Not this again... (A Cayde-6 love story)

Second, The Bomber.

As soon as Gwen leaves the factory and mounts her sparrow, an unfamiliar voice comes over their comms.

"Yay! A new friend to play!" He says, followed by maniacal laughter. "I have a present for you! Go see it!"

"I don't like the sound of that.." Bob says, very concerned.

"It will be okay buddy. It's nothing we can't handle, after all." She says to reassure him, although a little worried herself. There's a reason this guy is called the Mad Bomber.. and they're about to find out why.

They speed off to the coordinates sent by the bomber, dust clouding behind them. She drifts to a stop, then hops off. She looks around, but doesn't find anything.

"Okay, so what's your gift?!" She calls out over the comms, spinning around for any sign of her enemy. But then she ends up dizzy, and stops for a moment to regain her balance. She finally sees a crate, and chuckles to herself. "Man, I'm so blind sometimes."

"No kidding." Bob says.

"Hey wait, why didn't you help me?!" She asks, a little offended.

"There's really no time to argue this now, can we save it for later?" Bob asks, very on edge.

"Alright..." She says, then opens the crate. She looks in it, but there's absolutely nothing to be found. As soon as she realizes it's empty, it explodes and she's knocked into the nearby structure.

"Your gift, IS DEATH!" The Bomber says with more laughter, and Gwen gets up after Bob heals her.

"I'm getting real sick of these hidden bombs." She mutters, then screams as she's surrounded by Screebs. She quickly hops on top of the structure she was thrown against, just as they all explode. "AND REAL SICK OF THOSE TOO!" She screams, and sees the bomber laughing away on a small, nearby cliff.

She draws her bow and aims for his feet, looses the arrow, and it explodes. He squeals, and she switches to her hand cannon.

"Ow! That's no fair!" He whines. "You hurt, not me!"

"You're going to be hurting a whole lot more in a minute!" She yells, running towards the cliff. Just as the bomber gets back up, she manages to get three good shots, but it only knocks him back.

"Game isn't over yet!" He growls, then disappears. Gwen looks around, then hears a heart-stopping siren. She looks across the shore to see three giant bombs, ready to explode.

"Tick, tock! Better hurry, or whole place boom!" He laughs again over the comms. Bob instantly summons her sparrow and they take off.

"Bob, activate plan c, sparrow!" She says, putting full speed into it.

"Already on it!" He says, and creates a shield on the sparrow, and Gwen attaches a sword to the back end. They charge full speed at the enemies, and Gwen hits the brakes while turning, sending them in a circle. What enemies survive the hit of the sparrow, get taken out with the sword, or a throwing knife. Gwen hops off and quickly disarms the bomb.

The next bomb goes just as smoothly, but once they get to the third one, a fallen captain just refuses to go down. She rolls her eyes in a 'i don't have time for this' fashion. She pulls out her rocket launcher, and sends three at the Captain.

Nothing is left but dust.

She disarms the third bomb, then mounts her sparrow again, but sits there a minute to catch her breath.

"That went better than expected." She admits.

"Yeah, especially since we've never done that before. Glad Cayde taught us that." He admits, and she agrees.

"Now, just to find the mad bomber. More like a pain in my-" before she could finish her sentence, his voice comes back over the comms.

"Stupid Guardian, no know where I hide. I'm far away now. Stinky cabal know, but not youuu!" Gwen sighs, and boots up her sparrow. Just as she does, she notices a fleet of cabal ships flying overhead.

"I guess that's the cabal he was talking about."

"Yeah." She agrees, then follows the cabal fleet until bob picks up an energy signal. That signal leads them to a cave, and she realizes it's the trappers' cave. She smiles and dismounts her sparrow, walking in. "Hey, at least it's a familiar place."

She winds through the tunnels, knowing they lead to a large, open cave. If this place wasn't always so dangerous, it would make a good hideout. All the green moss and vines, blue water with bioluminescent spots in them, and the walls even match with a gray-blue. It's so stunning, she forgets why they're there for a moment. Until.. she hears his cackle again. She closes her eyes for a moment, opens them, then walks into the cave.

There stands the mad bomber. Trapped in this cave with the tower's most powerful guardian.

"Well, your little game is over buddy." She smiles and aims for his head with one hand extended, standing to the side. Just like Cayde, without even realizing it.

"You are so very like him." Says the Bomber as he readies his weapon. "Will you beg as much?" He grins.

Before he can say another word, she shoots one of his arms at the shoulder, rendering it useless. "Not another word." She says angrily as he scurries and disappears, a bomb taking his place. She rushes over to disarm it, meanwhile fighting off screebs, raiders, and lurkers.

"But I remember it good! Oh please don't hurt me, not the face! Please, mercy! Don't kill me!" He mocks as she disarms the bomb, and the last raider falls. He reappears, and she instantly snaps to look at him on the other side of the room. Her anger is now boiling over. She starts walking, and shoots another arm. He screams.

"Oh mercy please! Not my beautiful horn!" Another shot and scream. One less arm. He tries to scurry away, she shoots his leg, making him fall to the ground. She's now standing over him, her gun to his head. He looks her in the eyes.

"Don't kill me! I've got a reason to stay!" The bomber mocks.

BANG.

With a thud, he falls to the ground. Gwen stands stock still with her gun still aimed at his head. Under her helmet, tears stream down her face.

After a minute, she holsters her gun.

She had never heard Cayde say something like that. She knew he was a hunter through and through. The whole 'never trust anyone' type. Sure, he trusted her and loved her. But.. to panic like that... for someone else.. no. He was just trying to get under her skin. Right?

She sighs, and walks out of the cave. They find a safe spot to be, and she collapses into a sitting position. Bob appears next to her, and nestles in her neck.

"Don't let him get to you Guardian.. he was just trying to anger you." Bob says, worried, and sad himself.

"Don't worry.. I'll be okay. Just... give me a minute." She says sadly, and gently places her hand over Bob to comfort him.

Two down, six to go.