Chapter 25: Crota's Fist
-The Reef, Throne Room of Queen Mara Sov-
Mara was sitting on her throne, gazing at her hand, which now had a purple glistening silver ring on it with her special Reef grown gemstone that glowed gold with the light of a small sun, which was trapped inside it. This was the ring Vulcan gave her, and she thought back to when she got it.
(Flashback))
Mara looked at Vulcan, who had arrived earlier, saying that he had a gift for her. "What is the occasion for this gift?" She asked him.
"Well, I have been discussing things with Alex and the others and we have decided to take the fight to Crota and his followers. And I have decided that, after we have destroyed Crota, I would like for us…" He said as Mara opened the small box he gave her, revealing the ring. "To be wed."
The Queen looked at the ring with open shock and delight. Vulcan wanted them to be wed after the demise of Crota? It was too good to be true! Without a second thought, she slid the ring onto her hand before she removed Vulcan's helmet and pulled him into a kiss.
"An excellent decision, my Lion. With Crota gone, the Hive will be scattered, giving us plenty of time to wed without interruption." She told him.
"Then I'll see you after Crota and his followers are nothing more than bad memories." The large Awoken replied with a smile before giving her one last kiss and left.
(Flashback End)
The Queen smiled as she rested her cheek on one hand as she sat, then two of her Corsairs entered with two people, one was Eris Morn and the other was a Warlock dressed in what seemed to be Egyptian inspired guardian armor infused with Vex tech. He removed the cloth over his mouth to reveal that he had a grey beard, indicating he was an old man.
"Hello, Eris. I see you managed to find Osiris." She noted.
"Yes, your majesty, we have come to discuss something of great importance with you." Eris nodded as the corsairs left.
"And what might that be?" The woman questioned, smiling in her usual seductive manner.
"A plan to achieve a goal that, I believe all of us in this system share: The Destruction of Oryx the Taken King, and the rest of the Osmian Dynasty." Osiris spoke up, his voice aged and dry like the desert sands of Mercury.
"... I'm listening." Mara said, her attention now focused solely on the two in front of her.
"I have gone into the Infinite Forest and seen trillions upon trillions of probabilities that this timeline is able to go, and now, I believe I may know the key to the outcome we seek." Osiris told the Awoken monarch.
"And the key is…?" She prodded.
"The Guardians you have brought into your ranks. The ones known as the Seven Deadly Sins." The old Warlock told her.
(Elsewhere)
-The Tower-
Alex, Cortona and Vulcan sat in a bar as they tried to figure out which of Crota's followers to go after next. After briefing Vulcan on what happened during their mission to Rasputin's bunker, the Titan nearly exploded when he heard about their souls almost being taken, but when he heard about Ogres being summoned in front of Alex by Omnigul, he wondered if he should feel sorry for the Ogres in question.
He was definitely disturbed by the alliance between the Hive and the Hybrids, though.
"So I got the next mission from Eris. She wants us to get the Fist of Crota, Sauron the Tormentor." Alex told them.
"We start as soon as we can, I presume?" Cortona guessed.
"Right, and apparently she said that there's another follower of Crota who always works with him: The Blade of Crota. He uses a mighty relic of his master called the Darkest Edge, Crota's own sword. And it's the only weapon powerful enough to kill Sauron." The male Exo explained.
"We'll have to do a bit of searching for it, won't we?" Vulcan asked dully.
"I doubt it, the Blade always appears when a user of the light appears in his presence, so if we use you as bait, we should be able to draw him out." Alex told him.
Vulcan looked at him and wondered if he should feel insulted at the idea of being used as bait or not. "Fine." He growled.
(Later)
-Cosmodrome, an hour later-
The three sins had just started the search for the Blade of Crota and after an hour of tracking him down, they found him by using Vulcan as bait, but as soon as the Hive Warrior stepped up on the Titan, he was forced to look up at him as the man stood several feet taller than him.
[You will fall before me.] The Knight growled.
"Who decided that?" The man said before he raised his ax and struck the Knight down in one strike, the smaller lifeform falling after the fire engulfed it.
"That was way too easy. Either we're overpowered, or they're just starting to get way too fucking weak." Alex commented.
"I prefer to think that we're stronger than the previous generations, so what they thought was strong, is weaker by comparison." Vulcan shrugged.
"Yeah, that's probably it." Cortona agreed with her own shrug. Alex then took notice of something amongst the deceased Hive Knight's remains. Curious, he picked it up and saw that it was some kind of auto rifle frame. It looked completely Hive-like.
"What in the world….?" He wondered.
"According to the inscription on the barrel, it's called the Husk of the Tomb." Snake explained.
"Odd, but okay I guess. Let's see if we can get anything out of this." The Dragon Sin said as he put his pacemaker in his inventory.
Vulcan then picked up the Darkest Edge and it nearly dragged him to the ground, causing him to have to use all his strength to hold it up. "I'm glad I struck first, this thing would have killed me otherwise." He groaned.
"How long do you think you can hold that?" Sentry asked.
"I'm not sure." The man grunted. With the weapon needed in hand, the three charged towards the waypoint. Alex was killing every Hive he came across with his new auto rifle, causing it to activate a perk called 'Cannibalism' which did stacks of extra damage with every Hive killed.
Once they reached the location they saw two Acolytes kneeling in front of a portal, their weapons floating in front of them.
"What are they doing?" The Warlock of the trio wondered. Right on cue, her question was answered by a Hive Knight emerging from the portal. "Never mind." She deadpanned.
Sauron turned towards the Acolytes and then struck them down, feeding on their deaths and becoming stronger.
"Vulcan, want me to distract him?" Alex offered as he pointed his auto rifle at their target.
"Do whatever you need to do." The Titan groaned, the sword in his hands still weighing him down.
"Alright. Cortona, back me up." The Exo Hunter ordered as he got ready.
"On it!" The female Warlock responded, readying her shotgun.
Once they were ready, they charged at Sauron and started peppering him with bullets. The Knight growled as he covered his face with an arm and then an odd effect appeared on all of them, it started to suppress their light, making their bodies feel heavy.
"Oh, you motherfucker…!" Alex growled as he tried to stay on his feet while Sauron approached him.
"Stay away from him!" Cortona yelled as she tried to attack with her melee, but just as she was able to make contact-
SLASH!
The follower of Crota spun around and with a swing of his sword, beheaded the Serpent Sin like it was easy. Alex looked at Cortona's body in horror before…
BOOM!
His Void light exploded around him in response to his Wrath. Turning to Vulcan, he left only one set of instructions for him.
"Kill him when he falls to his knees." He ordered him in a tone that said 'I'm not in the mood for shit' to him.
Vulcan stared at him sternly. "Don't tell me what to do. I'll strike him when I'm ready." He stated.
"Just make it count." The male Exo sighed before he began his vengeful attack.
Sauron tried his best to suppress the angry Exo's light, but the intensity of it was simply too much for him to do anything. Alex let out a deafening yell as he let the light explode from him, sending a massive pulse of light towards Sauron, destroying the Knight's sword and critically injuring him, sending him crashing into a wall and falling to his knees.
The Blade of Crota tried to glare at the Dragon Sin, but failed due to his injuries. Turning to the Lion Sin, Alex simply nodded to him and stood off to the side while he tried to reign in his Wrath.
Said Sin stepped up on the Hive Warrior as his blistering heat returned, causing the creature's chitin skin to burn away to ashes. With a pained groan he raised the Darkest Edge and then struck it down on Sauron, sending grey colored blood everywhere.
When the target of the mission fell to the ground, Vulcan let the sword go as he breathed deeply while Sentry did her best to heal his strained arms.
"Are you gonna be okay? You were lugging that sword around for quite a bit." Alex asked, finally reigning in his Wrath.
"I'll live." He groaned. Right at that moment…
"Whoa! Headrush!" Cortona's voice suddenly sounded off. Alex's head snapped in her direction and saw her holding her head as she tried to shake off the dizziness.
"Cortona!" Alex cried in relief as he ran over to her and hugged her close. "Thank goodness, I thought I lost you!"
"You know we can resurrect ourselves, right?" She asked, not bothering to escape his hug. 'This feels nice.' She thought in content, clearly enjoying his embrace.
"We were in a Darkness Zone." Alex said worriedly, squeezing her tighter. "You could have died permanently."
"Oh…" She uttered, feeling guilty for making him worry so much. "Sorry." She apologized as she hugged him back.
With that, they all went their own ways. And Alex wouldn't let Cortona go.
-The Tower, at night outside of Alex's room-
The Serpent Sin sighed in slight irritation as Alex continued to hold her close. She knew he was scared for her, but this was getting a little annoying for her if she was being honest.
"Alex, I know you're worried about me, but you can't just keep holding me forever." She said as she twisted to face him, touching her forehead to his. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
"I know, it's just…" He then sighed as he let her go. "I was actually scared. Even if we're basically immortal, there are still ways for us to die in spite of that." He said shakily.
Cortona took his head in her hands as she kissed his forehead. "Don't worry, it's going to take more than a Hive Knight to take me down."
Alex smiled before he nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck. The Exo woman sighed as she held his head there, then…
"EEP!" She squeaked when she suddenly felt her fellow Exo squeeze her ass.
"I regret nothing." Alex declared shamelessly.
"Why you-! That's it!" She growled before opening the door to his room and dragging him inside so she could smack him around.
Not that the male Exo minded. They used to do this all the time in their past lives and he knew it was playful, even when Cortona didn't.
(Elsewhere)
-The Reef-
Vulcan sat with Mara as he stroked her leg, as they were relaxing after his very stressful mission, the woman stroking the Titan's still aching arms.
"My word, it feels like you've gone through quite the ordeal." Mara noted, feeling the tenseness of Vulcan's arms.
"Yes, the power of the Darkness may be the only thing that may be able to truly hurt me." Vulcan nodded.
"It is a powerful force, yes. But as an Awoken, you are both of the light and the dark, and with your status as a Guardian, you are greatly tithed to the light. So it is only natural that you are to feel pain when one side pulls you from the other." Mara told him soothingly before standing and beckoning him to come with her. "Come, it is late. Let us retire to our bedchamber for now."
Deciding that a rest did indeed seem appealing, he followed her, the two discarded their day clothing and then entered the room for a much deserved rest. After all, there was more than one way to show one's love to someone you cared about.
Dragon Emperor0: For all of you who are curious, yes we did retell one of the stories in the Taken King grimoire cards in this chapter.
ThermalsniperN7: Also, we'll be taking the weekend off, so see you guys next week.