The landing zone had been cleared.
The Lightborn had a small foothold on the moon, earned through the blood, sweat, and tears of many guardians. The Hive had been pushed back from the entrance to the Hellmouth, for now. That meant that they had to be quick.
"Hydras! Let's get a move on! Our LZ is a hot-spot! Prep your transmats before we get there for a quick drop!"
"Fuck off, I know what to do!" "Yes, Captain!"
Izuku looked around the hangar as the Hydras got into their various ships. He followed his counterpart to the last remaining pair, Mikumo and Katsuki. Katsuki was sitting in the front seat of his ship, looking at Izuku. He had chosen to ride in Katsuki's ship to not make both him and Mikumo uncomfortable.
"Get in, pipsqueak. And don't fucking stab my chair with those toothpicks."
Izuku nodded and made sure that his swords didn't stab into the fabric that lined the seats as he sat down. He wiggled his butt on the chair. It was surprisingly comfortable, for a spaceship meant to participate in battles.
The cockpit snapped shut, and Izuku could hear the engines spinning up. He tapped on his earpiece a few times and heard the crackling as he connected to the system. "Is everyone ready?"
"Hell yea!" "Ready when you are, little man!"
Izuku gave a thumbs-up to Katsuki. The man hummed and nodded, then his ship shot out straight forward, slamming Izuku into his seat as he quickly left the earth's atmosphere, the other 5 ships following him.
The moon quickly came into view, and Izuku heard Mikumo's voice. "Alright, squad! ETA 45 seconds to LZ! Get ready!"
Mikumo's skill showed, as exactly 44 seconds later (Izuku counted) they arrived over the moon's surface at the right distance to transmat. Katsuki looked back to him and nodded. "Get down there kid, I'm transmitting now!"
Izuku nodded and watched as the Guardian vanished from thin air, and smiled. He pulled on his power and envisioned the battle below. And like a corpse floating in a river, he relinquished control, and let his energy push him to the end of the flow he had created.
Izuku disappeared from the ship in a puff of black and green smoke, a laugh on his lips as he unsheathed his swords.
The drop zone was chaos.
The Guardians were at least 200 strong, but the Hive were endless. That's the only way that Yuura could describe it. She had told Mikumo when she joined his squad that she trusted him completely and that she would follow him to the depths of hell and back.
Mikumo had apparently taken her up on that offer.
The second she had re-materialized enough to move, she was firing at the hordes of Hive soldiers crashing up against their foothold. Her gear was top of the line, but even she found that some of the Knights she fired at took way more shots than they should have.
She hadn't been present the day that Crota had decimated the guardians exploring the moon, but she had lost her best friend, Tsu, to the Hive Prince that day. So when Mikumo had told her that they were going to kill Crota, there was no doubt in her heart that she would fight. And fight she did.
A wall of purple fire erupted from the ground at her command, roasting a line of acolytes with the burning cold of Void energy. She jumped, and then jumped again in mid-air, getting a look over the wall to scout out the biggest threats of the next incoming wave.
Three knights and an Ogre on her 4 o'clock. The Guardians holding the line had the knights, but she should probably help with the Ogre. Pulling out her Heaviest weapon, her trusty rocket launcher, and let it lock onto the Ogre.
Bracing herself, she pulled the trigger and watched the rocket shoot out at high speed, impacting the Ogre on the side of the head, staggering it enough for it to stop shooting its eye beam.
This let a whole fireteam of Guardians charge it, and they quickly made short work of it. Nodding to herself, she landed on the ground and heard a crackle in her ear. "Full Squad, Converge on the Hellmouth's entrance. Izuku's figured it out."
She turned and sprinted towards the Hellmouth, doing her best to ignore the sounds behind her. She had a mission to do. Staying and helping the other Guardians who were holding the Hive off would only give them more work.
She reached the Hellmouth and gave a nod to Mikumo. She would trust him, and this small, strange boy that was here to guide them.
Izuku hummed as he felt around the Hellmouth's enchantments.
There was a reason that so many fireteams got lost in it. The Hive had set it up that the pool of energy coating the pit transported people who entered it to different locations, depending on the flow of the energy.
That was what Izuku was currently trying to manipulate. He knew that if they just jumped down into the pit, they would be placed somewhere randomly, and have to fight their way to Crota. Izuku knew many places in the Hellmouth that could, and definitely would, kill the Guardians in his party quite easily.
He was especially worried about the Abyss, the weight of the Darkness slowing the Guardians down, and Ir Yut, Crota's Deathsinger. And occasional Concubine. But he had purged the memories of that horrible sight a long time ago.
He was attempting to scour the pathways of the pit's energy, to make a gateway straight to Crota. After a few minutes, he hummed to himself, slightly disappointed.
He hadn't been able to get directly to Crota's chamber, but he had at least been able to get to the end of the Thrallway, as he liked to call it. He looked over to Mikumo, who was guarding him and nodded.
"Mikumo! We must begin at once!"
Mikumo nodded at him. "Full Squad, Converge on the Hellmouth's entrance. Izuku's figured it out."
It took a few moments, but the Mighty Hydras eventually all reached Izuku and Mikumo. Izuku smiled at them. "Alright. When I give you the signal, you are going to jump."
Mina cocked her head to the side. "Jump where?"
Izuku pointed towards the Hellmouth. "Jump into the pit."
Mina glanced over at Mikumo. The man just nodded to her, and she shrugged. "Alright then! Just tell us when, little dude."
Izuku nodded and hearing no other concerns turned towards the pit. The Might Hydras all shivered as they felt Darkness coalesce around him.
And then his hands ignited in green fire.
Gods, Izuku had never felt so powerful.
All around him, creatures were in pain. All around him, creatures on both sides were being injured, screaming into the depths of space, writhing in pain at the dull agony of gunshot wounds and the stinging of a claw's cut.
He could feel it all. Every cut, every bullet wound, every burn from Solar light, every atom screaming in pain as Arc light tore them apart, the painful silence that the cold flames of Void light brought.
And it made him feel strong.
He turned to the pit and raised his arms, a dull hum coming to his throat as he funnelled all that agony towards his goals, using himself as its shepherd. He felt flames of energy pool in his palms.
And then he spoke.
"Agony of a Thousand Warriors, Reveal my Path!"
He felt the energy of the Hellmouth straighten out slightly, bending to his will. But it wasn't enough yet.
"Agony of a Thousand Warriors, Breach the Barriers!"
He could almost feel the stares of the Mighty Hydras on his back as he allowed the Darkness to flow through him, motioning with his hands as he mentally tried to tear a hole in the fabric of reality big enough for the entire squad.
"Agony of a Thousand Warriors, Open the Gate!"
There was a soft rumbling, as if the Hellmouth was resisting one final time, but Izuku knew he had done it. He felt the portal open, and the power that he had gotten from all the pain around him draining rapidly to keep it open.
He turned to the Mighty Hydra's.
"JUMP!"
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