AN: THIS STORY WON SECOND PLACE IN THE AUGUST ELIMINATION AWARDS! I am so happy :D Tanis' Arc aesthetic is at the bottom; I've gotten way better at making these since I made this one. Enjoy this particularly long chapter!
The pale colored sands of Mercury emanated blazing heat. The sky was a rich blue, almost overshadowed by the close red sun rays. The guardians positioned themselves across the way from a giant temple. The building was full of different rectangular parts and machinery underneath the sandstone. Behind them was half the city of Ralok, which was in the early stages of evacuation. Echo's army of Exos were there aiding the civilians.
A large number of Vex stood in front of the temple. The robots stared at the guardians with their illuminated red eyes. They held their guns in front of them, ready to strike if anybody made a move. Since there were no Hive in the area, the Vex were complacent with their territory. The guardians stared right back, and waited patiently.
Echo IX stood his ground, spreading his legs apart a bit to gain a better stance. He raised his pulse rifle, pausing to gain accuracy. His finger hovered over the trigger, ready to blow one of those bastard's heads off.
Tanis IV put his hand on the edge of Echo's gun and lowered it. "Don't. They aren't moving."
Echo snorted, "All the more reason to shoot them."
"As much as I'd like to agree with you on that, the Vex aren't attacking." Malachi watched the enemies with the binoculars he had found in the city. The Vex were standing still, as if they were statues. He dropped the binoculars and put his helmet back on. "I'd rather not be thrown into a shit storm if we can avoid it."
"Look at you, all grown up and acting mature," Alaura teased as she checked her gun. She counted the clips she had on her, making sure they were easy to access in case of a battle started.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." Malachi brushed it off and peered out onto the terrain. The land was sand, sand, and more sand for miles after the temple.
Alaura prompted Jarvis to tune into a military frequency through communications. Static erupted within her ears. She questioned in a strong voice, "Is the city completely evacuated?" She was met with nothing but silence and static. "Can anyone hear me? This is Fireteam Riptide reporting in. Is the city completely evacuated?"
Tanis looked back, but had to do a double take. He blinked a few times, unsure of what he just witnessed. "I don't think you need to worry about that."
All of them turned around, and were nearly blinded by light. The city that was once there vanished into thin air, if that were possible. Half of the sun appeared on the horizon, allowing the guardians to see the red flairs and flames it contained. They raised their hands to shield their eyes, and stared out at what was there. Nothing but odd columns and electricity they emitted sat in the ocean of boiling liquid.
Echo ran forward, then immediately stopped. He kicked sand around angrily and yelled at the top of his voice box, "Where did they go? My family was there, my brethren, everyone! They were here to defend the city, and now they're all gone!"
Tanis' mind ran wild with possibilities on what could've happened. All of them frightened, yet intrigued him. Was Vex technology that powerful? "They couldn't have teleported a whole city...could they?"
Dinklebot answered instantly, "We don't know a lot about Vex technology, so it could be possible."
Echo IX halted and stood there, mouth hung open in shock. He whispered softly, mostly to himself, "H-how did they...?" His fingers coiled tighter around the handle of his pulse rifle. Echo attempted to contort his face in anger, but nothing worked. The steel gray plating never moved. He screamed out brokenly and made a mad dash towards the Vex, shooting the entire way. "That was my family! Hundreds of years together and you bastards took them from me!" The Vex screeched mechanically and teleported closer to the guardians.
A sigh echoed over comms, presumably from Dinklebot. Jarvis spoke up, "Our reports say Mercury was transformed into a garden world. The Vex seem to be...altering it, somehow. It's nothing but desert and metal now."
So much for avoiding the shit storm... Malachi ducked from an oncoming hit by a Vex goblin. He swiped the Vex's legs out from underneath itself, and stabbed its midsection before it even hit the ground. "What kind of reality-warping shit is that? Where did it all go?"
"I-" Alaura reloaded her auto rifle while pushing back the horrendous thoughts piling up in her mind. Some of the enemies got closer than she liked, so she launched a grenade at them and kicked some into it. They blew up into pieces, falling to the ground lifeless. She directed Malachi to the Vex on one side before continuing, "I don't want to think about it."
"Why are they doing this?" Tanis punched one of the Vex in the face and drained its life force with energy drain. He almost put his hand to his side, until he noticed it glowed blue instead of purple. Confusion sparked in his mind as he took a second to examine it. It appeared to be the same blue hue that Alaura and Malachi had a few times before...but he hadn't gained any powers yet from it.
Dinklebot listened to all of the ghost's thoughts in his head before he joined in on the conversation, "If our earlier scans are correct, the Vex are transforming the planet into a machine." More Vex marched out of the temple and straight towards the guardians.
Malachi almost snorted in response, "Machine to what? Destroy the galaxy?" A hobgoblin knelt down after getting hit and had a fire shield surrounding it. After a few seconds, it stood up and aimed its gun at Malachi. The guardian yanked the closest goblin into a headlock, causing the sniper blast to hit the Vex instead of him. Malachi dropped the robot and quickly shot at the hobgoblin. It crumbled to the floor.
Jarvis took a moment to process the situation. "We're not exactly sure."
"And with what the Vex have done to this place, can it change us too?" Tanis questioned after taking a few hits from oncoming fire. He pulled out the sidearm from his belt and shot rapidly at as many Vex as he could. Some fell, others pushed forward, unfazed by his attempt. Tanis' blue eyes glanced over towards Echo, who was amidst a group of Vex, slashing and hacking as many as he could with his hunting knife.
"Since we're here during the changes, which are most likely coming from an alternate universe..." Dinklebot paused to consider the possibilities, "...technically, yes."
A Vex minotaur screeched and dove in for a punch. Alaura dodged, grabbing a hold of her fusion rifle as she did. A long held shot fired from the gun, hitting the minotaur, but not causing any damage. Its shield fell, allowing Alaura to use all her power to jump up and knock it backwards with a kick. She had enough time to charge up the fusion rifle again, and aimed it at its core. Within a few seconds, the creature disintegrated into nothingness. She huffed, "Where's the next closest city?"
Macey compiled all of the reports of the cities that were on Mercury, and quickly narrowed it down to the ones that aligned with their most recent scan. Now with the other half of the city gone, there was only one choice. Jarvis reported, "There's one located not too far from here. From our calculations...it could be the last city on the entire planet."
Minutes passed of pure, sweat driven battle. The guardians worked separately in their own little worlds, taking out as many enemies as they could. No matter what they did, more spawned in by the double, making elimination seem like cutting off a hydra's head. Alaura ordered them to keep formation, but there were so many Vex that they tore apart. The guardians scattered into their own sections, forcing them out of a safety zone.
Thoughts crossed Alaura's mind, slowing her down slightly. The near-blinding sun was behind them, while a temple full of a never depleting army of Vex sat in front of them. Why are we still here? Why does this matter? How could the Vex seemingly have army after army spawn in without even reporting to each other?
Alaura ceased her thoughts and decided, "We're protecting nothing at this point. We need to help evacuate that city before they-" Her shoulder lurched forward as a sniper shot burned its way towards her skin through the armor. She hissed from the heat and sent a rocket their way. Alaura finished her sentence, "-before they disappear too." Her mind started to process everything. Worry formed quickly for the safety of her teammates. Could they disappear, too, because of the Vex? What happened to that town of people? The Exos? No, stop. Think of tactics. Blockade the city. Put down traps... Soon, her mind was on overload, thinking of too many things at once. She began to hesitate with each move she made.
Malachi glanced over at Alaura every once in a while, making sure she wasn't going to completely shut down again. He fired his hand cannon at anything he could hit up close. One shot. Two shot. Three. "Alaura is right. We need to get the hell out of here." Echo IX still took his anger and loss out on the enemies, blasting as many away as he could. Tanis stayed close to him, monitoring him out of worry. Except, he didn't pay attention to his own surroundings. Malachi called out, "Tanis, to your left!"
The Warlock whipped around and threw his hand out, hitting the first hobgoblin. While it crouched down in a fiery blaze, he attacked the rest of the goblins that accompanied it. Once the hobgoblin stood up, Tanis kicked its head off and shot it in its abdomen. "Thanks."
Alaura attempted to throw out a void bubble, but the purple light flickered and died instantly. She shot a whole clip of ammo at the oncoming enemies, resisting the urge to put her hands on her head to ease the pain her thoughts created. Her mind became clouded and pounded against her ears. She pushed herself to keep going, yet it only made things worse.
The Titan took a moment to breathe. Focus. Focus. Not calming down will get someone killed. She hooked her auto rifle onto her back, and punched any enemies that came her way. The runaway train of thoughts crashed against the walls of her mind, causing her to flinch. She held herself together, and instead of breaking down, she turned the pain into energy. The concept of the Light given by The Traveler enveloped her mind, almost to a point where she could physically see it. She pushed all of her emotions and thoughts away, focusing on nothing but the Light.
Her hands began to grow hot with energy, as if she dug her hands right into the burning sands itself. Then, it felt as if she had been buried alive in it. Fire burned from her skin and through her armor, creating a fireball. Her red eyes flickered around as she noticed she's surrounded by minotaurs and goblins. Hobgoblins shot at her from afar, but each bullet that penetrated her armor didn't hurt her at all. Alaura went in for a punch, but when she attempted to curl her hand up, she noticed she was carrying something. A hammer with an eagle-like head. A sense of empowerment washed over her. She threw the hammer at the enemies, watching them disintegrate one-by-one.
Tanis reloaded his weapon and glimpsed up towards the temple. A blue haze settled in, and with little bolts of lightning, more Vex spawned in. There were a lot of giant ones Tanis didn't recognize. Dinklebot informed him they were Hydras and Cyclops. The guardian's mood plummeted and he responded via communications, "If they follow us, we're going to have a huge problem."
Alaura didn't respond. She lifted herself up into the air and threw one last hammer. Then, the fire disappeared. Her body dropped in temperature, even though her skin simmered. She pulled out her rocket launcher and used it on the remaining Vex below her. She didn't pay attention to the newly spawned Vex, allowing the Cyclops' blast to catch her off guard. It shot a giant purple bolt at her, burning her on impact and sending her straight into a thick pillar across the battlefield. Her back hit the pillar straight on at a fast rate, a loud crunch sound accompanying it; Alaura fell to the ground unconscious.
Tanis IV yelled out at the top of his voice box, "No!" A surge of worry shot through him. He fought his way towards her, using all of his clip to make a path. Blue mist and clouds rolled in, slowly but steadily.
Echo IX noticed, and followed him over there. If he could help save a teammate for Tanis, then he'd give it his all. He didn't want the poor guy to feel the same agony he currently had. He took down any Vex that dared to get close to Tanis.
Malachi jerked to see where she landed, and before he could think, he was already running towards her. Panic clouded his mind; his long, steady breaths turned into short, spastic ones. "Alaura!" He jumped and knifed some Vex that stood in his path, yet none of them stopped him.
A ghost with a black shell materialized in front of Alaura. Jarvis scanned her body, looking for any remnants of life. His accented voice heightened as he started freaking out, "A ghost without a guardian has failed...they're better off dead."
Enemies swarmed around Alaura and Jarvis, intending to finish them off. Malachi pushed himself to run faster, soon surpassing Tanis and Echo. Macey put words on the screen of his visor, but he disregarded them completely. Echoes of his sister's voice bounced off the walls of his mind. He lost one before.
He wasn't going to again.
How do I jump start my powers? Say 'flame on'? Do some kind of hand motion and jump? How- Malachi stopped his own train of thought and narrowed his focus down to his panic. The heart in his chest pounded against his bones. His hands were moving so fast, back and forth with slashing at any Vex he could see, that he didn't need to think about it. Just react. The more he focused on his abilities and motions, the more his body emitted the same blue light from earlier.
With each moment, he became quicker and flew through the air. He screamed out as he scraped the hunting knife against the Vex, jabbing at any place he could. Electricity enveloped him, making him emit a bright blue aura. Knife. Jab. Swish. Bodies dropped down to the ground faster than he could count.
When the power died out, he snatched his hand cannon from his belt and fired. He used one goblin as a launching platform and jumped into the air, landing on a minotaur's back. He shot multiple shots down into its body, causing the Vex to spasm in an attempt to throw the guardian off. The hand cannon clicked when it ran out of ammo; Malachi instantly reached for his sniper rifle and shot without looking down the scope. One. Two. Three. Four. The last of the remaining Vex surrounding his fallen teammate fell onto the burning sand. The minotaur's body collapsed underneath him, hitting the ground with a thud.
Malachi breathed heavily and looked around, noticing Tanis slide in the sand next to Alaura. Echo stopped a little ways away to hold off the oncoming troops, firing his shotgun like no tomorrow. He joined in, side-by-side with Echo, killing anything he could shoot at. They were the only line of defense.
Dinklebot scanned Alaura's body, coming up with no sign of life. Her heart stopped completely. Tanis frantically moved his hands, unsure of what to do. Jarvis yelled and panicked, but said nothing that could help. Tanis' mind thought back to anything he could, Venus academy, his studies...Then it hit him. On the battlefield, he saw soldiers performing CPR. It wasn't the best idea, but it was a start.
Tanis moved Alaura onto her back, a sense of nervousness washing through his mind. He moved his hands, but immediately stopped. The clouds and blue mist that had formed just moments before were now surrounding him; his entire body emitted the blue light again, but this time, lightning sparked off of his armor. Jarvis cried out.
Dinklebot caught onto what was happening. The ghost retained his calm composure and instructed, "Tanis, this can save her. Use your powers on Alaura. It can't hurt her, but we haven't tried to influence the powers to save someone before."
The Warlock closed his eyes, pushing out the worry and panic from within. He fixated on his powers, feeling the Light flow through his entire being. A surge of powerful energy snapped within his body, and electricity flew out of his hands. Alaura's body jerked spastically. After a few seconds, he stopped using the electricity on Alaura, and aimed it at the enemies coming up on Malachi's side.
Malachi yelled out, his voice rich in worry, "Tanis, is she alive?"
Dinklebot scanned his teammate, resulting in nothing. Malachi called his name a few more times, impatiently waiting for a clear answer. Tanis ignored him. Panic only made the situation worse. Tanis performed the makeshift defibrillator on her a few more times, until Dinklebot came up with a positive reading. Tanis IV called out in relief, "She's alive! Her spine is broken, but she's alive."
Jarvis stopped panicking and scanned her another time to make sure they were correct. He floated around, making sure he didn't miss anything important during his scan. His voice came out nearly broken, "How d-do we move her without making it worse?"
"You don't," Dinklebot responded plainly.
Malachi let out a sigh of relief. He got closer to his teammates and ordered, "Ghosts, get the jumpships. We need to get her to that city. There has to be a doctor there." A heavy weight lifted off of his chest and he thought to himself. We got you, Alaura. We got you.
The ghosts did as they were told and transported the guardians to the other city. They teleported them down to the ground once the jumpships hovered over the middle of the city, giving them the prime spot to find some help.
Malachi instantly scooped Alaura up in his arms and ran through the street screaming, "We need a doctor!"
"Everyone needs to evacuate! Head to Earth!" Tanis hollered as loud as he could. People in the buildings around him started to move faster towards their homes to evacuate. Tanis called the warning out a few more times, until he noticed Echo IX standing there, staring out at the tall buildings in the city. The Hunter's hand balled into a fist and shook lightly. Tanis reached out to touch his shoulder and questioned, "Echo, are you okay?"
Echo instinctively peered down at the ground. He failed to come up with a response. Tanis stood in front of him, trying to catch his attention. He wasn't sure on what he could do to help, or how to feel about the situation. Tanis hadn't lost anything before this, according to his memory. The only thing he could come up with was, "I'm sorry about your family."
Echo IX reached out and hugged him. Tanis hesitated for a second, weirded out by the sudden action. He couldn't remember the last time he hugged somebody. The situation was there in the back of his mind, and the feeling of returning the hug felt so familiar. Echo backed away, causing Tanis to snap out of his memory search. Tanis glanced over to the way his teammates went, then back to the Hunter. "Get to Earth. We'll take it from here."
The two parted ways, allowing Tanis to spread the warning throughout the town. By the time he found Malachi, ten minutes had passed. Malachi stared from behind a glass window at a doctor performing surgery in the operation room. His helmet was off to the side on a chair. He ran a hand down his mouth stressfully, grazing through the stubble growing on his chin.
A metaphorical heavy weight dropped right onto Tanis' chest plate. His blue optics flickered between the operation and his worried teammate. Malachi didn't look too happy, which didn't mean anything good. Tanis stood next to him, taking a pause before he asked quietly, "Is she going to be all right?"
Malachi refused to think about the reality of the situation. The possibilities were endless. Most ended up in a negative manner. Death. Paralysis. Losing limbs. He gulped, internally hoping that golden age technology was advanced enough to help. Malachi cleared his throat, "We need to help evacuate the city."
"What abo-"
Malachi cut him off stressfully, "We're more useful out there than we are in here. It's what Alaura would've wanted." He pushed passed Tanis and headed out the door. Tanis put his hands up in confusing, portraying the emotion since he couldn't express it facially. He followed after his teammate to help the citizens of the last city on Mercury.