A/N: I would highly recommend Wandavision if you haven't already watched it.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fanfiction. Destiny and all of its supplementary materials are owned by Bungie, including any liberties I take with the lore. I only own Fireteam Storm and other OCs. Please support the official release.
Saga 02: The Monster of Luna
Arc 04: Crota's End
Chapter 31: Satan's Pit
The Moon
Ocean of Storms
Archer's Line
The ship flew low over the Ocean of Storms, circling slightly before setting down at Archer's Line. One by one the Guardians transmatted down onto the lunar surface. It was quiet, save for an eerily gentle wind, but the group could sense something was off.
Somewhere below Crota waited, and it was almost as though he wanted them to know.
Kayla took point, nodding at the others to follow her. "We'll circle to the Hellmouth from here."
The team took their time, stumbling and climbing up the rocky hill that the Archer's Line itself sat on. Delta kept watch as Athena and Kayla helped the others up. From the corner of his eye, he spied a few Fallen hiding in the corners.
"Heads up!" he said, aiming his Wishbringer at them.
"M-Mercy!" a Vandal cried, holding all four arms up. The rest all copied him.
"Wait, wait wait!" Kayla said, standing between the two groups.
"You want the Hive?" the Vandal asked timidly. "To save the Fallen from…H-Him?"
"Him? You mean Crota?"
"We don't speak His name," the Vandal replied quickly. "The screams in the Hellmouth, they get louder. He is angry. Desperate. All or nothing. Death or glory. You go, before the Captains notice you. We will not tell."
Kayla looked at her team. "Do as he says. And no guns!" she ordered. The team were hesitant at first but moved on. Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she mouthed, bowing her head in respect before joining the others.
The team winded around the crevice, staying clear from the hollow cracks in the ground. Kayla felt it strange that she could walk around this place with little fear. It had only been a few months since she returned. Since she clashed with the Hive the first time since her death.
Before long they'd reached the slope that hid the old K1 crew quarters overlooking the Hive pit- a blister on the legacy of humanity. All they had to do was descend it. The team spread out, sticking near the edge for any obvious routes down.
"I can't see anything!" Jaeger shouted from an old part of the moonbase.
"Nothing here either!" Hayley said from the other side of Kayla.
"Dammit…" she muttered, scanning the rim of the Hellmouth. "There's got to be something."
"Er…Kayla?" Delta asked, nudging her with his elbow. "What the fuck is that?"
Kayla glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. The Titan merely pointed to a small fiery-white orb that hovered near the edge of the Hellmouth.
"The hell…?" Kayla said, stepping forward, Storm following close behind.
The six of them crowded the orb in curiosity. Athena reached out to grab it, but the orb dodged.
"Please do not touch me," the orb said, voicing echoing around them. "Titan."
"You…know what we are?" Delta asked.
"Of course I do!" the orb snapped. "I know why you are here, too. I have waited many, many years for this."
"Who are you?" Kayla asked.
"I'm what's left. Perhaps I am all there ever was. But you may know as Toland the Shattered."
"Toland?!" Kayla exclaimed in shock.
"Ugh, I do forget how debase human brains are," Toland sighed. "What do they teach you?"
"Enough of this!" Athena snapped. "What the hell do you want you damn…damn…"
"C'mon, you're almost there," Toland taunted.
"MOON FAIRY!"
Everyone turned to her.
"Seriously, that's the best you can come up with?" Jaeger asked.
"On the contrary, I like that one," Toland said, surprisingly chipper. "No one has called me Moon Fairy before. You've met Eris Morn, have you not? That is why you were skulking around Crota's forces?"
"How do you know that?" Kayla said sharply.
"Irrelevant," Toland retorted. "I have a debt I need to repay…one for Eriana's little crusade, and one for my experiments as well. And since I am…mortally challenged as of late, I suppose you six are my best option."
Toland drifted off, following the edge of the Hellmouth. Fireteam Storm kept close while he spoke.
"The Hive are many things," he said absentmindedly. "But they are not invincible…no matter how much Oryx's brood likes to think they are. Death is an inevitability. It is the tax one must pay for having lived and our grim shadowy maker comes for us all, eventually." Toland chuckled darkly to himself. "To a self-proclaimed god such as Crota this is a fact he is all too aware of."
"What's the supposed to mean?" Delta asked.
Toland stopped by a large obsidian plate that was embedded in the ground. The orb flickered, presumably because Toland had turned to face Delta. He hummed to himself, trying to think of the right words.
"The Hive were once like you Guardians," Toland said, all six of them bristling at the statement. "Timid and frail. When a pact made eons ago ensured they would be, to put it mildly, harder to kill. Eris might not understand the intricacies of the tithe system, nor the reasons it exists, but she understands that each tithe link lost weakens Crota. Our Monster of Luna is running scared. He will make mistakes. The price of one's power is the assumption it is more complete than it is."
"My dad told me that once," Kayla said quietly.
"Then he was a wise man," Toland replied, apparently sincere. "Come. Stand on the plate. You will be doing a lot of that."
Toland floated out, hanging over the centre of the Hellmouth while the team formed up on the plate. There was a ker-chunk, the plate jolting slightly as it sank into the ground. Before them the green mist that poured from the Hellmouth began to congeal, stretching out across the abyss to Toland. To the surprise of Fireteam Storm the mist began to harden into rock, creating an ornate bridge the seemed to grow out of thin air.
"Marvellous, is it not?" Toland asked. "Even I still struggle to understand half the things the Hive do."
The bridge finished constructing itself, announcing its presence with a loud metallic clang. The Guardians looked between themselves suddenly.
"Forward, Guardians!" Toland cried. "Unless you are scared of heights."
Athena looked at the others and shrugged, followed by Shifter then Delta. Jaeger nodded forward, keeping close to Hayley. Kayla, however, found herself frozen.
"Are you alright?" Ghost asked, materialising beside her.
"N-No, not really," Kayla said. "Can you feel that? The…dread? A-And, yeah, I'm afraid of heights."
"Hey, you survived the Skywatch!" Ghost encouraged. "And every other Hive we've fought."
"Somehow I think Crota is a step up from a small siege," Kayla replied. "Right…one step at a time."
Kayla took a deep breath, stepping forward onto the bridge. She could feel the cold howling wind swirl beneath her, the stench of death rising from the dark below. Plucking up courage from somewhere inside her Kayla straightened, joining her teammates.
"See this?" Toland said, flying around the circular platform at the end of the bridge. "This is a gravity well. Try to keep up!"
Then Toland shot down into the pit, his departure marked by a surreal human scream.
"Oh, boy…" Kayla said timidly. "Um…on three? One…two…three!"
Fireteam Storm all jumped, taking the plunge into the gravity well. A mix of screams of elation and cries of fear erupted from the Guardians as the gravity well dragged them further and further. Kayla felt her heart leap into her throat as the sights of the Gatehouse and the Circle of Bones disappeared, taking the light with them. As they descended the shrieks of the Hive got louder, the air becoming bitingly cold- the stench of death becoming more and more potent. In the dark around them, the team could see curious eyes of the Hive surrounding them like rabid vultures before they too disappeared, being replaced with a sinking black nothingness.
Then, before she knew it, a stone cobbled floor suddenly appeared before her. Kayla hit the ground face first, feeling several bones shatter on impact. She rolled, bathing in Ghost's healing Light before standing to catch her breath.
"Argh, my poor knees!" Jaeger seethed, hunched over.
"You could have warned us!" Athena snapped.
"Yes, I could," Toland replied simply.
Athena growled at the orb before standing down. Delta looked around the cavern they found themselves in. It was dimly light by orange flame, one that stretched around 30 metres ahead of them before the dark set in.
"Welcome," Toland announced, hovering before them. "To the Stills. The final resting place of Sai Mota and countless other Guardians dragged into the depths during our Great Disaster. Consider me the Virgil to your Dante." Then he chuckled. "But I don't intend to make a habit of this."
"Skip the allegory," Kayla said tersely. "Where do we go now?"
Toland feigned offence. "Why, it's just through here if you'd like to follow? Only…the Hive don't like visitors, so I'd advise staying close." Toland floated off, adding a dismissive. "Oh, and don't stop running."
(Desperate Ascent- RE3R OST)
Hayley gave a hesitant look at Kayla, who nodded. With weapons drawn the team set off as fast they could, following Toland's dim glow in the darkness. A howling scream from deep within the tunnels, heralding a tsunami of Thrall that rushed them. They were thin, gangly, appearing more like rotting zombies than Hive.
"Get down!" Delta yelled, firing off his Mos Epoch rocket launcher.
The rockets exploded, cutting down the Hive and leaving the air crackling with Arc energy. The Fireteam barrelled through, a cacophony of gunfire matching the incoming screams as the Stills erupted into chaos.
Still the Hive kept coming, clawing and biting at the Guardians as they powered through. Athena took point, swapping out with Kayla as she fired her machine gun at the Hive pooling behind them. The Sunbreaker threw out a fusion grenade, the orange bomb sticking to the head of a Thrall and blowing it clean off ripping apart the swarm around it. Athena marched, firing off her Toil and Trouble shotgun while Shifter's sniper shots rang out behind her.
Toland waited up ahead, watching from above with mild amusement. "I hope you don't think about taking a break!" he called. "We tried that…Didn't work out too well."
"D'you have anything useful to say?!" Jaeger snapped, cutting down the Thrall before vaulting over Athena and entering his Super and charging ahead.
"Everything I have to say is useful," Toland replied nonchalantly, watching Jaeger clearing out the Hive below him.
"I hope Eris punched you before you died!"
"I think she wishes she did too…" the orb sighed sadly.
"Wait up!" Kayla shouted, powering after Jaeger with the team with dozens of Thrall in tow.
Jaeger turned, pulling out a knife. He aimed, eyeballing the distance to the glowing blue head of a suicide Thrall. Without warning he threw, the blade narrowly avoiding Delta's ear before it embedded itself in the Thrall's brain. There was a pitiful squeak followed by an explosion that took the swarm with it.
"Sorry…" Jaeger sheepishly said to Delta.
"Ahhh, all together again!" Toland said cheerfully. "C'mon…"
Toland disappeared into the dark with another deathly scream that attracted even more Hive. Kayla grit her teeth in frustration. As she stepped forward Shifter held her back.
"Hang on," the Hunter said, hopping on a raised rock. From the dim gloom Shifter fired off several Shadowshots at a few chokepoints, ensnaring the Hive that tried to rush through. "I'd rather not waste time here."
Fireteam Storm dashed through the trapped swarm, Hayley dropping a Solar Grenade behind her leaving the Thrall to burn. The pained shrieks attracted even more Hive, a surging torrent of Thrall appearing seemingly from thin air. Athena entered her Super, covering herself in flames as she threw her Hammer of Sol out into the fray and detonating the Hive.
Fire lit up the room, shadows looming over the team like the claws of fearsome beasts as the explosions rocked and echoed around the Stills, Fireteam Storm sticking close to the angry Titan as she led them to Toland.
No sooner had they arrived Toland dashed off deeper into the endless black, forcing Storm to push further to keep up with him. The frantic onslaught of Hive was drowned out by the noise of the gunfire and Athena's laughter as she tore down the Thrall with reckless abandon.
"I'd watch yourself if I were you," Toland's voice echoed through the dark.
Athena glanced in Toland's direction, only to find herself shoved hard by a small swarm of Thrall. Athena skidded, batting them back with her Hammer when she felt the ground fall out beneath her.
"AAARGH!" she screamed.
Someone grabbed her hand. It was Kayla.
"Told you so," Toland said, smugly.
"I got you!" Kayla strained, ignoring the floating orb's commentary. She turned to the team. "Go, we'll catch up!"
Delta hesitated, then nodded. "Jaeger, back 'em up! The Hayley, Shifter- the pillar up ahead!"
Jaeger went back to Kayla, helping her drag Athena out of the pitfall before turning and popping the heads off incoming Thrall with his True Prophecy hand cannon. Athena looked at Jaeger, then Kayla, with an apologetic look.
"M-My bad…" she said.
"Apologise later," Kayla said. "Are you alright?"
Athena nodded, pulling out her shotgun again. Jaeger reloaded his True Prophecy while Kayla brought out her machine gun before speaking into her comms. "Delta, can you mark a waypoint?"
"Already on it, I dropped one on our last position," Delta replied over gunfire. "We'll hold our position a little further up ahead! Good luck."
"I'd keep going if I were you," Toland said from the pillar. "It's a stupid move to willingly stop here."
Delta ignored him, throwing a suppression grenade ahead before continuing on with his half of the team. The Thrall backed off, snarling and gasping as the Void from the grenade bore down on them allowing Hayley to take them down with her Hoosegow rocket launcher. The trio charged through the flailing bodies and dismembered limbs, feeling the ground slowly steepen into a hill.
More Thrall came at them, stumbling down the rocky incline as they practically threw themselves at the Guardians. Delta yelled, taking down several Thrall with a single punch, ducking as Hayley fired her Better Devils revolver out into the horde. Shifter stomped a Thrall that tried to grab his ankle, grabbed the barrel of his sniper rifle and using the gun to bat away any Hive that strayed too close.
The group made it to the pillar, the light Toland emitted shimmering above them. "On to the next one then?"
"No," Delta said firmly. "We said we would wait, and we will wait."
"…You do realise that is a ridiculous idea!" Toland snapped. "Even for a Titan!"
"Oh yeah!" Delta retorted sarcastically. "Heaven forbid the mighty Toland the Shattered could ever be wrong!"
Toland said nothing, only shooting off to the next pillar along. Delta scoffed. "Prick…"
The fwoosh of Hayley's Radiance alerted the surrounding Hive, all of them instinctively rushing towards her, Delta and Shifter as they were met by a bombardment of Solar Grenades. The lingering flames and crackling sounds of boiling chitin became a beacon for Kayla's group.
"Keep pushing!" Kayla encouraged. "Not much further!"
"Is it just me," Jaeger began, throwing out my grenades of his own. "Or does the air feel…heavy?"
"No, it feels like its eating away at me," Athena grunted, hurling a Thrall over her shoulder into another one.
"Focus on that later," Kayla replied hastily, eyes locked on the fire spewing from Hayley's Radiance. She clenched her fist, Blinking upwards and unleashing a Nova Bomb into the onslaught, clearing the way for the trio to regroup with Delta. "Where's Toland?" she asked when she joined them.
"He went off further ahead," Delta replied, gesturing across a small waterway.
"I hope he was serious about helping…" Shifter muttered.
"Only one way to find out," Kayla said, taking point as the team charged, cutting down more and more Hive.
Toland waited, lingering in the shadows as the waterway returned to rock and cobble. He hummed absentmindedly when the pattering of Fireteam Storm's footsteps caught his attention. "Oh, you did make it?" he asked, mostly to himself. "How…surprising."
"No thanks to you," Delta said disdainfully.
"You'll be glad to know you're roughly…halfway there," Toland continued. "Come on. Time waits for no man. Except perhaps yours truly."
Toland rocketed away once more across a clearing, followed closely by Fireteam Storm as they outpaced the Hive that pursued them. Toland didn't give them a break when they reached him though, instead dashing off and snaking his way through several boulders. Delta took charge, enclosing his fist in Void Light as he barrelled through the never-ending wave of Thrall.
"Jaeger!" he shouted. "Need your knife!"
Jaeger picked up speed, jumping on Delta's back and using it to springboard upwards. Holding a dagger overcharged with Arc Light Jaeger plunged down, sending out a shock blast of electricity that lit up the immediate cavern.
"This way!" Jaeger shouted, holding point at a rocky crevice.
One by one the Guardians slipped through, Athena taking point again with Kayla and Shifter covering her with a hailstorm of machine gun fire while Shifter's sniper shots rang out through the gloom. She formed another fusion grenade in her palm, batting back a Thrall that strayed to close before throwing it. As she did it felt like part of her soul was ripped from her.
"Capitano, I don't like this!" she said. "Whatever's going on down here, it's not just sapping our Light!"
"Yeah," Kayla agreed. "I can feel it too."
"Crota's very presence is a curse to Lightbearers such as ourselves," Toland said from his spot. "He casts a shadow from the tear just ahead, a looming beast that dims the hope of all who dare oppose him. He is not just draining your Light, dear Guardians, he is replacing it with despair."
"Well, he hasn't met us, has he?" Kayla grunted, kicking down another Thrall as she took count of everyone that had joined Toland.
"Ms Ashcroft, even I can smell your fear," Toland replied. "To say nothing of our mutual enemies."
Toland sped off one more time, circling a small area before rocketing up another hill.
"He's insufferable," Delta said, launching another rocket at the incoming Hive.
Fireteam Storm pressed on, knocking down Thrall after Thrall. With their Light sapping away by the second the Guardians had resorted to brute force and bullets, darting over each other when the others needed to reload. Still, the idea that Crota's power could spread this far out of his Ascendant Plane was worrying, and although she wouldn't admit it, the notion scared Kayla. Every scream of Thrall tightened her lungs, as though Crota himself was sucking their air out of her and fill her with the horrible memory of that day on the highway.
Suddenly she let out a frantic yell, firing her Mythoclast into the frenzied Hive that tumbled like ragdolls. She hadn't come this far to fall now.
"OGRE!" Hayley yelled, diving out of the way its eye beams and just narrowly avoiding another chasm in the floor.
"Take it down quickly!" Kayla ordered, redirecting the team. "We can't have this thing following us!"
Delta and Athena rushed the beast, the former grabbing its right wrist and pinning it down while Athena grappled up its back. The Ogre turned to Delta, preparing another spam of its laser attack but the krakoom of Shifter's Long Shadow sniper rifle stunned it. Delta grinned, straining as he pulled the creature's arm until it broke.
The Ogre roared, Athena clinging on desperately. "Jaeger!" she yelled. "Need a knife."
Jaeger backed off from a small wave of Thrall, rushing to the Ogre and throwing his knife at the Sunbreaker. Meanwhile, Kayla had ran to Hayley, helping her up.
"You alright?" she asked, checking the Sunsinger over.
"I-I think so…" Hayley replied.
"Pipsqueak!" Athena yelled. "Gimme one of those glowing orb thingies!"
"Glowing orb…?" the Warlock replied making a face. "Oh, right!"
Hayley ran forward, backed up by Kayla, as she clutched her hand to her chest. Within her palm formed a small white hot orb, one that she threw at Athena. Athena laughed, the flames empowering her as she proceeded to gut the Ogre's neck with brutal efficiency. The Ogre howled in pain, collapsed on its side with Athena proudly stood over its body.
"Enjoy yourself when we're done here," Jaeger said, ripping the knife out.
"Yes," Toland mused to himself from the top of the hill. "It would be a shame to allow stupidity to take over now."
Kayla rolled her eyes, charging up the hill as fast as her aching legs could carrying her with her fireteam in tow. When they gathered, Toland shot off once more past a wall of jagged rocks. Kayla gave a frustrated groan, chasing after him. As they cleared the rocks the team all noticed a bright silvery light shimmering out of the corners of their eyes, one that appeared to be eating away reality itself.
When they joined Toland, the old man seemed to let out the first sincere thing they'd earned him say. "For all the carnage the Hive indulge," Toland said. "They are capable of things of beauty."
Toland slowly drifted forward, hovering over another plate like the one at the top of the Hellmouth. "The Oversoul Throne awaits you across the chasm," he announced. "You need only activate the bridge."
Fireteam Storm cautiously stepped forward, their footsteps splashing in the waterways surrounding the plate. Kayla crouched, observing it. "This is…these are like the ones outside the Vault of Glass," she said, looking up at Toland.
"Or, perhaps, the ones outside the Vault of Glass are like the ones here," Toland suggested. "Crota is afraid of those machines after all."
Kayla narrowed her eyes at the ball of shimmering light but stepped on the plate nonetheless. There was a rumble and congealing of the air and, just like above, a bridge formed in the direction of the tear that dominated the room. A terrifying cacophony of shrieks filled the Stills, followed by a terrible shaking and the green flashes of Hive eyes in the darkness.
Delta turned to Kayla. "What do we do?"
Kayla took look back at the chasm, watching the bridge form at an excruciatingly slow pace. "We hold out. Delta, get a Ward on that plate! The rest of you, save your Light! No unnecessary Supers!"
Delta threw up a Ward of Dawn, covering the plate with a bubble of Void Light before he set down just outside with his Mos Epoch launcher. Kayla and Jaeger flanked him with Mythoclast and Arma Engine respectively, firing into the onslaught of frenzied Thrall. Shifter hopped up on an upper pillar and fired a Shadowshot at the mob coming from the left before laying waste to them with his sniper rifle, while Athena and Hayley took the left with a mix of the Titan's grenade launcher rounds and the latter's auto rifle picking off stragglers.
Kayla quickly reloaded Mythoclast, scanning the cliffside they were forced to defend. Despite the brightness of the portal behind them, the cavern around them seemed darker as though it was sucking away what little light lingered down here. The only reliable source of light were the hungry eyes of the neverending wave of Hive and the flashes of gunfire that kept strained Kayla's own.
A second roar caught the Guardian's attention.
"Kayla, they're sending Knights," Shifter shouted over the ringing of his Long Shadow.
"Shit!" Kayla muttered. "Hayley, take Delta's place here! D, push forward a little. You and Athena focus on those Knights. The three of us will handle the rest! Shifter, let me know if you're moving."
A mix of confirmations came over the comms as the Guardians repositioned themselves. The wail of Hive Boomers signalled the arrival of the next wave, falling on Fireteam Storm like the screams of wraiths. Out of the darkness came several Knights with swords, met with a fearsome pushback from the Titan's two shotguns. One dodged, lunged for Athena only to be met with a burning shoulder charge from the Sunbreaker.
It barrelled back, toppling and crushing several Thrall running for the Ward of Dawn. They screamed, falling like dominoes against the combined force of Kayla's Mythoclast, Jaeger's fusion rifle and Hayley's Misfit auto rifle. One strayed too close, meeting Jaeger's knife before being shoved back and riddled with bullets from the two Warlocks.
Above them Shifter worked overdrive, rapidly emptying clips of his sniper rifle as he covered the arena pausing every so often to find another spot before resuming fire. Down below he could see another two Knights pushing Delta. They were met by the fwoosh of the Nightstalker's fiery Voidwall grenade, separate one from its ally and leaving it open to be kneecapped then sniped by the Exo.
Delta tired, sucker punching the Knight before unleashing a volley of shots from his Buzzard. The Knight tumbled, giving Delta a brief moment to reload his sidearm before he continued firing into the frenzy.
From above Toland watched them, amazed and intrigued by the surprising brightness of their weakened Light. He floated idly over the building bridge, thinking about what would happen should Crota fall- something Toland eagerly anticipated. There would be consequences, and consequences would always bring the best results for experiments.
A Wizard's scream heralded the next wave of Hive and more thunderous footsteps followed them, sweeping whatever Knights were left forward with the charge.
"Athena, Jaeger! Supers! NOW!" Kayla ordered. "Delta, fall back!"
Delta quickly backed down as the clang of Athena's Hammer and the whine of Jaeger's Arc Blade pierced the air. Both of them stood their ground, Athena hurling her Hammer of Sol into the ground before summoning it back and taking out several more Hive as it rocketed back into her hand. Jaeger sliced the air, sending wave after wave of electricity rushing through the swarm and leaving nothing but the stench of charred chitin in its wake.
From the bubble, Kayla watched on.
"I'm starting to get jealous of them," Delta grumbled, reloading his weapons and looking around the cracks starting to appear in the Ward. "I'm surprised its lasted this long."
"Please don't jinx it," Kayla said quickly.
"I don't think he has to," Shifter said gravely from a rocky pillar. "I'm picking up a lot of movement beyond them. If that bridge doesn't hurry up, we're done."
Kayla shot him a glance before looking at her own weapons, holding them tighter. "Right then…" she said.
"P-Please tell me you have something?" Hayley asked, firing her hand cannon into the horde.
"Only a Nova Bomb building," Kayla sighed, swapping to her machine gun. "And that's only useful as a last resort."
The Voidwalker looked at the bridge. It was halfway built, but the rest of the chasm still seemed to a painfully long way to go.
"Boss, we're falling back!" Jaeger announced. "Can't stay here…"
"Don't worry about it!" Kayla responded. "Everyone stay close! Do not allow each other to get separated!"
Overhead several Wizards loomed over them, all of them concentrating fire on the Ward of Dawn. Hayley and Athena turned their focus to the aerial combatants, Delta backing up and trying to muster something from within to reinforce the Ward.
The Wizards fell, leaving the two women open to incoming Knights. Jaeger rushed one, kicking it back and forcing it to drop its sword.
"Kayla!" he yelled, throwing the Hive weapon to her.
Kayla caught it and met an incoming lunging head on. She tensed, yelling as she tried to force the beast back but it only laughed and pushed back hard. Kayla put a foot back for support, letting one of her hands go and swiping it across the Knight's face, leaving a flurry of a Scatter Grenade in her wake. The Knight howled in pain and was gunned down by the combined fire of Hayley and Athena's auto rifles.
"How's the Ward looking, D?" Kayla asked.
"Bad!" Delta said, his voice strained now the Titan had been forced to manually keep what was left of the Ward open. "I'm not gonna be able to leave this thing!"
Kayla roared in frustration, kicking another Knight back before teleporting above and launching a Nova Bomb for some breathing room. The Hive disintegrated within the cataclysmic blast, the Void eating anything caught within it. Kayla collapsed on her knees when she landed, Hayley rushing to her.
"I'm ok!" she panted, refusing her hand as she stood. "I'm ok."
The primal roar of an Ogre made her blood turn cold. Several more followed in its wake.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Athena muttered angrily, switching to her Outrageous Fortune grenade launcher and yelling as she fired into the mob.
"Everyone, heavy weapons!" Kayla said, trying desperately to contain her panic.
The sound of bulletfire quickly morphed into the explosive cacophony of rockets and machine gun rounds. Out of the shadows stepped three Ogres, though Kayla was certain several more were lying in wait behind them. The middle Ogre howled, announcing its presence before it was met with the searing pain of a single plasma bolt that whizzed past Kayla's head.
Beside her was Shifter, holding a gunmetal-grey spiked plasma weapon.
"Tarantula," he said quickly. "Linear fusion."
"Linear fusion, really?!" snapped the other Hunter.
"An acquired taste," Shifter grunted, taking down several Hive with one blast.
Kayla looked at Delta, concerned. He gave a reluctant nod, acknowledging the Ward was nearly done. Kayla said nothing, glancing behind the Titan at the bridge.
"Just a little longer, guys!" she said, turning back to the increasingly frantic horde. "We got this!"
Another Ogre fell, two more replacing it much to the team's chagrin. Despite the onslaught of rockets and grenades they couldn't stop the Ogres' laser fire reaching Delta. The Titan screamed, his knee buckling in an attempt to keep the Ward from collapsing.
"Delta!" Hayley cried out, rushing to his aid as she tried her best to empower him.
"Kayla?" Jaeger asked, keeping his focus on the grow tide of Hive.
Kayla scanned the room, then Delta. "Fall back, one by one," she said, her body tense. "Shifter first, you have the range to make up."
The Nightstalker nodded, still firing as he slowly backed into the Ward.
"Kayla, I can't hold it!" Delta cried out again, his body screaming in pain.
Kayla didn't respond, instead counting the seconds and silently praying to whatever deity existed. "Jaeger, go."
Jaeger nodded, backing up quickly. Delta growled, crying in pain as he struggled against the collapsing Ward. "K-KAYLA!" he snapped.
"I know, I'm sorry," Kayla replied, her tone devoid of humour. "Please, trust me."
"Capitano…" Athena said uneasily, reloading. "We can't control this any longer…"
"Fall back."
"What?!" Athena snapped.
"DO IT!" Kayla roared.
Athena bite her tongue, dashing back as the Hive began to overwhelm them. Kayla slowly backed off also. "C'mon, c'mon…" she pleaded under her breath.
"Can't hold it!" Delta cried out, the Ward dissipating and leaving the Titan to collapse to his knees.
Suddenly the bridge clanged, materialising into existence behind them.
"The bridge is up!" Jaeger gasped, helping Delta up. "Move people! Let's go, let's go!"
One by one Fireteam Storm crossed the bridge, taking in the majesty of the gaping hole in reality before them. Kayla went for the bridge, however, she stopped by Toland. Hesitant, she headed for the orb.
"Hey, hey listen!" Kayla said. "You helped us, why?"
Toland was silent for a moment, but eventually relented. "The bonds of a fireteam run deep. I may be a grumpy old man but…I could have done more for Eris and her friends. I am as much to blame as Eriana was."
"Kayla, we don't have to hang around!" Delta shouted in frustration from across the chasm.
"In a minute!"
"We don't have a minute!"
Kayla groaned in frustration. "Toland, Eris is dying. Your journal said that the only way to stop it is through that portal. Something about a blackstar."
Toland scoffed, then chuckle. "You mean to kill the Oversoul? An absurd claim."
"It can't be absurd if you wrote it!" Kayla snapped, before relenting. She sighed, looking at him with a sorrowful glance. "Please, Toland. No one knows the Hive like you do, and I don't know how to help Eris without you."
"…The Oversoul is impenetrable," Toland stated. "But a concentrated blast inside one of its scars can, in theory, detonate it from the inside. It is…unproven. The calculations say it is simultaneously attainable and impossible."
"Thank you," Kayla said with a nod of relief.
She stepped back, hurling a large Nova Bomb at the incoming tsunami of Hive before dashing down the bridge. The tear in reality groaned, beckoning her with deep whispers. She joined her team and everything faded into white.
A/N: Now in Crota's home turf, Fireteam Storm prepare for the most fearsome fight of their lives. But first a bridge blocks their path. Chapter 2-32: Cyst