These are a couple of Cayde-6 short stories I wrote and posted a while back. No particular order. Just random thoughts. I might do this again. Might not. Either way, enjoy and leave a comment Part 1 Ok I'll tell you that OTHER story about the Fallen. The one I prefer to hide. The one that kinda scares me. I was scouting the Cosmo, on what I thought was the trail of that bastard Taniks (this was after my buddy Andal made his last and greatest joke). I had just reached the valley where he was SUPPOSED to be but what do you know, nothing. I was kicking rocks and trying not to scream when all of a sudden, the ground started shaking. I felt a cold chill go up my back and if I had them, I'm sure the hairs on my neck would have been tingling. That's when the first claws jabbed out of the ground. It was a damn nest right beneath my feet and I had no clue it was there. Six thrall popped out at me at once. I took out five before the sixth jumped on me snarling and biting. It was half way to ripping off my arm when my blade jammed in its skull. We had fallen into a ditch, no, more like a hole when I heard more skittering, growls and roars. Acolytes, maybe a knight were getting out now. Sounds pretty bad right? Then out of nowhere comes this howl. Fallen, but unlike anything I'd heard before. Each house has its own unique call when it attacks, though you've gotta be skilled to differentiate them. I chose to stay where I was, covered in the dust of that thrall. The hive seemed to have forgotten me. For the next 20 minutes, all I heard was fighting. Arc rifles sounded off in the distance. Shock rifles clattered alongside Hive shredder. I even heard clanging swords once or twice. I guess that knight must have found a worthy opponent. But through it all, the shrieks and cries of dying Hive sang through the night. When it finally died down, I waited a good 10 minutes before I got out of that hole. It wasn't pretty what I saw. The WHOLE VALLEY, yes the whole valley, was sprinkled in ash, smashed cleavers here and there and shredders missing their wielders. The only thing moving was this one thrall. It's legs were gone and it was missing one of its arms. Before it succumbed and disintegrated I noticed this little scrap of cloth in its hands. Like from a banner or cape. It was solid yellow. I haven't been back to that valley since. Occasionally I send a hunter down there to scout the area. The reports always the same. No Fallen sighted, but the Hive still keep their distance. -Cayde-6 Part 2 Another story eh? Alright, let me tell you about one of my last patrols on Mars. I was making my way out of the buried city, trying to dodge a couple Hobgoblin snipers, when my ghost picked up a Cabal transmission. It was typical Sand Eater chatter, "Machine offensive inbound-Request reinforcements-Request Dust Giants" blah blah blah... Being relatively close I decide to check it out, maybe see the Cabal in action. I found myself overlooking the battle on this ridge and what I saw wasn't pretty. The Sand Eaters were dead. The Dust Giants were outmanned, outgunned and outmaneuvered by at least a 10 to 1 margin and the Vex were closing in. Those Dust Giants fought bitterly though. Every Cabal took down at least 5 Vex before he fell. The Centurions roared their orders even as Minotaurs closed in on them. The Phalanx refused to give ground even as goblins swarmed around them. Those Psions did their part too, smashing waves of Vex with their psychic blasts. But through it all one thing sticks out in my memory. This one Colossus (there were others but he was the most prominent) stood in the center of the their line with his gatling, called down rocket strikes and shaking the ground as he crushed Goblins beneath his boots. It was a vicious affair. Vex fluids painted the dunes white while Cabal oil blackened the sands. But that one Colossus stayed constant, painting the Vex with bullets even as his comrades fell. Eventually the Cabal began to fall back but the Vex had suffered too, I didn't see anymore of their frames warping in and the sheer tide of machines was starting to grow thin. Finally it was down to this one Colossus and a Minotaur with a small pack of Goblins at its side. The Cabal unleashed one final rocket barrage; destroying the Goblins but then he dropped his gun, apparently dry of ammo. Then he did something neither me or that Minotaur expected. He ran. The Minotaur was still for a second, shocked by this new Cabal move. Then it rushed forward apparently filled with glee (no one believes me but I know the Minotaur squealed when it saw that Cabal running). But before it could fire off a mortar blast the Colossus stopped, picked up a dead Psion and just as the Vex was in range, spun around using its dead comrade like a bat. The Minotaur crumpled and flew, smashing against a boulder. The battle was over. Sometimes I wonder what happened to that Colossus. I know a Harvester picked him up. That his brothers seemed in awe of how he had apparently survived a suicide mission. But after that, nothing. Maybe he got a promotion? Maybe he's a Valus now, commanding some battle tank at the front lines? I don't know, but I'm certain of this, I hope none of my scouts ever face him alone...I almost feel sorry for the Vex too. The thought of being squished into scrap metal must be a truly terrifying prospect for a Goblin, or a Minotaur. -Cayde-6 Part 3 Have you seen the real Venus? I'm not talking about the Endless Steps or the Collective ruins or the Ember Caves. Those are the borders of Venus, where Vex, Fallen and entropy are in a constant fight for the planet. But that's not the Venus I know. The real Venus is the green jungle on this plateau near the Citadel. Where the rain never ceases for weeks on end, and dirt three meters deep turns to slush. So one day I find myself near this jungle, not in it, but on the outskirts. I never saw the skiff swoop in but thankfully it didn't see me. It stabilizes and out pops a crew of Winter reavers, a pack of Dregs, a few Vandals and a Captain. They wasted no time marching toward the jungle. Looking back I remember thinking it strange how well they were armed, even the dregs had more firepower than usual. Not five minutes pass after they enter and then the gunfire starts. The chatter of shock rifles and the POW that tells you they have shrapnel launchers. Then the howling and screaming kicks in. The sounds of a Dreg being crushed underfoot. Of a Vandal being squeezed till its ether pops and hisses. Distinctive sounds. Sounds you don't forget. So a couple minutes pass and ONE Fallen, that Captain, runs out. No weapon in any of its arms. It hasn't gone three steps when this...hand reaches out from the underbrush and pulls it back by the leg, kicking and screaming. What follows is bones snapping ether hissing. Against my better judgement I decide to investigate. I followed whatever that thing was into the jungle. Past empty plasma canisters. Past what was left of those Fallen. I followed it for a hundred meters when the trail ended. No, not ended, vanished...into this Vex gate. Nothing special about it, just a gate in the middle of this clearing, glowing with the typical unknown energy. Nothing else in sight. Needless to say that's the last time I ever went near that jungle. But still, so many damn questions. The Vanguard still have no idea what the Vex's ultimate goal for Venus is. Maybe it's a testing ground, for weapons that will or have been used against us? A factory, for their unending legions of machines? Or maybe, just maybe, it's a prison, a cell for all the forces and foes they encounter. The ones they can't defeat or have yet to understand... It's seems fitting that the Vex have dug their metals heels into the muck of that planet, you know? Two unstoppable, hungry forces that consume everything they come across. It's a joke almost. Now I ask again. Have YOU seen the real Venus? -Cayde 6 EDIT: Follow for more stories! Keep up the love guardians!