Destiny: We Stand Alone

Chapter 1

"Unleashed"

AN: I'd like to thank MotionlessClearLight, GalacticUnicorn, AK74FU2, and HWL99 for taking time to review this story. Also, I'd like to thank all of those readers out there who are following this story. Please keep on reading 'n reviewing,ok?

Three Months Later

Old Chicago, Earth

Sliver Longstride scanned the Fallen encampment below with the scope of his Gozen-C sniper rifle. The LongView SLR20 scope revealed not only the exact location of the enemy but also additional hazards that weren't noted in this morning's intel briefing. He really needed to impress upon Cayde-6 on the importance of revising the Surveillance & Target Acquisition report writing protocols used by the FOTC's Inquisition 'cause they really, really underestimated the enemy's defenses and numbers there was Dreg handlers with snarling kappa, genetically modified bipedal raptor-monkeys whose cybernetic augs enhanced their speed and durability. The hunter faced off against these vicious monsters before and in was in no hurry to reacquaint him again with their fangs. If those fangs managed to penetrate your armor, a neurotoxin was released that ensured a slow, excruciating, and very painful death. So far the researchers at the FOTC Surgeon-General's labs still were unable to produce anti-toxin to counter this potent terror weapon. The Fallen used them like guard dogs to patrol the camp's perimeter. The kappa's sight was attuned to heat signatures which gave them a crude form of infravision which would make Fireteam Obsidian's infiltration of the Fallen camp so much more hazardous.

Next there was the number of servitors that were making sweeps around the camp. The Inquisition stated there was only two of the lesser class to be taken out. It would have been a milk run for a master-class sniper like Sliver Longstride. Through the scope he counted six and they were of the Sepiks Prime –class. Sliver shuddered at the memory of taking down the High Servitor during a strike mission in Old Russia. One of these behemoths was a major obstacle. Add in five more and this was starting to look like a suicide mission. Maybe their warlock shouldn't have sent the Supreme, Ikora Rey, straight to the Intensive Care ward at Azarias Memorial Hospital in Tower North. She was struck with an Axion Bolt then stuck in a Vortex Field for about an hour or so as Mal'xian Chak-Tii rampaged through Tartarus Station. Needless to say if it wasn't for both The Speaker's and Commander Zavala's intervention, Fireteam Obsidian would have been sent back into stasis. It would have been a very lethal option for all involved in the melee. Especially for the FOTC since both the City's Security Forces and the frontline Protective Forces (which included all Guardians) couldn't afford the loss in manpower. The Vanguard decided that Fireteam Obsidian would serve temporary duty at Forward Observation Bastion Leonidas located on Meigs Island near Old Chicago. They would rotate with three other fireteams in reinforcing the 1st Murican Rangers (FOTC) in securing this sector.

The final problem that the Inquisition failed to mention was staked in the middle of the Fallen camp. Judging by the subject's estimated biometrics as measured by his Cortical Visual Interface the hunter was looking at either an Awoken or Human female. She was outfitted in a standard FOTC skinsuit issued to Technical Services personnel. Sliver checked the FOB Leonidas database for any missing personnel reported to the local Security Forces office. All personnel were present and accounted for. The hunter was puzzled by this new mystery. He increased the magnification on his scope and saw that she was bound by material similar to that used in Tangler grenades issued by the Vanguard Armory. Tangler grenades released neon-green sticky foam that incapacitated high-value targets. Tanglers were a non-lethal option for snatch missions. It was now time to check in with the rest of the team as the sun rose over the horizon. He then opened the Ultrawave team frequency to call the others.

"Bloodhawk to Foehammer."

Keisari dux Hawkmoon was lying prone 1500 meters southwest of the Fallen camp. His Xerxes-C Heavy Machine Gun's barrel stood on its bipod attachment. The black-armored titan was under a photo-mimetic cloak that kept him hidden from both the Dregs and Servitors who were patrolling the camp's perimeter. It took him much of the night and early morning to get into position. He was itching to unleash a hailstorm of violent death on these alien occupiers. These uninvited squatters of his adopted homeworld. He felt the rush of adrenaline flow into his bloodstream, the first sign of The Legacy of Rage. It was an ability that was gifted to less than 1% of Awoken titans and had saved Hawkmoon during those terrible months at Twilight Gap. A bearer of the Mark of the Executioner identified him to allied City units to keep their distance once the battle started. Once in the grip of homicidal battle-lust, an Executioner was unstoppable. Until he ran out of bombs, bullets, and blades (or living targets) Keisari dux Hawkmoon would continue to slaughter anything that moved.

"Foehammer. Are we going to put in some work in today or not Bloodhawk? If I wanted to go on a nature hike I'd have taken a nosedive off of the Tower. The only bastards getting any action here are these swarms of insects trying to get past my shields to feast on my flesh." He swatted away another cloud of annoying flies.

Sliver chuckled at the titan's misery. Sneaking up on the enemy located in the middle of a coniferous swamp was dangerous enough. When your own people don't give you an accurate and complete briefing makes a guardian think twice about exactly why he or she is putting their ass in harm's way. He made another sweep of the area with his rifle before responding to the titan.

"Suck it up, buttercup. Boost the strength of your ultra-sonics. Quit your bitching, Kei, you'll see your share of carnage soon. That is if Chak-Tii doesn't incinerate every square inch of this encampment first." Sliver clicked off the channel as he noticed movement down below. The Fallen camp increased activity as a four-limbed captain approached the bound female.

Through the scope he witnessed the writhing form of the prisoner as she struggled to keep out of the reach of the Fallen captain. He in turn gestured to the two Dregs standing guard over her. The hunter knew this technician, whoever she was, must be important enough to keep alive since the Fallen weren't exactly known for being merciful to other intelligent species. He also noticed the approaching dropship. Sliver needed to know if Chak-Tii was ready to disrupt the Fallen's defenses here. He opened the team's Ultrawave frequency a second time.

"Bloodhawk to DarkStar."

"DarkStar. What is it that you require Bloodhawk? My preparations aren't complete yet. A few more minutes and we'll bathe in the blood of our enemies. Even the fools running the City will regret exiling us here to the hinterlands." The warlock was in another of his foul moods and still in denial over why they were assigned to FOB Leonidas. At the moment he and his ghost, Oh-Nine, were making modifications to his S-22 Seeker. They were hidden by a thicket of Northern white cedar trees. Chak-Tii monitored the sentries via his helmet's neural net-link. His ghost made a circuit of the camp's perimeter and shared the video feeds through the fireteam's secure intranet.

"Going loud sooner rather than later, Chak-Tii. I'm sending an updated sitrep now to both you and Foehammer. It appears that the Fallen have a high-value prisoner. Female, either Awoken or Human. Wearing a FOTC skinsuit but the local garrison here has everyone present and accounted for. Whoever she is, to the enemy she's important enough to be kept alive. Which means The Speaker and the Vanguard might be grateful enough to let us come home." Chew on that you arrogant bastard, thought Sliver to himself.

"Hunter, according to the Vanguard Archives, there was a place called The Argonne located further inland. They researched several areas of emerging technology during the Golden Age. Do you think she was scavenging there? By the way, I can feel your sarcasm oozing through…"

Sliver gave a snort. He personally didn't give a rat's ass what the warlock did as long as it accomplished the mission and didn't get the rest of the team killed. He started a timer on the holographic display of his helmet as he centered the Gozen-C's sights on the space between two Dregs armed with plasma rifles on the northern edge of the camp. Keisari dux Hawkmoon crawled another 700 meters closer to the enemy and set up his heavy machine-gun between two boulders. Malx'ian Chak-Tii finished holstering his matching set of Regulator hand-cannons. The warlock dismissed his ghost and mounted his speeder-bike. Thirty seconds to mayhem. One chance to pull off a miracle.

As the timer ran down to zero, Malx'ian Chak-Tii took off on his modified Seeker rocketing towards the embedded wing of an ancient 747 as the Fallen dropship made its final approach to the camp. Alerted by the high-pitched whine of the Seeker's thrusters, the two Dregs charged up their plasma rifles. Before they could shoulder their weapons and take aim at the incoming warlock, Sliver twice squeezed the trigger on his Gozen-C sniper rifle. The 12.7mm match-grade, iridium-core High Explosive Armor Piercing rounds went supersonic driven by the rifle's kinetic coils. Mere seconds later the Dregs' heads disintegrated as the HEAP rounds first penetrated the aliens skulls then detonated. Glowing white energy escaped from the corpses as bits of bone and brain matter littered the ground. The warlock sped past their falling bodies as more Dregs and Vandals realized their camp was under attack.

Keisari dux Hawkmoon took up a Breaker SA/5 rocket launcher and used the smart-link between his Cortical Visual Interface and the launcher's fire-control system to acquire his target. The titan saw that Chak-Tii had started his run towards the camp. He fired the Breaker at a group of Fallen that had gathered in front of a structure that had been identified by the Inquisition as a communications hub. The 60mm missile roared into the sky as it followed its pre-programed route to the target area. It made some minor course corrections as it dodged plasma blasts fired off by the enemy. The Fallen helplessly watched as the missile made a 90-degree turn straight up then detonated its lethal payload 500m above their heads. The airburst released deadly maser sub-munitions that decimated the Fallen.

Thousands of micro-warheads exploded which created blue-white arcs of chain lightning that electrocuted Dregs, Servitors, and Vandals alike. The aliens spasm and jerked in tandem with the pulsating bolts of their destruction. Dregs were burned alive, Servitors AI modules were flash-fried, and Vandals ran howling until their bodies sparked into flames then dropped onto the swampland. The Fallen communications hub was totally obliterated with debris spread all over the camp. Smoke hissed then rose into the fetid air as Fireteam Obsidian pressed their assault. The Titan discarded the rocket launcher and took up his Xerxes-C Heavy Machine Gun. He strode forth towards the now burning camp with his weapon at the ready. Underneath his helmet, the Awoken titan grinned. The Legacy of Rage filled his entire being with raw, unfiltered power.

Malx'ian Chak-Tii leaned back as far as he could as he accelerated along the wing. He twisted the throttle to maximum as the S-22's afterburners engaged boosting the vehicle's speed to 200kph. Panicked Dregs and Vandals fired their weapons as he sped by towards the approaching dropship. The warlock launched the Seeker into the dropship's open hangar bay as he flung himself backwards off the speeder-bike. Using his CVI and his hand-cannon's own aiming module, the warlock squeezed off a single 13mm spinmetal round that impacted a glowing container of liquid aqanah, a rare mega-heavy metal that greatly amplifies energy, attached to the speeder-bike's instrument panel. The resulting explosion tore the dropship in half and killed any Fallen crew members unlucky enough to be aboard. Flaming wreckage crashed down upon the already panicked alien troops adding to the mounting confusion. Chak-Tii activated his glide ability to slow his descent to the chaotic battle below.

Sliver was climbing down off a boulder when a surviving Servitor blasted him with a purple-hued plasma bolt. The blast had burned off his personal shield and the indicator on his display was flashing red. It would take several precious minutes for the palm-sized unit on his armor to recharge and re-establish a defensive barrier around him. The hunter had been thrown head-over-heels into the muck. The Servitor disappeared for a few seconds then reappeared several meters away from the guardian. Sliver knew that he had to kill this enemy now before the Fallen managed to regroup and counter-attack the team. Time was still of the essence here.

His shield recharged and his indicator stopped its annoying beeps. The hunter unclipped his Graviton ESe shotgun then racked back the slide. Sliver was using 20mm shrapnel rounds filled with tungsten-carbide steel darts. He checked the motion tracker on his helmet's display and saw that the Servitor was still stalking him. The hunter picked up a rock by his foot and used an overhand throw to attract the Servitor's attention. The rock made a dent as it struck the automated sphere. As expected the Servitor shot its plasma beam as Sliver rolled to his right to avoid being incinerated. The beam struck the bog which vaporized the ground and caused a wall of hazy steam to screen him from the mechanical weapon. Engulfed by the steam his opponent was confused and seemed unsure of how to proceed. The master hunter took a running leap then somersaulted into the air. As the Servitor turned back to look in his direction, Sliver blasted the Servitor from 10 meters away with his shotgun. The shrapnel round traveled half the distance where it blew apart launching hundreds of lethal darts that embedded themselves into the floating sphere. Sparks flew, smoke billowed, and the Servitor emitted a high-pitched electronic screech. As it was shuddering in its death throes, Sliver shoved the barrel of the Graviton ESe into the Servitor's eye and squeezed the trigger.

"Hasta la vista… baby." The 20mm shrapnel shell made short work of the Servitor as its mechanical innards were shredded to scrap. It exploded behind Sliver who was now focused on rescuing the female prisoner from her Fallen captors. He checked the positions of his other team-members then ran in the direction of where he last saw the prisoner.

The titan fired his Xerxes-C HMG in short bursts chewing up armor and alien flesh with ease. When the ammo counter clicked on zero, he gripped the barrel then swung the HMG like a club which crushed the skull of a Vandal who was foolish enough to attack him head-on. Keisari dux Hawkmoon was now fully in the grip of The Rage as he tore through the remaining Fallen guards. He elbowed a second Vandal in the midsection then used a left upper-cut that sheared off the Vandal's head from the rest of his body. When he spotted a group of Dregs running around the corner snarling and howling with anger, the titan tossed a pulse grenade which took the Fallen by surprise. While they tried to scatter or take cover the pulse grenade blew up amongst them sending chunks of earth into the air. Those that didn't die in the blast witnessed their kin being torn apart.

The first Dreg tried stabbing him with a shock knife. Keisari easily disarmed him, broke its wrist, and slit the alien's throat wide open. The titan spun around then side-kicked a second Dreg so hard that he caved its torso in. The third took two shots at him with a pistol but his personal shield absorbed the blasts. Keisari snapped a front kick into the third Dreg's groin that doubled the alien over. Taking advantage of the opening, the titan got a firm grip on the Dreg's head then smashed it against the rusted frame of an ancient car. As he finished off the last one, a flurry of shock bolts burst against his shield which he saw was down to half-strength according to his CVI's display. Keisari slid behind a concrete block as more shock bolts were fired in his direction. He pulled a hand-cannon that was a family heirloom passed down through the generations. Its silvered barrel featured etched 'hawk-feathers' along its length. The contoured mono-grip had a wicked-looking curved blade useful for close-quarters battle. After he saw another quartet of shock bolts shriek overhead, the Awoken titan broke from cover and ran…

…straight into an ambush by Stealth Vandals. They materialized into view as they deactivated their invisibility cloaks. Armed with mono-edged swords these Vandals were formidable combatants in CQB. Keisari ducked as a Fallen sword cleaved the air where his armored head was seconds ago. The titan kneecapped the attacking Vandal with two quick shots from his hand-cannon. He dodged a sword thrust from a second Vandal, blocked the second swing of that with the ruined Xerxes-C machine gun barrel, and dropped the Vandal with a well-aimed head shot. The Awoken titan took a moment to catch his breath. He ran a diagnostics check on his armor; according to his CVI the shield was at 95% strength. Keisari was wondering how the rest of team was doing when he was struck by a powerful shock bolt. The ionized energy battered his personal shield which was reduced to 40%. The blast had knocked him off his feet and left him half-submerged in the swamp. His vision was blurry and couldn't see his CVI displays. Warning chimes were sounding off and from the pings on the motion tracker, it sounded as if a hostile was closing in on him. He managed to rise up on one knee but still felt woozy. The sound of heavy boots seemed to be getting closer. Keisari dux Hawkmoon hoped that it was the rest of Fireteam Obsidian come to relieve him 'cause all he wanted to do was pass out on the flight back to base.

The warlock stepped over the corpses of the recently slain. He stealthily made his way among the rubble and the dead keeping an eye out for the female prisoner Sliver had mentioned. He saw her lying in open ground which would make it more likely that it was a planned trap. Underneath his helmet, the warlock smiled. The guardian jumped into the air, levitated in place, and threw a Void-fueled Scatter Bomb that struck the three suspected areas where the enemy was hiding. He was rewarded with two Vandals caught in the deadly embrace of being disintegrated alive screaming. The ping on his motion tracker alerted him to the enemy he missed. Malx'ia Chak-Tii blinked out of the air and reappeared behind the Vandal who was hunting him. He thumbed back the hammer on his Regulator hand-cannon and centered the revolver's barrel on the Vandal's head.

"Yahtzee!" The muzzle flash blinded the Fallen as he was turning as the 13mm shot-shell blew out the alien's brains into the humid air. The shock rifle slid from its lifeless hands as the Awoken warlock cautiously made his way towards the unconscious prisoner. Taking a cylinder off his belt, Chak-Tii sprayed the Tangler bonds with a chemical stripper that dissolved them. Satisfied that the last of the restraints had melted away, the warlock used a tricorder to check on the condition of this mystery woman. He opened the team's Ultrawave channel on the comms-link.

"DarkStar to Bloodhawk. I have secured the hostage. What's your ETA to my current position?." The warlock saw that the female technician was now waking up. He had that uneasy feeling when they debriefed her back at FOB Leonidas everybody's lives were going to be a helluva lot more complicated. Malx'ian Chak-Tii removed a spray hypo and administered a mild sedative to the woman. As he was preforming this minor task, the female reached up behind her ear to retract back her helmet. The warlock did a double-take then clicked the comms-link back on.

"Bloodhawk, we have a problem. The hostage isn't a no-name FOTC techinician. It's the Queen of the Reef's daughter: Princess Yizi il-Allitys Feystorm. We need to exfil this area. Now." The warlock was cursing under his breath. This mission went past the screwed-the-pooch marker.

"DarkStar, I hate to break it to you but actually we have two problems right now. The Fallen just captured Hawkmoon. Exfil is on hold 'til we get our titan back. Secure the VIP, synthesize more ammo, and meet me at the following coordinates. Nobody snatches a guardian, especially if it's one of ours." Sliver Longstride retrieved his Gozen-C sniper rifle and loaded a fresh magazine of 12.7mm match-grade HEAP rounds. The enemy was about to be reminded why Fireteam Obisidian was on the FOTC rolls as a 'Designated Reaper Crew'. It was time to hunt again.

TO BE CONTINUED