Spark of Glory Chapter 2: Greens and Machines

[i]Hey guys! Before we begin I have a crucial announcement. From July 11th to about August 6th, I will be in Pakistan visiting relatives and for a relative's wedding. This, of course, means that I will NOT be able to post stories. If I am able to, then I will. But before I go, I'll try to make a collection of things on the site Quotev, a place where you can make stories and quizzes, for you guys to read. Now, onto the story! For new readers, ToC: https://www.bungie.net/ar/Forums/Post/229017368?sort=0&page=0&path=1[/i] I already missed our home. Our leaders had a feeling this would happen someday. That there would be a great event, and something would take away the Great Machine. That's why we had this protocol. I slumped back in my seat on the Ketch and watched the view of space as the warp drive worked. We had always dreamed of exploring the stars, seeing the great beyond, but we were never able to because of all the petty squabbles and things between our people and our houses. Devils, Kings, Winter, Wolves, Rain, Stone, Scar, Judgment... All of these great houses which ruled over the land. We had been part of the Eliksni that did not want to join a house and simply lived life. I had enjoyed walking the streets and seeing all of our people socializing and the sounds of joy and happiness. But now those dreams had been crushed by some unknown force that invaded our planet, and now the only sounds we'll hear are of sadness and sorrow. At least, for now. When we made it out, I sat up to see where we had come to. We had found a solar system with three planets - a desert-like one, close to the system's star, one more lush like our world in the middle that had a moon, and one farther away that looked like it was covered in ice. But what was strange was the fact that the two closest planets to the star looked like they were covered with some sort of... stone - but it wasn't natural. In fact, it seemed a bit.. mechanical. The one closest was completely converted and the other had it on certain parts of the planet. Looking to my right I saw Karsok also looking at the lush planet. I asked him, "Should we land there? It looks like a good planet." He looked at me and responded, "Yes, but let me convene with the other houses. They might not have similar ideas to us." He went to the transmission area and said, "This is Karsok, Winter Kell. I suggest landing on the lush planet." Silence for a moment. Then I heard from Virixas, Wolf Kell, "Agreed. Do we have a unanimous decision?" The other houses' leaders agreed, the fleet turned to the planet, and we began deployment. I equipped my armor and a followed Karsok out of the Ketch and into the bright light, which I had to avert my eyes from for a moment. I looked around. This world was lush, but... strange. All around us we saw beautiful flowers and plants, but there was that mechanical stone. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. It looked like there could be more to this. [i]I wonder if there are any living-[/i] Suddenly, Karsok shouted, "There's something over there!", and pointed to a strange being made out of metal. It had a slim body, and it's head looked like a semicircle. It had one red eye. In the middle of the being, where it's stomach would be, it had a white box, containing some unknown substance. When it saw us, it disappeared and reappeared in front of us, and fired its weapon, which shot out some sort of red energy. We dispatched it fast, taking it's remains and gun for examination. The white substance in it's torso began to spread. One of our group touched it, and it shocked him. We took a sample of it as well. "This thing can teleport! If there are more, we must be careful," I said. Karsok commanded, "Split up! We can cover more ground in groups." There was much life in the form of plants, but there were little animals, and we encountered many of those robotic beings. "Where are the creatures of this world?" one of our group asked. We kept searching and it led us into a strange cave filled with the mechanical stone and many of the machines from earlier. When we got to the bottom, what I saw could only be described as amazing... yet worrying. We entered a massive cavern, filled with mechanical stone, and with a massive, round, metal gate in front of us. There were also smaller versions of these gates. A blue substance similar to electricity filled them and hundreds of the moving machines went in and out of it. It was like lanes of traffic on our home planet - one side inbound, another outbound. But in between, instead of a divider, there was a massive version of the machine, but with some differences. It did not appear to have a "neck", it had a spike on each of it's shoulders, and it carried a much larger and different-shaped gun. Along with that, in the middle of the entire room, there was a massive machine, that looked like it was doing something to the planet. Every now and then, some of the natural stone in the cavern would convert into the mechanical stone. It was almost as if the machine was converting the planet itself into a machine! Someone began, "We should probably get out of-" Then, the large machine turned to face us.