The Queen of Hearts

Chapter 9: Talsiks

Talia hugged her knees as she sat on the floor of a large, stone cell deep in the Fallen complex. Perhaps once it had been the cellar to some golden age corporate building, but now it was a prison. To her right, Daydra leaned against the back wall, flipping a flaming knife in his hand while he thought to himself. Torres sat against the same wall, seeming deeply troubled. Meanwhile, Cayde paced back and forth near the entrance to the cell, analyzing it. They were separated from the outside by a set of iron bars, and beyond that, an energized shield of familiar white energy. Behind that, Vandal guards patrolled the hall, keeping an eye on them.

Cayde grunted. "I bet I could break through this."

"You can't," said Daydra, not even looking up. "That's the same shield we're here to take out."

"I know that, but… if it's a high velocity shield, shouldn't I be able to break it if I go slowly?"

Daydra sighed and flicked his knife forward. The blade whizzed past Cayde's head and he yelped as it flew straight through the bars and the shield, hitting the wall on the other side. The Fallen guards growled and waved their spears as a warning.

Cayde frowned. "I don't understand, the shield should have stopped that, right?"

"Look at the way the energy pulses heavy and slow. Very different from the energetic hum of the shield we saw before."

"That means-"

"It's a low velocity shield," Torres cut in, glaring at the contraption from under his long, curly hair. "Talsiks figured out how to manipulate the energy to stop slow-moving objects as well. Perfect for keeping us contained."

Cayde crossed his arms. "It was common sense to take our weapons, the bastards. They better believe I'm coming back for my Ace. But, it was genius to utilize his tech against us this way." He turned back to the center of the room and glanced down at Talia. His brow furrowed. He didn't like seeing her that way. "Maybe we could just break down one of these walls? My connection to Sundance is faint, but perhaps I could muster-"

"What's the point?!" Talia suddenly burst out saying. "Even if we do escape… they'll just kill our ghosts. And give us our final deaths."

Cayde knelt next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"She's right," said Daydra. "Talsiks is smart. Far smarter than we could have imagined. Not to mention, his tech is far advanced past what we expected. The ability to extract ghosts from guardians…" A darkness befell his eyes, haunted by what he had seen. "I never could have imagined. And now we're down a guardian to boot."

Torres spat in anger. "We shouldn't have left her down there."

"It was her choice, but I do wish it had gone differently."

Talia lifted her head slightly. "You would have taken her place."

"Yes. I would have."

She shook her head. "I'm not losing you too." She raised a hand to squeeze Cayde's arm, letting him know she was okay. "I'm not losing anyone else."

"Respectfully, Kestrel, that is not something you can decide… but we can take measures against it. We will honor Vespa by doing what we came here to do, and getting out with as few casualties as possible."

"But how…?" she asked softly.

This time Cayde spoke up confidently. "All hope isn't lost yet! We still have one ace in the hole. Shiro is still out there, and I believe he will find a way to get us out of this. As long as we have our scout, we'll be okay."

"You mean this scout?" A gravelly voice called out from the darkness.

The guardians jumped and Talia scrambled to her feet as the energy shield suddenly died and the iron bars peeled back, revealing the hulking form of Talsiks. And in his hands-

"Shiro!" Talia yelled.

Talsiks laughed and tossed Shiro into the cell with the rest of them. Cayde leaped forward and caught his friend. "Damnit Shiro, I'm sorry. I just had to go and jinx it."

The yellow-caped Hunter coughed and slowly blinked, his mechanical eyes focusing in on Cayde. "They cornered me soon after the blast," he said weakly. "Such numbers… and Cayde, they took my ghost. Stole him right from inside me."

"I know buddy. Us too."

Talsiks growled with pleasure, staring down at them with all four of his hands clasped behind his back like they were trophies on display for his amusement. "He wasn't hard to find. I had hoped for more of a challenge from the fabled guardians that defeated my kin beneath the Great Machine. I will never understand why it chose you. But, I have learned a great deal from this encounter." He cackled. "You have proven excellent test subjects for my latest creation," he said, gesturing to the claw machine still on his arm that he had used to extract Torres' ghost. "Now we have a reliable way of removing your perceived immortality."

"They're ghosts!" Talia said angrily. "And they have names! Consciousness! Created by the Traveler itself!"

Talsiks glared at her, his two cybernetic eyes flashing red. "They are machines, just like their creator." He glanced behind him at the Vandal guards and waved them away. They bowed and scurried far down the hall out of sight. Once they were gone, Talsiks continued, more candidly this time. "The Traveler, as you call it, once graced our planet many centuries ago. It blessed us with an age of prosperity, not unlike your Golden Age. But then it abandoned us, and the Whirlwind destroyed everything we had built. Most of my people still regard the Great Machine as a holy being. A god. But I see it for what it truly is. Just a machine. And I will do whatever necessary to figure out how it works, starting with your ghosts."

Talia saw red. "You leave Reeki alone!" she screamed, charging him.

"Talia no!" Cayde leapt up and tried to stop her but it was too late. Talsiks smashed a fist across her face and sent her flying into a side wall.

"You have a lot of fire in you, Lightbearer," he said with an evil chuckle. "Perhaps… I will start with your ghost first."

"NO!" she screamed, scrambling up as void energy pulsed in her hands, but Cayde restrained her.

"Wait Starlight, wait!"

Talsiks scoffed at her and glanced at the others. "I see the rest of you understand the situation you're in. You could kill me right here where I stand, but if you do, your ghosts are ordered to be destroyed. Then I'd like to see how long you'd last without your precious Light. I trust you will behave yourselves until tomorrow. I have big plans for you all." He laughed mischievously, then stepped out of the cell. The shield immediately reactivated and the bars slammed closed. "Until then, guardians," he said from the other side. Then he disappeared once more into the darkness.

Talia fell to her knees with Cayde's arms wrapped around her and cried into him. He just held her and rubbed her back, allowing her to release her fear and frustration.

Daydra went to help Shiro to his feet. "Glad to see you're alive, but truth be told I had hoped it would be under different circumstances."

"Me too," said Shiro, rubbing his mechanical forehead. "We're in deep trouble now, aren't we?"

"I'm afraid so."

The exo hunter glanced around the room, coming back to his full senses at last. "Where's Vespa?"

Daydra sighed. "Come over here and rest for a moment. I'll catch you up to speed."

From his place against the far wall, Torres watched the other four as they came to terms with their situation in their own ways. They were so full of sadness, uncertainty and fear. But he didn't feel any of that. No, instead a different emotion roiled within him. One he did not utilize often. He recalled his futile battle with Talsiks as he had emerged from the sewers, and how he was humiliated before the masses. Then he remembered the feeling of Beowulf being torn out from within him, severely damaging his connection to the Light. And the way his ghost had screamed… After all that, there was only one thing left inside him: Pure, unbridled anger. He held out his hand, where a small fireball began to take shape. He did not use the solar element often, but it felt right at that moment. He smiled as a new plan began to take shape within his mind. "Everyone, I think I have an idea."