Chapter 6: The Mobile Fortress

Stall and Sagan are in a pinch, thankfully, Zula, better known as "The Mobile Fortress" lends a hand.

Zula walked through the dimly lit corridors of Ishtar Academy, her heavy footsteps leaving an echo. “Any sign of Vex?” she asked.

“No…Odd…” replied Zula’s Ghost.

“What about the warlocks?” she asked, lowering her Scout Rifle.

“No lifesisigns…But it’s possible they’re only masking it to cover their tracks. The Vex only reveal themselves when disturbed...” Said her Ghost.

“That’s Sagan for you” Zula said, walking with her rifle cradled in her arms. “Never wants to get his hands dirty.” She sighed. “Well, if these bookworms are in the knowledge capital of the universe, then the first place I’d look for them would be the library.”

“Alright, setting waypoint…now…” punctuated Ghost, his voice cracking in the end there.

“What’s up?” asked Zula, grabbing her rifle, and breaking into a sprint. She could tell by her Ghost’s tone of voice when there was trouble.

“Lots of signals coming in…Radar’s more red than radar…” said her Ghost very concerned “The Vex are here.”

“Get us out of here Ghost!” barked Sagan, as he loaded his handcannon with a fresh battery.

“We’re in a darkness zone, I can’t do anything” replied Sagan’s Ghost, who like most Warlocks’ ghosts, tend to only speak when asked to.

Sagan and Stall slid to cover. Sagan looked over the balcony, and saw that the thunder clouds were still forming on the promenade. He looked over and saw another balcony facing him. “I’m going over there to flank them” said Sagan, as he vaulted over the railing, and began to float towards the balcony facing him.

Stall loaded his rocket launcher, and then closed the safety hatch. He hoisted it over his shoulder, and trained his sights on the ground near the first thundercloud.

“It’s just a few clouds…” stated Stall, speaking to Sagan over his radio.

“Don’t be too surprised…These clouds are like clown cars. You never know what comes out. Sagan said, with his handcannon raised at the second cloud.

“Can’t be too tough if you’ve lived to know about them.” said Stall, stuffing the bronze book into his robes.

“Focus” responded Sagan, in no mood for sass.

Soon enough, the Vex appeared in full force, the clouds produced a horde of Goblins, footsoldiers in the Vex’s army. They looked like metal skeletons, with large craniums, topped off with red glowing eyes. Stall made quick work of first group of Vex, their hollow screeches getting drowned out by the rocket’s blast.

“Right! Right!” shouted Sagan, as he fired into the group of Vex with his handcannon.

“Right? Because I see Vex on my left” replied Stall, as he set down his empty rocket launcher, and started forming a Solar grenade in his palm

“My right!” snarled Sagan, as he managed to shoot the head off of one of the Vex. He chuckled, as he went to aim at another Vex.

“He’s still alive!” shouted Sagan’s Ghost.

Sagan’s eyes widened, as he looked at the Vex that he was shooting at earlier. It was still standing, and it only looked angrier, Sagan took a closer look at that Vex in particular, as Stall had been drawing all the fire. He noticed all the Vex had a shining light in their abdomens. He took aim with his handcannon, and shot the berserk Vex in its abdomen, quickly destroying it.

“AIM FOR THEIR BELLIES!” shouted Stall over the radio, as he started making quick work of the Goblins, now knowing their weakness.

The solar grenade Stall had formed in his palm resembled a ball of light, about the size of a baseball; he lobbed it into the group of Vex, burning them all.

“More Vex incoming…” said Sagan’s Ghost.

“I know!” said Sagan, as he vaulted over the railing, and hovered towards the balcony Stall was taking cover in. “The clouds haven’t formed yet…We can just take the books and run…”

“3 clouds…near the statue” said Sagan’s Ghost.

“Damn it!…” said Sagan, as he looked over to where the clouds were forming. Distracted, he crashed into the railing, and then fell to the floor about 10 feet below. His back landed on a wooden desk, crushing it.

Stall peeked over the railing, and looked down at Sagan, who looked like a helpless child.

“Are you okay? Sounded like it hurt.” said Stall, trying his hardest to keep himself from laughing.

Sagan climbed out of the wreckage, the wood screeching as he pushed himself off. “Honestly...the table broke my fall…” He paused. ”What’s that noise?”

Stall looked behind him, and saw a hulking mass of metal, a Vex Minotaur. About twice the size of your average Vex goblin, and 5 times as strong. The minotaur backhanded Stall off the balcony, he faceplanted into the hard floor 10 feet below.

Sagan took aim with his handcannon, he couldn’t seem to find the “weakspot”, so he took potshots at its covered head. “You missed the table…” said Sagan, grabbing Stall by his collar, and lifting him up.

Stall groaned; he unholstered his handcannon, and took aim at the first thing he saw, which happened to be the Minotaur up top.

Sagan looked up, and saw the Minotaur’s rifle charging up, it started to fire a volley of mortars, each one landing closer and closer to it’s mark. “Stall take cover!” he said, grabbing Stall and pulling him under the balcony, safe from the mortars.

“Do you think they’re here because I took the book?” pondered Stall, as he took a moment to gather his bearings.

“Well, I told you not to…” said Sagan, maintaining his collected demeanor, as he checked the ammo of his handcannon.

“Think of the information that lies in this book…that it’s protected by an army of Vex!” stated Stall, ecstatically.

“Well we’ll never know what’s in that book unless we live!” shouted Sagan, very sternly.

The Minotaur from before vaulted over the ledge, at first, it was facing away from the two, so it rotated it’s torso 180 degrees, and begun to charge its mortar cannon.

“This is it…This is how we die…” said a hopeless Stall, as he looked down. Sagan raised his handcannon and pulled the trigger, but it was out of ammo. He sighed, as he looked back at Stall, and then back at the minotaur. “Stall…” he asked.

“What?” replied Stall.

“You’re a sunsinger…Spread your wings…” said Sagan, as he tossed his handcannon aside, and took a deep breath. His eyes glew bright orange, as what appeared to be wings, made of pure energy sprouted from his back. He roared, as he marched towards the minotaur, a ball of light in each his hands. He punched a hole in the minotaur’s abdomen, and ripped out whatever he could. He kicked the minotaur down, and turned to face the horde of Vex that marched towards them. He hurled one sunlight orb after another into the crowd, as he soared toward the crowd, kicking the heads off one of the Vex goblins before he landed. He ripped the arms off of one of the goblins holding a rifle, and he used it to against it. Once it was out of ammo, he threw it with great force at another Vex. “Nothing to be scared of boy! These Vex are nothing more than brittle tinmen!” he laughed, as he made quick work of the squad with his fully awakened sunsinger abilities. More clouds came in, one right in front of Stall.

Stall took a deep breath “Ghost?” he asked.

“You are fully charged.” Replied his Ghost.

Stall’s eyes glew, as what appeared to be wings made of pure energy, spread from his back. The wings themselves appeared jagged and less angelic than his mentors, but they were still beautiful. He roared, as he ran into the crowd of Vex, sticking fusion bolts onto the minotaurs. He held his Fusion Rifle with one hand, he pressed it against the abdomen of a hobgoblin, and fired, instantly killing it. He hit a Goblin with a scorching backhand.

Stall and Sagan were making quick work of the Vex squads with their sunsinger abilities, but alas, they could only keep that fighting spirit for so long. As soon as Sagan’s charge ran out, he had taken care of his squad, he ran over to Stall’s group, and helped finish them off. Not too long after, Stall’s charge ran out as well.

“We’ll return for the books another time…We’ve got to get out of here” said Sagan, as another storm cloud appeared in front of them.

“Agreed.” Said Stall, as he turned around, but before he could take another step, he was stopped by a large minotaur, that raised his arm, and slammed it down, hitting the floor, as Stall narrowly avoided it, stepping back, knocking into Sagan.

Sagan punched a hole into the minotaur’s abdomen with his scorching fist, but it only gave them a little space. Not too long after, another thunder cloud appeared at the entrance, blocking it. The two looked up to see if they could get to higher ground, only to see that the a minotaur had his cannon aimed directly at them from above.

“Get behind me!” said Sagan, shoving Stall aside.

The minotaur shot a volley of missiles, the first two hitting the ground directly behind them the third…hit something else.

“Keep your heads down bookworms!” said Zula, who fired at the minotaur on the balcony with her Scout Rifle, after a few hard hitting shots, the Minotaur toppled over the railing, and crashed into the ground. Once the dust settled, Stall and Sagan were able to identify what had protected them.

“Nope…the missile got hit by me” said Zula, laughing.

“I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes…The Mobile Fortress!” exclaimed Stall, as he saw the hulking Titan donning purple armor, and glowing Gauntlets.

“It’s good to see the days since the Twilight Gap have been kind to you Zula.”

“Wish I could say the same for you old man.” replied Zula, with a smirk. “Are you two alright?” she asked.

“Just a bit shaken, maam.” Said Stall, back straight, and head totally bent back. He was dwarfed by Zula’s 6’8” armor

“…But we’re fine. I don’t see why they needed to send you” said Sagan, checking the battery in his handcannon.”

“Because you bozos have been gone for two days.” Replied Zula, flicking the 7 painted on Sagan’s forehead.

“What? No…it feels like it’s only been hours.” pondered Stall

“Books will do that.” Said Sagan, with a smile.

Zula shrugged, “Well there are plenty of books on the tower, lets blow this Popsicle stand.” Said Zula, as the pillar they stood behind shook and rumbled.

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