Matt dropped down from his vantage point, the sniper round whistling though the space where his head had been half a second earlier. He gritted his teeth, Akiva was much faster than anyone he'd fought drew his knife, diving out of cover. A grenade formed in his hand, he spun, ducking, flicking his arm out, the grenade cannoning towards where he thought the Titan was. He leapt at the wall, his knife hot with energy. Stabbing it into the wall, he used it as a leaver to get back up to the higher ground. He heard the grenade detonate spun around, bringing his hand cannon up as Akiva leapt towards him, planting an uppercut on his jaw that snapped his head back as he flew head over heels, hitting the wall with a wet crack before landing slumped in a pile. Akiva crouched down next to Nova, who had just appeared over Matts' dead body.
"Don't turn your back kid. All it'll do is get you killed."
"Hey, brother dearest, don't you think it's a touch unfair to go all out on the poor bastard? He's hardly been here 6 months." Aleeza sounded pissed off.
"What, you had glimmer on him getting that kill?" Akiva sighed, "And no, it's not unfair. He's going out into the field soon, I'm sure of it. Him and Aria work really well as a team, they both have a decent grasp of their light, and Matt is near as damn it with his double jump. And he's developed a work around for that, if it fails him. Besides, I'd trust him to…" Akiva yelled in surprise as a black clad figure sprinted past him, a knife lodging itself in his shoulder. He yanked the knife out, Lex materialising to start healing the damage done. He didn't get far as Matt flew over a small box, scope glinting. Akiva barely had time to register the flash before he saw an all too familiar sight though Lex's' optic.
He heard Aleeza and Carina laughing, "Oh shut up." He grumbled as Lex resurrected him.
"But Akiva, I thought you were going to try." Carina could barely control her laughter, Akiva could picture the two of them giggling like children in their shared room, "If you were trying, he wouldn't have been able to hit that before you punched his head in."
"Gah. Well, I did say that I wouldn't hold back." Akiva smiled behind his helmet. He started running forwards again, building up momentum. Another black blur shot across his sight, and he slid to avoid the knife that Matt had thrown. He heard Nova, "Matt, this is the last kill. Akiva won't have a slam, and you don't have your gun, yeah. Just like we practiced." Akiva smiled again. He'd seen Matt's practice, hours spent duelling Aria, practicing leveraging a Titans brute force into an advantage for himself. He slid around a corner, pushing off the ground with one foot, launching himself at the hunter, who was crouching with his knife held ready. At the last moment, he spun away, knife glancing off of Akivas' armour.
"Last kill, right?" Matt yelled at him, "Good luck, my friend." Akiva could hear the grin in his voice.
"Luck. Yeah, luck." Akiva yelled back, trying to subtly close the distance between them. He couldn't do much when further away. Matt stepped backwards, matching Akivas pace.
Damnit. Gonna have to do something or he'll get me with one of his damned knives.
Akiva shrugged, and charged. Matt ran to his left, Akiva following him. He was gaining. He watched as Matt leapt up at the wall, knife glowing with solar light. Matt dug the knife into the wall, leaping off it, landing behind Akiva, who swore and spun around, blocking the knife blow with his arm. He punched, hard, feeling the hunters armour give slightly under the force of the blow. Matt staggered backwards, one hand holding his knife out, ready to lunge or slash, the other now clutching his broken rib.
"Sorry, kid." Akiva leapt forwards again, knocking the knife hand away, his other head, swinging forwards to catch Matt in the face. He didn't see the second knife, nor would he ever be able to tell where Matt had got it from, but as he swung, he saw a glint from near Matts other hand. He winced as he felt the knife slam into his chestplate, the blade white hot with solar light. It cut though his armour like a hot knife through butter, boiling the plasteel plating away. He felt his fist connect, a massive discharge of arc light rippling through Matts body, ionising his body, which vanished in a flash of light. He immediately felt the knife cool, jamming against the last layer of his armour. He yanked the knife out, dropping it quickly, as it was still hot to the touch. He heard the sound of a ghost reconstructing their guardian, and walked over to where Matt was now sitting, sharpening his throwing knife.
"Good fight kid." Akiva nodded at him as he looked up, "Almost got me at the end too." He clapped him on the shoulder, "Come on, let's go see how much my sister lost betting on you. Then I think Aria has a 1v1 with her."
Matt laughed, "Now that, that is a fight I don't want to miss."
-X-
Aria threw herself backwards, Aleeza's hand barely missing her face. She felt the energy discharge wash over her armour, stripping her shields. She grunted, responding to the attack with a vicious right hook. Aleeza jumped backwards, but the punch still connected. She flew sideways, hitting a nearby wall with a sickening crunch, her ribs shattered. Aria turned, jogging up to a box of special ammo synthesis packs. She crouched down, hand touching the top of the box. It vanished, and her ammo counter updated for 4 shotgun shells. She reloaded, slowly methodically.
Aleeza smiled mentally, watching Aria though Lena's optic. She reached down with her light, fixing her shattered body. She focused on this task, keeping the light held tightly within her control. She heard Lena whisper Done. She coiled her light, compressing it inside her chest. She felt it boil over, reaching a critical mass. She released it.
Aria was blown off her feet by the force of the expelled light. She turned around, to see Aleeza wreathed in flames, diving towards her, solar light swirling around her. Aria opened fire, the shots bouncing off Aleeza's light, not affecting her at all.
Aleeza grinned behind her helmet. She threw out her light, incinerating Aria in less than half a second. She landed, her light diming as she called it back. She closed her fist, the last light flickering out. She ran over to the door, grabbing her pulse rifle from the floor where she had dropped it before getting into melee combat. She saw Aria sprint around the corner, taking off and skating straight at her. She sighted up, methodically pulling the trigger. She felt the familiar kick of the pulse rifle against her shoulder, watching as Aria dropped to the ground, sliding behind a truck. Aleeza smiled, launching a compressed ball of solar light towards the truck. She watched as it brunt though the metal, firing 2 bursts at Aria when she shot out from behind the truck. She flinched, the unseen lightning grenade landing at her feet. She dived away, feeling it clip her feet, shredding the shielding. She grimaced, Aria knew that she was in a good position to win their last fight of the match. She swapped to her sidearm, hearing the familiar sound of a titan skating moving towards her. She leapt out of her cover, launching herself sideways, firing into Arias chest. She saw Arias shield shatter, and felt a bullet hit her in the stomach. She threw her light forward, hoping beyond hope that it would hit.
She saw the light impact on Aria's shoulder, spreading quickly across her body, destroying it. She yelled out in pain as Lena removed the bullet lodged in her stomach, before sealing off the wound and repairing the damage done. She heard Jenny reviving Aria, and walked over.
"Goddamn, how far can you reach with that?" Aria sighed, waiting for Jenny to transmat her back to the tower.
Aleeza shrugged, "Far enough." She vanished, and Aria felt a now familiar sense of weightlessness followed by a short fall onto the tower. She saw Matt, Akiva and Carina sitting down, leaning against the postmasters building. They stood up, all three of them smiling.
Matt jogged towards them, "Good fight." He smiled, "Aria, the vanguard want to see us, Aleeza, some titan was asking after you. She didn't say what for."
Aleeza nodded, walking off, Carina running after her. Akiva shook her head, "I'd better got going, Wei had something she wanted to talk about." He wondered after his sister, clipping his mark back onto his hip.
"Guardians 16451 and 16452, please report to the Hall of Vanguard immediately." A synthesised voice rang out over the tower PA.
"What did the vanguard want to talk to us about?" Aria looked at Matt.
"Not a clue. Probably something to do with training."
They walked past Shaxx, who was busy instructing another group of guardians. Only Ikora was in standing at the vanguards' table, "Ah, you two. Good job against Akiva and Aleeza. Those two are some of the best I've seen in the crucible. Cayde won a lot of glimmer betting on you getting kills." She smiled, "You two both need ships, right?" They nodded, "Right, either of you flown before?"
"Not that I remember, but I might have." Matt shrugged. Aria shook her head.
Ikora nodded, "Right, well, you're going to have to know how to fly. Both of you go talk to Amanda, she should have some sims ready to run." They both nodded again, turning to leave, both of them smiling. Ikora watched them go, smiling. They both showed promise. She sighed, it would have been amazing if either of them were Warlocks. It had been years since Kabr, Pahanin and Praedyth had vanished. She still remembered the near emotionless Exo smiling, in a rare show of emotion as he left the tower, the Hunter shrugging when Brask told them to be careful, and Praedyth promising her he'd bring back all he could find for study. There hadn't been a warlock since who stood out like he had. She thought of the, of the…
Who? Who went into the vault? Kabr, Pahanin, was there another? She cocked her head to one side, thinking? Who? No, there wasn't anyone else? Was there… She snarled, hitting herself in the head, REMEMBER. Prae…, where did she know that name from. What name? Who was she thinking about? She shrugged, it would come back to her, she just needed some time to think about it.
She just needed some time…
-X-
"Ah, guardians, Matt and Aria, right? Amanda Holliday, shipwright. Ikora told me you two needed to learn how to fly?" She laughed, "Well, I guess that's my job for today." She leaned over the barricade, "Hey, Roni, could you do me a favour, make sure nobody takes anything. Cheers." She turned back to the guardians, "Right, flying. It's just like walking, but at high speed in 3 dimensions." She chuckled "Here we are, knew I had these somewhere." She opened a door, beckoning the two guardians in. "right, these are simulations of flying. I found them a while back." She pressed a button on the side, and the pods opened, showing a full cockpit, "Well, in you go. I'll see you both in a bit, they have a tutorial function, good luck."
Matt and Aria looked at each other, Matt shrugged, climbing into the pod, hearing the door sealing closed behind him. He opened a comm channel to Aria, "Good luck, I guess."
In her own pod, Aria smiled, "Yeah, good luck to you too. In a bit." She cut the commlink. "Jenny, you ready to go."
"Ready as I'll ever be."
-X-
"Right, let's see what this does." Matt pressed a button, a plethora of holographic screens appearing across the control panel, "Well, I passed the first test."
Nova mentally sighed, this could end up being a long day.
-X-
Matt looked across the reorganised heads up display. He held his hand out over the throttle control, "Reckon we're good to go Nova?"
Nova spun around looking at him, she shrugged, "Yeah, why not. Let's see what happened."
Matt lowered his hand, grabbing the leaver. He pushed it forwards.
A low rumble permeated the cockpit, the whole thing shaking. He looked forwards, though the front screen. Yep, moving upwards slowly. He looked over all the controls, letting go of the throttle. His hand floated over the controls. He moved, flicking one switch with his left hand, right hand grabbing the joystick, pitching the craft forward. The sound of the engines ramped up, a second pitch joining the low rumble. The pod shuddered, and he shot forwards. He yanked the throttle, the ship slowing down. He reached up, flicking another switch, feeling the craft start to fall. He pushed the nose forwards, building up speed. Grinning like a madman, he pulled back, a vapour trail snapping off the tail plane.
"Hey, Nova, shall we try going to space?"
"Yeah sure, why not." Nova sounded excited by the prospect.
Matt's grin widened, he pushed the throttle forwards. The sound of the engines shot into supersonic as he was slammed back in his seat. He pulled up, aiming at the skies.
"5 kilometres" Nova said, "10k. 15, 20…" She laughed, watching plasma build up along the lateral lines of the ship, rolling off the tail plane, distorting in the hypersonic wake.
Matt yelled, spinning the ship though 360 degrees. He cut the engines, "Nova, can you watch our velocity, keep the ship pointed along the same vector please."
"Yeah, yeah. Done." She laughed again, "How'd you know how to fly so well? You haven't been taught before now, have you?"
Matt shook his head, "No. Guess I know what I did in my last life then. Flying. Well, we're now in space." Matt hit another button, flipping the craft around.
"Guardian, have you been lyin' to me?" Amanda asked though the comm, "I ain't seen anyone fly like that in their first flight."
"Nope, not a word of a lie. Me and Nova reckon we've found out what I did previously. I think it's just instinct, muscle memory, and the like."
"Right, well, one last thing, since you've made orbit, reckon you can land it?"
Matt shrugged, "No idea, but it can't hurt to try." He hit the throttle, acceleration pushing him back into the seat again. He cannoned though the atmosphere, plasma rippling out behind him. Red lights started flaring up, showing temperatures rising throughout the ship. A jolt spun the ship, Matt fighting the controls as the ship rolled. He split the throttle control, firing each of the engines in short bursts. A double crack ripped through the ship as Matt fought the ship back onto a stable heading. He glanced across the control screens, RADAR rebooting from atmospheric entry. A group of blips appeared.
"Nova, watch them." Matt pointed at the RADAR unit. Nova glided over to it, optic flicking across the three screens. She swore.
"What?" Matt snapped, pushing the now damaged ship.
"Those things on RADAR are fallen fighters. We will not be able to outrun them, at least not in this state. You have one gun." Nova sounded worried.
"Right, one gun, one knackered ship, 5 fallen fighters." Matt let go of the controls, cracking his knuckles, "time to get to work."
He spun the ship, banking hard left. The fallen craft followed him, smaller blips racing after him on the RADAR. An alarm squawked.
Missiles.
He hit a button, reactivating the RCS system. It was designed for use in space, but he had to try. He pulled up, hard.
The ship flipped through 180 degrees. Matt smiled thinly, he could feel the ship trying to flip back around. He waited a heartbeat.
And another.
NOW.
He threw the throttle forward, the ship screaming in response. He pressed the trigger in the joystick, the whole ship rattling even more, as one, two, three of the trailing fighters burst into flames, tracer rounds riddling their hulls.
"Nova, I can't keep up this fight. The ship will give out if I do another high G turn." Matt yelled over the sound of 5 separate alarms.
"Fine. Got to the city, there's AA there." Nova yelled back.
Matt nodded, readjusting his heading to point him back at the city. He slowly opened up the throttle, eyes glued to the screens reporting on structural integrity. He flinched slightly as part of the port wing lit up red.
"Hey, guardian bearing 215, you're coming in a little hot, woudnt'ya say?" Amanda drawled, "Do us all a favour and don't crash into the tower."
Matt grunted, "Yeah, 2 fighters on my tail, failing structure and no more bullets. I need city AA on now, and I'll slowdown in time, trust me." He squinted at his range to tower, dropping even lower to the ground, trees rippling in the wind left in his wake. He started to pull up, cutting the engines, gently easing the plane up. He looked forwards, watching as guns along the wall rotated, pointing towards him.
5k out. He heated up the engines again, Nova hissing as she heard most of the ship scream in response.
A beep. Proximity warning. Missile lock as well.
"SHIT." Matt yelled into his comm, "Amanda, get those guns going, NOW. I'm dead if these missiles hit me."
"Matt, you're dead if the guns hit you." Amanda shouted back, "Ah shit. Good luck." She hit the button.
Matt saw the massive guns start to spin up. 3k out. He pushed the ship, not listening to the alarms.
2k.
1.
The guns fired, round ripping though the sky. He felt the craft wobble in their supersonic wake.
"They're down." Matt breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come on, guardian. I didn't do that for fun, ya know. Hurry up and land before that damn ship falls out of the sky." Amanda grinned wildly. This kid had some crazy good instincts, that was for sure.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going as fast as I can. Which isn't much, based on the battering this lump took." Matt smiled at Nova, who spun her shell around.
-X-
Matt left the pod, grinning like a mad man, "Hey, uh, I left a mess on the sim hanger, engines cut out. Sorry." He shouted over to Amanda.
"Oh, shut up. At least you managed to land." Aria shouted back, "I made a mess of the tower."
Matt laughed, "Hey, at least you didn't actually crash."
Amanda looked up from where she was busy repairing a Sparrow, "Hey, you two. Good jobs, both of ya. Aria, I'll see you again soon, Matt, just learn the limitations of the ship, you should be fine." She waved an oily hand at them both, before ducking back behind the sparrow, the clatter of tools starting up once again.
Matt sighed, smiling again.
"You smug git." Aria punched him on the shoulder, "Just give me a few more shots, I'll land better."
"OK, OK. Chill out. You're still much better at light manipulation, and our shots are about equal. I'd say, in total, that makes us equal." Matt was still smiling when the intercom spoke:
Guardians 16451 and 16452 to report to Shaxx, immediately.
"Aw, shit. What does he want now." Matt whined, suddenly sounding very childish.
Aria shrugged, walking towards the crucible handlers desk, "No idea, but whatever it is, it's only pain."
"Yeah" Matt muttered, "Pain you can turn off."
-X-
"Ah ha, the two who tried to kill each other." Shaxx somehow managed to sound impressed yet board at the same time, "I hear you two work well together as a team. The vanguard wants to test you with no backup this time. In the safest live fire exercise ever invented…" he paused, Matt whispered to Aria, "oh god." She chuckled slightly.
"Rumble. Just you, your guns and your wits. No one watching your back. Your opponents are waiting at Bannerfall. Good luck."
They both nodded, moving over to terminals near the quartermaster.
"What the hell are we gonna do? No practice, no previous experience." Matt took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, "Wait, when did I get this?" He held up a handcannon, a sleek model usually sold by the quartermaster.
"A gift, the sender didn't leave a name." the quartermaster didn't look at them, "He said you would like it though."
Matt shrugged, holding the weapon one handed, aiming down the sights at the wall. He liked the weight. He shrugged again, dropping it into his hip holster.
Aria slung her shotgun and auto rifle over her shoulder, nodding at Matt before vanishing. Matt picked up his sniper rifle, an older model that you couldn't take on patrol. He stowed his knives, one resting on his thigh, one in the small of his back and one on his left wrist. He breathed out slowly, calming his nerves. "OK Nova, let's go."
Nova spun her whole shell, trasmating them over to the Bannerfall tower. He looked at his opponents.
Akiva, checking his shotgun, tilting it left then right, before racking the pump.
Aleeza, sighting in her pulse rifle, and floating about a metre off the ground.
Carina, checking her grenades were where she expected them to be, and resetting a fusion rifle.
A warlock he didn't recognise stood stock still, hands glowing gently with solar light.
Aria, reloading her autorifle, arc lightning flickering around her arms.
"Rumble." Shaxx's voice announced, "Kill everything, and watch your back."
Matt felt weightless for a second, then fell, landing on the concrete floor. He drew his new handcannon, saw the display on his heads up flick red as the RADAR came online.
-X-
Aria dove behind the box, getting up to a crouch. The sniper round whistled past her head. She tensed, leaping upwards, pushing herself up faster using her light. She aimed at the hunter, pulling the trigger, leaning forwards to counter the rotation. Bullets splattered against his shield, draining it in a flash of light. She moved her aim up, tracking her target as she fell. Her bullets smashed into his armour, she saw his head fly backwards, his body slumping to the ground
…
…
"ARIA!"
She snapped her head around, just in time to see Carina slide up to her, energy compressing around the barrel of her rifle.
-X-
Akiva leapt over the box, shotgun slamming against his shoulder as he fired. He didn't see Matt fly backwards from the force of the blast, he was already turning around, scout rifle drawn, firing 5 shots straight at his sister, who leapt forwards, throwing her light forwards, desperately trying to gain an upper hand. He spun left, feeling the heat of the solar attack. She landed, already drawing her sidearm, shooting from the hip. He snapped off a hook, arc energy discharging though her. She dissolved in a flicker of light, and he ducked, narrowly avoiding a sniper round.
He'd missed the grenade, which detonated at his feet.
-X-
Matt winced as he saw Akiva fly into the air, the grenade he'd thrown landing perfectly. He spun around, a noise alerting him to a warlock as he hurtled around a corner, bleeding from a wound in his side. Matt snapped off a shot, clipping him in the side of the head. The warlock spun, collapsing. Matt sighted up, finger resting gently on the trigger. He breathed out.
Held it.
The recoil jerked his shoulder back, watching as Carina stumbled, stunned by the shot, but not dead, Matt having missed her head. He flicked his left hand forwards, a knife launching towards her. She looked around, Matt saw the build-up of energy start, then stop as the knife hit her in the head. He slid forwards, bullets peppering the wall behind him.
He felt fire cover his back.
-X-
Aleeza spun, pulse rifle shots ripping though Aria shield as she desperately tried to duck behind cover. Aleeza hurled two balls of solar energy at the ground near the boxes, watching as Aria scrambled backwards to avoid the flames. She calmly aimed at centre mass, pulling the trigger, letting the kick of the weapon lift her aim to Arias head. Aria threw herself to the side, hand flying out. Aleeza felt the grenade hit her, dropping onto the floor, lightning erupting out of it, shredding her shield.
A shot whistled past her head, Aria slumping with a bullet hole in her helmet. She spun, bullets spattering across her back and side.
She coiled her light, working faster than she had last time she resurrected herself. She threw it forwards, Akiva wincing at the sun that had formed over his sisters body.
She grinned, leaping forwards, light flicking outwards.
-X-
Akiva winced, his sisters' sudden resurrection surprising him. He let his light flow forwards, focusing it in his fist. He planted his feet, jumping at the last second, bringing his hands down, his light racing along the floor. Aleeza disintegrated, and he heard a scream from behind as the other warlock tried and failed to escape the wave.
He heard a shot, snapping loud in the air.
He spun, shotgun rising as he saw Matt fly over the head high wall, glowing with light.
-X-
Matt snapped off a shot, Aria turning to dust. He spun, sprinting across the map in the direction of the sound of a fist of havoc. He leapt over the wall, snapping of a shot which vaporised Akiva, who was halfway around turning.
He kept spinning, seeing Carina slid round the wall out of the corner of his eye.
Her rifle lighting up, energy coiling around the linier accelerators. It lashed out, and he saw the void energy destroy the arm he held up to protect himself.
-X-
Carina leapt forwards, her fist meeting the warlocks' jaw, the force of the punch snapping his neck. She snapped her head around, holding the fusion rifle one handed as she held an arm up, a force barrier forming around it. She fired the rifle, the recoil throwing her aim off. She ducked as Aria's fist whipped over her head, she returned a punch to the gut. Aria's shield shattered, as Carina felt an elbow slam into the back of her helmet.
-X-
Aria spun collecting her light, smashing her arms against the floor, Matt vaporising instantly as the energy washed over him.
She sprinted forwards, shots knocking chips off of a nearby wall. She ducked around the corner, to see Aleeza's helmet. She could picture the grin on the warlocks face as she felt heat sear though her armour.
…
…
Spinning. Armour shredded by an unknown weapon. Pain. Reactor damaged.
CAUTION. REACTOR FAILING.
REACTOR FAILING.
REACTOR FAILING.
She could hear someone yelling, her vision focused for a second, before dissolving into static again.
REACTOR FAILING.
POWER LOW.
REACTOR FAILING.
POWER LOW.
Hi.
Sorry about not getting this up last week, had a bit of writers block and I've got some exams coming up.
Anyway, I'm happy with where I left this.
Thanks for reading this far (and putting up for my C in GCSE english writing), if you have anything in the way of critique/advice please leave it in a review, I'm open to feedback (please tell me what you think of the story so far ect.)
And a quick question, what do you think of the fights so far? Are they paced right, or do they go on for too long (do you end up going "just hurry up and more along already") or do they need to be more fleshed out (do they need to have more detail)?
Thanks for reading all my gibberish at the end, hope you enjoyed.
See you in the next chapter.
