Subaru stood silent as the headquarters of the Vanguard remained active and bustling, his eyes watching the movements of Commander Zavala as he read over a report. Subaru tapped his foot and scratched his chin, eyes looking around to pass the time. To his right silently stood Nivá, arms crossed below her chest, and her ghost covered in a gray and purple shell hovered over her shoulder. To his left was Alejandro, casually tossing a knife up and down as Sancho watched him. His ghost floated right above his left shoulder, Ghost's shell rotating and shifting as he murmured.
It felt like it would take forever; that time would stretch on and on. That Subaru would remain stuck there waiting, but relief came as Zavala placed down the data pad, and his firm gaze looked upon him.
"Your mission on the moon has proven invaluable; Ikora and our top experts are already analyzing the data you were able to obtain," Zavala spoke with a firm but subtly proud tone, his lips holding a faint smile.
"Thank you, Commander, we aim to do the best," Alejandro answered as he managed to land the knife back into a strap on his chest, "I got a top team here and a good warlock," Subaru smiled at the praise and scratched the back of his head, "Though he does need some work, maybe more than he thinks."
Zavala's gaze focused on Subaru, "Indeed," He bluntly said as Subaru began to step back and look away; he hid away an embarrassed blush, "Moving on, I have another mission for you," Subaru's head perked up. His eyes fell back on Zavala.
"Another mission so soon; don't we get breaks?" Subaru spoke aloud, only to realize his fireteam and the Titan Vanguard stared at him silently. Even his ghost had joined in. He sheepishly chuckled and stepped back, "Uh, I mean, I am down for another job."
After the momentary distraction, Zavala continued where he left off, "We sent in a scouting team into the cosmodrome to observe the conflict between the Hive and the House of Devils," Zavala pressed both hands onto the table, leaning forward, "We've lost contact with the team unfortunately, but they were able to send us vital information," the Titan Vanguard moved his left hand over to a small panel built into the table, and pressed a button.
An orange projection appeared in the middle of the table, and 3D model images of the cosmodrome displayed the surface while highlighting several new structures across the layout in red.
"The House of Devils have fortified their grip on the cosmodrome," The model zoomed in, displaying one of the structures; it looked like a Fallen walker tank but only bigger, buried partially into the ground surrounded by platforms and most importantly, a larger gun aimed upwards, "They've begun to build fortifications, such as these artillery guns to begin hammering back the Hive."
"Mmm, big guns. Must be serious about pushing the Hive back, but this doesn't look vital to me," Alejandro commented, "If they are slinging artillery, then they would've leveled the whole place, so… The Fallen found something, didn't they?"
"You are correct," Zavala calmly answered as he tapped the button, pushing the image of the artillery gun to the side and bringing up a screen with a single straight line, "Not long after we received the information, the fireteam sent us a message before we lost contact, but we were only able to get a portion of it the rest of the message was fragmented," He tapped the button again.
"Commander Zavala, the Fallen have been building artillery guns across the cosmodrome and increasing troop movement. they are serious about fighting Hive, and they've managed to quarantine them to the Skywatch," The recording paused for a moment before continuing, "But that's not the only thing my fireteam has discovered," there is another brief pause, "Another squad…." The recording falls silent.
Subaru noted the caution in the speaker's voice, and he couldn't help but feel that whoever had sent the message was no longer amongst the living.
The recording continued, "The Fallen have been tearing up the cosmodrome not just to drive out the Hive," The recording began to break up, "B.t Their l.o…g for …... We weren't …. What at ….. But .. Managed to find … ….. Hacking …. ….. Systems." Another brief pause, "Lost …. Her ….. Was ….n Out. Commander. The Fallen h..v. Found t.e w.r…d .a…in I repeat. ….n Found ..r.i.d Send backup immediately!" The last bit of the message held a more panicked tone as gunfire played out before the message finally ended.
No one spoke for a minute; it was when Zavala spoke up with a subdued expression that the conversation continued, "Guardians, I need you to find out exactly what the House of Devils is up to and what they found, and if you can return our missing fireteam. Either intact or what remains," The look in his eyes was distant as he lowered his head and sighed before he closed them, opened them, and looked back at the fireteam, "Understood?"
Subaru glanced at his teammates, then back to Zavala, "What about the Hive in the area?" He curiously asked.
"They are a secondary priority; eliminate them if they get in the way." Zavala answered, "Do not pursue them into territory they hold; we don't need more Lost Lights. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Commander!" The trio spoke in unison, Subaru saluting the Titan Vanguard, who subtly smiled back at the New Light.
"Good," Zavala said as he turned around, facing away from the fireteam, "Get out there and make the Last City a safer place!"
With that said, Subaru and company headed out of the room; once in the courtyard, Alejandro spoke up, stepping past Subaru and Nivá, "You guys head to the hangar; I need to pick up gear from Banshee."
"Oh? What are you getting?" Subaru asked curiously, stopping to look over in the direction of the Tower's Gunsmith.
"Guns, I had a request put in a while ago for a rifle, and Banshee finally got it done anyway. I won't take long," Alejandro answered as he threw his hands up behind his head and began to walk off, humming to himself.
Subaru sighed, turning his attention away from Alejandro, "So, Nivá, how are you doing-" Nivá had already begun to walk off. Subaru clicked his tongue, and speed walked to catch up, "Sooooo-"
"No," Nivá bluntly interrupted, not even glancing in Subaru's direction.
Subaru sighed and kept pace with Nivá, his eyes on his 'teammate'; this was the first time he had seen Nivá's face. Predictably, as an Exo, it lacked many qualities an Awoken or Human would have: skin, hair, and a nose. What made up for skin was her grey metal coloration with a secondary highlighting purple. But overall, Nivá's face retained the human shape and the main features associated with people. He wouldn't say Nivá was ugly; she had a womanly appeal. One could tell just from a glance the metal that made up her body was shaped to make her look like a woman. The pieces that made up her 'lips' looked soft, and her eyes, while mechanical, held a faint purple glow to them, contrasting her usually stern or monotone expression. Subaru coughed into his hand, "What do you think the Fallen found?"
"Mmm," Nivá's expression shifted, her eyes narrowing. She was deep in thought, "Probably Golden Age technology," She answered after a minute.
The two turned down the hallway leading into the Tower's hangar bay; Subaru gave a slight wave to Amanda Holiday as they passed by her, "Well, what exactly could they have found?" He didn't know much about the Golden Age. All he knew was that it was Humanity's pinnacle before the collapse and that today's world was a stark echo of what was.
"Weapons, most likely," Nivá bluntly answered as she made her way onto the main floor of the hangar bay, heading straight for her ship.
Subaru sighed and kept by her side; he kept trying to make small talk, "Hey, you know we're teammates now. Maybe we should get to know each other better?" Nivá stopped just before her ship and spun around, facing Subaru with an unamused expression.
"No."
Subaru's shoulders tensed up, and he raised his hands in exasperation, "Well, then, what's the point? We're on the same team, and we have to work together! Isn't it our job to work together and protect humanity?"
Nivá placed hands on her hips, her expression unchanging, "Yes, but I refuse to work with you," Her voice held slight hostilities, eyes narrowing, "I am, however, forced to work with you in my proximity because the Speaker demands it, had he not I would not be here with you."
A slight twitch worked its way across Subaru's lips, his expression shifting, "Well, Alejandro seems to like working with me, as far as I can tell," He added the last part quietly.
The Exo rolled her eyes and sighed, "Alejandro likes most people. He is easygoing. There is nothing special there; it is like how a dog likes humans."
"You… seriously?" Subaru stepped back and kicked the air, frustrated sighs leaving his lips as he looked back at Nivá and attempted to say anything before dropping it and heading for his ship. He soon found himself in his seat, sitting quietly and in contemplation; Ghost appeared above his head and floated into his line of sight.
"You know, I thought you were making progress," Ghost said supportively, earning a faint smile from Subaru.
It was hard to deny that Ghost was anything but endearing, even if he got a little annoying and persistent. It was hard to be mad at the little guy, generally.
"Thanks, I am trying," Subaru opened his left hand, smiling at his ghost, "So, how do you think I am doing now?"
Ghost floated and rested in the open palm, "I think you are doing fine, much better than before," Ghost admitted, its singular eye staring back unwavering, "You've got some rough spots, are certainly death and injury prone, but if you continue to train and work with Alejandro I am certain you'll be a better fighter. Though I will admit, you should work on your social skills."
Subaru appreciated the honesty, though he briefly winced at part of the answer. It hurt just a little to hear it, though, "Well, I suppose you aren't wrong."
Ghost floated out of the palm and up to Subaru's face, nudging him ever so slightly in the cheek, before drifting back his shell, rotating, "Hey, we all make mistakes; I certainly remember making people angry. It's all a part of life, learning, moving on. Growing as a person."
"You sound like the Speaker," Snorted Subaru, "I am starting to think you're a wise old man, hmmm."
"Thank you for noticing my wisdom; I am very wise; I am glad you can recognize it…" His partner sputtered at the description, his shell expanding, "Old man?" Ghost glared at Subaru.
A smirk worked across Subaru's lips, "Yeah, you heard me. You're an old, wise old man teaching his young student."
It was fun to tease Ghost.
Ghost groaned, his eye rolling back, "I am not old! I can't even age!"
Subaru's smirk grew into a cheeky grin; he leaned back into his seat and seized the chance to continue messing with his ghost, "Sure, sure. Then, explain why everyone says wisdom comes with age. Besides, how long have you been around for?"
Silently floating, Ghost processed his response, his eye flicking around before staring back at Subaru, "I- That's just a phrase! Not every old person is wise! And I've been around for a long time... Since the Dark Ages, at the very least."
"Uh huh, so you're old then. Plus, you said not every person. Meaning some old people are wise," Once more, Subaru countered smugly with a shit-eating grin, "Don't you feel baffled? Don't you feel silly? Don't you feel stupid?"
A deep electronic sigh flowed from Ghost, who floated back and his one eye closed shut for a moment before opening, "Oh, would you look at that!" The ship's systems came to life; Ghost floated up to a console, "The ship is on."
Subaru's eyes widened, a little sweat beading down his face, "You wouldn't dare…"
Ghost turned around, and Subaru swore that despite not having a mouth, Ghost was grinning, "Try me."
"Don't you dare," Subaru spoke in a strained tone.
Ghost turned back to face the console, readouts for a location appearing, "Would you look at that, silly old me, put in the wrong coordinates," He paused before adding in a mockingly shocked tone, "Gasp, we'd go straight into the ground in the middle of nowhere! I'd have to course correct so fast that the G's would quite possibly snap your neck."
Subaru's face was dripping with sweat, "Don't you-"
"Take it back," Ghost bluntly interrupted.
Subaru clicked his tongue and sighed, "Fine, you're not old! Now, please don't ruin the only ship we have!"
An amused chuckle escaped from Ghost; the coordinates were purged from the system. Ghost turned around and floated up to Subaru's face, "Thank you."
A small beep came from the comms, from Alejandro, signaling that he had finished up his business and was ready to go.
"Well, break time is over; time to get back to work," Subaru said with a heavy sigh; he set about preparing for take off.
The Arcadia class jumpship engines roared as its landing gears retracted, and it hovered above the ground. It sat behind Alejandro's and Nivá ships in positioning, waiting for each to leave before finally leaving the Tower's hanger, racing through the sky and heading for the cosmodrome.
"I wouldn't have crashed us into the ground. You know that, right?"
"I know. You cheeky old bastard."
"Hey! It's a young cheeky bastard to you, mister!"
"Just what an old man would say. Real dad energy their partner."
/.\./.\
Subaru's jumpship raced through the sky, weaving through the air with grace as it stayed in a V formation with the rest of his fireteam, "Sancho and I have identified a location for us to land, normally we'd be landing in the cosmodrome. But, because the Fallen and Hive are so intensely fighting, we'd get shot down either in the crossfire, or they'd both focus on us," Alejandro explained over comms.
"So instead of being obliterated in the middle of a hot zone between the Fallen and Hive, we're going to sneak in by crossing the big ass wall."
Subaru nodded his head, his mind thinking for a bit before it snapped into place, "Oh, and you should be good at that then."
"What!" Alejandro shouted, surprised over the comms, before he began to laugh.
"Oh, my god," Nivá sighed deeply, drowning out the laughter erupting from Alejandro's end.
Subaru's brows furrowed as he heard his ghost muttering; seemingly mortified and confused, he added, "You're a hunter. You can double jump."
"Oh," Alejandro spoke curiously.
"Oh?" Subaru answered back.
"I thought you were saying that 'cause I'm Mexican," Alejandro said with a laugh, an audible slap of his knee echoing over comms, "Damn, amigo, you almost got me there."
Subaru's brows furrowed deeply, "I don't get it. What does being Mexican have anything to do with it?" Nothing but confusion.
All Subaru received in return was a laugh and an answer to brush it off, "Don't worry about it. We'll tell you when you're older."
Confusion sowed further in Subaru's brain, he mumbled to himself, trying to piece together what was happening. He confusedly responded, "I'm pretty sure I'm eighteen or nineteen?"
Alejandro responded with a snort, "Yeah, and next week you'll be older, see? We'll tell you when you're older."
"Idiots surround me," Nivá snidely interjected.
"You love us regardless, Nivá," Alejandro chuckled.
Subaru sat there, still thoroughly confused. He remained so for a good portion of the journey to the cosmodrome; eventually, he and his fireteam would descend in their ships, soaring through the sky and pulling up as they slowed their descent, allowing the team to transmat onto the snow-covered ground as their ships ascended back to orbit on autopilot.
The outside of the cosmodrome was still desolate, a graveyard of cars resting on hard brown soil partially covered by snow in some areas. It wasn't a pretty sight, but lacked the Fallen or Hive shooting them. So, to Subaru, it was an improvement.
Subaru stared at the wall of the cosmodrome and then looked around at the graveyard of cars. He hadn't returned to this area in a while since his revival. The thought of returning hadn't crossed his mind, but now that he was here. There was a bit of curiosity to look around to see if there was anything from his past that he may have missed upon his resurrection.
"You good?" Subaru jumped as someone spoke to him from behind. He turned his head to see it was Alejandro, "A little jumpy, eh?"
He stared wide-eyed at Alejandro and shook his head a moment after, "Oh, Yeah, I'm fine… Just a little caught up," Subaru explained; he was glad his helmet prevented his face from being shown.
"Caught up?" Alejandro strode past Subaru and hopped onto the hood of a rusted-out car, "In the middle of this quiet graveyard?" He made a broad sweeping gesture before he looked down at Subaru, "Seriously?"
Subaru clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his neck, "Alright, I guess. It's a bit more complicated than that?"
The hunter crossed his arms and tilted his head, "Try me, amigo," Alejandro's foot impatiently tapped the rusted metal.
"Well, this is where I died, I guess," Subaru sighed and looked down and kicked at the snow, "This is where I was revived too; I don't know, I just…" He paused, shifting around and observing their surroundings before looking back to Alejandro, "You ever feel like there must be some connection to your past, where you wake up for the first time?"
"Ah, it's that feeling," Alejandro nodded in understanding before he rested his arms at his side, "I get that. I felt that way too when I first woke up," Alejandro jumped off the car's roof, landing next to Subaru, "You're not alone in that feeling; most guardians feel that way about their past at first, amigo. But we're in the here in now, and we got a job," He placed a firm hand on the warlock's shoulder, giving it a pat, "Now come on, get that headspace together, and let's kill ourselves some dirty gringos."
"Thanks," Subaru said softly before the two headed forward, catching up with Nivá, who waited at the wall.
It was a retracing of steps for Subaru, passing through the path he once took upon his first day out of the grave. He didn't give the environment much mind as he retreaded ground with his fireteam, and it wasn't long until they made it into the open lands of the cosmodrome. The echoing sound of artillery fire rushed over their position, followed by distant booms. The skies over the cosmodrome were filled with Fallen skiffs and what could only be some form of Hive craft duking it out by taking potshots at each other.
War consumed the skies of the cosmodrome!
The fireteam continued forward without resistance on the ground; the most intense fighting was concentrated in the immediate area above the Skywatch.
As the fireteam exited the ruins of a building and came out onto the steppes within the cosmodrome, they would spot almost immediately an artillery gun tucked away to the far right next to the building Subaru had entered to find the location of his NLS drive.
A sizable force of Fallen guarded the large artillery piece, some on an upper platform built around the giant gun while others patrolled around ramshackle defenses utilizing the metal containers and the hull of the van that had once been there. There were two captains, five vandals, and dregs and shanks, ten of each.
"There's our artillery gun, one giant firework for us to set off. I hope they don't mind us lighting it," Alejandro said with a chuckle, nudging Subaru to the side before he materialized a sleek black sniper rifle with red accents into his hand, "Then again, we're not exactly leaving anyone to ask."
"Fancy," Subaru commented, his eyes staring intensely at the finely crafted sniper rifle. It was longer than one of his arms.
Alejandro seemed to notice, "You like?" He presented the rifle to Subaru.
Subaru nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty high quality; where did you get it?" He reached his hand out, feeling the smooth length of the rifle. His eyes examined the details of the sniper rifle, noticing a small arch-like symbol engraved into the rifle's length.
"Banshee, but being more specific, I happen to come across some high-quality parts. Figured I'd ask the old gunsmith if he could put something together."
Subaru nodded and continued to feel along the rifle, "Where did you find the parts?" Subaru wondered what sort of firepower that gun was packing and if Banshee could make him one if he found the parts.
Alejandro casually raised his shoulders, "Scavenging," He paused briefly, checking his magazine cartridge, the same arch symbol engraved into it, "Dug around a lot of old bunkers to find this stuff, nasty security systems."
Subaru softly nodded his head; his curiosity peaked; however, he wouldn't be able to follow up with his next question.
As Nivá moved past them, interrupting Subaru's train of thought, "It's wonderful that you two can bond, but less sidetracking and more focused on the mission," She glanced back before jumping down to the ground below, "Let's get moving."
"Well, she wasn't wrong, amigo," Alejandro chuckled as he pulled the bolt back on his sniper rifle, "Now, let's see what this baby could do!"
Subaru gave a subtle nod and checked his Khvostov before pulling the charging handle back and letting go; he was ready to fight and protect humanity.
Alejandro provided covering fire from his elevated position on cargo containers while Nivá charged head first into the defenses, bum-rushing through the unfortunate dreg or shank that got in her way.
Subaru followed up behind Nivá's charge; the confused dregs' attention on Nivá allowed him to place well-aimed shots at them. His bullets ripped through their armor, ether escaping from their bodies in a hiss, while Alejandro's sniper rounds penetrated the captains' shields on the elevated platform.
The popping of shields caught Subaru's attention. He quickly threw a void grenade toward one of the vulnerable captains. An explosion followed soon after, but Subaru never saw the aftermath as he ducked below an incoming blade. One of the vandals had engaged him, and just as quickly as he ducked, he went in for a punch to the gut. The vandal jumped back clutching its stomach.
Subaru seized the chance and aimed for the head, several rounds smacking into his helmet, blowing holes through it and sending cracks before it fell over dead. Subaru noticed a red bar on his motion tracker in the corner of his HUD. But just as he spun around, a loud crack filled the air, and the Fallen that had attempted to attack him was on the ground, dead and without a head. He glanced at Alejandro's position, giving a quick thumbs-up before returning to the firefight.
The fight persisted for a few more minutes, but the dust eventually settled. Subaru, Nivá, and Alejandro stood on the platform; Nivá was busy tossing the dead captains off while Subaru and Alejandro examined the artillery gun.
Subaru had no idea what he was looking for, and he hadn't the faintest clue where to begin to turn the gun off or where it'd be easiest to damage the damn thing. Ghost had floated off examining the nearby console with Sancho, the two working diligently at the Fallen's systems. Subaru glanced at Alejandro, "Got any idea how we're gonna do this?"
Alejandro leaned against the railing, arms crossed as he bobbed his head side to side, "Sancho, any off switch in that console?"
"No, this gun is part of a connected firing system; we'd need to find the main control station, and the Fallen are smart enough to keep that hidden," Answered Sancho, not even bothering to look away from the console he worked at.
Alejandro looked at Subaru and shrugged, "I guess we're gonna have to do this the Nivá way," His head snapped over to Nivá, who was tossing the last body off the platform, "You're up," Her head swung over to their direction and then over to the artillery gun.
Subaru raised a brow at the statement. Nivá way? Nivá walked up to the artillery gun, looking it up and down, hands running along its metal surface. Whatever plan was being employed sounded awful- Subaru didn't process the thought further. Instead, his eyes widened as he saw Nivá punch straight into the hull of the gun.
Nivá's fist remained lodged in the gun, her head glancing up as she violently brought it upward, tearing through wirings and metal easily, and then pulled it out before stepping back. The artillery gun shook and heaved metal, groaning loudly before a series of explosions erupted from within; panels flew off from the force of explosions, one soaring right by Subaru, barely hitting him, "Scratch one artillery gun," Alejandro proclaimed happily.
"Could've warned me that was the plan," Subaru spoke with a bit of exasperation escaping; Alejandro merely shrugged it off.
"Eh, you're fine, don't be a baby," Alejandro stepped towards the console, passing Subaru, giving a brief slap on the shoulder, "Now let's see what our ghosts have found."
Subaru rubbed his shoulder and followed Alejandro.
"Strange, it looks like the Fallen have been trying to gain access to various parts of the cosmodrome network, but it seems like something is preventing that," Ghost sighed and pressed further into his investigation, scanning the systems further, "This terminal isn't the only one of its kind, It's connected to other various terminals, all of them acting like amplifiers… Hmmm, curious there's some sort of transmission here too."
The terminal shuddered briefly, the screen shutting off, "Uh, was it supposed to do that?" Subaru cautiously asked before jumping back as the terminal loudly kicked back on, this time with music playing from the device, albeit distorted.
"Strange, that… I recognize… Russian in there?" Nivá commented quietly.
Alejandro shrugged at Nivá and glanced at Ghost, "Anything concerning our missing fireteam?"
"Hmm, let's see. Ah-hah! There's a report here about a guardian fireteam sighting in the area, followed by a report saying they were headed towards the Forgotten Shore; other than that, this terminal doesn't have much else to offer."
"We'll have to check the other ones then," Nivá stated as she cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, "Whatever they are doing, it isn't good."
"Agreed, but are they planning to use it on us or the Hive?"
"Does it matter?"
Alejandro leaned back against the hull of the artillery gun, "Yeah, it matters; we can't let the Fallen have an advantage. As much as I would love to have those Hive gringos dead and off our planet, we can't, however, let the Fallen, let alone the Devils get an advantage over anyone. We're not going to have another Twilight Gap happen."
It took a lot of energy not to ask another off-handed question; Subaru bit down on his lip, chewing it as he gave a polite nod, simply agreeing with Alejandro for now. He turned his attention to his ghost, "Where's the next terminal located?"
Ghost floated to Subaru's shoulder before disappearing. His voice picked up over comms, "Just north of here, in the Mothyards, where we met up with Alejandro and Nivá last time."
Subaru winced at the fresh memory and whispered faintly, "Yay."
A waypoint appeared on Subaru's hud, and he summoned his Sparrow and hopped onto the vehicle, Nivá and Alejandro following suit. The fireteam progressed further into the cosmodrome, Sparrows racing past dead Fallen and Hive as they entered the Mothyards. Following the waypoint, Subaru held a right, passing right by the artillery gun as it fired another round; the thundering boom that followed shook Subaru as he held onto his Sparrow.
The artillery gun was set up next to the remains of a large plane, using the slight elevation difference to place more defenses on the platform itself. Subaru didn't get a long look at the enemy's composition as the wiring sound of a shank came in from his right.
"FUCK-" The following explosion consumed him, his sparrow. Hot shrapnel passed through his body as the heat ate away at his armor and skin. He was airborne for a moment before his body smacked into the rust-covered hull of a plane, his body sliding down head first. Despite that, he was still barely alive, in massive amounts of pain, unable to move, and everything was upside down.
He wasn't sure if he was lucky or unlucky; however, Subaru was sure he was starting to despise the Fallen shanks. Ghost appeared above him, looking down at him, "Let's get you back in the fight, partner," Ghost spoke as he began to stitch together those wounds with the Light.
It didn't take long for Subaru to get back up, a little disoriented and worse for wear. However, he was far from out of the ballpark. As his bearings returned, more Fallen shanks, around ten of them, headed his way. All strapped with explosives secured by netting.
Subaru briefly wondered if the universe was out to get him, that it had some blasted slight against him for merely existing. And that it manifested itself through shanks strapped with explosives. He jumped into the air, gliding over the Fallen machines, dropping a void grenade as he passed.
The grenade detonated right as it hit the first shank, creating a chain reaction that took out the rest. Shrapnel sent flying heated bits and pieces scraping by Subaru, earning a slight hiss, but the pain faded as the light slowly stitched the minor cuts away.
Landing back on the ground, Subaru looked back at the burned-out remains of the shanks, dusted off his shoulder, and smiled, "I think I am getting the hang of this," His attention then snapped back to the fight on the artillery gun, just in time to see the last Fallen combatant collapsing to the ground beaten, dead.
"Sorry, Nivá didn't save any for you," Alejandro chimed in over comms, a slightly annoyed frown crossed Subaru's lips. Subaru sighed and shook his head before heading over to the weapons platform.
Like the last artillery gun, Nivá was quick to damage the thing and send it exploding; thankfully more prepared this time, Subaru avoided any near misses from the flung panels acting as deadly shrapnel.
"I am surprised the Fallen aren't sending reinforcements," Sancho chimed in as he examined the machinery that made up the artillery cannon,
"They likely haven't detected us, anyways, Sancho! I need your help here!"
"Why doesn't your ghost help?"
Nivá's hands remained firmly on her shotgun, her gaze ever watchful on their surroundings. "Eh, my ghost, she is more reserved and well… Sancho has always proven to be capable, and with now yours," Nivá paused, letting Subaru put it all together in his head.
Who in turn looked at Nivá, eyes confused for a second before they opened up in realization, "Ah, I see. No real reason to come out then."
"Dah."
"Hey Nivá, I am curious where your accent comes from. And as an Exo, what even is your ethnicity? I know Alejandro is a Mexican Awoken or Awoken Mexican. Well, you know what I meant," He still needed clarity on that with Alejandro; was he a child of an Awoken and a Mexican? Or was it because his family adopted him as a newly revived guardian that Alejandro considered himself Mexican? It was a very useless thought that took up space in Subaru's brain, but he really couldn't help but ask.
He wasn't racist or anything; he simply wanted to know more.
"Are you really asking this now?" Nivá looked over her shoulder and back at the gathered trio standing around the terminal, talking over each other and messing about with the Fallen system, "Shouldn't you be helping nerds with the terminal?"
It took a moment for Subaru to speak, "Eh, three is already a crowd enough; any more after that, I think I'd lose my sanity. I don't even know what they are talking about, to begin with," The outright admittance caused Nivá to shift her expression to one more full of curiosity momentarily; it quickly faded back to her typical indifference.
"Ugh," Nivá sighed with clear annoyance, "I suppose if you must know. My name is Slavic in origin, Belarusian, to be specific. I am familiar with mainline Cyrillic writing and language, but like many in the Last City, I primarily speak English, might I add fluently," She added the last part with a hint of pride.
Subaru simply nodded, ensuring to commit that information to memory; he smiled underneath his helmet. The slow progress of getting to know his teammates were working, "How long have you been around for?" His eyes scanned the environment for any potential Fallen.
He hoped that wasn't pressing his luck with the titan. Nivá stood silently for a moment; he heard her leaning off to the side and her foot tapping against the ground. A moment later, she answered, "Long time, longer than Alejandro."
"How long is that between you two?" Subaru pressed a bit further.
"Eh, a little over two centuries. You'll tend not to care about that as you get older; however, if you want to be as close to answering, Alejandro is about a little over a hundred; add twenty years or so," Nivá glanced back towards Alejandro, "You ask a lot of questions."
"Y-yeah. Is that a bad thing?" He shuffled away from Nivá. A deep-seated part of Subaru found his cluelessness and inquisitive desire to be rather grating, so he wanted to do his best to avoid a fist to the face.
Nivá shrugged, "Meh, It could be worse. You are not the weirdest guardian to be revived."
Subaru perked up at the statement; he closed the distance between them, "Oh, that's good," At the very least, he wasn't super weird for those two traits.
"I should remind you, I am forced to work with you in my proximity, and this is merely part of my duties," Nivá added with a thick layer of salt.
Another question formed in the back of Subaru's head, but he put it aside for now. He would've stood guard with Nivá, but the sudden loud yelp from behind had him turning his attention back to the gathered group around the terminal, "Are you okay?" He saw his ghost a bit closer to the ground, shaking his shell while Alejandro stood on standby.
Ghost groaned and flew up to Subaru, ignoring the question, "We just bypassed a few security protocols the Fallen left behind. But there definitely is something in the system fighting back. A little snappy if you ask me."
Subaru raised a brow, "Fighting back? Are you okay?" He held his palm out, letting Ghost rest on it.
"Yeah, just a little shocked. I didn't expect it to do that," Ghost answered calmly, if only slightly annoyed.
Alejandro coughed in his hand, drawing Subaru's attention, "Sancho, mind explaining," He gestured to his ghost.
"Thank you," Sancho did a little bob towards Alejandro before his eye focused on the group, "We found out where our Guardians went," Sancho explained rather dryly, "They went deeper into the Skywatch, towards the cosmodromes array."
Nivá piped up, "What did they want there?"
"No idea," Sancho flew towards Alejandro before turning back to the group, "They went through the Forgotten Shore, hopefully, we can find something there. In other news, there's an artillery gun to destroy and another terminal we can look into about this transmission."
Subaru silently nodded as Ghost disappeared, and the fireteam set out again, passing through the passageway between the Mothyards and Forgotten Shore. As they came out on the other side, Subaru noticed that the Forgotten Shore was a little different; he could tell there was a definite decrease in the water levels in the area, and the only reason was because of the ship wreckages strewn about the area.
A clear sign of the tides receding in the area and a decrease in the amount of water; part of him wondered what the cosmodrome looked like back before in the Golden Age.
Dismounting his Sparrow at a nearby ship wreckage, he leaned against the rusted-out metal cabin and looked down at the crouched Alejandro, who had his sniper rifle rested against the rusted railings of the ship, "What exactly are you seeing?" The location of the next artillery gun was by the ruins of an old collapsed building up on a small hill overlooking the shoreline.
"More of the same, but they're on guard, which means they just figured out we're here, or they got spooked by something else not long ago."
"Hive?"
"More than likely, or our missing fireteam is still alive and fighting," Alejandro answered as he adjusted his sniper rifle, "Not the greatest spot to be shooting from. I won't lie; rolling in with you two might be better for this gun."
Subaru looked to his right at Nivá, the Titan examining her shotgun, making sure the gun was fully loaded and ready to pump Fallen full of lead, "I mean, if they're on guard, then can we even waltz in like last time?"
It took a moment, but Alejandro answered back thoughtfully, "Well, it does look like they're packing heat. There's definitely more of them than before, and I am spotting some Scorch Cannons on a few Captains," Subaru quirked a brow at the last part, his head swiveling around to look down at Alejandro again.
"Scorch Cannons?"
Alejandro looked away from the scope and up at Subaru, "Yeah, big guns, nasty stuff if you ask me," He made a small gesture to Nivá, "It be like Nivá in gun form basically, or your rocket launcher, only meaner and powered with Solar."
"I've been meaning to ask about that; if the Fallen and the Hive don't have the Light, how can they utilize Arc, Solar, and Void?"
Sancho spoke up through comms, "Arc, Solar, and Void while elements of the Light can still be found naturally and harvested by those without the Light and utilized," Subaru nodded his head and continued to listen to the ghost, "But you, and Alejandro for instance can manifest the elements from the Light itself, you are the source."
The Sniper rifle rested on the railing as Alejandro turned around and pressed his back against the railing, "Yeah, basically, amigo, anyone with two brain cells can use the elements, but it's rather basic. Those with the Light can conjure a torrent of Solar energy out of nowhere or use it far more creatively, like when a Hunter makes a Golden Gun with their Solar energy, or you throw a Void Bomb at your enemies," Alejandro stood up and dusted off his knee, "Like I told you when we were doing the grenade training, you can do things with your Light and if you know what to do, you can get pretty creative with it… You know, thinking about it, your Ghost should be teaching you this stuff, too."
Ghost chimed in through comms, "Hey! I just haven't found the best time yet! It's about finding the right time to do so!"
Subaru nodded; he ignored the comment about the grenade training, however, "That's cool! I wonder, can I make a pure Void Gun?" He cupped his chin, tapping his helmet; just what exactly were the upper limits of using the elements?
He received a shrug from Alejandro, "Listen, after we get back to your training with the grenades and finish it, then you can see about making a gun out of void energy," He placed a hand on Subaru's shoulder, "Now let's get a plan together-" There was a soft pause Alejandro stared off into the distance.
Subaru moved his hand up to Alejandro's in order to remove it from his shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"Subaru, amigo… Where'd Nivá go?" The Hunter finally answered back with a plain tone, "Ah, she got mad," The soft sound of a distant boom caused both Alejandro and Subaru to look at the artillery emplacement; a series of gunshots sounded off, followed by the intense crackling of arc energy, "Well… There's the answer," His hand lifted off Subaru's shoulder as he spun around and reached for his sniper rifle, "Let's not let her have all the fun," Alejandro checked the chamber and then jumped over the railing.
Subaru stood silently for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. His life couldn't be any weirder.
/.\./.\
The battle was over and done with relatively quickly due to Nivá initially making short work of the Fallen, charging through them like a battering ram to the gates of a castle. The downside to said approach was the devastation nearly damaging the more sensitive electronics employed by the Fallen.
It was a miracle that anything was intact.
Ghost worked tirelessly at the console while music played, "Huh, the music is getting clearer. I wonder what this is from?"
"Who knows?" Alejandro threw his hands up, "A better question is, what is playing this? And why," He glanced at the terminal, arms crossed.
Subaru, who stood beside his ghost, shrugged and looked at the terminal. He couldn't read the language of the Fallen, but his ghost seemed to know what it was, "Anything else?"
"A report about our missing fireteam, one claims they took out a guardian just south of our position, while two were then later spotted to be heading into the Skywatch. Which is currently contested," As Ghost finished, a waypoint appeared on Subaru HUD, "That's the location of one of our missing guardians. Let's hope she is still alive and the Fallen were exaggerating."
The location which the fireteam quickly traveled to was aboard a nearby ship, the old wreckage containing a broken down hull. Towards the back, they found the body of one of their missing guardians; Subaru couldn't help but wince when he saw the corpse and the remains of a ghost clutched tightly in their hands.
"You good?" Alejandro asked from the side, to which Subaru gave no reply. At the same time, he was growing highly used to dying; seeing what was, for all intents and purposes, a final death unnerved him. Ghost floated toward the body, examining it quietly.
A moment later, Ghost stopped and turned to face the fireteam, gaze held low.
"We'll need to mark the body for extraction; notify her next of kin if she has any," Ghost spoke glumly. Subaru could sympathize with his partner as his eyes glanced at the dead ghost, "Let's see what we can find on her ghost," Ghost slowly shifted over to the remains of the dead ghost. After a moment, he stopped and turned around to face the fireteam, "Her name was Abby; most of the ghost's memories were destroyed, but I managed to find a reference to codes concerning the Array system here. Our missing fireteam was looking to reconnect the Arrays."
The fireteam slowly headed out of the cargo hold of the ship, Alejandro speaking up, "So, any idea where we can find the codes?"
"I have a suspicion," Sancho spoke up as he formed above Alejandro's shoulder, "You're not going to like it."
Slowly, the members of the fireteam followed Sancho's gaze, eyes settling upon the Terrestrial complex. A brief silence passed between them, only to be broken by Alejandro, "Shit."
/.\./.\
The follow-up approach was initially quiet; the battle in the sky had dispersed, and without the sound of artillery guns, it had grown eerily silent. However, upon entering the Terrestrial complex, it became clear that the quiet was not a signal that nothing was there; things were watching them.
Skittering, crawling just out of sight.
As the fireteam delved further into the complex, they would reach a spacious room with one level raised and kept to the sides of the room and a lower area. On the raised levels were doorways leading into dark, shadowy hallways.
However, many dead bodies of Fallen and Hive littered the room. But at the opposite end, next to a locked door, stood a large round Fallen device.
Subaru didn't say a word, but he was inwardly a little unnerved at the amount of dead; he couldn't help but wonder what exactly had done them. Was it the other missing two guardians? Or was it just a pure slaughter-fest between the two alien forces?
Ghost materialized over his shoulder and floated around, examining the room and the bodies, sifting through everything for a few minutes before going to the device and beginning to investigate the machine, his little beam working away at the device, "What's the situation, Ghost? We know where the codes are and missing guardians?" Alejandro spoke, walking up with Subaru in tow, while Nivá hung back, alert and constantly watching.
It took a minute before Ghost spoke, "Alright, the codes aren't here, but this device here is like the ones we've encountered before; it seems to be the lynchpin actually in keeping whatever it is the Fallen are trying to keep out of the rest of the systems."
Alejandro nodded while Sancho floated above his shoulder, "Hmm, alright then, let's take down this lynchpin and work from there," He gestured for Sancho to join Ghost in getting to work; Alejandro then spun around, pulling out his hand cannon with a spin firing off a round as a spurt of ether escaped into the air, and a Fallen with a new hole in its head materialized and fell to the ground, "I got a feeling. However, we can't do it in peace and quiet."
Subaru stared at the dead Fallen, "They can do that?" He couldn't help but ask aloud; however, no one answered.
"I've got the right covered," Nivá spoke up, wracking her shotgun to make a point while she stood firm, keeping her eyes on the doorways to the right.
"It'll take us a bit; there's much to work through here!" Ghost chimed in.
Subaru had chosen to keep an eye on the middle, his Khvostov shouldered and his finger on the trigger. Alejandro had taken up keeping his attention on the left.
The howls of Fallen and Hive echoed throughout the Terrestrial complex; Subaru stood ready, his eyes focusing on his HUD's radar, the entire thing red as his head lifted as the ceiling of the room shook, dust falling off, "They're in the walls..." He breathlessly spoke.
Subaru raised his rifle following the flow of falling dust, "They're in the goddamn walls!" Not a moment later, a panel fell and, with it, thralls.
As thralls fell from the ceiling, Fallen and Hive poured in from the other entrances into the room already covered by Alejandro and Nivá.
Gunfire erupted!
Subaru gunned down the charging thralls, backpedaling to keep distance but avoiding the device. He had to keep the attention on him, so his pace wasn't fast… Not yet, at least. As Subaru backpedaled with the thralls hot on his trail, he spun around and took a spring.
"That's a lot of Hive and Fallen!" Shouted Alejandro as he gracefully dodged incoming fire, taking cover behind a pillar before peaking out and taking potshots at Fallen; rounds dommed a dreg or two that was unfortunate enough to be distracted.
Nivá, however, was in the thick of it, getting in close with Hive acolytes. Her shotgun ripped through them and turned them into chunks.
Subaru tossed a void grenade over his shoulder and into the thralls, the blast ripping them apart and reducing them to atoms. Yet more still kept coming in as they dropped in from the ceiling, "Why do they gotta be in the walls!" He couldn't help but shout.
If there was any benefit, Subaru could think of when it came to this fight, the Fallen and Hive were uncomfortably close to one another. That meant they fought each other as well. The divided attention between the two forces allowed them a small room of reprieve.
Detonations, cries, and bodies fell one by one.
Soon, no more bodies fell.
Subaru stood in the middle of the aftermath, panting and looking down at the dead Fallen next to him, the corpse even in death, tightly gripping its blades, "Do you ever end up fighting anything other than hordes of aliens?" He turned his head to Alejandro, who sat on a pile of dregs.
The hunter was playing with one of his knives, tossing and catching it repeatedly, "Eh, no. They tend to do this often; you'd think they'd get a bit smarter." Alejandro hopped off the pile, landing on the hard ground, "But maybe all the smart ones died at Twilight Gap," He regrouped on Subaru.
Nivá followed suit, the trio turning their attention back to the pair of ghosts hard at work.
The little beams they emitted were hard at work on the Fallen device. After a minute moment, however, they stopped; Subaru's head perked up, and he approached the duo, "What did you guys find in there?" He curiously asked as he paused next to the fallen device.
Sancho was the first to answer, "The Fallen were trying to break through a firewall but weren't very successful; I am surprised they managed to get anything done with…." Sancho trailed off Subaru, swearing he heard him mutter a name.
Subaru's eyes examined the Fallen machinery, "What was behind the firewall?" His gaze flicked up to the pair of ghosts.
Ghost moved cautiously, or at least as far as Subaru could tell. Whatever it was that Ghost found seemed to have him a little unnerved, "You wouldn't know about it," He said, looking at Subaru, "But you two would," Ghost flicked his attention over to Nivá and Alejandro.
Nivá shook her head and scoffed, "Cut the cryptic shit; what you'd find?" Her arms crossed below her chest plate.
"It's… Rasputin, the Warmind! He's alive still and very angry at the Fallen. I wouldn't blame him, though. They were quite rough trying to break into the systems. They even managed to lock Rasputin out in a few areas."
Nivá looked at Alejandro and then back at Ghost, "Rasputin?" She almost sounded confused.
All Subaru could manage was to exchange glances between his fireteam and ask one question, "Who?" He wasn't sure of the history of Rasputin with the Last City, but based on their reaction, it didn't sound good. Yet still, Subaru wanted to help the Warmind out; perhaps it wasn't as bad as he thought it was.
"We'll tell you later, but what is the Warmind trying to do?" Alejandro answered and gestured for Ghost to continue.
"He's been trying to get the arrays here online and trying to kill the Fallen. Apparently, he asked for help from a Dead Orbit fireteam and then our missing fireteam, but unfortunately, neither of them made it…" Ghost paused, whispering more in confusion before properly speaking up, "He's asking for our help now."
Subaru looked at his ghost and then his fireteam, "Well, let's help him?" It sounded like the right thing to do when someone asked for help, and they'd finish the mission the missing fireteam set out to do; clearly, they had seen value in aiding the Warmind.
Alejandro raised a hand apprehensively, "Wait just a minute, don't go jumping to aid that thing."
His brow furrowed in confusion, Subaru couldn't quite understand the reasoning, "Why?" He voiced.
It was Nivá who then spoke up and took a step towards Subaru, "Rasputin can't be trusted; what he did to the Iron Lords-"
Subaru interrupted Nivá by raising his hand, "Who- You know what, who cares? I don't. It's our job to protect and save people, isn't it? Even if he did something bad in the past, he is asking for help now. Besides, what does he even get if we turn on the arrays?" He looked to his ghost and Sancho for answers.
Sancho answered almost immediately, floating up to Subaru, his voice conflicted, "It would allow him to reconnect to the whole network, but we need that too. It could help ease many long-distance communication problems other fireteams are experiencing, even in areas we could never communicate in before."
The answer was simple for Subaru, "Then we should help him; it'll help us, and clearly, our missing fireteam thought the same," He raised his rifle and checked the magazine, "Ghost, where do we need to go-"
Nivá spoke up, taking a stance between everyone, "Let's just think about this rationally. We'll head back and inform the Vanguard of what happened," She looked at Subaru, "It's the most rational choice; I think you can understand that, yes?" Nivá took a step towards
Subaru looked at Nivá in the visor, his eyes briefly flicking down; noticing the balled fist at the Exo's side, he lowered his head, clicked his tongue, and sighed, "Yeah. You're right."
"Let's get out of here, inform the Vanguard, and let them decide what to do."
Subaru gritted his teeth, happy that his helmet kept his expression hidden. He glanced back at the Fallen device. Despite not knowing Rasputin or the situation regarding him and the Vanguard, a substantial part of Subaru wished to help the Warmind regardless of what the others thought; it was a sensation he couldn't shake off.
He wouldn't simply ignore it.
Author's Notes:
Hey, it's been a bit. I've gotten this chapter done, did a lot of rewriting and cutting stuff off, and honestly, I am unsure how I feel about the final product. I may decide to re-edit the last fight, as it wasn't satisfying enough for me, that is. But I already have so many fights in this one chapter that it might just work how it is.
However, I would love your guy's feedback on this and how this chapter went. Every bit helps! I probably missed small details, and you guys pointing it out does help!