Dying Light
Prologue
The freezing abyss of space is infinite, only ever expanding. The frozen endlessness is not empty, though. Billions of immense galaxies, created by wayward particles of dust gathering and forming, dot the vast reaches of the cosmos. Around those billions of materializations, are thousands of bright stars, fuelled by the seemingly eternal energy that allows them to burn ever brighter, ever hotter.
Surrounding those stars, are planets and moons and asteroids and comets, and all other manner of wondrous formations, orbiting the nearest centres-of-gravity. Now, many millions of planets harbour the potential for life, and many are a haven for life-forms of all kinds, including Earth – an insignificant rock orbiting an insignificant star contained within an insignificant galaxy. However, Earth's occupants, they were significant – extraordinary, even.
Visited and blessed with the power of an ancient god, Humanity has done many things worthy of note - the colonisation of their entire system, the creation of their machine children and, of course, their survival in the face of Death and Darkness itself. They were a resilient species, seemingly unhindered and unafraid of the impossible odds that were not only stacked, but towered against them. Of the handful of the original population of Humans that remained, few were ever given the chance to accomplish anything of note, even if they were bestowed the power of the 'Light', as they called it.
However, there are many more stories of warriors that have utilised another power to go down in history, in legend, whether they willingly use such power or not. The same immense power that almost wiped out Humanity centuries ago – the 'Darkness'.
Toland, Osiris, Dredgen Yor, Kabr.
All were Guardians who were corrupted, whether they wished it or not. They are remembered for their supremacy, their scrutiny, their influence on Humanity's future.
Their legend.
Soon, another legend will join theirs, another who is cursed by the power he has fought against for so long. He will join the ranks of the legendary and infamous few who have used their evil power for the good of others, for the hope of a better tomorrow. For the significant few who dwell on that insignificant rock in the far reaches of space. He will fight for his life, his survival, his sanity and his memories.
His name is Shrike, and this is his story.
His legend.
VIIIIIV
Blake loved being high up, above the worries of his normal life – well, as normal a life as a Guardian could have. Up here, he didn't feel weighed down by the needs of the thousands of inhabitants of the City he was perched above; he didn't feel the pressure of tirelessly battling against the inevitable return of the Darkness. Nobody had actually told him that it was coming back, but he could… sense the coming storm the Darkness would bring. Surely, whatever the Darkness was, it knew that it hadn't finished the job, so it had to be returning.
Maybe tomorrow, maybe two-hundred years from now, Blake didn't know, and frankly, he didn't care. When he was up here, it didn't matter - nothing mattered. Only the breeze that gently stroked his face, rustling his hair and making him feel as if he were… flying.
It was no surprise, then, that Blake's squad-mate, Anthony, had picked out an appropriate callsign for him. In truth, Blake wasn't sure how he felt about it. Sure, the name had a certain charm to it, but he would've preferred something a little more… menacing. He was a Guardian after all; he was supposed to inspire fear in his enemies! How could he do that with a callsign like-
"Hey, Shrike! Get down from there; we're going to be late - again!" Shouted a somewhat distant voice, carried up to Blake by the breeze that he had loved for as long as he could remember.
Blake looked down, over the edge of the steel construction he was perched on, to see his squad-mate looking back up at him, the full benefit of his signature glare shown to the wind-whipped Hunter high above him. Blake rolled his eyes before leaping off the side of the structure, clambering down its side in record time.
When he reached the ground, he gave Anthony his most disarming grin, attempting to avoid a lecture from the Titan about the risks of climbing to the higher places of the Tower. The glare and frown Blake received from his squad-mate assured him that his grin hadn't had the intended effect on the older Awoken man. Well, it was his callsign's namesake after all, as Anthony always seemed to be glaring at anybody who initiated conversation with him.
"C'mon, Scowl, you know how I much I love it. It's the little things, you know?" Blake told him, patting his frowning friend's shoulder with an outstretched palm. "Liven up."
"Shrike, you're the one risking a court-martial from the Vanguard when you do stupid shit like climbing the unfinished sections of the highest points of the Tower. Trust me, as much as I would love to see you reprimanded every once in a while for being a moronic fool, anything bad that you do reflects poorly on me, and you know how much I want that promotion to Mentor!" Scowl growled beneath his voice, showing his irritation.
Shrike only sighed, as if he was an exasperated parent dealing with his child throwing a tantrum.
"Anthony, it's just…" He sighed again, sadly this time, and Scowl's face softened somewhat, "You don't understand. Whenever I'm up there, I can get away from all this. I can be free."
There was a moment of silence. Anthony did feel bad for pushing Blake around so hard, doing suicide mission after suicide mission, but it was only because he wanted to become a better Guardian, a greater warrior. Perhaps someday, he'd be able to succeed Zavala as the Titan Vanguard and Head Mentor. But such an aspiration required sacrifice and no small amount of effort. He regained his composure and addressed Blake like the fireteam leader he was.
"The Vanguard has a special mission for us. We're to report to them immediately for our briefing, and then we depart to the mission zone to do what we do best. Let's go." Anthony said in his gravelly voice, as he turned away from a disgruntled Blake, who begrudgingly followed him towards the Vanguard Hall.
"Dick." Blake spoke under his breath.
"I heard that. And that's 'Dick, sir' to you, Shrike." Scowl spoke in a low, threatening voice. And suddenly, Blake was much more alert.
VIIIIIV
The two Guardians stood before the three Vanguards with stiff backs and practised stances - hands behind their backs, and feet shoulder-width apart. Blake had equipped his preferred weapon, a Pulse-Rifle, as well as several old-fashioned fragmentation grenades attached to his belt strap. He had his personal sidearm strapped to his right thigh, as well as multiple throwing-knives fastened tightly in multiple places on his forearms and chest. Blake had a medium-sized hatchet fastened to the small of his back as a last resort close-combat weapon; it was also quite capable of executing silent kills from close-range, as its blade was sharp to the touch. Everywhere else on his belt were pouches full with as much ammunition as he could carry without it spilling out. On his back was his favourite weapon of all though, his trusty Sniper Rifle that he had dubbed 'Lupus'. Given his love of heights and his attachment to wind, Shrike's abilities with the long-rifle were infamous amongst the snipers of the Tower.
His skills even rivalled that of Entity, the Lonely Sniper, who apparently wandered the Wastelands of Old Russia, searching for his targets remorselessly. Of course, Shrike had never met the Exo. Hardly anyone had, especially since the death of his entire fire-team, as well as his lover, Erebus, who had died as her consciousness was being transferred to a decommissioned Exo unit. It had been twelve years since that terrible event had happened. Since then, the House of Shadows, a small Fallen House that the City had made a truce with because of Entity and his fire-team, had migrated to the European Dead Zone and hadn't been heard from again. Ironic, really, that the House would live up to their namesake, melting into the shadows of the forgotten area of Earth. The City still presumed to honour the treaty, despite not hearing from the House for just under a decade now.
Scowl was equipped with the traditional Titan loadout, Shrike thought, as Anthony had a large Shotgun slung across his back and a Pulse Rifle hung from his right shoulder. The Awoken man was also swarmed with a bandolier of grenades and even some C-4 explosive devices.
In other words, the pair of them kicked some serious ass. If he ever felt like he was too well-armed, Blake reminded himself that they were compensating for a third member of the fire-team that they didn't have.
Soon, Commander Zavala spoke to brief the pair of their mission.
"Guardians, the pair of you have been specially selected to investigate a mysterious spike of Hive energy that has been located… deep inside the Hellmouth." Zavala spoke in his firm voice. Shrike couldn't help but worry.
"How deep down, sir?" Blake asked. Ikora shot a worried look at Cayde before giving the same look to Blake and Anthony. Shrike swallowed nervously as he saw their reactions in his peripheral vision, and he cast a concerned look at Anthony, whose usually light blue skin turned pale at what Zavala said next.
"Further than anyone has ever gone before." Zavala said with a grim tone. Blake let out a shaky sigh and Anthony looked to the ground in understanding. He knew what Zavala had meant when he had said that, they both did. Going deeper and deeper into the Hellmouth, stronghold of the Hive?
Zavala meant there was a high chance that neither of them were coming back from the Moon.
VIIIIIV
After concluding the meeting, Fireteam 'Cyclone' exited the Vanguard Hall and made their way towards the Tower Hangar. The pair were passing the Cryptarch when Shrike finally spoke up about his concerns surrounding their mission.
"Scowl, what are we even doing?" Blake asked his friend in a quiet voice. Anthony didn't turn to reply, instead opting to continue walking into the corridor that lead to the Hangar.
"What we're told to, Shrike. You and I both know that being a Guardian comes with the risk that every mission might be our last." Scowl replied, trying to bring a firm authority into his voice that didn't fool Blake for a moment. He knew Anthony was scared. But he had every right to be, especially after what he had gone through when he had been resurrected for the first time.
"Anthony." Blake stopped, turning and grabbing his friends arm to stay him. "You've got to realise… this is suicide." Blake hissed, his eyes scared and worried about what was coming.
Anthony turned to Blake and the Hunter saw that the Awoken man wasn't just scared about what was to come… he was genuinely terrified. It was written all over his face. His skin was deathly pale, even for an Awoken, and his tired eyes were now wide and alert with fear.
"You think I don't know that?" Anthony spoke to him, bringing his face closer to the Human's. "I know what could happen to us. Trust me, I do. But we don't have a choice. It's our duty."
Blake glanced down at the floor, feeling a twinge of shame. When he looked back up, Anthony was still staring at him with fierce eyes that the Hunter could feel boring into him. The scared young man Anthony had been seconds before had been hidden by his frowning and glares. Blake sighed, heaving his Sniper Rifle over his back and into his hands. He looked at Scowl with a hard stare of his own.
"Fine. Let's get going." Blake spoke quietly, moving past his comrade and towards his ship, a Kestrel Class AX. It's primarily black colour, with its yellow decals and highlights stood out among the rows of ships present in the hangar
Climbing a ladder into the cockpit, Blake closed the canopy and waited in silence as his ship was given appropriate room to leave the hangar and then took manual control as his ship entered orbit, heading towards the scarred surface of Earth's Moon, Anthony's own ship not far behind. He said absolutely nothing on the way there. For the entire journey, Shrike could only think of one thing.
I don't think we're coming home. Not this time. We've bitten off far more than we can chew.