It was late at night, the sun gone from the world. Cayde-6 was slumped over in his chair, reviewing old files on his data pad when footsteps emitted from the hallway. The exo lifted his eyes to the disturbance and spotted a titan stomping towards him.
The guardian's dark red armor resembled that of a knight, and he too was an exo. The being's metal body was coated in dark blue, with a red ring around his right eye. "Cayde, apologies for not making my presence in the Tower known, but I humbly request a conversation with you," the titan said.
"Always so formal, aren't you, Brakson?" Cayde replied as he set aside his data pad and rose from his seat. After cracking his back and fingers, he took a step in Brakson's direction for their conversation. "What can I do you for?"
"Tell me about The Great Disaster," Brakson stated, crossing his arms.
Cayde's eyes went dead, unsure of where to begin. "Why do you want to know?"
"My crew needs work," Brakson replied nonchalantly.
"Then find some Fallen to hunt!" Cayde snapped, his eyes ablaze with a rare form of anger. "Head to Venus for the Vex, or Mars for the Cabal, but not the Moon."
"Why?" Brakson questioned, unenthused by Cayde's temper. "What is so dangerous about the Moon? Is it the God-Prince?"
Cayde averted his eyes as he remembered the battle; the surface of the Moon was covered in bodies. "Yes, it's the God-Prince," the hunter reluctantly admitted. His eyes lifted to the titan. "You want to know about the Great Disaster so badly, don't you?"
"Cayde, it was the Knights of Earth who stood against the Fallen horde at both Vespir Hill and Twilight Gap," Brakson stated. "If anyone stands a chance against that monster, it's us."
"You had Tolcum back then," Cayde reminded the titan. "That deranged hunter is no longer here to aid us with his advanced knowledge of the Darkness… but you have a point." Cayde took a step back and put a hand to his chin. He longed to have his mind wiped since the battle. "The Great Disaster is aptly named. Let's just say that a lot of good guardians died during the assault."
"Guardians die all the time," Brakson replied, still unfazed by the hunter's words.
"Not like this," Cayde argued. "To die as a guardian isn't easy. Often times, guardians are felled by being killed after their ghost is shot down, but this was different. Crota wielded his personal sword, one that could drain the Light of any guardian it touched."
"How many guardians were lost?" Brakson asked, curious of the death count.
Cayde's eyes were big, transfixed on his memories. "Thousands," he answered, his voice shaky.
"Thousands…" Brakson repeated, unable to wrap his mind around the number. He'd witnessed several hundred guardians fall, but never thousands. "They were all slain by this… God-Prince?"
Cayde gently nodded his head. "He cut through them like tissue paper." The hunter shook his head as he attempted to control his emotions. "Mare Imbrium was one of the battlefields. All five hundred guardians that fought the battle were killed, slain by Crota and his knights. As the battle drew to its climax, the sky above literally turned to green fire."
"So what?!" a voice questioned from down the hall. A hunter with his helmet removed sauntered into the Hall of Guardians, happily twirling a knife in his hand. The man's face was coated in scars, with spiked brown hair shooting up from his skull. His eyes were dark red. "I've set the ground ablaze with lightning."
"You Bladedancers, always so sadistic," Cayde grumbled. "If y'all wanna go challenge Crota and his hordes, knock yourselves out. But, it'll be your funeral." With that, Cayde took his leave of the situation and headed for his quarters.
"Well Parthix, what do you think?" Brakson asked the hunter. They were the only ones left in the room.
"I think we've got a date with the God-Prince," Parthix smirked.