*Step two: Hunt them.*
"Della Tay. We all know the name. She killed the last Queen; the last Warlock Vanguard, too, if memory serves. If you're asking if Prince Uldren is crazy enough to go after her...yes, he is."- Petra Venj
Uldren clutched the controls, jaw set, as he sped through open space, following the energy emissions of the kidnapper's ship. I'm going to make you pay. He promised silently for what had to be the hundredth time in the last few hours.
Della Tay was a notorious assassin, known for killing in strange and unique ways. Some said it was curiosity that drove her to surgically tear apart one mark, and lock another up in the Vault of Glass. Others said she was just a psychopath and the odd hits were just a hobby in her deluded mind. For 20 years, she and her small crew of pirates had been a plague upon the Reef and the Last City; she had almost started a war between them once, when him and Mara had been younger, her being twenty, him being 13.
Their mother had been the victim. Killed to make it look like a Titan's fist had struck the blow, and left in the wilderness outside the City. If not for their father, the war might have happened; he had found a flaw in Della's work, the smallest of inconsistencies within the design of the torn Titan mark she had been found with. This had lead to the discovery of a vendor known for making fake Marks, who then led them to the discovery of a pirate, which, in coordination with the Last City on a massive deception effort, led to the capture of one of her crew.
This was what led to the discovery of Della Tay, only 16, feared almost as much as Taniks the Scarred(in fact, rumor had it that they were constantly attempting to kill each other, though, as of yet, neither had succeeded). Some said she secretly worked for the Nine, doing their dirtiest work, and others, who had been on the inside, said that she didn't do bounties for anyone, contrary to popular belief; she merely killed who she wanted, when she wanted.
Whatever Tay had planned for Mara, be it to start a war or commit the murder of a lifetime, he wasn't going to let her succeed. There was too much she had already taken from him; he wasn't going to let her take any more.
He'd been following her for three hours now. They were nearing Mars, and he noticed with a chill that Tay's ship was gradually slowing down as they got nearer. He slowed the Nighthawk down as well, wanting to keep his distance. He couldn't let Tay know he was here, if he was to pull off his rescue mission successfully. His head still throbbed from when Tay had hit him back at the docks, and he was beginning to think he might have a minor concussion, thanks to the savory fact that his ears were still ringing and spots still occasionally danced in his vision.
He still had yet to think of what said rescue mission would involve, but he hoped his head would clear up in time for him to work properly. He had been following Tay quietly, and his initial plan was to grab Mara when she was put back out in the open, where he wouldn't have to fight an entire ship full of pirates just to get to her. It would just be Mara, a guard or two, and, most likely, Tay herself.
Uldren could handle the guards. Even with a concussion. And maybe he could distract Tay long enough for his sister to escape, but the more and more he thought about it, all the possible scenarios, they all ended very badly for him, personally. Most of the scenes that played out in his head of the most likely successful courses of action ended with his death, and with each new plan of attack that came into his head, there came a different way for him to die.
A knot of dread had tied itself in his stomach, but he only gripped the controls harder upon accepting that he wasn't going to get out of this alive; whether he succeeded or failed, he would most likely die in the process. He hoped he succeeded.
At least then, it will be worth it…
A patchy whitenoise came through his comms. He ignored it. It's probably just some of Tay's pirates.
Then the signal cleared up somewhat, and what he heard…well, he wasn't sure whether to feel elated, irritated, or confused at this point.
"Un..dentified…Crow…vessel, state…our bearing…intent." Uldren did a sort of double take, before adjusting his comm sensors. Hearing true, the message repeated itself, now clear. "I repeat, unidentified Crow vessel, state your bearing and intent. Please respond."
Uldren fumbled with the comms unit somewhat, his hands shaking for some reason. He gathered himself with a quick, deep breath before speaking strongly into the comms.
"This is Nighthawk-02, my bearing is Mars, and I intend to blast anyone who gets in my way." He answered. Perhaps not the most friendly approach; no doubt, Mara would have chided him for such a threat, but he was in a rush, was having a long day, had a minor concussion, and he hadn't even had breakfast yet.
"Nighthawk-02, we've been informed of a situation at the Reef, involving Della Tay and the Queen." Came the same male voice, though with a touch of indignation in it. "My brother and I are the only Guardians around for an hour's flight; we understand that you might be tracking the same pirates we are. We've been ordered to assist in any rescue attempts for the Queen in any way we can. You need a couple of extra guns?"
Uldren mulled this news over in his head. If they truly were the only Guardians for some time around, if he turned this offer down, he'd be willfully heading into a suicide mission. With two more people on his side…he played the scenes over again in his head. Plenty still resulted in him dying, all of them dying, Mara dying, him and his sister barely making their escape as the Guardians died behind them…
But the chances of getting out alive-at least, for him and Mara, anyway-had greatly escalated. I really don't want to work with guardians again…
A month ago, the Fallen had introduced a deadly disease to both the Last City and the Reef. When his sister fell ill with the disease, he had, desperate to save her, personally volunteered to oversee the mission for the cure, partaking in the hunt and fighting alongside whichever Guardians were chosen for the mission.
As it had so happened, those Guardians had been a couple of bumbling lunatics. One of them had been a very short Huntress with a horrifically bright red fashion statement on top of her head, and the other had been a cowardly Warlock who turned into a psychopath the moment you put true power into his hands.
During that mission, he'd been shot at by Fallen, fallen from incredible heights twice(once of which was the result of getting blow up by a volcanic vent), crashed and kicked off a Sparrow three times, cut, shot, exposed to hazardous volcanic fumes, deprived of sleep, water, and food for nearly three days straight, and even had begun to come down with the disease before the cure was finally acquired and distributed.
And the cure hadn't even been retrieved! It had been branded into the exposed wrist of the Huntress, Silverhawk, when she attempted to stop the canister the equation was carved on from falling into a volcanic fissure. The mission had been a plain and simple failure; the fact that anyone was alive today was a bit of a fiasco.
After his first experience in directly working with Guardians in the field, he'd known that he never wanted to repeat the process.
Ever.
But it doesn't look like I've got much of a choice, at this point. Either I accept their help, and maybe walk away from this with both mine and Mara's lives' intact, or I heroically charge in and sacrifice myself on the slim chance that she can get away before Tay re-organizes.
He decided that he liked option number one better. Sighing, he opened the comms.
"This is Uldren Sov; stick to my trajectory… and… try not to blow up her ship, make fart sounds, insult her mother in Klingon, or get me thrown off a hundred-story building, please." He sighed, trying to prevent another Silverhawk mission before it happened. There was a few moments of silence from the comms, and then;
"Yup. He's worked with Silverhawk, alright."
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
They crept up on Mars, and Uldren got his first look at the ships of his new allies, whom had been following some distance behind him during their approach. They were in matching Kestral-class ships of a model he didn't know off the top of his head.
They had maintained radio silence ever since their initial meeting, so he didn't even know their names yet; just that they were brothers. Tay's ship had landed, eerily enough, neigh on smack-dab in the middle of the Cabal Exclusion Zone. Nobody got through the Exclusion Zone.
"I take you two have seen the problem with the location of this hit?" He asked over the comms, daring to break silence.
"The Exclusion Zone's not a problem, so long as you've got a bit of Hunter flair. I know a Hunter who broke through it just a day ago with almost zero problems." Came one of the voices.
"And exactly how far did he get before he had to turn back?" Uldren scoffed.
"She penetrated the heart of their operation. And killed a Primus. And made the Cabal really, really angry." the man corrected. Uldren gave a sniff of contempt. Well, why couldn't I have gotten stuck with her then?
"Fine then. How, oh great and powerful Guardian, did she get through?" he requested testily. He wasn't feeling too friendly, his head still hurt, and things were looking more and more dangerous by the second.
"She just...charged through, I think. On her sparrow. They couldn't touch her." She sounds like Silverhawk! That option wouldn't cut it for him. The last time he'd ridden a sparrow, he'd been blow about a hundred feet into the air by a volcanic vent. Other than heights, sparrows were the things he was most...uncomfortable with. His first ride on one had been a mid-air mount whilst falling from the top of about a thousand-story collapsing building.
He wasn't afraid, by all accounts! Sparrows and heights just... didn't sit well with him, that was all. It was an understandable discomfort, of course, given his past expiriances with them, wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
I'm thinking about this way too much. Shakeing any and all unease from his voice, he responded the the guardian's suggestion professionally.
"There is no way in all the nine planets that you're going to get me on one of those damn deathtraps you call vehicles." he told them in a low, angry voice, trying not to clench the controls so hard as he did so. He'd been doing that the whole trip there, and if he wasn't careful, it could, and would, lead to a dangerous stiffness in his hands that he couldn't afford to have.
He needed to relax, and loosen up his fighting muscles so he would be prepared for the thrall spit storm that he was about to face. He took a deep breath as one of the brothers continued their conversation, leaning back in the pilot seat and trying to relax. He needed to be calm. He needed to fight, for Mara's sake. He couldn't afford to not be at his best.
He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. He'd spent all night giving his detailed report on the mission for the cure. In his head, he swore as he realized how tired he actually was.
"Erm... o...kay, then? I guess...? We could always make like Tay, drop in the middle of the Zone, and then try to make it to her on foot?"
"Fine." Uldren shrugged, though he was not fine with it at all. He wasn't fine with anything, and he wouldn't be until his sister was safe.
That, the the prospect of navigateing the martian surface made him want to groan like a child; he hated mars! But I hate sparrows more...
"My ghost has found a suitable landing zone, just a mile out from Tay's position. If we fly in low, we might be able to stay off her radar. Alf, Uldren, I'm sending you both the coordinates now." the man informed them. Alf? Must be the name of his brother. Doesn't sound human; perhaps they're awoken?
He looked down at the display where the new information had appeared, and felt something in his gut drop. That's... suspiciously close to... He shivered, trying to shake of the dread that had settled over him like a dark cloud. He had a horrible feeling, that was roughly a mile within reach of...that place.
He hoped, oh, he hoped above hope, that Tay wasn't taking Mara there. He set his jaw again, and sat back as they approached the atmosphere. I'm comeing Mara. I'm comeing to get you...
Yup. that's right, I broke protocol and updated before school. *whispers* Don't tell Amberstar*
I just got really bored. Summer is supposed to be when everyone is massivly updateing but eveyone and everything is just...bleh. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, I bet, so I decided to add a pleasant suprise to the "bleh" that seems to be preceding the RoI release. The fully revamped Fever Is something you can look forwards to when the school year does begin again, though, as well as the rest of the Heartbusters chapters I've been writing.
Also, a few things in Fever have been updated, namely the fact that Silverhawk and Martin's ghosts now have names; Westley and Wheatly, respectivly. I really should start working on my other, non-Destiny-related fics, though; that's like, literally all I've written for all summer.
And WOW, I should go away more often, if it results in ten reveiws for one chapter
Jsm1978: I think I replied to this in PM, but whatever. The tone'll rise to new hieghts in chapter seven.
fierywarlock999: Request granted.
Writters Pen 77: Good.
Homicidle Iguanas 2096: It appears I have a hyperactive new fan*gives you more caffien, grins evilly your roommate*
Amberstar: Dude, it's enough that you stuffed whipcream under my pillow; git off mah lawn!
MaybeALittleBroken: *Backs away fearfully* Amberstar made me do it! *points*
This Is Sarcasm: Virtual fist-bump returned. Variks thanks you for the junk food.
TacoCat Backward: Glad you do!
Zach: *Grins broadly* You know what's funny? Amberstar and I had a bet on what Alderpaw's full name would be. I guessed Alderheart, and she guessed Alderpelt. I'm ten dollars richer.
Order and Chaos: Feel free to use the House name; I just wrote down a random word. HoW will be starting in the side adventure after this.
I've spent a lot of my summer hammering out the plot to this series, and I beleive I finally have an official game plan.
There will be three main fics, in Uldren's main PoV; Fever, Heartbusters, and the Taken King fic that I know the name of but will not release(for suspenseful perposes). Then, there will three fics where the side characters get a grab at the spotlight; 15 Seconds, Wolfsbane, and Twilight, my all-original plot culminateing with Twilight.
There will also be three plots; the plot of the game, which Uldren deals with, the Certech plot, which Fever and 15 Seconds deals with, and the *REDACTED* plot, which is hinted at in Heartbusters, 15 Seconds, and Wolfsbane, and ends with Twilight.
Whew, I just kind of needed to see this game plan on paper so I can keep track of it!
Next Time: We meet some legends, and Uldren hates mars.
Cheers!^^