They barrelled towards the rendezvous, the whine-snap of Ekolzyn's wire rifle and the high pitched pulse of Matt new energy weapon counterpointing the scream of hive weapons. Matt dropped a grenade, the sphere rolling down the incline towards the swarm. Thrall swarmed over it, muffling the dull boom. Burning bits of Thrall flew, the grenade ripping their fragile bodies to shreds. Neither Matt or Ekolzyn turned, focusing on rushing up the hill.
Where are your friends? Ekolzyn shouted between breaths. His wound wasn't helping him run, of course they would run into a vengeful captain just when they didn't need to.
Matt looked towards the sky, hoping to see the flash of a ship dropping out of subspace.
Nothing.
I don't know. He sighed, It's a pain in the arse getting clearance for flight. They should be here soon. The hunter paused, aiming blindly over his shoulder, firing two shots into the mass. Two bursts of light briefly lit up the ground around them, Matt scoring two easy hits. Even firing blind, missing was near impossible due to the number of Thrall chasing them. They reached the precipice after a few minutes frantically running, pausing every so often to fire some more accurate shots into the Acolytes and Knights. Between them, they had thinned the horde quite significantly, although they were still running from at least 100 hive.
More than they could fight in a pitched battle. They needed reinforcements, and an evac ship. Sooner rather than later.
-X-
Aria growled, actually physically growled at the technician when he said that the requested craft would be ready in 10 minutes. As much as the intimidation worked, it didn't have any effect on the retrieval speed of Aleeza's 4-man ship. Ten minutes later, Aria and Aleeza sprinted up the access ramp, Aleeza sliding into the pilots' seat, the engines already in start-up before she had started to secure the straps holding them in their seats. Aria was barely strapped in before the ship shuddered, lifting smoothly off the landing legs, rear-facing engines rumbling.
"Guardian 09827, requesting permission to launch."
Amanda Holiday's voice came over the comms, "Granted." She paused, the channel had been left open, a slight hiss audible through the speakers, "Good luck." She cut the connection.
Aleeza engaged the rear engines, the ship jumped forwards, shooting out of the hanger, the engines growl rising quickly to a scream, before shifting out of the audible range. They rose quickly, spiralling around the flight lanes in their reckless rush towards space. Aria, with nothing to do but watch, checked both of their weapons, ensuring they were loaded and ready to fire.
The engines cut, winding down with a whistling sound. The ship spun and rolled, the planet now above them.
"Jump ready. All secure." Aleeza said, her hand hovering over the leaver that would take them into subspace.
Aria checked her harness, tugging on the connectors, "All secure."
"Jumping."
A rising whine, pale while light building along the wings. They leant back in their seats, helmets resting on headrests.
The rising whine stopped, the ship flashing white before vanishing.
"ETA 5 minutes. Jump successful." Lena said.
Aria started checking the guns again, mechanically sliding bolts back and checking magazines. She handed Aleeza her Pulse and Fusion rifle, the latter glowing with barely tames energy. She holstered her Hand cannon, slinging her shotgun under her arm. She stood, checking her armour was sealed properly, energizing her shields.
"Two minutes," Lena reported, the ghost looking towards the two guardians as they readied all their gear. Aleeza returned to the pilot's chair, swinging her rifles to hang by her sides.
"Thirty seconds."
Aria sat back down, staring out of the toughened plastic cockpit covering into the almost mesmerising patterns produced when travelling through subspace.
"10 seconds."
She closed her eyes, waiting for the kick that meant that she could stand again.
The ship jolted, Aria rising as it wobbled before regaining its heading.
"Dead ahead." Lena shouted, "I'll fly us in, you go help Matt."
Aleeza nodded, turning and joining Aria by the back ramp. Her light coiled around her fists, Void lashing out towards the hull.
The ramp dropped.
-X-
Matt skidded to a halt at the top of the hill, turning and firing down into the mass of hive that still ran towards them, Thrall vaporised in flashes of energy. Ekolzyn slowed, turning as he reached where Matt was standing, his wire rifle firing with percussive cadence. Matt let the rifle swing on its strap, switching to the auto rifle they had found.
He ducked and spun left, a blue flash crossing the space he had occupied half a second earlier.
Knights! Matt yelled, firing the rifle full auto towards the larger hive creatures. The one he was aiming at staggered then fell backwards, a hole bored through the centre of its head. More shots screamed past his head, the Acolytes and Thrall advancing. A grenade formed in his hand, he flicked it towards the hoard. It detonated, throwing thrall in all directions as Acolytes shielded their heads. Knights charged through the explosion, trampling on dead and alive thrall as they rushed up the hill.
Matt swore, drawing a golden gun for the first time in months, firing three pinpoint shots at the 5 rushing knights, three of them erupting as the energy boiled though them. The other two continued to charge forwards, swords trailing behind them as they ran. Matt fired the rest of his magazine into one of them, drawing his shock blade as they approached. Ekolzyn threw a shock grenade, atomising a dozen acolytes as they ran forwards.
Matt met the first swing from the knight with the shock blade, deflecting it away towards the ground. The knight swung horizontally, Matt barely moving out of the way as he tried to close the distance between them. He ducked under the return swing, jumping forwards with a rising knee to the Knights' jaw. It staggered, allowing Matt to stab his shock blade into its head. It stiffened, falling backwards as Matt ripped the blade out. He jumped forwards, embedding the blade in an acolyte's skull, drawing his sniper as he did. He turned, firing across the hill as a brilliant white flash lit everything up, Matt flinching away from the source as the whine of a jump ship greeted him. He smiled, aiming more carefully at a group of Acolytes still recovering from the flash. He fired 3 times, each shot causing a further flash as another Acolyte detonated.
Something smashed into him from the side, he shields shattering under the force of the impact. He staggered as more shots landed around him, energy washing over his armour. He almost collapsed, lunging away from another blue projectile.
The blast caught him, throwing him away. He landed awkwardly, rolling over before skidding to a halt on his chest. A knight sprinted towards him as he started to get up, his whole body aching.
-X-
Aria saw the knight sprinting towards the hunter, raising its sword for a killing blow. She jumped, letting her light build up around her fists as she fell, cannoning into the ground in front of the knight. It flinched away, her light racing along the ground towards it. It fell forwards as the light hit its feet, landing hard on the lunar surface. She punched down, crushing its head, before throwing a grenade towards a group of advancing Acolytes.
The scattered, the grenades flash blinding them temporarily. She rushed over to Matt as the hunter stood up slowly.
"Good to see you." She smiled beneath her helmet.
"You too." Matt sounded out of breath, "Good timing as well." He turned towards the hive, watching as Aleeza tore thought at least 20 with a ruthless display of void manipulation, Hive bodies erupting in a colossal chain explosion.
Aria saw the hunter stager slightly, she grabbed his arm to steady him, "Come on. Let's get to the ship."
The ship landed, the ramp just touching the ground as the approached. Aria held onto Matt's arm as he walked up the ramp, sliding down the side of the ship as soon as he was on board.
"Aleeza." Aria shouted, "Time to go."
The warlock turned, a flash of void light moving her back on board. She pushed some controls, the ship taking off as she sat down.
"Did you…" Aria trailed off, looking expectantly at the warlock as she slowly increased their speed.
Aleeza turned, shaking her head.
Aira nodded, "I'll tell him."
-X-
The battlefield painted a glorious picture of the destruction. Huge void scars marked the ground around where Aleeza had decimated the Hive, some smaller scorch marks where Matt's shots had landed.
A single sword stood out of the ground, the creature embedded on it watched the ship leave with a blank stare, it's cloak waving in the disturbance created by the engines.
-X-
Aria walked over to Matt, who was still sitting slumped against the side of the ship. She sat down next to him, the hunter shuffling himself closer to the Exo. He leaned backwards, his head resting against the hull.
"Thanks for coming." He sighed. Aria could see his shoulders slowly relaxing, tension slowly bleeding out of him.
She smiled, removing her helmet, "I wasn't going to leave you."
Matt smiled underneath his helmet, feeling his eyelids start to droop of their own accord.
"Sorry about getting left behind." He mumbled, his head lolling to the side to rest against Aria's shoulder as he nodded off.
Aleeza turned around, seeing the hunter resting against the Exo, and smiled, trying hard not to laugh, "Is he alright?"
Aria nodded, "Yeah. Think he took a bit of a battering during the fight, probably just need some time to rest afterwards."
Nova materialised, bumping into Aria's arm, "Yeah, that's about it." The ghost spun towards Aleeza, "Thank you." Back to Aria, "Both of you."
Aleeza smiled at the ghost, "We don't leave friends behind if we can help it."
The ghost looked at her guardian, "Could we not jump back to Earth. He needs rest."
Aleeza nodded, "It'll take a few hours then." She grabbed a book, throwing another at Aria, "You might like that."
Aria caught the book, smiling at the Warlock, "Thank you."
-X-
"Who?" Zavala asked, leaning against the table.
"You know damn well who I'm talking about." The hunter replied, "Praedyth. There were three of us."
Ikora moved towards the hunter, "I'm sorry Pahanin. I don't know anyone called Preadyth." She looked back at Cayde, who shook his head, "None of us do."
The hunter rounded on her, "He was one of your warlocks." His eyes had a dangerous light to them, "One of the best warlocks you or Osiris had ever seen. How could all of you forget him?" He suddenly lost steam, his eyes wet with unshed tears, "How does no-one remember him?"
He visibly flinched, seemly just realising who he was talking to, "I'm sorry." His voice was clipped, formal, "I didn't mean to offend anyone. I, just..." he paused, "I just expected something else."
Pahanin turned away, walking out quickly, leaving behind only silence. Even Cayde didn't seem to have a witty remark to lighten the mood.
"Hey, Vanguard?" Holidays voice broke the increasingly dead air, "I've just seen a ship heading out atmosphere." She seemed to sense the silence between the three of them, "Bad time?"
Zavala sighed, "No. Not at all. Go ahead Holiday."
The shipwright cleared her throat, "Right, yeah. A guardian ship was seen leaving the atmosphere about a half hour ago."
Cayde looked up, muttering to himself, before speaking at an audible level, "Who was on board?"
Holiday paused, typing could be heard through her microphone, "Um, Aria-1 and Aleeza Wahl. The ship was requested under, uh, "We have some things to pick up for Carina", but I don't know what, and they were very eager to leave."
Zavala swore, "Did they lose anyone on Luna?"
Cayde nodded, "Matt was lost during the rout, although Aria's report said that they were attempting to land safely and would contact her as soon as possible."
"Then they've gone to get him back." Ikora said matter-of-factly, "As best they could."
Zavala shook his head, "No one is allowed back to Luna. They'll just get themselves killed."
Cayde stepped towards the Titan, "They went to get one of my hunters back. They will get him back." He stood centimetres from the Titan, staring daggers, "If Matt is alive, and has contacted them, they have every right to attempt a rescue mission."
Cayde turned to the centre of the table, where Amanda's voice was coming from, "I'll sign that flight if you need me to."
Zavala grumbled, turning to talk to a titan that had just walked in.
"Ok then." Holiday sounded further away from her microphone, "I'll add that to the launch log."
Clattering could be heard from her side of the connection before it cut off.
-X-
Aria shook Matt's shoulder, "Come on, lazy. Places to be, people to talk to."
Matt sat up slowly, his entire body aching from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, "Wha…"
She offered a hand to the hunter, who grabbed it. She hauled him to his feet, watching him walk slowly towards the front of the craft.
He placed a hand against the headrest of the pilot's chair, watching out the cockpit canopy as the tower hanger swallowed them.
"Thank you." He looked down at Aleeza as she landed, "Ekolzyn didn't make it, did he?" he asked quietly.
The warlock looked up at him as the ship settled on its landing legs, "I don't leave my fireteam behind. Even if you aren't technically part of it." She paused, shaking her head, "He didn't make it. I'm sorry."
Matt was suddenly pleased that he had chosen to keep his helmet on. The Eliksni, the one who had saved his life, was dead. Gone, and there was nothing he could have done to save him.
Aria watched as his shoulders slumped, "Matt." She pulled him into a hug, "At least you're alive."
He barely moved, trying to shrug his way out of Aria's hug, "Yeah, I guess." He sounded distracted, "Nova, did we manage to finish the list?"
The ghost nodded, bobbing up and down in Aria's periphery, "All two thousand and fifty-three names."
Matt finally managed to break himself out of Aira's hug, moving towards the ramp, "I have to do something." His voice was low, wounded, "Thank you. Both of you." He turned and trudged down the ramp, Nova following along at his shoulder.
Aria shouted after him, "What do you need to do?"
He didn't turn or respond, just continued to walk.
Hi.
Been a while.
Sorry about that, IRL things got in the way, and I couldn't get this chapter to sit right.
Too many damn re-writes.
Anyway, here it is, hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to update more frequently, but I can't make any promises.
Until next time.
