A/N: Well I hope I didn't take too long with this update. Which I feel is a huge milestone in my story, so also if you want, and you should. Check out my buddy Reilly's story, Soldier of the Light. These two stories connect in a way, you'll see when you read 'em.
CH. 11- All as One
This was terrible, and extremely boring. Travis drummed his fingers on the side console in his jumpship. He wasn't just extremely bored, he was terribly bored. He could only take watching the fighting around the Ketch for so long. He idly reached for the throttle for what he considered the umpteenth time before he reconsidered his actions.
He didn't want to sound ungrateful to the fact that he wasn't being shot at, but even dodging missiles and hails of autocannon fire were much better than sitting on the sidelines and watching the fight go on before them. It pained him to remember that he was following rather explicit orders of non interference from the Vanguard. This feeling was almost equally shared by all the Guardians that had accompanied him after the rouge Guardians.
"This is stupid, and we need to do something." He grumbled as he went back to drumming his fingers on the console. "I'll give them ten more minutes before we go in."
"Thank God!" Someone called over the open lines. "I'm fucking bored!"
"Hey this is for official use only! Who said that?" Another voice called out over the line.
"I said I was fuckin' bored, not fuckin' stupid!" There was a series of laughter as all the Guardians who were listening in on the conversation couldn't help but laugh. They were all bored too and needed a release to their tension.
"So yeah, ten minutes, and then we go in." Travis reiterated to his fellow Guardians. He set his chronometer and watched it for a few seconds. This was going to suck. He groaned as he went back to watching the battle. This was going to be a long ten minutes to wait.
.
After the group had separated from the hangar both groups had almost all met immediate resistance. Raz and Archivia were making a mad dash through the passageways and slowing down only for slow doors. A trail of dead and dying behind them. They didn't have as far to go as the other group, but with the battle raging outside they didn't want to get caught inside if the Awoken decided to just say fuck it and blow up the ship with them on it.
Raz's rifle spat out another short burst to knock out the Captain's shield before he planted the butt of the rifle in the Fallen's helmeted face. Sending it sprawling back and to the deck. Raz followed through with his momentum and left the dazed creature on the floor. Archivia right behind the Titan taking shots with her scout rifle to knock out the weaker obstacles such as Shanks or Dreggs.
This method seemed to be working well in their favor until a larger Baron appeared and smashed Raz into the bulkhead across where he had come from. Some choice words were heard from Raz and even the Baron was cursing in English as the two scuffled on the deck. Archivia attempted to line up a shot on the Baron but the two were moving so rapidly that she gave up and moved ahead towards a console so she could try to stack things in their favor. Like sealing the doors behind them and she had even found access to the local Shank computing core.
There was a grunt of pain behind her and she turned to see that Raz had turned a blade on the Baron who had tried to use it and kill the Titan. Raz's strength had apparently proven to be too much as the blade was slowly digging it's way further into the Baron's chest. With a few more jerks and shoves the blade sank in the rest of the way and the Baron went limp. Raz did as well, but from sheer exhaustion than dying.
"This was a terrible plan, by the way. I'm so tired." Raz grumbled as he finally extricated himself from under the Baron. Grabbing his rifle off the deck he walked over to where Archivia was working. "So what's the new science project?" She snorted a response before answering.
"I just turned all the Shanks from here to engineering against the Fallen, this should lighten the load a little on you." She smiled under her helmet as she saw the Titan stiffen and she also puffed her chest out a bit at his praise.
"That is badass! I'm glad I got you over Snow."
"Well knowing him, he is having them go slow and methodical all the way to the bridge. But he also probably found any shortcuts too." She sighed as she worked to open the next door, which was the last one between them and the engineering section of the ship. The next passage was several hundred feet long, but it was one straight shot and that would make this far easier.
Raz reloaded his auto rifle before nodding at Archivia who simply keyed the door and raised her rifle to give chase after Raz. The pair sped past groups of Fallen fighting each other and various Shanks fighting everyone. Raz let them do the majority of the fighting and the few that did take a shot at the pair of Guardians were shot down quickly.
Raz and Archivia used their ammo sparingly as they made the mad dash down the passageway. It nearly surprised him when they reached the other side with little resistance and he looked back to see that they were all still fighting amongst themselves. He would let them have this fight, he was after bigger prizes and that included flight logs. What he didn't expect was the massive fist of Titan to slam into his helmet when the door opened.
Backpedalling slightly he caught himself and as he brought his head back down he raised his rifle and fired a short burst at his new opponent. He was slightly surprised to see it ricochet off a shield that covered the dark purples of the Titan armor. Raz recognized that armor, it was Corde.
"What in the fuck?" Raz asked before yelping and diving to the side to avoid Corde's response with a hand cannon. The higher caliber rounds dug into the plating near where Raz had been and without any further questions he fired a longer stream into Corde before closing the distance.
Corde only stopped to reload and with that he was surprisingly quick. Flicking the revolver back into the weapon he fired a few more rounds, aiming for Raz's weapon. The Human used the weapon as a shield and it took the brunt of the attack before he hurled it at the Awoken. The opposing Titan swiveled to the side to avoid the weapon going at sub-sonic speed and was rewarded with Raz knocking the hand cannon out of his grip.
Raz was furious, he didn't know why Corde was doing this, but now he had to deal with Corde apparently helping the Fallen. He could have stopped to ask why his friend was doing this, there were many things he could have stopped to do. But he didn't, it was simple as that. Raz knew which side he was on and Corde knew that too, this was not some sappy T.V. drama where they could change each other's ways through talking. The victor did all the talking, and right now Raz had to prove he was better.
Archivia took the chance that Raz had given to her by sliding into one of the work stations and eliminating the Fallen working there. She was timing herself, and she knew that all of them were on the clock with the battle outside and inside the ship raging around them. She finished deploying her Ghost to get any of the flight logs she could from here before she heard the shot rang out. She was lucky that she was between the shooter and her Ghost.
Whirling around with her rifle she fired a trio of shots at another Warlock armed with a pistol. The first shot struck him in the chest and sent him flailing backwards while the rest went wide. Looking quickly back at her Ghost she huffed as she jumped and glided above the railing that the other Warlock had been using to help balance his shot.
Sweeping her rifle around she searched for her target and was lucky that Raz wasn't making too much noise with the other Titan, or the fact that the other Warlock lacked in stealth skills. She heard him coming and with a quick pivot and drop to her knee she jammed the barrel of her rifle in the man's groin before pulling the trigger. The man screamed a few octaves higher than he was used to as he used his powers over the Void to lash out at her instead of his weapon which he dropped.
Eyes wide Archivia jumped over the railing again and down to the main deck before turning and lobbing a grenade at the incapacitated man's general area. She would get lucky to even hit him. Guardian's recovered quickly, even from strikes like that. It wouldn't buy her much time but she could use it to check up on her Ghost, who was still safe and downloading the information and more. Her check came short when she heard the Warlock land behind her and start shooting at her.
Getting herself behind a solid object Archivia spotted him hiding by what looked like conveniently placed crates. Popping up she fired and forced him to duck long enough for her to prime and throw another grenade which the man deftly blocked with his Void abilities and forced her into cover with his own barrage of shots.
She hoped Jo wasn't getting into too much trouble with her two companions. A little bit hoped that her Titan friend was also in deep shit like they were.
.
Jo had tried to rush into the passageway with her two companions, but the they had other ideas. She realized this as she charged into the first enemy that the Vandals surrounding the one she had chosen as her first victim dropped with precise shots to the head. She knew that they were both playing supporting marksmen roles. She could handle that as long as they didn't take her kills.
Things were even more chaotic when she noticed that all the different colored Houses were fighting amongst themselves in the passageways. It helped make their trip easier, but what got her was the few Awoken that were scattered amongst the Fallen warriors. They seemed to be helping the House who controlled the Ketch, but who were they? She would find that out later, and as long as they didn't shoot at her-
A stray shot slid off her helmet, knocking her head to the side a bit.
"That's it! Killing you both!" She received confused glances from her companions who exchanged glances with a shrug each. She would later explain to them that she meant Fallen and Awoken were going to be her targets. Not just Fallen.
As they rushed through the different passageways and up stairwells their little crusade was slowing down. Jo was still climbing the steps two at a time, but there was more of a hesitation in her little leaps than there was before. She stopped at the top and took a few huffing breaths before looking back at Snow.
"Ok my walking GPS. Where the fuck are we?" Snow glanced at her before pulling out his Ghost and having it display a map.
"You see this here?" Jo nodded. "That's the bridge, and over here is us." He pointed at another spot.
"Oh for fuck's sake."
"I have been having us take this way on purpose though." He pointed at a spot that was what appeared to be in the next room. "This is a Servitor access path to the Bridge." He answered before anyone could say anything. "It will take us to right outside the bridge and it should be unguarded the whole way."
"Should be?" Jo asked skeptically as she cocked her hip to one side while looking at the map. "So when we come out?"
"Here." Snow pointed at a spot about thirty feet from the bridge. "It will be guarded, but we should get the drop on them." Jo snorted but realized something. "Now let's go, before they figure out where we are."
Snow went through the door with Watcher close behind before Jo could say anything. The asshole made a joke! She was going to get him later for this.
.
"It's been longer than ten minutes, Travis."
"I know. Now quiet down, the Ketch is slowing down. So we will have to be more careful since we don't know how bad it is inside."
"So are we going now?" Another voice asked, this one was clearly irritated with waiting.
"Yes, keep the formation tight, we want to minimize our signatures, let 'em guess how many of us there are." Travis pulled up an image of the Ketch for the ships to see. "We will be inserting here, team two you are heading to the bridge to secure anything of value there. I'll take team one to track down the Guardians. One of them is actively broadcasting their location so I'll handle that. Teams three and four will provide support and keep the Fallen or Awoken from blowing up our rides." He paused as he let that plan sink in. "Everyone got it?" There was a chorus of murmurs which he took as yes.
"Alright, let's go."
"Fucking finally!"
"Entity! Watch your mouth, I know it's you!"
.
Explosions rocked the occupants of the Ketch, forcing many to brace themselves on the bulkheads or various different work stations. Panic was spreading far and wide within the confines of the ship as not only was the chaos battering the hull of their great warship from the outside. But the inside was being torn apart by a similar chaos. The problems seemed unending this day.
Warriors from many different Houses had laid claim that this whole endeavor was a trap and were now attempting to fight their way to either freedom or the Kell of the House of Thieves. Adding another House under their control, and elevating themselves at the same time. It was a lofty goal, but one all the Fallen warriors shared. It was unfortunate that they had to fight through each other before they even got close to the Thief Kell. It also didn't help that there was a fireteam of Guardians aboard the Ketch and tearing their way through the ship.
Another body slumped to the deck as he started to bleed out, glaring at the Kell as his eyes dimmed. The massive Fallen barely registered this as he glared around the bridge, searching for any more challengers to his throne. Seeing none he lumbered his way towards the navigational control and looked over the holo-screen.
"What is our progress?"
"My Lord, we are only at 63% engine output, we aren't moving fast enough." Several more blips appeared on the screen and the Dregg looked closely at the small markings. "My Lord! We have more Guardian jumpships! They are in a holding pattern just off the Reef border, your orders?" The Dregg turned his head to look at his Kell.
"Put as much power that we can into the engines, do not change course. Force the Awoken to take care of their shots." He started chuckling darkly as straightened. "They wouldn't want to start a war now would they?" He asked no one in particular, so no one answered, that and they were too busy trying to keep the Awoken ships at a far enough distance from their critical systems.
"Now." The Kell started again. "Show in my next victim." He didn't have to wait long as the sound of gunfire was heard on the other side of the door. The Kell turned his head towards the door and tilted his head curiously. All of his challengers before had simply strolled in, believing they would win and that they would control his Ketch. But now there was a firefight going on outside the bridge, he liked this one. They were fighting to get to the bridge instead of demanding entrance because they were to be the future Kell.
"My Lord!" A Dregg ran over to him and dropped to a knee quickly. "Guardians are attempting to breach the bridge!" The Kell did pause slightly as he spotted the Awoken, Alias, tensing at hearing the Guardians had arrived. Was she expecting someone? He should have paid closer attention to her before today, but now was not the time to revel in his few mistakes.
It was good to see that his bridge crew and security were already in action positioning themselves around the door to stop the intruders without him actually giving the order too. They had honed their survival instincts rather well before this day. He could almost say he was proud of them, almost. The majority of the Captains and Vandals took up positions next to consoles and a few behind the scattered security Shanks. A somewhat tactically poor decision, but he let that one go.
The shooting and howling on the other side of the blast door suddenly stopped and the Kell tensed as he gripped his shock swords. He was getting excited, and was trying to school his nerves at the prospect of killing Guardians of the Traveler again. It had been far too long since he had squared off against that Thing's warriors, and he aimed to do as much damage as he could against them. Some new mounted pieces on his wall sounded perfect right about now.
But all he could do at the time being, was wait in silence as the Guardians seemed to take their time.
.
Jo smirked as her auto rifle barked a short burst of solid kinetic rounds into the last of the Vandals. The Fallen struggled to breath a little before collapsing on it's knees and finally to rest on it's face. It had taken them a good half an hour or so to reach the doors to the bridge according to Snow. The resistance was not light, and she was grateful for the apparent lack of unity amongst the different Houses holed up here on the Ketch.
Lowering her rifle she let out a breath she wasn't aware that she was holding and she chose that time to lean against a nearby bulkhead. Making sure to kick a nearby Dregg away from her chosen spot. She was still exhausted, and by the way Snow was seated against the same bulkhead she assumed the same. All this fighting was taking it's toll on the pair. Their third member was silently staring at the door with his rifle at the ready. Did the Fallen never sleep or some shit? It was amazing when they had dropped from the Servitor hatch on the Fallen and Awoken that were in the passageway. They had cut through them fairly quickly and had moved on to the bridge guards.
By the Queen she hated sprinting, and that was a long ass sprint they just did to get here.
"Snow?" Jo asked quietly, the Warlock only nodded silently in acknowledged her. "This plan fucking blows." Her accusation was rather harsh, and the man stiffened slightly. "But I gotta say, this was hella fun." His head bobbed again in acknowledgement. He really must have been winded to not be speaking.
"Now let's see how the other team is doing." She muttered as she brought out her Ghost. "Patch me through." The Ghost drifted to one side before the link was made and she could hear what appeared to be another firefight going on. Lot's of cursing too. "Hey Raz, you hear me?" She slightly yelled into the channel.
"Mother fu- Ooof!" Raz was violently cut off by what sounded like him rushing into a brick wall. She even could hear the armor cracking under the strike. She heard him groan before deigning her with a response. "You rang?" His voice was deep and monotonous. She obviously didn't get his reference and she knew that he would get on her case about it later.
She heard more struggling as Raz had apparently regained his bearings and was fighting back. Jo gave Snow a look and the man only shrugged as he checked over his rifle. His ammo count was low, but hopefully things were coming to an end. She watched as he reached for his ghost and listened to it giving off a message. The man's shoulders sagged and he visibly deflated.
"You know what Raz, I'll call you back." She cut off the line before the Human could retort. Turning her attention towards her partner here she slowly pushed off where she was resting and made her way towards the Warlock. "What's got you so bummed?"
"The ship has been boarded, again." Snow dragged out between what she guessed was gritted teeth.
"Alright, well we have seen a few Awoken marines, so I knew that." She jutted out her hip and rested on hand on it clearly telling the Warlock this wasn't news to her.
"By other Guardians."
"…"
"…"
"Well fuck."
.
Raz had managed to duck under Corde's strike and return with his own elbow to the Awoken Titan's ribs. The resounding crack that came with it forced the two Titans apart to regain their composure. Raz was flexing his arm and feeling out the damage the last blow had caused while Corde was running a hand over the compromised plate armor.
"Damn Raz." Corde commented as he settled down into his fighting stance once more. "How was the Human saying? You hit like a freighted train?" He didn't wait for Raz to prepare for the attack and lunged at the Human.
"It's hit like a freight train." Raz grunted out as he blocked the next punch and diverted it to the side, only to get Corde's other fist smashing into the side of his head. "Jesus!" He cried out as he recoiled from the strike. His shields taking the majority of the hit. He could still feel the overall kinetic force behind it, however.
Corde and Raz continued to trade blows, the two veritable mountains of armor and muscle slowly whittling one another down. Corde caged his head in his arms to counter a series of jabs Raz sent flying towards the head. The blows rattled off the arm guards until the strikes turned into vicious body blows. It was during this hail of rib shots that Raz seemed to hesitate, some form of distraction.
"Raz!" Twinkles chimed in his ear. "I'm patching in Jo now!"
"Hey Raz, you hear me?" The voice of Jo cut in on his internal monologue. Now was not in a really good mood to be taking calls, especially from Jo at this time.
"What? No don't do that you dumb mother fu- Ooof!" The change in Raz's attention allowed Corde to wind up a strike by clasping his hands together and viciously bring them crashing down on the Human's head. Raz's head went soaring towards the floor but never made it as Corde rushed his knee up and the resounding blow sent the man reeling as he backpedalled a few steps. When he caught himself on what appeared to be a maintenance terminal he spoke again into the open link. "You rang?" He deepened his voice and dragged out the words. He felt like he did a rather believable Lurch impression. He loved that show, it was a classic.
Raz reminded himself that he couldn't afford to get distracted by anything and at the last moment managed to bring his hands out in front of him to slow down the speeding tackle that was Corde. The console he had been resting on smashed under their combined bulk and the two fell to the floor in an ungraceful tangle of limbs and curses. Each getting a well placed shot on one another every few swings.
"You know what Raz, I'll call you back." Jo's voice echoed in the confines of his helmet.
"You seriously had to call at a time like this?" Raz nearly shouted as he drove his knee into Corde's less armored side. He was grateful for the grunt of pain that he elicited from the Awoken, but it was short lived as the loud reports of gunfire seemed to start up around them again.
The gunfire drew his attention away long enough for Corde to regain his footing and tackle his one time friend. Forcing the pair to the metal plating of some round structure. The console let off a series of beeps and warnings in some language. But Raz was too busy trying to untangle himself from Corde to pay attention. Those shots had come from where he had last seen Archivia and that angry Warlock. He had to finish this soon.
Anger started to rise, and Raz could feel his Arc energy coursing through his body, Corde seemed to notice this too since his body began to have a slight purple sheen to it. They weren't playing around anymore, and now they were using their full abilities. The energy ended in Raz's hands and he tried to use it, but since Corde had already tackled him he was easily able to pin the Human's hands to the deck.
"I know how devastating this can be, Raz! I'm not going to let you hit me with these fists!" Corde shouted as the two continued to struggle. The purple sheen collected down into Corde's hands and the Human could feel like some sort of barrier was being placed between the two. Corde was draining him on contact and boosting his shield capabilities, he needed a counter.
Forgoing a response with a simple grunt Raz had an idea. It was crazy, but it could work. Trying to gain control of his frustration at being mounted by Corde, the Human started to move his energy charge. The Arc bolts moved from his struggling hands to up his arms. Finally moving up his neck and into his helmet, now that Raz was doing this did he realize how much this actually hurt. His body wasn't used to the placement and it was trying to reject the energy collecting there.
"What the- No you wouldn't do-!" Corde never finished his statement as Raz flung his head forward into the Awoken's. Their helmets collided and Corde screeched in pain as the overcharge of energy moved through his body.
Corde removed himself from Raz and stumbled a few feet before his body evaporated from the energy it could not contain. Raz exhaled slowly as his helmet made contact with the deck again. His eyes idly caught Corde's Ghost popping up to resurrect him in a moment. That still gave the Human time to go help his companion. With a groan he forced himself up and picked up his sidearm from the deck before jogging off to go help Archivia.
.
After Raz and Corde had started their little duel which later degraded to a fistfight and cursing Archivia had been dealing with the other Warlock. The man was rather talented, she would admit, never to the other man and certainly never to Jo. But she had held her own so far, and that was before the other Guardians started showing up.
It had been simply pop from cover and shoot a few shots, back into cover and occasionally throw a ball of Void at the other guy. He was of the same class of her, so their Void abilities seemed to nullify each other, so their duel was going nowhere fast.
But then the other Guardians mixed things up by shooting at the both of them. Archivia had immediately ducked and stopped all hostilities, refocusing her attention on trying to shut down the reactors. The Fallen so far have had good success in keeping her and her Ghost out of these systems, but the backdoors she had left herself earlier helped slightly.
As she furiously typed away at a small pad that her Ghost provided her she noticed that the gunfire seemed to have stopped. She decided against all forms of self preservation to have a look, and was nearly shot for it. The trio of Hunters who had breached the room had spread out and the moment she peeked the nearest one took a pot shot at her. The shot was wide, but it forced her back into cover. She checked over her scout rifle to make sure it was loaded and ready to fight. She really didn't want to shoot a good Guardian for doing his job, but if it came down to it she would.
She gripped her rifle and popped from cover, only to see Raz tackling the Hunter and punch the surprised Guardian in the head. The poor man's head rebounded off the deck and he went limp, most likely unconscious from the brute head trauma he just received. Raz looked up from his handiwork at Archivia before nodding and heading off to where the Warlock was currently winning a fistfight with the Hunter who went after him.
Archivia decided now would be a great time to finish her work but decided to check where the other Hunter had vanished to. Her eyes searched the room from her point and through some piping she noticed the other Hunter with a small container. After a moment she spotted a Ghost inside through a small porthole. They had secured Corde, well that was partially good news. But that also meant they would have more people to come after her and Raz.
.
Raz sped past another Hunter, not even touching him as he leapt for the Warlock. His Arc infused fist grazing past the Warlock and into one of the many contraptions in the room. The energy was quickly dissipated by the machine and absorbed. Growling, the Titan swung his arm around wide and missed the Warlock again. The man was quick, dodging two Guardian's fists and feet. But he was tiring, Raz could see it.
Calrus shifted his attention between the Hunter and the Titan. This was getting bad and quick, Corde had obviously been dealt with since the Human was here. He had no idea what the state of the bridge was or the rest of the ship in general. He had only a few options left. He preferred working from the shadows anyways. He snorted as he drew out his Ghost with the full intention of escaping.
"No! You are under arrest!" The Hunter shouted as he leapt for Calrus.
The Hunter wasn't nearly fast enough, and Calrus was able to sidestep and move his Ghost out of the way. This is where he suddenly remembered the Titan behind him. Everything seemed to slow down as his head swiveled to watch the Titan almost casually reach out with one hand close it around his Ghost. Now normally that wouldn't concern him because he could still get away even if the Ghost was being held.
No.
What worried him was the fact that the Human's closing hand was charged with Arc energy. His Ghost never stood a chance as the volatile Light was forced through the machine. White noise erupted on all the channels and all the Guardian's reached for their helmets in pain. The noise picked up and was close to deafening, but it wasn't just the white noise or the pained yells of the gathered Guardians. No, the loudest sound going over the frequencies was the howl of the Titan who had absorbed the Ghost.
Raz had dropped to his knees and was gripping his cracked helmet tightly. His body mirrored the pain in his voice, he was racked with spasms and twitching violently as he continued broadcasting. From her place Archivia could see his helmet starting to crack and in a few places on his visor shatter completely. But instead of seeing his face, pure light erupted from the breach in his helmet.
Archivia and the other Guardians continued to watch as Raz dropped to his hands. His voice never wavering nor dropping. The amount of Light he had absorbed was constantly repairing his vocal chords, giving him the ability to scream in unending pain. He slowly reached out a hand towards the Hunter, a pleading hand which the Hunter took a hesitant hand to accept. But stopped short when a burst of Arc energy flew from his fingertips and struck around him.
"Son of a bitch!" Travis shouted and scooted back quickly. He didn't want to abandon the Titan, but the man was clearly destabilized with all the Light he had taken from the Ghost. In hind sight he should have seen it coming, he was lucky it didn't hit him this time.
The Arc energy was building and discharging from Raz into everything around him, not only that but his Void abilities which were minimal before were now exploding out of control. Wards were forming around him and vanishing almost as fast as they were formed, his armor was now coated in the ethereal purple glow. Raz was trying to burn off the Light as fast as he could. But from his screaming it sounded like it was still going on. That was when he started to actually say something.
"Make it stop! Make it stop! My head! Make! It! Stop! Make it go away!" He continued to scream about making it stop and that was when Archivia saw the final element of a Guardian's power. Solar.
Flaming energy formed around Raz as a blanket and flew off in waves, it dispersed before reaching any of the others, but such a manifestation on an ability that Raz had less affinity for was amazing. Archivia would have called this a great moment in hers and Raz's life if the man didn't appear to be dying in front of her. Any and all thoughts were interrupted as Raz surged to his feet and lurched to the side suddenly. His hands in front of him, grasping at the air until he reached a series of tubes.
"Get back here!" A Hunter yelled and drew all their attention towards the Warlock who had taken that chance to flee. Calrus did knock over the one who held Corde's Ghost, the man ended up dropping the case and jostling the Ghost slightly. "Shit!" The Hunter shouted as he looked between the Ghost and the Warlock before ultimately giving chase to the Warlock.
"Wait!" Archivia called out to the Titan, or to Travis, they were still close to each other. "Don't let him touch those! That leads to the main reactor! He plans on dumping his energy into it! That will cause a meltdown!"
Travis looked from the Warlock to the Titan and drew his sidearm and fired. The rounds would have gone right through the back of the Titan's skull, but they just bounced off his shields not even phasing the massive man. Firing a few more rounds he was stopped this time by a Ward that the Titan had called out and had him protected from the bullets. Another benefit is that it contained the electrical storm that was Raz for now.
Travis knew he could have tried harder, could have entered the Ward, even if it had killed him. But he didn't really care about a Fallen Ketch, no, he was here on orders and he had seen what was going on. He watched as Raz grasped the tubes and the energy started to leave him and was quickly drawn into the ship around them all. Immediately shorting out several lights and panels in explosions of sparks.
"We have to get out of here! Now!" Travis ordered as he watched the other Hunter nod and relay the orders to the other members of their boarding party. He noticed Archivia activating her comm link and chatting with someone quietly, he wouldn't press for now though. He did motion towards her for the other Hunter to grab her and keep her from escaping if she tried to.
.
"Are you sure we should be going here when we know other Guardians are here to hunt you down?" Watcher asked Jo and Snow as they were planting explosives on the door. He had told them earlier that the Kell would open the door for them if they knocked. The Fallen leader was as prideful as they came. He watched as Jo waved his question off.
"We are doing them a favor by making sure this ass-hat dies." That was a new one, he would definitely need to study the English language more. Especially the slang. "So this is what we call a Razzle-Dazzle." Jo explained as she pointed to the series of explosive charges stuck to the door.
"You made that up didn't you?" Snow asked skeptically. "Do I even want to know why you named it after your other two thirds?" Jo went to answer but stopped quickly.
"You just made a joke! Holy shit! Peepin' Tom," She pointed at Watcher, "mark this day down! Snow made a joke!" The House-less Vandal and the Warlock exchanged a look before both shrugged. "I gotta say Snow, I must be rubbing off on you."
"Hardly."
"Oh don't get all cold on me now." She watched him plant a hand on his visor in annoyance. "Anyways ladies, I got this idea while watching Raz demolish a Walker tank and the unit around it with this same method."
"Your large Human mate attached an exuberant amount of explosives to a tank? How did he get that close and avoid detection?" Watcher was thoroughly intrigued as he backed up with the other two away from the explosive laden door.
"You see, Raz is Pre-Collapse, he learned something then about how to use your surroundings and camouflage. Things that most Guardians don't use anymore with all our armor colors." Watcher nodded his head in understanding. The Titan was smarter than he had given credit for, this would make for interesting conversation with Grutek and the Thunder later. "Now hold onto your hats, we're going to knock now."
Snow and Watcher ducked behind a burnt out barricade and watched as the all the blinking lights turned to a solid green before exploding in a bluish fireball. They had prepared themselves and turned on their audio dampeners beforehand and were lucky. The Fallen on the bridge weren't so lucky, since the ones closest to the door were instantly almost vaporized from the heat alone. The concussive force liquefied the insides of a few more and the rest clutched at their heads trying to dampen the high pitched whine they were all now hearing.
"Fuck yeah!" Jo shouted as she leapt over her cover and charged into the bridge. Snow followed in after her and Watcher hesitated to provide overwatch as he had been doing before.
The bridge was utter chaos as the few that had maintained any semblance of discipline were targeted first by Watcher and his wire rifle. The newer heat sink that Priest Durnisk had installed worked wonderfully in forcing many of his targets to keep their heads down. This allowed for the two Guardians to close in on the Fallen that were forced into cover and gun them down.
"We should really hurry Jo! I give the other Guardians five minutes before catching up to us!" Snow called to the Titan as he dived into cover. The Captain he had squared off against giving chase.
"Why so soon! We had to fight through halls of- Oh." Jo realized what the Warlock meant when they would get their quickly. They had literally carved a path for the new borders. "Well we just have to kill the Kell and get the nav data! So lets find that asshole!"
"That won't be so easy, Joanna." A rather quiet voice spoke suddenly from her Jo's side.
"By the Queen! You scared the shit outta me… Isral is that you?" Jo had jumped back and had hesitated when she saw the Awoken woman who was not shooting at her for a change. She didn't lower her auto rifle in the slightest. "What in the Hell are you all doing here? I saw a few of the others from our old unit, but what? Why?"
"I'd go into detail and tell you, Joanna, but I plan on killing you. So why monologue to my old protégé?" The woman shrugged before drawing her hand cannon. "I just wanted to let you know who was going to be killing you, you know how I am with shooting people in the back."
Jo raised her rifle the rest of the way and fired, only to watch the rounds pass harmlessly through Isral. A single hand cannon shot rang out and Jo had just enough time to shift to the side and feel the round bounce off of her shoulder.
"Fuck! I should have seen that coming! You never fight fair you stupid bitch!"
"By the way, Joanna, I go by Alias now, not Isral."Alias snarled at Jo but the smaller woman kept silent as she leaped at her old mentor and tackled the other Awoken. Weapons skittered to the side as the two women fought on the deck plates. Both women were internally grateful that neither of their Titan counterparts were there, or they would never hear the end of it.
Snow didn't hear much of the exchange as he had gotten away from the Captain only to land in front of the Kell. The same Kell who was laughing menacingly at the Warlock while he readied his sword. Snow took this chance to lob a grenade and start scooting away from the massive Fallen. The Kell roared in pain as the grenade hit him in the chest before detonating. His pain increased as the shots of a wire rifle slammed into the exposed bits on his chest armor.
"You dare defy me!" The Kell roared in English. He swiped at Snow, forcing the Warlock to dive behind a console and allowing the Kell to see his other attacker. "You! I had a feeling my subordinates were useless. But no matter. I get to kill you myself." The Kell had switched his languages and charged at Watcher.
The smaller Fallen dived forward and drew a small shock dagger, plunging it into the side of the Kell's leg as he slid between them. The Kell roared again as he swiped his lower arm around and backhanded the Vandal across the room and into a gaggle of Dreggs trying to maintain control of the ship. They roared defiantly at their new addition and drew their weapons only to be cut down quickly.
Snow weaved through the destroyed pieces of equipment and fired several clips of pinpoint shots at the Kell who was busy trying to cover himself and close the distance between him and the Guardian. When he felt like he had gotten close enough he swung his sword at the Human and Snow didn't dodge fast enough as he felt the energy course through his arms and the blade cut into him. Yelling in pain he took a few steps back before collapsing on the deck.
The Kell laughed loudly as he closed in for the kill on the Guardian. Claiming it would be another trophy for his wall. What he didn't expect was the exile from his House to leap on his back and plunge the shock dagger into his shoulder, eliciting a surprised and pained shout as he let go of his weapon to grab the smaller Fallen. The movements were easily read by Watcher as he quickly let go of his shock blade and dropped to the floor. Grabbing a pistol he fired a few rounds into the Kell's leg and quickly started backing off.
Snow was curious as to why the Vandal who clearly had the advantage was now retreating from the Kell. The Kell obviously didn't see it the same way, blinded by rage and pain. But it soon became clear as the sound of a high caliber rifle cut through the few struggling warriors left on the bridge. The round glanced off the Kell's helmet and he ducked and swiveled to the side accordingly to his self preservation instincts.
The Kell's and Snow's heads whipped to the side to see a Hunter walking calmly with his sniper rifle in hands. Watcher had obviously seen the other Guardian enter the bridge and made himself scarce for obvious reasons. Snow didn't have any problems with that, now that the other Guardians were here he could complete his objective and gather what intel he could from the bridge.
Jo was still wrestling with Alias when the form of the other Awoken was engulfed in what looked like Void energy. Effectively stopping any and all movements she would have used against the Titan. She wasn't even able to curse properly as all sounds had been muffled through the barrier. Jo looked over to the Warlock who had projected the barrier to snag Alias and noticed the same old tattered robes from Sage-22 or Sushi. The Warlock nodded to her as he held a massive hand cannon loosely in one hand while the other was maintaining his hold on Alias.
"Dear God, Jo, get it together." The voice of the Hunter called over to the Titan who was picking herself up. "It seems in our time apart you have been getting soft if you're loosing to this one."
"Oh shut up you overclocked toaster." Jo snapped back and managed to keep the humor out of her tone, the voice she had heard was so gratingly familiar, but she was still glad to have him here.
"Ever so feisty, aren't you, little glow stick?" Entity's comeback was quick as he fired another round at the Kell who raised his arms to deflect the next round that would have gone through his neck. "But unfortunately we can't stay long. We have to haul you guys back to the Tower to answer some questions."
The Kell had been slowly backing away and reaching for his weapon when a sudden burst of static and a screech filled his helmet and was being broadcasted on all the speakers. The remaining crew members at their work stations and the Guardians all reached for their helmets in pain. The only exceptions were Alias who was immobilized and Sushi who remained focused enough to dampen the audio and hold the barrier at the same time.
This static and noise seemed to drag on before Jo noticed that she could hear a voice in it all. It sounded familiar, and it was repeating itself. Crying to make something stop, but the pitch was too high for it to really be her partner. She could feel it was though and even with her making noise into the channel it did nothing. Raz was simply overwhelming all the channels. It didn't help that when he started to quiet down the lights and terminals all over the bridge started to explode in showers of sparks.
In all this pain the Kell dropped to his knees and his upper arms held onto the sides of his helmet and his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Why wouldn't it stop? He roared defiantly as he felt something press into his neck. Prying one eye open he spotted the exile standing before him with a shock sword. The bridge exploding all around the remaining survivors. He had no knowledge of what was going on, but he was more focused on the exile before him. The other's intent was clear, and he strangely felt not only rage, but peace. He had been bested, but it soured his mood to know who had bested him and at least the exile would die with him on his dying ship.
Watcher didn't say anything as he rammed the blade through the underside of the Kell's head and through the top of his skull. The shock blade pierced the inside of armor plating easily and jutted a good few inches above the Fallen's head. The Kell fell limply to the side, letting out a guttural groan the entire time. Watcher snorted as he turned to see the Guardian's starting to recover from the radio burst. He needed to go and it had to be soon, if the exploding bridge was any other indicator.
"We need to leave." Snow suddenly appeared at Watcher's side. "I can't leave with them, so you and I need to rendezvous with the Thunder and leave. I'll give Archivia the data I promised her later, but the Thunder need this too." Watcher nodded before grabbing the Warlock's arm before he could call his Ghost.
"Come with us, I will be traveling to the Thunder, but join me at least. Friend." The word felt strange, he only considered Grutek a friend and that was as far as any other living being had gotten with him since his exile. He didn't know much about the Guardian, but he felt that he could trust him.
Snow took a moment to look at the other Guardians who were now rounding up Jo and Alias. Looking back at the hand that gripped him he gave a curt nod. Summoning his Ghost he transmatted them both to his Jumpship so they could warn the Thunder and make their escape. It didn't take long for the raiders to board their Skiff and depart from the Ketch and into space.
"C'mon Jo, we have to get you out of here." Entity shouted as he grabbed at her. She was desperately trying to escape his grip and rush back into the ship. "The ship has obviously been set to scuttle! The others can grab Raz and Archivia, we have to leave, now!" With a good final tug on her he managed to get his Ghost to transmat the both of them to his jumpship, knowing Sushi and the other Hunter with them would be in their own at any minute now.
.
The Hunter with Corde's Ghost had transmatted back to his ship after he reported that the Warlock had gotten away. The other one had grabbed the Warlock, Archivia and had left with her. Now he was alone here with a Titan who was most likely falling apart at a molecular level. The man was leaking pure Light from his helmet for Christ's sake, and it was coming out like a jet.
Raz had attempted to dump his extra energy into the ship and rid himself of it, but the Ghost held a surprising amount. That must be because they were shards of the Traveler, that was unfortunate. Travis could tell that this Titan was trying to do good, and even had to go against the orders of the Speaker and Vanguard. But destroying a Ghost? That was too much, he really was a criminal now.
Travis shook his head, he didn't have too much time to think about that since the ship was falling apart as fast if not faster than the Titan. He had to think of something to stop the flow of this Titan's energy. A flicker of Void energy around Raz caught his attention and gave him an idea. Raz had stopped screaming and was now merely grunting in pain, maybe he could hear him speak now.
"Raz, I need you to make the most powerful Ward you can. It's the only way you can survive this." He was straight up lying through his teeth, it was only a theory. But the affirmative nod he received was more than enough to know the Titan would try to make an indestructible barrier.
Travis didn't wait for anything else before bailing himself out of the Ketch. Settling into his jumpship he boosted away and opened the all channels frequency.
"This is a Guardian Hunter to all ships! The Ketch is overloading and about to explode! Get as much distance from the ship as you can! I repeat, get away from the Ketch!" He noticed the immediate flow of traffic as ships turned and fled from the Ketch. They didn't have much time until-
The Ketch erupted into a ball of fire mixed with Arc energy. The blast radius annihilated several ships that hadn't fled soon enough and damaged countless more. Travis was shaken around the flight station as he tried to gain control of his craft. When he finally did, he dared a peek at where the Ketch had been. There was a pocket in the asteroids that made up the edge of the Reef and smoke that was quickly dispersing in the void of space. Inside it all, he spotted a small purple bubble.
Post A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this rather big milestone in my story! Seeing as the next one is going to be my last one of this story. Who knows, I might write a sequel if I feel motivated enough. This one only took me about a year to write eleven chapters! Well remember Guardians! Keep on keepin' on!