A/N: Well here it is! The end is nigh! I present to you the final chapter of His Own Path. I hope the ride was worth it and I got it done in a crunch before I got swamped by work so I can go an vacation in a few days. That is when I'll never touch this computer sadly. But with that motivation I got this all banged out for you! Enjoy!
CH. 12- The Day the World Died
Dust and debris floated aimlessly amongst the wreckage of the Ketch of the House of Thieves and any other ship that could not escape in time. It was eerie to the Guardians and Awoken that had survived the blast to see an area so desolate now.
The two sides had called a truce to sift through the pieces and maybe find some form of survivors, the hopes weren't high for most. Entity had to put up with a worried Titan however, and he wouldn't say anything negative about it to his friend. He knew loss, and he didn't want to be the one to dash the hopes of Jo who was frantically searching the debris for anything left of Raz.
It hadn't taken long for her to gain access to the flight station, a few well placed punches had convinced him that a ruptured hull was not worth keeping her locked in the cargo bay. He didn't really feel like searching the area for the tiny Titan if she punched a hole through the wrong bulkhead. So she was up here with him and her face was planted firmly against the viewscreens trying to spot the other Titan of her fireteam.
As the dust was dissipating into the void of space the shoulders on the Awoken started to sag more and more as she couldn't spot anything with her eyes. Entity wanted to scoff at how frail her faith was, he knew Raz was made of some pretty sturdy stuff. It was possible for a Titan to survive, but his earlier thoughts returned and he remained silent as time passed. He almost jumped out of his seat when the radios sparked to life.
"Lelantos team, Lelantos one. I have a fix on the last Titan of Orion." The voice of the Hunter in charge, Travis, came in over the radios. "Sending coordinates and we will surround him and retrieve. The Awoken are searching for him too, and I don't want to start a fight with them right now. So let's move people."
There was a chorus of confirmations and multiple jumpships leapt into action and accelerated rapidly to secure their target. Inside Entity's ship there was a fleshy smack followed by a yelp as Jo had brought her face back to the viewscreen in search of Raz. Now knowing the general direction in which she should be looking for him she had changed the side she had been perched on.
"C'mon! We have to get to him first and secure him!" She nearly shouted at the Exo that had "captured" her. "Who knows what has happened to him! He could be-!"
"Calm down, Jo!" Entity snapped at the Titan. She physically recoiled from his reproach, but she nodded and took a deep breath trying to get her head on straight. Entity was helping her as much as he could, and he couldn't do more if she kept harassing him more than normal. "We won't get there first, but I'll see if we can secure him for you. Because, you know, accidents happen."
Jo could hear the sly tone in his voice, their was a procedure somewhere about securing volatile Guardians, and Entity was about to abuse that protocol for her. Realizing this, she took a step back from the viewscreen and nodded at Entity. A small smile danced it's way across her face as she looked back out to see their target.
Entity looked back over the target area and his enhanced optics picked up the garish coloring of the Human's armor. The armor was dented and scorched in such entirety that the bright colors were now just splotches on what should have been gray and black armor. That was also when he noticed that the there was something odd with the Titan's helmet, two glowing pin pricks of light that he almost thought were stars behind him. But he knew his eyes weren't malfunctioning, that looked like honest to God Light emitting from what appeared to be cracks in the man's helmet. Other than that, the man was limp and drifting aimlessly in space.
"Jo, get yourself in the cargo bay. It looks like he is out cold, and we don't want him getting hurt when he gets pulled in." Entity commanded as he pressed a few keys on a side console. The woman nodded slowly before leaving the flight station and sealing the door behind her. Entity called out his Ghost in preparation for taking in the Human.
"We are about to break some rules, aren't we?"
"Maliciously." Entity replied with a chuckle as he watched the Ghost go to work and start transmatting Raz into the ship.
Luckily it wasn't a long process, and it was worth the earful he was getting from Travis. Looking at the small display showing the cargo bay he watched as Jo had taken off the man's helmet and was cradling his limp form while rocking him back and forth. For all Entity knew the man was dead, burned out from excessive Light use, but he decided to hold out hope for Jo's sake.
"I'm fully aware of what I was 'up to' Travis." Entity deigned it time to respond to his temporary leader. "But I figured if my ship could hold one Titan, why not an unconscious one too? Plus, look at these guys." He transmitted a small portion of video to his leader before cutting the feed from the other Hunter.
"Fine, just be sure that if he starts to destabilize again you should be prepared." Travis cut the link before turning his ship towards jumping back to the Tower. All of the others following suit. Entity had hesitated as he looked at the video again.
"It would be so easy." He mumbled before flicking off the live feed and jumping after his fellow Guardians.
.
"We understand your course of action, Prince Sov." Commander Zavala's voice rang through the hall as he and several others spoke to the Awoken delegation. "But they were brought here to stand trial in our territory."
"I guess that means you have to wait your turn, doesn't it?" Cayde-6's voice followed after the leader of the Titans. "And with what is probably going to happen to those three… Well you might not get a chance in a really long time."
"This is outrageous! Your Guardians trespassed and-!"
"I apologize, Prince Sov, but please wait until the trial to make your claims. It will be wasted here." The ever calm of Ikora Rey interrupted the prince from his tirade.
"It's not like you have to wait long, your highness." The deep voice of the Titan Raz pulled all their attention to the man who wore only his black undersuit and had a pair of armed Titan's flanking him. Behind him were Corde, Jo and Archivia who were similarly dressed and guarded.
"What is this? This man should be in chains! He is a dangerous criminal who killed my people not only on that Ketch but with it too!" The Prince strode up towards the much taller Human and put a finger in the man's face. "If it were up to me I'd have you locked in the Prison of Elders with the Cabal! You wouldn't last a day!"
Raz went cross-eyed from the finger nearly going up his nose and let his eyes refocus on the Vanguard behind the prince. With only a somewhat apologetic look that the prince caught on too late as a massive fist slammed into the Awoken's face. There was a resounding crack followed by a snarl as the prince stayed far more composed than Raz gave him credit for.
Raz was grabbed by the two Titan's and restrained as the prince was steadied by his own guards, whom by this point had drawn their side arms but did not raise them. They were smarter too, not getting riled up to start a shoot-out between at least eight heavily armed Guardians escorting prisoners. Raz could feel one of the Titan's shaking in laughter and his eyes caught Commander Zavala putting his face in his hands while Cayde had doubled over by the wall trying to hold in his laughter.
"You filthy mongrel!" The prince snapped as he held his jaw gingerly. "You will pay for striking me!" He visibly recoiled when Raz made to close in on him. But the little ordeal was cut short when Commander Zavala's voice barked out at them loudly.
"Titan Raz! Compose yourself! You are still a Titan and you will act accordingly!" Zavala's tone was stern and the Human along with all the other Titan's snapped to attention out of habit more than anything. "Now we are going to head down to the court room and we are going to be civil about it. Understood?" There was a curt nod from Raz, and all the other Titan's nodded as well causing Cayde to start wheezing as he watched the whole thing unfold.
"Now to be sure no other mishaps occur, Raz, you will be wearing these now." Ikora nodded to two Warlocks who were carrying what appeared to be two solid metal tubes held together by the thickest metal bar they could attach to it. "These are specialized manacles for Titans. Please don't resist, Raz."
Nodding, Raz put his arms behind him while the Warlocks bound him in the metal frame. The tubes covered his forearms completely and an oddly placed bar forced him to grab onto it or it would dig into his palm and would cause pain in his wrist. He felt it lock down on him and the weight tug at him as the Warlocks let go.
The Awoken prince nodded more approvingly as he rubbed his sore jaw and turned with a huff. The Vanguard close behind him gave the prisoners one more sympathetic look. They knew that from the reports that this was all just a show, but someone was going to get punished for this show's sake.
Raz started forward but felt another tug on his arms, and they seemed to cool down significantly rather quickly. His head snapped to the side so he could look over his shoulder and spotted the Warlocks were using their Void powers to encase Raz's arms in sleeves, keeping him from using his abilities, or so they thought. He wouldn't tell them of his little experiment with his head.
"Raz…" The quiet voice of Jo came from behind them as they started marching towards the end of the hall. "Please… Be tactful, we don't want to get in more trouble than we already are."
"Don't worry, Jo, I'll do what I can." Raz gave her a small grin and the woman blushed furiously before grumbling to herself.
.
The room they had been led to was massive, and was filling quickly. They were definitely here to put on a show for the Guardians and the Awoken most likely. Raz was surprised by the turnout really, he didn't think this many Guardians would care about a trial. What he wasn't aware of was that many of them would like to see the team that caused the whole lockdown on the Tower. The lockdown had yet to be called off anyways, so they had nothing else to do.
Raz's eyes cast around to the gathering Guardians and he noted a few that seemed to draw his eyes, a small Exo woman with an Exo male were leaning against a rail that was for the second floor. A young Human Hunter was holding his helmet at his side as he was chatting calmly with a massive Exo Titan. Raz was jerked from his analysis as the Warlocks that had him bound pulled him away from the others of his group. He watched as Jo was separated from Archivia and Corde was isolated from them as well. It struck him as curious as the other Awoken, Alias was nowhere to be seen. The prince must have gotten custody of her, oh well.
"Please remain standing for the Speaker and the Vanguard!" A voice called out and everyone had fallen silent. Standing in various forms of attention. Many of them bowed their heads towards the Speaker as he entered and nodded to them in return.
As the Speaker passed the different rows of people he would seek out and pause by the accused and share a word or two with them. Possibly in hopes to console them, but as he approached Raz the Human did not even look at the Speaker of the Traveler.
"Titan Raz, I know we haven't really had the chance to speak beforehand. But I hope that this will not hinder us in getting acquainted." The soft voice of the Speaker pierced through the slight murmurs of the gathered warriors of Light.
Much to the surprise of everyone in the room, and the amusement of some. Raz still did not look at the man, or even seem to acknowledge that he had been spoken to. One of the escorting Titan's nudged Raz, who turned to look at the man curiously. Gaining no other response the Titan elbowed the Human who only grunted before the Speaker stopped any other forms of violence.
"That is fine, do not worry. He seems to be at an odd time, we will allow him to act in this manner. We only hope he regains his senses before we start." The Speaker gave another long look at the Titan before moving on to Corde and finally to his place at the front of the Judge's stand.
"Thank you all for gathering here today, everyone. We would like to begin this court session by calling the Titan Corde to the stand." He looked to the Vanguard over his shoulder and Commander Zavala made a motion for the Awoken to be brought before him.
The proceedings to the court were rather simple and unfortunately due to evidence was rather clear cut in judgments. Corde was almost immediately sentenced to several hundred years in a Void prison cell. The Awoken paled at that judgment and looked at Raz one last time before he was carted off.
Raz could only feel sorry for his friend, to spend that amount of time in a sleepless stasis, would drive anyone insane. He feared what his judgement would be when it was his turn, which was unfortunately next. They had been wise to keep all of them separated during the trial, but as Raz stood up and made his way towards the stand. He just now realized how packed the room was, and how small he really felt compared to everyone else.
The room was an ampitheater that circled around the stand and the judges were the Vanguard and the Speaker with the jury behind them. From Jo's perspective she caught Raz staring briefly at the Traveler as he strode to his spot before the Vanguard and the Speaker. With a clearing of a throat Raz turned to face his judges. His eyes resting on each of the Vanguard and he nodded to each one in turn before looking again at the Awoken prince and giving him a bare nod. The prince sneered at the Titan in return.
"Prick." Raz mumbled as he returned his gaze to the Vanguard.
"Titan Raz. You are being tried with treason, murder and destruction of a Ghost." Ikora's voice, the voice of reason and serenity apparently, was the first to speak. "How do you plead?"
"Guilty."
"Now you- what?" Ikora's calm was shattered as she had prepared a counter argument to him trying to claim innocence. "Do you know what you claimed to be pleading for?" She asked him incredulously.
"Aye, that I do ma'am." Raz paused to take in a breath before beginning again. "I killed several Awoken soldiers as well as fought off other Guardians. Hid myself from the Tower and the Vanguard to complete my mission. Destroyed a Ghost, a shard of the Traveler and annihilated a Ketch which killed more Awoken pilots and boarding marines." The room was silent for a moment before they heard the warbled tone of a female Exo.
"Holy fuck!" She was quickly silenced and the silence resumed before Commander Zavala spoke up.
"Yes, those are the actions that have been reported to us. But according to the reports your team was also a part of this. Assisting you with boarding the Ketch, and killing other Awoken soldiers."
"There is no validity to that statement, sir. The destruction of the Ketch was from me, having overloaded the reactor and the only witness to them killing anyone is also a suspect in this crime. In which case, is notably absent from this trial." Raz cast another glance at the prince who rose to his feet.
"She is being held in our own trial, she will be dealt with accordingly." The prince spoke slowly, as if to an exceptionally dull child, and before the Vanguard could move on, Raz cut in.
"So you are sheltering her from our laws? When she clearly wanted to do the Tower, the Guardians and Humanity harm?" The Guardians could hear in Raz's tone that the man was egging on the Awoken, and some were seen passing money between each other.
"You dare question me on my standings? Guardian?" The prince moved closer with each step, his tone growing darker as he approached Raz. The Titan's guarding Raz only watched as the Awoken squared himself to the man. "Like I said before, you are lucky that you aren't under trial in the Reef. You would be kneeling and bowing the whole time, not even worthy of raising your head even a mere inch." The man's teeth gritted together as he leaned up closer to the Human.
The other Titans shared a look and shifted slightly to the side, they saw it, and the Crows guarding the prince noticed the change in Raz's demeanor as well. Before they could stop what was about to happen Raz's head whipped back and with added momentum snapped forward and into the nose of the Awoken prince. There was a sickening crunch heard followed by a howl of pain as the prince fell back and grabbed at his now shattered nose.
"I'm not good at the whole bowing thing, I apologize."
The Speaker was silent as he watched the whole thing unfold, the Vanguard was a mix of reactions. Ikora was wide eyed, Cayde had given Raz a thumbs up as he fought with a fit of laughter and Zavala had his head planted between his hands as the fingers massaged his temples. This day was getting more difficult.
"Prince Sov, if you would please excuse yourself from the trial, I believe you are agitating the defendant." The Speaker calmly demanded of the Awoken over the sounds of Guardian's snorting with laughter. "We will deal with him accordingly, and I assure you that we will have a detailed report sent to the Queen for you." The prince fumed briefly before he pulled himself to his feet and stormed out of the room with his Crows on his heel.
"Now," the Ikora started again when she had regained her composure, "we shall hear what you have to say about your companions."
"I believe that Titan Jo and Warlocks Archvia and Snow should be pardoned of all supposed claims against them." Raz stated calmly as the room settled down.
"Why would we do that?" Cayde-6 questioned from his position above.
"There is no solid evidence against them, only speculation."
"Right, well you know what? Let's call up some witnesses, we just want to point out a few things. These people we are calling up have submitted their reports. Mostly stating that what they saw up there in the Reef, was you and your team doing what is considered an A plus job for us. But we will ask the consensus of the two more outspoken ones if anything has changed." Cayde looked over into the crowd of Guardians and spoke again. "Could we have the Hunters Travis and Entity up at the stand?"
The men, were still fully armored when they strode up next to Raz, Travis gave him a once over and the two nodded in mutual understanding. Entity simply folded his arms as he waited for the Vanguard to speak again. He did incline his head slightly towards the fellow Titan next to him. The Vanguard exchanged looks and Cayde only shrugged in response to his fellow Guardians.
"So, Hunter Travis. Want to summarize what happened with you during your search and retrieval of fireteam Orion?"
"I was tasked with tracking down the missing team fireteam Orion. The heaviest resistance I received was by Titan Raz, and I had received aid from the Warlock Archivia in locating the Ketch and by extension the whole fireteam Orion. When I boarded the ship with my team Raz was with the Warlock who was transmitting her location to me. She did not resist while I witnessed Raz destroy the Ghost. I conclude my testimony with the fact that Raz and his team acted in a necessary fashion, I do not believe they had any intention of harming the Tower or the Allies of the Traveler."
With his report done with Vanguard nodded and Travis nodded his head before everyone's focus shifted to the Exo on the other side of Raz. Entity looked at the other Hunter before he decided to clear his throat.
"You've read my report, I assisted in dealing with the riot in the Tower and was then tasked to assist in the retrieval of Orion in the Reef. I encountered Titan Jo and Warlock Snow on the bridge fighting the Kell and the Awoken who was assisting the Eliksni in what intel gathered was going to be a joint coup against the Tower and the Reef. This team stopped them from inciting a war between the Tower and the Reef which would have left us vulnerable to the gathered Houses." Entity stopped and took a step back. The room had fallen deathly silent again as people digested what Entity had said.
"Thank you, you two may be seated." Ikora made a motion with her hand and the two nodded before silently returning to their spots. Her eyes zeroed in on Raz again as she took a deep breath. "Titan Raz, do you have anything else to add before we commit to judgment?"
To his credit, Raz looked very thoughtful as he mulled over what he was wanting to say. His eyes cast about at the numerous Guardians and settled on the small face of Jo who was off to the far side of the room.
"I want to repeat my earlier statement." His voice came in solid and confident, certainly not how he felt. He could feel his knees knocking together in anxiety. "I wish for Titan Jo and Warlocks Snow and Archivia to be pardoned of their crimes."
"I'm afraid we cannot just pardon them, there is justice that must be meted out for this." Ikora calmly replied, but her patience was running thin.
"I will take it then, add their judgment to mine, since the only clear evidence is against me, and since Warlock Snow is not anywhere to be found. He could be dead for all you know."
"The blast from an exploding reactor is rather powerful." Commander Zavala mused out loud. "The evidence of his survival is lost, and so is any convicting these two." He finished as he leaned forward to address the Human again. "You do realize that you will be going to the Void prisons as well." Raz nodded in understanding.
There was a near silent murmur from the crowd as the Vanguard deliberated with the Speaker and the jury. It didn't take long apparently as Ikora sat back in her seat with a huff and even the Awoken commander seemed miffed. Something didn't go as planned and the jury just looked pleased with itself as they all sat back down. Cayde had remained standing before he called everyone into silence for the announcement.
"For the act of Treason Titan Joanna, Warlock Archivia and Warlock Snow have been pardoned of these charges. For the acts of Treason, murder and destruction of Light Titan Raz is guilty of all charges. You will be sentenced to forty five years in the Void cells with no parole or bail. Your sentence will carry out immediately." Cayde finished as he slammed a gavel down to signify the end of the trial.
Guardians started filing out of the room, many staying where they were to watch as Jo and Archivia were rushing to where the guards were taking Raz towards a door on the side where he would gain access to the prison. Some felt bad for the team, but many just found that this was just another bit of entertainment in their long lives as warriors of the Light.
.
Raz had been nearly dragged through several spacious hallways and was now seated on a table as they removed the bands from his arms. He couldn't stop staring at the door that led to his cell. He had been given a rundown on the way over about what to expect.
The cells were rotary, so when he went in, he went in and was filed away for when he would be released in nearly fifty years and he would have no contact with the outside world. Since he was staying in a Void pocket he would not eat, sleep, drink or do anything really. He could pace in the small bubble that would be his home, but that would only work for some time. Unfortunately for him, most Guardians didn't last past five years. Their minds would break down and they would go insane. So most judgements never exceeded three just to be safe. They told him if he survived ten they would sneak in a visitor for him, that is if he wasn't crazy and a gibbering mess.
His speculations were cut short when the rest of his team came in followed by Commander Zavala. He quietly rose to his feet as Jo rushed over and pulled Raz into a hug, burying her head into his chest as she squeezed him. She let go briefly so Archivia could do the same but she didn't take too long. The three Awoken shared a look before Zavala gestured for the guards to leave.
"I think we can postpone the execution of this order by say… Five minutes? Who wants coffee?" Zavala led the guards out and Archivia shared a look with Jo before following and closing the door behind her. Raz remained staring at the door as the seconds ticked by.
"Jo I-" He never finished his lame apology or excuse, Jo never let him finish as she pushed him back to the table and onto it. It hurt his backside a bit with how hard he had made contact and before he could complain she had grabbed his head and forced it down and kissed him.
Raz's mind went blank when their lips made contact and he was non responsive at first. But after a moment of hesitation he kissed the tiny Titan back almost as passionately as she was kissing him. The two finally broke apart, breathless. Jo rested her head on Raz's chest before mumbling into it.
"You have no idea how long I waited to do that." She looked up at him and into his bright blue eyes. "I'm going to miss you, Raz. I just wish we had more time." She whispered and Raz looked like he was about to say something but decided against it and kissed her again. Not wanting to ruin a good thing, she pushed in on the kiss and they stayed that way until they heard the door open.
The two clearly ignored the door and only separated when they heard someone clear their throat. A blushing Archivia was seen with a cup in each hand and commander Zavala had a small grin on his face as well as if he was privy to some secret.
"Unfortunately, we have to do this now. So as a parting gift, Raz, drink up." Zavala handed the Human a small glass and he looked at the liquid pensively.
"Why is it the orange shit?" He mumbled before downing it in one go. He felt it's burn and he tried to savor what flavor their was in the drink.
Handing the glass back he watched as the small door opened to a dark room with a small cylindrical base and top. He slowly walked into the circle and sighed, this was it. Would he survive the years imprisoned? He hoped to God he did. But as the cell started to power up he looked one last time at Jo and Archivia.
"Jo… I love you." He said quietly. She nodded quickly before quoting something Raz had mentioned at one point. Knowing it would make him happy before he left them.
"I know."
Post A/N: Well folks that is the last of His Own Path and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I'm kinda iffy with the way I left it hanging, but I feel I gave a good enough description of what the prison was, I just feel that is how this chapter should have ended. Because surprise! There is a prologue below for those who have supported me in my story. It will take place after Oh Brother Where art Thou? and I hope that it will do as well as this one did. Other than that, I won't start it until RC has finished that story, until then I will go back and rehash some of the other chapters, flesh 'em out, lengthen them and fix some inconsistencies. I think I might try an Elder Scrolls or Titanfall one, what sounds good? Well all you Guardians! Keep on keepin' on and have a Merry Christmas!
"I am telling you, days like this are rare." Starr seemed to argue with her two companions. "The weather is perfect and now we have the chance to see who is the best skills." The Exo woman exclaimed as she cradled her rifle.
"I don't think we are here for that." Entity, another Exo Hunter countered as he held his own rifle gently. He idly noted the difference in barrel length between all their rifles and would have grinned if he had a fleshy face.
"I think both of you are being childish." Echo, a Human Hunter sighed as he was setting up the targets. A smile never left his face however as he reached for his rifle. "What was the wager again?" He asked as he approached the group.
"We are all going to-"
"Alert! Alert! Guardians down!" All three Ghosts connected to the Guardians seemed to all cry out at the same time. The cries and small klaxons had effectively cut off Starr in her attempt to lay down the ground rules for their wager.
"What's going on?" Echo asked quickly. "Where is this?"
"Guardians are down in the Sanctum and in the prison block! Warning! Civilian casualties are present!"
"We need to go down there! Sanctum is closer." Entity started up.
"There are many Guardians, and security Frames far closer than us to this. They can handle it." Starr argued back.
"You don't understand Starr. I have a friend there, you remember Sage from training? He's a Cryptarch now. We have to go and help him!" Entity turned and started on his way towards the Sanctum to help the Cryptarchs.
"Damnit… Come on Echo, let's go help." The Human only shrugged as he shouldered his rifle and followed after the pair.
The trio hadn't been on the move for very long when they heard the first report of an explosion, and then it was followed by rifle fire. It sounded like they were approaching a warzone and so far their Ghosts couldn't tell them anything on who was doing this and why. This frustrated Starr to no end and when she finally reached the building that housed the Sanctum and it looked rather peaceful outside.
"Echo! You go on that side and we will breach the door!" The Human never got that far as the door bent out and flew of the tracks. The trio of Hunters took cover as they saw the woman, a Titan by how she was dressed groaned as she tried to stand back up.
She never got that far as the heavy boots of her attacker followed her out, the sound far more loud than it should have been. All their rifles lowered as they recognized the bright and clashing colors of yellow and green. They followed the boots up to the massive machine gun the man wielded with one arm and all of them flinched slightly as he fired a single round into the struggling Titan. Pulling his boot off of her chest and turning to look at the gathered Guardians, Starr felt dread as she recognized the voice that came through the auditory on the helmet.
"Hey guys, you're late." Raz stated as he casually placed his rifle over his left shoulder.