Did ya miss me? Of course you didn't. You have standards.
The Psion Flayers
"Going through...going through," Caesar intoned, then he groaned, "Did it take this long last time?"
"No." Daniel pulled the towel from his damp hair and raked his fingers through to comb it back. "Security measures, I'm sure. Keep trying," he said, searching through his pack for clean clothes.
The Ghost was trying to contact his family, as Daniel thought it would be nice to hear something else in his ear between the yelling, the shooting and the collapsing singularities. The Queen had, again, gifted them use of her Prison for training and her Fallen Vandal had, again, taken to using them as entertainment. A good thing as Daniel had been wound up something fierce for the past few weeks and he was sure it was starting to show. He needed something to take his frustration out on. He doubted Variks' decision to pit his team solely against Vex and Hive was a coincidence.
Caesar had been trying for the last few minutes to push through but Awoken security measures delayed him. Erek had expected as much and had warned him and Kayla ahead of time that those without any sort of authorization, such as his family, would have trouble calling him, so he should be the one to make contact. The Vanguard and the other Guardians wouldn't have as much trouble. Why Aro hadn't even attempted since Daniel arrived was something he preferred not to dwell on.
Caesar's eyes leave the ground; his way of perking up. The connection was established. The Ghost followed Daniel as he made his way to the bed and practically draped himself over the surface, sinking deep into a mattress that was much softer than anything he was used to, even given the luxury he grew up in.
"Alright, line's through. Tarlowe answer-"
"DANNNYYYYY!" Daniel flinches hard. Even Caesar shakes in at the sound that just came through his speakers, it's suddenness matched only by its volume.
"Right in my damned ear!" Tarlowe's deep voice came rumbling through before Daniel could greet Maya in turn. He could hear the two's voices begin to overlap as Tarlowe's whining intermixed with Maya's purposely obnoxious laughter, making it clear it had been no accident.
Through the noise, Christine was the only one to greet him normally. "You're all settled in, I take it?" She asked.
"As much as we can be."
"Danny, is Kayla there?" Maya's voice rang out again, "Is she? I want to know how to make fire by snapping."
"No you don't, little girl," Christine's voice turned to her.
"I have to learn at some point!"
"That doesn't mean today...or tomorrow. Or even within the year."
"Will both of you get off me?!" Tarlowe erupted. Movement, then a sigh. "Daniel, could you call us individually next time? I can't take this smothering-"
"No." The connection time was already a deterrent from trying. Annoying Tarlowe? Even more so.
"Ass," Tarlowe grumbled.
"So what have you all been up to?" Daniel reached back to adjust the satin pillow beneath his head and worried he was going to fall asleep in the middle of the call.
"I glided up to the roof last week!" Maya reported dutifully, as if that was something she should be admitting. She so regularly shirked the house rules concerning her Light that any admonishment now was nothing more than lip service; something they felt someone should say. The only thing worse than the regularity was her lack of shame. She so badly hid her usage, it was a novelty on the occasion that she tried. Pieces of paper with blackened edges found hastily stuffed beneath her bed, hearing her footsteps disappear from the ground floor and reappear on the upper levels without even a creak from the stairs.
"So are we dropping the pretense of rules?" Daniel asked, "Or are you just freely admitting these things now?"
"She's leaving out the part where she had to be helped down from said roof," he heard Tarlowe mutter.
Christine hummed, "Shino is still laughing at me about it."
"Still made it!"
"And the next time you make it up there, you can make it back down on your own," Daniel told her, trying to sound somewhat stern.
The warning was toothless. The girl just cackled at him.
Crossing one leg over the other, Daniel scratched his bare chest and let his hand fall down to the black sunburst on the left side of his torso. "So what have the rest of you been working on? Tarlowe, still doing 'stuff'?" He made the quotations with his fingers, as if they were standing right before him.
"On occasion. I've switched onto 'things' now."
"No one's paying you to be a smartass."
"Someone should."
"Are we telling him?" Christine asked Tarlowe, her voice lowered just slightly when she moved away from the receiver.
"Telling me what?" Daniel straightened up slightly.
"Not yet," Tarlowe murmured, like he wasn't on a speaker.
"I can hear you both!"
"We know." Tarlowe spoke louder this time, wanting to be heard.
"Then tell me what it is you've been doing."
Tarlowe's response was as dismissive as it was short. "No."
"What he means..." Christine's voice developed an edge, annoyance at having to avert a fight, "Is that it's not something we're ready to talk about. Not yet."
"I genuinely don't know what's going on," Maya said.
"Not with anyone, Maya."
"Not this way either." Tarlowe sounded sullen. Daniel took that as a cue. It's not as if he had any right to resent them for keeping secrets from him, given what he was hiding.
"Have you heard from Aro, Maya?" he asked her directly; an apology of sorts.
The shift in her tone, both subtle and sudden, made Daniel want to send his head through the nearest piece of drywall. "No, he hasn't. It's fine, I'm sure he's busy." She said that last part so quietly, Daniel was uncertain that it was ever meant for him.
Annoyance coursed through him. It was unreasonable, perhaps even a little unfair but it was there nonetheless. Aro was respecting his wishes to be careful around his family, around his little sister. Keeping his distance was the best way to go about it. Still, he felt a need to talk to him about it. He wanted his family safe but despite everything, Aro had become a part of it. Caution around them was warranted but there had to be a better way than completely cutting them off.
They'd talk about it. As soon as he figured out the right words to say.
As consolation, Daniel offered, "Given everything, I'm not surprised. He and I have barely had time to talk ourselves. I'll get ahold of him and let him know you've been trying, when I get a chance."
"How has that been coming along?" Now it was Tarlowe's voice buzzing through Caesar, "Your work over there?"
"Progress is slow. No secret files for a Warmind to crack and use to point us in the right direction." He doesn't mention what Erek had told him. That Uldren's been to the Garden. That Uldren knows a way in and that if Uldren knows, Mara knows. They were dragging their feet and it was for a reason.
"The others are keeping busy with their own thing," he continues, "Don't see them much but we get together when we can though Erek has to be dragged by his cloak some evenings."
"You don't just carry him?" Maya asked.
"He kicks," Daniel replied deadpan, earning a laugh in turn. "I'll let you guys go. I'm sure you're all busy yourselves."
"Don't know about these two but I'm busy," Tarlowe said.
Maya scoffed. "He's playing games on his computer, Danny."
"He's got three going at once," Christine told him.
Tarlowe remained unfazed. "Yes, thank you, ladies. Back me up," he quipped, followed by teeth being sucked and the sound of flesh being gently struck. Christine said her goodbyes quickly, wanting to leave Daniel to his rest. Maya yelled her farewells, so that Tarlowe knew she was doing it on purpose. Between their eldest's grousing, Daniel could hear her laughter grow quieter and quieter as she left the room.
Tarlowe remained. Daniel sighed, "So I guess I'll talk to you later-"
"Everything alright?" He asked.
The question was unexpected, enough for Daniel to give a telling pause. "Concerning what?"
"This Gate, the Vex," Tarlowe listed off, "Seeing our uncle again, Aro…"
Another telling pause and Daniel cursed himself for it. "You don't have to worry about me," he answered. It came much too quick but still, Daniel hoped Tarlowe would drop it.
The man simply snorted, as if the thought was a ridiculous one. "Take care, little man," he told him gently.
"Little? I'm bigger than you."
"Eh, only when I'm sitting down."
"I…" The joke took an embarrassingly long time to register. "You're not funny, you know that?"
"I think I am." Tarlowe beaming was evident, even without his face showing.
"Yeah, well, I disagree."
"Yeah, well, you were never asked."
Erek's stride was a hard one and he made no attempt to quiet his footfalls. Petra was nearly winded just watching him, never mind trying to keep up. His shoulders set, his face like a thundercloud, she had sensed something bothering him from the moment he disembarked. The time from then to now had done nothing to alleviate him.
"She in there?" He asked suddenly, his voice a low growl.
"As I said."
"How did Pride-"
"Erek." One eye turned in her direction, catching her own. She held his smoldering gaze and simply said, "Not now."
His nostrils flared in a huff but he obeyed. It should have made her feel some way, to so blatantly command a prince, her prince. But she had stopped seeing him as such for some time now. She still had the utmost respect for him but it was as a warrior, a fighter, a Guardian and as a driven man. She knew what pushed him, what spurred him on and while she wanted to help, she didn't want him to push further than he could handle.
The lift opens on their arrival and takes them down, opening again to release the pair on a higher level. The meeting room directly ahead was their destination, the only one with two Corsairs standing alert and stock still outside of it.
"Erek," Petra said, so quietly, it was barely heard even in the silent hallway.
He didn't look at her but the slight slow in his walk told her he was listening. She went on. "I know you're under a lot of pressure right now," she said, "And that you have a penchant for...familiarity-"
"Familiarity," he parroted, nearly laughing.
"Erek…" Petra willed her voice to harden.
Erek finally stopped in his warpath, seething through clenched teeth, "She is my sister."
"She is your Queen," Petra retorted, "Before anything else. Citizen or guest, it does not matter, she is your Queen."
The Guardian started walking again. "I left the Reef and all of that behind."
Petra moved to catch up, falling back into step with him. "You know as well as I that that means very little, Erek."
"And how do you know that?" he demanded, retaining the sense to further lower his voice as they approached the saluting Corsairs, who then turned to bow to him.
Petra turns her head to catch his eyes again, only answering when she has them. "Because she is your sister."
The door slid open. The conversation was ended. Petra stepped in and bowed low. "My lady Queen. My prince. The Guardian, Erek Sov."
The eyes of Mara and Uldren, blue and orange embers in the dim lighting turned in the Hunter's direction. Neither made any other indication of movement, Mara remaining reclined against the plush, cushioned bench and Ulren leaned against the outer edge.
Erek sighed. Then he bowed. "Your majesty. Your highness." Uldren rolled his eyes. "Thank you for taking the time to speak to me."
"Make the time," Mara repeated, crossing one slender leg over the other, "You wished to speak but did not wish for your team to be present for it. That tells me that whatever you wish to discuss is beyond them. So yes, I did make the time. Speak plainly," she ordered, watching Petra cross the room to come stand by her side, "You're among family here."
Uldren's face darkened behind her but he held his tongue. Erek no long would. "How did Pride enter the Dreaming City? How did he know about the City? What did he do while he was there?" He came forward, leaning against the pixel table, propped up on his hands. The low light from the projector cast a shadow across the already dark expression of his face.
"I spoke to the Herald," Mara said as answer, "He claimed that your fellow Guardian, his brother, has turned his habit of accidentally slipping into and out of the Ascendant Plane into something more purposeful, more deliberate."
"Aro's seen the Ascendant Plane?" He immediately thought to his Ghost. She had no answers to give. "How long?" He said aloud.
"Not long. Pride only recently noticed. Which means it is unlikely he got the information from his brother. Which means you have yet to tell anyone."
Her eyes bored into his. "Of course I haven't," Erek said and it was the truth.
"Then I have to say, we are unsure." Mara lifted her hand to look at her nails, perfectly trimmed and filed as always. "We believe he can see the City. It is unknown to us what else he can see. And as he can see it, he can slip through the barriers as well. The Techuens believe it is due to his connection to the Ascendant Plane, as well as both the Light and the Dark but their studies have been inconclusive."
"As for what he did," Uldren spoke up for the first time, barely turning to meet Erek's eyes. "He invaded the Queen's Court. Weakened our defenses with his passing. Might have even polluted our home with his mere presence."
"On the contrary, brother. He was making an effort to keep himself contained. The Darkness within him wanted a way out, to spread like a miasma. He would not let it. Simply because he wanted to talk."
"Talk about what?"
Mara hummed, dismissing his second question. "I doubt Pride is the main reason for summoning us all here."
"So why did you, brother?" Uldren spat the word like a curse.
Erek looked at the both of them. Then he lifted off the table and started to pace, turning his gaze away. He slowly walked over to one end of the room and paused. His shoulders were a tense line, his face twisted into a burning scowl, aimed at no one and everyone. His fingers twitched, as if he were imagining them around a weapon.
Then he turned and started his trip to the other side of the room. "I know you know a way into the Garden," he said, not even trying to keep the accusations from his tone, "Why are we stalling?"
The fact that he waited so long to confront her was the only curious part of all this. "I wished to get the measure of you."
His scowl gained an air of incredulity. "The measure?"
"The three of you are very different from the Guardians I met a year ago. I wanted to see if you had the capacity to deal with the task you are taking on." Mara's words did nothing to satisfy him, nor were they meant to. They were simply meant to convey a truth. The Exo was distracted, retreating further and further away from the real world to deal with the problems of her own mind. The Human; frustrated, on edge, nervousness hidden behind a simple and blunt exterior, like vulnerable flesh and heavy plate armor.
The man pacing back and forth before her, her brother, was a ball of emotion. To call it anger was an injustice and an understatement. He was everything at once; anticipatory, grieving, wrathful. Like his friend, he hid it. Like his friend, his effort to do so was admirable. Unlike his friend, he was too deep in its grip to hide it well. No one needed to pay any close attention, he was like a furnace when he approached. If the others were like Mara, they'd have seen the Light buzzing beneath the surface, ready and willing to burn every sort of obstacle in its path. There were few like Mara. She wondered, just for a moment, if he had noticed it in his time around her brother; the other one like her. Like Pride.
"You don't need to worry yourself about my strength," he seethed, "I've got plenty of it."
She's seen him in the Prison. She did not need a reminder.
The man started to pace again, each step a boom in the silence. "Was he here?" Erek could barely be heard over the sound of his feet. "Lust. Dredgen Yor. Was he here with Pride?"
Mara watched him then decided to give the truth. "He was."
Erek stopped. His eyes remained dead ahead of him, gazing into nothing, like he was afraid of what she would see. Then he started again. "Did you see him? Did he approach you?"
"I did not see him," she answered, "Not directly. Pride revealed his presence to me, along with the others. His last four." She sniffed, "Well done."
"It was the furthest thing from well done," he muttered, "It was barely done."
"Yes, an enduring stroke of luck. It is not lost on me." Mara leaned back in her seat. "I advise you to concern yourself with further training. Your key will come to you in due time."
Erek stopped his pacing for the last time. Turning his cold burning eyes onto her, he asked, "By your leave then?"
A flick of her hand was his answer. He bowed and turned on his heel without a word further, the door sliding close when he crossed the doorway.
Mara took in the faces of those who remained. Uldren looked angry, as he always did when even the mention of Erek was made in his presence and Petra, she seemed conflicted. She understood the need for secrets and loathe to let outsiders so close to their own but Erek was different. Regardless of his self-imposed exile, regardless of the little Lightborn drone that followed him around, regardless of who and what he gave his allegiance to, he was and remained one of them.
The secrecy was necessary. At least, Mara mostly believed so. His pointed questions about the Heralds, one Herald in particular, was a glaring tell of his single-minded focus. Erek wasn't pressing for results on finding a key solely for the sake of stopping whatever Pride has planned. He wants into the Black Garden in the hopes the Gunslinger will be there, waiting for him.
He trained with the others in the Prison, she watched him do so. Watched him employ a level of violence against his opponents that was controlled but still something she thought beyond him. He was never a cruel man. Given this, Mara's mind began to entertain second thoughts. That maybe, she need not deceive him; keep from him the fact that Pride wants exactly what they are doing and that Mara was helping the process along. Erek would hold the door wide open for his fellow Guardians and for Pride, if it meant Lust would be there for him on the other side.
Pride had been right, Mara knew what was in there. She knew what it was doing. She knows that it needs to be dealt with and she knows that doing so will only be a possibility if one specific Human crosses the threshold and confronts it at the seat of its power.
"Uldren?" She says and doesn't wait for him to respond, "Redirect the Crows to Venus. The Endless Steps. Scout the area, get the lay of the land. Find us anything that could be used for or against the Guardians."
He says nothing, only answers with a nod.
The Prince was right. It was time they moved things along.
"Pretty sure we have every bit of text on the Cabal this Tower owns already," Aya zipped through the door when it opened. It closed again, sealing them in the silence of the study room.
Sora barely reacted to her return, giving nothing more than a non-committal and distracted hum. In truth, she expected as much. It was just that if they scoured the literature available in its entirety, maybe more information on the subject she had turned her focus to would come up, in some hidden line in some hidden block of text. Her interest in the Cabal had been waning. A single lecture, held in one of their great halls, had been enough to reignite it.
The presentation regarded Psions. Specifically, Psions, their psychokinetic abilities and their relationship with technology. She knew of Psions, seen plenty and killed slightly fewer. They were smaller than the average Human, something she and Josef could relate to, though the reminder irritated him, she thought with a small smile. The times she had been able to take witness of them without having to fight were times she had gotten to see them work wonders with Cabal tech that most people would never be able to match with their own.
Then another Warlock present asked about variants. There were differing ranks of Cabal proper; Phalanxes, Centurions, the ever-dreaded Colossi. Why not Psions?
Now here she was, searching for anything in Tower records regarding the Psion Flayers. The amount of 'anything' was scant and that was putting it charitably. They were extraordinarily rare finds, like Hive Broodmothers on the surface of the Moon. But still, Sora felt she was making some headway. With what she had gleaned, from both the lecture and her research, what she knew about what they were could be summed up as, "Psions, but on enough stimulants to stop a man's heart and then restart it all over again." Same power, same talents but with the dial turned up to eleven and then broken off.
Rumor has it, their speaker told them, that it was them that pushed Phobos off of its normal orbit. That because of them, it may one day strike the planet of Mars or even fall apart entirely. Likely in the event the Cabal lost Mars to the Vex or the Guardians.
Exaggerated speculation, Sora had thought, at least at first. She could neither find nor think of any evidence to disprove the claim. She nor Aya knew of any form of technology the Cabal assailing their system possessed that would have been capable of such a feat. That isn't to definitively say that they didn't possess such technology, only that she did not know of it.
This, these mental queries, were meant to be entertaining, at least what she considered entertainment. Her place was here, among books, in labs, not out on a battlefield. It's what she had been telling herself over and over as she, along with her team, pored over their strategy for today's Iron Banner match. That fighting was never her strong suit, that she shouldn't be here, hindering her team with her struggling.
But her interest in the topic wasn't entirely selfish. Thinking about the Cabal made her think about the Vex. Thinking about the Vex led her to think about the King's Gate and the Black Garden. From that to Daniel, Erek and Kayla and from them, the Warmind.
Before their departure, Kayla tried, with understandable difficulty, to explain that something was wrong with Rasputin, more so as of late. His speech was rambling and disjointed. He made even less sense than he usually did. The last major play he made was against the Cabal's forces in the Bay. It was after that when he seemed to start breaking down.
"Sora?"
The Warlock started and then blinked. "Yes? Yes, what is it?"
The Ghost looked at her and then snorted. "Your hand."
Sora's eyes flitted down at the limb pressed against her chin. Then she grunted in annoyance and wiped her knuckles on the leg of her pants.
"I'm also contacting Kayla," Aya continued, "I've connected to the Reef's network and they're patching me through."
She blinked again. "Why-"
"You were going to ask anyway," Aya reasoned easily, "Might as well get it out of the way before she's too busy to even speak."
"But I-"
Aya wasn't having it. "I'm through! Kayla? Kayla, can you hear us?"
"Aya?" The woman sounded weary. "Sora? Yes, yes, I can hear you."
"Sorry to just drop in on you like this, Kayla," Sora said, giving a hard but ultimately toothless glare to her Ghost, "I had a few questions, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind."
She sounded distracted, distant and unconvincing. Sora sighed and pressed on anyway. "I was doing research-"
"Aren't you always doing research?"
Sora stumbled and glared again at her Ghost when she giggled, "I-well, yes but this time it's about Psions. Psion Flayers, specifically," she said, "Have you heard of them?"
"Not much." A quiet hollow creak came through the speaker, like a mattress. Kayla must have been in bed. "Honestly, you most likely know more than me."
"I barely know anything. Only that they're a rarity and that they're powerful."
"And we wanted to know if they're connected to Rasputin in any way," Aya finished for her.
"Connected?" Kayla asked.
Sora explained, "Rasputin attacks the Cabal and after that is when you mentioned his breaking down."
"I assumed it was Envy."
"I'd be surprised if she wasn't involved but the Cabal could be mounting their own assault. I've even seen records of altered troop movements in Freehold, around the same place you tried to place that enhancer before Sloth attacked." Sora lifted the tablet in question up into her line of sight. The changed pattern of Cabal routes through the Dust Palace held up after a week of analysis.
She could almost hear the dots connecting in the Exo's head. "That's...hm…"
Sora placed the tablet back down. "So I wanted to get your opinion on the matter. Whether or not you think the Psion Flayers could challenge Rasputin."
"Rasputin is fragmented but I think they'd have trouble matching him," Kayla pointed out.
"But if it's like we thought and Envy is applying her own kind of pressure…"
"Then he'd be fighting two battles on two fronts and against two very powerful enemies…" Kayla's voice trailed off as she fell deeper and deeper into thought. But then she cut it off. "I'll need time to think on it. Not now, Petra seems to be calling us."
Sora sighed quietly and started to push her notes away. Aya began collecting them. "I understand. I have to leave as well so take your time."
The women said their goodbyes and the signal dropped. Katrina's message came through immediately after, calling her to the Hangar, sounding too excited for Sora's comfort. Her dark brown eyes ran over the desk before her, littered with tomes and tablets, even as Aya worked to clean up. She placed her hand flat on the table and sighed again, louder this time. This was where she belonged. Where her true talents lay.
The walk to the Hangar was slow and silent, save for the words of encouragement from those passing by. She accepted them all with grace but in truth, they only made her even more afraid to disappoint.