I do not own Destiny or any of its characters.
Chance Encounter
Hunter Stared at the massive screen, his body going cold.
"People of the Last City," Zavala spoke. "Humanity has endured a devastating blow. "Vanguard scouts have confirmed that Io, Mars, Titan, and Mercury have disappeared. We don't know why. We've lost contact with Deputy Commander Sloan and Gensym Scribe Asher Myr. We are deploying Guardians to all corners of the system to find answers. And with those answers, we will form a plan. In the mean time, we ask that all Lightless civilians remain within the safety of the City walls, under the protection of the Traveler. Do not lose hope. Humanity has survived many horrors. We have done so through the strength of our community. Through steadfast commitment to one another. Stay strong. Be brave. The Traveler protects us and we will protect you. The Guardians will come through. They always do."
"Hunter," Shiro-4 said, walking over to stand behind him. "We've received a distress signal from Europa. It's Variks. And there's something else. One of our other Guardians, the Hero of the Red War, has sent us a warning. There are black pyramids, like the one on the moon that caused the Nightmares, over Europa. A fleet of them."
"How big?" Hunter asked.
"Roughly the size of the Traveler," Shiro said.
Hunter nodded. "And they're with the Darkness?"
"Yes," Shiro nodded.
"I'll head there right away," Hunter nodded, then sighed. "Fucking Europa. Why couldn't Europa have vanished, too?"
"I understand how you feel, given the Exo history there, but you're the best we have," Shiro said. "Arguably better than the hero of the Red War. We need you to investigate as best you can."
Hunter nodded and warped to his ship, setting the Auto Pilot for Europa before heading to the armory. He pulled out his weapons. The Rocket Launcher, he'd upgraded from cluster bombs to a single massive blast that would be more effective against vehicles and large targets, and the Joker he'd upgraded to be ambidextrous. Now, whichever side the Cylinder release was pressed from, it would swing out the opposite side, finally making it easy for him to hold it in his left hand while dual-wielding. He holstered his Hand Cannons last, then stared at his reflection, debating wearing a helmet. In the end, he shook his head, walking back to his seat a couple minutes before they arrived. He flew down to the surface, landing a ways away from the distress signal, and took Cayde's Sparrow, following a path along a glacier's cliff face. He truly hated this frozen world. It was where Cayde had found him, hanging from chains in Bray Exoscience, it was where he'd learned that Exos were made from Vex technology, and it was his least favorite place to be, even surpassing the moon.
"I've tracked Variks' distress signal beyond the ridge," Spark said. "We're close."
"Understood," Hunter said.
"It was Variks, you know," Spark said, sounding hesitant. "He instigated the riot at the Prison of Elders. He's just as responsible for Cayde's death as Uldren Sov."
"Do you want me to kill him?" Hunter asked. "Why would you tell me that?"
"Because you need to know," Spark said. "He cannot be allowed to escape. He has a lot to answer for."
"He won't escape," Hunter said, just as they rounded the cliff face and saw a campsite up ahead, Fallen corpses around it.
He shot past it, ignoring the corpses, then past more before entering an ice tunnel. As he left the other side, he had to abandon the Sparrow at a low ledge on the glacier path and sent it back to his ship. He sprinted along the path, reaching an abandoned building in time to watch the Hero of the Red War work his way through the Fallen. He was fast, sprinting, spinning, firing a Submachine gun in short bursts. He didn't miss a shot, and he slaughtered the Fallen from close range without taking a shot either.
"The best my ass," Hunter said, walking toward the battle. "He's a fucking machine."
By the time Hunter reached the facility and joined his Fellow Guardian on the roof with Variks, the fight was over. He turned to Variks, seeing him encased in ice from the waist down, one of his two upper arms, both prosthetics, having been ripped off, then crushed and dropped on the ground in front of him.
"Hello Variks," Hunter said, drawing the Ace of Spades. "Recognize this?"
"You are Hunter, yes?" Variks asked before clicking his jaw like an insect. "Cayde-6's chosen successor."
"That's right," Hunter said, levelling the gun at Variks' face. "If I pulled this trigger, no one would miss you."
The Hero of the Red War held his submachine gun to his head and spoke in a voice heavily distorted by his helmet. "We need him alive to find out what's going on."
"I know," Hunter said, lowering the Hand Cannon to the ice and emptying it, shattering the ice and freeing Variks. "I'm not foolish enough to cross the Hero of the Red War, or to kill the only source of information we have."
"Variks thanks you," Variks clicked his jaw. "And now, must hide.
"Not so fast," the Hero of the Red War's Ghost said. "We heard your message. 'Darkness walks among us.' What do you mean?"
"There is no time," Variks said. "They are coming. Variks asks for your protection once more. I will take shelter inside. Succeed, and Variks will reveal all."
"Yeah, go hide, you little cockroach," Hunter said, drawing the Joker as well as more Fallen began to appear. "We'll handle this."
Variks headed foe the door and Hunter stepped out where he could see the Fallen gathering in front of the facility. They opened fire instantly, and Hunter took off at a run, opening fire, explosions clearing patches from the Ace of Spades as the Joker dropped Dregs and Vandals rapidly. As the guns both ran dry, he ducked into cover, reloading as the Hero of the Red War leapt over him, his Submachine gun buzzing in rapid bursts, dropping Fallen quickly. A Captain stepped around Hunter's cover and Hunter hurled a knife into his head, killing him before he stepped back out, his Hand Cannons firing rapidly again. Hunter grinned as a Captain the Hero of the Red War was targeting exploded under a shot from the Ace of Spades. And just like that, it was like the Hero of the Red War had lost his stride. Suddenly, he wasn't killing nearly as many as before, and Hunter was killing almost double what he had been. As his Hand Cannons ran dry again, he holstered the Joker, reloading the Ace of Spades as he began to hurl fans of knives. A shot breezed past his head, so he stuck a laser trip mine to a broken section of wall, and a moment later, it exploded as a group of Dregs charged after him with Arc Spears. He shot a Dreg in the face as it, a Vandal, and a Captain were charging the Hero of the Red War from behind and killed all but the Captain, which the Hero of the Red War spun and blasted. Hunter hurled a fan of flaming knives into a group of Dregs, killing all but one, which he blasted a second later.
A massive machine, like a bipedal tank with a cannon for one arm and a machine gun for the other, crashed down a short distance away, just as the Hero of the Red War killed the last few Dregs, and Hunter spun, focusing. A moment later, a spear of Arc Energy appeared in his hand and he hurled it at the light about where the tank would have eyes as an organic creature. It drilled into it and exploded into a storm of Arc Energy. Smoke began to curl out of the Brig, sparks flying off of it rapidly. Then, just as a wave of Fallen landed around the Brig, it exploded, killing them all.
"You can make Arc Javelins?" the Hero asked.
"Yeah," Hunter said. "So, you got a name?"
"No," the Hero said.
"Fair enough," Hunter nodded, extending his hand. "I'm Hunter."
The Hero simply turned, walking toward the building.
"Yup," Hunter said, narrowing his eyes. "I'm going to hate him."
He followed, both walking in to find Variks standing by a window inside.
"You do not trust Variks, yes?" Variks asked, looking at Hunter. "But leave your distrust, your blame, for later. The Eliksni who attacked me, she is Eramis, Shipstealer. A new Kell of Kells, unifier of the houses. And she seeks to build an army of Eliksni powered by Darkness. If she is not stopped, she will destroy us all. You must go! Variks will help you find your way."
"Variks," Spark said, as Hunter and the Hero both got on their Sparrows, taking off. "The power Eramis used to trap you. Was that..."
"Darkness?" Variks finished. "Yes. We call it Stasis. Power in opposition to your Light, given by the Pyramid. It led Eramis astray. Europa was to be a new haven for Eliksni, but Stasis corrupted her. With it, she turns obsession into opportunity, working in haste to empower Eliksni with the Dark gift."
Hunter swung his right hand out, flinging a fan of knives into a group pf Dregs as they shot through an area with multiple low ledges and the path they were in winding between them toward Variks' coordinates.
"If Eramis is not stopped, she will build an army capable of snuffing out Light once and for all," Variks chittered, and Hunter narrowed his eyes as they sped into Eventide, Clovis Bray's Golden Age colony.
"She won't live past today," Hunter said, just as he and the Hero got into a gravity lift, riding it up to a room with multiple Fallen Vandals, Shanks, and a Captain, only for Hunter to hurl a pair of Proximity Mine Dagger fans into the Fallen, killing them all.
"You're not half bad with those knives," the Hero commented.
Hunter ignored him, heading for the door the Captain had been blocking and sprinting down the slope on the other side. As they followed the winding path at the bottom, which approached a city Variks called Riis-Reborn, several Fallen charged, only for one or both Guardians to shoot them rapidly.
"The dome, is that where you live?" the Hero's Ghost asked.
"A pinnacle of hope for the remaining Eliksni, but a standing reminder of Eramis' betrayal of Variks," Variks said.
"Boo hoo," Hunter growled. "Poor Variks."
They headed into a building and rapidly slaughtered the dozen-odd Fallen inside, Hunter blasting a Servitor with his Galliard, then ran up a set of stairs on the far side of the room. A pair of Captains turned to attack them from the top, only for Hunter to send a Proximity Mine Dagger into each of their heads, killing them, and they continued out the door on the far side. There was a bridge on the upper level with several normal Shanks and a Heavy Shank on the far side, only for both Guardians to fire a rocket, the two explosions decimating them all. They both ran across the bridge and into the next building. Hunter paused, staring at a door with a barrier across it, a black, diamond-shaped object attached to the center of the barrier, yellow lines and an odd symbol decorating the front of it.
"The Darkness trail Eramis left behind leads right through that door," Spark said. "But it's locked."
Variks chittered. "With Stasis, yes. You will not be able to break through."
Hunter sighed and walked up the stairs to his left, using a fan of knives to kill a group of Dregs waiting to ambush them. As they reached the top of the stairs and turned right, the Hero hurled a sphere, which generated a massive, flaming sphere of Solar energy around it, like a miniature sun, at a group of Dregs and Vandals, then shot it for nearly a full magazine. It erupted into a massive explosion that killed them all, and both continued along the path, Eramis' voice reaching them from up ahead.
"You're all here for the same reason," Eramis' voice said. "Because you desire freedom for our people, and I can give you just that."
Hunter and the Hero followed the hallway to a window overlooking Eramis giving a speech to a horde of Eliksni.
"Chains!" Eramis was saying. "For centuries, we have been bound by them! Servants to the so-called 'Great' Machine! We even built idols in its image!" She gestured at a Servitor behind her. "We have become pawns to our own devices!" She held a hand out, glowing white-blue energy coursing along her forearm before gathering in her hand as a shining crystal. "No longer!"
Hunter's body tingled in reaction to the Darkness Energy shining from her hand. Then, she swung her hand back, a beam of Darkness Energy flashing from her hand to the Servitor, dark blue ice crystals encasing it in seconds.
"Today, we begin breaking free from our chains!" Eramis declared, then punched the Servitor, shattering it. She turned back to the Eliksni as they stirred restlessly. "This power is a gift! One I will share with all of you, in time! Phylaks!"
An Archon walked out of a tunnel underneath where Eramis stood on the raised platform, heading for a massive, black prism floating in front of the gathered Eliksni, above a round, raised platform like a stage. As he approached, the prism shone gold and began to break apart.
"One by one, we will rise again!" Eramis said.
As the prism reassembled itself, a single, glowing, blue shard floated down to Phylaks, who clutched it tightly and shoved it into the armor on his left upper arm. His arms began to shine with Stasis Energy, and he slammed his fists into the ground, six massive ice pillars bursting up around him.
"This is our future!" Eramis shouted as the Eliksni began to cheer. "Our enemies stand no chance against this power! The Great Machine will finally know our pain!"
Just then, an Eliksni tapped Eramis and pointed up at Hunter and the Hero. Eramis looked up at them and narrowed her eyes.
"It would appear our enemies have appeared, eager to test us," Eramis said lowly. "Let's not keep them waiting."
Hunter sighed. "Time to go."
The Hero nodded, and they both turned, heading for the exit at a sprint.
"Oh no!" Spark said. "I can feel it! It's too powerful!"
"Eramis has begun spreading Stasis to her army," Variks said. "You must get out, now!"
"I'm calling our ship!" Spark said. "Let's go! Don't stop! Keep moving!"
They reached the larger room they'd passed through with the Stasis barrier, but the exit was sealed. Eliksni were waiting to ambush them, but between the two Guardians, they began to make very short work of the scattered Dregs and Vandals. However, just as Hunter killed the last, Phylaks emerged from the door that was sealed on the way in, Stasis crystals covering his arms. He slammed them into the ground, and a trail of ice crystals began to race across the floor at him and the Hero. Both dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the crystals just as the barrier blocking their escape faded. Hunter formed a Golden Gun, deciding to test Stasis, and fired six shots. However, as he did, Stasis crystals encased Phylaks' chest and head, blocking the shots and completely negating the damage that should have been done. Hunter swore, sprinting out of the door after the Hero, who had failed to wait and see if Hunter won. he sprinted down the stairs and back out to the bridge, arriving just as the Hero finished off the Eliksni outside.
"So, let me guess," the Hero said. "Variks was right and our Light powers are useless against them?"
"Yeah," Hunter said.
"Ready to start trusting Variks now?" the Hero asked.
"I'd sooner kiss Eramis," Hunter growled, warping to his ship.
"We need to find a way to stop them," Spark said. "They actually have Darkness. This is really bad."
"It's just the beginning," Hunter said. "So far, it's only two. Wait until there's an army of them."
"I don't even want to think about it," Spark said, then paused. "I'm getting a message from Drifter. He's on Europa. He wants to meet. He says he has somethhing important to show you."
Hunter nodded, flying toward the coordinates immediately.
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