Chapter Text
“Alright! Analysis completed,” Astrophel said. Hecate bobbed up and down.
“We know where the Fallen are, Failsafe! Cobalt, you’re going home soon.”
Silence.
“Cobalt?” Hecate called again. Seida glanced at her HUD, searching for Kevin’s signal. It was very faint, and very far. She groaned. Pyrrha put her hand on the Hunter’s shoulder.
“At least he’s going in the right direction,” the Warlock said.
Seida nodded and summoned her Sparrow. “Let’s hope he doesn’t get himself killed.”
The first part was easy enough. Kevin snuck through the midsection of the Exodus Black with little opposition. The Fallen and Vex were too busy battling each other for the space in between the spaceship chunks to notice a lone Guardian traversing the sidelines on foot.
The next part was also simple. A giant Fallen Walker and a Vex Gatekeeper? Too big to notice him. Stealth was his style: fast, efficient. Nothing like the explosions that Warlock was constantly causing.
When he reached the area marked EX-077 Command, he almost laughed. The Fallen were trying to hide in the dark.
But now, now was interesting. He traversed the dark room, climbing up to an opening above a large area lit by natural light. The Fallen created a massive dome in what seemed like the Engineering Deck. At each vertex of the octagon-shaped floor stood massive Arc conductors. Shanks lazily hovered around each of them, sparking with Arc energy. The floor underneath them buzzed with the same intensity.
No wonder the A.I. was bugging out. This much Arc energy wasn’t good for anything.
It seemed like the Shanks were interfacing with the conductors somehow. Kevin pulled out his knife and took aim. If he limited the damage on this one, he could research it later.
The Shank went down easily. The others seemed to glance around, trying to find the source. Kevin pulled out Better Devils and took them out. The Arc energy on the floor receded, creating a safe spot on the metal. Kevin landed lightly next to the downed Shank.
“Cobalt, transmat this to the secondary base.”
The Ghost nodded and scanned the deactivated bot. It dematerialized within seconds. Kevin turned to leave.
Suddenly, there was a flash on the radar.
He readied Solemn Hymn, scanned the area with his eyes. Nothing except the crackling Arc conductors. Still, something definitely tripped his sensors.
The air shimmered behind him. He heard the footfalls. A giant sword slashed at him and he ducked just in time.
Before him stood a large Fallen. Cobalt quickly disappeared into Kevin’s backpack. The Hunter backpedaled and shot with his rifle, laying down a smoke grenade at his feet. Two could play the stealth game.
What he didn't account for was more Shanks. More Arc energy. It surged through his legs, gluing his joints together. He fought against the current, pulling his gun around and firing at the nearest Shanks. The floor finally let him go and he dashed as far away as he could.
He glanced back at the Fallen. His HUD identified him as a Marauder of the House of Dusk, “Thaviks the Depraved.” In an instant, the alien disappeared again.
Fallen troops came pouring into the arena-like area. Dregs, Vandals, Marauders alike. Shanks dropped in over the Arc conductors again.
Mistakes were made.
Kevin wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Cobalt could feel the tension in his Guardian’s movements. The Hunter shot and stabbed whatever he could. Thaviks just kept calling more reinforcements.
The slashes and gunshot wounds multiplied on Kevin’s body. There was no pain, but a severe slowing effect on his movements. Cobalt worked as fast as he could to knit together the small holes. While he could handle such a hoard by his home, the combination of cloaked troops and Arc-charged floors proved difficult. It was fine if he died, but he worried about Cobalt. With this many foes, resurrection would be dangerous. He might have to lie dead until they scampered away.
Thaviks appeared behind him again. Why was this damn Fallen so good at doing that? Nobody should be able to do that to him. The sword connected with his back, and the force flung him forward. He clattered to the edge of the octagon, gun a few feet away from him.
“Cobalt, what are you doing,” Kevin asked. There was a strain in his voice as he tried to reach his gun.
“I'm boosting your signal.”
“You're calling for help?”
“Yes.”
Kevin groaned. His fingers grazed the handle of his rifle. He could feel Thaviks closing in on him.
A flash of light, bright as a small star, caught his peripheral. Thaviks hissed as the smell of burning flesh filled the air. The Marauder cloaked immediately.
The Shanks around Kevin fell. Seida’s boots entered his vision.
“You look like hell, Hunter.”
Kevin could hear Pyrrha yelling somewhere behind him, her flaming punches probably landing on some poor Vandal. Seida extended a hand to him. He hesitated, but took it.
“I didn't need your help,” he snapped at her. She jabbed a finger in his direction.
“There is no ‘I’ in ‘team,’ Kevin! This is why we attempt Strikes in groups!”
She ducked to dodge a Marauder’s spear, twisting to stab him in the face. As the body fell she turned to Kevin again.
“Just like you're done with us, I'm done taking your negativity. Get healed up, and let's take this guy down. Together. ”
She checked around the area before rushing off to support Pyrrha. Cobalt chuckled.
“It's not funny,” Kevin growled. His Ghost didn't respond. Slowly he could feel his body fix itself. He scooped up his gun from the ground.
“Here's the plan,” Seida called over the comms. She was behind a crate on the far side of the arena. Pyrrha leapt backwards, away from two Servitors who teleported in.
“Pyrrha, blow up those Shanks. Kevin, get the Servitors. I'll provide cover fire for you all. When the big guy comes back, let me know immediately. I've got six shots that would love to meet him.”
Gunfire rang out as the team went with their divide-and-conquer plan. When Thaviks came around again, Seida unleashed Golden gun into his chest. Blood and Ether leaked off of the hulking Marauder, but he was still standing. He cloaked again.
“Damn it,” Seida said, switching to Uriel’s Gift. “Lost him again!”
“No,” Kevin called from behind cover. “He's bleeding!”
Seida smiled behind her helmet. “Follow the trail! Kevin, shoot him down! Pyrrha, crowd control!”
Pyrrha leapt high up. Wings of fire erupted from her back as she drew a blazing, golden sword from the air. As she swung, great arcs of flames shot from her blade, incinerating the Fallen troops below. Seida threw her grenade at the Marauders closing in behind Kevin. Small drones that shone like orange stars flew in and blew them apart.
Kevin followed the blue trail with his eyes. A puddle was forming ten meters away and he glanced towards the ceiling. He saw it. The telltale shimmer of Fallen cloaking tech.
A purple light formed in his left hand, growing to form the curve of a bow. He pulled back with his right, an arrow and string of the same make materializing as he moved. Jumping into the air, he fired his shot.
The arrow zipped through the air, landing deep within Thaviks. Void Light burst from him as the arrow transformed into an orb, tendrils grasping onto his form. There was a mighty shout as he struggled to keep his grip on the ceiling. His cloaking device fizzled as he fell to the ground, his body landing with a thud. The remaining Fallen hissed and scampered away.
Kevin exhaled without thinking. He didn't need to breathe and yet, the instinct overtook him. A strange feeling of nostalgia. Seida walked up to him and clapped him on the back. He flinched and immediately stepped away. She tilted her head for a moment and then shrugged it off.
“Did we do it?” Pyrrha asked. Seida nodded.
“Looks like it.”
“Not quite,” Kevin said, walking over to the nearest Arc conductor. “We still need to deactivate these things.”
Seida walked up to join him, looking the conductor up and down. “What do you mean? It looks like part of the ship.”
Kevin shook his head, pointing to the metal. “You see welding here and the weird smears here?”
Seida glanced at him. Kevin made an annoyed sound.
“Nevermind. It's too complicated for you to understand.”
The other Hunter nodded. “Yep. That's why we have you on our team.”
Kevin paused. Did she know that was meant to be insulting? Seida moved to pat him on the back, but stopped. She gave him a double thumbs up instead.
“I'll leave you to it, Kevin,” she said before walking off.
Cobalt materialized next to Kevin. “See. She isn't that bad.”
Kevin shot his Ghost a glare before turning his attention to the conductors.
The Arc energy faded from the last conductor. Kevin dusted off his hands.
“System congestion has cleared,” Failsafe announced over the comms. “Diagnostics reports suggest I have returned to a normal rate of function.”
“Glad to hear. We've cleared the Fallen from your engineering deck,” Pyrrha said.
“Kevin even put more sensors for you here,” Cobalt said. “Can you interface with them?”
“Accessing new sensor array in EX-077 Command. Access successful. Integrating with current sensor network. Integration successful. Thank you, Temporary Captain. This is a very nice gift.”
Seida glanced over to Kevin. A gift? He gave Failsafe a gift? She chuckled to herself. Perhaps he’s not as selfish as he seems.
“Good work, guys,” Cayde said. “See the beauty of teamwork, Kevin?”
Kevin twitched. Seida made a throat-clearing noise.
“Right. Anyways! Find any Golden Age ray guns?”
“No,” Kevin said, arms crossed. “Can I leave now?”
“Yes, Hunter,” Zavala joined in. “Well done, Guardians. This is a significant victory against the Fallen.”
Kevin gave Seida one last look before he transmatted away. She leaned her arm on Pyrrha’s shoulder.
“He’s so mean. And weird,” the Warlock said. Seida nodded.
“Yeah. But I think we can deal with that. Right, Astro?”
Astrophel chittered. “You already deal with ‘weird’ when you hang out with Cayde.”
Pyrrha giggled. Seida laughed.
“Let’s go. Ramen and drinks are on me.”