Our Destiny is Now (Closed RP)

[Spartan 999]

The blaze sits inside a nest of little worlds, still too distant to share its heat but plainly staring out at you. A face emerges, drawn from plasmas and radiation...

There must be meanings in its roar.

You listen hard and carefully, and sometimes a lucid melody seems to rise out of random noise, pulling your mind into moments where it seems possible that answers are about to be revealed. Joy builds, and the first hope in ages transforms you.

It seems important, even critical, to tell every star from here to the black between the galaxies that you are strong again.

*********

The Tower, quintessential home base of the Guardians, stood tall and proud atop the great Wall surrounding the Last City on Earth. Above it still, the massive shape of the Traveler hovered in the air, its white surface scarred and blackened in places, signs of its ultimate sacrifice for humanity.

In the Overwatch District, a lone Human Titan walked determinedly through the sparse crowds to a lounge often known as the Tavern--following the standard “The Noun” name scheme in the City--to Guardian customers. If one payed attention, they would notice that one side of the Titan's face was scarred and the eye there was covered by a simple metal cap; evidently he'd been on the receiving end of a nasty attack sometime in the past.

He stepped through the silently sliding doors, red sash flickering back due to air displacement. A long bar, many tables and semi-enclosed areas, and gambling booths off to the right met his eye as he gave the place a cursory scan. He was able to tell that neither of his contacts had arrived early, so he had time to pick out a table and order something while he was waiting.

What the Titan didn't know was that one of the potential fireteam candidates had been held up somewhere near Europa, and that their replacement would be found mere hours later...

[SuperCommando]

The Titan strode into the establishment to await his contacts. There was a discernible briskness to each armor-clattering step, hinting at an inner eagerness barely outmatched by a disciplined outward demeanor. The day ahead was bright with the promise of adventure, of glory… and of revenge.

He greeted the Tavern barkeep with a familiar nod as he passed by and claimed his usual spot, a balcony table that offered a sweeping view over the City and the distant Twilight Gap. A warm gust of wind stirred the man’s hair as he gazed up at the Traveler, gently ruffling the auburn bangs that partially obscured the metal cap sealing his left eye socket.

Thoughtfully, the Titan reached up to what used to be his eye…

***

…And felt the soft white wrappings firmly surrounding his head.

“Careful Rayner, you’ll get grease on your bandages.”

The Titan withdrew his gloved hand and laid it to rest on the chassis of his Shrike. He turned to meet the approaching figure with a thin smile. “Hey Lumira. So what do you think of my new look?”

“I think it rather suits you, actually,” replied the female Awoken as she sauntered into the shop. Her stark white ponytail and long, flowing light blue Warlock robes gave her a certain meticulous, scholarly quality that stood out in sharp contrast among the disorderly piles of surrounding parts and machinery. “In fact, cover the other eye as well and your aim might finally be justified.”

“Ouch. I know I’m no sniper but that’s just plain exaggeration.” Rayner said in mock indignation at his friend’s teasing. “Anyway, I’m guessing you didn’t come here just to insult me?”

“An accurate observation,” admitted Lumria. She seated herself lightly upon a nearby workbench and crossed her arms. “Rayner, are you quite sure about this?”

For a moment, an ice-cold glare hardened the Titan’s gaze. “Of course. I’ll be ready this time.”

“That’s what you said before.”

“Look, if you’re so worried then why not come with me? Keep my ass out of trouble.”

Lumira shook her head. “I fear such a feat would surpass even my considerable abilities. And regardless, I am in the middle of a study right now with several of my fellow Warlocks. We could be close to unraveling a new technique for harnessing the Traveler’s power; it is not an endeavor I can simply abandon. Why not ask Kainar instead?”

Rayner sighed. “Kainar hasn’t really been himself since he… got back. I think he just wants to be left alone for a while.”

There was a momentary silence as Rayner took a rag and began to wipe down his Shrike. Eventually, Lumira spoke up again.

“You know, as far as I can tell Kainar isn’t the only one who needs more time to heal…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rayner grumbled.

“I mean perhaps you’re taking things a little too quickly. You know how unforgiving it is in the Wild.”

“Look, if I sit around doing nothing any longer I’m going to go crazy. I’m fine, I promise. Besides, I can’t afford to miss this opportunity. And this isn’t just about me, the threat he poses grows stronger the longer we allow him to run loose. Someone has to finish this. Might as well be me.”

“Well, it would appear there is no dissuading you,” said Lumira, rising to her feet. The Awoken then drew a firearm from her back and held it out to Rayner. “Take this then. It’s a superior Fusion Rifle, the latest in the ‘Ion’ series. I’ve already upgraded it a little, hopefully it can provide you with at least some measure of assistance in my stead.”

“Thank you,” Rayner replied as he gratefully accepted the weapon. “I’m not leaving for a few more days, so if you come across anyone else willing to tag along, be sure to let me know.”

His fellow Guardian nodded in agreement. “I’ll see what I can do.”

***

Resting his arms on the table as he sat down, Rayner settled in and began to wait. As warm sunbeams of morning light began to peek around the Traveler in the sky, the Titan patiently watched the Tavern’s entrance. A few other Guardians had agreed to meet here shortly, so before long he would disembark with a new fireteam on a new quest.

This was it. The beginning of his destiny was now.

[Huka]

A hooded Exo walked through the crowds of human civilians. Normal, flesh-exposed, ignorantly happy humans that sit on the edge of life and death with the shell of the walls and the selflessness of the Guardians to protect them. It was intriguing and thrilling when one get the full scope of this revelation, the shadow of the Watcher over them like a spirit of a ever-loving king watching over his people even beyond the grave to give their illusion. In the void of memory, musing was a common pastime for the 'man'. The soft fabric of his clerical robes trailed after him in the breeze like mobile sands, only breaking the illusion of a humble machine long seeking answers with the sleek armor scrapped of ages' decay and painted with the primary color of a dark gold, intricate symbols of his faction carved into his armor until the singular open eye of Osiris stared from his breastplate.

Not too long ago, approximately 2.5 hours ago, he was contacted by a Titan male of the Dead Orbit on the mention of a venture. While he normally did quests by orders of his officers, this meeting had a certain presence to it, and went to feed his human curiosity.

Halting several meters from the Tavern, the setting of their meeting, the Exo's seemingly-squinted jade visor blinked and vision zoomed in on the appearance of his contact. Male. 6'2". Armor classification matched. His display's targeting systems winked and clicked on each important detail for later reference. In the span of fifteen seconds, the Hunter tilted his head in similarity to the bird that he motifed after before stepping forward with his calculated steps and long arms hanging on his side, before halting a meter between each other.

"Greetings, Titan. Here on 1.5 minutes after approximate time frame, forgive this wanderer. Much...obstacles on the path." He said with a deep, monotoned voice with a stuttering of software in the almost regal-like accent as he bowed with a tilt of his upper body; low enough to respect, high enough to keep mutual standing.

[SuperCommando]

Rayner mimicked the Hunter's bow, politely returning the gesture. Grinning, he motioned at the table with a sweep of his armored hand.

"Void, is it? I've heard good things about you. Would you care to take a seat?"

The Titan eased into his chair, his crimson sash dangling over the seat. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knee guards and watched his fellow Guardian's reaction. He knew Exos had no need to physically rest, but just like humans the androids had a wide range of personalities. Some could be cold and robotically stoic, while others could be just as personable and animated as a flesh and blood being. If this individual was to be his new adventuring companion, Rayner wanted to get to know him so they could work together as best as possible. So far, his first impressions were positive.

"I appreciate you meeting me today," he told Void, "As you know, I'm in search of a fireteam to undertake an important mission. While we wait for my other contact to arrive, tell me, how much experience do you have with the Fallen?"

[Huka]

Void bowed his head when the Titan have done the same before standing upright again and glanced to the table. While he didn't have a need or urge to sit, he gave a nod and sat down anyway to follow human etiquette. "Thank you." He simply said with a heightened vocals of emotion to make it sound genuine.

Resting his arms over his knees and his taloned hands drooped over his knee pads, the Exo sat erect and optics on Titan Rayner but he had attention in a 360 radius. Despite the comfort of being a home territory like this, he still didn't feel safe and always kept alert. Then his head jerked in interest to the topic on the Fallen.

"Extraterrestrial pirates, clan-based, and abominations of the Laws of Osiris. Never to be judged, never to walk the Journey, never to experience bliss." He said with a growing anger and suddenly sadness...and pity. "Affirmative, I am familiar and have 59 recorded encounters with all known classes. Deadly, adaptable, cunning, various in skill, confident to the percentage to flaw."

[SuperCommando]

Rayner nodded as he listened to the Exo Hunter briefly recount his level of experience in dealing with the Fallen. He received the impression that Void regarded the creatures as a favored enemy of sorts. That was good.

"Perhaps you're familiar with the name 'Varox the Intangible', then..." The Titan said, uttering the name with a dead serious tone. "Or perhaps not. He is a kingping among Fallen, the shadowy backbone of the House of Phantoms, but isn't your typical warlord. He apparently runs numerous behind-the-scenes operations and has associations with an unknown number of factions, even including some non-Fallen groups. His objectives are not clear, but we know for sure that his name has come up in connection with several high-level threats over the past couple years with increasing frequency. Needless to say, taking out Varox would be a big relief.

"The thing is though, nobody knows much of anything else about him. Most of what we know comes from a raid last year to break up a major Fallen staging ground on Mars, an operation that I took part in. It caught my interest, so I've been keeping alert for any new developments. Then earlier this month actually, my fireteam stumbled across some Fallen smuggling activity almost by accident, and that's when we encountered Varox himself.

"As far as I know, it's the only time he's been visually observed. He's larger than an average Captain, and much more powerful. We were forced to retreat. I... nearly didn't make it."

Rayner paused at the memory, unconsciously turning his missing eye away from Void before continuing his tale. "...But not before we discovered a secret, a lead we never had before - we found out where he was going. Varox is good at covering his tracks and staying elusive, always on the move even compared to the rest of his nomadic kind. But for the first time ever, we know in advance where to locate him. He's going to some kind of meeting in Old Russia, today, later this evening. This is a priceless opportunity, one that I - we, cannot pass up."

As he concluded, he became aware that even after plenty of time had passed, nobody else had shown. Lumira had put him in touch with a Warlock who was finishing up a trip to Europa; perhaps he had been delayed? That was nearly all the way across the solar system, hardly the place to be when running late. Rayner tried not to be impatient, but in the end his urgency to get underway won out.

Rising to his feet, the Titan looked to his fellow Guardian and offered an ultimatum.

"Looks like my other contact is a no-show, and time is running out. I'm going to find Varox, it would be an honor if you could join me in this pursuit. Your experience and expertise would be a great help, and I'm confident that together we can make this work. What do you say?"

[Huka]

The Exo looked with almost soul-piercing attention, unmoving as a statue besides the breezes that lapped at his loose clothing. When the question on Varox the Intangible was mentioned, he tilted his head while trying to recall the name; it did sound familiar, perhaps from past files and mentions here and there but he never gave attention to things not of his directives. Hearing Raynor's information on the Fallen, the hunter certainly took every detail personally to compile it with the rest of his knowledge of Fallen culture and movements in known locations while collecting information on his fellow Guardian for better communication and understanding.

In his stoic fashion, he had his HUD bring up still-pictures of Old Russia, getting a understanding and feel of the environment. Massive, ghosts of the ancient past still linger and scavenged by the Fallen pirates and other Enemies of the Guardians. All subject to the directive of precise elimination in the eyes of the Exo Hunter of Osiris until directed otherwise. 

Void's head lifted a mere centimeter to the Titan's standing and to the ultimatum, the Exo stood up with a noticeable whine of internal machinery, "Time is precious to the Hunt. I give my blade and eyes to your quest against the Evaders of the Feather of Truths." He answered with a clench of his taloned fist.

[SuperCommando]

“Exellent…” Rayner said with an almost predatory grin, imagining the glory of taking Varox down. Armed with a formidable new adventuring companion and with the advantage of forewarning, the odds were in his favor this time. He knew it would be a challenge, and a tiny voice in the back of his mind questioned the wisdom of proceeding without a full fireteam, but his lust for payback and determination to succeed outweighed his reservations.

His hair and his sash whipped around him as he sharply turned to leave. Beckoning to Void, the one-eyed Titan purposefully marched from the balcony. “Very well then! Now…”

***

“…Let’s go!”

Rayner’s Shrike launched from the rocky precipice in a blur of motion and golden light, revving loudly midair. As his trajectory arched and pitched back down, he leaned forward against the ferocity of the howling wind. Gleaming in the radiance of the setting sun, his silver armor sheilded him against the wind chill, his sweeping helmet split the air flow, his narrow burning red double v-shaped visor focused intently forward.

Clearing the hill entirely, he came swooping down the reverse slope on the opposite side. His mechanical mount bounced beneath him, but never actually touched the ground. It rushed across the landscape while maintaining a lofty cushion of a few feet above ground level, leaving a trail of dust in the wake of its luminous contrail. Rayner pulled up, vaulting over a low rock before rapidly swerving between two tall, gangly dead trees. The vehicle, barely bigger than its rider, responded tightly and smoothly to the aggressive handling.

With crimson sash flapping wildly behind him, Rayner raced headlong over the next field, taking a moment to twist his head back over his shoulder and check to see if Void was keeping up. They had pushed a high pace all day with few breaks, but the Guardians were still going strong.

At the end of the field a canyon of mossy grey rock rose up from the earth. Slowing his Shrike, Rayner coasted to the canyon entrance, which was only wide enough for a single person at a time to fit through on foot. He then dismounted, quietly groaning with disapproval at how dusty and dirty his beloved Shrike had become already over the course of their journey here.

He pulled his auto rifle from his back as Void pulled up, resting the weapon casually over his shoulder as he waited for the Hunter. This is where having his expertise was sure to come in handy.

“Best we proceed on foot now,” he said through his helmet. “The meeting place should be through here, somewhere in the general area. We need to find it without crashing the party too early.”

He looked at the narrow gap in the rock, and then back to Void. “Why don’t you go first?”

[Spartan 999]

Unfortunately for the two Guardians, said meeting was actually about to get crashed quite early, but not by who they thought. Currently, the offending party was about ten kilometers away. And being shot at.

The name? Atrahasis. Kind? Awoken Warlock, Seven Seraphs. And he was not having a good day.

Projectiles zipped past as he dove over a small rise and slid down the small hill on the other side. Magnum in hand, he lifted his arms and drilled three bullets into an incoming Vandal, sending it sprawling to the ground and emptying the gun. He slid a replacement clip into the receiver and looked around quickly, noticing a near-overwhelming number of Fallen converging on his position.

“Great.” Atrahasis holstered his magnum and started sprinting to better cover in the form of some run-down buildings, arms pumping furiously. Three Pikes came humming in from the side, and he saw his opportunity.

He aimed an outstretched arm at the vehicles and released a brilliant rush of Light. The Pike farthest to the left exploded violently, and the other two were sent spinning away from the combined shockwave. One spun into a building and smashed against a wall, wrecking it, while the last one threw its rider off and came to a wobbly standstill.

Atrahasis approached the struggling Fallen pilot as it attempted to stand, wakizashis sliding out of their hip sheaths with muted thwips. The alien raised an energized cutlass to defend itself, which ultimately proved futile. The Guardian batted the sword aside with one of his own before proceeding to slice deep into the Fallen's stomach. It doubled over, allowing him to impale it through the back of the neck and back with both weapons and driving it to the ground. He withdrew the wakizashis and sheathed them, then sprang onto the Pike and revved the engines.

The vehicle responded with a humming roar, and he raced off towards the Cosmodrome and the wall nearby.

[SuperCommando]

A random, unprovoked tingling sensation suddenly overcame Rayner's nose from within. With no other option and with barely any time to react, all he could do is shut his eyes and mouth tightly as his body shuddered from the recoil of the explosive muffled sneeze.

"AHH-MMPHHSSH!"

The Guardian sniffled and let out a sigh of relief. That easily could have been a major disaster. Grateful that the inside of his helmet was not plastered with his own spittle, he then tilted his head curiously, straining to listen for a moment. He thought he heard a distant sound just now. Kind of like... an explosion?

Nah. Couldn't be. His ears must still be ringing from that sneeze.

[Huka]

Void trailed on the Titan’s flank with his more stealth-built Shrike giving a nearly inaudible whine, painted the same color of Old Russia’s eerie beauty to keep itself camouflaged while its rider kept a low stance like a diving falcon with his cloak wrapped around his waist for practicality sake, angling himself every so often to navigate through the rocky formations and keep a good distance. The wind howling at his audio-receptors and knocking his hood back, the Exo’s armored head revealed the plume-like modifications to upgrade his sensory pack in his hunts.

Maneuvering with each sharp turn and zipping through the sparse trees without a jerk of his cybernetic body, Void turned his beaked face in Rynar’s direction when he noticed the man looking back. No doubt to check on his position but the hunter kept to pace. During their breaks, he kept a raptor’s vigilance with his trusted Osiris-unique Dawnshot scout rifle in his iron grasp, almost eager to find a Fallen trying to ambush them but so far, no fortune.

Soon enough, the pair came to the edge of a canyon with Void bringing up the rear and made a swift fluid dismount, drawing his rifle out once more like a natural reflex. Stepping forward to his guide and comrade, the Exo Hunter looked at him for a moment and then around the area as if to make sure they weren’t followed or spied on. Too many good men and women died in such an event...if it wasn’t from the Fallen pirates, it was the whispers of even darker creatures.

It felt like months under the span of just a minute before the Exo snapped his head at the same time of Rynar’s sneeze. Several kilometers off...catching some kind of disturbance but when his optics zoomed in, he couldn’t see it as good as he liked. Void had to get the proper funding and learned experience to better his equipment within his faction to have the true eyes of a Bird-of-prey. “Let’s move…” He advised before switching for one of his elegant hand cannons with ancient motif to it for better mobility and lept into the gap without a second’s hesitation.

Landing with a heavy thump, crouching some to absorb the kinetic force into his compact knee and slowly rose up with a whine of his joints, the Hunter quickly looked back and forth with his vision brightening some while moving out of the way for Rynar. “Clear.” he hissed in their shared comlink while moving in a controlled pace.

[SuperCommando]

((OOC: Sorry for the massive post. Had fun writing and got a little carried away. ))

After following the Hunter into the narrow canyon, Rayner then proceeded to trail his companion further into the rocky gap, checking behind frequently.

The Guardians carefully advanced through the winding, moss-filled crevasse. It was slow going and claustrophobic, with multiple points where they had to turn sideways and squeeze through suffocating choke points or clamber over obstructive rock piles, but Rayner was convinced this was the most unobtrusive route. They easily could have flew over in a ship and dropped right on top of the alleged meeting area, but if even half of the (admittedly scant) rumors about Varox and the House of Phantoms were true, their target would immediately bug out at the first whiff of trouble. That’s why they didn’t even bring a ship near this region at all, why they took the long way via Shrike, and why they now crept through the rocks. They weren’t taking any chances.

Eventually, they reached where the canyon stopped at a dead end and the only way forward was to lay down on one’s stomach and crawl into a cramped vent-like passage through a tiny hole. It sloped downward like a slide and emerged into a small cave with a wide, yawning mouth at the far side. As Rayner investigated the cave, he caught a glimpse of movement outside and quickly alerted his partner.

“Void, over here!” the Titan whispered, waving the Exo over to the mouth of the cave. He then gingerly slid onto his belly and crept forward. Upon reaching the cave opening, his armored fingers curled around the edge of a cliff, which he peeked over and looked down nearly thirty feet.

Below the cave a little further out was a small hill topped with a few tall, skinny trees. A pair of figures could be seen cresting the side of the hill – ragtag gear, red neck scarves, spiky mohawks, and four beady blue eyes. Fallen Dregs. But there was also another figure, one lurking at the bottom of the hill nearly blending in behind a large boulder. This one was a little bigger, and wore a helmet with a pair of forward-sweeping horns. From beneath its light grey poncho protruded not one, but two pairs of arms.

“Look carefully, see that Vandal down there by the rock?” Rayner pointed out in a hushed voice. “That one’s House of Phantoms. No doubt about it. Wait… what’s it doing?”

As the Dregs prowled across the hilltop, the Vandal carefully circled around and stalked its fellow Fallen from behind. Moving slowly, it crept low to the ground on all six limbs like a monstrous cyborg spider. As it approached, it drew an electrified blade in each of its lower hands.

One of the Dregs began to turn, but it was too late. The Vandal pounced, roughly seizing a Dreg by its shoulders from behind and then pulling it backwards, plunging its blades up into its back. The alien victim shrieked, then went limp as a white smoke-like wisp lifted from its body and dissolved into the air. As the Vandal tossed its kill aside, the remaining Dreg whipped around, lashing out with a knife of its own, pistol at the ready in its other hand, but it didn’t get the opportunity to use either.

The Vandal easily caught the attack mid-strike with its primary arms, and then twisted hard, snapping the Dreg’s wrist and sent the knife flying. Meanwhile it stabbed one blade into the Dreg’s gut with its third hand, and then with the fourth reached around the back of the Dreg’s collar as it doubled over with pain. Then, with a mighty heave, the Vandal flipped the Dreg head-over-heels. It landed on its back with a heavy thud. Without pause, the Vandal proceeded to deliver the coup de grace, releasing the Dreg’s soul with a final blow driven straight through its heart.

Hunched over its kill, the victorious Fallen removed its blade with a sharp jerk of its arm. It then checked to make sure there were no further enemies, peering all around with those piercing glowing blue eyes. Rayner instinctively pulled his head away from the edge of the cliff as the Vandal’s gaze swept over the cave. Then, apparently satisfied that things were all clear, the lone Vandal leapt away and disappeared down the far side of the hill.

Rayner waited a few moments after the Vandal had gone, just to make sure it really was. Nothing could be seen stirring across Old Russia’s landscape, nothing but tiny flecks of snow drifting in the wind.

“I’ll go check it out,” the Titan eventually whispered to Void. “Watch my back.”

He turned and slipped on leg off the edge, then the other. He carefully climbed down the face of the cliff, which wasn’t hard at all since the rocky protrusions were so large one could practically hop down from ledge to ledge. Finally his armored boots met the frosted ground with a light crunch of snow underfoot, and with auto rifle raised he advanced to the hill.

Upon reaching the hill without being attacked, and then arriving at the top of the hill without being attacked, and after checking the terrain beyond the hill without being attacked, Rayner concluded that the area was clear for the moment and waved for Void to come down.

Standing near the bodies of the dead Fallen, Rayner held out his hand and materialized his Ghost. The small diamond-shaped construct appeared in a small flash of Light. The white-striped red shard-like points rotated back and forth while it floated around the scene as if lost in thought.

“These Dregs belonged to the House of Devils, a prominent group of Fallen in this region” the AI declared in its somber-sounding voice. “Looks like the Phantoms are maintaining a perimeter.”

“What could this be about? A secret Glimmer-mining operation? A hostile takeover of rival territory?” Rayner wondered out loud.

“Still unclear,” replied the Ghost. “When it comes to the House of Phantoms, things are never simple. One thing is for sure though; they obviously don’t want anyone to find out.”

Returning to his hand, Rayner’s Ghost vanished, leaving its ominous words hanging in the wind.

With a small sigh, Rayner turned to face Void. “Let’s keep moving. We’re definitely in hostile territory now, so be very careful.”

[Huka]

Guiding his ally through the tight passage with a phantom emotion rubbing its fingertips on the edge of his cybernetic mind. Void exactly paused once when he felt it...it felt natural but put behind a thick wall with black water on its side. Blinking his optics twice, he kept moving through the irritating tight spaces with his robes thankfully saving his receptors from the sound of sliding metal against stone. Soon enough, while coming to an unproductive dead end, the Exo was about to scale up the canyon face when Ryner stopped him with the motion to a crawl-space.

The Hunter looked rather hesitant to get his belly himself with a big Titan into such limited space but exos weren’t ones to complain often unless it beat with good logic. Moving as best as his more agile limbs could handle with the more battleborn Guardian through the space, Void didn’t get the best of views but he managed when the first sign of their prey were found; low-ranked Dregs and a Vandal.

Using his zooming capabilities and recognizing their arsenals, he found it odd with the higher-ranked four-armed abomination’s choice of weapons until became obvious with its stealthy approach to its ‘comrades’, or rather rival house after checking their trademark configurations.

The assassin’s attacks were swift and nothing but effective, Void certainly recorded that to his memory and use for reference. Battling the four-armed higher ranks were always difficult with the many factors to be added, compared to the docked-arms. Far kills were more easy but close confrontations were...rather satisfying to this Guardian’s core.

When it was all said and down, Void slid back like a viper when the assassin turned its head. When Ryner alarmed that he was going to check on the area after the Phantom left, the Exo waited for the Titan to slide out of the opening before pulling out his scout rifle. Holding the barrel out on the cliff ledge like a makeshift tripod, the Hunter kept his sights clear during the scale down and waited for the appearance of Ryner’s Ghost.

Sliding out of the cravis, Void robotically flipped and climbed down the cliff face like a three legged spider, catching himself with his powerful claws while still holding his rifle out and eyes glancing around. Letting himself slide down to the ground at a three meter distance, the hunter walked back to his deceptive stiffness to his comrade.

“I am always careful.” He simply replied and walked ahead to venture the snow-crisped land of Old Russia, observing the hills and remnants of a dead civilization like the rest of old Humanity. He felt a certain sorrow on the thought but then again, who didn’t? To fall from a Golden Age is no doubt terrifying and utterly devastating when the illusion of tranquility have a firm grip.

[SuperCommando]

((OOC: HAPPY BUNGIE DAY!!!))

“Hmm…” Rayner mumbled into the comlink as he and Void methodically ventured deeper into the frosted lands. “I have a bad feeling about this. It’s strange that we’ve seen so little activity…”

Aside from the one Phantom Vandal they’d witnessed earlier, the only other things the Guardians had encountered thus far were a few occasional Shanks, the Fallen’s hovering scout robots. The machines had been easy enough to bypass, especially due to Void’s excellent sense of timing. However, things were altogether too quiet. It made Rayner uneasy. Perhaps their approach hadn’t been stealthy enough and the elusive Varox had already bugged out? Then again, even when on a typical patrol there were more enemies to be found roaming around then this. Something wasn’t right.

The heavily armored Titan poked his head around a corner of rock gun first. The Guardians had arrived at one end of a crescent-moon shaped mesa with high, steep sides. No enemies were immediately apparent, so he was about to move on. But then, something caught his attention that caused him to suddenly pause before passing by.

There was something on the ground near the center of the mesa’s arc. Rayner squinted with his good eye at it for a moment, before it widened with shocking realization.

“Kane…?!”

There was a large human man there, motionlessly laying face-down on a slab of rock. He had dark brown skin, no hair, and wore the deep red Vanir armor of a fellow Titan. His helmet lay shattered nearby… as well as a severed leg.

“Wait!” Rayner called to Void. He then immediately started running in the downed Guardian’s direction…

As concerned as Rayner would be for the welfare of any Guardian, he now found his heart beating with particular urgency. Kane was one of his closest allies, and it had been Kane himself that dragged Rayner’s half-dead ass out after the fateful first encounter with Varox. What the hell was he of all people doing here?

[Huka]

Void kept silent and vigilant in his movement, scout rifle at the ready and jaded eyes scanning the area, guiding his Titan comrade past the Shank patrols but even he was uneasy (and dissatisfied) with the silence despite the obvious Fallen presence. Soon enough, they came to an interesting sight; another Guardian laying face-down in the middle of a opening.

“Titan, Rayner!” He called out once before suddenly vanishing as quick as he spoke. It was needless to say why he would do such thing at this particular situation.

As soon the Titan was half-way close to his brother-in-arm, the ammunition of shock weapons came flying with their semi-homing capability and the bloodthirsty cries of Dregs after their senior Vandal gave the signal. A whole group of the aliens had taken position on an outcropping and the rocks around it; about thirteen Dregs and three Vandals, the leader of the whole assault was the only one of his comrades to have a shock rifle while the other two possessed wire rifles-the Fallens’ sniper rifles.

The four-armed pirate pumped his lower left arm while aiming his barrel for hopefully a kill shot upon the ambushed Guardian...until his trigger-finger suddenly exploded in a bloody mess with the spray of metal. Screaming out in horrid pain, the Vandal recoiled back with his useless weapon flying in the air. It didn’t last much longer when a bullet came flying through his skull and popped it like a melon, sending a screaming soul howling to the winds.

The Dreg near the sudden kill yelped and moved to take cover, taken by self-preservation and faltered the assault down on Rayner enough to be survivable. One of the retreating four almost made it to a boulder before the back of his neck exploded, leaving his head rolling and hanging on thick strands of meat. Another tripped from a jumping dodge and fell on several boulders to the main assault force at the bottom in a crippled heap.

One of the Vandal snipers cried out something in their language before the attackers started to move about for better cover at the realization of an enemy sniper. However, this thought only grows worse. Managing to scare the Fallen into a more scattered position while giving Raynar more time to recollect himself, Void was already on the move with a quick sprint.

Reloading, checking and switching for a pair of vibrating grenades, the Exo leapt once into the air. Tails of his robes fluttering in the wind before the jets under his boots shot him even higher into the air, Void spied upon a good handful of his favored marks before frontflipping for a boulder while letting the grenades primed and fly. Three seconds in and they exploded into dozens of blood-hungry drone swarms,, sending themselves flying against the small maze of rocks with debris and body parts flying into a cloaking mist by the time Void dropped in.

The dusted silhouettes of dregs moving about for a way to escape, numbers cut down to half and furious. Command was harder to discipline without the sight of their leader, who was climbing up onto a boulder to see better. Crouched low and clawed fingers curling, the hunter drew his large combat knife; the spine a deadly sharp gleam with a sudden narrow hook to its tip while still capable of stabbing. Whirling the weapon through its forefinger ring, Void caught one Dreg passing in his line of sight before sent flying end-over-end with a underhand fling.

On contact, the two-armed Fallen rasped a death throe as the blade speared nearly to the hilt. Fingers grasping for the weapon, it stumbled and finally collapsed. The smoke clearing as two more came to find their comrade dead, too late to save it or themselves. Lunging through the air like a wolf spider, Void ram his armored fingers bloodily through the left dreg’s cheek and respirator. Sending the screaming alien spinning on his heel in a flail of surprised pain, losing his shock knife in the Exo’s snatch.

The right pirate cried out something before the heel of the hunter’s palm choked at its throat. Grasping with a masked struggle with one hand and trying to lift its pistol, the dreg could only scream as the stolen blade sliced at its lifted inner elbow and between ribs. One twist, then another reversal with the painful static of shocks spasming the gurgling body before ripping out.

Calculating while watching the alien soul escape its material shell and finishing off the other recovering foe, Void counted at least five dregs and the Vandals left. Pressing himself against a rock to keep out of the snipers’ line of fire, the hunter tilted his head some as he scented some of his enemy moving again as the smoke finally cleared. “Titan Rayner, are you alive?” He asked in a form of concern, twirling the knives in his hands. “I’ve cut the Fallen presence well enough to handle and get your...comrade, if he still live.”

Personally, the Exo doubted it. He would have done the same if he was hunting.

“I will distract the Devils as best as I-” Pebbles fell on his shoulders. Void snapped his sight up to see one of the Vandals jumping down for an ambush, rifle in his upper arms and shock knives in his lower pair. Rolling to the side as best as he could, the exo found his attempt halted with the caped killer stomping down on his leg. Letting out the most emotional thing today; a cybernetic growl that made the Fallen’s weight falter a pound. Just enough for the Exo to suddenly spin up his lower body while twirling on his prepping hands. The Vandal was tripping out and kicked hard enough in its fall to give the hunter space to flip back into a readying fighting stance, knives in reversal grips. 

 Getting up with a little shake of its head, the Vandal snarled under his mask and tossed the rifle aside. It was useless here and they both knew this was going to be a duel of close quarters. 

 The two regarded each other while the others handled the Titan. Vandals were different from their docked Dreg brethren, they were disciplined enough in their bloodthirst to coordinate, had better experience and the most dangerous part-four-armed; making them dangerous and unpredictable as clearly seen with that Phantom-housed stealth vandal a while back.

 However, the Hunter is far more deadly himself; he is a Exo, a war-machine made for confrontation with these abominations and those far worse beyond the Light. Flesh was nothing compared to the durability of steel. 

 With a tightening of each others' blades, the two made a charging lunge but Void was faster and rammed his knee into the alien's stomach enough to make the two launch into the air for the briefest of moments, nearly making the Fallen's eyes bulge out at the sudden attack. On the landing, the exo tried to end this quick with a slice to the jugular but his fist was caught by the upper right hand and returned with twin fists (and a knife) striking mask and abdomen in one motion.

Stumbling back with a little static of vision, the hunter's knife snatched down to catch the incoming stab with its hook, twisting the arm out into the open and kneed its elbow into a poking disable, elbow cap dented in by the mechanical strength. While losing one problem and hearing the muffled cry of pain from the alien, another appeared with the remaining knife stabbing into his side twice before a harsh knife sent Void railing back with a unknown sputter as foreign electricity shocking his wires and systems to a short-lived stun, knives falling to the ground.

 Taking this opportunity, the Vandal lunged for a stab for the 'heart' before the Exo slid to the side at the last second. Ramming the blade into and through the collar-bone, the alien chuckled and reached to grasp his neck with his upper hands for a strangle. Only to feel the thickness of metal and wire, the thing tilted its head in slight confusion and ripped the mask off with outrage. Revealed underneath was a black skull-like face with hieroglyphs lining the brow and sun-disk over the ancient pictographs. Jaded optics stared menacingly-shuddering from the electricity-with the Exo's stoic face, not even acknowledging his foe with words before flattening his able arm's fingers into a makeshift shovel and plunged elbow deep into the alien's unprotected stomach with a piston's might in this slight moment of dawning horror.

 Screaming out to the invasion, the Vandal tried to squeeze or pull its knife out but it was stuck. Body stunned and slowly adjusting to the blade's electricity, Void stared into the alien's eyes as his fingers curled around the heart before squeezing it like a grape. The death cry ended into a rattle and its soul flashed out of its gaping wound cowardly, never to be judged by the Anubis' scale. Letting the soulless body droop and fall on its back, Void angled his optics and ripped the knife from his shoulder before testing out his arm. Still functional. Damages sustainable.  

 Reaching down with his bloodied hand, the hunter reclaimed his mask and folded his desert hood back over his head before collecting his weapons and a few trophies without any other thought.

 

[SuperCommando]

Of course it was a trap. The scenario was entirely too suspicious to not see that. But upon finding a friend in trouble, Rayner chose to ignore his better judgment and throw caution to the wind. And now, he was paying for it.

Under a hail of Fallen gunfire, the Titan half-dived, half-fell to the ground in the aftermath of a shock grenade detonation. Warning alarms blared in his helmet as he was sent rolling across the snow covered turf. Sprays of dirt obscured his vision. Everything was a sudden whirlwind of pain and confusion.

Void’s words tugged his mind back to the present. “Titan Rayner, are you alive?”

Rayner tried to clear his head with a violent shake as he propped himself up on one knee. His battered and dirtied helmet snapped up, his narrow, burning visor locked on to Kane’s motionless figure an arm’s length away from him.

“I’ve cut the Fallen presence well enough to handle and get your… comrade, if he still lives.”

He could hear the exo speak as if it were a distant sound in the background. Rayner slowly reached out to his friend’s armored shoulder.

“Kane…” he whispered.

The other Titan could be described best in a single word – broken. His armor was shattered, his helmet discarded and crushed, his bloody left leg dismembered and cast aside. The once-proud defender of the Light, the man who had been like a mentor to him, had been reduced to a pitiful mess.

Rayner flinched back as a glowing blur shot past his face, a reminder there were still Fallen to be dealt with. The surviving Dregs had resumed their attack, and Rayner returned the gesture ten-fold.

With an enraged intensity fueling his motions, the vengeful Titan snapped up his auto rifle and unloaded a barrage of suppressive fire at the alien miscreants lurking among the boulders at the edge of the outcropping. One was quickly gunned down, and the rest ducked behind cover as stone shrapnel was sent flying by the gunfire. When the long burst ceased and the Dregs popped out to resume their attack, they were surprised to find their target had already closed the distance and was right on top of them!

Rayner flung himself into their midst with a huge flying knee strike. His armored knee crushed into the face of the foremost Dreg with a powerful crunch, before sending the pirate’s body flying backwards, where it bounced off the outcropping and broke off several shards of rock.

The nearest Dreg began lifting a pistol to Rayner’s head, but the Guardian seized its wrist and deflected the weapon aside as it fired, burning a hole into another Dreg’s face instead. Rayner then pulled his opponent’s arm taught, and angrily smashed his forearm against the back of its elbow, causing the Dreg to shriek as its arm snapped the wrong way.

With a loud yell, Rayner pivoted around, heaving the Dreg by its limp arm up onto his back before tossing it forward with a mighty throw. The alien crashed heavily into another of its Fallen bretheren, and as the two lay in a crumpled heap the Titan stood over them and emptied his auto rifle clip into their bodies.

All the Dregs were dispatched by now, but one enemy remained. Seizing it’s chance while the Titan’s back was turned, the final Vandal dropped down behind Rayner, plunging a knife into his shoulder.

Letting out a roar, Rayner whirled around, striking the butt of his weapon across the Vandal’s mask. It staggered back, bumping into a boulder.

Tossing his firearm aside, Rayner lunged forward. He drove a massive punch into the Vandal’s gut, pinning it against the rock. As it doubled over he followed up with a savage uppercut. He then delivered a rapid-fire flurry of blows, pummeling his four-armed enemy with all his rage.

He grabbed the Vandal by the face, smashed the back of its skull against the boulder, and reared back with his other fist. His gauntlet surged with bright blue sparks of Arc Light. Then, bellowing a final scream of fury, he hurled his fist forward. There was a flash as the air crackled with electricity, and the Vandal’s body crashed straight through the boulder, shattering it to pieces.

Rayner’s shoulders heaved up and down as the dust settled around him, his breath coming in sharp, ragged gasps.

Eventually, the Guardian managed to calm himself. He winced as he reached back and dislodged the knife protruding from his shoulder, and dropped it to the ground as he walked over to kneel beside Kane’s body once again.

He was gone. Rayner could see that nothing could be done, that there was no hope of even resurrecting his fallen friend. Looking around, he realized that even Kane’s Ghost was missing. Those bastards… the loss of every Guardian was a tragedy, but there was only a finite number of Ghosts. They were irreplaceable. What could this mean? However, the creeping doubts infiltrating his mind were soon overwhelmed by grief.

“What were you doing out here Kane…?” he muttered. “I told you I would finish things with Varox…”

Rayner reached down, gently retrieving something from the dead Titan’s side, a revolver-style firearm brilliant crimson in color decorated with intricate gold trim. An elaborate crown motif was etched into either side of the massive barrel. It was Kane’s pride and joy, the legendary hand cannon “Hail to the King”. Rayner wasn’t overly fond of hand cannons himself, but as he looked down at the weapon in his hands he felt a wave of solemn duty wash over him.

“Damn it…” Rayner cursed. First his eye, now his friend. How much more will be lost before justice would be done? “Damn you House of Phantoms! Damn you Varox!!”

He rose to his feet, Hail to the King clutched in one hand, the other balled into a tight fist that let off a few stray sparks.

“I swear,” Rayner quietly vowed over his friend’s corpse. “I will avenge you. By my hand and your weapon, I will find Varox, and I will bring his evil to an end once and for all. The enemies of the Light will tremble at my strength, and I WILL avenge you. I promise.”

Rayner felt drained, empty. But there was no stopping now. He had a promise to keep.

The Titan found Void collecting trophies from the battlefield. He approached his Hunter companion with his head hung in embarrassment. “I apologize for my earlier recklessness. I know better, but I allowed my emotions to get the better of me like a newly reborn rookie. I’ll try to be less rash in the future.”

He then sighed, looking around at the aftermath of the fight. “They knew we were coming all along. That means this could have been a set up from the very beginning, and our target might not even be here in the first place. But we have no other leads, so I believe we should continue anyway. There might be a slight chance Varox expected us to die here and is still conducting his unknown affairs, assuming this hasn’t all just been a ruse. You’ve proven to be a truly capable fighter, so I would be honored if help me see this through to the end, although I also understand if you do not wish to continue.”

[Spartan 999]

((REJOICE, for I have joined! Properly, this time.))


Just then, something very unexpected happened. Far below the outcropping, the sounds of battle echoed up to the two Guardians. Gunfire, an explosion, and then a flaming Pike rocketed out into view from within an alleyway. It didn't look like a Fallen was driving, no, it was quite obviously a Warlock. He dodged and weaved around Fallen footsoldiers and several Pikes that were converging on him, then swore loud enough that the words met Rayner's and Void's ears when his ride blew up underneath him.

“SON OF A-” The Pike exploded, but he jumped off and glided through the air to avoid the worst of the damage. The Warlock turned in the air and unleashed a Nova Bomb Super, which split into three separate projectiles that each homed towards where they'd cause the largest amount of damage. Indeed, almost half of the pursuing aliens were vaporized by the Void Light, and the rest scattered. However, they were quick to regroup, and it was probable that the Warlock would not be able to take them all on by himself.

[SuperCommando]

Interrupted by the sudden nearby commotion, Rayner whirled around defensively. Fallen reinforcements? Whatever was going on, it was close. Putting the conversation with Void on hold, the Titan used his Lift to propel himself to the top of the outcropping in a burst of thrust. Kneeling at the edge of the rocky formation, he was able to witness the source of the disturbance below. Apparently someone else managed to break the Phantoms’ perimeter, and it looked like that someone was getting in a little over their head.

“He needs backup,” Rayner declared to his Hunter comrade. With the realization that Varox knew Guardians were on his trail, Rayner had mostly given up on catching the elusive Kell by this point, and besides, he could never ignore a fellow Guardian in trouble. Right now, assisting this outgunned Warlock was more important than his hunt for vengeance.

A gust of wind stirred his long crimson sash as the armored soldier of Light quickly assessed the situation. Those Pikes swarming in would be a problem. With their high rate of fire and maneuverability they could swiftly overwhelm dismounted targets like the Warlock, and although their riders were exposed their firepower was still deadly. He made those his priority.

Rayner hefted his rocket launcher onto his shoulder and sighted down at the nearest of the Fallen vehicles. From his vantage point, he had a clear view of the enemy’s movement as it closed in on the fleeing Guardian. He led his target, aiming for where it was going to be.

“Heads up,” he called to the Warlock over the comlink, right before announcing his presence by launching a screaming rocket through the air. The snow dusting the rock around Rayner was blasted away as the launcher fired. The high explosive projectile detonated in the ground right in front of a Pike just as it was swooping in on the Warlock guns blazing, throwing up a pillar of dirt as the vehicle blossomed into a fireball that spat out a burning lump of wreckage high over the arcane Guardian’s head.

Rayner quickly readjusted his aim and fired again, this time taking out two Pikes that were riding close together. He then switched out for his auto rifle again as he hopped off the ledge and slid down the slope into the small cluster of boulders at the base of the outcropping.

“Over here, this way!” he shouted, sliding into cover. He unleashed a torrent of suppressive fire to cover for the Warlock, trusting that Void would in turn provide overwatch for them both.

[Huka]

Leaping up onto a boulder with Rayner for a better vantage point, Void kicked one of the vandal’s wire rifle the second he got a stable landing, quickly aimed as his fingers’ sensors grafted the systems for a proper understanding and aim reticle for his HUD. Zooming in and taking in the details of the escaping Warlock and his pursuers; several Dregs with a few of their vandal officers.

Letting the Titan get first blood, the Exo chose his marks and walked to an estimated ten seconds before the explosion of the pike dou gave him the proper opportunity.

Squeezing the trigger, he sent the first bolt flying and pierce through the redirecting dreg’s windshield and skull. Quickly averting his attention on another pike making for a flaking, he shot the retreating Vandal through the side and made sure it fell for a proper crippling at the least. When it was said and done, he quickly gave protecting fire on the Fallen, “Get moving, Guardian.” He warned, shooting another in the engines before holding his rifle one-handed while grabbing a swarm grenade in readiness of throwing if the pikes got too close.

[Spartan 999]

Atrahasis stumbled and tripped back over some large rocks sticking out of the ground when he landed. He saw a Pike swerve around and rush at him, eager to kill him. Before it could even get within ten meters of him, a warning came over the com system right before the Pike was replaced by a large fireball. The Warlock rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the Pike's wreckage as it tumbled out of control over his head.

Another rocket rushed down and took out two more of the vehicles, afterwhich the Titan with the rocket launcher descended from atop a rocky outcropping overlooking the battle. Auto rifle in hand, he suppressed any nearby Fallen soldiers to aid Atrahasis. At the same time, a Hunter, still perched up on the outcropping, gave sniper support for both of them.

“Over here, this way!”

The Warlock scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards Rayner. On the way, he conjured a vortex grenade into his off-hand's grasp and hurled it at the Fallen, creating a deadly barrier to slow their advance. He slid into cover next to the Titan and opened fire with his scout rifle, quickly downing a Vandal and three Dregs before having to reload.

“Well that was oddly convenient timing.” Atrahasis said as a greeting to Rayner. “Wish you'd shown up a bit sooner, though; my arse is sore from riding that damn Pike.”

[SuperCommando]

"You're welcome..." The Titan quipped in response as he ducked back around his boulder, a burst of semi-homing energy projectiles blasted away several rocky chunks a moment later. "Name's Rayner Svarrog. The Exo up there calls himself Void. And you are?"

He leaned around the other side and resumed his spray of suppressive fire, mowing down a pair of Dregs with the last of his magazine. Rayner checked his HUD's ammunition counter and grunted to himself in disapproval. At the rate he was burning through ammo, he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, and they were barely holding off the horde of bloodthirsty Fallen as it is.

"Damn, there's so many..." Rayner muttered to their new Warlock ally as he reloaded. "What'd you do to piss 'em all off so bad?!"

He looked around at the developing situation. The Fallen kept on swarming, determined to overwhelm them in a relentless charge. The Guardians had some cover, but they would be surrounded soon and that was bad news. They'd be trapped against the outcropping and... wait, no they wouldn't. Rayner glimpsed a cave opening in the base of the outcropping, tucked behind the rocks. That would be an excellent spot to funnel the enemy.

"Hey, eyes up, cave on our six!" he declared to the others. "We can make it if we move quick!"

The armored Guardian paused for a few moments, concentrating, focusing his Light. Blue arcs began to spark across his body. As he imagined becoming an unstoppable wall of protection, the sparks turned purple and flattened out into a glowing aura of void energy.

"Go! Now!" Rayner called out.

He rounded the boulder and came face-to-face with a barrage of gunfire and arching grenades. The Titan flung his arms out to the side, and in a bright flash projected a large domed barrier around the area. The projectiles exploded harmlessly against the Ward of Dawn shield, the grenades bounced off.

That should hold them for now, just long enough to make a break for it. Rayner turned and ran, his vibrant sash flapping behind him as he went.

[Spartan 999]

“Atrahasis,” The Warlock took a few moments to reload both weapons and regain his breath. “Oh, you know, the usual. The Fallen don't take kindly to a random Guardian suddenly appearing and crashing their party unexpectedly.”

He noticed the entrance to the cave right after Rayner pointed it out. The Titan stepped out from behind cover and shaped a Ward of Dawn into formation, giving them cover from the Fallen's assault. Atrahasis bolted to the cave entrance, but couldn't help talking rapidly as he ran.

“You know, I've always been sort of confused about the name for the Ward; you'd think it was made out of Solar Light from it, wouldn't you? But no, it's Void for some reason, and all it does is confuse the hell out of everyone! Well, everyone who studies matters such as that, anyway.”

Atrahasis Glided neatly into the cave and rolled into a crouching position the other two entered as well, and the three readied themselves anew against the Fallen. He looked over the thin cave entrance and nodded once. “Ah, that'll be a good bottleneck.”

...And that was when all three Guardians heard something shift behind them. As it wasn't very well lit, they hadn't been able to see all the way to the back of the rather large cave. What they didn't know was that this cave was merely a mouth of a much larger and extensive underground network of tunnels and such, occupied primarily by-

“Hive.” Atrahasis said matter-of-factly. He and the others turned to face the cause of the sound. “Oh. Lovely.”

The rather massive guard Ogre's deafening roar was a prelude to it's charge.

[SuperCommando]

"Wha--"

That was certainly unexpected. Rayner whirled about, his eye widening beneath his helmet's visor as he beheld the roaring Hive Ogre looming in the dark interior of the cave the trio of Guardians had just taken shelter in. His intentions had been good, but now as a sharp feeling of panic stabbed his heart the Titan suddenly realized this might not have been his greatest idea ever.

The behemoth of a creature surged forth like a one-alien stampede, rocking the cave with each successive stride. Rayner grunted and threw himself out of the way out of reflex, nearly diving head-first into the cave wall. He skidded face-down across the dusty rock floor with his arms raised defensibly in front of him, which blocked his view. All he knew is that the sound of the enraged, bellowing giant crashed right past him and that, at least for now, he had not yet been pancaked underfoot.

As he lifted his head from the floor and looked over his arms, the armored Guardian was treated to even more good news. The first thing he noticed was that, from deeper within the back of the cave, a small horde of skeletal figures were scampering their way after the Ogre. Thralls, their deadly claws glinting in the dim light.

But then, he noticed something else, something very odd indeed. There was a figure standing at the back of the cave, and although it was dark and Rayner doubted his own vision at first, he came to realize that it looked an awful lot like a four-armed Fallen dressed in a tattered grey poncho. A House of Phantoms Vandal? Maybe even the same one he and Void saw earlier? The Thralls simply swarmed around the stationary Fallen, as if oblivious to its presence as it stood there, glaring at the Guardians for a moment, and then turned and disappeared down a tunnel.

"The hell...?" Rayner muttered under his breath. It was a well-known fact among Guardians that the Fallen and the Hive hated each other's guts and would attack each other on sight. So why in the Traveler's name would the those Thralls ignore a Vandal right in their midst? It made no sense... unless...

A sudden burst of insight flashed through Rayner's brain. Their intel suggested Varox was here on Earth to conduct some kind of meeting. Upon reaching the target area, all they found waiting was a Fallen ambush. Yet directly underneath that spot was this cave, a cave filled with Hive that didn't attack Fallen...

Shit! Was Varox here to broker an alliance between his House of Phantoms and the Hive? The implications of such a thing was staggering. Maybe it was just paranoia, but so far the evidence appeared to stack up. And if it was true, this would become much more than a personal quest for vengeance, but a very grave threat to the City.

However, Rayner didn't have time to explain what he just saw, not with a pissed off Ogre stomping around and flanked by Fallen on one side and Hive on the other. All he managed to squeeze out was, "Uh, incoming!" before aiming his auto rifle from his prone position and pouring bullets into the oncoming Thralls.

[Huka]

(I just noticed the posts! Didn't get any updates >.>)

Void kept his long-distanced support; making head snaps, bodies rolling and vehicles crashing but the lucky aliens were more evasive than his current capabilities could manage before the first sign of escape was given. Cave behind their six. Taking the opportunity as soon as Rynar’s Light defense was up with a deactivation of his swarm-seeker grenade before quickly leaping to the retreat with robe tails fluttering behind him.

The Hunter patted on the Titan’s shoulder before holding his flank on entering the cave, distracted and on edge to properly acknowledge the newly arrived warlock at the moment. Coming through the bottleneck, arms instinctively showing the Fallen weapon on one shoulder next to his Storm Piercer and taking out his Dawnshot scout rifle, checking on ammunition and reloading.

Eyes on the exit like everyone else, thinking on how to properly hold the Fallen pirates for a final stand, Void had made the error of not scouting their new environment. A unwelcoming shifting of movement quickly took that mistake. Slowly turning with his comrades, Void’s optics adapted to the near pitch-black darkness to behold the network of another dark entity far worse than the Fallen…the Hive.

Suddenly the roar of a Ogre ripped from the shadows and birthed its maker with a earth quaking charge. Getting into stance, the Hunter charged towards the massive beast with no fear and rifle firing its armor-piercing rounds against the unnatural thing’s resistant hide before making a deft slide between its flesh-rending claws and thick legs. Little of its…fluids emerged from the attacks but it had the effects of grabbing the beast’s attention on what shot it.

Rising up from his slide, Void took a moment to see the swarm of skeletal Thralls in their decrepit hunches and hisses, looking like the dead of Ancient Egypt arisen, possessed and twisted…

Where Fallens were abominations to the demand of the soul, the Hive were devils that crept from the darkest corner of space that sought everything to be dragged into the same darkness. They were receive the spear of Set in protection of the Traveler!

A thunderous rumble came behind Void, making him turn his head. The Orge’s eyeless face littered with corrupted tumors opened its teethed maw and roared in fury before a massive claw came to sunder the Exo in two. Void seemed to move as if to run to the side before he vanished in the vicious attack, only to find his robes fluttering as the cyborg clinged onto the beast’s wrist with his knife stabbed deep under its armor-like skin as his rifle fired at its ugly face, sending the devil into a confused frenzy.

"This is a battle worthy for the bards!"

[Spartan 999]

“Is the Hunter always this weird?” Atrahasis inquired of Rayner as he sent round after round into the oncoming Thrall horde, downing the vicious monsters in one or two hits. Their alien bodies crumbled into ashes, fading screams echoing from their desiccated mouths.

The Titan didn't reply, instead decking an oncoming Thrall in the face. Its skull crumpled, and Rayner redirected the force, amplified by his Light, to create a force barrier around himself. That would allow him to effortlessly take out the next several Thralls that attempted to surround him.

Over to Void, the Ogre was roaring and doing its best to dislodge the agile Exo, but to no avail. Still though, it was proving to be difficult for him to continue attacking while maintaining a good hold. To help, Atrahasis formed a vortex grenade and threw it at one of the Hive abomination's legs. Customized slightly by the Warlock, it adhered to the leg and created a miniature maelstrom of Void Light, swiftly destroying the limb.

The Ogre roared and fell to its knees (or one knee and what was left of the other), still struggling to destroy its foe. Suddenly, it unleashed a last-resort eye beam from its mutated forehead. The result was...panicking, to say the least. The beam impacted against part of the cave wall and the ceiling, cracking it from the force and causing the entrance to collapse. Only a tiny sliver of sunlight shone through, but the light problem was rectified in seconds when all three Guardians' Ghosts appeared over their shoulders and created bright beams of light so they could see better.

The rest of the Hive there were taken care of quickly, and with that Rayner and Void stepped into the tunnels without hesitation.

“Seriously?” Atrahasis called after them as he caught his breath. “We can't blast our way out and stay with the murderous alien pirates?”

“Come along, Warlock,” Rayner's Ghost replied.

“Dammit. These random fireteams are always the worst...”

[SuperCommando]

The Titan's glowing purple force barrier dissipated as the action concluded for now. Clouds of dust were still settling in the aftermath of the cave-in that conveniently separated the Guardians from the Fallen outside, but also trapped them here in the pitch black tunnels. Rayner did not fear the dark, but it did tend to make him feel uneasy. Even in the thick of battle, he felt more comfortable in the embrace of the gloriously shining sun and brightly lit places. By contrast, he was suspicious of dark areas and the potential threats lurking within its mysterious depths. As he dusted off his long crimson mark he wondered if perhaps, as a Guardian, this mindset originated from the natural rivalry between the Traveler itself and its ancient enemy the Darkness?

The fireteam of three soon proceed to explore the tunnels beyond, their Ghosts lighting the way. Rayner led the way, moving at a cautious pace and stopping to peak around cover and corners as they moved along. With the momentary lull, they were finally offered a chance to properly catch up.

"Back there, just before the Hive showed up, I caught a glimpse of something troubling. I think you both should know." Rayner declared, keeping his voice soft. They appeared to be alone at the moment, but this was still enemy territory after all. "There was a Fallen Vandal - maybe even that same Phantom we saw take out those Devils earlier, Void - watching us from the mouth of this tunnel. The Thralls completely ignored him, my Ghost can confirm this."

"It's true," his Ghost chimed in. Rayner then proceeded to explain to his teammates the dire theory he had earlier, about how all the clues they encountered thus far pointed at Varox the Intangible's potential scheme to forge an alliance with the Hive.

"...And the only way to know for sure is to see what else is down here, not to mention we need to find a new way out anyway." he concluded, hoping it was all just a coincidence but fearing the worst.

After a pause to let that sink in, he turned his attention to their new Warlock companion.

"Atrahasis, thank you for helping out back there. Also, I've been meaning to ask... What are you doing out here in the first place? The House of Phantoms is known for being discreet, they usually seek to avoid Guardians and are rare to find, hence why Void and I had to go to great lengths to locate their whereabouts. Do you know something that might have led you here, or is it simply fate that we ran into each other like this?"

[Spartan 999]

((Before we start—or end, in this case—I would like to say a couple things. First off, all of these ideas I had long before the Taken King was even a thing, like more than a year before. Second, since the three of us probably won't be finishing the thread, this is the final post. It will be a summary of the plot I had in mind, and as such will lack details and contain a bit of bias towards my characters, but hey, it's better than no payoff. To anyone else doing Destiny RP's (though that would mainly be SC and Huka, I'd think), feel free to reference these events if you'd like; for continuities' sake, I have it shortly after the Vault of Glass Raid, and a while before the Crota's End Raid. Third, hope you enjoy. Even if it is a bad summary that would have been better as the actual finishing posts of an RP, but whatever. Now, on to the summary!))


When last we left our mismatched Fireteam, they had been trapped inside a cave from which numerous Hive had spilled. Rayner had seen a Vandal inside, who had apparently not been attacked by the Thralls swarming out. The three made their way down into the network of tunnels, fighting Hive along the way, until they found another exit.

The Fireteam had found signs of Fallen in the underground tunnels, and they'd been from the House of Phantoms from the look of it. They take what they found and used it to track the Phantoms, and the trail led them to Europa. Curiously enough, Europa was also the place the Warlock Lumira had said was willing to join Rayner's team had last been.

Rayner, Void, and Atrahasis land and enter one of the lost colony settlements. Over time, the colony's buildings had turned into a massive labyrinth shrouded by ice and snow in a manner reminiscent of Mars. The layrinth was huge, according to Ghost scans, but they were pretty sure this was where the House of Phantoms had set up shop.

A while after starting their exploration of the labyrinth, they came across some Fallen with Phantoms banners. They eliminated the Fallen, then moved on. It seemed their information had been accurate—wait, there's Hive here too?!

They kill the Hive and continue, but shortly after, they're beset upon by Vex. By now they're thinking something along the lines of “What the actual fawk?!” as they destroy the time traveling machines.

As time passes and they descend deeper towards the heart of the labyrinth, they eventually find themselves fighting Fallen, Hive, and Vex all at once. The three alien races are apparently all working together in some sort of alliance, which is a very very bad thing.

They come across Guardian corpses, cold, drained of Light and deprived of their Ghosts. Just...like...Kane. From the dead Guardians, the three scavenge some fresh Legendary and Exotic gear before continuing on.

It was around this time they were attacked by a Fallen group led by Varox, the Intangible himself. All three could feel that something was wrong with the Kell—there was a sinister aura about him that was unmistakable. Like an inverse Guardian, Varox wielded the power of Shadow, bestowed upon him by the Darkness.

During the pitched fight, the Fireteam got split up. Rayner eventually found Void again, but Atrahasis had completely vanished without so much as a whisper. I figure that with Varox bearing down on them, Rayner used the environment to his advantage and collapses a huge section of the labyrinth on the Kell. Overkill? For someone who was basically on-par with Skolas in the Prison of Elders (in more ways than one—note the bargain Skolas made with the Darkness to give him power), I doubt it. Either way, it was a wise move, and they were rid of the Darkness-corrupted Intangible Kell at long last.

However, that was just the prelude to the finale.

They find more dead Guardians, all of them sharing the same marks of Light-drainage and Ghost-vanishment.

But wait, there's a Guardian! Two of them, actually, and they were both alive! One Titan, one Hunter.

...Hold on. Something's up... Something seems...off.

The leader of the duo, a Titan, approaches Rayner and Void slowly. Rayner comes to the realization that the other Titan is, in fact, Kane. He'd though his mentor was dead, permanently this time, so how in the hell was he there?

Then, they feel it. A wrongness. A twisted aura, a taint. Kane and the Hunter perched silently behind him were both infused with Darkness.

Kane explains a bit by telling the Guardians that he and the Hunter were, in fact, responsible for the alliance between the Phantoms, Vex, and Hive. Varox and his Fallen followed them because of the power they could gain, power enough to break the Last City and the Traveler. The Vex followed him because he was an agent of their god, and thus a key to furthering their inscrutible goals. The Hive of a Lost Brood followed him because he was mightier than any of them, and would lead them into a glorious crusade against the Light and the Traveler.

Atrahasis materalizes during this discussion all of a sudden, and they sense the same taint on him as the other two corrupted Guardians. Apparently, he'd been abducted and warped, filled with Darkness, during their separation.

There's the obligatory “Why, Kane?! You were my mentor, one of my best friends!”, or something to that effect. This further conversation leads Rayner to realize that Kane is really, truly, gone. The Titan had become a modern-day Dredgen Yor, and had learned to turn other Guardians into mockeries of their former selves. Guardians became Marauders, and Ghosts became Specters.

Kane doesn't really reveal much of his plans, but suffice it to say, his long-term goal was the destruction of the Last City and the Traveler.

Needless to say, next they started fighting.

Were it just Rayner and Void versus Kane and the Corrupted Hunter, it would have been a hell of a battle all of its own and a mostly even fight, but with Atrahasis now fighting against them, Rayner and Void were continually pushed back.

Kane's Striker powers were drawn from Shadow, now, instead of the Light. The same went for the Gunslinger Hunter and Atrahasis' Voidwalker abilities. They were unusual, and entirely new to Rayner and Void, and that put them even more on the defensive. They knew less about what to expect from their foes, but their skill and teamwork kept them from being completely overwhelmed.

Rayner and Void hold out for an impressively long time, Defender vs Corrupted Striker, Bladedancer vs Corrupted Gunslinger, with a Corrupted Voidwalker backing his new teammates up.

The already awesome fight became truly epic when, at the final moments when Rayner and Void seem to be on their last legs, holding out inside the former's Ward of Dawn, a fiery explosion drives Atrahasis back.

Kane and the Hunter's advance stutters, and they actually retreat a few steps at the sudden blinding light that fills the room. The source? A lone Warlock, a Sunsinger, body alit with glorious Radiance. Kainar has arrived. (Yay, cameos! Also, Deus ex Machinas!)

With hardly any hesitation, he moves up and attacks Atrahasis, giving Rayner and Void the opportunity to press back against Kane and the Hunter. The Marauders backpeddle, and the Guardians gain the upper hand in the fight. Filled with newfound strength, thanks to Kainar's Radiance, they continue pushing.

Atrahasis goes down first, Solar Light burning him to death.

Void kills the enemy Hunter next, chest smoking from a long gash in it, thanks to the Exo's Arc Blade.

Kane unleashes his Shadow-version of Fists of Havoc, which Rayner counters by dropping a Ward of Dawn on top of himself. He survives, and pulls Kane in and engages his former mentor in an epic slugfest. The Marauder Titan is at a disadvantage within Rayner's Ward, however, and is soon brought down by a helmet-shattering blow.

Kane, Atrahasis, and the Hunter won't be able to be brought back, not after what they went through, how thoroughly corrupted by the Darkness they were. Exsanguinated of their Light and filled with Shadow was bad enough, but with the same happening to their Ghosts, that was it.

Anyway, Kainar reveals he was here with a friendly Fallen by the name of Soriks, the Rogue, in search of his lost friend Cenric Sauveterre. They'd fought and killed a couple other Marauders before arriving at Rayner and Void's battle, so there probably weren't any of them still alive in the Europa labyrinth.

As it turns out, the corrupted Hunter they'd fought? He was actually Cenric, warped and tainted by the Darkness. Presumably, that had happened after he'd been lost to a strange gate-like Vex machine. Kainar mourns his friend a bit, then bids Rayner and Void farewell and leaves.

Rayner and Void depart shortly thereafter as well, but not before setting up some sort of improvised bomb to collapse the labyrinth—ensuring that any stragglers were dealt with—and make sure to report their findings to the Vanguard and the Speaker.

Fin

((Well, that was interesting and fun, wasn't it? In short, the mystery behind the House of Phantoms was solved, the alliance was broken, and Kainar finally got some closure, depressing though it might have been. Hope you—whoever “you” is—enjoyed the story, short and very delayed though it might have been.))