"There a reason Ana Bray's been blowing up the comms tower?" Cayde questioned as he approached Zavala and Ikora.
"Put her through," Ikora instructed, intrigued by what news the hunter may have for them.
Cayde pushed aside one of the staff members and pressed several buttons on the nearest terminal. A moment later, a holographic projection emitted from the center of the central table. It appeared as a rectangular screen which displayed Ana Bray on both its front and back. Her eyes were wide with frenzy.
"Long time no see, Ana," Cayde greeted with an over-exaggerated wave.
"We have a problem," Ana uttered, with the room falling silent soon after.
Zavala feared the urgency of the situation, and glanced back to Cayde with stern eyes. "Cayde, got get him," he instructed, both of them knowing who the subject matter was.
Without a word spoken, Cayde gulped nervously before proceeding to dash out of the Hall of Guardians.
/
The corridors of the ketch creaked for the first time in twenty years. Floating off the edge of Saturn's rings, the Fallen had retired to the luxuries their kell had bestowed upon them, with the luxury of peace being the greatest. That was, until Darius sprinted through the hallways that day. He passed by barrack halls and lounge chambers on his way to the bridge, stirring a commotion amongst the eliksni warriors. Eventually he made it to the bridge, where he found Variks loyally standing at his post, as always.
"My kell," Variks uttered to the famed warlock currently sitting upon his throne. "Your loyalist has arrived."
Phaetin's throne shuttered to life as its robotic systems turned to face Darius. "My trusted warlock, what news do you bring?" Phaetin calmly asked.
"The Tower beckons you, sir," Darius said, out of breath from sprinting the length of the ship. "Rasputin's picked up a fleet just off the dwarf planet Eris. Latest reports note the fleet is nearing Pluto's orbital path."
"The satellites are tracking them, then?" Phaetin inquired, making sure to understand the situation to the best of his abilities.
"Yes, to a degree," Darius answered.
"What do you mean by that?" Phaetin questioned.
"The fleet is destroying every satellite and Warsat it comes across. That's essentially how the Vanguard is tracking it," Darius explained nervously.
Phaetin sat motionless. "They're like shadows…"
"Do you know what they are, boss?" Roxy asked, approaching her leader alongside Tameron.
If Phaetin heard her, he acted as if he hadn't. "Shadows turn to demons in the sunlight," he muttered, as if repeating an ancient mantra. His eyes shot to Variks. "Bring us about and set course for the Last City."
"Not the last city anymore," Tameron remarked as he nudged Roxy.
Phaetin's throne turned to face the loyalists. The warlock stared down Tameron with fire in his eyes. "It will be if we fail to stop the enemy right now!"
With that, the fleet of ketches warped faster than the speed of light towards Earth.
/
"Our satellites got just one image before being destroyed," Ikora explained as the holographic screen in the center of the table began to project the image. "It was taken over an hour ago within the Pluto cluster."
"We didn't have any colonies out that far did we?" Cayde asked.
"No, but we did have shipyards," Zavala answered. "Communication with the workers ended minutes after the satellites went dark."
"They're making tremendous time," Lord Saladin remarked, entering the room alongside Lord Shaxx.
"Ah, good. Glad to see you two have arrived fashionably late," Cayde mocked as he gestured to the men.
"I don't care for your tone, hunter," Shaxx retorted in as disrespectful a tone as possible to get under Cayde's skin.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're facing a threat we've never seen before, and it's already taken out our eyes over two dwarf planets. On top of that, it can be presumed we've already had our first casualties!" Cayde snapped, his arms waving about as if he was trying to imitate the waves of the ocean.
"Shut up! Everyone!" Zavala shouted, forcing the group to silence. "We have dealt with threats before. This time will be no different."
"So you say," a voice echoed from behind. At the rear of the room, Phaetin finally entered.
"Phaetin, how far out did you venture this time?" Ikora asked.
"Saturn," Phaetin answered.
Zavala cared little for their idle chat and brought the group's conversation back into focus. "We have a very real problem, Phaetin." He then turned to the holographic display. The image had finally come up. "This is the only visual we have of the enemy."
Phaetin looked up at the image, and his eyes went wide. It was a horde of large, triangular ships. They were coated in deathly black, with beams of white light streaking across their sides. There were nearly a hundred vessels in the image, with the closest being far larger than the rest. Phaetin's heart began to pound, and yet he managed to control himself in front of Zavala and the others. "The Darkness," Phaetin uttered.
"You think so?" Lord Shaxx asked. Even a titan as mighty as himself quaked ever so slightly at the idea of the Traveler's greatest foe returning.
"I am certain," Phaetin stated, but he did not expound on his reasoning. If the group knew he had knowledge of the enemy long before that day, he would have been brought into question. "There is no other explanation for it, my brethren."
"If it's really the Darkness returning…" Cayde began to speak up, his eyes gluing themselves to the displayed image. "What are we supposed to do?"
Phaetin turned to Cayde with a stern expression plastered against his face. "What sort of question is that?! You are a hunter, so pick up your hand cannon and do what you were resurrected for!" He then looked to the others in the room. "Here I stand before titans who would rather have their skulls crushed against the might of a dreadnaught than allow the Last City to fall, and warlocks whose mighty power comes from the very being the Darkness seeks to destroy." He outstretched his arms as his loyalists entered the room. "We will do what we have always done, because it is the only thing that can be done. We will fight!"
"Our kind nearly failed once," Ikora uttered from the back of the room.
"But it didn't, and our kind never had guardians before," Phaetin argued. "Our kind never had Fallen either, or Cabal, or Redjacks, or aid from the Reef. Today, we have all of them, and we must strike now while our enemy is still a long ways off."
"I agree," Zavala said as he analyzed the image on the display. "We must strike before they reach key cities on the core planets. For the first time in centuries we have the strength to repel such a foe, and we must take advantage of the situation while we still can."
Phaetin nodded his head. "We fight, or risk being turned to ash."
At this, Zavala turned to the others in the room. "Rally everyone. Gather all who will answer our call, from the guardians residing in our barracks on Venus to the guardians who scour the wilds of the Jovian moons." He then directly acknowledged Lord Shaxx. "Have Arcite rally the Redjacks." He then looked to Cayde. "Make the Reef aware of the situation, and seek out the Spider's aid. I have a feeling he will prove rather useful during the coming conflict." He then turned to Phaetin. "I understand the Fallen are already up to speed on the situation, but Emperor Calus must also be made aware."
"There will not be a soul in the system who is unaware of the enemy, and there will not be a soul in the system willing to lie over and die just because an ancient enemy returns to threaten destruction," Phaetin assured the mighty titan.
Zavala nodded his head in response. "Then let us be off, to one last war."
Sirens emitted throughout the city, signaling life would forever change. Phaetin's fleet of ketches above ensured conflict was coming, and soon the Vanguard Fleet was soaring alongside them. Rasputin's network spread signals throughout the entire system. Every colony from Mercury to Neptune knew of the coming threat, and they were ready.
All others set out to gather manpower, leaving Commander Zavala and Phaetin to themselves atop the Tower's rooftop. They watched their fleets soar calmly over the city, alongside the Traveler.
"You think we're ready to face this threat, Phaetin?" Zavala abruptly asked, a frown coming across his face. A hint of sadness leaked out of him.
Phaetin simply grinned beneath his respirator. "Ready as we'll ever be," he stated. Yet, on the inside, he wondered if any would survive the initial onslaught.