The Queen of Hearts

Chapter 5: Crash Course

Cayde clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. All members of the crew were accounted for, and they sat facing each other in weathered seats in the belly of the transport ship. Shiro was the exception since he was busy piloting.

"Okay!" Cayde began enthusiastically. "We'll reach Old Chicago shortly, so let's review our game plan."

Daydra sat in his usual laid back posture next to Talia, flipping a Hunter's knife in his hands with a burning edge. He simply grunted in response.

Cayde eyed him, then looked to the other side of the transport where Vespa and Torres were sitting. The Titan sat tall and still, arms and legs evenly spread with her warhammer laid horizontally across her lap. Her eyes were closed and her face expressionless, as if in a meditative state. The Warlock, on the other hand, was deep in another book. This time it seemed to be heavily worn and rather ancient. He had mentioned something about the literary merits of shaking a spear? Regardless, Cayde could never tell if the guy was listening or not.

Cayde sighed and looked to Talia, who he was surprised to find looking straight at him, smiling as she restrung her bow. She nodded for him to go on. He returned a thankful nod of his own, then outstretched his hand. His ghost appeared, spinning with anticipation. "Sundance," he said, "can you be a dear and bring up our surveillance maps?"

She bobbed happily and flew to the center of the transport between the crew members, then beamed an enormous holographic map over the floor. Daydra sat forward. Vespa also opened her eyes, not wanting to miss anything. Cayde grinned and looked at Talia again. She smiled back, then began to study the maps.

"There has been a development since we concocted our grand plan," said Cayde. "Among the equipment that Shiro left behind was a heavy duty motion radar to let us know if the rendezvous site becomes compromised. It hasn't, but it did pick up multiple vehicles moving fast in the streets around it. This means the Fallen have expanded their patrols, as we thought they might, though they are still avoiding the swamp. So we will land there as planned, and when we do, we must be prepared for the possibility of running into them on our way to the forward operating base."

Daydra groaned. "They never make it easy. If they have expanded their patrols then isn't it also possible they will be keeping a closer eye on the skies as well? How will we land without drawing attention to ourselves?"

The others also leaned in, curious to know the answer.

Cayde beamed. "I've outfitted this ship with a golden age technology that will allow us to land completely unseen!"

Talia groaned. "No, don't tell me it's-"

"A cloaking device! You are correct! Now I know last time it didn't quite work the way we wanted-"

"It exploded!"

"-but I fixed it! Field tested it myself, just to be sure."

Talia just hugged her knees and sighed.

For the first time, Vespa seemed to be nervous. "You're putting a lot of faith in this technology. What if it doesn't work?"

"Well, I did think of that. Which is why I packed some parachutes.."

Vespa did not seem assured. Daydra scoffed, finding the situation amusing. Torres fully put his book down, concerned. "I would like my parachute immediately please."

Cayde shrugged. "They're hanging in the back of the loading bay behind y-"

Torres leapt up and made a b-line for them. Vespa also rose and strapped her hammer to her back, following him. "Better safe than sorry."

Cayde looked to the other Hunters. "Good to see you guys have some faith in me."

Daydra grunted. "I'm a guardian. If the fall kills me I have a ghost to bring me back."

Talia shrugged. "I'm not afraid of heights."

Cayde narrowed his eyes as the Warlock and Titan returned with their parachutes. He sighed. "Alright look, these jobs are never perfect. I'll admit that. But I am confident in the skills of everyone here to get it done by any means necessary. If something goes wrong, we adapt. Simple as that."

Daydra actually seemed a little surprised. "Well said."

Talia nodded. "You're right. One way or another, we'll get into the city. Where do we go from there?"

He nodded thankfully to both of them, especially Talia. "As long as we are not followed or stopped by patrols, we will meet at the skyscraper as planned. Everyone got that?"

They all nod in affirmation. Torres groaned, clutching the parachute. "You got any extras?"

Cayde laughed. "No."

A crackling over the ship's intercom interrupted them. "We are entering Old Chicago air space," said Shiro. "Saddle up and prepare for stealth activation."

Everyone strapped in, including Cayde who took the seat on the other side of Talia. He gave her a thumbs up as the ship began to slowly descend. She smiled, closed her eyes, and waited.

For a moment they flew in silence, until Shiro returned to the intercom. "Activating stealth drive… now." There was a sudden whirring sound as the tech revved up and the ship shuddered.

Talia watched through the window as a field of energy engulfed the ship. "Is it… working?"

Cayde reached over and gripped her hand.. "For now. We'll let Shiro handle the rest."

Talia nodded and closed her eyes, waiting. For a few minutes more, the flight went smoothly. Only the occasional shudder made Talia flinch, her adrenaline rising with every passing second. The hair on her skin began to rise as she felt what she could only equate to the building of an electric charge in her chest.

"Talia…?" Cayde said.

She opened her eyes, and was surprised to find her hands sparking with arc energy. She released her grasp on Cayde's hand. "Oh Traveler! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," he said, shaking his hand. "Is everything alright?"

She put a hand to her chest. "I don't know. Something's coming, Cayde. I- I can't explain it but-"

"You're having an arc reaction!" Daydra exclaimed, suddenly straightening up next to Talia. "Everyone hold on!"

"What do you me-"

The ship shook violently, as if hitting a wall and then falling. The engines shut off and all lights inside the ship went out. Shiro shouted down the pilot hatch, frantic. "We've hit a massive EMP field! The stealth drive is fried and we've lost primary power! Rerouting to secondary reactor!"

The ship began to nose dive, plummeting from the sky. The g-forces began to pull on the crew and Torres cried out, clutching his book in a death grip. Vespa held onto her straps with a solemn glare at Cayde, as if to say, "I blame you."

Then, just a second later, Shiro successfully activated the backup reactor and power was restored. The ship lurched again and leveled out. The crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"What the hell happened?!" Cayde unstrapped himself and walked up to the ladder leading up into the cockpit, yelling, "They couldn't possibly have seen us!"

"They didn't have to," Shiro yelled back. "I think they set up an EMP barrier around the entire city!"

Cayde glanced out the window in disbelief. "That's… impossible. They shouldn't be able to set up something so large that quickly…" He turned to Talia, who was breathing heavily while Daydra consoled her. "How did you know that was going to happen?"

"I don't know," she said, still in shock. "It was like… it was building in me."

"It's called an arc reaction," said Daydra. "It's rare but I've seen it before. Some guardians are sensitive to large amounts of arc energy. Often this leads them to avoid the element entirely, but arc is an undeniable part of the universe. It finds you anyway, and these guardians can sense it coming."

Talia laughed nervously. "I never liked arc. Now I know why."

Shiro returned to the intercom. "We are over the city now. It's too quiet. With the stealth drive gone, they should have seen us by now."

Cayde moved to the window to get a better view.

Of them all, Torres seemed the most unnerved. "The sooner we land the better. I'm much more useful on the ground."

Vespa scoffed in agreement. "I too prefer to be out of this flying death trap. My place is down there with the enemy, crushing their skulls beneath my hammer."

Torres raised a brow at her. "I know we're here to defeat these creatures, but please leave a few intact. I was promised good study subjects."

Vespa rolled her eyes. "Warlocks."

Cayde continued to watch out the window, becoming progressively more disturbed. "Something's wrong. Shiro, how much further 'till-"

An explosion rocked the ship again, sending Cayde tumbling to the floor as the loading bay was bathed in red-violet light. After recovering, Talia twisted in her seat to look outside. There, just above them, a massive Fallen Ketch had spawned into existence, casting a wave of energy around it that battered the hull of their transport.

"It's an ambush!" Shiro shouted. "Everyone brace yourselves!"

The Ketch opened fire. There was a flurry of shouts and explosions as the ship was bombarded with heavy armaments. Shiro did the best he could to evade the enemy fire, but it was overwhelming. Eventually the ship took two devastating hits on its forward left hull and the shrapnel tore through the left wing. Shiro mustered all the strength he had just to keep the ship level and guide it down, away from the attacking vessel. His efforts were admirable, but as they glided away, one of the rear thrusters was hit. Shiro cursed, realizing there was nowhere left to go but down. He took the mic in his hand and uttered the solemn words. "Crew, we're going down into the swamps. Prepare for a crash landing."

Vespa growled angrily, gripping her seat tight. Torres yelled a string of profanities as he tried to secure his pack and the straps that held him in the seat. Daydra tightened Talia's straps, then his own, and waited patiently for the crash. All Talia could do was cry out in terror. But it was not for herself. Her eyes were fixed on Cayde, who was holding on for dear life to a safety bar. Having been blown back by the explosion, he was now fighting to stay upright against the rising g-forces.

"Cayde!" she screamed. "You have to get back to your seat!"

"I can't!" he yelled back. "It's okay! If I don't make it… Sundance will bring me back."

"Cayde, please-" she began to struggle against her straps, but it was a difficult endeavor with how much force they were experiencing now.

Cayde began to fly up towards the ceiling, but maintained a grip on the safety bar.

"Impact in 5, 4-" Shiro announced. Everyone tightened their hold on the seats while Cayde wrapped his elbow around the bar for a better grip, tensing his mechanical body.

"-3, 2-"

Suddenly the entire left hull tore away from the ship, taking Cayde, Vespa and Torres with it. In an instant they were gone, replaced by a gaping hole and howling winds.

"CAYDE!" Talia screamed.

"-1, brace yourselves!"

The ship collided with the swampy earth, and everything went black.