//------------------------------// // 1) Explosive beginnings // Story: Fireteam Odium // by EchoTheFloof //------------------------------// The Tower was bustling with Guardians coming to and fro from various missions. It had been an eventful week, as news spread that the threat of SIVA had been eliminated. According to the rumours, a team of six Guardians had mounted an incursion into the Fallen base in the Plaguelands and killed their leaders that had allegedly controlled SIVA. While the residents of the City rejoiced in the news, for Fireteam Odium, it was just another day. Of course, they were happy with the results, but they had bigger things to worry about. Well, at least two of the three thought so. “Hey, Kervis! Catch!” A female Exo called out. The human she had called to looked up to see a white and purple box flying towards his face. He managed to move his hand up and catch it before it collided with him. “Dammit Kalis, watch what you're doing! I've been through way too much to get killed by an ammo synth,” he responded, letting his Ghost store it in his inventory for him. “Aw, lighten up, man. We just killed a Fallen machine god! Surely that's reason to celebrate?” The Exo said, grabbing another synth and tossing it to the Warlock standing nearby. “We did celebrate, Kalis. But now we have a job to do,” The Warlock said sternly, taking off his helmet and looking over at the two Guardians. “You get new orders from the Vanguard?” Kervis asked, his interest spiking. “That I did. Vanguard scouts have reported an unusually large amount of energy coming from a Vex stronghold on Venus. Both the Speaker and the Vanguard want us to check it out.” “Ha, they ain't giving us a break, huh?” Kalis said, looking away from the vault storage console she had been using. “We've had plenty of time to rest, there's no point in waiting. How long do you guys need?” The Warlock replied, his stance not moving. “Not much longer. Providing this one doesn't knock me out, I should be ready in five,” Kervis said with a smirk towards the female Exo beside him. The Exo in question looked up and gave him an amused look, “No promises. I should be ready around then as well, Exodus. Just sorting through some of the stuff we got from the siege.” “Alright. Don't be late. I'll be waiting by my ship for you both,” Exodus finished, giving them a nod and walking away towards the Tower hangar. True to their word, the two Guardians finished resupplying soon after and set off towards the hangar, passing a couple of Guardians dancing with each other. - - - Exodus watched as his ship was prepared for departure. He had been using his modified Ceres Galliot for some time now. He loved how it handled, and it did its job well. While he watched the frames rearm the last of the weapons on board the ship, the other members of his Fireteam joined him at the balcony. “Don't suppose you asked Holliday to get ours ready ahead of time, did ya?” Kalis asked, giving Exodus a nudge. “I did. They are ready for transit and are currently flying above the Tower for you. I got a bit delayed with the weapons on my ship,” Exodus responded, turning to face them. “Why? It looks fine to me...” Kervis commented, looking over at the ship in question. Due to its shape, it had to be attached to the ceiling to keep it from tipping. This meant that the passing viewer could see the side of the ship fairly well. “One of the frames installed a missile incorrectly. Shouldn't take too long, since it's a simple fix. You two go on ahead, I'll catch up,” Exodus said, turning back to his ship. “Fine by me. Let's get out of here, Kervis,” Kalis said, apparently elated to be getting out of the Tower again. Kervis simply shook his head, pulling up his hand. As soon as he opened his fingers, his Ghost materialized over it. “Ghost, take me to orbit, if you would,” he requested, looking at the Ghost's eye. Nothing more needed to be said. After a few seconds, all that was left of the human was a quickly dissipating cloud of light. “Catch ya up there, bud.” Kalis said, transmatting herself into her ship. - - - Up in orbit, two ships flew alongside each other in formation, both belonging to Kalis and Kervis. Kervis' ship was a black, four-winged ship known as the Vienna Singer. It had yellow light strips across the wings' edges that lit up in sync to give a sweeping glow every few seconds. It was built more for speed than combat, but Kervis didn't care for what the ship was able to do. If it got him where he needed to be, it was good enough. Kalis, on the other hand, had gone for something a little bigger. Her ship was shaped like a letter 'H'. Named 'Tick Tock Inquisitor', her ship had no weapons on it at all, which suited Kalis just fine. Despite being one herself, she wasn't a fan of flashy machines. As they flew, they chatted to each other about various things, mostly the items they obtained from the incursion in the Plaguelands. “Did the Cryptarchs give you any info on that engine you found?” Kalis asked over the comms. “Not really. He said something about alignment, but I lost track after a minute or so. I'll ask Shiro when we get back. He should know something about it,” Kervis said in response, looking over the console of the ship. “It seems valuable. After everything that Exodus did to unlock that room, you would think that there would be something bigger on the other side of it,” Kalis said in thought. Kervis sighed at that, “I'm sure we will find out in time. For now, let's get ready for Exodus.” They stayed quiet for a moment, making sure their ships were ready for the transit to Venus. “What do you think of this mission?” The Exo asked when she had finished the pre-flight checks. “Not sure, to be honest," Kervis answered. "Sounds fairly easy, and from what I heard, finding new Vex energies is a pretty common thing." “Yeah, but for the Vanguard AND the Speaker to call for a full Fireteam? Seems like there is a lot more to this,” the hunter asserted. Kervis rebutted, “Kalis, I don't think that they're hiding stuff from us. Why would they? You're just getting paranoid.” “Maybe...” Kalis trailed off, realising that the conversation wasn't going to get anywhere. After a couple of minutes, they noticed a ship catching up with them on their radars. “Here we go,” Kervis said, shifting to get ready for transit. “Sorry for the wait, you two ready?” They heard Exodus say through their comms. “Yeah, we're just waiting on you.” As they waited on Exodus, Kalis piped up, “Hey, Exodus?” “Yeah?” “Do you think the Vanguard would hide stuff from us?” she asked. Kervis groaned. He was fairly used to Kalis' habits, but Exodus could get annoyed with her at times with the stuff she says. Exodus was quiet for a moment, “No. Why do you ask?” “Well, is there really this much need for a full fireteam? I mean, they send fairly young Guardians on these types of missions all the time. If it was something normal, why not send a newly reborn?” “Our job isn't to question our orders, Kalis. We are here to protect humanity, and if the Vanguard think that this mission should require us, then I am inclined to trust them.” Kalis gave a sigh, going quiet for the remainder of the time it took Exodus to prepare. After another few minutes, Exodus spoke up, “Okay, I'm ready if you guys are.” Leaning forward, Kervis replied, “Let's do this.” - - - The peaceful atmosphere of Venus was disrupted as the sound of three ships washed across the landscape. “Okay, team. My Ghost sees multiple Vex signatures at the drop point; we're going to have a fight from start to finish with this one,” Exodus called out, flying lower to the tree line. “Copy, landing zone is hot,” Kervis said, his Ghost getting ready for a resurrect should he need it. “Hey, Kalis. You got a Tether ready?” Exodus asked. “Are you kidding me? With how long you took, I probably could have charged ten of them,” she scoffed. “We are going to need one, so get ready,” Exodus commanded, ignoring her snide comment. As the landing zone came into view, the scale of the Vex resistance dawned on the Guardians. At the forefront, several squads of Goblins were crouched, awaiting a reason to move. Behind them, Minotaurs stood ready, with their weapons raised. Hidden in the brush further away, they could just make out a squad of Hobgoblins awaiting targets. The Minotaurs and Goblins brought no worries to the veterans, but they all knew how easily one could fall to a well-placed sniper shot. “Alrighty then, they're overcompensating,” Kalis observed, slowing her ship slightly and pulling left, breaking formation. “It won't be enough,” Kervis stated, pulling his ship down towards the landing zone, Exodus following suite. As soon as they came into range, the Vex Minotaurs launched their counterattack. A mass of purple came hurtling towards them as they closed in on the small army before them. The damage was minimal against their armour, but the two knew that staying there longer than they needed was certainly not a good idea. As the ships got close to the ground, the two Guardians materialised a few feet beneath their ships, weapons drawn. Kervis immediately fired off three bursts of his Häkke pulse rifle. The shots flew true, killing off three of the Goblins before him in bursts of white radiolaria. Exodus wasted no time in attacking either. As he materialised, he threw his arm out, throwing a ball of solar energy ahead of him. The ball hit a cluster of Goblins, turning into a larger explosion that quickly blasted apart the surviving members of that squad. The Goblins rose in unison, their red eyes staring coldly at the suddenly appearing duo. Their weapons rose to meet their attackers, but most were obliterated before they could properly land shots on the Guardians. Said shots were absorbed by the shields the pair's Ghosts made for them, providing little worry for the attackers. Seeing a Minotaur trying to flank, Kervis turned and drew his Raze-Lighter. As the blade coated itself in fire, he launched himself at the towering machine, slicing into it from every angle he could. Meanwhile, Exodus had begun dropping any Vex that came close. Cover was minimal in the area they had landed, but he made do. While he couldn't shield himself as effectively as Kervis, his Flame Shield worked well enough to restore his protection when it fell. As they fought, Kalis flew in from the back, dropping down from her ship and firing a round from her sniper. The bullet passed straight through a Goblin's stomach, leaving a mess of radiolaria in its wake. “Kalis! Get that Tether down here!” Exodus commanded, firing a few more shots from his Scout Rifle. “Chill for a sec, would you? It's hard to be this good when you're yelling down my ear,” the Hunter replied, lining up a bow summoned from Void energy. An arrow flew from the back of the battlefield only moments later, striking a Minotaur and evaporating it in Void light. As its body flew through the air, it left behind a small sphere that shot out and attached more void energy to the nearby enemies. Those that had been affected by the sphere stopped attacking and turned, trying to escape the field of influence. “Drop 'em,” Kervis ordered. All three members got to work, dispatching the slowed enemies with ease. After only twenty seconds, there was nothing but twitching machine corpses left. “Well, that was fun,” Kalis commented happily, jumping down from a ledge and joining her Fireteam. “Hm... I don't think that was all they had in store,” Kervis commented, looking towards the entrance to the Vex fortress. “Then let's get to it,” Exodus said, starting to run towards the entrance. The other two quickly followed, reloading their weapons as they ran. They all slowed when they entered the structure, bringing their weapons up. Kervis' Ghost appeared and shone its light forward, allowing them to see with relative ease. Surprisingly enough, they encountered little resistance on their trek through the hallway. While it wasn't a completely uneventful walk, they expected a lot more fighting than what they experienced. At the end of the hallway, they came to a massive chamber, and the reason that there was very little Vex resistance on the way there. A huge surge of Vex was marching towards them; Cyclops set up on the nearby walls that had turned to face them. At the back of the room, a Hydra stood tall, its revolving shield at the ready. “Ah, shit,” was all Exodus managed to say before the storm of enemy fire began. Kervis only just managed to fling his arms out, producing a dome of void light around himself. The team rushed inside the dome, avoiding the shots being fired at them. As they passed within the walls of the dome, their weapons glowed slightly, a column of light raising from above their heads. “Weapons of Light? I would have thought that Blessings would be more effective in this situation.” Kalis said, pulling out her rifle. “Yeah, I thought so too until I saw that Hydra. That isn't a normal Hydra, from what my Ghost can tell, it's a Mind. Possibly even a Nexus. If we drop that thing, we may have a fighting chance at ending whatever it is they're doing,” Kervis said, swapping his sword for his pulse rifle. “Can't argue with that,” Exodus said, moving forward, “Let's get this done.” As soon as they left the confines of the shield, they were set upon by the Vex once again. While Kalis and Exodus stayed back, allowing the shield to soak up the damage for them, Kervis ran forward and let out a punch on the nearest Goblin. The machine vanished, shrouding the Guardian in a coating of purple energy. Using his increased strength, he went to work on getting rid of the weaker enemies that had been pummeling the purple dome that his friends had been residing in. As the line of hostiles receded, Kalis moved forward, her sniper rifle in hand. She took aim and began firing upon the Hydra, going for as many shots to the eye as she could. As she fired, the rifles magazine refilled itself, allowing her to fire until all her ammo depleted. “It's weak but still standing, can you get a laser on it, Kervis?” Kalis asked, pulling out her launcher. “Yeah, give me a sec,” Kervis said, his Ghost summoning a large carbon fiber weapon in his hands. When he had cleared enough room, he spun around and took aim. The whirring of the charging weapon could hardly be heard over the sounds of fighting, but the shot could. When the weapon fully charged, it unleashed a huge red laser that cut through anything that stood in its path. As soon as the laser impacted the Hydra, it fell, splitting into multiple parts with its hull glowing red hot. “Get down!” Exodus called, ducking within the dome of light. Kervis just managed to slide into it as the Hydra's core detonated, sending shrapnel launching across the room. As the flying metal scattered, it took a few of the remaining Vex with it. There was still a mass of enemies, but far less than what they began with. “Good shit, guys!” Kalis called out, reloading her sniper. “We ain't done yet, the Hydra might be dead but we still have those Cyclops. And this Ward won't last much longer,” Kervis said, looking around him. The shield had already started to dim, and it was only a matter of time before it fell. “How many shots in the Sleeper do you have left?” Exodus asked. Kervis sighed before responding, “Not enough to deal with four Cyclops. I could use a synth but it would take time.” Kalis had been thinking for the duration of the talk and at that moment managed to come up with something. “What if I Tether? You could use the orbs to make a new Ward.” “If you want to waste a Tether on the weaker enemies out there then that might work. You're gonna have to hurry though.” Kervis said, watching the Ward's light begin to dim further. Nodding, the Hunter jumped forward, summoning her void bow and firing an arrow from it. It soared across the room, arcing down and landing on the ground. On impact, it created the same sphere that they had used before. Without missing a beat, she pulled her launcher out and fired a rocket into the crowd of slowed Vex. The explosion obliterated everything that was close to the void tether, leaving nothing but glimmer on the ground. As the kills racked up, Kalis shone bright, white orbs dropping materialising from her body. Kervis ran forward and stood near the orbs that littered the ground, absorbing their energy. As soon as his Ward charged, he threw it over him once more, allowing Kalis to land inside of it and Exodus to run to it. “There, saved your asses again, let's get back to it,” Kalis said, reloading her launcher. “You got it,” Kervis said with a smile, running forward with the Sleeper in his hands. Exodus took down a few of the Goblins that attempted to surround Kervis as he crouched, charging the Sleeper and taking aim at the first Cyclops. Three lasers had fired before the Cyclops fell, exploding into debris. “Three to go,” He called out, loading a new power cell into the bottom of the weapon. “Keep going! We've got your back,” Exodus shouted, barely audible above the roar of gunfire. Kervis managed to drop two more before running back into the ward. As soon as he got in, he brought his hand up. His Ghost appeared before him, awaiting a command. “I'm gonna need a heavy synth, quickly as you can,” He said, getting a nod in response. A few seconds passed before he felt his ammo reserves refill. His job now completed, the Ghost returned to invisibility. Smiling, he turned back into the fray, walking just forward of his partners and lining the next shot up. Three lasers tore across the room, slicing through a couple of Harpies that were unfortunate enough to have been floating in the way. With the final Cyclops defeated, the rest of the enemies were cannon fodder. The Ward no longer necessary, the Guardians pushed forward, letting their personal shields take any incoming damage. Five whole minutes later, the threat had been eliminated. Panting, Kervis turned to his friends, “Well, that could have gone better.” “At least it's done. Now let's find that energy source,” Exodus replied, walking towards where the Hydra once stood. As Kervis and Exodus walked away, Kalis stayed back. She could feel something... calling to her. She turned her head to find a reasonably large hole in the wall that had apparently been broken open from one of the many explosions. Not one to back down from the chance of another fight, she walked towards it, gun at the ready. As she closed in on it, the strange feeling grew stronger with every step. When she reached it, she checked her motion tracker. Not seeing anything barring the other two members of her Fireteam, she moved into the wall, gun constantly sweeping the room. Passing to the other side, she turned to the left to find a huge Vex gate. This was nothing new to her, she had seen many of these portals in the months since her rebirth, but this one seemed different. For one, it was locked behind a wall of hard light, no entrances anywhere. That would normally have been nothing amazing but the thing with this portal was that it was active. The portal shimmered a bright white; she could practically feel the energy radiating off of it. Stepping back through the hole in the wall, she called out to her friends, “Hey guys! I think I found what we were looking for!” The two other Guardians turned to look over at her, before running over to see what she had found. When they got into the room, they appeared to be just as confused as she was. “Was this thing active when you found it?” Exodus asked, stepping closer to it. “Yeah, from what I can tell, it was messing with my Light. Do you two feel it as well?” She asked. “I can feel something. Nothing I have ever felt before I can tell you that much,” Exodus replied, bringing up his Ghost, “Ghost, let the Vanguard know we-” Before he could finish, a huge mechanical roar sounded from behind them. They whirled around to find a huge Hydra, at least twice the size of the first one, floating there. “What the fuck!? How did that thing sneak up on us?” Kervis exclaimed, readying his Sleeper. “Who cares? Shoot it!” Gunshots rang out as they fired upon the machine. But no matter what they fired, it didn't even flinch. Instead, it got closer. The Guardians backed up as far as they could, unloading everything they had into the Hydra. But it wasn't enough. The machine fired off a shockwave, flinging Kalis into the portal, the hard light barrier falling long enough for her to enter. “No!” Kervis shouted, turning to the Hydra, “You motherfucker!” But instead of hearing the mechanic charging he was so used to, he heard a click and a small beep. Looking down he read the ammo counter on the reticle of the gun. 0/3 He looked up to find the Hydra charging for another shockwave. But instead of fighting back, he stood there, dumbfounded. He always paid attention to his ammo, and never ran out without his knowing about it prior. And now here he was, about to be slammed by a wave of energy and he didn't have a single round to use in his favourite weapon. When the wave hit him, he didn't even struggle as he was tossed into the portal. Exodus, realising the severity of the situation, called out to his Ghost. “Get the ships through that portal, Ghost! Do it now!” A short moment of struggling later, the Ghost responded, “The ships are on their way to the portal's transmat coordinates. It's the best I can give you right now.” Looking up one last time at the huge Vex monster before him, he only managed to let out one word before he got hit into the portal. “Good.” - - - Kalis rose slowly. Exos couldn't feel pain, exactly, but they could tell when something was wrong. And she could tell right off the bat that there was a plethora of things wrong with her at that point in time. Lifting her head, she looked around to examine her surroundings. Kervis and Exodus were nowhere to be seen. She was surrounded by trees, and snow covered the ground everywhere she looked. Normally, when she entered forests, she could feel the Darkness trying to envelop her. But here? There was nothing. No Darkness, and very little light from the Traveler. She started to panic. Without the light that the Traveler gave off, she and her Ghost would die quickly. Her panic was short lived, however, as her Ghost spoke up in an effort to calm her. “Please try to calm down, Kalis. The only reason you are not getting much Light is simply because your body is adapting. There is some sort of energy in the area that is substituting for Light, though I am unsure as to what it is.” “Is... it safe?” She managed to get out. “Well, it hasn't done anything bad to you so far, I guess time will tell. For now, you should probably find your Fireteam.” Getting up on her feet, she looked around. Choosing a direction, she began to walk, her Ghost floating alongside her every step of the way.