Devils in the Dark

A funny thing happened to me in Old Russia.

Alright, clarification, I can't say something "happened to me" per se, since nothing was really inflicted on me, or given to me, or anything like that. No, I guess it would be more accurate to say "something funny happened." Granted, saying "something funny happened" seems to be par for the course nowadays, given what's become of our worlds throughout the Solar system, but…hey! Hey! Don't leave, I'm only just beginning this story!

So, anyway, like I said, I was in Old Russia. Particularly that big wall that was designed to keep Fallen away from our old colony ships. Fat lot of good that did, and besides, didn't the people who built it ever hear of dropships? Or was the wall built to keep its own people out? Dunno. Mostly don't care. Centuries have passed since the Collapse, in a few centuries more, the name of any old nation probably won't even exist in our language. Provided humanity's still around to speak it.

Regardless, I was making my way through the catacombs. Many Guardians had come this way recently. Even if I hadn't heard of that big fight with the Devil Walker, I could have deduced their presence – bullet casings, bullet holes, the bodies of Fallen that had…well, fallen, in battle. It was dark too. Wish I had my Ghost with me, but no such luck. But given how people say that Fallen have bona fide souls that release upon death, maybe ghosts of a different sort were still with me. Watching me. Waiting to kill me. Wanting to kill me as much as…well, that's another story. Or rather, part of this one. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Now before you start nodding off like an Awoken who's intent on betraying their namesake (bloody elves, we had to get space elves didn't we?), I'll get to the funny bit. Or the strange bit. Or "holy Traveller, what in the name of (insert deity here) is that thing?" Or…well, you get the idea. Maybe I should just specify that what I saw was a large Fallen. Larger than any I'd ever seen before, and trust me, I've seen some big ones. One clad in black armour. One that crawled out of a pipe. One that just looked at me with the gaze that all alien scum possess (…insert apologies to Awoken here…gits). And being the brave Guardian of the Last City I am, I…well, I froze. Bite me.

"You're all alone?" it asked.

Yeah, weren't expecting that were you? And in all honesty, I wasn't either. Fallen don't talk. Or if they do talk, we can't understand them. We've managed to translate their alphabet, but that doesn't mean jack when it comes to actually speaking it. But no, this giant monstrosity was talking.

"Translation software," it said, as if reading my mind (heck, maybe it really was). "Salvaged from the ruins of your civilization."

I supposed I should have been angry – this is our civilization dammit, and we don't need no stinking aliens taking it away from us. But I was too scared to be angry. And, I admit, intrigued.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What are you?"

"Rixis. House of Devils. Fallen."

Did they call themselves Fallen, I wondered? Or was the translation software just that efficient?

"So where's your fireteam?"

"What?"

"Your fireteam," Rixis asked. "Usually there's three of you."

"Um-"

"You kill me, you get loot, I respawn, etc."

"Um…wait, what?"

Truth be told, my fireteam wasn't with me right then. They were up in the Reef, collecting a bounty, one that they weren't intent on sharing with me due to past misgivings. But I wasn't thinking about them at the time. If Rixis was intent on killing me, sure, I might have been. But he wasn't. Or he didn't seem to be. And fighting my fear and embracing my curiosity, I pressed for answers.

"Respawning," Rixis said solemnly when I asked for them, or at least what counted for solemn for a four armed alien. "Fallen souls are eternal. Mine is bound to this location. So Guardians kill me, take loot, and repeat the cycle."

"But you try to kill them," I pointed out.

"Try, but fail." He tilted his head slightly, and I was left to wonder, was he smiling beneath that helmet? Can Fallen even do such a thing. "Maybe I should kill you now…"

I gulped.

"But no, that's no challenge. And besides, even if you won, I don't even have any loot on me."

I believed him, actually. Considering that he could have drop kicked me all the way to Uranus, I didn't see any reason for him to lie.

"So…" I said. "I'll just be…going now?"

Yeah, it was a question. Kind of like, "will you let me live?"

"Sure," the Fallen said. "And if you visit Europe by any chance, look for one of my Captains, will you? He used to be a statue until he started looking for loot too." He chuckled, or again, what counts as a chuckle for Fallen. "Loot. It drives us all."

"Um, sure," I said, making a mental note to not go to Europe. "I'll keep that in mind."

So as you can see, dear reader, I did keep it in mind. And this story. Rixis, Archon Slayer, the Respawner. Killed a hundred times, ready to be killed a hundred more. And I'm left to ask, is that all there is to this life? Killing? Looting? Do the Fallen have to be our enemies? And to that I say, maybe.

Doesn't stop me from killing Cabal, Vex, and Hive though.

Gits.

A/N

In case you're wondering, the idea for this came from Bungie's Fallen captain and Rixis development jokes post-Gamescom. Figure if they can break the fourth wall, so can I.