Destiny (Anime Style)

Chapter 12: Old Array

Just as they had planned; Ravi, Leah, Wire and Cybel went to complete some patrol missions on Earth.

Patrol missions are really simple. They basically consist of some material collecting, area scans, and small scouting missions. All of these help keep the Vanguard updated with what's going on around: what enemies like the Fallen are planning, or where they are gathering.

Ravi and Leah's actual mission was very simple. They just had to gather and deliver 2 loads of spinmetal leaves to a near guardian outpost somewhere on the west side of a zone called The Cosmodrome in Old Russia. A very big landscape which was basically a giant ship graveyard.

They stepped out to collect the leaves. This time, both of them were using their guardian outfits. Leah was wearing her skin-tight black suit with the white chest piece of armor, her white hood, her white cloak, and the few white pieces of armor covering her wrists.

While, on the other hand, Ravi was wearing a warlock outfit designed by himself: a gray shirt of long sleeves with a long black coat covering it, some even darker pants, black boots and gloves, and a few dark blue pieces of armor on his wrists.

"You know? I still can't get used to seeing you in that outfit" Leah said to Ravi with a grin.

"Huh? Why?" Ravi asked. "Is it too weird?"

"Of course not! It's really cool! And that coat certainly suits you! It's only that I still can't get your desertic scavenger costume out of my head... hehe... That was certainly a mess"

The blue-haired boy laughed a bit in return. "Well, don't forget you wore a similar outfit for a couple of days. So, I believe we were both a mess"

"Maybe, but at least I looked better on it"

They both began chatting and laughing. But after 3 consecutive hours of boring searching and collecting, they were starting to get very tired of it.

Leah especially wasn't gonna be able to take much more. "I'll only tell you that the next time, I'll choose the quest" the human girl muttered while complaining in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, come on! This isn't so bad" the blue-haired boy replied, only to then pick up a bunch of the materials they were gathering. "Look. Don't you think these spinmetal leaves we are collecting are quite interesting?"

"They certainly are" Wire claimed out of nowhere. "It's strange for a natural material like this to grow in such a decadent environment after all"

"And still, they're really useful as manufacturing material for spaceships" Cybel added this time.

At any rate, after some time carrying the materials in 2 separate boxes, both trainees found another apparent guardian outpost different than the one in which they were supposed to deliver the materials. However, when they approached the building with tiredness, they also noticed it was in fact just an old structure with some stairways heading into what seemed to be an old dark basement.

Leah took a long sigh of disappointment. "Oh jeez... I thought we could rest here, but it's just and old-looking building"

"Well, it's old, but we can still rest inside. Come on let's head in" Ravi proposed with confidence.

"Hey wait! You can't be serious. You wanna go in there?" the young huntress added with fear.

"Yeah, I really need a rest, and so do you. We've been collecting leaves for almost 4 hours after all"

"W-well... Yeah, but..."

"It'll be okay! We can rest inside for a couple of minutes and then come out again"

Leah still wasn't sure, but after a while, she finally succumbed to Ravi's insistence. And so, they both headed down into the dark old basement which was in fact more like a very large, wide and big room where someone could barely see anything inside.

Then, as they were both resting for a few minutes, something happened... Something very scary and unexpected that Ravi noticed and startled him quite a bit.

"You heard that?" the boy asked Leah.

"What?" she bluntly answered without a clue of what Ravi was talking about.

"I don't know. I could swear I heard something"

At that moment, Leah began thinking that Ravi was just pranking her. "Ha... ha... ha... very funny"

"It's not a joke, I really heard something"

"Yeah right. You are always pranking me and embarrassing me. I'm sure this is just another of your..." Before Leah could finish, a really annoying noise resonated all around without stopping. Both Ravi and Leah covered their ears since such apparently never-ending noise was far more than just unbearable.

"DAMN IT! WHAT'S THAT!?"

"I DON'T KNOW! IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD IT!"

The noise was like some kind of potent shriek. Like an animal being tortured.

"CYBEL!" Wire called the female droid.

"WHAT?!" Cybel replied.

"I THINK I KNOW WHAT IT IS! BUT I REALLY HOPE I'M WRONG!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS!?"

Suddenly, the noise stopped completely. But then, a very specific part of the ceiling from that place crumbled and fell, sealing the entrance entirely and leaving Ravi, Leah and their ghosts trapped inside.

"Oh no... OH NO OH NO!" Leah yelled desperately. "H-HOW ARE WE GONNA GET OUT?!"

"Forget about that!" Ravi firmly replied. "We have bigger problems now!"

At that precise moment, lots of steps and tiny but annoying murmurs could be heard all around them. "Th-there's something here!"

The teenagers immediately stood back-to-back in order to be prepared. They were trapped in a dark room with something lurking around. And after a few seconds of pure tension, that something finally jumped out of the shadows and attacked Ravi directly. "WHAT THE...?!" the boy claimed while falling to ground and trying to get rid of the weird monster that was above him. It was a creature of humanoid form that highly resembled some kind of insect. "GET OFF!" Ravi yelled while kicking away the grotesque creature.

Suddenly, a lot more of them stepped out of the shadows and rushed towards Ravi and Leah, ready to attack.

"WH-WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS!?" Leah asked with desperation.

"I DON'T KNOW! JUST RUN!" Ravi immediately answered.

They both ran as fast as they could without even bothering to pick up the materials, and trying to escape the dozens of disgusting insect-like creatures chasing after them. Then, some other three-eyed weird creatures wielding guns appeared out of nowhere and attacked the 2 trainees, sending them flying several meters towards one side.

"ACK!" Both Ravi and Leah groaned while crashing against the floor.

"Are... are you ok?!" Ravi asked her while getting up.

"Y-yeah!" Leah stuttered while in pain.

"Come on! We gotta move! We can't stay here!" Cybel yelled at both of them.

And so, they all kept on running and running, until they finally saw a tiny beam of light very far away... At the very end of the long basement.

"LOOK! THAT... THAT HAS TO BE THE EXIT!" Leah claimed out loud.

"LET'S GO! JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!" Ravi replied.

In any case, it ended up being really close, but they managed to reach the light and get out of that place mere moments before the weird-looking creatures could catch them. However, their problems weren't over yet. Because that basement was in fact just a really big tunnel. A tunnel that leaded straight to an even bigger building which is where the whole group was now. Strangely enough, the mysterious insect-like creatures stopped following them completely for some reason, so they were finally able to catch a breath and rest for a bit.

"What... what was that?" Ravi asked while panting from exhaustion.

"I don't... I don't know" Leah answered while breathing heavily.

"I was right after all" Wire added while in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Those creatures. They were..."

"Hive" Cybel interrupted in the same manner. "I can't believe it. This zone was supposed to be clear of those pests. Only Fallen are supposed to inhabit this area"

"Hey, wait a second!" Ravi intervened. "What are you talking about? Who are these Hive?"

"They are another of the many alien races that invaded our Solar System"

"They are bad news" Wire then added. "The Fallen are mere pirates. We can deal with them. But the Hive... They are like a sect.... a bloodthirsty sect of dark zombie-looking monsters"

Ravi heard what Wire was explaining with a concerned but also slightly puzzled expression. However, Leah's reaction after hearing about the Hive ended up being completely different and way more unexpected.

"W-w-we need to go. I... I can't face those things anymore! I CAN'T!" the more than scared girl yelled while panicking and hyperventilating.

"Calm down, Leah" Ravi muttered, calmly in return.

"NO! Y-YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THE HIVE IS..." she stopped for a moment and changed into a lower voice while falling on her knees and crying. "I... I can't... I don't wanna see those things ever again... Please..."

"Leah..."

Ravi had never saw the huntress like that. She had always been so cheerful, and grumpy sometimes. But this time she wasn't just merely scared, she was in fact terrified as hell. And in order to aid her, the blunette slowly approached her, kneeled took a hold both of her hands together. "Hey, look at me" he said in a soft and caring voice as Leah raised her head slowly. "I don't know what happened... but I'm sure you and these Hive have some history together" Ravi was right, and Leah just kept on crying while staring at him. "Don't worry, I won't ask what it is that happened. But right now... you are not alone, ok? Wire and Cybel are here. I am here. We are a team, right?"

"Y-yes" Leah muttered while still crying and sobbing quite a bit.

"Good... Don't forget you can count on me for anything, ok?" Ravi finally claimed while smiling, to which the young girl couldn't help but to find herself touched by such words.

After trying very hard, she finally stopped crying and stood back up. Then, the while group began exploring the old building in which they were. It was some kind of technological facility, but really rusty and with lots of open areas, broken windows and entrances that leaded to the outside.

In any case, Cybel actually took this time to talk with Leah alone. "So, you still haven't told him about the incident, have you!" the female droid asked her guardian.

"Wh-what?" Leah replied, nervously.

"You know, the mistake. Or should I say, the reason why you ended up in the wasteland of Old Russia that day"

Leah stayed silent for a moment. "No, I haven't" she finally claimed while looking downwards.

"You 2 are best friends, aren't you? You shouldn't keep that a secret from him"

"Are you saying I'm harming him by not talking about it?"

"Harming him? Of course not. You are harming yourself" the young girl remained silent. "I've known you for a very long time, Leah. And don't forget I was present the day that happened"

"I don't... wanna talk about it, so please just stop" Leah replied with a sad expression.

"You see? That's your problem. You can't face this pain alone. You think that you can endure it, and maybe you are right. But for how long? Ever since then, you've isolated yourself. You didn't have any comrades. You didn't have any friends, you didn't even wanna talk with your mother about it"

"That's not your problem"

"Yes, it is. Because I'm your ghost. But you... you needed something more than a droid. Someone capable of making you happy once more... And you now have it! It's right there!" Cybel said, referring to Ravi. "Ever since he appeared in your life, I've seen you do things that you've never done, or haven't done in a long time. I've seen you smile and laugh. I've seen you make new friends. But more importantly, I've seen you open yourself more"

Leah remained silent again.

"What I mean is that maybe he can help you confront that pain. He told you before, remember? You are not alone. You can count on him for anything"

At that moment, the huntress took some time to reflect o what her ghost said. "B-but I don't... I don't wanna confront that pain" she finally added in a slightly broken tone. "I'd rather just keep it inside of me... and endure it. So please... just leave me alone... and don't talk about it anymore"

"But, Leah..."

After that, Leah stopped listening to Cybel completely.

...

...

...

A few minutes later, and leaving the previous matter aside, the team arrived at some kind of command center room with a very big opened door leading to an extense balcony. "What is this place?" Ravi asked while in surprise.

"This place is full of broken technology from the golden age" Wire claimed in the same manner. "But I still can't figure out what was it for"

"Well, the Hive is certainly obsessed with this place" Cybel added. "We must leave and report this to the Vanguard"

"Everything is... rusty and old" Leah claimed while inspecting the building. "Are you sure this place is from the golden age?"

"It is. The golden age was more than 400 years ago. It's normal that this place looks rusty and decadent"

Just then, Ravi approached what seemed what seemed to be a control terminal at the end of room with some interesting words written on it...

...

CLOVIS BRAY & Rasputin welcome you

...

"Wait a second... Clovis Bray?" the bluenette asked while slightly startled. "I've seen those words before, but who is Rasputin?"

"Rasputin?!" Both Cybel and Wire asked euphoric and at the same time.

They both immediately approached the terminal to see what it had. "This is insane!" Cybel claimed. "Not only did we find the Hive here, but we also discovered one of Rasputin's old arrays!"

"Wait, what? What are you talking about now?" Ravi asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Rasputin is a warmind" Leah the bluntly commented. "I learned about it in class. It's an AI created by the technological corporation 'Clovis Bray' before the Collapse, and it was designed to be humanity's greatest weapon and defense against alien invasions and other kinda planetary threats"

"But, if it was the greatest defense, why couldn't he protect us from the Fallen and the Hive?"

"Because the Vanguard didn't trust it" Cybel bluntly answered. "The Vanguard believed that leaving humanity under the protection of some artificial intelligence wasn't the best option, and so it was shut down"

"So, what should we do?" Leah asked. "If the Vanguard shut it down, I don't think they'd want us lurking in here"

"We can't just leave" Ravi claimed while remembering what the Speaker told him about fate. "Maybe there's a reason why we found this place. Besides, the Hive are here, which means that whatever they are planning, it can't be good"

"You think they wanna destroy this place?"

"We can't let that happen!" Wire firmly added. "Rasputin and its many arrays among the system were shut down by the Vanguard, but they are still a valuable asset. We can't let the Hive destroy this place"

"I agree with you" Cybel said this time. "But, we need to leave now. After reporting what we found to the Vanguard, I'm sure they will send a team here to scout. We still have time. After all, the hive doesn't know about this place yet"

Just then, something could be heard from outside a one of the building's many open areas.

"What's that?" Leah asked slightly concerned.

"Let's go and see" Ravi replied while running toward the source of the sudden noise, only to then realize there were 2 huge Hive tombships warping in front of the building with many of those grotesque creatures coming out from them. "This is bad" the blue-haired boy muttered with worry. "We may not have as much time as you think, Cybel. The Hive are here already"

It was time to decide. Whether leave, and let the Hive destroy the valuable array; or fight and try to defend it with their lives at risk. Whichever decision they took, they had to take it fast, because they had just a few moments before it was too late.

Ravi's mind was thinking hard at that point. He certainly didn't want to expose Leah, Wire, Cybel and himself to such danger; but the idea of getting to learn more about the AI Rasputin fascinated him quite a lot as well.

"Ravi, what should we do?" Leah asked her dear friend.

"Let's fight!" this last one finally ordered with determination.