The New Vanguard: Chapter 8 - Chaos in the Tower

I owe so much to each of the contributors to my project. Here is everyone who helped me.
Narrator/Titan: BBWolfe, Twitter: @BBWolfeVox
Spoken Titan: GymRose, Twitter: @GymRoseVol1
Ikora Rey: Nhea Durousseau, Twitter: @NheaVox
Zavala:  Damon Alums, Twitter: @UrbanLegendVO
Saint-14:  Norman Bradley, Twitter: @NormanBradleyVA
Ghost: Nuggy Souls, Twitter: @NuggySouls
Amanda Holliday: CrzyT, Twitter: @ItsCrzyT
Glint, Hawthorne, Ada-1: CxeeFoxx, Twitter: @CxeeFoxx
Lord Shaxx: Spud, Twitter: @McSpuddington
Drifter: xPantico, Twitter: @xPantico
Uldren: Poddy

Sound Engineer: Matias Torraca

Contributing sound editors: Zanatos555, Boardman

Chapter music: Destiny 2 soundtrack as found on YouTube

Lore Consultant- Unhappy Quasar

Writer, Director, Producer- Bill The Conquerer

Transcript

Transcript of Destiny 2 Fan Fiction- Chapter 8

Transcribed by: Sara Bankemper

Narrator: I left the tower immediately without even talking to Ikora. I had planned on talking to her, but a small part of me felt betrayed by her. Like she somehow participated in that whole thing in some devious way that warlocks do with these things. A bigger piece of me knew that wasn't true. I didn't plan to stay away from the Tower at all after my run in Trials. I could simply wear my helmet and be another anonymous face in the crowd. It worked for Uldrin, so it should work for me. Even if Zavala did somehow recognize me as a fellow Awoken, he'd never bring it up in public for fear of inciting the crowd again. I decided to spend the night on Europa. The quarters I set up near Elsie would give me enough distance from the Tower and privacy to rest. The next morning I headed out to Titan to get my daily patrols done. Everything went off well, and the running gun distracted me enough to keep my mind off of what was about to happen between Saint and Zavala. I jumped back to orbit from a patrol on Titan headed toward the Tower. My ghost had been unusually silent today, so I called her out on it.

Titan: [Inquisitively] “What are you not telling me? You usually give me a bunch of updates and information about enemy movements as we patrol.”

Narrator: She looked away for a moment. My little light was troubled by something.

Ghost: [Sounding worried]“Guardians and civilians in the tower have been protesting all day. Some are swarming Zavala and some are clogging up the Hangar, yelling at Saint.”

Narrator: Yep. It was getting worse before it got better. I just didn't think it would go this far.

Titan: “Tell Holiday ‘I'm sorry’, and that I'm on my way.”

Narrator: It took longer than usual to transmat into the Tower. I circled on the landing pattern for several minutes, just stewing in my anxiety over what I was walking into. The apparent chaos of the Courtyard made it difficult to raise anyone to clear my landing. I transmatted into a pit of screaming and flying objects with my helmet on prepared for the worst and found it to be just as bad as I thought. Mechanical parts and crumpled paper and resentful, yelling littered the area, making it nearly impossible to get around and accomplish anything. I could see the guards struggling to hold a perimeter around Banshee. They were keeping people from using the stairs behind a shop in storming Zavala's office. He wasn't in his normal spot in the Tower as a result of all the protesting. There was yelling, chanting and a sea of signs being waved around.

Narrator (cont): I made out something about Zavala failing to honor the Vanguard Dare. I knew there was nothing communicated like that between Uldrin and Cayde. In fact, Cayde hated the Sovs for what happened with the Kell of Kings. Uldrin went nuts trying to convince everyone that he was getting visions from his sister, and Petra put him in prison to protect Uldrin from himself and everyone else. Then Variks got involved in creating the Scorn, and that was what led to Cayde getting killed. I turned and ran to the Hangar. As I approached another growing area of noise and confusion washed over me. I could see Holiday seated way up high and some scaffolding with her arms folded. She saw me entering the hangar and yelled at me.

Holiday: [Sounding pissed] “This is all your fault, you blue-haired idiot!”

Narrator: I looked over at Saint's position in the Hangar to see a crowd surrounding him. Chanting and stomping something about treason and betrayal. There were broken maintenance frames all over the area. This was actually worse than I thought. Surprisingly, Saint was rather calm. He was sitting on the steps to his jump ship, probably wishing he could tend to his birds and talk about Trials. The ruckus had scared them all away. There were some Guardians in the crowd, but they kept their distance. Knowing how powerful Saint was if he ever decided to put an end to the silliness. I pulled off my helmet and pushed my way through the crowd trying to figure out what we would do next. I knew I had to step in and handle this with Lord Shaxx, protecting Zavala and Banshee from those protestors. They were numbered around 50 or 60, and more spaced around Saint in a semicircle, yelling and chanting over and over. Just as I got through the group, a blonde-haired flash jumped in front of me wildly waving an arc welder wearing a safety visor, throwing around all the piss and vinegar of a boss fed up with people disrupting her workspace.

Holiday: “All right, I'm completely over this stupidity.”

Narrator: She waved the electric wand around in front of her pushing the crowd back.

Holiday: “If I don't see all my crew back at their posts in 30 seconds, Ima weld buttcracks shut and pound some heads. And all you civies can get the hell outta my hangar.”

Narrator: “The crowd was completely taken aback with this display of frustration and venom. Saint stood up and calmly walked over to us.”

Saint: [sounding genuinely grateful] “Thank you, Miss Holiday. I was growing weary of all this noise.”

Narrator: She shut down the arc welder and yanked the visor from her head. Amanda Holiday was a loyal soldier of the Vanguard. Her courage and fighting spirit was that of legend even among the Guardians. What came out of her mouth next was more than I ever expected from her.

Holiday: "Aaand you two. God dammit! I have had enough of this stupid windmill tiltin'."

Narrator: She wiped her sweaty brow and turned back toward the group across the Hangar watching this go down.

Holiday: “Y'all got 10 seconds left before the ass whoopin' starts. Guardian, I like you, but don't think for one second that just because you got your old chaperone that Ima just sit by and watch you tear apart this place for some silly redemption quest.”

Saint: “Miss Holiday–”

Holiday: “Aaand you!”

Narrator: Amanda pulls another rag from her back pocket and slaps Saint in the chest with it.

Holiday: “I got Guardians runnin' in and out of this place at all hours chasing bounties and loot for Trials and distractin' my work. It's bad enough that octopus-faced alien shows up out of nowhere giving away more pointless, exotic gear to lazy guardians.”

Titan: “Amanda, I'm sorry about–”

Holiday: “No you're not!”

Narrator: She yelled back. She stopped and looked at me again. Suddenly her face solvent.

Holiday: “And that's the part of the reason I like you. You stand for somethin'.”

Narrator: She looked back at her crew milling about pretending to work while trying to overhear what she was saying.

Holiday: “Look, I miss Cayde too, and I wish we could move forward and not fight about silly stuff. I may not be a Guardian like y'all, but I know when people hurt. I know that we gotta work together because we're all we have left.”

Narrator: Amanda was truly a strong woman with a heart of gold who always wore it on her sleeve. She turned back to Saint pointing a finger into the middle of his chest.

Holiday: “I'm not disrespecting no one here, but you gotta fix this. Make this right with Zavala. I don't care what it takes. Maybe do whatever Titans do and have some punching contests or something. I don't know. What I do know is that we're running out of time, And we all gotta be on the same page soon or there won't be a damn thing left of this system.”

Narrator: She turned back to me and patted me on the cheek.

Holiday: “Go get 'em, tiger.”

Narrator: She then whipped around and started walking back to her shop area yelling again.

Holiday: “What did I say about those spinner racks, huh? Did I stutter? Get your sorry ass off my bench. The only thing your backside should be touching is a chair in your house at dinner time. Now, get those grease guns clean and organized before I start to lose my temper!”

Saint: “Come, Guardian. Let us end this.”

Narrator: As we climb the steps from the hangar to the courtyard, Zavala's voice boomed over the general clamor of what I had left. It looked like he finally had enough and was quelling this uprising. That is until Saint and I were spotted by the crowd. Then the debris started flying again. Broken maintenance frames, garbage, yelling, screaming, all permeated the air in an instant. I was starting to think we would have to break the no combat rule until Shaxx did it for us. With a crash and flash of arc energy, Shaxx landed with his ground mount in the center of the Courtyard. Everyone and everything flew back several feet. The sparks cleared the air revealing no serious injuries other than the pride of a few disabled Guardians. Shaxx rose from the hissing concrete with his voice full of frustration and disappointment as the air sparked and crackled around him.

Lord Shaxx: “This ends now! Saint-14! Zavala!”

Narrator: Saint stood tall and walked up to his friend. Shaxx held his hand up to Saint as words started to come out.

Saint: “I'm done listening to you, my friend. It's time for action.”

Narrator: Zavala walked up to Shaxx with clenched fists at his side, but otherwise collected.

Zavala: “I agree. The only way Uldrin Sov is a member of the Vanguard is over my lifeless body. Saint-14, you might have the goodwill of many on your side, but you are not a member of any ruling authority that I answer to. The time for calm diplomacy is over.”

Saint: “Zavala, I do not wish to fight you. I wish to unify the people behind us all. The people respect you for your loyalty and dedication to the Traveler. You are the face of their faith, the voice of calm for them. I am willing to stand with you in the Vanguard and be another voice for our common goals.”

Narrator: Zavala stopped and cocked his head to one side. Unfortunately, I ended up in his line of sight and I forgot to put my helmet back on. I saw his fists squeeze tighter and his brow furrow deeply as he finally decided to publicly confront this challenge to his authority. Shaxx stepped between the advancing Saint and Zavala.

Lord Shaxx: “It seems as though we've reached an impasse. I shall clear the Crucible after the next round of matches. It's time for the two of you to handle this Titan to Titan.”

Saint: “You cannot be serious, my old friend.”

Lord Shaxx: “I cannot abide the growing tensions in the Tower. You two started this. Are you prepared to see it through to the brutal end?”

Saint: [To Shaxx] “All I want is for Zavala to be who the people need him to be. [To Zavala] You have their trust and faith, and that's more important right now than anything else. We must heal from Cayde's death. We must move forward with a fully intact Vanguard and a Speaker as a unifying voice.”

Narrator: Saint stopped and looked around with his hands out to his side, palms up, amazed that no one could comprehend the truth he spoke. He was almost pleading with Zavala not to fight. I glanced up to see Ikora standing above it all where Saladin would be. I could sense Saint had resigned himself to the inevitable conclusion of our quest. He dropped his hands to his sides and nodded. He and Zavala would need to just have this out as warriors... And as Titans.