[u]Chapter Nine: A Name, a Door, and an Angry Russian[/u] Part Two "Let's go," my Ghost said, putting up a waypoint on my visor screen. We walked deeper into the building until we came into a room containing crates, computers, and what seemed to be a few fuel containers. Gunfire could be heard from a neighboring room, sounding of Fallen and Hive weaponry. Our own guns were immediately raised up to the ready as we moved forward cautiously. I caught a flicker of light from the corner of my eye and turned to see a couple of the computers turning on. Binary code shot across their screens for a few moments before the first computer shut off and the third in line turned on. Each computer began to turn on and off soon after, moving down the row. "Ghost, stop one of those computers from going off!" I commanded, moving towards the desktop bearing the computers. My Ghost appeared above one of the those remnants of the Golden age that had just turned on and immediately shot the blue light from his eye at it, interacting with its systems. While the other ancient computers continued their cycle of turning on and off, the one my Ghost had nabbed stayed on. "Something's looking through every file in these computers, moving them into itself, and deleting anything leftover," my Ghost stated, "It already had most of the files by the time I got on this device. I think it's Rasputin." "Why would he do that?" I asked, but then immediately proceeded to answer my own question, "Looking through to see if the files have anything on what he's missed and to keep others from getting any information?" "Yes, probably. I thin-" my Ghost began. The click of the computer's speaker turning on caused my Ghost and I to fall silent. Sierra and Drew came up to the computer just then; they had seen many of the computers go through the cycle after I had called my Ghost to action and had heard most of our conversation. The speakers crackled, but a deep and heavy voice came through loud and clear. "Привет, Страж," the voice spoke in a seemingly cold tone. "What did it say?" Drew asked. "That was Russian," John stated, "It said "welcome, Guardians"." "It's Rasputin?" I asked. "Yes," John replied. Rasputin spoke again, his voice occasionally fuzzing out on the ancient speakers. "What did he say that time?" Sierra wondered aloud. "Something about missing a lot, the remaining humans, the alien forces on Earth, and an irritating little floating machi- HEY!" my Ghost translated, and was clearly upset about Rasputin insulting him at the end. Rasputin chuckled and a few more computers turned on. "Wait...he's putting up more firewalls, I'm having trouble breaking them now. ...He was able to get around me and finish with this computer?!" My Ghost exclaimed. I held back a laugh at that one; Rasputin didn't seem like a bad guy so far and my Ghost clearly didn't like being outmatched. The computer screens shut off abruptly, but the speakers stayed on and Rasputin's voice began streaming out angry sounding speech. "Oh, I think shoving him out of the computer files made him mad," my Ghost said nervously. "What's he saying now?" Drew asked. "I'd rather not repeat it," John said in an offended tone. My Ghost vanished from the computers and back into my armor matrix. "I don't know why he's so upset at me, it seemed like he was done with the computers anyway," he huffed. "Maybe Rasputin doesn't like meeting more advanced machines," I suggested. Rasputin seemed to finish and the speakers turned off at last. The room was quiet again and the sound of gunfire started to die down in the neighboring room; the Fallen and Hive were probably almost done messing with each other there. "Let's go, we'll report meeting Rasputin once we're done with the Array," Sierra said, beginning to move on. We followed and began shooting our way through the rest of the building. We didn't meet much resistance and quickly reached the outdoor area containing the Hive vessel that had smashed through a building. The enemy forces there payed little attention to us, for we moved through quickly and without engaging many of them. The small group of Fallen guarding the building at the top of the slope didn't take long to get through and we soon found ourselves indoors again. As we walked across the first room of the building that the Fallen had been defending, Zavala's voice once again joined ours in the com channel. "The Guardian has landed, fireteam. He's moving at a quick pace and may reach the Array at the same time as you at this rate," the Vanguard stated. "I don't think he wants to lose to you guys," I heard Cayde's voice call jokingly from the background. "Well I guess we'll have to pick up the pace a bit," I chuckled, "Wouldn't want him to have all the fun." Drew reached the end of the room before me and Sierra and was talking as he approached a corridor to the next room. "I don't want him stealing any kills from me. My fist is itching to smash into a-" A metal barrier shot down right in front of Drew, blocking the corridor and nearly taking off Drew's foot. "HOLY-!" Drew shouted, leaving the phrase unfinished and stumbling backwards. "What was that?" Zavala exclaimed, hearing the sound of the metal barrier slamming down over the channel. The click of a speaker turning on stopped me from answering, and I listened as a deep and heavily accented laugh broke in over an old intercom. "Rasputin," Sierra growled. "What?" Ikora's voice entered the conversation. "We encountered him earlier," I reported, "He was looking through and wiping all the computers, possibly trying to find out what he's missed over the years. Now he's put a barrier between us and the Array." "I'm on it," my Ghost chimed, and floated over to the barrier, going to work on the keypad next to it, which evidently was what controlled it. "Why is Rasputin getting involved? He hasn't sided with anyone, and what's the point in hindering you?" Ikora mused. "The Guardian has reached the Array's controls," Zavala updated us. Drew let out a low whistle, "He's quick." "Get that door open," Sierra commanded, tapping her foot impatiently. "What's taking so long?" I asked. "Rasputin doesn't want me getting through here," my Ghost defended himself. "The Guardian encountered House Kings in the area of the Array's controls..." Zavala reported thoughtfully. "Kings?" I asked. "They are very secretive," Ikora explained, "Almost nothing is known about them, they are strategists, and they manipulate others from behind the scenes." "The Array is activating!" Zavala cut in, "Hive inbound!" An earsplitting screech sliced through the air, and looking outside we saw a large green and black hole open in the air. A black vessel slipped out of the hole, bearing an almost T-shaped front and stretching to a few dozen meters in length. Several other holes sliced open in the air, letting out more wretched sounds and vessels. "What are those?" I asked. "Hive Tomb Ships," John replied anxiously, "They're used to transport Hive soldiers." Acolytes and Thrall began dropping to the ground from the first ship, which had stopped several meters above the ground outside. The Fallen slunk back into deeper cover as the Tomb Ships came down, but didn't abandon the area to the Hive. Luckily for the now outmatched Fallen, these Hive paid them little mind to them and began moving uphill, most definitely to try getting to the Array; unluckily for us, they were heading straight towards our little dead end room. "We need that door open now!" Sierra shouted at my Ghost. "Hold on, I need to get past Rasputin," my Ghost responded. "Well I don't want to hold back hundreds of Hive while you figure out how to unlock a door!" Sierra snapped. A few Hive were at the entranceway now and heard Sierra's antics. Drew and I raised our guns and began to fire, alerting the Hive still coming uphill that we were there. "Sierra, let him work," I commanded, and began moving forward to the entrance. She brought up her hand cannon and joined me and Drew. The Hive were grouping up outside, so we got back to the front easily, only having to kill a few Thrall. We reached the front and Drew stood in the open doorway while Sierra and I set up at the large openings that had probably once held windowpane. The Hive sat mere meters away, hiding behind the rock shelfs and boulders on the slope and behind the rusted truck sitting by the building. Nothing moved, and a couple dozen, soon to be far more, sets of three glowing eyes watched us intently. _____________________________ Link to ToC:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0 Link to Chpt 9 Pt 1:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/215288936/0/0 Link to Chpt 9 Pt 3:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/215289246/0/0 I think this chapter is even longer than chapter 2