Chapter 14: Freehold
"Wake up!" Indra shouted, jolting Clea awake.
As the memories of the mission came back to her, Clea realized she had fallen asleep on the ride back, and now she and Indra were the only ones left in the harrier.
"Come with me" Indra ordered, causing Clea to hop up and follow her out of the hanger. The sun was just now starting to rise, illuminating the red Martian sands outside the base.
Indra led Clea to an empty hanger at the very back of the base. Sand had built up along the sides, and their was noticeable rust all over the building. Indra walked up to the keypad and entered a code, causing the door to open with a screech and large overhead lights to turn on. Dust hung heavy in the air as she led Clea to a large work table and said "alright, show me it"
"Show you what?" Clea questioned.
"Don't play stupid; I know you must have grabbed that Gjallarhorn!" Indra accused.
Clea shook her head and said, "No, I didn't, I swear!"
Polari then materialized and said, "She didn't, I did.."
On cue, the Gjallerhorn appeared on the table. Its white and gold body gleaming under the heavy floodlights in the hanger.
Indra inspected the weapon for a few moments before kneeling down and opening a drawer. From within, she pulled out a large wooden case. The case was solid brown oak, with the initials F.C on the front.
Indra clicked the latches on the sides and opened it up, revealing the perfect outline of a Gjallerhorn, expertly carved into the wood. Below the outline were two ramrods with steel brushes on the ends, and a few bottles of gun oil. Indra then reached into a small notch and pulled out a smaller box. Within the box were a few extra screws, along with an extra trigger.
Clea sat there in awe as Indra expertly disassembled the Gjallerhorn, oiling it, cleaning it, polishing every detail, replacing the scuffed original trigger with the replacement, before putting the weapon back together, and opening the breach, revealing the tube where the shell was supposed to go, along with a serial number and an engraved name.
"Gjallerhorn number 4, Griffin. Griffin was the first commander of this base, and my mentor. Valus Ta'aurc killed him, capturing his ghost and taking this weapon." Indra revealed
Clea's eyes widened before she said "then this weapon is yours." As much as she wanted a Gjallarhorn of her own, if this weapon belonged to Indra's mentor, then she should have it.
Indra shook her head and said, "No, a Gjallarhorn is a sacred weapon. It is not meant to be sold or passed around carelessly. If a guardian dies a final death, their Gjallarhorn is laid to rest with them. However, that changed slightly when the previous hunter, vanguard, Andal Brask, died. His body was never recovered, and Cayde ended up hunting down his killer, finding the Gjallarhorn in the fallen pirate's trophy room."
"Then what happened?" Clea pressed.
"Cayde himself wasn't sure if he should have the weapon, so he asked Zavala to speak with the weapon's creator. The commander visited the 119-year-old gunsmith on his deathbed, and Feziel Crux wrote down instructions. Should a Gjallarhorn fall into an enemy's hands, the guardian who killed this enemy would earn the honor of wielding it. The weapon was to be brought to Crux's company, where the old engraving would be filled back in, and the name of the new owner engraved. There is no greater honor than to reclaim a Gjallarhorn from one of humanity's enemies, and it must be re-engraved with it's new owner's name"
Clea nodded but made one final offer and said, "Are you sure? I'm honored, but you can have it if you want. I don't want to take away something your mentor must have cared for so much…"
Indra once again shook her head and replied "no, it would dishonor him if I took it from the person who reclaimed it. Treat this weapon with respect, and it will never let you down"
Clea nodded as Indra packed the box up, putting everything back in place before placing the weapon in its case and latching it shut.
Indra slid the box over to Clean and said, "Head back to earth, visit Crux Lamar's foundry. I'll call ahead for you"
Clea nodded, picking up the case by the handle as Polari dematerialized again. As the young warlock left the old hangar, Polari chimed in saying "I can store that solid state if you'd like?"
"Solid state?" Clea questioned.
"I can store hundreds of items for you, but they're disassembled into energy like your body when you transmat. However, if a select item is more important. I can store it 100 percent intact via solid state transmat. Every ghost who goes on scouting missions is given this upgrade. Super advanced quantum drive tech that the tower's crypto archeologists used for securing things, it works by folding space via three-dimensional polymrr…" Polari was cut off as Clea muttered under her breath with.
"Just do it; this conversation is already making my head hurt…" Clea said before the Gjallarhorn case disappeared.
As Clea was walking back to the landing pad, she noticed Ash was leaving the hangar as well, he had been talking to the techs while Indra had ushered her away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Ash questioned.
"I have to go get a weapon serviced; make sure I'm as equipped as possible for the Black Garden." Clea half lied. She fully intended to use her Gjallarhorn at the first opportunity, but given how important Indra had made getting the engraving out, it was probably best to get it done first.
Ash nodded and said, "I just got word from Bela and her team; they're just now getting ready to take off from Earth. I didn't use any of my smoke bombs, so I've got those for emergencies. Maybe I can scout ahead and see if I can find that portal?."
"Are you…I mean, great idea! The coordinates are "84 north, 32 east…meridian bay." Clea informed him.
Ash's head cocked to the side, noting her brief pause, and asked, "You sure? If you don't think I can handle it, I'll…"
Clea cut Ash off by putting her hand on his shoulder and saying "you can do this Ash, I have faith in you. Just don't pick any big fights alone..ok?"
The hunter nodded confidently and said "I won't…I can do this"
"Alright then, check in with Indra before you leave and get going, once im on my way back, send me coordinates for rendezvous" Clea requested.
Ash nodded and said, "I'll give Indra a frequency to give to Bela; she can meet me there as well!" before running off towards the command center.
Clea then headed back to the Castillo Lancer and headed out. Because she was within Firebase Mon's safe zone, she didn't have to fly straight up like when she first arrived. One look at the updated map made it clear just how much impact taking out Valus Ta'aurc had made. Without their leader to coordinate counterattacks, Indra's strike teams had made incredible progress. Not only was the Cabal completely pushed out of the city of Freehold, but the various canyons and craters housing cabal missiles and defenses were cleared out as well. Within 24 hours, Indra had managed to take nearly 500 kilometers of territory. Over two-thirds of the Meridian Bay.
As the Castillo Lancer arrived in orbit, Clea saw 4 more jumpships exit slipspace; she did a quick flyby, close enough to wave at Bela in her cockpit, before jumping away.
As the Lancer was flying through the signature tunnel of light, Polari chimed in again "The war on Mars has been in a stalemate for decades. The Cabal's sheer numbers kept us from making any real progress, and anytime they were losing, they'd call in artillery strikes. Taking out their command base was like breaking a load-bearing beam. We've really made a difference."
"Yeah, Ash's plan really paid off…so what did it feel like for you to go on a mission with Merrick?" Clea teased.
"Oh….um it was nice…I mean cool…or better than I….just be quiet…" Polari stammered. Ghosts didn't have the face for it, but Polari sounded like she was bushing constantly as she tripped over her words. Even over internal comms, it was abundantly clear how starstruck she was.
Clea chuckled at her ghost's enthusiasm as they exited the slip. Clea decided to take the scenic route, flying over some of the surrounding forests before coming to the mountains where the last city rested.
"Lancer 23, requesting permission to land at Crux Lamar, how to copy" Clea transmitted as her ship came to a hover over the factory. The campus was massive, 80 archers of factory buildings surrounded by high fences, but it didn't exactly stand out, as the last city's industrial district was packed full of places like it.
"Welcome guardian! You are clear to land!" An excited voice said over the radio.
Clea landed, and saw three technicians wheeling a ladder towards her. The landing pad was quiet, but there were several massive doors clearly meant for transport ships. There were guardian outposts all over the earth, and nearly all firearms manufacturers sold in bulk.
Soon enough Clea was ushered to the main floor, where an entire crowd of workers and technicians were waiting for her.
An old man stepped forward, he walked with a hobble, and was clearly over 70. His voice had the slightest rasp in it as he said "Welcome guardian, I am Edwin Lamar, chief archivist for the company! I'll be overseeing the re-engraving of that beautiful Gjallerhorn!"
Ash ducked through a window as a cabal thresher flew overhead and, after waiting a solid minute, began to move again.
"What a place…" Ash muttered as he looked at his surroundings.
The floor was filled with cubicles from wall to wall, all organized in rows, branching out from the nearby elevator shaft.
The entire room had a light coating of red dust, but otherwise looked like it had been frozen in time.
"Crazy to think dozens of people worked on this floor for hours straight" Ash admitted.
"Not exactly a very efficient use of manpower." Orion admitted as he appeared and did a once over scan of the floor. A thin beam of blue light projected from his eye scanned the floor, piercing through the cubical and walls.
"Clear of lifeforms" Orion confirmed before dissolving again.
Ash nodded before heading to the elevator shaft and asking "Orion, you got that ascender I designed?"
"I see what you're going for," Orion admitted before the item appeared in Ash's hand. It was black, metal handle with a box attached that had a large spike sticking out of the top. Ash had found an old golden age item, scanned the design, and made a new one, adding a hyper compact cable and grappling hook. The item allowed guardians to ascend or descend long distances. Ash had considered sharing the design with the vanguard, but he decided against it, partly because it would only aid guardians in situations where sparrows, ships, or double jumps weren't an option, and partially due to his lack of confidence.
"Screwdriver" Ash requested while holding out his other hand. Orion materialized the screwdriver, and after a few minutes of work, Ash had modded the handle. He had removed the cable and grappling hook, leaving a large hole in the front of the device
Ash then walked up to the elevator shaft, spotting a large black cable. Just as he was about to hook it up, he paused and said "Orion, scan and see which cables are stable"
"Good job...thought you'd just hook up and not think about it" Orion said as he materialized and shot a beam of light at the cables, scanning them one by one.
"Take the back left" Orion said before dissolving again.
Ash did as instructed, clipping his ascender onto the cable. After a satisfying click, Ash pressed the button and was wheeled up the shaft at incredible speed. Soon enough he was at the top of the building and pulled out the DARCI. Dozens of skyscrapers, partially buried in sand, surrounded him on all sides,
He checked the compass on his hud, and after a few minutes of scanning, he saw a faint glint. With a mere click, he zeroed in on the gate in his scope.
Ash scanned the surroundings before lowering his scope, and asking, "can you transmat me over there?"
In response, Ash appeared five feet from the portal. orion sent out a signal, and a few minutes later, a familiar group of jumpships arrived overhead; soon enough, the rest of Fireteam Cobalt were gathered around him.
"Good job scouting the area, Ash" Rand complimented.
"Good thing there weren't any cabal around…" Cassie scoffed.
"I CAN FIGHT ON MY OWN!" Ash shouted, causing everyone to flinch.
Ash bowed his head, expecting a reprimand, but nothing came; there was a potent silence until Rand spoke up and said, "way to stand up for yourself."
Everyone gave Ash a respectful nod while Cassie sighed and said ,"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way"
Just then Clea arrived, the Castillo Lancer doing a quick flyby as she transmatted in.
"Thanks for coming, everyone," Clea said as she pulled out the gatelord eye.
"Ash scouted the area," Cassie interjected.
Clea paused for a moment, before nodding and saying, "thanks, Ash"
The young hunter nodded as Clea held the eye up to the gate, but nothing happened.
"Oh crap…..it needs a recharge," Clea realized, remembering what the Queen and Uldren had told her.
Ash stepped forward and took one look at the gate before tearing a panel off, exposing circuitry.
"Give me a second, and I'll have a plug for you," Ash assured her.
Just then there was a piercing shriek, and suddenly there was a gaping hole sparking with electricity. In the gate.
In an instant the gate activated, without warning. The blue vortex instantly drew the two closest occupants inside, Clea and Ash, before the energy within the arch dissipated leaving an empty ring.
The four remaining guardians stood there, blinking rapidly behind their helmets as the struggled to keep up with what had just happened.
"What the heck caused that?" Cassie demanded.
Tyzon then spoke up with "something with enough energy to charge the gate…"
"But what could've…" Bela was interrupted by dozens of Vex appearing around them, causing the guardians to draw their weapons and begin firing in every direction.
Far away, in the very skyscraper Ash had scaled, an all too familiar exo sighed as she picked up her weapon. The weapon was a black, heavy rifle with two prongs for a barrel, a bleeding edge railgun that the last city's scientists would have taken a decade to reverse engineer even if they had their hands on it.
The Exo Stranger transmatted the railgun away and muttered, "Now, let's see how it goes this time…"
Author's note: Oh dear...
1. More changes and lore additions...I hope you like them...
2. The Exo Stranger taking such a radical approach is important to me, given what we know about her history, her just telling us to go to the black garden seems like something she should've tried a long time ago, something radically different should be the explanation for why this time she finally pulls it off.
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