A/N: I was hoping to have had this up last month, but er…life happens?
I did do a one-shot, though, and I would really appreciate it if those who read this also check that out as I am quite proud of 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 32: Cyst
(Sacred Distance- KH3D OST)
The realms of the Hive gods were like soap bubbles Kayla had once read. Small pockets linked to reality via a thin membrane of paracausal energies that could only be walked by paracausal beings. Eris had hated that description, instead insisting they were tumours that rotted the walls of reality from the inside out like festering bleeds.
What she and the rest of Fireteam Storm had found themselves in was paradoxically beautiful and nightmarish. Standing in the doorway of an out of the way gazebo, Kayla could only stare in awe at the giant fortress suspending in the swirling void of a dark-green sky lay before them all.
"Kayla?" Ghost asked cautiously.
"Y-Yeah…" she said, turning to her team. Before anything else she ran to Delta.
"Hey, w-what…?" he asked in surprise when she bear hugged him. "What's this about?"
"I am so sorry I had to put you through that…" she said quietly.
"Oh…" Delta said, letting go. "Yeah…"
"Are…are you alright?"
Delta looked at her with the raised eyebrow. Kayla shook her head. "Stupid question," she muttered to herself.
"Just shaken," he replied with a small smile, though Kayla could tell that, behind the grin, he was more than shaken.
Before she could say anything else, Athena tapped her shoulder.
"Let him be for now," she said quietly.
"Where are we?" Jaeger asked, staring up at the castle before them. "I mean, I know where we are, but…where are we?"
"I think we made it," Kayla replied, standing next to him with her team.
"Wonderful," Jaeger sighed.
The team made their way down into the outer courtyard one by one, all of them eying the magnificent castle that dominated the Oversoul Throne. It stretched around them like a web, the tall spires, scuffed and worn by the endless wind, stretching high into the sky until their disappeared into the darkness of the Ascendent Plane. Peeking out from behind the tallest spire was a giant shattered rock that emitted a green spectral glow. As they wandered through the castle grounds the rock seemed to follow them, always watching them like a giant eye.
Eventually Fireteam Storm found themselves on an upper walkway atop an inner wall. Before them was the entrance to the castle doors, separated by a massive chasm that dropped out into the swirling void the castle was suspended in.
Shifter peered over the rampart, eying the small group of Hive below. "Two Knights. A few Acolytes with knives and, as usual, Thrall."
"Cover us?" Kayla asked.
Shifter nodded, positioning himself a little further up for cover. Kayla turned to the others. "Athena, take Hayley and Jaeger and go right. Delta and I will go left."
There was a murmuring of agreement and the group split up. Kayla hopped down onto a lower roof, keeping low to the ground as she dropped to the floor, Delta following close behind. While she focused on the Hive, Delta noticed two strange devices tucked away at the edge of the courtyard. They appeared to be bronze, shaped like an ornate, inverted sword that hovered just above a bronze plate. There were two more on the other side of the chasm.
"Kayla," Delta whispered, pointing in the direction of one.
"You know what they are?" Kayla asked, eyes darting to it then back to the Knights.
"No," Delta admitted. "But the Hive don't hide things, and that worries me."
"Noted," Kayla said. "Athena? On my mark."
Athena's devilish grin could be seen hidden in the Hive plants on the other said, waiting to pounce.
"Mark!"
Athena leaped up, the clang of armour alerting the Hive as fire enveloped her. No sooner had they turned a sniper shot rang out, taking down one of the Knights. The Knight tried to redirect the other Hive but fell under Athena's Hammer of Sol. The Acolytes scattered, moving to better positions as the other Guardians emerged in hailstorm of gunfire. The Thrall split, rushing each group.
Kayla get down the wave of Thrall charging here and Delta with her Mythoclast while Hayley burned the ones attacking her away with a Solar Grenade, leaving the Acolytes for Jaeger and Delta. Delta took two, stunning one with sustained fire from his Buzzard sidearm while taking down the second with his shotgun when it got close. Jaeger meanwhile approached the others, firing off his hand cannon before backing the shots up with a flurry of electrified knives. The skirmish ended with a sickening crunch as Athena shattered the remaining Knight's skull with her armour.
"I do wish you hadn't done that…" Owl said, materialising next to her.
"It's a Knight," Athena told her Ghost as the fire around her dissipated.
"Yes, and we have limited power here," Owl clarified. "There's only so much Light that can reach us here."
"They're right," Ghost said gravelly. "It feels like I'm being smothered."
"It must be Crota…" Cheryl mused, bobbing next to Jaeger.
"Then we'll have to be cautious," Kayla said, turning to Athena "ALL of us."
"Yeah, yeah," the Titan grumbled.
"Good," Kayla nodded back, turning to the castle walls before them. "How do we cross this gap?"
Delta eyed the four totems around them. "Those structures, they must be some kind of security system."
"What, like…we try and make a bridge at they call the Hive?"
"Or worse."
Kayla gave a wavering nod of acknowledgement. Hayley stepped forward. "How do we even make a bridge?" she asked.
"Can't you and Hayley get across?" Jaeger suggested.
The two Warlocks stared at each other in confusion.
"Jaeger, we're Warlocks, not magic," Hayley said.
Kayla gave a frustrated sigh. "How would we get across anyway?"
"…I dunno," Jaeger shrugged. "Fly."
"Warlocks only go one way, and that's down," Shifter joked as he joined them.
"Oi!" Hayley pouted.
"EVEN if we could!" Kayla said over the laughter. "How would you all get across?"
"What about this thing?" Athena asked, nodding to a plate at her feet.
The teamed formed up on her, Kayla eying the emerald moon above them. Had it moved?
"This has to be the bridge controls," Delta mused.
"…It's a plate," Athena snarked.
"I never said it made sense," the other Titan retorted. "We're in pocket dimension inside the moon.
"Just step on it," Kayla sighed. "We'll figure the rest out as we go."
Athena raised her eyebrow. "You sure?"
"Yeah. Fuck it."
(Fighting in the Flames- RE3R OST)
Athena gave a questioning glance at the others. Jaeger shrugged. The Sunbreaker looked at the plate and stepped on it. There was a clunking sound as the mist congealed before them into another bridge, followed by the shriek of incoming Hive.
"Of course there's more," Kayla grumbled.
"Bridge is up, lets go-WHOA!"
Kayla turned to see Jaeger rush to the bridge, only to stumble through the mist. "NO!"
The Hunter hopped back up, quickstep off the air under him and double jumping back up in panic, landing hard on his back.
"O-Ok, nope!" he panted. "Not up."
"Incoming!" Athena yelled, firing Uriel's Gift into the incoming Thrall.
Shifter and Hayley backed her up, while Kayla helped Jaeger up.
"Captain!" Delta said, looking around them. "Sky's red!"
"Security…" she whispered, looking at Delta. "D, I need you on the totem over there. Jaeger, get on the one behind us. Do not step off!"
The two Guardians nodded, cutting down a path to the totems and setting up shop on them. "Play defensively guys," Kayla ordered cautiously, helping the other three fend off the Hive.
The simmering red that burned the sky died down, the totems locking back into place but still humming. Kayla looked back at the bridge, seeing the mist dissipate again. "Dammit!" she muttered as she reloaded her machine gun. "I'm gonna stay on the plate, the bridge goes away if you don't."
"'course it does," Shifter said with a roll of his eyes.
Out of the flurry of soulfire rounds and screaming Thrall came a large Knight. Unlike the others it was clad in black chitin, its helmet adorned and twisted into the image of Crota's crown. The beast barrelled past Hayley and Shifter, heading straight for Kayla. Kayla braced herself, tanking the Knight's grapple as best she could.
"W-Wait, no!" Kayla yelped as the Knight picked her up and slammed her into the ground, taking her off the plate in the process.
She hit the ground hard, scrambling away when the Knight tried to run her through with its sword. "T-The plate!"
"It's fine!" Shifter said, Athena barrelling the Knight off Kayla and sucker-punching it.
"But-"
"If the plate is a trigger, we can remake the bridge," Shifter explained. "Keep a level head, Captain."
"Right…" Kayla said, standing. "Right. Thank you."
The Knight encroached on Athena but was met by a flurry of laser fire from Kayla's Mythoclast. The Knight turned, growled. Athena smirked and grappled it from behind, pulling it down and firing several blasts of her shotgun into its spine before kicking it back down.
"Yoink!" she grinned, swiping the sword from the creature. The Knight snarled, scrambling after her like a feral dog. "Haha! Andiamo, stronzo zombie!"
Athena led the Knight on, the creature lashing out in a frenzy as she backed closer to the abyss. Kayla ran ahead, taking position on the plate while the Hive Knight and the Guardian tussled. Delta, knocking down a Acolyte that strayed to close, whipped out his Buzzard and fired at the Knight allowing Athena to headbutt it again. Still the Knight clung on. Athena roared, shoulder-charging it while holding the sword in her spare hand.
The Knight tumbled through the mist but, to Athena's surprise, the Titan remained. She gave a questioning look at Kayla.
"…The sword!" she gasped, before shouting. "Athena, get going! Do not drop that sword!"
Athena gave a sadistic smirk and powered up the bridge, reaching the front gates of Crota's castle. There were a handful of Acolytes and another Knight waiting for her. The Knight immediately charged, leaving itself open for Athena to ran it through before decapitating it before launcher several spike grenades at the Acolytes.
"Are you alright up there?" Kayla asked over her headset.
"Ohoho, I am doing AMAZING!" she laughed in response.
"I worry about that girl," Jaeger said drily.
"Don't worry about it," Kayla replied. "We know what we need to do. Hayley, your next."
"Ok!"
In the ramparts above, a Knight watched flanked by several others.
"Open the turrets," he ordered.
"Yes, Lord Crekuc!" the Knights replied, disappearing into the gloom.
Soon after the upper windows of the ramparts opened. With a mighty metallic groan two ballista-like weapons mode of rock and bone appeared, winding up like clocks as they began to take aim.
Hayley vaulted over Kayla, taking out several Acolytes that had snuck up behind them with a powerful kick before mowing the rest down with her auto rifle. A loud shunk rang through the air. Kayla turned instinctively, throwing herself at Hayley and pulling her to the floor as a razor-tipped purple crystal shot into the ground where they were stood, a clean cut in the stone where it landed.
"You ok?" Kayla asked.
"Yeah," Hayley replied, standing. "B-But we got bigger problems!"
The Sunsinger pointed at an encroaching Swordbearer. Kayla gritted her teeth, looking up at Shifter. "Those ballistae are priority," she ordered.
"On it," he grunted, stabbing a Thrall with a small knife before tagging it with a smoke bomb and shoving into the horde that followed it. "Repositioning."
Kayla and Hayley charged, backup by a flashbang thrown by Delta. The grenade exploded, Hayley ducking behind the Swordbearer as to struck the ground in panic. She fired her auto rifle again, the Knight swinging round to attack her. He was met with several laser blasts to the arch of his back.
He grunted, kicking Hayley and turning his attention to Kayla.
"Dammit!" she muttered, reloading quickly. "Why is it always when the big ones rush you-ARGH!"
The Knight struck her with a powerful punch, standing over her with his sword raised. Out of nowhere Hayley came around him, grabbing his wrist with two searing hot palms that caused the Knight's armour to melt on content. She pulled down, becoming a dead weight has he tried to wrestle her off. Kayla flipped the Mythoclast round, striking the creature with the butt of the gun.
Meanwhile, Shifter ran along the upper walls surrounding the courtyard, keeping to the back. From the corner of his eye, he could see the rightmost ballista turning.
"Why would…?" he began, spying Jaeger defending his totem from several Acolytes. "Shit!"
Shifter took position, using his knee to balance his Long Shadow sniper rifle. No sooner had he positioned his shot, something struck him. The bullet fired off into the opposite wall, but all the Nightstalker could hear was the rabid snarling of Thrall.
"Shifter, you ok up there?!" Delta asked, fending off several Acolytes of his own.
"Get! Jaeger!" Shifter said between breaths as he cut the Hive down with his sidearm.
Delta turned, looking up at the ballista with horror. "Jaeger, MOVE!"
The Bladedancer turned, only to be thrown from his platform as the ballista's payload shook the ground at his feet. "Dammit, no!" he yelled before he was mobbed by Thrall.
The sky slowly began to turn to red, a piercing pain ringing through the Guardians' heads as though someone where lobotomising them with a nail. From the upper end of the bridge Athena struck down another Knight with her grenade launcher, looking at Jaeger's totem then the one opposite it on her side.
Barrelling through a small horde Acolytes on the way, Athena took position on the totem overlooking Jaeger's, holding her breath. After a few seconds the red clouds cleared, returning to an emerald green haze once more.
"Oh thank God…" Kayla sighed with relief.
"Captain, help Jaeger," Hayley said, striking the Knight with her hand cannon.
"A-Are you…"
"I'll be fine, Captain," Hayley replied.
Kayla nodded, switching to her SMG to cover Jaeger from the horde of Thrall around him. The winding of the ballista caught their ears again but, no sooner had it fired, a sniper shot rang out. The ballista jerked upwards, misfiring as its operator slumped over the controls.
"Got jumped," Shifter grunted. "Repositioning."
The Nightstalker hopped down, throwing a smoke bomb at the Hive that were harassing Delta before kneecapping the Swordbearer with his sidearm as a ran across the courtyard.
"Thank you," Hayley said gratefully before finishing the Swordbearer with a powerful flame-covered palm strike.
The Hive let out a last dying screech, unable to stop Hayley grabbing the sword then running to the bridge. "Captain!"
Kayla turned from her firefight, Jaeger with his back to her cutting down the incoming Acolytes. "I got this now, go!"
The Voidwalker nodded, throwing a scatter grenade to cover Hayley while Kayla activated the plate again.
Athena stood firm on the totem, firing at another Knight that had arrived as she tried to bat back a small swarm of Thrall with her hammer. She caught her breath, reloading when Hayley appeared on her side.
"Pipsqueak!" Athena shouted. "Off with his head!"
"Got it!" Hayley replied, leaping with a mighty a scream and decapitating the Knight with a powerful swing from the sword sending the Knight's head to the floor.
Hayley panted, looking at the dumbfounded Athena. "You want this?" she asked, holding up the sword.
"…Since when were you that good with a sword?" she asked.
Hayley shrugged. "Felt familiar," she replied. "Catch."
Athena moved to say something but was cut off by the churning of the other ballista. "Swap, quick," she said hurried, taking the sword in the process.
Hayley set foot on the other Annihilator Totem, contacting Kayla. "We're good up here."
"Great, hang tight," Kayla said. "Jaeger?"
The Bladedancer had swapped sides, darting through a horde of Acolytes and Thrall with his hand cannon. The Hunter ducking, reloading, turning his head to an incoming Knight. "Ah, shit!"
"Jaeger, jump," Delta ordered.
Jaeger did as he was told, backflipping as a rocket careened under him and exploding the Knight into pieces, along with the Hive around it.
"Jaeger?!" Kayla snapped.
"WE'RE A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT!" he shouted.
"Jaeger, you're going next," Kayla said. "Clean up and get ready."
"Captain, there's a Swordbearer heading for you," Shifter warned, dodging another shot from the ballista across the abyss. "I'm pinned."
"Working on it," Athena said over the radio.
Athena jumped up, clambering up the rampart to the window. The Hive inside yelped a little upon seeing Athena demonic grin as she climbed inside. She threw the sword, impaling on Acolyte on the back wall before grabbing the head of a charging Acolyte and slamming it against the wall before mounting the ballista and killing the pilot with a shotgun blast to the face.
"Ballista's down!" Hayley said, watching the Titan vault back through the window, crushing a Thrall when she landed.
"Free to work, Shifter," Kayla said, ducking under the swipe of a Hive sword.
The Swordbearer roared, raising the Cleaver over his head. Kayla took a deep breath and charged the beast, catching it by surprise and leaving it open for a sniper round to the shoulder. The Swordbearer howled in pain, grabbing Kayla by the scruff of her neck and throwing her to the ground.
"Boss, tag out," Jaeger said, leaping onto the Swordbearer's shoulders and stabbing it in the neck. The Swordbearer growled, flailing as it tried to throw the Hunter off itself and allowing Kayla to scramble to Delta.
"Fashionably late," Delta quipped tiredly when Kayla cut down the Hive surrounding him with her machine gun.
"We need to pick up the pace, I don't think we'll win a battle of attrition," Kayla said, irriated. "Sorry, that wasn't…sorry."
"No, I know," Delta, watching Jaeger finish the Swordbearer off. "Crota's playing smart, making us waste time so we drain our Light faster."
"Guy's not as dumb as he looks," Kayla replied. The sound of a Tombship breaking through the sky made her blood run cold. She turned in panic, seeing one cut across Shifter's line of sight. "Oh, no…no, no, NO!"
"Stay here, I'll get him," Delta said calmly.
Kayla nodded. "Athena, central plate on your side, you need to bring Jaeger up to you."
Athena said nothing, shooting down a large horde that had rushed Hayley. She growled in frustration, trying to a find a way to kill them quicker.
"Give me the sword!" Hayley said. "I'll be fine, you have that grenade launcher, remember?"
Athena grinned, throwing the Sword across the crowd of Thrall while back up onto the central plate. As Jaeger ascended the sound of explosions and squealing Hive welcomed him. "Ladies," he greeted cockily.
"Time and a place, Jaeger!" Hayley snapped.
Athena laughed. "The last time we had to do this, you ran away! I'm so proud of you, Pipsqueak!"
"If I don't stay here, we all die, it's a hell of a motivator!"
"Shifter, we need cover," Jaeger said, kicking down another Acolyte.
"Busy!" Shifter said, firing is sidearm into the mob ahead of him while throwing a Voidwall grenade behind, creating a barrier of searing purple flames. They couldn't protect him from the bombardment from the Tombship.
"Hang tight!" Delta said, climbing to the upper wall and running the length.
Shifter turned in time to see him shoulder charge through the other mob. "Fashionably late," the Hunter greeted.
Delta said nothing, flexing as hand. He raised his arm and shunted the air in front of him. As he did, barrier of clear crystal appeared, blocking the Hive.
"Huh," Shifter said, mildly impressed. "That's new."
"Do you have a plan?" Delta asked.
"Shadowshot," the Hunter replied. "Two tethers. Pull."
Delta nodded, firing on the ship with his rocket launcher to get its attention will Shifter fired a Shadowshot at the ship's port bow. The Tombship jerked awkwardly, its engines screaming a deathly wail as it tried to escape. Delta grabbed the void tether and heaved, pinning it in place. Shifter nodded in thanks and fired another one at the port quarter then yanked it as hard as he could. The Tombship turned, crashing into the upper wall before exploding in a ball of Void fire, taking a swarm of rushing Thrall with it. Delta breathed a sigh of relief, only for another Tombship to fly overhead.
"Oh, come ON!" Delta groaned. Shifter nudged Delta, nodding to the ramparts across the abyss, prompting Delta to radio Jaeger. "Jaeger, we've got two ballistae above you."
Jaeger grunted in response, ducking under a boomer shot before sucker-punching the Knight in the gut allowing Hayley's hand cannon to finish it off. He looked up then glanced at Athena.
"Athena, throw me up there will ya?" he said quickly.
Athena, pinned by Acolytes, grabbed one by the leg and spun it round, knocking the rest of its squad to the floor before slamming it against the wall, then ran to Jaeger and scooped him up. With little warning the Sunbreaker hurled the Hunter at the rampart's window like a javelin before carrying on towards Hayley. There was a scream from the ballista followed by several falling Acolytes and, finally, Jaeger.
"Get down, Casanova!" Athena snapped.
Jaeger looked to his right, seeing the circling Tombship firing at them before going for a bombing run on the others. "Tombship's coming after you three," Jaeger said.
"Working on it!" Delta said, hopping off the upper wall with Shifter as it fired.
"D, bring it here," Kayla said as she danced around the totem with another Swordbearer. "Kill this bastard, take the Sword. Shifter, swap with me. Jaeger, I need you on the other plate over there. I'll handle the ship."
Shifter dodged under incoming laser fire, turning invisible in the process and darting past the Acolytes while Delta barrelled through the, shoving the Swordbearer off Kayla. Shifter reappeared, disorienting with the Swordbearer with a sniper round before focusing on the Acolytes ahead of Kayla while the Voidwalker hopped up to the upper wall and charged the oncoming Tombship.
The Tombship turned, screaming towards her and fired. Kayla swallowed her fear, leaping up and hurling a Nova Bomb and at the ship. It collided, shattering the ship's hull and sending crashing against the wall where it came to a stop.
"How's that Swordbearer doing?" Kayla asked Delta.
"Way ahead of you," he responded, powering up the bridge. "Athena, get rid of that other ballista!"
Athena grinned, switching to her grenade launcher and giving a powerful war cry as she unleashed a volley of spike grenades into the rampart window. The ballista stopped firing soon after. Delta met with her when he arrived.
"You're scary, you know that?" he said.
Athena responded with a smirk and a gunshot to a charging Knight.
"Good talk," Delta snarked, joining the fray.
"Capitano, I don't want to worry you, but there's another two Tombships heading your way," Athena said.
"Gee, I hadn't noticed!" Kayla snapped, ducking under the incoming mortar fire. "Shifter, you're next!"
"If I can get away from this stupid totem, yeah!" Shifter replied tersely.
"Athena! Jaeger! Focus fire on the Tombship attacking Shifter!" Delta ordered, launching several rockets at it.
The Sunbreaker and Bladedancer joined the fray, focusing fire on a single point with their grenade launcher and machinegun respectively. The armour cracked, Jaeger throwing a Flux Grenade into the gap. Soon after, the ship exploded and began to crash, forcing Shifter to move. Already counting the seconds, Delta took up point on the spare totem on his side.
With the totem no longer his responsibility, Shifter pushed into the courtyard to help Kayla fend off another Swordbearer. "Can you handle the ship?" he asked, firing at the creature with his sidearm.
"If you can distract him," Kayla replied, backing up.
Shifter nodded, hurling a smokebomb into the Swordbearer's face. The Hive snarled, trying to waft the smoke from his eyes. Kayla rushed forward, leaping on his shoulders and using them to springboard up where she Blinked upwards, grabbing the lip of the Tombship's deck.
"Guys, you've got a ship incoming yourselves," Kayla warned.
"Merda!" Athena swore. "Pipsqueak! Help me with this thing!"
"R-Right!" Hayley replied.
While the two women focused fire on the closest Tombship, Jaeger took a glance at one of the unused ballistae, then at the ship Kayla was currently trapped on. Taking advantage of the chaos, Jaeger slipped away from the fray and quickly climbed up the rampart wall into the ballista's room.
"Right then…" he murmured, climbing into the pilot's seat.
"Please tell you know how to work this?" Cheryl asked with an exasperated sigh.
"It's just…point and shoot right?" Jaeger replied, spying a large glowing button. "Point and shoot…"
The ballista cranked up and fired, sending a bolt flying at the furthest Tombship. Kayla yelped, stumbling off the ship as it began to crash.
"What the…?!" she gasped, sitting up.
Jaeger's triumphant laughter was all she needed to hear when she saw the other Tombship crash into the abyss.
"Thank you, thank you!" Jaeger laughed. "I'm here til Thursday!"
The Swordbearer duelling snarled something at his superior on the other side. Kayla took the lapse in concentration to fire her SMG at him, causing him to stumble and allowing Shifter to finish him with a bolt from his linear fusion rifle.
From above Crekuc watched the Hunter power up towards the bridge. Furious, he snarled something before grabbed his own sword and leaping from the window. Shifter dodged, narrowly avoiding the Knight before it leaped across the abyss.
"Kayla, be careful," he warned.
"Never mind that, we have our own problems!" Hayley said in panic as dozens of Acolytes flooded the area.
There was a clang, Athena entering her Super to clear at the Hive much to Owl's chagrin. The sounds of the dying Hive didn't faze Crekuc, who kept up a relentless assault on Kayla.
"Would it kill you to just give up for once?!" Kayla snapped, ducking under the cleaver and firing off a flurry of laser fire from her Mythoclast.
"It is not my people that keep throwing themselves at Lord Crota, despite their failings!" the Crekuc responded, strike the ground with his sword and using it to kick Kayla in the gut. "Are you insane, are you just stupid?"
Kayla landed, using the momentum to hop back on her feet and throw another grenade at the Swordbearer. "We're insane?! You kill and kill, and for what?! Pride?!"
"That's not the right question," Crekucreplied, charging her again. "Maybe you should ask what happens when we STOP!"
Kayla took the hit, pouring a clip from her Antiope SMG into a crack in the Hive's armour. "Then what happens if you stop?" she asked.
Crekuc's eyes widened in surprise. "…The whole universe suffers if we stop," he said seriously.
"You're wrong," Kayla replied firmly.
The Swordbearer stood and, as he did so, several more Tombships began to circle them. "If I'm so wrong, then why don't you stop Him?"
Crekuc rushed her again, narrowly missing her shoulder. "Your Light burns bright, but it does not give you wisdom, WARLOCK," he growled. "The real world is COLD!"
He swung round again, but instead headbutted the Guardian. "The real world doesn't care about your Light!"
Kayla stumbled, her nose bloodied. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a ballista turn towards her. Crekuc moved closer. "If you want to be a Gaur-di-an so badly, then be like every other one in history and DIE!"
Crekuc raised his sword, snarling in rage. When lunched Kayla Blinked away. Crekuc was stunned into silence. When he turned to look for her the only thing he could see was one of his own ballista bolts hurtling towards him, engulfing him in a Void explosion and leaving the sword for Kayla.
Kayla swiped the sword, two more Tombships appearing behind her, beginning a bombing run. "Guys, get in those ballistae ASAP!" Kayla ordered, practically throwing herself up the bridge.
When she arrived, Shifter left the plate and moved up to the ballista next to Jaeger. Athena did the same while Delta swapped with Kayla and joined her, each ballista lining up as the Tombships came ever closer.
"Hold!" Kayla ordered, doing her best to shelter herself from the mortar fire while Hayley did the same. "HOLD!"
The Tombships screamed, the sky growing dark as their shadows loomed over Fireteam Storm, their mortar blasts shaking the castle walls apart.
"FIRE!"
The ballistae all fired one by one, the Tombships exploding a second later in an orchestra of destruction and wailing Hive screams. Kayla watched a stray piece of debris crash through the door as the Tombships collapsed around her.
And then silence.
(End 'Fighting in the Flames')
Nothing but the howling wind that swirled around the castle.
Kayla hesitantly stepped off the totem's platform. When it was obvious they'd finally shut down, Hayley did the same and the pair regrouped with the others at the broken door.
"Are we all ok?" Kayla asked as the Guardians bathed in the dimming Light of their Ghosts.
"Shaken but…we're alright," Delta replied to murmurs of agreement.
Kayla nodded, turning to Ghost. "And you guys?"
Ghost looked at the others warily. "It's…not…good," he relented with a sigh. "If Crota wanted to waste our time with that, he succeeded. We each have enough for maybe a single Super, and that's it. No resurrections. Nothing."
"Great…" Jaeger sighed.
"Then we play the hand we've been dealt," Kayla said heading into the castle. "I don't think Crota will let us leave anyway."
The team followed the long hallway, watching the corners for any sudden movement. On the far side was a doorway, guarded by a single Wizard. Like Omnigul, she was horned, but her eyes were crimson red, and her tattered dress was a straitjacket of open wounds and gristle with chains wrapped her wrists.
When Fireteam Storm approached she raised a hand, motioning them to stop. The door behind her opened and the Wizard beckoned them through.
Delta leaned into Kayla. "Is he…welcoming us?"
"Guy's got standards," she shrugged. "Stay close. Be ready for anything. That Wizard is giving me the creeps."
Fireteam Storm went through the door, coming out to a large open throne room overlooking the abyss. The Wizard flew to throne where, bathed in the light of the shattered moon behind him, sat a giant Hive Prince in emerald-green armour. His head was like a crown of thorns. He slouched lazily but, when he saw Fireteam Storm enter, he couldn't help but smile.
"Ms Ashcroft!" he said with sincere delight. "It truly is wonderful to see you again! As for the rest of you," He sat forward, staring at the Guardian with a menacing grin. "I don't believe we've met."
"We've heard the legends," Delta growled.
"I'm sure you have but allow me to introduce the genuine article."
The Knight stood, the entire throne groaning in pain as his shadow loomed over them all.
"I am Crota. Son of Oryx."
Next Time:- The final fight is just around the corner, but Crota has one final test for Fireteam Storm. Chapter 2-33: Deathsinger's Retribution