Act IV - Sorrow and Acceptance
Chapter 6 - Vault of Glass: The Time Is Now
[Vault of Glass, Glass Throne, WARNING: Darkness Zone]
We finally stepped inside the Vault of Glass, like the namesake, in the back were massive columns of white, transparent glass erected into a triangle Arc, shining with a strange, radiant light to bounce off the room's interior. Down from the stairs and other walls and pillars stood two branching pathways to the left and right, leading up to portals, while the paths snaked around and toward us through a series of walls, barriers, and pillars, two of which housed the frame of a Vex conflux pad.
There was a central platform potioned between both portals, a chasm surrounding it, but it gave a clear shot of the Vault's Arc. Obstructing our view was a strange Hydra with a collection of unique Hobgoblins on the multitude of elevated points around the room. These Hobgoblins had silver-white frames and angular headgear, their inner machinery was now a beautiful gold.
~Facinating, these Vex predate anything recorded in... well, any history! They might be the ancestors to the Vex we've seen today~ Ghost was enthralled by the idea of Vex from different times converging here, but given the nature of the Vault, this doesn't really surprise me anymore, these Vex were still breakable. You done fawning over the Vex? ~Hmph, still, that Hydra, a Gatekeeper, and these Precursors should be taken out before we mess with their teleport gates~
~So, as the recordings said...~ Skoll countered frankly, but it was good to know, encase these Vex were something unusual since they predate normal Vex
"Whatever the case, take the Precursors down first, they'll be a problem for later otherwise," I motioned for Vlad and Sparrow to go left, while, Harrow and Morbin tailed me, our two groups separating to take on the Vex. With my fist high, my body's temperature soared with my hammer materializing in a flash. "Hyah!"
One hammer slammed into two Precursors, throwing a wave of scrap down from a wall, with my fist carving through the head of another, using this to wedge my hammer's claw into its core and tear it in half with ease. Morbin's Hammerhead boomed upon the free ledge above me, myself gliding up with Harrow to the right teleport gate, Vex falling one-by-one as the Gatekeeper locked with us, my hammer already sailing past it and into two more Precursors, a fountain of flames combined with a sunspot leaving carnage in the wake of two more Hobgoblins, these so-called 'Precursors' certainly were outdated.
Several Void masses slammed into us and the gateway, but with a machine gun disrupting its focus, combined with a powerful Scout Rifle and a final Hammer of Sol, the Gatekeeper's defenseless form was reduced to a collection of scrap and fire, with Vlad's CLG sending the last of the Precursors plummeting to the abyss below. While an easy clearing, if the past challenges have taught me anything it was that this was only the start of something bad.
"The Vex are cleared, but I have an idea for the gateways," The four of them regrouped on me, my hand pointed in the direction of the right portal. "Since Morbin would struggle to defend two portals at the same time-"
"I find that very insulting-" I jabbed his side
"I BELIEVE that if we do one portal each, then three people defending one conflux shouldn't be a struggle," I then turned to the three main paths leading to the brass ring, pointing to several points the Vex would converge from. "With all three pathways secured we can have both portals done in just over the time it would take us to complete both at the same time, but with a far larger margin for error."
Vlad spoke first. "This might be the same reason Summer's team failed, they divided their forces, and they never had this information as we do now, if not for them, we'd probably fall under the same fate," Vlad's additional answer made the others unanimously agree. "I and Ceres will take this portal first as planned then."
"I have no complaints." Harrow shook his head, Sparrow giving us a thumbs up
This made my smile return, though no one could see it. "Okay then, let's do this!" With or game-plan set, the three of them jumped down onto the ring, a strange boot-up sound emanating from the ring with the faint glint of code starting to form, alongside the sparks and dark clouds swirling in the area around us. "Here they come..."
With a wave of static, white filled the vacant spot inside the frame, a rush of moist air and the faint smell of flora lingering inside. Both of us nodded once, stepping inside together with a sudden, blinding light. Gone was the gloomy abyss of the Vault and now the damp familiarity of a tileset representing Venus greeted us with bright greens, two trees creating a ragged, mossy roof over our heads. Vex steel and stone stood as the foundations of many upper levels and staircases, while... older Vex, similar to the Sol Divisive of the Black Garden, the Gatekeeper was another Hydra without a shield, while the Goblins were black and brown and had a ring-shaped head.
"The opposite of the Precursors then, God knows how old they are," My analysis aside, the small area looked like a miniature version of the Glass Throne, only ancient, the Gatekeeper making its way down from the larger flight of stairs and toward the central plains where red lasers pinned us behind two pillars, so I switched to Hard Luck, using the smaller weapon to maneuver around the corner, firing a single shot through a Goblin's head. "Okay... how did Zane make this look easy?"
"You've never used a Hand- Nevermind, just use both hands to steady your aim." Vlad advised me, himself floating out from his spot to raise his black sidearm, marked with white Omolon cartridges under the barrel, the Vanguard symbol faint under the black coat
He shot almost constantly, sending bolts of lightning through the Vex, drawing their fire as they struck his Sunbracers and chest, but his arm stayed true, bringing down several Vex in a hail of plasma rounds. I spun out from hiding myself, holding a hand under the handle, with the trigger back another round broke a Goblin's head off, but I recovered from its shot to my calf and this time I struck the core.
Pivoting left and past Vlad's tailcoat, Hard Luck slammed two more rounds through two Hobgoblins, bringing them down with lucky shots to the cores, while Vlad slid down the stairs, throwing a left hook of fire into the remaining Goblins, his sidearm drawn high for three rapid strikes to the last of the Descendants, a fresh wound in his side, but he seemed unfazed by it.
"Get back!" My arm jerked his collar back, a blast of electricity striking where he once was, with Hard Luck replaced by Stranger's Rifle, my auto bursts rattling the Gatekeeper's chassis, giving Vlad the chance to recover and draw his own rifle, the automatic fire distorting the Gatekeeper's sight, while I flanked, sliding under a few blasts sent my way while I aimed for the turrets, pushing up with a catapult of force, my body sailing over the Hydra, my body upside down to fire at its blind spot, my hand reaching up and producing my CLG, sticking it to the eye on my way down
With a blinding nova of fire, we both threw away magazines and quickly replaced them, unloading two entire clips into the Gatekeeper who finally went down with an overdramatic explosion. Now that I could see it, his rifle was modeled after a Golden Age Scar.
"Arminius-D, a very useful weapon, but less gawking, my vision is... strange, and I feel very heavy," Vlad was right, I never realized it but some black markings were starting to infect my vision, it must have been the Aegis. Storming up the stairs, we saw it once more, floating passively between the Arch, without time left to lose I stole the shield and we ran for the portal home, black lines filling my vision more and more to the point I could barely see much at all. "We made it!"
I numb sensation came back to me, and I raised the shield, a downpour of Light cast over us, the sounds of gunfire returning with my sight, while the Aegis remained locked to my bracer. Sighing with a hand to the portal, Vlad dusted himself off, now that was too close. Guess Kabr had some serious failsafe added to this shield huh?
"~TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!~ We could use that thing you call, 'help' right now!" Morbin broke the moment of satisfaction, a flurry of lasers flying past us while we joined them, the group of us backing away from the portal while the one on the left activated. "Time to go!"
Seeing Harrow and Sparrow run through the portal we took center stage at the conflux, me up on the cube while Vlad and Morbin were stationed below, using the block as cover. With the shield still in my grasp, I flew over their heads, slamming a wave of Light through the Descendant Praetorian, throwing it back into its group of Hobgoblins and Goblins, lining them perfectly with the line of bullets from Vlad's Arminius, while another Praetorian of the past head popped off with Judgement, followed by Morbin shoving it between its core and upper torso, shrapnel splitting the insides apart. He flicked it around, a slug propelled through two more Goblins, while I raised an aura shield, blocking a rally of gunfire.
Pressing the offensive I shoved Aegis against two Goblins, my left foot shattering the eye of a Hobgoblin, now in defense, I sliced Aegis through a Goblin core, bending my arm back and punching the stone under us, sending another shockwave through the Vex, parts littering the floor while two shots broke my left pauldron, Aegis covered my retreat, moving to stand with Vlad who took out the two snipers in the far right corner, switching back to his rifle.
Then... nothing. Immediately the Vex all vanished back to wherever they came from without any warning. The sudden, eerie silence was unnerving, to say the least, why did they suddenly vanish? A loud 'swoosh' sound from the portal gave us the answer, but... they only just left, right? Me and Vlad took slightly longer given Morbin's reaction? Time is really confusing.
"Well... that was anticlimactic." Morbin sounded off dejectedly, pushing the remains of a Goblin off the cliff as if he were huffing
"So, we now have both shields, what now?" Vlad raised a good point, me and Sparrow had the shields, and instead of following the guidelines set by Summer we actually managed to pull this off faster, maybe it was down to how powerful we were, or some other adjective we missed, but every criterion was filled, hopefully
~Over there, there's a sacrificial conflux similar to the Templar's Well~ Torus informed us. Hopping from the back to the central platform facing the grand staircase, we gazed cautiously toward the conflux, unable to gain a reading on what might happen next
"Well then, all in favor of using the relics say, 'Aye'?" Harrow spoke for us, stepping closer to the conflux. Being their leader, I did too, offering the shield to the conflux, the machine suddenly resonating with the Aegis
"A-Aye." Messing with temporal tech didn't sound smart, and it certainly wasn't
"Screw it, Aye." Morbin too, followed by Vlad, his rifle at the ready
"Aye." He sounded far more determined than the rest of us, no denying why
"Sí." Sparrow offered it the Aegis of the past, finally resonating with the Aegis of the future. These two points in time were influx with the present
I get now, two points in time converge with the present, then these two act as triangulation to draw out the one in charge, the thing behind all that is the Vault of Glass, the culprit of so many lost lives of forgotten allies. The shields were ripped from our arms, the conflux releasing a foghorn that vibrated in my bones. We stepped back, deciding to stand near the portals or the lip between the ground and chasm. Morbin was with me, while Vlad took the left side, Harrow the right, while Sparrow barreled over my head, landing safely on the central platform.
At the base of the Arc sprouted a small orb of blue light, bolts of lightning burning the ground and conducting off the metal rebar in stone, from there, a ring of code enlarged the sphere, a massive aura of light consuming the area with a black maelstrom encompassing the air above, from within, a large shadow stretched over the rock and reflected millions of times through the glass, like how the Vex exist in countless realities.
Knelt down with its arms fanned out, the largest Gatelord I've seen to date, the head craned our way, an eye fixated on us while the arms retracted, plates slotting together while the body stood tall. The body of the Axis Minotaur was a glassy white and blue, the chest sported a far angular frame with two prongs hiding the joints of its shoulders, with two poking out from its shoulder blades. The arms, and tops of its thighs also had these protrusions of metal, and from how the white mechanics contrasted with the blue plating it was as though we were seeing a skeleton through the skin. The head itself sported three horns, two on the sides and one from the forehead. Held it its right hand was a large Torch Cannon.
There was no going back, no do-overs, our fates rest solely on ourselves now, and against the being either created for or by the Vault of Glass.
Atheon, Time's Conflux
"Keep moving and stay out of range of its feet!" My order passed and Morbin followed me toward the left, all of us aimed for the glowing core or eye of Atheon, with most bullets never making a scratch on his dense, silver chassis
"Finally, I get to see your ugly mug for myself." Vlad growled viciously, sniper casings dropping like flies alongside another magazine from me, the two of us floating high into the air to avoid the repeated bombardment of Arc blasts, from the left, the others did what they could, moving back from Atheon's approach while avoiding his trails of Arc bombs
Refraining from using my Light until we had a better opening, Atheon took this opportunity to turn from left to right, a rapid hail of bolts hammering the open space, one hitting me and Vlad with such intense waves of electricity that I could smell burnt hair from my arms. The two of us recovered and fell back to the entrance, using the walls as cover from the powerful bolts, while Sparrow kept on evading the bolts, distracting Atheon for Harrow and Morbin to use their heavier weapons on his core, the eye facing Sparrow constantly.
"Wait... what's it doing?" Vlad pointed out while reloading. Peering down my scope, I too noticed his left hand, crackling with binds of code, just like... this was very bad!
"He's going to-" My throat snagged on the pull of space itself, my body landing in dust and rock, alongside Vlad. "Ugh... teleport us..."
"Really? What gave it away?" Vlad's sarcasm aside, the two of us now standing in the tileset of Mars, golden sands and Vex stone now coated with thick layers of sand, more of their triangular archways and pillars rotating around a small arena, another portal at the other end. "Harrow, we've been taken to the Desert, cover the gateway!"
~Understood, we'll see to it you are not lost to us~ We both let out a sigh, although that same creeping strokes of darkness begun to snake over my vision. I turned to Vlad, shoving him aside to find Aegis hovering before us. This must be what Shadis meant! Atheon subsequently had a double edge sword using that teleport
"So Shadis pulled through, always like him too," Vlad hummed, pulled me aside while I cleansed us, lasers from Precursors following me while we took cover. A small nod and two CLGs bopped down the stairs, landing next to the Hobgoblins, even if they were tough, I doubt they could survive two grenades to the face, no much of a threat in all honesty
*Ding-Ding-Ding*
Why did I have to think that? Through the scorching heat and dust clouds came a sharp, crimson glow of several Oracles, combined that with more Goblins had my heart beating a few ticks faster. With one more cleanse I slid down the stairs, while Vlad took care of the Oracles, I slammed the shield into one Goblin
Hooked into the Precursor, I rolled my body over the Goblin, tearing metal and Ageis free and slamming it into the ground, sending a wave of Light rippling through the next two. A sudden, sharp burn flared in my forearm, but I ignored it and turned the Hobgoblin's way to fend off the second rail bolt, grabbing Hard Luck and taking its head off with a clean shot, forcing it to recover while I lined up the second shot. It took a stand and I shot it back down.
*Boosh-Ding-Ding-Ding*
"Dammit! I'm out of sniper rounds!" Vlad ran for me, the darkness seeping in while three Oracles remained, seconds were all we had and not enough time for one of us to clear the Oracles hidden behind stone obstructions. I cleansed us, raising Hard Luck above us, wincing at the bright light of the Oracle's gaze
"We can do this, just-!"
*Blam! Blam! Blam!*
Vlad and I hesitated, the twinkling light of the Oracles above us dissipated moments after I said those words, followed by the other two and a Void grenade to another two Hobgoblins approaching from the far right that neither of us even realize they had shown up. A new shadow flew over our heads, slamming a fist through the air, or more specifically, what appeared mere milliseconds facing it.
*Di-Boosh*
"You know, Atheon," The person landed before me, my arm rose to cleanse us mindlessly, including the new Guardian!? "If I'm going to keep reliving this for all eternity you've got to up the stakes a bit, that was just insultingly... predictable?"
'She' was a Titan. Wearing the same armor that had pummeled me back in the Templar's Well, only she was speaking normally, albeit with a synthetic tone, and she wasn't trying to pummel me, that was apparent. Her brass and black armor hugged her curves, while she lowered a handcannon of similar design as my shotgun and Sparrow's sniper, but instead of a bronze coat, the accents were gold with the mechanism built within a white frame, like the Precursor's armor.
"Who... are you?" Muttering toward her, the Titan didn't respond, but her head did tilt to the left, almost like she's never seen a Guardian before. I stood a step back when she took one forward, eyeing us closely. "Umm... hi?"
She stepped back, scoffing with her arms crossed. "Seriously, Atheon? These two look nothing like any of us, last I checked, Shadis didn't wear some decked out Warlock garbs, and Echo hated using rifles - I don't even recognize this one!"
"N-No way... it couldn't be..." Vlad took a step toward her, weapon low while I looked between the two. "...Eva... how... how are you...?"
"Huh?" She was blunt, and I had to keep myself from unhinging my jaw while gears cranked in my head, the only thing I did was cleanse us again, which in turn, startled... Eva, the long-though dead Titan of Fireteam Caelus
"There's just no way! How can a Guardian survive for so long in this place?" I don't know Ghost, I... I don't understand anything that the Vex 'can' do
Eva didn't seem too pleased, either by our aghast or silent responses, shaking her head. "Honestly, just give up you dumb machine... pretending that my friends are still alive won't change anything, so do me a favor and wait for someone else to kill you or just end this already."
Vlad sounded angry at that, or desperate to convince her we were really here, that whatever she's been subjugated too wasn't messing with her, did... Atheon trap her in time? Without any clear warning, combined we me cleansing us again, Vlad gripped her shoulders tightly, her handcannon drawn to his chest while I froze up.
"You... never say 'Friends', you think that doing so will make you sound soft, even though you really do care about everyone, Zane's the complete opposite of you and that's why when you're in public you're harsh but that was to toughen him up," Vlad choked out each word, and that handcannon's aim faltered with each word. "You're a narcissist, but you can be kind in your own way. So cut this lone-wolf act and wake up, because we are real, and I know you know me because I'm the one that made you who you are."
Again, this suffocating silence, not including my cleansing process, no one spoke up, that gun now falling from Eva's grasp as her whole body trembled slightly, a small, pitiful laugh escaping her lips. "...Took you long enough... He did it... he really did it..."
"Eva?" Vlad fell with her, the Titan's legs giving out while her head remained bowed, I would help, but I was afraid more Vex might arrive if we didn't move, but at the same time it seemed it wouldn't be possible right now. "How long has it been since I've seen you like this?"
"...The night of this raid I think... that was... eight months ago? Years? I-I don't... time is all messed up... I-i've been stuck in a loop thanks to the Oracles, me and Freya haven't really been able to tell what's real or not, I... I couldn't even save them... they..." Vlad pulled her closer, patting her back for a moment
"We can work out all this mushy emotional stuff later, right now we need to go before that gate shuts," Vlad didn't sound too convinced, but he knew I was getting weary of how long we've spent here. With a hand, he brought Eva back on her own two feet, handcannon in-toe. "Right, this here is the leader of this second raid, Ceres."
"H-Hi," I waved shyly, the Titan looking me over then to the portal awaiting us
"He really did it, I don't know if I should punch him or kiss him when we're out of this place if we can..." I took the lead, cleansing us again. "I hate that blasted shield."
"I know you might not believe it, for all you know this is just another loop, but..." I raised Aegis proudly, the three of us making our way around to the portal. "Wouldn't you rather roll the dice and see for yourself?"
That made Eva ponder, hand rubbing against her forearm. "...What's with Zane finding all these nice Guardians, what kind of luck is that?"
"The kind that's gotten us this close to taking down Time's Conflux. I'd ask you to sit this out, but I never taught you to back down in a fight." Vlad humored her, and for once, she let out a small chuckle, spinning her gun around, a rather satisfying click of the hammer as she pointed dead ahead of the exit
"I've waited months to put a bullet it that glowing mug of Atheon's, like hell I'd miss my chance now."
"We're back!" My callout brought only Arc bombardment atop us, with my hands throwing Vlad and Eva down onto the pathway while I was thrown down with them, biting my tongue against the painful convulsions
"That was fast," Morbin offered me a hand, Sparrow and Harrow tag-teaming Atheon near the plate, both taking down the remaining... glowing Harpies that... exploded?
"What did we miss? Exploding Harpies?" Vlad muttered, helping Eva up. Morbin shrugged, the four of us hiding behind a wall while Atheon continued to suppress us
"Supplicants, ~BOOM GOES THE INSIDES OF ALL~, yeah, that." Morbin drawled, his finger pointed at Eva who stared back at him in silence. "Who's this? It's not Taka."
"No... this is-" My eye caught the glint surrounding Atheon's arm. "No time, you might be warped soon to the jungle!"
"Wha-" I grabbed Morbin by the collar, pointing to Ageis
"When you get in, someone takes the shield to cleanse yourselves, Oracles will spawn so take them out then leave with the shield, got it?" My frantic explanation was met with the three of them vanishing, leaving me, Vlad, and Eva behind. I sighed, running alongside them for the ring, seeing Supplicants, Goblins, and Praetorians emerge from the walls. "We need to move, now!"
"She seems... stressed?" Eva worded carefully, shooting behind us at the closing trail of Arc ruptures that tailed us
"She's the leader, I'd say it comes with the territory." I can still hear them! Deciding it best to leave that aside, we took our stand on the gateway's ring, the code crackling to life while the flock of Harpies came spinning into view
Dashing toward the suicidal Harpies, I could imagine that if one went off in close proximity then the rest should enact a chain reaction. Praying this wouldn't be how I died, I spun around, closing Aegis to my chest, immediately swinging my arm wide to throw an arc of Light through the leading Supplicant, seeing the Light discharge across their chassis. With the group frozen I drew Hard Luck and shot once, the eye caving in as the Vex ruptured, bringing the others along for the concussive blast of Vex fluid and scrap.
*Pow*
My jaw felt like snapping, a warping Praetorian slapped me back, firing twice to forcibly pin me to a wall, not one to cave I hovered up, a fist slamming into the wall while I drove the prongs of Aegis into the Minotaur's head, twisting around to drag the body backward, tearing the scalp off, with a spin I utilized the Light and prongs as a makeshift blade, severing the torso and legs. Turning back around Aegis caved a Goblin helmet in, followed by two powerful rounds to its chassis, my hand flicking out the empty cartridge, raising the forward-facing shield for cover to reload.
"Duck," Absentmindedly I did, Eva drop-kicked another two Goblins, spinning on the ground to fire two rounds through their cores. Vlad covered our fallback, the gateway flashing three times behind us. "Well, you're not thick like most Titans so that's good."
"I... don't know if that's a compliment." I'll take it as one seeing as she never responded. We regrouped behind a wall facing the central platform, lightning cascading from those blasts illuminated us. "Okay, who has the shield?"
"Got it," Harrow complied, the two radiating off each other. "What now?"
"I was thinking about this, since time is the very basis of Atheon, and its what we used to draw him out, we can use it against him, that's why these shields were in the past and future." I broke down the plan, with Morbin catching on
"You wish to use the same method we utilized to summon him, hit him with a blast of two timelines that it caused a disruption, thereby crippling his defenses." Morbin was right, the rest all nodded in understanding, so without any further delays, our team divided again
"Pincer maneuver!"
"Roger!"
"Got it!"
"Si!"
Me and Harrow bound over the chasm, avoiding a line of blasts that shook the foundations behind us, our Light gathering with the hourglasses, with the pressure prolonging our flight, we released a connected concussion of Light against Atheon, time disrupting his chained bursts of lightning, while we landed in the center, Aegis of the past and future vanishing. I brought out Zenobia D, launching the first of our counterattack alongside Harrow's Unwilling Soul battering against the Mind Core, although blasts still rained from that Torch Hammer, Sparrow's constant maneuverability alongside powerful shots of Vlad's sniper saw to that issue.
Channeling my body full of Light, my body burst into flames, while I catapulted into the air, Torch Cannon lined with my Zenobia, with a simultaneous pull both of us released a rocket of lightning, both colliding in a flash of unstable electricity, but my grin remained, body flying backward, my feet pressed to Harrow's who I launched higher than Atheon, his body brimming with his own surge of blue energy. From his palms flew massive amounts of lightning, his body sailing closer to the Axis Minotaur, seeing the feet carve into stone in vain to hold back the intense outlet of Arc injected into his chassis.
Atheon reeled back, arm thrashing Harrow away, his Torch Hammer spraying an array of blasts to push our offensive back, all while code circulated his arm, crunching Morbin, Vlad, and Harrow from reality, the ring for the desert came online. Bending at the knees I lurched back, avoiding more deadly attacks from Atheon, Vex striking my back a few times while I hid behind the cube, the coding starting to align and stabilize the gateway, Eva's CLG erecting a beam of Void Light to cripple the Vex, while Sparrow sat behind me, using his explosive-tipped rounds in his scout rifle to blow the Vex away.
"Eva, continue to weaken the Axis units for Sparrow to take down; If Atheon catches sight of you fallback and I'll take the lead!" Instructing them both I saw that eye do just that. "Switch!"
"On it!" Eva backpedaled, drawing her handcannon to take the heads off several Hobgoblins, forcing their defenses to rise, leaving the Praetorians without backup. Taking charge I broke through their abdomens with two bursts each, exposing the Mind Core, sliding under one of their legs, fist missing me, I fired three more times with successive hits to the eye and core, taking it down
Pushing up against a Hobgoblin's waist I lurched off, throwing a left hook through the Praetorian's eye, using the leverage to bury my heel in its Core, staining the boot in Vex fluid, my body rolling forward and back to cover, the Hobgoblins torn apart by explosive payloads. Drawing Stanger's Rifle again I continued to damage Atheon from afar, though not without injury from the blast radius of those Torch Hammer rounds.
In a flash of light, Morbin's group returned, his arm bearing Kabr's Aegis, Atheon noticed this, already channeling another force teleport. Without any warning or sign, my world was drenched in sulphuric rain and thick foliage. We were back in the future, and comfortably floating next to me was the Aegis, so I collected it, cleansing Sparrow and Eva who cleared their senses, all of us immediately moving for the adjacent gateway home.
~Descendants inbound!~ Thanks, Ghost
We traversed the left-hand side, our guns raging on against the Hobgoblins and Descendant Praetorian below. Bracing with the left I dove into the group, a shockwave of Light throwing them into Sparrow's line of sight, with a single shot, Pradeyth's Revenge destroyed the four Hobgoblins with a single, sharp 'Ting'. Pivoting, I heard the Oracles chime again, but I was busy deflecting the Praetorian's blasts, exposing his back with Eva whose ghost summoned the same shotgun I acquired from the Templar, the buckshot was strong, tearing apart the spine and core in a single slug.
Almost all the Oracles were surrounding us, and the darkness was starting to creep in. In a new, contrasting glow, Sparrow slammed his palm back on the Golden Gun hammer, in a stream of fireworks his six rapid shots burned through the Vex, our vision cleared again with Aegis, enough so that I spun around, flinging Aegis from my bracer toward the exit, the Oracles appearing a moment later for Aegis to shatter on contact, deflecting the square buckler back into my hands.
Sparrow looked at the last embers from his Golden Gun, then to me, then back to his hand, shoulder slumped. "No es justo." He grumbled and just walked on ahead, taking in the last cleanse as we ran back through the gateway
Flying out into the Glass Throne, my glide threw me off course, my arms bringing Aegis back around to guard against the metal forearm now keeping me aloft, my eyes finally settling on Atheon's, our gazes never once turning away to the combat behind us. This machine knew why we were here, and I know it has the strength to take us all out if we allow it, we may be stronger than Fireteam Caetus but this thing was the observer of this world.
"Grrahh!" Locking my feet to the forearm I wrenched Aegis from the plates, gliding back with a massive boost from Atheon's foot slamming the ground, the Torch Hammer pointed at me, with nowhere to move quick enough, two of bolts from the verticle line struck my body, throwing my momentum off balance as I landed on the center island, static locking my muscles. "A-Ah... I can't move."
"Ceres!" Ghost panicked, that looming shadow made it obvious, a Torch Hammer lined to me despite the constant bombardment from my team, craning my neck to face Atheon, my eyes fixed to the radiating muzzle, this was going to hurt really badly
"Okay, just going to put a lid on that," From behind me, many footsteps touched stone. Harrow and Morbin lifting me to my feet again, while Sparrow gave another thumbs up. "Honestly, you can be as reckless as Summer was, then again, she was a Hunter so its to be expected," To my right, Eva appeared, her body enhanced by the Void. "Still... I've seen them die over-and-over again, so believe me, I'm done seeing people die."
The chain of Torch rounds came crashing down, Eva's arm fanned out, and nothing brought an end to our lives, for once in my time as a Guardian, I could finally see the strength behind a Titan Defender's Void, she had negated every shot, even though the blasts were pushing her down to her knees, her purple dome remained steady.
"Come on you idiots!" Her head snapped my way, and I could physically feel the glare from her visor. "We only get one shot this close to him, its all up to you now!"
"THROW EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT LEFT!" My final commandment tore at my vocal cords, Morbin's Aegis grazing mine
We both let out a warcry, soaring through the circumference of the bubble, turning in unison with the past and future overflowing with golden rays to counteract the suffocating whites and blues. With both Aegis primed in front of us, our body jerked back, producing two massive novas of Light to disrupt Atheon's control over time, his aim thrown off its mark again.
Sparrow took the lead, body refracting the purple sheen onto his own body, the reclusive bow constructed to fire only a single, powerful shadow shot, anchoring Atheon's feet from moving forward, arms straining against the dark matter. My feet touched the edge, hands cupped for Morbin to land against, even with the weight of an Exo and the exhausted in every fiber of my being, I still gave Morbin the lift he needed to join Vlad.
Vlad scorched his own coat with unrivaled flames, the unstable hatred brushing against Morbin's fierce, purple hue. Together, Morbin produced a Void Blast so powerful that it shattered into several smaller orbs, those volatile creations making contact with the six flaming balls thrown from Vlad, consuming Atheon in a powerful amalgamation of Light.
Eva fell to her knees completely, the shield falling as we unloaded everything we had on Atheon, bullets breaking apart the chassis, tearing through wires and weakened points our powers had damaged significantly. Atheon kept up his assault, hitting us a few times but no one dared to stop pulling their triggers. I took a shaky step toward the front, raising high with my right arm, Hard Luck, I had one round left in the chamber, so with a click of the hammer, the cylinder rotated once.
Heh. "What? Didn't see this coming?" The trigger felt heavier, but for once, I held a steady aim for that core, seeing the bullet blink past my vision, striking dead center. Atheon's body jerked back, the Torch Hammer no longer firing
The Mind Core shattered.
Time's Conflux burst into flames, parts burning up a cherry red as bits and pieces fell from the frame, legs finally giving out as the head imploded, falling face-first into the ground with a massive 'thud', parts skipping across the ground, all while our elated cries rang through the vacant Glass Throne. My arm finally lowered, a smile creeping onto my face yet again as Morbin's arm wrapped around my shoulder, the two of us laughing.
"~COMBO BREAKER~!" All of us jumped back onto the open ground again, rummaging through Atheon's remains while I stood before the severed head, teetering on the edge, with a small shove, my foot sent the head spiraling into the darkness below, the very weight of this place just... vanished, but only by a little. Ghost appeared beside me too
"Good work, Ceres, I think... we made their deaths mean something more than 'sorrow' and finished this for them all." Ghost gave me an assuring stare, his voice filled with solemn confidence in our actions, while I looked away from the chasm
"Thank you, Ghost. It's finally over, Zane." My prayer went out to everyone, those that were still alive, and all those lost to the Vault of Glass, because if not for Kabr, his Aegis that could change fate, for Summer's recordings that guided us every step of the way, no one here would be smiling and cheering, we may have lost our lives too
"So," All voices died down, Morbin standing a few feet away from Eva, the two not moving an inch. "I figured out what you meant."
Eva sniggered, a hand to her helmet's forehead. "Geez, you're an idiot, took you long enough, Chrome Dome."
"Well... I'm willing to... umm... how do you say this..." Morbin started to trip over his words, and I resisted the urge to say 'aww' as Eva moved closer, tapping her fist to his chest, head peering up to him
"I know, just try not to get lost in my shadow, okay?" She cooed, while Morbin remained dead silent, though Vlad nudged my side
"These two are just too awkward to outright say it, aren't they?" I too nodded at that
"True, true."
"We can hear you!" Both barked back, making our laughter more universal with the rest
Moving past the two Exos I made my way over to Harrow, Vlad following me with his arms crossed. "I know we just got a lucky break here, but this place is still crawling with Vex, so the luxury of rest will have to wait."
"I agree, while this is certainly a monumental victory for Guardians as a whole, many threats can still conjure the power of the Oracles." Harrow concurred with my worries, with Vlad raising his hand slightly, though Harrow's attention seemed to be elsewhere, his head looking right and left
"We also need to return to the Gorgons' Labyrinth, since Taka is still apart of our memories she must still be alive, but for how long I am unsure, this should take top priority over anything else," My reason exactly, I won't be happy until we find Taka and leave this place, and this Darkness Zone was still present so that meant we were still liable to die here
"Okay!" I turned to everyone, my raised voice grabbing their ears. "We've gotten everything useful and have taken control of this place from the Vex, for how long I'm not sure, but we need to go after Taka."
*Thud-Blam!*
Searing pain burned through my right shoulder, Vlad's body atop mine with his helmet torn apart, a large score through his right eye, while above us, Harrow stood firm, and despite the pain of wanting to scream out, I found no voice other than a chocking, plummeting sensation in my chest. Harrow had taken a hit for us both, a sizable hole through his chest.
"Harrow!" Sparrow cried out
"...h-h-harrow... n-no..." I croaked, Vlad falling off of me, his hand rose to cover his eye, sidearm raised to whatever stood before Harrow, and after Harrow fell to a knee, we saw... "No!"
My eyes must have been playing me for a fool, terror froze my blood and stopped my heart from beating so fast, standing with a rifle in-hand was... Kabr's armor!? But... I... I killed it, how, how is it here!? It was completely unscathed, and ensnaring the body was a blackish-red smog. Raising his left hand... was the crushed form of Harrow's ghost, the Light never even escaped this... thing's claws
*Blam-Blam-Blam-Blam*
Desperately, Vlad shot every bullet left in his sidearm, each round did nothing but bounce of this... copy of Kabr's armor, it didn't say a word, made no effort to kill any of us, simply walk right up the stairs leading to the Glass Throne, hand tossing the crushed ghost shell away without so much as a glance toward us, instead, it clicked its fingers, and dozens of storm clouds rolled in around us.
"Harrow! Harrow!" I beckoned him to stay awake, his chest still rising a little as I and Sparrow did what we could to try and stop the bleeding, the rage-filled bellow from Eva came before her handcannon fired alongside Morbin's Judgement, the two trying everything to stop the entity from leaving, but nothing phased it. "Stay awake, Ghost, help Torus!"
"O-On it," Ghost hesitated, his Light and Torus' merging to try and repair the damage and clot the bleeding. "C-Ceres, that thing, it's signature... its the same one that killed the fireteam in the Archive."
"No way... then why, why do this... why not..." A hand pressed to my palm, seeing Harrow's helmet face us completely with shallow breaths
"No need to blame yourself, Ceres, this was all me," Harrow's voice was faint, yet the two of us heard it through the gunfire and shouting. "I-if I had acted sooner, maybe it wouldn't have taken Wyoming from me... I could have... done more, but this... is enough for me..."
"Do not talk, my friend, w-we can see you through this, no time to talk." Sparrow shook his head frantically, yet Harrow's soft chuckle brought a cough with it, blood leaking from his helmet
"I leave the safety of our friends in your capable hands... my friend," Harrow couldn't die, I promised, even if I'm crying and can't see straight, I had to do something. "You need not cry, Ceres... do not waste tears on guilt, save them for... times of joy... bliss... and sadness for others, never for the guilt that is never yours."
"Please don't die!" We were Guardians. But even that didn't make us immortal
Harrow's breathing slowed, and his head turned toward the light glimmering from the Glass Throne, hand reaching up to the light, or perhaps a light we couldn't see ourselves. "I can hear her voice... like an... Echo..."
He stopped breathing.
His chest ceased rising, hand falling with Sparrow's head bowed, a hand on my shoulder as I bent down, crying into my hands as many robotic feet clanked around us, but I didn't care, I... failed, all this and for what? A victory is never without sacrifice, and... I never paid it, someone else did for me.
"I'm already low on ammo, this is very bad," Morbin grumbled, moving toward us with Eva, and Vlad, their weapons raised while Eva tisked
"I didn't just come this far to die down here, especially not after someone risked their second life for us!" Eva's so-called egocentric nature wasn't there, only a bitter vengeance, while I felt the same and still lacked the ability to move a finger, I had no right to try
"We can beat them, just going to take some elbow grease." Vlad spat, grabbing his rifle and raising it ahead of me, Sparrow grabbing ahold of Harrow's auto rifle, drawing it with Vlad's. "Get up, Ceres, we're not done yet!"
"..."
"Don't, not right now." Sparrow warned him in a low voice, slotting a new magazine into the well, Ghost vanished alongside the other ghosts, but I made no effort to say or think anything toward him, I just... couldn't. The footsteps cornered us in, red glares all around us with Vex of the past, present, and future lining up with weapons trained on us
One Goblin had its sights on me, my head lifting to view it, but my hand could barely lift my rifle, let alone... Hard Luck. I ground my teeth at the pressure my fingers had against it, Zane offered it to me for luck, even at the worst of times, it was true, the number of times he's shown incredible luck in the face of death may have just been down to that, no skill or ability could make up for that. Slowly, my hand coiled around the handle, prying it from the strap, while it was heavy, and my grip shook under the strain, I continued to lift it, there were no bullets left, but I won't let them step anywhere near anyone again!
I pulled the hammer back, nothing loaded into the chamber, but my finger pressed to the trigger, the first shot fired would send the room into a frenzy of bullets and lasers. Holding it toward the Mind Core, I pulled back, hoping, praying my anguish and hatred would do anything to change this unfair outcome, I was childish but didn't care, none of us deserved this!
*Blam*
The Hobgoblin's core imploded, staining stone while it fell, I blinked, I did pull the trigger but... there wasn't any-
"You did well; Keeping him safe," That voice! My head craned back, seeing the black cloak with red symbols down the torn fabric sway in the breeze. Held high above my head was the black and white handcannon with an Ace of Spades adoring the chamber. "Ahem, cue your Ex-Machina... now."
*Blam-Blam-Blam*
Cayde sent several more shots through the Vex, the powerful payload throwing group off their small pedestals while other warped backward to avoid being in the crossfire, but their own offense was cut short by more gunfire raining from above, blowing their armored hides apart alongside Cayde. A shadow flew in from above, landing two well-placed shots through a Praetorian, bringing it down.
The figure wore metal boots with padded shins that had small prongs sticking out from the metal, with jumpsuit-like pants with the design continuing to the chest, adding plate-armor for his chest while padding his stomach and sides tightly, a tarnished, blood-stained white scarf coiling around his neck. His arms were like the legs, armored with small prongs on the corners of the pauldron, last was the helmet to cover his face, the visor gave the appearance of a Fallen in black and light blue armor. Swaying in the air was a thick wolf pelt, the sharp hooks holding it against the shoulders.
Resting in his right hand was a shiny handcannon, though I couldn't make it out from the light of the Vault, he stepped down past Cayde, head looking down at me, then to the small army of Vex. While reloading, I refused to blink, finding it hard as my tears lingered at the corners of my eyes.
"...No way...!" Eva gaped
"...Summer...?" Vlad was wrong, indicated by the shake of the person's head, while he flexed his left hand to pop the air bubbles
"Everyone here alright?" Cayde asked us quickly. But the Hunter; One look at the black and green sword held firmly now in his left hand had my heartbeat rise again, though a part of my gaze drifted to the lifeless form of Harrow. "Rookie, you good?"
"No," Zane's voice was low, filled with so much fury it could very easily cut steel. Drawing his strange handcannon forward, the hammer snapped back. "Now I'm pissed."
To Be Continued...
The big end for the Vault of Glass raid, and I am a heartless [BEEP], next time we get the grand escape from the Vault, finally moving on past this hellhole, also, Zane and Cayde are here! I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Prologue to Acceptance
With Zane and Cayde here to rescue the injured and guilt-ridden Guardians from the Vault, the group must make their escape, so long as they can get past a relic from the past. But can Zane finally gain the closure he needs? And what of the guilt festering in Ceres? Will she go through the pain Zane's felt for so long?
