Chapter Text
Written by Jay “ShadowElite217” Baines, edited by Chance “Gearshifter09” Clarke
Primus Umbra is not an old clan. The organization was founded in the waning days of the SIVA Crisis, not for the purpose of bringing the fight to the City’s enemies. Infact, Primus Umbra’s founding was almost a necessity for its members. At the time, Shade needed a place to stay and being in a Clan tied to the Vanguard put a roof over his and everyone else’s head. Of course, with time, the Clan’s purpose evolved. Running ops on behalf of the vanguard was less a chore and necessity, eventually it became duty. Before long, the First Shadow had evolved from a group of squatters into a pack of crusaders, pushing back against the ‘dark’ that ever threatened Humanity and its borders. With their light, they cast a vast shadow over the City’s enemies with almost a zealous fervor…however, with time, things changed.
In the wake of the Red War, the only time in the City’s long and storied history that the City had fallen, the Vanguard commander, Zavala, has been most reluctant to give the City’s protectors total freedom. With the death of so many lightless guardians, civilians and, most recently, friends…his mind has fallen to a dark place. Now, he clutches what remains of the City’s forces close to chest and has since placed restrictions on Guardian activities. Guardians can no longer freely visit restricted darkness zones, nor are they permitted to look into their past, lest they unleash something that was never meant to be awakened.
Ikora openly displays friction against this, often allowing Warlock’s passage into the unknown. She is not afraid of the dark and, with or without Zavala, would see the world we’d lost become familiar again. It is in this mindset that she has dispatched Hades, Co-founder of the First Shadow, and perhaps the most decorated among them, to scour the restricted zones of our past and perform reconnaissance. To the rest of Primus Umbra, Hades is just taking orders from a commanding power. Unbeknownst to them all however, he has been secretly serving in her network of spies as one of her Hidden . His knowledge of things not common, his investigation of the Concordat’s resurgence, his taking on of Ryan’s duties, veiled as helping a friend, all of it has been in service to his Hidden commander. Currently, Hades moves throughout the Manhattan Nuclear zone on her orders and in favor of Ryan-7’s duties, who had yet to fully recover from the incident on Luna, leaving the rest of Primus Umbra to their own devices.
Clanmate and Co-founder of the First Shadow, Shade-7, is on a mission of his own. Eager to get into the fight, and not bothering to sanction it with a Leader he sees as illegitimate, he sent out a call to arms to his fellow shadows, a call that was answered immediately by Ryan and Ace-3. Now on the Red planet, Mars. They undertake a desperate mission to rescue an old friend near and dear to Shade’s past while also attempting to preserve nobility. It is on this rescue mission that the three will test what it truly means to be a Titan.
On the surface of mars, a massive Tower rises high over the horizon. The Command Tower, erected by the Red Legion and one of the last of their command posts, comes under siege by The 3 Titans of Primus Umbra. They push through, fighting through Cabal after Cabal that stands in their way.
Shade pops out a barricade of light, Ace gets behind it and peaks over, firing his auto rifle into the Cabal formation. Opposite them, Ryan, using his Crown Splitter, goes toe to toe with a Legionary, his sword cuts straight through the Cabal’s shield and into the enemy. Shade soon pushes forward grabbing one of the Red Legion’s energy shields and, with all his strength, throws it slamming all the Cabal against the wall. Ace activates his Thundercrash and evaporates and smashes into the Legionnaire, obliterating the Cabal, his shield and severely compromising the door his body was blocking.
The 3 Titans press on. They move for the door when suddenly the compromised door explodes, throwing the three of them backwards. The warriors quickly pick themselves up and look back towards the Tower Entrance to find a massive Cabal Colossus emerging from the sundered throughway. The great warrior leveled a huge, dual handed rotary cannon, a Cabal Slug Thrower, and encased himself in energy shielding.
“We don’t have time for this.” Ryan spouts impatiently. Looking to end this quickly, the Titan reached his hand up and erupted with Solar light, calling forth a massive burning Hammer - the Burning Maul. Ryan rushed forth and with the full breadth of his light, he slammed the mighty Cabal warrior, shattering his shield and incinerating his body in a move so great it destroyed his hammer and dissipated his entire super.
Behind their spent teammate, Shade helped Ace back up to his feet and together they moved up the stairs. “How many of these guys do we have to deal with?” Ace asked, loading his rifle as he moved.
Shade wasted no time in responding. “As many as it takes to get to the other side.” he said with a touch of malice in his tone.
Ryan, still very much impatient, asked the group “We hear anything from Hades?”
“He’s still off doing your patrol duties, and I believe Ikora asked something extra of him, something about Manhattan.”
“And the Hunters?” Ace asked.
Ryan opted to answer him. “They flew in with me. They wanted to come, but I told them to go back to base and clear their heads. We’re on our own for this one.”
The Three make it to a barricade in the staircase. “The path’s blocked off…” Shade called out.
“no such thing to Titan’s of the First Shadow.” Ace chuckled, charging arc energy in his fists, but Shade held him back and instead motioned to a window in the tower.
Shade crashed out of it and turned on the jets in his Lion Ramparts, hovering in the air for a moment. “Gentlemen…?” He beckoned, opening his arms to them.
Both of his fellow Titans leapt out and grabbed his hands, Shade lifted them all 3 stories and up and tossed Ace back towards the Tower, allowing him to ballistic slam and crash right in, enveloped in arc lightning. There they found themselves in a security room, illuminated only by the glow of turrets and tripwire lasers.
The Titan’s proceeded onward, their ghosts transmatted out into the open and used their light to shine a path ahead. The 6 of them moved on steadily, avoiding the defenses while making small talk.
“You know, I don’t mind that the other’s aren’t joining us.” Ace started. “Been a while since it was just us Titans. Plus, True Titan’s don’t call for backup…”
“They call for clean up!” Ryan and Shade finished his sentence.
“Damn right!”
“You really are unbelievable sometimes…”Wraith started, expressing discontent.
“Oh come on, what’s wrong with a little Confidence, bud?”
Saber, Shade’s ghost, butts in. “Confidence is good and all, just don’t let it be your drive.”
Unlike his fellow Ghosts, Buck praised the Titan’s tenacity. “Pfff, please, As if this fire team needs any reason to not be confident, they could take this whole tower down and not even scratch their armor.”
The 6 of them came across an unavoidable Cabal turret, Saber used her beam to cut the turret’s circuits and shut it down so they could continue.
Shade continued on, leading the pack.. “I must say this is nice. I mean, aside from the fighting and death lasers, this is like having a little walk with our ghosts.”
Ace replied. “Speaking of Ghosts, I wonder what Cletus is up to? We did all leave him alone in the tower, right? That can't be good.”
“Nah, he’s with Hades. They’re out on a mission together.” Saber replied. “He’s trying to get him to the point where he can do recon missions for Ikora on his own.”
Buck, specifically had no vote of Confidence for him. “That won’t go over well…”
“Seriously,” Ryan added. “The guy’s got a few screws loose, literally I think.”
“I think he’s kind of adorable.” Ace refuted. “Like a puppy that doesn’t know it shit itself.”
“Yes, a Puppy that can bring anything and anyone back from the dead on a whim.”
“Then he’s a god puppy, Idk dude, I don’t make the rules.”
“Yes, you’re as much a rule maker as you are an expert platformer.”
Ace sours at that comment. “Alright, you little shit…”
The group came across another Cabal turret. This time Buck and Saber move to cut it offline.
“So jokes aside, can you tell us what we’re doing in this Cabal Tower?” Ryan asked, with Buck returning to his side. “And why are we playing stealth when we could just move in on our own and tear the place down?”
Finally clear of the security, Saber decides to answer. “Well the reason we’ve kept this a secret for so long is that...well it’s personal, to the both of us.”
As the group moves back into Cabal territory, they all recall their ghosts, and Shade steps in. “This Stealth and Destroy op is a cover up for a rescue mission.”
Ryan and Ace look at each other, then back at Shade.
“Is that all? Why didn’t you just tell us?”
“Who’re we rescuing?”
Shade only answers half of their questions. “She’s a Guardian.”
“A Guardian that needs rescuing?”
“It happens sometimes…” Shade said.
The fireteam comes up to another door. Shade readies himself to break down the door but Ace stops him, moves him to the side. “You deprived me of punching down one door earlier, this one’s mine.”
Ace backs up to get a running start, then charges off and charges right through the door, sending it flying right off of it’s hinges. Then they continue on.
“The Guardian we’re here for is one of us.” Shade said, deciding to fill the others in some more. “A member of Primus Umbra, she acts as our forward scout.”
“A member…” Ace began.
“…that we don’t know about?” Ryan concluded.
The other Titans were clearly growing more skeptical, but they continued on anyway. They were now in the cell block area, where the Cabal kept their prisoners. As Such, there was only one Cell. Two giant Crimson Generators hummed on the door hinges and a Sentry turret pointed at the cell. Ryan immediately ripped the turret off the ground and tossed it to the side.
Shade slowly takes out what appears to be a Bow with special tipped Arrows, but one unlike any Ace or Ryan, or anyone had ever seen before. Its Arrows quivered with energy akin to that found on weapons of the Warmind’s arsenal, such as the Sleeper Simulant, the Valkyrie Javelin or the ‘Warsats’. Before he could use it though, something came stomping to the entrance. The trio turned to see a Colossus moving on them.
“Oh son of a-“ Before Ryan could finish his sentence, the Valus turned his heavy slug thrower on them and let loose. Ace and Ryan both moved to put up a double towering Barricade.
“Whatever you’re gonna do with that fancy bow, you better do it fast!” Ace shouted over the hail of gunfire.
Shade moved the weapon into place, pulling back and releasing arrows and destroying the two Crimson Generators allowing the cell doors to be open. Shade quickly enters as Ace and Ryan hold off the Cabal Commander. Inside the cell he finds a woman curled up in a sewn together Hunter cloak and rag-tag gear.
“Katie?....Alfred?” He called out.
Suddenly, a ghost appears from underneath the cape…
“Shade!”
“Alfred!”
“Thank the Traveler you’re here!”
The Girl turns over and sees Shade there, there on her neck, some kind of clamp. “S-shade?” She says weakly.
“Oh, Katie…what did they do to you?”
“They call it a Light-dampener. It’s of the same tech as the one they put on the Tower. They’ve had us here for days, she’s exhausted and I can’t heal her with that thing on.”
Shade picks up and carries her. The loud ringing of gunfire and ability spam decorated the background.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got you now, just rest up. We’re gonna get you out of this place.”
Katie passes out again from exhaustion.
“Ace, Ryan! Fall back”
“Good, to hell with this guy!” Ryan shouts as he uses Polaris Lance and returns fire, burning the Colossus’ eyes. With his free hand, he summons a smaller hammer of Sol and blows a hole in the Tower wall. “There, that’s our exit!”
“Hope everyone can platform.” Shade snubbed, despite their dire situation.
“Oh, very funny!” Ace grumbled. “Just Jump!”
Ace and Shade leapt out the tower, Ryan lingers on. He tosses a few hammers at circuitry in the room, setting it ablaze, blowing the prison center up and sending himself out of the building.
The 4 guardians were now in free fall, out of a with the ground coming up fast.
End of Chapter 1