House of Bray: Prologue

**Recommended Music**: *From Shadows* by Casey And Jeff Williams.

In the depths of Neptune's night, the luminous beacon of Neomuna illuminated the skyline with its resplendent utopia. Neon lights painted a tapestry in the darkness while Cloud Striders gracefully traversed the heavens, weaving their arcs amid the towering structures. Amidst this backdrop, Avra and Ash-1 found themselves with a pressing mission—to catch a train bound for a southern settlement. Their objective: to recover a cache of invaluable Siva nanites seized by the enigmatic Vex. These nanites were the linchpin in constructing shelters for the wave of Earth refugees seeking solace.

Perched atop a skyscraper, Avra sat atop an air conditioning unit, meticulously polishing her newly acquired weapon—a Hand Cannon that bore the mark of being tailor-made for her. The craftsmanship was a marvel, and as she marveled at the intricate details, Ash's presence silently materialized beside her.

"Avra, its time," he said to her, as she looked at him smiling as she reached for her helmet.

"Ok," she replied.

Dashing across the rooftops, the two reached a hillside overlooking the track as the train began its approach. "Hey Ash, you think we'll have any trouble in there?" Avra asked her friend, as she checked the clip of her Outbreak Imperative hand cannon

"If it's just a normal Vex patrol, we should be fine." He replied, placing his Bow back on his back.

The two nodded and jumped off the hilltop and slid down the bank towards the track, before both enveloped their right arms in green light. Throwing the grapples, they used their power to swing onto the train, and then anchor themselves on the roof.

"So far so good," Avra said with a chuckle under her helmet, the *ears* of her cloak wagged on the breeze.

"Do you miss using your Void power?" Ash asked Avra, as both released their newest subclass power.

"It's not like it's gone Ash, I am still a Nightstalker, but Strand gives me so much freedom," she replied as he extended a sword from his left arm and used it to cut open the latch sealing the hatch, allowing them to enter the car.

As soon as they landed, several dormant Vex units reactivated, alerted to the movement. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way," Ash said as he pointed his sword at the nearest unit.

"Don't be so dramatic," Avra said with a smirk.

"Intruder, Identify yourself," the Vex said coldly, shocking the two.

"Since when can they talk?" Avra asked as Ash flexed his fingers and fired a shot from the hidden barrel, blowing the head off the Vex who spoke, before grappling the next, and initiating combat.

Avra took the example and using Blink, tapping briefly into her Arc light, she dodged the rushing mechs before blasting them from behind with her Hand Cannon, landing two precision hits.

Ash took to slicing through the units like a hot knife through butter, using Strand to maneuver around the tight space. He cut through the next two Vex down before he noticed a Minotaur teleporting in. As it prepared to fire its large gun, Ash and Avra both activated their Supers. Ash formed a bow using Strand as Avra formed her Rope dart. Ash fired his arrow and when it impacted the Minotaur's shield it exploded into millions of threads to bind it and the other units in place for Avra to then weave through and defeat them swiftly.

"See piece of cake love," Avra said coyly as she opened her visor briefly to kiss Ash on the cheek. The action made Ash jump despite not really feeling it due to being an Exo.

"You're such a big kid, you know," she giggled, teasing Ash for his young teenage demeanor despite being well over 4 centuries old.

The two fought through waves of Vex, moving through the train and outside on the uncovered cars. They fought until they reached the car containing the Siva nanites in a dormant state.

"Perfect they didn't activate them." Ash said as he checked each box carefully. "Move up to the next car and check the other shipments." He began to say as he then stopped and heard a loud snapping sound. The sound was unmistakable something was portaling into the car and it was most likely Vex.

Turning around they saw a new Vex unit, a large Spider Droid mounted to the teeth with artillery.

"Um Ash," Avra said as she knew this would be difficult to defeat.

Ash however was done with the games, done with the Vex and ready to cut loose centuries of aggravation. As the droid began to fire at him, he swiftly dodged the blows, as Avra took his example and assisted in the counterattack. When Avra was knocked back by the Vex Arachne's headbutt, Ash attacked using his sword and stunned it briefly, but before he could do more, it kicked him away. Before it could step on Avra, he grappled to her and pulled her backwards.

"It's too cramped in here, we need to get outside." Avra said as Ash made the calculations. In that moment the Arachne combined its cannons into one massive one and began charging its next attack to eliminate them. Thinking quickly Ash threw his Glacier grenade and formed a wall of Stasis to block it, but the force knocked both of them out of the car.

The Aracne followed them outside and Ash finished his calculations. "Buy me some time," he said as he took out his Linear Fusion Rifle and began making some modifications to its firing procedure.

"Are you sure about this?" Avra asked warily.

"Just do it Av," he ordered as she went into battle, firing several well-placed shots at its head and midsection, as Ash-1 finished his mods and began charging the gun.

Dodging the weapons fire, she grappled to it and swung into the air, using the momentum to keep out of range while also giving cover fire. Her swift movements were overwhelming the Arachne's sensors and when she landed it began to charge its large laser again.

"Move," Ash ordered as he readied his Fusion Rifle and counteracted the beam.

The two beams clashed in the air and when it seemed that Ash was going to overpower the Arachne, it activated its last-ditch operation. It spawned in an Oracle, the protectors of the Vault of Glass. Seeing the Oracle heading towards Ash, Avra stopped it as it was firing its beam weapon. The blast hit her square in the chest.

His overclocked beam pierced the larger blast and obliterated the Arachne, allowing Ash to run to his friend's side.

"Av, where's your ghost?" He demanded but he saw as soon as she materialized her ghost it began to fade from reality.

"The Oracle's can rewrite time....... It was trying to erase you, I couldn't let that happen........Ash, I love you.....you metal headed idiot." She said through staggered breaths.

"Avra no!" was all Ash could say before his best friend faded away. Time began to unwind around him, erasing every trace of her from the timeline but he kept his memory of her.

"You'll pay for that; I will destroy every Vex in EVERY timeline........." he vowed before clearing out the rest of the Vex aboard the train.

**FIN**