My lord, it has been a while. I love this site and I love doing this, but between everything that's going on right now in my life-band tearing all of us apart, sickness, Destiny 2-it is probably the worst time to do stuff ever. But….would you like some form of music? Details in the author's note in the bottom. Anyways, I do not own Destiny or its characters, ideas, ect. If you have a criticism or critique, please leave a review! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

God bless, JPLegends

ACT II: Hive

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Dire Straights

"We're in position," Damascus says over the radio. "Waiting for your word." The operation was set, and everyone was ready to go on Damascus's side. Alec had his sparrow ready outside of the Burg Eltz, and he was now going over the mapping plans that Hades had made him. He also had the device that warlocks cooked up- Alec had taken to calling it the "Lightburst"- in hand. It looked similar to a patrol beacon, with a prong and a rectangular head, and an antenna to project light bursts. It was painted grey and black to mix with the stone of the moon.

"We ready to move?" Alec asks his team. Titus and Chloe were right behind him, loading their weapons. Chloe's red jacket traced down her legs and rimed her calves, covering her armor and insulating suit. It glided around her, and made Chloe look rather charming and somewhat badass, Alec would admit. Titus, as per the usual, looked large and intimidating in his massive armor. Chloe fidgeted with her jacket, apparently getting the grip comfortable, giving a haphazard thumbs up afterward. Titus nods. They summon their sparrows, and begin their ride to the Hellmouth.

"Alright," Chloe says. "We get in, get the sword, and clear out the area."

"And plant the Lightburst." Alec says.

"What?" Chloe says blankly.

"The Lightburst," Alec says. "The device. Got to plant it so the vanguard can effectively explore the moon. Eh?"

"Right," Titus says. "Nevertheless, this is a chance to strike at the Hive. Do not falter, do not restrain yourself. And most importantly, do not show any weakness." The way Titus spoke of the Hive sent shivers down Alec's spine.

"What exactly makes this Sword of Crota so dangerous?" Alec asks.

"You got the basic explanation in your brief," Chloe says. "It's a sword that eats Light with such ferocity that the air around it is pitch black. And its mere power can create flames that enrage the skies and rain down on the ground. Crota used the sword in his massive campaign against the guardians in the Great Disaster, and killed a lot of guardians with that sword."

"Jesus," Alec says, feeling a bit more aware of the fact that he and his team are riding around in the open. "How did Crota die?"

"He didn't," Titus says. "According to Eris Morn, he was 'banished,' whatever that means. He's alive and well. He just isn't on the moon. And Obeck seems to have taken up operations for him."

"Sounds like magic," Alec says. "Razing the sky with fire, banishment. Most of the Hive weaponry according to the warlocks shouldn't even work. How are the Hive doing it?"

"To that, I can only say I have no idea." Chloe says.

Alec looked around, at the grey rocks and dust being kicked up into the atmosphere by their sparrows. The occasional cracks and crevices in the ground are deep, and Alec reminded himself that many guardians died on this very ground. And the leader that caused it never died. What stops Crota from coming back and kicking everyone off the moon again? What stops him from massacring the hundreds of guardians on the moon and turning it back into a wasteland? Will Alec never get to see these dull rocks again in just a few more days?

The group slows down on a small hill. They get off their sparrows and look around the area they are in. Only three-fourths of a mile from them was the gaping hole in the moon, covered by Hive architecture and green mist. It sprawled across the surface and went so deep you could not see the bottom. The hole in the moon is simply known as the Hellmouth, which is synonymous with both the cavern system inside the moon and this massive canyon, which is where it all started and where the meat of the dungeons resides. Chloe lightly punches Alec's shoulder to rip him away from looking at the demoralizing structure, and he focused immediately on what was in front on him. Titus was in front of them, kneeling on the top of the hill and looking out over the horizon. Chloe was headed to join him.

"That over there is our cavern into the Hellmouth," Titus says, handing binoculars to Chloe. "Since most of the Hive is stuck guarding the Circle of Bones, we will have minimal resistance on our way to the sword."

"I'm seeing about five acolytes, two knights, and seven thralls doing…something." Chloe says. She hands the binoculars to Alec, who sees the knights standing guard to a cavern leading into the side of a cliff, acolytes fighting and standing over the thrall, and the thrall hunched over the sides of the walls, appearing to be feeding on something. Alec hands the binoculars back to Titus, and pulls the Monte Carlo out.

"Three pronged attack," Titus says. "I charge from the left and take out the knights. Chloe, you stay back and pick off the acolytes. Alec, you head in from the right and toss a swarm grenade, and take out any thralls with that gun of yours. Ready? Move!" The team leaps into action. Titus runs around the side, grasping the attention of the knights and a few of the acolytes. The knights screech their metallic, scraping sound and turn their boomers toward Titus. Alec taking the attention of Titus in his advantage, and tosses his grenade. It hits the floor around the center and disperses in a flurry of mini-tracers which track enemies and explode on impact. This simple attack, takes out two acolytes and three thralls. Alec, seeing the thrall start to get up and look at him, points the Monte Carlo and holds down the trigger. The thrall, close together, are hit with a hail of bullets which floor them in seconds. Alec reloads, and focuses on the knights. Titus had slid in front of the nearest knight, and fired his shotgun into the knight's face three times. Bone and ash spread everywhere, and the knight fell. Titus fires at the chest of the second knight twice and then starts reloading. The knight, staggering, never expects Alec firing at his head from behind and simply loses his head. The acolytes are sniped in their heads by Chloe, precisely killing them quickly. The battle lasted about twenty seconds.

"Clear," Chloe says. "Oh God." She was looking at what the thrall were feeding off of. It's about six guardians lined up against the wall, without their ghosts.

"Ugh," Alec winces, looking at the bodies. "Sick!" Titus strolls over and looks at the bodies of the guardians, going over their belongings and patches.

"They're a fireteam from Ava's scouting section. Poor fools." Titus says.

"Hades, tell Ava we found an MIA fireteam ready for transmat. Status is deceased," Alec says. "We can at least provide their comrades some solace. Let's kill some Hive." Alec starts sprinting into the cavern with the rest of his fireteam, thinking hard. Guardians, the greatest warriors from the solar system with the ability to come back from the dead. And he just found six confirmed to be dead. They are never coming back.

"This is Titus, we're headed into the Hellmouth," Titus says, as they head deep into the Hellmouth. "Give us a sitrep."

"Still awaiting your orders." Damascus's voice rings out.

"Everything's quiet over here," Ava says. "Thanks for the fireteam confirmation, by the by. Every body we get back is a….shit, shit, shit!" The strike teams stops dead in their tracks.

"What's wrong?!" Alec asks alarmed.

"The Fallen are on the move, headed straight for the Temple of Crota," Ava says. "There's a lot of them, easily about twelve platoons! They just started mobilizing, and they're moving fast! How the hell did they do that?! They just came out of nowhere!"

"We're about to get fire from both sides," Damascus says solemnly. "Dear God…"

"No, not today," Ava says. "This is a Skyshock Alert across all channels on Luna. All scout units, drop what you're doing and head to the Temple of Crota ASAP. Fallen House of Exile is mobilized for the Hive in massive amounts. Central guardian platoons are in danger. Repeat."

"One hell of a battle is about to break out," Damascus says. "We've held against the Fallen on all sides, we can do it now!" Alec felt a sharp shiver down his spine, and his throat goes dry.

"Well, what about us," Alec demands. "Is it possible for us to break through the Hive defense to help out?"

"Denied, Alec," Demascus says. "We need this victory. Get that sword, assassinate the princes, we've got this. What's the House of Exile's ETA, Ava?"

"Twelve minutes," Ava says, sparrows roaring in the background. "Guardian ETA seven minutes. This is going to be tight."

"The second a battle breaks out, the Hive are going to join in," Damascus says. "Circle up, and prepare to fight. Ava, join in of the formation as soon as you get here."

"Hear that, scouts," Ava says over radio. "Let's make some goddamn history!"

Alec can feel everything going to shit. This is how the campaign to take back the moon ends. This is where a dream fueled by hubris ends. This is where a fight to bring humanity's home back to its Golden Age stalls. This is it. Alec cannot move, since he feels that the upcoming fight is going to lead to complete guardian obliteration. Chloe grabs his shoulder firmly, bringing him back into reality. Her helmet is blank, but the simple gesture has so much reassurance. Alec takes a deep breath and nods. The three keep running down the halls. They navigate through the caverns, dropping off a cliff end and onto more cavern until they reach the Circle of Bones and reach some cover.

Alec sees the Hive line reinforced all around the Circle, unaware of their presence. About sixteen thralls, twenty two acolytes, five knights, and three wizards in the tunnel where they are supposed to go down. "Chloe, you can use your super to clear a hole for us." Titus says. Chloe stands up out of cover and leaps in the air. Her entire body ignites in bright white fire and fills up the entire room. The Hive in the Circle shriek in terror at the sudden action, and Chloe taking the opportunity, throws fireballs at the tunnel they are supposed to go down. Thralls are incinerated, their ashes flying through the air, and knights and acolytes scatter to avoid the fire about to incinerate them. Chloe charges through that Hive area, and keeps throwing fireballs. Alec and Titus use this to run through the hole Chloe opened up, ducking to avoid the blades flying over their heads. Once they rejoin Chloe, they assail the Hive with bullets while backing up to keep them back. When about fifteen meters away, Alec casually tosses a swarm grenade in the middle of the ground and the three run, confident they are away from the effective Hive line.

"Whatever you guys did kicked the Hive into a stir," Damascus says. "We can hear the shrieks coming in from here. I recommend you hurry up."

"Ava Kuebrick and the scout platoon reporting for duty," Ava says. "Fallen aren't far behind. Ready to engage on your command."

"Keep weapons trained on both sides," Damascus says. "When I give the order, open fire. Don't let the enemy get close, and don't let the line break!"

"Hades, where's our next stop?" Alec asks, knowing Titus is leading the way but wanting to know what's ahead.

"A shrine called the Gatehouse," Hades replies back, his chirping voice anxious. "It is connected from a hallway in the Hellmouth. And there are plenty of Hive blocking the way. And the Gatehouse itself is being guarded by Hive priests."

"Sounds like we're i…"

"OPEN FIRE!" Damascus interrupts Alec loudly. About three minutes pass before Damascus says, "We're not seeing much Hive. Some must have broken away to cut you off."

"Probably Garok looking to cut us off," Chloe says. "If they really are cutting away, Garok must be with them. Be prepared."

They cross a corner into a hallway. It is long and narrow, with the end seemingly unseeable. The metal floor and stairs leading up to platforms give away how much time the Hive have been on the moon, and even worse, the massive window like cliff looking out over the deep abyss of the rest of the Hellmouth. In front of them are a massive number of acolytes, roughly eight knights, two wizards, and two devices floating in the hallway, that open up their black and spiny exteriors to reveal purple, glowing centers. Chloe swears and slides into cover, as does Titus. Alec does the same, realizing that the Hive devices are firing purple fireballs like a machine gun.

"Hell, they've got shriekers!" Chloe shouts. Alec could barely think with the constant pressure of the fireballs constricting his movement from cover.

"This could be a bit," Titus says. "Damascus, sitrep."

"Taking heavy fire on both sides," Damascus says, sounding out of breath. "The Fallen are adamant and pushing, and the Hive are strangely unorganized. We haven't broken, but the crossfire is looking intense."

"The Hive's lack of structure confirms Garok's absence from the battlefield." Chloe says.

"Chloe, get those shriekers off the field ASAP," Titus says. "Alec, you and I give the Hive a run for their money." Alec pulls a swarm grenade and leaps out of cover low to the ground, tossing it at the hive on top of the left platform. He rolls onto his feet and starts running into the fray. Titus exits cover and sprints straight for the center platform, both of them being chased by fireballs casted by the shriekers. Chloe hangs back and fires at the weapons mercilessly. Alec leaps onto the platform, taking a knife out and chucks it at an acolytes head, killing it. He slides into the next acolyte in front of him, taking the creature off its feet and jumping back up. He grabs another knife and swings it, slitting the acolyte's throat in front of him. He uses his Monte Carlo to drop the next three acolytes in front of him and turns to kill the one on the ground. He keeps running, looking up at Titus who has sent an acolyte flying into pieces, has a knight doubled over on the floor, and his pumping another knight's face full of lead with his shotgun.

Alec sees a wizard coming in to join the fight against Titus, screaming ghastly screeches as it throws electricity balls at Titus. Alec pulls out his fusion rifle and slides into position, firing two rounds at the wizard, draining its shields, and then one last one to the head, killing it. Alec reloads, switching back to the Monte Carlo to help clean up the acolytes that haven't retreated down the hallway. A shrieker blows up, and Titus and Alec keep running forward to chase the Hive. Alec mows down more acolytes with the Monte Carlo, as Titus picks off more with his pulse rifle. The acolytes barely show their heads as Alec and Titus quickly pop them off and Alec focuses on the wizard trying to hold the group together. The wizard quickly falls and the last shrieker is blown up, allowing Chloe to join the fight. They keep the battle going, pushing forward for about five minutes until the Hive start running away.

"Ha!" Alec says.

"Nearly there," Titus says. "Damascus?"

"Little busy- keep it together," Damascus roars. "Seems like we're about to break. Hurry."

"Door on your left." Chloe says. They enter the next room, in a large rectangle coming from a metal platform, lowering onto a stone ground with a floating, dull, stone sword in the center. Looks more like a large meat cleaver than a sword, but from the dark aura around the sword that it is the Sword of Crota. And surrounding it on the opposite side of the room are Hive, with a single knight with a Cleaver roaring over them. His head crest is more large spikey than the others, and his three eyes gleam with green light. The three take over and the Hive immediately start firing.

"That's Garok." Chloe says.

"Grab the sword," Titus says. "We can end this now!" They start firing at the Hive and suppressing their movement, as Alec drops onto the stone floor, running for the Sword. Alec grabs the sword, floating in the center of the room on a silver platform. It is a bit heavy, the stone giving it weight. He could see from the dull looking blade that the weapon had seen plenty of combat.

'This is a Hive relic.'

Alec didn't expect the sword to suddenly sting in his hand. He winces in pain and black veins start running around on his wrist and up his arm. His arm was quickly being encroached by darkness, and being constructed from armor to a jet black, crusty substance. Alec started to feel dizzy, and suddenly he couldn't support his weight. He drops to the floor, supporting his weight on the sword. He coughs hard, coughing a liquid into his helmet. It's blood. Hi vision goes blurry, he can barely hear anything due to the ringing in his ears. He sees a knight land in front on him, probably Garok. The knight kicks Alec back, and Alec lands on his back, unable to move. His body shakes violently. His entire arm and chest is covered in the black crust.

Alec feels awful. All he can tell around him is the blurry firefight going on above him, the knight surely about to kill, him and the suffocating feeling of the sword eating his light. He could die right here, and it would change nothing. The pounding in his ears and brain get worse. It's like lightning striking with every second that passes.

There is a slight mumble. Alec chokes. He can barely breathe.

There is a slightly louder mumble. Something moving above him. He keeps shaking violently. The ringing worsens until…..

"ALEC!" Chloe's voice calls out, clear as day.

Alec inhales sharply, opening his eyes. He stops shaking, he can see clearly, he can hear clearly. A bright substance envelopes his body, bouncing off of every corner in the room. Alec uses his newfound strength to stand up. Chloe is right behind him, not joining Titus in the firefight. Garok is staring at him, not moving. Alec holds the sword in both hands, and charges at Garok, screaming. The substance grows even brighter. It blinds Alec, and suddenly Alec is in front of Garok, who is wincing and smoking.

Alec swings the sword. Green fire spreads from the blade.

So, I love music. And I love playing music. I may make some form of YouTube channel or whatever where I grab my horn and just jam to music I like. About as good as a High Schooler can play anyways. Eh?