A/N: Hello everybody! First off I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story and decided to stick around this far. And thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it when people tell me what they think of my work.
Speaking of reviews, since I don't have too much to say let's go over them.
Hellscream: The Emperor and The Traveler both existed at different intervals, and that's basically all that is currently known at this time. As the story progresses I will elaborate and answer these questions in a way that I hope will be satisfactory.
Haloholic: I'm very glad to see you enjoyed the story, but I wrote two chapters in two days, and honestly I don't know any fics that update faster than that. I'll keep writing, don't worry, but I may not be able to update so fast.
Eipok: Thanks for your feedback, and now to address the height thing; I'm going to go further in-depth as to why he's that tall, but as I may have mentioned since Destiny's lore is kinda sparse, I borrowed elements from user Romans-154's story about Destiny. Further details will be released in due time, for now, all I can say is that it will be explained as the story progresses. I still have a lot of ideas that I've yet to fully flesh out due to there only being two, now three chapters, so most people's questions in the reviews were already planned to be answered, just in later chapters.
You'll get your explanation though, don't worry.
And thanks for the kind words, fluffy one. I appreciate it.
Anyways, enough of that, time for some grimness and darkness and strawberry shortcake. Everyone's clamoring for it.
The ground quaked beneath the Blood Throne's wheels. The hellish chariot bounced across the dry land as Ga'rix, the Scourge of Korianis charged into battle.
Fighting for this mudball of a planet had been raging for one full day, and almost all resistance had been crushed by his advance. Only two places yet remained, one was a besieged city that was beginning to succumb to his force's superior numbers. The other was some kind of underground outpost.
Just another poorly-staffed base facing off against him, like countless worlds before. The Daemon had pondered leaving it to the local cultists to finish off—until the situation changed.
Something strong was originating from there. Something that had drawn his attention away from the last defended city on the continent and towards this comparatively smaller base. A wave of energy that seemed to erode at the Chaos that sustained the Daemon, making him shiver—if only for a second.
Ga'rix had felt its effects, just as many of his underling Bloodletters had. Some had complained of headaches, that they should find another post to assault. He had decapitated them with his hellblade. Let the cowards spend a few centuries wandering the Warp as punishment, he had no time for their nonsense.
The spawn of Khorne gave off a feral grin as his chariot crested the last hill, seeing nothing but an open expanse of desert rocks and dead grass for miles. And at the center of it was a crumbling fort filled with Guardsmen.
Ga'rix ignored the sickly odor of holiness that it seemed to radiate. It hadn't saved the civilians who cowered in chapels and prayed to the Emperor, nor the Space Marines who believed their blessed battle standards protected them from him. Who were these miscreants to believe otherwise?
His grotesque tongue lapped his lips in anticipation. Even out here, he could smell their souls, ripe for the taking. They smelled delicious.
The exit to the prison was right behind the dead Marine. a set of blast doors with those same annoying skeletons with an 'I' going through them. Maybe they were imbued with some form of magic, because Glatisant couldn't fathom any other reason why he felt so angered when he looked at them.
So how do we get out of here? Do we 'waken the Hive' while you slowly open the door and I hold off waves of Fallen or something? he asked lightheartedly.
Ha ha, Ghost fake-laughed. Humor aside, I can't seem to get the doors to open. They operate on some unknown form of ancient communication protocols. I'm trying to make my systems compatible but we'll see.
What's our human doing? the Warlock asked as the Guardsman walked up the ramp to a small grate-like circle on the wall next to the door.
Logically, it's some kind of communication system, and he's trying to communicate with whomever is outside, Ghost deduced as the human began speaking his gibberish language into the primitive communications device.
Where exactly is outside?
Answer still hasn't changed, I don't know. But I have some ideas, and you're not going to like them.
Why? Is it too spooky for me?
This is serious, Guardian, Ghost returned ominously as the Guardian went through the motions of checking his weapons.
Fine, what is it?
I can't feel the Traveler's presence. I don't see any other Guardians or their Ghosts. Glatisant... Ghost said, sounding like his synthetic voice might crack, ...I think we're all alone.
Everything seemed to quiet at that, even the Guardsman falling silent as he awaited a reply. The Sunsinger began to get a dizzying sense of perspective as he fully comprehended the fact that he and his Ghost were completely and utterly alone. Maybe they were even the only sources of Light in this entire galaxy.
Guardian, I don't know what we're going to do, the always-wise, knowing voice of his Ghost shattered, sounding more defeated than it ever had.
We'll fight the Darkness, and we'll make it home. I promise, the Guardian vowed as he felt his partner's terror wane at the declaration.
There were a few tense moments where nothing was heard but a distant sound of battle, probably from outside, and the static from the wall-mounted device.
Okay, Ghost said, regaining its composure. Then first things first; we need to get out of here.
Looks like our friend has that covered, Glatisant grinned in relief as both his Ghost calmed down and the door began to shift. Gears as tall as him churned beneath his feet as the skulls slid apart, to reveal a quartet of humans armored just like his companion. All of them were aiming guns at him.
"Wait! Stop! He's with me!" Mathias urged the troopers in front of him.
One of them, a corporal, cocked his head at him without moving his lasgun an inch. "What in Terra do you mean by that, exactly?" he asked cautiously.
"He... it, whatever, helped me. We've been killing cultists and fighting our way out of here. He killed a Chaos Marine!" Mathias pleaded, hoping they would listen.
A Guardsman snorted, "Load of shite. Stand aside unless you want to get blown the frak apart, Vanic."
"Look, you imbeciles!" Mathias hissed, gesturing behind him.
"Holy frak," the corporal whispered. The still-warm body of the dead Chaos Space Marine looked like someone had held him in front of a flamer for far, far too long. Its armor was blackened in all places and the perpetual red glow of its helm was now dimmed. An entire chunk had been taken out of the midsection, exposing charred organs and a river of blood.
"He did that? By himself?" another Guardsman asked shakily, realizing the danger that the imposing figure presented.
Mathias made a display of rolling his eyes. "No, I killed the damned thing by myself, using only a lasgun and my bravery. Now for the Emperor's sake, let us through. Do you really think that if one of those couldn't stop him, five of us will?"
They milled uncertainly at that until the creature took a stride forward, stepping into the sunlight. It looked up at the clear blue sky briefly, then down to the Guardsmen before it gave a mechanical sounding sigh and nodded towards the sound of gunfire.
"I believe it wants to help us, or at the very least, fight the cultists," Mathias continued as it began to climb on top of the bunker that their commanding officers and snipers were positioned.
"Uh-oh," the corporal said.
On top of the bunker, the Guardian was face to face with about twelve or so Guardsman, who were either giving him shocked looks or pointing a lasgun at his chest.
"I'm only saying this because you've yet to enter hostilities, and it's been a long day," Lieutenant Redolis said slowly, "But if you don't tell me who you are and what you're doing I will frakking end you."
"Sir, wait!" Redolis frowned. He recognized that voice, wasn't that one of the Guardsmen he sent into the complex...?
Confirming his belief, Mathias ascended the ladder on the side of the bunker, scrambling to a salute as he continued to talk. "That thing's been helping me kill cultists throughout the Inquisition base, sir. Whatever he is, I don't think he's against us."
A booming noise made them stumble backwards as the humanoid creature fired a huge rifle as long as the Guardsmen were tall. It cycled the bolt, chambering a new round as it reacquired a new target, killing two Chaos Space Marines that were leading a charge in the span of around three seconds.
They only stared in shock only briefly, the battlefield was a constant jarring reminder of reality.
"Fine, I suppose we'll have to substitute dying here with dying at the hands of the Inquisition for heresy. I'm not sure what I expected when I told you to find something to help us," Redolis decided, his gaze moving across the almost alien figure.
"If you kill any of my men, I will gut you, understand?" he threatened as the Guardian fired off another shot, felling a column of cultists, not giving any verbal response.
"I suppose that's as close as we can get to a 'yes', but we've got bigger issues right now," Zeldar, one of Redolis' snipers said, nudging his long-las to point at something. Mathias, Redolis, and the corporal from earlier who climbed onto the bunker turned to look.
It was a Blood Throne chariot, thundering down to meet them. Mathias felt his blood run cold; he had heard stories of what that meant. Only artillery or Daemonic Heralds rode those, and that Daemon riding it definitely looked like the Bloodletters he had been told rumors about in training.
The Guardian suddenly leapt into the air and flew towards the trenches towards the Daemon, and somehow Mathias felt a lot braver. He ejected the power pack and slammed a new one in, then followed once more.
Lord of Wolves barked many times in rapid succession. Each time it released a burst of Solar Energy into the Chaos forces, rending flesh and armor in searing heat as the Guardian did a somersault to avoid a small purple tornado of lightning that they flung at him.
What was that? he asked, blasting the psyker who sent it at him with the Exotic shotgun.
Unsure, it appears to be a weaponized form of this new Darkness, Ghost analyzed. I'm very worried about it, by the way.
The new Darkness? What of it? Glatisant asked as he downed five cultists before slamming a fist into another, the abomination bursting into flames.
It's hard to explain how, the Ghost said enigmatically. But I do know that dying to these things would be like getting killed by Atheon or Crota.
Lord of Wolves went away, replaced by Hard Light as Glatisant knelt down in the trench, his head barely being covered by the dirt.
Permanent death? he asked, ignoring the staring Guardsman next to him as he mowed down droves of enemies.
Permanent death, Ghost affirmed.
Well that makes me feel awfully silly, you know. My entire life's primary ability is now completely nullified by even these things.
Hm? Oh no, not them, Ghost elaborated, those shambling creatures don't have anywhere near enough Darkness to stop you. I'm saying that if you faced a creature using a sufficient amount of this kind of Darkness, it could kill you forever. Your Radiance may be able to bring you back, but I wouldn't be able to.
In that case, how is it any different to when we were back home? he asked, the mentioning of how far away they actually were causing him to get a little sick.
Because it took powerful entities to kill Guardians. The Hive called Crota a god. I'm fairly certain Atheon was a nearly successful attempt at burning the Vex into space-time itself. No amount of these lesser creatures could stop you forever, in combat or in death, Ghost explained while Glatisant listened patiently, only interrupting with the occasional burst of rifle fire.
But if there was one with enough of this mutated Darkness, it could kill you permanently. It wouldn't even have to be something hugely powerful like Atheon and Crota. Traveler's sake, for all we know even the most fragile of creatures could hold that much of this kind of Darkness!
A sudden screeching sound filled the air, which became unbearably hot. Turning his gaze towards the front lines, Glatisant saw a cart pulled by a pair of vaguely humanoid creatures. They were almost as tall as him, and had blood red skin that struggled to stretch over the thing's body, broken up only by yellow lesions and complete with demonic horns and claws.
And atop the chariot itself was a much taller version of them that seemed to generate an aura of perverted Darkness.
Doesn't look like a very fragile creature to me, he noted as he vaulted over the trenches.
Lasguns on both sides of him fired so quickly they were more like a river of photons than a series of shots, creating a corridor with Glatisant at one end and three Bloodletters, one of them a Herald at the opposite side.
The senior Daemon let loose a cackling laugh that made Glatisant hesitate before his Light repelled the sensation.
"And what of you, oh holy creature?" it mocked. "Do you think yourself so blinded by your faith that you can best me? I. Am. Ga'rix! Herald of Khorne! Scourge of the Korianis sector! Many of your fellow Blood Ravens have fallen before me, and so shall you!"
It leveled its hellblade at him in challenge while internally, the Guardian was having a mental debate with his companion.
What did any of that mean. He said impassively.
I honestly don't know what he said at all, Guardian. Still working on the translator, after all. It's coming along nicely, since you asked, Ghost replied. But that thing's certainly got enough Darkness that I can't revive you if you die to it, and it isn't friendly.
Right. So don't die, basically. Sound advice, he said as the Ghost sighed.
Just be careful. I don't know what those things can do.
Hard Light was in his hands faster than they could blink, and discharging shots not a millisecond after. The first monster went down with at least fifteen new openings in its chest, but the second one moved its back, dodging the flechettes before it got hit. Its muscular legs made it bound across the dry dirt, and its sword clashed with his armguards.
All the while, Ga'rix stood atop the Blood Throne, watching in amusement.
The creature attempted to press its advantage, shifting both its hands onto the sword along with more weight, but Glatisant hadn't killed Crota by being an idiot.
The Guardian sent a sweeping kick into the thing's knees, dropping it to the ground and releasing its cursed sword from his arms. As it did he charged his right fist with solar energy, and drove it into the Daemon's skull and all the way through its brain, or whatever these things had in their heads.
It spasmed only for a moment before flames overtook its body and it succumbed to the Light. The last Bloodletter made a clicking noise with its oversized jaw before jumping to the ground, cracking the parched soil. "So be it. Prepare yourself," it warned before darting forwards, hellblade held high.
The Guardian sidestepped and began to backpedal, not anticipating the hurricane of blows. He parried and blocked every strike with Lord of Wolves' stock or his bracers, but he wasn't an Exo or a Titan, a master of martial arts. Glatisant was unable to land a hit of his own, fully occupied by blocking every attack of the Daemon.
He spied an opening as the Herald took just a sliver of a second too long to raise his sword for a powerful overhead strike. The Warlock dove to the right, ducking to avoid the sword swing as he fired Solar Energy from his shotgun while slamming a Light-infused palm into the thing's spine.
The results were devastating, and it stumbled forwards as he took the time to send another burst of fiery shells from his special weapon before the Daemon whipped around, snarling with its ridiculously long tongue.
"You are strong, holy one," it said, no longer mocking, but still speaking in a hateful, grating tone. The Daemon ignored the constant pings of lasgun fire that its back was receiving as it edged closer to him. "But I am stronger."
Glatisant's fists were wreathed in fire as he brought both of them up, this time going on the offensive as the Herald of Khorne tried its tactic of overwhelming him with piercing strikes. Solar-charged fist met hellblade in a shower of sparks and smoke as the pair fought furiously, unaware of the war raging around them.
Another overhead strike, this time much faster. Glatisant's Light-reinforced hands gripped it by the blade, unharmed by its unworldly edge. Yet as he prepared to throw it to the side and send the Daemon off-balance, he looked up and found there was no one holding the sword at all.
He realized something was wrong a second too late, as the 2-meter long sword disappeared from his hands. It went straight through his side, piercing the reinforced weave, then his heart and lungs. The teleporting Daemon standing behind him and forcing the blade down.
He dared to gasp, breath catching in his throat and he coughed, spraying blood into the inside of his visor before the searing pain was too much. White liquid pooled at his feet and coated both ends of the hellblade that had impaled him. Light. He was losing his Light...
The sword twisted violently and Glatisant's spine snapped. He fell to the ground, dead.
The Other Side. Again.
At least he wasn't in the Vault of Glass this time.
The Warlock was already standing, knee-deep in a pool of black liquid, and he jumped out of it instinctively. It was as slick as oil and just as dark, forming a small pool in the place where he had woken up.
He observed his surroundings; the sky was gunmetal gray, and the ground was shifting between unnatural metal plates and rock that looked like it was made of cloudy crystals. Eyes settling back on the pool of blackness that was certainly not water, his gaze followed the stream that it flowed from, going uphill a ways.
Seeing the rest of the 'landscape' was nothing but the same rocks and metal being repeated over and over again, like a single texture in a videogame, he opted to follow the stream.
...
It was the second time he'd been in the Other Side, and currently the longest amount of time by far.
His feet began to grow tired, why did he feel tired? That wasn't normal.
He almost slapped himself on the forehead for that. Of course it wasn't normal. Six Guardians killing Atheon then dancing on his corpse wasn't normal. A Sunsinger in the Other Side was close to incomprehensible, like saying red was blue.
Yet here he was. In the Other Side.
His thoughts went away when he encountered the source of the river, though.
It was him. The Traveler-damned creature was standing in front of him like he was some kind of trophy, the Guardsmen in the trenches not five feet away from the Daemon staring at the spectacle. Shock and fear were clearly written on their faces, terrified by the forsaken creature.
With a start, he realized it was moving, however slowly. It was bringing its sword up from its side, limbs moving like the air was made of a thick syrup.
Glatisant searched for the gladiolus, finding only a small stem of one growing from his corpse's chest. He cursed, somehow he knew without touching it that it wasn't enough to revive him. Ghost was right, permanent death. Maybe even this part of the Other Side would cease to exist and he'd either be alone or dead forever.
The thought sent him staring blankly at the ground uncomprehendingly, falling to his knees before his hands clenched into fists.
"NO." A voice that was both his and someone else's thundered.
His feet pushed him off the ground, glaring at the creature that believed it could kill him.
"I AM AN AVATAR OF THE TRAVELER," he boomed, voice making the ground tremble as time seemed to freeze in the real world and the Other Side.
"I KILLED A HIVE GOD IN HIS HOME," particles of light began to flow into his robes, and the super energy meter began to fill.
"I REWROTE THE LAWS OF SPACE AND TIME TO SLAY TIME'S CONFLUX," the super energy bar was fully charged, and he was glowing with light, warping the surrounding area.
"I... AM A GUARDIAN!" he proclaimed, and with a burst of energy, he re-entered the world.
They'd watched it happen. Watched their last true hope die with a sword in its gut. Watched his lifeless body slide to the ground even as Mathias ordered people far above his own rank to open fire, lasers doing little more than annoy the unholy beast.
Not so long ago, he and the squad that met him at the gate had charged to the trenches, providing covering fire for the otherworldly but pure creature. More than one cultist and even a lesser Daemon had met their ends at the hands of the squad. They had made the last mistake of their damned lives when they made a move to go after the Guardian.
Corporal Adrian Gault's three-man squad had taken him on, and hasty introductions to the other three privates were in order. Nir, Jilke, and Dauben. There was no need for telling last names in a place where they could die any second. The reinforced squad of Guardsmen had formed a hasty defense centered around the Guardian, all the while trying to repel the assault.
They had been so successful, even looking like they might have made it out after all, when everything fell apart.
Nir and Jilke took stubber rounds to the head, brains exploding against the insides of their helmets. Mathias had a leg torn open by a ricochet slug, and Gault was dragging him back to safety while Dauben covered them when the Guardian died.
Ga'rix hooted in joy as his legs curled around the trench wall, and drove his sword into the mouth of Dauben, the man screaming and choking on his blood as he died. The Daemon turned its murderous gaze towards Mathias and lifted its blade-
-and unbelievably fast, the Guardian wrenched the sword from its grasp and drove the Light-stained edge into the Daemon's back.
Ga'rix screamed, a sound that carried over the entire base and making everyone from the cultists to the Guardsmen turn to the source. The Daemon Herald was bodily lifted into the air, and the hellblade began to glow, the white blood blasting Light in every direction, blinding those who looked.
When the screams faded away to nothing and Mathias dared to open his eyes, he found himself looking at the Guardian, alive and glowing orange with the same light he used to kill the Chaos Space Marine. Holding a massive pure-white sword that lacked the jagged and irregular edges of the hellblade. Now a clear-cut broadsword that gleamed proudly in the sunlight.
Without skipping a beat, he cut a swathe of cultists with one hand while firing the electric automatic rifle in the other.
In the Warp, Khorne felt a sharp pang in his very existence.
He didn't have a body, just a general presence that was Him.
Shaking it off as quickly as it had arrived, the Chaos God surveyed his domain, scouring for the source. He rose from the Skull Throne, and took a walk. There was something new in the Warp. A presence that had no business in this place. It promised order, and peace, and purity, and a power to back up those promises.
Khorne was going to rip it apart and feast on its entrails.
Far away, elsewhere in the Warp, an entity awoke. It had not died, merely become dormant as it recuperated over time. But much like the Guardian that awoke it, its own long sleep was over. The primordial being was awake, and it had business to take care of.
A/N: And there we go. Set up a good intro, check. Introduce some characters and the setting, check. Some shock of the universe's inhabitants reacting to the other crossover's abilities and presto, you have a fanfic!
I'm amazed by the support all of you have given me, readers, and I hope to return the favor by writing more.
For anyone curious, this story will be split into Arcs, each one focusing around a thing until the thing is done. Yeah.
Hope I'll see you again next week! If you'd like. review or send me a message, I read all of them and I'm thankful for all that I get. Thank you for reading.
And once again, shoutout to "Through the Timestream" by Romans-154. Excellent story by all standards, and I encourage you to read it. Have a nice day everyone!