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makuta-tobi · 1 year ago

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Destinytober 2023 Day 7: SIVA

“I really, really, don't like this,” Athena shouldered her way past the scorched husk of a Servitor, her Ghost swinging its light to illuminate the crumbled passageways.

“What's not to like?” Tobi-17 hopped over some collapsed machinery, his attention drawn to the room around him, and he almost collided with the Awoken Titan as she stopped her task of moving aside rubble to shoot him a sharp look. “It's just a little exploration to see what we can make of the old program, that's all. Any new subroutines that we don't have access to.”

The hulking Titan turned her massive form toward him and leaned down so they were eye level.

“If Lord Saladin finds out about anything we're doing here, I'm telling him you kidnapped me at gunpoint. He's gonna have both our hides flayed by his new War Beasts.”

“And that's why we're doing it quietly and off the books,” the Exo shrugged and slipped past Athena, wiggling between a bank of computer terminals. “And besides, we're not going deep enough into the Plaguelands to even come close to the replication chamber, we're just gonna find some of the constructs nearby. I'll scan them and see what sort of commands they were running before they shut down, that's all.”

Athena scoffed at the casual dismissal. SIVA was dangerous. Unique, helpful, beautiful, and the most dangerous piece of tech Clovis Bray had ever created.

“And what would Ana think?” she continued, following the Warlock, who had begun prying open a door with a piece of rebar. “Or Elsie?”

Tobi-17 stopped and sighed. “I'm just trying to be helpful, okay? I'm just thinking, you know, we've tried to implement it before-”

“And it's always ended in tragedy every damned time,” she cut him off.

“-and we've always been prevented from trying by other forces,” he finished, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice. “First it was the Iron Lords getting merc'd by Big Red, and when they tried to blow it up and hide it, the Fallen kept us from running it back. But now, there's only two Iron Lords left, and one of them has been out of the system for years, the other is busy handling everything else. And Rasputin is... gone,” he faltered for a moment, then shook his head and continued, “he lost all control of it. There's no more Fallen here, no Hive, no nothing,” he spread his hands out wide for emphasis. “We're safe. But if we had it before... we could have done something.”

His voice sounded almost remorseful as he chewed over his thoughts. Athena gave him time, but then spoke up when she realized his concern.

“You think we could have prevented all... that if we had SIVA?” she gestured up at the ceiling, indicating the sky beyond it. Rasputin destroyed, the Warsats useless, the Traveler corrupted with a portal to who-knows-where ripped into its surface. “You know as well as I do that it wouldn't have been enough.”

“Maybe!” he blurted, “But maybe if we had SIVA, Rasputin could have had a working body sooner! He could have been one step ahead. Or we could have built a blockade, or more weapons in the City-”

“Or we could have been overtaken by our own fear and destroyed like everyone else who's tried to use this stuff.”

“Not everyone,” he unlimbered his rifle and held it up to her. The Outbreak rifles had been constructed by Shiro-4 and perfected by the Gunsmiths of the Tower. Now they were deadly weapons of war, less so than the great building blocks they had once been designed as. Athena sighed in defeat.

“It's not the same, but... fine. Let's see if we can't find you some old construction equipment.” Tobi-17 nodded and replaced the rifle on his back. Breaking open the door with another heave of the rebar, the two of them continued deeper into the facility, carefully stepping over shattered glass, fallen structures, and destroyed Shanks that still littered the floors here.

They emerged into a large room, possibly an amphitheater of some kind, and Tobi-17 suppressed a noise of joy. In the center of the room, dead and dormant, was a mass of machinery half-built. Dark cords of SIVA seemed to come from the floor, collecting in one central mechanism. Large black diamond shapes sprouted from the cords, like fungus growing on tree roots. All of it before them was made of an incalculable number of nano machines, that had once been programmed to build whatever was toppled over before them. The two Guardians picked their way down the steps and over damaged seats towards the prize laid out in front of them.

Tobi-17 reached into his pack and retrieved a small handheld screen with some wires coming from the bottom with diodes on the ends. He knelt down and jammed both of the rods into the mass of cables that looked as though they had fused into the very floor itself. The data feeds began flooding over the screen and he became lost in thought, murmuring affirmations to himself. Athena turned and walked over the broken floor to drop into one of the chairs, which nearly disintegrated as soon as she collapsed into it. She rested her rifle in her lap and let her eyes wander over the desolate room. There wasn't much here. Some Fallen cargo pods had been abandoned here years ago, as well as a cache of Ether, which she made a mental note of to alert Misraaks of later. There was a large shadow obscured in the back that could have very likely been the stripped down remains of a jumpship, or possibly a Fallen Walker, who was to say.

She heard Tobi-17 exclaim something to himself, and his Ghost, which now orbited around his head was responding, the two of them talking a mile a minute. Athena smiled and tilted her head back. Some objects hung from the ceiling, though she couldn't tell if they were lights or something else entirely, suspended on long ropes. A small hole had opened up in the roof and she could see the mid evening sky just outside, casting a faint line of pale orange against the nearby wall and floor. It wasn't enough to illuminate the room, but it was better than nothing. She swung her leg out and kicked a large piece of rubble. There was a loud groan.

Athena sat up and adjusted her position, hand wrapped around the grip of her rifle. Tobi-17 was loudly proclaiming his findings to his Ghost, but there was no other sound. Until there was. Another loud groan, coming from the back of the room. She raised her rifle and peered through the short scope, hoping to see something else. The Titan slowly backed up towards her Warlock partner.

“Hey, you got what you need, right?” she asked, her voice low.

“What?” he said without looking up, still distracted. “You have to see this, the algorithm is so much more complex than I realized, the self replication process is way more advanced than anything I've ever seen, it isn't even adapted to full in the guns!”

“Yeah, that's great and all, but are you done?” she asked. The Exo looked up and saw her kneeling next to him, but staring through the sights of her gun to the back of the room.

“Just about, why?” he set his device down and began to rise from his crouched position on the floor, grabbing his own gun.

“There's something else in here,” she said quietly. Then the load groan came again. Then a hum. Then a horn sound. The dark silhouette at the back of the room had a series of 8 dotted lights illuminate on its front, and then lines of red snaked up and around its body, giving it form as it rose.

“Hey, Seventeen?” Athena said softly. “Didn't you say the Kell's Scourge was the first Brig ever built?”

“Well, it was the first successful Brig ever built,” he answered. The hulking machine rose to its full height, and opened fire.

The first shot went over their heads and blew off a huge chunk of wall behind them.

“Grab the data!” Athena shouted as she braced her rifle on her shoulder and returned fire. The Brig took a few cautious steps forward and fired another arc shot, which whizzed by and made the air sizzle as it destroyed part of the floor to their left. Tobi-17 snatched up the terminal and shoved it back in his bag. The SIVA by his feet began glowing red as well, energy pulses running up from an unseen source.

“Let's boogie!” he laughed to no one, forming a void grenade in his hand and hurling it at the machine that was making its way slowly, tentatively, towards them. The energy ball landed just behind it, and a vortex pulled it backwards, undoing some of its progress. Athena kept up her fire as the Warlock hopped over a row of seats and gestured to the door. “Come on!”

Keeping low, she ran and fired on it, even as the Brig charged its cannon and shot again, missing by a wide margin.

“Are we just gonna run from this thing?” she asked incredulously as he held the ancient door open for her.

“Look, I saw the program running. It was dormant, but this particular lot was programmed for defense. The thing down there, it's another Brig, or at least it was supposed to be. They're guards, they're not gonna give chase.”

“You better be right," Athena ducked through the door, then peeked out and fired another burst from her rifle as the Brig took another step, covering her companion. The door slammed shut right as another arc shot took out half the wall. The two of them ran as quickly as they could, but their progress was impeded by the collapsed building they were currently occupying. They could hear its heavy footfalls and the sound of walls collapsing as it tried to locate them. But even empowered with SIVA, the prototype Brig was not able to locate them by itself. The processing power was slow, and was attempting to locate them based on where they would go, not where they currently were.

The pair managed to find the beacon they had placed at the broken down entrance, and they snatched it up, saddling on their Sparrows. The Brig inside made a loud rumbling noise, but it seemed so distant now. Perhaps it had finally given up now that they had left its stomping ground.

“So, did you get what you needed?” Athena growled in annoyance.

“Maybe,” the Warlock shrugged, “gonna have to go over it with some people.”

Athena shook her head and opened the throttle on her Sparrow, shooting towards the nearest relay point. She wanted to get the hell out of the Plaguelands, and back into her own bed. It had been too long. Tobi-17 steeled himself for the road ahead, leaned forward, and shot off after her.

#destinytober #destinytober23 #destiny 2 #destiny fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #tobi writes

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mochimelt · 1 year ago

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Destiny-tober, #8; Light Lost

This one was much longer than I expected, but I had a lot of thoughts. I wasn't around for the Red War, but my bf was, and Cricket-14 is his Hunter.

Pain. Unbearable pain.

His hand grabbed at his shirt, his chest, trying to tear out the needles of pain in his lungs. His throat burned, his mind spun.

“Cricket!” A feminine voice called out for him.

His lungs heaved. His stomach lurched and he held his chest tightly.

“Cricket, come on!”

He pulled his hands away from his body and onto the wood before him, fingers holding to the smooth table, brushing against rough paper.

”Oh, boy.“ His voice was hoarse, voice cracking with the burn in his throat. ”Another?“

His fingers held tightly to the tiny glass, raising it from the napkin it sat on, his hand shivering just the tiniest bit. The Hunter beside him sighed, letting her head fall onto the bar, her pale hair spilling over her shoulders. She held back her laughter and reached for her own glass, holding it out for the bartender, trying not to spill the drink as he poured them one more shot.

”I'm cutting you two off now. It's late.“

”Whatever you say, old man.“ Viola broke into a giggling fit, raising the glass to her lips and throwing her head back, the alcohol sliding down her throat. Cricket was quick to do the same, the liquid burning his synthetic insides, making him shake his head and wash the taste away with water.

”Oh man. Last mission was awful. How many times did I die..?“ Cricket slurred through his words, glancing at Viola. His vision spun and his mind worked to center it.

”At least fifteen.“ Viola laughed. Her own head was swaying, hands holding tightly to the bar, legs kicking under her seat. ”I missed this. Going out, having drinks. Not freezing our balls off in the middle of fucking nowhere trying to stop some Cabal encampment.“

”Yeah, same.“ Cricket took a deep breath. ”It's the anniversary of the War on Six Fronts, y'know.”

“It is?”

“Yep. Everyone's out partying. You didn't notice the banners and shit?“

Viola giggled. ”I didn't know what they were for! I dunno, I just thought it was like, Ikora's birthday or something.“

Cricket shoved her shoulder, holding onto her arm as she nearly fell out of her seat. Her laughter was contagious, bubbling up his throat, his own balance swaying. The next moment, they were both on the ground, laughing and rolling onto their backs.

His audials picked up a high pitched sound, ringing through his head, and he slapped the back of his hand against Viola.

”Quit that, you're making my audials hurt.“ ”Quit what?“

She sat up beside him, his vision focusing just enough to notice she wasn't making that sound. He closed his eyes and focused, as best he could through the fog in his mind, trying to pinpoint the sound. It was loud and high pitched, coming from somewhere outside the small bar. It sounded like a voice. A young one.

Screaming.

His eyes shot open and his body shot up.

”Fuck!“

Viola fell back at his sudden movements, groaning and rubbing her ass. ”What the hell Cricket?“

”Something's wrong.“

His legs shook and he pushed himself up, stumbling across the bar toward the door, one hand holding onto the door frame for support. Through the glass he could see the City's streets, the sky a burning red, smoke flowing through the alleys. People ran in all directions, rushing away from.. something. Viola was quick to join him, despite not being in any better a state.

“What the hell's going on out there?”

His hand pushed the door open and he took a shaky step out into the street. His vision swayed and his stomach cramped. He wanted to throw up. Ships lined the sky, none of Vanguard origin, all with the same symbol painted on the sides. Like half of a square, in bright red paint. Their guns pointed down into the City they stood in, firing occasionally, the sound of an explosion racketing through his audials.

“Cabal invasion.”

“What??“ Viola cried out, running out toward the street, her legs crumpling under her own weight. Her mind struggled to catch up and he took a slow step toward her. Neither of them were in fighting condition. A loud whizzing noise drowned out all other sounds. A burst of fire lit up the sky just before him. Burning pain shot through his body.

Then, silence.

His eyes opened to his Death Plane. Dark and cold, the way he liked it. Various trinkets and objects littered the place. A cape hung on a coat hanger. A beige dog ran across the plane, chased by a smaller black dog. His first Sparrow sat parked to his left. His drunken mind sharpened, settling back into its usual sober state, reset by the sudden death. What happened? He had been hit by something. Something fiery, powerful. Enough to kill him instantly, even in his armor. He didn't get much time to think before the plane around him shattered and he was brought back to the land of the living.

His Ghost, Song, floated beside him as his senses turned on. Screaming filled his audials. The air was hot and full of smoke, rubble coating his body, soot on his tongue. He coughed and held tightly to the hand in his, the person pulling him onto his feet. ”Cricket! Holy shit--” Viola's voice rung out. Her head darted frantically around, face now hidden by her dark green helmet, hood over her helm. Her handgun sat tightly in her grasp.

“The Cabal are attacking the City! We have to get as many people out of here as we can!” She yelled out. Cricket forced a nod as his helmet transmatted onto place over his head, one hand pulling the hood of his cape over his helm, the other grabbing onto his gun as it transmatted from storage.

He took two steps forward before collapsing.

A deep, burning pain shot through his systems. Viola fell in front of him, a scream tearing through her throat before she bit her tongue. He held back a groan.

The Light within him began to fade. Like a fire being put out by water, the wisps fading into the night, only embers left behind.

“Guardian!” Song's voice sounded beside him, barely audible through the ringing in his head. “Cricket- I- something doesn't feel right-”

Her voice cut off and he watched her shell collapse onto the ground in front of him. His hands moved instinctively, grabbing her shell and holding her to his chest, moving through the shocks of pain in his muscles. His body was weak. Drained of all his Light. He couldn't muster any of it. Not a blade, not a gun, not even a spark.

“Cricket, come on! We have to get the fuck out of here!”

Viola grabbed onto his shoulder and hauled him up. He wrapped his arm around hers and ran. Time seemed to blur as his muscles ached. Cabal tried to stop them, falling quickly to a couple shots, though he didn't remember pulling the trigger. They were no better than civilians now. Armed civilians, but mortal in the same way. Helplessness washed over him. Powerless, everything out of his control, the streets of the city burning away as he and his partner rushed into the surrounding woods. Civilians followed them, their cries landing on his deaf audials.

Cricket pulled Viola to a stop as they hit the start of the forest. She turned to face him, holding his hand in a death grip, and he turned to face the City he lived in. Fire covered the sky. Smoke blotted out the stars. Ships flew back and forth, rockets mounted on their sides. The Tower lay in ruin, burning away.

Song's shell rested heavy in his hold.

#melting words #destiny 2 #destinytober23

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