A few seconds later, there was a flash of light and the sound of thunder. Lightning burst from the dead Captain and consumed the Dregs. I grabbed my pulse rifle from my back and started mopping up the Vandals. A couple retreated through the doorway on the other end while their friends screamed the shrill death note of ether addicts. But I knew their fate was no better as I heard the pop, pop of Katerina’s sniper rifle on overwatch. I looked around real quick and saw nothing of interest except a couple green and gold house banners, which my Ghost quickly picked up.
“Building clear,” I stated. “What’s the status of the communications equipment Drakar?”
I moved out the other end of the building, rifle at the ready. I clicked my tongue again and my night vision receded, useless in the glare of the flood lights. To my left, I saw Katerina’s marker and the tell-tale red glare of a Guardian in her scope. Across the mouth of the cave, two Vandal bodies lay in a pool of ether at the bottom of the other tower. Rain obscured the entrance of the cave, but I couldn’t see any enemies moving in the darkness.
“It’s down brother,” Drakar responded. “I’m scanning their equipment now to try and grab some data for the Tower. It’s got some strange readings.”
“Well don’t be too long,” I grunted. “The workers down in the cave had to have heard us if they’re anywhere near the top and I want us all out here when they come up to fight.” I jumped and then activated my jets, moving me to the top of the command post. Then I took a knee and reloaded my rifle, checked my shotgun and loaded my rocket launcher. When the Fallen came out of the cave, I was hoping to give them a little present.
“Crap,” I heard Katerina say in my headset. “I’m tracking movement but I can’t see them. They’ve got stealth Vandals somewhere. They’re coming out of the cave. And from the jungle, and from - Wait, those aren’t Fallen.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a spinning metallic shape, like a flower with a red center. Then I was taking fire, bursts of solar energy hitting my shield. I rolled forward, behind an obstruction on the roof and went prone. I pulled up my pulse rifle and sighted on the new enemy. A shot from Katerina hit the petals and the lotus spun side-ways. I started placing rounds on target and the floating flower collapsed, looking now like an octopus. It trilled a weird machine sound like a bird but made of circuitry. From the back of the enemy, a few tails spun around, floating like tendrils of hair in water. The flower thing was also floating, in mid-air, with no discernible method of levitation. Then I started receiving fire from behind, more solar energy. My motion tracker was going crazy.
I rolled side-ways this time, right off the edge of the roof. As I slipped of the metal surface, I grabbed the edge of the building and swung face first, full bodied into the window on the side of the building. Glass shattered and I landed on my back, the wind rushing from my lungs. Drakar was on one knee, his scout rifle raised and pointing at the window. Three Vandals lay dead around him, headshots in every single one.
“What’s going on?” He asked, almost nonchalantly. I rolled over, grabbed my rifle and pushed myself off the floor.
“We’ve been ambushed by some enemy I’ve never seen,” I said. I placed my rifle on my back and produced my shotgun. “Machines with red eyes that look like flowers.”
“Harpies,” Drakar responded. “That explains the strange readings. The Vex are coming. And when they arrive, the motion systems go haywire. Katerina, do you see any smoke?”
“Yeah,” she responded. “There’s some blue light inside it too. Wait just a moment. Now I see shapes, humanoid but with that same red eye.”
Drakar nodded. He stood up and his ghost disappeared inside his armor. He headed towards the door stepping over the dead Vandals, glass crunching underneath his feet.
“Stay hidden Katerina,” he said as he walked. “We might need an ace in the hole.” He motioned to me and I followed him, stacking up on the door.
“What should I know?” I asked. My legs started to shake and I squeezed the fore grip of my shotgun tighter.
“The red eye is just an optical tool. If you really want to do damage, hit them in the glowing white part. It’s some kind of processor.” He glanced down at my weapon of choice. “Or just do your Titan thing and hurt them all over,” he said laughing.
“Got it.” He grabbed the door handle and quickly opened it. As soon as the space was big enough, I slipped through, checking my left side. It was clear and I pivoted on my foot to my right. A Harpy was staring at me and it trilled, the petals opening as it prepared to fire. I put two rounds of buckshot laced with arc energy in it’s face. It exploded in a burst of sparks and ozone.
I moved to the front of the building, hugging the wall. To my left, I could see a group of the humanoid machines Katerina had mentioned. They were staring at the tower, weapons raised, but not firing. To my right, another group was doing the same thing. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve said they had scoped out the camp just like we had. Then again, I don’t know better. They probably did.
“I got left,” Drakar said. He was hugging the wall of the barracks. As he spoke, the group of Vex turned towards him. “Dang, they’ve hacked our comms.”
Drakar jumped in the air and from his hands, Nova bombs flew, void damage hitting the ground all around the Vex gaggle. A few solar shots went off before the machines met their end, but the energy dissipated against Drakar’s shields. I turned to the right and charged the other group. Bolts of energy started heading my way, but my shield flared and then I was among them. I jumped slightly, arc lightning crackling around my fists. I landed and punched the ground. An explosion of arc lightning ripped the small group of Vex apart and a shockwave went sprawling across the camp.
“Boys,” Katerina said with a sigh. I stood up and did a little dance, laughing in the headset. From the shadow of the tower, I saw what seemed to be a Hunter distinctly shaking her head in disbelief.
“I think I can block the hack,” Drakar’s Ghost said over the comms. “But I’ll need an intact Vex CPU.”
“They’re gone,” I replied. My HUD started fuzzing then and smoke filled the air along with a blinding blue light. “Nevermind.”
I moved to the bottom of the other tower and brought my pulse rifle to bear on the shapes appearing in the cloud at the center of camp. Drakar did the same on Katerina’s side. But as soon as the first group landed, more smoke started and another shape appeared in the middle. It was still humanoid but very large. The smoke cleared and the light faded and in the center of the Vex stood a monster.
“Well shoot,” Drakar said over the comms. The Vex turned towards him and he ducked behind the corner as solar energy started his way. “It’s a Minotaur. They’re the heavies for the Vex. Same deal though.”
I let loose with my pulse rifle but the rounds were intercepted by a void shield. They barely made a scratch before the Minotaur turned my way. He raised his left arm and volts of void damage pumped out of his weapon. The ground shook around me and my shields dropped dangerously low. I slipped inside the tower and started running up the steps.
“Katerina, get his shields down. I’m going to launch a payload his way.” I switched to my rocket launcher and double timed it up the stairs. I could hear the crack of Katerina’s sniper through the walls. I busted through the top floor door and leveled my rocket launcher. The Minotaur’s shields dissipated and I fired two rounds in quick succession. To my surprise though, the rockets did not hit their mark. The Minotaur flashed out of existence for a second and then reappeared at the bottom of Katerina’s tower. I heard a yell from Drakar and then saw his body flying across the camp, landing with a sickening crunch against the barracks building. My HUD displayed his vitals as none.
The rest of the Vex had died in the blast though and I jumped out of the tower to land with a slight boost of my jets on the ground. I looked for the Minotaur but he wasn’t beside the tower. Then I looked up and saw Katerina turned around, her auto rifle aimed at the door.
“We still need that CPU?” she asked, her voice cold but calm.
I didn’t have time to answer as the Minotaur burst through the door with a machine roar. I whipped up my pulse rifle, although I knew the damage would be too little to save her in time. Then arc lightning shot out of Katerina and she started glowing white, knife in hand. The Minotaur pumped two shots of void energy her way but she was no longer there, moving as fast as arc lightning herself. First, she removed it’s head, a clean sweep of her blade, then the arms and then the legs. Oil poured out from the appendages and pooled on the floor around her. In her hand she held a still glowing processor.
I turned and quickly knelt beside Drakar. His body was mangled and his helmet was caved in. I summoned the Light inside me though and slowly poured some of my light into him. His body jerked a little, like electricity playing through a corpse and perhaps it was, I’m no scientist. Then his helmet reformed and his bones went back to the right angles and he coughed. It’s weird that Light, both a particle and energy can restore life, rework metal, and destroy Darkness all at the same time.
“How ya feeling?” I asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him up.
“Jittery as always after a revive.” He laughed and reached up, catching the CPU in his hand. “Think you can crack this?”
“Of course, just give me some time,” His Ghost responded.
Just then, a blob of void energy landed in our midst, crackling our shields. Drakar and I turned and ducked behind the barracks building.
“Another Minotaur?” I asked, unbelieving.
“No,” Katerina responded. “Looks like the rest of the Fallen have come to play.”
English
-
Let’s make this quick,” I said. I hefted my rocket launcher on my shoulder. Drakar grabbed his machine gun and I heard the distinct sound of Katerina loading hers. Drakar and I rounded the corner. I let one rocket fly, then ran forward to see the sides of the battlefield. In the center, a Servitor was rocking back, Drakar’s bullets pelting it’s eye and disorienting it. A few seconds later, a round pierced the center and the Servitor exploded. To the left, a group of Vandals and Dregs were dancing under the trained eye of Katerina’s machine gun, ether screams ripping loose left all over. To the right, I let fly my second rocket, destroying a group of Shanks and dropping a Captain’s shield. Then Drakar turned around and his machine gun found the Captain’s head. “Let’s move in,” I said, pulling my pulse rifle up and tucking it into my shoulder pocket. Katerina landed to my left and Drakar picked up the right. We headed into the cave with me at point. But after searching all the different rooms and looking for what the Fallen were doing in the cave, we found nothing. No box, no secret artifact, no battle plans. Whatever had happened in this cave was over. And that worried me.