A/N: I know the last few chapters have been shorter, I apologise for that. We will return to the standard length next upload.

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 30: Wormrot

Earth

The present day

"Coming up on the City now," Delta said, the skyscrapers of the Last City coming into view of the cockpit window. "How's she doing?"

"Ghost! …two, three…" Kayla snapped, focusing on performing chest compressions on Eris.

Ghost flew up to Delta. "Not good. Kayla's CPR seems to be doing something, but her ribs are so fragile we can't keep this up for long. Then there's the physical injuries she sustained from-"

There was a gasp from Eris, Kayla sitting back to catch her breath. "Right, right…ah…" she muttered to herself, several hundred thoughts running through her head. "Bleeding stemmed, lungs working…Wormrot, GHOST! Find a medkit!"

"Coming!" Ghost said, flying back to Kayla.

"Incoming Fighter-class jumpship, please state your name and rank," came Amanda's professional voice through the radio.

"Delta, Defender-class Titan, Fireteam Storm," Delta relayed. "Listen, Holliday, can we skip the paperwork and grab an emergency team?"

"Y-Yeah!" Amanda said in surprise, her faint drawl returning. "Dock up and try not to crash!

Delta nodded, inputting a path for the autopilot before joining Kayla. "What do you need?"

"Stretcher," Kayla said quickly, picking out flakes of Omnigul's wormrot with painstaking precision before putting them into a small dish. She glanced up at Delta. "Then help me put her on it."

Delta nodded, heading off. Kayla turned her attention back to removing the Wormrot. There was a metallic clang and, when Delta returned, he was carrying part of a metal bench from the back and set about pulling off what was left of its legs and set it on the table in the middle of the backroom.

When the ship docked several medics quickly entered and lifted Eris from the makeshift table and stretcher onto trolley before racing off to a medbay. Kayla closed her eyes and sighed, feeling a reassuring hand from Delta on her shoulder.

"I hope I did enough…" she said quietly.

Delta paused a moment. "You're a doctor, right?"

Kayla chuckled sadly. "400 years out of practice, I'm not so sure. Get the others, I'll meet you at the medbay."

Tower Medbay

Ikora observed Eris Morn's bed through a glass window, her eyes drifting between her and a snoozing Kayla. The steady beeping of a heart monitor was all that could be heard. The Warlock Vanguard heard footsteps approach her. It was Shifter.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She hasn't left Eris's side," Ikora replied, eying the Exo. "And you are behind on your reports."

"How's Eris?" Shifter continued, ignoring the question.

"You are behind on your reports," Ikora repeated.

"I've been busy, ok?" Shifter sighed with a roll of his eyes. "And I don't appreciate being told to spy on my captain."

"I'm sorry," Ikora countered with a cold stare. "I thought you were a member of the Hidden?"

Shifter grunted, folding his arms. Ikora sighed, turning back to Eris. "I apologise that your proximity to this has caused…moral issues for you."

There was a brief air of silence before Ikora spoke again.

"Eris is stable, but her injuries are fatal. I asked Delta for the battle reports from Sal, the amount of Wormrot she took…she's already barely staving off total organ failure…"

"Tell that to Kayla," Shifter snorted, before turning to her. "She won't stop until she finds a way to save Eris."

"Hey, there you are!" Delta greeted, slapping the Nightstalker on the back. "Full of surprises."

Ikora smiled as Fireteam Storm joined him. "I'll leave you all to it," she said.

"What was that about?" Delta asked.

Shifter shrugged. "You know how Warlocks are. C'mon, Kayla's waiting."

The team filed in, Delta gently nudging the snoozing Kayla awake.

"H-Huh, what?" Kayla grunted, jolting awake. Through tired eyes she saw the faces of her teammates. Her hand was gently clasped around Eris's. "Oh…right."

"How'd you sleep?" Delta asked, pulling up a chair.

"Eh…I slept," Kayla said with a sheepish chuckle, lightly squeezing Eris's hand. Eris squeezed back weakly about a second later, prompting a sigh from Kayla.

"Is it…?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah…" Kayla said with a quiet nod. "If she still had her Ghost, she might have survived, but…" The Voidwalker looked at her team, her face flitting between sadness and frustration. "There has to be a way to save her."

The silent faces all looked away, leaving Kayla to hesitantly look back at Eris. "There has to…"

"Kayla, you're not-" Jaeger started.

"I know I'm not!" Kayla snapped. "I'm not responsible for her, I know. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let her die!"

"Even if there was a way to save her," Delta said, brow furrowed in thought. "Would the Hive really give it up without a fight."

There was a quiet gasp from Hayley, catching everyone's attention. "I-I'll be right back!" she said, dashing out of the medbay.

Hayley ran through the meandering halls of the Tower, following signs to the living quarters. She headed past most of the Guardians' rooms, finding herself by an isolated door. Hayley let Crusher unlock it then went inside.

Eris's room was a tip, but it wasn't dark anymore. A minor effort had been made to make it somewhat presentable, even if the room was still a disorganised mess. Hayley scanned the bedroom, her gaze reaching a chest of drawers with a photo on it. Beside it was a tattered, frayed book that had begun to rot with age.

Hayley gently picked up the photo. In it were 6 Guardians- a grumpy Exo woman, a devious looking woman adorned with beads and feathers, a slightly annoyed man with a strange machine gun, a gentle-looking Titan and a dishevelled Warlock whose smile was all teeth. In the middle was a beaming Eris Morn.

"This must've been before the pit," Crusher murmured.

"I hope they found peace," Hayley said, setting the photo down and picking up Toland's journal and began to furiously flick through it. "A-Ah…"

"What is it?" Crusher asked.

"Patch me through to the others, I'll explain it."

Crusher nodded. "Oi! Ghost! …Yeah, link me. …Please."

Crusher hovered before Hayley, his eye projecting the scene from Eris's hospital bed. "Have you got anything?" Delta asked.

"There's some…fascinating stuff here, I can't make heads or tail of most of it," Hayley said. "However, it says that the Wormrot fungus is a…er…a 'gift' from Crota. A literal part of his soul…no, a…'physical manifestation of his intent'."

"So…literally his willpower?" Jaeger asked. Hayley nodded.

"Hive are so fucking weird," Athena said.

"Does it say a cure?" Delta continued.

Hayley gave an uneasy nod. "It states that everything is an extension of Crota, the disciples, his spawn, all that. Theoretically, we…need to kill Crota. Permanently. But the source of the Wormrot lies within a…'blackstar hanging in a howling void.'"

"The Ascendent Plane…" Kayla murmured.

"Most likely," Hayley replied.

The dread in the air was palpable.

Athena looked at the others. "Told you I was gonna punch that god."

"I'll go get the jumpship ready," Jaeger sighed.

Hall of the Vanguard

Zavala was busy looking over battle reports handed by Anora's fireteam. The Irish Titan was flanked either side by Seth and Sofia, observing Zavala's eye comb each sentence. After a heavy sigh, he smiled. "Good work clearing the Devils from Paris," he said. "Perhaps we can keep them out this time.

"Thank you, Commander," Anora replied with a bow of her head.

"Commander!" came Kayla's voice.

The others turned, Zavala craning his head to look over Anora. Sofia said nothing, while Seth narrowed his eyes.

"We're requesting permission to enter the Hellmouth," Kayla said firmly.

Zavala stared at her, inspecting her face as a frown of suspicion. "No," he said, the deep bass of his voice silencing the room.

"Commander, with all due respect," Kayla protested. "Eris was right! She worked, thanklessly, to stop an outright invasion! She nearly died for it! The least we can do is make sure she survives!"

Zavala leaned forward, very pointedly. "No."

Kayla frowned, Seth watching her. To everyone's surprise, it was Hayley that spoke up.

"Commander Zavala, sir, if…if we don't," she started, huffing before she began again. "When Kayla destroyed the conduit for Crota into our world she only delayed him. It was like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. Crota is stuck down there, yes, but he can come back."

"Must admit, I don't think we can handle a pissed off Hive god," Shifter grunted.

"The answer is no," Zavala snapped. "We have lost far, far too many Guardians to that beast and I refuse to lose anymore on pointless crusades! If you all die up there, then when will it stop! How many people do you know who would gladly throw everything a way for a chance at Crota?! Just like you are for Eris, like Eris did for Eriana, and like Eriana did for Wei Ning?!"

The Titan sighed, levelling a calm stare at the team. "I assure you; Eris will be given the best care. That is the least we can do. But if you wish to work out your anger, I suggest you do it somewhere else. We have strikes readily available if you want to do something productive."

Kayla relaxed a tad. "Right," she said, annoyed. "C'mon guys. Let's go to the Crucible. I've got shit to work through."

The Voidwalker turned on her heel and left, followed by the awkward footsteps of her team. Delta leaned in to ask a question, but Kayla spoke through the side of her mouth. "Eyes forward, no chit-chat," she ordered.

Seth reached for his hand cannon. "Something's not right," he said.

"How so?" Sofia asked.

"Kayla doesn't like resurrecting!"

"Just keep walking, just keep walking," Kayla said to herself.

"HEY!" shouted Seth angrily.

"Run!" Kayla squeaked.

Fireteam Storm broke out into a run, stampeding out of the Vanguard hall and out into the courtyard of the Tower. Seth followed after them, his hand cannon drawn.

"Seth, don't be an idiot!" Anora shouted. "Light's sake…!"

The team rounded the corner to the hanger, shoving Guardians and workers aside as they tried to put as much distance between them and the Hunter as possible.

"Amanda!" Jaeger said through his comms. "Get the ship ready!"

Kayla stepped aside, making sure the others went first. Hayley stayed behind, hugging the edge of the doorway. "What are you doing?!" Kayla hissed.

"Kayla Ashcroft, stand down!" Seth ordered, catching the attention of everyone around them. As soon as he stepped through the door he was met with a fold up chair to the face.

"Oh, my word!" Hayley squeaked, dropping the chair as the Hunter crumpled to the ground. Kayla grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back. "Oh, my word I hit him!"

"Yup!"

"I've never hit anyone in my life!"

"Debatable. C'mon!"

"Jaeger, what the hell are you guys doing?!" Amanda shouted, Fireteam Storm sailing past her.

"Believe me, you don't want to know!" Kayla told her quickly, the Guardians funnelling into the ship.

"Everyone aboard?" Delta asked, Jaeger setting the route.

The team nodded, the ship shooting away from the hangar like a bat out of hell. Zavala watched on from the courtyard.

"Sir, do you want me to send craft after them?" a worker asked.

"That will be unnecessary," Zavala said. "And a waste of our time and theirs."

"For what its worth," Cayde said, joining Zavala at the balcony. "My moneys on them."

Meanwhile

Fireteam Storm's ship cleared orbit, entering a steady cruise. Kayla looked at the patchwork of stars that crisscrossed the inky black, her eyes focused on the large white orb that drew closer. Around her the team prepared their weapons, making idle chatter as the Moon drew closer.

"You know we'll be getting court-martialled if we get back," Shifter said, standing next to her.

"When we come back," Kayla said. "I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think we could actually do it."

"Well…I hope you know what you're doing," Shifter said.

"Kayla?" Jaeger said from the cockpit.

"What is it?" she asked, poking her head round his seat.

"We'll reach Luna in about 5 minutes or so," Jaeger said. "I've set her to land at Archer's Line, see if they won't notice that. He'll know we're coming though."

"Yeah…" Kayla said, joining the rest of the team with him. "Alright guys! Crota has been a thorn in the City since The Great Disaster, and a boogeyman to the Guardians. He earned the title, The Monster of Luna…but he hasn't met us. Twenty years ago, Eris's fireteam entered the Hellmouth with the intent of killing Crota. We will finish what they started. For Eris, for the City, and for every single Guardian that fell at Mare Imbrium- this nightmare ends, tonight!"

There was a silent but firm nod, all heads turning to the window as the Ocean of Storms entered their view.

Kayla drew her Mythoclast. "Eyes up, guys."

Next time: Fireteam Storm descend into the Stills in an attempt to reach Crota's Throne World, meeting an unexpected ally on the way. Chapter 2-31: Satan's Pit