The ship rocks to life, throwing Icarus to the ground with a thud. "Hey! What the-" he stops himself and looks out the window to see a barrage of rocks and debris. A violent purple hue fills the interior of the hull. This is unmistakably only one place. "The reef!? Proxy! I told you to go to the EDZ!!" The ship rocks again, as he grabs the wall for balance, odds and ends sliding to and fro. "Objective: Find Cayde. He we are!" He swerves the ship down towards the Prison of Elders. "How do you know he's there?" Icarus is still groggy and a little peeved. Proxy bops his head a bit, "Cayde is an Exo! It's not hard to find." [i]"He,"[/i] Icarus snaps, "that's Cayde you're talking about. Also, you can track any Exo just like that?" Icarus almost loses his train of thought at the possibility. "You upgraded me with the help of Anastasia Bray. Braytech research is fascinating. Want to know more?" Proxy turns away to face him. "Proxy! Look out!" Proxy, without turning back to the window, easily avoids an incoming piece of a broken ship. "Clovis Bray designed many functional-" "Later Proxy, let's just get in there, okay?" Icarus is taken back sgt the dexterity of this highly modified frames capabilities. As they land, the sound of distant commotion can be heard from inside the prison. Icarus and Proxy both look at each other. "Shall I join you?" Proxy inquires. "What? Oh, uh, not this time buddy. Kill the engines and wait for my signal to get us out of here, okay?" Icarus gestures hand movements, the entire time, Proxy just stares at him motionless. "Understood." He nods. Icarus leaves the ship and joins Cayde and Petra who are discussing a plan of action. He walks up to them and before he can say a word, Cayde turns and welcomes him. "Bloodstone! Welcome to prison, buddy! You're just in time! Petra and I were just about to go wrestle with some inmates, apparently they're being a little 'extra' recently, whatever that means. Oh! Wait wait wait, watch this. PV, do the thing!" He points at Petra with wide eyes. Petra, rolls her eyes, "This is the last time, Cayde. We need to be serious here." She walks forward with a knife and begins to levitate it, spinning it a few times, then catching it again. Cayde shivers, "Uwh, every time. Do it again!" He points again. "Later. For now, we have whole cell-blocks on the riot. Things have been getting harder since Variks disappeared." She furrows a bit, half upset, half worried. "Well then? Let's go to prison!" Cayde jumps up and off the side of the walkway down to another platform below them. Petra rolls her eyes and chuckles before joining him. "Yeah, okay, cool. Good to see you again Cayde! Vanguard's worried about you aaand you're gone. He's gone." Icarus' voice echoes to nothing. "Great." He strides into the prison block and raises his hand cannon he had left in his ship previously. An Ikelios_HC with the letters "AB" carved into the carbon-fiber frame. About a half hour of gun fights and bad puns later, the radio feed gets strangely quiet. Suddenly, there's a loud metallic grinding sound. Icarus rushes to the edge of the cell block he was fighting in just in time to watch Cayde plummet down on the prisons command center. "What. The. F-" a scorn tackles him, almost off the edge, but he dodges slightly and kicks the creature off into the pit. "Guess I missed one." He looks up to see Petra a few floors above him looking down at him. "What should I do!?" He yells up to her. "What!?" She yells back, barely audible. He waves her off, "Ahh, forget it.." He looks around for a way down to go help Cayde. A couple of floors down, Icarus hears a bone chilling voice. [i]"K i l l H i m."[/i] His head hurts, pounding from the inside out. He falls to his knees before suddenly the sound of glistening glass fills every hall, the light stutters and Stonecraft shakes. A ghost has died. Shattered by an unstoppable force. [i]"F i n i s h H i m."[/i] The voice is powerful, sinister. The screams of shriekers dance in Icarus' head. He barely stands and runs as fast as he can past inmates, scorn, anything and everything in his way. Level after level, floor after floor, until he freezes in his tracks. [b][i]B A N G ![/i][/b] Ace of Spades. Unmistakable. One shot. The halls echo. Icarus chases the sound, still echoing in his ears, the only thing he can hear. A half closed door struggles to close on the dead body of a scorn chieftain. He vaults through the door and stumbles into the room. It's cold. Not cold like Mars cold, but cold like a cemetery cold. A motionless Cayde lay directly in the center, a soft light gracing him. Across the room, a hooded man holds the Ace of Spades and laughs. "He didn't feel a thing." Beyond him, hulking monstrosities with glowing eyes stare him down. Icarus raises his gun to fire, and the far door closes. Icarus rushes to cayde aaand throws down his gun. He kneels to his side. Cayde opens his flickering eyes. "How's... How's my hair?" He chuckles, then coughs. Icarus doesn't know what to say, Cayde continues. "Speechless. Typical." He was right, but what could one say? Icarus pulls out his ghost in a desperate attempt. Stonecraft just gazes down for a moment and turns to him. [i]"There's nothing I can do... I'm, sorry."[/i] Cayde struggles, "Listen, kid. This... This ain't on you. This... is what I get for... for playing nice." He chuckles again, then sputters, almost choking. "Cayde, I... I can go get help? I.. PETRA!!" Icarus tries his best. He ignores him. "You tell Zavala and Ikora..." His breathing becomes heavily labored. More air than voice at this point. "the Vanguard... is the best bet... I ever..." he pauses, looks straight up to the ceiling, takes a deep breathe and with his final breathe, he finishes, "...lost." His eyes fade out and his head tilts. Icarus moves sparaticly, "Cayde?.. Cayde!?..." Petra comes running in, out of breathe. "..no." She falls to her knees and lets out one single breathe before she begins to cry. Icarus cradles Cayde's Exo body, lighter than he thought it would be. He holds him close, picks up his own gun, then lifts Cayde into a carry. Without a word, he carries him out toward the exit, Petra close behind. Not a sign of the hooded man who killed him was found as they reached the top of the prison. The wind stirred and the building creaked. Icarus' heavy foot falls echoed off the curved metal around him as he reached his ship. As they boarded, even Proxy didn't say a word. He primed the ship, looked back to Icarus and whispered as well as a frame could, "Where are we going, sir?" Icarus lay Cayde in his hammock and stated down at his dirty, yet still reflective blue face. His own face reflected back. "The Tower, Proxy. We are going to see the Vanguard."