last an eternity, she sprinted forward. In one swift motion, Gilmis pulled a pistol, aimed, and fired. Noiselessly, her head jerked back just as blue-white streams of light enveloped her body and took her away into oblivion.
Now, I was alone. Just like my last day with the AEA, and it seemed that my time as a Guardian was drawing to a close. My thoughts momentarily turned to Heksis. I don't know why in what was likely the last few minutes of my life I decided to think about the being I knew so little about, who remained one of the most enigmatic people I'd ever met. I wondered if he had been Illusion secretly, if the reason he disappeared was because Dea had found out he had been part of the Illusion the entire time. A frigid wind blew through the canyons and catacombs of the Garden. One evil perished here, and another took its place. This reality gave me confirmation of why the Traveler wished what it wished. For a long-dormant machine, its connection with me was strong. Now though, its messages went to Gilmis. Stripped of my power, all I could do was watch and wait, no strength to move or fight back. Humanity had lost. I was just waiting for the end.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
6:03 am
Rather than killing me there in the Garden, Gilmis imprisoned me aboard his Ketch, a massive black ship that had been on standby just over the horizon of the Garden. As I was forcefully marched down the halls and thrown into what seemed like a converted closet, I couldn't help but note the graffiti and drawings along the walls. Most of them were symbols I could have never deciphered without Starco's help, but several of the drawings were much less convoluted. Near my "cell," there had been a chain of symbols I'd recognized, Fallen Houses I'd either read about or encountered. Kings, Devils, and Wolves were the most highlighted. Several circles magnified their importance, but a large, white X crossed over each of the colored shapes, striking through the symbol entirely. Words written in the Fallen's cryptic language stretched around each centralized symbol. The guards noticed my curiosity and shoved the butts of their rifles into the back of my neck and back until I stumbled forward. We turned a corner and, with one final prod from their rifles, I tumbled into the closet and slid across something wet.
There was no light in the room, and the lights from my eyes didn't reflect off of pretty much any surface. Still weak, I pushed myself to my knees and searched for the wet surface from earlier. Softly, I heard a drip in the darkness followed by a miniscule splash. I slid a finger across the floor, hoping that I was facing the door. After a few sweeps, I found a small puddle of liquid.
The cramped space didn't leave much room to crawl, but I carefully maneuvered myself over to the puddle, the lights in my eyes sliding into view of the still-agitated water as I did. I stooped closer to them. Despite them being my own, there was something hypnotizing about them, something different and distant in their yellow beams. Far gone was the youth in them. Hope dwindled in their dimmed light. Truthfully, it was disappointment and grief that filled the depressed bulbs.
Lee. Arla. Charli. Dea. All of them were gone. That sinking loneliness crept back into me again.
Once more, I thought back to the Traveler's prophecy: one that it had shared with the previous Speaker, but he had denied it, thinking it to be just his own madness. The City had been doomed from The Fall. There was a reason that they counted every day that it remained standing rather than the days to winning this war against the Darkness. That's because we couldn't win. Not to say that the dead died in vain, they died believing in something. Most of them never knew the truth, and only one other being knew what I did. I knew what I had to do if I got out of this closet and didn't die at the hand of Gilmis. I had come to terms with that fact of life long ago, but its proximity scared me more than ever.
The door slid open and two armed guards entered. Chatting in their garbled language, they hauled me up and cuffed my hands. Quickly, they led me through the various hallways of the ship until we reached a lift. Once out, they delivered me to a sealed door and punched in the code. The door slid open, and I was thrown inside.
The bridge wasn't all that large. There was a large viewport that spanned three-quarter of the walls. Beneath us was a pit full of consoles and instruments. Ahead was the destroyed City with the broken remains of the Traveler looming in the distance. An early morning sun rose, painting the sky with beautiful shades of pink, red, and orange. The room was empty save for a hulking figure standing in the center of the furthest viewport. The silhouette's body glinted with metal almost from head to toe, but I realized upon a second glance that most of this was not armor. In fact, all four of his arms were completely bare.
He turned around. "Ah, you're here," he said gruffly. "My people have awaited this day for...a very long time." He took a few steps forward and pressed a button on his one of his upper wrists. The doors to the bridge clicked audibly. "Countless legends spoke of the one they called the Kell of Kells. An Eliksni who would unite all of the separate Houses across our known universe under one banner, someone who would reign justly under the guiding light of the Great Machine and usher in an age of prosperity like no other for our homeworld of Eliksnios. Countless hours and days I've spent pouring over religious texts, prophecies given by Our Machines, and commentaries by our own critical minds. In my pursuit of knowledge, I realized one thing, something I've realized is nearly universal, time corrupts ideals…"
I simply stared suspiciously at him and listened. This was a far cry from the warrior that had seized the City and killed his second-in-command. The Kell that stood before me didn't show any sign of remorse for the things he did, but almost seemed semi-friendly. It was an odd feeling to have, and I couldn't help but feel that I was being lured into a false sense of security.
Gilmis paused for a moment and came a few steps closer to me. "That was something that I set out to change. In my travels, I saw the Great Machine's prophecies come true one at a time. I watched entire Houses fall at the hands of other empires. Most notably, the ones you refer to as the Cabal, but humanity has been a far more dangerous adversary than them for one reason: they have the Great Machine. I read the few legends we have from that time. There were those very similar to you. Chu'klah they called them. I don't believe there's a direct translation, but you could compare them to your Guardians. Regardless,the hubris of both our peoples drove themselves into civil war. While yours was fought more in politics than my ancestors', they still did their fair share of damage, tearing families apart and the likes. When the first, as you say, Fallen ships arrived, Earth united surprisingly quickly, but your relative peace left you vulnerable. When we'd cut you off from your colonies...who am I kidding…"
Gilmis placed a heavy hand on my back and pushed me towards the window. "This…" He gestured to the destruction we overlooked. "...was not supposed to happen. This was the contingency of the contingency of the contingency plan. Ultimately, yes many would have perished, but it wouldn't have been as bloody and destructive as it has been. You and your comades' fighting has been admirable to say the least. In my culture, if one is to become a leader, then the current leader must perish by the aspirant's sword.
"My sister had never been a fan of me taking the helm of the Illusion, and she left shortly before I officially challenged for it." He looked over the metallic implants that lined his arms, nearly replacing every single cell in them. "She watched me convert myself from Eliksni to Machine, and that pleased her somewhat, but no machine is a match for the brain. She had believed in more direct solutions than political turmoil combined with cloak and dagger techniques. She was a soldier more than anything, and that's what the House of Wolves was looking for when she infiltrated the Reef and met with Skolas, their Kell. My counter to her was that what she believed in was a flawed view of the world, and that it was unnecessary killing and violence. I believed there were smarter, stealthier ways to accomplish what we so desired. As I look out over this, I can't help but say that she was right. My techniques got my House here, but full-fledged combat is what won the day. That's what's going to seal it right here, right now. Maximus, you killed my sister Rhyn'iks the Aggressive just over a year ago. You fought her admirably, and then executed her like a dog. It was honorless and unnecessary, and the time to atone for your crimes has come at hand. I wish I could say I was sorry, but unfortunately, I'm not, and you're about to be."
I bowed my head and glanced at the powerful legs that stood next to me, wriggling my hand to ensure my grip, and then I twisted it towards the wall. I flicked the switch and pulled the trigger. Immediately, a grappling hook shot out and ripped my restraints apart, pulling me along with it towards the wall.I let go of the gun, rolled, and snatched it off the ground once it clattered off the wall. Before Gilmis could properly react, I slid into the alcove with the consoles and looked at Arla's pistol, an item that he had mistakenly worn on the leg nearest to me.
"That was a cowardly move Maximus!" Gilmis shouted. "You're just like your friend Dea. You never know when to quit." I froze momentarily at the sound of her name from his mouth. "Yeah I know who she was, but here's your problem. You have no ammunition, the bridge is sealed, and you don't have any of your 'Guardian powers.' You aren't her unfortunately." A heavy thud rumbled across the alcove. I pressed myself against a console and watched for him. Sure enough, the magazine was absent from the gun, and I'd been stripped of all my weapons and ammunition upon capture. A footstep came on my right. I leaned out and fired the grappling hook at him. Just as I fired, thin, green armor materialized across across his body, encasing him in a sleek second skin that the hook only rebounded off of. I slid away from my console and ducked into another row, Arla's gun reeling the hook back.
Gilmis suddenly turned the corner I was running towards and made a lunge for me. By pure instinct, I slid away from the two metallic arms that reached towards me and bounced off the floor and black metal wall, scrambling in the other direction. I fired the hook on top of the pit and vaulted back onto the main floor. Enraged, the Kell spun back around and leapt the five meters upward, clearing the ledge with plenty of room to spare.
He laughed sardonically. "You're smart. You have that going for you. A worthy adversary in person just as much as I'd read about but still not your dead friend." He took a slow step towards me. The sunrise glinted off the shiny armor he wore like a mirror, casting a bright glare in several places. Another step. Nearby, something beeped. He didn't take another step but instead planted one foot into the ground. Without breaking contact with the visor covering his four eyes, I dropped my weapon and removed my gloves. Confusion flashed across his face but was immediately replaced with vengeance and purpose. His back leg twisted, and he charged forward once more much faster than he had previously, a war cry bellowing from his lungs as he did. Just as Gilmis took the first step, I threw my bare hands forward and unleashed a storm of lightning into the air in front of me. Blue and white streaks of plasma singed the air and grappled onto the metal suit he wore. Undaunted, he pushed forward, but his charge became challenged, joints becoming stiff, and war cry becoming a mangled screech of pain as he came to a halt at my feet. I didn't stop though. He killed my friends, my family. He nearly killed an entire civilization in the name of a Machine far past its expiration date. The green armor began to heat up, glowing red and orange as the hot plasma began to cook him inside of his own suit. He stopped moving a few seconds later, but I continued for another ten just to make sure. I dropped my hands and stopped the stream, falling to my knees in exhaustion. Summoning what little strength I had, I raised a fist and hit his helmet on the rear seam, splitting it in two easily. As the smoldering pieces sparked and clattered onto the floor, a badly burned and charred lump of flesh hung limply, smoking just as much as his armor and likely filling the air with an unimaginable stench far beyond what Fallen usually produce. Gilmis, Kell of the House of Illusion, was dead.
I placed a frail hand on the charred corpse and summoned the stolen Light from his corpse. I felt its familiar yet haunting warmth. Suddenly, alarms blared and lights flashed in the bridge, likely extending across the entire ship. "Self-destruct countdown," Starco noticed, a wipsy, astral form of him floating by me.
"Starco?" I whispered. "Is that you?"
"Well, I was there when you started. Might as well be here when it ends." There was something gleeful yet sad in his eye. I reached out to touch him, but my hand simply went right through him. The overload must've cost me more energy than I had predicted if I was hallucinating this much. "If I'm translating this right, we have about ten minutes before this thing goes off like a nuke."
"Do we have enough time?" I asked, following Starco to the pit of instruments and hopping down. The impact threw me on my face. I was getting weaker and fast. If I was going to put an end to all of this madness, I had to tackle one last objective before the shutdown took over. Two firm hands hauled me to my feet. I grabbed my helper's shoulder and straightened myself. "Arla?" I said, looking over and seeing an Awoken Huntress in purple and red armor with a pink-handled knife fastened to her torso. She smiled and led me to a console. "Yep. This looks like the navigation," Starco confirmed.
I slumped into the seat and tried to make sense of the garbled screen. Starco moved down and looked at the screen. "Well, if we're going to get this nuke in the right position, then we better start moving. Start by angling the ship up and pushing the engines to 50%. He hovered over the engine control. "Now hit the second button next to the screen." I did, and it displayed something that Starco translated as a meltdown warning that slid into a gridded screen with several curved lines sloping into a jagged upper ceiling. Arla jumped in. "Looks like you're a little below target. Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Her voice sounded worried with a hint of regret.
Starco indicated for me to pull back on the stick. It was stiff and didn't do anything at first, but I felt the ship tip upward as we quickly accelerated towards the Traveler. The angle now properly set, I momentarily succumbed to the weakness setting in, my eyes closing unexpectedly until I jumped back awake. "It's happening faster than I expected," I declared.
"Agreed," a new voice said, a gloved hand laying flat against the instruments in front of me. Dea now stood to my right. "Try and focus on what's in front of you and don't waver it. It's going to take every ounce of your strength, but you can do this Maximus. You killed a Kell."
"Is this right though?" Arla repeated. "Is this what the universe needs?" Her voice was much more stern now.
Fighting the urge to slip under, I said, "The Traveler serves as a beacon of what we call Light. The Heart was what we called Darkness. Each of them are completely arbitrary, but they oppose each other, force people to take sides…" I trailed off.
Dea continued where I left off. "They create war," she explained. "We killed one monarch and the other is dying. Destroying the Traveler isn't an end Arla. It's a beginning. My people have transported the remnants of the City's population elsewhere until we're done here."
Understanding eased Arla's piercing gaze. She knew what was going to happen after but still asked, "Then what?"
Dea lifted her hand from the console and looked at the Traveler quickly growing in the viewport. I could start to see the underside of the Traveler. I couldn't make out anything yet, but we were getting closer, and I knew that I would see it in just a few minutes. "Five minutes," Starco noted. "We're a little behind."
"Pull the angle back a little then and gun it Maximus," Arla recommended. I looked up at her and saw tears gathering in her eyes. "It's time for a new epoch of humanity to begin. No Guardians. No Light or Dark." A smile gathered on her face. "Just the wonderful, messed up universe that's always existed." I eased pulled up on the stick for a second and placed a hand on the thrust. Arla set her hand on top of mine. I couldn't feel anything physically, but I felt her presence as I pushed it forward. My eyes shut, and I couldn't fend off the shutdown anymore. I let go of the controls and slid back in my chair.
I was ready. "From here, the stars," I whispered.
"From here, the stars," Arla repeated.