Necrobump

“Ghost, block all incoming communication.” The commander looked at the Kell and then reached for his rifle and shotgun. The Fallen cocked its head to the side as Saint readied both guns for a moment and then tossed them both to the side. He did the same with his machine gun as he said calmly, “Hand to hand combat.” Trykais laughed again and tossed the scorch cannon away causing a loud thud from its immense size. He then pushed the two Servitors away, causing the tubing to separate from his mask. “Very well, two-armed Saint. Present inventory and prepare to die.” Saint-14 looked confused as more Servitors floated towards the pair, making a ring around them. They all began to spin slowly and charge with their ethereal energy. Within moments, a faint purple hemisphere formed around the combatants, creating a charged arena for their battle. The Exo remained vigilant though and replied, “I already gave up my guns; I do not have anything else of note.” The Kell growled and belted out gibberish that was slowly translated. “No, give inventory of yourself. I am Trykais, Kell of Devils. I am Kell of Sepiks Prime. Thirty-five thousand two-arms, sixteen thousand four-arms. I have taken the stories of three houses that now are of the Exiles. I am glutted on ether and made stronger than any other from it. I am Trykais.” There was a cheer from the on looking Fallen and Trykais raised two fists in the air, celebrating himself and the impending victory. Saint-14 replied calmly, “I am Saint-14, commander of the Chain. Two hundred serve under me, at last count. I have taken the stories of hundreds of Fallen. I am imbued with the Traveler's Light. I am Saint-14.” “Yours is second hand.” The Kell roared down at the Exo. “The Great Machine? The Light? Eliksni evolved; Primes are Greater Machines.” The giant paced now in frustration at the topic. “Fight, two-armed saint. Fight and die and I will claim another story.” The chances of victory were becoming so infinitesimal that Saint-14's processing power was having a difficult time construing any probabilities. The only way he could register a chance was a fast and decisive victory, so he lifted both hands up as a boxer would and charged forward. As he did, he noticed more to the Kell's clothing. There were skulls knotted along the strips of red fabric, some human and some the inner core of Exos. Saint threw a punch out with the whole of his weight behind him and arc energy sparking from his fist. He felt the hit connect before he realized Trykais had blocked the punch. The Kell closed his massive hand around Saint's and flung him away. The Titan's arm nearly tore apart at the force, but the throw sent him sailing through the air like a rag doll. Cayde, Vell, Revenant, and the recently freed Yvette watched the scene, all thinking independently that it looked fake. It was too easy for the Kell to move the mass of an Exo. Saint crashed into the purple wall of energy, sending a shock through him before letting him crash back to the ground. Every warning system whirred in his head, trying to emphasize that one throw alone had almost killed him. “Ghost, start repairs, reallocate all reserves to shields.” Saint managed to get to both hands and one knee as portions of his body were being restored to full range of motion. He could see Trykais, arms raised in the air, shouting and gloating in his foreign tongue, making a spectacle for his army. Finally, the Titan made it to his feet and started to stagger towards the beast, his balance returning slowly but surely. He managed to clear half the distance to the Kell before the Fallen disappeared. Saint tried to turn, knowing the creature had teleported, but felt a massive fist slam into his side. The force sent him cartwheeling and crashing along the ground back into the shield that held them in. He couldn't speak, couldn't get the speakers to respond to any orders, so he mentally willed a damage report from his Ghost. It said into only Saint-14's mind, “Spinal relay column severed, under repair. Vocal capacity diminished, under repair. Basic motor function, under repair. Central power core casing cracked, hemorrhaging hydrogen fuel at a rate of five hundred milliliters per minute, under repair.” Trykais screamed in delight and spoke to the nearest of his Fallen, laughing at the poor excuse for a fight. It gave Saint's Ghost time though to repair the massive damage to its companion. His voice came out distorted as more work was done to his vocal components, “Prep for Fist of Havoc subroutine; once all repairs are done, focus all Light on the energy the subroutine needs.” His Ghost continued to work, but replied, “Sir, that will leave shields at dangerously low levels. If you’re hit like that again, your systems will crash and I will most likely be destroyed shortly after.” “Just do it; we have to end this quick, one way or another.” Saint began to stand, sparks flying off his joints as he was still being pieced back together. “Not that you need more to think about, but there are twenty-three ships now launching from the City. I expect we’ll be teleported in the next two to four minutes.” Trykais slammed his foot into the ground, creating an indent and shaking those close enough by. It began speaking again, but was translated for Saint, “Enough talking, enough play. Die so that I might find more worthy opponents.” The Titan’s shoulders slumped for a second, but he looked up from his own thoughts and broke into a full sprint at the Kell again. One fist flew ahead of him only to be caught by one of the Kell’s upper arms. Before Saint could do react, his other arm was grabbed by Trykais’s second upper arm. It screamed into the Exo’s face, “See? Two-arms worthless. Humans, Exos, Awoken, all worthless compared-” Its roar was cut off by a searing light from Saint-14’s helmet, blinding the Fallen instantly. As the creature screamed, Saint let arc energy build in his legs for a moment before he launched himself into the air, arms still grappled by the Kell. Still dazed, Trykais was not about to let the Exo get the upper hand. The jump had put them almost to eye level, so the Fallen had no difficulty reaching up with his second set of arms to grab Saint’s legs and hold them fast, even when temporarily blinded. The arc energy built up moved though. Normally, it would be allocated to Saint’s fists, resulting in a slam that could tear nearby opponents apart, but there was no way he could get his fists close to the Kell. Warning after warning went off in Saint-14’s processors, trying to stop the Exo from destroying himself or altering the subroutine too greatly. In the milliseconds he was in the air, he waded through the cautions, dismissing all of them and moved the arc energy into his shoulders and neck. The energy arced between his shoulder blades as he pulled himself forward as hard as he could. His arms snapped in a way akin to human dislocations, allowing him a bit more range of motion in the Kell’s grasp. It was just enough for the Exo to whip his head forward and crash into the exposed portion of Trykais’s face. The pent up energy exploded with the impact, sending blue bolts of power through the air and through both of the combatants’ bodies. They dropped to the ground, lying next to one another. Saint could hear his Ghost giving a report on all the damage done to his body, but he couldn’t care. He was still functioning and that’s all that mattered. His left eye was functioning and he even managed to get to his feet with minimal use in his arms. “Ghost, reactivate my right eye.” It replied angrily, “As I was saying, your helmet is too dented in; I can’t get metal to adjust.” Saint-14 could hear cheering from up the hill; it sounded human. Rather than turn, he slowly and painfully removed his helmet. He could feel the collapsed portion scraping across broken metal and leaking coolants. Once off, he tossed the helmet to the ground and looked at Trykais as the Ghost continued its work. The surrounding Fallen were cheering for their Kell to get up after a little head butt from a weak two arm. None could see the fractured skull or the bits of what Saint assumed to be brain matter splattered on the ground. A moment of joy flashed through the Exo that was quickly dashed by the hundreds surrounding him and how easily they could finish him and his team off. The victory had to be decisive. The Titan rotated his shoulders and shook out his hands, trying to get all of his joints lubricated and working again as he took a step over the Kell’s neck. Wordlessly, he grabbed the Fallen’s head on either side and began to turn it like a massive valve. His parts strained and grinded on themselves, already overworked, but Trykais’s head began to rotate around slowly. It slowed more and more until there was a loud crack that echoed in the clearing followed by near perfect silence. Saint-14 continued to turn the skull though; flesh began to tear letting a brief flood of blood and ether to pour out onto the ground, before the head finally tore off in one final retching motion. Saint didn’t hold it up, didn’t shout anything, didn’t show any sign of emotion at all. He stood up straight and gazed out on all of the Fallen with his one operating eye. “Sir, the ships are-” The Ghost’s warning was cut off as a missile slammed into the side of the Ketch, exploding violently against its shield and raining burning shrapnel down on the Fallen gathered by the impact. Ships began to fly by the clearing and circle it, some launching more missiles into the Ketch’s shields and others trying to gun down as many Fallen as possible.