You've Got Time

We're Not Conceding

This is the part where the needle skips
And the chorus plays like a sink that drips
A syllable repeating, like a warning we aren't heeding
Until all of a sudden we noticed it
When the wheels brace and the tires grip
A map we've been misreading
A defeat we're not conceding

This Is Letting Go - Rise Against

-

June 03, 2950, 09:30; Waking Ruins, Venus

Doing the gig the Vanguard way had its benefits. This was no harebrained scheme. A strike team cleared the way ahead of them. They had lookouts and sniper support. The Vanguard coordinated several other attacks on Vex installations nearby in an attempt to distract the Hezen Protective (Azra could have told them it wouldn't work, but the thought was nice). Fireteam Dauntless rolled up to the Vault of Glass with full magazines, still shiny-clean and unscuffed.

It was a perfectly normal Venusian day, overcast and humid. The Vex were out in full force. They knew. Azra couldn't decide if it was worrying or comforting- did they know they had enough reinforcements, or were they so focused on this time because they knew they would lose?

There was precious little room for thought when they broke through the treeline. Azra didn't have time to get distracted with old memories and cast-off bits of the future. The only moment was now. Keep tabs on her teammates, the Vex, the dully gleaming door. Listen for the comms chatter and the sound of arcing lasers and the mechanical groans.

They, the six of them, fought their way through the ranks with practiced efficiency. Azra ducked and weaved between the attacks and breathed the filtered air her helmet provided with careful purpose. Half of her mind was focused on the Vex and their movements, while the other half studied the sky overhead and the direction of the wind and the feeling of the ground through her gloves as she passed her weight from her feet to her hands and back again.

On Veera's signal they split- Sulla and Wahida-14, Tapio and Veera, Azra and Sylas-4- to their plates. It was a good way to divide the team; Wahida's flightiness balanced by Sulla's battering ram-esque style, Veera and Tapio's sheer damage potential, and Sylas-

He and Azra got along. He was flexible and even-tempered enough for her, she was keen and serious enough for him. They made it work. He took care of the close-range combat while she thinned the herds in the middle distance. They talked.

"Is this like last time?" Sylas punched a Praetorian in the face. His knee caught it in the gut as it staggered, and the unit went down.

Azra peered down the scope of her Scout and picked off a Goblin that was edging on Wahida. "Not really," she muttered. "More Vex, but more backup. And it was sunny, then."

Sylas unholstered his rifle. "I don't believe I've ever seen it sunny on Venus."

"It can be beautiful," Azra said. "The undergrowth never really gets dry, but up in the mountains it can be downright pleasant at times."

"Almost there," Spark announced. "Just a few more seconds."

Just a few more seconds.

"Listen," she said, suddenly thinking of her previous rearguard, "I'm not upset Pahanin made it out. If you, like, need to-"

"I'm not leaving anyone behind," Sylas said.

"But-"

"That's final. I don't abandon my teammates." His tone brokered no arguments.

Azra frowned and studied the spire. The last few pieces were just sliding into place. The Vex were fleeing the battlefield. "There was nothing he could have done," she said.