[b][u]Episode 5: The Timekeeper[/u][/b] Aru'un piloted The Harvester towards the Imperial Land Tank, Orthus Vae II. At first he had been extremely nervous about being the Guardians hostage. He was sure it would end in his demise. To his surprise, it turned out his two captors were actually pretty decent. The Warlock who had been able to speak his language was a pretty good conversation, and the Hunter holding the Hand Cannon to his head had been decent enough not to shoot him again, which Aru'un found a rather good quality in a captor. "We're approaching the Land Tank." he told them. "Contact them, try and get clearance to land." Toland ordered. "We don't want to get shot down now do we?" Aru'un attempted to contact the Land Tank numerous times, each one ending in failure. "No response from them." "Kabr must have already been through here." Dredgen observed. "We can't know for certain until we see inside." Toland glanced at Dredgen. "He might have avoided this place entirely." The sight of Orthus Vae II's interior a proved Toland wrong a few minutes later. The passageways of the massive tank was littered with scorch marks, dents in the bulkhead. Dead Cabal were strewn across the floor. "Call me insane, but even if it was not Kabr, something had a disagreement with these Cabal." Dredgen spoke, sarcasm dripping from his voice like venom. "And I think that something won, multiple times." "Access the tanks records." Toland ordered Aru'un, ignoring Dredgen. "Find out what happened, if anything was missing." Aru'un motioned for them to follow him. He lumbered into the tanks command center, and accessed an officers terminal, pushing off the dead body of the Centurion who was slumped over it. "From the security footage I could find, it looks like it was definitely your friend who did this. He eliminated most of the Ice Reapers, I cannot locate any possible survivors, they probably fled or were tracked down." "And what about the inventory records?" Dredgen asked, which Toland translated. "It says here that the only piece of cargo missing is... yes, the prototype Goliath Tank is gone." "Prototype?" Toland looked confused. "Why would Kabr, or whatever controlling him, take a prototype tank?" Aru'un skimmed through the inventory. "The prototype is fitted with an experimental drill rig. It's meant for mining resources, but can also be utilized for subterranean travel. The prototype is also equipped with a cannon capable of orbital defense. It can blast through solid rock." "Can it be tracked?" Toland asked. "Where is it headed?" "Yes, and it is heading... towards The Timekeeper?" Aru'un looked surprised. "The Vex have been trying to drive us out, they haven't been interested in acquiring our technology, why bring it back with them?" "Doesn't matter. Do you have the coordinates?" "Yes, why?" Aru'un looked confused. "We're going to try and catch up to them before whatever entity is controlling Kabr forces him to do something we cannot reverse." _______________________________________ Kabr's head popped out of the Goliath Tank, sweating from the boiling combined temperatures of the cramped tank, the scorching weather of the desert and the heat bubbling from Mars core, only stopping below the surface. Atheon had forced Kabr to drill straight through the ground to reach The Timekeeper, since it's protecters would have destroyed them if they were on the surface. "Why not just broadcast your signal to the Vex to notify them we are coming instead of making me tunnel through miles of solid rock?" he panted. "Because I do not want the Vex to know we are coming. My plan is to destroy one of the Chronovores, Qodron. the other Vex are not going to let you near The Timekeeper. We will have to destroy them." Atheon responded, devoid of emotion. "You would destroy your own kind to complete this task?" Kabr was shocked. "You do not understand the importance of this mission. Qodron views our timeline as corrupt because the Vex are not winning in it." "And you want to stop him from changing that?" Kabr was becoming more skeptical by the minute. "This Timeline's course is not static in its nature. It can be changed. Qodron does not accept this knowledge, and will eliminate this Timeline to secure another future. I cannot restrain him, so you must destroy him." Kabr grunted, unconvinced. Atheon's next words were more forceful. "Destroy them." Kabr fought to control his body, but was helpless to stop as Atheon forced him to aim the Goliath Tank's cannon at the Vex. "Fire." The cannon roared, disintegrating over two thirds of the Vex and partially leveling the site. "Advance." Atheon's tone was as frigid as a glacier. Kabr unwillingly piloted the tank towards the Timekeeper, weapons ablaze. Even though he was not against fighting the Vex, he found it extremely sickening to be used by Atheon to commit violence against his own kind. Those Vex were drones unified by one mind, unable to think for themselves. Atheon was different, he had his own mind. When he was finished, Atheon forced him to exit the tank, and he stood before the construct in the centre of the Timekeeper. Kabr could sense the darkness that lay beneath it's surface, waiting to break free. "Let us begin." Atheon forced Kabr to charge up his shield and unleash a powerful blast of energy into the construct. The construct crackled with energy, holding the charge for a moment. Without warning, the construct rejected the charge, transferring it back to Kabr. He and Atheon screamed in unison as Kabr's vision blurred, and a barrage of information danced across his eyes, most of it incomprehensible to him. He staggered, his muscles feeling like they were turning to liquid. Kabr strained in agony to take control of his body while Atheon was distracted, but Atheon was prepared, keeping a vice-like hold over Kabr's mind. Metal screamed in his ears. "Kabr? What's happening?" those three words pierced the storm that was his conscious. Kabr whirled around, searching for the source. His eyes were met with the sight of Toland the Shattered and Dredgen Yor, his two teammates, his friends. A sickening feeling in his gut came as the data flashing across his eyes consolidated to form a question. FRIEND OR FOE? _______________________________________ To be continued. Next Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/151239529/0/0 Table of Contents: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/114713352/0/0 (hahahahahahahaha!!! I love writing cliffhangers! Actually I don't, I hate them. Sometimes they are just the best thing to leave off with.)