Guardian Link- Episode 11, Loss

"Let me give it to you straight, commander, there's nothing on the ship. Cayde's heading back now, he said something weird came up on his comms. We're getting ready to head back too." Jolt said into the comm line. "This makes no sense. Why would the-" Zavala was cut off. "Zavala? Commander!" Jolt yelled, but it was no use. The line was dead. Static crackled. "Guys. What's going on?" She asked. Nobody responded. She looked at the team, everyone standing with their helmets off. They pointed at her helmet. Jolt reached around her neck, unlatching her helmet, and pulling it off. Her auburn hair drifted out of the metal casing. "All of our comms are dead, Jolt." Garret explained. "We need to get back to the tower and see what's going on." Everyone agreed, transmatting into their ships. The five guardians turned to the city and took off. The silence was odd for Bronze. He was used to chatting with his friends over flights. He decided to talk to his ghost, just like they did before he met his fireteam. "I wonder what's wrong with our comms?" Bronze asked. "Beats me." His ghost replied. "Probably just a small outage. Or maybe it's something to do with Rasputin?" "Why would he do that?" "I don't know Bronze. If you're that curious, we can tap into some surveillance cameras around his bunker. Not that it would expose anything a warmind was doing." "Let's do it!" "Alright, bringing up footage now. At least we have something to do over the flight." .... "Ok, that's weird, the satellite that links the cameras is offline." "The satellites are dead too?" "Hold on..." "What?" "I can't connect to any satellites. They're all down!" [b]The Last City[/b] The team transmatted into the plaza, waiting for each of them. Rain peppered the concrete around them, the stormy gray sky looming overhead. Garret and Cira leaned on the railing while Jolt and Caeli talked. Bronze's ship finally flew overhead and Bronze dropped in. "Alright." Garret said, starting to rise off the railing. "Let's go, then." The team started to walk toward the Vanguard hall, when an explosion was suddenly heard from the back of the tower. It shook the ground, causing all guardians in the plaza to stumble. The explosions did not stop. The tower was being bombarded. "What the hell?" Garret yelled, stumbling around and slipping in the rain, falling to the ground. The team was not prepared for what they saw next. A massive red flagship menacingly flew over the tower, peeking its hull over the columns leading to the back of the tower. The flagship was flanked by many other ships. Hundreds of smaller ships zipped around the area. "Wait a minute, those are Cabal harvesters!" Cira said. Jolt ran over to Garret, hoisting him up. Cira, Caeli, and Bronze were already headed for the hangar to get lower in the tower. Several other guardians in the plaza and vendors were rushing there as well. "Thanks, Jolt. I think I sprained something." Garret said, slowly rising. "Tell your ghost to heal faster, then." Jolt grunted. "Wait, look out!" Garret yelled, pointing behind Jolt. A large black pod launched from a Cabal ship was headed straight for the edge of the railing. Bronze turned around to check on Garret and Jolt. He saw nothing but a completely demolished ledge and rails. A couple of odd looking legionaries stood in the wreckage. Horrified, he stood there, quickly reaching for his pulse rifle. He killed the two legionaries in a few bursts, then he saw the Vanguard run out of the stairway. A few people ran out too, heading for the hangar. "Over here, guardian!" Zavala yelled at Bronze and the other guardian remaining at the plaza, "the civilian shuttles are leaving back there! We must defend them!" "I need to check on something down at the bottom of the tower, be back in a second." Cayde said, sprinting to the hangar. "Where's Ikora?" Zavala asked. "Beats me, she ran off way before us." Cayde replied. By the time the conversation had ended, more Cabal drop pods had crashed into the plaza. Bronze and the other guardian started defending with the help of Zavala. The Cabal would not harm the shuttles. [b]The City[/b] Jolt was revived by her ghost, coughing as she stumbled over the rubble she was above. She rose up, looking around. The tower above her was being bombarded by the same pods that hit her and Garret. She was in a street, a couple of buildings, like the one she was over, were completely decimated. She looked down the road. There were several dead people sprawled across the ground. Jolt looked away, reaching for her shotgun. It wasn't there. She grimaced, none of her weapons were on her. She yanked a combat knife out of her belt, walking down the part of the street not blocked by rubble. As she turned the corner, she saw a couple of Cabal patrolling the street in front of her. She hid, behind the corner, taking a peek from behind. The Cabal looked different. They had gray and red armor, similar to the Blind Legion on mars, but they had a distinct lack of shoulder plating, and they were topped off by white crested helmets. Easily distinguishable as legionaries. They also wielded some unknown weaponry. Much larger than slug rifles, and rectangular. She ducked back to cover, noticing the window behind her. She looked inside. It was a gun shop. The window was already broken in by debris. The only weapon she managed to find that wasn't destroyed was a jet black scout rifle. She dusted it off, turning the safety off as well. The Cabal were easily dispatched with the scout rifle. She felt her grenade charge immediately after the fight. She chuckled in disbelief. "Why would it take so long for my grenade to charge?" She thought, looking up at the sky. Then she saw it. There was a device on the Traveler. Like a spider clinging to a surface. Jolt gasped starting to worry about what would happen to the Traveler, but decided she should keep moving. "I have coordinates for evacuation. We should hurry!" Her ghost said, "that way!" Jolt had been running for about 10 minutes before she ran into more Cabal. This time, it was a lone legionary. She went up behind it, preparing to attack, when a loud noise was heard above. The machine around the Traveler had begun to envelop it in orange energy. Jolt gasped, falling to her knees. Her palms met the pavement, her scout rifle clattering to the ground in front of her. The legionary heard Jolt, and it turned around, chuckling. Jolt heard a blade unsheathing. "Jolt, the light's been cut off... If you die now..." Her ghost began, before Jolt lunged for her scout rifle with all the energy she had, flipping herself onto her back and sending round after round into the legionary. She was screaming in fury the entire time, until she heard the pop of the Cabal pressure suit. When the legionary crumpled to the ground, she dropped the rifle, breathing heavily. The light was gone. It was as if she had just run a marathon. She didn't feel powerful anymore. She felt sick to her stomach, struggling to stand up. Where was Garret? He had fallen down with her. She heard someone from far away. It was a man screaming. She heard the march of Cabal troops. What he said next was unintelligible, silenced by the Cabal firing their weapons. Her sickness got worse. Jolt felt for the grenade on her belt. The last ability she had left. She clutched the explosive tight, and stood up.