Sister's Destiny

Titan

As we left the multi-colored swirling sights of light speed, I could see the brilliant blue surface of Titan. The other side of it was completely blackened by the darkness of space. We could see the darkened silhouette of Saturn far off in the distance. Its rings were glistening brilliantly. Houka flew the ship down to the atmosphere. We arrived on this floating structure. I forgot how Titan was mainly water. There were storm clouds in the distance and I could see orange lightning flash in the distance.

"Karza, can you call in for the Vanguard?" Houka asked.

"Of course." I said as I went up front and fastened a headset on. "Vanguard fleet? Guardian's ship seven, six, four, three, two is on approach. We've received your beacon, and we're all set to join in." Almost immediately, I heard static and then Zavala's voice.

"Karza? Is that you? Karza, it's too late. The Hive have overrun this planet. I was wrong to bring us here...." Zavala said sternly. Houka landed the ship on a concrete platform. I got the comm system in a speaker and put Zavala out so everyone could hear. We stepped outside, and I could immediately feel the rough rocking of the platform we were on as the strong waves pushed against it.

"We should probably find the control center and secure it. Maybe we can get things up and running." Zivaya said.

"Good idea." I said as I patted her back. I noticed a separate platform. On it, there was a staircase leading to a door. I motioned for my sisters to use their super jumps across and they did.

"Commander? We're here to help." Houka said.

"No!" Zavala said strictly. "We've already lost too many Lightless Guardians to the Hive. We can't secure this moon."  I went up to the door, but it was locked. Zivaya pointed to ship garage below, and so we went under there. There were torn ship parts everywhere under it. Boxes were strapped to the floor.

"Check it, Commander Ass-chin! We girls have our Light back!" Zivaya said triumphantly. As we went forward, the platform started to veer to the right and we all struggled to stay on our feet as we walked. Large shipping crates started to slide side to side as the platform swayed.

"What? Impossible..." Zavala said in disbelief. An unknown feminine voice sounded in the comms.

"Commander? If I may...." She began. "Guardians, this is Deputy Commander Sloane.

"Uh.....hi..?" Zivaya said awkwardly.

"Yeah.....hi. Anyway, we have a counter-offensive that we need to plan. To do that, we need to get this station up and running." Sloane said. We made it to the other side and the brightness shot in my eyes. When I adjusted, I saw dozens of platforms on a neighboring platform. We all jumped to it and started walking forward as we heard Sloane speak.

"There's a fleet to prep, Guardians to arm, and a trove of intercepted Red Legion transmissions to decrypt." She said. "It's quite critical that we gain access to the station's control center. That's where you guys come in."

"I'm listening..." I said in a determined tone.

"If the Light really is with you...." She began.

"Yes?" Gigani asked.

"Send the Hive back to Hell..." Sloane said. We passed another ship garage. The wall above the painted red and said 'SAFETY FIRST' in big white letters.

"Hell yeah!" Zivaya said happily.

"And Zoukas?" Zavala said, his tone was oddly fearful. The kind of fearfulness a father has when his daughter is leaving for college.

"Yes, Commander?" Houka asked.

"Please.....be careful.." He said softly.

"We will....Zavala.." Houka said with a soft smile. The comm shut off. We walked forward and we were suddenly under an even larger platform being held up by massive red pillars. There was a staircase on one of the pillars. It looked like it was once connected to the area we were on, but it looked as if a section was melted off by acid....

I motioned for everyone else to super jump to the other platform. The staircase was melted in other parts all over the red pillars. Upon closer inspection, the water looked as if it had an electric charge running through it.

"What's in the water?" Zivaya asked.

"I think the water is charged with electricity of some kind. I'd stay away from it." I said.

"No shit." Zivaya said. As we went further, we also got higher. Eventually we reached a doorway, but it was covered with gross, crusty stuff. I punched through, but I immediately regretted doing that. The air inside was tight, and it felt compressed. There was ooze dripping from the inside and the floor, walls, and ceiling were horridly putrid and covered in a rocky-like material. There were groups of these odd yellow-orange crystals that seemed to produce their own glow. Loads of gross slugworms tunneled through the mess.

"Well.....what now?" Zivaya said.

"There's a platform up there. You can use your super jumps up there." Gigani said as she shone her light on a platform above us. We jumped up to it, and then to the one across the little room. It led to outside, but the same crusty material that blocked the other doorway also blocked this one. Zivaya held up her middle finger and a small purple flame ignited on the tip. She giggled and touched the crust. The crust ignited in purple flame and soon disappeared. I rolled my eyes and we went on. When we exited the room, I could see the vast ocean. In the distance, I saw enormous machines sticking out from the water.

"What the hell was  this place?" Houka asked. Zavala  sounded on the radio.

"The Golden Age cities of Titan." He sighed. "They were once the pride of humanity. I thought they were abandoned." 

"Us too." I said.

"I was a fool to think the Hive wouldn't spread this far..." Zavala said grimly. "But continue on your mission."

We followed the pipes that connected to the pillar on the far side. We had to do some more jumps to get to the other staircases. In the distance, I could see a massive aircraft carrier. In massive white letters, it read 'KEMPAAN'. The staircase we were on led to an entrance toward the end of the aircraft carrier. The pathway was broken. We used our super jump to get to the other side. The door to it was partially closed. The same crusty material in the last room were attached to the door from the inside. Houka forced the doors open and the crust fell off in a sickening crunch sound. It was almost completely dark. The room seemed slanted for some odd reason. A wide metal set of stairs.

"I have a bad feeling about this...." Gigani said nervously. We continued cautiously until we were in a dimly lit hallway. I felt a wave of exhaustion and saw grey mist surround me and there was a hissing sound of some sort.

"What.....what was that?" Houka asked in a weak cough.

"I don't know, but I feel a little weaker...be weary, something's not right.." I said through a cough. Just ahead, I saw a disfigured creature with a crusty-looking texture. I was making gross scratchy growl noises as it ran towards us.

"No shit, Karza! That thing is hideous!"  Zivaya cried.