Va’aull was walking down a hallway, away from the bridge, when a Psion caught up to him. The smaller Cabal was panting heavily, his legs not at able to keep up with his leader’s comparatively massive stride.
“Primus! There is an intruder alarm on deck four!” He gasped out, ignoring the distant alarms sounding to alert the others of the sudden company.
Va’aull simply grunted, “Are you surprised? They want the animals alive.”
“Who should we send? Much of our forces are dead upon the surface, or trying to repair their ships.”
The Primus slowed, keeping his gaze down the hallway, “Get me my weapon. It is high time I met our enemy face to face.”
He was barely finished before the Psion was rushing back to the bridge, already opening his comms to the other crew members. Va’aull didn’t bother to watch, more focused on moving towards his targets.
The halls were quiet, besides the alarms, something he regretted deeply. Only a day or two ago they were filled with cabal crew, moving supplies about, talking, some even finding friendship. Now those Cabal lay dead in the city below, their lives given for nothing but a longing to return home.
Something they were likely able to do for a long time. It was he who gave the order in that fateful battle long ago, not his crew. They would have been accepted back into the Empire eventually, possibly with some coaxing with the Cabal there. Yet, in a selfish longing to also return home, he pushed his crews to their death.
For the first time in a long time, he felt true sorrow. Sorrow for the Cabal he killed, sorrow for the families that would now go without a loving father.
He would bring the end of this battle, and return his crew to their families, one way or another, and he had plenty of time to think of a solution.
- - -
Procor’s machine gun filled the hangar they had teleported into with enough noise to drown out the many alarms, countless Cabal falling to its incredible rate of fire. The Goliaths were left on the ground to keep the other ships in Va’aull’s fleet from leaving, while the remaining infantry was taken up to help in the final push.
“It’s odd that there are so many still here,” Exodus commented, helping Procor with his Arc Light.
“Gotta protect the leader, right?” Procor replied, quickly ducking behind a legionary corpse to reload.
“Perhaps, but I don’t like that he’s kept so many up in the ship with him. The Cabal aren’t really known to hold back.”
“Doesn’t matter how many there are up here, they won’t last long,” The Titan responded, finishing reloading and rising back up to open fire again.
Exodus just sighed, mumbling “Titans” as he fired a fist of Light into an approaching Psion.
It took many minutes of endless fire to finally thin the room out. The frames they took up had fallen easily, leaving the allied forces to deal with the oncoming hostiles without robotic support. As the last tens of enemy soldiers began to fall, however, a new noise sounded across the hangar. Va’aull, standing in his massive armour, stood in a large doorway, a golden slug thrower in his hands.
The leader looked out over the masses of pony forces, many still teleporting up. Naturally, some had begun firing on him, but he trusted in his armour to keep him protected. The only creatures before him that posed a threat were the Guardians, and both sides knew that.
Ignoring the ponies for now, he began his slow approach to the Guardians, casually swatting a few pegasi out of the air as they moved to attack him.
“Guardians!” He shouted, the power of his voice breaking through the gunfire easily, “I have been told that you fight for peace, then let us have it, even if it is fleeting!”
Procor looked to Exodus, a confused look on his face that Exodus could assume was there. The Warlock shrugged a little, pushing his Solar light throughout his body in preparation for a self resurrection.
He stepped from cover, not responding to Procor’s attempts to get him to stay, “Alright, what do you want, Va’aull?”
“A duel. Me and the Guardians. Should you win, you may have your animals back. Should I win, well, you already know your forces chances without you.”
The ponies were taken aback by this, focusing their attention on their Guardian friends. The rest of Odium had joined them as Exodus and Va’aull talked, Elana giving him a wary look. The others were fairly used to Exodus’ attempts at reason during intense situations.
“What’s the catch?” Exodus asked, keeping his Light strong, “There’s no way you’d let us off this easily.”
“No catch. No tricks. I’ve heard tales of Guardian might, and have seen it myself, but I am yet to properly experience it. Should I die, I die to protect the few Cabal loyal to me.”
Exodus hummed, “And you want to go against all of us? Not one at a time?”
Va’aull laughed, “One at a time? No, Guardian, I’ve read of the tales of teams of six Guardians, how gods have fallen to them, and the strongest creatures shatter beneath their power and Light. One Guardian is nothing compared to a team that fights side by side.”
The Guardian before him nodded a little, “Then let’s duel. Us against you. I assume your Cabal will still try to kill us later?”
“No. Should you allow them to repair the engines your animals damaged, they will return to their home. This planet will not see the Cabal for many years.”
The others Guardians stepped forward, a couple reloading and readying their weapons.
“Just like old times, huh, Exodus?” Kervis said, standing beside him.
“Yeah... except those times we had a Guardian experienced in dealing with each of the foes.” Exodus responded, keeping his Solar Light at the forefront of his mind and body.
“We’re experienced. Helmet’s the weak point, keep them facing you for the best angle. Easy.”
Exodus just groaned, “Fighting like a Titan doesn’t always get the job done.” He stepped back, the others following him, “His armour has a shield. If you’d been looking at it instead of his weapon you’d have noticed. We need to find a way to break that before we can harm him.”
Elana spoke up, “Got any ideas? Somehow I doubt we can just shoot it.”
“It’s worth a shot, but they would need a power source greater than that suit can carry to keep our Light from collapsing it in seconds. He’s probably hooked up to the ship’s power grid somehow. We break that link, his shields go with it.”
Va’aull’s voice boomed across the hangar, interrupting their attempts to plan, “Are we doing this, Guardians? I am anxious to see this war come to an end.”
The team’s Warlock turned back to the Cabal, muttering, “If he was a Titan, I bet he’d get along fine with Kervis...”
Speaking louder, he responded, “We’re ready.”
Their foe gave a noise that could only be described as excited, “Good! I will wait until you begin. I look forward to the outcome of this duel.”
The Guardians spread out into pairs, Exodus going alone as he could technically count for two. Va’aull, meanwhile, kept to his word and waited patiently, keeping a careful watch on where they were moving.
Kervis was the first to move, rushing towards the towering Cabal and summoning a hammer to his right hand. His target was quick to respond, raising his slug thrower and opening fire. The shots landed easily with the beeline the Titan was making, though his Solar Light kept him safe for now.
He swung his hammer down below Va’aull’s weapon, striking the leg plating. An explosion of fire erupted from the impact point, but as it cleared, the only visible damage dealt was a few embers resting on a faint orange shield.
Kervis was slammed back by a kick to the leg he struck, his armour keeping the brunt of the force from killing him outright.
“Come now, surely you have more than that!” Va’aull jeered, unloading his gun on the still rising Titan. Procor moved to block the attacks, managing to reach him to stop the majority of the rounds, though a few got past him. Kervis’ Ghost appeared nearby, its segments split, indicating the Titan’s death.
“You are the slayer of gods, saviour of the cursed Last City, and yet, you fall with such ease,” Va’aull continued, turning to slam Exodus back with his weapon. The Warlock had been trying to find where the ship connected, regretting doing so as his body struck some nearby crates.
With two Guardians either down or recovering, and the others looking for angles of attack, Va’aull’s gaze fell upon the nearby Ghost, “Perhaps this will bring some level of actual fight from you all...”
Procor immediately got moving, throwing a dome of Void Light over the Ghost as a hail of bullets struck the wall of it. He pushed a portion of his regular light into the floating machine, Kervis appearing in a flash of light soon after, drawing a roar from the Cabal leader.
“Resurrect yourselves all you like, you will not leave this ship alive! By my own honour, you will be nothing but ash and shattered Light!” To emphasise his point, Va’aull selected his new target and opened fire, the Guardian at the other end of his thrower being Elana.
She yelled in surprise, ducking behind a relatively sturdy crate as a hole quickly began forming on the other side. Seeing his opportunity, the now recovered Exodus rushed forward, rising into the air and pointing his Scout rifle at the back of the Cabal’s helmet. The bullet flattened against the shield, but it had the effect Exodus wanted. The flare up travelled down to a small pack on Va’aull’s back, just below his decorative plating.
Va’aull, on the other hand, didn’t see the act as one of tactic, and laughed loudly as he moved his weapon to point at the Warlock, “Perhaps my soldiers were not as experienced as I once thought, if they fell to fools like you!”
Exodus just dropped, avoiding the bullets as he hit the ground and jumping back behind cover, “He has a pack on his lower back. Doesn’t look shielded, but is definitely armoured.” He said through his comms, the others listening intently, “A good rocket would damage it enough for us to hurt the surrounding shield, but how exactly we land a rocket there isn’t something I have a plan for just yet.”
Procor huffed, “No point in planning everything out, he’s slaughtering us. We need to break that shield now or we’re actually going to lose someone.”
“Procor, if you rush in there you’ll be the person we lose. This isn’t a fight we can just immediately win.” Exodus chided, moving to a new crate as the one he was behind fell apart.
“Then how are we going to deal with this? I’ll need to wait for the Light to use a new Ward, and Kervis just used a load of Light attacking him.”
Elana was the one to reply, “Would a Golden Gun shot work?”
“Probably, but there’s quite a margin for error. If you miss your shot, he’ll be onto us.”
She nodded, though none of the others could see that, “Don’t worry, Exodus. I can land it, just bring his back around.”
Kervis chuckled, stepping out from the dome to fire on the shielding Cabal, “There’s our plan, then.”
Va’aull, oblivious to the Guardians planning, continued to fire on each of them, even pushing closer to bring them into melee range, something Odium knew would be fatal if he got his way. With that in mind, they juggled between finding good positions and firing on their target, slowly but surely moving Va’aull into position.
When she could finally make out the pack, Elana rose from cover, bringing her hand to the sky and summoning her Solar hand cannon. The noise of the action was loud enough to be heard over the gunfire, but by the time Va’aull had realised what was going on, it was far too late. She took aim and fired, putting a round directly into the box. It shattered instantly, spraying fragments of metal away from him as his orange shield flared for the last time.
The others wasted no time, moving their focus to his helmet in the hopes of damaging it enough to kill him, but Va’aull wasn’t ready to die so easily. With his shields shattered, he no longer had to worry about revealing his secret, giving him the ability to rush the Guardians. He raced towards Kervis, slamming him to the ground before he could move aside and ramming the barrel of his weapon into the Titan’s face. His helmet held against the pressure, but Kervis wasn’t Va’aull’s target.
Sensing his Guardian’s death soon to come, Kervis’ Ghost had come closer, still cloaked. Va’aull had plenty of time to study the way Guardians resurrected, and even got to see it first hand, giving him an excellent opportunity to deal with this threat before it became major. Counting down in his head, he raised his weapon, pointed it up, and sprayed rounds in a wide area. Exodus realised what was happening only moments too late as a wave of bright light radiated from a point in the area Va’aull was firing on.
Kervis collapsed, his shielding failing as his Ghost’s fragments fell to the floor. Exodus cried out for his fallen friend, pushing all the light he had been building outwards. He rose into the air, Solar wings burning on his back, as he summoned every grenade he could muster. Va’aull was about to finish the kill when at least twenty fusion grenades attached to his back. He could barely speak a word before they detonated, sending him flying over Kervis and crashing down nearby, a gaping hole burned deep into his armour.
Elana and Procor quickly pulled Kervis away before the fight could continue, Exodus remaining airborne, “You’re going to pay for that, Va’aull.” He said, loud enough for his foe to hear.
Va’aull chuckled, pushing himself up, albeit slower now, “And how do you plan to make me? You’ve used your Light in that attack.”
“I don’t have a plan, but Procor has one.”
Sure enough, Procor shouldered his machine gun, rushing around Va’aull. The Cabal reacted quickly, turning to deal with him and giving Exodus the shot he needed. He took aim and emptied his magazine into the exposed, burned flesh revealed by his grenades. Va’aull’s legs gave out instantly as the bullets severed his spine, Procor coming over and prying the massive helmet from Va’aull’s head as he hit the ground.
He said nothing as he fired half a drum of ammunition into the face of the creature that had taken the lives of so many innocent beings, revelling in the metallic sound of the spent cartridges hitting the plated floor.
The Cabal soldiers in the room stared at their fallen leader in disbelief. Va’aull had been their light at the end of the tunnel for so long, it was hard to believe their own eyes.
Exodus raised his rifle at them, speaking louder so he could be heard, “Your leader is dead. Release the captive unicorns and leave. Be thankful you’ve been given this choice.”
Va’aull’s Cabal hesitated, looking at one another. One raised its weapon, others following the first. In just a few moments the opposition was clear. Those that had chosen to not fight moved off to the side, while the ones unwilling to surrender stayed their ground.
“Last chance. Weapons on the ground or you won’t leave this ship.”
Instead of the answer he hoped for, he got only a drawn out roar from the closest legionary to him. The legionary received a sigh from the Warlock as the team got into position.
“I suppose some people never learn.”
- - -
The team walked down the hall leading from the hangar soon after, the only real change being a hole in Exodus’ robes, which he was clearly upset about. They were being guided by a Psion, one of the few remaining Cabal that had chosen not to fight.
Kervis had been left with some pony medics, who had promised to take him back to the bunker as quickly as possible. He was still unconscious when the ponies left the ship with him, though Exodus wasn’t overly worried. A Guardian losing their Ghost was dangerous, but not deadly. Providing the Guardian didn’t go back into combat, at least.
The Psion pointed at a door, moving to a control panel beside it. After everything they had been through, Exodus nearly fell to his urges to blow the door up, but he managed to keep his urges at bay long enough to see the door open. Inside, thousands of pony sized cages were piled high, the room clearly being one that once held military cargo, if the gun racks against the wall were anything to go by.
“Alright, everyone, we’ve got a lot of ponies to free and get down to the surface,” Exodus said in the calmest tone he could muster, “Elana, take them back in groups to the hangar. I’m sure the ponies have something in mind for getting them back home.”
The Hunter nodded quickly, waiting by the door as Procor and Exodus made their way into the room. Faint crying could be heard, though most of the ponies were silent. No doubt forced to be that way by their captors.
“Got any ideas as to how we open all of these within a day?” Procor asked.
Exodus shrugged, “We do it quickly.”
That drew a raised eyebrow from Procor, “That’s the best you can come up with?”
“After all that we’ve been through, I’m surprised I can think straight enough to come up with that idea.” Exodus chuckled, summoning a grenade in his hand and using it to melt the lock off the closest cage. He didn’t bother trying to coax the pony out of it, figuring they would leave when they were ready.
Procor just smiled, doing the same as his team mate did on a different cage. The work was slow at first, as they didn’t want to harm the ponies inside the cages, but things picked up when Elana told a few of the Light gifted mages what was going on. Within an hour, large groups of unicorns were making their way to the hangars, where regular mages were waiting to send them to the surface.
- - -
As the Guardians did their work, Thovog left to the surface with the first group of ponies, ignoring their scared stares in the hopes of not starting a panic. He wasn’t surprised at all when the ponies rushed from the lander as soon as it landed, a couple being lucky enough to have family members already waiting for them.
Thovog, however, ignored them all, choosing to walk through the devastated streets, directly away from the crowds. Looking over what was once a bustling city was hard, to say the least. It reminded him of the wars he had waged against other races, of the countless homes and lives he had ruined, all in the name of loyalty.
He shuddered, still unable to believe he once thought like that. It was fascinating how far he had changed since the moment he dropped from that ship, what seemed like years ago. Once willing to do anything to survive, now doing what he could to make sure others survived.
He quietly chuckled, blaming the Guardians under his breath for the massive change to who should have been a hulking mass of destruction, leaving the city walls and walking through the ruined fields outside of it. When he was far enough, he turned, dropping the shockwave generator from his back and sitting on the slope of a hill to look over the still smoking city.
The distant transports were hard at work, moving the many ponies from inside the Cabal ships, and reuniting them with their families. The sun slowly set behind the ships, Celestia lowering it out of respect for those that were lost. It brought a beauty to the landscape that Thovog was, until now, unaware of. He’d looked out at the sunset in the past, but each time his mind was clouded by the plans and thoughts of the upcoming battles. For the first time, his mind was clear. No more dark thoughts of war, no worries of judgement from his superiors. He finally felt truly free.
His focus on the sunset was finally broken by a few birds landing on his shoulder, bringing his attention to them, and in turn, the damage to his armour. There were, no doubt, shots that reached his skin that would have to be looked at before they became infected, but at the current point in time, he could bring himself to stand and disturb the peace he’d created around himself. He might have changed, but physically, he was still Cabal. A few bullets would do little to worry him.
And so, he gently sat back to not frighten the birds, going back to staring out at the landscape deep into the night, not caring about the lack of sunlight, and basking in the calmness that covered his body.
- - -
The process of moving the ponies from the ship took well into the night, but they managed to get every single one from the cargo bays within the ships. The Guardians said little to the remaining Cabal, being more tired than angry. A pony medic had notified Exodus that Kervis had awoken in an aid tent the ponies had set up outside the bunker, which helped to push him to be faster in his efforts, with the end goal of seeing his fireteam partner again.
As the final pony left the Cabal ships, the Warlock was quick to summon his own ship, rushing back to the bunker and ignoring the communications sent his way. He came just seconds away from losing his entire team to the Cabal, which left his mind scattered. He had repressed his memories of Kalis since she died, but now that Kervis was without a Ghost, his memories of her were all coming back.
His Ghost soon had to take control of the ship, as it became clearer that Exodus was in no state to fly it. Exodus grumbled at this, but let his Ghost take control, making sure to tell him that they needed to go as fast as possible.
His Ghost listened, and it was just a couple of minutes before they set down outside the bunker, Exodus rushing into the tent the ponies told him Kervis was being kept.
His arrival startled a couple of the ponies inside, drawing Kervis’ attention up to him. The Titan was sat on the bed, his armour stripped. Thankfully the ponies had left his undersuit on.
“Steady there, big guy.” Kervis muttered, rubbing his head, “I can’t be shielding these guys from you if you blow up.”
Exodus laughed, louder than usual, as he moved over and hugged his friend, “Sorry that I was worried about you.”
Kervis leaned back a bit, surprised, but managed an awkward pat on the back, “Uh, yeah, thanks. Well, as you can see, I’m fine. Not sure about you, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re hugging me. You never hug anyone.”
This drew Exodus back off of him, ending the interaction much to Kervis’ appreciation, “Sorry, guess it’s just the relief of not having to deal with my entire team dying.”
“Suppose I can understand that. So, uh, what now?”
Exodus hummed, “We’ve got two things to sort out now, getting that Vex portal open again, and working out what we do from here regarding your Light.”
Kervis sighed, “You’re smart, you’ll come up with something.” He gave Exodus a look over, “You look like you could use a break.”
For once, the Warlock didn’t even argue the idea that he was tired. He had used most of his Light in a single day, the loss finally hitting him.
“Yeah, guess you’re right. I’ll be in the bunker, don’t push yourself, okay?” Exodus said, turning to leave the tent.
“If I do I’m sure you’ll know about it before I do anything.”
Exodus turned, fixing Kervis with a stern look that the Titan couldn’t see, but knew he was giving, “Don’t. Push. Yourself.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll be nice and boring, just for you.”
The Exo gave a nod, leaving the tent, finally, and heading to the bunker, his mind now set on the new problems at hand.