"The Fallen will continue to claw at the walls of our City, unless we strike them down... Beneath the ruins of the Cosmodrome, in the shadow of an old colony ship, we've located the House of Devils' Lair and the High Servitor feeding them their strength. We must destroy this machine god, and send their souls screaming back to hell..."
The briefing for the strike seemed eerily similar to a voice over during a loading screen I watched my dad run through a million times, though it mentioned something about Cabal instead of Fallen. Regardless of what species it was, it seemed that this was going to be my first strike with my new team.
The three ships flew in synchronized position with Country's ship leading our V formation. On the intercom, I head Lasso call out to us. "Cosmodrome's 'bout a five minute flight away. Y'all got everythin' ya need?"
JC crackled alive on the intercom. "Weapons are locked and loaded. Tulip finished mapping our waypoints. We got both Fallen and Hive fighting on the ground, so it's gonna be a crossfire between us three."
"Sounds good to me! Ya alright there, kid?" Lasso asked.
"I'm doing fine. Ghost and I haven't been on a strike before, so we're just a little nervous, I'd say."
"Don't worry, Hana. With Country and JC with us, we'll have all the firepower we need to take down that machine god!" Ghost said.
I gave a smile but it dropped as I heard a snorted laugh. "Something funny, JC?" I asked.
"Well, nothing really. Just incredibly weird to see such a young kid talking to her Ghost like that. It's way too cute!"
I blushed underneath my helmet before I heard Lasso interject. "Don't go pickin' on the new girl jus' cause she's pint sized!"
"Easy for you to say, Lasso. Your Guardian is brolic beyond belief! I mean look at that physique! It's like he's a mountain!"
Country didn't say anything, but I do feel like he took that as a compliment. "Found a good place for a LZ. Y'all ready?" JC asked.
"Ready!" Country and I said in unison. As soon as our ships flew over the Cosmodrome, we found ourselves planted on solid ground. We readied our weapons and proceeded towards the marker that Tulip made.
True to her word, the LZ had both Fallen and Hive fighting against each other. Although it doubled the amount of enemies we had to face, it made it easier for us to start picking them off.
JC didn't wait long. She began to shoot at the enemy taking them down one by one. She was using a pulse rifle with sharp aim. It wasn't long before the enemy began to take notice, though. "Looks like we got their attention! Country!"
Country simply nodded. Readying his auto rifle, he began to mow down the enemy as both sides began to crumble due to the lack of direct conflict with us. Before long, we managed to push up a few meters up ahead.
"Country. Enemy over at 10 o' clock! Duck!" Country, without even looking back at JC ducked as a sniper bullet whizzed behind him. I didn't even see JC switch off her pulse rifle and take out the sniper she had holstered on her back.
We pushed further ahead and saw a Fallen Captain and a Hive Knight fighting each other through some ruble. "Kid, that's all you!" JC called out.
"M-me?" I stammered.
"Yeah! Blow them up sky high!"
Confused for a moment, I finally grabbed hold of my rocket launcher. Aiming towards the center of both combatants, I let loose a rocket. After a second of travel time, the rocket made an erupting noise that sent both the Captain and Knight flying backwards in a messy display.
"Good job! Alright, lets head in and see what we're up against." Taking a second to reload my rocket, JC quickly passed me and Country as she went inside of the rusted building.
I holstered my rocket and readied my scout rifle. I went and sprinted up to catch them, but instead I tripped and fell on my face. "Ow..."
"Watch yer step, kid. We got lots of runnin' left to do!" I heard Lasso call out on my intercom.
"Coming... Coming..."
Although the strike was going alright at first, I couldn't help but feel that I was not contributing much to the mission. I mean, Country and JC are seasoned Guardians and it shows. There is so much cooperation between the two and I'm just... "The rocket girl."
"Did you say something, Hana?" Ghost asked.
"It's nothing. Come on, we're falling behind." I say through gritted teeth.
I found myself walking into the rusted building, following just behind Country and JC. There was already dust and husks laying about, evidence of the Hive they just killed.
I finally caught up the two who were busy killing a Hive Wizard. "Kid, give us some covering fire. We gotta kill those Thrall and get on through the Refinery!" JC said.
"On it!" I pulled out my scout rifle and began to shoot towards the oncoming Thrall, but I slipped and fell on my ass. "Oh no..."
"Kid!" JC sprung into action. The Thrall were right on top of me, but with a flash of lighting, they all began to disappear into dust. Taking that to be his cue, Country leaped towards the Hive and with expert precision, used his shotgun right on it's head.
The room was clear and we had a moment of respite. I managed to gather myself as I let out an exasperated sigh. "Thanks, JC. I don't think-"
I was cut off before I got picked up by JC. "What are you doing? Think this is some sort of game, kid?"
"I-I..." I stammered out, but JC continued.
"There are other ways to provide backup. You can't just go out and shoot like a crazy person! You'll get someone killed or worse, yourself!"
Country simply looked on, as if to say that he didn't approve of the way JC was scolding me, but didn't protest. Instead, Lasso and Tulip both came out along with Ghost.
"Whoa whoa there, JC. Sure, she's not doing a bang up job just yet, but give her time and-"
"I'm sorry, Tulip, but JC's onto somethin' here. The kid's gotta know how to pick her fights and how to support her team." Lasso said.
"Now hold on... My Guardian just got her light, and if we can all just calm down..." I appreciate Ghost trying to stand up for me, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"Kid, you gotta know how to keep up with your team. You gotta know how to fight in a team, and you gotta know how to fight with everything you've got."
"I... Yes... I understand." I said in a very low voice.
"Good. Now, lets carry on before any of those sick Hive get to us." JC and Country continued on.
All three of the Ghosts hovered over me as we continued on.
"Don't let her get to you, Hana." Tulip said. "She's rough around the edges and although she might have an outgoing attitude, JC doesn't really get along with anyone. Hell, I'm surprised she got along with Country for this long."
"Ain't that a fact." Lasso said. "Still, don't take her words the wrong way either, kid. You've just got some heavy trainin' to do. Say, when we get back to the Tower, wanna go with Country and me on some patrols? We'll show ya the ropes!"
"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but right now we have to focus on the mission." I said trying to hold back my true emotions. "I'm fine. Really."
Ghost knew I wasn't fine, but whether or not he wanted to say something, he remained quiet. Lasso and Tulip both nodded and all three Ghosts disappeared back to their respective Guardians.
Country, JC and I found ourselves in a large room. The marker that Tulip made for us was just behind some barriers. "Covered in lasers... Well seems like we wont be going through here just yet." Ghost said.
"Tulip, can you find us any way to get out of here?" JC asked.
Tulip scanned the room and flew back towards JC. "Sure is! This Fallen jammer has the codes to disable the doors. Just need to hack it and we're on our way!"
It seemed like Tulip was going to hack the array before Ghost came out. "I can take care of that!" Everyone looked back at Ghost and Ghost looked at me. With a simple nod, it seemed like he was winking at me.
I gave him a thumbs up and he proceeded on with the hack. "Pretty complex... I'll need some time."
Country and JC readied their weapons and saw why. The familiar red ping of enemies closing showed up. Readying my own weapon, we began a fire fight with the Fallen. They were coming in waves and waves, almost as if this were scripted.
Well of course it was scripted. It was a game, wasn't it? I guess this is one of those 'protect the stationary object' part of the game. Putting that aside, I began to support JC and Country to kill the Fallen.
I threw grenades, knives, and focused on the enemies furthest from Country. He covered the left and JC covered the right. I was planted in the middle, so anyone who needed help I could provide it faster.
"Covering fire, I'm reloading!" Country said.
I zipped around and began to shoot more and more Fallen as they came in. JC threw out more and more lighting that I could see. It seemed to be a different element from the solar light that I used.
"Arc light, kid." She said. "You'll find your spark soon. Just keep up the good work!"
"On it!" I said. I laid down more covering fire.
"The Fallen are getting smarter. It's almost like the entire thing is wired to a-" Ghost was interrupted by a loud alarm going off, seemingly signaling back up for the Fallen. "I'll work faster..."
Letting out an annoyed sigh, I went back to helping both Country and JC. The Fallen came back even more numerous than before. It seemed like the entire Cosmodrome was in here!
I threw out more grenades and for the first time, I saw Country using his light. He shrouded himself in a purple light that seemed to give him armor. "Void light." He simply said.
I nodded and went back to shooting the Fallen that were coming at us. "I've almost got it, but just so you know, there's more Fallen and Hive on the way." Ghost said.
"Great... Now we gotta deal with those freaks again?" JC said.
"We're almost done, hon. Ghost, yer almost done right?" Lasso said.
"Like I said, just a little more... Got it!"
JC and Country began to clear the room as Ghost came back to me. "This should be the last of them. After they're down, we can continue on!"
As we cleared the room, I looked around and noticed all of the bodies, bullet casings, and overall destruction we caused. "Wow..." I was astonished.
"Trust us, kid. More like that in your future." JC said. "And uh, nicely done."
"Th-thanks." I said, scratching the back of my head only to be met with my helmet.
Country, JC and I continued on, taking out any lingering Fallen that were in our way. We finally made our way back outside again when Tulip chimed up. "The lair is up ahead, underneath that colony ship!"
"Just on the other side of all those Devils..." Ghost said in a retort.
Country and JC hurdled up as I squeezed myself in between them. "What's the plan?" JC asked.
Country pondered for a moment before he spoke up. "Think you can take out that Walker for Hana and I, Jesse?"
"Of course I can! Just give me the signal and I'll sabotage the walker. After that, I trust you can take care of the rest, Hana?" JC asked.
"Um, I can do my best, but what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"You'll know what to do, kid. Just use your rocket on what seems best."
"Okay... But how are you going to sabotage the walker?" I asked.
JC chuckled before she put her finger up as if to hush herself. "Shh..."
And with that, she disappeared from my sight. "Wh-what?" I was in disbelief.
Over the intercom, I heard Tulip speak. "Stealth tech! Most Arc hunters have this ability. Took it from the Warmind just before he up and shut down! Shame the others can't use it." She sounded pretty sad when she said that.
Regardless of what it was, it seemed that JC was now completely invisible. At least, she seemed that way. A few meters away, I saw the she popped back up while carefully sneaking her way towards the giant spider-like machine across the way.
"I'm guessing it only lasts so long?"
"Yup. Hunters are our scouts for a reason, Hana." Ghost said. "And one day you'll be able to go invisible as well and take out priority targets for your fireteam!"
I gave a small smile at that. "Yeah, WHEN she's ready." JC cut in on the intercom. "Speaking of ready, you two are?"
"Right. Ready." I said.
"We're dandy and waiting!" Lasso said.
"Wait for my mark..." JC said. With another disappearing act, I looked onwards. I readied my rocket and aimed it at the walker.
My hands were shaking. I was nervous, not wanting to disappoint. "Mark!" JC said.
Suddenly, the hatch on the walker sprung open, revealing a glowing yellow set of wires and heat sinks. Taking this as my cue, Country and I shot a rocket each at the walker. When it made contact, the walker began to spark up with electricity, clearly damaging it.
As it began to go haywire, it exploded, causing the Fallen around it to go along with it. "Alright! Good work you two! Come on down and we'll go kill this 'god' and head on home!" JC said.
Country stood up and offered me his hand. "Good work, kid."
Smiling I took his hand and stood up. We holstered our rockets as we met up with JC. She was finishing reloading all of her weapons. "Good shots, you two."
It seemed like she had something on her mind. One minute she was getting on my case about being a good team player, and now she's actively giving me reassurance. I got curious about it.
"Hey, Country. Think you can go on ahead for a second? I have to ask JC something." Country simply nodded and readied his auto rifle, heading into the side of the colony ship.
JC looked over to me and tilted her head. "Something up, kid?"
"Why are you being so reassuring right now? Earlier you were giving me hell and now you're making sure that anytime I'm putting in that 'team effort' you acknowledge it. Why's that?"
JC sighed. "Tulip. Ghost. Mind going on ahead with Country and Lasso? Gotta talk to the kid one on one."
"Understood! Hey, wait up, Lasso!" Tulip sped on away before Ghost looked at me.
"Are you going to be okay, Hana?"
"I'll be fine, Ghost." I said. "Y'all can go on ahead."
With a simple nod, Ghost went on ahead with Tulip and it was just JC and I. "What can I do for you, kid? We're on a tight schedule."
"Well, I wanted to ask about earlier before. You really railed into me about being a team player, and now if I tie my shoe laces correctly, you'll praise me for doing a good job. What gives?"
"Well first of all, what are shoe laces? And secondly, I talked it over with Tulip during that lockdown earlier. She thinks I went a little far, and honestly speaking I think I might have." JC sighed and checked out her pulse rifle. "Look, don't think too much into it, okay? But I guess I'm just giving you the treatment I wish I got when I was a new light."
Without waiting for a response, she headed on, leaving me smiling softly at JC's words.
We caught up with Country. Tulip and Ghost each went back to us and I could hear Ghost whisper to me. "Everything go okay, Hana?"
"Yeah. Everything's fine, Ghost." I say with a slight smile.
"Alright. We're here." Tulip said. "The prime servitor is just behind these doors."
"Country, you take the ground, keep the infantry off our backs. Kid, you and I are gonna attack that thing with all we got. Y'all ready?"
Country and I nodded and while JC got the door open with Tulip, a flash of light hit us three.
Standing before me was a large, purple orb that seemed like it was receiving a white mist. It was surrounded by Fallen who seemed to be guarding it. We quickly got to work, dispatching each one of them one by one.
When they were all dispatched, the servitor shed it's overshield, quite literally eyeing us down and began it's attack. This was Sepiks Prime.
Country began by gunning him down with his autorifle, straight to its eye. JC and I backed up and began to support Country with our damage. "Focus the eye, kid! It's the weak point!"
"Got it!" I aimed my scout rifle and carefully positioned myself behind cover. We pelted it with bullets, causing it to reel back and begin shooting us with large bolts of purple light.
When the servitor teleported a ways away from us, waves of Fallen came to fight us on the platform. "Country, take the right! I'll take left! Kid, cover us as needed!"
"On it!" Once the Fallen began to pour into the area, I did my best to whittle them down enough to provide Country and JC some breathing room.
I tossed grenades, letting the solar light damage the surrounding enemies while Country bashed their skulls in with his fists. JC was precise, cutting down the Fallen with ease, but every once in a while, I would cripple some of the Fallen trying to get the jump on her. Once they were on their knees, it was a simple flick of her wrist and their throats were slit.
Soon, Sepiks Prime was back in our faces, really pounding us with a barrage of blasts. JC and I tried our best to damage him, but when some explosive shanks came barreling out, Country yelled out towards us. "Get on me, now!"
JC was quick and without giving me prior warning, hoisted me up by my waist. "W-wait! Not again!" And threw me over towards Country.
Country caught me and cradled me down to my feet. Once JC slammed her back against Country's, he knelt down and extended his hands. In a split second, we were encased in a dome of void light. The shanks did come at us, but when Country slammed his fist against their frame, the explosion did feel intense, but I felt my overshield stand firm. That's when I noticed that the bar at the top was encased in green.
"The ward of dawn greatly increases either armor, regeneration, or our damage. Country here made it so that we get a massively increased overshield." JC explained.
Country simply nodded as we turned our attention to Sepiks Prime. "It wont last forever, so here's what's going to happen." JC said. "Country and I are going to make a diversion, getting that servitor's attention on us. Once he's vulnerable, it's up to you to shoot its eye with your golden gun."
When I heard JC say that I have to use my golden gun, I tried to protest. "W-wait... I have to use my..."
"Golden gun, yes. You've learned it, right?" JC asked. "Just aim it at its eye and we're out of here!"
"B-but you don't understand. I..."
"Kid, come on! You've got what it takes!"
My pleas were falling on deaf ears. I had to do this for our team and to take out this servitor. It rested with me, and I knew I had to do it.
"Okay..."
Ghost spoke up. "Hana, are you sure you're up to it? You remember what happened last time, don't you?"
"Yes, but they're counting on me!"
"Wait, what happened last time?" JC asked.
"No time! Are we doing this or not?" I said, readying myself for the fatigue.
Country and JC took a second, but once they made up their mind, they nodded in unison. "Lets go!"
JC and Country sprung out from the dome, they began to unload everything they had onto the machine god. I jumped back and readied my light. I felt the gun deep inside of me, waiting to burst forth.
"NOW!" JC and Country stepped back as I clapped my hands in the air. The heat burst ignited flames around me, something I didn't notice the first time I wielded my golden gun.
I laid in a prone position, aiming the sniper at the eye and calmed myself. Once I knew I had a clear shot, I squeezed the trigger.
Even with a prone position, the recoil sent me flying against the wall, destroying my overshield and leaving me in the red.
The bullet flew straight through the servitor and out the back, continuing on and destroying a large portion of the old colony ship. "What in the..." was all I heard from JC.
Sepiks Prime was going haywire, erupting in electricity. He was spinning wildly out of control and was emitting a loud chime of noise. Finally, with a final explosion, debris and smoke was all that was left.
We killed Sepiks Prime.
Happy with the mission over, I undid my helmet and let out a weak smile. "We did it..." I said weakly.
JC and Country rushed over to me, removing their helmets as well. "Kid, are you okay?"
She slid over to me and wrapped her arms around me. Ghost appeared out of thin air and reassured JC. "Her golden gun is unique. It uses a tremendous amount of light and causes her to be in a catatonic state for a brief period. She'll be okay with some rest."
Tulip and Lasso both came out and scanned me. "Wow, you ain't lying, Ghost. She really is out of it, isn't she?" Lasso said.
"Yeah, but did we get it?" I said, trying to act tough even though it hurts to even talk.
"Yeah, we did." JC said. She helped me up as we waited for our ships. "You did great, Hana."
I smiled weakly, and even Country, stoic and silent nodded in approval.
It felt good to have Country and JC with me here. I thought that I would have been by myself with Ghost looking for a way back home, but with these two by my side, I could definitely stick around for a bit more to help with the fight against the Darkness.
That's when I felt a cold chill run down my spine. Something seemed wrong. It wasn't until I heard a distinct hum that I realized I had a split second decision to make.
"Move!" I shoved JC aside with all the strength I had. It was something that my body did on its own, only reacting to my voice. As I turned around to throw my knife, a bloodied Captain lunged and swung its electrified spear at me.
My body was numb, so I didn't feel the impact. He must have hit me with the pole itself because he launched me high into the air.
But that didn't explain why my vision began to go upside down...
Or why I saw Country, JC, Tulip, Lasso, Ghost, and what appeared to be a third person just standing there.
Wait, why does that third person not have a head? That's not normal...
And why is there so much blood coming out of...
Oh...
Oh no...
No...
No... No no no no no No No NO NO NO NO NO NO!
Darkness enveloped my eyes and I lost myself to Oblivion before my head reached the ground.
If you were to ask me now, the only thing going through my head was that I died such a silly death.
I couldn't just leave JC be attacked like that, though. I don't know what went through my mind saving her, but I did. And I was dead for it.
And dying... Well dying sucks, to put it bluntly. It sucks and it hurts. It hurts so bad knowing that just in mere seconds your life was gone.
It instilled into me that this place... this world... It wasn't a game. It wasn't something simple like that and quite frankly, it scared me to my core.
In a flash of bright light, I found myself laying on my back, staring at a bright and blue sky. I saw JC and Country overlooking me. "Kid, are you okay?" JC asked.
I still can't answer why, but I was so scared I backed up away from them, freaked out of my mind. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Country tried to approach me. "Hana, it's okay. You're sa-"
"DON'T SAY I'M SAFE! I DIED! I JUST DIED AND YOU'RE TELLING ME I'M SAFE?"
JC and Tulip were next to try and talk to me. "Hana, you're safe. Ghost brought you back!" Tulip said in her sing song voice. It irritated me that she was taking this so lightly. It made me wat to grab her body and slam her on the floor.
"Hana, please. You're making such a huge deal of this!" JC said.
"YEAH? WELL EXCUSE ME THAT MY LITERAL DEATH IS AN INCONVINIENCE FOR YOU!" I wanted to hurt them all. I wanted them to just feel my pain.
"Hana, I-" Country began. He approached me, trying to touch my shoulder.
"STAY BACK!" I reached on the ground, grabbing Country's shotgun and aimed it at him.
It seemed like the threat of a gun was enough to dissuade them from coming any closer.
At least, everyone except one. "Hana... It's me... Ghost."
Ghost slowly floated above me. He didn't even flinch when the barrel of the gun was pointed right at him.
He nudged it away with his body, letting himself get closer to me, caressing my face. He didn't say anything. He just comforted me with his touch.
I broke down crying, dropping the shotgun in favor of feeling Ghost's touch. I didn't even care that the others were staring at me blubbering around like a frightened little girl. Right now, I was a frightened little girl.
"Ghost... I want to go home... Take me home..."
"You got it, Hana."
Even now I didn't know if I was talking about the Tower or back with my dad. Either way, I just didn't want to remain there in the colony ship any longer...
Author's note: Thank you very much for reading! A follow and a favorite would be amazing and a review would be immensely appreciated!