The Queen of Hearts

Chapter 14: …And Into Hellfire

Talia woke to Cayde's firm hand shaking her shoulder.

"Hey Starlight," he said softly. "Better snap into gear, I think we're leaving soon."

She immediately jumped to her feet and shook her head, trying to wake herself fully so she could be alert for the fight to come.

"Oh good," said Daydra as he came around a corner in the service shaft, "you're up. Make sure you're armed and prepared to run. Shiro is back from scouting and Talsiks is closing in on our location. If we don't move soon, we may lose our escape window."

Talia nodded and unshouldered her bow. The grip felt right in her hands, and the prospect of battle elevated her heart rate. "I'm ready."

The veteran placed a gentle hand to her arm and smiled, then moved on to go kick Torres awake. The Warlock was slumped against the wall nearby with a book over his eyes. Daydra shoved him with the heel of his boot and the scholar yelped as he woke to his face landing in the pages of his journal. "Agh- I'm up, I'm up!"

"Good," said Daydra. "That's everyone. Let's meet up with Shiro and Vespa ahead. I think Shiro has some additional news you'll both want to hear."

Cayde groaned. "It better be good news. I'm tired of bad news."

Daydra said nothing and walked off, expecting them to follow.

Cayde pouted and helped Torres to his feet. "I know he's a war hero and all, but his callousness can be frustrating."

Talia smiled. "He's just locked in right now. Wound up a little tight. It's how he's stayed alive for so long. Don't take it too personally."

"Yeah I'll try."

Torres grumbled something inaudible, likely still complaining about the manner in which he was awakened.

The trio followed in Daydra's path until they reached a small intersection in the service tunnels that connected to an emergency exit door. Vespa watched out a tiny reinforced window at the world outside while Shiro crouched, speaking commands into his comms while Daydra watched.

Cayde cocked his head. "That's not our comm channel. Who's he talkin' to?"

Just then Shiro grinned and switched off the comms. "Alright team," he said, standing up, "I've got good news and bad news."

"Oh so it's both," said Cayde. "That's a nice twist. Give it to us straight buddy."

"Well, good news is I successfully contacted the Vanguard and did my best to explain the threats we're facing, as well as their situation. I think Kaiko tried to intervene but luckily I reached Osiris first. He has approved a bombing run. When they get here, this place and all of Talsiks' terrible experiments and inventions will be reduced to rubble. They'll also be sending an extraction vessel with them."

Talia breathed a sigh of relief.

Cayde, however, had the opposite reaction as his face grew dark. "I have an extra bad feeling about the bad news."

Shiro nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately the connection was spotty. I couldn't coordinate a time frame, so they're coming now. Like, right now. We need to evacuate from this complex immediately or we will be leveled with it."

"Traveler's sake!" Torres exclaimed.

Talia's heartbeat quickened. Suddenly they were on the clock, and she felt the need to move. "What the hell are we waiting for then?! Some of us still have ships in orbit and can summon sparrows. We should pile on and get out of here."

Vespa shook her head, still looking out the window. "The problem is patrols. There's a service yard just outside this door we can escape through, but there are huge patrols passing by like clockwork. We won't make it out unless we go at just the right time. Luckily for us… that time is nearly here. The patrol is moving again, get ready to make a break for it."

"Alright everyone!" Daydra said in a commanding voice, jumping into action. "The plan is simple. We bust out into the service yard between patrols, summon sparrows, and make a high speed break for the city's edge. Now not all of us have ships above in orbit to call sparrows from because we arrived here in a primary vessel, but luckily we had the foresight to bring mine, Talia's and Shiro's as logistical backup for just this kind of scenario. This means there are three sparrows for six people. Their owners will drive and the rest of you will ride backseat and shoot the bad guys, got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Cayde, you're with Talia. Torres, with me. Vespa, with Shiro. Now lock and load people. We'll surely meet heavy resistance on the way out so make sure to give them hell. On your mark, Vespa."

Everyone checked their weapons and ammo while Vespa watched through the window for their moment.

Cayde leaned into Talia and whispered, "okay, he's back to being my hero."

She smiled and nudged him. "Focus."

"You're right, you're right."

Suddenly Vespa lifted her warhammer in her free hand, staring intently outside. "Here we go. They're exiting the yard. Next patrol is sixty seconds out. On my count!"

Everyone got low and prepared to run.

"Three… two… one… Go go go!" Vespa shouted, crashing the door open with her shoulder and sprinting outside.

The crew burst out of the tunnels after her and Talia squinted as sunlight pierced her eyes. They quickly adjusted, and found they were running through a concrete yard full of scrap metal and old pikes. To their left, a wing of the complex stretched outward like an impenetrable wall. To their right, a maze of massive storage containers from a bygone age. As they wove between the scrap, she could see far ahead an open gate leading out into the city. Their escape route.

"Our way is clear!" Daydra shouted. "Everyone on your sparrows now!"

"Reeki!" Talia called, and her trusty companion appeared in her hand. "C-c-coming right up!"

Suddenly a sparrow materialized between her legs and she grabbed the handle bars as they appeared, settling into driving position. "Cayde, get on!"

"Yes ma'am!" he said enthusiastically, hopping on behind her and holding her waist. "Now's probably not the best time to bring this up, but be careful driving. Sometimes I get motion siiii-!" he cut off as Talia suddenly hit the gas and they catapulted forward towards the gate. The others followed her lead, Torres on Daydra's back and Vespa on Shiro's.

The group sped forward without a single Fallen in sight. They were about to reach the gate, when a new voice crackled to life on their comms. "There you are."

A chill went down Talia's spine as she recognized the raspy voice of Talsiks. She felt Cayde's grip tighten around her.

"Did he hack our comms?" he said.

Suddenly there was a light in the sky as an enormous object catapulted down from the Ketch above and crashed into the earth between them and the exit. It was a towering, bulky, robotic machine with mounted guns. A terrifying groaning sound emitted from the weapon not unlike a servitor.

Talsiks laughed in their feed. "I'm glad we found you. This is the perfect time to test out my new Brig prototype. Let's see how you do against raw firepower and a near unbreachable hull!"

The crew skidded to a halt before the gigantic war machine and Talia cursed, looking around frantically for an alternate route. There. The storage containers. Perhaps they could lose this thing in the maze. "Follow me!" she exclaimed.

In a moment she was jettisoning off again to the right, the others close behind her. The Brig groaned and began emitting a whirring sound, like something was charging up. Sure enough, the thing rose from the ground with rocket-propelled feet and began spinning its guns. It fired, and high caliber bullets rained down on them just as they reached the containers. Desperately trying to evade its hailfire, the crew wove between the huge boxes of metal. Torres cried out as one of the bullets found his mark. He nearly fell from Daydra's sparrow, but the veteran caught him and held him on as his ghost healed him.

Talia gritted her teeth. For a moment it felt like they might actually survive this development. Then came the missiles. A compartment on the machine's shoulder opened up and rockets came shooting out towards them. The resulting explosions were massive and so close Talia could feel the wind and heat. One of them hit a container just to her left, sending it flying into the air above her. "Look out!" she screamed, then banked hard to the right. Her sparrow ground against another container as the one in the air crashed immediately to her left. With only inches of space to spare, she threaded the needle and made it past with the others following her lead.

Cayde cursed. "We won't make it out like this. We need to create a way out!"

"How the hell do we do that?!"

Cayde smiled as he saw an enormous crane looming over the containers just ahead. "Leave that to me."

In a daring move, Cayde held onto her shoulder and leapt up so he was standing on the back end of the vehicle like a surfboard. Then he thrust his Ace of Spades into the air, activating his Golden Gun and becoming engulfed in fire. He took just a moment to aim, then fired three shots. All of them hit the base of the crane and bore through its supports like a knife through butter. The whole thing collapsed over the containers in front of them, kicking up a lot of smoke and dust. "Now ride the wreckage up over the containers!"

She could see what he meant now. The length of the crane wreckage was like a huge ramp. "This way!" she shouted to the others, driving her sparrow up the crane.

They followed in a line, careful not to go barreling off its edges, until at last they climbed over the top of the containers and the fence surrounding the service yard. At the end of the crane, they catapulted off and fell into the middle of a nearby city street. The landing was hard, but the anti-gravity boosters underneath prevented any damage to the sparrows. They revved their engines and sped away into the city.

Vespa whooped with joy. "Now that was badass!"

Another groaning sound came from behind them and Talia dared a brief glance back to see the Brig accelerate into the air and then teleport away from view. She turned her attention back to the road and grimaced. "This isn't over."

As if on cue, a roaring band of pikes suddenly appeared at the next intersection in an attempt to intercept. Talia yelped in surprise and had no choice but to veer left as they were suddenly assaulted by arcfire. The Fallen on the pikes let out shrill battlecries as they began their pursuit.

Cayde yelled obscenities at them as he unloaded his Ace into the nearest one, causing it to smoke until the last bullet pierced the pike's windshield and took off the driver's head, causing the vehicle to crash in a fiery explosion.

Daydra pulled up next to Talia. "I'm going to have Torres drop void grenades to slow them down! Let Shiro take the lead from here, he's got the maps on hand!"

"Understood!" she shouted back, falling into the middle of the pack as Shiro and Vespa moved ahead of her, taking several rapid turns as they navigated the wrecked streets. Behind them, Torres generated grenade after grenade and chucked them towards the enemy. Some managed to evade, but one pike hit a grenade dead on. The energy was catastrophic to the vehicle, both damaging the hull and vaporizing the driver. The pike dropped to the ground and flipped over before skidding to a stop. Another dreg was riding its pike a little too close to the detonation of one of Torres' grenades and got sucked off its vehicle from the inverted force of the blast. The driver was vaporized and the pike skidded out of control, eventually plowing into an ancient skyscraper and exploding.

The crew followed Shiro onto an access ramp and onto a large highway. Talia's heart beat even faster. This road led out of the city. She could see the way out ahead.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The voice of Talsiks on their comms again struck her like a bat to the head, and it only got worse as the Brig returned, dropping from the sky into the middle of the highway, once again blocking their path. It fired a volley of superheated lasers and they took evasive action. The heat tore up the road where they just were, causing more of the pikes to crash.

"Damnit!" Shiro exclaimed. "We have no choice. Everyone to the access road!"

Talsiks laughed in their ears as the crew followed Shiro on their sparrows over a guardrail and down onto a lower access road, leading to a different part of the city.

"Shiro!" Daydra called. "This leads to-"

"I know! If you have any other bright ideas, I'd love to hear them!"

Talia turned to Cayde at her back. "What are they talking about?!"

But he didn't have to answer. As they followed the road, it swerved and became more broken up. The ride turned bumpy and Talia's eyes widened as she recognized the buildings they were passing. "No…"

A few pikes continued to chase them down. One peeled out of alley as they passed, ramming into Shiro and Vespa. Shiro managed to keep the vehicle steady, while Vespa lifted her great hammer and smashed the pike's hood so hard it did a flip and crashed. Cayde continued to fire behind them. His excellent aim came in handy as another driver was shot in the head and the pike crashed and burned. For the last pike, he deployed a grenade of his own in the form of a tripmine. He set the charge, dropped it on the road, and waited for the pike to drive over the laser. When it did, the tripmine detonated and the vehicle exploded.

Now briefly free of pursuers, Talia tried to catch up with Shiro to see if he could calculate a new route, but was shocked when he suddenly skidded to a stop on his sparrow. To avoid hitting him. She swerved and also hit the brakes.

Daydra did the same, and leaned over the bike to see better. "Shiro! Why did you- oh."

Talia followed his gaze and her breath caught in her throat when she saw it. Further up the way, the entire road was blocked by an enormous wall of green soulfire. And before the wall, a monstrous form waited for them with sword in hand.

The Lightstalker smiled with wicked sharp teeth, and raised its great cleaver into the air. Then it unleashed a deafening roar so powerful it made their spines quiver. Its aura of Darkness expanded in an instant and once again Talia felt a heavy sense of dread hit her like a truck. No, she thought, why here? Why now?

Behind them there was a sudden crash as the Brig returned once more from the sky, trapping them between it and the otherworldly beast from hell.

"Cunning bastard," said Cayde. "Talsiks knew he couldn't beat us himself, so he drove us to someone that can and trapped us here. Really too smart for his own good."

Terror gripped Talia. "Wh-what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do," said Daydra, dismounting his sparrow. "What we always do. Fight with all we have."

"Aye!" Vespa exclaimed. "You guys can have the machine. This one's head is mine," she said, raising her hammer towards the Lightstalker. The monster cocked its head as it recognized her, most likely wondering how she was still alive. Its three burning eyes squinted and it lowered its sword towards her in return.

"Are you sure?" said Daydra. "It nearly ended you for good last time."

"And we both learned from it," said Vespa. "Now it's my turn to pull a trump card." In her free hand, a beautiful, ornamented helmet appeared with wings on the side. "The Loreley was specially made by the Sunbreakers for one purpose: to be the last one standing…" She placed the helmet over her head. "...at any cost."

Daydra breathed out, clearly stressed about the situation, but respected her confidence. "Very well. Good luck, soldier." He turned to the rest of them. "Form up. The Brig is ours to handle."

Talia didn't like sending Vespa off on her own again, but something was different this time. With the helmet on, she seemed more radiant. Unkillable. She decided to trust Vespa's judgment and grabbed explosive arrows from her quiver, searching the Brig's armor for weaknesses.

Exuding confidence and an aura of unbreakable will, Vespa walked out to meet the Wicked Knight. It laughed as she approached, and she grinned in return. Pooling all the power within her, she exploded with solar energy and raised her warhammer in declaration of war. "Your head belongs to me, hellspawn! Whaddya say we go another round?."

Then, in an evil, rocky voice that shocked all who could hear it, the monster responded.

"By the Sword Logic, I accept."