Nimbus waited for them at the entrance of Striders Gate. Arizona had given them and Osiris the rundown of everything before they arrived. "So," they started, "the Veil's safe, for now." Their grey eyes shifted over to Fae and Argonaut. "I don't have an Earth Warlord translation for this so…um, stick with me. If Calus uses whatever that Radial thingy is and somehow destroys the Veil, well…it's tied directly to our CloudArk and literally all Neomuni. I don't think you need a Warlord translation for why that's bad."
"Got it, millions of lives are dependent on us," Argonaut snapped his fingers and pointed at Nimbus. "What's next, Chief?"
"From the sound of it, your buddy, Osiris, wants to go in guns-a-blazin', which, hey, I fully support."
Arizona folded her arms. "I don't think that's a smart idea."
Nimbus nodded, "That's what the old man said-the…other old man-you know my old man-well not my old man but…"
She sighed, "Nimbus, focus, two seconds."
"Right, right. Well, I reminded him that you Guardians have been dealing with this a lot longer than we have. We should do a little trust fall. But you know if you two drop us," they pointed at Argonaut and Fae, "then hey, it'll be my funeral but," they shrugged, "it'll be fun."
Arizona wanted to pinch the bridge of her nose. Instead, she looked at Argonaut and Fae. They both stared at her. She looked at Ghost who waited for answers as well. She said, "If we wait and figure out what we're up against…they could get to the Veil before us."
"But if we do go in guns-a-blazin', as Nimbus put it, we could be walking into a trap." Ghost reminded her.
Argonaut laughed, "That's nothing we haven't seen before, though."
Arizona nodded, "That's true." She sighed, trying to push aside a feeling deep in her gut that something didn't add up. Without the Radial Mast, they couldn't do anything with the Veil, right? "Alright then, I think we know what to do. We have to destroy that Radial Mast. It should be in Calus's pyramid. It won't be easy." She looked at Nimbus, "Can you give Ghost, Nymph, and Juggernaut the coordinates?"
Nimbus nodded, "Sure thing." Immediately they sat down and began typing away at a tablet that was attached to a board full of buttons and keys. Arizona had no time to stare at it in awe, though she wanted to learn more about what it was.
The Pyramid was located in Ahisma Park, which Arizona had visited several times at the encouragement of Quinn. The park was now abandoned save for the Cabal forces that guarded the entrance to the Pyramid.
"Looks like they've rolled out the red carpet for us." Argonaut joked. Fae only glared at him.
"Not the time, Argonaut." She started firing.
With a shotgun, Arizona needed to be much closer than she would like to be, but it would be the fastest way to clearing the excessive forces that dove on them as soon as they saw the glint of their helmets. Still, it felt like they made slow progress all the way to the Pyramid.
"Be cautious," Rohan warned over the comms as they approached a barrier into the Pyramid, "if Calus is smart, he'll have his most powerful forces guarding the Radial Mast."
Ghost appeared beside Arizona, scanning the barrier. "It has some kind of energy lock." He looked over at a pedestal. She had hardly noticed that it contained what looked like a rock. "Disrupting that should unlock the door."
Fae shot at it and the rock opened, looking like a pyramid. Arizona ran in behind Fae and Argonaut. The Pyramid was dark, like she had seen in her vision of The Witness. They followed the long, zigzagging halls until it opened up to a room. It held a huge golden sphinx without a face. Arizona slowed down to take it in. The sphinx almost looked unfinished. There were red curtains that hung from the grey wall, which was decorated in a glittering, obsidian-like material. Calus's face adorned the wall behind and in front of the sphinx.
"There's…something strange here," Ghost said. "A powerful concentration of…Light energy?"
Arizona hurried to catch up to Fae and Argonaut. The floors were made of the same obsidian-like material as the walls in the previous room. Fae and Argonaut disappeared behind the wall.
"Something's not right here." Rohan said.
The hallway stopped, and she realized they didn't turn behind the wall, they jumped down below it.
Osiris chimed, "Wait, a source of paracausal energy? It could be the Radial Mast."
"What makes you say that?" Arizona jumped down the hole. "Why would the Radial Mast have to be made up of Light energy?"
"What else would be made up of Light energy in that pyramid?"
Arizona huffed, "You know, Osiris, I liked you better in a coma. You were less…grumpy." There was a twinge of satisfaction in listening to Osiris scrambling for words before the comms went silent.
The room opened up to what looked like a balcony. It was so bright that she thought they were outside for a moment. The floor looked like a pool of water, but it felt like glass beneath their feet. Statues of Calus flanked an entrance, holding up cleavers of some kind.
"The Shadow Legion have the corridor locked down tight. Even if we could fight through, they'd have enough time to secure the Radial Mast." Ghost informed.
"Then we make a new path." Argonaut sounded too pleased.
"That'll be too much noise." Fae reminded him.
"There must be more than one path to the Radial Mast. I'll send you all the sensor scans we have." Rohan said.
Arizona jumped to the next balcony and looked back. "Ya'll gonna just sit and wait for scans or look around with me? We don't have a lot of time." She looked over at the Threshers that guarded the entrance. "Though I kind of wish we did."
"Arizona, over here."
Arizona turned. Fae waited by the wall. Another entrance. Arizona jumped down, and with another push with her feet she glided over to a part of the wall that jutted out. They followed it until it opened up into another room.
She could feel something tugging at her whole being. It was as familiar as a friend. "Do you feel that, Ghost?" She whispered.
"I do. That strange Darkness energy you've been playing with. Be careful. It might give you energy for a short time, but it quickly wears you down."
"I know."
The Pyramid was like a maze. They jumped here and walked there, and sometimes were forced to crouch through the walls and crawl. Sometimes they slid down the walls.
"You're losing valuable time!" Osiris complained again. "This is exactly what I was concerned about."
"Swear to-Osiris, two seconds, just stop-" Fae put a hand on Arizona's shoulder. "What?"
"Yelling isn't helping anyone, Arizona. Osiris is impatient, that's all. Don't be so offended by it." Fae pointed to what almost looked like golden wind, "That's a grav lift."
"It's used to move equipment and troops further into the pyramid." Nymph informed.
"Then that's our ticket." Argonaut jumped and started whooping, despite the slow departure.
"Is he ever quiet?" Osiris inquired.
Arizona jumped after him, being lifted up and taken over the great abyss.
Ghost sighed, "I still can't believe my sensors. Could the Radial Mast really be a Light artifact?"
"There's still a lot that we don't know," Rohan said. They passed over troops that were walking across the bridge below, unaware that Guardians were just above them. "What is the Radial Mast capable of? How will it affect the Veil? And what is the Witness planning?"
"All very good questions, and ones that can wait until we've destroyed the Radial Mast…and save your city." Osiris grumbled.
Argonaut took the stairs by three and Fae jumped over them. Arizona put a foot on the step and stopped. She could hear the Witness and Calus as if they were just in her ear.
"…it will take some time to break through and link the relay."
"You will link the Radial Mast and see the Veil destroyed."
"Why would you link something you're going to destroy?" Arizona whispered. The feeling in her gut was back. This wasn't right. Nothing about what was said added up in her mind.
"You are wasting time!" Osiris screamed in her ear, making her jump.
With a huff she took the stairs by two.
More jumping, more sliding, more crawling. Arizona was getting tired of having to worm her way through the Pyramid until they reached another room. It was bigger than some of the rooms they already passed. There were many balconies, perfect for sniping, and there were ships tucked away neatly in the walls.
"The Shadow Legion are ready for a siege, all right. Look at all these ships!" Ghost relayed.
"Calus is ready to annihilate this city. If those ships reach the cryo-pods, the casualties would be devastating." Rohan said.
Arizona took the highest ground she could barely reach and was forced to pull herself up. "Ghost, that Darkness energy is stronger here."
"I know. I don't recommend you using it. Please."
She merely nodded and took aim with her sniper rifle. "Overloading the energy conduits should do the trick." Juggernaut said. "But it will also bring more attention."
Fae and Argonaut took positions by the conduits, and as soon as they did Legionaries came storming in waves, and one that didn't look like any Cabal Arizona had ever seen. "What is that?"
It looked similar to the Psions she'd seen on Calus's ship. It held a huge scythe in its hand. "They're called Tormentors." Argonaut said.
"Are you joking?" She shot several of the long range Psions before she could think about it.
Argonaut ran across the room, ducking under the scythe as he did. When he ran back across the room, he held an orb of energy that tried desperately to release the pent-up energy. The Tormentor raised its scythe, and it spun out of its hands, releasing Void energy in random directions. Arizona barely had time to abandon her post and jump to the ground. It ran at her and swung the scythe at the ground. The energy that rippled across the ground knocked her off her feet and sent her sliding into a wall.
Arizona staggered to her feet and tried to lay down a healing ward, but nothing happened. "Are. You. Kidding. Me?" The rocket launcher appeared in her hand, and she fired twice. With each hit there was shrapnel that scattered out, and back in on its target. The Tormentor staggered.
A rush of energy filled Arizona and she finally laid down her healing ward. "You're…really mad, huh?" Nimbus asked.
"I'm more annoyed, Nimbus." Arizona could feel the warmth of her ward healing the bruises she sustained from the shockwave. Fae disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and reappeared behind the Tormentor, driving the Void knives in its back. Arizona shook her head as the Tormentor went down and failed to get back up. "I don't ever want to see one of these things again."
"We've come across one so far," Fae kicked the body. "This is the second. I bet that there will be more."
Arizona looked around the room and pointed at the remnants of the ships that littered the ground, "When did this happen?"
Argonaut shrugged, "About the time you started your feral screams."
"They were not feral screams."
"They were pretty feral," Nimbus said, and quickly added, "I'm just giving you the facts."
"They were not feral!"
Argonaut laughed. They filed out of the room through a door. More jumping over a large abyss.
"They were not feral!" She muttered to Ghost.
Ghost laughed, "It was…loud."
"Are you at the Radial Mast yet?" Rohan asked.
"No," Ghost replied, "but we're getting closer. I can sense it."
"Good, good. They haven't moved it yet. There's still some time." Osiris said quickly. "Focus on the path ahead of you, Guardians. You're almost there."
"Oh, now he's encouraging." Arizona muttered.
"Easy. Don't get on his bad side yet, Arizona." Fae said.
"You mean this is his good side?"
There was another golden wind. Arizona went first this time. The wind took them directly to a room, which was wider. In the middle of the wall hung a red tapestry. Greens and golds were woven into it. Arizona wished to be able to examine it further. Examine the meanings behind every symbol they came across, but there was no time. She had to ignore it for now and followed Fae and Argonaut.