rekindledtitan | Excerpt 001: Enquiring Minds

rekindledtitan

TYPE: Patrol log

LOCATION: Ishtar Sink, Venus

PARTIES: Three [3]. One [1] Ghost-type, [1] Guardian-type, designate Blaze-37, Class Titan [

rekindledtitan ], One [1] Unconfirmed, designate Aran, Samus [

onemorebounty ]

ASSOCIATIONS: Multiversal Nexus; Samus Aran; Chozo; Ishtar Sink; Hezen Protective; Pelsor; House of Winter; Drevis; Blaze-37; Ishtar Academy

They land in a clearing on the city outskirts with grass under their boots and a heavy overcast above. The breeze that greets them is hot and humid, a little acidic. Around them is a densely-grown treeline, with broad leaves that are near-luminescent shades of green. Their rustle is echoed by the distant wash of waves from beyond the ruins.

Blaze turns to scan the area, hopeful of opposition even though her Ghost already checked the site. The broken towers and city blocks are quiet within the overgrowth. But then it’s not the human ruins which really stand out. To the north a massive volcano takes up much of the sky, belching out a noxious plume of ash and gas. Small wonder that each shift in the breeze makes the scent of the air waver between sulfurous and salty. Over the hills to both south and east loom dark geometric structures. Look at them with anything other than the optical spectrum, and they emit some very peculiar readings.

“At last,” the Exo remarks, feeling a thrill that doesn’t break her readiness. Her head’s turned up to check the skyline as she speaks. Then she's moving for the buildings. “We’re in Guardian territory, more or less. Doesn’t stretch too far yet. Won’t take long to find some trouble.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

rekindledtitan

The infantry outside are in two neat lines, one staggered behind the other to give clear lines of fire. It's harder to see the floating units, but they seem to have adopted a similar formation off to the left flank. On top of that, the rest of the drones are up on the central platform, arrayed to fire down at the entrance. Behind them drifts something big, veiled by a glimmering shield.

"It's a sound maneuver." Blaze is bemused, not used to having such a tactically-inclined partner along. "I could break their line, no problem, but that's a smart move. Only thing is, my grenade-"

She turns her left hand over, fingers half curled around a bright orb of energy. "It's not mechanical. I'll try making it slower, but I can't make any promise on the timing."

From:

onemorebounty

You're already sparking, and we have a lot of citadel left to break. Besides, the harder we hit them now, just the two of us, the more they have to consider when they start counting how many of your people there are.

*The revelation about the flash-bang is a little disappointing, but informative.*

Ah. Alright, we'll make the best of it, then. Even if they aren't blinded, they'll expect us to charge out after it pops.

From:

rekindledtitan

She glances down at the damage and shrugs it off. "Ah, maintenance cycles are taking care of that. Give it a minute, it'll seal. But hey, I'll go with your plan. Guess the sooner we clean up the small fry the sooner we get to a real opponent."

She looks down at the grenade in her hand, concentrating as she works out how to change the release of energy. After a few seconds it dims, going from a brilliant spark to a bright orb of light wrapped in a strong electrical field. Blaze cocks her head, inspecting it.

"Think that's done it. Ready?"

From:

onemorebounty

Field repairs. Good to know.

*She nods.*

Ready. Do you want to pop up near the snipers, or behind the big one?

*She's got either set of coordinates ready, waiting only on the burst of the flashbang to go. She'd like to hide the PINpoint's energy signature in the general EM confusion as much as possible.*

From:

rekindledtitan

"Heh. That a trick question? Let's go for the big one." That cheering prospect in mind, Blaze steps around the corner and sends the grenade bouncing gently into the center of the assembled ranks. Not quite where she'd intended, but the longer fuse means bouncing it into the air isn't an option.

She pulls back a little, just enough to avoid the inevitable detonation. Her fiddling seems to have worked: the orb remains where it fell, glowing gently as the Vex around it flinch and lift their gun arms to shield their single optics.

Five, six...

Chattering to one another in hard tones, they lower their arms, retrain their sights on the doorway.

Seven, eight, ni-

And the grenade erupts in light and Light and a ringing thunderclap. OK, not twelve seconds. It's a first try.

From:

onemorebounty

*It did what it was meant to, catching the Vex with their guard down. The portal snaps open, and Samus dives through, trusting Blaze to do the same--she'll close it as quickly as she can, the better to keep the Vex from spotting it, and starts scanning the big enemy for weaknesses.*

From:

rekindledtitan

Blaze is with her, rifle raised. Before them the newest Vex turns to look down upon this sudden challenge.

//A hydra,// Blaze mutters appreciatively. It must be three times the height of the minotaurs, with jutting ribs sweeping from its segmented, serpentine body. Armor-laden as it is, it floats gracefully above the ancient stone, the side facing them veiled by the large rectangular shield which moves counterclockwise around it. Something much more than a standard energy shield: three can play with dimensions here. Blaze fires a fusion round into it, testing, but that doesn't make a scratch.

The hydra trains a brilliant blue optic on them, the one point left unarmored. Then the cannons either side of its broad head open up, right through its shield. Twin streams of concussive purple fire scour into the stone. Even Blaze moves fast to avoid them.

From:

onemorebounty

Safe to say, then, that we've risen in their estimation?

*Samus dives aside, turning a leap into a handspring and giving the hydra's shield a prod with the wave beam. While she has faith in her armor, she's in no hurry to test it against that weapon. She is interested to see if she can lure it into scoring a few friendly-fire kills while trying to tag her. It'll be a tricky line to walk, looking like the easier target without actually being it. As she tumbles, a question occurs to her.*

Hydra, minotaur--are those your people's names for the types, or theirs?

From:

rekindledtitan

//Kinda flattering, isn't it?//

The hydra is wary of firing too close to its own troops, and will angle and maneuver to try and protect itself without doing so. Its shield seems impervious to anything thrown at it - but covering the hydra's body, it doesn't reach the ground, so anything thrown in there will have an effect.

Or one can try to circle around its limited coverage and hit it from another angle. That's the route Blaze takes, and while her shots are hitting its armor, they aren't having much effect.

//Ours, I think. Unless the Collective decoded them but-// Circling brings her into line with the remaining infantry, abandoning the courtyard exits to advance onto the bridge. They gladly start taking shots, aiming to pin her between themselves and their guiding Mind. //-seems unlikely. Ow. Look out for the little guys.//

From:

onemorebounty

Good to know. If it'd been theirs, I would start wondering if this were a time-displaced, heavily cyberized offshoot of humans, trying to reclaim the planets they remember owning from occupants not like themselves. That gets irritating, fast.

*That the shield doesn't go all the way to the ground is something Samus notices quickly, and she decides to capitalize on it in her usual way--diving for the opening and tucking into her morph ball to try to fit through the gap. If she can, she'll see about climbing the hydra from inside its shields, and take another shot at that sensitive-looking eye.*

From:

rekindledtitan

//Nice dive- wait, is that a real thing?//

Oh, the hydra doesn't like this. It's covered in nice ridged handholds, and the last thing it wants is an opponent using them. It coils and writhes, trying to shake her off and bring her into its minions' line of fire. Blaze switches to her pulse rifle to try and distract it with a few shots to the head, but she's been entirely dropped as a priority.

From:

onemorebounty

Thanks. And Nexus--anything's possible. A renegade time lord did something similar, in one Facet that I heard of.

*Samus' answer comes punctuated with pauses and grunts as she clings like a burr to the hydra. She may be working with one hand and two feet, but she's got mag-locks in her boots, a phenomenal grip with her armor's power-assist, and murder in mind. She'd even risk suffering a few hits from the hydra's beams in order to hold on and keep climbing, because the hydra's distress has told her something very important: she's on the right path to killing it, and it knows that.*

*So kind of it to tell her.*

From:

rekindledtitan

The hydra's perfectly willing to try and scour Samus off. It turns to bring her into line with its shield, still firing. The blasts of energy are concentrated in the enclosed space, shocks bouncing off the inside of that barrier so that the hydra's bathing itself in void fire.

//Get behind it!// Screw the guns. Blaze charges into that fire from the open side, ramming a crackling fist into the hydra's lower segments. It doesn't hurt much, but it messes with the monster's propulsion, makes it waver in the air.

Blaze reaches up, hands closing on the highest holds she can reach. Almost embracing the hydra now, the Titan hauls, wrenching it around and away until its fire turns toward the other troops advancing to help it. She can feel stone breaking as she digs in for purchase, dragging the hydra down to steady it for the Hunter.

From:

onemorebounty

*Samus grunts when she gets her first taste of the reflected beams--interesting that it can bounce them off the shield it previously fired through, though this is perhaps not the time to appreciate that. She scrambles as quickly as she can from handhold to handhold, wriggling as she goes to make herself a somewhat more difficult target. Blaze's advice is taken with a quick bark of thanks and an effort in that direction.*

*Samus is also looking for a chance to catch hold of its head with her grapple beam--not, this time, to pull it off balance, but to pull herself in close. The barrel of her arm cannon is going to be smashing right into those delicate optics, the impact punctuated with a point-blank missile. Wrapping her arm and legs around the head and neck as best she can, she pours plasma into the damage, firing as quickly as she can.*

From:

rekindledtitan

Blaze knows exactly when Samus reaches her target. At the first shot the hydra goes into a heightened frenzy, thrashing hard enough to yank her off the ground and slam her to her knees. Blaze tries to get a foothold again. The cannons can't target Samus as long as she's wrapped close enough to the head, but if she falls...

Can the Vex feel fear? Or pain? They must feel something. She can certainly feel the Darkness surge as her comrade fills its pet Mind with fire. Blaze can't help it. It's dying, and she's laughing.

At least until a particularly furious spasm throws the Guardian bodily into the stone blocks on the bridge - and the regrouping Vex. By the time she pulls herself to her feet, two of the hovering drones open a hail of fire on her. Her trackers show nothing but red, so Blaze slams her fists down and lets the Light loose in a thunderous impact and a surge of electrical energy. She almost misses the hydra starting to fall apart, its power core destabilizing violently in a last burst of spite.

From:

onemorebounty

*Samus clings doggedly, feeling the hydra start to break up under her. Once Blaze has been flung clear, though, and the big Vex's breakdown seems irreversible, Samus lets go as well. Her shields are close enough to critical, she'd rather not push them further than she has to--and there's a courtyard full of other Vex who need to be told.*

NO ONE ESCAPES!

*Those airbone drones will be her first targets.*

From:

rekindledtitan

Samus' fury is punctuated by the hydra's remains exploding behind her. Bits of wreckage crash through the Vex remains and orbs of Light drifting in Blaze's wake, and her circuits surge in answer. Their formation's broken, and the field is clear for some wholesale carnage.

She vaults over the stone to get to the targets beyond, slinging another floating harpy up to join the one Samus is wrecking. The little infantry units can still pack a punch up close, but now they're scattered and leaderless, knocking them apart is just fun. She won't bother drawing her guns again until the bridge is clear. Those snipers are still active, though...

From:

onemorebounty

((Thank you for that lovely backlighting.))

*With the air support down, and Blaze making beautiful inroads on the ground troops, Samus makes the snipers her next target. Leap after leap after leap, kicking off of the thrust of her jump-jets, carries the Hunter on a bobbing, erratic path up to the first. Like Blaze, she'll be working with her hands while her reserves are low, although she's not above commandeering a sniper's weapon if she can, to take shots at some of the others.*

From:

rekindledtitan

(( Any time. ))

Just like their predecessors, the snipers are quick to hunker down in their stasis fields as soon as they're hit too hard. At close range, it turns out the stasis fields are both impenetrable and mildly damaging to anything in punching distance. More dangerously, the other snipers are quick to shoot at Samus while their comrade shields itself. But the stasis is still only temporary, and it works just as well to cover her from any snipers behind it.

As for their line rifles, the weapons are remarkably light: they don't contain their own power source, and they're not used for melee fighting. Like the other small infantry, the cornered sniper units prefer to deliver a slap of projected energy from their raised left palm. Each gun obeys a strange hand for two or three shots before shutting down. Apparently the Vex have a three-strike rule on friendly fire.

From:

onemorebounty

*If the sniper in arm's reach wants to offer Samus cover while she fires back at its comrades, that'll do. At the very least, it's heat that she can keep off of Blaze. She's fighting more cautiously now, though, as her shields are running low and she hasn't yet had time to--oh, wait, she chides herself as she remembers, then slings her grapple beam at the next-nearest sniper. Sometimes, she can drain enemies' power supplies and personal shields to replenish her own, and this would be an ideal time for it. She just hopes she'll get lucky with regard to these stasis fields.*

From:

rekindledtitan

Just like the minotaurs, the sniper has a very limited local power supply - but crack it open and it starts pulling in a lot more from somewhere, trying to draw enough to wrap itself in stasis. Perhaps it can even lock its enemy down with it. If Samus is quick to steal it, though, there's an all-you-can-drain connection in there.

Freed from worrying about the snipers or those pesky drones, Blaze has an easy time clearing the bridge. She takes a moment to sight on her friend, then tosses another grenade down at the stragglers below.

//How're those snipers?//

From:

onemorebounty

Distracted. And delicious.

*Samus has gleefully plundered that deep well of power, and the seams of her armor are aglow with the excess. She's having fun, lassoing snipers and throwing them at each other, letting their own stasis shields hurt one another.*

Having fun down there?

From:

rekindledtitan

//Delicious? What're you doing with them?//

Blaze has finally drawn her pulse rifle, and the rapid three-round bursts sound out as she picks off the Vex from the high ground. What's left of them. Her grenades might emphasize the flash and bang, but the explosive component is pretty strong too.

//Just some target practice. Going to run out pretty soon. But that conduit's staying down: looks like we'll have time for a clear run at the door.//

From:

onemorebounty

Pulling power from their systems. And wherever they're getting it, apparently plenty to share.

*A flick of the grapple line flings a sniper down into the courtyard; if the fall doesn't kill it, Blaze surely will.*

I'm back to a full charge, up here.

*There's something to be said for the simple pleasures in life, like mopping up a thoroughly-won fight.*

From:

rekindledtitan

Blaze makes an understanding noise and puts a burst into the twitching sniper, just to make sure. //We just salvage the materials. Haven't dug into the ammunition much yet, but my Ghost can pull some programmable matter out of them.//