I do not own Destiny or any of its characters.
A.N.: Still taking votes for the D1 Guardian's race and class.
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Hunter frowned as he slowed to a stop beside Elsie, who was pacing agitatedly. He could tell something was wrong even without hearing her tone as she muttered to herself.
"What's is it?" Hunter asked.
Elsie stopped, glancing at him, and winced. "The Glassway, the portal my father created to harvest Vex Radiolaria, Eramis plans to open it."
A pit formed in Hunter's stomach at the name, alarm sirens shrieking in his head. Even without asking, he knew what part of the situation Elsie was most worried about.
"It's where I died, isn't it?" Hunter asked. "The Glassway is where I fought the Vex while you fled."
Elsie nodded. "The Hero of the Red War is on his way, so he can probably handle it."
"No," Hunter said. "I've let him deal with Eramis and her council long enough. I'm nearly finished training in Stasis, but it can wait until after we stop Eramis from opening the portal. Where do I go?"
Elsie hesitated before reaching down to the Pulse Rifle beside her and picked it 7p, Hunter noticing that the reason it seemed oddly-shaped was because the end of it where the barrel should be was, instead, fitted with some kind of blue crystal, which didn't look like Stasis.
"I'm going with you," Elsie decided. "I let you fight the Vex there without me once, and I lost you. I won't let it happen again."
Hunter nodded and climbed onto his Sparrow, Elsie climbing on just behind him. Then, Hunter swung it around and sped off, following Elsie's directions.
"Hunter!" Zavala's voice said over his communicator. "You and I have a lot to discuss! Ignoring the Vanguard, acting on your own, using Darkness! But that's not important right now. I'm sending more Guardians to help you at the Glassway. From what I understand, there is an army of Vex on the other side, and I refuse to allow Europa to fall!"
"Understood," Hunter said. "Don't hold your breath for that chat."
Zavala disconnected, and Elsie leaned to the side slightly to look at him.
"You're not talking to Zavala?" Elsie asked.
"The Vanguard and I...had a falling out," Hunter said. "Story for another time."
Elsie nodded just as a group of four Guardians appeared around them on Sparrows, all of them racing alongside them. Finally, they entered an ice tunnel and skidded to a stop at a ten foot metal wall. Everyone dismounted and Hunter and Elsie led the others into the tower, only to find the Hero of the Red War sprinting away from a group of dead Fallen up ahead. Hunter rolled his eyes, sprinting after him, once Elsie had confirmed he was heading the right way, and caught up to him as he was finishing off an Archon blocking their path.
Through the whole run, Variks and Eramis had been talking back and forth in Hunter's ear, Variks pleading with Eramis to stop and Eramis refusing, but Hunter had been ignoring most of what they said.
"Was it not Variks who tortured and murdered Eliksni in the Prison of Elders?" Eramis asked.
"Variks is-" Variks began.
"A hypocrite?" Eramis interrupted. "Yes. At least here they die fir a cause."
"Well said, Eramis," Hunter said. "Your cause is on the wrong side of the Light and Dark war, but at least you and me can agree about Variks."
"Oh?" Eramis asked. "How interesting. At least one of you Lightbearers is able to see the truth, if only a part. When I inevitably kill you, it'll almost be a shame."
"And when I kill you, I'll find an organic to piss on your remains for me," Hunter countered.
Eramis snarled angrily and went silent. Hunter pulled ahead of everyone else as they reached a massive crevasse with narrow chunks of ice along the sides for them to travel along, but only single file per side. Hunter led down the right and the Hero down the left. Elsie was immediately behind Hunter with one behind her, and the others were all behind the Hero. As they rounded a corner in the tunnel, they saw a massive group of Fallen, several Servitors, and an Archon waiting. However, before any of the Fallen could fire, the Hero's side all fired a rocket into the group, on the Hero's instruction, three sets of cluster bombs decimating the group. A moment later, the Joker fired, reducing the Archon's head into a jet of escaping Ether. With the path cleared, they all swept through, finishing any Fallen fortunate enough to have been in cover, meaning three Dregs and a Vandal, with knives, clearing what would have been a long battlefield in seconds. Hunter felt the anxiety he'd been suppressing since the Guardians arrived ease slightly. He'd been worried because the last time he worked in a large group, it was the Pit of Heresy, however, things seemed to be going fine this time. At least, for now.
After a moment, they reached a river of Radiolaria and began to jump from one metal platform to the next, heading upstream. They reached an overhead bridge and all jumped up to it, taking a tunnel on the right. On the far side, they found a massive cavern with the floor a hundred feet below and completely flooded by Radiolaria, but with metal towers standing up from it, though leaning at an odd angle, as though the ground itself had all tilted in one direction the same amount. There were scattered groups of Fallen across the tops of the structures, but as everyone split into groups of two, and one group of three, they all sprinted across the tops of the structures, slaughtering the Fallen with ease. Hunter smirked as a Vandal managed to dodge out of the way of his strikes, only for Elsie to appear in time to pass behind it, driving a knife she'd borrowed from Hunter into its head before vanishing again. She was good. She'd promised him he wouldn't need to worry about shooting her, and evidently she was right. Not only that, but what he'd been experiencing was endless bursts of Pulse Rifle fire streaking past him, sometimes seeming to come from two directions at once, and every once in a while, she'd appear to kill something that either he missed or that snuck around behind him. She'd also steal a knife every so often, but only a few so far.
After a few minutes, the pairs all regrouped as they reached a ramp up out of the far side of the room. They reached a platform over a large, uncovered room filled with Radiolaria, but several of the Guardians stepped into a glowing circle and the Radiolaria began to drain. However, as they did, Vandals with sniper rifles began to appear along the walls of the room as Shanks began to flood over the walls, some of them rigged to explode. The Guardians all opened fire, Elsie not bothering with her invisibility but focusing on the Vandal snipers, as was one of the other Guardians with a Scout Rifle. Finally, metal pathways emerged from the Radiolaria, after five minutes of an endless flood of Shanks, and they all jumped down to the pathways, sweeping along them in a wave and slaughtering the Fallen that tried to stall them, even the Archon by the room's exit not lasting longer than it took the Guardians to make it past three quarters of the way through the room.
As they ran up the stairs out of the room and entered a much, much larger room, Hunter's blood ran cold. This was the place. He recognized the steps leading to the portal, the walls of the room shaping the room like a funnel with the door in from the small section, the tunnels running through the walls to his immediate left and right, and the pool of Radiolaria around the pool. The other Guardians all flooded past Hunter, only Elsie stopping, just as Eramis stepped into view only to instantly warp away. Other Fallen swarmed toward them, and the other Guardians slaughtered them. Then, as Hunter managed to drag his mind back to the present and calm himself, a pair of Dregs with Arc Spears leapt at him and Elsie from behind. He spun, hurling a pair of knives into their heads, then took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus.
"It's open," Hunter growled, turning to the portal as a pinprick of light appeared at the center of the portal projector, Hunter's SIVA vibrating in warning about the oncoming battle.
"We're too late," Elsie said.
"Not yet," Hunter growled, pulling out his Rocket Launcher. "We can still shut the portal."
Elsie nodded, readying her Pulse Rifle as the first two Vex appeared. The first was a Hydra about fifty percent bigger than a regular one. The second was a Hydra a hundred feet tall. For a moment, a flash of the memory of his death assaulted Hunter, but what he had seen, blurred by fear and pain though it was, and still outside what he could remember after being revived as a Guardian, this wasn't it. He was sure of it.
"If those two die, the portal will close," Spark said.
"Right," Hunter nodded as more and more Vex began to spill through, everything from Goblins to Minotaurs. "Hero! Elsie and I will focus on the small one! You handle the big one!"
The Hero didn't respond, currently slaughtering his way through the room with his submachine gun, the other Guardians all either slaughtering Vex with a vast array of weapons or firing up at the massive Hydra with Rocket Launchers or Heavy Machine Guns. Hunter took a steadying breath and drew his Hand Cannons, charging into the room with Elsie. Both opened fire on the smaller Vex, killing them quickly and helping beat the tide back to the portal. Then, just as Hunter fired a rocket up at the smaller of the two over-sized Hydras, both vanished, the rocket exploding against the wall harmlessly.
"Where'd they go?" Hunter asked.
"Back through the portal," Spark said.
"Tell me we don't have to go through after them," Hunter said.
"No," Spark said. "They're coming back."
As if on cue, both reappeared, only for a volley of rockets to explode into both of them. Both let out a loud, synthetic roar and opened fire, blasts of Void Energy as big as Hunter was tall exploding into the ground and driving the Guardians all into the small passageways to either side of the room. Hunter sighed, reloading his Rocket Launcher before putting it away, reloading his Hand Cannons as well before holstering them again and drawing his Galliard.
"Vex incoming," Spark warned Hunter, Elsie, and the two Guardians with them.
Then, Vex began to pour in from every direction, the Guardians and Elsie all opening fire. Vex burst into pieces and sprays of Radiolaria rapidly. Hunter hurled a Vortex Grenade at one corner and dropped a Void Wall Grenade so that it filled another passageway with Void Energy flames. One of the Guardians, a Titan, dropped a Thermite Grenade, sending Solar flames racing along a passageway in waves, slaughtering Vex. The other Guardian was also a Hunter, and sent a Shadowshot down one hallway before they all fired at anything coming from that path, then both that one and the one the Titan's grenade had briefly cleared. Once again, the Vex died rapidly, but after a few seconds, the smaller of the two Hydras rounded the corner past the singularity left by Hunter's vortex Grenade. He hurled an Incendiary Grenade to the ground below it instantly, then began to spray the Hydra between its rotating shields, two rockets passing him and slipping between the shields, blasting it. Elsie raised a hand to use Stasis as Hunter was reloading, but he caught his hand, shaking his head. She nodded, raising her rifle again, but just as she fired, he noticed a small, circular blur appear over her shoulder, an identical burst flashing out of it and slamming into the Hydra at the same time as hers. He frowned, but finished reloading and continued firing. His explosive rounds helped stem the tide of Vex around the Hydra as well, the other two Guardians focusing on the other passages with Elsie helping as needed. Finally, the Hydra disappeared again and the tide of Vex slowed to a stop. They all moved instantly, choosing a passageway and slaughtering their way through it. As they reached the main room again, the two Hydras reappeared. However, this time, everyone but Elsie fired their heavy weapons at the smaller of the two Hydras. The shields blocked two rockets, but the rest found their mark, blowing the Hydra into pieces, its upper section falling to the ground and exploding.
Hunter instantly focused, charging his Rocket Launcher with Solar Energy and aimed up at the larger one, counting two seconds for the shields to move out of the way as the Hydra fired at the Hero's group, scattering them, then fired. The shining, golden orange rocket slipped between the shields and exploded against the Hydra's eye, the explosion completely enveloping the Hydra. However, as it faded, the Hydra was still alive. Heavily damaged, but alive. It turned opening fire at Hunter's group as more Vex began to appear around it. The Hero's group reappeared, a Machine Gun began to mow down the smaller Vex as a barrage of rockets slammed into the Hydra. Hunter and Elsie stepped out, Elsie firing at the lesser Vex and Hunter firing up at the Hydra with his Galliard. It roared again, turning and firing at him again, but he began to run, continuing to fire, alternating between the Hydra and the Vex below it. He hurled a Vortex Grenade into the Hydra's side just as a Shadowshot slammed into it. The Hero fired a rocket into its back, getting its attention, and Hunter fired one of his own as Elsie distracted the Vex around the Hydra. Someone stepped out and fired three shots from a Golden Gun into it and Hunter began to charge his own, only to stop, ducking into the passageways as the Hydra began to fire at hi again. He frowned. He hadn't stopped because of the Hydra. Instinct had stopped him, told him to save the Light Energy.
He stepped back out as the Hydra stopped firing at him, and he began to spray with his Galliard again. Finally, the Hero stepped out again, along with every other Guardian except Hunter, all firing a rocket and finally blasted the Hydra apart. The top section fell, and everyone stepped back into cover just before the remains exploded, wiping out the remaining Vex. Hunter sighed, everyone heading for the end of the narrow section to regroup.
"That wasn't so bad," one of the Guardians said as the portal flickered and faded.
"I was expecting worse," another agreed.
"I'm just glad that's all it was," Hunter said, looking to the portal, seeing the pool of Radiolaria had faded.
"We should leave," Elsie said. "The portal's closed now."
"Where'd the Radiolaria go?" Spark asked.
"Eramis," Variks said. "What have you done?"
Hunter walked up the steps with Elsie, the Hero stepping up beside him, only for Hunter and Elsie both to freeze, Hunter feeling his SIVA vibrate, then pulse in a wave of agony, his entire body going cold.
"It's open again!"
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