I do not own Destiny or any of its characters.
S.O.S.
Hunter smiled as Ana hugged him, her newly upgraded rifle across her back and her newly upgraded dogs running around her, barking. Each dog now had weapons inside their bodies; one able to extend a chain gun Hunter had found forever ago from its mouth, another able to fire rockets from ita back, and the last having a Trace Rifle in its mouth and a Fusion Rifle in its back. All three had SIVA upgrades for their weapons to have infinite ammunition. Ana looked happier than he'd seen her for a long time, so he couldn't help but smile.
"Careful you don't accidentally court her," Elsie said.
"I'm not going to," Hunter peomised. "I'm all yours."
Elsie smiled, nodding, and kissed him, both having simply kept lips formed so that they didn't have to form artificial skin every few seconds to be able to kiss each other. After a moment, they pulled away as the Hero walked over to them.
"I'm ready," the Hero said, a huge Linear Fusion Rifle on his back, his Submachine Gun in-hand, and a shotgun beside the Linear Fusion Rifle.
Hunter nodded, pushing off of the railing he and Elsie were leaning against, only to stop as Saint-14 jogged over, slowing to a stop.
"I need your help," he said, facing Hunter.
"It'll have to wait," Hunter said. "I'm already late to keep a promise. I don't have time for anything else."
"Please," Saint said. "You must help me."
Hunter groaned. "It had better be life and death, Saint."
"Osiris is in a Hive Brood, Ghostless, and used an emergency frequency to ask for you by name," Saint said.
Hunter stared at him. "So life and death then. Fine. Send me the location. I'll leave now."
Saint nodded, and Hunter warped to his ship, Elsie following instantly. As they left the city, Hunter could tell something was bothering Elsie.
"What is it?" he asked.
Elsie shook her head. "Just thinking about fighting the Ahamkara. It won't be easy. Ahamkara are extremwly hard to kill."
"I know," Hunter nodded. "But I swore to Petra to find help to kill it, and I intend to keep that promise."
"Petra?" Elsie asked.
"Petra Venj," Hunter clarified as they reached the moon. "I'll tell you after we pull Osiris' ass out of the fire." He paused, glaring at the moon through the ship's window before sighing. "I fucking hate Hive." He leaned back in his seat, and Elsie took his hand.
"It'll be alright," Elsie said. "I promise."
Hunter nodded, and they left the ship before stopping, looking back up at it, admiring itx new paintjob. Hunter couldn't help wanting to. The ship, a unique one they'd customized themselves before the Vex assault, had a pair of triangular engines to either size of the sleek body, the two outside corners of the engines extending backward past the restangular thrusters as stabilizer fins, a pair of stabilizer thrusters on the back of the main body of the ship to either side of the body's rectangular thruster, a pair of long, triangular tubes on the underside of the main body that fired explosive tracking lasers like rockets, a pair of three-barrelled heavy cannons, and a long rail extending from the nose that was the front end of a railgun that fired energy shots like a massive Linear Fusion Rifle. All of the weapons had been upgraded with SIVA since taking it out of the Deep Stone Crypt so that they had an infinite ammo supply, and the ship had been repainted with a shader called Blueshift Dreams so that the highlights along the tops of the engines and the emblem of the Crypt on the top of the body were white and the rest was a dark blue shat shimmered as light hit it. He loved the ship.
"Let's get this over with," Hunter sighed.
Elsie nodded, and they headed for the Hive Cluster Osiris was trying to take down alone.
"I'm worried about Osiris," Spark said. "With Sagira gone...he's..."
"Don't worry about me, but keep your voice down," Osiris whispered suddenly. "I'm using an external comm. I thought I was hunting Sagira's killer, the High Celebrant, but now I think he's hunting me. Meet me in the Hall of Wisdom."
"He cut the transmission," Spark said, just as they reached the Hive Cluster's temple-like structure, Hunter and Elsie easily slaughtering their way inside using their Pulse Rifles. "We have to hurry."
"Your friend's in a lot of danger," a new voice said suddenly.
"Who are you?" Spark asked.
"A concerned Ghost," the voice said. "Osiris shouldn't be here, especially in his condition."
"We appreciate the warning, but we know what we're doing," Spark said. "If you and your Guardian are here to help..."
"My...Guardian," the other Ghost said. "Right."
Hunter frowned as they entered a large, open chamber and began to slaughter the Hive inside. Something was off about the other Ghost.
"Osiris, can you hear us?" Spark asked softly.
"Yes, I can hear you!" Osiris shouted over gunfire and Hive roars. "I'm luring the High Celebrant to the Shrine of Oryx!" He paused. "They're-damn! It erected a barrier! I think it knows you're here! It's trying to keep us separated!"
"We'll deal with it," Hunter said, hurling a flaming knife into a Wizard's Solar shield, overloading it and making the Wizard explode and kill a group of Acolytes.
"Be careful!" Osiris said. "This may not be the Pit of Heresy, but-"
"Trust me," Hunter growled, shooting a pair od Knights, then several Thralls. "I'm the last person you need to warn to be careful of Hive."
They stepped into a large room with a pit filling the center of the floor and the far side of the floor raised and stopped, staring at a Hive Knight the same size as the one from the Pit of Heresy. Hunter gripped his rifle tightly and glared at it.
"The big one's the High Celebrsnt, right?" Hunter asked.
"Yes," Osiris confirmed.
The knight roared, raising a hand and forming multiple green seals on the ground, each of which summoned a small group of Hive, then vanished. Hunter and Elsie rapidly slaughtered the Hive around them, then turned to the door with a barrier filling it just as it faded.
"Osiris, it's heading your way!" Spark warned as Hunter and Elsie sprinted through the door after it, ignoring some kind of odd machine driven into the ground.
"Good," Osiris said darkly. "I've retreated deeper into the shrine. I think this may have been a trap."
"Thst's what you get for underestimating the Hive," Hunter growled. "There's a reason they drove us off of half the Earth and stole the moon, even against Guardians."
"You're right," Osiris agreed. "Thst tower you passed on the way in, it's a Hive cryptolith. It's a conduit of Darkness. One of many. The High Celebrant is using it to deploy soldiers across dimensions and...and tempt others to Xivu Arath's side."
Just then, they spotted the High Celebrant, only for it to teleport away instantly.
"If I don't make it out of this, I want you to tell Saint-" Osiris began.
"Tell him yourself," Hunter interrupted. "You're not dying today."
He jumped off the ledge he was on and hurled a fan of Proximity Mine Knives into the Hive on the lower walkway while Elsie fired rapidly into an Ogre's head, along with the small portal her rifle could form. The aogre collapsed just as Hunter blasted a pair of Knights using the Ace of Spades to make an Acolyte between them explode. They continued through the hallway quickly, and came to a section with four sets of halfwalls, one per side, where the High Celebrant was on the far side. It roared, summoning more Hive, then warped away again.
"Guardian!" the unknown Ghost shouted. "Picking up multiple Hive signatures heading Osiris' way! We're closing in but facing heavy resistance!"
"Chill out," Hunter said as he and Elsie slaughtered their way down the hall at a sprint. "We can handle it."
He hurled a knife into the last Acolyte's head just before he and Elsie stepped through a Taken portal into the true Shrine of Oryx, a fragment of the Ascendant Plane, Hunter was pretty sure. The High Celebrant appeared on the next chunk of floating ground instantly, then warped to the next, then the next each time they leapt to his. Hunter snarled angrily. He hated running blindly into Hive traps on purpose. Finally, at a chunk with a stone arch, he summoned several Hive Knights and Acolytes before vanishing. Hunter instantly hurled a fan of Solar-charged Proximity Mine Knives into the Hive, the extra-large explosions slaughtered the Hive, and another portal formed. They both ran through instantly, and into a room with a bridge ahead of them, Osiris at the top of it.
"You're here!" Osiris greeted them, raising a hand. "Finally. Is it done? I'll come down to-"
A glowing green Knight backhanded him just aa he began to turn around, knocking him onto the bridge and his rifle off of it. Hunter and Elsie's rifles both snapped up, only for a very large sword with a tanto point to impale the Knight from behind. Its body burned away, and the Guardian holding the sword walked forward into the light. His arms were covered by steel scales, and he wore a tattered brown cloak with Spider's symbol on the chest. However, as the Guardian stepped into the light, fury, incredulity, and hatred exploded through Hunter. There, atop the wall, stood Uldren Sov, alive again thanks to the Ghost hovering beside his head.
"We warned you it was going to be dangerous down here," the Ghost said. "Especially for the Ghostless." It paused, notocing Hunter's expression. "I'm...I'm glad to see we're all okay, though. I'm Glint, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Osiris raised a hand awkwardly, still lying on the ground.
"Go on," Glint urged Uldren. "Introduce yourself."
Uldren nodded. "They call me...the Crow. My boss wants to see you."
"Hunter, you need to stay calm," Spark warned him as Hunter's finger traced the curve of his trigger. "It's not him anymore. He doesn't remember anything."
Hunter narrowed his eyes dangerously before putting his rifle away and leaping up next to Osiris, gripping his Hand Cannon tightly. However, before rage could make him draw, Elsie caught his arm.
"You need to calm down," she breathed, barely loud enough for him to hear. "The Crow must be an ally later."
Hunter took a long, slow breath, then turned, holding his hand out to help Osiris up instead. Osiris accepted the hand and stepped in between the two of them, facing Hunter and keeping his voice low.
"Are you going to be alright?" Osiris whispered.
"I'll be fine," Hunter growled lowly. "I'm not so sure about him. For now, I'll go see what Spider wants. Then we'll see."
Osiris nodded, and they all headed back up to the surface, then took their ship to the Tangled shor to Spider's hideout, Osiris heading for the tower. As he saw Hunter and Elsie enter, Spider reclined in his throne, clasping his hands.
"What's this?" Spider asked as Uldren appeared off to the side. "Thought I told you to bring the Warlock Osiris. Explain yourself."
"Osiris...lost his Ghost," Uldren explained. "He's gone back to the Tower to recover."
"You Lightmongers never cease to amaze me," Spider growled. "You deal violence so easily, and suffer loss so poorly. Such fragile killers."
Hunter's hand twitched toward the Ace of Spades as Cayde flashed into his head.
"I say nothing against your late mentor," Spider assured him. "Well, I can find a use for you. You want to avenge Sagira and kill the High Celebrsnt for Osiris, and I know how accomplished you are at exacting revenge." He chuckled. "But I will only help you, not your...well endowed friend."
"You're offering to help because you want our help," Hunter said. "Say what you need to, and do it quickly. I have more important things to do than entertain you, or play with your...pet."
Spider hummed, watching Hunter shoot Uldren a venomous glare. "Very well. Xivu Arath is using her High Celebrant and those damned cryprolyths to corrupt Eliksni. Cabal, too, but I'm losing soldiers and glimmer by the Skiff-load."
Hunter's eyes narrowed.
"That's right," Spider said, reclining again. "I know what Osiris was doing on the Moon. I also know you'll fare far better given the, ah, proper motivation. Leave us, Crow." He waved a hand dismissively. "The Guardian and I have terms to discuss."
Uldren turned and walked away, warping out of the room after a few steps.
"My little bird sure is something, isn't he?" Spider asked. "I have to imagine you share in my appreciation of Fate's cuel sense of humor."
"The only thing I'd appreciate is putting that bastard back in the ground where he belongs," Hunter said. "And for you to get to the point. As I said, I have more pressing matters to attend to than you or your bird, or some corrupted Fallen."
"He has no memory of the prince he was," Spider said, ignoring Hunter's not-so-subtle order to get to the point. "Now, I could have sent him to the Tower, but your reaction is a perfect example of what awaits him there. So, I took him in. As a kindness. As far as his loyalty is concerned, I took a few precautions and...made a few modifications to his Ghost's shell. Now, if he ever flies too far from the nest...boom."
"I'm not telling you to get to the point again, Spider," Hunter warned. "I don't care about your Crow. I don't care about his Ghost. Get to the point or I walk."
"Very well," Spider nodded. "I need you to work with my little bird to stop the Hive infestation. You do what you do best, and I'll lend you the resources you need to get it done. And maybe a little something on the side, hm? Just don't mention the name Uldren Sov. For his sake."
"No deal," Hunter said, turning away. "You have nothing I want, and this deal only benefits you."
"Then, how about information?" Spider asked. "Maybe something like, oh, I don't know, where a certain Scorn Barron is about to be revived?"
Hunter stopped, then turned slowly. "The Fanatic?"
"That's right," Spider nodded. "Scorn have been multiplying, and several of my soldiers have heard his voice and found his staff floating in the air with power gathering in it. There's also the issue of the Prison of Fallen Elders. The former Warden's Servitor has been running it, but recently has...run into some issues. Apparently the prison has fallen into chaos once ahain, and who knows who will escape this time."
"I'll deal with both of those," Hunter said, then curled his hands into fists. "I have something I need to do, then I'll deal with the prison, then the Fanatic, then your Hive problem."
"Deal," Spider nodded. "I'll send you the location once I hear that the prison is under control again."
Hunter nodded, turning and walking out of the hideout with Elsie. They warped to their ship and Hunter sent the Hero of the Red War a message to meet them at the Dreaming City for their Ahamkara hunt.
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