Chapter 23: A New Threat
When the Sin trio and the lore masters returned from the Vault of Glass with their spoils, the Vanguard was beyond impressed. The sight of Atheon's head and the eyes of the Gorgons only made everything even better while the head of the Templar went to Mara, who happily accepted it.
Though their time of peace was cut short when a new arrival made its way to the Tower: a Ghostless Guardian named Eris Morn, the last surviving member of the last fire team to go to the moon to face Crota.
"How in the galaxy did she survive for so long?" Alex wondered as he sat in a bar with Cortona.
"I don't know." The woman shrugged, not sure herself.
The former Hunter had set up an area under the steps of the Vanguard's top level of the tower, a condition that Zavala had begrudgingly agreed to after lots of prodding from Ikora.
Vulcan, of course, decided to speak with the mystery woman. Particularly because of the fact that he thought she'd be able to help him better understand the Hive so he could kill them easier.
"You just wish to understand the Hive to kill them effectively?" The Ghostless survivor asked the large Titan.
"That is correct. I wish to do so to ensure the safety of both the City, and my Queen, Mara Sov and our people." The man nodded.
Eris took note of how he called the Queen of the Reef by name and decided to dig into that a little bit. "What is your relationship with the Awoken Queen, if I may ask?" She inquired.
"I am a confidant of sorts, you could say." Vulcan shrugged. "We are quite close." He added simply.
Deciding that was enough for now, the survivor changed topics. "Interesting. Regardless, I have a mission for you and your team." She told him.
"That being?" Asked the Sunbreaker.
"I need you to investigate Hive activity in the Cosmodrome. I have a suspicion that I need to confirm." She replied.
"Alright, where will we need to go in the Cosmodrome?" He asked.
"I will send you the coordinates of where you'll be landing as you travel there." Eris told him. Vulcan nodded before he went to seek out his teammates.
-Cosmodrome Airspace-
"Okay, Vulcan. What does Eris need us to investigate?" Cortona asked as they flew through the skies.
"According to her? Odd Hive activity that started occurring ever since we activated that Array." He told them. "Additionally, there have been sightings of those hybrids we saw on the moon. They've been cannibalizing the Fallen and Hive in the area, in fact one Guardian still hasn't recovered from seeing a pack of the 'Drells' eat an Ogre alive."
"As soon as this is over, I'm asking Cayde for an update on locating the breeding pit for those little monsters." Alex stated.
With that, the team landed and as soon as they did, they saw a squad of the hybrids. It consisted of ten Drells, four Vandalytes, and a massive one called a Paladin, essentially the Captain/Knight variant.
"Why did they have to get uglier?" Cortona asked in dismay as she started feeling sick.
"I know how you feel, Cortona. I really do." Alex groaned as he held his stomach.
The Paladin let out a guttural roar as it ordered the Drells to descend on a squad of Hive, which was being led by a high ranking Scorpion witch. But instead of killing the witch after the lower ranked ones slaughtered its envoys. The Paladin grabbed the witch by the heels and started to drag her away, the female Hive screeching and screaming in horror as it tried to get away before the hybrids all disappeared into a portal.
"Is it weird that I feel genuinely bad for that witch?" Snake asked, somehow feeling sickened by what he just witnessed.
"What on earth could they be doing with all these witches?" The Sin of Wrath wondered.
"Unfortunately, I think I have a pretty good idea." Cortona said with a scared shiver.
Alex was about to ask when it suddenly clicked in his head and he shivered with the female Exo. Vulcan must've caught on too, if his own shivering was anything to go by.
"Then my suspicions were correct. Hyrax, The Mindbender, is capturing female Hive of strong and pure blood to increase the numbers of his unholy brood." Eris commented over the comms.
"Ugh… That sick, demented motherfucker! I'm going to enjoy killing him WAY more than I should!" The Dragon Sin growled.
"Too bad we can't get the Fallen to help us. I'm sure they'd pitch in, assuming they've lost a lot of their own to these beasts." Vulcan said, feeling disturbed by the Mindbender's actions. As they continued forward they reached the old Hive nest Alex found and were horrified by what they found.
Male and female Fallen and Hive alike were being restrained by magic chains as groups of hybrids were either forcibly mating them, putting embryos in odd sack-like incubators, removing the still developing young from the wombs of the female Fallen and put in the incubators while said Fallen were still awake and alive, or they were rushing back and forth to feed the chittering and squawking young.
The three Guardians felt sick to their stomachs before they gripped their weapons tightly as rage filled their beings.
"... Sins?" Alex growled as loaded Lucky No. 7.
"Yes?" Vulcan and Cortona growled in reply as they loaded their respective hand cannons.
"It's time for slaughter!" He told them as he raised his weapon and the three of them charged. Alex shot a Vandalyte near a female Fallen in the head before he moved on. Vulcan grabbed a Paladin by the head before he crushed it before grabbing a pair of Drells that tried to sneak up on him and smashed their heads together, crushing them. Cortona sent blasts of Arc energy at several hybrids in a chain and killed them all at once.
This went on for ten minutes. When their rampage against Hyrax's brood was done, they all stood there, breathing heavily as the adrenaline of their anger wore off.
"There's just no end to the depravity, is there?" Vulcan asked.
"I wish there was, Vulcan. I wish there was." Alex replied as he sat against a wall.
"I REALLY want Hyrax dead so badly right now…" Cortona groaned as she sat next to her fellow Exo and leaned on his shoulder.
Though their rest time was cut short when a Hive portal appeared. Hiding behind some cover, they saw an Ascendant Hive Wizard appear. It was Omnigul, the Will of Crota. She surveyed the slaughter in front of her until her eyes landed on a small newborn Drell, who was just barely able to crawl out of a hatching pit out from under the corpses of its siblings.
The small creature let out cries and whimpers, hoping that help would come to it. Omnigul floated over to the small creature and picked it up before she cradled it in her hands, looking at it with evident intrigue.
[And just how did you come to be, little one?] She wondered aloud. The hybrid hatchling looked at her as if it didn't understand. Omnigul then looked at the corpses of the hybrids that were still intact as well as the corpses of the witches, Knights and Fallen of both genders. [Interesting…] She hummed before she opened another portal and flew into it, taking the hatchling with her.
The Sin trio came out of their cover, having witnessed the whole thing. They had a lot of thoughts running through their minds, and didn't know what to think when Omnigul took a hatchling with her.
"Uh, Eris? What exactly is Omnigul gonna do with that hatchling?" Alex asked through his comm. The communication line was silent before the Hidden woman spoke.
"Omnigul is a witch who both bears her master's spawn and picks worthy warriors of their ranks to become an 'adopted' child of Crota. She could very well be doing just that." Eris theorized.
"Just when I thought the Hive would have SOME standards…" Cortona griped.
"Regardless, should we release the prisoners?" Vulcan asked, gesturing to the Fallen that they managed to capture and restrain during their rampage.
"Yes. They have suffered enough. Let them find comfort in the arms of their own." Eris replied.
As they did so, one of them, a female Vandal turned to Alex and did a customary Eliksni bow. "[Many thanks, friend of Eliksni.] she said, which made Alex notice that instead of the colors of the House of Devils, she wore the robes of the House of Wolves.
"How did a Fallen of the House of Wolves end up here?" He asked the Vandal with a mechanical frown.
"[Eliksni have been captured all over system by Hyrax and his spawn. Uses us as stock and food for them.]" She explained.
"Disgusting monstrosities. Hyrax truly has no honor." Vulcan said in disgust.
"Or morals." Cortona added in equal disgust.
With that, the vandal scuttled away and the three being left behind with the nest now completely devoid of life.
"Vulcan?" Alex began.
"Yes?" Said Titan responded.
"Burn this entire nest to ashes. I want none of it left behind." He ordered seriously.
Vulcan wordlessly nodded. Normally he would refuse any orders given and only take requests… But this was one order he had no problems with, especially after what they had seen.
Generating a sun in his hand he made it grow until it became considerably large, and then he hurled it at the nest, causing a massive solar explosion. Somehow, the other two Guardians remained untouched by the smoldering heat.
"How are we not being affected by this heat?" Cortona couldn't help but wonder as the burning continued.
"Probably our light. It must be protecting us from it." Hawk theorized.
"Yeah, that's probably it. At least we get front row seats to this burning hellscape of a nest." Snake chirped, getting nods of agreement from the two Exos.
As soon as the nest was nothing but a very unpleasant memory, they left to head back to the Tower.
(Later)
At the Tower, Eris was discussing the mission with the Sin Trio, and she was indeed disturbed by what they had told her.
"This is truly disturbing. I have seen many cruel things done by the Hive, but this…" She trailed off, unable to continue.
"We'll more than likely find every nest just like that one and set the Fallen in each of them free before we reduce them all to ash." Vulcan told her.
"A wise action. This will also improve your reputation with the Fallen as well." Eris noted.
"But this has got me thinking. What exactly does Hyrax and Omnigul hope to gain by creating and nurturing creatures like that?" Alex wondered.
"Most likely to create a new warrior cast for Crota's armies." The Ghostless survivor theorized.
"We better find out where Hyrax is and do something about him and his Brood Queen as fast as we can then. We all know what'll happen if they spread throughout the system." Cortona stated seriously.
"Agreed. I will continue searching for anything related to this threat. When I find something, I will notify you." Eris told the three Guardians, getting nods in return.
(Elsewhere)
-Hellmouth, Mindbender's lair.-
Hyrax and his Brood Queen were currently christening the firstborn of the Mindbender's heirs: a female hybrid called an Arcane Witch named Rubiks, The Heresy Singer.
As Ish'tar held her daughter in her arms, a portal suddenly appeared and Omnigul suddenly entered the lair. On instinct, the witch quickly got between the bride of Crota and her young, but Omnigul simply gave a ghastly smile, holding out a small bundle in her arms.
[One of your nests on Earth was destroyed. This little one is the only survivor.] She told them. [And I have decided to take this one as my own. My Lord Crota shall raise him as his own, and he will bring glory to both our names.]
[Then you may take this brood.] Hyrax said. [Ish'tar and I are expanding our grasp to the moon of Titan and the Tangled shore. Crota is more than welcome to create his own strand of spawn with my hybrids and his children here on the moon.]
[Excellent. I will inform him of this at once.] Omnigul replied before she opened a portal and left to inform the Son of Oryx of this development, the hybrid child still in her arms.
A new threat to the Last City had truly risen, indeed.
ThermalsniperN7: This is probably the darkest we've gotten in this story.
Dragon Emperor0: It's the Mindbender and the Will of Crota, what'd you expect?
ThermalsniperN7: … Fair enough. Anyway, see you guys next chapter.