Guess what? More Candal. This was originally part of a 5+1, but I kinda hate what I have and I don’t know if I’ll finish it. So here, have the one chapter I kinda like.
Tempo
Cayde was dead. Again. His poor Ghost had been working overtime to rez him as fast as she could, but she could only channel so much light through her little shell. Her guardian getting gunned down six times in the past half hour wasn’t helping.
Shiro could only watch in horror as bullets whizzed over Sundance’s shell, missing by the narrowest margin. His own cover was slowly being chipped away as more shots tried to find him. The constant barrage of fire in between Shiro and Cayde’s Ghost made any rescue attempt certain death.
The static of a com feed coming to life startled him out of his despair. “Cayde, Shiro, I got the last code. Headed your way, what’s the situation?” Andal’s voice was haggard and his breathing was strained, but he was talking. He was alive. He could help.
“Cayde’s down again and I’m cornered by covering fire! The captain got the jump on us!” Shiro answered, raising his voice to be heard above the din. Another bolt impacted Cayde’s corpse, missing Sundance by an inch. “Hurry!”
Andal cursed. “On it. Hang in there, you’ve got a 7 of diamonds on its way.”
Cayde’s body dissipated into light motes and reformed, on his feet and firing back. Two shots immediately hit his chest, a third cracking into his horn. The blue exo staggered momentarily, then raised his hand cannon again.
“CAYDE!” Shiro shouted, “OVER HERE!” His own yellow-hooded head popped up from behind the cracked steel, drawing the attention of their attackers long enough for Cayde to roll behind Shiro’s improvised rampart. Another bullet embedded itself in Shiro’s faceplate, making his vision go pixilated as he fell into a squat. An arm pulled him down further just as more bullets flew where his head had just been.
“I’m back up,” Cayde yelled into his comms. “Would love an assist, our cover won’t hold for long.”
They both felt Andal’s response rather than hearing it. The air grew thick with ozone and that familiar metallic tang grew unbearably strong. The impact of a single shot echoed around the ruined laboratory with a thunderclap. Shiro knew from experience not to look as arc energy sparked from the hole in the captain’s head ruthlessly leaped from enemy to enemy. The smell of charred Eliksni flesh descended on the pair of exos, and the clamor of their firefight vanished.
Cayde slumped heavily against Shiro as they leaned against the metal slab. Ragged edges poked Shiro’s sides, but he couldn’t care enough to move as Sundance and Suzume began mending their guardian’s wounds.
“Good shot Andal,” Shiro puffed. The word slurred, and he realized his jaw was hanging loosely from one end.
“Yeah, thanks for saving our asses. I owe you a drink.” Cayde closed his eyes, and for a moment he looked so exhausted Shiro thought he was going to die again.
They flew back open at Andal’s response, the spark of defiance back where it belonged. “Pretty sure you owe me several, you still haven’t followed up on your promise from the Nessus incident.” Somewhere nearby, Andal gave a low chuckle that turned into a pained wheeze.
“And you still owe me 60,000 glimmer and a new pair of pants from poker night!” The turquoise exo yelled, bolting upright to scan the area for their sniper. His knee nearly gave out on him but he paid no mind to his fussing Ghost.
“Okay, so we’re even.”
“We are SO NOT!” Cayde balked. “Those were my favorite pants!”
Shiro rolled his eyes as he helped Suzume reattach his jaw. He held it in place as her light funneled through him and with a click it popped back into place. “How do you even lose 60,000 glimmer in one night?”
“Nonono, that’s just what’s left. He actually lost 90!” Cayde explained, waving his arms around wildly. “And when he couldn’t pay he ripped my pants!”
“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t trip on purpose, not everyone can see in the dark, Six.”
“And whose fault was it that we were walking home at two in the morning?!”
“YOURS!”
“Nuh-uh! Your drunk ass got us lost! Y’know what, I’m cutting you off, I refuse to encourage your alcoholism.”
“Fine, then you owe me a week’s worth of ramen!”
“A whole week?!? You’re insane!”
“Not after Nessus I’m not!”
“One night. That’s it. And I want new pants.”
“Only if I get to pick them, you’ll extort me and get the most expensive pair you can get your metal paws on!”
“You don’t know my size!”
“You’re an 11, Tevis is a 13 tall, and Shiro is a 16 long.”
“Dang, you do know my size. Wait, how do you know my size?!”
“I do all of your laundry because you always forget!”
“Mhmm, sure. Not because you were staring at my ass?”
“If I was, I wouldn't tell you!”
“So you WERE!”
For a blissful moment the line went quiet. Shiro took his chance to interject. “If you must flirt, do it off-coms so I don’t have to hear it. Brask, where are you?”