S1-78
Cayde's Stash

2:39 PM
05/03/3241

Planet Earth - Low orbit

Music
none

City Hawk 723 was sent in by Cayde-6 to retrieve something that could help them infiltrate Oryx's Dreadnaught within the rings of Saturn. "Turns out, Crota does have a father. His name is Oryx, and he's come all this way to kill you. We're not gonna let him. Oryx controls the Taken from a Dreadnaught near Saturn, but we can't get close without a stealth drive. Lucky for us, I hid one at the top of an old colony ship before I got roped into the Counsel back when it was known as the Vanguard."

"{How do you know it's still there?}"

"You better hope it's there. You won't survive the Dreadnaught without it."

"Noted." Spyglass replied.

Planet Earth - Old Russia
The Blast

Music
Destiny - The Journey Home

They arrived, but something wasn't right. It was a battleground filled with Fallen and Taken.

"{Cayde, we've got a real problem down here.}"

"Let me guess... Four arms, wear cloaks, smell real bad?"

"{Not Fallen! Taken!}"

"I thought we'd have more time..."

"Doesn't look like that's the case. We better get this stealth drive of yours, fast, or else everything will be destroyed by that Dreadnaught!" Mark-18 stated. Michael suddenly sparked with Arc Light, initiating a Stormtrance. He went around, disintegrating Fallen and Taken alike. "Showoff..."

Planet Earth - Old Russia
The Devils' Lair

They continue into the lair of the House of Devils, but it lied in ruins, as did a SIVA-enhanced Sepiks Prime. "{Remember when Sepiks Prime was our biggest problem?}"

"No, because it was never our biggest problem." Michael replied, kicking the dead Servitor.

"How bad is it?" Cayde-6 wondered.

"{Taken everywhere, fighting the Fallen!}" Michael's Ghost reported.

"Earth's gonna look a lot like Phobos if you don't find that stealth drive." There were a LOT of Taken in the room, so Mark-18 used his own Stormtrance to clear them out. They went across a collapsed bridge and headed into a new room. "Ok, you're gonna find a vault door. There's a trick to getting through it, so let me know when you're there."

The vault door was up ahead, but it was open. "{The door's already open, Cayde. We're inside.}"

"And the flux grenades didn't detonate?! I gotta get out of this Tower."

Planet Earth - Old Russia
Devil's Spire

In the next sector, Taken Thralls appeared, but were quickly dispatched by one of Michael's Satchel Charges.

"{What are the chances the elevator still works?}"

"Not sure, but it's a risk worth taking." Michael replied. They entered the elevator, and it was still functional! "Going up."

"{We're heading up. Cayde? When's the last time you rode this elevator?}"

"Relax, it works fine. But stand by for resurrection, Ghosts."

As they neared the top, their Ghosts decided to pass the time with a bit of small talk.

"{You know, I've always resented the term 'artificial intelligence'. Who do you think came up with that phrase? A bio-human no doubt. Intelligence is intelligence. How could anything with intelligence not be real?}"

"Even I am not sure, Ghost." Spyglass replied.

"{I spent months searching every stasis pod in the colony ships for a Guardian. There are exactly 308235 of them. Every one of them occupied. They are really tough to open.}"

"Geez. That's a lot." Samus was a bit surprised.

As was her Ghost. "{I know, right?}"

"{All these ships here, and none of them made it off-planet. Supplies were loaded, stasis pods were at full occupancy. The hard part was done. What stopped them? Why didn't they launch?}"

"It just doesn't make sense..." Michael was thinking hard on this.

"{From this height, I can pick up Taken energy readings throughout the Cosmodrome. You know, I was here, looking for you, when the first Fallen crews came through. It started with one Skiff. A few months later, the Cosmodrome was theirs. The Taken have done it in hours.}"

"That is... really concerning."

"Yeah, it's disturbing, Michael." Samus replied.

"{Cayde, How do we find your stealth drive?}"

"There's a bridge from the tower to the ship. It took me days to get it working. It's a little unstable, so watch your step." The elevator reached the top and opened, letting the Fireteam exit.

The bridge looked as if it was moved to the side, and the console was damaged beyond repair. "{Cayde, someone moved the bridge, destroyed the controls.}"

"Yeah, that's the Fallen. Probably trying to keep the Taken off their backs. See if you can reroute the power."

"{There's still an active feed moving through those pipes overhead. Mark, if you find the source, I can patch the circuit.}"

"Once you get the bridge working, my stash is in the ball on top of the colony ship."

Ikora's voice was heard in the background of the radio. "We're still waiting for details on this plan of yours, Cayde."

"Yeah, uh... give me a second, Guardians."

Mark-18 headed up, followed by his Ghost, finding a sparking fusebox. The Ghost scanned and repaired it, causing the bridge to rotate back into position. "{Looks like the power was cut from the bridge just as it was rotating back, so now it's just resuming its last order.}"

"Alright, back in business." Cayde-6 had returned. "Hey, the bridge is already moving! Now get to the top of that colony ship where I left my stash, and watch yourself on that bridge."

The bridge hooked into place on the colony ship, but then started creaking before a large chunk of it fell off, leaving a big gap between the two remaining pieces. Once Mark-18 and his Ghost returned to the rest of the Fireteam, they jumped over the gap, ending up inside the colony ship. "{Any advice on which way to go?}"

"Yeah. Up."

"Figures..." Samus sighed.

They made their way up the colony ship, killing a few Fallen and Taken on the way. The Fireteam eventually reached a destroyed part of the structure, where a metal beam resided, connecting both sides of the gap. "{Don't... look... down.}"

They crossed over, killing more Fallen and Taken before coming across a gravity elevator. The Fireteam was lifted up all the way into a chamber on the top of the colony ship.

A few more Fallen were there.

Planet Earth - Old Russia
Devil's Spire
(!) Darkness Zone (!)

Music
Destiny - Long Live the King

Suddenly, a Taken rift formed and exploded, killing the Fallen. A single being was left in the center of the room.

SCANNING...
NEW ENTRIES

1: Echo of Oryx

"MY WILL BE DONE! VENGEANCE FOR CROTA!" The Echo of Oryx flew around, unleashing energy attacks from its hand as it summoned Taken to fight alongside it.

Michael, instead of using a Super, formed the Andromeda Cannons to fight the Echo itself as the rest of his Fireteam dealt with the Taken.

The Echo kept warping to different places in the chamber, trying to avoid his attacks, but was eventually brought down. "You are interesting. Perhaps you will be useful."

Michael [Andromeda Cannon] Echo of Oryx

Planet Earth - Old Russia
Devil's Spire

Music
none

"{That thing seemed pretty mad. Oryx must still be holding a grudge for us. You know, killing Crota.}"

"Things won't get any easier on the Dreadnaught. You find my stealth drive?"

Michael's Ghost came out, searching the area. "{Are you sure it's still here?}"

"It's like all things, you gotta know where to look. Enter frequency 5982, Ghost."

A nearby Fallen storage case vanished, revealing a pile of old tech. "{There it is!}"

"The best hiding places are always in plain sight. Transmat it out of there. I'll get it set up. Just do me a favor: if you find anything else I've hidden, leave it for me. There'll be treasure enough for everyone on the Dreadnaught."

"Hidden in plain sight. That's smart. Cayde, you sure you don't want me to just bring it all back to you?"

"You wanna bring my stash back all the way from the Cosmodrome to here in the Tower?! Well, that's very thoughtful, Michael, but now isn't the time for that. You can bring it in once we deal with Oryx." The stealth drive modules were transmatted out, and the mission was complete.

As they turned to leave, a small orb of dark energy, like what was seen on Phobos, appeared and snuck behind them.

Music
Metroid: Other M - Sudden Enemy Attack!

It formed a Taken rift and pulled Michael into it, leaving his Ghost with the rest of the Fireteam before he could even react. "MICHAEL!" Samus exclaimed.

"Guys, I just picked up a spike in Taken energy, and one of your signals just went dark! What happened?" Cayde-6 demanded.

"It's Michael! He got sucked into a Taken rift!"

Ikora heard what Mark-18 just said over the radio. "WHAT?!"

"The one chosen by the Eye of the Traveler has been lost to us!" Eris Morn added

"This isn't good." No kidding, Jack.

Michael's been Taken!

Well, this will soon introduce a new 'character' I've had in mind for a while.

See you next time, Guardians.