CH. 6- Reach into the Future
A/N: First off, Bungie and Activision own Destiny, not I. But as I said, I will be updating some of my chapters and correcting a few errors I have made and hopefully get the whole story corrected and on track for what is to come. So I hope you all enjoy the updated chapter. Odd place to start, I know, oh well.
It had been a few weeks since the destruction of the anti-air Fallen walker, and to Jo the bounties they were picking up only seemed to be getting weirder. She was trying to turn some of them down, but Archivia was pushing pretty hard for once to go out and do these bounties. Jo was fine with them, and she saw that Raz enjoyed himself out there too.
That man, she enjoyed his presence most of the time. But recently he was bugging her; the man had been siding more with Archivia on the bounties and actually disappearing to find her more often than not. The noise produced around her snapped her back into reality and she ground her teeth as she looked down at the very man she was thinking of.
She watched as he moved from one place to another and positioned himself again, and she enjoyed the ability this man was proving that he possessed. Her eyes narrowed as his hands came up to grab a hand that was in between his shoulder and neck. She could tell he was straining himself, his heavy breathing clear due to the large rises and falls of his chest.
When he gripped the hand he elicited a yelp of pain before he grasped the elbow with his other hand and launched the Hunter over him and into the Warlock behind him. The Warlock cried in surprise before his voice was cut short when they crashed into the wall. Raz took this moment to turn his head to see the other two competitors in the Rumble Pit, both Hunters, were well occupied with each other. Deciding that dealing with a fellow Hunter would be more ideal than the lone Titan or Warlock.
This small melee produced yells from the spectators who were all seated above the octagonal arena and placing wagers on the various Guardians. The flat metal floor and high walls provided nowhere to hide or escape. Forcing all the occupants to fight to the last man or woman, and seeing who had the greatest survival instinct. To Raz, this was just all about luck mixed with an old fashioned brawl of disastrous proportions. He hated this place.
A sudden motion made Raz's head snapped back around as he watched the Hunter lazily roll back to her feet, and left the Warlock with her neck bent at the wrong angle. He took her sloppy recovery as an opportunity to race forward and to smash his shoulder into the Hunter and send her crashing into the wall again with enough force to form an impact crater. He waited a few more heart beats for the Hunter to stand back up, but when her Ghost popped out he relaxed slightly.
With that Hunter out of the fight as well as the Warlock, Raz reached up slowly and took in a tentative breath before pulling that Hunter's knife out of the gap in his armor. He looked at it with distaste as he thought over the Pit rules. No firearms. All close quarters and the Hunters used knives, as well as Warlocks with their voodoo space magic. Titans fought with their bodies, their hands and feet, more honor and respect in that kind of kill.
Nothing against blades or magic. So he could get inventive when opportunities arose.
Clutching the knife he took a sprinting start to close the gap between the one of the Hunters who was now dislodging his knife from the other unfortunate guy. Raz had to time this perfectly, if not, he would lose the match and get stabbed, again. The Hunter's visor came into sight as he realized the mass of armor was upon him. Without much time to mull over his decisions he crossed his arms in front of his head and stuck the blade out to hinder the Titan.
"Not gonna stop me!" Raz yelled out as he felt the knife bounce off his heavily armored chest piece. He jammed his own pilfered knife into the man's shoulder before punching him across the face. The Hunter crashed to the floor in a series of groans and an attempt to roll onto his stomach. This attempt was stopped as Raz dropped to one knee, grabbed the man's head and slammed it into the floor for an instant kill.
As Raz slowly made his way to his feet and ultimately, the exit he felt at his side where a brief stab of pain made him pause, his hand found another knife handle. The knife the last Hunter had used had gone down and slid into a different gap in his armor, and with his adrenaline he never felt it. He let out an annoyed sigh as he pulled that one out of him and dropped it on a bench, not caring who found it as he ambled slowly away.
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Jo watched as Raz made his way to the locker room where he would get patched up and sent on his way. Archivia was absent from this match and that honestly hadn't really surprised her. What did was that Sushi was sitting next to her and was enjoying the fight.
"These Rumble Pit arena style fights are interesting, don't you agree Joanna?" Sushi began. "But why is Raz competing in it? He is barely quick enough to keep up with any of the other competitors and if those other Hunters had taken him seriously…" He trailed off knowing the Awoken woman would understand.
"Well he is competing because we have an agreement." Jo explained as she took a sip from her drink. "He tells Archivia what he remembers about Mars before it fell, and he pays for it by coming here to entertain me. That was his third victory this week."
There was a brief silence between the two as an intermission report materialized over the arena. Informing who would be fighting next and allowing the arranged warriors and civilians to make bets or take care of the essentials. A thought suddenly bubbled up in the Exo.
"It's Saturday morning today, and how many days did he compete this week?" Sushi was almost sure he knew the answer to that.
"Oh this is a daily thing." She paused to take another drink. "He isn't the best at CQB, but if anyone is dumb enough not to get out of his way. He bulldozes right over them, and that looks awesome."
"You enjoy other's pain too much, Joanna."
"Stop calling me that, I prefer Jo, remember?" Jo stood up suddenly and smiled at the Exo. "But for now, we are going to do something for him. I am a nice person you know, not always enjoying others in pain."
"You're not going to shoot him again are you?" The Awoken gave an annoyed shake of her head. "Well that is nice of you." Sushi paused as he mulled over a few things. "Hmmm, you going to buy him a new jumpship?" Sushi was only partially serious but Jo gave him a sarcastic laugh and flipped him the bird before bidding him farewell and taking off to find Raz.
.
When most people think of the Tower they think of pristine white walls and solid granite tiles with a perfect set of greenery to give the Guardians a nice place to relax. Most times it was like this, but not now, and it was still equally beautiful. The green grass and leaves had withered and died away, but were covered with a small layer of ice or snow. A thin blanket of snow covered most of the surfaces and was hardly disturbed by any wandering Guardian's footsteps.
That beauty however didn't stop an angry little Titan from stomping in it and kicking it around. Jo was sulking and doing her best at looking like a pouting child so the giant of a man, Raz, would give up on what they had set out to do with an excited Archivia. They were going to the Warlock's library.
"Why in the Hell are we going here? I thought we'd be going somewhere fun!" Jo whined behind the other two as she pulled her coat more tightly around her. "You told me it would a good time, Raz. A good time, you fuckin' liar!" She shouted and pointed an accusatory finger at the man.
"I never said it would be fun for everyone." Raz countered as he turned his head. The simple knit cap he wore kept his ears and shaved head plenty warm. "Besides, I've been trying to get Archivia to bring me here for the last three months and you owe me for all the arena fights I have to go through." He finished dryly.
"You make it sound like it's a torture session!" Jo indignantly replied to Raz's jab.
Archivia only nodded from the depths of her coat and parka. She was freezing and was amazed that Raz was wearing the cap and thin gloves with a simple jacket. Was the man invulnerable to the elements? She turned her head from the behemoth next to her and took a hold of a rail to aid her in climbing the steps to the Warlock's Tower.
"Why did I come?" Jo asked herself as she turned around. "You two kids have fun; I'm going back to the Titan Tower. When you're done here Raz, meet me in the gym, I'm gonna need a spotter that I can trust." She waved over her shoulder as she walked away.
"She doesn't trust the other Titans?" Raz curiously asked the Warlock as he offered her an arm to help stabilize her. She took his arm and was trying hard not to fall as she sorted her thoughts.
"No, she'll trust them elsewhere, like a battlefield." She sneezed and groaned in pain. "But not there, too many who just want to find a way into her bed. You Titans seem to be more of a base type of creature. Following your natural instincts and- GAH!"
Archivia was cut off as Raz pulled away from her and she had lost half of her support going up the slick steps. When she regained her bearings she glared at Raz from the depths of her hood and slowly shook her head before sniffling and pushing herself to climb the rest of the way up. While the man had little to no problem with the frozen staircase.
"How are you so good with the cold, and the snow?" Archivia asked suddenly. The question halted the man mid-step as he considered his answer.
"It got really cold on Mars at night, and even if you were wearing your enviro-suits you would still feel its bite through it and everything froze. So you get used to it when you work outside a lot." He informed her as he reached the top of the steps. "You learn how to take the cold and how to handle yourself on the ice, and not fall on your ass or your face."
Archivia felt her cheeks heating up and was thankful she had worn the scarf to cover her face. Her glowing eyes peeked over the top and to Raz that was slightly creepy. He took his eyes away from her to cross the small landing and the sensors on the door picked up the pair to let them in.
The wave of heat that slammed into Raz felt nice, but he could still feel the remains of the winter chill on his skin, it was pleasant. He took of the cap and turned to see Archivia's Ghost pulling all of her layers off, allowing her to actually move more than half a step at a time.
"Alright, let's begin your tour." She nodded and held out a hand suggesting he go in from the foyer first.
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The winters on Earth were far more miserable than most of the Fallen would have given credit for. Lot's of planets had varied ecosystems, but this planet seemed to have a vendetta against those who weren't from the proper regions. All these thoughts came to Watcher as he gazed out a port hole on the Thunder Skiff he was riding in. He was brought out of his musings of terrible weather by the deep voice of another and much larger Fallen.
"My team and I will accompany you to the objective, which is this Devil Captain." Baron Grutek turned on a holo projector and it showed a much worn Elite Captain standing tall with his shock blades gripped loosely in each hand. "His name is one you might know. Verutiv Kras. The same Captain who was ordered to kill you, if I read your reports correctly."
Watcher nodded slowly, he recognized the Captain. So the Devil had gotten himself promoted to a higher rank, this would make his revenge all the sweeter. If he wasn't gutted on sight. He knew this Captain well, he was rather strong and surprisingly agile for one so large.
"But there is one issue now." Grutek nodded to the side and one of the Dreggs in the Skiff with them tapped a few buttons. A different Captain appeared next to Verutiv, and he was far larger than the former which was a feat in of itself. "This is Aravek Tai, an Elder Captain of the House of Venom. We received intel that he and his hunting party were hired by the House of Thieves to kill him."
"My own House wants him dead, huh?" The comment was almost silent as he rubbed his hands together in thought. "He works for them, or he did. I don't know now." Watcher added to the conversation. "Why is he being targeted?"
"The King's have captured him in a raid and are going to interrogate him, but not until after we get there. The Thief's most likely want whatever information he has been keeping to himself to vanish with him. So they marked him and hired that Venom hit squad to make him disappear." Grutek closed the distance between himself and Watcher. "Aravek is not one to be trifled with, even alone he is a worthy foe. We must be careful, and be ready in case he makes it to the Kings before we do, he may feel the need to kill some of the Kings that already have our target. If we are too late… We may be able to get him to wait before executing our target, but I'm not positive." Grutek was whispering this; he didn't want his troops to know that he was being cautious about a potential enemy.
Watcher nodded after a moment, he understood the danger this implied. He was no fool; even reaching the rank of a Vandal took a lot of time, a Captain? Too much effort for just a rank. But the chance to make Elder Captain could take the better part of a century rather than decades. This Aravek must have been good to rise up quickly without his notice.
"Good, we should be arriving now." Grutek nodded before reaching for his drop rail. "Pilot! Where are the Kings?" He yelled at the flight station when he didn't see anyone to greet him.
"I'm picking up only a few thermals, Baron Grutek! Something isn't right!" The pilot yelled back and looked out the view port to see where the other Fallen were.
"Aravek is here, Baron, you know it. It seems he didn't want to waste time in finding the little Devil." Watcher informed before dropping himself out of the Skiff.
Watcher's armored boots sank deep into the snow of the frozen terrain. It was refreshing to say the least, and it was one reason he actually enjoyed this blasted climate. That was when he spotted the first body and his mood soured; it was a King's Dregg. There were more nearby, and it formed some sort of grisly trail.
The trail of bodies was not long but it consisted mainly of the yellow of Kings, a few green House marks suggested that the Kings had put up some fight, but seeing the count and the way that the Kings bodies were strewn about. They were caught off guard and were unprepared for the ferocity of the Venom hit squad.
Even for a House so small, the reputation of the Venom was not lost on Watcher as he examined a body. Nearly bisected and the wound was flash-cauterized. The poor fool died quickly and quite painfully. He decided to forgo any other examinations in the desire to find the Venom squad.
After following the trail they did find a few live Vandals, a few angry looking and Ether starved Venom Dreggs. They had quickly snapped their weapons up and only hesitated when they spotted Watcher. One of them cautiously approached them before speaking. The others now noticing the approaching team raised their weapons but hesitated in pulling the trigger.
"Why are you here? We are doing your job, and why do you bring the Thunder with you?" The Venom Dregg fired off his questions in quick order, but he was not asking the Baron, he was outright ignoring the larger Fallen in blue. His questions were directed to Watcher, and now it clicked. He was wearing his old House's mark, and they weren't privy to who he was, so as Humans say, he ran with it.
"I travel with whom I am ordered; you will get what is yours, so stand back!" Watcher felt satisfied as the other Vandal nodded his head in acquiescence. "Now, where is the Devil? I have to gain some information from him before you kill him."
Was this what it was like to be in charge of Vandals and larger cadres? It felt good, in an odd way. He mentally slapped himself as he refocused on the job at hand. He needed intel, and now was not the time to daydream. He could get caught at any time and they would have to fight off this hit squad.
"Captain Tai has him, and we will take you to them now." The Vandal motioned for them to follow as he turned around.
It didn't take long to reach them; only after passing a small stand of trees did they encounter the Captains. Aravek was holding the Devil Captain by his throat and a shock spear in his other hands and was poised for the kill. The sudden entrance of Watcher and the Thunder Fallen distracted him long enough from not killing the whimpering Captain. The Venom Captain's head tilted in a curious manner, and Watcher noted that his grip tightened ever so much more on the Devil's throat.
"You will hold, Captain Tai!" Watcher called out to the Captain. Aravek looked between the two before giving a noncommittal grunt as a response and a huff before he dropped Verutiv to the ground without more complaint. The Devil groaned in pain as he slowly sat himself up and massaged his throat.
"Don't hope you can take the bounty from us, Thief." The Captain's voice filled the air suddenly and grated on Watcher's ears, it was rough and sounded like he had been stabbed in the voice box. "What is your name, so that I may remember you if you do." The Captain moved closer towards the new arrivals and made a grunting noise with a small gesture that had two lower Captains restrain Verutiv so he could not escape.
"I am called Mephistopales. But you can kill him, AFTER I ask him a few questions. I need information from him before you are to finish him." Watcher leaned his head back and turned slightly to Grutek and he whispered, "Use the bribe Ether you were planning on using for the hold off now. That should stop any bounty hunter."
Grutek nodded before pointing to two of the Dreggs who were carrying Ether packs. They brought them forward and dropped them at Aravek's feet who nodded in agreement before stepping aside. The two packs were quickly snatched up from the snow by two Venom Dreggs who rushed them off to their Skiff sitting not too far away.
Watcher got in front of the kneeling Captain and lowered himself slightly, grunting with the effort he looked over the Captain. He was looking worse for wear, the Kings were not gentle with him or maybe it was the Venom, he didn't care.
"Tell me, Captain, were you planning on running somewhere? You are far from Devil territory."
"No!" The response was quick and panicky. "The Kings raided a facility that I was guarding, and they took me instead of killing me." Verutiv's voice was weak and it sounded like he had been sobbing. Pitiful.
"Now I'm going to ask you something, and your answer can alter your fate. Why are really imprisoned, and why did Venom have to get involved?"
"I know of something, and the Kings seem to know I have some useful information." He paused to take his breath. "The location of your Ketch, the inside sources we have in the Reef and the Tower, and our plans. With the plans at least we can still keep a lid on it. Those I will never repeat to anyone outside of your House, if I survive, that will be a first." A dry chuckle escaped the Captain's throat followed by a fit of coughing. "The last time one of ours let information like this out, he was killed and his brother as well. I am glad that-" When the Captain finally looked up he stopped in horror. "You! I ran my blade through your-uggh!"
Watcher slammed a fist into the Captain's eye piece and watched as he fell onto the ground writhing in pain.
"Where are you holding that information!?" Watcher shouted at the Captain. Who shook his head in defiance. "Captain Tai!" Watcher's gaze never left the Devil, but he heard the larger Captain approaching in the snow. I'm sure you know what we do to those who are to become Dreggs?"
The dark chuckle that filled the air sent shivers down everyone's spines as they all knew what was coming, and the crackle of Aravek's shock spear locked that perception down tight. The screaming and begging were only rivaled by the tearing and ripping sounds that came from the Devil Captain. Watcher had to turn away as he witnessed Aravek cut, pull and tear off the lower arms of the other Captain.
With the Fallen fully humiliated he slowly reached for a pouch and pulled out a small sphere. He looked at Watcher pleadingly before it was snatched out of his hand by Watcher and he held it up to look at it in the light as if it was a mysterious treasure.
"Captain Tai." Watcher addressed him. "Kill this Dregg." Verutiv screamed again it was thankfully silenced quickly. With the quick thrust of Aravek's shock spear.
Grutek nodded to Aravek who bowed his head slowly in a grudging respect to the Baron and walked away leading his troop to the Skiff where they would head back to the Thunder's Ketch for their next plan of action.
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After all the Fallen had left a Guardian rose up from the white ground and brushed away the snow that had been hiding him from the other beings. He made sure that they had all left before approaching the dead Captain.
"Archivia will want to know about this, and I think we may have a clue as where to go next." Snow stated quietly as he had his Ghost take scans of the area and quickly returned to his jump ship so he could follow the Vandal and his Thunder companions. He wanted that data.
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"I'm telling you Raz, these guys are the real deal and we have been doing quite a bit of Darkness fighting." The enthusiastic voice of Corde was evident in the bar they were both drinking in. "I want you in man; I'm trying to talk the leader into it. He is a little on the, you know, Awoken only kick."
"Let me guess, he is Awoken?" Raz sarcastically asked as he took a drink from his beer. "Or is he one of those weird dudes that only wants an Awoken squad cause you guys look so…" He trailed off as Corde punched him in the shoulder. "Hey! You made me spill my beer!" Raz shouted as he watched the bottle roll off the counter.
Speaking of Awoken he spotted Jo dancing out of the corner of his eye and he quickly turned away with a small tinge of red on his face. He accepted a new bottle and took a long pull before glancing between it and Corde before speaking again.
"Besides," he started getting back to the point, "I'm busy enough as it is with my own team. The leader is riding me ragged and so is her compatriot. So your illustrious leader can keep that whole Awoken kick thing, I have my hands full with just this one." He tipped his bottle and he watched the orange liquid swish back and forth. What in the hell was this stuff? It tasted like… Mornings?
"That little thing is your leader?" Corde used the neck of his bottle to point towards the other Awoken, as if to confirm the earlier indication. He gave a wolf whistle as he looked her up and down. "I'd jump on that quick if I were you man, before she gets taken."
"By who? You?" Raz laughed as he tapped his fingers on the bar for another bottle. "I don't think so Corde. She seems to like me barely as it is, but you? I don't think she can tolerate an idiot like you."
The Awoken Titan made a sound like he was offended but laughed it off as he was notified by his Ghost that he had a message. Pulling it up his smile disappeared and he frowned as he read it.
"Well I hate to break up this reunion, but I have to go. We got a bounty to do, and it looks like it's a big one!" He slammed his bottle down and dropped some glimmer down as he nodded to Raz and left.
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Corde let the door close behind him as he armored himself up. Pulling out his Ghost he called himself into orbit and set his course for Venus. His Ghost chimed in again and opened up a frequency.
"We lost one of our contacts, the Devil Captain. I think we need to move faster than we planned if we want this to work." Corde recognized the voice as his team leader. "The Thieves are getting impatient and want to get going to strike on the Wolves. So follow those coordinates I sent you and we are going to aggravate the House of Winter. Force them into action."
"But this is the Guardian Sparrow hub." Corde pointed out as he plugged in the exact data.
"Exaclty, the Wolves are there investigating an 'Awoken distress signal' that will go off in about an hour, and many Guardians will be there to see them there with broken equipment that doomed many other Guardians."
"Seems like it is too simple, but it should work. Tensions are already high." Corde smiled as his jumpship went to light speed.
Post A/N: I hoped you like it, and remember, Archivia belongs to RC927, Watcher and Snow belong to Reilly.216 and the others are mine. I feel like this was more of a plot driving chapter than anything, so it is a bit shorter than the last one. I hope you enjoyed it and please review! So keep on keepin' on!