Sins of the Keepers - Ace1399 (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

The bottle shattered as it struck the back of Ace’s metal head, warm beer cascading down the back of the Exomind’s neck and soaking the thrown-back hood of his cloak. Stunned more by the surprise of the unexpected blow than from the impact itself, he stumbled a step to the side. It was easy for the Hunter to identify the offender as soon as he turned about.

“Get the hell out of here, bloody cyber!” a voice shouted.

Ace quickly spotted the bottle’s former owner, standing in the alleyway that the Hunter had strode by only a moment before. The man appeared to be a normal City resident in plain, civilian clothing. He pointed an accusing finger at the Guardian and swayed drunkenly. Only a few steps away, the Exo could smell the reek of booze exuding from the assailant. The handful of other pedestrians sharing the street with Ace had all stopped and turned to watch the scene unfold.

“Didja hear me, you stupid puppet?” the drunk continued, taking a couple steps forward. “I said get your cyber ass the hell out of here!”

Approximating a heavy sigh, Ace looked sadly down at the broken bottle on the pavement. The label displayed the logo of a brewer who mass produced cheap, watered-down beers. At least it wasn’t any of the good stuff, Ace thought. I’d have to actually teach him a lesson if he was going to waste something like a good porter or stout.

“You tell ‘im, Pieter!” a second man slurred as he stepped out of the alley’s shadows, beer bottle in hand, to join his companion. “Corpse-jackers can all go to ‘ell and take their damn ball with ‘em!”

Shaking his head at the utter ridiculousness of it all, Ace turned away from the pair of drunks. The Exo knew better than to react to the belligerent men; it would only serve to fuel their misplaced anger further. However, as he turned his back to the pair, one of them showed surprising nimbleness as they leapt forward and snatched the trailing edge of the Hunter’s cloak. Ace found himself stumbling backwards as his assailant surprised him with a terrific yank.

The foul stench of excessive booze filled the Exo’s olfactory sensors as he was spun about to face the two men. The one who had grabbed his cloaked leaned in, threateningly, and slurred, “Where d’ya think yer goin’, huh?”

Ace’s hand instinctively went for the knife at his belt, but he forced himself to stop. There was no real danger posed here. These two couldn’t do anything to the Hunter that Mal couldn’t fix in an instant. Unless that was their plan? Suddenly suspicious, Ace’s hand shot out and chopped the offending wrist of the man clutching his cloak. As the drunk cried out in pain, the Hunter glanced about, looking for other threats.

A second cry of pain and alarm caught Ace’s attention and his head snapped back toward his two assailants. The furthest of the pair was laying on the ground, doubled over and clutching his stomach. The second drunk, the one that Ace had already struck, was being shoved against the building wall by another Hunter.

“Keeper trash!” the female Guardian snarled before slamming her fist into the man’s face. “How dare you?”

Ace was so taken aback, he didn’t know how to react. The sudden shift from under attack to unexpected spectator was too fast for his mind to process for a moment.

The other Guardian screamed again and punched the man she had pinned to the wall. Then she abruptly let go of him to turn about and deliver a savage kick to the drunk that was still on the ground. Something in Ace’s mind clicked.

“Stop,” Ace shouted as he reached out and placed a hand on his fellow Hunter’s shoulder.

The woman spun around and whipped out a knife, seemingly ready to plunge it into Ace’s chest. Fortunately, recognition must have registered with the other Hunter as she suddenly halted herself and took a step back.

Holding both hands up, palms showing in entreaty, Ace calmly repeated, “Stop.”

“Why?” she spat. “They’re Keepers. They were about to do much worse to you.”

“Because what you’ve done is enough,” Ace replied.

“That’s what you think,” the female Guardian retorted. However, she relented and took a couple steps away from the groaning, incapacitated pair of men. Glancing down at the one she had kicked in the ribs, the woman snorted derisively before looking back up to meet Ace’s gaze. The smooth surface of her helmet couldn’t betray any emotions as she added, “You’re welcome by the way.”

Before Ace could respond, the other Hunter whirled about on her heel and quickly strode away, a thin cloak trailing in her wake. Shaking his head at the bizarre encounter, the Exo looked down at the two drunks on the ground. “Mal, how much medical attention will these guys need?” he asked.

Staying incorporeal inside the Hunter, the Ghost replied through the comm link, “There’s the possibility of concussion for one of them, but I do not detect any actual lasting physical harm done.”

“Great. So now we need to worry about the other kind of harm done,” Ace muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“Keepers. These two will probably twist this whole encounter to paint themselves as the victims,” he explained. “Another ‘unprovoked Guardian attack’ or some nonsense will get blasted across the nets.”

“Likely,” Mal agreed. “So why are you hanging around?”

“To make sure that they really are okay,” Ace sighed as he crouched down near the man that had been slammed into the wall. He reached out and gently placed a hand on the Keeper’s shoulder. “You all right?”

“Get off me,” the man groaned weakly.

Ace sighed as he summoned every ounce of patience he could muster, “Who do you want me to call? You and your friend could use a hand.”

The Keeper rolled away from the Hunter and slowly got himself up into a sitting position. He cast a baleful eye over the Exo before spitting.

Wiping his face with the hem of his cloak, Ace stood up and sadly shook his head. “Hell of a day to not wear my helmet,” he commented and turned away from the glaring man. Then, in a much more loud voice, stated, “Mal, please alert medical services. Have them send a first aid team to check these two out.”

Mal compiled in front of the Guardian and, in an equally loud voice, replied, “Already done.”

The onlookers who had stopped and witnessed the entire altercation resumed their day upon hearing that medical services had been notified. Ace spared only a couple more seconds to eye the two drunks before turning about and resuming his own trip. He had just finished lunch at a small bistro and was on his way home when the bottle had derailed his day. As the Hunter walked, he wondered how the people who had witnessed what had happened would interpret it all.

After a couple blocks, Mal suddenly commented, “Ace? I didn’t think it was a good time to bring it up earlier, but you’ve met that Hunter before.”

Tossing a sideway glance at the Ghost floating at his shoulder, Ace replied, “Really? Did we square off in the Crucible or something?”

“Close, but not quite,” Mal answered. “That was Elledora. The Guardian who accidentally sniped you during the House Scar mission with Samus and Halily.”

Ace stopped abruptly and spun around, gazing back up the street to where the fight had occurred, as if he thought he could spot the long-departed Hunter. “Are you sure it was her?” he asked.

“Yes. Her Ghost has her registered and is connected to the Vanguardnet like the rest of us,” Mal explained.

“Think she knew who she was coming to rescue?” Ace quietly mused, turning back and once more continuing the trek back to their residence.

“Maybe.”

“Probably didn’t matter,” Ace suddenly countered. “You heard her tone when she called them Keepers.”

“Honestly, I don’t understand why the City puts up with their nonsense,” Mal digitally snorted. “‘Keep Earth Pure.’ They’re nothing more than a bunch of conspiracy theorists sharing dangerous lies, poisoning the City.”

“Well, for one, there’s nothing illegal about having misguided ideas. It’s sad and infuriating, but there’s nothing that says they’re not allowed to believe what they think,” Ace shrugged.

“Those ideas are going to get people hurt some day,” Mal stated.

“Already has,” Ace replied. “However, you’re one to talk. Keeper rhetoric isn’t much different than the way you used to talk about the Eliksni.”

Mal spun to regard the Guardian, but remained silent as the pair continued their walk. Ace could sense the sudden outrage emanating from his companion. After a moment, the anger faded and Mal quietly argued, “Yes, well I had good reason to feel the way that I did.”

The Hunter gently replied, “The Keepers would make the same argument.”

This time, the Ghost came to a full stop for a moment as it digested the comment. Ace patiently paused and turned around to wait. After a couple seconds, Mal’s cuboid shell gave a whirl as the Ghost asked, “Is there a difference if it’s justified anger?”

“But who decides that?” the Exo countered.

“I see what you mean,” Mal replied. Then its shell gave an angry twitch as the Ghost suddenly exclaimed, “Why did you turn this conversation against me? We were supposed to be talking about that nasty pair of Keepers back there.”

Ace chuckled softly as he turned back to resume his walk and then answered, “Just pointing out how easy it is for an idea to get out of hand and maybe the solution isn’t as simple as you might think. It wasn’t easy, but you’re coming around. Maybe those two can as well.”

With a second digital snort, Mal countered, “Not likely. But I see your point.”

The Exo smiled to himself, pleased. It hadn’t been easy to convince the Ghost to change its outlook, but they were getting there. Ace could tell that Mal was making an honest effort to reign in its racist urges as the Guardian began opting to be less indiscriminate with whom he labeled as a true enemy of Humanity. They were both of them entering a world full of shades of grey. It wasn’t easy for the “universe is black and white” Ghost. Ace was proud of his companion.

The Hunter decided to relent, “You know, I never blamed you for your prejudices. The Eliksni have taken a lot from you, so I can understand. The Keepers, on the other hand-“

“It makes no sense!” Mal interrupted. “The Earth would have been lost centuries ago if it wasn’t for Guardians fighting for Humanity!”

Ace could only shrug in defeated agreement. The movement reminded him that the back of his head and neck were still sticky from the cheap beer that had been thrown at him. Even though his “skin” was sculpted metal plates, the Exo could still experience all the same sensations as an organic person. He could feel the drying booze clinging to his neck as well as the dampness of the cloak at his nape. The smell was beginning to turn pungent as the late afternoon sun poured down onto the street. “Let’s get back to the apartment and get me cleaned up,” he suddenly announced.

“Right away,” Mal replied.

Ace closed his eyes as he felt the transmat field wrap his body in filaments of invisible light. A flash of blue blinded him for a brief moment and then the Hunter found himself in the entryway of his small apartment. As he turned about to regain his bearings; an involuntary act that came with most of his casual transmats, Ace noticed that Mal had taken the liberty of removing the soiled cloak. Glancing down, the Hunter spotted the crumpled pile of heavy cloth on the floor at his feet.

Stooping down to snatch up the accoutrement, he considered the worn mantle. It was the last piece of gear from the set that Cayde-6 had awarded to Ace for his efforts at thwarting Dôl Arnách. The rest of the armor had been cycled out as he replaced it with newer gear; armor with improved specs that were capable of utilizing some of the cutting edge technology that the Warlocks and City armor smiths had dreamt up. Ace let the hooded cloak unfurl to the floor as he held it up and considered it.

“I can clean it up for you,” Mal gently commented.

Ace nodded with a smile, “Please do. But I think it’s finally time to retire this.”

Then the Hunter strode through the apartment, past the little kitchenette and through the living area, to a room on the far side. Opening the door, Ace found a trio of mannequins waiting inside. The first was bare as it was where he kept his current armor when he wasn’t wearing it. The third held a mismatched set of armor that he was currently playing around with; trying to find the “perfect” combination of enhancement modules that would enhance his preferred ability usages. The second mannequin held his beloved Gensym Knight armor.

Ace stepped forward and gazed into the smooth surface of the helmet, remembering the day that his mentor had gifted the armor to him. The Hunter then chuckled quietly as he remembered when he discovered the inscription on a vambrace, detailing that the armor set had been a gift to Cayde from the Gensym Knight Warlocks. Of course the notoriously incorrigible Cayde-6 would re-gift something like this. Ace solemnly draped the cloak over the retired armor and smiled.

“Yeah, please clean it up,” he repeated as he looked upon the completed set.

Guardians like Mike liked to keep souvenirs from battlefields and filled their homes with reminders of impossible victories. Ace liked to keep mementos of the tools that helped him to survive. Along the wall behind the mannequins stood a row of shelves holding items like the first pistol he found shortly after being revived by Mal, his very first Hunter knife, or the remains of the scout rifle destroyed in the battle with Bracus Gelahn. Each item on the shelf told a story that inspired years of memory in the Exomind Guardian.

But it was at the far end of the shelf, all by its lonesome, that sat the most precious item in Ace’s collection. It was a Titan helmet. One side was damaged badly; something had melted the top right quadrant and a gash had been torn down the center of the melted section. Deoxys’s helmet. His departed compatriot’s favorite weapon, an Imago Loop model hand cannon, was in the care of his friends, Kaijae and Kaizyn.

Thinking about those two reminded the Hunter that he hadn’t seen them in a few weeks. In fact, he hadn’t really spent much time with anyone outside of his close group of friends in a while. Recalling that it was on Vanguard strike mission that he had first met Deo, Ace suddenly turned and hollered at his Ghost.

“Hey, Mal? Does the Vanguard have any missions available?”

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

The fireteam leader’s low opinion of his assigned team was apparent from the start. His tone alone dripped with disappointment and disdain as the Warlock heaved a great sigh, “They give me a mute Titan and tether Hunter for this mission? What did I do to deserve this?”

Ace decided to tactfully remain silent and ignored the comment, opting instead to survey the area in front of them. The team had been sent to Venus to hunt down a particularly dangerous group of Fallen bandits that had been ambushing supply ships returning to Earth with minerals. All three had transmaterialized to a rocky tor that jutted above the lush jungle that the Vanguard suspected housed their target. The faint noise of wildlife and insects filled the air and the Hunter found himself more than a little surprised at the signs of an ecosystem teeming with life. He had spent so much of his time in ruined cities on Earth or barren places like the Moon that the concept was practically foreign.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ace whispered as he turned to his third teammate.

The Titan swiftly set her weapon, a beat up and weathered Mida SMG, into the magnetic holster on her thigh and then began moving her hands about, weaving intricate signs.

“Wait,” the Hunter held up his own hand, “Is that what he meant? You can’t talk?”

“Of course, that’s what I meant,” the Warlock muttered. “Who ever heard of a Guardian who can’t talk? It’s insane. What a defective Ghost.”

“That’s not true,” the Hunter countered. “She can talk.”

“Oh? Do you know sign language?” the team leader retorted, not bothering to look away from the vista below.

“Well, no,” Ace admitted. “But we-“

“Let’s just get going,” the Warlock interrupted. “The sooner we take out our target, the sooner we can get back to the City and I can get assigned a real team of Guardians.”

The Hunter watched the Warlock jump off the ledge and then looked back to the Titan. She was about to follow when Ace placed a hand on her shoulder. As she glanced over at him, he summoned Mal before asking, “What’s your name?”

Quickly holstering her weapon again, the Titan replied a moment later with a flash of hand signs.

“Her name is Wendi,” the Ghost commented.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ace.”

“She said, ‘Nice to meet you. I promise to follow orders and not slow you down.’”

Ace nodded and considered the unique Guardian. Despite the bad attitude and rude comments, the Hunter could understand their other companion’s frustration. Communication was critical in the field, where one mistake could cost lives. Wendi posed a problem, but the Hunter did not believe that it was an impossible one. She started signing again.

“I follow orders well. I am a very good shot. I will not mess up.”

Digesting his Ghost’s translation, Ace considered the Titan for a moment when the voice of their fireteam leader cut through the comm link, “You two plan on actually doing anything for this mission or am I just gonna have to do it all?”

“Let’s go,” Ace muttered before dismissing Mal and leaping off the ledge, to the waiting trees below.

——————

As the team made their way through the dense jungle, Ace’s mind continued to ponder the puzzle that his mute teammate posed. He had rushed ahead of the other Guardians, taking the point position that felt so natural to the Nightstalker. Moving silently through the trees, he kept one eye focused on his radar and the other on the path ahead as the team worked their way to the coordinates provided by the Vanguard. As he moved, Ace opened a closed channel to speak with Mal.

“Why doesn’t her Ghost talk for her?” the Hunter asked.

“Because she still has to sign,” Mal quickly replied. “Her Ghost can’t respond when they don’t know what their Guardian wants to say.”

“So, let her sign and then have her Ghost translate,” Ace quickly retorted.

The Hunter could feel Mal shaking it’s shell in dismissal before the Ghost commented, “That would be fine if we were someplace safe, like the City. But out here?” Mal paused for a long moment before continuing, “Would you want me to be out in the open here? As we head toward a nest of Fallen and their sniper rifles?”

Ace shuddered at the thought. After all, it had been a Fallen sniper that had managed the shot that made Cayde-6 mortal. Well, Scorn actually, but weren’t they basically the same thing as Fallen? Ace thought to himself. Then, aloud, “You have a point. No sense giving your enemy an obvious target to shoot at.”

“Exactly. And that’s why I stay in your backpack when we’re on missions. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to work with a Guardian like her,” Mal concluded.

“Ace,” the Warlock’s voice suddenly cut through the end of Mal’s comment, “you’re starting to veer north. Is there a problem?”

“Sorry,” Ace quickly apologized. “I got distracted. Correcting course now.”

Another heavy sigh carried over the comm link. The Hunter felt the warming approximation of shame in the metallic plating of his face. The team leader was a bit of a jerk, but he had a point. Ace’s whole purpose for being this far out front was to make sure that they didn’t run into any surprises unprepared. Glancing down at his wrist, the Hunter activated his data pad and accessed the mission dossier.

The last transport to be attacked had managed to track their assailant’s flight path. The Vanguard had correlated the information with other reports of Fallen activity on the planet and provided coordinates that they believed would lead to the culprits. Ace had done kind of thing this often enough with missions on Earth and the Moon to know that the team had about a fifty percent chance of actually finding anything. Often enough to know that he should know better than to let his mind wander when heading toward such a waypoint. Half the time, he found trouble not far from where the Vanguard predicted.

“Mal, give me the mission briefing in my visor,” the Hunter quietly commanded.

Instantly, the information appeared as an overlay in his field of view. Running a finger over the pad’s surface, he was able to scroll through the file while keeping an eye on the waypoint marker. As Ace scanned the report, looking for something that might help him predict how big of an outfit they were chasing after, a thought occurred to him.

“Wait, what about this?” he asked excitedly.

“What about what?” both Mal and the fireteam leader responded.

“Wendi! Use your datapad to send me a quicknote. Mal! Configure my pad to automatically display any messages from Wendi in my visor.”

Like this? a message appeared a moment later, at the edge of his vision; clear but unobtrusive.

“Perfect!” the Hunter exclaimed.

“Great. She can talk when she doesn’t have her hands full with a gun,” came a grumbling reply from the Warlock.

Ace was tempted to fire back a terse comment of his own, but held his tongue. Instead, he reactivated his datapad and quickly typed a quicknote of his own, a reply directed to just Wendi.

Ignore his negative attitude and keep sending messages when you have something to say. K?

A couple seconds later, a message appeared, Thank u. I will.

With a quiet smile, Ace returned his attention to the jungle ahead. The waypoint marker directing him to the coordinates showed that he was several hundred meters further away than he should have been; a result of his absentmindedly wandering for the last few minutes. No wonder their team leader snapped at him. The Hunter then reaccessed the dossier and scrolled to the header.

Fireteam leader: Dreven

Ace made a mental note to be on his best behavior for the rest of the mission. Maybe the guy was a bit green at leading a fireteam and was struggling with the additional challenge of working with a Guardian like Wendi? The Hunter decided to give Dreven the benefit of doubt until they returned to the City. Then he could have a quick word with Ikora and let her handle it from there. If the Warlock needed a gentle lesson or a harsh reprimand, she would know.

Satisfied with the decision, Ace then began to adjust his course. Since he was already heading further north than originally intended, maybe it would be a good idea to take a circuitous route instead of the more direct one? After all, the coordinates that they had been given were only estimates and there was no guarantee that their quarry would be at that exact spot. However, he did just decide to follow Dreven’s instructions and it was apparent that the Warlock wanted the team to head straight for the target location. The Hunter corrected even further so that he was heading directly for the waypoint.

The cacophony of the jungle; the occasional shrill cries of reptilian flyers and the incessant buzz of large insects, filled the air all around the Hunter. The louder noises that punctuated the general din made him feel a little anxious, like he was an intruder in a foreign land. Which, in truth, was fairly accurate. Ace had not spent much time on Venus and, when he did, it was usually a mission to one of the city ruins. He had been to the Ishtar Academy several times in service of the Vanguard or as hired muscle to guard archeological expeditions. Today was his first time delving deep into the lush forest that swelled along the Baltis Vallis channel.

The dense canopy overhead allowed just enough sunlight to pass through that visibility was not an issue. Ace could occasionally spot one of the jungle’s many denizens scrambling about the branches as they moved to hide from the trespassers below. Glancing up to take a longer look, the Hunter could see that traversal throughout the canopy was a fairly simple matter as many of the branches from separate trees crossed and intertwined with one another, forming sylvan paths in the air above. Much of the wildlife probably lived their entire lives in the canopy without ever once actually touching the ground. As if to prove his point, Ace spotted a lizard-like creature scamper from the bough of one tree, through the branches of no less than four others, to come to a furtive stop in the sheltered pocket of crossing limbs; all without any leaps of significant distance.

Suddenly, a message appeared in his visor, Skiff east.

Ace immediately rushed for the nearest tree and set himself against the west face of the trunk. A few seconds later, the sounds of the forest disappeared and Ace could make out the sound of engines in the distance.

“Good catch, Wendi,” Ace commented into the comm link.

“It’s passing north of us,” Dreven replied as the sound of the Skiff drew closer.

“They’re moving awfully slow,” Ace noted, surprised that the Fallen vessel was taking so long to pass by.

Then message from Wendi appeared, Landing. Not passing thru.

Ace couldn’t see the craft, but he had a good idea of its general location by listening. It definitely seemed to slowing to a stop. “I think Wendi’s right. We may have just had our lucky break!”

“Updating objective coordinates,” Dreven commented. “Ace, once that ship lands, I want you to scout it out. Odds are good that we’ll find their base wherever it puts down.”

“Maps indicate that there’s a large depression in that direction,” Mal chimed in to the comm link.

“A good place to hide a ship or two,” Ace chuckled.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

It took the Hunter almost an hour to lead the team to the depression where they suspected that the Fallen Skiff had landed. There had been no other indications of enemy activity once the craft finished flying by as radars remained clear. Even the wildlife had quickly resumed its racket almost immediately after the sound of the ship’s engines had faded into the distance.

“You should be able to see the depression soon,” Mal’s voice commented through the comm link.

Ace grunted an acknowledgment as he peered ahead. The sunlight had apparently found a break in the canopy and was pouring into the jungle ahead, creating a near-blinding wall of light. Pausing for a moment, the Nightstalker checked his radar to make sure that he wasn’t walking into some kind of ambush, but the sensors didn’t detect anything.

“Well, if it’s a trap, it’s well made. Let’s go spring it,” Ace muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Dreven queried.

“Nothing,” the Hunter quickly answered. “It’s just too bright to be able to see anything ahead. Want me to wait for you two?”

“You’re the stealthy Hunter, aren’t you? Go ahead,” the team leader replied.

“Mal, watch my six,” Ace quietly commanded as he pressed forward, into the blinding stream of sunlight.

And found himself standing at the edge of the forest. It wasn’t a simple break in the canopy, but a complete and utter end to the thick tangle of trees. The Hunter was standing in line with a massive, sylvan phalanx. Directly in front of him sat the depression that his Ghost had warned about.

“Mal, I think you need to choose your words more carefully next time,” Ace whispered. “This is a damned crater.”

A dozen meters away from where the Hunter stood at the tree line, the ground simply ended. It fell away in a sudden drop to the bottom, far below. Looking in the distance, the Hunter could see that the cliff formed a great circle that was easily a couple kilometers wide and several hundred meters deep. At the bottom of the great crater, the jungle resumed its march.

Trouble? a message appeared from Wendi.

“No,” Ace replied. “Just that I didn’t expect this. Reminds me of one of those really deep craters on the Moon, but someone put a jungle in it. I’m going to wait for you guys.”

“We’re only a couple minutes behind you,” Dreven commented.

Ace nodded to himself and moved to inspect the cliff while he waited. The face of the wall was practically sheer, almost as if it had been purposely carved rather than a natural formation. However, there were occasional protrusions dotting the cliff side as denser bits of limestone managed to resist the inexorable rigors of elements more than the rest of the rock. And then there was the forest waiting far below, with its branches that covered the entirety of the crater and even reached out to caress the face of the cliff. Trees that would not be present in the bowl of an artificial crater.

The sound of heavy boots and metal passing through underbrush caught the Hunter’s ear. He turned to watch his teammates emerge from the tangle of trees, both of them with hands raised to shield their eyes against the sudden assault of sunlight after the long gloom of the jungle’s canopy. The Warlock and Titan joined Ace at the cliff’s edge.

Dreven gave a long, appreciative whistle before commenting, “You weren’t kidding. A ‘depression’ doesn’t come anywhere near to doing justice to this crater.”

Wendi had set her SMG at her hip and tapped a quick message into her datapad, Sinkhole?

Ace shrugged, “Could be. Maybe an underground lake got tapped and drained. Or an underground magma flow diverted and left a massive air pocket behind.”

“Not a meteor,” Dreven nodded. “Would be more of a bowl than… this.”

Fallen down there? Wendi queried.

“If I was going to wager a bet, I would feel good putting Glimmer on it,” Ace replied.

“It’s a lot of ground to cover,” the Warlock whispered as his gaze traced the long, circular trek that the cliff made as it encircled the bowl below.

Could wait. Another skiff can come. Or leave? Wendi suggested.

Ace half expected the fireteam leader to dismiss the Titan’s comment and was pleasantly surprised to see the Warlock consider the idea. After a long moment, Dreven shook his head, “No guarantee that they’ll sortie again any time soon. We got lucky that a ship came through that first time.” He then turned his gaze away from the crater, back into the dark gloom of the Venusian jungle. “We’re a good eight klicks away from our original target.”

“Given that those coordinates were an estimate, I’d say they did a damn good job,” Ace interjected with a wry chuckle.

“True,” Dreven admitted. “At any rate, I don’t want to risk having that ship leave so that it can attack another transport. We’re going to head down and start searching. If we do get lucky and the Fallen give away their position with another ship, great. If not, I’d rather not let time be wasted.”

“I’ll go first and make sure it’s clear,” Ace declared, but waited for acknowledgement from his team. Wendi had retrieved her SMG and gave a thumb up with her free hand. Dreven regarded the Hunter for a moment and then nodded.

The Nightstalker took four running strides and then leapt out into the air. He felt his cloak flutter in the air as it trailed behind him like an oversized streamer. The sound of air rushing past him as he plummeted toward the ground below roared in his audio receptors. Ace clutched his heavy revolver, a trusty True Prophecy model, in his hand while the ground hurtled up to embrace the plunging Guardian. His eyes darted all about, checking the radar for enemies below whilst gauging his remaining distance from the treetops and also being mindful that he didn’t collide with the rocky face of the cliff side. Then, with only a mere second remaining before his body passed through the upper reaches of the canopy, the Hunter used his Light-given ability to instantly arrest his descent and jumped in midair.

In the brief instant before he started falling again, Ace spotted an opening in the jungle’s canopy and a wide limb; sturdy and strong. Using his final midair jump, the Hunter expertly turned and launched himself the short few meters to land on the branch. Even as he settled, he was already scanning the area around him, making sure that he was truly as alone as the radar claimed.

After a few seconds, he was convinced that he was clear and moved to check the ground below. The tree branches crisscrossed and twined around each other so Ace had to make his way further down, from the upper reaches of the forest top to the lower boughs of the understory, before he could see the jungle floor. With yet still no sign of hostile forces, the Nightstalker dropped out of the tree, to the ground below.

“Made it down,” Ace commented into the comm link. “Mal, give them waypoints for their descent.”

“Done,” the Ghost promptly replied.

Trusting his teammates to make their own way down from the clifftop far above, the Hunter began to scout the immediate area, checking for any signs of Fallen activity. However, he couldn’t find anything by the time Dreven and Wendi arrived, alighting nearby on the forest floor.

“Anything?” the Warlock asked as soon as Ace joined the group.

The Hunter shook his head before answering, “We either made a mistake, or they’re being careful not to leave any traces.”

Wendi held up a hand before she began furiously tapping on her datapad. A moment later, Cave? Fallen normally do not base out in open.

Ace and Dreven both nodded at the Titan’s message. The Hunter had already begun to think along the same lines. There was a decent chance that the dense foliage was hiding an opening in the ground that they couldn’t see from up at the top of the bowl. And then there was the cliff side itself; so tall that a cavern could easily be carved into the face and hidden by the massive trees.

“We check the cliff side first,” Dreven suddenly announced. “We’ll do a complete circuit and see what we find. If there isn’t anything, Traveler save us, doing a complete search of this entire basin is going to suck.”

Hope for another ship? Hahahah, Wendi messaged.

“The sooner the better,” Ace replied, allowing Wendi’s levity to bring a smile to his voice.

“Agreed,” Dreven commented. “We’ll start from here and make our way clockwise. Keep the cliff side in view, but keep near the trees. I don’t want to get spotted if we can avoid it, so stay close to cover.” The Warlock then paused and leveled a stare at the Hunter, “No more daydreaming, Ace. Stay on task.”

Nodding acknowledgement, the Hunter accepted the callout. He deserves it. Then, Ace asked, “What about splitting up? I could head the other way and we could meet in the middle? Cut the time in half.”

“No,” Dreven immediately answered. “If you run into trouble, we could be more than a klick away. Our target could escape and then my time would have been completely wasted.”

A message suddenly appeared, Sparrow?

“Too much noise,” the Warlock tersely
replied. “And there’s not enough room to maneuver in these trees. This isn’t one of Holliday’s race tracks.”

Wendi nodded and retrieved her weapon, turning in the direction of the nearest cliff. Ace quickstepped to take point position, but remained closer to the other Guardians this time. Dreven’s attitude wasn’t much better, but his logic and decisions were sound. At least, the Hunter had to admit as much as the rock wall came into view only a few seconds later.

Sharply turning right, Ace began picking out a path that would keep the cliff side in view as the team made their way through the trees. The underbrush near the edge was thick, so he was glad that the team was sticking to the area further in. The dense canopy of the forest proper prevented smaller bushes and shrubs from clogging the spaces between the trees, so the Hunter didn’t have to worry about his companions making too much of a racket. It was difficult keeping a team safe from ambush when they couldn’t stop themselves from trampling through noisy vegetation and debris. As it was, every twig snap or heavy boot step sounded like an alarm that made Ace’s eye twitch.

“You think you’d be used to it by now, Ace,” the Nightstalker whispered to himself.

“Some things are practically written into your DNA,” Mal replied into a private channel. “How do you think I knew you were reborn to be a Hunter?”

Ace glanced meaningfully down to his robotic, Exomind hands and sardonically retorted, “DNA?”

“You know what I mean,” came the reply.

The Hunter indulged himself in a quiet chuckle, enjoying the exasperated tone from his Ghost. Casting a glance over his shoulder to the two Guardians in tow, he did have to admit that they were doing a fair job of moving quietly. He had been with plenty of fireteams that would have easily been making at least triple the amount of racket that Dreven and Wendi were. And yet…

“Hey Mal? How long will it take to make it all the way around this?”

“At our current pace, a little more than two hours,” Mal answered. “Why do you ask?”

The sound of a small branch loudly cracking sounded from behind the Hunter, causing him to wince. A moment later, he replied, “No reason.”

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

The Venusian sky was beginning to lose its brilliance as the afternoon began to deepen. Ace had moved a little further ahead of his teammates as impatience was starting to get the better of him; he was anxious to find their quarry. As he glanced up to the sky, hopeful that another Skiff would appear, the Hunter noticed that Wendi had drifted away from Dreven and was exploring a little deeper into the forest. He nodded with silent approval at her initiative.

Ace then held out a hand and summoned Mal. As the Ghost materialized in the air in front of him, he asked, “Are you picking up anything at all out here? Any signs of Fallen transmissions maybe?”

Mal co*cked its cuboid shell a little before replying, “You already know the answer.”

Heaving a dramatic sigh, the Hunter pressed on. The waypoint in his helmet’s visor, placed there by his Ghost, was constantly updating so that he didn’t accidentally drift too far from the cliff, but Ace regularly threw a glance to the side and checked to make sure that it was still in view. A couple of times he had stopped the team while he investigated a crack in the face, but each pause had been a waste of time.

As Ace was glancing toward the cliff side, Mal suddenly commented, “You’re calling them ‘Fallen’ again. I thought they were ‘Eliksni’ to you.”

The Nightstalker shrugged as he replied, “Depends on the type, I guess. The ones that want to be left alone and just live, are ‘Eliksni’ to me. But if those who want to raid our ships and attack us, they’re my enemies and I guess that’s when I think of them as ‘Fallen’ instead.”

“But they’re all the same,” the Ghost countered.

“Are they, though?” Ace retorted just as quickly. “We met an entire colony of Eliksni that were happy to trade with us and treated us peacefully.”

“I do wonder how Kasrys is doing,” Mal absently commented.

The Hunter smiled, pleased with the growth his Ghost had shown over the months. He knew of many Guardians who thought that their Ghosts were truly nothing more than hyper intelligent computers, but Ace knew that they were more. Ghosts were sentient. Alive. And they were capable of all the same evolution as Humanity. He was about to make a joking comment to break the silence when Mal suddenly spoke up.

“Ace! Freeze!” the Ghost commanded into the fireteam comm link.

“What is it, Ghost!” Dreven asked in a harsh whisper.

“I’m detecting a magnetic field ahead,” Mal explained. “A power surge of some kind.”

As the Ghost spoke, the waypoint shifted slightly, directing the Hunter toward the cliff side in the distance. Instinctively, he gazed in the direction of the marker as if his sight could pierce the tangle of trees ahead. Before Ace could start heading off toward the new destination, Dreven spoke up.

“Hold position, Ace,” the Warlock instructed. “Let us get closer before you move in to check it out.”

On my way, appeared a message from Wendi.

The Nightstalker didn’t have to wait long as the Titan and Warlock both arrived a minute later. He was very pleased to note that they made hardly a sound now that they suspected that enemy forces were nearby. Dreven had his focus in the distance beyond Ace, where the detected field was located. Wendi was only a few steps behind, her battered SMG held at the ready.

“All right, Ace,” Dreven began, “go ahead.”

The Nightstalker gave a quick nod before spinning on his heel and taking off. The Warlock blurted something in surprise, but Ace merely smiled and kept running. There was a reason this “tether Hunter” was on this team; he actually knew how to move quickly and quietly. A minute later, he noticed the faint, telltale glow of red begin to color the forward edge of his radar.

“Scanner is picking up life forms ahead,” he calmly commented into the comm link.

“Dammit, Ace, don’t get spotted,” Dreven growled.

The Nightstalker stifled a chuckle. So much for being an obedient teammate. Samus and Mike would at least appreciate his consistency when he told them about this mission later.

Approaching a thicket, Ace suddenly leapt up into the air and used his midair jump ability to reach a sturdy lower bough of the nearest tree. Without pause, he continued moving swiftly through the branches, jumping from one great limb to another, as he passed over the thicket without sound.

“Traveler save me- Wendi! Don’t try to emulate the crazy Hunter!” Dreven’s aggrieved voice suddenly carried over the line.

Glancing again to the radar at the corner of his visor, Ace grinned as he noted the unmistakable green dot that represented a teammate. Wendi was not far behind and doing an excellent job of being just as quiet. It wasn’t until he knew that she was there that Ace was able to notice the sound of the Titan’s boots plodding along.

“Wendi, when we get closer, you wait while I move ahead,” Ace instructed. “I’ll go invis to get a close look.”

“Damned Titans eating so many crayons, they’ll become suicidal like the Hunters,” Dreven grumbled. “And now I’m infected with the same brain disease, chasing after them like a squirrel in a bathrobe. They’re nuts and now I’m making puns.”

Ace wasn’t quite able to stifle the laughter this time. Fortunately, the trees were thinning and denser patches of vegetation on the jungle floor were beginning to appear. Sure signs that they were swiftly approaching the edge of the Venusian forest. He came to a stop and dropped down to the ground below. A few seconds later, Wendi landed next to him. Dreven, still grumbling quietly, was still a couple dozen meters behind. The radar glowed a bright red, filling the outermost bracket.

“This is close enough,” Ace whispered. “I’m going to check out what we’re dealing with.”

“When did the dodgy Hunter become fireteam leader?” Dreven huffed. “Dammit. Another pun.”

Tuning out his team leader, Ace focused on the path ahead. Ground vegetation was thickening, but he could make out a trail that wouldn’t make much racket. Pulling up the hood of his cloak to prevent sun glare from shining off his helmet, the Hunter moved forward. Picking his steps carefully, he was able to pass through the underbrush silently.

As he passed through the first ring of wide ferns and spindly shrubs, Ace was suddenly able make out the cliff side ahead. Or rather, the very edge of it as a massive hole in the face of the wall appeared like a great dark blot. “We have a cave,” he whispered into the communication line.

“Guards?” Dreven asked.

“Checking now.”

The sunlight was streaming in from ahead; the cave was situated practically at the westernmost point of the crater. It was a perfect setup for the Fallen within as encroachers had no way to see into the base and those inside could easily see anyone approaching. Ace pulled his hood further forward and ducked down as he pressed through to the last patch of undergrowth. His eyes darted all about as he tried simultaneously to check for any advance guards in the forest with him, watch the cave’s mouth for any movement, and pick out a path for himself that wouldn’t warn unseen adversaries of his presence.

Taking comfort in the sensation of the pooled Void energies within himself, Ace crept forward. He was ready to call upon the Light to make himself vanish from view at a moment’s notice. Listening for the high-pitched whine of a Vandal sniper’s line rifle or the crackle of a Wretch’s Arc blade, he strained to detect any threats present.

All he could hear were the continued cries of Venusian avians and reptilians. The ever-present, incessant buzz of insects. Then, a minute later, Ace noticed a different kind of tone; one of similar pitch to the droning of the insects. It emanated from the opening in the cliff side.

“Mal? Do you hear that?” Ace whispered.

“I think they’re powering up something in there,” the Ghost answered. “An engine? Shield generator?”

“Is it the source of your power spike?”

“Absolutely.”

“So, did we finally find our mystery Skiff?” Dreven spoke up.

“No visual confirmation yet,” Ace cautioned before continuing, “but I think chances are good. This cave is definitely big enough to hangar a Skiff.”

Just hope not Vex, a message appeared as the Hunter finished.

He gave an involuntary shudder before replying, “You and I both, Wendi.” Ace then glanced around one last time, making sure that there weren’t any cloaked Fallen nearby before commenting, “You two are safe to advance this far while I scout further.”

Without waiting for any response, the Nightstalker released his hold on one of the smaller pools of power and felt a small orb coalesce into reality in the palm of his free hand. The size of a chicken egg and just as solid, Ace clutched the smoke bomb and took a brief moment to approximate a deep, calming breath. The Exomind didn’t need to breath, but it felt good to go through the motions. Then he hurled the little orb to the ground at his own feet. Void power erupted forth, taking the form of visible smoke rising up. As soon as it touched the surface of Ace’s armor, the smoke seemed to surge forward and enveloped him in an instant. But rather than choking and blinding the Hunter like it would with an enemy, the Void power rendered him invisible like his infamous Shadestep.

The very instant he felt his body become infused with Void energy, Ace leapt into the air. This time, instead of aiming for a sturdy tree limb, the Hunter hurled himself forward. He used his midair boosts to launch himself over the bushes and toward the edge of the jungle. Two seconds had passed when he touched ground and began sprinting toward the cave.

No sign of enemies yet. Five seconds to reach the cave mouth. Three to find cover or Shadestep. Retreat or search for cover? Ace’s mind raced as he charged forward. Radar is blazing. There has to be someone inside. Please be Fallen. Please be Fallen.

As soon as the cliff’s shadow engulfed the Hunter, hiding the blinding sun from view, Ace could immediately begin to make out shapes within the great maw. Twinkling lights, dim even in the cave’s gloom, were the first things his eyes could pick out. Those lights helped him to identify moving figures deep in the cavern and then a massive shape in the center of the space.

Skiff! Fallen! Wait! One second! Ace threw his body forward in a diving roll as he released his hold on another pool of Void Light. This time, the energy burst forth from his body in an intangible form. But the Nightstalker could feel it infuse his body again, rendering him invisible just as the effects of his smoke grenade were about to wear off. Cover! Where can I hide? Any boulders in here? It’s a giant cave. There’s gotta be a rock or something.

Ace’s internal monologue ran as he glanced around. With every passing moment, his vision adjusted to the cavern’s deep gloom. After a couple seconds, he was able to discern more details inside. He could clearly identify the outline of the Fallen spacecraft and the apparent mechanics moving around the ship. There was a metallic gangway bolted to the cave wall on either side, traveling toward the far end. And to the side of the Skiff’s landing pad rested a small pile of cargo in netting.

There! Six seconds!

Ace raced forward, the Void power muffling the sound of his footsteps on the bare rock. With a couple seconds to spare, the Hunter halted behind the pile of largep boxes and crouched down. The gangway was directly overhead and all activity appeared to be taking place on the other side of the Skiff. The Hunter was about to approximate a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of footsteps above.

Gripping his hand cannon tightly, Ace tried to shrink into an even smaller shape as the energy dissipated, rendering him visible once more. The owner of the footsteps continued, seemingly oblivious to the Guardian’s presence below. Noting that the stomping sounded heavier than expect, Ace glanced up and tried to peer through the grate that formed the gangway floor.

Despite the cave’s darkness, the Hunter was able to make out enough details; the larger frame, heavy fur mantle, and four powerful-looking arms, to identify the Fallen as a Captain. Only an Eliksni with control over the group’s ether supply was able to grow to such size. As if to emphasize that fact, the gangway’s railing suddenly issued a small groan of protest as the Captain leaned over it to bark a series of commands to the crew working on the Skiff.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Ace double-checked to ensure that his cloak was covering his frame before moving. He inched his way back to the edge of the cargo pile to peek at the area around the mouth of the cave. The Hunter was able to spot a trio of Vandal snipers on the walkway at the far side, lazily keeping watch over the cave entrance. The Fallen didn’t appear focused on the task as they huddled together in conversation, only periodically pausing to cast a brief glance outside. From his position below the ledge on the south side of the cavern, Ace was unable to see any guards on that side. However, he felt safe assuming that there would likely be a similar number of Fallen posted.

Carefully moving to another vantage point, the Hunter then scanned deeper into the cave. It was difficult to make out the far end due to the cavern’s size, but he was able to make out the shapes of doorways and hatches along the path of the walkway. Ladders at various points connected the ground floor with the second level. And there did not appear to be any other natural chambers beyond this main one. Whatever additional rooms there were in this cavern had been carved into it by the occupants. Before retreating back to better cover, Ace took count of the number of Fallen that he could see.

Settling into position, Ace activated the comm link. “We found our Skiff,” he reported. “We have at least a couple dozen Fallen out in the open along with a bunch of rooms hiding who knows how many. There’s a Captain leading these guys, so maybe a Servitor is hiding somewhere.”

Doesn’t sound bad, Wendi messaged.

“Guards?” Dreven asked.

“None outside; they’re all positioned inside where you can’t see them,” Ace quickly answered. “Three on the north side and probably the same on the south. Circle wide enough and you can approach the cave without being seen if you stick close to the cliff wall.”

“Will you be okay for a couple minutes?” the Warlock then replied.

The Hunter glanced about, confirming that he was all alone in the small space between the cavern wall and the pile of cargo. The Captain had moved on toward the back of the cavern, so there was no longer anyone on the walkway overhead. “Yeah, I’m good,” Ace answered.

“Let’s go, Wendi,” Dreven commanded.

Plan? Wendi queried.

“Kick in the door and wipe out anything that moves. Standard stuff,” the Warlock explained. “You hold down center and use your barricade to draw fire. Ace and I will pick apart everything at either side. Just stay there and we’ll handle everything.”

Ace frowned at Dreven’s instruction. Wendi was just going to be bait and nothing else? Did he think that she couldn’t shoot because she can’t talk? He glanced up to where the Vandal snipers were situated and made a mental note to eliminate those first. If their fireteam leader was going to put her in such a vulnerable position, Ace decided that he would make sure she had a fighting chance.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

“Go.”

Dreven’s order came after only a couple minutes of waiting. Ace had been intently watching the guards for any indication that his teammates had been detected, weapon held at the ready. When the Warlock issued the command, the Hunter burst into action.

Leaping out from behind the pile of boxes, Ace summoned his Void grenade and hurled it toward the back of the room. He didn’t aim for any particular target as he only wanted to draw attention away from the cave’s mouth. Several cries of alarm went up immediately as the fist-sized orb erupted in a sphere of damaging energy. Almost as one, every Fallen head turned toward the shouts as they tried to figure out what was going on. The Nightstalker then summoned his recently-charged smoke bomb and threw that at the Vandal guards near the cave mouth. The small charge struck the nearest of the trio in the shoulder and erupted. The effect was almost instantaneous as the vapor assaulted all three of the guards, causing them to double-over in fits of coughing.

Wendi came charging in first with Dreven practically on her heels. The Warlock apparently noticed the incapacitated guards and leapt into the air, using the Light to launch himself high up so that he could easily Glide onto the walkway. As soon as he touched down, Dreven leveled his hand cannon and opened fire.

Glancing to the entrance, Ace spotted Wendi coming to a halt just a few meters in, just before summoning a barricade of shimmering Light. He noticed a handful of Wire Rifle blasts tear through the air and slam into the towering wall of energy. It would not hold against the onslaught for long. Noting that a few of the shots were coming from overhead, the Hunter burst out from his hiding position and spun around to leap up into the gangway.

Using his midair boost, Ace was able to clear the railing and land squarely in the middle of the long balcony. There was a trio of Vandals on the south side of the cavern as he suspected, and they were moving toward the entrance in order to get behind Wendi’s barrier. The Nightstalker raised his weapon and opened fire.

The Fallen guards screeched in surprise and pain as the Hunter’s initial volley tore into all three. One of the soldiers fell almost instantly as it bore the brunt of the attack; several rounds tearing through its flimsy armor. Ace kept sprinting forward while he ejected the emptied revolver cylinder and inserted a loaded one into place. The Vandals raised their Wire Rifles as the Guardian swiftly approached, but they weren’t quick enough. The Nightstalker had taken them completely by surprise and was upon them before the weapons could charge a blast.

Ace grabbed the barrel of the nearest rifle and shoved it aside with one hand while bringing his hand cannon up close to the Fallen’s chest with the other. Before the poor creature could realize its doom, the Hunter fired and the Vandal fell backwards, lifeless. The last of the guards dropped the heavy rifle and drew a pair of long knifes. For a split second, Ace considered accepting the challenge and drawing his own knife, but he had teammates to consider. The Hunter raised his hand cannon and fired.

Turning back to survey the scene inside, Ace could see that Dreven’s plan was working as the Warlock intended. Most of the enemy focus was on the Titan who had planted herself in the most open position in the cavern. Shock Pistol and Wire Rifle blasts all streamed through the air to tear away at the barricade she had erected in front of herself, and it was moments away from shattering. Meanwhile, Dreven was still atop the walkway and rushing forward. He had eliminated a couple of the Fallen that were on the upper level with him, but was ignoring everything below.

“Wendi!” Ace shouted. “Get to cover! I’ll clear some room for you!”

Without waiting to see if the Titan followed his instruction, the Nightstalker spotted a large grouping of Fallen gathered on the floor below. The cluster of combatants were all focusing their weapon fire at Wendi. Releasing his hold on the largest pool of power, Ace summoned the Void bow and fired a Shadowshot into the center of the small crowd. The launched “arrow” struck a Dreg directly and the diminutive Fallen was instantly obliterated. In its place, an orb of dark Light remained; an anchor. Instantly, tendrils of Void power burst forth from the anchor and ensnared all of the Fallen within a few meters’ radius.

A Wire Rifle blast then tore through the air, mere inches from the Nightstalker’s face. Ace threw himself backwards, towards the cavern wall as he turned to identify the source of the attack. At the far end of the cave, with a handful of Vandals positioned on either side, the Captain stood and glared down the length of the long barrel of his weapon. Noticing that the Guardian was looking its direction, the burly Fallen shouted something indecipherable.

“Pretty sure he just tried to insult me,” Ace muttered.

“You are correct,” Mal quickly replied.

“And yet, he’s the one that missed his shot.” Ace was tempted to respond on kind, but the Captain already had the drop on him. The Hunter knew that the next shot would not miss and his opponent was already charging the rifle. Ace hurled himself over the rail, down to the ground floor below.

The sound of rapid gunfire caught the Hunter’s attention even as he scrambled to put some cover between himself and the deadly marksman Fallen. Glancing to the side, Ace spotted Wendi charging toward the ensnared cluster of Vandals and Dregs. She was firing her SMG as she ran, tearing into the weakened combatants and felling almost the entire group as the Shadowshot tendrils replicated any wound taken by an enemy included in the tether. The Titan barely paused her charge as she reloaded the weapon and stepped into the midst of the survivors. The anchor disappeared, the Void energy finally spent, and the tendrils of power vanished with it. A handful more Fallen, Wretches with heavy spears, leapt down to join their wounded allies. It was ten against one.

Ace wanted to rush to Wendi’s aid and even the odds, but a Wire Rifle blast tore through the energy shield at his shoulder. The Captain roared with delight as the shot caused the Hunter to tumble to the side. A cry of pain over the comm link informed Ace that their team leader was not faring any better on the opposite side of the room. “Great plan,” he muttered.

Even as he nimbly rolled back to his feet, the Nightstalker was taking quick mental stock of the situation. Dreven was more than halfway to the back of the cavern, still on the upper balcony, and likely taking fire from the Vandals that were positioned with the Captain. Wendi was about to get swarmed by a bunch of enemies, but had managed to get close enough to the Skiff that the great craft was shielding her from sniper attacks. And Ace was busy scrambling to keep the blasted Fallen commander from taking his head off his shoulders.

“Wendi! I’m heading your way!” Ace exclaimed as he dove forward in another tumble, narrowly avoiding a second deadly blast. “Retreat if you need to.”

Pivoting as he regained his feet, the Hunter used his momentum to propel himself toward the center of the great cave, where the Skiff loomed. As he ran, Ace glanced over his shoulder to see the Captain taking aim again. Smiling to himself, he decided to play his last remaining trick. Instead of trying to anticipate and dodge the next shot, the Nightstalker simply opted to perform another Shadestep. His assailant’s screech of frustration brought a slight smile to his face as he disappeared from view.

Turning back to where he last saw Wendi, Ace prepared himself to find a besieged Titan. Instead, the Hunter found himself witnessing a dazzling display of destruction. Several more Fallen had rushed forward to swarm the Guardian that had planted herself in the center of the room. They understood that their strength against the unkillable Guardians was overwhelming numbers.

Unfortunately for them, now that she was in their midst, Wendi would not be overwhelmed. Ace watched in awe as she managed to dispatch three of the wounded Vandals with her submachine gun before deftly swapping it for the heavy shotgun that she had slung across her back. Two of the nearest Wretches thrust their spears at the Titan, but she simply accepted attacks before shrugging them off and responded in kind with her own weapon. The Fallen spearmen crumpled to the floor.

With the space that she had suddenly created around herself, Wendi could have safely retreated to a more defensible position, but she was apparently not interested in backing off. Instead, the Titan charged toward the last pair of Vandals and punched the nearest one, her Light-given strength causing the poor creature’s chest to collapse. The second soldier whipped out a Shock Pistol with its secondary hand and began firing wildly, but Wendi was already too close. She sidestepped even as the small weapon was brought to bear and the initial volley went wild. The Titan grabbed one of the Vandal’s four arms with a free hand and savagely yanked the Fallen toward her. As the creature stumbled forward a step, Wendi then delivered a head butt, slamming her helmet into the face of her opponent. Pieces of the Vandal’s rebreather went flying as it fell to the floor, writhing in pain, where the Titan mercifully dispatched it with a blast of her shotgun.

It all happened so quickly that the remaining Fallen were taken aback by the Guardian’s ferocity. Before they could seize the initiative, Wendi began moving again. She swiftly traded her shotgun back for the submachine gun so that she insert a fresh magazine into the receiver. As she did, the Titan took four quick steps toward the nearest of the Fallen spearmen. The two-armed Wretch regained its senses quickly and attempted to skewer the approaching Guardian with a lunging thrust.

Wendi saw the attack coming and pivoted sideways so that the spearhead passed harmlessly through nothing but air. As the Fallen retracted the pole, the Titan completed the backward spin as she stepped even closer to her opponent. Realizing its sudden and complete disadvantage, with the powerful Guardian now within arm’s reach, the Wretch brought the spear up in a meager defense. Wendi continued forward another step, using the momentum to deliver a powerful strike. A gauntleted fist collided with the Fallen’s pole and then continued through, bending the weapon in half. The Wretch was thrown to the ground by the force of the blow. One of its compatriots charged forward to lend aid. Wendi didn’t break stride as she raised her SMG, firing just as the barrel came to level position. The Fallen collapsed under the barrage of bullets just before the Titan lowered the weapon to fire on the prone Wretch.

It was at this moment that the remaining bandits understood that this Guardian was not to underestimated. However, to their credit, they did not retreat. The remaining dozen Vandals and Wretches quickly closed ranks and formed a wall of blades against the Titan. The few who had rifles took position behind the spearmen and raised their guns.

Ace had managed to close the distance and was only a few steps away by this time when Dreven’s voice cried out, “Ace! I need help up here!”

The Hunter paused, torn. Wendi was faced with a fairly formidable force, now that they appeared to be organizing. She had already taken a fair amount of damage during her initial assault, even if she had shrugged it all off. However, Dreven’s tone sounded panicked. The Warlock be in real trouble up on the walkway, where there wasn’t as much cover from deadly sniper fire. Then Ace watched as summoned a grenade charge and expertly tossed it over the rank of Fallen spearmen to land squarely at the feet of the rifleman. The Titan would be fine.

Ace spotted a massive cargo container sitting on the ground next to the Skiff; spoils from their latest ambush, he figured. The Hunter sprinted a few steps toward it before vaulting atop the great object, settling near the same level as the balcony. From this vantage point, he was quickly able to locate the embattled fireteam leader. The Warlock had found an open doorway and was crouched within, hiding from the barrage of Wire Rifle fire from the far end of the cavern.

Noticing the Hunter, Dreven called out, “Ace! Use your tether on those snipers back there!”

“Can’t! Already used it!” Ace called back.

“Are you kidding me? You wasted it?”

A Wire Rifle blast ricochetted off the surface of the container next to Ace, leaving a streak of molten metal behind. The Hunter began to scramble, not wanting to give the Vandal marksmen an easy target. As he ran, Ace replied, “Wendi was about to get overrun where you left her.”

A frustrated sigh filled the comm link before Dreven commented, “We need to do something about those snipers.”

Dropping off the crate to the floor below, Ace put the shipping container between himself and the Wire Rifles. He considered the situation for a moment before replying, “Hang right. Let them shoot at you while Wendi and I clean up down here. We can use the Skiff as cover to get closer to the snipers.”

“You want me to be a diversion? Bait?” The Warlock sounded incredulous.

“Hey, it’s what you told Wendi to do,” Ace retorted as he began running around the back end of the container. “Sorry those guys at the far end didn’t want to cooperate with your brilliant plan.”

Dreven swore in response.

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

It was apparent that the Vandals were anticipating Ace’s break from the cargo container. As soon as he stepped away from the point of cover, a pair of Wire Rifle blasts tore through the air. One left a streak of fresh ozone an inch from his face while the second punched a hole in his armor’s energy shield near his chest. The blast was strong enough make the Hunter flinch, but he kept running and ignored the searing pain near his left collar. His arm continued to respond.

The shadow of the Skiff swallowed the Hunter as the ship separated him from the snipers, eliciting an approximated breath of relief. Ace then came to a stop and raised his revolver as he sighted in on the crowd of Fallen around Wendi.

In the last few moments, the Titan had managed to wreak havoc on her opponents. She had a shotgun in one hand and a small, fiery mallet in the other. A handful of Wretches laid on the floor, unmoving and broken. She threw the Solar hammer at the spearman in front of her and Ace winced at the popping sound that the hurled weapon elicited from the creature’s body upon impact. Wendi hadn’t bothered to watch to see if her throw had been true as she immediately shouldered the shotgun and fired at the Vandal next to her target.

Ace found a two-armed Fallen soldier trying to attack Wendi’s flank and fired. The heavy round from his hand cannon sent the Wretch stumbling, foiling its attack. The Hunter fired again, sending it to the floor. Wendi turned and delivered a savage kick to the downed creature’s chest, finishing it off. She then spun around with her shotgun and fired into the chest of the Fallen leaping for her exposed backside.

The Hunter found a Vandal standing a couple meters away from the melee, clutching its rifle as it tried to find an opening to fire upon the rampaging Titan. Ace adjusted his aim and squeezed the trigger. Ether burst from the Vandal’s rebreather as the Hunter’s aim proved true.

“Damn it, you two!” Dreven grumbled, panic coloring his tone. “What’s taking so long? They’re starting to move closer!”

Watching Wendi dispatch two more Fallen in rapid succession, one with her shotgun and the other with her fist, Ace then calmly replied, “Almost done here.”

The final pair of Wretches managed to execute a well-coordinated attack on the Sunbreaker. Wendi managed to duck under the first spear swipe aimed for her neck, but she was unable to move quickly enough to avoid the downward slash that came immediately upon the heels of the first attack. The striking Wretch danced aside so that its partner could follow up with another savage swipe. With the Titan’s leg slashed and already practically kneeling on the floor, she was in poor position to avoid the attack.

Wendi didn’t bother trying to dodge. Instead, the Titan raised her left arm and intercepted the heavy blade of the spear’s tip with the back of her forearm. A slight flash of light informed Ace of the Titan’s energy shield failure; she had accepted too many attacks. However, she also wore standard Titan armor. Thick metal plating received the Arc spear’s edge and held firm. Even as she blocked the attack, Wendi let her shotgun clatter to the floor and retrieved her submachine gun from her hip with her free hand.

The Wretch tried to retreat, but it was too late. Wendi barely had to raise her weapon hand before she started firing. The Fallen crumpled to the floor almost an instant later. Ace was already sighting on the last Wretch and fired as soon as its companion fell. The hand cannon blast interrupted its attack on the Titan and Wendi immediately finished it off as well.

Glancing around, Ace searched for any more combatants on the floor level with them. After a couple seconds, he decided that anything left alive on the ground was cowering and didn’t want any part of this fight. Everything is probably dead, he thought.

Still crouched, Wendi similarly turned about with her gun at the ready, as she checked the room. Ace jogged forward to join her. Glancing down at the jagged tear in the Titan’s cuisse, the Hunter frowned, “You okay?”

Quickly standing up, as if to prove Ace’s fears unfounded, Wendi delivered a single affirmative nod in reply.

The Hunter reached down and picked up the dropped shotgun; a Black Armory variant of a Häkke model, and offered it to the Titan. As she reached out her free, left hand to retrieve weapon, Ace made a point of looking down at the damaged vambrace. The Fallen spear had managed cut deep into the armor. Arc energy in the blade had caused the metal around the gouge to melt. Releasing hold of the shotgun, raised his gaze to look into the Titan’s visor.

“We still have a Captain and his entourage to deal with up there,” Ace began. “I don’t want you killing yourself and putting your Ghost at risk. Think you can help me take them out without any more of,“ Ace pointed at the Titan’s arm, “that?”

Wendi looked down at her feet, a sign of contrition. At least, that was how Ace interpreted it. Then the Titan glanced back up to meet the Hunter’s gaze and nodded.

“Guys?! They’re almost here!” Dreven shouted.

Wendi moved first, sprinting for the cargo container, with Ace close on her heels. The Hunter paused as soon as they stepped out into the open, turning with his hand cannon at the ready, to try and spot the Vandal snipers at the far end. There was still a couple posted where he last saw them, rifles trained on the doorway where the Warlock was hiding. Ace took careful aim and fired, but he was half a dozen yards away. The shot struck, but it did not drop his target.

The pair of Fallen snipers immediately turned their attention to the Hunter. Ace held his position and fired again. Having these two in a position to flank his teammates was too dangerous. He needed to eliminate them before they could fire a shot at the unshielded Titan. Three more rounds fired and then a Wire Rifle blast tore into the Hunter’s stomach. The energy shield managed to absorb the majority of the attack, but it was gone now. However, only one shot got off. Ace’s fourth round fired had finished off his target. The Hunter adjusted his aim to the other Vandal.

Before either of them could fire their next round, an explosion shook the cavern. Ace glanced up to see Wendi, crouching on top of the cargo container, with a rocket launcher resting on her shoulder.

Dreven shouted into the comm link, “Darkness and Blight! What was that?”

“Wendi just took care of the target,” Ace calmly answered. Quickly looking back to the last remaining Fallen in the cavern, the Hunter spotted the sniper training it rifle on the Titan. “Wendi! Take cover!” he roared.

In response, Wendi erected another barrier of Light. An instant later, a Wire Rifle blast collided with the barricade. Shaking his head at the ridiculous luck that she had managed to get the barrier up in time, Ace opened fire on the Vandal rifleman. Emptying the last of his magazine, the Nightstalker killed his opponent before it could fire another shot.

Seeing the Titan sitting behind her hastily-erected barricade, Ace suddenly had a flash of empathy for his friends. How many times had Samus or Mike berated him for pulling off a stunt that should have gotten him killed? How much did those same successes embolden him into attempting even more ridiculous antics in the field? Switching to a private channel, Ace muttered, “Hey, Mal? Remind me to send fruit baskets to Samus and Mike.”

“I’m certain Mike would prefer whiskey,” the Ghost replied with a digital chuckle.

“If they make whiskey baskets, let me know. I’ll buy one for him and two for myself.”

Even as the Hunter was trading jokes with Mal, Ace was carefully surveying the room. The ambient buzz of electronic equipment mingled with the sound of wind passing across the mouth of the cave. He couldn’t detect any sign of other hostiles. Deftly reloading his hand cannon, Ace prepared himself to be proven wrong as he leapt up onto the balcony. The Fallen had a knack for being almost as sneaky as Hunters.

However, no additional enemies presented themselves as the Guardian approached the downed Captain. Ace trained his weapon on the large form, but quickly realized that the Fallen leader would not be springing up in surprise; its body was mangled and broken. The Hunter then looked to the wall next to the Fallen corpse where he noted a large “debt” in the wall. Scorch marks covered a wide section of the rocky surface, left behind by Wendi’s rocket blast.

Ace performed a quick tally inside his head and realized that, in the span of just a couple minutes, the Titan had killed around four dozen Fallen. He shot an amused glance at the Sunbreaker and jokingly called out, “Traveler’s mercy, Wendi, save some for the rest of us next time!”

The Titan quickly whipped out her datapad and typed a reply, Sorry?

Ace openly laughed aloud before retorting, “Don’t be! That was awesome.”

“I don’t see anything awesome about it,” Dreven seethed from the doorway only a short few meters away. “Neither of you stuck to the plan and I almost had my head blown off for it.”

Wendi began to type again and Ace suspected what she was about to send. He decided to cut her off, “Wendi. Don’t.” The Hunter then turned to their team leader and commented, “Your plan was for Wendi to get her head blown off.”

“What good is a Titan that can’t take a couple hits?” Dreven grumbled.

“A helluva lot better than a Warlock with sh*t for brains,” Ace snapped, striding toward the Warlock. “If this is the only kind of strategy you can come up with, don’t sign up for fireteam leader any more.”

Dreven bristled at the comment. Ace could see the Warlock’s hand twitch as he gripped his weapon tightly in anger. A bemused thought crossed the Hunter’s mind; was the Warlock about to draw on him?

Almost as suddenly as it came, the moment passed. Dreven shook his head and muttered under his breath, too quiet for Ace to pick up. The Hunter decided to let whatever final insult that the Warlock had issued pass. Instead, Ace turned back and regarded the broken body of the Captain.

The handful of Vandal soldiers accompanying the massive Fallen were scattered across the balcony. The Hunter had to step over a couple of them to get close to the team’s objective. As he gazed down, Ace asked, “What do we need to bring back as proof that we’ve completed our mission?”

“Engine signature,” Dreven replied coldly. “Proof that whatever ship has been ambushing our transports is out of commission.”

Bonus Glimmer if we bring it back for parts, Wendi added.

“Anyone know how to operate alien technology?” Ace chuckled.

“It’s not that hard,” Mal chided.

“Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s confirm that this is the ship we’ve been sent to hunt,” Dreven interjected.

Ace heard the Warlock’s approaching footsteps and moved aside, giving space for Dreven to inspect the Captain. Kneeling down, the team leader began searching the slain Fallen. He checked pockets and pouches for a few seconds before suddenly standing up with a thin, short rod in his hand. An Eliksni control card.

Dreven jumped over the railing and floated to the floor below. He walked to the Skiff and pointed the wand-like device at the ship. An access hatch slid open at the back of the ship with a slight whir. The Warlock summoned his Ghost as he walked around to the entry and stepped into the Skiff. A short while later, his voice came over the comm link, “I’m about to fire up the engines. One of you have your Ghost check them against the mission file.”

“On it,” Ace replied as he jogged along the balcony to the tail end of the Skiff. As the Hunter ran, he summoned Mal. A few seconds later, as promised, the engines ignited.

Mal regarded the nearest engine for a moment before commenting, “We have a match. Mission accomplished.”

“Awesome,” Ace replied happily. “Pretty good for coordinates that were not much more than guesstimates.”

We got lucky? Wendi messaged.

“Yeah we did!” Ace retorted with a laugh. “Last one of these I did, we were on the field for a solid week before we finally found our target.”

“I had one where our team leader kept us for almost a month before finally giving up,” Dreven’s voice stated.

“That’s excessive,” Ace shook his head. “Not unless you guys kept finding signs that you were on to something. Even then, a couple weeks is my limit.”

Dreven didn’t respond. However, the ship engines began to power down to an idle. As the sound quieted to a loud hum, Wendi messaged, You would go back without finishing the mission?

“Well, depends on the mission,” Ace admitted. “If I was sent to hunt down information, like the Hidden, then I would expect to be deployed for a long time. But a strike mission to eliminate a target? We can’t be expected to operate with bad information indefinitely.”

“I suppose there is a difference,” Dreven stated grudgingly as he stepped out of the Skiff. “So, which of you wants to pilot this thing out of this cave so we haul it home.”

Ace glance over at Wendi and held out a hand, as if offering the opportunity to the Titan. The Sunbreaker noticed his stance and immediately raised her hands, waving them to ward away the offer. Ace chuckled and then shrugged, “I can probably manage it without doing too much damage to the chassis.”

As one, the fireteam strode to the cavern opening and turned around to inspect it. Ace eyeballed the cave’s mouth against looming bulk of the ship inside. Ethereal was plenty of room on either side of the craft, but not very much clearance above it.

“Whoever parked that thing was a madman,” the Hunter whispered.

“And you’re just crazy enough to back it out of there,” Mal replied dryly.

Ace was about make a retort of his own when a shout from behind surprised the Hunter.

“Dreven! You piece of sh*t!”

All three Guardians turned at the unexpected call. Ace drew his hand cannon and leveled it in the general direction of the trees ahead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t spot the source of the shout, so the Hunter didn’t know where to aim. The voice was unmistakably Human, though.

“I told you that you would regret interfering and getting in my way!”

It was a female voice, but the acoustics of the cavern made it difficult to pinpoint the source. It seemed to be coming from multiple directions. Then the experienced Nightstalker heard the unmistakable whisper of Void power dissipating.

“She was invisible,” Ace gasped to Dreven.

The Warlock stood dumbfounded, apparently just as confused as Ace. Dreven turned to look at Ace and offer a shrug in reply when a beam of black energy slammed into him. The Warlock staggered back a couple of steps, but did not appear to be wounded. Had his armor’s shields protected him from the attack?

Ace whirled about it the direction that the blast came from, but saw nothing. Only some undergrowth disturbed by the recent passage of their assailant. Eyes flicking to the radar display in his visor, Ace couldn’t see anything. Their assailant had used the Void to go invisible again. A rogue Guardian?

“Dreven? You okay?” the Hunter asked as he watched the forest for any sign of the rogue.

“I don’t feel right,” the Warlock whispered.

The sound of a hand cannon clattering on the rocky ground cause Ace to look back to the fireteam leader. Dreven was looking down at his chest, his hands weakly feeling around the area where he had been struck. The Warlock began to sway slightly as he tried to stay on his feet.

“Ace!” Mal gasped into the comm link, “His Light!”

“Wendi! Your barricade!” Ace shouted. If Dreven’s connection to the Light had been damaged, he was in dire risk. They needed to protect him.

Before the Titan could begin to react, a second dark blast of energy, this time from the left of where they were standing, tore into Dreven. The Warlock didn’t even stagger; he just fell over sideways where he stood. Ace was able to glance up in time to witness a thin trailing edge of a cloak vanish.

Only laughter remained where the rogue Hunter had stood, her voice fading as she shouted, “Let this be a lesson. Stay out of my way!”

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Ace didn’t think, he reacted. Taking off at a dead run, the Hunter began sprinting toward where their attacker had retreated through the undergrowth. Within a handful of seconds, he passed the tree line, swiftly enough to easily spot the signs of their assailant’s passing. Trampled ferns, disturbed shrubs, boot prints in the mud, all marked a clear path for the Nightstalker to follow. As he ran, Ace noticed the lack of birdsong in the air; only the sound of his hasty passage. Up ahead, he could detect the sounds of the rogue Lightbearer making her way through the forest; armor pushing through bushes, fallen branches snapping underfooot, and the splash of boots finding a stray puddle.

“Wendi, stay and keep an eye on Dreven,” Ace shouted as he ran.

He stopped breathing. His Ghost can’t rez. Why? Wendi messaged.

Even as the Titan’s message appeared, Mal softly commented, “He’s gone, Ace. Something happened to his Light.”

Somehow, Ace managed to run even faster. The sound of his target’s passage through the jungle grew louder as he managed to close the distance. He still couldn’t see the fleeing rogue, but he thought he caught the fleeting glimpse of a trailing cloak a couple times. A frustrated snarl escaped his clenched jaw.

Bursting through a tangle of ferns, Ace spotted a fresh set of boot prints veering to the side, past the base of a massive tree. He didn’t break stride as he adjusted course and charged after his opponent. As he raced past the tree, another familiar sound caught the Nightstalker’s attention; the sound of a Shadowshot activating. He felt himself freeze in place as a tendril of Void power seized his body and tethered him to the anchor that the rogue Hunter had placed on the opposite side of the tree.

The snarl turned into a roar as he turned about and started firing at the anchor. Ace quickly emptied his hand cannon’s cylinder before switching to his shotgun, but he didn’t fire the other weapon. He already knew that he had failed.

“My sensors just detected a transmat ahead,” Mal softly commented.

The choking Void power suddenly disappeared as the Shadowshot’s anchor fizzled out. Ace stood staring at the tree for a long moment. The bark had a terrible gash at the point of impact, testimony to the trap that Ace had fallen into. The trap that prevented him from getting justice for Dreven’s murder.

Murder? Ace suddenly thought. Did Wendi and I just witness a Guardian get murdered?

Thinking of the Titan that he had left with their slain comrade, Ace snapped back to reality. Concern overwhelmed the Hunter, quickly becoming panic as he considered the fact that Wendi was alone.

“Mal! How far are we from Wendi?” Ace asked, turning to look in the direction that he had come.

“You ran half way across the basin,” Mal answered.

“sh*t! That’s so far! Can you transmat me back to her?”

“I can get you close.”

Before Ace could instruct Mal to activate the ship’s transmaterializer, he felt the sensation of the field take hold of his body. His vision then disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. An instant later, his sight returned as he found himself standing in front of a cliff face. Disoriented for a moment, the Hunter turned about to get his bearings. Watching the radar display in his visor, Ace quickly identified the direction where his teammate remained waiting. He turned north and began running.

“Wendi? You okay?” he called out.

A couple seconds later, a message appeared in his visor, Yes. What’s wrong?

“They got away,” Ace answered. “I’m worried they might try to come back.”

No sign. I’m ready, Wendi assured.

A few seconds later, Ace could see the mouth of the cave, but no sign of his teammates. Comforted by the Titan’s message, Ace did not panic. Instead, the Hunter slowed his approach and began scanning for any signs of enemies. His body was practically trembling as he prepared himself to react to the slightest hint of danger.

As he drew closer to the hole in the cliff face, Mal suddenly chirped, “Ace! Look over there!”

A marker appeared in the Hunter’s vision and he carefully turned toward it. A few meters away from the south edge of the cavern sat a small audio projector; a speaker. Ace kept his eyes trained on the trees ahead while he leaned over to pick up the device.

“There’s another one on the ground at the other side of the entrance,” Mal commented.

What is it? Wendi asked.

“A speaker. For music,” Ace answered, perplexed.

He spared a moment to glance down at the device in his hand. It was of City make; a very common and generic design. The Hunter would not be surprised to find such a device in just about any home in the Last City.

“They weren’t here when we came in,” Mal stated firmly.

“She must have placed them,” Ace replied as he began to back into the cave, still keeping a cautious eye on the Venusian jungle.

Is why we couldn’t find her? Wendi suggested.

Ace nodded at the Titan’s logic, “Yeah, that would explain why we couldn’t make out where she was posted.”

After making it several meters into the cavern, Ace decided that likelihood of a second ambush was none. He turned about and found Wendi crouching near the pile of crates. She had hauled Dreven’s body into the chamber and set him on the ground behind her. The Warlock’s Ghost was buzzing through the air over it’s slain Guardian, frantically casting its net of Light over the body. Ace’s heart sank to witness the hopeless desperation in such loyalty. How long had the Ghost been trying to revive its partner new.

Seeing the Hunter approach, Wendi stood up and turned to regard their fallen teammate. After a moment, she reached out and gently plucked the Ghost out of the air and pulled it into the crook of her arm. Ace approached Dreven and crouched down beside the Warlock.

Mal unfolded in the air above the Guardian’s body and gravely stated, “His connection to the Light was stripped away. All the way to his core.”

“We need to bring him back to the City,” Ace murmured. “Ikora and Zavala need to know about this.”

What happened to him? Wendi asked.

The Huntered approximated a deep, steadying breath before he replied, “There are weapons out there that can harm a Guardian’s connection to the Light.” Ace subconsciously reached down with his hand and rubbed it on his thigh, remembering how it felt to have his connection to the Light damaged. He then looked up and cast a look at Wendi, “Have you ever heard of Thorn?”

The Titan shook her head.

Ace let a slight chuckle escape before he commented, “You must be young. That is definitely a story you need to know. For now, know that the Hive have many means of stripping us of our Light.”

“Several of which have been weaponized,” Mal added.

“Thorn is the most famous example,” Ace continued. “A rogue Guardian got his hands on some Hive magic and it corrupted him. Wound up killing a bunch of Guardians. Final deaths.”

“Yeah, but whatever hit Dreven wasn’t Thorn,” Mal stated flatly. Ace knew where the Ghost’s thoughts were leading.

“Let’s get him home and warn the Vanguard,” the Hunter stated. Gazing over the top of the crates at the looming Skiff, he then commented, “Do we still have the engine scans? I don’t care about hauling this thing back anymore, but I would like to be able to close out the mission. We can do honor by Dreven at least that much.”

“Yeah, I have it,” Mal answered softly.

“Transmat him to the Egbe,” Ace instructed. Then he turned and looked down at the Ghost being comforted in Wendi’s arms. He felt a little guilty that he didn’t know the poor thing’s name. “I am sorry for what happened to your Guardian,” the Hunter stated gently. “Would you like to ride home with him?”

The Ghost rose up from Wendi’s embrace and slowly drifted over to settle down on the Warlock’s chest. Its cuboid frame, a basic structure that was detailed with ornate designs, came to rest just below Dreven’s chin. Ace respectfully let the Ghost rest for a few moments in silence before issuing the command to transmat away.

Materializing in the co*ckpit of his ship, Ace immediately began checking all security logs and ship scans. Mal would have informed him if there had been anything to report, but the Hunter felt better doing a review of his own. Who knows what else that rogue Lightbearer had been up to?

A message from Wendi appeared in the Egbe’s display, What about Dreven’s ship?

“Can your Ghost handle the autopilot?” Ace responded.

Yeah. Theia can do it. She is getting the access protocols now.

“Good. Have her bring the ship into low orbit over the City. We’ll hand over control to Amanda Holliday and she’ll have a crew bring it in.”

Sending her over now. We’ll take care of it.

“Thanks.” Ace then issued a long sigh before continuing, “After you see Amanda, report to Commander Zavala’s office. He will want to receive our mission report in private.”

I understand. Do you think the Commander will know why this happened to Dreven?

Ace considered Wendi’s question for a long moment. The Vanguard always seemed to know more than they let on, but Ikora and Zavala were not omniscient. If they suspected that a Guardian would be attacked like this, they wouldn’t have let them out of the City like this. Their mission to Venus had been an official, sanctioned strike. It was how Ace and Wendi managed to find themselves teamed up with Dreven in the first place.

Finally, the Hunter answered, “I don’t think they will. But we can always hope.”

A long couple moments passed before Wendi finally messaged, I do certainly hope so. Why would a Guardian attack one of their own like that? And using such a weapon?

“They’re not a Guardian, Wendi,” Ace stated. “Maybe they once were, but not any more.”

You’re right, Wendi replied. Then her ship disappeared from Ace’s scope. A couple seconds later, Dreven’s followed.

Mal unfolded in the space above the Egbe’s console. The Ghost regarded its Guardian for a long moment before commenting, “Are you okay, Ace?”

The Hunter removed his helmet and let his head fall back into the seat rest. He let his gaze pass through the canopy overhead so that he could pick out a handful of stars in the distance.

“I’m okay,” Ace answered. “Dreven was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve what just happened.”

“This isn’t the first time someone you know was killed,” Mal stated, leadingly.

Still staring through the glass canopy, Ace replied, “He wasn’t Deo, if that’s your worry.”

“It wasn’t the revenge mission that worried us,” Mal began, “it was what came after.”

The Hunter sat up and looked his Ghost squarely in the eye before offering a metallic smile, “I promise that those days are far behind me.”

“Revenge missions or the suicidal recklessness?”

“I’ll always be reckless, but I’m no longer looking for an excuse to throw my life away.”

Mal’s cuboid shell whirled for a moment before it replied, “Good. That’s what your friends need to know.”

“Especially you?”

“Especially me.”

Ace nodded, ending the exchange. Then he looked down at the ship’s console and typed a quick command into the long range communication array controls. “Amanda, I’m bringing home a fallen Guardian. Requesting clearance to land at the Tower.”

A couple seconds passed before the response came back.

“Request received, Guardian,” an unfamiliar female voice began. “You can dock at-“

“Ace?” Amanda Holliday’s voice interrupted. “I’m so sorry, darlin’. Of course you bring that poor Guardian home and we’ll take care of ‘em. You doin’ okay, sugar?”

“We lost Dreven,” the Hunter replied. “Wendi and I are fine.”

“Good to hear,” Amanda’s voice stated gently. “We’re clearing cargo off of bay number one. It’ll be cleared for you by the time your bird arrives. Okay, sugar?”

“Thanks, Amanda.”

Ace then reached out and deactivated the communicator before pulling up the NLS controls. He typed in the coordinates for the Tower, but stopped short of initiation. The Hunter glanced up at Mal and quietly asked, “Did the beam that struck Dreven look familiar to you?”

The Ghost didn’t hesitate. “It did.”

The Hunter borrowed one of Halily’s favorite expletives before finally finishing inputting the command. The Egbe-01X leapt into NLS and Ace sank into his seat, deep in thought. It had all happened so suddenly, it wasn’t until he was back on his ship that it occurred to him; the beam of energy that struck Dreven and destroyed his connection to the Light looked like black fire.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

It took longer than Ace expected to get out of the Tower Hangar. The docking bay that Amanda Holliday had cleared for the Egbe-01X was the nearest pad to the exit, but he was not ready for the crowd that had gathered. The people of the Last City were no strangers to death; especially with the Red War a fairly recent memory. However, since the Traveler’s revival, Lightbearers dying a final death was once again a fairly rare event. And it was even more rare that they were brought home. Usually, whatever was strong or clever enough to take down a Guardian killed the entire team.

Holliday’s crew had set up barricades around the landing pad to keep the crowd of curious onlookers at a safe distance. As his ship settled to land, Ace gazed through the canopy at the dozens of people gathered. Most were civilians with only a handful of Guardians spread through the crowd. The Hunter wondered if those Guardians present were Dreven’s friends or simply curious New Lights; those who had been Reborn after the Red War and unfamiliar with final death.

“Mal, open the cargo bay while I power the Egbe down,” Ace instructed. With such a crowd watching, it felt disrespectful to use the transmat.

Glancing at the ship’s console to confirm that the landing sequence had completed, the Hunter then cut power to the engines and prepared to disembark. The hatch at the back of the co*ckpit that led to the cargo hold slid open as Ace stood up. He took a few steps down into the cargo area and paused to consider the space. His beloved racing Sparrow, a modded Ravensteel, sat in the center. The ship walls on either side sported a handful of lockers, containing a score of alternative weapons and gear ready to be swapped out when the Hunter needed. And then, beyond it all, lay Dreven and his Ghost.

Mal had thought to drape a blanket over the Warlock during the trip, so the slain Guardian merely looked like he was sleeping. Dreven’s poor Ghost had not moved since settling down on its partner’s chest. Ace gazed at the little machine for a long moment and realized that, not for the first time, he regretted being unable to shed tears.p

The cargo ramp lowered as the Hunter approached Dreven. He crouched down and placed a gentle hand on the grieving Ghost. When its singular eye turned up, Ace quietly stated, “We are at the City. They are here to take Dreven and give him his honors. Do you wish to stay with him or come with me?”

The Ghost twitched inside of Ace’s hand before answering, “I will stay.”

Nodding, Ace then scooped up the Warlock in his arms and proceeded to carry him down the ramp. A handful of Tower and Vanguard officers awaited him with a stretcher. Ace set the body of the Warlock on the litter and pulled the blanket up to cover the Guardian’s face and his Ghost. The officers offered a salute that the Hunter promptly returned before they began wheeling the stretcher away.

Ace watched the Warlock be taken away before turning his gaze upon the crowd. Curiosity filled the majority of the faces on the opposite side of the barricades with only a few showing serious concern. He could see many in the crowd whispering to one another, speculating about which terrible enemy of Humanity had been able to slay an immortal.

If only they knew the details of Dreven’s death, Ace thought. An enemy from within is the most deadly foe of all.

As he surveyed the faces of the crowd a final time, the Hunter spotted one face at the far edge of the crowd wearing a smile. A Human man in civilian clothing stood apart from the rest of the crowd with a crooked smile. Ace’s scan paused on the man as his demeanor didn’t fit in with those around him. The Human watched the stretcher make its way to the cargo lifts for a few seconds before he suddenly spit on the ground and spun around to depart.

Overwhelming anger swelled through the Hunter, seeing the disrespect. He took a half step toward the far end of the group, but stopped himself. The man was likely someone dissatisfied with the Guardians; likely a Keeper. What good would it do to chase after him?

A gentle hand on his shoulder surprised Ace and sent the thoughts flying from his mind. The Hunter gave a slight jump as he turned to look at whoever had managed to sneak up on him.

“I can’t say as I blame you for bein’ a bit jumpy,” Amanda Holliday commented. “You sure you’re okay?”

Forcing himself to relax, Ace took a moment before he replied, “Yeah. Just had my mind in two different places.”

Amanda’s hand gave a comforting squeeze as she offered a sad smile, “I understand, darlin’. Ain’t often this happens out there.”

Silently, he thought, Oh, Amanda, if you only knew. Instead, Ace offered a nod of agreement and said, “Thanks. I should probably get down to Zavala’s office. Seeing this crowd, I suspect he’s waiting for me.”

Amanda suddenly pulled the Hunter in for a fierce hug. Caught off guard by the unexpected embrace, it took Ace a moment before he returned it. After a couple seconds, the Shipwright released the Guardian and stepped back. She looked earnestly into his face and stated, “Now don’t you go doin’ something stupid over this. And when you decide to do it anyway, make sure you come back in one piece. You hear?”

Ace chuckled, “I hear you. And thanks again.”

Amanda returned the slight smile, “Of course, sugar.”

The Hunter then strode away, toward the hangar exit.

——————

It was only a few minutes later when Ace arrived at the doorway to Vanguard Commander Zavala’s office. As he stepped forward and raised a hand to knock, Ikora Rey’s voiced called out, “Please come in, Ace.”

The Hunter lowered his hand and reached instead for the doorknob. Pushing the door open, Ace stepped into the large office. Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey both waited on the opposite side of the room, at the Commander’s desk. The imposing Titan sat with a score of datapads and paper reports stacked in several piles in front of him. The Warlock Vanguard stood in her usual position at his right side, watching the Hunter enter with an inscrutable expression on her face. Sitting in a chair to the side of the desk was Wendi.

His teammate offered a shy wave.

Ace carefully closed the door behind himself before striding across the room to stand before the two commanders. “Sir. Ma’am. I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

“So formal,” Ikora observed. “Dreven’s death has rattled you, Hunter.”

Wendi stood up and began moving her hands. Theia materialized, but before the Ghost could begin interpreting, Ikora cut everyone off with an upraised hand.

Zavala spoke up, “We have not yet debriefed Wendi. We thought it best to give you both some time to process before going over whatever happened to your fireteam on Venus.”

“Wendi, go ahead and remove your helmet and gloves,” Ikora softly suggested. “Ace, take a seat. I have a feeling we will be here for a while.”

Wendi and Ace both did as directed. The Hunter settled into a chair as his teammate divested herself of the mentioned armor. She set the gauntlets on the floor before reaching up and unclasping the helmet, revealing a teardrop shaped face with olive skin. Bright green, Human eyes sparkled in the light that poured through the office’s windows. The Titan had dark brown, almost black, hair that was shaved on the sides and cropped short on the top. As Wendi sat back down in her chair, Theia quickly ensnared the armor pieces with threads of Light and compiled them away.

“That’s better,” Ikora smiled.

“Yes,” Zavala nodded. “Now let’s discuss what happened on Venus. You three were dispatched to hunt a band of Fallen.”

“We took care of them, but we were ambushed by another Lightbearer,” Ace stated flatly.

Zavala sat up straight in his chair and Ikora stiffened in surprise at the declaration. The Commander took a moment to digest the news before asking, “Was Dreven’s Ghost lost during the battle with the Fallen?”

Wendi began rapidly moving her hands. Her Ghost immediately began translating, “No. He was hit by a weapon after the fight and his Ghost could not revive him.”

Zavala’s eyes narrowed, “What kind of weapon.”

Ace shook his head, “I didn’t see what was used, but it fired a beam of some kind. Black energy.”

Wendi began signing, “It was a single, wide beam, like from a trace rifle. But it fired in a short burst. Like a linear.”

“And you’re certain that it was wielded by a Guardian,” Ikora asked.

Wendi nodded as Ace answered, “We heard her talk before the ambush and I saw a Hunter cloak as she Shadestepped.”

“A rogue Hunter?” Zavala commented gravely.

Theia spoke up as Wendi’s hands flashed, “I saw her. Hunter armor. A little on the short side. She was too far away to get any details and she went invisible almost as soon as I saw her.”

Ikora looked down at the interpreting Ghost and asked, “Did you manage to get any scans?”

Theia shook her shell sadly, apparently reluctant to disappoint the imposing Vanguard commanders.

Zavala sighed heavily, “I’m certain you would have led with that kind of information if you had it.”

“I’m really sorry, Sir,” Ace replied. “It all happened so fast, Dreven was downed before we realized what was happening.”

Wendi’s hands moved and Theia spoke, “She was after him. Called him out by name before the attack.”

Ikora raised an eyebrow as she considered this piece of information. “Dreven was targeted? Then this was not a random attack.”

“No, she seemed to be really angry with him about something that had happened in the past,” Ace explained. “Called him a piece of sh*t and said something about him interfering with her.”

Wendi signed, “There was also the speakers.”

“Speakers?” Zavala repeated, questioningly.

Mal unfolded into the air above the Commander’s desk and offered a respectful nod to the Titan. Then the Ghost cast its light down and materialized the small audio device that Ace had found. Ikora immediately reached out and plucked the fist-sized object off the desk.

“City make,” she began as she inspected the device. “Generic branding. There’s a model ID, but no serial number. Cheap manufacturing. Short range.”

“There was a couple of them on the ground,” Ace added. “Made it so that we couldn’t figure out where she was when she was yelling at him.”

Zavala sat back into his chair as he held out his hand toward Ikora. The Warlock Vanguard placed the device in his hand and then stood patiently as the Commander considered the speaker. After a long few seconds, the Awoken Titan finally spoke, “Our rogue Hunter had a connection of some kind to Dreven. Whatever happened, it was enough to make her decide to kill him. And she had enough time and patience to make a plan so that she wouldn’t be easily found.”

Ikora followed the Commander’s comment, “I think it’s time to start from the beginning and just tell us the whole story from start to finish.”

Ace nodded. He had expected this. Wendi began signing a question.

Before Theia could start translating, Ikora replied, “Don’t worry. I will have dinner brought up. You two have been deployed on mission for twelve hours. I would be hungry, as well.”

Ace began first, from finding Dreven’s bulletin on the Vanguardnet to becoming ensnared by the rogue’s tether. He left out his personal opinions regarding Dreven’s leadership abilities and stuck to reciting only the sequence of events as he remembered them. The Exomind Hunter had half expected the two commanders to ask him to skip to the part where the Lightbearer made her appearance, but they both sat quietly throughout the recital. When he finished, Ikora turned and invited Wendi to deliver her recounting of the events.

The Titan added a few details of her own, filling in the blanks from when Ace was scouting well ahead of the team, but basically corroborated everything he said. Neither of the two Guardians noticed anything in Dreven’s comments or actions that could have warned them that he would be attacked. After the two teammates delivered their recounting of the events, Ikora and Zavala began questioning the Ghosts.

Ikora inquired about time spent in orbit and exact times of key events, such as when Wendi spotted the Skiff. Zavala then asked for details regarding the cavern layout and the distance from the opening to the forest. Ace was a little surprised at how many precise details his Ghost was able to record while in an incorporeal state. Just as the Hunter felt that the two commanders were running out of questions, a knock sounded at the door.

“Enter,” Ikora called out.

A pair of Tower employees stepped into the room, each pushing a small dining cart with trays atop. The delicious aroma reached the Exomind before the staff members were even half way into the room. Zavala directed the pair to set the trays on a side table and then depart. As they left, the Commander motioned for Ace and Wendi to help themselves.

The Hunter and Titan practically leapt from their seats before crossing to the table where the covered trays sat. Ace lifted a cover to reveal a plate adorned with a grilled steak, steamed vegetables, and fried potatoes. Taking the plate and it’s accompanying silverware, he turned around to see Ikora clearing space on Zavala’s desk for the two Guardians. Ace returned to his seat and set the plate down. As Wendi joined him, Ikora retrieved the remaining two plates.

The Hunter and Titan both dove into their meals with gusto. Everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned in Ace’s opinion. The Exomind gave silent thanks to whoever had engineered his kind with the ability to appreciate the taste of a well-cooked meal. He had managed to get through close to half the plate when he looked up. Ikora had taken a seat and was using her knife to take small, delicate bites of her food. While she ate, her eyes gazed through the table as she was lost in thought; likely puzzling through the mystery of the rogue Lightbearer. Zavala, however, had barely touched his meal. The Awoken Titan ate a few bites of the potatoes and then sat back into his chair, hand pressed to his chin with a furrowed brow.

After a long moment, Ikora suddenly reached out and tapped the Commander on his shoulder. The Vanguard leader briefly glanced over at the touch and then returned his attention to the plate in front of him. He resumed eating, taking slow and methodical bites until Ace and Wendi had finished eating. As soon as the two set their forks aside, Zavala cleared his throat; a signal to return to the business at hand.

“Dreven accepted a Strike mission and posted the details on a public forum. The team took several hours to reach the target objective and he had been sending periodic updates to the Vanguard as new information presented itself,” Zavala intoned.

“Ample time and information for someone who wanted to attack Dreven to track him down,” Ikora commented.

“Tell me more about the weapon,” Zavala instructed.

Wendi’s hands flashed. Theia quickly began, “Never saw the weapon. Just saw the beam. It was a really wide beam, but short. Very black.”

Ace nodded along with the Titan’s description and, when she lowered her hands, he added, “The first blast was enough to do real damage to his Light. He was severely weakened and looked like he was about to collapse after it hit.”

“Where did he get struck?” Ikora asked.

“Square in the chest,” Ace quickly answered.

Zavala turned his gaze on the pair of Ghosts hovering in the air above the Hunter and Titan, “Were either of you able to gather any data at all from the weapon’s discharge? An energy signature? Power source?”

“Since returning to the City, I was able to compare what I was able to capture against my database and I was able to find a similar match,” Mal answered. The Ghost then looked down at the Hunter and commented, “You’re not going to like it.”

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

“The energy that struck Dreven and stripped away his connection to the Light is almost the same as the energy wielded by the Hive Wizard, Dôl Arnách,” Mal announced.

Commander Zavala’s Ghost appeared and called up the mission data on the main computer monitor on the wall near the desk. Zavala stood up and strode to scan the information before turning back to the team, “Your team killed the Wizard, did you not?”

“We did,” Ace replied vehemently. “We even collapsed her little Throne World to make sure that she stayed dead.”

“Is it possible that she could have survived the encounter with your team?” Zavala considered.

“The Hive are well known for having more than a few tricks up their sleeves,” Ikora offered. “There could be a chance that you were tricked into believing that she was destroyed so that she could escape her fate.”

Ace shook his head in disbelief, but did not reply. He vividly remembered every detail of that battle and could not bring himself to believe that Dôl Arnách had considered defeat within her portion of the Ascendent Realm possible. The Wizard had very nearly killed Ace and his friends.

After a long pause, Ikora continued, “However, her survival would not explain how one of her weapons wound up in the hands of a rogue Guardian.”

“True,” Zavala agreed. “That question may be moot, but considering it could lead us to the next question that will help us solve this puzzle.”

“Excuse me,” Mal called out, drawing the attention of both Vanguard leaders. “What about the weapons that the Wizard handed over to other Hive champions? The list we retrieved from the World’s Grave.”

“We’ve actually managed to hunt down and eliminate them in the past few years since you brought that data back to us,” Ikora answered. “However, none of the items that Dôl Arnách created were capable of what you’ve described.”

“Her personal weapon was,” Ace whispered.

“What was that?” Zavala asked.

“Her personal weapon was,” the Hunter repeated, more loudly. “I was struck by it. Just a glancing blow in my leg. But taking a hit even there weakened me pretty badly and made me unable to use my jumping ability.”

“The same thing happened with the Kais; our teammates in the mission that saw us killing the Wizard,” Mal commented.

“But we destroyed it!” Ace hissed with frustration.

“Some weapons are not so easily unmade,” Ikora cautioned.

“And some weapons refuse to stay in the past,” Zavala stated ominously. “Just ask Shin Malphur.”

Ace sank back into his seat, deflated. He had witnessed the destruction of Dôl Arnách’s weapon by his own Light. He had seen the remains be pulverized by Kaijae. And yet, there was no denying the current reality. He had seen the black fire energy. Somehow, the weapon was back. Had he failed to avenge his best friend’s death?

Mal nudged the Hunter, bringing him out of his thoughts in time to realize that Wendi was signing.

Theia spoke, “How did that weapon kill Dreven?”

“Concentrated Hive magic,” Mal answered. “It irrevocably severed his connection to the Light.”

“An odd tactic for the Hive,” Ikora mused. “They prefer to siphon our Light and then consume it.”

“She used it as a last resort against us,” Ace quietly commented. “We had managed to breach the heart of her stronghold. She was backed into a corner.”

“The odd thing about what we saw today,” Mal continued, “is that the discharge was not pure Hive energy. The spectral analysis is very close, but not a perfect match.”

“Any theory as to what could cause the discrepancy?” Zavala inquired.

“Perhaps the weapon has been improved upon since Ace’s fireteam first encountered it,” Ikora speculated. “According to the records retrieved from the World’s Grave, Dôl Arnách was constantly seeking to improve her work. Always trying to improve its lethality.”

“It certainly is more lethal,” Ace commented darkly.

“It would appear so,” Ikora replied. “However, it is worth noting that this is the first time a Guardian received a direct hit to their core. Who knows what has actually changed regarding its effectiveness.”

Ace nodded, however, his mind was still years in the past as he reviewed every detail of the fight with the crafty Wizard. He recalled the pain of the black fire that preceded the unmistakable numbness. The Hunter could see the fire of his Golden Gun, empowered by Kaizyn’s Ward of Dawn, shattering the crystals that the team had retrieved from their slain opponent.

Zavala leaned forward and gazed into the Hunter’s eyes. “I believe that your team was successful in slaying that Wizard. We sent a team to investigate what was left after your assault and they corroborated your accounting.”

“But we all know that death is not always permanent. We Guardians understand that better than anyone,” Ikora added.

Ace suddenly stood up, straight and at attention. “Sir, I would like to return to the Wizard’s base and investigate.”

The Commander crossed his arms and raised a hand to hold his chin. He considered the Hunter’s request for a long moment before finally, “I see no reason to deny your request. You are free to look into whatever remains can be found.”

“Please exercise extra caution,” Ikora bade. “Both of you. There’s no telling whether or not your presence at the time of Dreven’s murder put a target on your backs.”

Zavala cleared his throat and then stated, “Indeed. Until we have found our killer, I do not want either of you taking part any public missions.”

Wendi’s hands began to flash.

“If you are in need of funds,” Ikora interrupted, “let me know and I will assign you to work with the Hidden. We want to keep your activities off the public grid.”

“In the meantime, limit your interactions to only those whom you know well and trust,” Zavala directed.

Ace noticed the slight change in Wendi’s demeanor. As her hands settled back into her lap, the Human Titan’s shoulders began to slump a tiny bit and her mouth adopted a grim, resigned expression. The Hunter briefly placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing the woman’s attention, before he looked back to the Commander.

“We will keep our heads down, I promise. If you can’t think of any more questions, we’ll let you finish your dinner,” Ace offered.

“Very good. And make sure to report whatever you find when you return to North America,” Zavala replied.

Motioning for Wendi to follow him, the Hunter turned to leave. As he opened the door and let the woman exit ahead of him, Ace glanced back one last time to see the Commander sit down. Instead of reaching for his meal, the Awoken Titan picked up a datapad and began to read. Shutting the door behind him, Ace wondered how many untouched meals had been left forgotten on the Vanguard leader’s desk.

A slight touch pulled the Hunter out of his thoughts. He looked over to see Wendi looking at him with a question on her face. Ace didn’t need an interpreter to understand what she was asking.

“I have a couple friends that would be happy to give you a safe place to crash, if you’re interested. Or do you have a team of your own that you can turn to?” Ace tried to be as gentle as he could manage.

Wendi’s face became clouded and cautious as she looked down to the floor.

After a couple seconds, Ace added, “It would not be an imposition. Hell, a couple of them will honestly enjoy having a roommate to hang out with for a few days.”

Green eyes lifted to meet the Exomind’s and Wendi gave a shy node. Then her hands began to move. Theia quickly began speaking for her, “I would like that.”

Ace smiled and summoned his Ghost. “Mal, let’s get Halily on the line.”

——————

Approximating a deep breath to bolster his courage, the Exomind knocked on the door. He knew that he would be able to convince his friend to take on the task, but it would be an uphill battle. Ace hoped to win the argument quickly so that he could move his attention to the investigation he was about to undertake. The door swung open to reveal another Exomind, a Titan.

“Hey, Mike!” Ace greeted cheerfully.

Mike’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as he replied, “You’re too chipper. What kind of trouble are you in this time?”

“You’re not going to invite me in to sit before you start interrogating me?”

“sh*t. You must be in real trouble.”

Mike then ushered the Hunter into his apartment. Ace made his way to the living room and sat down on the wide couch set in front of the far wall. The Titan followed close behind, sitting down in a well-worn recliner opposite the couch.

“Give it to me straight,” Mike instructed.

Ace considered trying to dance around the subject for a few laughs, but decided against it. Flattery would only antagonize the Titan. Instead, the Hunter stated plainly, “I need you to take someone under your wing.”

Mike managed a heavy sigh before replying, “You know how I feel about taking on New Lights, man. Not after what Samus put me through.”

“I honestly don’t know that she’s a New Light,” Ace countered. “This girl can already handle herself in a fight. Actually, hold on. Check this out.”

Pulling out his datapad, the Hunter accessed the mission data that Mal had gathered. He punched in a quick command and sent a snippet to Mike. The Titan pulled his own pad out and reviewed the file.

“Check out that combat efficiency,” Ace instructed. “She did that practically all on her own.”

Mike shrugged noncommittally, “Forty confirmed kills? I mean, that’s not bad, but not anything to write home about.”

“Mike. She did that in less than two minutes.”

Mike went silent and stared back down at the datapad in his hand. Ace could tell that the Titan was a little impressed.

Finally, Mike looked back up, “Why does she need a mentor? Why are you bringing her to me?”

Ace nodded, “She really doesn’t need a mentor, but we have landed in a heap of danger. I can’t go into it, but it’s one of those situations where she needs someone to watch her back.”

“Why me? Why aren’t you watching her back?”

“I have to check something out and I don’t want to haul her into even more danger,” the Hunter explained.

Mike’s tone took on an accusatory tone, “Are you going on another one of your infamous unsanctioned missions?”

“Actually, this one is sanctioned! I got permission and everything.”

The Titan was not convinced. “Uh huh. Let’s say I believe you for now and just go back to the first half of my question; why me?”

“She needs someone she can trust at her back,” the Hunter answered. “And she doesn’t have a group of her own like we do.”

“If she’s as good in the field as you claim, why hasn’t she been picked up by a team?” Mike’s confusion quickly became suspicion, “What’s wrong with her?”

Ace decided to be blunt. “She’s can’t talk.”

There was a long pause as the confused Titan considered the Hunter’s answer. Finally he replied “What? Did she take some kind of stupid vow of silence or some sh*t?”

“No. She cannot speak. She’s mute.”

The silence lasted twice as long this time as Mike digested the information before he commented, “How in Oryx’s taint does that even happen?”

Ace offered a shrug before speculating, “She was probably born that way before her first death.”

“And her Ghost decided to rez her anyway?”

In response, the Hunter gestured to the datapad in the Titan’s hand before replying, “She’s good. Fearless and effective. I think her Ghost made a good choice.”

As Ace finished speaking, Mike’s Ghost compiled in the space between the two Guardians. Jeeves hovered at eye level with the Titan and commented, “Sir, I think this would be good for you. Bringing up New Lights always brings you a high degree of satisfaction.”

Mike a sardonic look at his Ghost, “She’s not a New Light.”

“Correct, but the sentiment remains,” Jeeves countered. “She is need of the same kind of support that you would offer to a fledgling Guardian. And I believe you have overlooked a critical detail that would make Ace’s request your, quote, dream assignment.”

Sounding a little intrigued, Mike asked, “Yeah? What’s that?”

“She is mute, Sir. She is unable to give you any talkback,” the Ghost explained. “That automatically clears two items on your checklist.”

Ace sat up straight, “Wait. Checklist?”

“Indeed, Master Hunter. Mike and I have compiled a list of agreements for any New Light looking to have Mike take them on as their mentor.”

Mike muttered under his breath before commenting, “I never seriously meant to put that damned thing into use.”

“That may be, but you were quite earnest when you provided these qualifications to me,” Jeeves replied.

Ace waved his hands in the air, “Hold on. Everyone stop talking right now and back up. Jeeves, Mike has a list of ‘qualifications’ for anyone he’s willing to take under his wing?”

“That is correct,” the Ghost answered, matter of factly.

Mike groaned, “I was ju-“

“Give me the list,” Ace interrupted with a grin. “Now.”

Jeeves dipped its shell in a bow, “As you wish. Number one. Do you have any disparaging thoughts regarding Titans?”

Puzzled, Ace asked, “What about Hunters or Warlocks?”

“What about them?” Mike quickly countered.

Ace shook his head as he rolled his eyes. Then he looked back to the Ghost and stated, “Wendi is a Titan.”

“Bonus points!” Jeeves replied enthusiastically. “She is allowed an exemption on one question.

“An exemption?” The Hunter looked at Mike and asked, “Just how much thought did you put into this thing?”

“A lot,” the Titan answered. “I wasn’t really serious about putting it to use, but I figured I may as well swing for the fences if Jeeves wanted to make it.”

Jeeves bobbed into the air in front of Mike, “Sir, if I may continue? Number two. Do you believe it is acceptable for a Ghost to purposely collide with the back of your mentor’s head?”

“Hey. I said ‘bonk.’”

“Far too undignified a term to use on an official questionnaire,” the Ghost chided. “We need to impart the same good impression upon the hopeful that we wish to receive.”

Grinning, Ace tried to sound serious as he commented, “That really is only fair, Mike.”

“Number three,” Jeeves continued. “Do you feel it is acceptable or appropriate to modify your mentor’s diet in any way, including, but not limited to, making unapproved substitutions or replacements to the contents of your mentor’s refrigerator or pantry?”

Ace shrugged, “Maybe that can be her exemption.”

Mike leaned forward and pointed a finger at the Hunter, “No. This item is non-negotiable. I am not going through that again.”

“We can come back to that question later,” Jeeves commented. “Number four. Will you accept your mentor’s direction without any meaningless complaint, protest, or unsubstantiated insults to their intelligence?”

The Hunter chuckled, “Ahhh. Yeah, this is where her being mute is a real bonus.”

“Exactly,” Jeeves confirmed. “Number five is similar. Do you agree not to speak ill of your mentor behind his back?”

Ace looked at the Titan as he replied, “I cannot imagine Samus ever did that.”

“Samus didn’t,” Mike admitted. “Twilight, however…”

“Yes. This questionnaire is to be administered to both Guardian and their Ghost,” Jeeves explained. “Is the ward’s Ghost also mute?”

Ace shook his head, “No. Theia will interpret Wendi’s sign language, but the thing is actually pretty quiet otherwise.”

Jeeves bobbed its shell in the Ghost equivalent of a nod, “This is acceptable. Now for number six. Do you understand that Titans do not possess any desire to own crayons for the purpose of collection, crafting, or consumption?”

“Well she is a Titan, so maybe she might disagree with you there.”

Unperturbed, Jeeves continued, “That will be her exemption. Number seven. Do you understand that the kitchen is off limits to anyone but your mentor and your mentor’s Ghost?”

“Still upset about that, eh?” Ace directed the question to Mike.

The Exo Titan approximated a deep breath, “Brother. It took me days to clean up that mess. I’m still missing my favorite spatula.”

“The incident was quite upsetting,” Jeeves stated. “And number eight.”

Mike glanced sharply at his Ghost. “Eight?” he began. “I only gave you se-“

“Eight,” the Ghost cut in. “Do you have the necessary aptitude for the proper operation of any explosive munition devices, such as rocket or grenade launchers? Also understand that you will only be allowed to utilize properly sanctioned and Gunsmith-approved modifications on such weapons.”

“I never put that on the list,” Mike protested.

“Sir, that was my addition,” Jeeves patiently explained. “After ten years of failed attempts at crafting your own modification devices, the unexpected results and your… resultant temperament after said failures, have all brought us to the point that I worry about the structural integrity of our home. It has become my duty to step in.”

Mike tried to argue the Ghost’s point, but wound up only sputtering and said nothing coherent. After a couple moments, the Titan collapsed dejectedly into his seat. Ace’s robotic face was alight with a massive Exomind grin.

“Not a word,” the Titan finally managed to grumble.

Struggling to contain his mirth, Ace managed to reply, “I wouldn’t dream.”

Jeeves spoke up in the following quiet, “Well, Master Hunter, I would say that it sounds like Wendi qualifies for mentorship, assuming that she will refrain from tinkering with any launcher devices on the premises.”

Still trying to contain his laughter, Ace replied, “I’ll bring her over tomorrow morning.”

“Where is she now?” Mike asked.

“I put her up with Halily,” Ace answered.

“Excellent,” Jeeves commented. “She will be properly prepared for Mike’s colorful and creative use of expletives in conversation.”

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Ace had been staring at his datapad for several minutes when Mal finally commented, “Why are you hesitating?”

“Because I don’t know what to tell them when they answer,” the Hunter replied.

“Tell them the truth,” the Ghost commented, confusion apparent in its tone. “I fail to understand why you are worried about this.”

“Because I don’t enjoy being the bearer of bad news,” Ace explained.

“I wouldn’t call this ‘bad news’ until we actually get confirmation. Your fears may be completely unfounded.”

The Hunter begrudgingly conceded the point with a nod before activating the comm link.

A few moments later, Kaijae’s voice cheerfully greeted, “Ace! It’s great to hear from you! What’s going on?”

“Hey, man. I was wondering if you and Kaizyn were free to meet up today.” Ace tried to match the Titan’s energy, but failed.

“You don’t sound happy,” the Awoken Titan observed. “Something bad is going down. We’ll be right over.”

Ace wanted to protest, but before he could get a word out, Kaizyn’s voice joined the conversation, “We’re already on our way. Save the details for when we get there, okay?”

The Hunter sighed, “Yeah. Sounds good. See you two soon.”

——————

“Deo’s killer may still be alive?” Kaizyn whispered.

Ace had recounted the pertinent details of yesterday’s events on Venus and the subsequent conversation he had held with the Vanguard. Kaijae and Kaizyn both reacted to the news of Dôl Arnách’s weapon resurfacing exactly the way Ace had predicted. Kaijae’s clenched fist sparked with Arc Light as his anger caused power to bleed out. Kaizyn was simply aghast, speechless throughout the entire story.

“We don’t know that for certain,” Twilin, the Awoken woman’s Ghost, quickly replied. “It sounds like that Dôl Arnách’s possible survival is only one possible theory.”

Ace nodded, “Exactly. I’m going to return to her hideout in North America and see what I can find out, but I didn’t want you two to be blindsided by whatever I find out.”

“We,” Kaijae declared firmly. “We are going to return and investigate together.”

Kaizyn gave a vigorous nod of agreement before commenting, “There’s no way we are going to let you do this by yourself. We want answers just as badly as you.”

“And it sounds like you need someone watching your six while you’re out there,” Kaijae added.

Relief washed over the Hunter as he replied, “Having you two with me will be very welcome, indeed. I didn’t want to impose.”

Kaijae’s Awoken yellow eyes flashed briefly before he commented with a wry grin, “You’re an idiot.”

“That fact has never been called into question,” Ace laughed.

The two Awoken Titans joined the Hunter in the brief moment of mirth. Then Kaizyn’s face took on a serious mien, “When do we leave?”

Ace shrugged, “Whenever the two of you can be ready. I’m still fully kitted up due to my mission to Venus. So, when you guys are good to go, we can take off.”

Kaijae gave the Hunter a curious look and asked, “It sounded to me like this is actually a sanctioned mission. You discussed this with the Commander?”

Ace quickly replied, “It is. I have permission to investigate as long as I keep my activities off the public grid.”

“Wow,” Kaijae chuckled. “That’s a first!”

Kaizyn shook her head at her mate’s exaggerated reaction. She looked to Ace and commented, “We can be ready to go in a few minutes. I want to grab a bite to eat.”

Ace gestured to his kitchen, “I just recently restocked my pantry. Let me whip something up as thanks for your help.”

“You say that like I wouldn’t beat your ass if you had gone off and done this without us,” Kaijae growled.

“Never mind that,” Kaizyn quickly commented. “Yes, please go ahead and make whatever. And while you’re at it, tell me more about this new friend of yours. Wendi, was it?”

Ace stood up and walked across the small living room to the kitchen, talking as he went. “That’s right. She’s damned good in a fight, but I get the feeling that she doesn’t get the respect she deserves because she can’t speak.”

“I can imagine that it’s gotta be real tough for her to find a team,” Kaejai replied.

“The poor thing,” Kaizyn shook her head sadly. “Where is she now?”

Opening the refrigerator, Ace began pulling out a handful of various items. As he set everything down on the counter, the Hunter answered, “Halily and Mike are gonna take turns keeping an eye on her. She stayed with Halily last night and Mike is going to mentor her. Y’know, make sure she is fully trained.”

“How is Halily?” Kaizyn suddenly asked.

“She’s doing good. We’ve been running missions together pretty regularly and she seems pretty happy,” Ace answered as he began making sandwiches.

“I like her,” Kaizyn commented. “I’m really glad you saved her from the Cabal.”

Glancing up with a quizzical expression on his face, the Hunter replied, “That’s not quite how it went down, but I’m glad you like her.”

Then, as abruptly as she had brought up Halily, Kaizyn suddenly changed the subject back to the investigation, “Why do you think someone would attack that Warlock?”

Ace would have been taken aback by the sudden change in conversation, but the Hunter had been friends with the two Titans long enough to be used to it. He considered the question for a minute before answering, “Our rogue Lightbearer accused Dreven of interfering with something. Maybe he got in the way of whatever business she was having with the Hive?”

Kaijae sat up suddenly, as if slapped. “A Guardian working with the Hive?”

The Hunter strode out of the kitchen with a trio of sandwiches in hand. Each one was piled high with sliced meat, lettuce, and cheese. Handing one to each of his friends, Ace then replied, “Who knows? Stranger and stranger things have been happening out there in the system. I honestly don’t know what to think any more. And I don’t like to think of whoever this killer is as a ‘Guardian’ any more. She isn’t one one of us.”

Kaijae nodded in agreement before taking an appreciative bite of his sandwich.

“Well, your idea makes sense,” Kaizyn commented. “It would explain both how this woman got a hold of Hive weaponry this deadly and why she would go after Dreven.”

Through a mouthful of food, Kaijae replied, “But why? Since when do the Hive work with anyone else?”

“That will be the first question I’ll ask her,” Ace stated grimly before taking a bite of his own.

The next few minutes passed in relative quiet as the three Guardians ate their meal, each one letting themselves get lost in their own thoughts. Ace hadn’t been able sleep well the night before; his mind refused to stop replaying the battle with Dôl Arnách. And so it was now that it continued to review every last detail even as he devoured his sandwich.

Finishing the last bite, Kaizyn smiled at the Hunter and commented, “When we get back, you have to tell me what deli you get your meats from.”

Caught off guard by a question so far removed from the subject that dominated his thoughts, Ace sputtered for a second. Mal came to the Guardian’s rescue and answered, “I’ve sent the information to your Ghost.”

“Thank you,” Kaizyn cheerfully replied as she stood up. Then she held out a hand and her helmet materialized in it. The Titan put the piece of armor on before looking down at her companions and commented, “Are you boys ready to go or not?”

Kaijae and Ace hastily jumped to their feet and similarly donned their helmets as well. The Hunter felt the familiar tingling sensation throughout his entire being as the transmat field took hold. A moment later, he found himself settling into the pilot seat of his jumpship.

“-ear for departure in forty seconds,” came a voice from the console.

Ace reached forward and pressed a button before replying, “Understood. Thank you.” Pressing the button once more to deactivate the comm link, the Hunter scanned the console. He checked all the diagnostics as he listened to the sound of the ship’s engines powering up.

“You know, Mal, we could have done a complete pre-flight before taking off,” Ace commented dryly to the Ghost at his side.

“You don’t have the patience right now to complete it yourself,” Mal dryly replied. “It’s good that you are in the habit of checking equipment yourself, but you also have a habit of rushing things when you’re upset.”

“You’re good to go!” the ship communicator crackled. “Happy hunting, Guardian!”

Ace grabbed the controls and eased the Egbe-01X out of the hangar. As the craft cleared the walls of the Tower, he stole a brief moment to appreciate the massive presence of the Traveler overhead. The Hunter could some times became too used to the giant orb that protected the City, but not today.

“Traveler, watch over us,” Ace quietly whispered as the ship pulled away from the City, climbing high into the sky.

A couple moments later, as he ascended above the regular air traffic around the City, a light blinked in his ship’s display. The Hunter reached out and tapped a button. Kaijae’s voice came through the comm link, “Hey, buddy, we’re only a few seconds behind you. Lead the way.”

Ace pointed his ship’s nose west and threw open the throttle. Everything became a blur and he felt himself sink a little into the seat as gravity tried to maintain its hold on the Hunter. He loved the sensation as he could only experience it while near a planet surface. So much of his time piloting was spent in the vacuum of space.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Ace commented.

“Try not to wake the neighborhood when you get there,” Kaijae replied.

“I promise nothing,” Ace chuckled. Then his voice became less lighthearted as he glanced to his Ghost, “Do we still have the map data of the subway system?”

“Of course,” Mal replied indignantly.

“Good. I’m gonna bring us into the upper atmosphere on top of the entrance,” Ace explained. “We’re gonna follow your maps down to the portal chamber.”

“Nice plan,” Kaijae replied. “What about Fallen activity in the area? Are we trying to keep a low profile like last time?”

“I pulled Vanguard reports and there hasn’t been any indication of increased Eliksni presence. But we all know how flimsy ‘no activity’ reports can be,” Ace admitted.

“Yeah, if you listened to the data at the Tower, there is no way you would have found a whole ass Fallen base in Seattle!” Kaijae laughed.

“You guys heard about that, did you?”

Kaizyn let a burst of laughter out before replying, “We heard all about from Halily. She was livid about that Guardian who tried to snipe your bounty.”

“She wasn’t mad that I had my head blown off?” Ace asked wryly.

“You got shot?” Kaijae teased.

“Ignore him,” Kaizyn quickly cut in. “And yes, she was quite mad about that as well. She spent a good while scouring the Crucible match lineups in hopes of finding them.”

Ace gave a chuckle and then replied, “I hope for that Guardian’s sake that Halily never finds them.”

The other two briefly joined in the laughter and then the comms went quiet. Ace queued up the map data from Mal and made a couple minor course adjustments. He also eased the throttle a fraction in order to allow his companions an opportunity to catch up.

A minute later, Kaijae’s voice suddenly came through the comm link, “Hey, Ace? How sure are you that the beam you saw was the same as what we faced?”

“Really sure,” the Hunter answered.

“Damn,” Kaijae muttered. “I was really hoping that I would never have to go up against it again.”

“You and I both, my friend.”

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Thanks to the Ghosts’ recorded data, the three Guardians were able to transmaterialize down to the surface in front of the same building that they had used to access the subway system. Ace stood for a long moment, considering the structure. The team had been in such a hurry to hide from the Eliksni patrol that he hadn’t been able to get a good look at it before diving through a window.

The building was of Golden Age design; a contemporary standing out in the midst of a crowd of classics as it towered above them. The concrete used in its construction was smooth and glassy while the structures on either side were a mixture of antique brickwork and concrete slabs. Big, bold lettering had once declared the structure’s purpose in audacious lighting, but most of the signage had been destroyed by the ravages of time. The street level exterior was constructed of mostly glass between support pillars and then the rest of the building face was concrete with an ample number of windows filling each level.

Ace tried to spot the window that he had clambered through, but several were open or destroyed. In fact, he had no idea which of the twenty floors he had dove into. He felt a slight sense of disappointment at not recognizing anything.

“Golden Age construction,” Kaijae commented. “No wonder this place managed to survive so well for so long.”

“You didn’t notice when we were here?” Kaizyn queried.

“I’m with Jae,” Ace replied. “I was too focused on keeping an eye on the Eliksni and then getting to cover that I didn’t bother to get a good look.”

“Boys,” Kaizyn muttered playfully before walking toward the main entrance. Kaijae and Ace quickly followed.

The front door was gone, the glass shattered and ground to dust by the passing centuries. Stepping through the empty frame, Ace noted the emptiness of the great lobby waiting on the other side. Boot prints marred the dust coating the floor.

“Human,” the Hunter murmured.

“What was that?” Kaijae asked, turning around to regard Ace.

Gesturing to the floor, Ace replied, “The footprints. They’re all Human. No Eliksni or Hive.”

“Are they ours? Kaizyn and I did a lot of running around down here when we first passed through.”

“I don’t think so, love,” Kaizyn answered. “These look too fresh. We were here years ago.”

“So… a hint that we are on the trail of our killer?” Kaijae then suggested hopefully.

“We should definitely act as if they are,” Kaizyn quickly replied. “That means we proceed very carefully.”

“Agreed,” Ace and Kaijae responded in unison.

The team then looked up from the dust-covered floor to the lobby’s massive central pillar. A pair of elevator doors we set in the middle of the wide column, one of which stood wide open. Recognization began to dawn for the Hunter as the team approached. Ace also noted that footprints, multiple trails of them, led to the opened shaft.

Summoning Zuko to shine a light down, Kaijae commented, “Nothing like an ominous, pitch black pit to inspire confidence that you’re on the right track.”

“Hush,” Kaizyn chided. “We’ve already made this jump before. You know where it’s going.”

“Also, we should probably keep chatter to a minimum,” Ace reminded. “Don’t know who else is in here with us.”

The Titan gave a thumb up in reply, demonstrating his understanding of the situation. Ace smiled to himself, pleased that the two Kais had volunteered to join him. They were among the most capable and dependable warriors he knew. He was proud to be able to call them friends. The Hunter stepped through the opened doorway and let himself fall into the darkness below.

A couple seconds later, Ace activated his Boost jump to arrest his plummet, just before he would have crashed painfully on the floor. Quickly stepping out of the elevator shaft, he made room for the descending Titans. A short hallway leading to the subway platform greeted the Guardians with its dull, muted light. The glow of the overhead panels was barely enough to illuminate the area immediately below any of the few lamps that still functioned; a noticeable difference from their first time passing through the station.

“Our friend- or friends? They came through this way,” Kaijae commented softly as he directed Zuko to cast its beam on the floor.

Ace noted that all of the tracks crossed the platform toward the same tunnel that his team was aiming for. Kaizyn’s sigh informed the Hunter that she had noticed as well. He couldn’t see either of his friends’ faces behind their helmets, but Ace could easily imagine the grim expressions that the two Awoken must be wearing.

“Might as well get moving,” Kaijae muttered after a long, tense moment.

Mal and Twilin both materialized next to their respective Guardians, casting light for their partners to better see by. Ace was tempted to dismiss the Ghosts, worried that the beams of light would give them away, but immediately realized that stumbling through the patches of darkness would be just as bad. He toyed with the idea of asking the Ghosts to repair the lighting, but that would likely be an even bigger give away if they could manage it.

Ace moved to take the lead, but stayed close to his teammates this time. With Mal out in the open, acting as a flashlight, he had no way to effectively scout ahead without being spotted. Better to remain with his team and have their support if they found trouble. The trio dropped from the subway platform to the pair of maglev rails and carefully made their way to the one empty tunnel. Recalling the grisly scene inside the train that sat in the other tunnel, the Hunter quickly moved past the decrepit vehicle and into the shaft that would deliver the team to the entrance of Dôl Arnách’s lair.

Rubble spilling from the collapsed street-side stairwells as well as various debris from the decaying ceiling above made it difficult for Ace to identify any more footprints. The Hunter thought that he could see the occasional boot heel mark, but he didn’t trust his intuition enough to speak up. Perhaps he should have taken the time to mentor under a Hunter with tracking experience.

Shrugging the thoughts away, Ace returned his focus to the tunnel ahead. Despite the significantly dimmer illumination, he was able to identify a couple details that sparked recollections; faded graffiti at the tunnel’s midpoint and again near the junction with the next terminal. Seeing the second blotch of indecipherable text, the Hunter motioned for extra caution. It appeared that the two Titans also remembered the upcoming station as they had already readied their weapons as they crept along.

Exiting the subway shaft, the team found themselves in a familiar multilevel chamber. Platforms bracketed the railways with stairs leading down to a lower level at the far end, a few dozen meters away. The maglev rails, however, continued beyond the platform as they were carried across by a bridge that soared above the lower level.

The team swiftly checked the area to ensure that no dangers awaited them in the massive subway station before moving on. Ace ignored the stairs and simply used his Light-given power to jump down to the bottom level. The two Kais took a slower descent, using the vantage point of the stairs to further confirm the absence of any threat. By the time that the two Titans reached the bottom, Ace had already arrived at the final tunnel that led to the Hive Wizard’s lair.

“I really don’t like how the lights are almost out,” Ace commented as the Kais approached.

“What do you expect after centuries of disrepair?” Kaijae replied.

Ace’s robotic eyebrows furrowed as he glanced up to regard the dim panels. An intangible sense of wrongness nagged at the back of the Exo’s mind. He shook his head in denial, “They were perfectly fine when we were last through here. If they remained mostly functional all that time, what changed over the last few years?”

“You think it was deliberate?” Kaizyn asked.

Offering a defeated shrug, Ace answered, “That’s the problem. I don’t know what to think. Maybe I’m just seeing things that aren’t really there because we’re hunting a rogue Lightbearer.”

“Hey man, trust your gut,” Kaijae replied with a supportive clap to the Hunter’s shoulder. “I have to admit that I kinda feel the same way.”

With that, the Titan strode into the awaiting tunnel with his trusted hand cannon ready in his fist. Ace, relieved to know that his suspicions were shared with the others, followed close behind. Kaizyn performed one last scan of the empty terminal before moving to the join the team.

The subway shaft was almost oppressively dark with the reduced lighting. Mal did an excellent job of following the Hunter’s movements, casting light in whichever direction he turned his head. A few dozen meters down the tunnel, the Ghost’s light picked out a handful of shapes in the distance. Dead bodies laying on the floor.

Ace sensed his teammates tensing, weapons immediately raised to the ready and each footstep was carefully measured. As they drew closer, the Exo was able to make out more details. “Hive?” he whispered in surprise.

A group of Acolytes littered the area, their bodies desiccated by the passage of time. Stepping close to the nearest Hive soldier, Kaijae pointed to its chest, “Bullet wounds. A Guardian did this.”

Zuko chirped as it scanned the corpse before commenting, “Deceased at least a year. Probably longer, but it’s hard to tell.”

“Why would someone working with the Hive gun down a squad of them?” Kaizyn asked.

Neither Ace or Kaijae could offer any answers. The Hunter moved to check the other dead bodies in the tunnel and confirmed that they had all been slain by the same weapon. Human-made munitions.

A few meters beyond the Acolytes waited the carved shaft that led to the Wizard’s lair. Quickly realizing that no answers would be found inspecting the dead Hive further, the team began moving toward the entrance. Kaijae was a step ahead of the others as they turned to face the opening that had been cut into the subway tunnel’s wall. Ace was scanning the floor of the entrance when he spied the glimpse of a shimmer.

Lightning quick, the Hunter’s hand shot forward and snatched the leading Titan’s shoulder. Before Kaijae could protest, Ace pulled him backward a step.

“What’s wrong?” Kaijae asked, concern filled his tone as much as surprise.

Stepping close to where he thought he saw the glint of light, Ace knelt down. Mal followed and didn’t protest when the Guardian gently plucked the Ghost from the air to direct its illumination like a regular flashlight. After a moment, he was able to angle the light properly and declared, “Tripwire.”

A slender filament of nearly invisible thread had been strung across the floor at ankle level. Ace couldn’t determine what the line was connected to, but he was certain that they did not want to trigger it. Best case scenario would be that an alarm would sound. But the worst case possible scenario made the Hunter shudder with dread.

“How did you know?” Kaizyn asked, incredulous.

“When you’ve sniffed out as many of Samus’s stashes as I have, you develop a knack for spotting these things,” Ace chuckled.

“Samus? That tracks. Traveler save us all, but that man can be paranoid some time,” Kaijae shook his head.

“Wait. Did Samus turn the Wizard’s lair into one of his hideouts?” Kaizyn sounded confused.

“I doubt it,” Ace answered. “But whoever came through here probably works from the same playbook as our ever-suspicious friend.”

“So, do we cut the line or leave it?” Kaijae asked.

“Best to leave it,” Ace quickly replied. “There’s no telling what will happen if we tamper with it.”

“Good point,” Kaijae nodded.

The Ghosts marked the wire for their respective Guardians so that that each could carefully step over. Ace resumed the point position and led the way through the rocky tunnel. They followed it downward, deeper into the earth as it twisted and turned. The wary Hunter identified a handful more of the tripwires; each one deviously positioned at points along their path that had debris and strata architecture that drew the eye in different directions. Finally, the Guardians arrived at the first intersection.

The team considered the three tunnels for a long moment before Kaizyn broke the silence, “Where do we go first? Portal room? Extraction chamber? Or the barracks?”

“Barracks,” Kaijae replied. “If that damned Wizard is back, she’ll have replenished her forces. We can see if the Hive actually have a presence here or not.” The Titan paused for a few seconds as he looked all around before continuing, “I don’t know about you guys, but this place feels wrong. Not like the last time we were here.”

“I feel it,” Kaizyn commented, similarly looking all around. “It feels dead in here. Not the sense of impending death that I usually get from Hive tunnels, but of a complete absence of anything at all.”

“It is very still,” Ace agreed. He understood what the Kais were talking about. There was a certain kind of energy in the air whenever he infiltrated any Hive fortification. The magic that they used exuded an intangible trace that was impossible to define, but obvious once it was missing.

“Let’s get moving,” Kaijae muttered.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

The Hive quarters were empty. None of the Guardians made comment on the absence of Acolytes and Thrall. The complete and utter stillness of the complex had settled over the team like a heavy net; oppressive and disconcerting. Ace couldn’t understand why the absence of enemies made his skin crawl and made him even more anxious than if there had been Hive present.

The cavernous room was exactly as the Hunter recalled; multi-leveled with doorways littering each balcony at every floor. Kaijae and Ace had separated to inspect a handful of the rooms while Kaizyn kept watch. Ace found curios that might be Hive trophies in each bedchamber he checked; bones and weapons of slain enemies alongside Hive armaments in various stages of repair. However, nothing he found would be of any use helping the team identify their killer. The weapons were all standard fare for the Hive; none of the specialized arms that Dôl Arnách had crafted for her clients.

Ace had just returned to join Kaizyn at the entrance when Kaijae called out, “Wow! You guys won’t believe what I just found!”

“What is it? A clue?” Kaizyn excitedly replied.

Kaijae burst out of a lower door with a wrapped package in his hands. The object appeared somewhat large and heavy, judging from the way the Titan carried it as he jogged to join his teammates. As he ran, the tattered cloth jostled with the movement and Ace spied the edge of a shoulder stock.

A Human weapon? Ace wondered, curious.

“Sorry, I don’t think it’s a clue, but still a pretty awesome find,” Kaijae answered as he approached. The Titan then knelt down and set the package on the ground before peeling back the rags. The weapon was badly damaged, but there was no mistaking the distinctive design. “A Sleeper Simulant!” the Titan exclaimed.

Ace’s vocal processor emitted a low, appreciative whistle before commenting, “Lucky find! She’s pretty banged up, but I bet old Banshee could get her fixed up for you, no sweat.”

“And it was just waiting to be found in that room?” Kaizyn asked, incredulous.

“Yeah!” Kaijae answered with a chuckle. “The door looked bigger than all the others, so I figured the room belonged to someone important. Looked like a Knight, judging by the size of the equipment I found. And this was set on a stand next to a few other busted weapons. Pretty sure they pilfered it from some poor Guardian before stealing their Light.”

“Yeah, let’s definitely get that thing repaired,” Ace nodded. “Take her back out into the field and get a bit of justice for her former owner.”

The Titan lifted the linear fusion rifle and presented it to his Ghost. Zuko quickly decompiled the weapon for storage in its tesseract.

Kaizyn watched the exchange before quietly commenting, “Maybe I should check some rooms.”

“We can come back later,” Ace countered, eager to resume the investigation.

Kaizyn casted a wistful glance at the dozens of unopened doors, but didn’t protest. The Hunter smiled to himself, certain that the Awoken woman would definitely take it upon herself to return and search each room, even if she had to do so on her own at a later date. The two Kais were playfully competitive with one another and seeing Kaijae discover a powerful artifact; a Golden Age relic crafted by the Warmind, would not be allowed to stand unchallenged. Ace made a mental wager that she would likely pull Halily into her treasure hunt. Perhaps he’d tag along as well for moral support.

Quickly dismissing the idea for now, Ace returned his attention to Hive tunnel. The three Guardians departed the barracks chamber, making their way back to where the shaft intersection with passages to the other chambers. As they walked, the Hunter’s mind ruminated over the emptiness of the complex and the presence of the long-dead Hive in the subway. Along with the Human-crafted traps in the Hive tunnels, it was becoming apparent that Dôl Arnách had not managed a miraculous return from death.

Apparently, Kaizyn had arrived at the same conclusion as she suddenly commented, “I don’t think we have to worry about that Wizard.”

Kaijae turned his head sharply to regard his mate before replying, “But what about that weapon? Who else would craft a Guardian killer like that?”

Ace shook his head, “I gotta agree with Kaizyn. Maybe Dôl Arnách kept journals or something and someone got ahold of them, but I don’t think Dôl Arnách herself is around.”

Kaijae remained unconvinced. “But we weren’t able to find anything like that when we hunted her. Don’t you think we would’ve found something when we came through?”

“I dunno, man. We kinda came through this place like a crashing tsunami,” Ace countered. “We didn’t scour it for secrets. We were here to kill the bitch and that was it.”

“Well, we did just assume that any secrets she had were destroyed when we collapsed her pocket of the Ascendent Plane,” Kaizyn admitted. “But I have a hard time thinking that she’s managed to come back somehow. This place would be more active.”

“What if she set up shop somewhere else? It would be pretty stupid to resume doing her kind of business in the same place,” Kaijae countered.

“That definitely is a possibility,” Ace conceded as the team arrived at the junction of passageways. The Hunter considered the remaining two tunnels for a couple seconds before commenting, “Let’s check out the room where we found those Light-absorbing crystals first. Then we’ll head down to the portal chamber.”

The two Titans nodded in agreement before following Ace into the indicated passage. The Hunter had resumed a more casual pace, even though he still held his weapon in a ready position. The team was prepared for danger, but no longer expected it. The slight scuffle of his teammates’ boots was the only sound in the silent tunnels. Ace no longer felt like an infiltrator sneaking about an enemy base and instead more like an intruder in a long forgotten tomb.

Didn’t those stories always have a curse or some kind of magical monster protecting it? the Hunter thought to himself, shaking his head.

A minute later, the team came to the chamber’s entrance. Almost immediately, the Guardians could tell that things were not as they had left them. The multi-armed apparatus that had hung from the ceiling in the center of the room had been removed. One of the stone tables had been toppled over as well, the wide top flipped over to lie face down on the floor. As he stepped into the room, Ace noticed Hive rune carved into the underside of the table, originally hidden from view.

As he moved to inspect the ruined table more closely, Ace noted that the Titans both moved off to the side. Casting Mal’s beam of light around the room, he checked to make sure that it was empty before crouching down in front of the stone rubble.

“These are the table that she strapped her victims to before pulling out their Light,” Mal stated solemnly.

Ace nodded. He remembered the remains of the Ghost shell and the crystals filled with stolen Light. The Hunter reached down to brush dust off the great tablet and felt a pulling sensation as soon as his glove made contact with the stone. Instinctively recoiling, he thought he saw the glyphs writhe for a brief instant.

“What the hell was that?” Ace hissed.

“What happened?” Mal replied, concern in its voice.

“I don’t know,” the Hunter struggled to explain. “It felt like the table was pulling me into it.”

“It could be a part of the process that the Wizard used to extract the Light from Guardians,” Mal suggested.

Standing up, Ace then stepped away from the offending stone. He glanced around the room, suddenly filled with the urge to destroy all of the tables. “Honestly, this whole Traveler-forsaken place needs to be destroyed,” he whispered to himself.

“Ace,” Kaijae called out. “Come see what Kaizyn found.”

Turning around, Ace found the two Titans crouched in front of a pile of metal scrap. It took him a moment to realize that it was the remains of the contraption that had once dominated the center of the chamber. He recognized one of the claws that had once clutched a crystal above the tables.

Mal’s beam of light fluctuated as the Ghost cast a scanning grid over the pile. After a second, it chirped a couple times before commenting, “It is the Light-extraction device. But it’s missing a bunch of components.”

Kaijae snorted, “How can you tell with this mess?”

“Well, it’s quite simple,” Mal began. “I took a thorough scan of everything in this chamber the first time we-”

“Jae was being facetious,” Ace interrupted with a sigh. Then the Hunter went needed aloud, “I’m more concerned with what was taken from this thing. Why would anyone cannibalize it for parts?”

“Anything else in here that we should be concerned about?” Kaizyn asked, somewhat rhetorically.

“Aside from the vandalized stone column and the dismantled extraction mechanism, nothing else has changed in this chamber,” Twilin burbled helpfully.

Leaning forward to get a closer look at the pile of scrap, Ace used the nose of his shotgun to push the various pieces around. He then glanced to his Ghost and asked, “Can you tell what was taken?”

Mal considered the question for a moment before answering, “Mostly conduit and tubing. Even though it looks metallic, everything here is organic in nature. Although, the more rigid components have a crystalline structure. Quite a few of the larger pieces of that stuff is missing as well.”

Ace stood up and glanced around the room one more time, as if hoping that the remaining stone tables would give him the insight he needed. The Hunter was baffled, unsure of even what questions to ask now that they had made it this far. He had expected to find a reinforced Hive stronghold that he and his friends would have to infiltrate. He had been primed to deal with the Hive Wizard a second time. Ace didn’t know what to do with all of the puzzle pieces that were laid out before him. There wasn’t any connection that he could find.

We just don’t have enough pieces yet, Ace thought to himself. Maybe it will become more clear once we get all of the information. Nothing ever makes sense until you have a view of the bigger picture.

“Let’s go to the portal chamber,” Ace commented.

“Yeah. I don’t think there’s anything left for us to find in here,” Kaijae replied, nudging the pile of scrap with his boot.

Silently, the trio of Guardians made their way back to the tunnel junction. Each one was lost in their own thoughts. Ace stopped worrying over where the puzzle would lead them and instead let his mind focus on what could be waiting for the team in the portal room.

Surprisingly, a bright glow awaited the Guardians at the end of the long passageway. After spending so long in the deep gloom of the subway and the utter dark of the Hive tunnels, relying on the Ghosts’ torches to see by, the bright illumination came almost as a physical assault to the senses. Ace and the Kais both halted as soon as they noticed the light ahead of them.

“It’s coming from the portal chamber,” Zuko commented.

“That’s not Hive lighting, is it?” Kaizyn asked.

Indeed, the light spilling into the tunnel was a bright white instead of the muted orange that had once emanated from the now-dead crystals lining the tunnel ceiling. Ace tested his grip on his shotgun and began to slowly approach the final bend in the passage. The Exo tilted his head slightly as he listened intently for any sound coming from the room ahead. Comforted only slightly by the persistent silence, Ace continued forward.

Rounding the tunnel’s curve, the team found themselves standing in the portal chamber’s entrance. Their eyes already adjusted to the growing illumination as they approached, the team dismissed their Ghosts as they peered into the room. The central dais with the stone portal archway remained as they remembered. However, the rest of the room was filled with a bunch of City-made equipment. A handful of lamps had been staked into the ceiling, casting clean, white light into the chamber. Cables ran down the walls, from those lighting sources, and across the floor to a battery powered generator situated to one side of the dais.

On the floor, on the opposite of the great platform, sat a cot covered with bedding. Next to the wall, near the sleeping pad, stood a portable camp stove. Emptied cans and food packages littered the floor around the little stove. At the foot of the cot rested a footlocker with assorted laundry scattered over the top.

Each of the Guardians paused for a long while to scan the room, each checking for any possible danger within. After a minute, they wordlessly decided to enter the chamber, each one moving to inspect something different. Ace jumped up onto the dais to inspect the portal while the Titans split to either sides of the room. The Hunter stepped close to where one side of the archway came out of the platform floor. He could see where the cracks that had formed during their escape had formed. The Hunter traced one of the larger fissures from the base, up the column, to where it passed through a Hive glyph. That was when he noticed that some of the damage to the archway had been patched. Cement had been injected into the cracks at the carvings and the script was repaired.

Ace quickly summoned his Ghost. Sensing the Hunter’s intent, Mal immediately began scanning the portal before reporting, “It’s all been repaired. The structure is still damaged from our last visit, but every one of the Hive runes has been restored.”

“Is this portal functional?” Ace asked apprehensively.

“It still requires a power source and trigger, but yes,” Mal answered. The Ghost then drifted up to consider the crystal capstone for a few seconds. Finally, it declared, “The crystal was also damaged, but some effort was made to repair it. It will still function.”

“So, it just needs power?”

“Yes. However, I don’t know how one would power this thing. After all, the last time we were here, power came through from the other side,” Mal explained.

“So, we don’t know how or why it works, just that it probably will work. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Hive magic?” Ace muttered.

“Seventeen times,” Mal chirped.

“Does that include just now?”

“Eighteen.”

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

An explosion shook the cavern, sending the bodies of dozens of screaming Thrall flying into the air and toppling a heavy stone pillar. Mike glanced over sharply at the unexpected blast, almost irritated by the sudden distraction. However, hearing the Wizard’s scream of outrage and seeing the destruction wrought by the heavy attack, the Striker Titan had to admit approval for the initiative before turning his attention back to the handful of Acolytes before him. The Hive snipers had positioned themselves on a ledge high above the floor, using the vantage point to harry the team of Guardians below.

“Ghaul’s balls, what a blast!” Halily’s ecstatic voice cried out over the comm link. “Nice shot, Wendi!”

Mike steadied his trusty pulse rifle, an antique Grasp of Malok, and began firing bursts of bullets at the Acolytes. Wendi’s rocket blast had drawn their focus to the mute Titan, so they exposed themselves in an attempt to get a clear shot at her. Mike did not waste time capitalizing on their miscalculation.

A few moments later, the commanding Wizard’s scream took on a new pitch. The last of the sniper Acolytes fell asthe entire chamber began to glow with an ominous green light that seemed to emanate from the very stone floor they stood upon. Turning toward the two other Titans, Halily and Wendi, he barked, “Move! To me!”

The ladies immediately responded to the command and began sprinting toward the fireteam leader. Mike then turned toward the center of the chamber and summoned a towering barricade constructed of pure Light energy. He glanced about the cavern as he wondered what sort of Hive magic the Wizard had invoked. Had she begun an incantation to immolate everything within the chamber? Was she going to fill the room with acidic vapors? He readied himself to react to whatever was about to happen.

A disembodied, thunderous roar shook the great cave. Mike heard Halily mutter a handful of expletives as the shaking caused her to stumble slightly as she slid to a stop near him. Despite the danger, Mike couldn’t help but smile at her creativity.

“Oryx’s blighting taint! What the hell is happening now?” the Awoken Titan grumbled.

Wendi raised her free hand to her helmet to tap her forehead and then flashed her palm outward. It was the one of the very few signs that the fireteam leader managed to learn overnight.

“Yeah, I don’t know either,” Mike muttered. “Just be ready to move when that spell goes off, alright?”

Wendi flashed a thumb up.

“Thank you, Commander Obvious,” Halily chuckled.

Mike laughed. Very few people could get away with such blatant impudence with him. The foul-mouthed Awoken woman was one of them.

Another roar shattered the moment of irreverence, wiping the smile from the Striker Titan’s face. The green light suddenly flared to a blinding flash, leaving a handful of Hive portals in the middle of the room; one massive gate framed by four smaller. The Hive Wizard swept into the center of the grouping of portals and began to laugh. It was broken glass being dragged across slate.

“That cannot be good,” Jeeves commented solemnly into the comm link.

Out of the four portals stepped Hive Knights and then a huge Ogre ducked through the biggest gate. The deformed monstrosity bellowed again, this time a stalactite fell from the ceiling as the force of the roar shook the chamber once again.

Mike’s eyes widened as he realized that he didn’t even come to the behemoth’s hip. “It’s not,” he muttered.

Before he could think of any commands, Halily and Wendi both dashed forward. Through the barricade of Light, they charged toward the assembled group of Knights, even as reinforcing Acolytes began to surge through the portals behind the imposing Hive warriors. Mike opened his mouth to protest, but realized the futility; the two women had already opened fire.

Halily had drawn her hand cannon, a replica of the banned Crimson revolver, and was shooting Acolytes as they passed through the portal. She stalked toward the portals with the weapon firmly grasped in both hands, a triple-retort issuing with every squeeze of the trigger. The Hive soldiers quickly began returning fire; Shedders filled the air with Void blasts. Halily didn’t flinch or slow her advance.

Wendi was charging at full speed with her Balignant toward the nearest Knight. Right as Wendi drew near to striking range, the Hive warrior swung its cleaver-like sword high above its head. However, before her opponent could bring the heavy blade down on the charging Guardian’s head, Wendi suddenly leapt forward with a surge of Solar power and slammed into the Knight with an eruption of power. The Human Sunbreaker followed up the assault with a swift blast from her shotgun.

The three other Knights immediately collapsed on the nearest Guardian, Wendi. However, the woman did not retreat. Instead, she erected her own wall of Light between herself and the Hive forces. The second Knight was already almost upon her when the barricade manifested right in front of it. The construct did not prevent the Hive warrior from passing through, but the Light energy blinded the unsuspecting Knight, causing its overhead chop to falter and miss. The heavy sword slammed into the ground mere inches from the Titan. Wendi responded by ejecting the spent shell from her shotgun and firing a fresh one into the creature’s shoulder.

The Knight swung wildly with the back of its hand in Wendi’s direction. It was only by sheer luck that the warrior managed to strike the woman, knocking her back a few steps. The Human Sunbreaker swiftly swapped her submachine gun from her hip and began firing at the wounded Hive. Dropping its sword, the grievously wounded warrior staggered backward, back through the wall of Light. It blinded itself again, but the energy construct provided protection from the Titan’s barrage.

Meanwhile, the remaining two Knights both charged around the barricade, brandishing their swords. Seeing how the Guardian had managed to dispatch one of their fellows and incapacitated another, these two took measured strides toward their opponent; each one approaching from a different side. Wendi sized up the two imposing brutes for a moment before suddenly leaping forward, toward the Knight on her left.

In a flash, the SMG swapped hands just as a small, flaming hammer appeared in the Sunbreaker’s right hand. The woman took two steps before hurling the Solar manifestation into the face of her target. The Knight tried to block the unexpected attack, but was not quick enough and the head of the hurled weapon struck it squarely in the face. Bouncing away, the hammer tumbled toward the floor only to be snatched out of the air by the rushing Wendi. As she caught the hammer in one hand, the other raised the SMG and began firing. Bullets sprayed from the barrel into the Hive warrior’s hip and then carved a path up to its chest. The smaller caliber rounds stung the brute, tearing into its chitinous armor. As the submachine gun reached the bottom of the magazine, Wendi then pivoted to put every ounce of strength and momentum into another swing of her hammer.

The flaming weapon connected with the Knight’s chest and, already damaged, the chitin breastplate shattered under the force of the blow. Before Wendi could follow up with a mortal blow, the wounded Knight’s compatriot intervened with a powerful, sweeping slash into the Titan’s hip. A flash of energy announced the complete failure of Wendi’s energy shields as they were unable to repel the powerful blow. Fortunately, the shields were able to absorb enough of the force so that her heavy armor was able to withstand the attack. The Sunbreaker staggered sideways, turning with the fiery hammer still clutched in her fist.

The fourth Knight pressed the attack and Wendi finally took her first retreating action of the engagement, jumping backwards to narrowly avoid a second slash. As the blade passed through the air in front of her, the Titan hurled her hammer at the assaulting Knight. Since the attack launched right as she was dodging the Hive sword, both her aim and her balance were off. The weapon struck the warrior in the shoulder, but it didn’t have enough strength behind the throw to do much harm. Only through the hammer’s inherent Solar energy surging into the Knight was the attack able to have any effect on the Hive at all.

Seeing the hammer tumbling to the floor, the Hive warrior took a moment to swat at the offending object and sent it skittering across the floor. When the Knight glanced back up to its opponent, Wendi was already charging forward. This time, she clutched her shotgun in her hands.

Attempting to raise its sword in a defensive posture, the Knight found that the heavy weapon was too slow to meet the rushing Guardian’s attack. The blade was only halfway up into ready position when the Baligant belched out its first retort. Wendi immediately racked a fresh shell into the gun’s receiver and fired again. The Knight continued to bring its sword up, this time into an attack position when a third blast issued from the Titan’s shotgun. Just as the Hive warrior was about to bring the blade down in a vicious chop, a fourth blast from Wendi’s shotgun ended her opponent.

The Knight fell backwards; sword clattering to the floor as it slipped from lifeless hands. Wendi wasted no time and immediately turned back to her previous opponent. The third Knight clutched its chest where the armor had been obliterated by the Titan’s hammer. Thick, black blood oozed through its fingers. The ammo tube of the shotgun empty, Wendi swiftly replaced the heavy weapon across her back and retrieved the smaller SMG from her hip. As she advanced, the Human Sunbreaker ejected the empty magazine, replaced it with a fresh one, and pulled back the charging handle. Seeing the Guardian approach, the wounded Knight bellowed a challenge and raised its fists.

Wendi aimed directly for the gaping hole in her opponent’s armor and began firing. The Hive warrior collapsed a moment later. Glancing around, the Titan searched for the final Knight, but quickly found herself surrounded by Acolytes. Most of the soldiers had immediately turned to charge at Halily as she had opened fire on the troopers as soon as they began emerging from the portal, but a few had followed after their commander Knights as they charged toward Wendi. The Sunbreaker didn’t hesitate and waded into the ranks of the surrounding soldiers.

She grunted as Void blasts managed to pierce her armor, but didn’t stop. The first Acolyte she reached was laid low by a powerful straightforward punch. Wendi then turned and lunged for the next nearest opponent, leaping into the air to close the distance as quickly as possible. The creature screamed as it realized that it had become the unkillable thing’s target. With three swift jabs and a vicious uppercut, its body fell lifeless to the stone floor. And so it went with the remaining dozen Acolytes that had the misfortune of going after the woman.

Mike watched the initial exchange between Wendi and the Knights. He considered rushing to her aid as the warriors were formidable and it would be four against one, but realized the uselessness as he witnessed her swiftly dispatch her first opponent. The team leader then turned to Halily to see where she could use support and likewise found that his teammate was holding her own. Her hand cannon rang out clearly with its triple-retort with every trigger pull. Every other burst seemed to kill an Acolyte and the unsavory weapon used paracausal energies from each kill to keep its wielder whole.

“I guess I get to handle the really big guy,” Mike muttered to himself.

The Striker closed his eyes for a moment and felt the immense well of power within himself. All of the Light that had been building up, pooling inside, was ready to be released. Mike smiled and let go.

Arc energy exploded from his core and launched the Titan off of the floor. He could feel the raw, untamed power as it threatened to tear his Exomind body apart even as he hurtled through the air. Arching his back against the strain, Mike was able to control his flight and angled his path toward the advancing Ogre.

The eruption of Light drew the behemoth’s attention before it could decide which Guardian to charge after. Seeing the bright flash of Arc energy seemed to enrage the Ogre, causing it to activate its deadly eye beam. Void power pulsated and slammed into the hurtling Striker Titan. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the Guardian and, a second later, he slammed into the Ogre’s face.

Roaring in agony, the massive Hive creature reeled in pain, but remained upright. Mike fell the couple of meters to land nimbly on his feet. Understanding that his attack, the most powerful ability in his entire arsenal, had not felled the beast, the Striker immediately began running. Retrieving his trusty rifle from the holster across his back, Mike gave silent thanks that the rest of the Hive in the room were apparently engrossed with his teammates.

The stone floor trembled as the great Ogre slammed its heavy fists into the ground just behind the retreating Titan. Mike spun around as he ran, just long enough to summon and hurl his Pulse grenade at the face of the pursuing behemoth. Not wanting to press his luck, the Striker didn’t watch to see if the charge connected with his target; he simply spun back and continued to retreat. However, another bellow of outrage informed him that his grenade had struck.

“A little help here?” Mike called out. There was practically no cover in the room and they needed to eliminate the Ogre before it could tear them all apart with its eye beam attack.

As if in response, an explosion sounded from behind the team leader. Mike glanced over his shoulder just in time to witness a second blast as a ball of fire erupted from the side of the Ogre’s face. Turning toward the direction of the attack, Mike spotted Halily. The Awoken woman was ablaze, wreathed in her own Solar fire as she hurled a third hammer of Light. The missile struck the Ogre in the jaw and exploded in flames, ejecting smaller balls of fire that also burned the massive brute.

The Hive behemoth turned its baleful eye on the Awoken Titan and responded with its beam of Void energy. Mike heard Halily grunt with pain as the Ogre’s power tore into the stalwart Titan, but Halily didn’t relent. She manifested another Solar hammer and hurled it at the beast.

Mike was about to raise his pulse rifle and open fire when a heavy fist slammed into the side of his head. Tumbling to the floor, the Striker had the presence of mind to roll away from his attacker. As he swiftly put his feet beneath himself and rose back up, Mike experienced a flash of irritation. Not with whatever had struck him, but with himself for losing track of opponents on the field. Turning as he stood, Mike found himself squaring up against one of the Knights.

The Hive warrior was unsteady on its feet, already wounded by its tangle with Wendi. However, it still had enough strength to inflict serious damage as evidenced by the ringing in Mike’s head.

“My hammers are done!” Halily cried out from behind the fireteam leader. He then heard the unmistakable sound of a Titan barricade being erected. Halily had summoned her wall of Light to give her cover against the enraged monster. It would not last long.

Mike knew he had to finish off the Knight quickly so that they could focus fire on the Ogre. Balling his fist, the Striker released hold of the last pool of Light within himself. Arc power surged down from his should and gathered into his fist. Mike then leapt forward, punching his charged fist into the damaged chest of his foe. The Knight stumbled backward as it clutched at the hole blasted into its armor, but did not fall. Mike then retrieved his weapon, but before he could fire, a fiery maul slammed into the Hive warrior, casting its broken body to the floor.

Wendi didn’t pause as she stepped over the Knight’s body in her charge toward the Ogre. The massive beast was slowly walking toward Halily as she stood behind her disintegrating barricade. Void energy poured out of the behemoth’s eye as the Ogre sought to eliminate the Guardian. And just as the wall of Light collapsed, Wendi reached her target. Hefting the great sledge in both hands, the Sunbreaker swung the construct of Solar power with all of her strength into the monstrosity’s hip. Mike heard the crunching of bone as his teammate’s attack struck.

Catching itself with both hands, the Ogre was able to brace itself and avoid toppling over. However, Wendi was not finished. She pulled back the heavy maul just so that she could quickly swing it around into an overhead arc that connected with the behemoth’s knee. This time, the Ogre fell. Roaring in pain, the wounded creature flailed wildly even as it began falling forward. A heavy fist slammed into the nearby Titan, crushing her into the floor under the massive weight of the Hive monster.

A second, smaller hammer slammed the Ogre’s elbow as Halily rushed forward. It wasn’t as effective as her most powerful ability, but the attack made the Ogre flinch for a brief moment. Halily continued her charge and was at the Hive’s side an instant later. Scooping up her hurled weapon, Halily immediately began swinging at the monster’s elbow. After only a couple blows, the Ogre recoiled just enough that Wendi was able to scramble back to her feet, burning maul still in her hands. The recovered woman performed one last overhead swing to bring the heavy weapon down into the chest of the falling Ogre. Mike could hear bones breaking again; the great beast’s ribs shattered under the force of the blow.

From behind the last remaining stone pillar in the cavern, the team heard the Wizard’s scream of frustration and outrage. The two Sunbreakers, Wendi and Halily, turned in the direction of the cry to see the Hive invoker float into view. Out of the dozens that had poured through the portals, only a handful of the reinforcing Acolytes remained and they all gathered around the powerful Hive.

“Jeeves, Zenobia,” Mike muttered.

The heavy rocket launcher materialized in the Striker’s waiting hands. He wasted no time in targeting the hovering Wizard. A second later, a slight tone informed the Titan that his weapon had locked on. Mike fired.

As the smoke cleared, Mike surveyed the chamber. Dozens of Hive bodies littered the room; a significantly greater force than he had anticipated. He made a mental note to expect such a trick again if he ever found himself facing a Hive opponent as ancient as this one. Then he began performing mental calculations as he considered the combat prowess of the two Titans he had brought with him.

“Ace wasn’t lying,” Mike commented before turning to regard the mute Wendi. “You really do know how to handle yourself.”

Wendi raised a hand to her chin and then lowered it, palm up, toward Mike.

“You’re welcome,” the fireteam leader replied.

“Handle yourself?” Halily laughed. “This bitch is a Traveler-damned army all by herself! Did you see how she finished that Ogre?”

Wendi began waving her hands, trying to deny the exuberant Halily’s praise. However, the Awoken woman would not let the compliments be denied.

“Oh hell no!” Halily exclaimed. “That was one of the most badass things I have ever seen! That blighting monster was the biggest Hive I have ever seen and you chopped it down like it was a damned tree!”

Mike laughed at the exchange as Wendi stopped trying to wave away the praise and finally signed another thank you to Halily. He then shook his head in bewilderment; what team wouldn’t want someone as capable as Wendi around? Ace was right to recommend her.

“Well, speaking of Ace, I wonder how his investigation is going,” Mike quietly commented.

“However it is going, it can’t be going as awesome as it is here!” Halily hollered as she draped a companionable arm over Wendi’s shoulders. “Come on, girl! We’re gonna go get drinks to celebrate your badassery. Mike’s buying!”

“What? I never said that!”

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Ace was frustrated. He did not enjoy being so thoroughly stumped as every piece of information that they uncovered raised more questions instead of answering any. His inspection of the repaired portal yielded nothing conclusive, even with Mal’s assistance. Turning away from the archway, the Hunter glanced over to where Kaizyn knelt in front of the generator.

“Find anything?” Ace asked.

“Definitely City made,” the Titan answered. “This thing is running off of power cells you could buy from any number of manufacturers back home. There’s even a charging converter for weapons grade battery packs.”

Recalling the energy beam that had killed Dreven, Ace’s curiosity was piqued. He hurried to join Kaizyn, asking as he went, “Battery packs for a trace rifle?”

“Looks like a setup for a few different kinds,” the Titan replied. “Linear. Standard fusion. Yeah, even trace.”

Kaizyn’s Ghost, Twilin, turned to the approaching Hunter and added, “Looks like the power cells for the generator are rechargeable. Whoever is staying here has been swapping out fresh cells and recharging spent ones at a solar collector somewhere on the surface.”

“Quite the setup,” Ace commented as he inspected the charging station.

The box-like device was set on the stone floor next to the large generator. The top had a couple spaces for each type of weapon and the Hunter noticed that a linear fusion rifle battery was charging in one of the slots. Ace stopped himself from reaching for the slim cartridge, despite his overwhelming curiosity. There was no telling if the device was a booby trap like the trip wires he had found in the tunnels.

“What do you think?” Kaizyn asked quietly.

Ace considered for a moment before replying, “Maybe we can find out who bought this stuff when we get back to the City. Ghosts?”

“Serial numbers recorded,” both Mal and Twilin intoned in unison.

Just then, Kaijae shouted from the back of the room, “Guys! I found something!”

Kaizyn and Ace both hurried around the central dais to find Kaijae standing in front of a pair of desks. One was obviously put to use as a workbench as it had tools and weapon components scattered across its surface. The Hunter recognized an emptied fusion rifle chassis; all of its parts had been removed to leave only a shell behind. However, it was the second table that had the Titan most excited.

Kaijae held a thin stack of papers and was leafing through the sheets. He glanced up at the approaching teammates and asked, “That Warlock that got killed, his name was Dreven, right?”

“Yeah,” Ace nodded.

“His name is listed here with a couple others,” Kaijae replied, thrusting the stack of sheets toward the Hunter.

Ace accepted the pile and began flipping through the papers. He immediately recognized it as a mission debrief file. Tiny lettering was scrawled around the edges as small portions were circled or marked with lines. Then the Hunter reached a nearly blank page with three names scrawled down the center.

“Marcer, Dreven, and Astrid?” he read aloud. “Who are these other two?”

“Clues, that’s who,” Kaijae quickly replied.

Kaizyn had been going through the drawers while Ace perused the file. After a few seconds, she pulled out a thin rectangle; an identification card. She promptly turned to the others and exclaimed, “We have another clue!”

Ace leaned close so that he could read the small card that Kaizyn presented. It was a City-made identification badge issued to every civilian living there. It showed a smiling young Human woman next to all the standard information that the City required.

“Belle Michelle Latora,” Ace mumbled. “Another name to investigate,” he then sighed.

“Better than nothing, man,” Kaijae shrugged. “At least we have some kind of lead to chase after.”

“And we confirmed that Dôl Arnách is still dead,” Kaizyn commented cheerily.

“Yeah,” Kaijae agreed with a laugh. “Can you imagine how much trouble it would be if the Hive figured out another way to cheat death? That Ascendant Plane thing of theirs is bad enough.”

“Throne World, love,” Kaizyn corrected. “And we don’t have much room to talk. That would be the pot insulting the kettle.”

“They have their Throne thing and we have our Ghosts. If they had another thing, that would stop being fair,” Kaijae argued.

Ace ignored the exchange as he continued to flip through the file, hoping that one of the details would stand out to him. However, it looked like a standard mission report. There was nothing particularly special about the strike that the team had undertaken; it was a standard assault against an enemy outpost. Something Ace had done hundreds of times. He had completed two such missions with Halily and Mike just last week. Then there was the handful he did with Halily and Samus in just as many weeks before that.

“Mal, do you see anything out of the ordinary about this mission report?” Ace asked.

“Nothing,” Mal replied. “Whoever pulled this file was really only interested in the Guardians participating in the strike. None of the enemy data has been highlighted or marked up in any way.”

“We should take this to Ikora,” Kaizyn commented.

“You’re right,” Ace agreed. “Mal will send an update while we head back to the City and check out these names.”

“Right now?” Kaijae asked. Ace glanced up sharply from the papers he clutched in his hands. The Titan shrugged before continuing, “We’ve been out here for a few hours. I don’t mind longer missions, but if we’re gonna head back, I’d like to grab a bite to eat and take a break.”

“It is getting late,” Kaizyn admitted. “We may want to wait until the morning before we start bothering anyone.”

“It would give me time to track down contact information for all of the names we’ve found,” Mal commented.

“All right. Let’s meet back up at my place first thing tomorrow. We’ll do breakfast and then get started,” Ace suggested.

“If you’re gonna feed me, I am not going to say no,” Kaijae chuckled.

Ace immediately looked to Kaizyn and asked, “Is that how you managed to land him?”

Kaizyn feigned a heavy sigh before answering, “I fed him one time and now he simply follows me everywhere.”

Twilin then drifted into the space between the three Guardians and commented, “We really should return everything to order before we leave.”

“Great idea. Thank you,” Kaizyn replied. “Let’s try not to tip off our target that their hideout has been discovered.”

“I have scanned the documents and can reproduce them if you need,” Mal added.

Ace handed the file to Kaijae so that the Titan could return the stack to wherever he had found it. Zuko directed the Guardian on reordering the papers so that they were in the order that the team had discovered them. Kaizyn also adjusted a couple of the tools that she had inspected so that they, too, were in their original positions. Once the Ghosts were satisfied that the Guardians had returned everything to as they had found it, the team departed.

“Think that Ikelos weapon you claimed will be noticed?” Kaizyn asked as they exited the chamber.

Kaijae snorted before replying, “Not likely. If our rogue Lightbearer knew this was up there, there’s no way in hell that they would have left it to rot. They probably haven’t even done a thorough check of those rooms.”

Ace stopped abruptly at the Titan’s comment before turning to regard his friend.

“What’s wrong?” Kaizyn whispered as she readied her rifle. Kaijae had also swiftly drawn his heavy revolver and adopted a defensive stance.

“Nothing,” Ace assured. As his friends relaxed, he continued, “Jae just made a really good point. Our killer really hasn’t been through those rooms. Mal? Do we have a beacon handy?”

“Yes,” the Ghost answered. “What do you have in mind?”

“Get it ready. We’re going to stash it in one of the bunks upstairs,” Ace explained. “If we need to come back, we won’t need to trek all the way through the subway again.”

“Now that is a great idea,” Kaijae replied.

“Agreed. It will also make transmatting out of here much easier,” Zuko commented.

The team quickly made their way back to the Hive barracks. As they stepped into the cavernous chamber, Mal pulled the transmat beacon from its extra-dimensional storage into the Hunter’s hand. With a series of leaps from one ledge to another, Ace swiftly climbed to the topmost balcony and slipped into the nearest bunk. A meager bed with rags atop sat against the wall on his right while a low table rested on the left. The room itself wasn’t very large, but it could easily accommodate a handful of Guardians standing. Ace nodded to himself and stashed the slender rod under the moth-ridden bedding. A cursory inspection would show nothing out of the ordinary and the bunk he chose was as far away from the portal chamber as he could possibly manage while still being within the tunnel complex.

“Beacon activated and signal ID has been recorded,” Mal intoned. “We can transmat out of here now.”

Ace turned about and waved a thumbs up to his teammates waiting below before looking back to Mal and replying, “Let’s go.”

——————

A couple hours later, Ace passed through the doors of Saldo’s restaurant. It was early evening, so most of the tables were occupied. The smell of fresh bread mingled with garlic and other spices as a server briskly walked past the Hunter to deliver a tray of plates. Saldo, standing at the host station, recognized the Guardian and smiled brightly.

“Ace! So good to see you my friend!” the restaurateur greeted.

The rotund Human man was only a couple inches shorter than the Exo Hunter, but his exuberant attitude filled any space he was in. The man wore a simple black outfit with a white neck tie. The tiny accoutrement on such a large frame almost made the man seem like a parody. However, Saldo’s smile was genuine as he stepped around the small host’s station to grasp Ace’s hand and gave a friendly, vigorous shake.

“Nice to see you, too,” the Hunter replied warmly. “Did Mischa kick you out of the kitchen tonight?”

Saldo laughed heartily as he replied, “She is welcome to the headache of the kitchen if she thinks she is a better chef! However, no, I am up front today because Barbara’s little boy decided to come early! She is in the hospital with the baby and her husband now.”

“That’s great!” Ace grinned. “If you guys are doing anything special for her, add another hundred Glimmer to my tab. I would be more than happy to donate to the cause.”

“I will do that,” Saldo nodded. “We’ll add a couple more outfits to the care package.”

“Happy to help. You all take such good care of me whenever I come in.”

“Yes, you must be hungry. We haven’t seen you in a couple weeks! Oh!” Saldo suddenly looked aghast, as if he had just remembered something terribly important. “Your lady friend is already here! Let me take you to your table!”

Before Ace could reply, Saldo snatched up a menu and spun about. The Hunter followed him into the restaurant proper. The buzz of dozens of quiet conversations filled the air as a handful of servers moved about the room. Saldo briskly walked through the center of it all, smiling at every patron that glanced his way. At the far end of the dining area, Ace spotted Halily sitting at a small table by a window.

The Titan had left her heavy armor behind and wore a simple black blouse and jacket. Glancing down, below the table, Ace noted the holster on the Titan’s hip and nodded. He, too, had left his armor in his apartment, but still carried a hand cannon with him. The Red War had taught them all to always be prepared.

Kaci danced across the tabletop, eliciting a smile from the Guardian. The Awoken woman’s hair shone with an amethyst luster in the soft light of the restaurant as it framed her oval face. Halily glanced up at Saldo’s approach and, noticing Ace behind the host, the slight smile became a grin. Her glowing eyes sparkled as she reached up to push a wayward lock of hair out of her face. Kaci chirped cheerily before folding away into immaterial.

“Miss Halily,” Saldo greeted, turning to gesture toward Ace.

Halily quickly pushed her chair back as she hopped to her feet and then stepped around to embrace the Hunter. Ace accepted the friendly hug with a smile before the two Guardians sat down. Saldo left the menu before departing, returning to the front of the restaurant.

“How did it go out there?” she asked excitedly.

Ace sighed and shook his head, “It didn’t really go anywhere.”

The Awoken woman’s eyebrow popped up as he face took on a quizzical expression. “Then why are you back in the City?”

“We found a couple leads and are chasing them down,” Ace answered. “But we don’t really know anything conclusive yet.”

“I gotta admit, I’m surprised that you three are on such an assignment. Isn’t this something the Praxics should handle?”

The Hunter shrugged, “They probably are investigating as well. We sent over what we found to Ikora, but who knows what kind of resources she has available right now. The Tangled Shore is a powder keg that’s an inch away from blowing and the Dreaming City is still under siege.”

“Yeah. It seems like there’s always a call to action of some kind waiting for a Guardian to take on,” Halily agreed.

“Well, I am pleased to say that one of those ‘calls to action’ will not be to hunt down Deo’s killer. That Wizard is still dead.”

“That’s good to know. I can only imagine how it must have felt to suddenly be left wondering if your friend’s killer managed to escape.”

Ace nodded and then replied, “Hopefully we can get some just for Dreven’s friends.” The Exo then leaned back in his seat as his voice took on a lighter timbre, “How did your day go? I hear that Mike decided to take Wendi out to see what kind of training she still needed.”

“Oryx’s taint, Ace. You didn’t tell me that she was a monster,” Halily exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. “We were sent to clear a Hive den and that girl would’ve done it all by herself if Mike and I hadn’t been there to steal some of her kills.”

As the server approached, Ace laughed as he replied, “I tried to tell Mike that. He didn’t believe me.”

The rest of the evening progressed with the same jovial energy. Ace drank a tall glass of stout while Halily described the events of her mission; lauding their new friend’s prowess. Then the two ate a delicious meal as Ace recounted funny stories between bites. The Exo was pretty certain that he had already told a couple before during previous visits, but the Awoken woman laughed at every punch line he delivered. As the plates were taken away, Ace instructed the server to bring him the bill.

“Wait,” Halily protested. “I’m the one who invited you to join me.”

“Yes, but what else am I going to do with my Glimmer? I’m an Exo. I don’t have the same grocery bill or other expenses as you,” Ace explained as he pulled out his datapad.

“That may be, but it doesn’t mean that you should be treated any differently,” Halily countered.

Ace shrugged, “Well, I really needed this. So let me handle the bill as way of saying thanks.”

Raising her hands to signal defeat, Halily replied, “Okay. I’ll let you pay. Mal said that you guys had a rough time and would appreciate an evening out.”

With a quick couple of taps on the datapad, Ace authorized the transfer of Glimmer to pay for the meal, along with the extra hundred for the donation. Then he glanced up with a confused look on his face, “Mal told you?”

“Yeah. I sent a message when we got back to the City. Mal messaged back that you three had a rough time and suggested a meal with friends.”

Mal compiled into the air a few inches above the table and commented, “You don’t eat when you have a botched mission.”

“I’m an Exo. I don’t actually need to eat,” Ace laughed.

“Yes, but you still manage to somehow get grouchy when you don’t,” the Ghost countered.

“Well, I’m glad that he suggested it,” Halily beamed. “It’s always nice to see you, Ace.”

“Likewise,” the Hunter replied. “When this is done, we can start teaming up again.”

“Yeah, I understand why you wanted the Kais along on this one.” Halily then raised her hands and balled them into fists, “But if you need another pair of hands to punch things, let me know!”

“I will definitely call you,” Ace grinned.

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

Music filled the small kitchen as Ace stood at stove with a spatula in one hand. The Exo’s head bobbed appreciatively with the beat and he hummed along with the words. Not for the first time, Ace was thoroughly pleased that the Dreg, Kasrys, had shared her stash of music with him. As he eased the oven’s door open just a crack to check its contents, the smell of freshly baked bread hit his nasal receptors. The Exo was suddenly even more grateful for the recipes that Kasrys had provided.

Noting that the rolls he had baking were still a few minutes away from being done, Ace shut the oven and returned his attention to the stove. A skillet and a kettle sat atop a pair of hot burners. In the pan sat several sausages cooking on its surface. The patties sizzled and popped in their own grease and the Exo deftly used the spatula to flip each one over, revealing a brown crust on the cooked side. The combined smells of the sausage and baking bread brought a robotic grin to his metallic face.

Ace then turned from the stove to a small basket of apples. Swapping the spatula for a sharp kitchen knife, he swiftly cut up a couple of the sweet fruits into thin slices that he set along one side of the each of the three plates that sat waiting on the countertop. Once the apples were plated, the Exo grabbed a small bottle from the spice rack and dusted them with cinnamon before returning to the stove.

A knock at the door cut through the music and made Ace glance up from the food. He looked over to where Mal hovered above the sink and commented, “That must be the Kais. Let them in.”

The Ghost’s eye quickly flashed a couple colors and Ace then heard the front door unlock. The portal swung open and his teammates stepped through.

Kaizyn was the first one in and she immediately exclaimed, “Ace! This smells delicious!”

Ace grinned at the compliment as he motioned for his friends to sit at the dining table. The dining area was just an extension of the kitchen, so the Titans could still see the breakfast cooking and converse with the Hunter. Kaizyn sat down while Kaijae ignored the instruction, instead strolling into the kitchen proper and glancing over Ace’s shoulder. The Awoken man gave an approving grunt as he noted the sausages sizzling in the pan.

“If you’re gonna be a nuisance, make yourself useful and grab the jam from the fridge,” the Exo laughed. “Then grab the kettle and make some coffee for your wife.”

As Kaijae moved to do as directed, Ace opened the oven and pulled out the rolls. Setting the pan aside to cool, he then pulled the skillet off the stove and began moving the patties to the waiting plates; a pair for each Guardian. Setting the skillet into the sink, Ace then moved the fresh bread to the plates to complete the meal. Kaijae had just sat down with a pair of mugs when Ace served his friends their breakfast.

Kaizyn’s eyes lit up as she exclaimed, “Ace! Is this real pork?”

The Exo grinned as he settled into a chair and replied, “Yeah. I like to splurge a bit on the non-synth stuff when I’m eating with friends.”

It was true. As with a lot of people, he could notice a difference between synthetic foods and the real thing. However, he always felt a little guilty eating natural food because his Exomind body didn’t actually need it. So Ace only ever bought non-synth food items when he was sharing a meal with someone. It made such events even more memorable for the Exo. And expensive.

“You didn’t have spend that kind of Glimmer on our account!” Kaizyn argued.

Kaijae snorted, “Hush. If the man wants to feed us real food, let him.”

Kaizyn shook her head, but didn’t offer any retort. Instead, she picked up her fork and took a small bite of sausage. Ace grinned as the Awoken woman closed her eyes and savored the taste. The Exo then grabbed his own utensils and dug into his own meal.

After a few bites, Kaijae paused to comment, “The real thing is so good. How often do you treat yourself like this?”

Ace shrugged, “Not often. I went to Saldo’s last night with Halily. He offers real chicken on his menu. Then there was a couple weeks ago when she invited me to the new brew pub on the other end of the City. That place has real beef and they have a couple beers that will blow your mind.”

The Hunter paused as he noticed Kaizyn eyeing him with a knowing smirk. Before Ace could comment, Kaijae asked, “New brewery? Where is it?”

The team spent the rest of the morning discussing favorite restaurants and eateries as they finished breakfast. Ace beamed with delight as his two friends complimented the rolls and he gave Kaizyn details for the market vendor that made the multi-berry jam. The two Kais also got into a mock spat as Kaijae snuck an apple slice from Kaizyn’s plate; an exchange that brought a warm smile to the Exo’s face.

As the three Guardians finished their plates, the Ghosts all materialized above the table. Mal turned off the music, signaling an end to the breakfast and the start of the day’s business. Twilin drifted to the center of the table and cast a hologram of the power transformer onto the surface.

Zuko bobbed into the air above the other Ghost and stated, “We were able to get more information regarding the power supply. It is a portable transformer generally used in construction zones to power equipment. The power transformer was purchased from a refurbisher near the Botza district. No identification records were saved.”

Ace groaned. Another waste of time.

“Construction?” Kaizyn asked. “How much power can such a thing put out?”

“Enough to power lighting and a fusion rifle battery charger,” Kaijae replied dryly.

“The batteries inside the transformer are capable of maintaining a standard apartment building for several hours,” Mal commented. “A work zone utilizing a couple dozen machines like air compressors and plasma welders would be able to operate for a full week without break.”

“That’s a lot of juice,” Kaijae chuckled.

Ace glanced sharply back to the hologram, “Wait. How big are the batteries inside that thing?”

“The transformer is a little more than one cubic meter in size with eighty percent of this being batteries,” Mal explained. “There are six individual batteries that can each be pulled for whatever reason.”

“Okay. Our rogue Lightbearer has a lot of electricity at her disposal,” Kaizyn mused.

“She can hole up down there for a long time. The equipment she has doesn’t require much power at all,” Kaijae commented.

Twilin’s holographic projection suddenly changed from the cubic transformer to a pair of images; two Guardians. An Awoken Male captioned “Marcer” and a Human Female with “Astrid”. Ace stood up and moved to stand behind the Kais so that he could get a better look at the display. Below the names was listed Vanguard identification information. Marcer was a Hunter while Astrid was a Titan. Ace’s eyes continued scrolling until he realized-

“Wait. Did you three hack the Vanguard archives to get these holos?” the Exo exclaimed.

Zuko’s shell whirled as the Ghost replied, “Neither of the Guardians have been assigned VIP designation, so the levels of security were minimal.”

Kaijae let his head fall to the table as he groaned, “That’s definitely gonna get us put on some kind of list, isn’t it?”

“VIP designation?” Kaizyn asked, ignoring her husband’s comment.

“Yes. Any entity or personage who has demonstrated enough power to threaten the system or made a significant impact on the future of the City has been assigned VIP designation,” Twilin burbled.

Kaizyn paused to consider for a moment. “So… enemies like Ghaul or Oryx? Or that Guardian who managed to kill them?”

“Exactly,” Zuko answered. “VIP number 2014 is an excellent example.”

“We are definitely on a list now,” Kaijae continued to groan.

“2014, eh? What’s my VIP number?” Ace grinned.

“You have not been assigned one,” Mal immediately replied.

The smile left the Hunter’s face.

“Buddy, you’re about to get one as soon as the Commander finds out what our Ghosts have just done,” Kaijae sighed as he sat back up.

“Quit whining,” Kaizyn rolled her eyes before looking back to the hologram. She glanced up to the Ghosts and asked, “Where are they now?”

“Astrid’s last reported activity was participating in the Crucible just yesterday,” Mal replied.

“Marcer, however…” Zuko began before pausing for a long moment. “Marcer was last reported leaving on a Strike mission two weeks ago and has not returned. He is missing in action and presumed dead. His team faced heavy Vex forces and got separated in the middle of a pitched battle.”

The date of disappearance flashed beneath Marcer’s name.

All three Guardians immediately dropped all sign of levity. Ace let his gaze drift over to focus on the holographic image of the man. Marcer had a shrewd look in his eyes and an easy smile. He looked like a Guardian that could be counted on to make the right call in the middle of a fight and would always be the one to buy the first round of drinks after a successful mission.

“This was eleven days before Dreven was killed,” Kaizyn murmured.

“Astrid is still alive,” Kaijae commented, a slight bit of hopefulness coloring his tone.

“We’d better find her and make sure she stays that way,” Ace quietly stated.

Kaizyn nodded, but looked back to the Ghosts and asked, “What about that ID card we found?”

Twilin’s projection changed again. The hologram of the two Guardians became that of a Human woman. She looked fairly young, perhaps in her early twenties, with long, brunette hair pulled to one side that cascaded like a wave over her shoulder. Her thin lips were also pulled to one side as she wore a half smile on her thin face.

“Belle Michelle Latora was killed during the Cabal invasion,” Zuko commented. “She was reported killed during the initial assault, protecting her sister so that she could escape.”

“She died in the City?” Ace asked.

“Yes,” Mal answered.

“Then the only person still alive from our list of names is Astrid,” Kaijae commented.

“Yeah. Let’s find her before an accident does,” Ace replied.

“We have the addresses of the residences for Marcer, Astrid, and the surviving family of Belle,” Twilin informed the team.

“When this is over, we need to have a conversation about invasion of privacy,” Ace pointed an accusing finger at the Ghosts.

The two Titans nodded with emphatic agreement as they stood up. All three Ghosts looked down in contrite embarrassment before decompiling. Ace pulled out his datapad and tapped the interface. An address appeared in the display.

“Let’s hope Astrid is home and not participating in a patrol somewhere,” the Hunter muttered.

——————

Half an hour later, the team stood in front of an apartment building near the edge of the Anchor District. They paused for a moment to consider the structure. It was towering building, climbing several stories up in an attempt to touch the sky above. Its neighbors were almost as tall, all working together to generate ample housing for the citizens of the part of the City.

Ace glanced to his friends and commented, “I really hope the elevator is in order.”

The Kais chuckled at the joke for a brief moment before all three entered the building. To the team’s delight, Ace’s joke was not prophetic; there was a pair of functional elevators in the lobby. The Guardians stepped inside and took the lift up the the sixth floor. A couple minutes later, Kaizyn knocked at the indicated door. Ace scanned up and down the empty hallway, past the dozen of closed doors as he checked for any sign of danger.

After a moment, the apartment door swung inward as a Human woman open it. Her face matched the holo display from the Ghosts. She wore a light shirt with an “Omolon” foundry emblazoned across the front and a simple pair of pants. The woman quickly glanced at all three of the Guardians, confusion plain to see in her expression.

“Can I help you?” Astrid asked.

“Yes,” Kaizyn answered. “Are you Astrid?”

“Is this about Marcer’s disappearance? Are they finally looking into it?” Astrid began anxiously. “I already told Ikora’s people that I was running drills in the Crucible when he took off with those blueberries.”

Kaijae raised a hand, cutting off the excited woman’s questions before replying, “We are looking into a couple things. Do you mind if we come in and talk about it?”

Astrid’s face flushed with embarrassment, “Of course! Of course!” The woman stepped aside and beckoned for the team to enter.

Ace followed the Kais into the apartment. It was a bit larger than his own; he spotted three doorways off of the main living area as well as a full sized kitchen. The living room sported a pair of chocolate brown couches set facing each other with a mahogany-colored coffee table between. A large display screen was mounted to the far wall, quietly playing a Crucible match broadcast.

Astrid sat on one of the couches while the Kais sat on the other. Not wanting to crowd anyone, Ace simply leaned against the back of the couch.

As he settled into his seat, Kaijae murmured, “Nice place you have. Would love to know where you found this couch.”

Astrid smiled and shrugged, “Omolon pays their testers and Crucible representatives pretty well. I do well in the arena and they take care of me.”

“Do you spend a lot of your time running in the Crucible?” Kaijae asked.

“A bit,” Astrid replied nervously. “I do my part for the Vanguard, though. I probably run a couple missions or patrols a month with the guys.”

“The guys?” Kaizyn prompted. “Do you mean Marcer and Dreven?”

“Yeah,” Astrid nodded her head. “Marcer is real gung ho about showing Kinderguardians the ropes whenever Dreven or I are busy.”

“When was the last time you saw them?” Kaijae asked.

“Marcer and Dreven? I already told the Praxics that I last heard from Marcer two days before he left for Mars,” the woman answered. “Dreven was four or five days ago. I asked him if he’d heard from Marcer.”

“Astrid,” Ace began softly, “Dreven was killed two days ago. We were ambushed and he was targeted. It was a final death.”

Astrid’s mouth fell open slightly as she fell back into her seat, stunned.

“I am really sorry to be the one to tell you this,” Ace continued. “We believe that Dreven’s death and Marcer’s disappearance are related. We also believe that you are in danger.”

The woman’s eyes widened with shock and she began stammering, too many questions tried to pour out of her mouth all at once. The team patiently waited for Astrid to gather her thoughts and calm enough to start speaking coherently. Finally, the woman was able to ask a single question.

“Why?”

“We don’t know,” Ace answered. “That’s what we are trying to figure out in hopes that it will lead to their killer.”

“Who was it? The Vex? Marcer was always trying to hack into their networks and figure out how to win more decisive victories against them,” Astrid began to ramble.

Ace shook his head.

“It was a rogue Lightbearer,” Kaizyn stated quietly.

The Human woman was stunned to silence for a long minute. Her eyes searched each of the team’s face, begging for answers to the question she couldn’t voice. When she finally tried to speak, her throat choked up on her. Ace and the Kais respectfully waited.

After a few minutes, Astrid found her voice again. She stared down at her hands in her lap as she commented, “Marcer was so funny, everyone liked him. Kinderguardians fresh out of the grave always appreciated his guidance. Dreven was a bit of an ass, but never to the point that anyone would want to kill him! Why would anyone do this?”

“Whoever it is was after them specifically,” Ace began. “The killer said something about Dreven getting in her way before she killed him. I believe Marcer would have been targeted for the very same reason. Can you think of anything at all?”

“It would have been all three of you,” Kaizyn added. “Your name came up with theirs in our investigation.”

Astrid shook her head in disbelief, “We have never done anything that would get us targeted. We don’t bounty snipe from other Guardians. We don’t troll patrols. None of that stuff.”

“No altercations with any other Guardians at all?” Kaijae asked gently. “Maybe drink too much and get into a bit of a bar fight?”

Astrid continued to shake her head, “No. We never do that kind of thing. Hell, we don’t really hang out a whole lot outside of Vanguard operations. We go into the City together just to-“

The woman suddenly stopped talking as she glanced up to the Awoken Titan. Her eyes widened as a memory struck her like a physical blow.

“We went out to check out a new Sparrow for Marcer when we witnessed an attack,” Astrid whispered. “A Guardian was roughing up a couple of Keepers. We stopped her and she took off after screaming at us for a couple minutes. She was unhinged, but didn’t try anything. She just left.”

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Ace stood up straight with rapt attention as Astrid relayed the full story. Her team had come across a Hunter beating up a pair of Keepers in a back alley. They immediately intervened and restrained the woman. Marcer had offered to render first aid or transport the victims to a medical center, but the Keepers refused. Dreven had physically tackled the assaulting Guardian and Astrid had put her into an arm lock to incapacitate her. Once the Keepers ran off, the team let the Hunter go.

The rogue Lightbearer screamed at the team for allowing the Keepers to escape. Marcer ignored the woman’s tirade and defended the victims’ freedom of belief and speech. Astrid admitted to understanding the offending Hunter’s frustrations with the existence of a group like the Keep Earth Pure Society, but she agreed with Marcer. After all, the rogue’s actions would only serve to prove the misguided Keepers correct.

Marcer had tried to win over the Hunter, but his words fell on seemingly deaf ears. Dreven stopped their friend from going after her when the rogue Lightbearer ran off.

“I thought she had essentially ‘shut down’ and started ignoring us, but apparently she paid attention enough to catch our names,” Astrid commented bitterly.

“How long ago did this happen?” Kaizyn asked softly.

“More than a month, maybe two,” Astrid answered. “Long ago enough that the guys and I had managed a couple Vanguard deployments together before Marcer disappeared.”

“Can you think of anyone else that might target your friends?” Kaijae pressed.

“Not at all!” Astrid protested.

“Unhinged and screaming at them for stopping her from assaulting someone? Sounds a lot like what we’re looking for,” Ace murmured.

“And a Hunter,” Kaizyn reminded. “The woman who shot Dreven was able to Shadestep. Isn’t that right, Ace?”

“She went invis when she ran away from us,” Astrid exclaimed.

“Okay, we have our suspect,” Kaijae replied. “No idea who she is, though.”

“What about the two she assaulted?” Kaizyn asked. “Did she attack them for a particular reason?”

Astrid shrugged and shook her head, “She didn’t say anything about the two men except that they were Keepers. She just kept screaming about how Keepers were scum and needed to be eliminated.”

“Can’t say I disagree with the first part,” Kaijae muttered.

“Right? But still, we can’t condone someone attacking them like this,” Ace commented.

“That’s what I said, when Marcer was trying to talk some sense into her,” Astrid whispered.

Realizing that there was nothing left to learn here, Ace raised his hand to his mouth and approximated a slight cough. The Exomind did not have a throat to clear, but it was an instinctive action. The Hunter then stated, “You’re not safe here. Your name was on a list and, if we were able to find you…”

The implication was left hanging, but it did not require much imagination to reach the appropriate conclusion. The Human Titan glanced around her apartment, as if worried that she would be ambushed that very moment. Then panic began to settle over the woman and she began to stammer, “Where would I? My only real friends are… I don’t have…”

Ace quickly stepped around the coffee table and knelt down to place a comforting hand on the shaken woman’s shoulder. When her eyes locked with his, the Exo calmly stated, “Don’t worry. We’ll help you figure something out.”

“Don’t worry? This lunatic is killing Guardians somehow and is after me!” Astrid exclaimed. “How is this even possible? We’re Guardians! Why didn’t their Ghosts bring them back?”

Ace glanced over to Kaizyn and motioned for her to come over, “I have an idea. I need to make a call.”

Kaizyn moved to sit on the couch next to the distraught Astrid. The Awoken woman offered comforting reassurances in a calm voice. Meanwhile, Ace got up and strode to a hallway branching off the living room. As he walked, the Hunter held out his hand and summoned Mal. The Ghost unfolded into the space above his hand and wordlessly looked up into its Gaurdian’s face, waiting for instruction.

“Get me in touch with Samus,” Ace commanded.

The Hunter’s helmet materialized around his head while Mal’s eye shimmered a kaleidoscope of colors. Ace turned and leaned his back against the wall, waiting for a connection to his friend to be established. Assuming that a connection could be established.

Just as Ace was beginning to worry that Samus was unavailable, his friend’s voice suddenly filled the commlink, “Ace! What a surprise! Is everything all right?”

Ace approximated a steadying breath before answering, “Not really, but what else is new, eh? Listen, I need to use the hideout for a while. Will that be a problem?”

“Of course not,” Samus replied. “Feel free.”

“Thanks. I just didn’t want it to be surprise to you if you decided to use it yourself,” Ace explained. “I have someone here that needs a safe place to stay for a while.”

“Are you smuggling another Eliksni off-planet?” Samus asked, half-jokingly.

“Not exactly,” the Exo answered. “I’ll tell you the whole story the next time we meet up.”

“Sounds good. Until then!”

The commlink went silent as it was terminated from the other end. Ace smiled and motioned for Mal to remove his helmet. Turning back toward the living area, he called out, “Okay. Problem solved.” Ace then paused to look around the furnished apartment. He stepped into the room and approached Astrid. Looking down, he commented, “I recommend you pack a few things. The hideout isn’t the most comfortable place, but it’s safe.”

Astrid blinked away the tears that had been forming in her eyes. Standing up, she immediately summoned her own Ghost and commanded, “Get our things.”

The spherically-shelled Ghost nodded. A moment later, Astrid’s armor began materializing around the Titan. Gleaming metal plates covered her plain clothes and an ornate helmet formed around her head. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ace couldn’t help but be a little impressed with the elaborate decoration that detailed the Titan’s armor.

Ace wasn’t the only one dazzled. Kaijae stood up and commented, “Wow. That’s a nice set of armor.”

Astrid shrugged and Ace could hear the tentative smile in her voice, “Being sponsored by a foundry does have its perks.”

Kaizyn gave a sympathetic smile and replied, “Hopefully we find this killer quickly. Until then, it’s not safe for you to participate in the Crucible.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Astrid nodded. “I’ll keep my head down. Thank you so much for doing all this. Especially for someone you don’t even know like me.”

Ace waved his hand, dismissing the compliment, “We are all Guardians of the Last City. We need to look out for one another.” The Hunter then looked to Mal and instructed, “Give her the transmat beacon ID for the hideout.”

“Already done,” the Ghost chirped with a cheerful whirl of its shell.

Looking back to the departing Titan, Ace explained, “The hideout is a reclaimed Eliksni base in the European Dead Zone. We have been maintaining it ever since the Red War, but only handful of people know about it.”

Astrid looked to her Ghost who nodded to her, confirming that it had the information. The Titan then took a moment to look in the face of the three Guardians before replying, “Thanks again. Be careful out there.”

The team said their farewells and departed. As the front door closed behind him, Ace heard the faint sound of a transmat. He looked to his friends and asked, “Now that that is taken care of, what next?”

Kaijae shrugged, “We can look into assaults on Keepers or should we see why that girl’s ID badge was in the Hive base?”

“Why not both?” Kaizyn offered. “Our Ghosts can search public records while we go talk to the girl’s family. What was her name?”

Twilin compiled into the air by the Awoken woman’s shoulder and answered, “Belle Michelle Latora.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ace replied. “I’m curious about how Belle’s badge found its way out there. Just as long as the Ghosts stick to public records.”

Twilin looked down to the floor in embarrassment. “Understood.”

“If you three determine that you need access to more information, let us know and we will request it,” Ace continued. “I’m sure that Ikora will grant it. Traveler knows that her Praxics have enough problems to deal with these days.”

“Yeah, let’s not make ourselves a Praxic problem,” Kaijae added. “That is not a list I want to be on.”

Neither Ace nor Kaizyn argued that statement as they are their way back to the elevator.

——————

Transmatting into a public area nearby the address of the dead girl, Ace paused a moment to gain his bearings. The three Guardians were standing in the middle of the Riverside District, a wealthier portion of the Last City. Pristine buildings seemingly made of glass towered over the the streets. Each structure sported a wide balcony at every floor as they climbed toward the sky.

“Each floor is an apartment?” Ace gawked.

Kaijae snorted, “Yeah. If you have enough Glimmer or influence, you don’t need to be crammed into one building like so much clothing stuffed into a suitcase.”

Kaizyn offered Ace a sly look and commented, “From what I hear, you could probably afford a place like this.”

The Exo laughed as he replied, “Maybe before I had to buy that new jumpship from Holiday a few months ago.”

“I heard about that from Halily,” Kaizyn grinned.

“Yeah? A lot of that Glimmer was from racing sponsors. Not as much money in Sparrow racing since the war. Foundries are only interested in Crucible champions,” Ace ended with a resigned sigh.

Kaizyn pulled out her datapad and motioned for the two to follow her as she began walking toward their destination. Ace fell into step behind her, continuing to gaze at buildings all around. Other signs of wealth hung from the various balconies in the form of ornate curtains and tapestries. On the lower levels, Ace could see that many of the balconies held almost as much furniture as his whole apartment.

Kaijae dropped into step beside the Hunter. “I could put in a word with Tex Mechanica if you like,” the Awoken Titan commented.

“You’re sponsored?” Ace asked, surprised.

“Hey. I hold my own in the Crucible,” Kaijae replied, sounding offended.

“Yeah, you’re definitely better than me, but that is not saying much,” Ace chuckled.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Kaizyn called from ahead of the other two. “He isn’t making all that much from his matches.”

Kaijae gave a hearty laugh before commenting, “She’s not wrong. But even a little bit helps. Interested?”

Ace honestly considered the idea for a long moment before answering, “No thanks. I like the free time I have now and don’t want to shift away from Vanguard duties.”

“Told you so,” Kaizyn shouted over her shoulder. “Pay up.”

Confused, Ace glanced from one Kai to the other, “What? Were you guys betting?”

Kaizyn laughed, “Jae is trying to put together a team. He figures that he can start winning more matches with a dedicated team and that will help him negotiate a better sponsorship.”

Ace cast a sly look to the Titan at his side. “Jae! Say it isn’t so!” he cried out, feigning outrage. “You’ve decided to sell out? And you’re trying to take me down with you?”

Kaijae smiled and shook his head, “You can’t blame me for trying, can you?” The Titan paused and his smile slowly faded. The Awoken looked up to the sky and quietly continued, “Besides, it’s getting more and more dangerous out there. Hell, we’ve even got Guardians killing Guardians now.”

“That’s not exactly something new,” Ace commented softly.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the team as they continued to follow Kaizyn. Ace could understand Kaijae’s line of reasoning; ever since the Cabal invasion, many Guardians were left shaken by the brush with mortality. Then the death of Cayde-6 reinforced those fears. They had regained the Light and the Traveler from Ghaul, but even that wasn’t enough to prevent someone as powerful as the Hunter Vanguard from getting killed.

Thinking of Cayde’s death reminded Ace of something. He glanced back to Kaijae and asked, “Have you gone on a Fikrul mission yet?”

The Titan’s gaze lowered to the street, “Yeah. A few weeks ago. I probably had to be rezzed over a dozen times.”

No Guardian enjoyed dying, even if they could be revived by their Ghost. It was almost always a painful affair and every resurrection left them shaken. Vanguard missions to hunt and kill the undying Scorn Baron known as Fikrul always had the fewest volunteers as the Scorn were brutal opponents. Their cruelty was only matched by the Hive and Fikrul’s inexplicable immortality added a touch of despair. What was the point of killing a monster that would dissolve into Dark Ether and inevitably rise again a few days later?

“Well, this time, it will be an opponent that won’t be able to slip away like that,” Ace offered, trying to sound encouraging.

“Don’t worry, my friend,” Kaijae replied. “I’m not looking to turn my back on the Vanguard. I just want to have the freedom to be more selective about which missions I deploy on.”

“If we were truly done fighting, we could always join Xander at the Cryptarchy,” Kaizyn giggled.

“I’d rather hunt Fikrul,” Ace and Kaijae replied in unison before laughing.

“That’s better,” Kaizyn commented before stopping and turning around to face the two men. Throwing a thumb over her should, the Awoken woman then stated, “That’s our building.”

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

The apartment building that Kaizyn pointed at was an impressive structure. The back of it overlooked the wide, blue river that gave the district its name. The sidewalk along the frontage sported several tall flower pots with beautiful and fragrant blooms sprouting from within. And the glass windows that comprised the vast majority of the building’s face were spotless and showed signs of frequent, regular cleaning.

“Looks expensive as hell,” Ace whispered

“Yeah, I feel like I’m gonna get in trouble for just looking at this place,” Kaijae replied.

Kaizyn merely rolled her eyes and turned back to the building. The other two moved quickly to catch up as she approached the entrance. Automatic doors silently slid open to invite the fireteam into a wide lobby where a Concierge Frame stood behind a desk and a pair of elevators waited to the side.

The robot looked to the team and greeted, “Welcome, Guardians. How can I be of assistance?”

Kaizyn dismissed the Frame with a wave of her hand and moved toward the elevator. “We already know which floor we need, thank you,” she replied.

Ace and Kaijae followed after the Awoken woman, each one offering an awkward wave as they walked past the Frame. Kaizyn pressed the elevator call button and turned back toward the approaching teammates. Her confident smile had suddenly fallen as she chewed her lip with uncertainty.

“What’s wrong?” Kaijae asked.

The door opened with a melodious chime and Kaizyn answered as the team entered, “I just hope that we aren’t about to upset this family. After all, it really has not been all that long ago since they lost her. And now we come knocking on their door to ask about her?”

“Her badge was in that cave for a reason,” Ace replied softly. “They will probably want to know.”

Kaizyn reached out and tapped the number eight on the elevator’s wall. As the lift began to rise, she shrugged, “Yeah. Or maybe they won’t appreciate having a painful memory brought up. At least, with Astrid, we were warning her so that she could get out of danger’s path.”

Ace nodded with understanding. He could appreciate Kaizyn’s empathy for the girl’s family. It was a perspective that he had not honestly considered. He met the Awoken woman’s eyes and offered, “We will be very delicate with our approach.”

Kaijae suddenly snorted, “How? What could we possibly say that won’t make this weird?”

“We won’t mention that we are hunting after someone who has been killing Guardians,” Ace replied with a halfhearted shrug.

Kaijae opened his mouth to respond, but the elevator chimed, announcing their arrival. The Awoken man close his mouth and the team moved to exit. They stepped through the sliding door into a short hallway that ended with an ornate front door. Kaizyn quickly strode forward and knocked.

“Honestly? I hope no one is home,” Kaijae muttered.

After Kaizyn’s voicing of her thoughts, Ace could not bring himself to fault either of them for their apprehension. The Exo steeled himself in preparation to speak. With his friends feeling reluctant to question the family, he knew that it would fall on him to take the lead. Ace prepared his most polite affectation possible as he heard footsteps sound from the inside the apartment.

A moment later, the door swung in, revealing an older Human woman. Brunette hair, beginning to give way to gray, framed a thin face as it cascaded down to the woman’s shoulders. Dark brown eyes sparkled with vitality, despite the wrinkles at the corners.

“How can I…” the woman began with a wide smile on her face. However, the smile disappeared and her features hardened as soon as the woman realized who was at her door. “What do you want?” she finished.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Mrs. Latora?” Ace asked.

“What do you want?” she repeated.

Flustered for a moment, Ace quickly decided to assume that the response was an affirmative. He began to answer, “It’s about your daughter-”

“What do you want with Celine?” Mrs. Latora snapped.

Ace raised both hands placatingly, “No. I’m sorry, but it is about your late daughter, Belle.”

The woman’s thinly veiled animosity became apparent, “A bunch of corpse jackers; Cyber and Purps no less. You have a lot of gall to come to our house and ask about her.”

“Mom? Who is it?” came a call from within the apartment.

“No one, Celine,” Mrs. Latora called over her shoulder. Then the woman leveled a hard stare at the three Guardians and continued, “They were just taking their filth and leaving.”

Ace was too stunned to formulate a coherent response and, in the silence, the woman firmly sh*t the door in his face. The Exo turned to his friends with bewildered confusion and simply asked, “What?”

Kaizyn was similarly confused as it was plain to see upon her face. However, Kaijae shook his head sadly and muttered, “Keeper.”

It took only a moment for Ace to understand the Awoken man’s comment. Approximating a small sigh, he then replied, “Well, I certainly didn’t consider that as a possible outcome.”

As the team turned about and headed for the elevator, Kaizyn softly commented, “It’s such a nice neighborhood, though.”

Kaijae snorted dismissively, “Yeah. Just because they have plenty of Glimmer doesn’t automatically mean that they’re not flaming idiots.”

As the elevator door opened for the fireteam, Ace whispered sadly, “Even after everything we’ve done for them.”

He felt a comforting hand settle on his shoulder and glanced over to see Kaizyn offer a hopeful smile. “Don’t let the misguided people get you down and focus on the citizens who do appreciate what we do.”

Kaijae tapped the button for the lobby and turned around, commenting, “It’s not like you to be bothered like this. You okay?”

Ace shook his head, more to dismiss the negative thoughts in his mind than in response to the Titan’s question. The Hunter replied, “I’m fine. I was just caught way off guard there. After all, I thought we were going to be…” Ace paused for a long moment as he considered before continuing, “I honestly don’t know what I expected. It certainly wasn’t that. Maybe that’s why I’m so flustered.”

“I don’t blame you,” Kaijae muttered. “I’d love to punch every one of those damned Keepers in their stupid face, but Kaizyn says I’d have to sleep on the couch for a year if I did.”

The elevator chimed to announced their arrival at the bottom floor. Ace stepped out with a chuckle in his vocal processor. He could easily imagine the discussion between the fiery Jae and the reserved Kaizyn. The two certainly were an excellent match for one another as each one’s strengths made up for the other’s deficiencies.

As the Guardians strode across the lobby toward the main doors, the Concierge Frame called out, “Guardians. I have a message for you.”

All three team members shared a confused glance before Kaijae took the lead and walked up to the robot’s desk. “What is it?” the Titan asked.

In answer, the Frame’s audio processor began playing a recording. A young woman’s voice emanated from the robot, “Guardians? You guys were asking about my sister? We can meet at the cafe at the end of the block. Let Greeterbot know if you want to talk.”

“Greeterbot?” Kaijae grinned.

“Indeed,” the Frame replied.

“Please let the young lady know that we would like very much to meet with her,” Kaizyn interrupted. “Which direction is the cafe she mentioned?”

Greeterbot gestured toward the south and stated, “The nearest restaurant matching the young miss’s description is at the southwest corner of this block.”

“Thank you!” Kaizyn smiled.

“Have a wonderful day,” the Frame replied.

The fireteam quickly left the building.

——————

It was half an hour later when the young woman from the recording finally found the team. Ace and the Kais had easily located the small restaurant and selected a table in the back. While they waited, the Exo bought coffee and pastries for the team. As he was finishing the last few crumbs of the sweet bread, the woman approached their table.

“Excuse me, Guardians?” she timidly called from a couple meters away.

Ace glanced up from his plate to see a young woman with light brown hair nervously waving at the team. Immediately, he could see the family resemblance to the older woman from before; from the waves in the girl’s hair to the slenderness of her body and face. The Exo estimated that she was likely in her early twenties. It was then that he could also see the resemblance to the girl pictured in the ID badge that they had found in her hesitant smile and the way her eyebrows arched.

“Celine?” Kaizyn asked, standing up. The girl nodded. “I am Kaizyn. This is Kaijae and that’s Ace.”

The two men each stood up and nodded as they were introduced.

“I am pleased to meet you,” Celine replied, stepping up to the table. All three Guardians motioned for her to take a chair and the four sat down together. “I’m really sorry about my mom,” the girl began.

“You don’t need to apologize for others,” Kaizyn quickly responded, interrupting any further apology or explanation.

Celine nodded before commenting, “Thank you. I just don’t want you all to think that I agree with my parents and their ‘Keep Earth Pure” nonsense.”

“We understand,” Ace smiled, trying to put the girl at ease.

“Good. Well, the reason I invited you guys here is because I heard you asking about my sister,” Celine explained.

“Yes. We are sorry if bringing her up raises painful memories for you and your family,” Ace commented gently.

Celine shrugged, “Not really for me. But you can probably imagine how angry my mom and dad were when it happened.”

Ace shared a puzzled expression with his friends. “Angry? I wouldn’t exactly expect anger if someone you loved died.”

It was Celine’s turn to be confused. “Well, of course they were angry. I mean, they agree with those Keeper people, so when ‘Elle came back as a Guardian-“

“What?” all three Guardians exclaimed.

Celine snapped her mouth shut as her eyes widened in surprise. The girl sank into her seat as if she feared verbal umbrage or even a physical assault. “I’m sorry?” she offered. “I thought that was why you were asking about ‘Elle.”

“Hold up,” Ace commented, raising his hands as if to stop the conversation. “Your sister is a Guardian?”

“Yes,” Celine nodded. “She died during the initial Cabal invasion. A few weeks after the Traveler awoke, a Ghost found her and revived her.”

“That explains how a dead girl’s badge wound up in a cave,” Kaijae muttered.

“I knew it,” Kaizyn whispered.

“We still don’t know why,” Ace shot a quick glance to the side at his friend. Celine watched the exchange with curious eyes. The Exo looked back to her and calmly stated, “This explains a lot of things for us, but it also begs a few more questions. Would you mind giving us a bit more of your time?”

“Of course,” Celine answered. “I’ll be happy to tell you whatever I know.”

Ace approximated a deep breath. He was pleased that they were no longer discussing a dead woman’s belongings, but that did not mean that he could be cavalier with his questioning. He still needed to be tactful with whatever information he divulged. After all, was this Guardian another victim?

“How do you know that your sister is a Guardian now?” he asked.

“She came to us after she was revived,” Celine replied. Her voice then became quiet, almost confessional, “She died protecting me. The Cabal had sent a squad into our block while we were trying to evacuate. Mom and Dad were out, so it was just ‘Elle and I. We were being escorted by a Guardian when the Traveler…” the girl drifted off.

“When Ghaul caged the Traveler,” Kaizyn suggested.

Celine sniffed sadly, nodded, and whispered, “He was so gallant and brave. He got us halfway through the district and then it happened. I never even learned his name.” The three Guardians respectfully remained silent as the young woman collected her thoughts. After a long moment, she continued, “He had pushed us into an alley before it happened, but the Cabal had seen us. We could hear them approaching. That’s when ‘Elle saved me. She shoved me into a stairwell and, before I realized what was happening, took off. She must have grabbed the Guardian’s gun because I could hear gunshots and ‘Elle screaming at the Cabal. She took off and they chased after her.”

Tears began flowing freely down Celine’s face and Ace suddenly realized that the young woman would have been just a teenager when the invasion occurred. He felt a sudden pang of shame and guilt that this poor girl had suffered when Guardians like himself had failed to protect the Last City and its citizens. That guilt only intensified a few seconds later.

Celine resumed her story, “I stayed in that stairwell for a couple hours, until it became even more dark. I snuck out of the alley and managed to make it a couple of blocks north. That’s when I found my sister. She sacrificed herself to get the Cabal away from me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kaizyn commented softly.

Celine shook her head and responded with a smile, “Don’t be. We all lost something during the invasion. And she saved me! That’s probably why she was chosen to become a Guardian.”

“How do you know that she became a Guardian?” Ace asked cautiously. He had heard of many people, too wracked with grief to accept the truth, claim that loved ones had been resurrected. This young woman’s trauma would certainly have been intense enough.

Wiping the moisture from her cheeks, Celine smiled, “Because she came home!”

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

Ace set a cup of coffee in front of Celine. Understanding the extreme range of emotions that the young woman must have been experiencing as she recounted the story of her sister, the Hunter had called for a break and volunteered to purchase another round of drinks. Kaizyn livened the mood with small talk regarding the girl’s desire to be a pilot.

Celine accepted the warm beverage with a shy smile, “Kaizyn tells me that you’re an accomplished pilot.”

“I don’t know about the word ‘accomplished,’” Ace snorted as he settled back into his seat, “but I can hold my own. I’ve only been shot down a couple times.”

“Do you have to do a lot of ship to ship combat?”

“A little bit,” Ace admitted. “The Cabal maintain a pretty impressive naval force, so there’s always a risk of getting caught up in space or aerial combat in any sector they maintain control. The Hive have plenty of fleets as well, but they don’t dogfight.”

“Who needs to when you can knock a ship out of the sky with bullsh*t ritual magic?” Kaijae muttered.

Ace nodded agreement with the Awoken man before continuing, “The Fallen used to have smaller fleets, but those kind of disappeared when the big Houses fell apart. They’re easier to deal with now that they come in smaller groups.”

“I always thought of Guardians as fighting our enemies face to face,” Celine admitted.

“There’s lots of different kinds of Guardians out there. Each one has their own way of protecting Humanity,” Ace explained. “I know plenty who are much better marksmen than me, but need their Ghosts to handling any piloting. Not everyone can think three-dimensionally well enough to be effective in space combat.”

“Guilty,” Kaizyn raised her hand with a light laugh.

Celine’s face crinkled with confusion.

“Most of the time, when we’re fighting on the ground, we really only need to think in terms of north, south, east, and west,” Ace stated. “When you’re in space, you also need to be aware of danger coming at you from above and below. Your battlefield changes from a circle to a sphere.”

“Just being able to fly the ship isn’t enough to be a good pilot,” Kaijae commented. “It’s that instinctive, extra-dimensional understanding that sets good pilots apart from the rest.”

“How do you do it?” the young woman asked.

Ace shook his head, “I have no idea. It’s just something that comes naturally to me.”

“What about cargo pilots?”

“Not as much,” Kaijae answered. “Freighters aren’t nimble jumpships like the kind we fly. When a cargo pilot finds him or herself in combat, they really have only two options.”

“What’s that?” Celine asked.

“Jump to safety or hope your escort protects them from getting boarded,” Kaijae answered.

“How often does that happen?”

“Depends on where you’re flying and how desperate things are for our enemies,” Ace replied. “I’ve had several months of riding shotgun for supply ships out of Venus without a single incident and I’ve had weeks where every single escort mission saw me fending off bandits.”

Celine took a long sip of her coffee and sat back into her seat as she considered what she had learned. After a few seconds, she glanced back up and commented, “I think I could be a good pilot. I want to do something for the City that really helps and makes a difference.”

Ace held up a warning hand, “Take some time and be sure that’s what you really want. I just came from a mission hunting a whole group of raiding Fallen. We lost ships and their crews to those raiders. Regular people who didn’t make it home. It’s a dangerous job and not one to take lightly.”

Celine looked down to the cup in front of her and went quiet. Ace had found the girl’s enthusiasm refreshing and uplifting, but he knew that she needed to understand the reality that was waiting out there. He liked the young woman and made a mental note; if she did become a pilot, he would make sure to take any escort mission he could if she was on board.

“Speaking of making it home,” Kaizyn commented after a few seconds of quiet, “how about we go back to your sister, Belle.”

“Yes,” Ace agreed. “You said that she came back to you?”

Celine shrugged, “Yeah. She showed up at the apartment a few weeks after we were resettled. It was a miracle.”

“She found you?” Ace asked, sitting up.

“Yeah. She still had all of her things from when…” Celine faltered for a couple seconds before continuing, “You know. So she was able to make her way back home. She remembered us.”

Ace forced himself to remain still and not shake his head. There was no possible way that Celine’s sister could have remembered anything. However, the joy and happiness in the woman’s voice was too much for the Hunter. He did not want to quash it.

Then the smile vanished. “Once Mom and Dad realized what had happened, though, they exploded. They saw ‘Elle’s Ghost and started screaming.” Ace heard Kaizyn’s gasp of disbelief, but kept his eyes on the young woman. “They called her all sorts of terrible things and kicked her out. She cried at first, begging them to let her stay and be their daughter again, but then she suddenly stopped crying and left.”

“They kicked out their own daughter?” Kaizyn whispered.

“They said she’s not really ‘Elle, that something ‘else’ was put into her body,” Celine stated coldly. “But I know my sister. I could see it in her eyes. It’s her.”

“What happened to her after she left?” Ace asked, curiosity filling his voice.

Celine shrugged, “I met with her just like with you three. She sends me messages from time to time, so I know she’s out there, keeping us safe.”

“When was the last time you received a message from Belle?” Ace pressed.

“A couple days ago,” the young woman answered. “She’s on an important mission right now. ‘Elle told me that once it’s finished, it will be safe for her to return again.”

“Safe to return?” Kaizyn repeated, confused.

“That’s what she said,” Celine replied. “I know she can’t share the details of her missions, but she works hard to keep the City safe.”

Ace recalled the ID badge that they discovered in the Hive complex. Pieces were falling into place and he really only had one question left. Leaning forward, the Hunter tried to act casual as he commented, “Most Guardians take on different names when they’re reborn in the Light, even when they have an idea of who they used to be. We don’t know of any Guardians going by ‘Belle Latora’ out there.”

“She took on the name, ‘Elledora,’” Celine replied with a smile. “Cause her nickname was ‘Elle. Her Ghost helped her come up with the name during our first visit.”

“Son of a-“ Ace managed to keep his voice quiet enough that the girl didn’t hear him as he cut his response short.

Kaijae, though, did catch on to the Hunter’s whispered outburst. The Titan gave Celine a wide smile and said, “Thank you so much for all of the time and information you’ve shared with us.”

“Wait,” Celine protested. “You never told me why you were asking about my sister.”

Ace’s mind raced for a moment before he replied, “We were trying to find new Guardians that need mentoring. We heard a rumor that your sister was newly Risen, but it sounds like she is doing fine on her own if she is undertaking missions out there.”

“She probably found a mentor already to take her under their wing,” Kaizyn added.

Ace nodded along with the Awoken woman before continuing, “We should be going; though. We would hate for your parents to find out that you met with us, given their disposition toward Guardians.” Celine gave a regretful, sad nod of agreement. “Good luck with becoming a pilot, but remember what we said. Be careful and don’t risk this one life you have.”

With that, all three of the Guardians stood up. Kaizyn clasped hands with the girl and Kaijae gave warm smile. Ace turned and headed for the exit with his friends close behind.

Kaijae waited until the team was well far away from the cafe before asking, “Why didn’t we tell her to warn her sister?”

“Her sister is the killer,” Ace stated firmly, turning onto a path that led from the street to the river.

“What? Are you sure?” Kaizyn quickly replied.

“I’m sure of it,” the Hunter replied. “I’ve met her and her hatred for Keepers was pretty apparent.”

“Can you blame her?” Kaijae commented softly. “Poor girl is fresh out of the grave, manages to find her family, and they immediately turned on her.”

Ace slowed to a stop and looked toward the flowing water. Birds fluttered about the shallows as they hunted for insects that danced about the river’s edge. The Exo then looked down to his forearm. His vambrace covered it, but Ace could easily see the serial code stamped into his chassis.

“I still remember my first few days after being reborn,” he murmured. “I was so lost and confused. Mal tried its best to guide me, but I would have leapt at any chance to have a connection to something, anything that would give me an identity.”

“I guess Jae and I were lucky,” Kaizyn commented, drawing Ace’s attention back toward the team. “We have always had each other. Rezzed practically side by side and together ever since.”

“Even so,” Kaijae countered, “we tore that ship, the Kai Lucheng, apart looking for clues. Imagine if we had found something in there…”

“And someone ripped it away?” Kaizyn finished for her husband. “I imagine it would have broken us.”

“I’ve seen her anger,” Ace commented. “She is definitely broken.”

“How do we find her?” Kaijae asked. Ace heard the resigned determination in the Awoken man’s voice. As much as they all understood the root of the rogue’s pain, they could not condone it.

“Let’s check in with our Ghosts,” Kaizyn suggested. “Maybe they’ve managed to gather information that can help us.”

“And we have a name now,” Ace added. “We are getting closer.”

——————

“Our rogue is even more of a danger than we thought,” Zuko stated firmly. “She has begun killing her targets. And I’m not talking about Marcer and Dreven. She’s killing Lightless victims as well.”

The team had reconvened at Ace’s apartment. Sitting around the dining table, the Guardians shared their findings with the Ghosts and discussed Ace’s suspicion regarding the identity of the killer. Zuko’s declaration cast a pall over the group and silence descended.

After a minute, Ace finally asked, “Who knows? Or who suspects?”

“No one,” Mal answered. “Authorities are casting a wide net, looking for suspects. But if we look at when Marcer disappeared, that is also when the attacks became lethal.”

“The timing cannot be ignored,” Twilin added.

Zuko was displaying a list of incidents as the team discussed. Names, dates, and locations scrolled down in neat, orderly fashion. Kaizyn leaned forward to get a closer look at the names before glancing up to the Ghosts.

“Are we certain that these are all people affiliated with the Keepers?” she asked.

“Yes,” Twilin answered. “Their files indicate paraphernalia related to the group. Silver earth disks with etchings as jewelry or even more blatant markings on outfits were worn by all of the victims.”

“Authorities have already made the connection,” Mal added. “It made our investigation much easier. But we did double check their findings since we had the time.”

“Has the Praxic Order gotten involved yet?” Ace asked.

“It doesn’t appear so,” Mal stated. “At least, there is not any record of information sharing between the City police and Ikora’s office.”

“Notify Ikora and let her know that we are investigating Elledora,” Ace instructed.

Mal’s eye sparkled through a myriad of colors for a brief moment before the Ghost replied, “Done.”

“Now, let’s requisition information regarding her last known whereabouts,” Ace continued. “Let’s get permission to continue our hunt and get what we need through official channels.”

“Done.”

“Ace, what if she denies our request?” Kaizyn asked.

“Then we move on,” the Hunter shrugged. “If we are denied, that will mean Ikora is going to have her people handle this problem.”

“I’m not sure how I’d feel about it if that happened,” Kaijae replied. “On one hand, we’ve done a lot of leg work already. I don’t want to walk away from a job half finished. But on the other hand, that weapon of hers scares me. I’d feel relieved to walk away from this hunt.”

“That might be the one reason why we could be trusted to continue the mission,” Kaizyn mused. “We’ve faced it before when that Wizard used it against. We know to respect what it can do and won’t do something stupid.”

“Yeah, how many Guardians have you know that took being able to get rezzed for granted?” Ace asked.

“Fair point,” Kaijae replied. “Even after the Red War… or Cayde’s death… You would think that Guardians would stop charging in like they can’t be killed.”

Ace gave a small sigh at the mention of his mentor’s death. Even several months after the infamous Exo’s death, it still hurt a little whenever he thought about it. Ace then thought about the people who might be friends with slain Guardians like Marcer and Dreven. Astrid certainly was saddened to learn of their deaths; she would likely mourn them for a long while.

“Message from Ikora,” Mal announced, pulling Ace from his thoughts. “She has attached the requested information and sends, ‘Happy hunting.’”

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Ace gave his friends a couple minutes to process the fact that they had been given permission to continue hunting the killer. Permission that tacitly meant that they were being assigned the task of stopping Elledora. Ace could well imagine the thoughts going through Kaijae’s mind; especially after the Titan had expressed his reservations.

However, before Ace could break silence, it was Kaijae that suddenly asked, “Well, how do we find this bitch?”

“Ghosts?” Kaizyn quickly replied. “Any suggestions?”

“There is a pattern to the attacks,” Zuko answered. “They all occur late in the evening and appear to be isolated to a couple of areas.”

“It’s not in the Riverside District, is it?” Ace asked. The Hunter was suddenly concerned that the rogue Lightbearer might be stalking her former family. If she was as mentally unstable as he suspected, such activity would not be unexpected. Especially since she was keeping in touch with Celine.

“The Riverside District is not on the list of incident locations,” Zuko replied.

“The attacks all appear to be occurring in the area inside and around the Anchor District,” Mal explained.

“That’s where I was harassed by those drunks, isn’t it?” Ace asked, surprise in his voice.

“It is,” Mal answered.

“The Anchor District is a popular area for Keepers. Many of their so-called gatherings take place there,” Zuko explained.

“Gatherings?” Kaijae muttered. “You’d think a bunch of loonies like them would be too extreme to attract enough people to warrant ‘gatherings.’”

“Scary and uncertain times always lead people to search for any sort of answer that will help them make sense of what is happening around them,” Ace commented sadly. “They’ll seize hold of anything that makes them feel better, no matter how insane or misguided it might be.”

“I think some people just have a bunch of hate in their hearts and need a target,” Kaizyn muttered.

“Yeah, that’s probably true for a few of them as well,” Ace sighed. “But that hatred will only breed more of it without getting anyone anywhere at all.”

“Well, speaking of targets, what’s the plan for catching ours?” Kaijae pressed.

“First thing will be to check her place. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into her there,” Ace stated.

“Since she has a place, that means she has to pay for it,” Kaizyn added. “We’ll also check mission logs to see if she’s on an assignment that we might be able to track her down on.”

“And we will also hang around the Anchor District to see if we might be able to catch her in the act and detain her then,” Ace finished.

Mal’s shell twitched as the Ghost commented, “Ikora predicted this and has included data regarding Elledora’s recorded activities. Unfortunately, she does not seem inclined to participate in sanctioned deployments. Elledora prefers to go out on anonymous patrols and hunt private bounties. The Vanguard does not have information regarding current or anticipated whereabouts.”

“Shaxx?” Ace asked, trying to sound hopeful.

“Her appearances in the Crucible have always been sporadic. She does not participate in any of the pre-organized skirmishes,” Mal replied.

“All right, kids, cross your fingers and hope for luck,” Ace muttered. “Let’s knock on her door and, Traveler willing, she’ll be there.”

“I’ll eat my hat if she is,” Kaijae quipped.

“You don’t own a hat,” Kaizyn replied.

“I will buy one and eat it.”

——————

There was no response to Ace’s knock at the apartment door. The team had transmatted to a nearby public space and briskly walked to the building. It was a nondescript structure that had no amenities to speak of. It stood in stark contrast to the building that they had visited earlier that day in Riverside.

When a full minute passed with no response to his knocking, Ace held out his hand and summoned his Ghost. Mal immediately turned toward the door and began scanning. After a couple seconds, it declared, “There is no one here. I can detect live bodies in the other rooms on this floor and on other floors.”

“It’s never that easy,” Kaizyn grumbled.

On a whim, Ace reached out and tried the doorknob. To his surprise, it turned without resistance and the door swung in. The Exo spun around to look at his friends, unsure of what he should do.

“What are you waiting for?” Kaijae hissed.

“I didn’t think it would open,” Ace replied. “Should we go in?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Kaijae retorted. “Ikora wouldn’t have given us this information if she didn’t want us poking around.”

“Besides,” Kaizyn began, looking past the Hunter into the apartment, “I doubt we will find anything in there.”

Ace turned to look inside and immediately understood Kaizyn’s cryptic comment. The apartment was practically barren. The main room had only a couple of dilapidated chairs sitting opposite each other with a crate acting as a table in between. The kitchen was an extension of the living room with only different colors of tile flooring to delineate between the two. A partially ajar door separated the space from what Ace assumed was a bedroom. And a fine coat of dust covered everything.

“No one has been here in a while,” Kaizyn commented quietly.

Ace stepped into the room and his footstep suddenly seemed louder than it should. The utter lack of furnishing turned the apartment into an echo chamber and each step was a sharp retort in the hard, cold floor.

“People live like this?” Kaijae asked.

“I’m sure they have actual tables or something,” Ace replied.

“No. I’m talking about how tiny this place is. Can you imagine living in a cramped space like this?” Kaijae quickly explained.

“He has a point,” Kaizyn admitted. “This building has dozens of apartments. There’s that many people living like this.”

“With who knows how many other places just like this out there,” Kaijae added. The Titan then turned to look at Ace, “And I thought your place was tiny.”

“Could explain how people fall in with that stupid Keeper rhetoric,” Kaizyn nodded. “Living in cramped conditions like these would leave folks questioning a lot of things.”

“Why even build apartments this small?” Kaijae asked.

“Because they can,” Ace answered. “The landlords get to make their Glimmer and that’s all that matters to them. The more units they stuff in here, the more profit they get to keep.”

Ace took a short handful of steps and reached the other door. Pushing it all the way open, the Exo found a bedroom half the size of the living area with a bathroom taking up a quarter of the far end. The bedroom itself was just as sparse as the other room; it held a cot and a sleeping bag. Ace recognized the sleeping gear as he had been issued the same thing when he first became a Guardian.

“Gross!” Kaizyn exclaimed from the main room.

Ace quickly spun around just in time to see his friend slamming the refrigerator closed. “What’s wrong?” he called to her.

“I would not want to be the one who has to clean up that mess,” Kaizyn answered.

Twilin materialized next to its Guardian and stated, “It would appear that the food inside has been spoiling for at least a couple of weeks.”

“There was food in there?” Kaijae asked, incredulous.

“Elledora may be a Guardian, but she’s still as Human as her family. She requires sustenance,” Twilin replied.

Kaijae gestured to the crate sitting between the ruined chairs and laughed, “I’m just amazed that there was anything at all in here.”

“A couple weeks?” Ace asked, ignoring Kaijae’s comments. “That’s also when she began killing.”

Kaizyn, disgust still painted across her purplish face, stepped away from the offending appliance. “So now she’s hiding,” the Awoken woman mused. “Sounds like we are on the right track.”

“Yeah, but how are we going to catch her?” Kaijae sighed, raising a hand to scratch at the stubble on his chin.

“We know that she has been camping in that Hive lair,” Ace offered.

“Yeah, but how often does she actually stay there?” Kaizyn countered. “She wasn’t there when we came through.”

“I’d suggest we hang out and wait, but she’s killing people now,” Kaijae shook his head. “We can’t let her continue.”

“Let’s meet with people who knew the victims and see if we can learn something that will help,” Ace offered. He then looked to Twilin and stated, “Update Ikora with our findings and ask for clearance to access the victims’ information.”

Twilin’s spherical shell whirled for a moment before the Ghost replied, “Done.”

Kaijae then asked, “Can we start tomorrow? It’s getting late. I don’t want to start knocking on doors and maybe upsetting folks after dark.”

Ace and Kaizyn both nodded.

“Yeah, that’s a good point, my love,” Kaizyn commented. “Ace, why don’t you come to our place tomorrow morning and we’ll treat you this time.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ace replied.

——————

“What’s a pretty girl like you doin’ in a dive bar like this?” the older man asked, swaying slightly with each word even as he leaned against the bar. The alcohol in his breath was heavy enough to make plain why he was so unsteady on his feet.

The sound of laughter filled the hazy air of the barroom. It mingled with the discordant attempt at music as a pair of patrons tried to sing along with the jukebox in front of their friends. Most of the bar’s population was gathered near the corner to watch the intoxicated friends laugh and stumble their way through the words of the song. The noise made it difficult even hear one’s own thoughts, so it was no surprise that the man had to raise his voice and felt it necessary to lean close to Elledora.

The young woman smiled and knocked back the rest of her drink before answering, “Dives like this are the only place a pretty girl can find a man tough enough.”

The man raised an eyebrow and smiled appreciatively at seeing the woman down the shot or hard alcohol. However, a moment later, his face became a painting of puzzlement. “Tough enough?” he asked. “Tough enough for what?”

“Tough enough to take care of a girl like me in a rough part of town like this,” Elledora smiled.

“Let me replace that drink of yours and you can tell me more,” the man replied. “Name’s Pieter, by the way.”

“I’ll grab a table while you get the drink,” Elledora replied, standing up and turning toward the wall that held the booths.

Sliding into the high-backed seat, the woman watched as Pieter got the bartender’s attention and ordered their drinks. She then looked out the window at the street outside, avoiding any further eye contact with anyone else at the bar. A fine mist had begun to fall over the City, causing citizens to pull out umbrellas to pretext themselves from the light rain or hurry to their destination. Elledora watched as a handful of people passed; each one likely making their way to whatever family waited for them at home.

Home.

“Here you go,” Pieter commented cheerily, setting a pair of glasses in front of her. One was another small glass of rum and the other was a soda.

Noticing the second drink, Elledora looked up and smiled, “How thoughtful of you.”

Sliding into the seat opposite from her, Pieter shrugged, “Can’t drink rum all night long, can ya?”

Elledora smiled and swallowed half the rum before retrieving the soda. After taking a drink she replied, “I’m not sure. Never tried.”

“Well, doubt yer ‘ead would thank you in the mornin’ if ya tried,” Pieter laughed. He then took a long swallow from the pale beer he had set in front of himself before continuing, “So what brings a girl like you ‘ere?”

“Looking for fun,” Elledora replied before looking meaningfully over at the group singing at the opposite corner of the bar. “Even if it’s a bit rough, I still need to have a good time every now and then.”

“You came t’ sing?” Pieter asked. “Shoot. Why’d ya sit t’ way over here? Let’s go sing!”

“I came to have some fun and talking with a nice guy like you sounds like a fun time,” she smiled, halting her companion as he started to slide out of the booth.

“Talking’s fun,” Pieter grinned, settling back into his seat. He leaned back and gestured to the woman, “Never got yer name.”

“Elle.”

“Nice name. Nice ‘n pretty for a pretty girl like you.”

The two spent over an hour talking over their drinks. Elledora bought the next round while Pieter purchased a third. They began with small talk before discussing Pieter’s job as a freight hauler and Elledora’s interest in going for a degree in media. The drinks seemed to affect them both as Elledora’s laughter at Pieter’s witticisms began to be accompanied with brief hand touching or an occasional playful slap.

When a fight suddenly erupted in the far corner and was almost immediately quashed by the pair of bouncers on duty, Pieter’s face became more serious. He turned away from to scene of the two drunks being hauled away and looked into the young woman’s eyes. “It’s getting late. Fights’re gonna get common. Should be time to be gettin’ where we’re gonna get,” he stated. “Ya wanna come to my place? Not far from ‘ere.”

“Sounds nice,” Elledora smiled, placing a hand on the back of his forearm as it rested on the table between them. “Now?”

“Only gonna get rougher round ‘ere,” he answered before slowly standing up.

Elledora followed and the pair made their way outside. The fine mist continued to drift down onto the street and the two threw on their jackets to ward off the rain. Pieter’s jacket sported a silver Earth medallion pinned to the breast, twinkling in the light cast from the street lamps. As they turned onto a different street, Elledora noticed a couple Guardians in their dazzling armor, a Titan and a Warlock, walking toward them half a block ahead.

Pieter spit on the ground and commented, “C’mon.” He then crossed the street and Elledora followed.

Once they were no longer on the same side as the Guardians, Pieter’s cheerful mood returned. He resumed making small talk as the two continued walking toward his apartment building. Elledora laughed at every joke he made and played along as he did a theatrical show of opening the lobby door for her. A minute later, as he unlocked the door to his apartment, she slid off her jacket and shook the water off. Despite the fact that it was merely a fine mist, it still managed to get everything quite wet.

“Thank you for getting me out of that rain,” Elledora sighed gratefully as she stepped into the apartment.

“My pleasure,” Pieter replied, gentle taking the coat from her hands and hanging it on a hook on the wall. “Would hate for you t’ catch cold.”

“Looked like that’s not the only thing you hate,” Elledora commented, leadingly.

“What’s that?” Pieter asked as he followed the young woman into the living room.

“Those Guardians? You didn’t seem happy to see them,” she explained.

“Bleedin’ corpse jackers is what they are,” the man grumbled. “City’d be better off if they were all outta ‘ere and not dragging us down with ‘em.”

“You don’t buy that they’re keeping us safe from the Darkness?” Elledora asked, sounding innocent.

“Bah. Bunch’a Tower propaganda,” Pieter retorted with a dismissive wave of his hand. “They jus’ want ta keep us real Humans down ‘ere in the dirt. If they left, Dark would chase ‘em and we’d be able to really rebuild. But then they wouldn’t ‘ave us to serve ‘em, would they?”

As he spoke, Pieter gently took Elledora’s arm in one hand and gave a slight nudge toward the couch. The young woman understood the hint and sat down, turning so that she was sideways and facing the man. Pieter settled into the cushion next to her and the same hand found its way to her knee. She smiled, inviting him to continue.

“Forget ‘em. Let’s talk about you some more,” he commented.

“Me?” Elledora demurred. “I don’t think there’s much of anything else you’d find interesting about me.”

“Don’t be shy,” Pieter pressed. “Gotta be plenty of interesting little things you ain’t shared yet.”

“Well, there is this one thing,” Elledora stated. She then held out her hand and willed her Ghost, Plink, to materialize.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

“You didn’t have to kill him,” Plink commented, his digital voice managing to convey both sadness and disappointment.

Elledora frowned down at Pieter’s still body, blood pooling from the pair of holes in his chest. Then she glanced back up to her Ghost and replied, “I’m protecting the Traveler. You’ve heard these Keepers,” she spat the moniker like an epithet, “talk about how we should ‘get rid of the Traveler’ and eliminate the Guardians. They’re the true danger to the City.”

“They are wrong, but that doesn’t mean it’s right to kill them,” Plink gently countered.

“If there aren’t any Guardians, who will protect their families?” Elledora retorted.

“Guardians will never abandon the Last City or their people,” the Ghost stated firmly.

“They’re trying to get rid of the very people who are fighting to keep their families safe. Who would protect them? Who would protect my family?”

“You will protect the City. You will protect the people.”

“I will protect my family. Even if they don’t want me, I will protect them.”

Plink drifted down to nudge his companion and replied, “Give them time. They will see that they were wrong.”

Elledora wasn’t listening. “I was brought back to protect them. Why don’t they want me back?”

Plink lowered himself to settle into her lap. She knew that the Ghost didn’t have the answers she so desperately needed. He tried his best to keep her spirits up, but Plink wasn’t enough for the aching hole in her soul. Elledora knew what would satisfy the pit inside of her, but she had already been denied.

Pieter’s face had been just like theirs. As soon as he saw her Ghost, it had become a rictus of revulsion. She could see the aversion in his eyes as he recoiled, even though he had been lusting for her all evening long. And Elledora could taste the violence in his heart as he moved to leave the room. She had seen his attempt to assault that Guardian on the street just the other day; how he had tried to sneak a knife into the back of someone that fought to keep this very City and her precious family safe.

She eliminated the threat.

“Maybe you should message Celine,” Plink suggested. “She believes in you. And then we can sign up for a Vanguard mission. Go kill some real bad guys that serve the Darkness.”

Tears began to stream down Elledora’s face at the mention of Celine’s name. “Not right now. Not so soon after our last message. I don’t want her to get in trouble with Mother,” she explained.

She knew what Plink was trying to accomplish. It was apparent that he did not agree with her plan to purge the City of the poison that was the Keep Earth Pure Society. She did not blame her little companion because respecting the life of every Human was simply his nature. It was how the Traveler made him. But she knew better. She had seen the true face of evil at the hands of the zealots. Her own mother and father had thrown her out. They denied her very existence and forbade her sister from having any contact.

Not long after that, the distraught Elledora ran into another group of Keepers who accosted her. She was still so freshly revived that she had not yet registered with the Vanguard and was unarmed. They chased her into an alley and cornered her. The Light was so new to her that she didn’t know how to use it to defend herself or flee. After they beat her up, their animosity suddenly changed. When one man began tearing at her clothes, the New Light found her voice. A passerby heard her cries and came into the alley. Fearing discovery and potential repercussions, her attackers fled. Elledora had run away in the opposite direction.

“The Darkness isn’t the real evil that must be destroyed,” she whispered grimly.

——————

“Guys, there’s been another killing,” Mal suddenly announced solemnly, interrupting the breakfast gathering.

Ace would have choked on his food if he was organic. Before he could swallow and respond, Kaizyn spoke, “When? Where?”

“Message from Ikora incoming,” Mal replied. Ikora Rey’s voice then began emanating from the Ghost’s cuboid shell.

“Guardians, I regret to inform you that it appears that our suspect has killed again,” she began solemnly. “Local authorities responded to the sound of gunfire in the Anchor District and found the body of a Lightless citizen. He was identified as probable member of the Keeper group and was last seen leaving a bar with a woman that matches the description of the Guardian you are investigating.” There was a brief pause in the recorded message before the Warlock Vanguard continued, “You are on the right track. Please continue your efforts and put a stop to this killer. I have my Hidden also working this case, but you three are already leagues ahead of anyone else I have in the field. Don’t let up.”

Ace looked down at his plate and the half-finished breakfast. It seemed somehow wrong to continue eating after receiving such dire news. Glancing up, the Hunter noticed that his two friends were similarly having trouble continuing their meal.

Twilin compiled into the air above the center of the air and gently commented, “You will need your strength. It would be best to finish your food before leaving.”

“She’s right,” Kaizyn replied, retrieving her fork. The team resumed eating, but the friendly banter that had filled the air was earlier was lost. Instead, breakfast continued with an air of grim determination.

Ace managed to take a few more bites, but without his heart in it, the Exo literally had no appetite. He watched his friends continue eating as his mind played through hundreds of “what if” scenarios. Had they tipped their hand when they visited Elledora’s family? Would Celine have warned the rogue? Did the investigation drive their target into killing again?

Noticing that his friends had begun poking at the remains of their meal instead of eating, the Hunter asked, “What’s the plan?”

Kaijae sighed and shook his head, no answer forthcoming.

Still poking at the last handful of bites on her plate Kaizyn absentmindedly replied, “I don’t know. Do we really even have anything else to go off of?”

“Well, this is the first time she has let herself spotted by someone other than her victims,” Mal replied.

Ace’s attention snapped up to his Ghost. “What was that?” he demanded.

“It’s the first time she has been successfully described by anyone other than a victim,” Mal repeated. “She was seen conversing with the victim for a long while before leaving with him.”

“And how is that different?” Kaijae inquired.

“Normally she ambushes her victims on the street,” Twilin explained. “They would always say that she came out of nowhere and began attacking them. This is the first report we have of her luring a victim to another location.”

“Is she getting desperate?” Ace wondered aloud. “What made her change her tactics?”

“She has already escalated from non-fatal attacks against citizens to killing Guardians,” Kaijae snorted. “I’d say that her tactics changed long before this.”

“And I’d say we no longer have the luxury of being polite,” Kaizyn commented. Kaijae gave her a quizzical look. She continued, “We need to talk with previous victims and their families to get more details.”

Pushing his plate toward the middle of the table, Ace stood up. He looked to Mal and asked, “Where can we find her first victim?”

——————

Climbing the stairs in one of the dingier buildings settled at the border between districts, Ace let his mind race through possible scenarios. He considered hundreds of questions and responses as the Hunter tried to work out the best way to get the information that they needed. It was not lost on him that all of the people that they were trying to speak with were Keepers.

“Please don’t be assholes today,” He whispered silently to himself.

Arriving at the floor they needed, the team strode quickly down the hallway to the door number provided in the report. The Kais took position at either side of Ace, both keeping a good portion of their attention hallway. Apparently, they were also very cognizant of how they were likely going to be perceived here. The Hunter knocked at the door.

“One minute!” came a muffled call from the other side of the door. Ace heard grumbling leak from under the door along with an occasional thump. After a few seconds, he then heard footsteps approaching. “What is it?” the voice called as the door swung open to reveal a disheveled, middle-aged Human man.

“Hello, sorry to bother you,” the Hunter began, but stopped as the man’s face adopted a mask of disgust. Ace watched the other man’s eyes recognize the Gaurdian armor before flicking up to see his Exomind face. The ensuing sneer stole the words from the Hunter’s mouth. Taking a brief moment to recollect himself, Ace then opened his mouth to try again.

The man spit on the Exo’s chest armor and slammed the door.

A couple seconds later, Ace glanced over to Kaizyn at his left shoulder and commented, “I really should have seen that coming.”

Pushing the Hunter aside, Kaijae leaned in and knocked loudly on the door. Without waiting for response, the Titan shouted, “We’re hunting after the Guardian that attacked you.”

“Get wrecked, ya bunch of body jackers,” the man called from the other side of the door. “You can all go back to the hell that damned Traveler pulled you from.”

“That’s fine, but we’re not leaving without information,” Kaijae called back. “We don’t blame you for getting your ass handed to you by a little girl.”

The door flung open and the man almost hurled himself at the stoic Titan. “Screw you, blighting Purp!” he yelled. “She only got me because she jumped me from behind.”

“Now that is exactly the kind of information we are after,” Kaijae replied softly. “Where exactly were you when she ambushed you?”

The man’s anger was visibly reigned in at that moment. Ace could see his eyes flick from one Guardian to the next. His animosity remained, but the Keeper obviously realized that odds were not in his favor if he allowed his anger to play out.

“Graham,” Ace began, guessing that the name in the report was correct, “just tell us about the attack and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Fine,” Graham spat, confirming the Hunter’s assumption. “I was leaving The Mulligan a few weeks ago. Was walkin’ with a few buddies until about halfway home when the last of ‘em split off for their own bunks. Couple blocks later, bitch tackled me into an alley. Never heard ‘er coming, so she was able t’get me good ‘fore I could have given what’fer.”

Recalling the details from the report, Ace replied, “That’s a long walk.”

“Yeah,” Graham countered sharply. “We had a few drinks. We ain’t immortal like you Puppets, so if’n we crash, we ain’t walking away from it like you. And that’s t’say nothing of what other soul’d be in the wreck with me.”

“Sorry,” Ace raised his hands placatingly. “Didn’t know that there was alcohol involved.”

“It’s a damned bar,” Graham snorted. “What’d you think we’d be doin’ there? For ‘defenders of the Last City,’ you lot can be pretty dumb.”

Ignoring the snide tone, Kaijae returned to the task at hand. Summoning Zuko, he had the Ghost project a holographic map of the nearby City area with an indicator in bright red. “Is this where the attack happened?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did she say anything after she attacked you? I know she was silent before she tackled you, but what about after that first attack? She say anything?” Kaijae pressed.

Graham didn’t answer. Instead, he clamped his mouth shut and his face became a stone wall.

“Listen. We know you’re a Keeper,” Ace began gently. “We think that’s why you got attacked. If it is, then it would help us identify your attacker. So, did she say anything?”

Graham’s eyes moved from one face to the next. After a long moment of silence, he suddenly blurted, “Yeah. The bitch said plenty as she was punchin’ me. Kept screamin’ about Keepers.”

“Thank you. Next question is how would she know that you were a member?” Ace asked.

“I dunno. Maybe she got a look at my necklace,” Graham replied. As he finished, the man fished a medallion from underneath his shirt.

Hanging from a chain, a circular image of the Earth was picked out in pure silver that managed to sparkle in the hallway’s artificial lighting. The continents were depicted with cutouts and the organization name was etched faintly around the border. After a moment, Graham let go of the chain and the necklace fell to rest against his chest.

Ace didn’t let his doubt show. The attack had taken place late in the night. Even in the best light, it would likely have been difficult to identify the medallion from any significant distance. Either Elledora had seen Graham up close at some point or she had been able to identify his affiliation some other way.

“Did anything else happen between the bar and the attack?” Ace tried to keep any suspicion from edging into his voice.

Graham hesitated, his eyes darting to the side for a moment, before he answered, “Nothin’ happened. We was chatting it up ‘til the guys all went t’their bunks.”

“I know you’ve already been asked, but did you see her face,” Kaijae asked.

“Nah,” the man replied instantly. “Bitch was wearin’ her armor. Helmet ‘n everything.”

“Any of your buddies from that night get attacked as well?” Ace suddenly asked.

Graham crossed his arms and answered, “Nah. And I ain’t givin’ you any of their names. Either you Puppets believe me or ya don’t. We done?”

“Yeah, we have the information we need,” Ace replied, trying to sound amiable. “Thank you very much for your time.”

“Get your blighted corpses off my door.”

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

“That certainly was… pleasant,” Kaizyn commented as the team stepped out onto the street.

All three Guardians had been quiet as they descended the stairs, as if they were loathe to break the silence after Graham slammed the door in their faces. Ace was trying to understand the man’s animosity, but couldn’t wrap his mind around it. After all, they were trying to help bring his attacker to justice and had told the man just that. It made no sense to be hostile toward the people who were actively trying to help you.

Glancing over to his friend as she spoke, Ace gave a resigned shrug. He then replied, “I imagine that we’re going to receive the same kind of reception with all of the victims we visit.”

“I’m beginning to think we should have been amazed that Elledora’s mother didn’t spit on us when we knocked on her door,” Kaijae snorted.

“Better me than you guys, at least,” Ace muttered. “I don’t have to worry about germs and my chassis can just be wiped clean.”

Kaizyn placed a hand on his shoulder, offering a bit of moral support. The Exo glanced over and responded with a smile.

“Honestly, that guy was lucky I didn’t punch him for that crap,” Kaijae shook his head, anger plain to see on his face. The Awoken man had managed to remain coldly professional, but his thoughts became apparent as soon as Graham shut the door.

“Why did you stop asking questions, Ace?” Kaizyn then asked. “Surely there was more information we could have gotten from him.”

The Exo shook his head, “Not really. We managed to confirm that everything in the report we got from Ikora can be trusted. Particularly the location.”

“Yeah, he was being straightforward with that. Later on, though…” Kaijae trailed off.

“Yeah, you caught that, too?” Ace replied. “I have a feeling that he and his buddies did more than just have a companionable walk home that night.”

Kaijae nodded while Kaizyn frowned. “Why do you think that?” she asked.

“That medallion is too small,” Kaijae scoffed. “Thing is only a couple inches wide. Good luck seeing something like that late in the evening.”

Ace nodded and pointed to Kaijae. “Elledora had to have identified Graham before she ambushed him. Maybe while at the bar or after they left.”

Kaizyn’s lips pursed as she considered her teammates’ observations. “Elledora is a Hunter,” she began, “and a Nightstalker to boot. Tailing someone and staying hidden should definitely be in her skill set. Ace, I’ve seen you follow a target for klicks. How hard would it be for her to do that here in the City?”

“Not hard at all,” Ace answered after hardly a moment’s consideration. “Especially at night on someone who’s been drinking.”

“Sounds like you guys may be on to something. Maybe we should see if we can get confirmation out of one of her other victims?” Kaizyn offered.

Ace subconsciously wiped at the spot where the Keeper had spit on his breastplate. “I was thinking of something else, actually,” he replied.

“What is it?” Kaijae asked, curiosity filling his voice.

Ace glanced around, as if just then remembering that they were standing near the front door of an apartment building. While not exactly heavy with traffic, there were still at least a couple people walking by at any given moment. Motioning for his friends to follow, the Hunter led them to an empty alleyway.

“What if she attacked our ‘friend’ back there because she spotted him harassing a Guardian?” he asked.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Kaijae nodded. “But how does that help us? Most Guardians let those incidents slide and just get the hell out.”

“Most,” Ace countered. “Some try to reason with these people. Hell, that’s how most of these incidents manage to actually become something of any substance. They don’t walk away and more than insults start getting thrown around.”

“You think someone reported a Keeper incident?” Kaizyn asked.

“It’s a real possibility,” Ace answered. He then held out his hand and Mal compiled into the air above his opened palm.

“I have already submitted a request to Ikora and we are screening available public records,” the Ghost stated, not waiting for any prompting.

Zuko and Twilin then both materialized. Zuko announced, “We have found multiple reported incidents in the span of time covered by the believed active period of our suspect.”

“Half of them occurred in the Anchor District and only one of them took place the same night as one of the reported assaults,” Twilin continued.

“Just one?” Kaizyn asked.

“Just one where the timing lined up perfectly,” Ace countered. “I’d bet that there’s a good chance that the others could be related, but our suspect delayed the attack.”

“Or a clerical error in the reporting,” Twilin replied. “Many of these have the same day listed for both the date of report and incident.”

“We’ll just go with the obvious one first, but hold on to those others as backup,” Ace instructed.

Kaijae looked to his Ghost and asked, “Who was the Guardian in the report?”

Zuko’s pyramidal shell twitched as it replied, “A Warlock by the name, ‘Moira.’”

All three Guardians went silent as each one considered the name and tried to recall if they had encountered the Guardian before. After a few seconds, they all shook their head and returned their attention to the Ghosts. Kaijae asked, “Where can we find her?”

“We have requisitioned that informa-” Mal began before cutting himself off suddenly. A moment later the Ghost started again, “She is conducting a strike mission on Io.”

Kaizyn and Kaijae both groaned. Confused, Ace asked, “What’s wrong with Io?”

“You can’t go there without getting some kind of grouchy message from that crazy Asher,” Kaijae explained.

Ace grinned. He actually found the crotchety old Warlock endearing. However, it was easy to understand how others could find him abrasive; Asher Mir talked down to anyone that he felt wasn’t on the same intellectual level. And it was apparent that everyone was below his level. Ace loved it.

“So, we’re heading to Io?” the Exo laughed.

“Can’t we wait until Moira gets back?” Kaizyn sighed.

Io was a dangerous place, overrun as it was with the robotic Vex. Asher himself was a testament to the danger present on the moon; it was on Io that the Warlock had lost his fireteam along with his arm. The appendage had been infected with Vex radiolaria and was now a mechanical thing that twitched of its own volition and looked like it belonged on a Goblin instead of a Guardian. The Vex were dangerous in many, insidious ways and Guardians were lost to their swarming hordes all the time.

“I don’t want to risk losing whatever information she can give us,” the Hunter replied.

“You’re right,” Kaizyn shrugged.

“Do we have actual coordinates?” Kaijae asked the Ghosts.

Zuko’s shell flared and spun for a moment as the Ghost hesitated to reply. Before the Titan could press the issue, though, it finally answered, “Ikora instructed us to get in contact with Asher Mir when we arrived to be directed to Moira’s whereabouts.”

Kaizyn and Kaijae both collectively groaned, which only served to make Ace laugh.

——————

“Ah! Ace!” Asher Mir’s cutting voice reverberated off the cave walls that served to form the makeshift base that the Warlock worked out of. Crates of equipment and wiring were scattered haphazardly around the space while the Warlock stood in front of a powerful scanning terminal. Asher’s arm twitched and jerked with each word he uttered. “It is good that you have arrived when you did. I require assistance of a less cerebral sort and you will do perfectly.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Asher,” Ace began. “But we are already on a-”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the Awoken Warlock replied dismissively. “I’m sure that whatever quest you are currently undertaking is crucial to the defeat of some creature that threatens the very survival of the entire solar system or some such nonsense. I am equally certain that your Titan friends here are up to the task of punching whatever it is into oblivion without you.”

“We’re not hunting a-” Ace tried to explain.

“Ah! Excellent! Then they can contribute to the endeavor since it is, as I have previously stated, one of a purely physical sort. After all, I doubt I could find anyone of sufficient mental capacity outside of Ikora Rey to be capable of providing any meaningful assistance,” Asher began rambling, trailing off as he got further off topic. Suddenly, the Warlock raised his Vex-infected hand to point at the Hunter, “From you, I simply need you to do what you do best and that is to mindlessly shoot things. It is far and beyond time to finally earn that armor you had so blithely been wearing.”

Ace was confused as he glanced down. The heavy, Holdfast-style armor that he was wearing was fairly new. He had purchased it from a foundry a few months ago in order to take advantage of new technologies that had been developed. Then he recalled his previous set of gear, the Gensym Knight armor.

“I did earn th-” Ace began protesting.

“No,” the cranky Warlock interrupted. “Your friend earned it. The fact that he saw fit to gift it to you for whatever daring deed of mindless pugilism does not mean that you earned it.” The Warlock paused and his tone softened as he continued, “However, I do not wish to strip you of your precious armor. After all, it truly is naught but plates of metal bound by strips of leather. I merely make the distinction as an incentive to motivate you to put forth your utmost effort in this endeavor that I am assigning to you.”

Ace shook his head with a wry laugh. Yes, he could easily understand why so many Guardians found Asher Mir absolutely unbearable and avoided the man as much as possible. And yet, Ace found every interaction utterly entertaining.

“What can I help you with?” Ace asked.

“The damned Vex of the Pyramidion are trying to reconstruct Brakion,” Asher explained. “Go smash the Hydra overseer directing the effort and that should cause a significant interruption to their plans that the problem can be addressed in more permanent fashion later.”

“Ace, we don’t have time for this,” Kaijae whispered into the comm link.

“I know,” Ace quietly replied to his friend. Then, more loudly, he spoke to Asher, “Before we head out, can you tell us where another Guardian is? She is on Io right now, on Vanguard business.”

“I have neither the time nor the patience to keep track of every Guardian that decides to come here. Their gamboling about is already sufficient distraction to my research, I can not afford to keep an accounting of the whereabouts of all the miscreants on Io,” Asher snapped.

“Yes, but this one was sent specifically to help you with something,” Ace patiently countered. “You do currently have a team on a strike mission right now.”

“Ahhh, yes,” Asher’s cantankerous attitude suddenly shifted into a more agreeable tone. “I have a fire team already en route to deal with the Hydra. It is their slow progress that forces me to conscript you three into the effort. You will certainly find your wayward friend if you pursue the Hydra as instructed. Now go! I have wasted enough precious time away from my research.”

With that, the Warlock turned his attention back to the terminal in front of him. Ace spared a moment of sympathy for the Awoken man and his affliction. Not for the first time did the Hunter wonder if Asher’s abrupt attitude came from the fact that the Warlock knew that his time was limited. There was no cure for his condition as even Ghost resurrection could not reverse the infection’s progress. The radiolaria was slowly, but surely taking over the man. It was only a matter of time before the infection ultimately destroyed him. Ace was suddenly reminded of a certain man hunting a particular whale.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

“So, where are we going?” Kaijae asked as the trio left Asher’s cave.

“Have you never been into the Pyramidian complex?” Ace asked.

“I don’t believe so,” the Striker replied.

“We have not,” Kaizyn confirmed.

“According to Asher, it’s a massive repository of information for the Vex and where they connect this collective’s network to the rest of the planets that they have machinoformed,” Ace explained. He found the well-worn pathway that traveled east, away from the Warlock’s cave. “The Vanguard periodically will send teams in to interrupt Vex efforts to rebuild their strength.”

“What was that about Brakion?” Kaizyn asked.

“It was the Vex that basically ran things in there,” the Hunter replied as he lead his friends toward the ravine that held the entrance to the complex. “It’s also the one responsible for Asher losing his arm. He’s pretty pissed about it and has been working tirelessly to get his revenge.”

“I would be, too, if someone took my arm,” Kaijae muttered.

“Exactly. So I’m not exactly surprised that he’s holed himself up there all this time, keeping an eye on the place,” Ace chuckled. “I’ve gone on a couple strikes for him. This isn’t the first time he’s asked for help ensuring that Brakion isn’t rebuilt by the Vex collective here.”

“Yes, but we do we have time for this?” Kaijae countered. “We have a killer to stop.”

Ace leapt down a descending series of short cliffs that led to a yawning maw in the mountainside ahead. The massive opening was normally barricaded shut by a powerful Vex force field, but the Guardian team ahead of them had managed to breach it and enter. The remains of Vex robots; dozens of smaller Goblins with a score of greater Minotaurs, littered the rocky path up to the opening. Solar scorch marks and lingering Void essence served as testament to the powerful forces invoked to destroy the great horde deployed to defend the Pyramidion’s entrance.

“This isn’t a ‘walk in the park’ mission,” Ace commented, gesturing with the barrel of his hand cannon to the chassis of a large Minotaur. Radiolaria from the destroyed robotic frames glistened in the afternoon sunlight. “Vex swarms get overwhelming fast inside of here, especially when a Hydra gets deployed to oversee reconstruction. Guardians get lost on these kind of missions.”

“I thought you didn’t have much experience with the Vex,” Kaizyn commented as she kicked a robotic hand aside from her path.

“Just these Vex,” Ace replied, keeping his attention on the gaping cleft in the cliff face ahead. “I came here to help deal with some Eliksni pirates and got roped into one of Asher’s missions. I’ve come back a few times since then, but that’s pretty much it.”

Mal’s voice came over the comm link, “He says that the Vex give him the ‘heebie jeebies.’”

Ace barked a short laugh before commenting, “The only other thing I really know is to aim for the juice box.”

A minute later, a pall of silence settled over the fireteam as they stepped up to the entrance. The rock underfoot abruptly became the alien metal that the Vex machinoformed planets into; a dull black alloy that veritably hummed with energy. A staircase had formed in the Vex structure, leading into the depths.

“Gotta love ominous stairwells,” Kaijae muttered as the trio took their first few steps down.

“I heard that the Vex would change the pathways in here at will,” Ace replied. “Teams would get separated as walls suddenly fell from ceilings or paths that would abruptly change direction. I never saw any of that, but the team that actually killed Brakion listed some interesting stuff in their report.”

“Is that why Old Man Asher wants that thing to stay dead? So it doesn’t start changing up the place again?” Kaijae asked, eyeing the ceiling as if he didn’t trust it to stay put.

“Partly,” Ace began before chuckling, “but I think a bigger part is that he just hates Brakion that much. It would be an affront to the Warlock if the thing was ever able to be rebuilt.”

“Sounds obsessed,” Kaizyn commented.

“I think that’s just the kind of person Asher is,” Ace shrugged. They had finally arrived at the bottom of the stairwell. A long, triangular hallway awaited the team with more signs of battle; the charred remains of Goblin soldiers and Hobgoblin snipers scattered across the floor. Stepping over the pieces, the Hunter continued, “Maybe it’s that kind of focused determination that made Asher suited to be rezzed in the first place. I mean, his Ghost had to be looking for something particular.”

“You think a Ghost wanted to find a grouchy old man that would complain about every little thing that wasn’t related to whatever he was working on?” Kaijae asked, doubt dripping from his tone.

“I’m sure that things happened along the way to get Asher to where he is now, but you have to admit that the guy is dedicated to his work,” Ace replied.

“He is dedicated enough to make his home just a few steps away from the entrance to this place,” Kaizyn admitted. “It’s practically in the heart of hostile territory, but he’s still there. I heard he refuses to leave.”

“Exactly,” Ace turned his head and nodded gratefully toward Kaizyn. “All of our Ghosts are looking for something special. That kind of focus could be the thing that his Ghost was looking for.”

“What about us?” Kaijae mused.

“Loyalty,” Ace quickly answered. “You two would never turn your back on an ally, no matter what.”

Kaijae chuckled appreciatively before asking, “And you?”

“Mal needed someone recklessly stupid,” the Hunter quipped.

“Can confirm,” Mal’s digital voice suddenly chimed in over the comm link.

All three Guardians shared a brief laugh as they reached the end of the hallway. Another kind of stairwell; this one formed from a series of suspended platforms over a veritable abyss, awaited the fireteam. Yet more Vex remains dotted each platform. Ace smiled to himself as he imagined the proverbial trail of bread crumbs, leading his team down the path that will take them to the other fireteam. The smile quickly vanished as a telltale crackling sound began to fill the air.

“Vex reinforcements!” Kaijae hollered, the first to realize what was transpiring.

The team reacted simultaneously. Kaijae leveled his hand cannon at the telepoting Vex on the right and Kaizyn focused her rifle to the left. Ace charged ahead, preparing to clear a path forward through whatever forces dropped out of the Vex gates in their path. The crackling sounds swiftly became visible lightning that ripped small tears in reality with the great Vex network on the other side. Dozens of Goblins and a handful of Hobgoblins teleported through the tears to stand in front of the Guardians.

Used to dealing with combatants like the Eliksni or Cabal, Ace had instinctively trained his gun at head level, but quickly corrected himself before taking the first shot. With a slight adjustment at the wrist, his opening salvo tore into the radiolaria container, located in the robot’s chest, utterly destroying the Goblin with the single blast. The Vex chassis; bronze metal that gleamed in the ever-present light of the Pyramidion, fell backward and veritably shattered to pieces.

Slap rifles responded in kind as the Goblins turned to face the Guardians in their midst. Ace could hear his friends opening fire at the same time, reacting as targets became fully formed. Rushing past the destroyed robot to the edge, the Hunter drew the attention of the Vex below as he leapt across the gap to the next platform. Dozens of Solar energy blasts filled the air around him as they trailed in his wake. Heavier Line rifle blasts also sliced through his path as Hobgoblin snipers joined the rank and file Vex in trying to shoot down the hurtling Guardian.

Using his midair Boost, Ace changed direction during his descent and managed to avoid the worst of the barrage. With minimal damage to his energy shield, the Nightstalker used the last of his Boost jump to settle lightly on the platform. Immediately rolling forward, he further confounded the Vex as he Shadestepped into invisibility. The handful of Goblins sharing the ledge with him immediately began searching in all directions for the vanished Guardian.

Ace grinned to himself as he continued with his forward momentum and sprinted for the far edge of the floating island. Before making the next jump to the next one below, the Hunter paused to summon a ball of Void energy into his hand and hurled it at the cluster of Vex he was leaving behind. As the Vortex grenade erupted, Ace made his next jump. The act of creating the grenade charge dispelled his invisibility, but it still took the Vex a moment to reacquire the Hunter. He was already halfway across the gap before Slap and Line rifle charges resumed firing.

When he landed this time, Ace did not attempt any subterfuge. He raised his hand cannon and began firing even before he was truly steady on his feet. The Nightstalker knew that he had to keep moving if he was going to avoid being overwhelmed. Individually, most Vex were barely a threat at all to a Guardian. But, when arrayed en masse, the Vex were among the most series threats they could face. After all, when a Guardian faced the Vex, they faced a full collective and not a collection of individuals. What one Vex in the collective knew, all the Vex knew.

As one, every weapon turned toward to the rushing Hunter. Even those on the massive landing below who couldn’t even see the Guardian with their own sensor arrays. Ace’s first couple of shots tore through metal plating and caused serious damage to a Goblin, but didn’t destroy it. Suddenly rolling to the left, the Hunter narrowly avoided a second stream of Slap rifle blasts. As he rose to his feet, Ace slowed a little to allow himself a chance to aim his weapon before firing. This time, the Goblin fell to the floor as its radiolaria spilled to the floor. The Hunter took a couple sidesteps and leveled his heavy revolver at the next target before destroyed it with a pair of well-placed rounds.

“Ace! Grenade!” Kaizyn shouted into the comm link.

The Hunter instinctively threw himself sideways, away from the edge of the hanging island. As he tumbled across the ground and up to his feet, he spotted a pair of explosive charges nearby where he had originally been standing. The Vex on the landing below had used their networked perception to be able to accurately throw their grenades up onto the floating platform. Ace took a precautionary few more steps away from the charges before resuming his charge on the last two Vex soldier in front of him.

As the pair of Goblins fell, he heard his teammates alight on the ground behind him. The sound of Slap rifle fire filled the chamber and Ace backed away from the edge, lest one of the attacks take his head off. He briefly turned his head and nodded to the two approaching Titans.

“Thanks for the call out,” the Hunter commented.

“No problem,” Kaizyn replied. “What’s the plan from here?”

“There’s only one path to take right now,” Ace explained. “The bottom of this chasm is filled with radiolaria. We need to get to the platform below and through the next doorway.”

Kaijae approached the edge of the island with his head down, trying his best to not make a target of himself. When he got close enough to take a couple glancing blowing to his shields, the Titan then erected a barricade of Light and stood up. Dozens of Solar blasts slammed into the construct, creating cracks in the towering shield almost immediately. After a short couple of seconds, Kaijae quickly retreated to join the waiting team.

“They’ve got a damned Minotaur down there,” Kaijae muttered. “Big one.”

“How big?” Ace asked. Minotaurs were physically powerful Vex that were designed for heavy construction. That massive raw strength made them extremely dangerous weapons platforms as the bipedal robots could be outfitted with deadly Torch Hammers and Vex Laser rifles. And the bigger the Minotaur, the larger the weapons it was deployed with.

“Looks double the size. Maybe triple,” Kaijae shrugged. “The thing has a dozen regular Goblins with it and a pair of sniper Hobgoblins perched on either side of the door.”

“If that thing has a cannon to match, it could obliterate one of us in a single shot,” Kaizyn gasped.

As if to prove the point, a massive Void blast struck the Titan barricade. Kaijae’s construct was obliterated immediately upon impact and all three Guardians immediately ducked down to the floor. Ace’s mind raced as the island shook from the impact of additional blasts. Looking back to his friends, the Hunter had an idea.

“Kaizyn, I need you to get rid of those Hobgoblins for me,” he announced.

“Right now?” the Sentinel Titan asked.

“Yeah. Please.”

Kaizyn unslung the long-barreled sniper rifle from her back and holstered the auto rifle. Staying low to the ground, she inched toward to edge of the platform that over looked the landing below. Ace watched the tip of the Long Shadow’s barrel slip past the edge a second before the Titan came to a sudden stop. She took a moment to adjust her positioning and sighted through her weapon’s powerful scope. Then, suddenly, Kaizyn took two shots in swift succession.

The air in front of their island erupted with Vex weapons fire as Kaizyn scrambled away, practically crawling on all fours. Almost panting with excitement, she declared, “Got them both!”

“Great work, love,” Kaijae congratulated.

“Awesome,” Ace agreed, clapping Kaizyn on the shoulder. The Hunter then stood up and approximated a slow, deep breath. Looking down to his teammates, he tried his best to sound casual as he added, “Now, please try not to shoot me.”

Without any further instruction, Ace sprinted forward and Shadestepped toward the platform’s edge. He felt the Void energy suffuse his body and render him transparent. A couple steps later, the Nightstalker leapt out into the air and across the yawning chasm. Ace could see the landing a couple dozen meters down with the small host of Vex waiting. Every weapon was trained on the platform that he had just departed. At the very center of the throng stood the imposing Minotaur. Counting down he fell, the Hunter could feel the Void energy rapidly dissipating. He would still be falling when he became visible.

“Now!” Ace shouted. He released hold of the massive pool of Light within, summoning the Shadowshot bow. Even as he became visible again, the Nightstalker fired the weapon of pure Void at the platform below.

The anchor struck the ground near the center of the landing, right next to the Minotaur. An instant later, nearly all of the Vex below found themselves tethered together through Void tendrils from the anchor. However, the machines were not as dissuaded from focusing on the falling Hunter as other enemies would be. Slap rifles continued to fire and he could hear the Mintaur’s Torch Hammer charging.

Ace then used the last bit of saved power to summon his smoke bomb into a hand. Clutching the egg-sized construct in hand, the Hunter then focused his Boost ability and “kicked” downward. Ace found himself plummeting to the floor and managed to catch himself at the last moment, arresting his floor whilst simultaneously crushing the smoke bomb in his fist. The Void energies released from the small charge rendered him invisible.

Scrambling away from his landing point in the platform, the Hunter did his best to avoid any stray weapons fire that was shot wildly in his disappearance. The scramble shortly became a tumble when a blast wave from a great explosion knocked him forward. As he turned with the tumble, Ace was able to see the Minotaur similarly reeling from the blast; a rocket had struck the massive Vex. Meanwhile, a steady stream of heavy machine gun rounds tore into the robot. Quickly glancing about, he could see that the tether was sharing the damage inflicted upon the Minotaur to the rest of the Vex on the ledge. Goblins began collapsing to the floor, destroyed by the Void energies.

The Minotaur raised its left arm and leveled the Torch Hammer at the island where the Titans were firing from. Shrugging off a second rocket, the robot fired a thunderous response.

“What the sh*t?!” Kaijae exclaimed.

Ace whirled about and spared a brief moment to eye the Minotaur; he only had a couple seconds left of camouflage.

“Keep hitting it!” the Hunter hollered. The large Vex bore great rents in its chassis and the right arm hung limp at its side. He could also see radiolaria leaking from cracks in the central orb from Kaizyn’s machine gun. Ace turned and began racing away from the Minotaur and toward a handful of smaller Goblins that had managed to remain outside the range of his tether.

The invisibility wore off just before the Hunter began firing. His hand cannon belched out three sharp retorts and the nearest of the smaller Vex shuddered into oblivion. Continuing his rush, Ace managed to strafe just out of the incoming line of fire while dropping another Goblin with a pair of well-placed shots.

“Ace! Look out!” Kaijae shouted.

The Nightstalker stopped focusing down the barrel of his gun in time to realize that the Minotaur had ported to the other side of the platform, behind Ace. The towering Vex leaned forward and then suddenly delivered a powerful kick at the surprised Hunter. Ace died before his body slammed into the wall on the far side.

Chapter 23

Chapter Text

Existence returned with a disorienting, blinding rush. Ace felt the comforting weight of his weapon in one hand while the other instinctively reached down to quell the overwhelming instant of nausea. In the next blink of reality, the sensation passed and the Hunter experienced the infusing warmth of the Light swell outward while vertigo threatened to send him reeling back down to the floor. A blink later, his vision cleared and he could feel armor settling about his frame as his feet found purchase on the ground. With that touch, Ace whirled about with his hand cannon at the ready, searching for threats.

“It’s all clear,” Kaizyn’s voice cut through the fading cacophony of sensations.

Ace’s frantic breathing calmed as the memory of crushing pain quickly disappeared. Mal’s reassuring presence, physically appearing just to the side, helped to settle the revived Hunter. Standing before him, his friends patiently waited. Approximating one final, deep breath, he looked to his teammates and shrugged, “Sorry about that. Didn’t think he’d port away from my tether like that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kaizyn replied. Ace could hear the smile behind the helmet in her voice. “You’re super pretty much cleared the whole platform and weakened that thing enough for Jae to smash it to oblivion.”

The Hunter looked to the Striker Titan and offered a fist. Kaijae bumped it with his own before chuckling, “I wasn’t about to let that thing stomp my buddy and get away with it.”

“Thanks for finishing it off,” Ace laughed.

“What was that trick you did on the way down?” Kaijae suddenly asked.

“I don’t know,” Ace shrugged. “I saw another Hunter doing it in a Crucible match a couple weeks ago. Looked like a useful trick, so I’ve been trying to figure it out. Still not sure how I do it, just that I can.”

“Well, it certainly got you out of the air faster,” Kaizyn cheerfully commented. “Likely saved you from being Vex target practice.”

“That was the plan,” Ace chuckled.

“How you feeling?” Kaijae inquired.

“Fine,” the Hunter answered. “I’m lucky to not be one of those that gets a headache every time I get rezzed. Just a quick bit of dizziness.”

“Good,” Kaijae nodded. He then turned to regard the fallen Minotaur. Ace followed the gaze, noting a massive scorch mark on the robot’s chest and the faint smell of ozone in the air; classic traces of a Fist of Havoc. The Striker added, “We should get going before more Vex security reinforcements arrive.”

Nodding his head in agreement, the Hunter turned toward the large doorway at the back of the platform. It was triangular in shape and the hallway turned sharply so that he couldn’t see anything beyond the verge. The Titans followed the Hunter through the archway, deeper into the Pyramidion.

The metallic stone in the waiting hallway shimmered as it appeared to shift whenever it wasn’t in direct line of sight. Ace had the feeling that everything at the edge of his vision and beyond was trying to change into something else in response to the Guardians’ presence. He wouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest if the path suddenly diverted right in front of his eyes. Brakion may have been destroyed, but the Vex still maintained control of the Pyramidion. And Ace wasn’t the only team member to feel this way.

“This place is making my skin crawl,” Kaizyn muttered.

“You say that about the Hive all the time,” Kaijae chuckled.

“And I mean it,” Kaizyn countered. “But this is different. The Hive are macabre and it feels like death is everywhere with them. But this place…” the Sentinel trailed off.

“It’s the antithesis of life,” Ace murmured. “The Hive welcome life into their lairs so that they can snuff it out. Death is their religion and they need life in order to practice it.” He then gestured to the mathematically perfect angles and lines of the metallic lattice that formed the hallway walls before continuing, “The Vex don’t care about death except only as a means to an end. Anything that is not Vex is not welcome here. Our deaths would simply be a matter of fact to them.”

“Holy crap, Ace, that was dark,” Kaijae muttered.

The Hunter laughed in reply, “An afternoon listening to Asher lecture will do that to a guy. Pretty sure I just managed to paraphrase a couple hour’s worth of his material.”

“A surprisingly accurate summation of that particular tirade,” Mal commented into the comm link. “I can’t believe you managed to pull that from all of the overly technical language Asher threw at you.”

Ace simply heaved a great shrug of his shoulders before replying, “I like the guy.”

“Well, it’s nice that you get to help him out here, but let’s not lose focus,” Kaijae interjected. “If that Minotaur is any indication of the forces being deployed here, our friend and her fire team are in real danger.”

Nodding agreement, Ace increased the length of his stride and began moving more briskly down the hallway. A pair of laser security fields would have blocked their passage, but the previous fireteam had destroyed the emitters. The Hunter and pair of Titans strode through the checkpoints without issue and, a minute later, found themselves at the end of the hallway. Turning the last corner, Ace suddenly halted. A yawning pit in the floor awaited the team.

“What’s wrong?” Kaizyn asked when the Hunter didn’t move for a couple seconds.

“This shouldn’t be here,” Ace answered. “I’ve been through here a couple times and this pit has never been here before. It has always been more laser fields and hallway.”

“Well, it is a Vex fortress,” Kaijae shrugged. “Didn’t you say that they can change the architecture in here at will?”

“They could when Brakion was functioning,” Ace explained. “That’s the whole point of these strike missions on Io; to prevent the Vex from reconstruction a unit that can do this.”

“Are you saying we’re too late?” Kaizyn asked, worry coloring the edges of her voice.

Ace shook his head, “No. The Vex could still make changes without Brakion. It just would take time for the Pyramidion to respond.”

“Then why are you so worried?” Kaizyn pressed.

“The Vex may be trying to keep us separated from the other fireteam,” Ace answered.

“What do we do?” Kaizyn asked.

“There’s really only one thing we can do,” Kaijae grumbled. “We keep moving forward. If we draw enough attention, we could possibly divert some of the Vex going after that other team. And if we’re lucky, we can link up with them.”

“Asher did once say that all paths in the Pyramidion will lead to the center, no matter what the Vex do to change it,” Ace admitted. “All one has to do is make sure that they keep moving forward and not let any of the changes trick them into turning around.”

“Then let’s get a move on,” Kaijae replied.

The team doubled their pace. Dropping through the hole in the floor, the trio soon found themselves running a veritable maze of hallways filled with Vex defenders. The path zigzagged while it simultaneously climbed or fell, with enemies waiting at practically every turn. Occasionally the team came across a pit or chimney that tempted them to jump to another level, but the Ghosts warned the Guardians that any perceived “shortcut” was merely a trick to either waste time or turn them around completely and send them to the exit.

As they ran, the fireteam efficiently dispatched every robot that tried to block their path. Ace had holstered the True Prophecy revolver and unslung his trusted Seventh Seraph shotgun. With every pull of the trigger, a Vex found itself utterly obliterated and subsequently trampled under a trio of boots. Kaijae followed close on the Hunter’s heels, still wielding his Eyasluna hand cannon as he targeted any Vex outside of the shotgun’s effective range. Meanwhile, Kaizyn ran with her Hammerhead machine gun and cleaned up any enemies that survived the first two’s onslaught.

Ace lost count of the number of Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Minotaurs they felled in their rush. Mal was able to synthesize enough ammunition from slain Vex to keep his reserves going, but only barely. Leaping over the seventh pit to continue pressing forward, the Hunter kept his eyes on the next turn in the hallway. Clutching the shotgun in both hands, he nimbly landed and continued the charge forward. A few strides later, he rounded the corner and the weapon was already pressed to his shoulder when the handful of Goblins appeared.

The Exo had wielded many weapons in his many decades as a Guardian, but few of them felt as reliable as his beloved shotgun. It wasn’t a particularly unique or weapon as the schematic had been handed over to the foundries for reproduction. Loading shells into the tube as he ran, the Hunter did take pride in knowing that he had looted his directly from a Warmind bunker, but that did little to affect how comfortable it felt in his hands. Kaijae’s shotgun may pack more of a punch, but Ace never missed a shot.

Rounding another corner, Ace was not fazed in the slightest by the appearance of a pair of Minotaurs. The powerful Vex seemed to be waiting for the charging Guardians as they had their weapons ready. The Hunter dropped to his knees in a slide that carried him right up to the feet of the first combatant. The Seventh Seraph shotgun introduced itself with a blast that tore away all of the Minotaur’s shield. The Vex quickly lowered its Torch Hammer, but Ace swiftly cycled out the spent shell with a fresh one. Before the robot could fire, the Seventh Seraph shotgun roared again and tore a massive hole into the radiolaria housing. The Vex fell backwards.

“Sonofa-“ Kaijae exclaimed before suddenly grunting in pain.

Ace turned to see the Titan picking himself up off the floor from where the second Minotaur’s Torch Hammer had sent him. Kaijae hadn’t been quite as quick to respond to the ambush and was punished for it. The blast had thrown him into the back wall while the concussive wave forced the air out of his lungs. Groaning as he regained his feet, Kaijae raised his Eyasluna to respond.

Kaizyn’s Hammerhead interrupted the exchange as the Awoken woman unloaded almost half a belt into the Vex. The Minotaur fell to pieces under the barrage even before it could hit the floor. Ace eyed the hallway behind the two slain Vex, ensuring that no other enemies stood waiting, before turning to regard his friend.

“Ow,” Kaijae muttered.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get pancaked to the wall,” Kaizyn commented as she pressed a supporting hand to Kaijae’s shoulder.

Holding out a hand, Kaijae summoned his Ghost as he replied, “Probably would have been preferable. If I got killed, I wouldn’t have to feel like a truck hit me and Zuko could just rez me.”

Zuko cast its threads of Light across the Titan’s frame. A couple seconds later, Ace could see the scorch mark from the Minotaur’s weapon dematerialize. Kaijae’s breathing suddenly normalized and he stood straighter.

“Three fractured ribs and a humerus,” the Ghost commented before folding away into incorporeality.

“Yeah, try not to take a direct hit from those things,” Ace chuckled.

“It was aiming at you when you slid under the blast,” Kaijae grumbled as he tested his arm and chest. Ace and Kaizyn both patiently waited as the memory of pain faded for their teammate and he was ready to move again. Even though their Ghosts could heal them, many Guardians needed a moment or two to reconcile with the sudden and abrupt reality of being made whole again.

When Kaijae nodded to indicate that he was ready to start moving, the team resumed their charge. Worry began to gnaw at the back of Ace’s mind. Kaijae was a seasoned veteran and had almost been knocked out of commission by that Minotaur. And then there was the much larger variant that had been deployed against them earlier; the Vex that managed to kill Ace. What was the other team facing during their deployment into the Pyramidion? Asher had stated that they were after a Hydra, one of the most dangerous Vex models known to the Guardians. Ace began to run even faster.

Chapter 24

Chapter Text

Vex resistance eased up after the last two Minotaurs. It almost felt like a mere token effort on the Pyramidion’s part to slow the advance of the Guardians as simple Goblins were now all that appeared in the their path. And there were no longer any chimneys or chutes to other levels that could tempt the team into mistakenly taking a route that would slow their progress. It was as if the Vex realized that this team could not be deterred. Ace couldn’t decide if he liked the feeling or if it was unsettling.

After a few minutes of running, the team finally found themselves rounding a turn into a long hallway with a Vex portal at the far end. Without word, all three paused as they considered the glowing gateway. It was the only way forward, but prudence made each one of them take a moment to wonder what lay on the other side. Or what might come through to this side as they approached. Was the portal a trap? An ambush? Or just the next inevitable step forward through the Vex stronghold?

“Let’s get this over with,” Kaizyn sighed, nudging the other two members of the team.

Ace nodded in agreement. There was no sense in wasting time, staring at the doorway.

Kaijae was the first to move and he began jogging toward the end of the hallway. Ace was just after, clutching his shotgun and ready for enemies to respond to the team’s charge in kind. The Hunter could hear Kaizyn right on his heels as the team pressed forward. With one Titan at his side and another close behind, Ace smiled as he felt more than ready to face whatever waited on the other side.

The fireteam was only a short few paces away from the Vex gate when it began to pulse and flare; a telling indication that something was about to come through. Instinctively, Ace halted and readied his shotgun. Kaizyn slipped past him and erected a defensive barricade of Void Light. The Hunter mumbled a quick thanks as the Sentinel retreated back a few steps to resume her position of rearguard.

The glowing portal pulsed a couple more times before the first shape began to appear in the bright light. All three Guardians trained their weapons on the form passing through, fingers ready in the trigger. However, rather than some robotic Vex striding through to challenge the fireteam, it was a stumbling Humanoid shape. A Guardian.

“Oh, thank the Traveler!” the stranger, a Hunter, exclaimed.

Two more passed through behind the newcomer. The next to step into the hallway was shouting as he passed thru, “What is it, Nox? Is it clear?”

“Berg! We have backup!” Nox shouted, the relief plain to hear in his voice.

Berg, a Titan, reached back to offer support to the third member of the fireteam, a Warlock. Berg hauled his companion’s arm over his shoulders so that he could practically walk for the obviously wounded teammate. As he stepped away from the Vex gate, he hollered, “That’s great, but we gotta keep moving! That damned Hydra is gonna be right on our asses!”

The Warlock being carried groaned, “Jus… just go. I’m jus…”

“Shut up, Moira!” Berg roared in response. To emphasis the point, the Titan suddenly knelt down and pulled the Warlock onto his back before standing back up and hastening his steps.

Kaizyn shoved past Ace and sprinted for the other team. Kaijae and Ace followed. As soon as she got within a few steps, Kaizyn summoned a powerful dome of Void light, her Ward of Dawn. “Set her down,” the Sentinel Titan commanded firmly.

Berg instantly obeyed and set his companion on the floor, in the center of the Ward. Moira grunted in pain as she transitioned to the cold, unyielding stone.

“Why doesn’t her Ghost repair her?” Kaijae asked.

“Damned Light is too thin this far in,” Nox muttered.

“It’s true,” Kaijae’s Ghost affirmed, appearing in the air above the Warlock. “However, we could assist.”

Moira’s Ghost appeared next to Zuko, frantically turning to look at all of the Guardians standing within Kaizyn’s dome. Ace stepped forward and snatched the anxious Ghost out of the air. He turned it so that it’s central eye was focused on him. The Hunter could feel Mal helping to channel his Light into this other Ghost.

Suddenly, the Ghost exclaimed, “Got it!” It cast a lattice of Light over the wounded Warlock and, a moment later, all the visible damage to her armor was gone. Moira’s labored breathing became normal as she stood up on now-steady feet.

“Thank you,” the Warlock commented.

“Yes yes yes,” Nox interrupted. “We all have two good feet now, but death is still chasing us. We need to move!”

Almost on cue, the portal began to rapidly pulse. Kaizyn, who had not taken her eyes off of it since erecting her Ward of Dawn, shouted, “Too late! They’re coming through!”

“I told you to leave me behind and go,” Moira cried. “You should have saved yourselves.”

“Shut up,” Berg growled as he stepped toward the edge of the Ward, slapping a fresh magazine into his auto rifle. “You may be the worst Warlock I have ever met, but you’re my friend. Ain’t no way in hell we’d leave you behind.”

Nox stepped forward as well and was about to make a comment when Ace grabbed his shoulder and pulled the other Hunter back. “Hang back a bit, friend,” Ace instructed.

Kaijae similarly stepped past Berg to join Ace outside the protective dome. Before Ace could make a witty quip, headless Goblins began pouring out of the portal, Slap Rifles firing wildly. Both the Hunter and Titan had no trouble dodging the uncoordinated shots from the damaged Vex and began responding in kind. They both stood several meters from the gate and used their hand cannons to articulate their replies. Every shot fired obliterated a Vex soldier as the two began advancing, even as they sidestepped to avoid taking any unnecessary damage. As he reached to within just a couple strides of the portal, undamaged Goblins began stepping through the threshold.

The ammunition in his True Prophecy spent, Ace swapped to his beloved Seventh Seraph shotgun instead of reloading. The first undamaged Goblin to join the fray found itself utterly destroyed before it could get any bearings. A second Vex soldier was thus dispatched as a third managed to fire through the shattered remains of its fellow. The stinging blast caught Ace in the shoulder, but succeeded only in damaging his shields.

Taking a step back, Ace noted that the Goblins were passing through the gate all around him. He and Kaijae were but stones in a river as the Vex poured into the hallway on either side of the battling Guardians. The two of them could not cover enough ground to control the entire portal. The Hunter heard the sound of rifles firing behind him as the other team shot at those Vex that were able to make it past the Hunter and Titan.

“Screw this,” Ace snarled. Leaping back a few steps, he screamed a mental command to Mal. The Hunter felt the weight of his shotgun disappear, only to be immediately replaced with the heavier weight of his machine gun, Thunderlord. “Jae! Barricade!”

Ace squeezed the trigger and began filling the hallway with lightning. Vex instantly began to fall to the barrage of bullets and lightning bolts. A scant few seconds later, almost all of the Vex were destroyed; the only robots left were those that found themselves on the other side of Kaijae’s barricade. Of course, those were summarily dispatched by the Titan.

The Guardians all stood still, waiting for more Vex to swarm through the gate. However, after a tense few moments, the portal remained calm. Its brilliant glow no longer pulsed with activity. Ace slowly lowered the smoking barrel of his heavy weapon and considered the sheer number of Vex he had just destroyed. Then he glanced down to the ammunition belt feeding his receiver and noticed that he only had a couple rounds left. The Hunter had almost run out.

In their private comm channel, Mal quietly commented, “You only have one more belt left.”

Ace nodded and held out his hand. The fresh box of ammo appeared in his hand and the Hunter began reloading the weapon. He could also feel the invigorating side effects of Kaizyn’s Ward fading from his body. Turning about to regard the other fireteam, he chuckled wryly, “No wonder you guys got banged up. That was a lot of Vex!”

Kaijae stepped away from the portal, reloading his shotgun, as he commented, “To say nothing of the Hydra that was also there. Am I right? Is the Hydra that you three were sent to destroy on the other side of this portal?”

“Yeah,” Nox answered. “We’d already used up just about everything we had just to reach the damned thing, only to find it surrounded by a small army.”

“There’s probably a couple dozen more still over there,” Berg stated as he walked to join Ace and Kaijae.

Trying to actually count the number of destroyed Vex around the portal was futile since robot parts were flung everywhere by the bolts of Arc lightning spawned by his weapon. However, he was able to estimate at least five dozen Goblins had been sent through the gate. His vocal processor approximated a low whistle as he looked back to the other fireteam. “Close to a hundred Vex waiting for you three and you guys managed to make it out of there? I’ve known a few fireteams that weren’t able to pull that off. Well done,” Ace congratulated.

“Doesn’t feel like a ‘well done,’” Berg grumbled.

“Sometimes staying alive is all that can be managed,” Kaizyn warned. “You did well getting your team out of there.”

“Hey, I found the active gate,” Nox briefly protested before continuing, “but yeah. You rallied us and got us out of that mess.”

Berg heaved a great sigh, “Yeah, well, let’s get out of here before the real trouble comes through that thing.”

Ace turned to look at Kaijae and grinned under his helmet, “How are you doing on ammo? You have any rockets left?”

Kaijae chuckled, “A couple. You?”

“You can’t be serious!” Moira exclaimed from where she stood next to Kaizyn.

“They’re both idiots, of course they are,” Kaizyn quickly replied.

Ignoring the exchange, Kaijae continued, “I’m pretty close to being able to use Fist of Havoc again, too.”

“You’re in luck, thanks to my Orpheus Rigs, I can use my tether again already!” Ace crowed.

Nox leaned close to Kaizyn and asked, “They really are serious, aren’t they?”

Kaizyn shook her head, “Told you.” Then she raised her voice to call out, “I’m pretty well set for ammo, but don’t expect me to save your asses. I just used my bubble a minute ago.”

Berg turned slowly to consider all the destroyed Vex bodies covering the hallway floor. Then he looked to the extra fireteam that had come to lend support. “Yeah. Let’s go finish this job,” he growled.

“That’s the spirit!” Ace clapped the Titan on the shoulder and turned to the Vex gate.

——————

Sitting on the empty husk of the Vex Hydra, Ace winced as he shifted to get into a more comfortable position. As he fired the Shadowshot into the mass of robots, the massive overseer had managed to fire its Aeon Maul before the Void power could interfere with the Vex construct’s functionality. One of the blast struck Ace and sent the Hunter tumbling to the floor in a heap.

Kaijae had waited for the towering robot’s defense matrix to shift enough to afford him a clean shot before activating his Fist of Havoc and charging. Between the debilitating effects of Ace’s Shadowshot tether, the combined weapons fire of the other Guardians, and the devastating power of Kaijae’s super ability, the Hydra toppled in short order. The rest of the Vex supporting the thing were easily picked off. Now the two fireteams stood amongst the carnage of their victory over the Vex.

“This’ll make Asher happy,” Nox preened.

“Hah!” Ace guffawed. “Brother, you obviously haven’t work for Asher before. When you deliver the report of your success, he’s going to grumble about you all interrupting his research.”

“Really?” Kaizyn asked.

“Yeah,” Ace grinned.

“And you genuinely like this guy?” Kaijae pressed.

Shrugging, Ace replied, “I know. It’s weird. There’s a bunch of us Guardians that find the cranky bastard endearing.”

“But we almost died,” Berg countered, angrily.

“So did Asher,” Ace commented, tapping his right arm to remind everyone of the cantankerous Warlock’s affliction. “He lost his fireteam to Brakion and he will someday, eventually be killed by the Vex infection. Until then, he’s out there studying the Vex and working to prevent them from being able to do even worse to the rest of our system.”

“What did we even accomplish today?” Moira asked quietly.

“That Hydra was responsible for rebuilding Brakion,” Ace explained. “If it had succeeded, the Vex would have reenabled full functionality to this Pyramidion and allowed them to become a much greater threat to the City. Stopping it delayed the Vex’s plans for a while.”

“For a while?” Nox asked, deflated.

“I don’t think there will ever be such a thing as a permanent victory of any kind where the Vex are involved,” Ace grimly answered.

“Maybe that’s why the Traveler gifted us with immortality?” Berg quietly commented. Then, after a long few seconds of silence, the Titan then shook off the darkness of the moment and looked to Ace, “Well, I am glad that the Vanguard decided to send you guys to support us. You saved our asses.”

Berg’s team stood, but Ace held up a forestalling hand to stop them. “Wait, that’s not why we came here,” the Hunter stated before gesturing for everyone to resume their seats.

As the other Guardians settled back down, Ace removed his helmet and set it on the Vex chassis next to himself. Kaijae and Kaizyn both followed suit, removing their helms as they relaxed. Berg, Nox, and Moira all took a moment to consider Ace’s team before each one moved to find a Vex chassis to sit on.

Once everyone was comfortable, Ace began, “As crazy as it sounds, this may be the safest place to discuss what I’m about to share with you three.” The seriousness in his tone caused the three to tense. “We are hunting a Guardian killer. Someone who once was one of our own.”

“What? Dredgen Yor?” Nox whispered.

“Not quite,” Kaijae replied. “Just as deadly, but we hope to stop her before she gets as famous.”

No one laughed at the Titan’s attempted irreverence.

“What does that have to do with us?” Berg asked.

Ace turned to let his gaze fall upon the Warlock. He waited a couple seconds to let the meaning of his focus become apparent before answering, “Moira. You witnessed an incident a few weeks ago.”

The Warlock jerked upright, startled at being called out. She raised a hand to point at herself and weakly replied, “Me?”

Kaizyn, who was sitting near the other woman, leaned forward and placed a supportive hand on Moira’s shoulder, “Yes. You’ve done nothing wrong and we only want to ask a couple questions.”

Moira looked from Kaizyn to Ace and then replied, “Yeah. Whatever you need.”

Ace summoned Mal who promptly glided through the air to the center of the encircled Guardians to cast a holographic display of Elledora. The Ghost used details from her intervention during the Keeper attack upon Ace a few days ago. Mal cycled the hologram through several poses that the Ghost had managed to capture in that brief event. The thin visor set with the smooth surface of the Errant Knight helmet was now very familiar to Ace as he had spent much time considering that moment when he had been face to face with his quarry. If he had only known then what he knew now.

Giving Moira time to review the hologram, Ace waited a minute before beginning, “You had an incident involving a bunch of Keepers, didn’t you?”

Nox and Berg both turned to look at their teammate. Nox was the first to exclaim, “Wait! What happened? When?!”

Kaijae’s booking voice cut through the din, “Guys! You can discuss that later. We need to talk to Moira before the Vex come and make this place un-safe to hang out.”

“Exactly,” Ace agreed. “So, did you have an altercation with any Keepers a few weeks ago?”

“I did,” Moira affirmed.

“Did this Guardian intervene?” Ace then asked gently.

Moira leaned forward and focused on the holographic display for a few seconds. Then she glanced up to where Mal hovered overhead and asked, “Can you skip to the one with her cloak?”

Mal complied and began projecting the image that the Ghost had captured as Elledora turned to walk away from Ace. The rogue’s thin cloak was pulled to one side by the sudden movement and her hip was prominent in the image, especially with the hand cannon there in its holster.

“Yes,” Moira finally concluded. “She was the one who saved me.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Kaizyn smiled encouragingly.

Moira took a deep breath before she began recounting her story.

Chapter 25

Chapter Text

“It was late in the day and I was heading back to my apartment. I had spent the afternoon in the Riverside District enjoying the park. I decided to walk instead of transmatting because it was such a nice evening and the sunset made the Traveler look so beautiful. The guys were skirmishing in the Crucible, so I had nothing else to do. Even thought I’d swing by a store and pick up Ikora’s latest book.”

Moira paused to consider her next few words. Her faced clouded and her lips tightened as her voice grew cold when she resumed.

“I was just a couple blocks out of the district when they started heckling me. At first, I thought it was a really bad Nox prank. I’d heard rumors, but didn’t think that there were actually citizens that hated us Guardians, especially Ghaul. When one of them threw a rock at me, that’s when I realized that it wasn’t a prank and that Keepers were real.”

Moira paused again. Nox raised a hand, as if to interject a protest or comment regarding the incident being a prank, but Berg shushed the Hunter before he could say anything. Moira did not appear to notice the exchange and Ace continued to focus on the woman’s face.

“They had been following me for a few blocks before they threw the rock. That’s when I stopped and turned to face them. I should have just had Pebble get me out of there, but I couldn’t believe what was happening. I wanted to reason with them. I wanted to explain that they were wrong about us Guardians and that we really are only here to protect the City. We aren’t the Warlords that used to be around all those decades ago. But they wouldn’t listen. Just kept shouting in my face. One of them kept blaming me for the death of his wife when the Cabal came. Like we didn’t lose friends and family to Ghaul. Or long before that bastard came! Like Penny and Stahl. Ehritz-4. Or Aisling.”

Moira’s voice cracked at the mention of the last night and tears began to stream down her face. Berg and Kaizyn both reached out to offer supportive reassurance. Moira patted Berg’s hand with her own before turning her head to give a grateful nod to Kaizyn. Ace managed to furtively glance around the area, checking for any signs that the Vex of the Pyramidion might stir. He didn’t want to push through the obviously emotional moment, but the danger of their position was very real. Fortunately, Moira quickly recovered and resumed.

“I made the mistake of stopping near an alleyway and they cornered me into it. I could see other people watching, afraid to intervene. Besides, why would a Guardian need help? Maybe if they knew I was the weakest Guardian that the City has ever had?”

“That’s not true!” Nox interrupted, apparently angry with the Warlock’s self depreciation.

“Oh, please. Your grenades are bigger than my Nova Bomb,” Moira countered.

Ace raised a hand and firmly declared, “We don’t have time for this. This place is safe from prying eyes and ears, but the Vex could decide to crash this party any time.” He then looked to Moira and, more softly, instructed, “Please continue. What happened next?”

Nox glanced over at Ace and mumbled a quiet apology before settling back into his makeshift seat. Berg and Kaijae both began glancing around, as if expecting an imminent attack from the Vex, but quickly relaxed as well. Moira took a deep breath before nodding with understanding toward Ace.

“They had me in the alley and were beginning to shove me around. I considered responding in kind, but that isn’t what Guardians do, is it? We don’t hurt citizens. I didn’t know what to do. I was so confused and caught up that I couldn’t think. I should’ve had Pebble get me out of there, but could she transmat me if they had a hold of me? Fortunately, that woman saved me. She seemed to fall out of the sky and just started smacking the hell out of those jerks. It only took a few hits and they began running away. I recognize the cloak. It’s thinner than most Hunter cloaks and the hood barely covers her helmet.”

Ace turned his attention back to Mal’s holographic display of Elledora. He, too, had noticed that the rogue’s cloak wasn’t as flashy or covering as most others. However, he hadn’t caught how poorly sized the hood had been until Moira pointed it out. Most Hunters liked large hoods that covered their helmets so that light couldn’t reflect off the armor. The same was true for the cloak themselves, a wider piece of fabric could be used to conceal the entire body. Anything less was ultimately just ornamental.

That isn’t to say that Hunters wouldn’t wear something purely for ornamentation. The fact was that Hunters were known as being “flashy” or “flamboyant” for a very good reason. They were. However, Ace did not believe this was the case for Elledora. Nor did it really matter. What did matter was that they had successfully linked their suspect to this incident.

Ace turned his attention back to Moira and stated, “Thank you very much. I am sorry that you had to go through all of that. We only have one final question.” The Hunter then looked up to his Ghost. Mal nodded understanding and stopped projecting the image of Elledora; switching instead to that of a normal City resident. It was the victim that was beaten later in the same day as Moira’s assault. Ace locked eyes with the Warlock and asked, “Was this man one of the Keepers that attacked you?”

“Yes.”

——————

The two teams made their way out of the Pyramidion without incident. They could hear the sound of Vex activity increasing in their wake, but none of the robots presented themselves to the Guardians. It was as if the Collective knew that it did not have sufficient strength to challenge the interlopers at this time and was willing to allow them all to leave.

Berg and Nox spent the majority of the trek trying to be uplifting and supportive of their friend. It was apparent that her low opinion of her abilities was a known fact. The discussion quickly focused on the Keepers attack.

Nox shook his head angrily, “I can’t believe that you didn’t tell us about what happened.”

Moira sighed sadly, “What would the two of you done? Gone and beat them up? They already got their asses handed to them by that Hunter who saved me.”

Berg grumbled something intelligible, but still made his anger clear.

“What? Would you guys have decided to escort me everywhere?” the Warlock asked, exasperated. “I know now that there isn’t any reasoning with them if such a thing happens again. I’m fine.”

The conversation went quiet at that point for a minute. The six Guardians took advantage of a chute to cut the trip two wars the exit in half, according to the Ghosts. Both teams were clustered together at the bottom of the shaft, preparing to resume their walk, when Moira heaved a great sigh.

“I’m more worried about what just happened back there. You guys, I’m holding you back,” she announced.

Nox and Berg immediately began protesting, but Ace stepped in between the Warlock and her teammates. He looked into the woman’s visor and calmly stated, “Strength in the Light is not the problem. So what if you cannot produce an impressive Nova Bomb? A single Nova Bomb should never be the determining factor for victory.”

“Then why did we almost get killed back there?” Moira countered.

“One of two things happened,” Ace explained, “either you were unprepared for what was waiting or you underestimated what you were hunting.”

“There were a hundred Vex waiting for you three,” Kaizyn commented. “The enemy was waiting for you and you guys weren’t prepared for that kind of trap.”

Ace pointed a finger at his friend and nodded with agreement. “You three managed to take out a chunk of the forces before retreating. Then the Vex were stupid enough to give chase so that we could wipe them out. Finishing the job was easy at that point, but only because the Vex made the mistake of chasing you.”

“I should have conserved some of my ammunition on the way down,” Berg quietly intoned.

“I could have held onto my Arc powers,” Nox mumbled.

“Could’ve. Should’ve. Would’ve,” Ace chuckled. “Great words to use in retrospect. Just don’t beat yourselves up too much over this. Learn from this battle.” The Hunter then paused and gave a hard look to the Warlock. “Maybe Voidwalking isn’t the right path for you. I know a few who can’t get the hang of it. Either way, you can still fight our enemies even without special powers. Thats all that matters.”

With that, Ace turned about and led the pair of teams toward the Pyramidion’s exit.

——————

“I’m certainly glad that we were able to assist those three, but what did we gain from this?” Kaijae asked as they watched the other fireteam enter Asher’s cave.

“Well, I got Asher off my back. I could kick Cayde’s ass for giving me that gear if he wasn’t already dead,” Ace chuckled.

“You loved that armor, though,” Kaizyn countered. “I’m surprised you finally joined us in the present and upgraded to the new and improved gear.”

Ace shrugged and turned toward Kaijae. “We learned that Elledora is without doubt our suspect. We have an eyewitness connecting her directly to one of the victims,” he explained.

“We already knew that she was the one we wanted, though,” Kaijae snorted.

“Yes, love, but we did not know that it was her,” Kaizyn replied. “There is a big difference between thinking we know and actually knowing. After all, what if we were wrong and we only had Elledora’s name because of coincidence?”

“It would be one hell of a coincidence,” Kaijae muttered.

“Agreed,” Ace nodded. “But if we are going to hunt a Lightbearer for something like this, we had better not be mistaken.”

“So what now?”

Ace paused at the question and stopped to think. They knew for certain who they were after now, but not how to catch her. They had to be proactive in their hunt now that Elledora had begun to actually kill her targets. However, Ace was drawing a blank as to an effective strategy that would help them. He needed more information.

“Maybe if we knew more about her tactics,” the Hunter mused quietly.

“What do you mean?” Kaizyn asked.

Ace shook his head, frustrated, “We still don’t know enough about how she operates. If we knew that, maybe we could catch her.”

“This is why I like the Crucible so much more,” Kaijae sighed. “You know where your opponent is. All you have to do is shoot them before they and their buddies can shoot you first.”

“Aren’t you a master tactician?” Kaizyn teased.

“Trust me. You’re going to want to shoot Elledora before she shoots you,” Ace commented, stealing the laughter from his friends.

As soon as he made the remark, Ace immediately regretted it. The three of them had been driving themselves fairly hard all day long and the pair of Titans deserved a moment of levity. The frustration of not knowing what to do next and the anxiety that came from knowing that people’s lives were at stake was getting to the Hunter.

Unclasping his helmet so that he could taste fresh air, the Exo ran a gloved hand across his tires face. He could feel the metal plates that formed the chassis around his mouth and eyes shift. Ace took a calming breath and looked into the visors of his friends and apologized, “I’m really sorry for that. It was uncalled for. You already know the stakes and don’t need me making sh*t worse.”

Kaijae delivered a friendly slam to the Hunter’s shoulder and chuckled, “I feel you, brother. Don’t even worry about it.”

Kaizyn was quiet and had raised an hand to her chin; a sign that she was thinking. A few seconds later, she asked, “How about we check out one of the spots where she attacked a victim? Maybe we can learn something about how she operates. Or maybe our Ghosts can find something useful that the authorities missed.”

Ace found himself nodding along with his friend’s suggestion, “That’s not a ba-“

“Hey guys!” Berg’s distant voice interrupted the conversation. All three of them turned to see the other team exiting Asher’s cave. Berg was at the front and waving his arms. “I’m glad you all hadn’t left yet!”

Kaijae hollered down the hillside to the approaching team, “Not quite yet. What’s up?”

The other team began jogging to quickly close the distance. Ace and the Kais waited patiently as they approached. Berg was the first to arrive and he thrusted a hand out toward the group, “We wanted to give you all proper thanks for the help down there.”

Kaijae promptly grasped the proffered hand with his own and replied, “Accepted! What did you have in mind?”

Nox shrugged, “It’s getting kind of late in the day Earthside and we are gonna head back. If you guys aren’t sticking around here, wanna join us for dinner? Our treat.”

Ace and both of the Kais shared a couple quick glances amongst themselves before Kaizyn declared, “Yeah, we’re all done here on Io.”

“They said free food,” Kaijae suddenly blurted. “Why aren’t we in our ships yet?”

Chapter 26

Chapter Text

Elledora sat down heavily on her cot. She heard the metal frame protest at the abrupt addition of weight, but the sound didn’t register with her. The Hunter reached to her back pouch and retrieved a small data pad. She swiftly keyed in a short series of commands and, a moment later, the device displayed a handful of smiling faces. Mother. Father. Celine. And…

With a touch, Elledora adjusted the magnification of the display and centered it on the grinning young woman. Curly, blonde locks of hair framed an oval face with shining hazel eyes. A generous splash of freckles crossed from cheekbone to cheekbone. She recognized the face as hers just as easily as she was able to identify her sister, Celine. But the smile was not her own. Elledora had never found occasion to smile so brightly in this life. Plink came close, with his amusing antics and boundless optimism. And Celine certainly would have if not for the specter of their parents’ animosity toward Guardians hanging over every occasion that they were able to spend time together.

If it wasn’t for the Keepers’ poison, she could be this woman in the picture. She could have a real family and know joy. Elledora could go out and battle the enemies of the City in order to keep her family safe. But there was a cancer. An insidious plague within the protective walls of the City. Once she eliminated it, her mother and father would no longer be turned against her. She could be accepted by her family and finally have a home to defend.

She would end any threat that came to her home. That’s why Plink chose her, she knew. Her Ghost could tell that he was selecting a Guardian that would stop at nothing to ensure the safety of the City. He had chosen a defender that would never waver, would never falter in the defense of its people. All that stopped her was the sickness of the Keepers.

With a swift motion, Elledora shifted the display to her sister’s face. Dear, innocent Celine. The Hunter smiled. Maybe she would take a Vanguard mission tomorrow. She could use the Glimmer to buy a small gift and she’d also have a tale to tell her baby sister.

Elledora extracted an ID card from a different pouch. Another Hunter that fell to the Hive before she could rescue them, the slain Guardian served to give her the alternate identity she needed. Elledora smiled again as she imagined the delight that would appear on Celine’s face when the Hunter regaled her with such an exciting tale.

“Plink! Find me a mission! Let’s kill a bad guy!”

The Ghost materialized overhead and his joy was palpable as he crowed, “Yes! Let’s get out there and fight some really bad guys! I’ll find you the perfect strike mission!”

Elledora laid down on the cot and grinned. It wasn’t the same smile worn by the young woman in the picture, but it was close. She would make a little Glimmer, treat her sister, and then return to fighting the cancer that plagued the City.

——————

The following morning, Ace found himself climbing out of his comfortable bed. As he turned to replace the covers and return the bed to a semi-made state, the Exo considered the piece of furniture. He had slept just fine in many places that were far less comfortable, much less hospitable, than this bed. He only had this nice bed because his body had been programmed with the ability to appreciate the comfort of a nice mattress and warm blankets.

Ace had made the trip to Mars and listened to the digital concierge discuss how Clovis Bray had engineered Exominds with humanisms to prevent Disassociative Exomind Rejection. The Hunter knew at a logical level that he didn’t actually need any of it; that it was all a part of keeping the Human mind inside of his robotic chassis content. And yet, that knowledge did nothing to change the fact that he honestly relished the feeling of climbing into his bed every night that he was not off-world on a mission.

As he left his bedroom, the Exo then could not help but mentally compare his apartment to the one that they had searched the other day; Elledora’s registered residence. He had never thought of his home as particularly big, but it was almost sprawling when he considered it against the tiny closet that she once lived in. He had caught a glimpse of Graham’s place and believed that it was probably almost as small as Elledora’s. The two of them were crammed into slums. No wonder they were both so disaffected in their own ways.

Ace entered his modest kitchen and considered his options. He could cook himself something delicious and enjoyable, or simply grab a nutribar. Both would be equally effective at preparing his Exomind body for the day to come. Hell, the uninspired nutrition bar probably would be even more so for an organic Human or Awoken, but the fresh cooked breakfast would be infinitely more enjoyable. Did Elledora or Graham have to resign to consuming joyless nutribars every day? The Hunter had never stopped to consider what it might take for others in the City to just get by.

Ace grabbed a nutribar. He was in a rush to begin the day and didn’t want to waste the time cooking something. Taking a bite of the chewy, “chocolate” flavored bar, the Exo chuckled. Whoever makes these might as well call them ‘brown flavored’ for as much as these things taste like chocolate, he thought.

Entering the bathroom, Ace set the breakfast aside so that he could wash his face. The Exo had already taken a shower the previous night to remove the dust and grime of battle before going to bed, but the ritualistic act of washing his face made him feel better. Fresh.

Retrieving the nutribar, the Hunter then strode into his apartment’s second bedroom. As usual, three mannequins awaited him. The first was adorned with his customary armor set. The Holdfast model of gear had quickly become popular amongst Hunters for both the protection it afforded as well as the ability to accept the newest modification cards that were being developed. He especially enjoyed the card that had preprogrammed “muscle memory” in the arms that helped him reload his shotgun even faster. His eyes briefly glanced over the Orpheus Rigs leg armor. Ace had spent a small fortune to acquire that particular piece of powerful gear.

But it was the second mannequin that had drawn Ace into this room. Asher’s antics yesterday had sparked some nostalgia in the Exo Hunter. He stepped toward the second set of armor, the Gensym Knight gear. The smooth surface of the helmet gleamed in the room’s overhead light and Ace ran a hand over the geometric etching in the center of the breastplate. He had always been fascinated by the intricate design and admired the craftsmanship that it must have taken to place it.

How many times did Mal have to repair this armor? He must have died wearing this gear dozens of times since the day that Cayde-6 had gifted it to him. And yet, it had also kept him alive throughout Ghaul’s invasion of the City. There were some nicks and scratches in the breastplate from The War. Ace had forbade Mal from repairing some of them so that they could serve as reminders. There was a hairline flaw in the left arm’s vambrace, where Bracus Gelahn had managed to shear his lower arm and hand off.

Ace then looked past the older armor to a shelf on the wall. The Hunter had an assortment of weapons on display in the room; all equipment that he considered swapping in for use during a mission some time. However, this particular shelf held a broken and useless scout rifle; his old Nameless Midnight. He had kept it to serve as a reminder to not take his gifts for granted and that there were people out there that relied on him. People that cared for him dearly. It reminded him that had friends like the Kais; like Mike and Nutbar. Yes, he had lost loved ones like Deoxys, but he had also had new ones enter his life like Samus. And Halily.

Quickly finishing off the nutribar, Ace summoned Mal. “Let’s get suited up and go,” he said to his Ghost.

——————

Kaijae and Kaizyn transmatted into the Anchor District only a few minutes after Ace. The Hunter had been surveying the general area, observing the morning routine of the locals as he waited for his friends to arrive. This particular morning was fairly damp as a squall had passed over the City last night. Puddles collected the remaining drops that fell from awnings and gutter spouts. Laborers trudged through the thin pools of water with their heads down as they made their way to their jobs. Children dashed down the sidewalks in small groups as they hurried to the transports that would take them to school. And a myriad of others made their way up or down the street as each one went about the business of living their lives.

Ace watched for any frowns or scowls thrown his way from passersby, but most of the people kept their eyes forward as they made their way to their destinations. A couple of the groups of children spotted the Hunter and paused to wave, but they were in a hurry to catch their bus and so did not stop to talk to the Guardian. Ace was a little disappointed as he enjoyed answering questions from kids and telling exciting tales of his adventures.

“Hey, Ace!” Kaizyn’s voice called from behind him.

The Hunter turned about to see his friends approaching from the public area he had transmatted to. Kaijae was stretching his arms as he walked and Ace could hear the Titan yawning through the commlink. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Don’t mind him,” Kaizyn answered. “The big dummy decided to wake up extra early so he could see Banshee as soon as he opened.”

“I will have a fully functional Sleeper Similant in a couple days!” Kaijae happily declared.

Ace grinned at his friend’s infectious delight. He had almost completely forgotten about the Titan’s lucky find from the other day. Knowing that his facial expression couldn’t be seen through his helmet, the Hunter raised a fist and replied, “Congratulations. May it serve you well in your battles to come.”

Kaijae bumped the raised fist with his own, “Thanks, man. I can finally stop being jealous of that Thunderlord you’ve been packing around.”

“Yeah! Now it’s my turn to be jealous!” Ace laughed. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and stumble across a Warsat with an Ikelos fusion core during my next patrol.”

Kaizyn sighed and shook her head, “If you boys are done comparing weapon barrels, maybe we can get back to work?”

“Sorry,” Ace replied, his cheeks warming with the approximation of an embarrassed flush.

Kaijae merely gave a hearty laugh.

Mal chose that moment to materialize and address the team, “We are not far from the site of the attack.” An instant later, a waypoint marker appeared in the visors for all three Guardians.

Kaizyn took the lead and began walking down the street. Ace was only a couple steps behind with Kaijae at his side. The Hunter glanced about, taking note of the buildings all around. They all seemed to be covered with a layer of grime and the windows appeared to be thin slits that couldn’t possibly allow enough natural light in. It reminded him of the depressing apartment that they found when the team entered Elledora’s registered apartment.

“It’s all slums,” Ace murmured.

“What was that?” Kaijae asked, turning his head to look at the Hunter.

Ace gestured to the buildings that bracketed the street that they were walking along and replied, “All of these apartments look like nothing more than slums.”

Kaijae then turned his head to consider the nearest building. Kaizyn then commented, “We all already knew that there were places like this in the City. Why do you sound so surprised?”

“I dunno,” Ace sighed. “I guess I kind of hoped that they wouldn’t be so… commonplace?”

“Well, we are in one of the poorer sections of the City,” Kaijae reminded the Hunter.

“Yeah, a lot of these buildings went up back in the early days when there wasn’t as much safe space to spare,” Kaizyn added. “People had to be crammed in so that they could be protected, until the walls went up and then we could expand.”

“It just seems wrong to continue having people live in places like this,” Ace shook his head sadly.

“I agree,” Kaizyn admitted, “but until the people do something about the administration that allows this sort of thing to continue, nothing will change.”

“Is this kind of thing why you don’t like to spend time in the City?” Kaijae chuckled.

“Oh, that’s not fair any more,” Kaizyn countered. “Ace has been spending a lot more time City-side now that Halily has joined our little cadre.”

“Wait. Cadre? What are you talking about?” Ace asked, confused.

“Oh, you know, the ‘extended family’ that you’ve managed to put together,” Kaizyn explained. “You’ve got Mike and Samus… Nutbar and the two of us… Plus Halily and everyone else that you guys pulled out of the City during the War. Everyone that you three gave shelter to looks up to you guys.”

“Yeah, everyone from the Shelter really stuck together after the War. Somehow, Kaizyn and I got roped in through association with you, but I don’t mind. It’s nice,” Kaijae commented.

“Who are we kidding? Of course he didn’t notice,” Kaizyn laughed. “Ace, I love you, but you can be really thick some times.”

Even through his helmet, the Hunter was certain that his bewildered confusion was plain to see. He even stopped walking as Kaizyn’s last comment landed. Had he really been so oblivious as to not see that everyone had formed a kind of “makeshift family” around him after the War? It was with this new understanding that Ace began to recall some of the many messages from those same allies since then. Yeah, half were requests to team up for various missions, but the rest were just questions of advice or simply friendly well wishes. He hadn’t considered that there could be a deeper meaning behind it all.

“Wait. What does that have to do with Halily?” he suddenly asked, recalling Kaizyn’s focus on the other woman.

“Nothing,” Kaizyn replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Kaijae added. “Although, if you wanted to avoid this kind of teasing, you should have started hanging out with someone whose Ghost isn’t such a terrible gossip.”

Ace shook his head, still confounded, but did not have the energy to pursue the topic. He’d already had one revelation today and that was plenty. He needed to focus on catching their killer. The Hunter resumed walking toward the waypoint and the pair of Titans followed suit.

Chapter 27

Chapter Text

The trio turned at a nondescript intersection to find the waypoint marker waiting only a few meters down the street. They had been walking for only a few minutes, but the sun had managed to pierce the clouds overhead and the damp streets had begun to dry. Steam rose from the concrete in wispy vapors as the warm morning sunlight evaporated the leftover water on the ground.

“Another alleyway. What a surprise,” Kaijae muttered.

Ace glanced up as he realized that he had let his mind wander in the last couple of minutes. The team stood in front of a fairly wide space between two buildings. One of the walls sported a pair of long dumpsters that had litter and trash scattered about their bases. The Hunter could see that the alleyway wrapped around one of the buildings to allow freight access to the rear.

“Well, that is certainly something that everyone has in common,” Kaizyn commented. “Attacks seem to take place out of view of the general public.”

“Well, they certainly seem to come to a head once everyone moves off the street,” Ace replied. “Moira said that the harassment began in the street and she got corralled later on.”

“Let’s go have a closer look,” Kaijae said as he strode into the space between the buildings.

Ace and Kaizyn followed, only a few steps behind. The Hunter noticed the sound of scrabbling emanating from the dumpster as they approached and spotted a rat scurrying into a crack in the building’s foundation. He frowned under his helmet at the sight of the vermin entering the dwelling. Ace didn’t like to think of his beloved City being a the kind of place that rats and mice were able to invade people’s homes.

The team then turned the corner and found themselves standing in front of a wide loading dock. All three Guardians glanced around, looking for any sort of evidence that would inform them of the exact location of the attack. The Titans moved to inspect the area around the raised platform of the loading dock, their Ghosts materialized overhead.

Ace moved back to the alley and considered the passage back to the street. He imagined himself as a confused or frightened Guardian. This particular attack did not mention a Keeper assault against a Guardian, but the team had their evidence that the attacks were linked to this kind of harassment. So the Hunter moved to the far wall and stood as if he was almost surrounded by a group of hostile people. He took a couple steps backward as he imagined that a Guardian who did not want to fight back would; deeper into the alley.

The Hunter then turned around and his eyes fell onto the corner, where the building next to him connected with the one behind. This is exactly where a cornered Guardian would have ended up, he thought to himself.

Ace could feel Mal’s agreement at the back of his mind. The Ghost compiled in the air above the corner and began scanning. Meanwhile, the Hunter moved to the side to get a wider view of the area. Graffiti on the far wall depicted a handful of tags and some aspiring artist attempted to spray a dead Cabal on the rear building. There was also a small scattering of debris gathered in the corner; litter that had likely bell been carried by the wind. The ground itself was the same concrete as the street; a dull grey that was stained with the grime of traffic where vehicles regularly drove in and out of the loading area.

The Hunter tried to mentally picture the scene of a handful of citizens surrounding a single Guardian in this corner. How close would they get to them? Moira had said that they mostly resorted to throwing things at her, but those two drunks had actually tried to lay hands on Ace the other day. Graham had been drinking with his friends when he had been attacked, so he was likely drunk. Were the Keepers bolder and more aggressive when they were drinking?

Ace snorted at the thought. Of course drunk people would be less fearful, especially while in a group. He moved closer to the corner and knelt down. The moisture covering the ground still remained as the sun had not yet climbed high enough in the sky to be able to touch the space between buildings. The Hunter pictured the group of antagonists jostling each other, shoulder to shoulder, as they hurled insults at whoever they had managed to corner in this space.

How would I do this? Ace thought. I’d want to not only take them by surprise, but also do it quickly so that no one could notice a commotion.

The Nightstalker let his mind race through a dozen possibilities as he considered his arsenal. After all, Elledora was trained to use the Void just as he had been. Ace looked up at the rooftops and nodded. The buildings in this area were flat-topped and mostly crammed in close together. The streets were not wide, so it would be an easy task for a Hunter to follow a group of people from above. He then looked down at the grounded and focused hard on the pavement. After a couple minutes, he spotted a familiar-looking singe mark on the ground.

“Mal, come here,” Ace called. The Ghost dutifully glided through the air to where Ace knelt. The Hunter pointed at the mark and instructed, “Check for any trace of Void energy.”

“What’d you find?” Kaijae asked from the opposite end of the loading bay.

“Confirmed,” Mal announced. “There are traces of Void Light energy here. This was created by a Guardian.”

Ace glanced to his approaching friends and declared, “Smoke bomb. Elledora attacked someone here and used her smoke bomb to ambush them.”

Kaijae stopped next to Mal and tapped at the mark on the ground with the toe of his boot. “This right here?” he asked.

Ace nodded. “She probably blinded whoever was here so she could beat the snot out of them really quick and then get out before anyone could raise an alarm,” he explained.

“That’s why we never got any real description of the attacker in any of the reports,” Kaizyn murmured.

“I figured it was just too damn dark,” Kaijae chuckled.

Ace shrugged, “For some, but that can’t possib-”

“The hell are you doing here?” a loud voice interrupted. All three Guardians turned toward the sound and spotted a small group of men at the end of the alley approaching.

Ace sighed heavily and stood up; he already knew who they were just by their tone and posture. The Hunter adopted a forced “smile” into his voice and called back, “Greetings! We are investigating an attack and-”

“Aww get the hell out of here with that bullsh*t,” the man at the head of the group retorted. “You bootlicking corpses just wanna make it look like you’re doing something, but you ain’t doing sh*t!”

The Hunter dismissed Mal as the men reached the back alley area; only a few meters away. He scanned the faces of the four men and noticed the one furthest away held the darkest expression of them all and bore a couple faded bruises around his eye and cheek. Ace focused on the injured man and dropped the forced friendliness from his voice, “You were the one attacked here, weren’t you?”

“Oh, go scorch yourself!” the leader of the group interrupted.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Ace quickly retorted, keeping his helmeted gaze on the man with the bruised face. “I’ll ask again, were you the one who got attacked a couple weeks ago?”

“We all were,” a second man answered angrily, “Belger just got the worst of it.”

Ace nodded as his suspicions were confirmed. “You see where she came from?”

“As if!” the first of the group snarled. “Like you freaks actually ever fought fair.”

The Hunter shrugged as he heard the heavy boots of Kaijae approach. “Well, it’s not like our enemies fight fair. You’d think you could appreciate that, especially after we kicked the Cabal out for everyone.”

“Friggin’ liars,” Belger muttered. “Saw plenty of ya turn tail when the Cabal came.”

“Left us to die,” the second commented.

“I can’t speak for them, but we fought to liberate the City,” Kaijae countered.

All four of the men rolled their eyes at the Titan’s statement. Ace raised his hand to halt the conversation and cut off any replies. “I’m sorry you all got ambushed. We want to stop whoever did this,” he calmly explained.

“Ain’t in no mood to talk to some corpse what’s hiding behind their helmet,” the group leader retorted. “Look us in the eyes of ya wanna try to lie to us.”

Ace sighed again and reached up to unclasp his helmet. As he slid the armor off of his head, he heard his teammates do the same. This is not going to end well, the Hunter thought.

The instant his helmet came off, the shouting began.

“Blighted hell! A damned Cyber!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

“They trying to pay lip service to all this ‘protect the people’ bullsh*t and then they slap us in the face!”

“Two Purps and a Cyber?! Get your sorry asses out of here!”

Waiting a few moments for the insults to subside, Ace stoically stood still. He could hear Kaijae shifting at his side as a couple comments were directed at his wife, but the Titan did not react. Once the Keepers paused hurling expletives long enough, Ace spoke loudly and firmly, “You wanted to see the faces of the people who are going to do something about the person you attacked you. We are going to stop her. Now, will you help us before she attacks again?”

Belger stepped forward, past the man who had been acting like the spokesman for the group and glared balefully into the Hunter’s face. “You lot can go to hell,” he muttered darkly. “We ain’t got nothing to say to the likes of you.”

With that, the bruised man turned and walked away; toward the loading dock. His three friends all spat at the Exo before also walking away. Ace merely shook his head and glanced back to his friends. He motioned for them to follow and began striding toward the street at the end of the alleyway.

“Yeah! You corpses keep walking!” one final insult was hurled at the departing team, followed by laughter.

“Jae. No,” Kaizyn quietly commanded. Ace didn’t turn to see, but instead donned his helmet as he continued to walk.

A few moments later, the three Guardians turned onto the sidewalk. After a few steps, Kaijae blurted, “Tell me again why we’re stopping this girl?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Kaizyn quietly answered.

Ace continued to walk. Most of the street had dried in the morning sunlight and only puddles remained. A few footprints could be seen on the pavement where someone had stepped through one such pool of water and left a trail for a couple paces. The Hunter let his foot fall a bit more heavily than normal, making a slight splash in the thin layer of water.

“Yeah, but people like that are only going to spread their vile poison to others,” Kaijae muttered.

“But that doesn’t make what she’s doing right,” Kaizyn calmly, but firmly, countered. “Her actions will only prove them correct and turn the City against us.”

Ace noticed that the number of people on the sidewalks and street had dwindled to almost nothing. He guessed that the heavier traffic was due to the time of day; people needed to get to work or school. There wasn’t anyone out walking about that didn’t have a destination that they needed to reach. Which made sense, in an area of the City as poor as this one. Who had time for leisure when it took all they had just to get by?

“But they started it,” Kaijae protested. “Looks to me like she is only beating up Keepers that attack Guardians. It’s their fault that she’s doing any of this. And look what happens when we try to help them?”

“Addressing the problem the wrong way is not how to fix this,” Kaizyn replied.

“Can we fix this?” Kaijae asked. Ace noted a defeated kind of sadness in the Titan’s voice. “We’re trying to help them, but look how they treated us back there.”

“Ace?” Kaizyn suddenly called. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“Why do they always have to spit on me?” Ace asked, a lighthearted smile in his voice.

Kaizyn laughed at the Hunter’s comment, but Kaijae commented, “You’re avoiding the topic.”

Ace approximated a heavy sigh before replying, “I don’t appreciate the hate and slander any more than you do. But what she is doing is wrong and she must be stopped. That fact is completely independent of anything else and is all that matters right now.”

“Yeah, well, every time I talk to one of these jerks, my motivation to help them goes down,” Kaijae muttered.

“Think of it this way, love,” Kaizyn began. “We are rooting out a bad apple so that it cannot spoil the rest.”

“They could be a little less hostile about it,” Kaijae muttered. Ace could tell that the Titan understood what he and Kaizyn were saying, but didn’t want to give up on his frustration.

His wife apparently sensed it as well. “You are quite correct. They shouldn’t judge us without even knowing us.”

“I can’t blame them,” Ace suddenly quipped. “Everyone knows I’m an asshole.”

Kaijae chuckled for a moment before replying, “Friggin’ Acehole.”

Chapter 28

Chapter Text

“What now?” Kaizyn asked after a couple minutes of walking.

Ace had been leading the team without a destination in mind, simply giving Kaijae time to cool off. And, if the Exo was completely honest, he was feeling angry as well. Deep in the secret corners of his heart, he had hoped that the Keepers would become less hostile once they learned that he and his friends were trying to help them. He had privately wondered if this service might help to correct the misunderstandings that led to their current situation. Kaizyn’s question stopped the Hunter.

“I’m not sure,” Ace replied, turning about to face his friends. “I want more information so that we can craft a game plan with some kind of confidence.”

“Why not wait for her in that camp she’s set up in the Hive lair?” Kaijae asked.

“Because we don’t know if she doesn’t have somewhere else she bunks,” Ace answered. “Maybe somewhere here in the City so she can be close to the area she’s been stalking her victims.”

“Yeah, she could just be using that campsite for when she needs to resupply that weapon of hers,” Kaizyn mused. “It does have the fusion battery charger, but not much else.”

Ace gestured toward the female Titan, “Exactly. It’s too out of the way for someone that wants to spend time in the City.”

Kaijae nodded at the others’ reasoning, but he sounded somewhat defeated as he commented, “I’m just getting really tired of being insulted for simply existing every time I turn around here.”

“It’s not all bad,” Kaizyn replied cheerfully. She nudged her husband and nodded toward the opposite side of the street. A young woman with a toddler in tow walked in the opposite direction; the young boy waved his free hand vigorously at the trio of Guardians. The fireteam waved back and the boy’s face lit up with delight. He promptly began clamoring excitedly to his mother. The young woman smiled and offered a wave of her own as the two continued to walk by.

Ace recalled the older children that had been happy to see the Hunter this morning. “Yeah, most of the people in the City know the truth,” he stated.

Kaijae shook his head ruefully, “All right, I admit that did make me feel a bit better. So what do you have in mind?”

Ace approximated a deep, steadying breath before answering, “I want to talk to another attack victim.”

Kaijae groaned, “I knew you were going to say that.”

Kaizyn shushed her husband before turning to the Hunter and replying, “I’m not going to say it’s a bad idea, but what more information do you need from the attack victims?”

“We’ve already learned that we are not welcome by these clowns to help them solve their problem,” Kaijae muttered.

Ace shrugged, unsure even to himself. “I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I have a feeling the right question will come to me.”

“All right, brother,” Kaijae chuckled. “Let’s go get you spit on one more time. Third time’s a charm, right?”

——————

The building that the team found themselves standing in front of this time was noticeably better than the last two they visited. It was certainly cleaner and appeared a bit less of a hovel than those slums. But that did not really say much.

“This place looks nicer that the last one,” Kaijae remarked, echoing Ace’s thoughts.

“Is that a comment on how nice this building is or on how decrepit those others were?” Kaizyn mused.

“At least this place doesn’t look like it should be condemned,” Kaijae offered with a halfhearted shrug.

“Yeah, and maybe the people living here actually have elbow room,” Ace commented. “Not much, but some.”

“Which apartment are we looking for?” Kaizyn asked.

Mal’s voice projected into the comm link, “The attack victim is Nick Stromhaf and he claims that he was ambushed forty three days ago. He resides in apartment 3C.”

“Third floor?” Ace queried.

“Correct,” Mal replied. “He is not scheduled to work today, so there is a good chance that he will be available for interview at this time.”

Ace did a double take, even though the Ghost was incorporeal at the time. “Mal! I told you to stop hacking into restricted information! We do not need to be giving these people another reason to be pissed off at us by violating their privacy!” he hissed.

“Relax. His place of employment is listed in the report filed with the authorities. I checked their publicly shared hours of operation and learned that they are closed today,” Mal calmly explained. “No violations.”

Despite the Ghost’s assurances, Ace could faintly hear Kaijae muttering, “We’re all going on a list now. I really didn’t want to be on any lists this week.”

The Hunter chuckled softly at his friend before replying, “Fine. Let’s head on up and see what kind of information he can help us with.”

“Hey, man,” Kaijae suddenly spoke up. “Do you mind if I sit this one out?”

Ace stopped and turned back toward the Titan. After a short pause, he answered, “Sure. Of course I don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Kaijae shrugged sheepishly. “I just don’t want to lose my temper and I was really close with that last group. I’ll wait for you guys down here.”

The Hunter considered for a moment before commenting, “Maybe it would be best if Kaizyn waits with you. I mean, maybe if it’s just one Guardian, he won’t feel threatened or get defensive.”

Kaijae and Ace both looked to Kaizyn. A moment later, she laughed, “I am not going to complain if you want to ask me to wait down here. I’ve had enough slurs thrown at me this week to last the rest of the year.”

Throwing a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the building directly across the street, Kaijae commented, “We’ll be just over there if you need anything.”

Ace nodded acknowledgment and turned to the entrance. As he pushed open the front door, he quietly asked, “You said 3C?”

“That is correct,” Mal replied, its digital voice calm in the Hunter’s ear. “General scans show that the apartment is occupied. I did not attempt anything more invasive.”

“Thank you for your restraint,” the Hunter chuckled as he crossed the lobby.

Tapping the elevator call button, Ace glanced around as he waited for the lift to arrive. The lobby wasn’t very large; just big enough for a wall of post boxes and an empty bulletin board before arriving at a single elevator bay. A wide stairwell waited a couple meters past the lift with a well-worn path scuffed into the thin carpeting. The inside was free of clutter and debris just like the outside. It was neat and clean, if a little joyless.

Just as Ace was beginning to wonder if he should take the stairs, a faint chime rewarded his patience. He turned to see the elevator door slide open for a young woman with an infant in the crook of one arm and a toddler in tow with the other. The young girl was the first to react as she gasped at the sight of the Hunter.

“Oops! Excuse me, Guardian!” the woman exclaimed, deferentially.

“No no!” Ace protested as he aside. Placing one hand on the door to prevent it closing, he waved the other in an invitation for the woman to exit. “I’m sorry for blocking the door.”

“Momma! Momma!” The girl was giddy with delight. “It’s a real Gwadian!”

“Yes, sweetie,” the mother replied patiently, tugging the girl’s hand to get her to follow. “Let’s get going so the nice Guardian can get where he’s going.”

“Take your time,” Ace chuckled as he waved at the gawking young girl.

“Momma! Tell Trevor we talked to a Gwadian!” the girl babbled as she let her mother coax her out of the elevator.

“Sorry about that, Guardian,” the woman apologized as she cleared the doorway.

“Ace,” the Hunter interjected.

The mother smiled widely and continued, “She loves watching news vids of you all. This is the first time she has ever met one of you in person.”

Ace let the elevator door close and removed his helmet. Kneeling down in front of the girl, he held out an armored fist, “It’s my pleasure to meet you, young lady.” The girl knocked her tiny fist into his knuckles with a giggle. The Hunter then continued, “Now you keep being a good girl for your momma and an amazing big sister.”

“I will!” she exclaimed delightedly.

“Tristy will be going on about this for weeks,” the mother sighed. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to her.”

“Truly, my pleasure,” Ace replied as he stood back up.

“Listen,” the woman’s voice suddenly lowered to a whisper and she leaned toward the Hunter. “There are a couple people living here who don’t appreciate you Guardians. Please know that they don’t speak for for the rest of us. Avoid the third floor if you can.”

Ace nodded acknowledgment, but didn’t comment. The mother quickly turned and walked away, baby in arm and toddler in tow. He waved goodbye to Tristy before turning back to the elevator and tapping the call button again. His spirits were buoyed by the interaction, but his optimism had been tempered. Whoever this Nick person was, he was outspoken with his opinions. The Hunter wondered how that might affect his conversation with the man.

A moment later, the door chimed again and the Hunter stepped into the lift. After pressing the 3 button, Ace leaned against the elevator wall and looked in the faceplate of his helmet. The Holdfast armor was much more functional than ornamental; a stark contrast to his previous set. Rather than the smooth, glassy surface of a plasteel visor, this helmet was formed of steel plates and layered carbon. Flat planes and angles surrounded a powerful, central sensor array. It wasn’t ugly to look at, but it certainly wasn’t the elegant curvature of the Gensym Knight gear.

“We’re trying to survive out there,” Ace muttered to himself.

A chime warned the Hunter that the elevator was about to slide open and, a moment later, he stepped out. The hallway was empty except for a short handful of doors lining the wall. Ace glanced again to the helmet in his hand and decided not to replace it. Being an Exo isn’t going to be any worse than being a Guardian with this guy, he thought. Sensing his thoughts, Mal decompiled the helmet. Besides, it feels nice to have it off.

Glancing about, Ace promptly spotted the apartment he wanted with a “3C” stamped at eye level in the middle of the door. He quickly strode up and knocked. The Hunter heard a muffled reply come from the other side, a request for patience or something similar.

After a long few seconds, the door suddenly swung in. “Who the bloody-“ the man inside began, but cut himself off as soon as he realized he was speaking to a Guardian.

“Hi there,” Ace began, adopting his best polite voice. “Are you Nick Stromhaf?”

“Might’n be,” the man answered. “Who wants to know?”

“My name is Ace. I’m currently investigating the attack that you reported six weeks ago and would like to ask a couple questions.”

“I already gave the cops everything you need,” Nick spat. “I’m not interested in talking with a puppeting Cyber. You can go frag yourself.”

Ace raised his hands, opened palms toward the man in entreaty, “Look. I know you don’t like us, but I’m trying to help.”

Nick had started to close the door, but stopped at the Hunter’s comment. The agitated Keeper glared and asked, “Is that what you told Tankin ‘afore you offed him? Didn’t like him tellin’ the truth so you put one in his head, didn’t you?”

Confused by the question and taken aback by the accusatory tone, Ace was only able to repeat the unknown name, “Tankin?”

“Yeah. You didn’t like him telling everyone about how you Ghouls ambushed him, didja?” Nick’s eyes widened as he got himself increasingly worked up. “Think you can fragging get one on me, do you?!”

Before Ace could respond, Nick suddenly lunged forward with a fist. The Hunter was so completely surprised by the attack that he was only able to manage a half step back before the punch connected with his face. The blow knocked him back a meter, but didn’t really hurt.

Nick recoiled, clutching his fist. “Crota’s dick! Fragging Cyber!” he exclaimed.

Ace instinctively started to apologize, as if having a metal face was his fault. But then he realized that this man only had himself to blame as Ace hadn’t done anything to deserve being punched. Instead, he changed his stance and assumed a more stable posture.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ace began in a commanding tone, “but if you answer my question, I’ll ignore that unprovoked attack.”

Nick continued to clutch his wounded hand while glaring balefully at the Hunter. He didn’t say anything. Ace decided to accept the silence as an agreement.

“Before you were ambushed, did you harass another Guardian on your way home?” he asked.

A myriad of emotions flashed across the sullen man’s face; from surprise to outrage. It was the brief show of surprise; an alarmed widening of the eyes and involuntary step back, that convinced Ace that he was correct.

“What are you accusing me of?” Nick took an aggressive step forward.

“Nothing,” Ace calmly replied. “I’m just trying to get the whole story so I can figure out h-”

From behind the door, the angry man pulled a metal baseball bat. He leveled it menacingly at the Hunter and stated, “Get your Robo ass out of here.”

“I’m just trying to help-”

Nick swung. Ace jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the blow. The man’s fists may not be capable of any real harm to the Exomind, but the heavy bludgeon was certainly capable of inflicting real damage if it struck his unarmored head. He did not want to get hit and risk Mal appearing in front of this unhinged Keeper.

The Keeper pursued and readied another swing. This time, Ace raised his arm and stepped into the attack. His armor and the energy shields that they projected were designed to protect against the massive cleavers of Cabal Gladiators and the grisly swords of Hive Knights. A normal Human wielding a baseball bat would be nothing as long as he properly blocked the attack.

The metal club bounced off his upraised forearm and Ace replied with a swift punch with his other hand. He didn’t want to truly hurt the man, just stun him. The strike found his target’s lower abdomen; briefly knocking the air out of his opponent.

“I really am trying to help,” Ace muttered as he stepped away from the winded Keeper, hands still raised defensively. “Why do you all have to make this so difficult?”

Before the man couple reply, the Hunter sent a mental shout to his Ghost. An instant later, the world disappeared in a flash of transmaterialization.

Chapter 29

Chapter Text

Halily dove behind the smoking remains of a Cabal Goliath. The tank’s husk shielded her from the explosion as a nearby fuel depot erupted. Apparently, “disrupt Cabal operations” meant destroy the entire forward base to Tansy.

“Well, that’s definitely one way to set the Cabal back,” Hada’s awed voice came over the comm link.

The Warlock was currently posted within a small crack half way up the cliff face that looked over the Cabal base. The Titan had positioned herself in a visible location at the front of the fuel depot where several large boulders afforded her some defensibility. Halily made herself an obvious target as she began firing at sentries patrolling the area; she had even disabled a Cabal Interceptor with a well-place rocket. In contrast, Hada hid away and used her rifle to harry or eliminate any threats that attempted to flank the Titan. All so that Tansy could infiltrate the base.

“When you invited me to assist with this mission, I assumed you were going to assassinate their commander,” Halily tried not to sound impressed by the destruction she had just witnessed.

Tansy’s amused snort carried over the communicator before she replied, “I have no desire to tangle with him one on one. This is a much more creative solution.”

Rifle fire from Hada’s position reminded Halily that there were still combatants in the field. Slipping out from where she had been crouching, the Titan raised her own rifle and fired at a small handful of Legionaries that had managed to escape the blast. The weapon wasn’t her preference, but her trusted Crimson wasn’t an ideal choice for her current role. With a couple brief bursts of fire, she had drawn the attention of the Cabal and dropped one. The remaining four turned and began firing in response.

“Honestly, can’t say I blame you,” Hada commented. “These bastards are pain in the ass enough. Whoever their commander is would have to be twice the trouble.”

“Well, I think this will definitely set the Cabal back a bit and help return the balance between them and the Vex here on Mars back to normal,” Tansy stated, sounding quite pleased.

Halily had been exchanging fire with the Cabal soldiers and three more now lay on the ground. The last of the Legionaries suddenly activated its jet pack and launched itself toward the ruined Goliath, where the Guardian had taken cover. The Titan smiled as she saw her opponent hurtling toward her. She holstered the rifle across her back and raised both fists.

“This mission was to keep the Cabal from edging out the Vex in this sector?” Hada asked.

“Yeah- stupid grate won’t- Hold on,” Tansy grunted as if she was struggling with something heavy wherever she was. “Damn thing almost melted shut.”

The Legionary swiped with its wrist blade as it almost crashed into the awaiting Halily. Anticipating the attack, she ducked low and pivoted so that the Cabal stumbled past her. As her opponent found itself tripping forward, Halily delivered a heavy punch to its flank that sent it crashing into the tank. She stood up and waited for the soldier to recover. Roaring with outrage, her opponent spun around and steadied itself. Halily smiled and waited.

“It makes sense,” Halily mused. “If the remnants of the Red Legion get their hands on Vex tech, I can only imagine the trouble they could cause.”

“Probably,” Tansy replied. “I just know that it’s a well paying job and- hold on, I think I’m almost out- I needed the Glimmer.”

The Legionary suddenly leapt forward, arms raised overhead for a downward slam. Halily jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a slice as the Cabal adjusted its attack. As soon as her feet touched the ground, the Titan then jumped again; this time activating her Lift ability so that she surged forward with inhuman speed. Her armored knee connected with the soldier’s helmet and sent the Cabal sprawling in the brown Martian dirt. Halily stepped back and waited.

“Why does it always seem like you’re broke?” Hada sighed. “Do you want a hand with that Cabal, sweetie?”

“I’m fine,” Halily stated as her opponent regained its feet.

“I like nice things,” Tansy replied unapologetically. “Besides, it’s also a nice excuse to hang out with you girls.”

Approaching slowly, the Legionary appeared to have learned to respect the Titan. Despite being almost twice her size, the Cabal was a little unsteady on its feet after the last blow. Halily’s eyes flicked from her opponent’s hands to its feet, assessing its stance and trying to gauge from where the next attack would come. She shifted her feet so that she could move to the side in either direction quickly. A second blade suddenly appeared from the soldier’s other wrist.

“That’s not fair!” Hada exclaimed.

Lunging forward, the Legionary swiped with both arms in quick succession. Halily hopped backward a couple steps, not willing to try to dance around a second weapon.

“What’s wrong?” Tansy asked, concern filling her tone. “I’m almost out.”

“I’m fine,” Halily retorted as she gave ground a few more steps.

Her opponent pressed the attack, but kept his approach measured. Halily considered the pair of blades and decided that she had enough. She thrust her right hand up into the air, summoning her Solar hammer. The Legionary was already mid swing, so it was unable to react in time. The Sunbreaker brought the flaming weapon down to connect with the wrist blade.

Flames erupted from the head of the hammer and the Cabal soldier roared in pain. Halily leapt forward and activated her Lift ability to once again deliver a flying knee to her opponent’s helmet, this time square in the face. As the Legionary fell, the Titan deactivated her ability so that she came down on top of it. She brought the hammer down on the Cabal’s faceplate, crushing it. Her opponent stopped moving.

“Nice work,” Tansy observed.

Halily glanced up to notice the tiny Hunter standing atop the ruined tank. The Titan shrugged and looked back down to her slain opponent and shrugged, “I offered him a fair fight, but then he decided to pull a second blade.”

“I thought the Cabal were all about honor in combat,” Hada’s voice came over the comm link. Both Halily and Tansy glanced over to the cliff side to see the Warlock slowly Gliding to the ground below.

“Well, we are almost immortal, so I can see why they may not think that there’s such a thing as a ‘fair fight’ when it comes to Guardians,” Tansy chuckled.

Halily dismissed the Solar hammer, letting the power dissipate into the Martian wind, and shared in the wry laugh. “Maybe they’re all just pissed off that they lost the War,” she commented.

“Speaking of the War, I haven’t really seen much of Ace since we reclaimed the City,” Tansy commented. “How is he doing?”

Glancing around, Halily noted that there weren’t any more combatants. Either they had been killed in the blast that Tansy triggered or they evacuated. She had noticed that some units broke ranks and fled when Hada’s rockets had disabled their Goliath tank. Realizing that the fight was over, exhaustion suddenly hit the Titan like a Colossus stomp.

Walking over to the tank, Halily let herself collapse into a seated position in the Goliath’s shadow. Once seat, the Titan replied, “He’s been doing well. Sticking mostly to Vanguard business and letting me tag along some of the time.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Hada commented as she approached. “A few of us were really worried about him back then.”

“Yeah, something happened to him when Deo died,” Tansy murmured.

“I’ve heard about Deo,” Halily replied. “Were they close?”

Tansy hopped down to join Halily in the shade. “Not really much closer than he was with anyone else that was his friend. But I think losing Deo was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the Hunter explained.

“Yeah, he had always been a little reckless before, but what Hunter isn’t?” Hada laughed lightly. Then her tone became more somber, “But he began to change after.”

A long moment of silence passed as all three of the Guardians let their personal thoughts flow. While she did not have the fortune of ever meeting the Titan that was Deoxys, the fact that so many people she respected were affected by his loss told her that he must have been a good man. It suddenly dawned on her that Ace was currently conducting an investigation that potentially involved his friend’s killer. She began to worry about where his mission might take her friend.

Tansy was the first to break the silence, “He kind of fell off the map not long after. He’d accept missions when invited, but his heart wasn’t really in it and his recklessness became a liability.”

“When I heard that he had rescued a Guardian during the War, I began to hope that it might help him recover,” Hada commented, a bit of cheer returning to her voice.

“He seems to have really turned around since the War ended,” Halily replied. “I saw a bit of what everyone was worried about, but it has gotten a lot better.”

“That’s nice to hear. I’ve been wanting to reach out and see how Ace was doing for a while now, but he keeps going off-world at the worst possible time,” Hada laughed.

Tansy shook her head and jokingly replied, “Such an impossible man. Well, I’ve also been meaning to get a chance to spend some time with you.”

“Yes,” Hada quickly agreed. “We wanted to thank you for whatever you did to help bring our friend back.”

Halily shrugged and weakly replied, “I didn’t do anything.”

Tansy gently nudged the Titan’s shoulder and commented, “You brought our friend back. So we’re grateful to you.”

Shaking her head, Halily chuckled, “You’re both welcome, I guess?” The Titan then paused and glanced around at the carnage surrounding the team. From the slain soldiers to the flaming remains of the fuel tanks, the three of them had managed to utterly destroy a small Cabal outpost. “Did you two bring me here just to talk about Ace?”

“Of course not,” Tansy laughed. “I wanted to have a girls day and realized that I’ve never had a chance to get to know you. He’s just the icebreaker.”

“Exactly,” Hada agreed. “Now, I’ve heard th-”

A muffled explosion interrupted the Warlock. All three Guardians leapt up and glanced back toward the bunker. Black, acrid smoke poured out of every opening in the structure, but nothing else around the base moved.

“Secondary explosions?” Halily asked.

“Like aftershocks following an earthquake?” Tansy replied. “Maybe. Possibly.”

Unconvinced, Halily summoned her Ghost. “Kaci. Give me my Crimson.”

The Titan felt the weight of the auto rifle vanish from her back, only to immediately be replaced with the familiar heft of her hand cannon in her waiting hand. The other two Guardians had similarly drawn their weapons and moved to stand shoulder to shoulder. Halily tried to peer through the billowing smoke, but couldn’t see anything. A couple seconds later, another explosion sounded from within the bunker.

Hada glanced to Tansy and asked, “Are you sure everything inside died in the explosion?”

“No,” Tansy replied. “It was too dark and disabling the base was listed as an acceptable objective.”

A third blast caused the bunker’s main door to tremble.

“We completed the objective,” Halily quickly commented. “You ladies want to leave? We can.”

Before either of the other two Guardians could respond, a fourth explosion caused half of the door to shake and then fall inward. The Titan peered through the haze and managed to make out a damaged Interceptor inside the bunker. Stepping away from the vehicle, toward the exit, strode a tall Centurion.

“The commander survived,” Hada stated flatly.

“He looks mad,” Halily observed.

“What was that about leaving?” Tansy asked. “That sounds like a decent idea. I’m pretty banged up after being inside that place while it blew up.”

Halily was about to make a comment in support of the Hunter’s suggestion, but the Cabal spotted the Guardians standing only a few meters away and roared a challenge. Instead, the Titan muttered, “Awww, Crota’s dick.”

The Centurion launched itself high up into the air with its heavy canon leveled toward the fireteam. All three Guardians bumped into and almost tripped over each other in their frantic haste to disperse. Halily felt the ground tremble as the Bronto Cannon’s blast came within inches of striking the scrambling Titan.

“Hey! Jerk face!” Hada shouted. Halily spared a glance over her shoulder in time to see a flaming charge attach itself to the Cabal’s chest. A Warlock Fusion Grenade.

This time, the Centurion’s roar was of pain. Halily turned fully as the commander turned its attention to Hada. The Warlock had crouched behind the tank and was firing her heavy sniper rifle at the flying Cabal. The Bronto Cannon sent her ducking underneath the chassis. Halily raised her Crimson and began firing at the flaming jets on the Centurion’s backpack as she stalked forward.

“Tansy? Got a tether for this asshole?” Halily asked asked she squeezed the trigger as rapidly as possible. The weapon’s triple-retort sounded with each pull as she strode toward the enraged Cabal.

“Sorry! Used it inside!” Tansy exclaimed as she, too, fired at the hovering commander.

The Centurion continued to focus its heavy cannon at the spot where Hada remained huddled. Halily could see the metal of the Goliath’s armor plating begin to warp under the barrage of Void energy.

“Stupid, fragging dipsh*t!” Halily shouted as she slammed a fresh cylinder of ammo into her revolver. “Pay attention to us!”

Three pulls of trigger later, the Cabal’s jet pack suddenly erupted fire from some of the holes that had been punched through by the Guardians’ shots. The Centurion began to lurch to one side as the output became dramatically lopsided. The commander reacted quickly by cutting the power and dropping to the ground. Halily summoned her Thermite grenade and hurled it at the feet of the Cabal, sending a wave of scorching power over it.

With terrifying speed, the Centurion turned and launched itself at the Titan. Halily had believed that they had disabled the jet pack, so she was unprepared for the rocket-assisted burst of speed. The Cabal managed to effectively adjust for the disabled jet and used it to tackle its target. Halily grunted as the air was slammed out of her chest by the weight of the massive Cabal’s bulk. Disoriented by the backwards tumble, she quickly found herself pinned to the ground as the large Cabal ended the tackle by kneeling on the Guardian; its leg crossing her body from shoulder to hip.

Halily struggled to free her pinned arm, but in vain. Her unrestrained hand remained empty as her weapon had been knocked from her grasp in the chaos of the tackle. The Titan punched at the Centurion’s hip, shouting incoherently with frustration. In response, the Cabal raised a large fist and dropped it onto the probe woman’s helmet. The force of the blow stunned the Sunbreaker.

The rapid burst of Tansy’s SMG cut through the ringing in Halily’s head. The Titan blinked away the haze and witnessed the brute jump to its feet and swat at the nimble Hunter. Tansy dodged away from the swipe, vanishing from sight as she tumbled. Just then, a trio of small fireballs struck the Cabal in the side of his helmet, leaving an unnatural fire at the point of contact. Swatting at the flames with one hand, the Centurion turned and fired its cannon at the Warlock nearby. Hada promptly leapt into the air and hurled herself sideways to avoid the blast with a well timed Icarus Dash.

Tansy reappeared a couple seconds later, atop the ruined tank. From her new perch, the wily Hunter had a clear line of sight to fire at the commander’s helmet. Hada dropped to the ground and fired a few rounds of her own as their opponent raised an arm in an attempt to ward off the stinging attacks. Already, pressurized biogel was beginning to leak from some of the areas of its thick armor that had suffered sustained damage.

Halily struggled to force air into her lungs, convinced that one of them had collapsed under the weight of the Cabal. Suddenly, she sensed a cool wave of Light pass over her. She immediately felt her lungs begin to respond to her command and the disorienting haze filling her mind disappeared. The Titan glanced up to see her trusted Ghost hovering overhead.

“It’s okay. He’s focused on the others,” Kaci whispered before decompiling.

Quickly jumping to her feet, Halily turned to where the Centurion continued to rampage. Tansy had dashed off and managed to flank their opponent, emptying her SMG’s magazine before scurrying away again. Hada kept taking to the air and gracefully swooped between cannon blasts to return fire. The beleaguered Cabal was losing steam under the weight of the continuous assault, but it was obviously far from finished. It attempted another flying tackle, but Tansy was simply too quick. And Hada refused to get close enough.

“Enough,” Halily sighed. Closing her eyes, she summoned forth her greatest stack of power. Solar energy surged through her entire being, suffusing every cell of her body with raging flames as it coalesced in her fist. A hammer formed into her waiting hand. The Sunbreaker would have activated this ability sooner, but she had been surprised by the Centurion’s blitz attack. Now it had made the mistake of turning its back to the Titan.

Halily hurled the first hammer at the Cabal’s backside. The Solar construct struck her foe and exploded, staggering the Centurion as a second hammer materialized into the Sunbreaker’s hand. She immediately hurled it and then began charging forward. The Cabal tried to fire a responding blast, but the second blow knocked it sideways. When it recovered and was able to bring its weapon to bear, the Guardian was already there.

Leading with yet another hurled hammer, Halily followed immediately behind the resulting explosion with her fist. Activating her Lift so that she remained at face level with her opponent, another flaming construct materialized in her hand. The Sunbreaker promptly smashed it into the Centurion’s faceplate, sending it crashing to the ground. Martian dust swirled up into the air from the impact and Halily let herself fall to land on the Cabal’s chest. She rained down several hammer blows in rapid succession until the Solar power suddenly dissipated. The fiery infusion vanished in the blink of an eye, stopping the Titan mid swing. She froze in place, waiting for her opponent to react to the end of her super ability. No response came. The Centurion lay motionless in the dirt.

Halily heaved a breath sigh of relief and stepped down from the Cabal’s corpse. She glanced around, looking for the hand cannon that had been knocked from her grasp and found Tansy approaching with the weapon. Halily gratefully accepted the Crimson with a nod and then offered a second nod to Hada as the Warlock joined the two women.

The three Guardians sat together in a circle and took a minute to let the excitement of battle die down. Halily took a few deep, calming breaths before holstering her weapon. Then she glanced over to where the Centurion’s body lay in the dirt and muttered, “Ghaul’s balls, that guy was an absolute idiot. What did he think was going to happen, attacking three Guardians like that?”

Tansy cackled with laughter as Hada chortled, “Right? I mean, we thought he was dead. He could have just laid low until we left.”

“If this is the level of military genius they have commanding troops here on Mars, I don’t think we need to worry about them getting their hands on Vex tech,” Halily shook her head.

The three women spent the next couple of hours making jokes and telling stories. Halily had a wonderful afternoon. Doubly so as she realized that if she had not received the invitation from Tansy, she would have been guilted into participating in Crucible matches with Mike and Wendi.

No, this afternoon was infinitely better than getting her ass handed to her in Shaxx’s damned arena.

Chapter 30

Chapter Text

It took a couple of seconds for Elledora to realize that she was being hailed.

“Tristy!” the fireteam leader, an imposingly tall Titan, called for the third time.

“Is your Shadowshot ready? We can make short work of this guy if you could snare him for us,” the Titan explained.

“Yeah! Just tell me when!” Elledora replied.

The team of three were perched behind the outer lip of a Lunar crater. They had followed a shipping beacon to a small cave that had been carved into the face of the crater wall. Their leader assumed that the Fallen bandits had failed to detect the tracking signal and brought the stolen plunder to their base.

“As soon as you see anything larger than a Vandal come out of there,” the third teammate, a fellow Hunter, chuckled.

“Yeah. We’ll kick the nest and then eliminate anything that comes out,” the fireteam leader explained as he had his Ghost compile a heavy machine gun into his hands.

Elledora nodded along with understanding. She holstered her hand cannon and slipped the heavy rifle from off her back. In her haste to pick up a reputable mission for cash, she had forgotten to have Plink swap out her Trace of Black fusion rifle so she didn’t have a more impressive weapon to bring to bear. However, the sniper rifle didn’t draw any criticism from her teammates as the Titan merely turned back toward the cave and settled into a firing position.

“I’ll head down and give the buggers something to be angry about,” the Hunter declared, standing up and hopping over the crater’s verge.

Elledora watched the nimble man race down the steep slope, to the floor below. It wasn’t terribly far down, but he made it look so effortless as he leapt from one outcrop to another. As soon as he reached the bottom, effortlessly using his Boost so that he could hit the ground running, the Hunter raced the dozen of meters up to the mouth of the cave. Shrieks of alarm emanated from within the gloom as the Fallen immediately noticed the Guardian’s approach. Undaunted, the Hunter summoned a portion of his power to create a grenade.

Watching the Arc Light travel through the air to pierce the cave’s gloom, Elledora shook her head. How can those blighted Keepers believe that Guardians weren’t fighting to keep the City safe? This man is making himself bait so that we can eliminate pirates that are stealing supplies from the City. A Wire Rifle blast tore through the Hunter’s shoulder and spun him around. See? Who would let themselves get shot like that it they weren’t doing it to protect the people they care about?

“Ow!” the Hunter exclaimed, managing to laugh at the same time. He turned and began sprinting away from the cave’s mouth. “Yeah, they’re pissed off! Eyes up, Guardians.”

The Titan leaned forward, his finger twitched as it brushed the trigger of his machine gun. “Keep running toward us and try to scale the cliff,” he instructed. “I want them to think you’re a lone operative that bit off more than he could chew.”

More rifle blasts tore through the air and struck the ground around the fleeing Hunter. His cloak billowed in the thin Lunar air as he ran. “Copy that,” the Hunter continued to laugh. “You should have eyes on them soon.”

A moment later, the Hunter’s prediction became true as Dregs came tearing out of the cave, screeching at the Guardian. “Not yet,” the Titan crouching next to Elledora warned.

A second later, a handful of Vandals followed in the lesser Fallen’s wake. Over a dozen of the scrabbling things howled for the Hunter’s blood as they fired wildly at the man. Elledora held her position and frowned; the Fallen were a little slow in their pursuit. She worried that they weren’t taking the bait well enough and her teammate would “escape” before their target showed itself.

Fortunately, the wily Hunter must have noticed as he made a show of failing to ascend the slope. Through the comm link, Elledora suddenly heard him giggle, “Oh no. I can’t seem to climb this rock. What ever will I do?”

The fireteam leader chuckled, “Keep it up. They’re getting braver.” As the Titan noticed, the Dregs began to surge forward as the Vandals paused to sight their rifles. “Get ready to dodge their snipers,” he warned.

Before the Fallen sharpshooters could begin firing, a tall Captain strode out of the cave and into the crater. It roared an unintelligible command to its minions. Even as the fireteam leader issued the command, Elledora summoned her Shadowshot. She pulled the heavy bow out of the Void and immediately fired the shot directly at the target.

The shot struck the Captain directly in the chest before erupting. Void power exploded from the point of contact as the anchor sent tendrils of power out to ensnare all of the Fallen that still remained within a few meters of their leader. The poor Captain, however, was completely consumed. The pure Void energy that comprised the “arrow” of Elledora’s attack obliterated the pirate.

“Nice job!” the Titan exclaimed as he jumped up. His machine gun roared to life as the fireteam leader began eliminating the rest of their enemies.

How could those fools believe that we aren’t working to protect the City? Look at what we’ve just done for them. A pirate band destroyed. These fools will never again attack a City cargo ship or steal food from its citizens ever again.

Elledora looked forward to telling her little sister about how she wiped out a pirate band and made the skies safe to fly in. Celine wanted to be a pilot, so this would be excellent news for her. She then began wondering what gift she should buy for her little sister with her cut of the mission pay.

——————

Ace materialized in an empty plaza only a couple blocks away from where the altercation had occurred. Activating his comm link, the Hunter called, “Let’s get out of here. I’m south of you two.”

“On our way,” Kaijae replied.

“What happened?” Kaizyn asked.

Ace approximated a heavy sigh. He felt his chest rise and fall, despite the lack of actual lungs within his Exomind body. He could also hear his vocal processors project the sound of the air being exhaled forcefully, even though no breath passed through his mouth. His body simply reacted in the way that came naturally in response to his frustration. A response that was purely Human and instinctive. It was as natural as any organic’s, despite monikers like “Cyber” or “Robo.” His communicator picked up the sound.

“I take it that it didn’t go well,” Kaizyn commented.

“This is my surprised face,” Kaijae muttered quietly.

“Yeah, he was a little more unhinged than the rest,” Ace stated. “Actually started swinging when I asked a question he didn’t like.”

“Wait. He took a swing at you?” Kaijae snorted. “Did he break his hand?”

“Actually, he pulled out a baseball bat to attack Ace,” Mal’s voice came coldly through the comm link.

“Damn,” Kaijae murmured.

“They are really making it hard to want to help them,” Kaizyn grumbled.

Ace nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah, well I did manage to the information I was looking for out of the guy.”

“Really?” Mal asked, incredulity filling its digital voice. “But he didn’t answer any of your questions.”

“He did. He just didn’t realize it,” Ace countered. It was then that the pair of Titans arrived at the Hunter’s location. He turned and began leading his teammates away from the apartment.

“And do you want to use the information?” Kaijae quietly asked.

Ace glanced sharply over at his friend, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, maybe this rogue has a point. Look at how all of these Keepers are treating us when we have done nothing to them,” Kaijae explained.

Ace shook his head, “No. I’m going to see this through. What Elledora is doing is wrong. It very well may be that these blighting Keepers are assholes, but two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“And she has killed two Guardians in her rampage,” Kaizyn reminded.

“She needs to be stopped,” Ace declared. “A Lightbearer attacking these people only makes their conspiracy theories correct. Once she has been dealt with, the Vanguard can work with the City to do something about the Keepers.”

“Okay,” Kaijae replied, without hint of sarcasm or reservation. “Just making sure that your heart was still in this.”

“I’ll be damned before I let one of these bastards be right about me,” Ace muttered.

“Amen,” Kaizyn agreed.

“So what’s the plan?” Kaijae asked.

“Still working on that,” Ace admitted. “But I am convinced that we have all the pieces that we need.”

“What did you learn from that idiot?” Kaizyn asked.

“He did harass another Guardian before the attack took place,” the Hunter explained. “Something that he and his friends failed to include in the complaint that they filed with the City.”

“When did he say that?” Mal asked, compiling into the air in front of the Hunter as it spoke.

“It’s not what he said, but how he reacted when I asked,” Ace explained.

Mal’s shell twitched as the Ghost looked thoughtfully into the distance. After a moment it asked, “So, did you trick him into giving the information you wanted?”

“Honestly, I was hoping he’d be reasonable and just tell me. We are hunting after the person who beat his ass, so I thought he’d be willing to help,” Ace replied.

Kaijae guffawed before commenting, “That was your first mistake. Believing that one of them would be reasonable.”

“Stop teasing him,” Kaizyn gently interjected, nudging her husband. She then glanced at Ace and asked, “So, is that detail important?”

Shaking his head, Ace answered, “I’m not really sure. I just wanted to know if there was a pattern leading up to the attacks.”

“Two incidents doesn’t exactly qualify as a ‘pattern,’” Kaijae warned.

“True, but it’s come up in every instance that we’ve been able to ask the question,” Ace shrugged.

“What about locations? Any pattern there?” Kaizyn asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Mal stated. “All three of us Ghosts analyzed the data quite thoroughly and could not discern anything. Only that the attacks take place here in the Anchor District.”

“A place that is known for being popular with the Keepers,” Ace continued.

“How many people in the City do you think are Keepers?” Kaijae suddenly asked.

“More than enough,” Kaizyn remarked dryly.

“Half a percent, maybe,” Ace replied. “It could easily become more if we don’t stop Elledora before they are able to successfully spin her attacks into propaganda.”

“All the more reason to stop her, then,” Kaijae muttered.

A gentle chime sounded inside Ace’s helmet; the notification of a waiting message. The Hunter ignored the alert.

Kaizyn sighed, “Which brings us back to the real question of how. How do we stop her?”

Kaijae kicked a small stone in frustration. Ace watched the rock bounce a couple times as it tumbled down the street before bouncing off a curb. The Titan grumbled, “If she was a Hive or Cabal commander, we’d just find her base and smash our way in to find her. Why can’t she stay put like one of them?”

“Yes, it’s extremely disrespectful of her to be so inconsiderate,” Ace quipped humorlessly.

The three Guardians stood together for a couple minutes, each one quietly lost in their own thoughts as they pondered the problem. Ace was disappointed that nothing had occurred to him throughout the entire course of their investigation. They had asked themselves this question already and the Hunter had hoped that a solution would present itself if he could simply gather all of the information that they needed. He could not think of a single detail that they needed now. And he was still lost for any ideas.

“Listen,” Kaizyn suddenly began, “standing around like this isn’t going to get us anywhere. Why don’t we take a break and spend the rest of the day trying to come up with an idea.”

“Yeah, I could get a bite to eat,” Kaijae replied. “I always think better on a full stomach.”

Glancing back in the direction of apartment building where the Keeper had tried to attack him, Ace nodded, “I wouldn’t mind being away from this area for a little bit.”

“I’ll shoot you a message tomorrow morning and we can sync up then,” Kaizyn suggested.

“Sounds great,” the Hunter answered. Kaizyn gave Ace a quick hug before Kaijae exchanged a firm handshake with him. The two Titans then dematerialized in a flash of transmat.

Ace considered the spot where his teammates had just been standing, grateful for both their support and friendship. He felt a pant of guilt for not having the answers that they needed in order to complete the mission, but quickly dismissed the irrational thought. This was definitely not the same kind of straightforward mission that the Guardians were used to undertaking. Even Ikora’s people, used to investigating and hunting down renegades like Elledora, were behind his group.

“How much of that is dumb luck, though?” Ace whispered.

“What was that?” Mal asked, turning from its survey of the area toward the Hunter.

“Nothing,” Ace replied, waving the Ghost away.

“You do have that message waiting for you,” Mal reminded. “It’s from Halily.”

“Oh? Yeah, go ahead and play it.”

Halily’s voice immediately began emanating from his helmet’s speaker, Ace! How’s your mission going? I just finished running an op with Tansy and Hada. Mike took Wendi to scrimmage in one of Shaxx’s arenas, so we’re still keeping an eye on her like you asked. Hey! Are you free this evening? I’ve got some Glimmer to burn after this mission and wanted to try out a new restaurant. You interested? Let me know!

The Hunter smiled to himself before glancing up to the sky above. The sun had recently passed its zenith and the day was progressing into afternoon. Have we already wasted half a day? Ace sighed, regaining control of his frustration. It wasn’t a waste. We have the information that we need and you’re only upset because these people are assholes. If they weren’t assholes, you probably wouldn’t even be here.

“Mal, send this back to Halily,” Ace instructed. “Hey! Yeah, I would love to check out a new restaurant. I’m free for the rest of the day.”

“Sending,” the Ghost replied. After a few seconds it gently asked, “Do you really not have any ideas? You usually have something. Even if it’s a bad idea.”

Ace chuckled at Mal’s comment. He knew that the Ghost was being supportive and not really trying to tease him. But Ace couldn’t help but laugh at Mal’s observation. After all, how many times had he come up with an absurd idea and then immediately acted on it? Convincing Halily to that Cabal commander during the War definitely qualifies. And yet, for being a terrible idea, it actually turned out well.

The Hunter then shook his head. He knew that his luck would have to run out some day; the universe would not let him continue doing insanely stupid stunts and get away with it forever. And he wouldn’t risk dragging his friends down with him, either. Glancing up to his Ghost, Ace commented, “We may as well get going, too. Standing around like this isn’t going to get us any-”

Ace cut his statement short, frozen in place as his mind began racing. Mal dropped down to eye level and asked, concern in its digital tone, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I just had a really dumb idea,” the Hunter answered.

“Well that’s good,” the Ghost replied, hesitantly. “I mean, it’s something.”

Ace smiled behind his helmet’s visor, “At least it’ll be a really good starting point for when we meet up with the Kais tomorrow.”

“Yes. We won’t arrive empty handed,” Mal began, “we’ll come bearing a terribly stupid idea.”

“Exactly.”

“Are you going to share it? Or will I have to wait until tomorrow to find out?”

“What was that old quote? ‘A true magician never reveals his secret’ or something like that?” Ace retorted.

“You have less an actual idea and more of a half-backed concept, don’t you?” Mal commented with a digital snort.

“Shut up,” Ace replied laughingly. “Let’s get back home so I can get out of this gear.”

“Gonna dress up nice?” Mal asked.

Ace did a double take, confused by the unexpected question. “No. Why do you ask?”

Mal’s shell flexed in the Ghost equivalent of a shrug as it answered, “Kaci has been pinging a few of us Ghosts for a while now. For some reason, Zuko has taken to referring to her as a terrible gossip.”

Ace shook his head. He didn’t have time for this nonsense. “I imagine that Zuko is just repeating whatever it heard from Kaijae. But I really do need to focus on fleshing out this ‘half-baked concept’ into a real idea before I go out to dinner.”

“Do you really have something?” Mal suddenly pressed.

“I think so. It’s hovering just at the edge of my mind, just out of reach, but I know that I can make it into something if I can focus,” Ace admitted.

“Sorry. I’ll take us home,” Mal replied.

Ace’s vision became awash with white light as the transmat field seized hold of his body. Could we solve this problem by standing around?

Chapter 31

Chapter Text

Standing outside the restaurant in the early evening light, Ace caught a glimpse of himself in the reflective glass. The Exo was wearing a leather jacket over a simple, comfortable T-shirt. He had chosen jeans and sneakers to finish the outfit, but felt odd without the weight of a weapon strapped either to his back or hip. Ace frowned for a moment; it bothered him a little that he always felt weird without a weapon. Then he turned away from the window and glanced around, noticing that most everyone else was wearing similar casual outfits.

Why did Mal think I should dress up for this place? It looks like a pretty normal restaurant to me.

Slipping past the line of patrons waiting to enter, Ace pushed open the door and stepped inside. The host looked up from his datapad and adopted a forced smile, “Hello! Welcome to The Pearl. I’m afraid that it will be a minimum wait of one hour for a table at this time and, no, there is nothing I can do to speed things-”

“I’m here to meet a friend,” Ace interrupted. “Can you check if she already has a table?”

The host maintained the plastic smile and asked, “Name?”

“Halily.”

Looking down to the tablet, the host scanned the names for a moment before announcing, “Yes. She is here.” He looked up and the smile became genuine as he continued, “Your friend was smart enough to call ahead and make a reservation.”

Ace glanced over his shoulder to the small crowd of waiting patrons milling about the foyer and then the growing line out in front. “New restaurants tend to really draw the crowds, don’t they?” he chuckled.

The host sighed as he shook his head, “Honestly, it’s like people don’t realize that the City is literally full of other people. I see it every time a new place opens.”

Ace shared a brief laugh before following the host into the dining hall. The two weaved through tables and servers to a small booth at the wall. Halily glanced up at their approach and smiled a greeting.

“You made it!” she exclaimed.

Before Ace could reply, the host turned and asked, “Can I get you a drink while you wait for your server?”

“A stout, please?” the Exo answered.

The host nodded and excused himself. Ace slipped off his jacket and set it onto the bench next to where he would sit. As he did, Halily slipped out of the booth to give him a quick hug.

“Thanks for joining me,” she smiled as she sat back down.

Ace slid into his seat and smiled back. The Awoken woman wore a fairly simple, sleeveless black dress. Her lighter blue skin contrasted nicely with the dark outfit and her Awoken irises, normally a white glow, sparkled with a silvery hue. Halily had pulled her dark purple hair into an uncomplicated pony tail with a couple of black clips to contain any strays. Ace found his gaze lingering on her shoulder; he was surprised to notice how small her frame was. They had spent more hours together than he could count, but most of that time was on missions when she was wearing her bulky Titan armor. And when she didn’t have her protective gear, the woman usually wore comfortable, loose-fitting clothes. This was the first time Ace had an opportunity appreciate how small she was.

Despite her size, Halily’s strength was apparent. Wiry muscles practically rippled beneath the smooth surface of her skin as the Awoken woman lifted her glass of water for a drink. Ace mentally chuckled as he realized that anyone wearing armor as heavy as the stuff that Titans were famous for would have to be physically strong.

“Do you like the dress? Hada and Tansy helped me pick it,” Halily smiled brightly. “I figured I should probably wear something nicer than a hoodie or street clothes to an opening.”

“How are they? I haven’t seen either of them in a while,” Ace commented.

“They’re good,” Halily answered. “They send their regards and are happy to hear you’re doing better these days.”

A cloud of shame passed over the Exo. If he had an organic body, his face would have been flushed. Ace recalled how dangerously reckless he had slowly become in the wake of Deo’s death. When looking back, he could clearly see how some of his friends retreated from his self-destructive tendencies. Or, to be fair, how he had pushed everyone away with his dangerous behaviors.

“I really ought to get in touch with them,” Ace murmured.

“They’d like that,” Halily nodded with an encouraging smile.

Before Ace could reply, a server stepped to the table and set a pair of glasses down. An effervescent cider for the Awoken and a satisfyingly dark beer in front of the Exomind. Ace nodded approvingly at the layer of foam that laid atop the liquid and gave off a delightfully chocolate aroma.

“Have you two had a chance to decide what you’d like?” the young woman asked.

Ace quickly snatched the menu sitting in front of him and scanned it. “Go ahead,” he said to Halily.

“Chicken caeser salad,” the Awoken woman replied. “Go nuts with the dressing.”

“Understood,” the server laughed before turning slightly toward Ace.

“Ah! Here we are,” the Exo began. “I’ll have a steak. Six ounces, medium rare. Potato and house salad are all fine.”

“Excellent,” the woman replied cheerfully before taking the menus and walking away.

“How did your mission go?” Ace asked before taking a sip of the beer.

“Great!” Halily answered. “I’ve been running ops with the same people so much that it was nice to work with someone new.”

“Don’t be surprised to start getting more invites from either of them,” Ace commented.

“As long as they don’t try to drag me into one of Shaxx’s arenas,” the Awoken woman muttered.

“Isn’t that where Mike and Wendi went today?”

Halily took an appreciative pull from her glass before replying, “Yeah. Mike set up a private scrimmage with Nutbar and a few others from the Hideout. Said he wanted to see how Wendi would do against real enemies.”

“You weren’t interested in seeing how well you’d stand up against everyone?” Ace smiled.

“No!” Halily laughed. “I’ve seen that woman work and she is a monster. I don’t want to be up against her.”

“Also, you hate the Crucible,” Ace remarked dryly.

“Oryx’s-” Halily slapped a hand over her mouth, stopping herself from completing the expletive. Ace was unable to stifle his own laughter. Halily lowered her voice and giggled as she continued, “You have no idea how much I hate the Crucible. Fellow Guardians are way too tricky and much better shots than me.”

“Yeah, I always hate it when it’s a fair fight,” the Exo teased.

“Shush your face,” the Awoken retorted lightheartedly.

Ace merely grinned all the more, the metal plates around his mouth and eyes shifting to reflect his mirth. He took another drink of his beer, appreciating the rich flavor. If the food was anywhere near as good as the drinks they served, he expected that this new place would do very well.

“How about your mission?” Halily asked as he set his glass down. “Having any luck?”

Ace approximated a deep breath as he considered the question. “It’s been rough,” he finally admitted. “We have a suspect, but getting anything out of these ‘Keep Earth Pure’ nut jobs has been a pain. They’d rather spit in my face than help me help them.”

“Sounds aggravating,” Halily replied, sympathy in her soft voice. “At least you have a suspect. You’re almost done.”

“That’s the problem,” Ace admitted. “Our suspect has gone off the grid. We can’t find her.”

“No home address that you can bust the door down in?”

“We found a hideout that probably isn’t where she regularly hangs her helmet and an apartment that needs to be deep cleaned before it’s fit for habitation again.”

Halily took a thoughtful drink of her cider before asking, “Why don’t you think she’d be in that hideout you found?”

“It’s not in the City,” Ace explained. “She’s beating up Keepers, so she needs to be in the City in order to find her victims.”

“That makes sense. So what are you guys going to do to catch her?”

Ace let himself slump into his seat, his frustration and despair made evident through his posture. “That’s where we’re stuck,” he sighed.

“That’s a surprise,” Halily remarked dryly. “You usually always have an idea. Usually a bad one.”

“Har har,” Ace mocked laughed. “I have something, but it’s not really a full idea.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Ace sat up and shook his head. “It’s really dumb, but it involves baiting Elledora into assaulting Keepers that are harassing Guardians.”

“Why is that a dumb idea? That sounds really good.”

“Because how in the hell am I going to make that happen?” Ace groaned. “It feels like these jerks are everywhere because I keep getting insults hurled at me, but that’s only because I’ve been knocking on their doors. There isn’t actually a whole lot of these people.”

“Thank the Traveler,” Halily muttered before taking another drink.

“So how the hell are the Kais and I going to cover enough ground to incite an incident that would attract our suspect? I can’t be everywhere all at once.”

The Awoken woman suddenly snorted, “Okay, your idea isn’t dumb. You are.”

The Exo abruptly sat up straight as if he had been slapped, but remained silent.

“Ace, ask for help,” Halily continued.

Shaking his head, he replied, “I did. I have the Kais helping me on this and they’re just as stum-”

Halily reached across the table and grabbed the Exo’s forearm. The physical contact cut his comment short and he looked into the woman’s eyes. A wry smile painted her oval face and laughter danced in her glowing eyes.

“Ace, ask for help,” she repeated. “You have more friends than just the Kais. Everyone would be happy to help.”

Stunned to silence, the Exo slowly fell back into his seat. He had never considered asking for more help than just the Kais. After all, he had assumed that they would be hunting a Hive Wizard for the second time. Learning that the threat was coming from within the City changed everything. It made sense to change along with that knowledge.

However, there still remained the initial reason he had contacted Kaizyn and Kaijae in the first place. Elledora wielded a terrible and dangerous weapon. Could he really ask his friends to put themselves in such a hazardous position?

“You don’t know what you’re suggesting,” Ace finally stated.

“You need to trust the rest of us,” Halily countered.

Ace slowly shook his head as a thousand thoughts screamed inside at once. Hearing from old friends like Tansy and Hada served as a sharp reminder of the pain that he had felt when Deoxys died. Friends that he had inadvertently pushed away because he was afraid of losing them. Now he had even more people that he cared for surrounding him and Halily believed he should put them in the path of a dangerous Guardian-killer?

What would happen if one of his friends found themselves on the wrong end of whatever weapon it was that Elledora has created? And it would be because Ace put them there. How could Halily believe that he would be so selfish as to risk his friends’ lives? It was bad enough that he was dragging Kaizyn and Kaijae along with him on this mad hunt. No. Ace was the one who protected his friends and loved ones from harm. That was why he charged ahead of the others, why he tread into places that he shouldn’t, and why he took on burdens that weren’t his to bear. He did it all to protect the others so that they did not have to face the risks.

And that is why they started backing away, Ace thought. Samus stopped seeing me as an asset during his missions. Tansy, Hada, and the rest stopped asking for my help. I became a liability because I didn’t trust them to take care of themselves.

Ace looked up from the table to meet Halily’s eyes once more. Her face was calm; a patient smile waited for his response. He then recalled their dangerous trek into the heart of the Focalor in their hunt for Bracus Gelahn. He had trusted her then and the odds were even worse. It was time for Ace to start having more faith in the people around him.

“I swear, if anyone gets themselves killed on this mission, I will kick their ass.”

Chapter 32

Chapter Text

“It’s not like you to call for a meeting like this,” Nutbar commented.

Ace was approaching the main entrance to the Shelter when he came upon the Warlock. The Human man held his helmet in one hand as he sat upon a large boulder to the side of the cave’s mouth. Shorter, nearly black hair with early streaks of silver clung close to the man’s face as it transitioned into a neatly trimmed beard. Perpetual dark circles under his gave the man an eternally exhausted appearance. Ace had been startled by the comment as Nutbar was sitting so still in the morning’s dim light.

Not quite registering the Warlock’s comment, Ace instead replied, “What are you doing out here?”

“Catching the sunrise and enjoying the fresh air,” Nutbar answered. Then he hefted the helmet and continued, “It’s nice to experience such things without a screen or a filter.”

Ace nodded with agreement. He turned to the East and the small meadow that led to the cave. The sky glowed pink with streaks of navy blue as clouds accented the the bright color with their contrast. The Hunter reached up and unclasped his helmet, removing it to join the Warlock in the appreciative reverie.

The smell of the evergreen dawn flooded his olfactory sensors. The moist morning dew carried a taste of earthy loam on the faint breeze, mingling with the aroma of moss and pine. Pleasant odors that would have not been able to pass through his armor’s filtration systems. And the pink colors behind the thin clouds became slightly more vibrant, more alive without the computer system inside his helmet adjusting his view with additional information and low-light assistance. It was breathtaking.

“We take a lot for granted, don’t we?” Ace quietly commented.

“Yeah, but can you blame us when practically the whole universe is trying to wipe us out? Moments of quiet like these don’t come often,” Nutbar sighed. The Warlock waited a long moment, letting the Hunter enjoy the morning sunrise, before continuing, “And speaking of moments that don’t come often, since when do you call for help like this?”

Ace turned away from the brightening vista and looked back to the Warlock, “Since someone pointed out to me that I have a whole slew of talented friends that can help me with a big problem.”

Nutbar’s eyebrow arched sharply with curiosity. He sat up straight and eyed the Hunter, “Oh? A problem that you can’t handle? It must be a tough one, indeed.”

Ace chuckled and spun his helmet in his hand like a ball, adopting an air of nonchalance. “Didn’t you know? Those are the only kinds of problems that interest me,” he replied.

“Well, color me interested. What’s the trouble this time?”

Dismissing the question with a wave of his hand, Ace retorted, “I’m not gonna explain this mission a dozen times. You’ll hear about it along with everyone else as soon as everyone gets here.”

“Didn’t you know? They’re already here,” Nutbar commented.

The Hunter nearly dropped the helmet. “What do you mean?” he asked, fumbling with the helmet.

“Dude. You sent out the call and everyone came running,” Nutbar explained. “They’ve been flying in since last night. Only those folks already on an active mission didn’t come in.” He paused for a second to give the Hunter a quizzical look, “What did you expect?”

Ace stammered for a moment, unsure of how to answer. After all, what did he expect to happen? He knew that Halily was right; that he would receive offers of assistance. But he didn’t expect more than a handful at most.

“Come on,” Nutbar instructed with a quiet laugh before sliding down from his perch. “I already told everyone that you were on your way in when I saw your ship.”

The two Guardians walked side by side into the cave’s mouth. It was a deceptively small entrance, almost a mere cleft in the rocky slope that jutted out of the forest floor, that quickly emptied into a fairly large cavern. The Hunter noticed close to a dozen Sparrows sitting on the cave floor. He had a brief flash of memory back to the days during the Red War; the last time the Shelter held so many vehicles in dock.

Nutbar strode past the line of Sparrows to the next tunnel with Ace close behind. The next passage was slightly longer and led to the largest chamber of the Shelter’s complex; the command center. It served as the main hub for the entire place as tunnels and passages led to other, separate areas like the dining hall or barracks. The Hunter could already hear the slight sound of murmuring voices coming from the room as he approached, but couldn’t see very well past the taller Warlock’s frame.

Stepping into the command center, Ace suddenly stopped short at the threshold. He could not believe his eyes as there were so many Guardians sitting or standing about, all presumably answering his request for aid. As Nutbar walked down a short handful of steps to take a seat near the center of the room, all of the conversation in the room quickly ceased and everyone turned toward the Hunter.

Glancing around, he spotted all of his closest friends; Halily, Samus, and Mike sat together near one of the central consoles. Nutbar had taken a seat next to Kaizyn and Kaijae. Hada and Kerissa stood nearby, using one of the long tables as a makeshift bench. And so many others that sat or stood, waiting to offer their assistance. He even spotted Astrid standing near the exit to the barracks, yawning with a cup of coffee in her hand. There were almost as many Guardians present now as the day they had planned for their part in ending the Red War. Ace would have teared up at the sight if he was organic.

“Hey, Ace!” a tiny voice called out from the back of the room. A handful in the crowd tittered and chuckled at the abrupt break in the silence from such an unexpected source

“Hey, Tansy,” Ace smiled and waved at the other Hunter as she leaned around a taller Guardian to wave back. He then cleared his throat before continuing, “And hello to everyone else that decided to come! You’re probably all wondering why I asked you to come here.”

“It’s not for lack of trying,” Kaijae muttered loudly. “They’ve been trying to get us to tell them why we’re here, but we don’t know either.”

“I told them we were getting the band back together, but they wouldn’t believe me,” Kaizyn grumbled.

“That’s because you didn’t bring your tambourine,” a voice quipped from the back.

“That’s because I only play the drums now, Gentemann! You know this!” Kaizyn turned to holler back, jokingly.

“And this is how we know you’re not getting the band back together,” Hada laughed.

Before the room could erupt into more jokes and then devolve into utter chaos, Ace raised his voice, “I invited everyone here because I need help.” The laughter died down and everyone looked toward the Exo standing at the front of the room. Ace held out a hand and summoned Mal. The Ghost immediately glided through the air to the main computer terminal and activated the room’s largest display. Ace continued, “The Kais and I are hunting a rogue Lightbearer. She has been assaulting citizens of the City and has killed one Guardian, probably two.”

The respectful quiet became stunned silence as Ace’s statement settled upon the attending audience. The Hunter nodded to Mal and the computer terminal began displaying scrolling through images and vital data for Elledora’s known victims. When Marcer and Dreven appeared, Ace glanced back to where Astrid stood. The Hunter’s face became a veritable mask of mixed emotions; her lips were a thin rictus of anger while tears began to leak down her cheeks.

Ace let the silence sit for a few moments so that it could give way to gentle murmuring. Then Nutbar’s voice rose calm and clear above the other voices, “How did your rogue manage to kill a Guardian?”

“Hive magic,” Kaijae declared. “We’ve seen it before and Ace recognized it when he witnessed one of the attacks.”

The quiet murmuring became a tumultuous clamor as every other Guardian present began asking questions. Ace glanced about in a vain attempt to focus on each speaker, but quickly realized that he couldn’t keep up with the avalanche of inquiry. The Hunter swiftly raised his hand, palm toward the gathering in the universal sign for “stop.”

It took only a couple seconds for the din to settle into quiet. As soon as he had control of the room again, Ace began, “We don’t know how she got her hands on this tech, but it was unmistakable. She gunned down a Warlock and managed to completely strip him of his Light. His Ghost was unable to rez him.”

Unsurprisingly, the Hunter heard whispered mentions of the words “Dredgen” and “Thorn.” He did not attempt to correct their assumptions or cut short the side conversations. Just about every Guardian alive had heard the story of the boogeyman who had cut a path of death through Lightbearers and mortals alike. As a result, they had also all learned to fear and respect the threat that the tales depicted.

Ace wanted everyone to understand the true depth of the threat he was asking them to face. He would not allow any one of his fellow Guardians follow him on this mission without properly appreciating the risk involved. He nodded slightly, to himself, when he noticed that the scattered side conversations began yielding worried frowns and nervous laughs.

After a few seconds, Ace raised his voice again, “Now that everyone understands what we will be going up against, let me just say that I will understand if anyone wants to sit this one out.”

To the Hunter’s surprise, his comment elicited laughter from the majority of the room and indignant outrage from the rest. He found himself taking a half step back as the outraged members of the Shelter leapt to their feet.

“You really think we’d sit this out?”

“I’m not going to let a Guardian-killer go loose!”

“You’re blighted if you think we’d let you do this alone!”

As the furor died down, a laughing Nutbar called out, “Ain’t no way we’re gonna let you have all the best shenanigans to yourself.”

Shaking his head and smiling with appreciation, Ace finally replied, “I get it, I really do. I just-”

“Ace,” Mike suddenly stood up. The room quieted. “You three are going to go after this killer, regardless of how many of us volunteer to help, so we are in. It’s that simple.”

Shouts of agreement and a scattering of applause followed in the wake of Mike’s declaration. Ace stood speechless and glanced down to where the Kais sat. The pair of Titans met his gaze, equally moved by the unanimous showing of support.

Nearby, Halily shouted, “So what’s the plan?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected change in subject, Ace needed a moment to collect his thoughts. The room settled into relative quiet again as everyone else waited.

“Honestly, it’s probably going to be quite boring for most of you and require a lot of patience,” the Hunter began. Then he chuckled, “Maybe I should have led with that to give you all a chance to back out. So, our killer has taken to hanging out in the Anchor District and attacking Keepers.”

Mal changed the display to show a map of the referenced section of the City. Markers with dates of assaults dotted the screen.

“There isn’t any pattern to the attacks except that she is targeting people associated with that group. And before anyone asks why we should bother helping them, understand that these attacks will only serve to make those jerks right in the eyes of everyone else. She needs to be stopped before she can damage the Vanguard’s reputation,” Ace stated definitively.

“And it’s the right thing to do,” Halily loudly added.

The Hunter nodded his head with appreciation at the Titan’s declaration. He turned back to the map and resumed his explanation, “The only thing we know is that she focuses on this district and that she finds her targets by catching them harassing Guardians.”

“Keepers harassing Guardians? This is my surprised face,” Hada remarked dryly, her face devoid of any emotion.

“I know,” Kaizyn replied patiently as she stood and moved to stand beside Ace. “It certainly does not help make me want to help them. But she needs to be stopped. What she’s been doing is wrong.”

Kaijae then rose to his feet and also moved to stand with Ace. The quiet murmuring that had sprouted in that last few moments died down again.

“Our suspect’s name is Elledora,” Ace announced. In response, Mal changed the display again, this time rotating through the various pictures that the Ghost had gathered of the woman. Ace continued, “She is a rogue Hunter well versed in using the Void, but we don’t know if that is the only element that she is familiar with.”

“She’s fairly new as well,” Kaijae added. “She was rezzed not long after we liberated the City, so she’s practically a Kinderguardian.”

“A bit young to be a murderess,” Hada muttered.

“They grow up so fast,” Nutbar quipped, eliciting a brief scattering of laughter and chuckles.

As the room quieted, suddenly Halily raised her hand. Ace gestured for the Titan to speak. “If she has been targeting Keepers, then why did she start killing Guardians?” Halily asked.

“She killed my friends because we stopped one of her attacks,” Astrid called out from her position at the back of the room. “We caught her roughing up a kid and told her to cut it out when we realized that she going too far.”

“Which is probably when she went off grid,” Ace commented. “Vanguard records of her practically become nonexistent around the same time that the attacks became more serious. So, in order to find this woman, we need to bait her into a trap.”

The Hunter then turned to Kaizyn and Kaijae. In a low voice, he explained, “I think this is the only way. I was up all night and this was the only idea I could come up with that wouldn’t leave us with an even longer list of victims.”

“It’s fine,” Kaizyn replied. “Jae and I were going to suggest something like this. Getting everyone to help is a brilliant idea.”

“I wish it was my idea,” Ace chuckled before turning back to the rest of the room. He took a moment to scan the faces of everyone present. Most of the nervousness had passed and everyone present appeared eager and attentive. He then raised his voice to address the gathering, “My plan is to invite harassment from any Keepers around in the hope that the rogue Lightbearer will appear.”

Ace sent a mental command to Mal and the map of the Anchor District reappeared in the large computer display. “I need Guardians to position themselves in public areas where it is possible that a group of Keepers will walk by. We need them to start harassing you and then for you to kite them. Elledora may need a few minutes to notice the ruckus, so take the jerks for a walk. Let them hurl their stupid insults and see if they’ll follow you. If they won’t, get into a friendly argument. The point is that we need them to get loud enough to be noticed.”

“And they’ve usually been drinking when they get brave enough to harass a Guardian, so that part shouldn’t be too hard,” Kaizyn added with a chuckle.

Nodding with agreement, Ace continued, “If our rogue shows up, notify us and then get the hell out of there. Do not engage.”

The room again broke out into confused protests and questions. Ace merely raised both hands to forestall them all. It took a few moments for the furor to die down. Once the room was quiet enough for him to be heard, the Hunter continued.

“Whatever weapon she has constructed is dangerous beyond belief. The Kais and I have experience with the Hive magic behind it and know how to deal with it. What we need is for you to get any bystanders out of the way when we arrive to confront her. Understand?” Ace’s tone made it clear to all that he demanded compliance on this one.

Murmurs of assent rose from the gathering. The Hunter scanned the faces for any sign of resistance, but did not find anything worrisome. Much of the assent was given begrudgingly, but he expected that much from this crowd. After all, every single Guardian in this room was a capable combatant with heaps of field experience. It was natural that everyone believe that they would be up to the task of taking Elledora down. But they would respect his command on this.

“Good,” Ace smiled. “The operation will begin late in the evening. If you wish to participate, make sure to get plenty of rest today so that you can be alert through the night.”

“Is that why you called for a meeting so damned early?” Kaijae asked, punctuating the question with an exaggerated yawn.

“Yep,” the Hunter succinctly replied. Looking back to the room, he continued, “We will meet back here to coordinate posts.”

Chapter 33

Chapter Text

Elledora considered the Hawk craft in her hand. It was a finely detailed replica of the gunship that everyone in the City had learned to recognize in the skies above. Children who saw these ships in the sky above knew that they were safe and protected by the brave pilots who flew them. It was the perfect gift for her little sister who dreamed of flying.

However, the ship brought a frown to her face. Do my gifts put Celine at risk of being discovered? I mean, seeing how strongly Mother and Father feel, I can only imagine how much trouble she could find herself in if she was discovered spending time with a Guardian. Maybe it would be best to not give her the toy right now.

“‘Elle!” an excited call from the bistro’s entrance banished the thoughts. Rising from her seat, Elledora turned to see Celine crossing the dining area. “It’s so good to see you. What a lovely dress!”

The Hunter had left her armor behind at the apartment, believing it would be less conspicuous to meet her sister in normal clothes. Also, it felt lovely to wear the relaxing, flowing outfit after of all the long days spent inside of heavy, constricting armor. Finally, there was the fact that she wouldn’t have possibly been able to truly appreciate the warm embrace when her sister wrapped her arms around her for a hug.

“Is that for me?” Celine gasped, noticing the replica gunship sitting on the table.

“For my brave pilot-to-be,” Elledora proclaimed with a smile. “I know you’ll be in the co*ckpit of the real thing soon enough, but I thought you’d like it.”

“I love it,” Celine replied with a grateful tone of voice. “It’s one of the actual cast iron models. Just look at the detail in the- wait. This is a Garvin model! These aren’t cheap. ‘Elle! You shouldn’t have,” she hissed.

Elledora merely laughed and waved away the young girl’s protests. “I had a fist of spare Glimmer after my last mission, so I decided to get you an early birthday present.”

It suddenly dawned on the Hunter that she didn’t actually know her sister’s birthday. Like so many other things, that knowledge had been taken from her when she died. A fresh surge of determination swelled with her; knowledge could be relearned and experiences can be replaced with new ones.

“As thoughtful as always,” Celine smiled as she traced a finger along the ship’s wing. Then she set the gift aside and looked back up to the Hunter. “You had a mission? Tell me about it.”

Elledora took a drink of her water before beginning, “We went to the Moon to catch a band of Fallen pirates that were ambushing cargo ships. It took us half a day to track them to their hideout. The fireteam leader has contacts at The Reef, so we were able to buy some information that got us most of the way there.”

“Most of the way?” Celine asked, confused.

“Well, the pirates were selling what they stole to another group that turned around and used it to craft stuff that they sold to The Reef,” Elledora explained. “They weren’t the ones we actually wanted, so our leader tried to reason with them.”

“Reason? With the Fallen?” the girl asked, amazed by the mere concept.

Laughing quietly, the Hunter shrugged, “It’s a crazy universe out there. There are some out there that don’t care about wiping us off the map. They just want to live and let live. Especially in a place like The Reef.”

“I just can’t imagine that there are Fallen that you can trust,” Celine whispered.

Elledora’s tone hardened as she countered, “Don’t get me wrong. I do not trust them. But as long as they don’t threaten the City, I am willing to let them live.”

“So, they told you where to find the pirates?”

“Not exactly,” Elledora quickly answered with a chuckle. “They didn’t want to give up a source of supplies, so they tried to refuse. So we had to rough them up a bit to get them to talk.”

Celine’s face became a concerned frown. It seemed that she couldn’t properly appreciate the difficulty that the team was faced with.

“We didn’t want to hurt them, but we needed to know where the pirates were hiding out. We were losing ships and vital resources to the attacks, so we had to do whatever it takes to protect our pilots,” Elledora explained gently. “No one was killed and we got the information we needed. So, let me tell you what happened when we finally arrived at the pirates’ hideout.”

Celine’s face brightened as she realized that the Hunter had reached the exciting part of the story. Unfortunately, the server arrived to take their meal order. The two women requested their food and the server departed. As soon as they were alone again, Elledora launched into the recounting. She might have embellished a few points, but the Hunter reasoned that there was no harm done. She was just entertaining her sister with a good story. The server arrived with their food just as Elledora finished telling her tale.

“Enough stories about me, how about yourself?” Elledora prompted. “Anything new with you?”

Celine shrugged as considered the question. “Not really,” she replied. “Mother and Father are on edge after having an incident a couple days ago.”

An incident. Celine didn’t need to elaborate. Elledora knew exactly what the girl meant. The Hunter took a long, deep breath before commenting, “Still can’t bring themselves to tolerate Guardians, eh?”

Celine began to apologize, “I’m sorry. I was hoping that they might be coming around, but then-”

“It’s okay. It’s not their fault.” I know exactly who is to blame.

Elledora changed the subject to the latest jumpship designs and Celine was immediately swept away by her passion. She began explaining improvements in tech and started rattling off specs. The Hunter smiled at her genius little sister and began to eat her meal.

——————

Halily stifled a yawn as she leaned against a wall. Ace had been right to instruct everyone to get some rest during the day; staying up this late without being in the middle of a firefight was harder than she anticipated. Standing around waiting for something to happen was not interesting or exciting enough to keep exhaustion from making itself known to the woman. If she hadn’t taken Ace’s advice, there was a good chance that she’d be practically asleep on her feet.

Everyone had suggested joining a comms channel together in order to break up the monotony of the stakeout, but Ace had quashed that. Again, she had to give the man credit for making the right call since the chatter on such a channel could potentially be found out and warn their quarry, but she wasn’t happy about it. As a compromise, Ace had suggested everyone pick a route or post up somewhere throughout the district that would see them intersecting with one another every half hour. They could chat for a couple minutes to break the tedium before moving along.

Her eyes flicked to the time display in her helmet’s visor. It had been only seven minutes since Hada passed by and would be another twenty before Wednesday came through. She was looking forward to meeting another one of the “Shelter Companions,” as Tansy put it. Halily had not fully comprehended just how many Guardians had been gathered together in that cave during the War. She also was beginning to realize that Ace needed a stern talking to; he had so many more friends that he did a such a poor job of keeping in touch with.

Despite that, they all came running when he called for aid. That’s because they all know that he wouldn’t hesitate to help any one of them if they asked. But there’s more to this family they’ve built than just helping each other in missions; I could see that in the camaraderie that Hada and Tansy showed me the other day. Ace needs to be reminded of that fact.

Halily nodded to herself, silently affirming her decision to chat with Ace. She then glanced around the area to take stock. It was decided to that she would position herself at the intersection of two well-trafficked streets. At least, they were quite busy during the daytime. Now that it was close to the middle of the night, there was hardly anyone else out. The team had selected this particular intersection since there was a bar only a couple doors down. What little pedestrian traffic she had seen was to and from the bar, so the logic proved sound. But she had not been approached by anyone.

The Titan, like everyone else participating, was wearing her armor so that she could be easily and unmistakably identified as a Guardian. However, the heavy gear made standing around a bit more difficult to manage. When she was on a mission, she would always be moving around so the weight of the armor wasn’t really noticeable. Thus overcome with a sudden need to be moving around, Halily decided to wander down to the bar. Hada wouldn’t be along for a while and maybe heading into bar would incite exactly the incident they were hoping for. Pushing open the door, the Titan strode into the thin haze and loud music waiting within.

The bar was louder than she anticipated as the doors did a good job of keeping the noise contained. A small crowd of patrons had gathered at the far end of the establishment, where a dance floor had been installed and a juke box was accepting Glimmer to play music. Currently, a popular song was was pouring out of the speakers that lined the ceiling above the dance area and the crowd was mostly failing to sing along. Halily could hear a couple people with decent pitch manage to carry the tune properly, but the rest were either tone deaf or too drunk. However, everyone participating appeared to be having a fun time of it.

The rest of the bar was open tables and barstools. Half the tables held a couple people while the bar itself entertained only a handful of patrons. The bartender was shaking his head emphatically at an Exo as Halily approached.

“Ghaul’s taint, Vimmer! Why you always gotta want to waste the good stuff?” the bartender exclaimed.

“It ain’t like I don’t wanna pay full, Fulsom. I got the Glimmer for it,” Vimmer replied, his Exomind eyes sparkling with frustration.

“Then buy from the well. I’ll serve up all you want from the well, but quit asking me to waste my shelf on you,” the bartender argued. “I need the shelf for folks what are proper thirsty and need a good buzz.”

The Exo sighed with defeat and muttered, “Fine.”

As the bartended dropped a sugar cube into a glass and then splashed some bourbon in with it, Halily approached the bar. Synthetic wood, made from programmable matter, accepted her helmet as the Titan set the armor atop its surface. The Exomind, Vimmer, turned and nodded a greeting as Halily slid onto the stool next to his.

“Guardian! How nice to have you!” Fulsom smiled widely. “What can I get you this fine evening?”

Halily watched as the bartender set the glass in front of her neighbor and replied, “That looks tasty. I’ll have what he’s having, except can I get mine with a little…” Halily paused to make a show of examining the bottles on the wall behind the bar. Most had fairly plain labels with only the most basic information regarding their contents except for the two topmost shelves where bottles with fancier labels and gold lettering sat. She identified an expensive-looking bottle and pointed at it, “Oooh. That looks delicious. Can you make mine with that?”

Fulsom’s smile became a grin as he commented, “Good eye. That’s actually one of my favorites. I order it special for folks who appreciate a good flavor a‘cuz it is delicious. Three times price, tho.”

In response, Halily held out a hand and a chunk of Glimmer materialized into her palm. “Can I also get a soda with no ice?”

“Sure can, Guardian,” the bartender replied as he began making her drink.

Halily watched the man deftly pour the requested bourbon over a sugar cube before splashing in a couple drops of bitters and a thimble of water. He then stirred in a large ice cube before dropping a candied cherry into the glass. Halily grateful accepted the drink before the bartender then grabbed a second glass and quickly filling it with a cola. The Titan handed the chunk of Glimmer over to the bartender as she received the second drink.

“Damn it all,” the Titan then muttered, drawing the attention of her bar mate. The Exo glanced over to eye the Guardian. She returned the look and gave a rueful sigh, “I’m on duty! I can’t be drinking this. Here.”

Halily slid the drink over in front of a suddenly delighted Vimmer and then knocked back the soda, draining the glance in a single pull. Grabbing a napkin from a nearby dispenser, the Titan wiped her mouth and then stood up.

Seeing this, the bartender exclaimed, “Aww hell. If’n you were just gonna waste it like that, you-”

“I could do what?” Halily interrupted. “I could’ve asked for booze that didn’t taste as good?”

“It’s not like he can tell the difference,” the bartender muttered, quickly realizing that he was antagonizing a powerful Titan.

Halily looked pointedly at the Exomind.

Vimmer understood the point and took a slow sip of the co*cktail. His vocal processor emitted an appreciative sigh before the Exomind replied, “Fulsom, it ought to be illegal to sell that swill you use for your well drinks. This is sublime.”

The bartender shook his head angrily and turned to walk away. Halily and her neighbor watched the man move to pretend attendance on the patron sitting at the far end. Halily chuckled and turned her attention to the Exo sitting beside her. “Enjoy the drink.”

“I will,” Vimmer replied. “It really does taste very good when I can get him to make it like this.”

“This isn’t the first time he’s refused to serve you?” the Titan asked, curious.

The Exo shrugged as he took another sip of his drink before answering, “It depends on his mood and how good his books look. I can usually convince him when his rent’s coming due.”

“Sounds like some Keeper bullsh*t,” Halily grumbled.

“Nah. Fulsom ain’t like that,” Vimmer protested. “He just don’t think I can notice, so he don’t wanna rip me off.”

Halily frowned. She got the feeling that Vimmer was being honest in that he honestly believed what he was saying about the bartender. However, she wasn’t convinced that the man’s hesitancy to serve the Exomind came from the goodness of his heart. Watching Vimmer take another slow pull of his co*cktail, Halily began to wonder if Ace or Mike ever experienced these kind of slights to their humanity.

Chapter 34

Chapter Text

It had been almost two full weeks since the call to action at the Shelter. Ace was still touched by the mass show of support. Faces he hadn’t seen since the end of the Red War smiling out at him from gathering; all eager to lend their support. He had expected to see the likes of Mike and Nutbar; even Tansy and Hada were no surprise after Halily conveyed their warm regards. But to see the likes of Momo, Wednesday, and Gentemann? Harmony, Cat, Mabie, and a dozen more. Guardians all that he had spent time with during the Cabal invasion, but mostly had hardly seen at all since then.

He had even learned that his friends had come up with nicknames for the group that formed around the Shelter. Tansy kept calling everyone the “Shelter Companions” while Hada had recently taken an accusation thrown at Ace and crafted a new term. Someone claimed that the Hunter was hoarding the best shenanigans for himself, so Hada started calling everyone who wanted a piece of the action a “Shenaniganizer”. The word was catching and spreading like fire amongst the friends. It brought a massive grin to Ace’s face.

Maybe I should spend some of my free time hanging out with more of my friends. Ooh! I wonder if Samus will let me use the Shelter to host poker nights? That would be a lot of fun.

Thinking of the large gathering that had answered his request helped the Hunter realize just how correct Halily had been when she told him that he had more friends than he realized. Even now, despite the passage of so many nights without any results, everyone continued to lend their support. Occasionally a couple people took a night off from the patrols to participate in Vanguard missions or just take a break, but they all came back. Ace was moved by the consolidated show of support and mentally reiterated the warning he gave to Halily, If any one of them gets killed helping me, I am going to beat their ass.

Chuckling at the absurdity of the thought, Ace returned his attention to the task at hand. While everyone else was walking routes or standing at key locations, trying to draw attention from Keepers in the area, Ace and the Kais had taken positions near the center of the district. Ace placed himself in the northern half while the Kais took the south.

The Hunter currently sat on a rooftop with his feet dangling over the side. He had heard his friends complaining about the boring monotony and sympathized with them. He could feel his hands twitch as his body tried to rebel against the forced inactivity. This was the longest he had gone without any kind of fight or other excitement.

I should challenge Mike to a Sparrow race or something tomorrow. Something to get the blood pumping. Maybe I should have accepted Momo’s invitation to join him in the Crucible this morning. A match might have been just what I need.

Thinking about fighting other Guardians in the Crucible suddenly sobered the Hunter. He was here expressly to fight a Lightbearer. Maybe to the final death. He wasn’t sure if thinking so lightly about a Crucible match was disrespectful to the task he was undertaking. Should he be spending his free time in the arena, practicing tactics against Guardians in preparation for the fight that was to come?

“Mal?” Ace quietly called.

“What is it?” the Ghost answered through the comm link, remaining intangible while on mission.

“Remind me to go into the Crucible tomorrow. I want some practice, so make sure I’m up in time for some of the first matches,” the Hunter explained.

“Want me to contact Lily-5 and schedule a skirmish?” Mal suggested.

Ace considered the idea for a few seconds before nodding, “That sounds like a great plan. It would be fun to face off against Meghara and Reece again. Maybe I could even get Meghara to spar with me afterward since she’s a Hunter.”

“I will contact Lily-5 in the morning,” Mal stated.

Ace sensed the Ghost disconnecting the comm link and resuming its more passive state. He then turned his thoughts toward putting together a team to match up against Lily-5’s group. Common sense informed the Hunter that he should invite Kaizyn and Kaijae to join him, but he shouldn’t assume that they would feel up it after a long night of patrolling. Maybe I should invite Wendi? She’s managed to impress Mike and Halily. This would be a nice chance to introduce her to a couple more folks who won’t be assholes to her. She has gotta be tired of staying hidden away while we hunt Elledora.

With that, Ace knew who he would reach out to if the Kais declined to join him. For the first time in a long while, the Hunter found himself looking forward to stepping into an arena.

——————

Wednesday yawned mightily inside her helmet, pausing her leisurely stroll long enough to reach her arms overhead and arch her back in a satisfying stretch. She had spent a couple of minutes chatting with a fellow Shenaniganizer, a Titan name Mabie, quarter of an hour ago and was on schedule to rendezvous with Halily in another twenty. She found enjoyment with this mission as it gave her a chance to meet and get to know a lot of the Guardians who had survived the Red War in the Shelter.

And she loved the new term that Hada had come up with for everyone that came out of that shared experience. It was a fitting name for the band of misfits that had formed in the haven that the Shelter offered. Everyone embraced it with open arms, even Ace despite the fact that the term could be seen as a subtle dig at the man’s tendency to be a loose cannon.

But that was exactly why so many of the group found him endearing. He managed to be unpredictable whilst simultaneously being one of the most reliable Guardians they knew. If anyone ever requested help with something, Ace seemed to miraculously appear a moment later, out of nowhere, to offer assistance. And yet, he never let anyone return the favor. So, when Ace sent out a call to action…

“Blighted Corpse,” a man muttered as his shoulder “bumped” into Wednesday’s.

The woman came out of her thoughts to realize that she had been approaching a small group of men. Half a dozen of them were passing on one side when one of them intentionally decided to take the center of the sidewalk and collided with the Hunter. The remark drew chuckles from the man’s companions.

“Excuse you,” Wednesday remarked loudly, turning to face the man. The reaction was purely instinctive as

“Watch where you’re walkin’, bitch,” the man slurred, his speech obviously affected by alcohol. “Or is we regular folk not ‘lowed on the same sidewalk as ya Corpse Jackers?”

Wednesday wished that she wasn’t wearing a helmet so that the men could see her eyes roll at the inanity of their friend’s statement. Her gut reaction to the situation was to simply walk away from the idiots; she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her get riled up. However, she then remembered the reason for her even being there in the first place.

Placing her hands on her hips, the Hunter snapped, “I don’t care where you walk as long as you remember whatever common decency your mother taught you.”

All six of the men suddenly turned and moved to stand either beside or behind their friend. As one, they began to shout indignantly. Wednesday smiled to herself at the ruckus.

“What’d you say, Corpse?”

“Who the hell y’think you talkin’ to, bitch?”

“Go get fragged, you Ghoul!”

The Hunter let them rant for a few moments before she decided it was her turn. “What are you? Stupid and deaf? I said if your mother had taught you any common courtesy, your dumb ass wouldn’t be walking into people.”

Success. The shouting became even louder as the men managed to become even more incensed. She had to take measured half steps backwards every couple of seconds to maintain the distance between herself and the belligerent Keepers. The insults quickly became threats as each man tried to goad her into responding again.

Realizing that any further provocation would likely result in coming to blows with the drunken men, Wednesday gave a dismissive wave of her hand and turned away. “I don’t have time for this nonsense,” she taunted as she started walking away.

The insults and threats followed her.

“Ooh. Ya gonna twinkle away like somewhat coward?”

“Where’s your momma, you fragged out Corpse? Huh?”

“Let’s see you twinkle off, bitch. Get the ‘ell out of here!”

Wednesday glanced to the radar display in her helmet’s visor and adjusted her stride so that she was always only a short few steps ahead of the angry men. As she walked, the Hunter surreptitiously tapped a single word message to the rest of the team before casting a glance over her shoulder. Feigning a frightened tremor in her voice, she then shouted back, “I’m not afraid of you. Just leave me alone before someone gets hurt.”

This last comment resulted in a roar of laughter from the Keepers. They continued to follow and hurl threats at her back. Wednesday led the group down the street for a handful of blocks, pausing only to respond with comments if her own. Each reply she offered achieved her goal of antagonizing the men further so that they continued to be exceedingly loud and belligerent. Suddenly, her Ghost had text display in her visor.

We’re close. Find an alley. Kaizyn.

Understanding the plan, Wednesday then glanced about before for a moment before spotting a space between two buildings. Pretending as if she was trying to lose her pursuers, the Hunter then began to run the few strides it took to reach the alleyway and then ducked into it. As expected, all six of the men followed as they cackled drunkenly with laughter.

“Where you running, Corpse?”

“Come back an’ play, ya bitch!”

Wednesday ran to the far end of the corridor and then stopped. She turned to watch the Keepers round the corner in pursuit. Seeing the Hunter with her back pressed into a corner at the far end, the Keepers howled with delight. Trying to buy as much time as possible, Wednesday then tried to threaten the men in return. She warned them not to approach or else she would defend herself, but the men were either too drunk or too angry to heed the warning.

Just as she was beginning to worry that the plan had failed, a small device landed on the concrete between Wednesday and the Keepers. As a fellow Hunter, she immediately recognized the construct of Void Light; a Nightstalker’s smoke bomb.

Erupting a moment later into a cloud of choking vapors, the tiny grenade stunned the Keepers and sent them reeling backwards. Coughing and rubbing ineffective my at their eyes, the entire group stumbled about in confused blindness. Wednesday glanced up just in time to see a shape drop into the alleyway from a rooftop above.

Their target had taken the bait. There was no longer any need for pretense. Wednesday activated her comm link and quietly stated, “It worked. She’s here.”

“Good. We’re almost there. Get ready,” Kaijae replied.

Wednesday watched the Lightbearer rush through the group of men, delivering savage punches and kicks to each one. Blows that sent them either stumbling into a wall or down to the ground. In a couple seconds, all six of the Keepers had their bluster knocked out of them.

The rogue Hunter then turned to where Wednesday stood and called out, “Are you okay? Did any of these pieces of sh*t hurt you?”

Wednesday stammered, “I’m fine. I’m fine. They didn’t touch me.”

The rogue glanced down at a moaning Keeper and delivered a savage kick to his ribs before replying, “Good. I’m glad I wa-”

A Titan slammed into the Lightbearer, Arc energy crackling as it surged from the Striker’s shoulder into the target’s. The rogue went flying through the air to slam into the brick wall next to Wednesday. She could smell the ozone emanating from the attack as Arc energy sizzled away into the air.

“Get then out of here,” Kaijae commanded.

Wednesday hurried to comply as Kaizyn stepped past the wounded Keepers to join her husband’s side. The Hunter moved past the pair of Titans and she heard one of them erect a barricade of Light between the rogue and her intended victims.

The Keepers needed very little prodding to evacuate the alleyway and most only needed a little help getting to feet before they began running. Wednesday hauled the man that had been kicked over her shoulder and practically carried him out of the corridor. The Hunter heard the rogue Lightbearer scream in outrage as she reached the alley’s exit with the last of the Keepers.

The men all managed to stay together in their panicked exodus and got a block away before stopping and turning back to watch Wednesday carry their friend toward them. Seeing the group stop, she snarled, “We’re still too close! Keep going!”

“Give me Tirskin,” one of the Keepers stepped into her path.

Wednesday shoved the man aside and continued to haul the wounded Keeper along. “You idiots are too beat up to help your friend. Once we get far enough to be safe, you can have him!”

The dove followed the Hunter for several blocks. She made a couple quick turns to break any line of sight from the alleyway before focusing on putting as much distance as possible between this group and the fight that was surely taking place now. After a few minutes of running, Wednesday stopped and eased the man to the ground to sit with his back to building wall.

Glancing back in the direction of where they had run from, Wednesday announced, “This should be far enough. I’ll keep an eye out to make sure you’re safe.”

“We don’t need your-”

“The hell you do!” Wednesday snapped. “That woman was going to kill you tonight. Because you all attacked me for the ‘crime’ of simply being a Guardian.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Well, what?” she interrupted again. “You lot created this monster with your attacks. You harass us for no damned reason and that thing over there is the result. Yet here we Guardians are, protecting you from her. Because that is what we do.”

The men sat in stunned silence. Wednesday turned back to watch the sky above the buildings to the north, to where she had left the Kais to face a killer.

“I’m sorry,” Tirskin replied softly.

Chapter 35

Chapter Text

“It worked. She’s here.”

Upon hearing Wednesday’s declaration over the comm link, Ace stood and cast his gaze to the south. The Kais would be there in moments while it would be several minutes before he could join them. Holding out his hand, the Hunter summoned his Ghost. Mal appeared an instant later and looked up at its Guardian.

“Transmat us to her hideout,” Ace instructed.

“Her hideout? What about the fight?” Mal asked, confused.

“I trust the Kais. They’re going to kick her ass and she is going to retreat,” Ace explained.

Mal’s shell twitched as the Ghost considered his plan. Then it announced, “Understood.”

Don’t you dare prove me wrong, Ace thought as the transmat field seized hold of his body.

——————

Kaijae leveled his heavy revolver at the stunned Hunter through the barricade of Light that his wife had just erected. He listened to the sound of the Keepers fleeing the alleyway with Wednesday urging haste. The Titan then considered the cramped, confined space between the two buildings. He couldn’t decide whether or not this was the ideal battleground for what was surely about to take place.

“What are you doing?” Elledora cried as the last of the Keepers exited the alley. Kaijae was surprised at how little anger was in the woman’s voice. Just hurt and confusion.

“This is wrong,” Kaizyn replied. “Your attacks against these people is wrong.”

“Don’t you know who they are? What they are trying to do?” Elledora pleaded.

“We do,” Kaijae answered solemnly. “And even though they are wrong, that doesn’t make what you’re doing right.”

“You don’t understand! If they get what they want, there will be no one who can protect the City, the people!”

The Titan was impressed by the passion in the rogue’s voice. He could tell that she was earnest in her desire to do what she believed was right. “If you continue to assault these people, it will only end up turning the rest of the City against us. It will make everyone else agree with the Keepers,” Kaijae argued calmly.

“Think of your sister,” Kaizyn called out. “What would she think if she discovered that you were killing innocent people?”

“I am doing this for my sister!” Elledora suddenly screamed, taking a half step forward and pointing an accusing finger in the direction that the Keepers had fled. “To keep their damned poison from cursing everyone! To make sure that Guardians are able to continue to protect her along with everyone else in the City!”

Kaijae frowned. He suspected that mentioning the young girl was a mistake; it pushed the dangerous rogue closer to the edge. He tried to calm the woman and deescalate the situation.

“Exactly,” the Titan began in an agreeable tone. “That’s what we want. And if the City learns that a Guardian has been attacking people, the rest of the citizens will no longer feel safe around us. They won’t care why it was happening. They will only see that a Guardian killed Lightless people.”

Elledora lowered her arm and her gaze fell to the ground. Her voice became quietly mournful, the pair of Titans were almost unable to hear her. “You know who they are and yet you still protect them? Those bastards will cause the destruction of the City and everyone inside, but you won’t let me stop them.”

“Because what you are doing is wrong. Surely you must see that,” Kaijae entreated.

“You’re traitors,” Elledora declared.

In a flash, the rogue Lightbearer drew her hand cannon and fired. The round smashed into the barrier of Light, shattering into sparks as it fractured the construct. Even as the attack was defeated by the barricade, Elledora leapt into the air and tried to Boost up to the rooftop. Kaijae fired as soon as his line of sight was clear.

The first round clipped the woman’s shoulder and the second tore a hole in the shields at her hip. Before a third round could strike, Elledora used her last Boost to abruptly change direction. Kaijae shifted to track her flight, but she began returning fire as she fell back to the alley floor. The Titan was surprised at the woman’s excellent aim as her first three rounds tore into his chest.

Kaizyn raised her rifle and responded. Short, controlled bursts followed the Hunter’s descent as Kaizyn was mindful of the fact that they were in the middle of the City. Neither of the Titans were willing to allow any stray rounds to be fired wildly. Each burst of her weapon struck home and Elledora reacted by hurling her grenade as soon as she touched ground.

Kaijae leapt toward the Hunter, through the barricade and under the arc of the falling Void charge. He heard Kaizyn scrambling away from the incoming grenade. Elledora brought her weapon up and fired at the charging Titan. He accepted the incoming rounds, relying on his trusty armor to protect him long enough to close the distance. Fortunately, Elledora was off balance and did not expect such a straightforward tactic. Only a couple of the shots connected and Kaijae’s shields deflected them. Then he was within striking distance.

Elledora lowered her weapon and assumed a defensive posture, likely fearing another Arc-charged attack. Fortunately for her, Kaijae was only able to deliver a regular punch into the rogue’s upraised forearm as she deflected the blow. The Titan followed up with a series of quick jabs as he tested the woman’s defense, looking for weaknesses while also watching for a counter. He knew full well how quickly a skilled Hunter could draw a knife and had learned to respect the keen edge of those blades.

Instead of countering, the rogue danced around his attacks as she used her hands and arms to prevent any of the strikes from dealing any serious damage. Kaijae kept his steps measured and his posture controlled. He did not want to give the woman any room to work with, but also knew that overextending his reach in an effort to maintain control of this fight would be his detriment. When the nimble Hunter suddenly leapt backward a couple paces, to almost up against the wall at the alley, he pursued with defense in mind.

Elledora holstered weapon and drew her knife before commenting, “I don’t want to do this. Just let me protect the City.”

“This is not how to do it,” Kaijae calmly replied, his eye flicking from the knife to the woman’s shoulders. He had sparred with other Hunters like Ace and Momo often enough to know that their shoulders will warn him before the strike comes.

A moment later, Elledora’s leading shoulder dipped. Kaijae hopped backward a step and watched the knife hand lunge forward in the blink of an eye. He pivoted as he moved so that he could deliver a swift punch to the back of the arm. Elledora recoiled as the blow threatened to knock the blade from her grasp. Suddenly, the rogue whipped out a small pistol with her left hand. Kaijae was still on his heels when the sidearm appeared and started firing. She wasn’t a very good shot with her off hand, but the Titan was still close enough that it didn’t matter.

Rounds tore into his personal shield and then into his armor as she emptied the magazine. Kaijae grunted in pain and then felt blood trickle down his left arm as one of the rounds punctured his shoulder. In response, he drew his heavy revolver and fired two quick blasts.

Elledora leapt high into the air again, using her ability to jump in midair to fly over Kaijae. Kaizyn had been watching the melee and was ready. As soon as the rogue sailed over her husband, she opened fire again. A burst of rifle fire disintegrated the Hunter’s shields, but before Kaizyn could capitalize on the advantage, a smoke grenade landed at her feet and exploded. The cloud of Void vapor instantly seeped through her armor and began attacking her eyes and lungs. Kaizyn began coughing uncontrollably and tears began forming in her eyes. Her first instinct was to erect a barrier to protect herself, but she had not yet gathered enough Light to perform that ability again.

A flying kick to the stomach knocked the wind out of the female Titan and sent her to the ground. As she fell, Kaizyn tried to swing wildly in hopes that she might trip up or otherwise hinder their opponent. Her hand connected with something and she heard the clatter of a metallic object falling to the ground. A second kick to the face of her helmet rewarded her efforts.

Kaijae ran in pursuit of the fleeing Hunter. He didn’t want to fire his weapon again for fear of accidentally hitting his blinded wife as she worked to regain her feet. Taking to the air with a mighty leap of his own, Kaijae used his Lift ability to soar over the coughing Kaizyn. Instinctively, he knew that he had to keep Elledora engaged at all times so that she would not have the opportunity to bring whatever Light-suppressing weapons she had to bear. As the woman was about to step out of the alleyway, he hurled his grenade into the building wall right in front of her.

Arc energy erupted in a sphere of lightning. Elledora was too close to the charge to avoid the blast and was hurled sideways, into the opposite wall. Spinning about, the Hunter received the Titan’s charge. Kaijae’s first punch struck a blocking shoulder while his second caught only air as Elledora ducked under the swing. Then the Hunter countered with a vicious slice of her knife, its preternaturally sharp edge biting deep to draw blood from his midriff.

Kaijae forced himself to ignore the pain and, instead, delivered a savage kick to the woman’s hip. Elledora went tumbling away from the wounded Titan and crashed into the building wall behind her. Kaijae gritted his teeth against the pain that came with moving and charged after his opponent, however he had to quickly dive aside as she drew her heavy revolver and started firing.

The first shot caught him unprepared and struck the Titan in the hip, staggering him mid-stride and forcing him to throw himself to the ground. The second missed his helmet by a hair’s breadth as Elledora was unable to track his abrupt change in direction. Kaijae hit the ground unceremoniously as his body refused to roll with the dive. He heard his own grunt of pain as what little wind that was left in his lung was blown out.

Kaijae glanced up to see Elledora rising to her feet while his own legs were sluggish to respond. In desperation, he retrieved his own hand cannon. She would be ready to fire before him, but perhaps he could take her with him before he died.

A shimmering wall of purple suddenly appeared between Kaijae and the rogue. The Titan glanced over his shoulder to see his wife, the brilliant Kaizyn, standing over him as she summoned her Ward of Dawn. The dome of Void Light shielded the two Titans and Kaijae could feel power infusing his body and reinforcing his armor. Kaizyn stepped in front of him and raised her rifle, as if daring the Hunter to enter her Bubble.

Kaijae understood the hint and summoned Zuko. The Ghost wasted no time and cast his threads of Light over the prone Titan. A moment later, Kaijae felt the wounds in his shoulder and stomach knit themselves away and only the memory of pain remained. His body finally began to respond with its normal alacrity and the Titan immediately leapt to his feet. Zuko decompiled to safety.

Elledora stood with her back pressed against the wall, only inches away from the glowing edge of the Ward. Her breathing was deep, but measured as she worked to maintain control. Kaijae could sense that she was calculating her next move. In their first exchange, he had been able to maintain the upper hand and kept her on her heels. The second exchange saw him take a couple serious wounds, but it would be difficult to pull a second stunt again. Plus there was also the fact that the pair of Titans were avoiding the use of firearms because they were in the City. Surely the Hunter realized that she could not succeed against the two of them. He was about to say as much when, suddenly, Elledora turned and bolted out of the alley.

“Son of a bitch!” Kaijae exclaimed, angry with himself for forgetting that his primary goal had been to keep the rogue contained in the alleyway so that she couldn’t find enough space to use her other weapon.

The Striker activated his most powerful ability, the Fist of Havok, and launched into the air after the Hunter. Arc Light flooded his body and he focused on using the power to enhance his speed. His Lift sent him hurtling through the air at twice the normal speed and, as he felt himself start to fall back to the ground, he then managed to throw a punch so powerful that it literally carried him through the air event faster. Within a couple seconds, the Striker Titan managed to somehow fly overhead and past the fleeing Hunter to land a few meters in front of her.

“There’s nowhere to run, Elledora!” Kaijae shouted. The rogue didn’t reply, just simply performed a somersault that turned her completely around while maintaining all of her momentum. “Damned bouncy Hunters,” he muttered, taking again to air in dogged pursuit.

This fight was the first time Kaijae had used his Arc powers for maneuvering. Like most Titans, he had only every activated it with the intent of using the ability to crush an enemy with overwhelming strength. However, he had quickly learned how to control his enhanced speed and was able to direct his flight in a path of collision. He would stop the fleeing Hunter near the alley that she had fled from and Kaizyn could help restrain her. Kaijae’s eyes flicked from his target to see his wife nearby her Ward of Dawn, waiting for the Hunter to get closer. Apparently, Elledora noticed the second Titan as well and was angling her flight to the opposite side of the street in order to avoid tangling with the Sentinel.

Kaizyn trained her rifle on the approaching Hunter when the target suddenly vanished. In the dim light cast by the City’s streetlights, it was practically impossible to spot the shimmer that often betrayed a Nightstalker’s active camouflage. Kaijae took a gamble and forced all of the remaining Arc power within his body out in a single powerful slam onto the ground nearby where the Hunter had disappeared. The concrete street cracked and trembled under the force of the slam and webs of lightning surged outward from the point of impact. Suddenly, the Arc energy flared as the tendrils of power found a target near the very limit of its reach.

Elledora screamed with pain, drawing the attention of both the Titans. She then leapt into the air and summoned her Shadowshot. Kaijae’s eyes widen in panic; he had completely forgotten that the rogue was still a Lightbearer.

“Jae!” Kaizyn screamed as she watched the Nightstalker pull the deadly bow from the nothingness of the Void.

Knowing that remaining in one place would mean his utter destruction, Kaijae began a mad, erratic scramble for safety. If he didn’t run in a straight line, perhaps there was a chance that the Hunter would not be able to make a direct hit. The anchor struck the ground a couple meters behind him. Confusion struck the sprinting Titan; Elledora didn’t even try to to hit him.

The anchor exploded into tendrils of leeching Void power and Kaijae found his retreat suddenly arrested. His arms and legs became leaden and it took all of his strength to simply lift his foot to inch it forward. Glancing over his shoulder to his opponent, the Titan understood why she hadn’t tried to destroy him with the Shadowshot.

Elledora’s hand cannon disappeared with a shimmer and was replaced with what appeared to be a trace rifle. It was too dark to make out any specific details, but he could see enough of the outline to identify the type of weapon she held. As the rogue raised the rifle to her shoulder, Kaijae’s blood suddenly went cold. He knew that she had finally brought the weapon they had all been fearing to bear.

The trace rifle then began to emit a high pitched whining sound that reminded Kaijae of a charging fusion rifle. In the next instant, he recalled everything that he had heard from Ace’s first encounter with the weapon. The Titan suddenly let his body go limp. The Shadowshot anchor did its job and pulled its victim to the ground. As he fell, the trace rifle discharged a short beam of pure black power. The ray struck a glancing blow across his left arm and shoulder. Kaijae felt his arm go completely inert as he collapsed to the ground. He also felt the binding of the Shadowshot disappear as the weapon’s attack managed to destroy the anchor’s tether.

Kaijae tried to get to his feet, but collapsed as he instinctively tried to use both arms. As he struggled to make a second attempt with only his right arm, the sound of auto rifle rang out nearby. As he got to his knees, a hand grabbed his left arm and hauled him up. Once he had regained his feet, Kaijae immediately began sprinting the short distance to the safety of the Ward of Dawn. Kaizyn fired as she ran with him, trying only to prevent the rogue from firing the weapon again before they reached the safety of her barrier.

Passing through a moment later, the two Titans turned around to eye their opponent. Kaijae knew that the Ward would dissipate soon. Before he could make any suggestions, Kaizyn whispered, “We can’t pull our punches any longer.” The woman’s heavy machine gun materialized into her waiting hands.

Kaijae nodded. He was about to suggest a quick plan of attack when he heard a telltale whine. Instinctively, he turned and tried to summon forth his own barricade of Light, but the power wouldn’t respond to his call. A beam of blackness tore into the Ward of Dawn and punched a hole through the protective barrier. Kaijae watched in horror as it pierced through his beloved.

Chapter 36

Chapter Text

Halily cursed loudly as she fought the controls of her Sparrow. She was used to piloting the vehicle in the open spaces of the wild. The City’s narrow streets and sharp angles were difficult for the Sunbreaker to navigate with any considerable speed. Every time she tried to reach for the limit of her Sparrow’s capabilities, she found herself nearly colliding with a street sign or a building wall as she struggled to control the vehicle at such high velocity. She could hear Wendi’s Sparrow just behind her as the other Titan trailed in her wake.

“We’re almost there!” Kaci’s excited voice rang out through her helmet’s comm link. “Just on the other side of this building. There’s an intersec-”

“Shut up!” Halily snapped as she made a lateral side-boost before braking hard. Wendi’s vehicle almost flew past her, but the other woman managed to stop only a few meters away. “We’re going up and over!” Halily shouted.

Without waiting for any response, Halily hopped up onto her Sparrow and used it as a platform to launch herself straight up into the air. The building sported wide balconies at the nearest corner at every other level. Citizens, drawn out by the commotion on the other street, were beginning to step outside with curiosity. A young couple opening the door to the ledge that Halily had selected were surprised by the sudden appearance of a Titan on their patio.

“Get inside!” Halily commanded. “Tell your neighbors to get inside now!”

She ascended to the rooftop with three more such jumps as she scaled from balcony to balcony. Wendi was always only a step or two behind. Occasional shouts from residents; demands for explanation of the spoils of gunfire, was met with the same command she had given to the first couple.

As she alighted upon the rooftop, Halily heard the sound of gunfire. She rushed to the opposite end of the building in time to see Kaizyn haul Kaijae into the protective dome of her Ward. A lone Hunter stood in the middle of the street only a few meters away with a strange looking rifle trained on the Kais. Halily’s eyes widened with concern when she saw the powerful heavy weapon materialize into Kaizyn’s hands. Things must be serious indeed if the Kais were willing to use such destructive force in the middle of the City. She quickly turned and pressed a finger to the mouth area of her helmet, signaling for silence. Halily didn’t want her companion to make any noise that might draw attention. Wendi nodded.

Halily grasped her Crimson hand cannon in one fist and summoned her Solar hammer into the other. Stepping to the edge, she paused as the Hunter fired a blast from her strange weapon. The Sunbreaker was stunned to see the beam of blackness completely and utterly destroy Kaizyn’s protective barrier. The impenetrable Ward of Dawn was pierced and the beam continued through to strike the Sentinel Titan. Kaizyn stumbled backwards only two steps before falling to the ground.

“Noo!” Kaijae screamed as he dove forward to catch the collapsing body of his wife.

Halily gasped with shock as she watched the man lift up and cradle Kaizyn’s limp form with his one good arm. The Hunter in the street shouted something about justice, but in was indecipherable to everyone else. Halily only had eyes for the anguished Kaijae until she noticed the Hunter take a step forward and raise that rifle once more.

Without thinking, the Sunbreaker suddenly leapt over the edge of the building. She knew that she needed to stop that weapon from firing, but it was a full forty meters to the ground below. In desperation, she hurled her hammer at the Hunter as she fell. The Solar weapon struck the woman in the shoulder just as the weapon fired, jostling her arm and causing the discharge to miss Kaijae by a mere few inches.

Activating her Lift, Halily slowed her descent just as Elledora turned to face her. Halily quickly aimed her hand cannon and fired. Crimson’s triple-retort rang out in the night, its rounds striking the ground near the Hunter. Elledora retreated from approaching Titan, ejecting a large battery from her rifle’s receiver as she went. Then her hand reached around to the small of her back, but came back empty.

“Where is it?” the Hunter cried out, glancing around.

Halily landed on the ground with a heavy thud and paused, confused by the other woman’s sudden panic. Noticing the still empty battery receiver, she smiled, “Out of ammo? Good. That’s what you get for shooting my friend, bitch!”

The sound of a hammer striking an anvil echoed down the street. Halily didn’t have to look up to know that Wendi had just summoned her Hammer of Sol. She had heard the sound of the anvil often enough over the years to recognize it anywhere. Halily watched as the Hunter immediately gave up on trying to find a replacement battery for her deadly rifle and instead swapped to her hand cannon.

A flaming hammer struck the ground next to the backpedalling Hunter, exploding into a handful of flaming embers upon impact. Elledora leapt away from the conflagration even as she opened fire upon the approaching Titan on the ground. Halily instinctively flinched as the first round was fired in her direction, but she instantly recovered and responded in kind. Crimson tore a handful of small holes into the Hunter’s shield. Then another one of Wendi’s hammers struck the ground, this time it was almost a direct hit.

Elledora tripped and fell backward as the explosion knocked her into a wall. Before Halily could capitalize on the advantage, though, the nimble Hunter used the momentum of the fall to go invisible as she rolled away. The Titan snarled with anger and began firing wildly at the ground around where the rogue had last been seen. Meanwhile, more flaming hammers fell from the roof above, filling the street with fire.

Suddenly, a cry of pain sounded from several meters away. Halily glanced up to see Elledora reappearing next to the latest point of impact for Wendi’s attack. The Hunter realized that she was visible once more and decided to make a break for it. She turned about and began sprinting away from the Titans. Halily launched forward as she gave chase, using her Lift ability to take to the air and give herself a slight boost of speed.

The last of Wendi’s explosive hammers landed in front of the fleeing Hunter, but she appeared to have anticipated the attack and leapt sideways just before it struck the ground. With her ability to midair jump, the Hunter was exceedingly difficult to hit at this distance. But Halily would be damned if she was going to let this killer get away so easily.

The sound of a hammer and anvil rang out once again as Halily summoned her own Hammer of Sol. The sound of roaring flames filled her ears as the familiar heft of a heavy hammer materialized into her fist. The Sunbreaker did not waste a moment and immediately hurled the construct of fire at the fleeing Hunter. She didn’t know if Wendi was only trying to incapacitate the killer so that they could capture her, but Halily was enraged. How dare this woman shoot her friends, Kaizyn? Halily aimed for a direct strike. She wanted to incinerate Elledora.

The flying weapon hit the ground next to the fleeing Hunter; the explosion caused her to stumbled sideways a step. However, she was able to maintain her momentum and took to the air with a midair Boost. Halily almost threw another hammer, but held her arm as she realized that she needed to make sure that any missed throws landed in the street and not in a window or door. Watching the Hunter’s flight through the air, the Sunbreaker tried to predict where Elledora would land and hurled an explosive hammer at that spot.

Just before the flaming construct reached the point Halily had been aiming for, Elledora disappeared in a flash of transmat. A jumpship screamed through the sky above. The Titan immediately summoned her Ghost, shouting, “Kaci! Get an ID on that ship!”

“Working on it,” Kaci replied, her singular eye flashing with color as she began transmitting and processing data. “Tracking it now,” the Ghost declared a couple seconds later.

The Solar power dissipated from Halily’s body and the roar of flames faded into the night. She turned around to see Wendi landing in the street a few meters away. The other Sunbreaker approached, her hands flashing in the streetlight.

Kaci interpreted, “Sorry. It was hard to hit her from up there.”

“Don’t be sorry, Wendi,” Halily sighed. “We all failed to catch her.”

Wendy’s fingers began moving again. This time, Kaci simply answered the question, “The City is tracking her ship. We’ll know where she’s going soon enough.”

Halily ignored the exchange and began walking back to where Kaijae and Kaizyn had taken shelter. She moved with tremendous reservation as she did not want to confirm her fears. Ace had been clear about exactly how dangerous that woman was. Halily had seen the weapon destroy the Ward of Dawn before it struck down her friend. There was a reason why Ace didn’t want anyone inexperienced to face that weapon. Who would have imagined that it would be capable of destroying a Sentinel Titan’s barrier? It was unheard of.

And Kaizyn had been shot.

She didn’t want to see, but Halily had to look. Kaizyn was a dear friend and Halily needed to see with her own eyes.

Kaijae still knelt on the ground, cradling his wife with one arm. His left arm hung limp and lifeless to the side. As Halily approached, she could hear Kaijae whispering, “Take my Light. If that’s what you need to come back to me, take it.”

“Elledora is gone. Escaped,” Halily murmured, kneeling down to place a hand on her friend’s shoulder. She could feel his breathing catch as Kaijae fought to control his grief.

At the announcement of the rogue’s departure, both of the Kais’ Ghosts appeared. Twilin cast her threads of Light over the still form of Kaizyn and then hung in the air for a long moment; silent. Halily turned away from the Ghost, not wanting to hear the pronouncement. Maybe it would be best if she took to her ship now so that she would be ready as soon as they knew where that bitch Elledora had run to? At least, that way she wouldn’t have to hear Twilin utter the words.

“She’ll be fine,” Twilin announced.

“What?” Kaijae and Halily both exclaimed.

“Her Light has been stripped, but not all of it,” the Ghost confirmed. “The Spark is still there and so her connection to the Light can be rekindled. I just need a little help from one of you.”

Kaijae would have leapt to his feet if he wasn’t holding his wife in his lap. “Take it!” he shouted, reaching up with his remaining hood arm.

Halily stood and, with one hand, gently pushed the man’s arm down. With her other hand, Halily took Twilin in her grasp. Looking down into Kaijae’s face, she replied, “You don’t have much to spare. Let me.”

Halily felt a bridge form between herself and her friend’s Ghost. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting go of her hold onto the power that dwelled deep inside of her. The Titan could feel that power diminish, but knew that it would return in time. When she opened her eyes, Kaizyn’s body suddenly decompiled under the Light threads cast by Twilin. An instant later, the woman re-materialized in upright position.

Kaizyn gasped and glanced about, panic and confusion apparent in her voice, “What happened? Where did? How?”

Twilin glided down to nudge her companion, receiving a grateful hug in response. The Ghost then explained, “The beam from Elledora’s weapon lost some of its potency as it disabled the Ward of Dawn. It was unable to fully destroy your Spark.”

“So you’re saying we got lucky,” Kaijae quietly replied as he stood up. He then stepped up to his wife and wrapped his arm around her.

“Who would have thought the damned thing could destroy a Bubble?” Halily exclaimed. “Normally that would take something like a fragging Super attack to accomplish. We’ve never seen any weapon do it with a single shot!”

Kaizyn noticed the two Sunbreakers standing nearby and asked, “What are you two doing here?”

“You think we were going to let you guys fight that bitch alone?” Halily snorted. “No way in hell. Everyone else is nearby, keeping civilians indoors and preventing authorities from getting caught up in the fight.”

The Kais both nodded at the sound logic. They repeated their thanks to Halily and Wendi before the two eased themselves back down to the ground to sit. Kaijae’s arm was still unresponsive and Kaizyn felt extremely weak; as if a good breeze could knock her over.

As soon as they were seated, Wendi stepped forward and her hands quickly flashed a single question.

Twilin translated, “Where’s Ace?”

——————

“Who were they?” Elledora screamed at her Ghost.

Plink hovered above the ship’s console, refusing to answer. She knew that he felt guilt and regret for helping her learn the identities of those Guardians that had protected the Keepers in the past. He remained unconvinced that such traitors were just as culpable for the crimes of the Keepers as the perpetrators themselves. However, she couldn’t blame the little thing; believing in all Guardians was simply his nature.

Elledora took a slow, deep breath. She waited a long moment to feel a sense of calm come over the co*ckpit. She looked to Plink and stated, “I lost the backup battery for Trace of Black. Can you recharge the empty for me?”

“You need to get rid of that weapon,” the Ghost replied. “It kills Guardians and there is no place for a weapon like that in this world.”

A heavy sigh escaped Elledora’s lips. She wasn’t angry or even frustrated. She understood why Plink believed as he did. However, she needed a weapon like Trace of Black to protect herself while she did her duty to the City. Tonight was the perfect example of why it was necessary.

“I didn’t want to use it, Plink. I promise. I even told them to leave us alone and gave them a chance to walk away before I used it, didn’t I?” she asked.

“You did,” the Ghost grudgingly agreed.

“The Keepers and their poison need to be purged if the City is going to be safe. And I need a weapon to protect myself if someone tries to stop me.”

Plink remained silent.

“What if we work out a way to make it non lethal?” Elledora asked.

“I already told you,” the Ghost countered. “The Hive magic you’ve grafted onto that weapon cannot be tempered. Those runes are absolute.”

Elledora wanted to mend the growing divide between herself and her Ghost. She pressed the topic, “I don’t think we’ve looked hard enough. Maybe there’s something on the other side of the portal we could use.”

Plink relented, “Maybe. It’s worth a shot. I would feel a lot better about all this if we could make that thing less deadly.”

Elledora smiled inside her helmet. She did hope that the two of them could actually find a way to adjust Trace of Black. It would be good to mollify the Ghost and keep his spirits up. Honestly, it would be best to just disable any sympathizer Guardians until she was able to eliminate the Keeper threat. Once the Keepers were gone, the City’s defenders would fall back into line. However, if it turned out to truly be impossible, Elledora felt no guilt or remorse at eliminating such traitors from the Guardian ranks. It wasn’t ideal, but it was necessary.

For now, she would return to her base and retrieve her last battery. Once she restocked, she could make plans for her return to the City. The Hunter was fairly certain that she wouldn’t need Plink’s help in determining who had just attacked her tonight.

Chapter 37

Chapter Text

Elledora materialized near the chamber’s entrance in a flash of transmat. The rogue Lightnbearer wasted no time and immediately ran to the fusion charging station, but stopped short as soon as she noticed that all of the ports were empty. It was then that she began glancing around.

“Looking for this?” Ace called out as he casually strolled from the tunnel into the chamber. He held up the heavy linear fusion battery in one hand, making sure to turn it sideways so that the hole he had blasted through the power cell was apparent. The unit was useless now.

“What did you do?” Elledora gasped.

Ace chuckled at the question before replying, “Isn’t it obvious? I destroyed the battery for your toy. I did need to have my Ghost repair my hand because holding one of these while you destroy it is a very bad idea, but I had a feeling that you would need this to power that weapon of yours.”

The rogue’s hand instinctively started to raise toward her back, but she forced it back down. Ace could see the stock of a trace rifle peeking over the woman’s shoulder, which confused him for a moment. After all, the battery he held was for a completely different kind of weapon. Why would she be attempting to retrieve a linear fusion battery for a trace rifle? He dismissed the thoughts with a quick shake of his head and focused on the rogue.

“Why are you protecting those bastards?” Elledora asked, anger seething into her voice.

“Because I’ll be damned before I let them be right,” Ace quickly replied, stepping further into the room. The wide platform that held the portal separated the two Hunters. Ace shook his head as he continued, “Your attacks have only gone and proven all of their stupid conspiracy theories correct. I can’t abide that.”

Elledora co*cked her head to the side as she considered Ace’s statement. A moment later, she shouted, “Are you mocking me? Don’t you understa-”

“I know far better than you realize,” Ace interrupted. He reached up and removed his helmet to reveal his Exomind face. Robotically formed from plates of metal, his face was only able to perform pale approximations of humanisms. He tried to frown as he thought about all the slights and mistreatments that came to those who had faces like his. “People don’t have to be Keepers to treat those who aren’t like them poorly.”

“Then you should-”

“No,” Ace interrupted again. “I can’t let you continue. It’s wrong.”

“Don’t tell me what’s wrong!” Elledora screamed. Her hand cannon appeared in an instant; its muzzle flash and loud retort emphasizing her argument.

Ace dove to the side and then rolled forward so that the portal’s platform was at his back. Once behind cover, he replaced his helmet with a resigned sigh. He didn’t think that he had a chance of talking sense into the woman, but he wanted to at least try. “I guess we’re doing this,” he muttered to himself as he drew his own hand cannon.

Shuffling to the side a couple steps, Ace peaked over the edge of the platform before quickly ducking back down as a round struck the rock near his face. Splinters of stone scattered across his shoulder as he shifted to place both feet firmly below his body. Taking a deep breath, the Hunter then suddenly straight up with all of his strength.

Elledora’s response came an instant too late, striking the stone again after Ace had already managed to leave the floor. Meanwhile, she had not moved so he knew exactly where to aim once he became airborne. True Prophecy fired twice and the second round found its target, spinning the rogue around as her shoulder was struck.

Ace used his midair Boost to move himself forward so that he landed on the stone dais. Elledora had let herself fall to the floor and Ace strode toward the far end to get a line of sight on his opponent. Weapon trained on the last spot he had seen her, his eyes flicked from side to side as he watched for the other Hunter to try and flank him.

So expectant was he that she would change position, Ace was completely surprised when Elledora suddenly stood up from the exact spot that she had fallen to the floor. The heavy revolver had been replaced with a lighter pistol and the rogue began immediately firing rapidly. Ace was struck twice in the leg and hip before he responded with his hand cannon. True Prophecy’s larger caliber round sent Elledora staggering backward again, but she continued to fire. Three more rounds tore into Ace’s shields and armor, stinging the Exo and making him dodge sideways.

As he strafed to the side, Elledora suddenly dove the the ground as well. Except she used the Void and went invisible as she rolled across the rocky floor. In response, Ace hurled his smoke bomb at the floor ahead of the woman’s roll, to his left. If she tried to continue with the momentum, she would find herself caught up in the choking smoke. And if she attempted a direct attack from the front, he would surely see her shadow climbing onto the platform. That meant her only path of attack would be from his right side. The Exo turned and watched for the woman to appear, hand cannon ready to deliver his final argument.

But she didn’t appear to the side. Nor did she attempt to charge him from the front while invisible. Ace was beginning to wonder how she managed to get around his smoke bomb when a scrabbling sound caught his attention. Glancing up, he spotted Elledora leaping down from the top of the portal arch. She had moved to the point where the stone met the platform and, while invisible, scaled the great arch.

Ace didn’t have time to bring his weapon up, so he drew his knife instead. No sooner was the blade in his hand than Elledora was upon him. She already had her own knife ready and tried to slash the Exo as she came down. Ace caught and deflected the strike with the side of his blade. Before he could respond with a counterattack, though, Elledora suddenly brought her pistol up in her other hand and fired. A round tore through both shield and armor to punch a hole in Ace’s thigh.

Growling with pain and anger, the Exo kicked straight out with the same wounded leg and managed to connect with the rogue’s hip. The blow succeeded in throwing off her balance and Ace then thrust his knife toward her chest. Elledora threw herself sideways so that the attack passed through the air, but Ace adjusted and turned the thrust into a slash as he brought his arm back in. The blade’s keen edge managed to bite deep as it drew a long furrow into the armor across the rogue’s chest.

Elledora shifted her stance and brought the pistol up again to fire. Ace brought his other hand, still grasping the heavy revolver, across and slammed his True Prophecy into her sidearm. The woman then slashed up with her knife and carved a deep gash into the Exo’s forearm. Recoiling with pain, Ace brought his wounded left arm back in close and took a half step away from his opponent. Elledora did not try to close the gap and the two Hunters merely watched one another as they considered their next move.

The rogue Lightbearer was first to move and launched a sudden barrage of thrusts and slashes. She kept her reach under control and did not overextend herself so Ace was never given an opportunity to safely counter any of her attacks. The Exo deflected as many of the strikes as he managed to dodge. After a couple seconds, an opening appeared when Elledora tried Ace’s trick of turning a thrust into a slash. He had ducked under the returning slash and her side was open. The Exo was bringing his blade up when three quick retorts from a pistol stopped him short. Elledora had slipped her sidearm under her arm during the feigned overreach and used Ace’s eagerness against him.

The first round struck his chest and the second his collar. The third shot would have likely split his helmet, but Ace reacted quickly enough to dodge sideways and avoid the killing blow. Elledora giggled at disengagement and moved to follow. The Exo continued to move as he watched his opponent pursue him across the platform. After a handful of quick steps, he suddenly brought his hand cannon up and fired. The woman seemed to be expecting the attack and managed to dodge it, shifting sideways even as Ace brought his hand up.

With her advance interrupted by the attack, Ace then Shadestepped into a backwards roll. He was almost backed all the way up to the portal archway so his somersault carried him far enough to put the stone construct between himself and his opponent.

Elledora cursed loudly.

Ace heard the woman begin reloading her sidearm as she backed away from the portal and prepared for his counter. The Exo launched himself around the column, leaping midair to close the distance quickly. He knew that taking such a straightforward approach meant that his opponent would be able to see the shimmering of his camouflage, but she was reloading and couldn’t shoot before he got too close.

Ace decided to try to overwhelm his opponent. She had just managed to slide a fresh magazine into the sidearm’s receiver when the Exo opened his assault with a flying kick. The attack dispelled his invisibility, but Elledora had seen him coming and raised her arm to intercept the blow. As he dropped to the ground, Ace slashed with his knife and found it deflected by the rogue’s. He then brought his other fist and the butt of his heavy revolver down onto her collar.

The attack was so unconventional and unexpected that Elledora failed to move in time to avoid it. The blow staggered her slightly and she struggled to maintain her balance. In response, the woman twisted her arm so that she could try to fire her pistol into his stomach.

Ace danced to the side, away from the firearm and swung his arm with the spin to deliver a savage backhand to the side of Elledora’s helmet. The pommel of his knife struck her visor with enough force to crack the plasteel. He continued to move, completing the spin so that he was facing his opponent’s side. She tried to slash him with the blade in her near hand, but Ace caught the incoming knife with the barrel of his hand cannon before bringing his knee up into her stomach.

All the air was forced out of her lungs and Elledora involuntarily took a step away. Ace stepped with her, maintaining the close distance and thrust his knife into the side of her stomach. The rogue Lightbearer screamed with pain and leapt away as Ace retracted the blade. He would have followed, but the woman began firing her sidearm wildly in desperation. The Exo ducked low and managed to avoid taking any hits.

Elledora backpedaled to the far edge of the platform, clutching her side as blood flowed from the puncture in her armor. Ace stood back up and looked pointedly at the smaller pistol in his opponent’s hand.

“You’re really not so tough without that toy of yours, are you?” Ace asked.

Through the hole he had shattered in Elledora’s visor, the Exo could see one eye glaring back at him. Her pistol hand twitched as it wanted to continue the debate, but she stood firm. Ace considered the revolver in his own hand and how he should deliver his argument.

Then Ace noticed Elledora’s eye glance up, to the top of the portal. The glare softened and the rogue began to laugh. Ace was unnerved by the unhinged sound.

“You think you’ve won, don’t you?” Elledora shouted.

Before Ace could decide to reply or just shoot the mad woman, Elledora suddenly summoned her grenade and threw it. The Exo instinctively crouched and prepared to dodge the incoming charge, but his opponent hadn’t thrown it at him. Instead, she had hurled the grenade at the crystal that formed the capstone of the portal’s archway.

Confused, Ace watched as the Void charge immediately erupted into a large sphere. The energy swirled for a moment before suddenly disappearing. Ace’s eyes widened as he realized that the crystal had absorbed the power. The platform began to tremble and shake as the portal awakened. So stunned was he by the unexpected activation, the Exo was unable to react in time and Elledora was able to run through the opened doorway.

Chapter 38

Chapter Text

Halily found herself standing in a small room that appeared to have been carved into rock. A wide stone bench looked like it could serve as a bed rose from the floor and a long shelf above held various skulls and bone carvings. Ragged strips of cloth were strewn about and what appeared to be pieces of Hive weaponry lay scattered across the floor.

Quickly shaking off the transmat disorientation, she turned to find Kaijae standing beside her. The two of them had left Kaizyn and Wendi in the City. Kaizyn was still far too weak from the last fight to rejoin battle so Wendi volunteered to stay behind and help her back to safety. Halily joined Kaijae in taking to the sky in their ships and flew to the American continent.

The Striker rushed past Halily to a door and hauled it open to reveal a massive cave. She followed in his wake as he leapt from a balcony to the ground floor below. As soon as her feet touched down, the cavern began to shake. Stumbling slightly as she tried to keep her balance, Halily exclaimed, “What the hell is going on?”

“Helluva a time for an earthquake,” Kaijae muttered as he used his right arm to brace himself against a wall.

Zuko, Kaijae’s Ghost, materialized ahead of the two Guardians and cried out, “It’s the portal! It’s been activated!”

“You must be joking. It actually works?” Kaijae asked, disbelief filling his voice.

The shaking subsided for a moment and the pair of Titans began sprinting through the long tunnel.

“The damage was sufficiently repaired,” Zuko explained, confused.

“Yeah, but I thought you said the power came from the other side,” Kaijae countered.

“She must have figured out a way to trigger the transfer of power,” the Ghost replied.

A fresh wave of tremors passed through the complex, sending dust and other debris to drift down from the ceiling. Halily heard a small rock clink off her helmet and she glanced up, worried about what else might fall in the shaking. How many tons of rock and dirt lay just above her head? How much would it take for it all to come crashing down?

“This isn’t right,” Zuko remarked as the team managed to continue through the tremor.

“You think?” Kaijae snapped. “What was your first clue?”

“The portal’s activation shouldn’t be having this kind of affect,” the Ghost explained. “It certainly didn’t during our first trip through, but this last was is stronger than the first. And sterile neutrino readings are spiking! This is bad!”

The two Guardians rounded a turn, Halily remained a couple steps behind Kaijae as she relied on his experience. The tremors abruptly ceased, but then her nose suddenly detected the strong smell of ozone and petrichor.

“Wait. But that means-” Kaijae cut himself off as they rounded the final turn and the portal chamber came into view.

Lamps had fallen in the quaking, breaking half and leaving the room cast in heavy shadows. However, the poor lighting did nothing to affect the scene before Halily. A great stone archway crossed a raised stone dais in the center of the room. Hive runes carved into the portal frame wreathed with green flames, several of which occasionally flared and spat out bursts of sparks. The portal itself swirled with intermingling streaks of verdant green and deep violet. With each flare up, the portal’s gentle, rhythmic whorls would suddenly become jagged and spike outward.

But the most alarming sight in the room was the cone of pure blackness cast outward from the back of the portal. The stone wall on the opposite end of the chamber had become the very definition of darkness; any light cast from the remaining lights was instantly absorbed upon contact with the cone’s boundary. And every time the Hive runes flared, the cone increased almost imperceptibly in size with a fresh wave of ozone and petrichor.

“Frag us all,” Halily whispered.

“This is bad,” Kaijae murmured.

“That’s what I said!” Zuko replied, exasperated.

Kaci materialized before exclaiming, “This is worse that you think! The Ascendent Plane is being expelled into our realm. If this isn’t stopped, it could grow to affect the whole planet!”

“How do we stop it? Destroy the crystal?” Kaijae asked.

Both Ghosts turned to regard the portal for a long moment. Halily took a couple steps further into the room when the archway began to vibrate. The great platform anchoring the portal shook with it, sending a violent tremor outward.

“How is it not destroying itself with the shaking?” she wondered aloud.

“The Hive magic keeping the portal open is also reinforcing the structure,” Kaci explained before turning back to scan the arch.

After another moment, Zuko announced, “That crystal is only a trigger. It served its purpose and now power is pouring into the runes from the other side.”

“So the runes are the key?” Halily asked.

Without waiting for confirmation, she leapt forward and used her Lift ability to travel through the air to land on the shaking platform. As soon as Halily’s feet touched down, a powerful wave of force surged outward from the portal, sending her tumbling backwards to fall on the floor. Undeterred, the Titan immediately jumped back to her feet and climbed back onto the dais only to be knocked back down again.

“I can’t get close,” Halily growled. “How do we stop this?”

“Is Ace on the other side?” Kaijae asked.

“He has to be,” Kaci answered. “He was here before we transmatted down and now there is no trace of him.”

“Can we get a message through the portal?” Kaijae replied hopefully.

“Ace!” Halily screamed at the swirling gate. “You need to close the portal! It’s going to destroy everything!”

——————

A floating island awaited Ace on the other side of the archway. The grey, unremarkable stone of the landing was familiar to the Hunter. And so was the swirling grey void of the Sea of Screams that stretched out in every direction. But he only had eyes for his opponent, Elledora, waiting for him.

The rogue Lightbearer stood several meters away, near the center of the giant floating rock. She held her weapon at the ready, trained on the Hunter as her passed through the gate. Ace could see that the device was indeed a trace rifle, a modified Prometheus Lens. The central focusing crystal looked different and a power source had been grafted to the side of the shoulder stock. Bits of metal tubing traveled from the custom battery receiver to the crystal housing. Ace thought he could make out the faint green glow of tiny Hive rune etched into the components grafted onto the weapon.

Seeing Elledora with the weapon leveled at him, Ace laughed, “Do you think you can bluff your way out of this?”

In response, Elledora squeezed the trigger. Ace’s eyes flew wide in alarm as the faint illumination on the components flared brightly. The metal tubes feeding into the crystal chamber began to pulse as the glow traveled from the battery housing toward the crystal. Throwing himself to the side, Ace Shadestepped into invisibility and continued to run. The black beam followed his path, but was too low; it carved harmlessly into the rock and left black flames at the point of impact.

Ace’s mind began racing. Just being in this particular pocket of the Ascendant Plane gave her weapon the ability to fire at will. He assumed it was due to the crystal’s connection to the place and the Hive runes. It explained the cannibalized equipment they had discovered in the extraction chamber. His mind started calculating furiously; it took almost a couple seconds for the weapon to charge and fire. The Hunter suspected that was probably much longer than it should take with an actual battery loaded.

“Still think I’m bluffing?” Elledora taunted.

Having not stopped running, Ace managed to get all the way to the side before the Void power dissipated. He leveled his hand cannon before shouting, “Not any more.”

The Hunter fired a couple of rounds, sending his opponent scrambling to one side as she brought her own weapon up. He fired a third time, striking the rogue and punching a hole in her shield to strike a glancing blow to her helmet, before beginning to run once more. A second later, after only a few steps, he suddenly leapt high into the air and used his midair Boost to abruptly alter his direction.

The deadly black beam passed under his feet and Elledora cursed loudly. Ace began firing as he came back to the ground. His first round caught the rogue in the shoulder and knocked her aside. As soon as he landed Ace then began to slowly advance, taking careful aim and firing with every couple steps. Elledora tried to reengage, but he wouldn’t allow her a moment to spare. Every time she regained her footing and started to bring her weapon up, True Prophecy would send her reeling with a heavy round delivered to her hip, side, or shoulder.

Twenty steady and measured paces later, Ace had managed to close more than half the distance between himself and Elledora. Unfortunately, he had fired the last round in his revolver. Reloading would give his opponent the opening she needed so he instead holstered the weapon so that he could retrieve his trusted shotgun from his back. Elledora tried to ready her rifle, but his Seventh Seraph shotgun delivered a convincing argument to keep her head down. Especially since Ace had already obliterated her energy shields and torn several holes into her physical armor. In the face of Ace’s approach, Elledora suddenly performed a Shadestep, disappearing from view.

The Hunter grinned to himself. As soon as he saw his opponent dive to the ground, he let his mind fall inward and felt for the wells of power deep within. The massive pool was there, churning and threatening to overflow as it sought release. The Nightstalker let go of his hold and Void once more surged throughout his entire being. He used it to tear a hole in reality and draw forth the Shadowshot from the other side.

Wasting no time, Ace fired the Void bow at the ground near where Elledora had been standing only a mere moment before. The Shadowshot anchor struck the rock and immediately erupted, a single tendril of power bursting forth to ensnare the invisible rogue. Disorienting the woman and leeching some of her strength, the tether rendered her visible once again. Moving quickly, Ace brought his shotgun back up to ready position and approached the snared woman.

“Give it up! You can’t win!” the Hunter commanded. Then he continued more softly, “Please don’t make me kill you.”

Elledora snarled incoherently. Ace was about to make an offhand quip when he noticed that her finger was on the trigger of the rifle, charging another blast. Diving to the side, he sought to make sure he was out of the path of any line of fire. As he rolled to his feet, the Hunter realized that he was not the intended target. The trace rifle’s deadly beam struck the Shadowshot anchor and instantly destroyed it.

Ace gasped in surprise. He had never seen anything so quickly and utterly end one of his tethers. However, his surprise was not so absolute that he failed to maintain his control of the fight. Ace rushed forward, toward the rogue, and readied his weapon. He waited a single second before firing a blast, sending buckshot to tear into his opponent. With a practiced slide of the shotgun’s forend, he swiftly ejected the spent shell and loaded a fresh one into the chamber. And then he immediately fired again.

Elledora initially tried to respond with her Guardian-killing rifle, but the Hunter’s assault was overwhelming and relentless. She could not find enough time to use her weapon so she let the weapon fall to the ground and drew the hand cannon that was resting at her hip. She managed to squeeze off a couple shots at the charging Hunter, but he shrugged them off. Ace managed to get within a few meters before firing again. This time, the blast struck her full in the chest and sent her tumbling to the ground.

Ace was about to continue forward when a faint cry caught his attention.

“Ace! You need to close the portal! It’s going to destroy everything!”

Chapter 39

Chapter Text

“Was that Halily? What is she talking about? Mal?” Ace shouted as she stood near the prone Elledora, shotgun at the ready.

“One moment. The signal is distorted,” Mal replied, using the comm link to project its voice to both Hunters. “According to Zuko, the portal has become unstable on the other side and is tearing apart reality. We need to shut it down.”

Ace took a threatening half step toward the rogue Lightbearer and commanded, “Shut the portal down.”

Elledora’s visor was still broken, so Ace could see her eye glance about as she considered Mal’s statement. After a moment that eye became glaring and she snarled, “Liars.”

Incredulous, Ace scoffed, “Why would I lie?”

In response, Elledora suddenly turned and lunged for the trace rifle. Ace leapt forward and kicked her reaching hand, knocking it aside before snatching up the weapon in his own. The rogue gasped with fear as soon as she saw him snatch it up off the floor.

Ace took a step away from Elledora, keeping the rifle well out of reach of the rogue. She started to follow, still on all fours, but immediately stopped. Rolling over to a seated position, the woman suddenly started laughing, “Touch of Black is yours. Go ahead and end it.”

Ace glanced down at the weapon in his hand and shook his head, “I don’t want to kill anyone. I’m just here to stop you and now we need to shut down that portal before it destroys everything on the other side.”

Before Elledora could reply, Ace turned and hurled the weapon with all his strength. He watched the rifle travel in a long arc to pass through the portal. He then turned back to the rogue and looked down at her. Blood leaked from several of the rents torn into her armor and Ace found himself honestly impressed by the woman’s tenacity. Most people would have been out of the fight long ago just from the blood loss after sustaining so many wounds. Was she really that tough or was her hatred just that strong?

Ace spotted her hand cannon on the ground and snatched it up so that he could toss it away. “I’m shutting off that portal,” he muttered before turning back to the stone arch.

Elledora’s Ghost materialized as Ace walked away. “He’s not lying,” it exclaimed. “Ghosts on the other side are sending readings through. We may have created a dimensional tear that is growing!”

Ace summoned Mal as he strode toward the portal. When the Ghost compiled in the air above his hand, the Hunter asked, “Can you fix me up?”

Mal nodded its cuboid shell and cast a matrix of Light threads over Ace. He felt his wounds knit shut and watched the gashes in his armor repair themselves. Drawing a fresh cylinder from his belt, the Hunter reloaded his hand cannon before glancing back the Ghost. He then replied, “Thanks. Any ideas about shutting this thing down?”

“Nothing yet,” Mal answered. “All we know right now is that it has to be done from this side. Nothing can be done from their end.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Ace could see Elledora still sitting on the floor with her own Ghost hovering nearby. From what he could overhear, the Ghost was pleading with its charge to help Ace fix the disaster she had set into motion. With a sigh, he returned his attention to the massive stone arch.

Hive runes glowed with typical Hive arcana. Ace eyed each one as they climbed the portal’s frame, several meters up, to finally meet the capstone at the summit before traveling back down to the base on the opposite side. The capstone held a large crystal in its center that flared every few seconds with bright light before going black. Meanwhile, the portal itself was darker than Ace expected. Normally, Hive gates swirled with the luminous green energy of their arcane magics along with the utter black of the Darkness that they worshiped.

This portal was completely black, devoid of anything but the Darkness.

“Mal, tell me you have something,” Ace quietly asked.

“We don’t know anything about the portal on this side,” a digital voice answered from Ace’s shoulder. The Hunter turned to find Elledora’s Ghost approaching. It continued, “We repaired the gate on the other side and figured out how to activate it. We didn’t do anything on this end.”

“So, it managed to survive the destruction of the Throne World when we brought it down?” Ace mused. “Well, that doesn’t exactly help solve our problem.”

“I suspect that the Hive runes are what kept it together,” Mal replied. “They are what are keeping the gate on the other side from collapsing under the instability.”

Ace considered this information for a moment before striding up to the stone arch. He moved to the side and raised his shotgun to fire. The blast tore across the front of the carved stone in an attempt to deface the intricate glyph.

A sudden burst of power hurled the Hunter away from the stone arch to tumble backwards a few paces. Groaning with pain, he picked himself up off the floor and then retrieved his shotgun before striding back to the portal. There was no indication on the stone’s surface of his attack.

“Not a scratch,” Ace muttered.

“Wrong time or wrong idea?” Mal wondered aloud.

“That hurt. I’d rather try something different,” Ace replied, taking a step away from the gate so that he could see the full thing.

“Elledora!” the other Ghost exclaimed.

Ace turned at the cry, but was too off guard to avoid the ambush. Elledora had crept forward during the exchange and, once near, drew her knife. The Ghost’s alarm had caused Ace to shift enough that the attack wasn’t fatal, but the knife still dove deep into his back, barely missing his spine.

“Plink! How could you?” the woman screamed, raising her sidearm.

Despite the pain, Ace realized what the rogue was about to do and snatched her Ghost out of the air. Gunfire tore through the air an instant later, through the space that it had been occupying. Elledora had just tried to kill her own Ghost.

In one fluid motion, Ace then grabbed Mal as he spun away from Elledora’s wicked blade. As he turned, the Hunter kicked out with his trailing leg to sweep one of his assailant’s feet out from under her. Elledora stumbled sideways, but didn’t fall over. Ace continued his pirouette facing the portal and then hurled both of the Ghosts through. He then turned to face Elledora.

“Stop this madness!” he shouted.

“Madness? My own Ghost betrayed me! You turned him against me!” Elledora screamed, taking a step toward the portal.

Ace took a step sideways to put himself between the rogue and the gateway. “Please, stop. Don’t make me kill you.”

Elledora scoffed, holding up her knife to show hydraulic fluid gleaming along its edge, evidence of the wound she had just inflicted. It was then that Ace noticed that the woman’s armor was completely repaired. Apparently, Plink had restored the rogue before coming to offer assistance with the portal.

Ace shrugged, affecting unconcern before abruptly bursting into motion. He summoned his recently recharged smoke bomb and threw it into Elledora’s chest. Even as he threw the Void construct, the Hunter turned about toward the portal and leapt up into the air, using his Boosts to land him neatly at the summit, atop the capstone. If he couldn’t deface the Hive runes, then his next best option was to target the crystal. He quickly brought his shotgun up to his shoulder and fired.

Once and nothing happened. The portal didn’t react nor was he thrown away like with the glyph. A second pull of the trigger and Ace thought he could see striations appear in the crystal.

“What are you doing?” Elledora coughed. She tried to take a step forward, but the disorientation of the Void smoke still clung to her eyes and lungs.

Ace ignored the woman and fired a third time.

A few seconds later, the Hunter found himself laying, face down, on the ground. A groan escaped his vocal processor as he moved his arms to lift his torso up off the stone. He felt his trusty shotgun in his hand as he pushed against the ground to get up into his knees. Once upright, the Hunter put the weapon across his back and rose unsteadily to his feet.

A few paces ahead, Elledora was similarly picking herself up off the floor. Ace looked past her to see the portal shrinking. The glyphs had mostly stopped glowing with the eerie green flames; only a couple remained burning at the very base. Ace began sprinting for the gateway; if he could reach it before the runes went dark, he would be able to return to home.

With a snarl of rage, Elledora suddenly hurled herself at the Hunter as he ran by. The two rumbled to the stone floor together in a heap. She punched and kicked as they fell while Ace merely tried to extricate himself. He managed to drive a knee into the rogue’s stomach, briefly stunning her enough that he could tear away from her grasp. Rolling away from the woman, the Hunter sprang to his feet and turned back to the portal.

In time to see the last of the flames go out.

Ace’s run slowed to a stop as he slowly realized what had happened. The portal was closed forever. He had destroyed the conduit that linked the two gates on either side of the planes. That connection faded as the last of the Hive magic burned out.

He then turned around to observe Elledora rising to her feet. She stopped to pick up her knife from the ground and turned back to face the Hunter. Ace shook his head and sighed sadly, “You can’t be serious.”

The rogue didn’t reply. She simply stalked forward, toward the waiting Hunter.

“Elledora, stop. If you do this, one of us will die and it will be a final death. Your Ghost is not here to revive you if you fall,” Ace warned, taking a step back.

“It’s all your fault,” Elledora muttered. “I see now that you’re the one who started it all tonight. Of course it would be you here at the end.”

Ace wanted to cry tears of frustration and sadness. He knew that the woman was too far gone; her grief and trauma had taken too much from her and she was no longer able to see reason. Her dedication to protecting the people she loved had become twisted. But such humanisms were impossible for the Exomind.

“Please don’t make me do this,” Ace pleaded one last time.

Elledora leapt forward with a battle cry on her lips. Ace merely sighed with resignation as he drew his knife. He watched the woman hurtle through the air as she performed a midair Boost that changed her direction mid flight at the last moment.

The rogue attempted to perform a flying kick as she approached, but Ace hopped backward a couple steps, adopting a defensive stance. Elledora launched herself forward as soon as she touched the ground, maintaining the momentum from her landing to close the gap quickly. As she brought her knife hand up, Ace shifted his weight so that he could sidestep the downward slash. He also unholstered his revolver and brought it up, barrel pointing down, so that he could use it to deflect follow up attacks.

As expected, when her slash met nothing but air, Elledora quickly retracted and launched a series of thrusts. Ace parried most of them with his hand cannon as he slowly retreated. He saw a couple of openings for a counterattack, but hesitated. In the fight leading up to this moment, he knew that her Ghost would bring her back once he defeated her. Now that it wasn’t an option, he felt conflicted. He didn’t want to kill this woman, even if her actions would justify it.

Then Elledora surprised the Hunter with a leg sweep. She feinted another savage thrust, baiting Ace into a dancing turn away from the attack, but suddenly dropped low and swung her leg around. The Hunter was off balance as he was shifting his weight into the turn to the side, so he was unable to keep his feet as her leg connected with his.

Crowing with victory, Elledora leapt up and chased the toppling Hunter. Sensing his own impending doom, Ace threw himself with the fall so that he could turn the tumble into a roll across the floor. His opponent’s knife chased him, but he managed to stay inches ahead of its sharp bite while twisting so that, with a sudden push against the floor, he launched himself up to land nimbly on his feet.

The rogue continued her pursuit even through the abrupt somersault that sent the Hunter up from the floor to a standing position. She brought her knife downward in a stab that would drive the blade deep into her opponent’s collar. Such a blow would spell the end as it would disable an arm.

Metal rang against metal as Ace’s knife intercepted the attack, deflecting it enough that the blade dug a furrow into his chestplate. As the Hunter defeated the attack with his left hand, his hand right shifted and he fired his hand cannon. At point blank range, the round tore through the rogue’s shield and armor. The bullet passed completely through her chest and stopped her cold.

Elledora stumbled backward a step and gasped as she looked down. Blood began to flow from the hole in her armor, just above her stomach. Ace also took a step back, waiting. It was certainly a mortal wound without a Ghost to repair it. The rogue brought her free hand up in a futile attempt to staunch the flow while her other brandished the knife. Ace shook his head, silently pleading with his to stop.

Three steps forward, surprisingly quick for someone so grievously wounded. Elledora closed the gap and slashed savagely at Ace’s face. The Hunter ducked under the attack and brought his own knife up. Elledora threw herself forward, onto the blade as she tried to tackle her foe. The keen edge bit deep into her chest, finding her heart.

Ace caught the woman as his knife stole the very last of her strength from her body. He felt her shudder as her own blade fell from a limp hand. Embracing her with his free arm like he was hugging her, the Hunter eased the rogue Lightbearer to the floor. He knew in his mind that he had been given no choice, but his heart was filled with regret.

As he removed his knife from his opponent’s chest, Ace let himself collapse to sit beside the fallen woman. He looked around and noticed that the whorling storm of the Sea of Screams was closing in, coming to reclaim the tiny sliver that was this Throne World. Without the crystal to supply the necessary power, it was collapsing. Already, the outer edges of the island had disappearing into the vortex.

At least I won’t have to live with the guilt of killing a Guardian for very long.

Chapter 40

Chapter Text

Halily was surprised and confused when the weapon suddenly hurtling through the portal to clatter across the platform’s stone surface. It would have come to rest near the center of the dais, but the waves of force pulsing outward from the gateway sent it tumbling to fall onto the floor. Halily, still crouched in the corner where the platform rose up from the ground, crawled over to where the weapon had fallen.

She recognized it as the strange rifle that Elledora had struck down Kaizyn with. It looked like a Prometheus Lens trace rifle, but a monstrosity amalgamation of metal tubes and a new battery housing had been fused to the side. Halily set the weapon aside and peeked over the lip of the platform to the portal. She found hope in the rifle’s appearance, assuming that it was a sign that her friend was prevailing on the other side. Wondering, then, if it might be an indication that the portal was being set to right, Halily slowly stood up to inspect the archway.

Another powerful wave of energy struck the Titan down, sending her crashing to the floor. Halily rolled back into the sheltered space where the dais met the floor. Before she was knocked down, Halily managed to lay eyes on the stone frame. The Hive glyphs continued to burn without any noticeable change.

“Frag it all, Ace!” she muttered darkly. “What is happening over there?”

Kaijae remained near the entrance, unable to press forward to join Halily as the waves of force surging outward from the portal intensified. He shouted over the sound of the tremors, “Did Ace send that?”

“I don’t know,” Halily hollered back. “I assume so. Who else would toss it through?” She then settled her back against the rising stone of the pillar and the ground shook underneath her. The tremors had become persistent in the last couple of minutes, the surges now marking spikes of intensity. Halily called to Kaijae, “Can you see any changes in the portal since this thing came through?”

“Nothing,” her friend answered. “I’ve been watching for something and, so far, zilch.”

Frustrated at the response, Halily let her head fall backward into the wall at her back. She was not a fan of waiting while someone else took care of the problem. Especially when she had no line of communication whatsoever.

“Maybe we need to use that thing over here? Could be why he tossed it through,” Kaijae suggested.

“Finally! A good idea!” Halily exclaimed. She snatched up the weapon and started to bring it up to her shoulder when the Titan realized, “sh*t! Blighting mag is empty!”

“So much for that idea,” Kaijae replied sourly.

Annoyed, Halily slammed her fist into the floor. She then considered the weapon for a moment before directing Kaci to store the contraption. Perhaps the puzzle wasn’t readily apparent yet. As soon as the weapon decompiled, the Titan resumed her position in the corner. She could feel the pressure within the room growing along with the tremors, making her begin to worry even more about the integrity of the cavern. She didn’t want to be caught in a cave-in this deep under the surface.

A minute later, two small objects came flying out of the portal. Their flights were erratic, but the surging force radiating outward sent them crashing into the wall behind her. As they tumbled to the floor, Halily was finally about to identify them; a pair of Ghosts.

“Mal?” she called out, recognizing the basic, cuboid shell.

The Ghost tried to lift itself off the floor toward the gateway, but was sent crashing back down. He turned his gaze to Halily and cried, “Ace is still in there! He threw us through the gate!”

Before the Titan could fully register the Ghost’s words, the room was suddenly awash with a blinding light. Halily turned and shields her eyes, looking to the portal. The light was pouring out of the crystal at the top of the archway. As she began to mouth the question that came to her, the crystal shattered. And as the pieces fell, an immense tremor suddenly shook the room while the most powerful wave of energy yet surged outward.

Halily found herself veritably picked up and thrown all the way to the exit tunnel. She tumbled several paces up the path until the intensity of the force was insufficient to carry her any further. The Titan rose to her hands and knees as she fought the bucking ground. She turned to try and discover what had just happened to the portal chamber, when a roar filled the tunnel. The shaking ground abruptly tossed her up into the air. Thinking quickly, the Titan activated her Lift ability to stay aloft. Out of the corner of her eye, Halily spotted the two Ghosts floating in the air near where Kaijae stood unsteadily with his one good arm braced against the wall.

Assured that everyone else was safe, she turned back to the portal just as her Lift gave out. Her feet touched ground a heartbeat later and Halily was then immediately tossed into a wall. She caught herself and managed to avoid falling to the ground. As the Titan looked to the chamber, something heavy slammed into her back, pinning her to the wall. She tried to turn to see who was holding her, but the weight suddenly increased and she found herself unable to take a breath. Halily pressed both hands against the wall in a futile effort to push away, but the pressure only grew and a panic seized hold of her. The Sunbreaker felt for the Light within herself; that power had saved her countless times.

Something then struck her head and she knew no more.

——————

Reality returned in a disorienting flash. Halily felt the ground beneath her feet first and immediately prepared for the ground to protest against her presence. She was confused when the floor remained steady and then even more so when her sight didn’t return.

“Kaci?” she called, frightened.

“I’m here,” the Ghost answered, her calming voice near the Titan’s face. A moment later, a beam of light was cast into the darkness and Halily could see again.

She found herself in a pocket of rock. Large boulders surround the Titan from all sides and dust filled the air. Her Ghost hovered at her shoulder to cast the torch in whatever direction Halily faced.

“Where are we?” she whispered.

“You were crushed in a cave in. I found this space nearby and rezzed you,” Kaci explained.

The fear began to subside and Halily’s breathing calmed closer to normal. She was safe and sound once more, thanks to her Ghost. They would figure a way to get out of this place. The Titan looked to her Ghost and asked, “What about the others? Are they okay?”

Kaci turned toward one of the large rocks at her side, presumably the direction where the others were waiting. The Ghost answered, “Kaijae managed to escape the tunnel’s collapse with the other Ghosts. He’s trying to move the rocks to reach you.”

Halily then activated her comm link and called out, “Jae! You can stop! I’m fine. You don’t need to dig me out with just one hand.”

“Halily?” Kaijae’s concerned voice crackled with interference. She suspected that the energies released with the portal’s collapse was disrupting the signal. “Glad to hear your voice. You okay?”

“I died in the cave in,” Halily answered, “but I’m better now. What about Ace?”

A heavy silence filled the comm link in the wake of her question. She waited for a long moment, wondering if interference prevented her message from reaching the other Titan.

After a couple seconds, she asked, “Jae? Did you hear me? What ab-”

“Ace didn’t make it,” Kaijae replied, his voice breaking at the end.

Halily turned to look in the other direction, to where the portal chamber had stood. She reached out with one hand, touching the rock that separated her from remains of the gateway. As she stood there, the woman felt tears well up and begin to cascade down her cheeks. A sob caught in her throat, threatening to break.

Before it could, though, Halily suddenly erupted in flames. Her hammer manifested in her hand and she began pounding at the rock.

“You stupid son of a bitch!” she screamed, anguish tearing at her voice. “How could you do this, you bastard?!”

The Sunbreaker slammed the flaming weapon into the boulder with all of her strength as fire raged all about her. Stone cracked and chipped under the force of her blows. The tiny pieces melted in the intense heat of her flames. Then the Hammer of Sol vanished and the fires immediately extinguished. Halily continued to slam her fist into the rock.

After a minute, the blows weakened and the woman’s body began to shake. The sobs she had forced away seized hold and Halily slowly slid down to the floor, her hand continuing to strike the rock as she went. After another minute, her hand fell listless to her side.

“Let’s get out of here,” Kaci gently suggested. “The ships are being brought down to transmat range.”

Halily nodded before commenting, “I’m not ready to leave. Take me to Jae.”

Kaci bobbed her shell in acquiescence, “Understood. One moment.”

——————

Halily made her way to where Kaijae waited in the remains of the tunnel. The collapse had completely filled half its length with rocks and almost closed the other half with debris. She had been transmatted back to the barracks and then picked her way through fallen rubble and over toppled stones to reach her companion.

The other Titan stood patiently at the edge of the collapse, waiting for her arrival with the Ghosts that had come through the portal. Halily swiftly strode to where Mal hovered in the air and snatched him with one hand. She turned her hand so that his single eye was turned toward her face and then, after a moment, hugged the little Ghost. Fresh sobs began to take hold of the woman and she felt the fallen Hunter’s Ghost tremble in her embrace.

After a minute, Halily released Mal and then looked toward the rubble that filled the hallway. She could see where Kaijae had begun trying to move rocks and stone in his effort to rescue the trapped woman. Then she asked, “Where is Ace? How do we…?”

“We can’t,” Kaijae whispered.

Mal drifted to the very edge of the rock slide and stated, “Even after the cave in and the portal closed, I could sense his Spark. It was faint; like a light fighting through fathoms of water, but it was there. I could sense it.”

The Ghost paused for a long moment, his shell trembled in the light cast by Zuko and Kaci. Halily wanted to turn away and shut out whatever the he was about to say next, but she forced herself to continue to looking at the grieving Ghost.

“I cannot sense it any more. It’s gone.”

Chapter 41

Chapter Text

[Epilogue]

“Guardians, thank you very much for what you have all done for the City,” Ikora’s voice and likeness projected from the Shelter’s main display. Her countenance was sorrowful as she addressed the full gathering of Shenaniganizers. “I am so very sorry that one of your team was lost in the effort to stop that killer and I offer my condolences to you. If you would like to hold a service at the Tower-”

“Thank you,” Halily interrupted, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, “but Ace would hate a big ceremony like that.”

“Very true,” Kaijae murmured with Kaizyn nodding her head beside him.

The two Titans were still recovering from their battle. Kaijae’s arm had regained mobility, but he could not yet channel any of his Light-granted abilities through it. Kaizyn’s strength was returning, but she struggled to summon her powers. The Vanguard had granted them indefinite paid leave until they had recovered in full.

Ikora smiled halfheartedly at the declaration, “Very well. Let us know how you would like to pay tribute to Ace and we will be happy to support in any way we can.”

Everyone in the Shelter offered thanks and collectively promised to notify the Vanguard of their plans. After a few more words of sympathy, Ikora’s visage disappeared as the display with dark. The room remained quiet for a while.

Then Samus stood up and quietly asked, “How should we remember him?”

“By doing something incredibly stupid,” Mike chuckled.

“‘I have no business still being alive,’” Nutbar quipped, repeating a claim that many of the Guardians in the room had heard the Hunter use.

Halily smiled along with many of the others.

“‘But I was invisible!’” Mabie exclaimed; another complaint that Ace had often uttered.

Subdued laughter broke out in the room along with people relating stories of the times they had heard Ace make one his famous sayings. The laughter grew.

After a couple minutes, Halily stood up, “Let’s hold a race.”

“Now that’s something Ace would get behind,” Tansy called out.

Mike stood up and clapped Halily on the shoulder, “I’ll make some calls and get it put together.”

The room, nearly two dozen Guardians, erupted in conversation as some started making suggestions while others returned to the previous topic of humorous Ace-isms. Halily smiled to see everyone with their spirits raised.

Most everyone, she suddenly realized, spotted Mal hovering in near the main entrance. The Titan strode from her seat near the center of the room to where the Ghost floated in the air, watching the gathering. Seeing her approach, Mal bobbed a greeting.

Halily held out her hand and Mal drifted down to settle into her palm. She then brought him in for a hug before releasing the Ghost. “C’mon,” the Titan instructed.

Leading Mal out to the entrance cavern, where everyone docked their Sparrows, Halily found a light rain falling outside the cave. Water trickled down the rocks that formed the mouth and gathered to flow downhill, away from the Shelter’s entrance. Kaci materialized next to her and received an embrace of her own.

The three watched the rain fall for a couple minutes before Halily announced, “You should stay with Kaci and I.”

Mal turned to regard the Titan, but didn’t respond. Halily could tell that he was considering the offer as his shell twitched and whirled.

“I’m going to miss him,” Halily stated. “It hurts so much to know that he is gone, but having you with us will mean that a piece of him will always be here.”

“It would be an honor to have you join us,” Kaci added.

Mal turned from the Titan to the Ghost and then back again. Finally he answered, “I would be my honor as well. I think… I think he would like this very much.”

“Perfect weather for the occasion,” a voice called from behind.

Halily turned to see Kaizyn and Kaijae standing at the other end of the cavern. They picked their way around the handful of vehicles that were parked haphazardly near the tunnel. When they drew near, Kaizyn commented, “You know, Ace loved the rain. He hated working in it, but he loved to sit and watch it.”

“The heavier, the better,” Kaijae nodded.

Halily looked back outside to watch the rain fall. She could see the wind in how it carried the water in whatever direction it was blowing. And she could hear the gentle patter of the drops striking the ground. Smiling, Halily replied, “I can see why. It’s so peaceful and relaxing.”

Kaijae then looked at Mal and commented, “I’m glad you agreed to join with her.”

“It would make Ace very happy,” Kaizyn smiled.

Halily nodded before turning back to watch the weather, letting her thoughts wash over her as surely as the rain washed over the meadow. She played happy memories of her adventures with the Hunter in her mind and smiled. Tears began to flow and she didn’t bother trying to fight them.

“I think I can understand what happened to Ace when Deo died,” Kaijae suddenly commented. Halily and Kaizyn both turned to regard the man. He continued, “If he hurt as badly as this, I can understand why he became so reckless.”

Kaizyn wrapped her arms around her husband and placed her head on his shoulder. Kaijae returned the embrace before kissing her cheek. Halily waited for the tender moment between the two to pass before she cleared her throat.

“I’m glad I got a moment with just the two of you,” she began, glancing back to the entrance to make sure no one else had decided to join them. “I want to talk with you two in private.”

Kaijae gestured for Halily to lead them out into the rain. Donning her helmet, she strode out and across the wide meadow. Once under the boughs of the trees, Halily turned and led her friends to a large rock outcropping. They were a couple hundred meters from the edge of the meadow and she felt confident that no one from the Shelter could stumble across them. The Sunbreaker looked to Kaci and nodded. Elledora’s weapon compiled on the ground in front of the Kais.

“I think this thing should be destroyed,” Halily declared. “Ace sacrificed himself to put an end to a Guardian killer.”

“The fact that this thing still exists is…” Kaijae trailed off.

“Then you agree with me?” Halily asked, relieved.

“Absolutely,” Kaizyn replied. “In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”

“Thank the Traveler,” Halily sighed. “I was worried that you guys would tell me to hand it over to the Vanguard.”

“No,” Kaijae stated firmly. “This kind of weapon should not exist. It is far too risky.”

Halily raised her hand toward the sky and then the sound of a hammer striking an anvil filled the air. Her Hammer of Sol appeared in her clenched fist and the Sunbreaker brought the weapon down upon the vile weapon. The strike sounded like a thunderclap and the rifle broke into several pieces with the first blow. She rained down several more, obliterating the strange metal components with the runes carved in. Then she slammed her hammer down upon the focusing crystal, shattering it into dozens of pieces.

As the flames disappeared and her hammer dissipated, Kaijae began gathering the broken pieces of the crystal. He lined them up on the scorched stone where the Sunbreaker’s hammer had struck. Halily watched as the Striker then summoned his Fist of Havoc. With one good hand, Kaijae ground the pieces up even further, rendering them into dust.

“That should do it,” Kaizyn nodded.

Kaijae raised his fist to Halily. When she bumped it with her own, he replied, “Take good care of Mal, will you?”

Halily grabbed the Kais and brought them both in for a crushing hug. They stood together for a long moment before releasing and, as one, returned to the Shelter and the rest of their friends.