S1-183
Uphold the Mission
3:37 PM
11/17/3273
Nessus, Unstable Centaur - Arcadian Valley
Glade of Echoes
Music
Destiny - Cabal Stomp
The IMC battalion and the Red Legion were fighting on Nessus, pitting Titans against the new Cabal Devastators.
Much to everyone's surprise, the Devastators were holding up quite well against the IMC's Titans, even giving them a run for their money, despite being only armed with modified and enlarged Slug Rifles, accompanied by arm-mounted Phalanx shield generators.
Michael had embarked into the cockpit of his present Scorch-class Titan, PYR-8638. "[Glad to have you back, Pilot. We are a stronger team together.]" Three T-203 Thermite Launcher napalm canisters, yet the Devastator in front of him was undamaged. "[This... isn't working.]"
Cayde was on the line. "You only realized that NOW?! You are slow, Sherlock!"
"[Shut up, Wattson!]"
Michael laughed at the sudden exchange.
As Michael disembarked, while PYR-8638 used the Thermal Shield to block the rounds from the Devastator's Slug Cannon, he saw ZJ-7349 land on higher ground after having expended her Flight Core. "ZJ, I need you to rain down from there!"
The Northstar's voice was heard in his head. "[Engaging Guard-Mode. Plasma Railgun charged.]"
Just then, TE-5138 dropped down, crushing the Devastator Michael was battling. Taking the chance, Michael hopped into his Legion's cockpit. "[Predator Cannon at your disposal.]"
"Spyglass, these Devastators are resistant to Thermite!"
"Confirmed. I have dispatched a small unit of Widows to evacuate all Scorch-class Titans from the battlefield."
Suddenly, Failsafe got on the line once again. "To all IMC units in the area, I have intercepted a Cabal communication... and a Vex signal."
"Give us the Cabal comm first!" Michael ordered.
"The Cabal have called in more Devastators. I recommend that the IMS Sentinel join the fight."
"Good idea, Failsafe. Now for the Vex signal."
"The Vex have marked the area around the Exodus Black as a temporary danger zone. All active Vex in this area are evacuating. Not even reality-warping killer robots would mess with Red Legion Devastators. Can't say I blame 'em."
Osiris's Ghost, Sagira, was heard on the comms. "{The Vex are retreating? That isn't like them.}"
Activating the Gun Shield, Michael blocked the rounds of another Devastator's Slug Cannon, then promptly returned fire, actually dealing damage to the Devastator. "[Michael, go help Tanner! I've got this!]"
With that, Michael disembarked, then headed to Tanner-21, who was perched up on the cliff ZJ-7349 was sniping from. The Exo was using his Symmetry, dealing promising damage to the Cabal enemies, including the Devastators, as evidenced by the damage to their joints and optics.
Once Michael reached his position, he threw down an A-Wall, boosting the power of the his Charge Rifle and the Exo's combat-ready prototype.
Michael watched as TE-5138 impaled a Devastator on the spinning barrel of his Predator Cannon, tearing the machine's internals apart.
Suddenly, Cayde was on the line. "I got the Titan Sentries online at the Exodus Black. ACE and I are heading back out now."
"[Firing Salvo Core!]" A maelstrom of missiles rocketed through the air, most of which destroying a Devastator, and the rest damaged another, allowing ACE-2172 to swat away the Slug Cannon, unload two explosive rounds into the optic, jab the receiving end of his 40mm Tracker Cannon into the front of the Devastator, revealing that it had a cockpit, fire off a third round, killing the Devastator's operator, then swing the Devastator overhead, slamming it on its back to unleash the Tracking Rockets. "[These Devastators aren't just machines! They have cockpits! They have controllers!]"
Hearing this, XS-9365 ripped open the frontal surface of a Devastator she had just disarmed, seeing an odd-looking Psion hooked up to a strange control matrix. "[A Psion Flayer? These Devastators are being controlled by Psion Flayers!]" The Ion transmitted, emancipating the Flayer with a Laser Core burst.
As Michael pelted the Devastators with his Charge Rifle, he heard an approaching Titan. It was RS-4373, the Ronin-class Prime Titan of Ada-1, who was at the controls, and Hayden-10 was riding onboard, with UQ-2153 left in Follow-Mode. "Ada, is the Sword Core ready?"
"Activating it now." The Ronin Prime started emitting a golden glow, then charged in with an electrified Broadsword, slashing at every single Red Legion Devastator in sight.
Just then, Amanda Holliday flew in, dropping off some extra support. "These guys don't fool around. But neither should we! Take 'em down, Spyglass!"
"Drake tank operational. Engaging targets." Apparently, Spyglass was controlling the Drake!
Using the Drake tank, Spyglass blasted open the cockpit of a Cabal Devastator, exposing the Psion Flayer within to a follow-up shot. "Nice shot, Spyglass!" Michael cheered.
It was then that Samus and Arc-Rod arrived. As Samus shifted into the Morph Ball, Arc-Rod picked her up, ready to throw her into a group of Devastators. Upon landing, Samus unleashed a Power Bomb, melting the Devastators and instantly vaporizing the Flayers controlling them.
"Heh. You and your Power Bombs, Samus. Deadly, yet highly effective. I like it. When in doubt, just drop a small nuke."
Music
Destiny 2 - Resist the Legion
Without warning, a familiar voice was heard over the comms. "All IMC forces, be advised: the IMS Olympus has entered Nessus's atmosphere. Initiating automated assistance. Deploying Reapers." It was Aurora Unit 242!
Multiple Reapers dropped in, mercilessly bombarding the Devastators with Reaper Rockets. This was a logical decision as Devastators were modeled after the Titans and Reapers are Anti-Titan infantry units.
Without warning, Failsafe was heard once more. "I have good news, and I have... more good news!"
"What's the first good news?" Blisk demanded.
"I have been successfully salvaged from the Exodus Black!-(▀▖┗▛▄)-These guys plugged me up to a small power source that's actually feeding me more power than my old solar panels."
Cayde was heard again. "What about the second good news?"
"The second good news is that the Red Legion are reportedly running out of Devastators!-(▀▖┗▛▄)-By the looks of it, they're also running low on Flayers to put in them.-(▀▖┗▛▄)-You have already won!"
Music
Titanfall - OST 74
"Solid copy! All IMC forces, finish them off!" Michael ordered.
With the Red Legion Devastators now on the ropes, and Failsafe now safely off-world, the IMC battalion on the ground went from defense to offense, efficiently destroying the remainder of their opponents.
Music
Titanfall - OST 95
A Vanguard-class Titan's voice was heard over the radio. It was BT-7274. "[All threats eliminated. Area secure. The Red Legion have been defeated.]"
As if on cue, the Cabal carrier overhead went down, destroyed by the IMS Colossus.
Music
Destiny 2 - Nessus
Bish was on the line. "OK. Failsafe's being tended to by the Aurora Units, and it looks like that Red Legion carrier crashed into... Wow, that's lucky. It crashed into the excavation site they had to try and capture the Modular Mind a while back."
"What about Failsafe's connection to the Vex network?" Michael wondered.
"Don't underestimate my skills, Michael. By the way, your other half installed some Vex-blocking safety protocols into my equipment, along with some seriously sophisticated translation software, so now I can eavesdrop on the Vex whenever I want, and however long I want, and they won't see me. Anyway, you should all come back for debriefing, then you can relax. In the meantime, I'll be studying these Red Legion Devastators. Maybe I can figure them out in... a few months at most. It'd take anyone else a few years... except for the Shadow, since he absorbed knowledge from the Cabal."
4:01 PM
11/17/3273
Planet Vez-2 - Suburban Cul-de-sac
Aran-Johnson residence
Music
Chibi-Robo: Plug Into Adventure - Broad Daylight
With the Red Legion assault thwarted, and Failsafe no longer stuck on Nessus, Michael decided to unwind... until his PDA started beeping. "{Looks like we've got some news on the FNN.}" Rocco said, checking the news feed.
Michael grabbed the PDA, then checked the Frontier News Network.
New division known as Forge Keepers
Fragmented researcher's arm spazzes out!
[IMC OFFICIAL STATEMENT]
Wrath of Awoken Queen Mara Sov has registered into the Pilot ranks
Distress signal from unknown destination
New menu item at Freddy's Angel Buffet
"Hm. Forge Keepers? Interesting. Let's have a look." Michael tapped the news article.
{+} New division known as Forge Keepers {+}
Black Armory curator Ada-1 has begun recruiting Guardians to join her new force of peacekeepers and protectors, all armed exclusively with Black Armory equipment.
"Fascinating. A division of Guardians pledged to the Black Armory."
"{This next one's kinda funny.}"
{+} Fragmented researcher's arm spazzes out! {+}
It was reported that the Shadow, benevolent ruler of the Ascendant Realm, launched an all-out assault against the Vex of the Pyramidion on Io, eventually causing the conversion engine consuming one of Jupiter's moons to collapse. Moments later, Asher Mir's Vex arm began to spasm uncontrollably before returning to a controllable state. Highly disturbed, Asher theorizes this to be an effect of the Pyramidion's network crashing.
In other news: The Shadow is currently working on a cure for Asher and his Ghost.
"Asher's arm freaks out? That... actually is kinda funny."
"{There's a video attached to this news article.}"
"Oh? Let's check it out."
Michael opened the attached video, seeing Asher Mir working at his outpost, like usual, until his Vex arm suddenly started thrashing about wildly, catching the Gensym Scribe completely by surprise. "WHAT THE-?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Asher's arm then became still, once again under his control. Glancing confusedly at his arm, Asher looked at his console again. "The Vex Pyramidion network is no longer available for access? My arm just malfunctioned, so..."
Closing the vid, Michael stifled a laugh. "That was pretty funny." He then opened the next article.
[IMC OFFICIAL STATEMENT]
{+} Wrath of Awoken queen Mara Sov has registered into the Pilot ranks {+}
Petra Venj, Wrath of Queen Mara Sov of the Reefborn Awoken, has recently signed up to join the IMC's ranks. As a small sign of respect to Queen Mara, Petra's suit, weapons, and Titan will all be adorned with the Queen's Wrath insignia. She fights alongside us willingly in service of her majesty.
"Petra... did what?!"
"{Looks like she's gonna be a Pilot. Can't wait to see how that'll turn out.}"
"Truly fascinating. I'll let Cayde know when he gets back from Haven."
{+} Distress signal from unknown destination {+}
A signal was received earlier today from what appears to be an Awoken Corsair. Triangulating the signal source has revealed a small fleet of Awoken ships leaving an area in proximity to the Tangled Shore, presumed to be the Dreaming City. The Awoken have also filed a request to seek refuge in Angel City. The IMS Sentinel will be deployed at the earliest opportunity to provide relief, transportation, and medical aid if necessary. A call has been put in for the Shadow to help the Awoken recover their artifacts from the Dreaming City and the rest of the Reef, including what is known as the Blind Well and the Oracle Engine, to a new district that is currently under construction, aptly named the Dreaming District. For more information on the Dreaming District, please consult a local representative.
"The Awoken? Coming to the Frontier?"
"{Well, I'm sure the Hive and Scorn have done a number on the Dreaming City, and the Taken have ravaged the Reef before the Shadow betrayed Oryx, so now the Awoken need a home that's... not destroyed.}"
"You make a good point, buddy."
{+} New menu item at Freddy's Angel Buffet {+}
The animatronics of Freddy's Angel Buffet have come up with a new pizza recipe to really spice up your day. The new wingza pizza is served with pepper jack cheese, red and green peppers, and an all-new topping: diced boneless wings. If that wasn't enough, the crust is stuffed with mozzarella and General Tso's sauce; an ancient recipe from long before the arrival of the Traveler.
"Wingza pizza?! Mmmmm. Oh, that sounds good."
"{Want me to place an order?}"
"OH MY COTTON SOCKS! YES!"
"{Heh heh. OK then, Mr. Enthusiasm. Would the rest of the family like to try it?}"
"I'm sure Samus and Jenny would love to try something new."
"{Right, but what about Cayde and-}"
"Cayde's not really a part of the family. He just... doesn't have his own place yet. Now that I think about it, he might wanna try some too."
"{OK, got that. Now what about Glitch Frisk?}"
"Glitch Frisk?" Michael glanced down the hall. "I don't know. I'll go ask him." He got up off the couch, then headed down the hallway, reaching the Glitch Frisk's room.
Glitch Frisk was lying in bed, wearing a pair of headphones connected to an MP3 player, and it was playing In The End by Linkin Park. Since his back was facing the door. He didn't see Michael come in, and because of the headphone, Glitch Frisk didn't hear him either.
Michael looked over Glitch Frisk's shoulder, seeing that image on his PDA once again. Without a word, he left the room.
Not what I wanted to put into the ending of this chapter, but... Yeah. Maybe I should stop bothering him for a while. I think he's still... recovering.
See you next time, guys.