Chapter 28


The High War

Basilica

"Knights!" Carmen called out as she sprinted through one of the two connecting rooms to the main chamber of the Basilica. Surrounding her was a transparent dome that provided her with protecting from the dense Darkness that filled the two connected rooms. Without this dome, they would've been choked of their Light and killed in there.

As Carmen neared the entrance to the main chamber, she saw Niko running toward her as well. The two of them stopped at the entrance, allowing Niko to step into the field that surrounded Carmen.

"Right on time." He noted as a tether from Carmen latched onto to him, passing the dome of protection to him. Niko now ran down into the connecting room while Carmen ran to the heart of the main chamber where all of the action was.

"Pick up a Blessing if you didn't already!" Zeke called out to her after placing a Ward of Dawn in the center of the room. Carmen went sliding into the bubble, picking the extra shielding it provided before stepping out onto the circular platform with Zeke which it lit up in response.

"The Knight is down on my side." Niko called out.

"Same over here." Diana added from the opposite room.

"Keep an eye out for the Wizard." Toland warned them. "This is the last rotation, you just have to pass the Brand one last time."

"Spotted." Gale stated, causing both Gale and Carmen to look up to the raised platforms on the sides of the main chamber where the Wizards had been attacking from. All they saw though was a beam of red light pass over their heads, followed the screech of Wizard before it was turned into fiery dust.

"Nice shot!" Carmen exclaimed as she glanced back at the Exo who stood way up at the entrance to the main chamber, picking off the enemies that were flooding to this room from the large gateway.

"Think of this as practice for the task of killing Oryx." Toland began as the form he had taken on looked around at them. "This gateway here, it's essentially the entrance to Oryx's Throne World."

"But I thought we already entered it by going through the Rupture." Carmen pointed out.

"The Rupture is the entrance to the pathways between Throne Worlds. The Crossroads. The roadways bend and twist based on the destination that the travelers desire. You were seeking Oryx's world, the High War, and it took you here." Toland continued, watching as Carmen tried to make sense of what he was saying.

"Alright, forget that. How is this practice for killing Oryx?" Carmen said as she brushed aside the information he had shared.

"There is a process to kill Oryx, a process that he set in motion himself because it's his means of killing you." Toland explained.

"Wait, so you're saying that Oryx has to make himself vulnerable to kill us?" Niko asked.

"Exactly."

"But why?"

"He seeks to claim your Light, just like he has done to others in the past. Once he obtains it he must corrupt it. But to do that, he must make himself vulnerable…and that is when we will strike him down." Toland went on. "There are various tasks you have to complete amidst the chaos, this is preparation. You must be able to maintain control of certain areas, move as a unit and cover each other's backs."

They were quickly beginning to understand why Toland had told them all of this beforehand. Any team attempting this without any knowledge beforehand would have been utterly defeated by the Hive. But even with this information, it still took a cohesive team to complete the tasks that were required to open the gateway to Oryx's realm.

In each of the side rooms, there were Annihilator Totems that were the source of the intense Darkness within the rooms. But in order to open the gateway, they had to gather the power of the Annihilator Totems and deposit it into a circular panel on the floor of the main chamber. Toland informed that in order to enter the side rooms to collect the power from the Annihilator Totems, they would need the Brand that rested at the entrance to the two rooms. This would protect their Light while they were in such dense Darkness.

They split into groups of two, one Guardian going in to collect this power while the other dropped off what they had gathered. They went back and forth as they swapped the Brand, closely listening to each other for the cues Toland had told them about.

The Wizards that were appearing in the main chamber were coming at a timed interval. That marked when the Guardians in the middle were supposed to split to head back to their side rooms to swap the Brand. Fortunately though, if you were in a side room and you saw a Boomer Knight come out onto a platform above, that marked your time to move as well. Their calls were quick and sharp as they all moved, and it wasn't long before they understood the routine and began acting as efficiently as possible.

"Switch successful." Zeke noted as he arrived at the Annihilator Totem, anxiously waiting to see what would take place from there.

"We're dropping off the last of it now." Diana added as fired her fusion rifle, vaporizing a group of Thrall that had been rushing toward her and Niko. Once again, Gale destroyed the Wizard in the main chamber with one shot from his Sleeper Simulant. He then set the weapon down and picked up his scout rifle, searching for the next wave of enemies, but it was then that he noticed that nothing else had spawned.

"Is that it?" Niko asked, slightly disappointed that it was over. But their attention was quickly drawn to the gateway. The opening in it had previously been green and murky, but it cleared away granting them access to the next room.

"Whoa!" Carmen exclaimed as she and Zeke arrived at the main chamber to see that they could finally press forward.

"Excellent work Guardians." Toland said, almost sounding elated.

"So what happens now?" Diana asked as they all approached the gateway, unsure of what awaited them as they now began to venture into the High War.

"Someone else already killed off Oryx's subordinates that you would have had to face. So our next destination is Oryx himself." Toland stated, surprising the group as he took the lead, guiding them into the next room.

'Must have been Tobias.' Diana concluded. He had done all this by himself, without anyone knowing. Why would he put himself through all of this alone?

The team quickly scaled the rocky wall of the room to reach the elevated area at the far end of the room. Upon reaching this new height, they all discovered what appeared to be another Rupture waiting there for them. Toland went through with no hesitation and the rest of them followed him in.

Threshold

Oryx seemed to come to life once again, moving for the first time in what felt like days to Tobias. He didn't really know what Oryx had been doing during this time, but the Taken King hadn't moved an inch since Tobias had been shackled up. In fact, his Daughters hadn't moved from their platforms either. Titus was the only one had moved, and he had gone missing quite a bit of time ago.

Oryx spread his wings gallantly his gaze became fixated on the entrance to his throne room. There were a group of five figures standing there weapons out and aimed at him.

"Holy crap! He's stinkin' huge!" Carmen shouted as the group of five observed their target.

"Damn, are we really going to kill that?" Niko asked as he looked around for Toland, but they discovered that he was still in the small chamber connecting to the throne room. "Aren't you coming?"

There was no response from the figure of light who remained in the chamber connected to the throne room, watching them from there.

"What's going on?" Diana asked, but their attention was quickly pulled up to the Daughters of Oryx who began to move as well, pleased to see that the Guardians had arrived. The protective fields around them faded away as the two of them rose from their platforms, raising their hands. Even Oryx looked up at his daughter's confused as to what they were doing.

The two of them began to hum softly before they turned their backs to each other, thrusting their hands outward. A rippling blast was released from them, crashing into the unseen walls around the room, shattering them. The scenery surrounding them remained unchanged by this, but Oryx roared intensely at their actions.

"Does anyone have any idea what's going on?" Gale asked as he looked around at his teammates, hoping someone would know the answer.

"They broke the seal." It was Toland, he was speaking again. "It's a mutiny."

"What?" Diana asked as they looked back at the figure who had joined them in the throne room now.

"Oryx placed a seal on his throne room, to ensure that I would never be able to enter it. His Daughters just broke the seal to let me in." Toland exclaimed as he realized that the Daughters of Oryx had an agenda of their own. "I don't know what they're planning, but they want us to kill him!"

All of them looked up at the Daughters who then turned away from their father, a black aura beginning to circle around them before it consumed them completely. And then just like that, it disappeared leaving the Guardians to face Oryx.

"What's going on?" Tobias asked himself. All of this commotion was taking place, and he had no clue what the cause was. Everyone was looking at the entrance of the throne room but he couldn't see it with the angle he had. It was hidden behind one of the platforms that Oryx's daughters had previously been using.

"My ignorant children. You will pay dearly for this betrayal." Oryx said to himself before he focused on the Guardians once again as they came to front of the room, aiming at him with their weapons.

"There's Tobias, let's get him!" Niko pointed out. Oryx then raised his hands, summoning the Taken onto the field to fight the Guardians. A pair of black orbs dropped down in the front corners of the room, sending out dozens of Taken Thrall to swarm them.

"Quick, gun them down!" Diana commanded as they began to fire upon their enemies who began to surround them. "Carmen cut Tobias's loose. We're going to need him!"

"I'm on it! Golden Gun!" Carmen screamed as she whipped out her gray pistol and raised it over her head, fueling it with Solar Light. The small weapon became engulfed with flames which Carmen then took aim with, rattling off three shots at Tobias, severing three of the four shackles that held him up. The shackle that remained held his wrist, but Tobias quickly unsheathed his tanto and channeled Arc Light into it cut away his restraint. This sent Tobias plummeting to the floor, but he rotated to land on his feet, glad to finally be standing on his own again. But before Tobias could get comfortable on the ground he found himself surrounded by Taken Thrall, fortunately for him his teammates quickly came to his rescue.

The slam of Zeke activating the Hammer of Sol rang out, within a few moments the Taken Thrall surrounding them was reduced to embers that drifted off into the surrounding space.

"What, no thanks for saving my ass Carmen?" Carmen asked Tobias as he joined the team as they stepped back, allowing Zeke to finished off the last of the Taken. Tobias recognized three of the five Guardians that were present. Diana, Niko and Carmen were wearing the armor he was accustomed to, but the remaining pair he couldn't identify.

"I hope you know we're going to have a long talk later Tobias." Diana pointed out to him

"All that can wait." Toland interjected as they looked to the two small platforms at their sides. A Taken Knight spawned on each of them, beginning to fire away at them with their Boomers. Both Niko and Gale quickly barrel rolled into cover, switching to their snipers before they scoped in on the heads of each of the Knights. The Knights gave a roar of pain before they wavered out of existence.

Oryx seemed to mutter something before began to rotate around the edge of the room, coming to a stop at one of the lower platforms to their left.

"This is where it all begins, does everyone remember their roles?" Toland asked as the group scattered, leaving Tobias by himself.

"What's going on?" Tobias asked, clearly confused from the lack of direction.

"Obviously we didn't have a chance to fill you in Tobias. Toland, can you bring him up to speed?" Diana asked as she and Niko approached the platform that Oryx was looming over.

"I'm afraid I cannot. I'm heading over to the next dimension to guide you to the Brand." Toland pointed out before his figure of light faded away.

"Shoot. Carmen, just tell him where the third platform is." Diana hollered before the room shook. Oryx had just dropped his hand down onto the platform Niko and Diana were standing by, and the entire room quaked from just that.

"Tobias!" Carmen shouted, waving her hands to get his attention. She was already in the back of the room, standing on the center pathway. "Come back here!"

"Like I said before, killing Oryx is a long process, so listen closely. The first step is probably the most hectic. One of you must become torn between dimensions to retrieve the first half of the Brand. To do that, you teammates must construct a pathway for you but jumping onto the platforms in order. I can't stress that enough to you." Toland explained as the group journeyed through the dark cellar. "While this is taking place, Oryx will summon Ogres to steal your Light. Be warned, these are not the Ogres you all are accustomed to. Once you kill them, they will leave behind Corrupted Light. This is your means of killing Oryx."

"Corrupted Light?" Niko repeated. He had never heard anyone mention anything like that before.

"Yes. Oryx had been collecting Light for centuries by using these Ogres. But if you kill them, all of the Light that they have consumed will be left behind in a densely packed Blight. You will be able to detonate it like a bomb. But you are not to detonate these by any circumstances unless I say so." Toland said sharply, surprising them. "I'm sure if you defeat his Ogres, Oryx will deem you a worthy threat, and attempt to kill you all using Doxology. In doing so he exposes his heart, and if we can detonate the bombs while he is in this state, we can kill him."

"How do you know all of this?" Carmen asked him.

"I'm been studying Oryx for centuries. Passing through the Crossroads distorts my perception of time, so maybe even longer. But I've been waiting for the day when the Guardian's would arrive to kill the Taken King." Toland replied.

"So I just have to stand on it?" Tobias asked as he stood beside the third platform.

"Yeah, but only jump on when I give you the signal." Carmen said.

"Here we go!" Diana shouted as she leapt up, followed closely by Niko. As Diana landed on the platform, she stepped through the floating black sphere which quickly consumed her. Niko was a bit surprised to see Diana disappear all of a sudden, but his focus was then drawn to the Ogre that rose up from black water beside his platform.

Both Gale and Zeke were already firing at the Ogre, but with Niko's help they easily staggered the beast and which then succumbed to the amount of bullets being sprayed into it. Carmen then jumped onto her platform and then shouted for Tobias to do the same. Almost tentatively, Tobias jumped onto the platform, still unsure of what he should be doing, but it didn't take him long to realize that he could help by putting a few shots into the Ogre that had spawned by Carmen. Just as soon as the group killed that Ogre, another rose up by Tobias, but once again it was handily defeated by their focus fire.

"I'm back!" Diana shouted as she suddenly appeared high in the air, standing on a floating stone platform. And now she was glowing brilliantly as well. Diana then jumped down, cushioning her fall with a small Glide so that she landed softly before barrel rolling behind cover. Taken enemies were spawning all over the place, but Diana couldn't move from this location as a Hive Tombship parked at the edge of the throne room. The bottom of the ship lit up briefly, dropping off the enemy that Diana was targeting.

A special Hive Knight with a white Aura surrounding it. Stepping into this field just as soon as the Knight appeared, Diana then slapped the floor, stealing the Aura that the Knight had previously been holding. And now that she was in it, Diana couldn't believe that Toland was right. All of the enemies around her had turned to fire on her, but none of their attacks were affecting her. She was completely immune to everything. She didn't believe Toland when he said she couldn't be hurt while in possession of the Aura, but it was true!

"The Aura of Immortality is what will allow you to survive detonating the bombs." Toland pointed out.

"Are these things that powerful?" Niko inquired. For them to need immortality to survive, these things must have been very dangerous.

"This is the Light he has been gathering for over thousands of years, condensed into one sphere about the same size as you. That kind of power would kill you, and then kill you ten times over after you're already dead."

"Are you serious?" Carmen exclaimed.

"Very."

"So we just have to set off one of these bombs while Oryx's has his heart exposed and it's over." Niko concluded.

"No. Just one bomb is far from enough. I'm not certain exactly how many you'll need to detonate, but he summons four Ogres at a time, so you must do your best to utilize all of the bombs."

"Everyone gather up!" Diana shouted as she arrived at the center of Oryx's throne room where Gale and Zeke had set up camp, gunning down the final Ogre.

"How are you managing Gale?" Zeke asked as he pelted the last Ogre with bullets from his auto rifle. Gale remained silent though as he switched to his Sleeper Simulant, charging up the weapon as it took aim, targeting the Ogre's face. There was a screech as the weapon fired, followed immediately by a roar of distress from the Ogre as it was vaporized from the blast.

"Does that answer your question?" Gale asked Zeke who was clearly shocked. He had seen Gale use it back at the gateway, but taking down a Hive Wizard didn't take too much firepower. But it took a ton of bullets for them to take down the first three Ogres, yet this weapon obliterated the fourth with just one shot.

"This is it now, Oryx is preparing Doxology!" Toland snapped at the group, getting everyone's attention. All of them focused on Oryx now as he spread out his wings with a shout, placing his hands in front of his chest which opened up, revealing a bright white light. "Pour all of the firepower you can into his chest. This will stagger him for just a moment for you to detonate the bombs!"

"Fire!" Diana shouted as they all raised their weapons, emptying their magazines into Oryx's chest.

"How do we know when we've staggered him?!" Carmen hollered before the screech of the Sleeper Simulant rang out. They all saw the red beam travel into Oryx's chest, getting a resounding roar of pain from him as he seemed to be knocked backward.

"Go! Detonate the bomb by the platform you were just on!" Toland shouted, although this was specifically for Tobias who wasn't as well informed as the rest of them.

"How do I do that?" Tobias asked as he sprinted toward the black sphere.

"You just have to stand in it. It will respond to the Light within you." Toland replied as Niko, Carmen, Tobias and Zeke all stepped into the Corrupted Light. Each of them looked up as the sphere rose above their head, flattening out into a disk that bathed them in a brilliant Light. "Now return to the Aura before they go off!"

And just like that, the team was back together in the center of the room within the protection of the Aura of Immortality. All of them glanced at the bombs momentarily, wondering what was going to take place, but then they were blinded. Everything was white for a few moments, and they could feel the room shaking violently beneath their feet. Finally their vision was restored, and they could see Oryx as he was knocked off the side of his throne room.

"Hell yeah!" Carmen hollered as she shook a fist at where Oryx had fallen off.

"Did we do it?" Tobias asked, amazed with how well it had gone.

"No, this is just the beginning." Toland said as Oryx reappeared, front and center, astonished that the Guardians had managed to injure him within the High War. He now understood what his Daughters had done. Toland was present in his throne room, instructing the Guardians on how to kill him. There was no other way they would be able to execute this so flawlessly.

"So what's next?" Diana asked as they readied their weapons.

"I don't know." Toland replied, surprising the group. "In all of the history I've studied, no one has survived Doxology."

Oryx suddenly leapt away from his throne room, taking a considerable distance from it. He then thrusted his hands forward at the Guardians who stood together.

"Gah!" They all screamed as a sudden shockwave hit erupted from the floor beneath them, sending them all tumbling in different directions. But as each of them tried to get back to their feet from the unexpected attack, they were by another shockwave that further separated them from each other. Toland watched on, trying to determine what was happening to see if he could find a solution to this.

Watching as Carmen was knocked over once again, she tumbled across the floor several feet before she came to a stop. But Toland quickly took note that the following shockwave appeared where Carmen had first hit the ground. It was following them, but there was a delay. Just enough for them to put some distance between themselves and the blast if they were in motion. The solution was running!

"Start moving! Do everything in your power to avoid these just once, and then keeping running!" Toland ordered them. Most of them had been struggling to recover from taking one of these hits, but when this news they grit their teeth and prepared for the next hit so that they could respond as quickly as possible. Despite being thrown backward once again, Diana, Carmen and Niko nimbly used their hands to catch themselves before they could hit the ground, using just this brief moment of balance to put themselves onto their feet.

Gale, Tobias and Zeke used a less refined tactic, deciding doing what they could to absorb the blow from the shockwave. This was still more than enough to knock them off the floor, but being prepared for the hit meant they could plan how they would land. Upon hitting the floor, the used the moment being hit to keep rolling, skipping over the next shockwave before quickly getting back onto their feet to get on the move before they could be hit by the following one.

All six of them were running like maniacs, jumping and skipping, doing whatever they had to-to avoid being hit by these shockwaves. And it worked out successfully. Oryx soon abandoned this attacking method seeing as they had quickly figured out how to avoid it. His only option was to attempt Doxology again to wipe them out.

"The process is starting over again." Toland pointed out as Oryx began to rotate around his throne room again, selecting a new platform as the starting point for Diana's mission.

"We dropped four bombs on him already, let's see how he likes four more!" Zeke shouted as he returned to the middle of the room, placing another Ward of Dawn down to use against the Ogres.

"Here we go!" Diana shouted as everyone took their places at the platforms they were assigned to. "It's just like last time!"

Diana jumped onto the first platform, glancing up at Oryx who seemed focused solely on her as she stepped into the black aura at the center of the platform. The entire world around her became monotone. Not an ounce of any other color could be spotted anywhere.

"This way Diana!" Toland called out to her as the floating platforms began to appear for her just like first time. Each of these platforms had a small spark of light on it, like the lights down a runway that guide in aircrafts. This was Toland leading her to the Brand that she would need to take the Aura of Immortality.

Leaping into the air, Diana effortlessly glided from one platform to the next, rising higher and higher into the air until she was looking down at the room. Her teammates were difficult to make out in this perspective. They were nothing but hazy black blurs, but they were the only ones who had a white aura surrounding them. Even though in her current state, Diana could still tell the Light from the Darkness.

Reaching the final platform with the largest spark of light, Diana took a hold of it, and immediately color was restored to her surroundings. She could hear her teammates barking out orders at each other, the constant gunfire. She was back!

"I've got it!" Diana shouted as she jumped down from the final floating platform, dropping down to the floor which she landed on softly thanks to Glide. From there she sprinted toward the front of the throne room where once again a Hive Tombship was had come to a stop to drop off the Vessel of Oryx.

"Fourth Ogre is down." Gale stated as the group gathered at the center of the room once again.

"Do you have another round for Oryx?" Zeke asked Gale, recalling that it was a shot from the Sleeper Simulant that allowed them to cross whatever damage threshold there was to stagger Oryx. They would need it in order to stagger him once again.

"No, I used up the last of it on the Ogres." Gale revealed.

"No wonder they went down so quickly." Niko noted.

"Do you have a synthesis to make some ammo for it?" Zeke inquired as they all turned to face Oryx.

"This is Golden Age tech, it'll take some time to synthesize ammo for it." Gale replied.

"We don't have that kind of time." Diana pointed out.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Carmen declared as her helmet changed right in front of them. Piercing eyes resembling that of a hawk, Carmen was now equipped with the Celestial Nighthawk. "I think you know what time it is."

Oryx spread his wings once again, placing his hands in front of his chest as he opened it once again in an attempt to kill off the Guardians.

"Golden Gun!" Carmen screamed as she raised her pistol, igniting it with fire. She then took aim and fired with no hesitation, her arm being thrown up into the air from the force of the shot as it exited her weapon. The searing flames flew straight into Oryx's chest, throwing him backward once again with just this one shot. The Guardians had successfully stopped him from using Doxology not once, but twice!

"Get to your bombs!" Diana shouted, reminding them off the main focus.

Once again, they successfully detonated four bombs, knocking Oryx off of the throne room a second time.

"Thanks for the cover Carmen." Gale said, seeming slightly bummed that he couldn't help on the second rotation. But upon looking at Carmen, he saw that she had raised a hand toward him.

"Please, you bailed our asses out the first time." She said, giving him a high five.

Tobias was in shock as he stared at his teammates as they celebrated detonating eight bombs so far. They were actually fighting Oryx to a standstill right now in his world! Tobias had feared the worst, expecting everyone to be killed on board the Dreadnaught as they attempted to rescue him. He never imagined them reaching Oryx's throne room, let alone them fighting the Taken King to this point. He had underestimated them greatly.

They didn't have the power that he had, yet they were all fighting so valiantly despite being so far from the Traveler.

"The Light of your Traveler won't reach you out here."

Tobias disregarded that thought. Regardless of if he had the blessing of the Traveler or not, he was among people that were fighting for the same cause as him. He would see to it that they found success, one way or another.

"He's coming back!" Toland declared, bringing their small celebration to an abrupt end.

Oryx rose up at the front of his throne room again, this time clearly angered that the Guardians were actually finding success against him. He couldn't allow them to defeat him. He had brought them all the way in here to ensure that they wouldn't be able to fight at their full strength, yet they were overwhelming him! He couldn't accept this!

Outstretching one of his arms, Oryx summoned a large black sphere that shifted and spasmed as if it were alive.

"Your Light will perish here!" Oryx boomed at them.

"You don't scare me Oryx! You're nothing but a bi-" Carmen hollered before she was cut off. The team looked down for the Hunter, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Carmen?" Gale asked as he scanned the room in search of her. But she was gone.

"What happened?" Tobias began, but as he took a step forward everything changed. He was no longer standing in Oryx's throne room. He was standing an empty area, filled with haze. "Where am I?

"Yeah, I wanna know that to." Carmen said, surprising Tobias. It was just the two of them standing in this empty plain with a fog that grew dense a short distance from them. One by one the members of the raid team were dropped down into this empty area until all six of them were present, asking each other what was taking place outside.

"Nothing, Oryx was just kind of floating there before I was suddenly standing here with the rest of you." Gale explained since he was the last one to join them.

"This is making me nervous." Diana admitted.

"Are we trapped here?" Zeke asked, recalling his last mission within the Hive fortress.

"I can't get a reading on anything, but it's been that way since we stepped through the Rupture." Niko stated as he checked studied the interface within his helmet which had been of almost no use to him throughout this mission.

"Man, this sucks." Carmen mumbled before all of them with the exception of Gale felt a shiver run down their backs.

"Scatter!" Tobias shouted as he dove at Gale, sending both of them tumbling away. Everyone managed to put some distance between themselves and the shadow figure that came crashing down where they had all been previously standing.

"What's going on?!" Gale asked as he rose up from his back to get a look at their attacker.

"YOU!" Zeke roared as he sprung forward, cocking back one hand way back to throw a haymaker at their target. The muscles in his arms were tense, and his hand was balled up into such a tight fist that if it weren't for the gloves on his hands, his nails would have dug into his skin. Zeke could only see the man that stood at the center of the room.

Titus.

"Zeke, no!" Tobias screamed but it was already too late. Zeke lashed out at Titus, his hand becoming enveloped in a purple aura.

"Disintegrate!" Zeke declared as he aimed to finish Titus off with just one blow. He had a running start, so all of this momentum should allow him to put down Titus with just this single punch. But Zeke was shocked speechless when he was stopped dead in his tracks. Titus had raised one hand, effortless catching Zeke's fist and even diverting the energy blast from it away from himself. He didn't budge even an inch from the impact which had resounded through the empty plain.

"I see you haven't grown any stronger. That's a shame." Titus commented before all five of his fingers began to extend, traveling around Zeke's hand before rushing toward his chest, piercing through his chest in four different spots.

Zeke gasped, unable to believe that Titus had made such quick work of him.

"Gah!" Tobias groaned as he stood beside Zeke, his hand blocking off one of Titus' fingers, the one that had been aimed to skewer Zeke's Ghost right out of him.

"I knew you'd keep this interesting." Titus said as he stared at Tobias who was breathing deeply, trying to ignore the pain of having the palm of his hand stabbed by Titus. But his pain was likely nothing in comparison to Zeke who had four holes punched through his chest. Titus retracted his fingers and then back handed Tobias, sending him flying away. But he didn't anticipate that the remaining members of Undaunted would jump at him so fearlessly.

"Get him!" Niko shouted as he, Carmen and Diana attacked. Channeling Arc Light into his legs, Niko threw out a roundhouse kick at to knock Titus' head clean off his shoulders. Carmen pulled out a pair of her throwing knives which became lit with flames before she buried them into his back. And Diana slammed the palm of her hand into his abdomen, surrounding it with Void Light to sending rippling blast through Titus.

"What a shame. I might have actually felt those if not for all the power I've taken." Titus commented before he exhaled sharply, releasing a shockwave which blasted the three of them away from him. But all three of them adeptly landed on their feet, surprised with how resilient Titus was. Back on Earth they could at least hurt him, but this time they couldn't even leave a scratch on him. "I hope you all don't break too easily like the group I fought last time."

Zeke seemed to snap again as he snatched a pair of suppressor grenades from the belt around his waist. How could Titus talk about his teammates if they were so…insignificant!? Tossing both the grenades at him, Titus did just as Zeke thought he would. He didn't even move seeing the small explosives roll up to him, standing right over them before they blew up. Hopefully this would even the playing field between them as Zeke now charged at Titus, but he wasn't the only one who had been enraged by Titus' last comment.

Niko held his tanto blade out, his entire body becoming covered in a blue hue as electricity crackled around his weapon. As Zeke engaged Titus, Niko seemed to vanish as he went on the offensive as well.

"Freakin' sit still!" Zeke shouted as he swung wildly at Titus who continued to evade his attacks, using just some basic footwork to sidestep Zeke's full swings at him.

Carmen raised her hand cannon, taking aim at Titus as he moved around Zeke, but Diana quickly placed a hand on her weapon.

"Hold on." She stated, surprising Carmen.

"What for? He needs help."

"Wait for Niko. We're going to hit him with everything we've got right now."

Zeke gave another roar as he swung at Titus again, watching as his opponent swayed away from him with ease before putting some distance between them. Zeke had quickly spun on his heels while pulling out his auto rifle, spraying bullets at Titus.

"That's not fair, I'm not using a weapon." Titus noted as he sunk down to the floor to dodge the bullets. He was nothing more than shadow on the floor now as he rushed at Zeke who only received a few moments to react. By the time he started to backpedal, Titus was already in front of him, rising from the floor to grab a hold of the auto rifle that Zeke held. But just as he got his hands on the weapon, his arms were severed.

'Whoa.' Zeke exclaimed seeing Niko drop down in front him, chopping off Titus' arms to save him. Titus didn't take too kindly to this as his focused shifted to Niko. Thrusting his arms forward, they began to extend, replacing the limbs that he had lost almost instantly as he aimed to take a hold of Niko now. But a sudden weight on his arms stole his focus. It was Carmen.

"What the-" Titus began before he found himself staring down the barrel of Carmen's flaming pistol. She pulled the trigger, and everything turned red for Titus as he was sent stumbling backwards from the three of them with a scream of pain.

"Nice Carmen!" Gale shouted with a whoop. Hearing this, Titus looked up, revealing that the entire right side of his face has been burned away by the point blank Golden Gun shot that he had taken. But it was then that Titus saw with his remaining eye what was awaiting him next. Diana was floating in front him, her hand reared back with a swirling mass of Void Light surrounding it.

"Take this!" She shouted, hurling the Nova Bomb at him.

Tobias watched on beside Gale, his chest becoming hot as he watched them land a devastating combination on Titus who disappeared within Diana's Nova Bomb. This wasn't their battle. They all knew that they could die. They all knew that Tobias was an idiot for undertaking this mission by himself. Yet they were fighting for him. What was fueling their strength?

"My mom and sister told me that they'd be on the first ship back from the Reef, so I'm pumped to see them again." Carmen revealed to them happily.

"My family who was on board that station didn't fare so well. All of them were killed in the massacre." Diana stated scornfully.

"Maybe if we beat the Darkness we might achieve a second Golden Age…I'd love to see that." Niko admitted as he looked up thoughtfully.

He knew that they were all fighting for different reasons, but what made them so strong that they could fight way out here?

Glancing at Gale who stood beside him, even this little Exo was way out here on his behalf. He didn't have the blessing of the Light like the rest of them, yet he stood alongside them in this battle with Oryx. He didn't even have the Light…

Tobias took in a deep breath, shutting his eyes for a moment as he realized that he was just being weak. The Traveler had entrusted its power and will to him, and yet he still relied on its dormant body for strength. His strength didn't come from the Traveler. All of it was within him! It was given to him to make sure that all the sacrifices made up until this point weren't in vain. It was his duty now to end this struggle.

Inhaling once again, Tobias felt as though this was the first breath of air that he had taken in since coming to Saturn. He could feel the oxygen travel through his bloodstream, spreading warmth through him from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. Every little bit of him was warm once again.

"Are you okay Tobias?" Gale asked as he placed a hand in front his eyes in an attempt to block the bright light that was being cast from Tobias.

"I feel…better than ever." Tobias said as the light surrounding him dimmed down, revealing that he was adorned in white once again, just like the first time he had fought Titus.

"Stinkin' show off." Niko noted as he glanced back at Tobias who was approaching them, clearly intent on rejoining the battle once again. But Titus responded immediately to Tobias finally entering his Radiant Form. The Darkness around them became heavy as the vortex from Diana's Nova Bomb was dashed to pieces, revealing Titus who had a black aura growing around him. The fog surrounding them darkened considerably as he pointed toward Tobias.

"I've grown stronger Tobias, I hope you and your friends are ready!" Titus proclaimed, but Tobias only shook his head in response.

"This isn't their fight. It's my duty to kill you, and I'll make sure that happens this time." Tobias stated as he raised one hand above his head, calling for the Light from within him. His hand became like a beacon of light as everyone around him was blinded.

Oryx stared at the dome of Darkness in front him, immediately taking note that a ray of light suddenly pierced through the top of it. But that was only the first of many until the dome burst, forcing Oryx to take some distance from it as he shielded his eyes from the light with one of his wings. To his surprise, Oryx found himself staring at the Guardians who had come to rescue Tobias. How could they have possibly escaped from Titus? None of them, not even Tobias should be powerful enough to defeat Titus while they were within the High War.

That didn't matter at this point. One of them, Tobias, was missing. There was no way the five of them would be able to handle his Ogres and steal the Aura of Immortality. It was only a matter of time before they started to fall.

A/N

I'm not sure if a lot of people are aware of this, but that spark of light that guides us around the Dreadnaught in game is actually Toland. So it's only fitting that he act as a guide for the raid team since they only have one shot at defeating Oryx.

That was always something I thought about while raiding actually. If all this were real we'd only have one shot at knocking out all of the bosses because a wipe means we failed and we're all dead, consumed by the Darkness. So obviously there has to be some kind of guidance to complete the mechanics and beat the bosses, or at least that's what I believe. King's Fall is the only raid that I believe we have someone guiding us directly in Toland.

The other raids though I'm not certain. You could argue that Eris acts as a guide for us in Crota's End considering she was the only survivor from the first team who had attempted to kill Crota. The Vault of Glass I would imagine that Kabr or Praedyth may contact us despite being lost in time, possibly through the Relic when we first fight the Templar. That's obviously a bit of a stretch considering that Praedyth was only able to contact us because the Vex allowed him to. But I also know that the Relic was forged out of Kabr's Light, so its very possible that remnants of him might reside in it that could give us little bits of information to beat the Oracles, Templar and Atheon.

Wrath of the Machine is the only one I'm not sure of at all. I haven't really read up the lore about Rise of Iron yet so I might not be aware of it, but I don't think there's anything that could act as an informant to help us take down Aksis and destroy the Perfection Complex. Saladin and the other Iron Lords went into Site 6 so I don't think any of them have knowledge of the Perfection Complex to act as guides for us so I don't know who could lead us for this one. Any thoughts?

As always guys, thanks for the support and I'll see everyone at the next update. Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do! ;)