LOST TO TIME
As we raced for Venus, Shin and Anna began chatting about the elections, arguing on whether or not they should vote for Ikora, but both agreed that Zavala was dangerous due to his views on the working class, Exos, and the Reef. Equally dangerous was his running mate, Executor Hideo, who signed laws banning Gay Marriage, legalizing racism and shock lynching, even going so far as to introduce a propaganda TV station called 'Mox News'. They claim that a bigger wall will protect the city, but the three of us knew better. Walls serve two purposes: 1. To keep people out (the emphasis of Zavala and Drumpf's campaigns), and 2. To keep people in (like a prison or concentration camp). I wanted to shout to the crowds of the City, "Hey! Do you realize that Zavala is promoting the rise of Fascism? Do you realize that his experience rests only in brutality and never diplomacy?" I wanted to, but then I would be telling everyone something that they already know.
Shin piloted the ship to the Waking Ruins, and all three of us landed on the surface. Once we did, a scratchy mechanical voice phased in and out of our comms. "This...a message...the Vault of Glass has gone dark...creatures are devour...they'll come for the Light."
Ikora justified her claim with, "That's why you're here."
We ran up the terrain to the Vault's door, opened due to our Raid a few months ago. As we ran inside, the mysterious voice said, "I...where I am. My name was Praedyth. If anyone is...the Vex are acting stranger than usual, must be...need to find out what they're up to."
"Praedyth," said Ikora, "That name is familiar. References in armor, weapons, and margins of texts."
Anna asked, "Who's Praedyth?"
Ikora answered with, "There were three Guardians that entered the Vault of Glass, for reasons unknown. Kabr led the team as they descended into the Templar's Well, but were met with the brute force of its master and its Oracles. Praedyth and Kabr took the full blast of negation, but Pahanin escaped just in time."
We delved into the Well in the middle of an intense battle between the Vex and Taken, then killed them all. After two more waves of running and shooting, I fell into Stormtrance and electrocuted the Vex and Taken that were on site, Shin was killed, but self-rezzed mid-battle and started destroying the ads with her Fusion and Firebolt Grenades, and Anna found a group of Vex and Taken to use her Fist of Havoc on. I asked, "Ikora, if the Taken get their hands on the Vault of Glass, then what would happen to the Vex and their worlds?"
"Possibly Taken away by Oryx," she answered.
"I thought that the Hive had an alliance with the Vex," proclaimed Shin.
The Warlock Vanguard agreed, "I thought so, too. It must've ended with he took half of the Vex."
"It did," confirmed Praedyth, "The Vex agreed to protect...so long as the Hive didn't...but Oryx changed tactics. When he took the strongest Vex...and the Vault went dark."
As we descended down to the Gorgon's Labyrinth, Anna kept muttering to herself, something about Mercury and the Black Garden. Once we reached the bottom, there was a Taken Hydra that began to fire at us, and we took cover. Anna's Ghost said, "That Hydra is causing the block! Kill it, or we'll never find Praedyth!" The Hydra summoned Taken Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs, and Blighted Oracles to aid it. Shin sniped the Oracles with her Black Spindle, then focused on the Hydra's head while Anna and I cleaned up the ads. More Minotaurs spawned on top of us, and we moved to avoid their Torch Hammers and slams. Anna was caught in one, but she shot it down with her shotgun. After firing at a few Oracles, the Hydra was stunned once again, and Shin targeted its eye, crippling its life and dropping a Simulation Core as it died. "That's it for the Taken!" shouted Jared, "High fives all around!"
"That's it! They're closing the door!" then Praedyth was gone.
"Signal lost, but the source is this way," said Alex, and we followed her to a skeleton in the middle of a room. "This is him, the Warlock who was known as Praedyth."
Anna mourned, "Ikora, I'm sorry that we couldn't bring him back, all of us are."
"Do not apologize," she said, "You have restored his name from oblivion. In a way, he will live on in the Tower Archi-" The Vault began to rumble, and we almost lost our balance. "What was that?"
"I don't know," said Shin, "but it doesn't sound good."
Praedyth came back on the comms, "It's the Vex! Reach the Inner Sanctum, Guardians!"
We ran through the exit to the chasm, then crossed it using the platforms. Praedyth began to speak, "The Vex see nothing but a pattern, a pattern that needs to be upheld and copied. Anything that obstructs it or sticks out in the slightest detail is cut away and left to die."
"Conformity at its finest," I said.
"Yes!" confirmed Praedyth, "That's why they need to be stopped! To preserve the beauty of our worlds!"
When we reached the sanctum, our Ghosts cloaked us so that we would approach the ritual safely. There, we saw a giant six-horned Hydra with six additional heads attached to the back of its spine floating where the Glass Throne used to be. In the middle of the sanctum was the head of Atheon, and off to the left and right sides sat the Goblins and Hobgoblins in the middle of a 'prayer' or something. I recognized the Hydra right off the bat. "Xylar!" I whispered.
Shin whispered back, "Who?"
"The Vex Overlord, the one who resides in the Vex hive-mind, that's him!" Then I saw a Ghost floating around and taking pictures. Evidence! I asked the Ghost through the comms, "Who are you?"
The Ghost floated to our level and whispered, "I'm Nightingale, Pahanin's Ghost."
"Why are you here?" asked Anna.
"I've been stuck here for a very long time, so I collected some footage for Lakshmi-2 and the Future War Cult."
"Well," said Shin, "I'd hate to break it to you but..."
"...elections. I saw it, too."
"They're starting to investigate Ikora and her Hidden, giving these pictures to Lakshmi would give Zavala and the New Monarchy even more incentive to imprison all of them!"
"I know, but look!" she motioned to the congregation of Vex, "They're resurrecting Atheon!"
"No," whispered Praedyth, "They're stealing his soul!"
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
"Atheon has the most valuable soul on hand, if only a sliver of it!"
"But how-" And that is when I realized that Atheon was no ordinary Axis Vex, Atheon was Kabr!
