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A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover
A Frozen Light
By: Grounders10
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Chapter Six
Old Faces Made New Again
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Located fifty floors up, nestled in the center of the Tokyo Government Building, was a room filled with tall stacks of servers. While far from advanced for the Golden Age they held a tremendous amount of knowledge compared to those they had replaced, and even those that filled similar systems in the Last City. Information on everything from the floor plans of apartments to the annual power usage of factories, zoning regulations and even the prior thousand years of taxes.
It had also doubled as the central hub for the entire city's access to the internet. It was a prize for anyone who wished to control the city of Tokyo as it housed a complete list of any place of importance that was officially known in the long-gone Golden Age.
Sadly for the people of the Last City it wasn't simply abandoned, it was overrun. Like much of Tokyo, the server stacks were patrolled by the yellow-cloaked insectoid Fallen. Small four-limbed aliens carried crackling rifles as they chittered and wandered along the tops of the stacks. Their gazes swept over the splicers below as they fiddled with interfacing their globular technology to the many servers.
It was a good post for their kind in the city. Miles separated them from the enemy's stronghold and the three towers of the large building had proven to be an adequate dock for their ketches, allowing them to stockpile supplies throughout the mammoth structure. The structure itself was as solid as could be expected of a human building after centuries of neglect. Especially one of its size.
So the sentries could be forgiven for not noticing as one of them disappeared as they were abruptly pulled into the darkness between the stacks so swiftly they couldn't even make noise. Nor when a splicer disappeared between keystrokes. Or others as they started disappearing into nooks and crannies. Certainly not the small flickers of purple light as said bodies were erased from the world entirely.
It was, perhaps, a bit much for them to not wonder where everyone had gone as they finished a circuit of the stacks and found themselves a pair alone at the start of the next circuit. They made it a few steps before one of them chittered something and glanced back, clearly expecting a reply, only to find nothing. It turned back to the other to ask its companion where the rest had gone, only to find nothing. It turned on the spot, agitatedly chittering as its eyes swept the floor again.
The empty floor, free of splicers or dregs.
It took two steps back, head swinging side to side as panic set in. A hand reached for a device on its belt and-
Ranma brought her fist down on the last Vandal's neck, releasing a flicker of purple light on impact. It snapped and the body burned away as the void light consumed the body.
"And we're done," she said, glancing at Khu as the former Amazon stepped out of the stacks below.
"You picked that trick up quickly," Khu said as she released her ghost. Moon zipped over to the central terminal and let out a tsk.
"Oooh, the damage they've already done. Who knows what we've lost," the ghost lamented as it interfaced with the terminal.
"Likely not much. House of King Splicers are actually fairly competent," Khu said as Ranma shrugged.
"It's simpler than I thought it would be?" Ranma said as she took a seat atop one of the stack. "But this place is crawling with them."
"It's their primary offloading area for their Ketches, of course, it's guarded," Khu replied, "Moon, any chance we can get Durendal hooked up like he wants?"
"I'm working on it. Urgh, these brutes," Moon grumbled as the ghost worked.
"Need a hand?" Kiko asked without materialising.
"I've got it well in hand," the other ghost replied with a huff, "I'll just need a few minutes to reorder the system's permissions and take administrative control. With a bit of luck, I can even lock out the Splicers."
"For a time," Khu said, "So long as they have physical access to the system, keeping them from accessing its contents can't be anything more than a delaying action unless we erase the data."
"Which isn't an option," Ranma pointed out as she swept her gaze across the room. The doors leading into the room had been sealed, which was why they had entered through the ventilation in the floor. The universal truth of servers was they generated a lot of heat, which in turn meant a solid flow of cool air was required. While it was debatable how cool the current flow of air was, the server traffic itself was also at an all time low, neither of which ultimately meant a thing to the existing ventilation system they had crawled through.
"Not really, no," Khu said as she leaned against the terminal, "Once Durendal's hooked up we'll hopefully be able to get a good read on what we're dealing with. The city's security systems should still have some functionality, even now."
Ranma nodded, half listening as she eyed the servers. They looked, if anything, less advanced than those in her time. It was a case of looks being deceiving, but it was an odd situation to be in. Back in her day they'd talked about all sorts of future styles and smooth clean lines and dust-free environments had been the big next-decade idea. To see stacks of things that looked like they belonged in the decade she was born?
So very weird.
"And hopefully find those KLT facilities it was talking about," Khu continued as she looked around at the server room. Ranma followed her gaze. A wall of monitors made up the wall opposite the entrance and while most were broken there were enough that still worked. Status updates for servers, displays of data requests, and far more things than Ranma understood scrolled over their surface.
"Can you bring up the KLT locations while you're setting that up, Moon?" the other Guardian asked.
"One… moment…" Moon replied distractedly. A square of monitors flickered and changed. Four segments of a much larger list appeared.
"Thanks… hrm…" Khu waved to Ranma, "I think we've found something here." Ranma hopped down and walked over. "KLT Munitions… There are three different locations registered under their name. I think one of them is the same location Durendal mentioned."
Ranma glanced at the monitors and spotted the entries, then slid to the next. "KLT Robotics is right there," she said, pointing out the entry.
"And listing only a single property. Hrm, hopefully, that's a good thing because I'm not sure that's the same location Durendal was talking about," Khu muttered.
"It isn't. This one is in Chiba," Ranma noted, "That's to the east, not the north."
"Ah."
They continued to compare the locations. The good news was that KLT Mining was still listed at its original location and another location listed as belonging to KLT Star Technica was on the list. The bad news was that KLT Aerospace was missing entirely.
"Is the list corrupted?" Khu asked Moon.
"I don't… think… so… There."
There was a flicker of the lights and the monitors switched from lists to system updates.
"I have control, Divine One," Durendal said, his voice crackling over the speakers.
"Great, can you hear me?" Ranma asked.
"Affirmative. Systems diagnostic in progress. Archiving of data to an external location will begin shortly," he said, "Locating KLT properties."
"We seem to be missing one," Ranma said, crossing her arms, "KLT Aeronautics."
"Incorrect. Filing records indicate KLT Aeronautics changed its name to KLT Star Technica after acquiring the company Technical Construction." The document in question appeared on one of the screens.
"Which did what?" Khu asked.
"Data is still processing. The requisite information may not be available at this site," Durendal said, "We will need time-"
A thunderous boom from far below shook the building. Dust fell from the ceiling. Ranma glanced down. "What was that?" she asked. That was going to set off alarms.
"Accessing security cameras… There are no active cameras in the vicinity of the activity," Durendal said, "Fallen are responding to the incident. I see movement on all levels."
"Is any of it coming here?" Khu asked.
"Not at present."
Ranma sighed. So much for being quiet. "Well, we didn't want to leave them in control of this place if we could help it," she said, "Any idea what just decided to crash the party?"
"Please tell me we don't have Hive or something?" Khu asked.
"Scanning Fallen chatter…" Durendal replied, "There are references to a 'Lightbearer'."
"That would be a Guardian," Ranma said, exchanging looks with Khu. "Durendal, can you connect us with Cayde?"
"It is done."
There was a ring, then a cheerful voice said, "How's it going campers? Enjoying the hike? You know, as much as climbing through the ruins of a tower about as tall as the one we call home is."
"How many Guardians have shown up?" Ranma asked.
"Uuuh, three? Two just got here. I had one guy show up a little while back looking for you apparently. Big guy, titan I think. The shoulder pads kinda give it away," Cayde said, "Told him you were dealing with something at the big scary place full of Fallen and that you'd be back later. Why?"
Rama groaned. Why would anyone want to talk to her so badly they'd follow her to a
city full of Fallen?
"Because someone seems to have kicked in the ground floor entrance," Khu said, "And alerted all of the Fallen. Someone they're calling a 'Lightbearer'."
"Uuuuh, that is not my fault," Cayde said hurriedly, "How was I supposed to know he'd take 'wait for them' to mean 'go charge an army head-on'."
"How indeed," Ranma grumbled sarcastically, "I'm going to head down and give him a hand. Can you hold down the fort here, Khu?"
"Possibly?" Her friend replied with a grimace, "It depends on what security is functioning here." She glanced at Durendal.
"I have control over the remaining security protocols," Durendal announced, "There are energy barriers that can be raised in the surrounding halls and I believe that some of the security frames are still functional. I am uncertain as to the degree of capability, however. Diagnostics are not complete."
"If the barriers keep the numbers down I can probably hold out indefinitely," Khu said with a more confident smile.
"Should I get a team to come help you two?" Cayde asked, "Cause that's sounding like a bit of a hornet's nest."
"We're good for now," Ranma said as she started toward the server room entrance, "But be ready to send help if we need it."
"Right, I'll try and wrangle the next few Guardians who come through," Cayde said. Ranma nodded and sighed as she stepped out of the safe server room. She would ask some very pointed questions whenever she got her hands on the idiot down below.
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Hibiki ran his void shield held up over his head as shock bolts slapped the floor tiles around him. The ten-floor tall open-concept lobby of the Tokyo Metropolitan building was crawling with Fallen of all stripes. Dregs, Vandals, Wretches, and even a bevy of Captains crowded the galleries beside servitors and shanks. Most of them weren't shooting. They didn't need to.
Floating in the heart of the lobby was an immense Servitor that Direction had helpfully identified as 'Hortik Prime', the virtually mythical Prime Servitor of the House of Kings. The Servitor was tracking his progress up the Lobby with its gigantic eye and occasionally firing off blasts of arc energy.
Just his luck, really.
"Why is there a Prime Servitor
here?" he demanded as he hopped over an ancient concrete pot and slammed his shield into the face of a Captain armed with a wire rifle. He twisted and launched the shield at Hortik Prime. The void light construct shattered on its shields, though the giant robotic orb drifted backward a bit from the impact.
Then he had to weather a fusillade of shots from the peanut gallery by throwing up a barrier as every watching Fallen with so much as a shock rifle opened fire. The quirky grumbling of the giant servitor caused a cease-fire a few moments later, but not before swathes of the floor to either side of his created cover had been ripped apart.
"Unknown, but its presence suggests that the House of Kings intends to cement its control of this region," Direction replied over the speakers of his helmet, "I suggest placing a call for aid or evacuating this position. We are not prepared for this confrontation."
Hibiki scoffed, but privately acknowledged the point. It was the nature of the First Pillar Order to sacrifice themselves for strategic victories, and killing the Servitor Prime of the House of Kings would certainly count, but he had to admit this was a bit much for a single Guardian.
A trio of oversized flaming projectiles arched over the lip of the balcony and clattered across the floor toward the Titan. Arc energy crackled about his feet as he tossed himself forward, flying over several tables as his barrier, and the spot he'd been standing, were consumed in superheated flames. Molten metal and tile dripped through the hole of the other major complication.
Servitor Primes were never alone. They
always had an Archon nearby. The high priest of their house whose job it was to commune with and protect the Servitor. The third part of any Fallen House's leadership alongside the Servitor Prime and their Kell.
He drew his handgun and cut down a group of dregs without slowing as he dashed for the next good bit of cover. The lowest caste of the Fallen were everywhere in numbers he hadn't seen in his decade of service as a Guardian. They reminded him of the stories of Twilight's Gap or the battles against the House of Devil's stronghold in the Cosmodrome.
A whine of power warned him of Hortik's next move and he spun to punch a barrier of light into existence. The barricade cracked as the Servitor's weapon slammed into it. He hurled a grenade to the right, catching a Captain as it came around a support pillar with a storm of lightning, and stepped out of cover before emptying his magazine into the floating machine.
Hortik Prime let out a loud wall rattling whine of complaint and the distinct warble of Shank engines answered as a small swarm of the mechanical drones descended from above. He ran, weaving between plant pots, support pillars and stacks of fallen equipment and machinery. Drones popped with each shot.
A group of Fallen wretches armed with crackling shock pikes emerged from hiding amongst the boxes and attempted to bar his way. He squared his shoulders and drew forth the light as he barreled headlong into them. He guided the head of the first pike away from himself with his gauntlets before ramming a void-charged shoulder into the wretch. Purple light bloomed from the impact and the entire group erupted as the volatile forces ran rampant. He kept just enough control over the rampant energies to prevent them from eating his cover or the floor.
He holstered his handgun and drew his rifle. He snapped three shots off at distant Vandals as their wire rifles hammered his cover. Then more orbs of fire flew over the edge of the balcony and Hortik Prime began to charge another shot.
Hibiki broke into a run as the balcony was shattered into molten fragments and the arc blast vaporised his previous cover. He fired back at Hortik, chipping away at it only for a group of lesser servitors to swarm around it even as more shanks appeared.
"This isn't getting anywhere," he told Direction, "Ideas?" He shoulder-checked a Shank as it flew in from the hallways deeper into the building. The following detonation wiped out its companions.
"Retreat, or barring that sensible course of action you need to close with the Archon," his Ghost replied, "I am attempting to raise assistance, but there appears to be some form of localised jamming. I am unable to get a distress call through."
Wretches, several dozen of them, rushed from hallways and dropped down through holes from the floors above. Each of them brandished crackling pikes as they charged.
"Don't need help," He grumbled as he deflected the swing of a wretch into its companion before slamming a glowing purple fist into its face. Void light sank into the flesh of the Fallen Wretch before destabilising the matter violently. Purple light blossomed outward sweeping over the nearby Fallen.
Who also destabilised and detonated.
Without giving a second thought to the swarm of dead wretches he ran for the stairs, firing his rifle at the extra servitors around Hortik Prime. The bullets found purchase in one of them and something detonated ripping it apart.
Hortik Prime rumbled and Vandals began to move from the levels above, leaping from balcony to balcony as they descended to his level.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Direction asked, "Because their numbers are still increasing and this is not a safe area for me to restore you."
"Figured as much. I can practically feel the danger," Hibiki replied. He shoulder-checked a Vandal which detonated a moment later even as Hibiki spun to catch a Captain's pike behind the head with the stock of his rifle.
They struggled briefly before he dropped the rifle and lunged, catching the Captain in a bear hug. Channelling the light he squeezed and roared a wordless battle cry. The sound of the Fallen's exoskeleton snapping was akin to thousands of small bits of bubble wrap going off all at once. The Captain shuddered as he dropped it, twitching in pain before he crushed its skull and retrieved his rifle only to roll out of the way of several wire rifle shots.
The owners of the rifles flipped onto the level from the balcony above. A dozen Vandals immediately spread out, firing as they moved. He raised a barrier, conveniently intercepting another shot from Hortik Prime. He fired off a few shots, killing several Vandals and winging another servitor, before he was forced to duck back. A grenade tossed blindly over cover took out another.
"Which way-" he began to ask Direction for a way out when a loud crackle and thud from the ceiling of the lobby cut him off. A second followed and he spotted Hortik Prime turning to look. Taking the opportunity he ducked out and picked off another Vandal, then another.
Then the roof caved in with a flash of Light and the crackle of a thousand bolts of electricity. Large chunks of the ceiling crashed down, bouncing off the impenetrable shield of Hortik Prime even as others squashed the Servitors supporting it.
Hibiki had a perfect view as the cause of everything slammed hard into the face of Hortik Prime a heartbeat after its last servitor was squished by the roof. Clad in a hunter's light armour and glowing with a glacial blue radiance, a young woman with vivid red hair drove a crackling spear of ice and Light into its central eye. It happened between blinks. One heartbeat she was there, then next she wasn't. Nor was Hortik Prime as the Prime Servitor cannonballed into the floor with the rubble.
His suit's thermostat sounded an alarm as the room's temperature dropped twenty degrees in a second as the entire building shuddered and rattled.
Hortik Prime let out a pulse of force and the floor jumped as ice crystals flew into view. Angry chittering sounded as hundreds of Fallen swarmed the balconies, many clambering down the pillars out of sight. Hibiki finished the few interested in him before approaching the balcony cautiously. He took a step back as Hortik Prime floated into view, its eye firmly on the floor. A layer of frost traced alien patterns of fractured armour across its body. Its eye was in a dozen pieces, yet still seemed to work as it fired several blasts down at the floor.
The body of a Captain slammed into Hortik, knocking the oversized drone back into the upper balconies, and shattered. Hibiki raised his rifle and fired on the Vandals that were firing down into the Lobby. This had to be Ranma. Red hair and some sort of frozen Light.
Several loud explosions rang out below followed by puffs of electrified mist that sent Fallen tumbling from the walls by the dozen.
Several shots slammed into his shields from behind and Hibiki whirled. He plunked two shots into the Vandal that had shot him, then threw himself into cover as others that had come up behind him opened fire. It seemed he hadn't been
completely forgotten. It had been a bit much to hope for, but it would have been nice.
He killed the last of the group and turned back to the rest of the Lobby just in time to catch sight of the Archon, bereft of his cannon, leapt to the second-floor balcony. Ranma followed him, kicking off a servitor she bisected in mid-air before bouncing off a Shank that promptly froze solid and dropped from the sky. The Archon jumped for the next balcony in time to avoid her Naginata. He stared as the Archon immediately leaped to the next balcony. Dogging his steps all the while carving a frozen path through the Fallen was Ranma.
Shanks fell frozen and/or bisected from the sky as she used them for stepping stones. Clouds of electrified ice crystals sent climbing Fallen tumbling to the ground. Servitors simply provided footholds for her before joining their less intelligent companions. Then they went over a railing above him and he lost track. Only Hortik Prime showed him where they were as the construct tracked the battle. It didn't fire.
"Guess we found her," he said to Direction as he took cover behind a support pillar. His level of the lobby was empty now which gave him some breathing space, but the Fallen on higher and lower floors were still shooting at him.
"It would appear so," his ghost replied, "And she appears to have intervened on our behalf. It would be wise to provide assistance of our own." His words were punctuated by an explosion and Hortik Prime finally firing. The room rumbled and debris fell from above pancaking several Shanks.
He fired back at the fallen. "Yeah, probably. Getting bailed out tends to leave a bad first impression," He drew back and slapped the rifle onto his back, "Let's go up and help." Void Light surged down his arm and flash-formed the shield again. He held it over his head and, with a spark of Arc light, jumped. He crashed through to the level above, taking two Vandals by surprise. He ignored them and jumped up through the roof again, and again, and again. Six times he punched holes through the roof and through it his hold on the shield grew more and more difficult. Creating objects from light was one of the hardest feats a Guardian could accomplish and sustaining them was a pain in the ass as reality and Light clashed constantly.
No sooner had he crashed through the final floor than his shield gave out. He landed amidst a squad of Fallen that was itself part of a much larger swarm. Startled chattering went up around him and to his right, a Fallen Captain drew a sword. Rather than charge the Captain, Hibiki slammed a void-light-infused fist into the face of a Vandal. The much weaker shieldless Fallen squawked and detonated. Void Light knocked back a circle of Fallen who screamed as the unstable energies ravaged them.
Then they exploded.
So tightly packed was the floor that in a matter of moments nearly a third of the level was cleared by a chair of Void Light explosions. As the dust settled he slammed a barricade up to catch the next shot by Hortik Prime. Unlike Ranma, he wasn't locked in close combat with the Archon. Speaking of… He glanced over in her direction.
The Archon ducked a swipe of Ranma's Naginata and dashed backwards in that strange teleport-like trick that Captains and higher seemed to have, only for the redhead to follow. She kept pace as he darted across the floor. Thrice as he watched the Archon was forced to ward off her weapon with a pair of crackling swords. Each time a layer of frost crept further down the blade before evaporating. It looked less like a battle to the death and more like a tightly choreographed dance.
Any Fallen that got too close to the duel were rapidly turned into a series of shattered ice sculptures except for a handful of Captains, who simply lacked the ability to keep up with the sheer speed. They, instead, turned to Hibiki.
All twenty of them.
Another shot from Hortik Prime slammed into his barricade as the Captains charged him, then it turned away to follow the Archon's fight.
Hibiki dropped the first Captain's shield and put two rounds through its mask before dropping the second Captain. That was all the time he had as a third came from behind. He ducked the blade and drove the butt of his rifle into its stomach. He followed with a Void Light-fuelled uppercut that blew its head off. He grabbed the falling sabre and caught the next Captain's blade, only to jump back as its three other sabres swept in.
He gave ground to the Captain's onslaught, deflecting strikes as he backpedalled. Finally, he saw an opening and stepped into the Captain's guard. His shoulder met the Captain's chest as his armour and shield absorbed the brunt of the strikes and the release of arc light that followed hurled the Captain across the floor until he crashed through the balcony's railing.
Armour singing low shield warning Hibiki ducked a strike from a fourth Captain and deflected the pike of a fifth. He kicked the fourth in the gut and caught the fifth with a backhand before driving his sword through the fourth's neck. He left the weapon there as the sixth and seventh cut in swinging enough swords for four times their number.
He solved that issue with a flashbang. The Light-charged grenade flared brightly as he lunged for the fifth Captain. His hands closed about the Captain's neck and he wrenched the Fallen's head around before grabbing the shock pike as it fell. The seventh, struggling to shake off the grenade and died with the pike through his neck. The Sixth barely jumped back, his shield sparking out of existence as the pike grazed it.
Four blades came up and the head of the pike fell off. It didn't stop Hibiki from catching the Captain across the face with the back end of the Pike. Nor did it stop him from a follow-up strike that caved its skull in.
Breathing hard he hefted the headless pike, now little more than a short-circuiting staff, and turned to the rest. The other thirteen circled him warily. All had melee weapons out. Swords, pikes, and even a mace were among their choices.
His light surged and the strain of his fight was washed away with a dim flicker. Right, he could handle this. It was a pity he didn't have a proper sword though. If he did-
A sound not unlike a tornado passing by filled the room alongside a powerful gust of wind that tossed everyone off their feet, and left the lobby covered in a film of frost. Hibiki's shields wailed as they were dropped on impact with a flying bench that went on to crash against the reinforced glass of an office.
Hissing in pain, Hibiki stood up and stopped to stare.
Half the upper floor was gone. Not a single ounce of railing had been left behind by whatever force Ranma had unleashed. The floor on the right side of the room, and judging by the look of it the next two levels down, was simply gone. Of Hortik Prime there was no sign.
No, wait, there it was, embedded just barely visible in the corner where the wall met the ceiling. Only the front of the machine was visible as its eye, even more cracked, spun with confused horror. Beside it was the Archon embedded in his own crater. So deep into the wall that Hibiki doubted he could escape.
At the start of the destruction was Ranma leaning against her naginata as she caught her breath.
No one was firing. Not a single Fallen had their weapon raised.
Somewhere down below a loud clatter rang out followed by chittering. Then another, and another. One of the Captains tossed down his Shock Pike and darted from the room deeper into the building. Then they were all running. Every single Fallen he could see turned and ran. Only a few threw down their weapons, but they all ran.
Even Hortik Prime. The gigantic Servitor was shrouded in the light of a teleport and disappeared abruptly along with the Archon.
"Damn it," Ranma shouted a moment later, rapping her weapon against the floor. She let go of the Naginata and it disintegrated, flaking away in the breeze. Then she turned to him.
"She doesn't look happy," Direction observed.
"Yeah, I noticed."
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Tokyo was not like what N had expected. She'd figured it would be a bit like the Cosmodrome or perhaps similar to Freehold. A large and somewhat dense city.
It was clear from the moment she crested the horizon that she had set her standards too low.
The hundreds, more like thousands, of towers were more akin to the City than either Freehold or the Cosmodrome. It was horizon to horizon of hundred-storey towers that crawled up the surrounding mountains. It was a horizon cracked and broken in places with shattered and jagged towers.
"You might want to let Cayde know," N said to her ghost as he hovered by her shoulder in the cockpit of her ship.
"Let's see. He should be on this frequency…" Her ghost said, "Calling Cayde. Calling Cayde…"
There was a crackle from the comms. "Yeah, this is Cayde. Nice to hear from you two," the Exo Hunter said. In the background a loud explosion tried to drown him out. "Listen, I'm going to pass you to Durendal. I'm in the middle of something and he could use a hand."
"You're just passing us off to an AI?" Ghost protested.
"Uuuh, yeah. He kinda runs the show around here. Sorta. Point is, he's got a few hotspots he could use a hand with. Just help him out a bit then we can talk. Gotta go," Cayde said before there was a click and a more robotic voice took over.
"This is Durendal to inbound craft, the Vanguard known as Cayde has informed me that you are quite capable," it said.
"Yeah we are. So, what do you need?" Ghost asked.
"The Divine One and her companion have infiltrated the Tokyo Metropolitan Building in an effort to extend my influence to the archives there," The AI said.
"The who?" Ghost asked before she could.
There was a moment of silence. "Certain terminology is hardwired into me," Durendal said, "The Divine One's mission was interrupted by a Guardian named Hibiki which alerted the House of Kings to the presence of Guardians within their perimeter. The alien entities known as 'Hortik Prime' and 'Archon Kasor' of the House of Kings have been forced to retreat. Their Ketch has already departed, however, two other Ketches remain docked with the tower."
A marker appeared on N's cockpit window and a trio of towers that loomed over most of the city were highlighted. The outlines of two ketches were visible. At a guess, she'd place that being five and seven kilometres long respectively. On the smaller side for ketches but there was limited manoeuvring room.
"That's a lot of Fallen," Ghost said.
"Theoretical Fallen population in the city is over one hundred thousand," Durendal said, "Greater accuracy is at this point impossible."
"By the Traveler, I've never seen so many Fallen in one area before," Ghost exclaimed.
N had to agree. It wasn't even close to equivalent to the historical examples of the Twilight's Gap or the Battle of Six Fronts, but it was a lot more than you usually saw in a single area.
"I require you to board this Ketch," the Seven kilometre Ketch lit up, "And prevent it from leaving."
Ghost twirled in place. "You want us to prevent it from leaving? That's not normally how this goes," he said.
"If it remains moored at the tower there is a possibility that it can be boarded and seized at a later date. It will also prevent the dock from being used to offload more Fallen without additional complications," Durendal said, "Kill the Captain of the vessel and disable its steering. Do not damage its propulsion or anti-gravity. The damage it would do to the city from a crash would be unacceptable."
"... the
empty city?" Ghost pointed out.
"The Divine One wishes the city intact for the moment. I intend to honour that request as much as possible," Durendal replied, "We suggest an approach along this line." A flightpath appeared on the windscreen. "Also, communications in and around the tower are currently intermittent at best. A bonus will be issued should you eliminate the source."
"Wait, we're getting paid for this?" Ghost asked.
"I have been informed that Guardians respond best to incentives. A large bounty of Glimmer and an item from KLT's armory will be issued on completion of this mission," Durendal said.
N glanced at her ghost and Ghost stared back before they both nodded. "Leave it to us," her ghost cheerfully announced as N pushed the throttle forward and the ship swung to follow Durendal's flight path.
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Hibiki swallowed nervously as Ranma marched right up to him. "Why the hell did you charge in here?" she asked, poking him in the chest plate hard enough he took two steps back.
"I-" He didn't get another word out before she turned on a heel and threw her hands up in the air as she walked back toward the holes where the balcony had once been.
"Now they're all stirred up. We were planning on being
quiet," she said, "And sure as hell not doing this much damage to the building. I'd like it to still be standing after we got done. For the archives if nothing else."
"Sorry, but I've been trying to get in contact with you since the fight with Shaxx," He said taking a few steps after her, "I was worried if I didn't follow you'd leave the city before I got a chance to talk to you."
The look she gave him was probably the most judgemental stare he'd ever been on the receiving end of. He swallowed nervously. It was like she was trying to decide if he was a water beetle or some hive grub.
"Well that's going to have to wait," she said, marching past him. She forced open the door of an office as he scurried to follow her. "Durendal, can you hear me?"
There was a ding as the desk's terminal, somehow untouched by the fighting, turned on. "I hear you, Divine One," the Warmind Durendal said. He had briefly spoken with the AI on his approach to the city.
"Divine One?" Direction whispered in his ear with some confusion. Hibiki caught the eye-roll Ranma gave the Warmind.
"Good. A giant christmas light Kiko is calling Hortik Prime just teleported out alongside some Archon… Kissy or something," The redhead said, crossing her arms under her chest, "Mind putting me in contact with Cayde and Khu?"
"Establishing connections…"
"Hey camper, everything alright?" Cayde said. The Hunter Vanguard sounded far too cheerful.
"Is everything alright?" a somewhat strained woman's voice asked. It was followed by the sound of gunfire and then the very recognizable sound of something catching fire before exploding. "Sorry, there're a few Fallen getting through the perimeter."
"It's fine. Ran into a giant light bulb and some Archon guy," she said, "They both ran for it after I put them through the wall."
There was a moment of silence. "Was this a giant Servitor?" Cayde asked after a moment.
"Yeah, it was," Hibiki said, "Hortik Prime and Archon Kasor were both here."
"Hey, Hibiki, glad to see you didn't get killed. Permanently," the hunter Vanguard said, "Would've made my report to Zavala a bit awkward."
Hibiki caught Ranma's glance his way before she minutely shook her head and focused on the terminal. "He was fighting both of them and an army of Fallen," she said, "And I'm pretty sure he was losing."
"I wasn't losing," he interjected with heat, "I just… wasn't winning quite yet." She stared at him with incredulous eyes before they seemed to glare at him. He'd just stuck his foot in his mouth again, hadn't he?
Cayde laughed. "That's a great attitude, kid. Keep it up," he laughed, "Now, how's the situation?"
"Durendal?" Ranma asked as she shot a look out the office window. There was no sign of Fallen returning yet.
"One of the Ketches has pulled away from the tower and is leaving the city with haste," Durendal said.
"That would be the quake I felt a minute ago?" Khu asked.
"Correct. Its hasty departure has inflicted minor damage on the surrounding city," the AI continued, "Two more vessels remain docked to the towers."
"Any chance we can keep them off the building entirely?" Ranma asked.
"Unlikely. Guardian numbers are too limited so far and my own forces cannot be stretched to establish a perimeter on the scale of the Metropolitan Building as of yet," Durendal said, "The likelihood that my connection is discovered and disconnected has increased to over eighty percent."
"Then we need to buy time while you build up," Cayde said, his voice firmer than before, "Those ships take up a lot of space. I can't imagine they can dock another Ketch like them at each tower."
"Docking spaces are limited by design," Durendal confirmed, "Only one docking port exists for vessels of that scale in each tower."
"Right… then we need to keep those ships from going anywhere," Cayde said, his voice crackling for a moment, "They're probably at least half empty or more already. If they occupy the docking ports then they'll have to transfer materials by skiff or across from Ketch to Ketch."
"Ignoring the other docking port," Ranma pointed out.
"We can do the same thing when another ship docks, but I doubt they'll bring another ship in there while we're contesting the area," Cayde said, "Durendal, do you think it'd be possible to hold the control center and the area around it?"
"... With Guardian assistance, possibly," the AI said after a moment.
"Then I'll get a few patrol beacons ready and make some arrangements for Guardians to sweep the tower on a regular basis. That'll dissuade them from using the last dock, but they'll keep trying if they can get those ships out of the way. We'll need to knock out their navigation, steering and take out their Captains," the Vanguard continued, "But not their engines. We don't want them falling out of the sky, just not going anywhere. Ignoring the property damage, they won't be blocking the docks if they're sunk. Hang on a sec, getting a call." Cayde went silent.
"We'll need to split up," Ranma noted.
Hibiki nodded. "Yeah. They'll need to be taken out nearly simultaneously otherwise they might get some distance," he said, "I can handle one myself. Without their Prime Servitor or Archon around I shouldn't have any trouble." He ignored the stare Ranma gave him.
Cayde came back on. "Good news, you've got help coming. They'll handle one of the ships leaving you two to take out the other. Khu, girl, just keep holding down the control center for now," he said.
There was a groan. "You know, I was hoping to be a little more active than just sitting around," the woman said. Ranma stifled a giggle and Hibiki noticed how much brighter a smile made her look. He glanced away as she looked up.
"I am giving the Guardian known as 'N' instructions," Durendal said. Hibiki choked on his own tongue in shock.
"N?" He gasped.
"Yeah, Zavala and Ikora wanted reliable eyes on the ground," the Hunter Vanguard said with a tone that suggested he was rolling his eyes, "Not like I'm not reliable, but I guess they're worried this'll turn into another House of Wolves incident or something." He sounded rather exasperated.
"Are they someone important?" Ranma asked.
"Are they- They killed Oryx, the Taken King," Hibiki said, only to get a blank look in return. "He was a Hive God with these living shadows made from people he'd 'Taken' somehow. It's complicated and I'll admit I don't really know much more than that."
"Complicated is one way of putting it," Cayde agreed, "Long story short? N's probably the best in the City outside the Vanguard or Shaxx… or you. She's dealt with a lot over the last couple of years. Oryx was just the biggest. She also got his son Crota, stormed the Vex's Vault of Glass, dealt with the whole Kell of Kells thing with the House of Wolves. Oh, and the SIVA incident. Nanotech plague the House of Devils unleashed from the Cosmodrome. Let's see… Few more things on the list, but that's the gist. I'll send you the files whenever we're back in the city. For now, let's stay focused."
"On the ships," Ranma said after a moment, nodding to herself.
"On those, yeah," Cayde agreed, "I'm going to get to work on the paperwork… Oh, and if you find the jammer? Kill it. Please? I'm getting a kink in my back from leaning over this holotable to talk to you."
Ranma facepalmed and sighed. "Yeah we'll do that," she said, shaking her head.
Hibiki watched her as she asked Durendal for directions. This close she definitely felt familiar. He knew her somehow, but those questions would have to wait until they had some free time, like she'd said.
-0-0-0-0-0-
There had to have been something wrong with the Golden Age architect's sense of scale. It was the only option Ranma could think of as she lazily jogged up the stairs of the westernmost tower. Hibiki ran behind her, his breathing heavy and only prevented from getting heavier by the refreshing nature of the Light coursing through him.
Hibiki.
His name made her think of Ryouga Hibiki, her rival and friend. He probably wasn't Ryouga. The odds alone of being Ryouga out of billions of human beings that could be resurrected was astronomical and it wasn't like Hibiki was an uncommon name in Japan. If he was even Japanese. He hadn't taken off the helmet he was wearing and his voice sounded very different. Not Japanese. If she was being honest she couldn't place his accent at all. It was something else, probably from a different era than she was familiar with.
But she still thought about him. Short black hair, that annoying yellow with black spots bandana, and those fang-like teeth. All wrapped in enough skill and physical capability to keep up with her at her best.
Not like the guy struggling to keep up with her jogging.
"Wish… the elevators… were working…" Hibiki grumbled.
"Why would they be working after like a thousand years without maintenance?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Another point to him not being Ryouga. Her rival never backed down from a physical challenge and certainly wouldn't have had issues with
stairs.
"Point…"
The staircase was unfortunately a very normal square spiral around a central pillar. An everyday fire exit staircase that was lit only by dim lights that she couldn't believe were working after a thousand or whatever years and the lamps of their armour. Occasionally she'd hear an echo of a Fallen's chitter, but they didn't seem to use the stairwell. They'd noticed that the Fallen had taken over the maintenance corridors while infiltrating and used the open areas as storage or sleeping quarters.
Maybe it was the height of the steps?
She paused at a door. Floor 183 it read after she spent a moment puzzling over the Kanji. "Here we are," she said, stopping at the door. Hibiki stopped by her side and caught his breath for a moment.
"You move far too fast," he said.
She snorted. "That was a light jog," she replied with a roll of her eyes. Guardians.
He stared at her. "We have very different definitions of 'a light jog'," he replied as he pulled out his rifle. He leaned against the side of the fire door. He glanced down. "Do you ever use a gun?"
She glanced down at the hefty revolver on her hip. She still hadn't used the gun Cayde had given her. "Not too often," she replied before drawing it.
Memory was fairly heavy as far as revolvers went but to her it was barely an inconvenience. She traced a thumb over the yin and yang painted on the side. "I only got this earlier today from Banshee. Cayde had it made."
"Huh. Banshee mentioned you'd stopped by when I dropped off a few weapons for him to look over," Hibiki said, "It's how I knew you were here before the bounties went out."
She paused and stared at him. "You were looking for me before the bounties went out?" she asked.
"Yeah. Like I said before, since Shaxx," he said.
Right. She hadn't been paying much attention through her annoyance at the time.
"We'll talk about why after we're done with this," she finally said as she gave the revolver a twirl then kicked in the fire door. It flew down a dirty, poorly lit, hallway and crashed into a Dreg. One of a dozen dregs who were handling a large machine of some sort in the center of the hallway.
They had all frozen, staring at the flattened Dreg before another one of them turned Ranma's way. It ate a bullet through the middle of its forehead and promptly exploded in flames that consumed not only its body, but those of the two nearest Dregs. Ranma blinked dumbly as the Dregs scattered. The abandoned crates clattered to the ground, several having caught fire from the explosion.
"What?" She asked, looking at the gun. Ethereal flames of light were flowing off yin and yang symbol.
"Never seen a firefly effect?" Hibiki asked as he stepped through the door with his rifle raised. He fired a pair of shots after two of the dregs, dropping them, before the rest were out of sight.
Firefly effect- Oh. "No, I haven't," she said, eyeing the weapon carefully. The possible 'secondary effects' of certain Golden Age or similar weapons had been gone over during certification, but the 'Firefly' effect hadn't been amongst the ones demonstrated. Mostly owing to the need to kill something and an unwillingness to waste frames for target practice.
"You are the strangest combination of capable and new," he said. In the distance, the warble and chitter of angry Fallen rang out. "They know we're on this level now."
She snorted, recalling the fight in KLT's basement. "Not a problem. C'mon, let's board a ship," she said, breaking into a run.
"I'm not that fast!" he yelled from behind her as he sprinted after her. She slowed as she reached the corner just enough to let him catch up.
"Shaxx was able to keep up, mostly," she noted as she jogged alongside him.
"That is an unreasonable standard," he complained. She rolled her eyes and plugged a Vandal between the eyes as it skittered out of an office space. The explosion that followed tossed the follow-up fallen backward. Kiko giggled in her ears. Her ghost has been oddly silent. She'd have to ask why later. When she wasn't getting shot atm.
Hibiki's rifle snapped up and a trio of shanks that were backed by a much larger and bulkier cousin exploded as they turned into the hall at high speed. The heavy Shank let out a loud complaint and the guns underneath started blasting.
Ranma bounced, flying over the shots as her Light flash froze a Naginata into existence. She hefted it and, using her spin to add a little more momentum, launched it straight into the vent across the front of the machine. Frost crawled over the machine from the inside out before it detonated in a flurry of ice shards and sparks that chained through a half dozen Vandals and one very unlucky Captain.
"Traveler preserve," Hibiki swore and he lurched back, "That's damned cold."
"You'll be fine," Ranma said as she landed and immediately kicked a dreg back into its companions before blowing its head off with
Memory. Using a gun felt odder than her training with Cayde. It felt unreal like she was dreaming and something else was moving her as she flowed through the ranks of the Fallen.
She sidestepped a pike and put two shots into the owner's gut before yanking the pike from its grip. She parried a sword with the crackling head of the pike, then filled it with her Light. Arc-frost spread down its length and the head let out a loud whine as it started glowing even brighter.
Down the corridor, a trio of Servitors were advancing with Vandals and Shanks in support.
Her thrown Shock Pike pierced straight through the middle Servitor, coring it like an apple before detonating. Frost, electricity, and shrapnel pelted everyone around them. Half the group went down immediately, then Hibiki mowed the rest down.
Which left the path to the docking collar clear. The very much locked shut docking collar.
"Kiko, I need that door open. Can you get it?" she asked her Ghost as they reached the doors. Her ghost materialised by her head and zipped over to the interface.
"Not a problem," her Ghost cheerfully replied, "Just keep them away so I can work."
"Should be easy, right?" Hibiki said as he blazed away with his rifle before tossing a grenade around the corner. The flash and bang that followed were accompanied by the loud chattering of Fallen.
Ranma rolled her eyes and glanced up and down the corridor in time to catch a group of Fallen entering via a broken window.
Window?
"Cover Kiko," Ranma told Hibiki as she hurried down the hallway.
Memory barked and a pair of dregs combusted on the spot. She dived to the side, crashing through a plate glass divider into someone's office, and slid behind the desk. Arc bolts crackled as they smacked into the ancient metal. She popped up and hurled a cloud of sparking ice crystals at the remaining Captain. A single shot shattered the statue left behind and she jumped over the desk.
They'd come through a window over… there.
She came to a stop before a shattered window that looked out on the wall of metal that made up the side of the Ketch. She leaned out and looked up. A Vandal, wire rifle clutched in its hands, stared back in evident surprise.
"Excuse me," she said before grabbing it by the collar and dragging it back through the opening. Spinning on a heel she pulled on her Ki instinctively. Instead, her Light responded and its superchilled power flowed into the fallen. Rather than reinforce the Fallen, it infused it. Its screams were cut off abruptly as it flash froze and started glowing from within. Then it was airborne and flying back up the hallway where a group of Vandals and Marauders was harassing Hibiki.
The impromptu statue shattered in the center of their formation and arc and mist flowed outward greedily overrunning the nearby Fallen. A few had enough awareness to manage a panicked chitter before they turned to ice. Most of them tipped over and shattered on the floor.
Ranma winced slightly. That had not been intentional and, honestly, seemed like a really unpleasant way to die.
It didn't stop her from spinning around once again and throwing a cloud of ice out the window. Ice covered Fallen plummeted from the walls as it passed. She peered out again. The Ketch wasn't too tall. She could definitely jump it if she bounced off the building but…
"How far can you jump?" She shouted at Hibiki.
"Whaat?" He shouted back as he backhanded a dreg back into its companions with a hand glowing with Void Light. The detonations of its friends promptly drowned out everything.
"How far can you jump?" She repeated once the explosions stopped.
"What?" was the reply she got and she groaned. A Vandal landed beside her only to be kicked out into thin air and receive a bullet to the head. The detonation knocked a few more Fallen loose.
She ran back down the hallway to Hibiki. The Titan had raised a barrier toward one side of the hallway while covering the rest with his rifle and a mixture of grenades. An arc bolt smack into his shoulder pad without doing much more. She added her gunfire to the mix, and tossed a cloud of freezing electrified mist into a group of Fallen before slowing to a stop beside him.
"How far can you jump? There's a window that's blown out," she asked as she drilled two shots into the head of a Captain. She had to give Banshee-44 credit,
Memory was a very well balanced and accurate gun. Maybe she'd give Cayde a little credit for his tutelage as well. It wasn't like her father had included firearms on the list of things he taught her.
"Probably not far enough," He replied
"Great." The barrier to their left dissolved.
Hibiki pivoted, placing two shots into the heads of a pair of Vandals before tossing some kind of sticky grenade at the wall in place of their advance. A moment later a bolt of lightning leapt from it and crashed against the shield of the Captain in front of it. The large Fallen stumbled as the protective barrier popped, then toppled, twitching erratically, as a second lightning bolt caught him.
"How much longer?" Ranma asked her ghost as she stepped forward to draw a bit of fire away from Hibiki. She avoided the return shots with a mixture of acrobatics and cover. From support pillars to door frames and even a few desks.
"I'm working on it! Don't rush perfec- Done!" Kiko announced happily as the airlock slid open, "Let's go!" Ranma turned on a heel and launched a cloud of crackling ice shards as she jumped to her ghost's side. Kiko shimmered out of existence. "Let's go!" The eager ghost announced.
"Come on," Ranma grabbed Hibiki by the shoulder and charged down the new corridor.
"Heyheyhey!" He yelled as she sprinted down the corridor dragging him through the air. At the far end of the docking umbilical was a line of kneeling Fallen backed by a pair of Servitors. A Captain stood at one end brandishing a pair of sabres and a heavy solar cannon of some sort. It gestured and Ranma juked right, running up the wall of the umbilical corridor as wire rifles perforated the air behind her.
Pouring on the speed she let momentum carry her across the ceiling and down the other side while ignoring how Hibiki was screaming. She hopped the Captain's shot, sidestepped the servitor's shots with a dance move she pulled from that one time she dealt with martial arts ballroom dancing. It was good for getting one's partner out of danger. Then she twisted them out of the way of another volley of wire rifles and in a single smooth motion hurled Hibiki over the line.
Fallen heads tracked the ballistic Titan as he soared over their heads and the railing behind them. It was a fatal moment of distraction as Ranma slammed into line, starting with the Captain who flew over the railing to join Hibiki at the bottom of a hole that was normally occupied by a lift. A storm of lightning and ice swept the gunners away before she put her fist straight through one servitor's shield and its 'eye'. It let out a terrified warble as she heaved it into the second and followed up with several shots from
Memory.
She swept the room with her gun, ensuring it was clear, then stepped up to the lift and looked down. "You alright?" She asked, feeling a touch guilty about tossing him down a hole.
At the bottom of the shaft, nearly three floors down, Hibiki was dusting himself off in the light of an open doorway. His ghost was floating beside him as he looked up at her. "You're nuts!" he shouted back as his ghost disappeared.
"You're fine," she called back with a scoff. "Baby," she added under her breath. "Which way now?" She'd never been on a Ketch before.
"How should I know?" he asked loudly with a shrug then bent over and picked up his rifle. "How about I start looking for engineering down here and you start looking for the bridge up there?"
"You sure you don't need a hand?" she asked, taking two steps to the side as a thin beam of arc energy shot through where she had been standing.
"I've been doing this for years now. I can handle one little ketch," he called back, "Just make sure they don't have another Archon on the bridge or something."
"Fine," she called back as she turned on a heel and called a naginata to hand. The world crystalized to her wish and she hurled the result down the umbilical. It zipped straight down the corridor, leaving a layer of frost on everything and turning those it passed to ice before catching a heavy shank at the crossroads in its front vent. The electrified ice explosion shattered everyone in sight, and probably quite a few out of sight.
"See you in few!" Hibiki shouted, then charged into the ship. She glanced down at where he went and sighed.
"Something wrong?" Kiko asked, appearing at her shoulder for a moment as she started jogging to the other door at the back of the room.
"Not really just… He reminds me of someone," she said.
"Who?"
Ranma hesitated for a moment. "I think I mentioned Ryouga at some point?" she asked.
"A few times," her ghost confirmed.
Ranma paused at the door, since it was locked, and gestured to the console next to it. "Can you open it?
"Give me a moment," Kiko said, "So… Ryouga?"
Ranma sighed as she turned back to the corridor with her hand cannon. "His last name is Hibiki," she said.
"Ah. I was wondering why you seemed so judgemental," Kiko said.
"I am not judgemental," Ranma replied with a huff.
"So you're this critical of every random Guardian you meet? You've been manhandling him and criticising him since you ran into him," the little ghost replied.
"Have not." She shot a Vandal that dared to stick its head into the room.
"So you complain about people being noisy when they nearly get themselves killed often then?" Kiko asked.
Ranma felt her cheeks flush. "He charged straight in by himself," she grumbled, "The idiot ran right into an army."
"Which you crushed cause you're awesome like that, but you got really judgy after you heard his name. Ex-lover?" Kiko asked with a teasing tone.
"I- What part of I was a boy do you not remember?!" Ranma said, her voice jumping and octave in outrage as her ghost laughed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Arc bolts crackled against the bulkhead by Hibiki's head. He didn't flinch as his rifle barked twice in reply, taking out the Fallen that had fired them. The hallway from the lift had led into a large bay. Racks of Shanks lined the walls in varying states of disassembly all overseen by a large Servitor and a small swarm of splicers. Splicers that had a very eclectic collection of weapons.
Light exploded from his fist into a barrier as he slapped it up to intercept a
wall of flaming micro projectiles a Captain-sized splicer near the back of the room had launched from his right arm. Hibiki turned and slammed a fist into another splicer as it tried to jump him from behind an oversized bulbous crate. Its shield died and he fired three rounds from the hip. They tracked up across its chest in a spray of ether before he turned and fired twice at another splicer trying to get around his barrier.
He was forced to abandon his position as it replied with a beam of volt energy that sliced another bulbous metal crate in half. It only lasted a heartbeat before cutting out as the barrel of the oversized cannon, which it was supporting with three heavily augmented arms, turned bright red. It pulled back as he hurled a flashbang back to cover his slide into cover.
As more arc bolts pinged against the strut he'd picked for cover he let out a deep sigh. "Well, this has been a lot more exciting than I intended today to be," he said to Direction. His ghost scoffed.
"I warned you," he replied.
"Shush. How was I supposed to know she's nuts?" He replied before firing off more shots at the one splicers. A less shielded Splicer with some sort of triple-barrelled inferno cannon hit the deck lighter by a head.
Direction pointedly said nothing.
"I mean, sure I get being angry I crashed this whole quiet operation she was doing," he said, continuing his thoughts as he bolted for another piece of cover as an arc charge, one wired with what had to been fifteen pounds of explosives, was launched across the room by some sort of ex-shank engine gravity catapult. He poured arc energy through his body and accelerated across the room.
He closelined a splicer with a void-shrouded arm as it stepped out with a heavily augmented wire rifle. Its head went flying and he caught the wire rifle before it hit the ground. He slammed into cover behind a sturdy slab of armour from what had to be one of their spider tanks. It hissed and started to heat up as the arc cannon fired again.
He glanced over the rifle. It didn't seem to be encoded. Grip was right… Sights… good… He put his scout rifle on his back and raised the wire rifle as he stepped out and levelled it on another splicer. It let out a whine as he pulled the trigger, then fired as he let go.
The splicer's head popped, followed by an explosive container behind it going up in flames.
He ducked back. Charge shot, neat.
Arc bolts raked his cover. "It feels like she isn't taking me seriously, ya know? I'm a Titan. I've been doing this for years now and I felt like she's already written me off as useless," He said as the arc cannon fired again. The scent of burning metal made it through his helmet's filters as the armour plate started glowing softly.
He stepped out, his finger already down on the wire rifle's trigger, and fired a single shot at the cannon's operator as the whine reached a fevered pitch. The beam went straight through the Splicer's cover and both cannon and splicer toppled out, a hole the size of Hibiki's armoured fist in its chest. He slid the wire rifle over his shoulder and drew his scout rifle again.
He raised a barrier to intercept more burning projectiles and hurled a grenade high over it. The swarm grenade detonated somewhere above their heads and its projectiles rained down on the other side of the room. Shields popped and the Splicers shouted and chittered as they scrambled for cover.
He charged out from behind his cover. "She even threw me down here after dragging me around like a child," he said, "Who does that?"
"Shaxx?"
Unfortunately, he couldn't argue with that. Manhandling a trainee before tossing them down a pit was exactly Shaxx's style. Though he doubted Shaxx would have pulled them into an actual dance in front of the enemy. She'd even been grinning with amusement as she'd done it. It was like the whole fight had been a joke to her. Admittedly he'd been through worse fights, not including the battle in the lobby, so it wasn't like he'd been all too serious about himself either.
"Point," he finally said as he shoulder-checked a splicer with a Shank-gun attached to its shoulder out of cover. He sidestepped a swipe from a cybernetic fifth arm before grabbing the Splicer by its helmet and slamming it into the ground. He pumped several shots into its torso, spraying ether everywhere, before stepping back into cover himself. A rain of flaming projectiles hammered the cover and clipped his shields sending them screaming into the red zone.
That Captain was a pain in his ass.
He punched a barrier at an upward angle so it acted like a slanted roof for the pile of boxes he was hiding behind. Another wave of projectiles spattered off that shimmering Light.
He glanced about, taking count of his opponents while his shield recharged. The Captain at the back with its pair of servitors that were doing
something to a bank of consoles. Three more Splicers in cover between them with an eclectic array of weapons and extra limbs. Then there were the shanks on the walls. While none of them had been activated so far he couldn't-
With a scream of cold engines igniting three Shanks pulled themselves out of the racks. One opened fire, plastering his position with shots, while the other two darted about like they were trying to open fire. A moment later they accelerated on collision courses before exploding well short as he shot them down.
"Right, enough about Ranma, let's focus before they send the entire room after us," Hibiki declared as he charged out of cover. An aura of Void Light enveloped him as his shield formed on his left arm. He caught a burst of arc lightning on it from the nearest Splicer who was firing what appeared to be an oversized tuning fork.
Its shields died as he hit it with his shield, then it disintegrated into Void Light particles as he carved it in half with the edge of the shield. The same motion tossed the shield like a frisbee across the room. It cut through a shock pike that was pulsating with arc power before dropping the shield of the owner in time for the arc energy to detonate and vaporise him. It barely touched the shield as it bounced off a wall before catching the last minor splicer in the gut. Its shield shrugged off the blow, but the force left it stumbling and unable to avoid the follow-up arc grenade that stuck to its helmet. Its hands scrambled at the helmet before the grenade detonated and erased the splicer in a flurry of electrical sparks.
Hibiki ducked behind a stack of crates to avoid the wave of projectiles from the Captain before coming up on the far side, his rifle barking even as he hurled a flashbang ahead of him. On the walls, a dozen Shanks in various states of repair came to life and slid off the racks. He ignored them as he poured fire on the Captain.
The Captain dropped its weapon and drew a sabre with one hand, a pistol with another, and a large round object with two more. It flared and expanded forming a shield of arc energy then the Captain charged. Hibiki jumped, power flaring around his feet as he cleared the Captain's lunge.
The Titan hooked his rifle to his back and palmed a pair of stick-shaped grenades before tossing them at each of the Servitors. They thunked into the floor beneath them and immediately started emitting sparks. A moment later bolts of lightning dropped the shields of both Servitors. They let out loud whines of complaint.
He drew his handgun and rolled to his feet as he spun to face the Captain. It barked, dropping several Shanks on suicide paths before he ducked the Captain's swing. His own energy shield shimmered as an arc bolt from its pistol winged his left arm. He ducked and weaved out of the captain's way, rarely deflecting its shots with a kick or punch. Most of them were deflected by its oversized shield.
Meanwhile, his grenades continued to shock the Servitors as they twitched and stuttered under the lightning barrage. Finally, something failed in one and it let out a wail before detonating, prompting the other Servitor to just
turn off and drop to the ground.
His handgun barked a few times more as he danced with the Captain but soon they were alone. They circled each other, the Captain twirling their sabre and pistol.
"Any chance you'll just give up and leave?" Hibiki asked as his free hand began to glow with Void Light.
It chuckled before speaking. "No more than you," it growled, its voice sounding artificial through its mask. Then it lunged as he blinked at it actually speaking a human language.
His shield flash formed on his arm in time to catch the blade on its center. He twisted and guided it to his right as he stepped left and into the Captain's guard. His handgun barked twice. Both bullets caught the blade and the metal shattered. The burst of arc energy lit up the weapon and back fed into the Captain's arm. With a 'pop' his shield dropped.
The Captain backed away, interposing the physical energy shield between them, but Hibiki pursued, hooking the edge of its shield with his own. An empowered pull yanked the Captain forward and his shield out of the way. A Light wreathed fist cracked the Captain across the face before his shield sliced off one of the hands holding the shield. It stumbled, but its sword hand jerked in a slash with a knife it drew from somewhere.
Hibiki jumped back, firing his gun before tossing his shield of Void Light at the Captain. It was deflected by the Captain's own shield, but with only one hand on it several shots found their way through first. The Captain chittered as it dropped the knife and resorted to its pistol alone.
He dived for cover as it spat arc bolts at him and his shield faded. He scowled. "Really wish I could get that to last a bit longer," he grumbled. He had issues with the state of mind required to use it for long periods. He palmed a pair of grenades from his storage before opening fire. The Captain ducked behind the nearly opaque shield, and in the process failed to see the pair of swarm grenades go high.
He noticed when the many tracking projectiles caught him from back and above.
Hibiki rose and fired as the Captain stumbled. His shots slipped by the shield and caught the Captain in its shoulder, then its side and finally its head before they hit the ground and failed to rise.
Shaking with a touch of adrenaline Hibiki swept the room once before running to the console. Direction appeared as he reached it and immediately interfaced with the computer. "The Servitors are still logged in. Just need to spoof their… yes…. yes… I have access," Direction said, "Splicer system has access to their engine controls. I'm deleting their manoeuvring software except for the stationkeeping protocols."
"Pull their navigation records," Hibiki said, "Maybe we can track down other House of Kings bases from their stops."
"I'm already copying navigation data," Direction said, "And I've uploaded a worm that should eat any attempt to replace their manoeuvring programs. That'll keep them busy for quite a while… Oh, and I'm shutting down their jammers. This is very strange technology for the Fallen. It might be unique to the House of Kings."
"Worrisome, but for now connect me to Durendal and Cayde," he said.
"Negative. The other ship's jamming system is still operational," Direction said.
"Damn it. Then get me a map and let's go find Ranma," he said.
Direction paused. "Are you still interested in finding out more? I can't imagine you knew someone quite as crazy as she is," he said.
"I want to know more, Direction. A bit of crazy isn't going to stop me," he replied.
"Very well. Setting waypoints," Direction said before he faded back into Hibiki's armour. "The worm should do the rest now. Go flirt with your crazy girlfriend."
"She is not my girlfriend!" Hibiki snapped.
"Are you sure? You don't remember after all," his ghost replied smugly.
Having no answer to that, he turned and ran after the waypoints on his HUD. The halls were remarkably empty. He heard the sounds of Fallen in the distance and the sound of skittering claws as they ran away, but he didn't see them.
He didn't see anyone.
Soon, however, the sounds of violence reached his ears as he stormed up a tall staircase and onto the bridge. Bodies lay broken across the floor and consoles. Pieces of Shanks and Servitors were coated in a layer of frost that was slowly melting off of every surface. Slight puddles of water were forming.
Notably, nothing was alive, or at least nothing was conscious.
He hurried toward the sound of fighting, only to emerge into the dim evening sunlight in time to witness a Naginata of Ice fly through the air like a javelin and pin the ship's Captain, an enormous Captain twice the height of the usual ones, to the ship's mast.
An explosion of frost and electricity flash froze it from the inside out.
Then Ranma dropped back to the deck feet in front of Hibiki. She flipped her braid back over her shoulder and stretched. "Uuugh, troublesome bastard," she complained.
"Looks like it," he said, grinning as she started and spun around.
"You-" she huffed and straightened her armour, "Got it all done?"
"They can't do anything more than station keeping for the moment and if they try a worm should eat it. It'll keep them in place for a while," he replied.
"Good. Now-" The radio crackled to life abruptly.
"This is Cayde to boarding parties, anyone there?"
"We're here," Ranma said, raising a hand to one ear as she turned back to the building, "How is everything back at base?"
"Oh things are going great over here. We've had a few dozen Guardians show up already and the perimeter is holding great," the Vanguard said, "Hey, N, you hearing this?" N. Did he mean that N?
A new voice came on the radio. "We're hearing you," a male sounding voice said, "the Guardian and I have finished with the other vessel. They're down to stationkeeping and we've taken out both their Captain and their Jammer. Good thing too. I think it was giving me a headache."
"Can ghosts even get headaches?" Cayde asked rhetorically before carrying on, "Look, great work everyone. Fall back to the data room. We're transmatting in some frames so Durendal can hold the area and set up a fixed teleportation destination from his base. A little something I've been working on."
"We'll head in. Khu you there?" Ranma asked.
"I'm here. Harried, but here," the other Guardian said, "You have no idea how many Fallen have tried to get into here."
"Over four hundred have been logged," Durendal added.
Ranma snorted. "Yeah, well just hold out for a few more. We're headed back," she said before turning to Hibiki. Her eyes met his and for a moment he felt like he was somewhere else sitting across from the owner of those eyes as she gave him a mischievous grin. There was ice cream involved as well, he was pretty sure.
Then something hit him in the head. "Ow," he intoned as he realised Ranma was frowning at him. "Sorry, zoned for a moment."
"Riiight," she said, clearly not believing him, "As I was saying, you wanted to have a talk. We can have one in the data center or back at Durendal's place if they've got that Transmat set up. C'mon." She turned and started walking toward the stairs with barely a care in the world.
He followed, feeling both embarrassed and hopeful. That was a new memory. He hadn't had one of those in years. Maybe, just maybe, he was finally onto something.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ranma stretched as she followed Khu out of the Transmat. "Eurgh, I'm stiff," she complained. A pulse of light from Kiko ran through her, but it did little for the psychosomatic exhaustion that told her she
should be tired.
Khu turned to her. "At least you weren't locked in a room getting flooded with Fallen that you had to be careful not to wreck," she replied, putting one hand on her hip, "I am so glad to turn that over to frames for now."
The transmat pad, which had been stuffed into a ground floor room near the central courtyard, flashed behind them as Hibiki arrived. Ranma turned on her heel. Giving him a proper look over there wasn't too much exceptional about him compared to other Titan's she'd seen. Armoured suit, guns, direct attitude.
"So, you're Hibiki," she said, pushing aside the memories that name brought up. She didn't want to admit how much she missed her rival.
"I am," he said, "Do you have time for a talk now?"
"Yeah, I do," Ranma said, as she leaned against the wall, "What do you want?" She caught sight of Khu walking out of the room. She waved and winked before giggling as she left. Ranma rolled her eyes.
"Well…" Hibiki reached up and popped the seals on his helmet. He lifted it off and her heart stopped.
His hair was the same black, though his face was a few years older. Maybe nineteen or twenty instead of seventeen. His eyes were warm and he still had the small fangs that she recalled… but…
"So-urp- wurt uuur ooo ooing?" he slurred as she took two steps forward and squished his cheeks together as she turned his head left and right. Resurrection got rid of scars, so she couldn't count on those, but it did nothing for bone structure.
"I-," She stared at him, "How are-" She let him go and stepped back, her mouth moving up and down. It was him but… She tried to blink away the feeling of tears in the corner of her eyes.
"Well," he said as he rubbed his cheeks, "I guess that answers my questions."
"Ryouga," she breathed before turning away. She was not going to start crying in front of
Ryouga. She brushed the tears away subtly. More immediately started to gather.
"So that's what the R meant," he mused and she flinched.
Right. No memory. Not really.
"How much do you..?" She trailed off, glancing over her shoulder.
"A few things. Mostly glimpses of people, or places. Mostly red hair and what might be blood. I sometimes get flashes of inspiration in combat for tricks and such," he said, taking a step forward, "I'm guessing you remember a lot more than that."
"Tricks," She snorted. The Ryouga she knew would have smacked this version of him for the irreverence toward martial arts. "Yeah. Basically everything. If I've forgotten something it's small enough I can't tell there are holes. Not yet anyways."
"Ah…" He watched her with a small frown. "Are you okay?"
Was she- She snorted. "Yeah, course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, unable to keep a bitter tone out of her voice.
The transmat flashed again as someone else came through. They both turned to see a woman with a hunter's cloak over her shoulder step off the pad. She paused as she saw them.
"I hope I'm not interrupting something?" she asked as she reached up to her helmet.
"No, not really," Ryouga said as Ranma felt her eyes go wide.
Ryouga, she had had warning even if she'd downplayed the possibility. But-
Red hair, just a shade darker than her own. A face so familiar, though years younger and now so similar to her own. Warm brown eyes that looked so concerned.
"M-Mom?" Ranma blurted out in stunned disbelief.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: *pokes around shelf with a feather duster*
*hums a little ditty*
*knocks a box off the shelf*
???
!
Grounders10: Gekkou! I found the chapter! I think it's a bit dusty, but it should work, right? *hopeful kitsune*
Gekkou_Yoko: Sure! I already cleaned it three times! Go ahead and throw it to the wolves! They're like cats sometimes, I swear!
Grounders10: ;-; I didn't misplace it that many times, did I? *looks around at disorganised office*
Gekkou_Yoko: You ahh, just let me-*fixes typo* there cha go.
Grounders10: *has sinking feeling it's been lost for longer than intended* ;-;
Gekkou_Yoko: Well, it was finished most of a year ago, so…
Grounders10: *hurriedly shoves it out the door* Here you go everyone! Totally didn't forget to post it for like, nine months! Enjoy! *flees, tails banging loudly against the wall*
I have been waiting AGES for you to resolve this cliffhanger.
