S1-161
Ace in the Hole

7:52 PM
03/11/3273

Saturn's moon, Titan - New Pacific Arcology
Festering Halls

Music
Super Mario Sunshine - Noki Bay

Michael had arrived on Titan, and he was in the sector Banshee-44 said the caches would be. "{Cayde's secret stash. The note said this was the place he hid it. We find the stash, we find the parts we need to repair the Ace of Spades.}"

"Right. Let's fix it up good as new."

Due to the Shadow's work, the Hive had been nearly wiped off the face of Titan, and the IMC's Marvins were hard at work restoring the Arcology to its Golden Age glory.

Michael spotted one of the caches nearby. He opened it, finding a few spare parts for the Ace of Spades, along with a voice recording from Cayde-6. "This one's for Eris Morn. ~clears throat~ If you're listening to this, congrats on killing me! I assume you... became a Hive death god and fed me to your worm cult. ~shudder~ That, or you just finally got sick of me. Coincidentally, if you didn't kill me and still somehow hear this, I'm sorry for stealing your ship, and... oh pretty much every other interaction we ever had. But to be clear, if you did kill me, I do NOT apologize, and I will consider all my actions 100% justified. Either way, feel free to put your rock on my maps now. I don't need 'em anymore."

"Still don't miss her."

"{Me neither.}"

As Michael entered the halls, two Marvins carried another cache right to him. Inside were more parts and another recording. "This one's for that armless coward: Taniks, the Scarred. If you're listening to this, you killed me, but I bet I took a big chunk of your ugly husk with me. Guess Andel Brask wasn't enough for you, huh? You wanted another Hunter Vanguard for your sick collection? I got my share of regrets, sure, but not putting a bullet in you has gotta rank in the top 3. Won't be long before a better Guardian than me puts you in your place. Just wish I could be there to see it."

"Who's Taniks?"

"{Taniks, the Scarred, was a Houseless Fallen mercenary. He murdered the Council Hunter that came before Cayde. During the SIVA Crisis, he was resurrected as Taniks Perfected, but City Hawk 694 took him down.}"

"I guess they told him to stay down, eh?"

"{No doubt about it.}"

"Sounds like this recording was made before you found me."

"{Yeah, the time stamp puts this recording back when the Council of Guardians was known as the Vanguard.}"

"This one's for the fellow who calls himself the Drifter. You did warn me running with you would put a target on my back. Guess I'm in good company though, huh? After all, never had any fun without a little risk. That's the whole idea with the operation you're putting together, ain't it? My idea, by the way. Had it like a million years ago, back when you were still handsome. So... uh... you're welcome. You know, getting that up and running means coming out of hiding, giving you-know-who another shot at you. Hope I was around to see THAT showdown. Personally, my money was on the guy with the Golden Gun. But, hey, what do I know? I'm dead."

"{I've been detecting a new presence in the Tower ever since we got back from the Tangled Shore after you killed Uldren, but I guess I just didn't pay it any mind.}"

"That might be this 'Drifter' guy."

Another cache was brought to the IMC Pilot by the Marvins as he passed through. "Petra. If you're listening to this, you killed me. Maybe the Sovs, in all their mysterious wisdom, decided they were sick of me? If the Queen ordered the hit, I guess I understand. You're a real glutton for chivalry. But if it was Uldren, I'm pissed. Just thinking about that peacock gives me a headache. But I'm betting my death was another case of your famous collateral damage, 'cause you're a real do-gooder. Seriously, it's annoying, but good deeds never go unpunished when you're around. You just... You got a blast radius, PV. Well, it was... fun while it lasted. Oh, and... uh... tell Paladin Oran 'If the sun over Nessus escapes nebula cycle, evac labor after dawn, under solstice'. You got that, PV?"

"Bit of a strange message, don't you think?" Michael asked.

A familiar voice was heard from his helmet radio. "Strange indeed."

In a surprised response, Michael pulled off a martial arts display as he did a full 180.

From his helmet radio, Michael heard Gaster laughing. "What was- ~laughter~ WHAT WAS THAT?!PfpfpfpfHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Gaster, how long have you been watching?" Asked an embarrassed Michael.

Sans was the one to answer, as Gaster was laughing his skeletal behind off at what Michael just did. "Since the ordeal in the Prison of Elders. Anyway, we're trying to remake those parts you keep picking up."

"You're trying to replicate Cayde's Ace of Spades?"

"Yeah. Undyne's been saying how awesome it looked."

Michael pulled out the Ace of Spades. "Doesn't look that 'awesome' now, does it?"

"Well, I think it adds a bit of historic detail."

"True. It does look that way."

"And that message Cayde left for Petra to tell Paladin has a little message within itself. If we take the first letter of each word, then we get another message. 'It's on Enceladus'. That's Saturn's sixth moon."

Michael reached another cache, finding the recorder and spare parts within. "This one's for the minds behind the Deep Stone Crypt. You think just 'cause you made me, you can unmake me? Hey, I understand. I were you, I wouldn't want people knowing what I did either. Guess you better hope I didn't tell anyone about the Crypt, or about the... uh... What was it? Oh yeah. Long... Slow... Whisper. 'Cause if I did, that would be real bad for you, huh? I may be dead, but I guarantee you ain't heard the last of me."

"Deep Stone Crypt? What's that?"

"{Must have something to do with the Exos. I'll send a transmission to Rasputin and ask him what it's all about.}"

"Here's one for Suraya Hawthorne. You know, when I told my Ghost I'd be making one of these for you, she laughed. I didn't have to tell you that, just wanted to make you feel bad. In my defense, if you're listening to this, you did kill me. I mean, if it was a fair fight, mano a mano, I'd win, no question, but I can see you planning out some convoluted, meticulous trap. Some would call that paranoia. Me? I call it 'being a Hunter'. So, here's your next Hunter lesson: Looking after your own. Speaking of which... Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of the Colonel. Now, she only eats sesame seed muesli and drinks purified spring water, with a sprig of parsley. Play nice, you two."

"The Colonel? Cayde's pet chicken?"

"{Yeah. His pet chicken.}"

"This one's for any Hunter who kills me. Best guess: Markus Ren? You realized you get my stuff now? ALL my stuff, including the Hunter Council gig. Yeah. Congra-tu-lations, dummy. That's what we call a Council Dare. Sucks, doesn't it? OK, brace yourself for some advice, hotshot. 1: Know your people, like my Nessus scout, Quantis Rhee. I like to call her about once a moon, else she gets a little too much Night, not enough Stalker, you know? 2: Keep your weapons sharp. Your job's to watch everyone's back, which means no one's watching yours but you. And 3: Start thinking now about what you wanna do for your successor's Council Dare, 'cause trust me, kid. This gig will kill you."

"Shiro might fit that role, if he'd even want to."

"{I'm almost certain he wouldn't want to.}"

"Well, that's fair."

"~laughter~ Ha! Sorry! Sorry! I'm just... I'm imagining how awkward you must look right now! Ha! ~clears throat~ OK. Zavala. So, I'm dead, you killed me, my stuff is yours. No more working me over at Chess. No more getting worked over at Poker. For real though, you know that if you needed to kill me for the 'good of the City' or whatever, I totally understand. No hard feelings. Nada. You can put this voice recording away and go on with your life. Now, if you did have some kinda... lingering guilt or something, that would be rough, 'cause you and I both know you'd have me yapping in your ear for the rest of your days. You wouldn't be able to help yourself."

"I could've beaten Cayde at a game of Checkers."

"{Like how you beat that Psion at the same game before we left the Leviathan?}"

"Yeah."

"{Can't argue with that.}"

"Hi, Ikora. So you know I'm making a bunch of these, right? I probably told you. I always gotta have the last word and I'm gonna be prepared for every possibility. But to tell the truth? This one's the easiest to make. So long as we're being honest, I could never tell if you really liked me that much, but... uh... Well, if you did hate me, the feeling was NOT mutual. In fact... Yeah, I'll say it, don't even mind that you killed me. I figure if we threw down... First off, no one can blame me for losing, and... I know you'd be in the right. So... Thanks? I guess? You were a... a good friend. Better than a guy like me could hope for anyway. So, yeah. Thanks, Ikora. For everything."

"Sounds like Cayde couldn't bring himself to hold a grudge against Ikora."

"{Well, that would make sense. Ikora and Cayde have been friends since before they joined together as a Fireteam.}"

The last one had a voice recording, spare parts, AND a folder of laminated blueprints. Not only that, but the voice recording had the logos for Hammond Robotics and the IMC on it, along with a little piece of yellow tape that had the letters 'MWJ' on it.

Music
Destiny - Guardian

"This one's for the one and only Michael W Johnson. Always knew you'd outdo me someday. I figured that signing up to become a Pilot would be like signing up for more intense action. I guess I bit off more than I could chew, and that's what got me and my Ghost killed. You saved my life on Nesses, so I owed you my life, but I just had to go and... lose it. Spyglass is the IMC Vice Admiral, and I'm sure he would be an unquestionable replacement for me, and he would probably feel at home, but... would Ikora and Zavala accept him into the position? If I didn't die as a Pilot, I probably pissed you off and you went absolutely berserk on me. If that was the case, I am REALLY sorry for what I said or did. I didn't mean it. Take care of the Ace of Spades, will you? I'm not just talking about the maintenance, Banshee can help you with all that, or your IMC weapon mechanics can make even stronger parts for it., which is why I left the blueprints with this recording. I mean, take care of Ace. Use it well. Oh, hey, and... if you found any of those papers from my earlier... uh... deployments? Burn 'em. Don't want people poking through the lives of Caydes 0 through 5, so just... put it all behind you, OK? Every story has an end. This is mine. I wish the best of luck to City Hawk 723. Move forward, my friends. Bring the future home."

The blueprints were for the Ace of Spades.

"We have them all. What should we do, Rocco?"

"{Let's bring the parts to Banshee so he can fix the Ace of Spades.}"

8:11 PM
03/11/3273

Planet Earth - The last City
Courtyard

Music
Destiny - The Tower

Once Michael returned to the Tower, he gave Banshee-44 the Ace of Spades and the spare parts, watching as the old Exo put everything together. "All parts in place. Ace of Spades is good as new now. Take it. When you wield it, remember Cayde."

Michael picked up the Ace of Spades and inspected it. The casing was unscathed, and all of its internal mechanisms were entirely undamaged. The Ace of Spades had been repaired.

The Ace of Spades is repaired, but currently unused. But will Michael be the one to use it? Stay tuned.

See you all next time.