It was an emergency meeting in the Vanguard hall. Something was causing networks across the system to fall into disarray. Key locations across the solar system had been experiencing energy disruptions, including locations further outside the Vanguard's reach. The Vanguard were quickly scrolling through several sets of data pads that were strewn across the table. These kinds of meetings didn't happen often, but when they did the Vanguard would get quite serious.
The Vanguard was made up of three members, one for each respective class. The Titan Vanguard was Commander Zavala, a veteran Guardian with years of experience on his side. The Warlock Vanguard was Ikora Rey, a powerful and secretive Guardian that ran most of the Vanguard's behind the scenes operations. Finally there was Cayde-6, a snarky Exo hunter that lost the Vanguard Dare and was forced to take up this position.
"Ikora, what have you got?" Commander Zavala asked the Warlock Vanguard. Looking down at her data pad, Ikora relayed the information displayed on screen. "Someone, or something, has torn a rift in spacetime in multiple locations across the system. Intercepted Fallen and Cabal chatter has indicated that the Vex might have something to do with it.
"So if I understand correctly, the Vex are opening portals across the system. It could be that they finally got tired of us breaking their stuff and are preparing to invade." Cayde, suggested.
Zavala shook his head. "That's not like what we've seen of the Vex. Is there anything different about these portals that we can identify?"
"Not that I can tell. Wait...I've got something. My scouts on Venus haven't found any of the portals yet, but they have found that the Vex network has gone into overdrive and is putting all efforts into analyzing these portals." Cayde reported.
"This isn't Fallen, this isn't Cabal, and this isn't the Vex. The Hive don't have this kind of power either. Perhaps it is an outside force?" Ikora concluded.
"In that case, we need to move quickly. Cayde, send a squad to the Cosmodrome to secure Rasputin. If this is a foreign invasion, we'll need the Warmind." Zavala, once seeing Cayde nod, turned to Ikora. "I need your Hidden to find the exact coordinates of each portal and see if we can close them."
Finally, Zavala turned to look down at the center data pad in front of him. "I'm drawing all Guardian forces back to Earth. We need to prioritize the protection of the Last City over...What are you doing here?"
There was a man. Right at the end of the table, a man stood, using his elbows to support himself as he listened to their conversation. The most noticeable thing about him were his clothes. They were pre-golden age, by the looks of it. He wore a blue striped suit with a tie, and over that was a duster. His hair was also a mess, with the very front being the most so.
He was smiling, with this look that made it seem like he found this entertaining, like what the Vanguard was doing was almost cute. "Oh, me? Just passing through, that's all. You were saying something?" the man said in a strange accent. It was probably one of the many accents that had been wiped from existence during the Collapse.
"Someone, get this man out of here." Zavala commanded. Two workers quickly walked over and attempted to grab his arms.
"Woah, woah, woah. Before you do anything..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. He opened it, and showed a card held in one of the pockets to them. "...this might explain."
Zavala and Cayde looked to each other with a half confused look. "You're one of my scouts?" Cayde asked, mildly confused. The man nodded, registering what Cayde asked before actually agreeing.
"No he's not. The paper is blank." Ikora spoke up. The man looked at the paper, and looked back at Ikora. His eyes grew a little bit wide. He quickly tried to find something to say before another voice spoke up.
"Doctor! Have you seen what's out there?" a blonde woman wearing pre-golden age garb called out. She had a similar accent to the man who was apparently a doctor of some sorts. "It's like a mini planet or something."
She paused when she saw the doctor being detained. "Are you in the middle of something? I can just..."
The man struggled while looking over his shoulder. "No, Rose, I'm just having a nice conversation." he said sarcastically. He then shifted back to face the Vanguard, causing the workers to struggle to hold him down. "I have a question. This is very important, and your world might just depend on it. Has something come out of one of the portals? Something...impossible? Like it's there but also not at the same time?"
Ikora looked at a data pad to her right, quickly pressing a few buttons. "One of the portals has been found. According to my Hidden...he's right. Something has come out of one of the portals. According to ghost scans...by the Traveler...it doesn't exist. But visuals confirm its there."
Struggling, the Doctor turned his gaze to Ikora. "Listen to me, and listen to me very closely. You need to get your Hidden out of there. There's something coming, something that you can't stop without my help." His voice was now dead serious. Ikora saw in his eyes the look of a man who knew. Not just about this, but about so much more. He gave off a vibe of that of a crazed Warlock like Toland the Shattered or Osiris.
"Let him go." Zavala instructed. "Let's hear what he has to say."
The workers released the Doctor and slowly backed off. The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a strange, small, wand like device. It was metal, with a blue tip and buttons along the sides. He aimed it at the holographic display in the center of the table. He pressed a button at the top of the device, causing the blue part of the device to glow and release a slight ringing sound.
The holographic display activated, displaying what looked like an alien machine. It had a large base that was covered in circular plates. The base met a more upright section that had two stalks attached to the front of it. One stalk was small, while the other was much larger and had what looked like a suction cup attached to it. On top of this was a cylinder with what looked like ventilation. Finally, a half circle topped it off. It had a larger stalk attached to it, presumably the eye.
"And what is that supposed to be exactly?" Cayde asked.
"It's a Dalek." the Doctor said grimly. "They've destroyed more worlds then you can imagine."
Zavala got straight to the point. "How do we stop these 'Daleks', then?"
"You don't." the Doctor said. "You send their probes back through the portals before they close. If they get out, they will burn this world, they will burn every world and everything that is beautiful or unique or isn't them. If that happens, then you run. You get as far away as you can before they destroy everything."
"Doctor." Rose spoke up. "You said this was a parallel universe, right? Well if this is parallel to the invasion of London, where are the Cybermen?"
The Doctor got wide-eyed again. As the Vanguard were now trying to figured out what these Cybermen were, he ran out of the Hall of Guardians. Rose quickly followed, catching up to the Doctor as he reached a railing overlooking the City.
There was smoke. Just past the large sphere that hung above there were pillars of smoke. The Cybermen were already here.
Hey guys! I would just like to say a couple things before I end this off. I am going to be revising this particular chapter soon when I have more time. The reason its this short is because I wanted to get it out today so I could get some feedback before I moved onto the next part of the story. Any criticism is welcome and encouraged!
For those of you who are waiting for me to release the next chapter for War Has Come, that will be coming as soon as I get over this damn writer's block I'm stuck in. I can't really find the best way to advance the story, so I'm writing this to get my mind off of it so that when I come back I have a fresh point of view. Don't worry, I have NOT abandoned the story.
And finally, this story is part of the Infinite Timelines arc. This is occurring after Kal and the others entered other universes, and is meant to portray how the Vanguard would react to invasion when their best Guardians have disappeared. And that's about all! Have a good summer everyone, and I'll see you in the next chapter.