Kendrix's mind was swirling with a thousand questions. The Awoken Queen, her sneering brother, Variks the scribe, the Eliksni. Ultimately though, he settled on the one which felt the most productive.
"So… what exactly is a Vex Gate Lord?"
"Overgrown Minotaurs, three stories in height. Built for the express purpose of safeguarding the realms the Vex keep locked out of time."
"Like the Black Garden, I presume?"
"We have a winner," Proxima murmured dejectedly.
"Well, seeing as we don't exactly have a choice, no time like the present, right?"
"You're right and I hate it," Proxima said with a sign. "Nova, set a course for Venus. I'll need access to a sizable conflux if we're going to lure out a Gate Lord."
The Cybertronian beeped an affirmative, but a second later a warning pinged on his console.
"What's going on?" Kendrix asked, confused.
"Our jump vector is obstructed," Proxima answered, sounding more than a little confused herself. "What- oh."
Kendrix followed her gaze through the cockpit's viewframe, and saw the form of a green-and-tan jumpship silhouetted against the stars. A moment later, Nova's console pinged again; the ship was hailing them. And when Kendrix read the message's ID code, he felt his stomach curl into a ball to hide.
"Hey there Kendrix," came Beckett's voice as the commline was opened. "Let's have a chat."
"So let me get this straight," the Exo began. He was pacing, or rather, marching, back and forth across the little woodland clearing. Kendrix couldn't look right at him, and instead found himself gazing up at the beautiful snow-capped mountain they had arrived at the base of. In the back of his mind, some tiny part of him recognized this place as the site of his lesson with Trinity. He dimly wondered if the place held some significance for the two Exos.
"I have you talk with Ikora…" Beckett continued, his voice the deadly calm of a disappointed parent, "...and she suggests you tone things down, take some time to rest and hone your skills before you take on any more high-risk assignments." Kendrix was still hardly adept at reading Exo expressions, but he gathered that Beckett was upset with relative ease. "And the next day, literally the next day, you take a field trip to the very edge of known space, saunter into the territory of our most tenuous ally entirely uninvited and unannounced, and then hold a completely unsanctioned audience with their high queen. Do I have that right?"
"...yeah, that about covers it."
Beckett's eyes darted over and quite literally flashed at Kendrix. The Warlock intuited that the question had been rhetorical.
Beckett looked away and pressed one of his hands to his face. He took a deep, mechanical breath, then turned to where Kendrix sat and took a knee.
"Look," he started, his tone more diplomatic. "I know we haven't known each other all that long, especially for two Guardians. What I do know is that you're a private person, and I respect that. But I can't keep letting this stuff slide without you giving me some kind of explanation. I know you're not doing it for fame and glory; you made that pretty clear when you and Apollo had your little tiff. And I know you're too smart to be risking your life and the life of your Ghost for shits and giggles. So. What is it?"
Kendrix glanced at Proxima where she floated in the air, her shell fidgeting nervously. After a moment, she bobbed with confirmation. Nova, viewing the situation through Kendrix's HUD and comms, was silent. Then, after a beat, he gave a reluctant whir.
"Alright," Kendrix said aloud. "I'll tell you. But first, you have to promise me that you won't repeat what I'm about to say. Not to the Vanguard, not to the team, not to anyone. At least, not yet."
Beckett remained silent for a moment, his eyes searching. Then, he nodded. Kendrix took a deep breath.
"When I first woke up in the Cosmodrome, Proxima and I were in dire straits. There were Devils on us with more closing in, and we needed a way out. She showed me the way to a nearby hangar, where we hoped to find a functioning jumpship."
As if on cue, the sound of thrusters became audible, and Nova's form could be seen descending from the stratosphere.
"After fighting through the Devils guarding it, we found one. But it wasn't… normal."
Beckett's head cocked to the side by the faintest degree. "What do you mean?"
"It's- I think it's better if we just show you."
The jumpship arrived, holding a hovering position behind Kendrix. And, after the Warlock gave a slow nod, it split apart.
Beckett's hand went to his holster in an instant, but just as quickly Kendrix's own hand was upon his, holding him back, while the other raised in a placating gesture. After a moment of wild incredulity, Beckett-5 looked up and met the glowing blue eyes of the metal warrior, and his own eyes went wide with shock.
The robot slowly raised a hand, and gave a small wave.
"His name is Nova," Kendrix said, trying and failing to keep his voice level. "And he's my friend." Beckett looked back at Kendrix, shock still plain as day upon his face. "And if you promise to keep your gun away, and to listen, I'll explain everything."
Beckett stared pensively at a particularly interesting pebble sitting amongst the grass of the clearing. Kendrix sat as he had sat before, his throat somewhat sore from all the talking he'd undergone; he briefly considered asking Proxima for a bottle of water, but saw her completely rigid shell and thought better of it. Nova stood awkwardly in place, occasionally shuffling his massive feet.
Eventually, Beckett spoke. "We need to report to the Tower."
"No," Kendrix said, his voice firm.
"Like hell," Beckett said matter-of-factly.
Kendrix shook his head. "If we go back, they'll want to interrogate me, assuming they don't execute me on the spot for treason. And they'll want to lock Nova up, or dissect him, or hunt him for sport."
"You really think that little of us?" Beckett said, almost affronted.
"I've heard the stories, Beckett. About the Praxics, about Osiris' banishment. You know better than I do that there are Guardians who would flip their lid at the slightest hint of an alien robot infiltrating the City. And even if they took a breath and let me get a word in, we don't have time for me to try and convince every last Guardian that Nova isn't a threat."
"If what you've said is true," Beckett argued, "About Riksis, about the shard of the Traveler… then the City owes your friend a deep debt of gratitude. They'll honor that."
With a roar of thrusters, Beckett's jumpship lowered into the sky above the clearing.
"Let's go home, Kendrix. Let's explain this to the others, to the Vanguard. You don't have to solve all this alone."
Kendrix sighed, and shook his head. "I can't. Every moment wasted is Bludgeon getting one step closer to reaching the Garden, to ending everything. I need to finish this." With a roar, Nova burst into the air and reformatted into his jumpship mode all in one smooth movement. Kendrix gave a small smile. "And besides, I'm not alone."
Beckett sighed. "Well, you're right about that at least." In a flash of transmatt, his box-like helmet appeared over his face. "Let's get moving, then."
Kendrix's smile widened, and Proxima fitted his own helmet on to protect it.
The pair of Guardians arrived on Venus without incident. The moment they landed, Kendrix's Sparrow materialized beside him, and he felt the touch of childlike glee that came over him whenever the machine was nearby.
"We'll need to find an access point into the Vex network, and our best shot is in some of their ruins. There's a site a few klicks from here." Proxima explained over their shared comms. "Nova, it's best if you keep to the clouds for the moment. The less attention we draw the better, at least until we've found where we need to go."
The Cybertronian gave a reluctant beep, and his jumpship mode retreated to the thick cover of Venus' upper atmosphere. Beckett's own jumpship dropped off the Titan's Sparrow before following close behind. Kendrix glanced at the smaller vehicle, sizing it up, and realized it wasn't a Sparrow at all. The machine was much bulkier than his own, with a thick, armored prow supported by four powerful thrusters, two of which were independently articulated. The vehicle also sported a pair of energy cannons, one to each side of the prow, and a deep crimson-and-gold paint job.
Beckett must've caught Kendrix staring, because he took a moment to fondly slap the machine's hood before mounting up. "Cabal Interceptor," he explained, "Commandeered a few years back when one of their scouting parties came a little too close to the City. Had to practically beg Zavala to let me keep her, and I've been retrofitting her top to bottom ever since. She's my pride and joy."
"She's beautiful," Kendrix agreed as he climbed onto his Sparrow. "You'll have to let me take her for a spin some time."
Beckett snorted. "I'll have to see how you handle your own ride before I even entertain the notion." With that, the Interceptor's thrusters spit fire as Beckett kicked the vehicle into high gear, sailing away across the simmering waters of the Venusian swamps. Kendrix rushedly pushed his own throttle, finding that despite the Interceptor's considerable bulk, it was more than capable of keeping pace with his Sparrow.
Kendrix's robes flapped behind him in the wind, the Sparrow's engine singing beneath him as he elatedly weaved around the various pools, boulders, and other hazards. Beckett matched him step for step, the Interceptor showing impressive agility in addition to its surprising speed. Over time, the alien wilds gave way to angular stone and dark metal, the signature architecture of Vex ruins.
"I've got a heavy conflux nearby," came a gruff voice over the comms. "It should do." After a beat, Kendrix recognized it as Beckett's Ghost, Castellan. He'd hardly ever heard the Ghost speak on comms, much less met him in person; usually Beckett did the talking. But Proxima had once described him as a no-nonsense tactician with a fondness for strategy sims. She also accused him of being a real softie under his thick shell, but Kendrix somehow doubted that side of the Ghost would be evident in the field.
Proxima placed a marker on Kendrix's HUD, and he shadowed Beckett as the Titan altered his course to approach their newfound destination. As they approached the conflux, Kendrix spotted the tell-tale ruby optics of Vex forms. Before he could even call them out, however, the Interceptor's cannons spat out a barrage, and the Goblins were reduced to bronze scrap.
The pair of Minotaurs, however, would pose more of a problem. Beckett pulled his Interceptor to a halt and leaped off of it in one smooth motion, bringing a fist shuddering with Arc down on the first Minotaur's head. Kendrix followed suit, Blinking from his Sparrow to the space above the second Minotaur, dropping a coiled grenade the second he reappeared, only to vanish again behind the metal monster. Void bloomed out, a brilliant calamity, and the Vex machine let out a scrambled scream, its overshield nullified and one of its arms missing. That didn't stop it from bringing its remaining appendage to bear, attempting to crush Kendrix the moment he rematerialized. The Warlock readied another Blink, but the blow never came. Instead, a gauntleted hand caught the Mintoaur's maul, and crushed it with a blast of Arc.
The machine shrieked again, until Beckett planted a heavy shotgun in its gut and fired. The Vex construct crumpled to the ground, dead. Kendrix glanced to where its partner had been standing, and found the creature's head now resembled a crumpled tin can, and the rest of its body had been summarily dismantled, still flickering with blue sparks.
"That our conflux?" Beckett said nonchalantly, walking towards the milk-white lattice of Vex code peeking out from behind the cover where the Minotaurs had been standing watch.
"Yes," Castellan said as he manifested beside the alien structure. The Ghost's shell was a boxy, compact affair, colored black and green. It reminded Kendrix of an orbital drop pod. Proxima quickly joined her fellow Ghost, and the two began working away at the conflux.
"You've got a hand for this," Castellan noted, sounding neither impressed nor dismissive.
"Untangling Nova's mind has given me plenty of practice working with unfamiliar code," Proxima explained. "Although I'm still getting a handle on this Vex stuff."
After a few moments of dancing around the structure, eyes flashing with beams of pale light, the Ghosts pulled away and vanished in unison.
"We're headed to the Endless Steps," Castellan reported. "We can draw out the target there."
Beckett gave a nod towards their parked vehicles, and the two Guardians were quickly on the move again. As they flew over the landscape, Kendrix felt the joy of riding slowly wane, replaced by the familiar edge of the Void. He could almost feel it pacing back and forth in his mind, like a skittish animal.
"You nervous?" Beckett asked as if reading the Warlock's mind, his voice loud and clear over the wind thanks to the comms.
"Yeah," Kendrix admitted. "I've gotten pretty used to walking head-first into trouble, but the idea still rattles me."
"I know the feeling," Beckett said. "But as long as we've got each other's back, we'll get through it just fine."
"Yeah," Kendrix agreed, a small smile crossing his face.
As they traveled towards their final destination, the Guardians came across a number of Vex gates. Proxima assured him that they weren't large enough for a Gate Lord, but were still plenty dangerous. At each one, Kendrix worked to bring the gates down into the embrace of his Void, while Beckett scrapped whatever constructs it beamed into the fray.
At one point, the pair encountered a type of Vex form Kendrix had not seen before, which Proxima identified as Harpies. Though they possessed the characteristic single ruby eye, that was where their similarity to the rest of the Vex ended. They weren't humanoid, but were instead composed of three pointed, frill-like metal forms arrayed around the central eye. The way their frills flexed and flared almost reminded Kendrix of a Ghost's shell, though the Harpies were far larger than any Ghost he'd seen. The Harpies flew around the battlefield like darts, despite possessing no obvious means of propulsion, lashing out with whip-like bronze tendrils and peppering the Warlock and his Titan companion with bursts of red laser fire. Ultimately, Kendrix adjusted to their patterns of movement and learned how to dismantle them alongside the rest of the Vex infantry. It was grueling work, but the two made steady progress.
That is until the Hydra appeared.
The machine that emerged from the latest portal was even more aberrant than the Harpies. It was massive, nearly twice as high as a Minotaur, and its optic shone the milky white Kendrix had come to associate with Vex confluxes. Its body was almost skeletal, its eye set into the front of a pair of broad metal shoulders, trailing a spine that linked up with ribs that flexed and clawed like the legs of some monstrous insect and tapering in a point that hovered some feet off the ground. As it floated into the material world like a bank of fog, the thing let out a deep, warbling shriek that seemed to come from everywhere at once only to converge on its position, like an echo reversed through time.
On instinct, Kendrix began to fire on it with his Khvostov, but his shots dissolved in the translucent matrix that surrounded the Vex monster like a personal phalanx. Then, the Hydra's form became wreathed in violet light, and Kendrix dove for cover as the machine fired two shells of pure Void directly at him. And while he avoided a direct hit, his overshield crumpled and one of his arms was singed by the howling burn of entropy.
"You won't be able to harm it while its shields are up!" Beckett called out over comms, taking cover himself to reload his shotgun. "You have to wait for the moment it fires, it'll drop them for a second so its shot can get through!"
Kendrix glanced out from behind his cover, only to see the machine had drawn much closer, its form once again charging with violet fury. At the last second, Kendrix Blinked away, feeling the howl of the Void behind him as it devoured the stone he'd been crouched behind whole.
He rematerialized some distance away, just in time to hear the shout of Beckett's shotgun and see the Hydra reel from the force of the attack. Its initial quarry having vanished, the Vex machine turned its attention on the Titan. It was only then Kendrix realized how cornered Beckett was; the Hydra was so massive that its defensive matrix completely blocked the Exo's means of escape, forcing him further and further into a crevasse between two massive blocks of unbroken stone. The machine could hardly follow Beckett in, given its size, but Kendrix knew that with its heavy Void cannons still intact, the Hydra would quickly rectify that.
Kendrix thought fast. Beckett's shotgun blasts had hardly deterred the thing; his Khvostov and Duke wouldn't do nearly enough damage to stop it before it reached the Titan. But he dared not risk a Nova Bomb; it was liable to bring the entire stone structure down on Beckett's head. Which left him with only one option.
Kendrix burst from cover as the Hydra began to charge up its third blast of Void. His Khvostov dissolved into data and was instantly replaced with the weighty form of the Promethean Inferno. Kendrix lifted into the air on a Glide as he brought the launcher into position at his shoulder, its ruby sight alive with the latticed senses of a Vex targeting system. The outline of the Hydra blazed white through its view, just as the defensive matrix began to give way for the machine's cannons to tear Beckett's foxhole apart. At the very peak of his Glide, just as he finished an exhale of breath, Kendrix pulled the trigger.
The branching yellow inlays on the Inferno's blazed red-hot as a torrent of plasma erupted from the weapon's maw, only to instantly funnel inward to a millimeter-wide vortex that cut across the battlefield and lanced right through the Hydra's head.
The Vex let out one final scream as it erupted into a blazing fireball, before just as quickly being consumed in violet emptiness as the Void escaped the confines of the Hydra's cannons and collected its due from the machine.
Kendrix hit the ground and stumbled, just as what remained of the Hydra's corpse crashed into the earth. He ran over as quickly as his aching muscles would allow, eyes searching frantically for a sign of Beckett.
After a moment, there was a shifting in the rubble, and the Titan pushed himself into view, robotic coughing filling the comms. Kendrix reached him and took one of Beckett's arms over his shoulder, trying not to buckle under the weight of the Exo's frame and armor.
"Quite the light show," Beckett said with a laugh that quickly devolved into more coughing. Castellan appeared in a flash and began bathing his Guardian in white light, undoing external and internal damage alike. "I take it that's the toy you had Banshee cooking up for you?" he continued, his voice already sounding clearer.
"How did you- wait, don't tell me."
"Oroa," Kendrix and Beckett said in unison. The two shared a laugh as well, and Beckett took his weight off of Kendrix, once again comfortable standing on his own. Castellan surreptitiously took his leave.
"Well, if that was just the appetizer, we're in for a real treat," the Titan mused. "You ready to kill a Gate Lord?"
Kendrix hefted his Inferno, its frame finally cooling to a reasonable temperature. "Let's do this."
As the two Guardians moved deeper into the Vex's domain, they fell into a rhythm, dispatching the constructs with relative ease despite their ever-increasing numbers. Kendrix's normal discomfort with dealing death was absent, and the Warlock quietly hoped it was only because he knew the Vex were empty, mindless machines.
Finally, they emerged at the edge of the plateau they'd been slowly scaling. A few hundred meters away, just before the cliffs dropped away into yellow-misted valleys, was a towering outcrop of limestone, cut with hard edges and gouged open to make room for the titanic Vex portal nesting inside.
"That's where we'll find the Gate Lord," Proxima noted, marking the bronze frame on Kendrix's HUD. He followed Beckett as the Titan moved down into the ruins. The place was swarming with Goblins, accompanied by a handful of Hobgoblins; no Minotaurs, Harpies, or Hydras.
"They're probably still working at finding more reinforcements, with how many we've taken out to get here," Beckett guessed as he tore a Goblin's head from its shoulders and crushed its liquid tank with a kick in one smooth movement. "We need to press that advantage, make sure the Gate Lord has as little backup as possible."
The pair dispatched what was left of the Vex forces, and made their way up the not-so-Endless Steps to where the massive gate stood. A ring of conflux lattice formed a dias before the portal, and Proxima directed him to stand on it, Beckett following suit. As they did so, the gate before them began to hum with a deep, bone-shaking power. Kendrix felt the Void within him shift, as if drawn to the space-warping power within.
"Here we go," Castellan murmured.
The gate's surface began to flash, pieces of Vex metal manifesting from transmat, a bronze so dark it was practically black. A full panoply appeared, and began to interlock with the grim snap of resetting bone. The shape resolved itself into a massive Vex minotaur, and as its form blazed to life, three ruby eyes fixed themselves upon the two Guardians.
Kendrix pushed himself backwards into a Glide, drawing up his Inferno to meet the Gate Lord's gaze. But his shot went wide as the construct suddenly dropped to the earth, shaking the ground as it charged towards him, massive Void blasts discharging from a weapon mounted in its right hand. Beckett strafed to the side, firing with his shotgun to draw the machine's ire as Kendrix dropped into cover. The Inferno would need to cool before he could make another shot, so he quickly exchanged it for his Duke and rose back up, peppering the hulking Vex's back with shots as he tried to find a chink in its onyx armor.
As the Gate Lord closed the distance on him, Beckett leaped away, dodging into narrow passages through the Vex stonework, far too small for the machine to follow him. He emerged back out into the sunlight, only for it to be suddenly eclipsed by a great shadow.
The Gate Lord's form materialized above Beckett, and it crushed him into the stone with the strength of its fist and the weight of its fall. Kendrix heard the Exo yell out in pain, and he leaped into the air, Blinking towards where the Gate Lord's towering form had reappeared. But he wasn't far enough, wasn't fast enough. He reached out to conserve his momentum into a Glide, but gravity would not bend to him; the Void was pulled from his reach, drawn into the massive cannon the Gate Lord wielded as it prepared to deliver the death-blow.
Kendrix's heart blazed with anger and fear, straining against the limits of the possible, forcing themselves down into a single shape, bright and sharp and simple.
A sword.
Kendrix swung the Dawnblade with a fierce cry, and the arc of the strike traced out a golden slash that cut through the air. The Gate Lord lurched to the side, thrown off-balance as the projectile sliced through the barely-exposed struts connecting its hand to its arm. Beckett capitalized on the opening with trained efficiency, throwing off the dead weight of the Gate Lord's hand and blasting the stunned machine point-blank with his shotgun.
Kendrix felt himself soar forward, flaming wings sprouting from his back and beating against the air around him with light and heat. It was nothing like Gliding; he wasn't bending gravity, but defying it. He touched down next to Beckett and began to swing his blade alongside the Titan's gunfire, and the Gate Lord stepped back with a thundering warble as red-hot holes and slashes were scoured into its frame
Kendrix could already feel the fire fading, however, and motioned for Beckett to follow him into cover as the last of the power dissipated.
"You made that look easy," Beckett laughed as he quickly reloaded his shotgun. "Can't wait to see Trinity's face; I'm not sure what'll be worse, her pride or her jealousy."
Kendrix opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the now-familiar crackling of the Vex network as a cohort of Goblins manifested to support the Gate Lord.
"Getting its hand is a good start, but laying a finger on that thing is only gonna get harder from here," Beckett said as he finished reloading, just in time to blast away a Goblin that had crawled into their position..
"Time for backup?" Kendrix asked. Beckett nodded, and Kendrix redirected his speech. "Nova, we could use some air support. Keep your distance though, the Gate Lord has one nasty cannon."
The Cybertronian beeped an affirmative over the comms, and Kendrix heard the battlecry-roar of his thrusters in the distance as he came rocketing towards the battlefield. A moment later, and the Vex units marching on their position were torn through by seeking bolts of Arc that chained between the machines like serpentine lightning. The Gate Lord itself was dealt a blow, and it turned to fire on the offending jumpship as it blitzed across the sky. But Nova was traveling too fast, and the Void projectile sailed harmlessly over the edge of the plateau.
"Alright, you and Nova keep the thing distracted while I get in melee range."
"You sure?" Kendrix asked, uncertain.
"Trust me. Up-close and personal is a Striker's home-sweet-home. You'll see."
Kendrix nodded after a beat, then broke from cover. He Blinked into position atop a stone pillar as Beckett sprinted forward, and raised his inferno to take aim at the Gate Lord's abdomen. The machine turned at the last moment, as if detecting the sudden surge of Solar power, causing Kendrix's shot to miss the Vex's metallic torso. Instead, the wire-thin solar flare cut through the Gate Lord's shoulder, severing what was left of its left arm with a golden fireball. The machine warbled an acknowledgement of the damage, and raised its cannon level with Kendrix, ready to respond in kind.
Only for Beckett to burst into view, leaping into the air as lightning surged around him, arcing between his fist and the Gate Lord's shimmering fluid tank, causing the two to connect with a thunderous flash. Kendrix's eyes burned at the brilliance of the blue light, despite his helmet's filters. The spots cleared from his vision just in time for him to see Beckett yank his still-sparking fist out of the lifeless Gate Lord's core, glass shattering harmlessly against his gauntleted hand.
"Told you so," the Titan said with a breathless laugh.
"Yes you did," Kendrix replied with a laugh of his own. "Now let's-"
"Soulfire signature, growing fast!" Proxima shouted into their ears. "Brace for-!"
But she didn't even have time to finish, as in a movement so fast Kendrix could barely perceive it, a black shape burst through the cloud layer above, aflame with the fury of reentry, and crashed into the earth before him.
The shockwave from the impact sent him flying so hard that when his back cracked against the Vex stonework his overshield shattered in an instant and his spine nearly went with it. He landed in the dust, barely able to move his dazed head to stare with blurry eyes as the black shape emerged from the crater it had made, shattering itself into a new form.
Kendrix gasped with pain as he forced himself up; he couldn't feel his right arm, so he left the Inferno in the dust for Proxima to transmat away. He had no weapons, no plan, only the need to get closer, to do something.
His eyes slowly cleared as Proxima healed him, the black blur resolving into the form of Bludgeon just as the samurai knelt above the broken body of the Gate Lord. Just as his eyes blazed to life with brilliant blue spotlights. And just as his body began to shatter again.
"No!" Kendrix shouted as realization tore through his screaming mind. He raised his hand, the Void roared, a Nova bomb sailed forward…
…and dissipated into nothing as a pale cage erupted around Bludgeon's changing form. Whether the defensive matrix was manifested to keep him out or to keep Bludgeon in, Kendrix didn't know. But he kept moving, picking up speed as his body healed. He saw the telltale flash of a Ghost compiling and Blinked towards it, covering Castellan and Proxima as they worked to revive Beckett at the edge of the impact crater.
Nova's form thundered out of the sky, his thrusters roaring in place of his broken voice as he slammed uselessly against the matrix with his pile drivers, his commlink screaming with hate and pain. After a moment, the defensive matrix suddenly turned a deep ruby red, and blasted apart like a frag grenade, throwing Nova to the ground as his mind was overloaded.
What emerged from the broken shell was barely recognizable. The stone-edged architecture of the Hive's living ships was gone, replaced by the smooth black bronze of the Gate Lord's armor. The struts beneath the plating were thinner, almost skeletal, and the hands had talons that now looked more like scalpels than daggers. For a moment, it seemed the only thing that remained unchanged was the porcelain skull. But then it turned its black-within-black sockets to Kendrix, and he watched as they came alight with a crimson intelligence.
"We… are whole."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, at once Bludgeon's and something wholly different.
"And we remember. We are Bludgeon, Absolvent Mind. And we are your doom."
The machine raised a hand, and Kendrix Blinked away at the last moment as a screaming beam of Void cut through space to reduce him to nothingness. The second he reappeared, the machine's eyes fixed upon him and it fired once more. Kendrix Blinked again, and again, and again; he was already ragged, and he could feel the power slipping away. But no matter where he went the thing always seemed to find him, the ever-hungry Void eating through air and stone and space and time to try and reach him.
At last, he reappeared, and knew that he could not Blink again. Bludgeon turned its eyes to him, and Kendrix prepared for oblivion. Only for the machine to reel back as it was engulfed in an explosion of Arc. Beckett leaped through the lightning, his fists filled with a righteous fury, the wrath of a storm. He crashed into Bludgeon, sending the machine stumbling to the earth, energy coursing through his frame.
And then he froze as a pale beam of light pierced his heart.
Bludgeon stared with his ruby eyes, the conflux sprouting from his hand stabbing deeper and deeper, impaling Beckett through his shield and armor and flesh. The machine turned its hand and the conflux twisted in on itself.
He screamed as glass filled his veins, his heart, his mind. As his body was twisted. As his soul was flayed from his bones.
He screamed as his Ghost appeared. As it tried to hack the murderous thing's mind. As it was clasped in a taloned hand. As it was shattered.
Beckett-5 screamed once, and then no more.
AN: It's been far, far too long. But we're in the endgame now, and I'm hoping that will help motivate me to keep writing. This chapter pushes us over the 100k word mark, which is unreal for me to think about.
I thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story.