S1-80
The Dreadnaught
3:51 PM
05/03/3241
Approaching the Dreadnaught
Music
none
Following the events of a Taken Michael being discovered, and that the Traveler was found to be growing weaker, Mark-18 personally went on a solo mission to the Dreadnaught within Saturn's rings, using Eris Morn's ship as transport.
As he flew the Hive ship, Mark-18 saw what remained of the Awoken battalion. Extremely little.
"{It only took one blast from the Dreadnaught...}"
"When you're through, it will never fire again. Just don't forget to plant the transmat link so other Guardians can land." Cayde-6 transmitted.
The corpse of an Awoken guard was seen drifting through the debris, sending a chill up Mark-18's metal spine. "Requiescat in pace, Awoken..."
"Did you get that line off that several-century old game?"
"Yeah, sorry. It just... felt right to say that."
"Yeah, well, not everybody's got stealth tech and a... ship that smells like Hive. Good luck, Mark."
"{Activating stealth drive.}" The ship became invisible, and Mark-18 was getting closer and closer to the Dreadnaught undetected.
"OK, so Michael was Taken, then transformed into that Grim Reaper wannabe Eris keeps calling 'the Shadow'. I shudder to imagine the capabilities it has..."
"{I'm picking up fluctuations in the power conduit.}"
"Relax. I modified the tech myself. Probably just Saturn's radio storms running interference."
"That doesn't make any sense. How does radio interference cause power fluctuations instead of disrupting communication signals?" Mark-18 wondered.
An alarm began blaring within the ship. "{It's malfunctioning!}"
"Did you break my stealth drive?"
"No! Why would you insinuate that?!" The Hive ship became visible, but they were too close to the Dreadnaught to turn back.
"{You think they can see us?}" Before Mark-18 could answer, the Dreadnaught's firing chamber started to spark with energy. "{I think they can see us!}"
Mark-18 shoved the throttle forward, speeding up his approach to as fast as the ship could go. It was gonna be close, but Mark-18 had an idea. "Mindsight, this ship isn't gonna make it! Store me!"
"{What?!}"
"Put me in your storage, then bring me back out on the Dreadnaught!" The Ghost, Mindsight, did as instructed, causing Mark-18 to vanish, and not a moment too soon. The blast destroyed Eris's ship, but his Ghost survived, then went to a ledge on the side of the Dreadnaught and let him out there.
The Dreadnaught
Trenchway
Music
Destiny - The Dreadnaught
"{Huh. That's a useful tactic. No wonder you kept leaving stuff in the vault back at the Tower instead of letting me hold it.}"
"What happened? Everything all right?" Cayde-6 asked over the comms.
"{Why wouldn't we be all right? We're just stuck here with no ship and no transmat zone.}"
"Great. Told you my stealth drive would work. All right. I'd like to tell you the strength of the City is behind you, but as long as the Dreadnaught is still firing, we can't risk reinforcements. Head inside, see if you can find whatever's powering that weapon."
Mark-18 went along the wall to find a way inside as Mindsight vanished. Once he found the entrance, that orb of dark energy was spotted as well, and it zipped away after letting out a sort of screech.
"{Same thing we saw right before Phobos fell apart. Might be some kind of probe. Expect trouble.}"
"Alright. My rifle is locked and loaded." Mark-18 went down the short hallway, seeing the dark orb over a bridge made of what looked like large rock slabs. It went to the other side before disappearing, taking the bridge with it.
"{The bridge across just vanished.}"
"Gimme a second. I'll check with Eris." There was silence on the comms for a while before Cayde-6 returned. "Uh... She says it's probably just a 'resonant spell,' whatever that is, so just don't... don't trust anything."
"{How about you let me out and I'll take a look?}" Mark-18 brought out Mindsight, allowing the Ghost to scan the area and find more Hive bridge pieces, guiding him across.
Once they were on the other side, three Thralls rushed out to attack, but were swiftly eliminated.
At the end of the hall was a large worm, writhing on the ground. "That is one big worm."
"{According to the World's Grave, the Hive ingest those worms. Not for sustenance, but survival. Spores, moths and worms. All things Earth's ancestors believed grew from the dead. Just a thought.}" To leave the Hive with less to depend on, Mark-18 stomped on the worm, getting a strange green gunk all over his boot.
He looked around, seeing a strange object behind a large stone. "Mindsight, any idea what that is?"
"{Not sure. I'll hold onto it for now.}" As the object vanished, so did Mindsight. Mark-18 found the path forward, going through some big holes in the walls, killing Hive worms along the way, until he ended up in a new hallway.
The Dreadnaught
Hall of Souls
"Any luck with the weapon?"
"{We've only scratched the surface of the Dreadnaught.}"
"Hive keep vital operations deep in the core of their architectures. You're going to have to get your hands dirty."
Mark-18 shuddered. "Yeah. Like how I got my boots dirty..." More hidden Hive bridge pieces went from the hallway's end to a massive area, with a strange platform in the center. A few Thralls ran into a side room, unaware of the Guardian's presence until he wiped them out with an Axion Bolt.
Curious, Mark-18 went to where they were going, finding a strange pillar in the room. "{That energy powers the weapon. Cayde, what do we do?}"
"OK, hold on. Eris is going on about 'breaking the necrotic...' Ahh, just shoot it."
Mindsight appeared and looked over the pillar. "{Ah, there's a shield up. Let me take it down for you.}" The Ghost scanned the barrier around the small orb in the center, causing the sphere to enlarge, revealed to be a Taken Blight. Mark-18 shredded the Blight with his assault rifle, destroying it. "{OK, it's down, but I'm picking up other channels to the weapon.}"
"Find them. It won't stop firing until you shut them all down."
Mark-18 searched for another shielded Blight, finding one in another side room. His Ghost disrupted the shield, allowing the Exo to destroy it. "{The weapon's cycling down! Let's find another channel.}" He went on his way to a room that was directly in front of the central platform, finding the third Blight guarded by Taken.
Once the Taken were cleared out, Mark-18 sent out his Ghost to remove the obstructing barrier, but the shield immediately reconstructed itself as more Taken appeared. He dodged attack after attack, killing his targets, until there were none left, and Mindsight could safely come back out to dismantle the barrier around the Blight, allowing Mark-18 to destroy the final channel to the Dreadnaught's weapon.
"{The weapon's down! Cayde, what's our next move?}"
"We need that transmat up and running. There's a massive hull breach near your position, that'll be your best bet."
Mark-18 headed through the middle passage, approaching a platform. "{There's a stream of inter-dimensional energy concentrated within that field. Growing stronger.}" The arch in the back of the platform created a large dark portal, and out came a massive Taken entity. "{And something just stepped out of it.}"
"Stay on target. We need more Guardians on that Dreadnaught."
The Taken soldier bared down on the Guardian, causing him to retreat. "{The output is consistent with my readings at the Shrine of Oryx on the moon. Osiris believed all of the shrines were connected and went searching for their nexus. I think we've found it. Did I tell you Osiris never returned?}"
"No. No, you did not." He made his way around the sector, finding the entrance to the next.
The Dreadnaught
Hull Breach
Music
Destiny - Cabal Breach
There was a Cabal ship crashed into the Dreadnaught, and there were Cabal and Hive fighting all over the place! "WHOA!" Mark-18 exclaimed.
"{A Cabal ship! Skyburners colors. Must have deployed from Phobos.}"
"Cabal? We'll deal with them later. Secure that transmat zone!"
Mark-18 rushed to the massive opening in the hull of the Dreadnaught, his Ghost releasing a device into his hands, allowing him to plant it into the ground. "{Activating transmat link. Our ship is inbound.}"
The Order Theory arrived, towing a Titan carrier. "[System ready.]"
The Dreadnaught
Hull Breach
(!) Darkness Zone (!)
"Hey, Zavala! Wanna know what a transmat zone on the Dreadnaught looks like?"
"You landed a Guardian on the Dreadnaught without authorization?!"
"Oh, right! Can I have authorization?"
Mark-18 facepalmed. "It's a bit late for that, Cayde."
As the Monarch-class Titan was released into the Dreadnaught, a massive Cabal vehicle came out of the ship. A Goliath tank. "[Hostile unit engaged. Protocol 2.]"
"We'll discuss it later. Mark, take care of that tank, or the transmat zone won't matter!"
"{I'll bring down some ammo crates from the ship. You're going to need them.}"
"Save it, Ghost. We won't need them. MF?" The Titan extended a hand and opened her hatch as Mark-18 jumped into the cockpit, giving him the controls.
"[I am switching to manual. Pilot link active. Upgrade Core ready.]" Mark-18 opened fire with the XO-16, working wonders against the armor of the Cabal Goliath. "[Upgrading to stage 2. Upgrade: Maelstrom.]" With amplified Electric Smoke available, Mark-18 rushed for the Goliath, jumped on top of it, and released a cloud of even more deadly electric vapor. The tank was destroyed in seconds as the Electric Smoke eroded it.
The Dreadnaught
Hull Breach
Music
none
Once the major threats were dealt with, Mark-18's ship returned, with MF-8472's carrier. "Mark, Cayde just briefed us on your... unorthodox mission. Your victory, no matter the method, is a Counsel victory. You have our thanks."
"Everyone loves a bad idea when it works. Now, excuse me, Mark, I have to go have an uncomfortable conversation with Eris about her ship. Get home safe."
Mark-18 disembarked, allowing MF-8472 to enter the Titan carrier as he got back in his ship. "[Pilot, I am detecting a massive incoming surge of dark energy.]"
Music
Metroid Fusion - SA-X Appears
From the pathway to the Hall of Souls came the Shadow, leading a horde of more Taken. "This is Mark-18! The Shadow has been spotted!"
"GET OUT OF THERE! NOW!"
"⍀⟒⌇⏁⍀⏃⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⟒⋔. ⏚⍀⟟⋏g ⏁⊑⟒⋔ ⏁⍜ ⍜⍀⊬⌖. ⟟ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⊑⏃⋏⎅⌰⟒ ⏁⊑⟒ g⎍⏃⍀⎅⟟⏃⋏."
As the Shadow turned and advanced towards the Order Theory, Mark-18 plotted a course back to the City.
"⍀⎍⋏, g⎍⏃⍀⎅⟟⏃⋏, ⍀⎍⋏. ⟟⏁ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⍜⋏⌰⊬ ⎅⟒⌰⏃⊬ ⏁⊑⟒ ⟟⋏⟒⎐⟟⏁⏃⏚⌰⟒."
4:27 PM
05/03/3241
The Dreadnaught
Altar of Oryx
Music
Destiny - Long Live The King
The Shadow had returned to the Taken King, kneeling before him. "Shadow, you have performed exceptionally. I was right in appointing you a Taken general. You have earned my gift. Rise, Death. I now grant you my power."
"⟟ ⏃⋔ ⊑⍜⋏⍜⍀⟒⎅, ⋔⊬ k⟟⋏g. ⟟ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⋏⍜⏁ ⌰⟒⏁ ⊬⍜⎍ ⎅⍜⍙⋏."
From Oryx's hand came an orb of dark power, floating slowly to the Shadow, who accepted the gift. Behind him, a Taken Knight had restrained a Cabal Psion, which was desperately struggling to free itself from its clutches.
Music
Code Lyoko - William
The Shadow turned to the Psion as energy built up in his empty hand. He sent it out, and the Psion screeched in pain before being enveloped in a Blight.
At first, there was silence, then the Blight vanished, revealing that the Psion had been Taken. The Shadow turned back to Oryx and bowed, the Knight and Psion following suite. "⟟ ⌰⟟⎐⟒ ⏁⍜ ⌇⟒⍀⎐⟒ ⊬⍜⎍, ⍜⍀⊬⌖. ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⌇⊑⏃⌰⌰ ⏚⟒ ⎅⍜⋏⟒."
The Shadow is now capable of 'recruiting' more soldiers, and the Taken recognize him as a second leader.
This is getting big.
See you next time.