From a scale of 0 too 10. How happy would Reese and Elias be to be granddad's to little minimart? Elias is a danger I guess, but I honestly can't tell with Reese..
1000!!!!!!
Here's the thing. They are really questionable people. Really, really questionable. And that is being kind. However, they love Gabriel with every inch of their soul and would lay down their life for him in a heartbeat. Add a kid to that situation? They would be arguing with how many evenings they would get to take the baby. The kid would be spoiled. Birthdays would be a huge event because Baron's would be putting it on for the kid. They would become the most doting grandfathers in the Night Market and they would also be terrifying if anyone dared to mess with minimart.
The music loving history teacher in me loves stuff like this. So many 60s bands were broken up by the draft and Vietnam War, that it’s a wonder more songs didn’t deal the topic. This is masterful and witty Texas garage rock.
Well people take us for nothing but fools...
We either fight or go to school,
I go to school and I still can't learn
and then I get a little card that says don't burn.
Go to the draft board one fine day,
Sergeant says "boy you're 1-A"
[EDIT]: I recommend reading the Ao3 version of this arc as it has been rewritten over there with better writing quality and additional information that wasn’t included here. You can find the improved version here!
Summary:
Rae and Cayde are invited by Petra and Adam to aid in taking care of rowdy prisoners in the Prison of Elders. But things quickly go south when the prison riot becomes a prison break.
Next Part: Here
“*c-cough, cough!* Well, this — this is awkward. I— Y-You got a gun I can borrow?”
“No. But I do have a bullet…with your name on it.”
“Any second now, my partner is gonna roll in here and kill… Every. Last. One of you. And you, my man…”
“Shh, shh, shh, shh… This is going to hurt… A lot. Any last words?”
“How's your sister?”
…
*BANG!!!*
Sometime earlier…
“Whoohoo! Cayde and Sunrae on a mission together!”
Two jumpships soared through the stars as Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 and Fireteam Vanguard-to-be Raegalianis Drakyx approached the Prison of Elders in the Reef. “A mission into a prison full of bad guys, from Fallen to Hive, to kick some butt.” Rae laughed, “It’s almost like this mission was made for you.”
“Don’t act like you’re not excited for this too!” Cayde replied over the comms, “It’s been forever since we even went on a patrol! This is gonna be fun!”
“Alright, alright, you got me!”
“Rae, we’re approaching the prison.” Ghost piped up. “Let’s kick some butt!” Sundance added. “Off we go!” Rae transmatted into the prison from her ship alongside Cayde and the two walked up to two figures standing nearby. Petra Venj, Regent-Commander of the Reef, and Adam Bergfalk, former Titan of Fireteam Paralight and Petra’s right hand man. “Petra Venj and Adam Bergfalk. Thanks for the invite.” Cayde began as Rae gave her former teammate a high-five, “What’cha packing for this party?”
“Meh. The usual.” Petra shrugged as she unsheathed her dagger. “Ooh! Do the thing!” Cayde exclaimed with excitement before leaning over to Rae to whisper, “Seriously, watch this.” Petra began to levitate her dagger into the air, causing it to spin a few times before snatching it back. “That’ll never not freak me out.” Cayde shuddered, before his eyes lit up excitedly, “Do it again!”
“Later. Maybe.” Petra sheathed her dagger before motioning to the prison behind her and Adam, “Right now, gen-pop is running wild. Fortunately, the main area and lower levels remain on lockdown. But if the core security systems fail… Containment is going to be… a problem.”
“Just another day at the office.” Cayde said with confidence, putting his hands on his hips. “Nothing we can’t handle, P. Right, Adam?” Rae grinned. Adam gave a confident nod as he and Petra headed into the prison. Cayde pulled out his handcannon, the Ace of Spades, and began to load it, “ Alright partner, this is a Cayde riff in 6, watch me for the changes, and, uh…” Cayde shot Rae a wink, “Try to keep up.” Rae blushed in response but masked it with a confident smile, “I should be telling you that. One with the least kills buys dinner?”
“You’re on!” Cayde replied before throwing his hands in the air, “Now let's go to prison!” Cayde then proceeded to jump backwards off the catwalk, “WOOOOOHOOOO!” Rae shook her head with a smile, “I missed this!” and ran inside the prisons while the sound of a handcannon and Cayde’s exclaims of “Got you!” echoed below.
———————————————————————
“Aaand that’s 236!” Cayde called over the comms. “How many did we get, Ghost?” Rae asked her small companion. “Sorry, Rae…” Ghost apologised. “Yes!!!” Cayde cheered. “…for the stomach ache you’ll more than likely have from the ramen Cayde’s buying. Rae got 284.”
“Alright!!” Rae cheered. “Well, a deal’s a deal!” Cayde said, “Nice one, partner!”
“Right back at you, Cayde!”
“You in the green now, P.V.?”
“Yes! Accessing the lower levels now. Just gotta check on a couple of things, and then we can call it a day.” Petra replied. Rae watched from below as Cayde left the security hub, “Looks like we are all done and dusted here, kiddos. Ramen's on me.”
“No…no…no…no…” Petra gasped over the comms, “Cayde — he's gone. This isn't a prison riot. It's a prison break. The airlock on Deck Zero! It's the only way out this far down. They're going to escape!”
“Wait, who’s ‘he’?” Rae asked. “Not if I get there first.” Cayde muttered. Rae heard a gunshot from above as the security hub came crashing down. “Oh, this is gonna hurt…” Rae groaned.
*BOOM!!!*
“…Cayde? Petra? What's happening down there? Come in, Cayde?”
Rae groaned as she was helped to her feet by Adam. “Thanks, Adam.”
“Hey, Welcome back.” Ghost floated over to Rae, “We fell 20 stories down, and I can't reach Cayde. Or Petra.”
“Damn it…” Rae sighed in frustration, “We need to find them before whoever Petra was talking about get them first.” Adam nodded as their Ghosts disappeared and the duo head through the hallways into a room full of cells. “Ether trails. Look out for escaped Fallen. But… this Ether is… wrong, somehow.” Ghost muttered. “Keep your guard up, pal.” Rae muttered, keeping her auto-rifle at the ready. Adam followed Rae from behind, holding up a sword. “Wh-? When did you get a sword?” Rae raised an eyebrow, never seeing Adam wield a blade before. “He picked up a few things from his time here.” Stormbringer replied. “Enough said.” Rae chuckled as they made their way through the hallways.
———————————————————————
“Ahh, its fused shut. We need another way.”
After defeating a bunch of unknown creatures, Rae and Adam came across a door that wouldn’t open. “Let’s try the ducts.” Rae suggested, climbing into the vents with Adam not far behind.
*WHOOOSH!!!*
A wave of Light went flying towards Rae and Adam. Rae froze up in fear as the feeling of Light rushing past her was similar to when her Light was sucked out during the Red War. “No!” Ghost exclaimed. “Ghost…what happened?” Rae recovered from her shock. “Cayde's Ghost…Sundance…she's dead. Without his Ghost, Cayde dies…We've gotta find him!”
“Oh no…” Rae sprinted ahead, Adam struggling to keep up with the Dawnblade Warlock.
Rae sprinted into a room and froze up at the scene in front of her. Cayde was lying on the ground, barely moving with parts of him broken and battered. At the end of the room, seven hideous creatures stood in a large doorway with a hooded figure standing with their back turned to Rae. Upon hearing the footsteps behind them, the figure turned around and Rae caught a glance of the person’s face.
Uldren Sov.
Uldren chuckled darkly as he held up the Ace of Spades, “He didn’t feel a thing.” Before Rae could even aim her rifle, the door shut in front of Uldren. Rae ran over to Cayde, falling to her knees beside him, “Cayde? Cayde?! C’mon, say something!” Cayde weakly motioned to his head with a small chuckle, “How’s…how’s my hair?” Cayde’s chuckles turned into coughing. “Cayde…” Rae muttered in shock, not able to believe what was happening before her, “Ghost! Get out here!” Ghost appeared hovering over Cayde, “Oh no…there’s nothing I can-…” Ghost turned to face Rae, “I’m…sorry…”
“I’m so sorry, Cayde.” Rae cried, “I should’ve gotten here sooner…”
“Rae, this…this ain’t on you.” Cayde coughed, “This…is what I get for…playing nice.” Cayde went to chuckle again but fell into another coughing fit. “Cayde…please don’t go.” Rae’s choked out, “I didn’t…I wanted to…I never got to say…” As Rae struggled to find the words, she felt Cayde place a weak hand on hers, “Don’t…don’t worry about it…I…love you too, Sunrae…” Rae held Cayde’s hand tightly as he let out another series of coughs. “Hey…” Cayde managed to speak through laboured breathing, “You tell Zavala and Ikora…the Vanguard…is the best bet…I ever…lost…”
And with that, the light faded from Cayde’s eyes as his body went limp. “Cayde…” Rae choked out as tears began to stream down her face. She remained holding Cayde’s hand as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Petra and Adam ran into the room and saw Rae and Ghost beside Cayde’s lifeless body. Adam’s eyes were wide in horror as Petra stood in shock, “No…”
———————————————————————
“He had the worst jokes. Even worse timing.”
Rae stood in a corner holding the remains she found of Sundance as Ikora, Adam and Zavala stood around Cayde’s covered body in the Tower while Ikora spoke, “I wanted to laugh. I really did…We should've been there.” Ikora glanced between Adam and Rae. Ikora always seemed calm and collected, maybe the odd smirk here and there and rarely angry unless pushed too far, but Rae had never seen her this upset since they reunited on Io. “This is not your fault.” Ikora spoke, her voice a mix of grief and rage, “This… is on the head of Uldren Sov. But if he thinks what he's done is the end, it's not. It’s the beginning. We're going to fight him Do you hear me? All of us. Every Titan. Every Warlock. Every Hunter. We will take the Reef by storm! And then we will mount the head of that son of a bitch on his precious throne. For our Fireteam…For Cayde.”
“…no.” Zavala spoke up. “What did you say?” Ikora turned to face her fellow Vanguard.
“We are not an army. We are not conquerors. We are Guardians. We need to keep our eyes here. On our home. Our people. The Traveller. The Reef was lost the moment it lost its Queen. So if another Sov wants a stretch of lifeless rocks, let him have it.”
“This is Cayde we're taking about. For us to do nothing is… is…”
“Say it.”
“…cowardice.”
Zavala laid a hand on Cayde’s body, “I refuse to bury anymore friends…”
“You won’t have to.”
Zavala and Ikora raised their heads in surprise as they turned to face the source of the unfamiliar voice. It was male with a slight accent to it. Adam stood there with an expression no-one had seen on his face before. Rage. “Uldren Sov…is ours.” Adam growled as he turned to leave, but noticed Rae wasn’t following, “Rae?”
Rae clutched Sundance tightly in her hands, “When I was in the Black Garden…a voice asked me why I fought…why I put everything on the line…without even thinking, I responded that it was to protect others…to protect the people I cared about…and I promised myself that I would do everything to keep the people I considered to be my family safe…even if I had to give up everything…” Rae faced the Vanguard, the tears on her face betraying the stoic expression on her face, “My tribe considered our Eternal Lifeforce mark to be like our soul…it was who we were…but the bearer of this mark was someone else…a person who died over half a decade ago. The me now is someone who is willing to give up anything to bring back someone she loved…even if it meant throwing away a part of her past.”
“Wait…” Ikora’s eyes went wide, “You said that if you gave up your lifeforce, your life becomes linked to whoever you bring back. If Cayde dies again, you…”
“I know.” Rae nodded, “But it’s a sacrifice I am more than willing to make. I’d rather live for a short while knowing I was able to save someone close to me…than live forever knowing the person I loved died in front of me and I didn’t do anything to stop it.”
Ikora silently walked up to Rae and put a hand on her shoulder, “Only if you’re sure…”
“Teach…” Rae gave a small smile, “I’ve never been this sure of something in my life.” Ikora nodded before taking a step back. Rae took a deep breath as she held Sundance tightly in her right hand and placed her left on Cayde. She closed her eyes as she felt the familiar voice enter her head again. “One of the traits of becoming a Guardian is sacrifice. When I still roamed the mortal plane, I sacrificed my immortality to save the one I loved. This gift I passed down to my descendants so they may do the same, should someone they love die. Starlight…even as a Guardian, being immortal as long as you have your Ghost, you are making a noble sacrifice…I’m proud of you. It will take a while for the full effects to take place. This may feel a little draining, but you’ll recover quickly. Now…focus on your Light…feel it begin to shine brighter and brighter…focus on your loved one and his Ghost…let your Light reach out to them…don’t hold it back…let it flow…”
Ikora, Adam and Zavala watched in awe as the mark on Rae’s cheek began to glow brightly. Suddenly, a bright light shot out from Rae as it took the form of a serpent-like dragon which passed though Sundance before diving down towards Cayde, the light scattering across his body before disappearing into him. Rae let out a weakened sigh as she began to collapse to the ground, Ikora catching her just before she hit the ground. The mark under her cheek had disappeared, signalling that Rae no longer had the immortality she had as a Paragonialan. Rae was out of breath as she weakly muttered out, “Did…did it work?” Ikora glanced down at Rae’s right hand. Rae looked down and slowly opened her hand. The once shattered Sundance was now whole again, good as new. Ghost popped up beside Rae and quickly scanned both Sundance and Cayde, “I…I don’t believe it…it worked! They’re unconscious, but they’re alive! Light and all!” Rae breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her energy return to her. She got to her feet and faced Adam, “Let’s go…
