VI
Janus was figuring out what to do, he went back to the place where the rift was in which he entered this world. To his horror it was no longer there, closed up. Having nothing to do he focuses on killing, to take his mind away. With the fact that his brother is somehow in this world, he can't really relax. Khral holds a grudge, he is angry as he should be, there is nothing worse than getting stabbed in back and abandoned in danger. Only the Void knows what happened from that day till now. Janus was also fixated on that woman, who was she, where did she come from. She seemed human, but also familiar, looking like Nyx. Walking the abandoned Earth it does kind of reminds him of Earth back home. Remnants of human cities, now lay abandoned, overrun with the enemies of theirs.
On the other side, Elsie and Drifter were held in jail, they withheld crucial information, it was basically committing treason. They had no one to blame but themselves and as they sat in silence in the cell Drifter spoke up first.
Drifter: What do you think is going to happen to us?
Elsie: I don't know. Maybe exile, or stripped of our ranks. Who knows? I still can't believe what happened. I mean, who were those people that Janus had a clash with.
Drifter: I ain't gonna call that a clash, that was a proper smackdown. I mean, the damn concrete was severely damaged just from a punch and Janus didn't appear to stand a chance.
Elsie: I know, I guess you are right. But, he didn't appear to want to kill Janus, which is odd. And I wonder where Janus went.
Drifter: Who knows? I mean, maybe he went back to that rift to head home.
As they talk, they hear footsteps approach, multiple of them. Looking over to see who it is, at first comes out a normal soldier, but their movement is rather strange. Their eyes grow green which is odd. Really odd. But, quickly followed, two figures approach, a woman that Elsie remembers from that courtyard and the a different creature this time. A even stranger looking one.
It leaves a strange sense of unease, it appears to have two arms, but one pair is constantly folded into it's chest. The shoulder pads appear to have eyes that constantly dart around. The duo approaches and the woman opens her mouth from which a elongated tentacle tongue sprouts out and impales the poor soldier in the back of the head. They watch with horror as her tongue hits the back of the soldiers skull, before retreating it back into her mouth and the lifeless body falls on the floor with a thud. Even the other creatures in other cells go silent as the duo passes by them and towards Elsie and Drifter. They step in front of their cell, the woman grins. Out of nowhere, Elsie hears a voice in her head.
Elenore: Hello there strange thing.
Elsie jumps, looking around where it came from.
Elenore: Over here dumb dumb, it is me.
She looks at the woman, who just waves at Elsie.
Elsie: How can you talk to me?
Elenore: Telepathically? It is kind of my gist, you feel me. Anyway, I want to talk to you.
Drifter: Who are you talking to Elsie?
Elenore: What an annoying old man. I don't like to get interrupted.
Elsie: Drifter, can you stay silent for a second, she doesn't like it.
Drifter: She?
Elsie shifts her eyes, pointing to Elenore. Who upon locking eyes with the Drifter smiles at him, but it carries a sinister aura. It is not much of a happy smile, more of a 'Stay silent or I will personally murder you in such a brutal way that you would have wished you were silent in the first place' type of smile. He goes silent, taking a seat back at the cell bed.
Elsie: What do you want to talk about?
Elenore: So willing, I like it. You see, my love here, he wishes to know where his brother went and since you spent time with him, you might know where he is.
Elsie: Brother?
Elenore: Oh, has Janus not told you. Haha, I guess he is embarrassed about his past. Yes, Khral is his brother and they got into quite a argument and conflict due to their past. And now, he would like to make amends with Janus.
Elsie: Hmmm.... Sadly, we can't help you there. He just ran away, we got no clue where he went.
Elenore: I see. Hmmmm.... Now, that is a rather disappointing outcome, isn't it?
Elenore turns towards the strange frame which Elsie assumed, especially considering that this other one is his brother. They look at each other for quite some time, until finally Elenore speaks to Elsie again.
Elenore: You seem to be in jail. Would you like to get out?
Elsie: Oh? Why and how? Why would you let us out and how would you do that? This is a high security prison, meant to be hard to breech.
Elenore: Trust me, it isn't. As to why, well, it would easier for us to have some 'agents' that we would have use out of. You know, we are pretty new to this world and what other way to get to know it than to get yourself some special agents that would gather intel for you.
Elsie: So you want us to be your eyes and ears?
Elenore: You could say that.
Elsie: Can I talk to my friend here?
Elenore: Sure, take as much time as you need.
Elsie turns to face Drifter.
Elsie: Oi, we have a chance to get out of here and strike a deal with these people.
Drifter: What kind of deal?
Elsie: Well, we are to be their eyes and ears, to gather info for them and in return, we would be freed. Can't be more basic than that.
Drifter: And they don't want anything in return, anything more I mean?
Elsie: It doesn't seem so.
Drifter: It sounds fishy, but... I don't wanna be stuck in this cell forever. So if you are up to it, then so am I.
Elsie looks at Elenore who is mingling with the frame. With a clearing of her throat she breaks the two lovebirds apart, managing to gain their attention.
Elsie: We accept your deal.
Elenore nods and turns to face the frame, giving it an affirming nod. The frame approaches the console and with some kind of device on the lower part of it's arm, on it's wrist it thrust it into the console. A couple seconds pass and soon the force field goes down. Elsie and Drifter stare in shock, these cells are high class, meant to hold the wittiest, most cleaver criminals in the galaxy. And to just open the cell like that, it is almost an insult. From behind the strange duo, voices can be heard from down the hall.
Soldier: Hey, what are you doing!? This area is off limits meant for authorized personnel only!
But as he realizes what is going on, the open cell, the two strange figures it is simply too late. His mind goes blank and a powerful force tells him to kill his comrades. And so he does. Turned into Elenore's puppet, her servant. He guns down his friends before shooting himself in the head. Drifter and Elsie stare in shock at what just happened. The strange duo continues on their way, with Elsie and Drifter following closely behind. As they exit the cell area and into the large hallways they take a moment to think. The two newcomers seem to be heading down one way, probably towards the exit and it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow them. But before they could take even a single step Elenore looks at Elsie.
Elenore: You head the other way. Get caught, you will need the resources of the Vanguard to gather us intel.
Grudgingly Elsie nods and heads the other way where they are eventually caught. Instead of placing them back in their cells, since those have been compromised they are put under constant surveillance, unable to leave the tower. However, that isn't such a bad thing as will be able to gather info for them. Just how they will relay said info to Elenore is beyond Elsie's brain and hadn't really given it much thought. They continue their lives pretty normally, trust in them had been slightly gained back. But putting the Tower in such a danger was not only dangerous but foolish and should have told the Vanguard about Janus. However, that normality is soon shattered as they are called into Zavala's office. As they take a seat they look at Zavala who doesn't say a single word. Instead, he stares back right into their souls it feels like. Pretty soon the rest of the Vanguard appears.
Osiris: Why have you called us Zavala?
He doesn't say anything, just points at the screen before him, a image of a Pyramid ship appears. However, this ship had gone under extensive change, overgrown with some kind of organic matter and to it, connected a couple of Cabal vessels, overtaken by the same organic matter.
Ikora: What is that?
Zavala: I have no clue, this ship had clearly been infested with something. Maybe a disease it carried from a unknown galaxy?
Osiris: Could be. But I have never seen a disease completely consume a ship in such a way. It appears to have completely eaten up the metal, twisted it into it's own image.
Zavala looks at Drifter and Elsie.
Zavala: Do you have any comments? A clue? Maybe you hide something more from us.
Drifter: Whoa, there ain't no need for that hostility. Look, we ain't got no clue what is going on there. But whatever it is, it don't appear to be good. If it spreads, god knows what it could do.
Their conversation interrupted when another message pops up. Another photo, this time, of a Hive Knight some Guardians encountered. These are strange, their helmets are different. Only their lower part shows with two light lines going up. The top of the head is flat, almost like a platform and strange patterns adorn it. As was reported, these knights are strong, really strong, but move with a different purpose. They appear to be gathering and scouting for something or someone. Only one knight had been lost, but to take one out it took two entire companies of Cabal to take it down. This put fear into everyone, such strong Hive knights could be considered champions, if not much much stronger. From over a radio a song starts to play, it isn't something that they had heard. The lyrics go.
"Along with you
In this blazing fever
There is not a lot to do
I am getting older
Should take a walk
Was optimistic
But all the ladies talk"
Such song they have never heard and Zavala often spends time listening to music in his office while he works. He looks at what station it is and all it says is ERROR. Everything is strange as of late, so many oddities, too much to take in.
Zavala: Everyone, I will send you these photos and try to dissect them, gather as much info about them as you can. Ikora, find someone to find out what station this is. And everyone, not a soul is to approach those ships.
Everyone nods and leaves. Leaving Zavala alone in his office. He takes a long deep breath, he feels hurt by Elsie and Drifter. But the power those things carried, it was monstrous and this ship, these Hive. It is all too close in time, they all started happening at the same time basically. There must be some kind of connection between it, their task is to find out what is that connection. He looks out of the window at the city before him, whatever lays ahead, is unknown, especially with these anomalies.
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