Chapter 3: Intergalactic Death Ball
Normally, the Speaker would be in his chair, welcoming Guardians to his office, which now doubled as the Tower Library after the destruction of the Black Garden gave everyone breathing room. Patrons, usually Guardians, would state the name of any of the thousands of books that the Speaker had in his collection. One would float in front of them, and then they would borrow it in exchange for a security deposit of upgrade materials and return it in a mutually agreed upon amount of time. (Usually, the honor system worked. Usually. If not, more materials for him.)
Books and young Guardians were a lot alike, the man upon whose shoulders all of humanity's survival had rested for so long thought now. They were quiet, had a lot of potential, and never talked back at you. The wide eyed gaze of a Guardian borrowing a book, feeling the unfamiliar materials, and then reading it on a seat on the platform below the Speaker's Observatory or the contented smiles of one who'd gained a new understanding from a book and was returning it were now the best part of this often thankless job for him.
Now, though, the Speaker had gathered together two of his chief advisors who helped keep the City running, and just like every time he had to meet with them or he called the City Consensus together, he had to (sadly) temporarily close the Library to have this private meeting.
It barely mattered that the doors were closed, though, when they were shouting over each other in such a manner that half the Tower could probably hear them by now.
"How many times do I have to tell you before that echo chamber in your head realizes that she broke the rules and deserves to be punished?" Lord Shaxx demanded and pounded the table.
"She's my Hunter, so you don't get to decide that. Besides, I should think that helping two other Guardians escape certain death and find out information critical to the survival of the City might mean she doesn't need to be in your little game!" Cayde-6 snapped.
"Do not call the Crucible a game! The skills that I learned at Twilight Gap must be passed on before it is too late. If one Guardian is allowed to leave the Crucible before they're ready..."
"Oh, would you shut up about Twilight Gap this, Twilight Gap that! That was twenty years ago. Get over yourself, has been!"
"How dare you! All you've done is dream of looting the Vault of Glass and lose the Vanguard Dare. You have no idea how to properly-"
"That is quite enough, both of you," the Speaker said firmly as he stood up. He was a thin man, but after years of leading the City's tenuous war against the overwhelming might of the Darkness, he knew how to command a room or give a speech without raising his voice.
Both of them knew better than to say another word as the Speaker gathered his thoughts together.
"Strictly speaking, going through the Crucible is not mandatory for all new Guardians," he began. "We place them there first because the majority of the time it allows Guardians to hone their skills in a safe environment, but after the initial placement, we should not force Guardians into it against their wishes. In this case the newborn Tikva was not gaining anything from the Crucible except for the feeling that she would never be good enough to contribute to our cause. My hope is that her experiences with her newfound friends can make her a more mature and confident Guardian, and then perhaps if she so chooses she can return to the Crucible.
"At the same time, Lord Shaxx, you are right- if all newborn Guardians were able to leave the Crucible without putting in a proper request to do so with you or myself, then all the advantages of the Crucible for new Guardians would be lost. So she will be allowed to leave the Crucible, but she will also be punished. Cayde-6, since you are the Hunter Vanguard, that is your decision."
Cayde and Lord Shaxx nodded solemnly.
"Now go."
A wave of his hand was sufficient to send both advisors out towards the rest of Tower North.
The Speaker had scheduled a meeting with Commander Zavala in about five minutes from now to fill the vacancy in Calore-14's Fireteam left behind by the disappearance of Dakar, since Calore-14 was a Titan and as such his Fireteam fell under Zavala's purview as Titan Vanguard. He would also convoke an emergency session of the Consensus within the hour so that the leaders of all the City's factions could be informed of recent developments and come up with ways to find out more about this Causeway.
This only gave him a few fleeting moments of respite before he would have to descend into yet another busy day. He didn't have time to read any books, so he squeezed a stress ball shaped like a Ghost as hard as he could, and then opened and proceeded to read a letter on purple parchment that was sitting off to one side of his desk.
He smiled. Once every few months, he would take time to sneak out of the Tower, dress a trusted Guardian in his garb (and have him contact him on a secure line in case of emergency), then find his beloved and be with her for a scant few hours. It was a long way to travel, and the two of them had to operate under cloak and dagger not only because of their positions, but also because all of the Awoken on the Reef would probably feed the Speaker his own eyeballs if they found the two of them together.
But it was worth it.
He sighed and let his hand rest on his chin. This wonderful letter would tide him over.
Until next time.
Ayiana woke up on the cold, hard ground next to the rusted ruins of some kind of rural machinery. Probably from the Golden Age. When she fully regained her vision, she saw the roof of a barn and her initial thoughts were confirmed. Her eyes darted to the left when someone, or something, that flew silently right past her.
"Dak-" she started to say as she followed the object and recognized her fellow Fireteam member, but then the Hunter crouched down next to her and put a finger to the Awoken woman's lips, then pointed at a slew of Fallen running around outside, who were somehow herding several dozen Hive Thralls like cattle.
Ayiana tried to move her leg, but couldn't, no matter how much her mind strained at her body to obey its dictates. In time, her shield would heal her wounds, but she also saw the fact that the bone was sticking through her armor and knew it would take a while. She must have fallen pretty hard when her and Dakar's ships crashed.
The Warlock smirked to herself. The two of them had been revived together by both their Ghosts at the same time, then found by Calore at the same time, and were often jokingly asked if they had been brother and sister in their first life, before the Collapse. It was only fitting that they'd crash at the same time and end up in this situation together.
Seconds later, several shanks poured in through a broken window and attacked. Dakar had already positioned Ayiana behind cover, and dove behind a wooden wall himself, which began to chip away from shock rifle blasts and wouldn't hold out much longer.
"Is your leg better now?" he shouted over the gunfire, explosions, and alien screams.
"Yes, I think so. Let's push them back."
"No, there's too many of them! You have to go now, and find Calore!"
"But..."
"Now! Either one of us gets out of here, or we both die."
Ayiana glowered at him one last time, defying his logic through the almost telepathic body language they'd shared, challenging the cruel fate that wanted to destroy them both.
Dakar's final look at her lasted only a second, but Ayiana knew that the fear, sadness, and hope etched on his face as he accepted that he wouldn't be able to save them both but wanted to give his life for his best friend without a second thought would be burned in her memory forever. Then she accepted it, and ran out into a clearing.
Dakar covered her retreat by activating his Arc Blade super and charging into the fray, killing dozens of aliens with the slightest of ease. That was the last time she saw him.
She had a momentary thought that there weren't as many aliens as they'd thought and that she could go back into that barn and pull him out. That dissipated the second that hundreds of Cursed Thralls poured over the hillside. Ayiana got on her Sparrow and fled, her hands barely stable enough to steer the craft. She knew he was doomed and that her instinct to look back would only make it worse. Yet her heart ignored all rationality and she turned her head slightly.
"DAKAR!" she yelled as she saw the barn vaporize inside the greenish-blue flame of the Thrall explosions. Her eyes blinded by tears, she single handedly floated above a whole platoon of Captains wielding Scorch Cannons, hurling a Nova Bomb at them and blasting them all in the chest with her fusion rifle.
All of the Fallen yelled at her, "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Wake up!" Tikva cried at Ayiana. A light tap of the large dark ball in her hand on Ayiana's head was sufficient to wake her up.
"Huh? Wha?" the Warlock moaned as her eyes adjusted to the midday light.
"What are you doing passed out in the middle of the Tower North hallway?" Tikva wondered and sat next to her.
"The Tower Library closed just before I was about to borrow a book that might help me figure out where Dakar could be," Ayiana sighed.
She knew that she'd seen an explosion no one could survive (and hadn't told Calore yet about it) but her brother in arms wasn't just anyone. If anyone could escape, it would be him. Perhaps the Fallen army's entire tack had shifted to taking Guardians alive, if what happened to her and Calore were any indication. So if there was a chance to save him, then by the Traveler, she would take it!
"The Speaker just called a meeting of the Consensus. It looks like it's going to be closed for awhile," Tikva told her.
"You're right, those things tend to take forever. I don't mind so much that we're not allowed in, then, as I'm pretty sure that politics would put me to sleep."
"Calore and I were playing soccer in Tower Watch and when you didn't come back, we split up and went looking for you," Tikva replied.
"Well, go on ahead and tell him that I'm fine. I just need to think."
"About how to find him?"
"No..." Ayiana sighed, her long and messy purple hair wilting over her light blue face and white irises. Her attempts at deflection were met with an incredulous raising of Tikva's brow.
"Think about this," Tikva chuckled and tapped her noggin with the ball again. "All of our ships and helmets are being repaired and the Library is closed, silly. So what good is thinking about him right now?"
"Everything!" Ayiana shouted. "You may think this is all fun and games, but the fact of the matter is that a Guardian's life is at stake here and we can't just sit around here and pretend that everything is fine."
"Cheese and crackers!" Tikva fumed. At this point, the Crucible was almost preferable to her. "Excuse me for wanting to help."
"By doing what exactly?"
"I don't know, trying to think that there's more to life than death. But if you want to whine for the rest of the day about something you can't do anything to help right now, then do it by yourself. You'll be missing out on the greatest game ever invented."
With that, the young and irascible Hunter took her big, black, mysterious ball and stormed out.
"And that is?" Ayiana asked weakly, sensing she'd hurt her new friend.
Tikva's brown eyes perked up when Ayiana asked her. "INTERGALAAAACTIC DEATH BALL! Ball. Ball. Echo. Echo."
Ayiana crossed her arms in confusion.
"As many Guardians as possible get under this ball, which mysteriously appeared after someone- cough, Calore, cough- 'accidentally' kicked the soccer ball off the edge of the Tower. Then they attempt to keep it in the air. If you pass it to someone and they let it hit the ground, they're out. Last person to have it still in the air wins."
"Sounds...interesting," Ayiana puzzled.
"C'mon, pleeeease," Tikva begged.
"Hey, let me think about it."
"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"
"I'm starting to think that you're actually twelve years old," the Warlock said with a roll of her eyes. "But yes, I'll join you. At least until the Library is open again."
"Deal," Tikva said as she led her friend outside. "And, about earlier. That was uncalled for. I won't pretend to understand what you're feeling, since I don't really have anybody to lose like you do. And even if I did, that wasn't fair."
"Well, I think Calore and I would be a little bit annoyed if you died. That counts for something, right?" Ayiana asked while elbowing the human in the chest plate.
"Maybe," Tikva laughed.
"Thank the Traveler," Calore panted, out of breath as he caught up with his friends. "The, huff, Tower is, puff, bigger than I, phew, imagined. Where did you find Ayiana?"
"Around," the Hunter shrugged. Then she asked, "So, did you find another ball to replace the one you lost, or shall I introduce Intergalactic Death Ball to the world?"
"I recall a certain klutzy Hunter kicking the ball directly at my head, whereupon I attempted to kick it back to you and it landed at an oblique angle on my right foot and bounced off Master Rahool's head and then off the Tower."
"You should have seen that, Ayiana. It was the perfect revenge on the Cryptarch for giving us all blues yesterday!" Tikva grinned. "Well, I guess Intergalactic Death Ball it is."
The moment she kicked it up in the air, every Guardian around her circled it with wide, curious eyes and then kicked it up in the air whenever. At first it was stranger to the touch than the ordinary soccer ball, but and watching it float down slowly and being better able to anticipate where the ball would go made up for it.
Xander the Bounty Tracker saw them and said, "I don't get paid nearly enough for this" when the ball bounced on its titanium head, and then it left a small black greasy stain on his chassis. To make matters worse a crazed Guardian clambered up on the boxes behind him and started chewing on his head with a bizarre cry of "Waffle! Om nom nom nom nom."
One moment, it got stuck in the Great Tree after Calore practiced a more directed kick, and then Ayiana had the bright idea to shoot it down with her Nova Bomb. This succeeded in dislodging the object, but it became purple now and started zipping around the assembled mass of Guardians. When Ayiana and Tikva both dived after it and it bounced off the concrete, they were declared dead.
"How ironic that you invented this game only to lose," Ayiana observed with a wry smile.
"Aw, shut up," Tikva laughed.
"Oh, look, that looks like something fun. Hey, can we join?" Ayiana wondered. The other Guardians were sitting in a circle and they nodded.
Soon, the two of them were caught up in a corrupted version of a pre-Golden Age children's game called "Wizard, Wizard, Thrall." Minutes of giddy fun and chasing later, Tikva was now the new picker.
She relished the prospect of getting to poke the other Guardians as they squirmed at the chance to go up and get her the minute she chose them as Thrall.
So the Hunter took her time, saying, "Wizard, wizaaaard, thr- wizard"- then laughed at the fake out when someone thought they heard thrall- "wizard from the Moon, wizard, wizard..."
It went on like this for about a minute, until Tikva finally closed her eyes, tapped the next person in line, and then sprinted in horror when she realized it was Ayiana and that the tall Awoken woman closed in on her like a cheetah.
Poor Tikva had no chance. Ayiana pinned her on the grass and on her back, and for a moment, the entire world stopped.
"Now it's off to the Dark Below with you!" the Warlock cackled.
"NO! I protest! This is tomfoolery I say!" Tikva laughed in mock protest. But no amount of kicking her arms and legs would dislodge Ayiana's hand from around her waist as the Hunter was hoisted over Ayiana's shoulders and into the center of the circle with the other defeated Guardians.
A few minutes after that, Tikva beheld the oddest sight in her life so far: Calore attempting to dance. Since he was a machine with very few joints, it was more of a stiff gesture where his entire upper body dropped towards the ground and then back up while his arms creaked from side to side.
"Take a look at your new Intergalactic Death Ball champion!" Calore laughed once he finished, a lot of tension over the past few weeks seeming to evaporate off of his shoulders at the moment.
"I hardly think that kicking the ball onto the roof of the Postmaster really makes you a champion," one of the losing Guardians grumbled.
"I was still the last Guardian keeping it afloat, as you are well aware," Calore grinned. "Therefore I have attained victory.
"You are such a sore winner," Ayiana said with an eye roll. "Besides, there's one thing I know you're not good at."
"And what is that?"
"Celebration dances. I just won at Wizard, Wizard, Thrall."
"Child's play."
"It actually has much more depth than at first glance. Anyway, on to my dance."
"Oh? That will be interesting to see."
Ayiana's hips moved from side to side while her feet crossed and uncrossed over themselves, her hands waving rhytmically in the air while her head dipped and popped back up. "Bam," she said, extremely pleased with herself.
Tikva, while standing on some boxes, admired the Awoken's dancing ability and at the same time thought that both of her friends were sore winners at this point. However, she kept her gaping awe and then laughter to herself.
Then she double jumped on to the roof and chuckled when she managed to stick the landing. She pushed the ball off and on to the ground so everyone could play a new game, to their great delight. After that, she attempted to get down, but Tikva was suddenly
She wasn't the first to discover how much fun riding up and down the fan could be, but she was the first in a long time to scream so loudly from laughter as she was buffeted by air currents that nearly a dozen Guardians, including Ayiana and Calore, joined her. Everyone held hands to keep the group steady until they looked like an undulating parachute made of armor, capes, and tears of unbridled joy.
Tess Everis, the special orders broker, had had enough. If there wasn't a Postmaster next door who needed it in order to keep the servers with all the messages on them from overheating, she would have gotten rid of that blasted fan years ago. The cheering and thudding as grown Guardians played on it like it was some toy was driving her mad.
So she called the Speaker. He would put a stop to it, she was sure of it.
"Hey, it's me again. They're jumping on the fan again."
"Alright, I'll take a look."
When the Speaker, exhausted from an interminably long meeting with the factions, hung up on Tess, he muttered, "Now, where is it?," carefully shuffling papers and books off to one side.
"Aha!" he remarked as he located a previously buried red button on his desk with the sign "Fan Control" on it. He reached out for the button, then hesitated.
At the same time, a table just below his staircase where Petra Venj had placed some Awoken cuisine brought to the meeting of the Consensus just as she was returning to the Reef (with the Speaker's reply letter in safekeeping) was covered in plates of uneaten food.
The Speaker had learned a long time ago that the pre-Golden Age axiom "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" was still quite true.
"The Library is now reopen," he broadcasted, "and there are refreshments generously given by our guests from the Queen of the Reef's delegation if anyone wants it."
The relief in Tess's voice when she realized that the Guardians were off of her fan was very much in evidence when the Speaker called her back.
"I've had food from the Reef before," Ayiana said with a fond smile when the Speaker's announcement came over the PA system as she floated down from the fan. "You should try it!"
"Sounds like a- oof!- plan," Tikva grinned back once she fell onto the grass. "And you'll have to tell me what the Reef is like someday."
"Don't go anywhere just yet," said a very familiar Exo behind her. She turned around and realized it was Cayde.
"Let's catch up at the Hall of Guardians later. I'll save you some food!" Ayiana said as she and Calore went on ahead.
"See you then!" Tikva yelled. "How can I help you?" she then smiled at Cayde.
"Well, first of all, I'd like to congratulate you. The Speaker himself made a point of noting that we wouldn't have found out about the Causeway without help from the three of you. Well done. In response, the Vanguard and all the factions are handing out bounties and Patrol beacons targeting some key Archons who might be leading this new attack. Alive or dead, it doesn't really matter. Once your ships and helmets are fixed up, you can take on some of these missions with
"New Fireteam? Who might that be?" Tikva wondered, barely containing her excitement
"Well, Zavala placed you with Ayiana and Calore. If they accept, of course."
"YES!" Tikva cried and fist pumped. "I- I mean, I understand, sir," she then said politely.
"At ease, soldier," Cayde laughed. "The only thing is, you do up and sneak out of the Crucible. Hunters don't back down from anything just because it's too hard."
"I thought that Hunters wrote their own rules."
"I- er- don't get smart with me, Guardian. That ain't the time or place to be making up your own rules," Cayde replied firmly. "In any case, consider this as light as possible of a punishment, all other circumstances considered."
Tikva sighed, ready to accept her punishment.
"Remember those new bounties I was talking about?"
She nodded.
"Well, they can't be delivered now on account of a loony Guardian ripped Xander's head off and is hiding somewhere in the Tower with it. If we don't repair Xander soon, thousands of bounties can't be given out and those that are completed will be unable to be turned in, and then we'll be mired in paperwork for days. Your job is to track this thief down, retrieve the head, put Xander back together, and if there are any glitches in the bounty tracking program you need to fix them."
"But-"
"Get to work. I know you'll do good, kid," Cayde said, patting her on the back before smiling as the young Hunter woman set off on her search. She was definitely going to see more excitement than he had in a very long time.
Hey guys, Jack Barrington here. I just want to thank you so much for the amount of support shown to this story so far! In the first week alone, it's gotten 165 views! That's insane, and it makes me feel very excited to get back into fanfiction writing for a game I really enjoy after a few years of being away and taking time to grow as a writer (I haven't decided whether to delete my amateurish stories from other fandoms or not!).
I've been writing where I can, usually during my lunch break and on the subway rides home, but I'm shooting for an upload schedule of once-twice a week. But the more views, reviews, follows, and favorites you guys leave, the more I'll try to get out each week, even if it's short and more focused on humor than plot.
Here's a bonus as a thank you once again for your support. I forget where on Twitter I found this, but Lord Shaxx's parody Twitter account ( CrucibleShaxx) retweeted a tweet where somebody wanted Lord Shaxx to sing "I'll Make a Man Out of You" by Donny Osmond from Mulan. Seeing as it's my favorite song from a severely underrated Disney film, I decided to give it a whirl. Enjoy!
Let's get down to business
To defeat the Hive
Did they send me newborns when I asked
For Guardians?
You're the saddest bunch I've ever met
But you can bet before you're through
The Crucible will make Guardians out of you
Sneaky as a pack of Vandals
But brutal killers within
Once you finally gain the lead
You are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale, pathetic team
And you're behind by five thousand points
The Crucible will make Guardians out of you
I'm never gonna stop dying
Say goodbye to any chance of winning
Boy was I a fool for not bringing a shotgun
This guy's super got 'em scared to death
Hope I get heavy ammo before he kills me
Now I really wish that I knew how to aim
Be Guardians
You must capture all the zones
Be Guardians
Destroy your enemies and execute all targets
Be Guardians
With all the strength of the Traveler's light
Mysterious as the Wizards on the Moon
Time is racing toward us till the Taken King arrives
All of you work together and you might survive
You're unsuited for the rage of war
So pack up, go to orbit, you're through
How could the Crucible make Guardians out of you?
Be Guardians
You must capture all the zones
Be Guardians
Destroy your enemies and execute all targets
Be Guardians
With all the strength of the Traveler's light
Mysterious as the Wizards on the Moon
Be Guardians
You must capture all the zones
Be Guardians
Destroy your enemies and execute all targets
Be Guardians
With all the strength of the Traveler's light
Mysterious as the Wizards on the Mooooooon!
Thanks again! Chapter 4 will be out soon. Every review, follow, favorite, etc. helps!