We responded to the distress call of Fireteam Jerrus in the Plaguelands, they were under heavy fire by corrupted Eliksni Forces, we were only a few kilometers away and could travel quickly.
Kraken-8, Veroksis (register under Helios-12), and myself came in onto Fireteam Jerrus south of what the Vanguard would designate as the Archon’s Forge. Preliminary recon, as well as the reports from Jerrus, made it clear that Jerrus had in some manner agitated the Splicer forces within the Forge, as multiple hostiles were surrounding the entrenched ship wreckage as well as two SIVA infested Spider Walker heavy mechanical vehicle.
Veroksis was first onto the ground, and quickly re-positioned to a higher elevation, and sets up his rifle to pick off any high value targets within the mixed mass of Splicer forces.
Kraken and myself were shortly after on the scene, and quickly began making our way to the exposed flank of the enemy forces. Kraken was the first to spot Fireteam Jerrus, hunkered behind the torn wing of a Golden Age spacecraft, doing their best to avoid the heavy fire and the cannons from the Walkers.
Veroksis started firing upon the Vandal snipers perched around the crash site, while Kraken threw her two incendiary grenades into the mass of Splicer Dregs and Vandals. I set about to disrupt the Walkers with a Storm Grenade, our combined attack disorienting and forcing the Splicers to focus their attention on us, giving Jerrus some time to recuperate.
[Action report continues for some time, before reaching a warning.]
*WARNING. REDACTED INFORMATION AT THE BEHEST OF VANGUARD COMMAND.*
//Override Access Initiated....//
//Override: EDZOPT19954.//
//Redaction Temporarily Removed.//
Kraken-8 had suffered multiple injuries during the engagement, Veroksis had lost one of his secondary arms, myself having suffered a Wire burn from a Splicer Vandal in my upper Biceps Brachii and Coracobrachialis muscles, rendering my left arm inoperable till Horus could reattach the muscle groups and nerves once the firefight would end.
Fireteam Jerrus had been able to recuperate and cause significant disruption and damage to the Splicer forces. However the intense conflict had attracted the more elite forces within Archon's Forge, and the heavily augmented reinforcements sallied out and started to close in on our positions, not allowing either Fireteam to garner an advantage.
Kraken-8 had begun to show signs of either psychological duress, or her EXO frame had started (for lack of better terms) to glitch. Byte, Kraken's Ghost, was attempting to focus her back to the present but seemed unable to establish any connection with her. Without warning, Kraken froze up and her bio-metrics flat lined, before suddenly returning to the present as if nothing occurred. However her mannerism and voice had now,, changed.
[Attached here was a short series of still images, captured via the armor cams of Tez'sara as well as stills granted by Byte. They reveal a battered Kraken, her plate armor rent and torn in various points, parts of her under armor plus her mechanical skeleton. In the first images, Kraken is seen clutching at her head, her helm no where to be seen, and showing her usual amber and blue lighting. The after moments, revealed her lights now a deep bloodied red, her eyes distant and irises blown out to the max.]
The entity that was Kraken-8 seemed to have taken over by another sentience or programming, as Kraken now spoke in a purely synthetic tone, additionally lacked any emotional or instinctual thought process.
[An audio recording is attached here, only a few seconds, but enough to sink home to point Tez'sara attempts to make.]
// "W.A.R Program active. Gathering battlefield intel, topographical data, available assets, ammunition and ordinance counted. Processing. Processing. Completed. Assessment complete, objectives set. Unit 003, designation KRAKEN, tasked with fulfillment of Primary Objective, elimination of hostile entities. Commencing." //
Kraken, or whatever was in command of her chassis, proceeded to leave her cover and advance onto the Splicer forces, moving at a pace I had not witness her capable of in the past few decades. The agility and force required for what she accomplished that day,, I am assured in my assumption that she is unaware of what lays within her.
[The report has numerous record logs, both from Baroque and Jerrus, along with dozens of stills and cam recordings, displaying the ruthless mechanical tearing into the Splicer forces. The reports goes on to say that once the Eliksni were dealt with, the entity in control of Kraken had then attempted to attack Fireteam Jerrus, before being knocked out by Veroksis and restrained. A few notes had been appended to the report, by Zavala, Ikora,, and Shaxx.]
// Z: I want regular check-ups with Kraken-8 from now on, and no longer will she be sent onto high-risk zones until we can ascertain as to what we saw. This report will be classified until I give the clear. //
// I: I have not heard anything of this WAR Program before,, nor has any other Exo Guardian or Warlord displayed this manner of ability nor upgrade. I have sent my Hidden and Agents to scour for any information or clues to this,, however we are dealing with Clovis Bray technology, much of which has been lost to time. //
// S: This, is not the Kraken I know. Whether it is some Golden Age program or Vex manipulation,, I will personally tan their hide and atomize their twisted husk into oblivion. To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. //
Destcember day 5 was dedicated to Veroksis, a friend of Circe, an all around best (but prickly) boi. For some reason Tumblr never let me post this so it's been sitting in my drafts for like 500 years, but today was the day and it worked somehow? Vero belongs to my friend @marcusmettalus
[Ki-Shar] was the first to wake up, her tuqoise lights clicking back on and her motors whirring into life. "HOOoo wHaAat, where am I? Vero? Veroksis??" the pale Ghost zips up into the air, narrowly missing the roof beam, her lens snapping round the barn to find her Guardian. Her charge laid on a makeshift bed, quite still and motionless, but alive.
"Oh thank the Traveler.." Ki-shar dipped in relief, slowly floating over to the window nearby Veroksis, trying to look out into the late morning day, to find out where they are. It appeared to be a fairly primitive farm settlement, humans and some Guardians walking round the place with chores, and what looked to be a makeshift command center in one of the wooden homes.
“Well,, at least we are still together Vero.” Ki-shar sighs softly, looking over her charge before scanning about on the Vanguard Net to try and catch up on what has happened since they passed out. All in all,, it was not good, no matter which way you turned it. Traveller in chains, the City is on partial ruins and locked down, the Light seems to be non-existent, and hundreds of Guardians are either missing,, or dead.
Commander Zavala seems to have made some sort of outpost out by the Saturnian worlds, no word on either Cayde nor Ikora. At the moment, the one running any manner of shots is a rough Militia whom have lived out in the wilds for generations. A dark skinned woman called Hawthorne, her pet Hawk, and a sharpshooter called Devrim.
“Well,, bolts. Getting into any fights now is,, I am not sure I want to even think about that possibility. Urgh. Wait,, how did we even get here? We were wi-”
“A group of Eliksni, and not a small one either.” a voice came from the end of the room, making Ki-shar duck behind a beam, only to peek out from behind it when nothing was shot at her. Standing at the top of a set of stairs was a lithe built woman, dark olive skin and what appear to be tribal or cultural markings on her face. Her head and upper torso was covered in a shawl or poncho deal, a marksman rifle slung over one shoulder.
“I take it you are the Hawthorne running this little community?” Ki’shar spoke slowly, her lens looking over the woman carefully, flicking about in a wary manner.
“Suraya Hawthorne, and yeah, I had this group for a few years already, but given whats happened to the city, we have grown a vast amount thanks to all the refugees. Got a name?”
“,, [Ki’shar].”
Suraya blinks a little, as the Ghost sounded like it hissed at her, only to make the connection that it was a word. “That is not a human or awoken name I guess,,”
“Its Eliksni, meaning Bright Star, or Strong Brave. Words are,, flexible, with context.” Ki’shar floats over to be eye level with the human.
“Now what story am I gonna give the people here in the community, to explain why a Guardian and his Ghost,, was being carried to our last camp site, by a massive Fallen and its troupe?”
“FIRST OF AL-”
*clicliclicliclick* “Mhrr not loud noises, head like bloated ether [Jor’kriss’ek].” Ki’shar swivels around with Hawthorne to see Veroksis slowly sitting up, clutching at his head with his smaller hands, while the main hands grasp at the bedding. The helmet was removed, revealing the scratched up dermis and markings of his trials and honor scars.
“Welcome to the land of the living Guardian.” Hawthorne relaxes, slightly, but keeps an eye on those curious additions to the Exo risen and curious blend of Hunter gear and very very clearly Fallen tech.
Veroksis’ lenses focus in, looking over at the human before seeing Ki’shar nearby, a soft throtle coming from the synthetic voice modulator, but for Hawthorne it sounds eerily organic. Wet and very much like how the Fallen sounded like when she bumped into them a few weeks ago.
“Koris? Keldar? Safe?”
Hawthorne needs a second before recalling back to the meeting she had at the base of the Alps, and the two giant Fallen leaders, with the arching horned helms.
“They are fine, they moved back into the wilds after they dropped you at my feet. I tried to have them followed bu-”
“Blood spilled? [Lovos] do not like to be followed, yes-yes. Especially by pink skins,,” Veroksis slowly rises out of the cot, his lower arms patting himself down, while one main arm rubs the back of his head.
Hawthorne’s eyelid twitches, but keeps her nerves in check “No, the scouts lost track when the group headed further west into the EDZ. No one has ever gone there before,,”
“Hu-mans have not,, but [Din-Ha] have. I have. Great ruin-cities, claws into sky, wild-free creatures. Our home. Out of eyes, out of reach.”
Hawthorne narrows her eyes at this, as this fact implies that Fallen might have nests or armies lurking somewhere deep in the EDZ or even further West towards the Transient Sea.
Tez’sara watched as the slowly crumbling body of Oryx fell into the gravity well of Saturn, what energy in his body flickering over the ashen body, tumbling, in a silent roar.
“Tez, come on, we need to get out of here before the Hive come swarming to this place.” The Warlock looked over to the fireteam, who was busy checking over each other for wounds or shrapnel. Kraken-9, Veroksis, Circe, Joan, and Polaroid. Friends and allies. Tez felt something though, as if something was missing,, as if the fight with Oryx was not yet over.
“,, something is amiss. I feel that our conflict is not yet complete,,” Tez spoke softly, while her Ghost Horus slips into reality, tilting with some concern.
{You are a Guardian. The only thing between your City and annihilation. Every Mortal and Guardian counts on you. All of them look onto you. Your entire existence is a play: Wield your Light, or die of Darkness.}
Kraken steps closer, holstering her shotgun “Tez? What do you mean not complete? Oryx is dead, we broke his magic and his Court. Eris said this would end his reign,,”
“End his reign yes,, but his Throne and his Throne World,, they need someone to control them. To keep their leash tight. Keep the Hive and the Taken in check..”
Kraken now got uneasy, that synthetic sesation of a twisting gut feeling. “Tez, now is not the time to go deep down the rabbit hole so hapazrdly. I think the Death Song might have messed with you v little bit. Seriously, lets g-.”
{You have been Taken.}
“I am not joking, Kraken.” Tez’sara takes a poerful stance, her fists clenched, shoulders set and feet shoulder width. Kraken knows her long time friend means it, but why this action? Why is she doing this? Why? Tez’sara peels off her helmet, her deep purple hair barely coming free before it begins to frost over from the vacuum of space. Her once bright eyes now look glassy, gray, staring hard at Kraken and the Fireteam.
{Take off your bond. Place down your weapons. No foe stands before you. Nothing is judging your frailness. What are you confident about? What keeps you strong?}
Polaroid is the first to react, swinging up her handcannon, aiming at something behind Tez’sara, her hand trembling slightly but the leses in her Nighthawk glowing fiercely. “Wh,what is that?”
Joan and Circe are unnerved, while Veroksis is growling at Polaroid, trying to swat away the pointed gun. Kraken is distressed now, trying to make sense of it all,, till she sees it. An edifice of Hive chitin and rock, forming up behind her friend, a mockery of the shape,, of a Throne, more fitting for a Hive God-King.
{You were regal once. You feel it. You wear the memory of supremacy, so that you can inspire. But power asks for challenge. Everything that sees your colors and your realm wants to kill you and burn what you command.}
“Tez’sa-” Kraken begins to speak before her body is flung back along with the rest of the Fireteam, tumbling over the cracked ground and stone paving. Veroksis is the first on his feet, glowering at the woman that once he called Teacher. The Awoken Warlock was now rising off the ground, her azure skin covered in a film of ice and shadows, ethereal smoke dances over her robes and flesh. Taken energy,, like Oryx.
“I am no longer Tez’Sara. I am not Awoken. I am not a Warlock. I am no longer a Guardian.” her voice was cracking, taking on an inhuman timbre and pitch, like grating sand over glass. Her robes taking on a shredded appearance, her hair growing long and shock white, her nails turning into talons
{If you cannot rule yourself, you must make them yours. There is a blade for you. It is shaped like [crown over all]. Take up the blade. Breathe the blade. Take your new shape.}
“I am Tezarûn Yul, The Taken Queen!”
(Guest appearences! Circe by @spookgeist, Joan by @nightpiercer , and Polaroid by @zennore ! )
Veroksis curses in Eliksni, for the umpteenth time in the last hour, throwing the playing cards onto the cantina table, while the Drifter gives a warm, if mocking, laugh. “Hey now partner, no need to go swearing like that, you get plenty a glimmer from doin’ bounties, and if ya play some rounds of Gambit, y’ll even make a profit.”
Drifter grins cheekily, while collecting up the scattered cards on the table, and starts shuffling them up casually. Veroksis mutters and growls under his helm, annoyed with not only Drifter’s attitude and casualness of the game, but also annoyed with himself for not able to read the Rogue Lightbearer’s tells and gestures.
And his glimmer bank was getting very thin now, having lost a fair amount of it in the past hour or so. Ki-shar peeks over the fur collar of Veroksis’ cloak looking over the table of cards and glimmer cubes, her shells tilting slightly. She spoke quietly to Veroksis, using their link ‘Should we maybe end the game now? While we still have some glimmer,,”
Veroksis growls softly, glaring at his ghost through his lenses, before grudgingly fixing up his cards and handing them over to Drifter. “Letting me shuffle, eh? Alright alright,, maybe ya gonna ask your shiny Traveler for luck this time eh?” The man laughs warmly, with hidden teeth.
The cards are dealt, Veroksis grumbling some more as he collects up his cards and begins to look over them. He tilts his head slightly, as if noticing something, while Ki-shar glows dimly by her Gaurdian’s shoulder. Veroksis grins wolfishly behind his helm, before pushing the remainder of his glimmer onto the pile, Drifter looking a little surprised.
“My my Veroksis, thatsa pretty ballsy move partner. Makes me wonder what kinda plan you got,,” Drifter chuckles as he places down a trio of cards; Captain, Archon, and Servitor of Devils. Veroksis chortles behind his helm before speaking.
“Hhrrr,, this one look like he has plan-scheme? Kraken makes plans, Teach-er has plans for many time-places. Veroksis,” the Guardian slides down 5 cards onto the table, revealing the 5 Kells of each House; Kings, Devils, Wolves, Winter, and Exile. Drifter drops the flask of moonshine he was sipping on, the metal clanging onto the concrete floor and spilling the contents, his eyes wide.
Gun fire cracks through the rusting streets of the Parisian Necropolis, semi-automatic fire punctuated by whining wire-rifle discharges. A Fireteam, two Titans and a Warlock was fighting their way through the large avenue, using the decrepit trucks and cars for cover. The Fireteam had followed a large pack of blue draped Fallen to this region of the European Dead Zone, and confirmed their suspicions. The House of Wolves were still active, and on Earth.
Echo-7 lobbed a inciendary grenade into a group of Dregs, setting them alight and getting them to scatter, allowing the Team to advance. “How many do you think there are of these bastards? They look well rooted in here,,” The male Titan looked over to the duo, this was their team to begin with, he was only invited in cause they were missing a third.
The female Exo Titan hummed before taking a few shots from her scout rifle into a Vandal up on a roof top. “Given its been years since we last saw these guys, I might say a few thousand? But who knows, we do not have any outposts out this deep. Could only be a few more dozen and thats it.”
“Given the rate of reproduction documented among the Eliksni, I believe Kraken might be correct in her estimate. Though this does mean we must be cautious in our advance, so we do not get encircled by the Wolves. Plus, given we are deep inside the EDZ, I do not think Commander Zavala may be so generous in sending reinforcements.” The Awoken Warlock spoke up while emptying her hand cannon in to a small group of Repeater Shanks, then tossing an Arc grenade into a building where she spotted a few Vandals. She curses as the grenades comes short however.
Echo is still getting used to the walking xeno-pedia of a Warlock, how she talks as if she was always performing a lecture to Cryptachs. But Tez’sara was quite the skilled fighter, so he keeps mum about it. Plus, its not often you get to fight alongside the Sunbreaker Kraken-9 and her closest companion.
Echo moves forward, swapping to his rapid fire shotgun, and making quick work of a few staggering Dregs. But he is young, and over-eager still. He passes a large over turned truck, as just as he makes it past it, a large figure slams into his side and flings him into a car wreck.
“Echo! Shit, a Captain already? Tez, get a Bomb re-”
“Kraken, that is not a Captain class Eliksni. It looks,, human.”
Kraken blinks behind her helm before she rounds the corner to take a closer look of the new attacker. Echo was rising up from the ground, rubbing his head while the large human like figure skulked against the shade of the truck. The figure was maybe the same height as a Captain, but was much slimmer in stature, and did not have any shock blades or shrapnel cannons. Its gleaming red eyes flicked between the three Guardians in a wary stance, its tapered fingers clicking against one another.
“What in the name of, comere!” Echo raises up his shotgun to take a shot at the new attacker, only to see the figure duck down and scuttle the short distance like a Vandal would, the buck shot missing its target. The attack strikes at the knee, before doing a spinning kick to send Echo’s head down into the hood of the car, resulting in a resounding clang and crunch.
The Figure grips into Echo’s head and gives a violent jerk, snapping the Titan’s neck in a shock of sparks and sputters of oil.
“Wow! Tez, bomb now!” Kraken fires off a few rounds with her scout rifle while Tez leaps into the air, gathering Void energies into her hands, before sending it all crashing down onto the figure. It starts to scuttle away, but the resulting explosion of energy and flying cars clips its, sending it sprawling into the calcified stump of an ancient tree. The being gives a short bark in the Eliksni tongue, before it pulls out an autorifle and spraying at Tez, forcing the awoken female to duck back into cover.
“It appears to be using human weaponry Kraken, I have a suspicion it is not an Eliksni. Human sympathizer? Jury Rigged Exo? Wha-” Tez’sara starts to ramble before getting elbowed in the ribs by Kraken.
“Not now Tez! Shoot first, questions later!”
————————————————————————————————
The firefight continues for some time before Kraken-9 manages to knock out the strange being after the Eliksni had strangely run off following the creature’s barking what seemed to be orders. Echo just had been rezzed, and was checking himself over “What in Felwinter’s mustache is this guy? He does not look,,”
“, like a Fallen? Yeah, we noted that. Plus, guy was using an Hakke autorifle, pretty worn down gear, and well,, “ Kraken answered before looking over to her companion Tez'sara who was inspecting a charred piece of metal, broken off from a smoldering car wreck.
“He could wield the Light. He used some variant of Hunter’s Golden Gun on us. The devastation you see is from the single shot he fired.” Tez'sara indicated the large scorched crater that now took up half of the avenue beside the Fireteam.
Kraken-9 knelt down beside the curious body, before undoing the helmet, slowly and gingerly removing it to see the user. "Well ffff, frakk. It's an Exo. So he's a Guardian. But where is his gh-"
"Right here!" An azure shimmer appeared near Kraken's shoulder, the Ghost's shell a weather white and marine blue. "I tried to talk sense into the idiot, but since you shot and killed some of his nest mates, he kinda just saw red, and went all out."
"You mean to say,, this pack of Eliksni had accepted him into their fold?" Tez'sara quickly trots over, eyes focused on the Ghost.
"Yep! It's been a crazy ride for sure. So, let me introduce ourselves. I'm Ker'shan, and this idiot is Veroksis, Captain in the House of Wolves, under the rule of Baroness Koris."
