Vergil sat thinking to himself as his fireteam's ships flew through the skies towards the Cosmodrome. The plan was relatively simple: storm the Skywatch and hit the Fallen as hard as they could and retrieve the AI, and failing that, find out where it was going. Simple in theory, but he knew damned well that the plan will be thrown out the window as soon as they make contact with the enemy. His ship shuddered as it hit turbulence but stayed on course. They had been flying for hours and each minute that ticked by made Vergil antsy. Normally he would have been at ease but he had been searching for a lead like this for so long that the anticipation and desire to confirm the origins of this AI had begun to worry him. He cast his thoughts aside as Merry's voice broke out over the comms.
"Alright, we're dropping in the LZ in 5. Vergil, this is your mission, lead the way." Vergil smiled. Merry liked to have some sort of control, on and off the battlefield. It came from being a marine. Out of all the Golden Age she lived through that was the only thing she could remember. As a Sergeant Major she called a lot of the shots on the field back in the day, but now there was no marine corp, no North American Empire to serve. Just a barely held together City under a broken god, but she held on and now was working to build her beloved navy anew. Vergil could sympathize.
"Very well. Spark, contact Amicus and begin telemetry feed as soon as we hit the ground."
"Already on it."
The three ships dove down through the clouds and made way to the Forgotten Shore. As they hovered over the cliffs looking out above the water the three guardians dropped down to the ground. Vergil knelled up and down stretching his legs. Jacques had done well, he felt no joint aches or pain. He opened a channel to Amicus.
"Amicus? We've reached the shore and we're heading to the Skywatch, can you read me?"
As the hours had passed, things started settling down at the Tower. Though Veda for the first hour and a half was rather restless, her nurses had checked her vitals which had began going crazy. A nervous pit in her stomach had her adrenaline up, the curious silver orbs now firm and rigid. Not to mention, her heart rate wasn't exactly slow either. Seeing this, they gave her a sedative. However, the decision to do so was fought by the girl herself, knowing that the situation called for her cooperation with the group to be on the ground. If she wasn't going to be in the firefight, the last thing she would want was to be out during the start of it. After quite the argument, deeply reluctant consent was given for the injection. Nerves began settling shortly after it was in her veins; her soft white tresses dropping onto the pillow soon enough. Amicus felt some relief shortly after she passed out, a constant breath rising her chest and shoulders softly. The passing hours felt like days to the small Ghost, but cut short as the channel connected. Hearing Vergil's voice perked him up, his singular eye darting toward his Guardian.
"You're connected Vergil. You on the ground yet?" His cybernetic voice crackled.
"Affirmative, we're moving up to the Terrestrial complex now." Vergil pulled his hand cannon from his back and checked the magazine as his teammates performed a final weapons check. Lescha looked up from her rifle.
"That the kid? Is she awake?" Vergil raised a hand telling her to slow down. He had connected the fireteams comms to his telemetry so he knew Amicus heard her, but he re-asked the question anyway. "Is Veda awake?"
The redundancy of the question was not appreciated by the little Ghost, who simply huffed and glanced at the resting figure. Without even a hint of awareness of their conversation, he simply sighed slightly.
"No. A nurse came in and actually managed to convince Veda to take some sedative. She's out like a light." The Ghost responded, his little form floating over to the opposite side of the room slowly, as if he was beginning some nervous pace. " Should I try to wake her?" Amicus continued.
Vergil shook his head. "Only if you think it necessary, but having her worrying about us will not help her heal. Keep recording unless I tell you otherwise." Vergil readied his cannon and nodded at his team. "Let's head out, we're losing time."
The trio summoned their sparrows and blasted towards the complex. Since the entrance did not lie far, they arrived and dismounted quickly. Vergil took point and they walked through the building at a quick pace, one eye kept on the radar for any signs of the enemy.
"Spark, any comm chatter?" Vergil felt as if something was off. They hadn't met any Fallen or Hive in the past ten minutes. Not even any signs of recent activity from anyone.
"Not really picking up anything yet" Vergil's ghost responded. "We may yet get something when we get closer to the Skywatch. Just keep your guard up."
"Copy that." Merry acknowledged.
They passed through the building and stepped back out into the daylight, the open area where the array Rasputin was said to use to reconnect to the inner planets. Still they had yet to meet the enemy.
"Hang on! I got something!" The fireteam stopped as Spark spoke over the radio. "The Fallen are trying to clear the Skywatch of Hive so their Archons can take off, they're still here! If we hurry we may be able to crash the party."
Vergil nodded. "Double-time it, let's go!" The fireteam exploded into full sprint, navigating the close rusted corridors as they hurried to the Skywatch.
"Gotcha."
The Ghost curtly replied, his little form turning to face his partner. While she laid so idle, he couldn't help but wonder if she could hear, even in her sleep. For Veda, that had already become a truth. Seeing as her and her Ghost were inseparable entities, it wasn't strange that she was hearing whatever he was hearing. However, it wasn't as some might expect. The background noise was muffled, as though hearing it through deep water. Strikingly, the voices were more like repetitive nightmarish whispers, familiar voices sounding more like demons than fellow Guardians. Guilt, fear, worry or any of those emotions might have explained the dark dreams she had, but Veda wasn't one to explain personal things like that. Amicus was always told never to peer into her sleep, and he kept to his word.
There was only one issue the Ghost took with Vergil's reply: restricting footage. Even if things got dicey, Vergil was no-one to tell Veda what she could or couldn't see. And Amicus couldn't bring himself to follow up on those orders. He made the decision of not making any promises, keeping those words to himself silently. The small blue light flickered as he watched, occasionally viewing through the other Guardian's vision, as though flipping through channels on a TV.
In the Tower, the commotion of the severely injured Awoken girl had died down, but curiosity and adventure still had some ambers littered in the dying pit of them. In the doorway, a couple of older Guardians peeked in, one leaning against the doorway and the other silent, more reserved and with crossed arms. Amicus might have glared at them, if he could. However, he simply barked at them to leave, which they frustratedly obliged to, but not without getting a good look. For someone who was supposed to be dead, she wasn't looking too bad. Those harsh thoughts on the girl might have gotten out if a nurse hadn't stopped them on the way. Seeing as they had exited the room, the woman answered their inquiries, and the boys guiltily realized what a predicament she had been through. Now there was a story to glaze over for dinner.
As they ran through the building, Vergil, Merry and Lescha were silent. There was no need for words now. The mission was clear and battle was waiting ahead. As they rounded a corner a squad of vandals, dregs and a captain stood waiting. The captain had received orders to stop anything from entering or leaving, but it was not prepared for a Guardian like this. The Guardian with the Undrawn Sword. It had heard the stories of his battle with the Kell and to now meet him in captain froze in fear, its hands gripping tighter to its two shock sabres. While the titan and the hunter fired their weapons into the dregs and vandals, the warlock ran straight for the captain. Vergil's right hand glowed with violet energy as he jumped towards the captain. Reaching forward Vergil gripped the captain's upper left arm, and tore it off.
The captain screeched as it gripped the stump, falling to its knees as blood and ether spilled out. In one smooth motion, Vergil swung the dismembered arm, still still tightly gripping the shock sabre and beheaded the captain, ending its scream. Out of the remaining Fallen were two dregs who watched their captain fall with ease. They had a moment to look at each other and turn to flee before Vergil fired two rounds, exploding their heads in a flush of ether and spectral matter.
He took note of the colours of their armour. A steel grey with red markings. 'So it is them.' Vergil's eyes narrowed. 'Guess it was only a matter of time before they crawled back out of the woodwork.' He turned to his fireteam, who looked somewhat in awe of what he just did.
"We're wasting time." He ripped the limb away from the sabre and held it in his left hand, testing the weight. It was a good blade, it would do for now. Lescha and Merry looked at each other and shrugged. Questions for later, they had a mission to complete.
In the Tower, Amicus might have flinched from seeing such a gory attack. Unlike Veda, he seemed to take some pleasure in taking power over a situation (as in the enemy). The gaudy attack, from his perspective, was unnecessary. Of course, his partner would probably fawn over it later, wondering if she herself could do it. But the both of them knew that she couldn't, or rather wouldn't, do it. The young Awoken's duties lied with doing the mission, rather than expressing any hate or power over them. However, Amicus thought the attack was worth some praise, while he might never express that to the Exo personally. The little Ghost was also taking the feed from Spark, listening in on the Fallen's chatter while things went on. The down time of running and moving around the complex was a prime opportunity to check in on their surroundings, and Veda. It was strange, seeing those colors on a dreg, and the unfamiliarity seemed contagious to the Guardians as well. All save, for Vergil. That look of recognition concerned Amicus, leaving him to ponder what, and to what extent, did Vergil know. Even more importantly, what was he keeping from the group about this knowledge? Still, Amicus remained quiet and watched as they continued their trek toward this mysterious AI.
The closer the group got to the Skywatch, the louder the sounds of battle and explosions became. As they approached the entrance, Lescha skidded in front to scout the battlefield, only to see a scorch missile flying towards her.
"Aw shi-"
The missile detonated as it hit Lescha full force, knocking back the two remaining guardians. Vergil's sensors went off ringing as he sat up, but he shook it off. He looked over to see Lescha's ghost still intact. Nodding with a sigh of relief, he helped Merry back on her feet. The titan simply cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders as she readied herself again.
Vergil approached the entrance again, taking cover on the left side as Merry took the right. As he revived Lescha, Vergil dared a glance to the chaos outside. The Fallen and Hive were tearing into each other in full assault. Wolves, Devils and the dark armoured fallen were desperately trying to hold off the minions of Crota. Captains clashed swords with Knights, vandals picked off hallowed thrall with wire rifles and wizards traded energy bolts with scorch cannon fire.
Lescha was returned to the land of the living and took cover behind Vergil.
"Fuck that hurt." She winced.
"That's a ton of mess between us and the target." Merry pointed out. "Any ideas?"
Vergil looked out again, but he couldn't quite see the other side of the field leading to the lunar complex.
"We're going to have to make a window. Get out your rockets and prep for a beeline to the lunar complex."
Lescha and Merry obliged, pulling out their rocket launchers and releasing the safeties. Vergil reloaded his hand cannon and flicked on the swords arc charge.
"Ready? Let's go!"
The trio sprang from cover, charging over the bluff of rock and rusted out vehicles. Lescha took the left, firing into the Hive as she jumped over the edges to land on the shack that stood over the battlefield to reload. Merry rose up over the right, aiming her rockets at the far Fallen before summoning her super energy to launch herself down into the enemy and jumped again, firing off rockets further forward. Vergil ran straight up the middle, and leaped down into the fray. The bombardment of rockets had surprised the enemy and confusion soon ran rampant as he strode through the field, hacking and cutting while firing his cannon into either side. A Knight raised its great sword to strike down, but Vergil twirled away before running up and cleaving its head in two. He back-flipped off the body and sprinted through Merry's strike zone which still gave off arc energy, repulsing any foe who dared to cross it. As Merry sprinted forward, auto rifle blazing away Lescha hopped back down to follow, her shotgun blasting anything that got to close. Vergil brought up the rear as they sprinted for the shelter of the lunar complex. But as he closed the distance between him and his team, a barrage of arc bolts rained down on him. Merry and Lescha turned just in time to see their friend fall, calling out in surprise and anger. Lescha fired up her Golden Gun and blasted three Knights that approached Spark, but they only staggered back before resuming their assault, raising their swords to strike the little ghost. As the two women continued firing their remaining rockets and weapons into the Knights, the Wizard that struck Vergil closed in energy crackling around its hands.
Suddenly, a great flame arose were Vergil fell, the Knights shielding their dark eyes from the light. There Vergil stood, as if he had never fallen. The Wizard paused and the Knights regained their sight to watch as the Warlock withdrew his pistol and took a stance with the fallen sword.
"My turn."
With his words fire spewed from the blade as Vergil struck the first Knight from shoulder to hip, turning it to ash. The two remaining Knights strode forward but Vergil flew away from their blades, raining down firebolt grenades. The assault, too much for the already weakened hive wretches, blasted them apart, leaving the Wizard to remain.
Vergil released his glide and he fell to the ground, rolling to soften his landing. He stood up just in time to see the Wizard come screaming towards him at top speed. Acting on instinct, Vergil threw the blade at the wizards face. It pierced the skull straight through, stopping at the hilt before the body dissipated into ash and dark magic. His foes vanquished, Vergil straightened up and dusted himself off, his cloak of fire extinguished. He looked down and slipped his foot underneath the hilt of the sword and kicked it up off the ground, catching it in his hand. He turned and ran to meet his team. He called back to them as he blew past them, running straight into the hall.
"Let's go!"
The women, still in awe of what they just witnessed, snapped back to reality and followed suit, reloading their weapons as they went. Vergil was waiting for them a moment at the end of the hall before jogging into the next room. He slowed down again as he neared the door to the more open area, scanning through the broken windows. No Fallen waited for them ahead, his hud giving no indication of any enemy nearby. He pulled out his hand cannon as his team formed up behind him. He glanced back to see them ready, and cautiously stepped out into the larger room.
At soon as he took a step out, a large hand came down from above and grabbed him by the head, lifting him up to bring him to the face of his attacker. Behind his helmet Vergil's eyes widened. "Wrevnix."
The Fallen that gripped his face wore dark grey armour, red markings running down like blood along the four-horned helm. Its lower arms carried two large axes that sparked with arc energy. It roared in Vergil's face and slammed him down into the roof of the small room. It picked Vergil up, turned and slammed him down again into another part of the roof, then again into an air conditioner. Vergil heard his helmet crack as he shouted in pain. The Archon Priest continued its attack as Lescha and Merry raced out of the room and raised their weapons. They froze as a voice in broken english came up from behind them.
"You should worry for yourselves!"
Another Archon Priest towered over them, identical to the other, swung a large greatsword down between the two guardians, seperating them. The new Archon dragged the sword along the floor, sending up sparks as it caught Merry with the flat of the blade and slammed her into the wall driving out the breath in her lungs. Lescha let out a warcry as she charged the Priest, letting fly her shotgun. As the Fallen turned to her she jumped up and drove her knife into its shoulder. It roared back in pain, allowing Lescha to flip over onto its back, grabbing its headdress and driving another knife into the creature. The Archon flailed around in pain, trying to grab at the small Guardian stabbing it's back. Merry took the opportunity to stand back up, shake off the pain and barrel towards the fighters. Merry rammed into the Archon with full weight, knocking it backwards over the ledge of the platform they stood on. Lescha only had a moment to jump off its back before it landed with a crash. In a scramble of limbs and shouts, Merry pulled the first knife from the Fallen's shoulder, grabbed the two left arms and pinned them on top of each other, wrist over wrist. She then drove the knife through the limbs, pinning them to the floor beneath. The Archon roared as it reached to grab Merry, but Lescha jumped up and pinned them down as well, driving her knife through flesh into the steel floor. The Archon screamed bloody murder at the two ladies before Merry drew back a fist and slammed it into its head, smacking into the floor and finally falling silent in a daze. The women stood up over the large form, gasping down breathes as they admired their handywork.
Leshca turned to Merry, smiling beneath her helmet. "Well...that was easy." Merry just puffed out a breathe of laughter. Suddenly they were reminded of their friends peril as he was slammed into a pillar and fell to the floor. The first Archon, Wrevnix, jumped down stood over the Warlock. Vergil was in rough shape, his cloak was torn and the left side of his helmet had been broken off. His hand cannon had been crushed underfoot by Wrevnix and his sword torn off the belt and was tossed aside. As Vergil stood back up, his legs barely supporting him, he was really, really glad that Jacques finished the work on his back.
The towering figure let out a laugh. "The Guardian with his Undrawn Sword! Down on his knees like a dog! As you should be!"
"Not really." Vergil managed to croak out. "I'm still standing Wrevnix. Unlike your Kell when I last beat the crap out of him." As Vergil egged on the Archon Priest, his eyes caught something clipped to his belt. It was a cylinder, about as long as Vergil's forearm. It was pulsing every few seconds in runes, the pattern of the flash was an SOS signal. Vergil's eyes widened as he recognized the tube, but before he could get the chance Wrevnix grabbed him by the chest and slammed him back into the pillar, holding him up at eye level with the Archon.
"You will not get new chance again!" Wrevnix growled. "House Blood grows strong, even Wolves fear us!"
"I think Skolas is too busy rotting in the Prison of Elders to worry about you." Vergil jibed. That did it. Wrevnix hefted an axe into his upper right hand and raised it to strike.
That's when Merry drove the fallen captain's sword through Wrevnix's thigh. The Priest screeched in pain as it dropped Vergil and the axe to grip his leg, before turning and grabbing Merry and threw her hard into the next room. Vergil crouched as he landed and jumped back up, snatching the runed cylinder from the Archon's belt and rolling behind him to draw out the sword from Wrevnix's leg, switching on the blade as he did to maximized the damage. The roar of pain drove Wrevnix to his knees as the wound was half cauterized. Gripping his leg Wrevnix turned to Vergil and Lescha. Vergil spread his arms to mock the Archon.
"Who's on their knees now?" Wrevnix could see the smile on Vergil's face and shook with rage. He turned his head to the other guardian and saw the other Priest pinned to the floor behind her.
"Brother!" With a roar, the fallen rose up and charged, backhanding Lescha while kicking Vergil aside. Wrevnix grabbed the knives and pulled them out of his brother's wrists before slinging him over his shoulders and leaped back down, running through the doors out where he threw Merry, and disappeared down the stairway.
Vergil got back up and helped Lescha up as well. "We have to go after them!" Lescha exclaimed. "We can't let them get away!" The two Guardians jumped down and ran into the next room to see Merry kneeling in front of the pillar that was lined with computers, arms at her side looking up. Vergil quickly followed her gaze and his coolant froze at the sight. There, pinned and tied against the pillar were six mutilated bodies. Not just any bodies, they were those of Veda's fireteam.
"Oh my god." Lescha stepped towards the grotesque display before slumping down next to Merry. "Oh my god." The shock brought the woman to near tears as they looked up. Vergil's hands curled in fury; fury towards the Fallen, fury towards the Hive, fury towards all those who dared lay a hand on anyone in such a way. He lifted a hand and gripped what remained of his helmet and tore it off, throwing it against the wall in a cry of anguish and anger where it shattered into pieces.
"Damn them!" he cried. "Damn them to hell!" He then too, fell to his knees, looking away from the fallen guardians. Several moments of grief passed before Merry lowered her head and stood back up. She held a hand out to Lescha, who wept behind her own helmet.
"Come on, let's take them home." Lescha looked up at the titan and sniffed before nodding, taking her hand and standing up. Merry turned to the exo. "Come on Vergil. Time to go home."
Vergil said nothing as he stood back up and turned to his fireteam, his composure fixed. "Yes, I suppose it is." His voice betrayed his sorrow, the look in his eyes filled with pain. "Let's bring our brothers and sister home, one last time."
The three guardians began removing the bonds around the bodies, then the spikes that held their hands above their heads. Lescha and Vergil passed them one by one to Merry, who laided them down on the floor. As they moved the second last body Lescha spoke.
"The spikes, are they...?"
"Made out of their Ghosts, yes." Vergil answered in solemn tone. Vergil went around the last body; it was a warlock, male. Void burn marks covered the exposed areas of his body. Vergil guessed this must have been Hector.
"Your sacrifice was not in vain brother." Vergil spoke as he lifted his hands to the spike that held the hands of the warlock. "Your friend Veda lives, and now she can lay all her family to rest." As Vergil pulled the spike from the wall, the body of Hector suddenly gasped in pain, scaring Vergil into nearly falling down. But he steadied himself as he grabbed the gasping form from the same fate.
"By the Traveler..." Vergil looked up to the shocked forms of Merry and Lescha. "He's alive! By the Traveler he's alive!" Merry rushed over to them as Vergil carried Hector down. She pulled out the spike from his hands and wrapped them to stop the bleeding.
"He's fading fast. Get him to the City, don't wait for us." Vergil slung the body over his shoulders and summoned Spark.
"Amicus, if you can still hear me, we found your fireteam and Hector is still alive! Prep a medical team to meet me in the hanger!" He turned to his team.
"He'll make it, I'll make sure of it." The two women nodded. Vergil turned back to Spark. "Let's go!"
With a twirl of his frame, Spark transmated them into Vergil's ship and took off as fast as they could back towards the City.
The duration spent watching the feed was a cycle of awe, disgust, anxiousness and slight doubt. From being tossed about like some rag doll, to the suppression of the Priest, and even to the revival of the rather impressive Warlock: all of it had invoked emotion or some little response that Amicus took as feelings. At least, he hoped. But whatever it was, the little Ghost kept watching the feed, occasionally breaking his attention to glance at the sleeping figure. The girl was so still; hardly restless, save a few slight movements here and there. He noticed the pattern almost immediately; that those less than frequent stirs typically corresponded with gruesome images from the group's telemetry signal.
Meanwhile, dreams plagued Veda's mind. Though her body lay resting for the most part, it was her conscious that was tormented. As though the whispers were screams, the gradual layers of those whispers began an echo of a thousand. The words remained muffled and indiscernible, air slipping through unseen lips. The images did not enter her mind until the whispers had ceased, and instead a dense, damp airlessness clutched her chest; not a breath could be felt through what she assumed was her 'body'. Even outside this dream, the sullen emotion weighing on her expressed itself, with more than a few tears fleeing the corners of her eyes, fashioning streams along her ashen skin. Even the dull Belize hue pulsating beneath her skin and through her veins were overlooked while the salty water was cast away. Perpetuity clicked away through the plane of dreams, Veda's conscious left to lay on the formless ocean, collapsed by the dark feeling in her 'chest'. It was in that naked vulnerability that the imagery flickered before her dream's eyes. One that gripped her entire conscious: memories. The ones she did not wish to revisit, at least, while the wound was fresh. So much discord, gunfire, the familiar smell of Fallen blood mixed with the unfamiliar scent of her own team's gore. A single hand shoving against her sternum, her torso and figure following suit as she flung backwards, away from a hand she so tenderly held. A beloved face the real Veda knew not to expect to see again, all except for in her nightmares. The pained human's eyes could be seen through his shattered visor, a forgiving and soft expression stubbornly stuck.
"Hector…"
Amicus heard his partner mumble even while shock racked his form. As he thought, even Veda could sense some of the feed through the mind numbing sedation. His surprise was doubled with her mouthing out a name now racing through his servers. Had she seen that? The fireteam?
Back into the depths of the young Awoken's plane, Veda was watching horrified as still images flickered across her vision. They continued and sped up, before slowing down in the slightest. That's when nausea struck. This was no longer the moment she dreaded, but a now extremely fresh one. A fresh horror: her family, strung up like decorative prizes. Their mangled and soulless corpses not even able to look with actual eyes or gazes any longer, but forced to remain.
'I want out… Get me out… AMICUS! SAVE ME! VERGIL! LESCHA! MERRY! ANYONE?!' In the dark deep silence, Veda's mind screamed in the emptiness as she continued to watch, only to see a savior awaken another savior. It was then, that the restless form burst forth from her mind's imprisonment, her entire torso springing from the bed. Amicus jolted and hovered over to her.
"Veda? Your sedative should ha-" The Ghost had little time to even begin before Veda turned to him with bright, silvery eyes that begged for answers, and comfort. After prolonged silence, Amicus explained the situation, and how he had already informed the staff of the expected arrival. No time was wasted as the Hunter's expression steeled, and no words escaped her. Lithe silver legs swung across the sheets, kicking away the blankets and her slightly quivering hands yanking out the needles and tubes that splayed across her veins and skin. Amicus' pleas and demands were blurred out from her senses as she took a wobbly step up, heading for the door. A nurse was there to greet, and block the patient from exiting. That's when the short and useless argument arose.
"Let me pass." The Awoken spoke, her tone firm but quiet. The nurse shook her head.
"Now I don't know how you even got up with that amytal should have kept you out for days; or at least a few hours. I just don't-"
"I don't have time to stand and talk." The Guardian interjected. That enticed a pout from the petite lady, a Chihuahua sized human woman in comparison to Veda who was much taller, leaner and more intimidating.
"That's too bad, because I don't have time for uncooperative patients either; but look where I am." The woman retorted, throwing her hands out to emphasize her position. Without even blinking, Veda pointed in the direction of the hangar.
"Ma'am, I am going to the hangar regardless if you help me. You are either going to do so, or get hurt trying to keep me from my brother who up 'til now I thought was dead. Do you understand?" Veda barked, her polite tone discarded with a louder volume. The woman deadpanned, taken back by the girl's swift and convincing response. After furrowing her brow for a moment, the woman nodded, but insisted being taken in a wheelchair at least. After getting acquainted with the seating arrangements, Veda nervously began her journey; wheeled across the main area and toward the hanger, which gained plenty of gazes. But her attention was refined to one thought: Hector.