Chapter 7: Ferryman: Griff

-In slipspace on the way to Venus-

"So, you said this guy we're picking up is your brother?" Noble asked as the group traveled.

"Yeah. Not gonna lie, he was a huge slacker before we died. To the point that his diet actually consisted of orange juice, pizza and oreos." Kaikaina explained, causing Tex, Epsilon and Noble to look at her oddly.

"You're kidding, right?" The memory Ghost asked, almost in disbelief.

"Nope." The Hunter replied, shaking her head. "Though he did know how to show that he cares for me. Enough to get off his ass and do something." She added.

"I'm not sure if we should blacklist him from meeting Anakrisi or not." Tex admitted, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.

"I don't blame ya." Kai shrugged, unsurprised by the Eliksni woman's words.

"Don't think it'd be fair, honestly." Epsilon stated as he floated between the three occupants. "Though I just hope Griff and Eta are okay." He sighed.

"Why?" Tex questioned.

"Venus is crawling with Fallen from the House of Winter, and the Vex." The ghost explained. "They're robots. Supremely intelligent, nearly indestructible, and they can teleport." He added.

"Great…" Kai groaned.

(Later)

As the gang homed in on the Ishtar Region, where Eta transmitted her signal from, they saw a gigantic angular spire coursing with energy. It was also surrounded by Golden Age ruins that had seen much better days.

"This is the region Eta sent out her signal from. Let's get down there and look around." Epsilon said as they came to a stop just outside the city ruins and transmatted to the ground.

Glancing at their surroundings, the gang saw some springs but nothing else of note.

"Damn, I can't get a signal for my Sparrow." Kai cursed as she tried and failed to summon her Sparrow.

"I can summon my Pike just fine." Tex commented, doing exactly that and hopping on it.

"Hang on, I'm getting a transmission!" Epsilon exclaimed, shutting up anything else the gang had to say.

"Hey, can anyone hear me?! I'm getting shot at!" A voice exclaimed over some Fallen gunfire.

"Guardian, this is Noble Six. Send us your location and we'll be there ASAP!" Noble spoke up.

"S-Sending!" The voice of Eta stuttered before the memory Ghost received some coordinates.

"Come on guys, we gotta move, now!" Noble told his companions as Epsilon linked them to a sparrow system and allowed them to move on.

(Elsewhere)

Meanwhile, with Griff. The now orange clad Hunter was currently holding onto a plasma pistol that he'd managed to pick up, when a grenade blast blew a chunk out of the wall he was taking cover under.

Looking over his cover, he saw what looked to be a group of Fallen fighting against an army of machines, and those machines were in turn being attacked by Eskellion Elites.

"Damn it, I just came back to life and I got this thrown at me!" Griff lamented. As he continued to watch the three way melee, he noticed a Captain manage to kill an Arbiter, who dropped what looked like a grenade launcher with a blade on it.

There were shots flying near it, but Griff went for it and managed to run fast enough to grab it before rushing back to cover.

"Phew! Got it…" He sighed in relief that he wasn't gunned down.

"Please never do that again!" Eta whimpered, swearing she saw her life flash before her lone optic.

"Don't worry, this is just what I need." The Guardian said as he started loading the alien device with Solar incendiary grenades, and rolled out from behind his cover. "Surprise bitches!" He yelled as he started firing at the group of aliens.

(Meanwhile)

As Noble, Tex and Kai got closer to their new recruit's location, they could hear the telltale signs of fighting.

"Sounds like we're coming up on a warzone. Get your weapons ready!" The hammer using Spartan told his companions.

"Got it!" Tex nodded in reply.

"Say less!" Kai grinned under her helmet.

As they came upon the supposed war zone, they soon saw a lone Hunter blasting Fallen, Vex, and rogue Covenant forces with a Type-25 Grenade Launcher–which he was loading with his solar grenades!

"Yeah! Eat this motherfuckers! Get sooooome!" The Guardian howled in laughter.

"Funny. I don't remember him being that enthusiastic before." Kai mused with a chuckle as she shot a couple of Grunts in the head with a hand cannon she found on Luna. "It's kinda nice." She added, stabbing a Winter Fallen in the face.

"I think we can talk to him after we get him out of here." Tex commented as she fired her shrapnel launcher at an Elite that tried to blindside her.

The fight continued until the group routed the Fallen and Covenant forces to an Ishtar collective university library–destroying them and allowing the Guardians to have a breather while their Ghosts scanned a Vex confluence.

"Hey, nice fighting back there." The orange clad Hunter commented.

"You were doing some good damage yourself with that grenade launcher." Noble told him, his hammer resting on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the three Ghosts were still scanning the conflus as their Guardians chatted.

"This is an array of non-baryonic streams." Epsilon noted.

"Where are they going, though?" Theta wondered before a storm cloud appeared near them.

"AH! It's the Vex!" Eta cried as she quickly went back to Griff, her sibling returning to their own Guardians as well.

"Oh shit!" Kai cursed as the cycloptic robots appeared.

"Alright, let's do this!" Griff yelled as he charged towards the robots, sliding under a Minotaur and tossing a trip grenade before kicking it on the device, causing the large Vex and those around it to blow up.

Noble let out a sharp breath as he threw Spartan Diplomacy at a group of Goblins, reducing them to scrap. He quickly recalled it and slammed on a Minotaur that tried to blindside him, sending it flying.

"And it's outta here!" Epsilon exclaimed.

Kai, meanwhile, activated her Golden Gun and fired on a trio of Hobgoblins that were taking potshots at Tex, leaving nothing left of them.

Speaking of Tex, the Eliksni woman was engaged in a firefight with five Goblins. Stepping out of cover, she fired a shot at a Goblin and nailed it in the core, causing it to fall apart in an instant. Seeing she had a means to effectively fight back, she took aim at the other Goblins and shot them in their cores as well.

The group all panted as the fight dragged on, their Ghosts reappearing. "Quick, see if there are any intact enough that we can analyze!" Theta told his siblings.

"I-I can see one by that pillar!" Eta pointed out, causing them to look and see there was a moving Goblin on the ground.

(Later)

As the group took a breather after fighting for their lives, their Ghosts were busy studying the Vex unit that was intact when…

"You're impressive, I'll give you that." A voice said, causing the Guardians and one Eliksni to turn and see an exo woman walking toward them.

And she was a rather sexy exo at that.

She was dressed in some rather form fitting clothes that outlined her DD-Cup rack, hourglass figure and her heart shaped ass. There was also a pulse rifle of unknown origin on her back.

Her clothes, visually, looked almost like rags but that didn't detract from how good she looked. In fact, she seemed to sell the look pretty well.

The group also noted that her faceplates were colored white and she had blue optics.

"Who are you?" Noble questioned, his body tensing.

"A friend." The exo woman replied. "I need to move quickly, Guardian. We don't have much time." She told them.

"For what? What do you mean?" Kai questioned.

"I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." The woman stated, pacing a bit. "They're the reason we're even here." She sighed.

"Who?" Griff asked, not seeing where this was going.

"The Vex. Evil so dark it despises other evil." The Stranger replied in a low tone as she walked up to the barely functional Goblin.

"Th-That's possible…?!" Eta whimpered in fear.

"Oh, it's possible, little light." The exo woman told her, and she sounded dead serious about it.

"Um, I'm a Ghost." The fearful Ghost tried to correct.

"Why did you call us here?" Tex questioned.

"Many Guardians have fallen to the Vex. Strong ones. But I can see that you're different." The robotic woman explained.

"You mean to say you're not one of them?" Noble questioned. The stranger shook her head, clearly saying no.

"I wasn't forged in light." She told him, crushing a Vex mind core in her fist. "Have you ever heard of the Black Garden?" She questioned.

"We've heard the legends." Epsilon replied.

"Its heart was thought to be a copy of the Traveler's most closely guarded secret: the Veil." Theta added.

"Find a way into the Black Garden, and rip its heart out. Only then will your Traveler begin to heal." The exo woman told them.

"Uh, assuming we wanted to go on that suicide mission. How would we do it?" Eta questioned.

"I'd suggest checking with the Awoken. They seem to know everything these days." Tex shrugged, getting some confused looks. "I have a few associates who are pretty chummy with their Queen." She elaborated.

"A sound start." The stranger nodded before her radio crackled to life. "Too late, returning. How many?" She questioned, the group failing to hear a response. "Stay where you are, kill the engines and don't let them find you." She instructed, pulling out her pulse rifle as she transmatted to parts unknown.

"So where can we find these, Awoken?" The Baroness of House Freedom questioned.

"They live at the place where the Light ends. The Reef." Theta told his Guardian.

"Scariest place in the system." Eta shuddered. "... Can't we just stay here with the murderous robots?" She questioned, hiding in an empty Vex frame.

"No… Little light." Tex replied, cracking a joke. This caused Noble to snicker and share a fist bump with her.

"Don't do that." The three Ghosts deadpanned in unison.

Noble and Tex just laughed as they all transmatted back to the Prowler and headed back to the City to drop Griff off.

(Later)

Anakrisi watched as the Prowler landed in the hanger bay and lowered its ramp, allowing its passengers to disembark.

"Oh, hey Anakrisi." Noble nodded upon spotting the Vex woman.

"Hello Noble. Did you have a safe trip back?" She questioned.

"Yeah. Though we ran into some hostile Vex." Tex nodded.

"Ah yes, the Tiber Collective. They guard the confluence network." Anakrisi nodded, noticing Griff and Kai. "Hello." She greeted.

"Hey." Kai nodded back before looking at her brother. "Have your Ghost give her your data. Trust me, you'll thank me later." She told him.

"O… Kay?" Griff muttered in confusion as Eta nervously gave the Rogue Mind her Guardian's data.

"Data received. Initiating simulation…" The Vex hummed.

"Let's leave them be." Noble told his Eliksni companion. "I still need you to get in touch with those associates of yours." He added as they went back to their quarters.

"Right. I'll let them know we'll arrive in a day." The Eliksni woman nodded in reply. "... But I hope you realize that if I do this, I'll be expecting something as payment." She told her Titan roommate as they entered the room.

"Like… What?" Noble questioned, right as Tex closed the door behind them, and locked it. A 'do not disturb' notification on the electronic lock.

"You." She purred fiercely at him as she strided towards him, hugging his waist with her lower arms and grabbing his face with her upper ones–before she removed both of their helmets and kissed him.

Noble, for his part, was understandably shocked at what Tex was doing… and a bit indignant. Seriously, she wanted his first kiss as payment?

He shrugged off the indignation, though, and kissed her right back. He had a new life, and as far as he could tell, he didn't get any chances to find that special someone in his past life. He decided that if Tex wanted to be his girlfriend, he was going to treat her right.

"Mmmm, that's much better." The Eliksni woman chattered as her mandibles twitched, savoring his taste. "Well? How does it feel having an Eliksni clutch-mother as a lover?" She questioned with a throaty purr, stroking his hair back.

"Honestly.. . It feels great." Noble whispered back in reply, and his voice sounded almost husky. The tone caused a shiver to run up Tex's spine. "How about this: When we get the last of Epsilon's siblings into the City… We get a more 'proper' feel for how we feel. Does that sound interesting?" He questioned.

"Well… I suppose that would help keep distractions out of the way…" Aphrodityss sighed a bit as she realized she wouldn't be getting very far tonight. "But in that case. I hope you're prepared for me to take every last drop of your seed from you, Noble." She told him huskily.

"Only if you think you can handle me, Aphrodityss." The Spartan replied in kind. As much as the Eliksni woman wanted to jump him right now for that, she knew she couldn't.

But she also knew the wait would be well worth it.

This was the thought she took with her when she went to bed with her new Spartan boyfriend and soon-to-be lover.

ThermalsniperN7: Getting Griff out of dodge, meeting Elsie in and Noble and Tex deciding to hook up in one go… I call that progress.

Dragon Emperor0: Decent progress I'd say. Especially with the fact that in the next chapter, Doc's getting retrieved next on Titan. Meaning Savathun is likely to be learning about the Light sooner than expected.

ThermalsniperN7: And likely concoct some kind of plan involving Noble that she puts into motion after this arc is over. Man, it's gonna be hard to spot the signs… Which would make sense considering, ya know, it's Savathun. And yes, we're setting up Noble and Tex's lemon to happen after the arc is finished. It's bound to happen since Tex is basically an Eliksni MILF.

Dragon Emperor0: Which will be hilarious later when her parentage is revealed towards the start of House of Wolves. And in regards to the whole thing about Randal making Kai his Baroness, expect development on that next chapter. Also, be honest, guys. Do you think our more streamlined timeline is working well? Let us know.

ThermalsniperN7: We could use some feedback on that front. It'll help us make adjustments in case we need to. Anyway, see you guys next time.