Investigate the increase in Fallen activity near the Skywatch with Claire and Turquoise.
Starburst was the first to wake up. The barely lit room gave a drowsy appeal that almost made her go back to sleep. But rather than that, she got up and tiptoed (tip hoofed?) out the door to not wake her friends.
The sun peaked over the mountains and cast light on to the tower. Guardians were already out going on with their day, a few of which waved hello to her as they jogged to their various errands. The sound of ships soaring through the sky as the wind brushed through her mane caused the mare to sigh, relaxed at the atmosphere that the Tower gave on such a morning.
[Day Two]
As she walked around, she noticed a lone, dark figure with a ship behind her. The figure held a green sphere with a black fragment inside it. Curiosity got the better of Star as she walked over, in which the figure took notice.
"Tell me little one, has the light burdened itself on you?"
"Don't call me little." Starburst muttered. "Uhm... it's not really a burden Miss."
"Oh but it is. Soon you'll realize how much it has given you before the Darkness takes it away." She preached to the mare.
"Hey! I didn't leave my family to be told this power is a burden, lady!" Starburst growled.
"Eris!" A robotic voice called out, before a hunter jogged over. "I've told you a thousand times to leave new Guardians alone with your depressing speech." The Guardian lectured before leading Starburst away and to the grassy area near the other side of the tower.
"Sorry about that, don't take it personally. That's Eris Morn." He told her.
"What's her problem?" Starburst asked.
"Her light was taken by a Hive Prince. The rest of her team was wiped out." The Hunter told her. "Just try to stay clear of her, there's only a few number of Guardians she speaks highly too."
"Well she'll just have to wait, I'll become one of those Guardians." Starburst boasted, puffing her chest out.
"Let me guess, plan to find that shard?" The Hunter asked.
"Yeah... we just don't know where it is."
"Relax, The Speaker assigned me to track it for your team."
"Oh, you're the Hunter who's gonna help us then."
"Yes I am." The exo held it's hand out. "My name is Raine-18."
Starburst took it and shook, noting the purple lights that made for the Exo's features.
"Starburst." She told him.
"Well Starburst, I better get going. Good luck out there today." Raine said as his Ghost appeared.
"To you as well." The Pegasus told him as he faded away.
Sighing, Starburst trotted back to the living quarters. As she walked back, she thought back to what Eris said. Could someone with the Light lose so much. Her heart raced a little, she was going out on a patrol. To make matters worse, Claire and T were going on a mission with Karas, leaving her and the rest to worry about them.
Brushing the thought off, Starburst arrived to her room. Her friends were awake and actively talking with the Guardians.
"Ah, there you are." Karas told her as she walked in.
"Yeah, just went for a walk and met Eris." Starburst said as she sat down.
"Oh really." Mercer said, almost enthusiastically. "How was she?"
"She told me the light was a burden and started bugging me before Raine-18 came and pulled me away."
"Well that's a shame." Mercer shook his head. "But, you met Raine at least."
Starburst turned her head to the Hunter. "Friend?"
"Good one." Mercer answered. "Me and him are in the same guild of hunters since before we came to the tower. He's a very skilled Scout."
"Well I have faith that his luck in the field today will be great." Karas said as he loaded a magazine in his rifle. "Lets grab breakfast before we head out."
"Oh please! I'm starved." Prism cheered as he sprang out of bed.
Del shook his head. "It's always food with him."
"Ever since the Hive took the shard from Equestria, we've been getting reports of a massive increase in Fallen forces near the Skywatch." Ghost explained to them group The three jump ships sailed over the atmosphere of Earth, approaching Old Russia.
"Fallen?" Prism asked. "Why are they riled up when they don't have the shard."
"The Hive must have taken it to Earth then." Mercer told them. "Perhaps their gonna move it to the moon after showing it to their forces here. Clearly the Hive plan to do something here first, where there are already several Fallen houses at war with them here.."
"No doubt there's gonna more activity here then ever with Guardians and Darkness." Diamante spoke.
"Everyone watch your backs down there." Karas said as the three ships dove into the planet's surface.
Appearing on the surface, the ponies surveyed their latest landscape. They saw the barren waste of what was left of Old Russia with scattered Fallen patrol.
"Take it in." Mercer commented.
"Is... is this it?" Annie asked.
"Yes..." Dia told them. "It's been a while since the collapse, but we've managed to take back some of this area."
"It's..." Claire started to speak.
"We should get moving." Karas said. "The rest of you can patrol the area. Claire and T are coming with me."
"B-b-b-but Annie! She'll need my help." T trued to argue to the Titan.
"Don't worry T, I'll be right by Dia." Annie assured him.
As the group conversed, Karas's ghost appeared.
"They don't have a sparrow, and I doubt you plan to walk." It said to him. "I could contact Holiday with the idea of a modification to fit the two, but it'll take until we get back to the Tower."
"Well we're not leaving till we complete the mission..." Karas said to his Ghost as he thought of a plan.
That was when Ghost has an idea. It looked over at the two dragon-hybrids. "Wait.... they're horses. So speed should be something they excel at."
"I'm listening..." The Titan responded.
"How fast do you think those two can run?"
Sighing to himself, the lone Warlock sat down and looked out to the Mothyards, seeing the Fallen patrol the area as they searched for what little there was to scavenge. Clutching his rifle tight, he stood up at the sound of heavy thudding a the sound of a Sparrows engine grew close.
Aiming down the sights as the barrel glowed a blue hue, the Warlock was surprised to see a sparrow leading two animals in Guardian armor. The green one was galloping while the one in purple ran like a pawed creature.
Watching as the Sparrow soared by, the two creatures ran by, one slowing down briefly to speak in a slight British accent.
"Hello there." She said to him before taking off in a sprint.
Watching as the three ran to their destination, the Warlock turned back and sprinted to assault a Fallen patrol.
As the two got to the entrance of the Lunar Complex, Karas unmounted his vehicle and readied his rifle.
"In order to get to the Skywatch, we have to go through here." He explained. "I advise heavy caution."
Nodding, the two followed him in to the worn building. The interior degraded through time as tile from the ceiling were missing and the ground was cracked. The two turned a corner to see a different site. Two Dreg were patrolling an entrance that was covered in an unknown material while crystals glowed.
Popping the two, Karas crouched and examined the substance that covered that walls. The two looked in curiosity.
"What is this stuff...?" Claire asked.
"It's a residue from the Hive. A secretion they use for territory." The Titan said as he stood up. "We need to get moving. The Skywatch is just through here. Raine has reported about a Fallen captain rallying troops for something."
The three walked up the stairs, Ghost appearing to give them light as they ascended to the top.
"Kinda glad Annie isn't here..." T said.
"Why so?" The Titan asked as he moved slowly up the stairs.
"She hates the dark." T answered.
Without responding, the Titan turned the corner and aimed his shotgun, finding no enemies waiting like he expected. Sighing, he lowered his weapon and walked through the dark area. The three followed him as they tried their best to see through the blinding blackness as the only sound was their foot and hoof steps echoing throughout.
"T, I get your nervous put can you not hold on to me." Claire scolded.
"Uh.... that's not me..." T responded.
Before Karas could look over, a shriek pierced the air as a Thrall sank it's claws through Claire's armor, causing her to scream in pain. T tacled the creature off of his sister and tore into it with his Void-fused claws as the room lit up green.
"Ambush!" Karas yelled as he fired is shotgun at several Knights that were waiting in the corner before dodging a Boomer fire. T wasted no time in helping his sister up and pulling her away as a Cursed Thrall exploded near them, almost knocking the air out of the Dragon as he got up and hissed menacingly at a Wizard.
Hissing back, the Wizard poisoned the air, which weighed down on the group as they tried to get away from the toxic mist. The Titan managed to hop away and began to fire at the Wizard before stopping to see the two leap on to the vile being and tear her apart with their power-infused claws.
Watching the dragon side of them take over, Karas saw the Wizard be attacked by the two before letting out a final howl and crumbling to dust. As he turned, T swung his tail and slammed a Knight into the wall and crushed it before looking at a swarm of Thrall that his sister attacked. Claire swiped through the horde and yelled a battle cry as the Thrall turned to ash with every claw strike.
Karas looked around to see the room was devoid of all Hive forces. Sighing, looked back at the two to see them catching their breath.
"Nice work Guardians..." He told them.
"Yeah..." Claire responded, looking over to her brother, who was panting.
"We need to hurry. The Fallen are gathering and the Skywatch and no Guardians have been able to secure that area." Karas told them, loading a shell into his shotgun before pumping it.
Standing up, T shook his head to clear his mind. "Yeah... lets hurry and get out of here."
"Clarity, T, can you two come in here please?" Rarity's voice sounded from down stairs. The siblings noticed that her tone was much more serious compared to other times. Walking down stairs, the two young kirin's walked down to see their father and mother waiting for them.
"Yes... what is it mother?" Claire asked her.
"Well.... you two are getting older and we decided it's best we have this talk." Spike said.
"You see.... you may be aware that you're half dragon..." Rarity explained.
The two nodded.
"Well, there are certain instincts that come with being a Dragon that you may feel.... try to take over. It's important that you resist wahtever urges you feel."
The Titan led them up more stairs to a brighter room, where his Ghost switched off the light and disappeared. Looking around, the area was clear of Hive markings and didn't have a single minion of the Darkness in it. Echoing through the halls were chants of some kind from outside.
"We're getting close, I doubt we can take out the entire Fallen forces but assassinating their captain is a good start." Karas said as he broke off into a sprint with the two tailing him. The raced down a hallway and were greeted by the sun shining outside. Running over to a nearby shack, the Titan slid into cover and pulled out his rifle.
A crowd of Fallen had gathered in the area, cheering on as a Captain preached to them, raising his two arms in the air as he roared over the audience, who cried back in excitement in an unknown language to the Guardians.
"There he is, on top of that rock. I don't know what they're planning to do... but.... wait a minute..." Karas focused more and examined the Fallen Captain from a far. "I was told he had Yellow armor... that one is wearing blue."
A loud thud was heard behind them. As he began to turn around, Karas was grabbed by the back of his neck and thrown into the wall by the real Fallen captain. Before he could get up, the Titan was pinned to the ground by his foot as the Fallen raised it's arc blade over it's head and was prepared to finish the Guardian.
"Okay guys, your mom didn't want me to tell you this. I wanted to wait till you were older." Spike said as he tucked them into bed. "Those instincts.... you should know how to use them..."
"Why daddy?" T asked, snuggling his toy in his bed.
"Well.... something your mom doesn't get is that sometime it takes a dragon to be able to protect his loved one with their strength. I know that at sometime, you'll have the desire to protect those you care about... and that desire will turn into dedication... and dedication turns to burning motivation."
As the Fallen captain swung down to end the Titan, he was tackled by a snarling T and Claire as the two ripped him apart. Karas got up and watched as the Captain was helpless as the two Kirin tore him to pieces as his body was consumed in Solar and Void powers.
As the last piece of the Fallen faded away into the wind, the two sat down, panting as they looked at each other and realized what they've done.
"Our mission is done... take us to orbit Ghost. Let the others know we'll be at the Tower." Karas said as he sat down with the two.