"Ooh! These turrets have a manual mode!" Cayde calls out as he begins using the turrets to decimate the prison rioters and clear a way for Taiki. Back at the tower, Spe-7 and Suzuka continue to watch the events play out through Twinkle's feed, and Taiki looks on in jealousy. As the security system is turned on though, Taiki and Cayde get a horrifying message from Petra.
"This is exactly what I feared! It's not a prison riot, it's a prison BREAK!" Petra shouts. "There's no way we can cut them off!"
"Not if I can help it!" Cayde shouts. The last thing that plays through the feed is the sound of Cayde's gun firing, and the feed suddenly cuts out.
"What happened?" Spe-7 asks.
"I don't know... The feed just... Cut out! Something bad must have happened." Twinkle replies. "We need to get Zavala and see if we can head over there and rescue them."
"I'll go get him." Spe-7 replies as Twinkle quickly tails behind. A few minutes pass, but Spe-7 does return with the commander.
"You mean to tell me that Cayde and Taiki are in trouble?" Zavala asks.
"The last thing we heard were gunshots." Suzuka replies.
"Then that means something has gone wrong..." Zavala mumbles. "It's a risk but I am allowing you two to head into the prison to rescue Taiki and Cayde."
"Thank you." Suzuka says as she and Spe-7 are summoned into their shared jumpship while the commander gives them the coordinates to the prison. When they get there though, the place looks absolutely wrecked. "What in the world happened here?"
"We have to be very careful." Spe-7 mumbles as she brings out her shotgun and Suzuka brings out her fusion rifle.
"Wait... Don't you have a grenade launcher on you?" Suzuka asks.
"I also have my rocket launcher." Spe-7 replies as the two head into the ruined prison and find that there is a very long drop- possibly where everyone is. "No other option but to jump down..."
"Let's try to stick the landing." Suzuka says as both of them jump down to the ground level, with Spe-7 performing another jump to take off the pressure and Suzuka gliding down gracefully.
"So they fell twenty stories down..." Fang says as Twinkle picks up traces of something.
"I'm picking up ether trails, usually left behind by the Fallen, but this ether is... Wrong..." Twinkle says.
"What do you mean wrong?" Spe-7 asks.
"This ether seems to be corrupted with something... I would keep a lookout, there's more of this corrupted ether down there." Twinkle replies as the two begin to move down to where the trails are leading. They run into a door that's been jammed shut, and Spe-7 looks at Suzuka warily.
"...Are you going to blast it open? Or am I going to blast it?" Spe-7 asks.
"Um... I'll open it." Suzuka replies as she takes her sword and wedges the door open. As it properly opens though, something can be seen roaming around and it takes the two all of their effort to not immediately scream- the thing that's roaming around appears to be a dreg that's missing it's head, with it's neck capped off by a strange cap. It's skin is a sickle gray and it appears to be wearing bronze all around it, and in it's hand is a flaming censer, and it turns around, having noticed the duo.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Spe-7 screams as the headless dreg charges forth at them, making gurgling noises as it swings it's censer with skill and accuracy that would put a dullahan to shame. The headless dreg then proceeds to slam the censer on the ground, creating a fiery explosion and more of it's wretched kind emerge to attack Spe-7 and Suzuka.
"There are more?!" Suzuka shouts as Spe-7 begins wildly firing her shotgun, blasting the headless dregs to pieces and giving the two breathing room.
"That... Used to be a Fallen..." Twinkle finally says. "Something... SomeONE did this to them... And I shudder to think of who could wield such a power... We have to move quickly, this threat is much bigger than I thought."
"Right." Spe-7 replies as the two pick up their pace, mowing down the headless dregs as they go.
"There's more corrupted ether the further we go down... And I can't reach Taiki or Ghost." Fang says, but a void charged sawblade nearly hits Suzuka's ghost had it not derezzed in time.
"What the?! Snipers?!" Spe-7 asks as she brings out her grenade launcher, looking for the source. It turns out to be an undead vandal with it's eyes covered by a bronze headpiece and carrying a crude crossbow-like weapon that fires the void charged sawblades that nearly sliced up Fang. One good blast from Spe-7's grenade launcher is all it takes to destroy it, and it also reveals a vent that seems to have been blasted open by someone.
"Taiki's nearby." Twinkle says. "Only he would blast open a vent if he couldn't get through a door."
"You got that right." Suzuka snickers as the two continue to follow Taiki's trail. That's when they find the remains of a dead ghost, and Fang quickly scans it.
"It's not Ghost's remains, but Sundance's... Cayde!" Fang shouts. "We have to get to them or Cayde is going to die, permanently!" And with that Suzuka and Spe-7 begin using their light to enhance their already powerful running speed, zipping through the pipes and coming across a large room where a gigantic ogre like Fallen once stood. Petra is right behind them as the three then burst through to find Taiki cradling a dead Cayde-6 in his arms.
"No..." Petra says in disbelief.
"We were too late..." Suzuka says.
YOU ARE READING
Destiny 2: A Lost Soul
FanfictionTaiki and the equine guardians may have survived the Red War and defeated Ghaul, but as time goes on so does the rest of the world. With the darkness advancing on the traveler's location since it woke up, and with new people in the fray that aren't...
