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.”

Comments

[rekindledtitan]

//Got it. Just don't stand too close to it.// She beats her way free of the nearest vandals, saving the last couple of scorch rounds as she maneuvers to get a clear shot.

The Wolf shows no fear at Samus' shift in weaponry - but under the lash of that beam, his taunting abruptly turns to a howl of pain. His shields don't even have a chance to flicker before they're stripped away. He staggers and tries to lunge aside, fur-trimmed armor blackening as inbuilt systems fight to stop him roasting inside it.

Blaze can't stop to admire the show, alas. She lands a boiling orb of solar energy under the servitor. She lets it detonate fast and succeeds in planting the second bomb right on the smooth black shell. A high whine builds as it charges, turning nearly white.

[onemorebounty]

*Lunging is no help--Samus matches the Wolf, move for move, and the beam of the wavebuster bends and writhes to remain attached. If the Wolf is angling back toward the servitor, then Samus is angling away, circling to keep out of the blast radius of whatever Blaze is going to do. Which looks spectacular, by the way.*

Nice shot.

[rekindledtitan]

//Thanks. Think these rounds track a little.// That was her last one, so she holds it until the last second before letting go off. Afterwards, though it's webbed with glowing cracks, the servitor's still up. She drops the cannon and closes in, hitting it with a blast from her fusion rifle to finish it off. //Tough servitors. Must be important.//

The Wolf is on his knees when it shatters. But the machine's destruction brings his head up, four eyes burning blue beneath the bent wings of his helm. He roars in fury and pain, surging back to his feet through sheer willpower. He's weakened - he's failed - but he intends to rain explosives on them for this blow.

//His friends seem pretty mad at us... and I'm detecting a strange signature in the Vex network. Great.// Not that there are more than a handful of cloaked Fallen left, at this point.

[onemorebounty]

It's their beachhead inside a Vex stronghold. That sounds important to me.

*As the Wolf forces itself to its feet, Samus stops the wavebuster, opting to conserve heavy weapon energy for the moment. Her enemy gets a moment's respite as she charges up a more mundane shot from the wave beam. She hopes, though doesn't expect, that the abrupt end of the wavebuster will throw him off balance long enough for her to stun him with the charged wave beam. It's nice to hope.*

We've cleaned up their houseguest problem, they're probably hoping to step in and roll over us while we're still tired from the fight. Thanks for the heads-up.

[rekindledtitan]

//...You're welcome. Incidentally, I'd just like to point out that we've been cleared to drop this section of the Citadel.//

The Wolf rocks as he's first released and then hit again. He powers through it, holding down the trigger on that launcher and throwing blast after blast at them- but he is on his feet through sheer willpower now, and it can only take him so far. His surviving crew rally to try and draw Samus' fire from him; even the last snipers have descended from their perches to get a clear shot. Blaze has her rifle lifted to meet them, since Samus has their boss on his last legs.

//Okay. Once I get you into these machines, pull any more data the Wolves left and get us set to drop.//

The Vex don't intend to let anyone recover, let alone hijack bits of their architecture again. Well past the servitors' former position, at the very end of the platform, the black mist forms once more. Did anyone want to see some Vex prototype weapons?

[onemorebounty]

*Samus springs aside, leaping and tumbling to make herself a difficult target for the Wolf, firing back with rapid pulses from the wave beam. She knows by now that she can trust Blaze to cover her, and so angles her dodges to carry her closer to her foe--into grapple line range. She latches on to his weapon, looking to either pull it from his grasp or pull him off his feet and to her.*

*The black mist forming gets barely a glance, though, as she needs to focus on the battle at hand for another moment.*

You'd think they could thank us before killing us.

[rekindledtitan]

//Guess gratitude wouldn't be efficient.// With targets appearing on both sides, Blaze works on taking down the Wolves before she has to keep the Vex busy. Although even as they start materializing, the machines don't move to advance, so they have a few more seconds of respite.

In the meantime, the Wolf Samus is dueling loses patience with this maddening and blasphemous foe. He spreads his clawed fists in challenge- and then her grapple line all but plucks the big launcher from his hand, leaving him momentarily off-balance in both senses.

[onemorebounty]

*Samus is quick to take up the grenade launcher for herself, leveling it at her opponent and squeezing the trigger. She'll be quite amused if she can kill him with his own weapon.*

If efficiency trumps manners, then let's kill them quickly so they can appreciate it.

[rekindledtitan]

Instinct prompts the Wolf to teleport aside, sparing him the first few rounds- but that launcher was made for spamming, and she'll swiftly be able to catch and hammer him off his feet.

Blaze might be laughing at that. Or Samus' suggestion. Both! The remaining Fallen see the way the fight is going; still, it's only when their leader falls for the last time that they fall back, briefly at a loss: a few hunker down and teleport out there and then. Blaze abandons them and turns to charge the Vex.

As she does, a high tone resonates through the air, the toll of a strange bell. Something else appears behind the cohort of machines: a cube that shines with a blinding golden light, that bends space and time and reality with its gaze. And it's looking at them, Hunter and Guardian and Fallen alike.

The Ghost is briefly perplexed by the readings, and then cries out in terror: //The light behind the Vex! Destroy it now!//

[onemorebounty]

They're thanking us in person, how nice.

*Samus has an arm-cannon and a borrowed... spam-bomber? It probably has a better name, but that's not what's important. Two guns: no waiting. She charges at the cube, unloading as much fire as she can send downrange on the way.*

[rekindledtitan]

//Even breaking out the good weapons!//

Spurred on by the Ghost's fear, Blaze throws a grenade ahead of their charge. It doesn't do much to the mystery cube, but it softens and blinds the Vex line, helping them punch through to their primary target. A big minotaur comes teleporting from the side to try and break their charge- and yet the damage is already done. The cube flares bright and disintegrates under the combined fire of two heavy guns and a couple of fusion blasts.

//Huh. Kinda anticlimactic. What was it?// The remaining Vex are no big deal, Blaze thinks. Even the Fallen, if they remain, have left off attacking.

The Ghost's panic is not receding. //Ontological weaponry! More are coming! You have to destroy them quickly or they'll write us out of existence!//

//...Oh.//

[onemorebounty]

Ontological weaponry.

*Shards. When the Vex get riled up, they fight like Chozo. Samus launches a grapple at the nearest one--she needs to siphon off a recharge now. An overcharge, if she can get it.*

Blaze, Ghost, find a terminal. I'll pop cubes as they come, we need to drop this place as soon as we can.

[rekindledtitan]

//On it.// So. The circular gate structures around the edges of the platform look like they're wired up to more bits of Wolf tech. The Vex haven't even tried to use them. Plus it's the closest place to start. Blaze throws aside a goblin and hightails it to the nearest console. She can ignore the fire on her back until her Ghost's deployed, then turn to defend it.

The goblin Samus grabs doesn't have the all-you-can-drain option of a sniper model - one big gulp of energy and it's dead. There are three or four in range, but she'll only have seconds to work.

[onemorebounty]

*She'll take what she can from the one she's got, and siphon another, shooting the rest to clear some space. While she'd like to find someone with that deeper, unhindered connection, she realizes the Vex have probably accounted for that trick of hers by now, and her attention needs to be focused on shooting down the ontological weapons before they can fire. At least a lack of snipers means they don't need to worry about that particular type of enemy support fire.*

[rekindledtitan]

More Vex are spawning all around them, but even before the guards appear two tones ring out in quick succession. The oracle lights appear on either side of the platform, one almost hidden by the broken metal and stone around it.

While she's got some breathing space, Blaze leaves her rifle aside and pulls the loaded rocket launcher from her back. Regular Vex can wait; they're the least of the threats here. So long as Samus doesn't cross her line of fire, she can probably take out the more visible of the two oracles. Or the guard Vex teleporting in around it, either would be worth the ammunition now.

//This connection will work! Give me a few more minutes: I can get this!//

[onemorebounty]

*With Blaze going after one of the cubes, Samus leaps for the other. The jets that help her to jump also turn her leap into a flying somersault, her suit's shields catching the jets' waste plasma as they did before, molding it into a protective, destructive shield around her. The oracle will have the honor of being the first Vex to have a taste of her famous screw attack.*

[rekindledtitan]

The oracle didn't see that coming. Her fiery plunge shatters both the reality-warping construct and the goblin standing too close in an attempt to defend it. Blaze's oracle goes a few seconds later, since its guards sacrificed themselves in blocking the first rocket.

The constructs seem relatively fragile for all the power they wield. Knowing this, the Vex are escalating their attempts - the tones chime twice again. One oracle appears atop the highest of the Vex structures. The other... is at the far end of the big platform, near the way the intruders entered. It's right behind the bulk and the shield of the big hydra that just materialized.

Although the Vex have made a mistake Samus might laugh at. That hydra's looking solely at the oracle-slayers in front of it. Not the top of the wall behind it, which ripples ever-so-slightly with the tell of a cloak...

[onemorebounty]

*Samus would like that phrase embroidered on a cushion: "The oracle didn't see that coming." For now, though, she spots the cubes coming in, and notes that hint of a cloak.*

Blaze, do whatever you do for luck, and focus fire on the high cube.

*She, too, will be firing on the cube atop the tallest structure--even at her fastest, the wave beam is faster. She only hopes its electrical field can slow down or disrupt whatever strangeness the oracles use as their own weapon. She's going to desperately hope that the enemy of her enemy can be useful just once.*

[rekindledtitan]

Or perhaps inside some sort of helmet made with an oracle shard? Or engraved on a weapon, even. Loot possibilities!

Blaze isn't about to refuse. She's sliding the last two rockets she's got into the tubes and snapping the launcher closed. A charging goblin gets all the arc energy she has in her fist, disintegrating under the blow.

//What about the other?// she asks, as she locks sights and releases the missile. The oracle wavers under the assaulting beam, then shatters as the rocket streaks in for the kill. //We have to get at it-//

Even in the moment she asks, however, the blade descends. The cloaked Wolf drops onto the oracle, sinking twin swords into the Vex construct and discharging all their power into it. The oracle flares even brighter for a split second. Then it dies, leaving only its assassin standing there revealed. The serpentine overmind above it begins to turn. The Wolf, quick-witted, swords abandoned, dives beneath its floating tail and rolls between two lesser Vex in its bid to escape.

[onemorebounty]

Alliance of convenience; I'd suggest we let that one live, for now. It and the hydra can fight it out.

*She knows that not-killing an enemy is an alien idea to Blaze, but Samus hopes her ally will take consolation in the thought that he'll probably die in the colony drop, if not sooner, unless he manages to teleport out.*

Spheres and cubes. I don't suppose your faction has pyramids you report to?

[rekindledtitan]

//Mmh.// But the kill-stealing Wolf did just effectively distract the hydra from unloading its cannons on the very exposed Titan opposite, so Blaze has to admit there's something in it. //Guess he's not a primary target anyhow.// Not the biggest or the most dangerous. Save him for last.

Besides, he's avoided the Vex fire long enough to cloak again. She'd have to find him to kill him.

//Pyraamids? Hah. We've got the biggest sphere of all! How's it looking, Ghost?//

//Just a little longer...//

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/i-9SQbqd9/0/1050x10000/i-9SQbqd9-1050x10000.jpg

[onemorebounty]

Good.

*Samus switches back to her new void beam, staying mobile as she takes a few potshots at the hydra. She also wants to keep its attention off of Blaze, and wants to be ready to close with the next oracle, wherever it might show up. As long as it doesn't break the temporary truce, she's content to leave the Wolf to its own devices.*

Taniks, man. /What/ a showman.

[rekindledtitan]

The hydra's caught between targets: the lurking assassin, the Hunter knocking on its shell, the Guardian speculatively pointing a rocket launcher its way - it prioritizes, and sweeps its fire after Samus while it floats in Blaze's direction.

//It's coming our way...//

//Yeah. Don't worry.// Samus drawing the fire gives her a chance to concentrate, chance tactics. The next grenade she tosses out is a ball of blue light; landed squarely between her and the hydra, it throws out pulsed waves of electrical energy in a broad ring around it. The big Vex squeals and halts, refusing to cross it.

Once more the chimes ring out, two- three? That's three, overlapping. One back among the hydra's cronies, one in the earlier half-hidden spot, and one up high, on the opposite side this time. Spotting that one, Blaze doesn't hesitate to throw her last rocket at it. The hydra's in her way anyhow.

Mad respect for the dedication to craft.

[onemorebounty]

*The chimes elicit a sigh. She can see Blaze firing on one of the cubes, and another is behind the hydra. She goes for the third, pouring void-fire generously in its direction. She's going to have to hope that the cloaked wolf goes after the third, or at least occupies it long enough for her to get there. As it is, she's scrambling to get a good angle on the cube she's fighting, and to stay a step ahead of the hydra's shots.*

How're you two holding up? Ghost, much longer?

A guy who teleports out from around every corner to /personally/ roar in your face.

[rekindledtitan]

//Almost- there!// The air changes, the wind picking up with a rush as this part of the Citadel is forced into a normal relationship with the space around it. Samus' oracle shatters- then Blaze's- a Fallen rifle plucks the air as round after round finds its mark in the last, but it's dying slow. //I've isolated as much as I can. I'm setting us up to fall! Don't let that oracle activate!//

The Wolf might need some help on that though - the hydra's turned to blast the would-be sniper. Blaze checks the odds, grunts, and heads for the last oracle. //Lock us for transmat and let's do this!//