Chapter 20: The Reef

The chair squeaked as Cayde-6 leaned back and put his boots up on the large conference table in the Vanguard's main office and pulled a data tablet over to read Whisper's latest report. He liked her—her reports were always interesting. Venus, huh? What took you all the way out there? He kept reading. Then he put his boots back down on the floor. That many of the House of Winter?

He set down the report and sat perfectly still, thinking hard. After several long minutes, he sent out a message through the VanNet.

The message was short: Draksis may be on Venus, near the Cinders. Remember your promise.

"That's it? The legends are that an awoken found the Black Garden? Nothing about who, or when, or even what the Black Garden is?"

Blabber twitched uncomfortably as light reflected off his shell from the cascade of colors outside as they hurtled towards the Reef. Well, that's the most useful legend. The others are a little… wilder.

Whisper rolled her eyes. "We're looking for a garden where robots that may eat the universe are born. That's wild enough that I still mostly don't believe it. So, let's hear it."

Well, don't say you didn't ask for it. A long time ago lived a very strange warlock. The legend goes like this.

I am Pujari. These are the visions I have had of the Black Garden.

The Traveler moved across the face of the iron world. It opened the earth and stitched shut the sky. It made life possible. In these things there is always symmetry. Do you understand? This is not the beginning but it is the reason.

The Garden grows in both directions. It grows into tomorrow and yesterday. The red flowers bloom forever.

There are gardeners now. They came into the garden in vessels of bronze and they move through the groves in rivers of thought.

This is the vision I had when I leapt from the Shores of time and let myself sink:

I walked beneath the blossoms. The light came from ahead and the shadows of the flowers were words. They said things but I will not write them here.

At the end of the path grew a flower in the shape of a Ghost. I reached out to pluck it and it cut me with a thorn. I bled and the blood was Light.

The Ghost said to me: You are a dead thing made by a dead power in the shape of the dead. All you will ever do is kill. You do not belong here. This is a place of life.

The Traveler is life, I said. You are a creature of Darkness. You seek to deceive me.

But I looked behind me, down the long slope where the blossoms tumbled in the warm wind and the great trees wept sap like blood or wine, and I felt doubt.

When my Ghost raised me from the sea there was a thorn-cut in my left hand and it has not healed since.

"Well, you were right. That was weird. I follow… some of it. I think. This warlock Pujari went to the Shores of Time… where are those?"

On Venus, near a bunch of sulfur caves.

"So he goes to Venus, throws himself into the Seas of Time, dies, and has this vision of the Black Garden, which is… somewhere. It's filled with Darkness, whatever that is, and doesn't like him because he's dead, and the Darkness is about life? From everything I've heard, the Darkness is about killing everything."

Well, it didn't stop to answer questions before destroying the Golden Age.

"True. Still… when we get back, I'll want to see what else we can learn about the Darkness. Someone has to know something more than just 'Darkness is bad.'"

Just don't lose sight of what we're trying to do.

"Are you sure about this?"

Zavala stared at Cayde-6 across the conference table, surprised. "I thought you, of all people, would be more… enthusiastic."

The exo held up his hands defensively. "I am excited that I won't have to hold back the hunters from wandering wherever they please. But once I turn them loose, I don't want to have to try to haul them back in again. So, are you sure that we're ready to lift the interdiction on Luna?"

Ikora Ray glanced between her two companions and spoke. "It is time, Cayde. We had hoped that if we did not provoke the Hive, they would at least slow their aggression and give us time to recover. Now that we know they are actively trying to destroy the Traveler, we cannot let that stand. If we lose the Traveler, we lose everything. But we won't mount an invasion – Crota only emerged from wherever he hides to fight when we invaded. We can only hope he doesn't return for less than that."

Cayde shrugged. "Hoping for the best doesn't strike me as very warlock-like. Warlocky?"

"Nevertheless," broke in Zavala, "we cannot let this go unchallenged. Letting the guardians poke and prod at the Hive on Luna may distract them from whatever arcane rituals they would try next. And this may prompt some sort of response from Rasputin. He has proven… unresponsive to our efforts to communicate. We still cannot characterize its strategic objectives or capabilities, define its physical or computational architecture, ascertain its disposition with regard to the City, or even be sure if it retains memory of the events before the Collapse. We need more information, and this may be a way to get it by provoking reaction away from the City."

"Alright, alright, don't get all hot and bothered—I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page here. And at least Shaxx will be happy about it."

Zavala grunted. "Don't remind me."

"THIS IS AMAZING!" shouted the Lord Shaxx over the rumble of activity of dozens of redjack frames. "Arcite, prepare your troops! I have three separate sites in mind that will need securing!"

The jumpship dropped back into real space and hummed as the NLS Drive spun down. Outside the viewscreen was an awe-inspiring sight. Whisper had wondered why it was called The Reef; now she knew. Like its ocean-bound equivalent, The Reef was filled with the bones of the dead, upon which sprouted new, strange forms of life. And the dead were many here. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of ships had met their end way out here amidst the asteroid belt, broken up and shattered. Over hundreds of years the larger pieces had pulled on the smaller ones, bringing them closer together into a tight tangle of flotsam, all wreathed in a purple glow of heavy gasses leaking from starships, held close by the gravity of their ships. It was an incredible tangle made of millions and millions of nooks and crannies, asteroids, crumbling derelicts, debris from what looked like dozens of wars. You could go for thousands, maybe millions of kilometers without ever seeing another friendly face, yet never once being able to stretch your legs.

but on at least some of those vessels and rocks there was traces of atmosphere, little flickers of power signals that quickly flickered out whenever she took a closer look, like a sea anemone retracting its tentacles at the first hint of trouble.

They eased their forward cautiously, twisting their way through the constantly shifting debris field. "Where did all of this come from? I thought Exodus Blue and most of the Exodus Project didn't make it off of Earth before the Collapse?"

Every ship that could escape fled Earth during the Collapse, not just the colony ships. They made it this far. I guess they died out here.

"It's a graveyard. How did the awoken survive?"

No one knows. It's said that the awoken were born during the Collapse, descended from those who tried to flee its wrath. Something happened to them out here on the edge of the deep black, and they were forever changed.

"Very mysterious. What about the awoken on Earth? Don't they know anything?"

If they did, they don't anymore. Not even they find much welcome in the Reef.

Power sources flared behind them as two pieces of floating debris turned and came in pursuit, slotting neatly into their rear arc in prime firing position. They were strange craft, with three wings equally spaced around a spherical cockpit with a large forward-mounted cannon, powered by three engines. And they weren't friendly.

:: Intruder bearing one-two-seven. You have crossed into the realm of the awoken. ::

Whisper kept flying straight, making only gentle maneuvers to avoid debris and maintaining a steady speed, not trying to run. For the first time, she wished she had at least one weapon on this thing.

:: State your business or be fired on by order of the Queen. ::

The female voice's hard tone made clear they would not be displeased with option number two. Whisper looked at Blabber for guidance.

Don't look at me – I've never spoken with them. You better say something.

She sighed, then hit the coms. "Uh, we are from Earth. Obviously. We're here to seek the, uh, counsel of the awoken." Ugh, I sound like an idiot.

Silence stretched for a few tense moments before they responded. :: Conform to my trajectory. Any deviation will be taken as an act of aggression. ::

Whisper breathed out slowly as one of the two awoken ships zoomed out in front and took the lead, leaving its partner (and their guns) to follow along watchfully. "Well, it looks like we're in the right place at least."

Blabber spun anxiously. Why is the right place always so terrifying?

"What happened to all your excitement? If I remember, your response to getting back into the field was 'finally'."

I can't protect you from things I don't understand.

"Well, that's what we're out here to do—to understand a little bit more."

Blabber considered this. I guess I can get behind that.

Whisper emitted the electronic equivalent of a snort."That's the enthusiasm I'm looking for."

They followed their guide on what Whisper slowly grew to believe was a deliberately circuitous, confusing route until they found themselves at a large station built from the remains of a Fallen Ketch mated with an asteroid her computer read as Amytis 5560. Beyond it lay an enormous asteroid surrounded by a veritable web of structures and closely tied smaller chunks of rocks. This must be their home. We found it. And it looks like this queen wants any guardian visitors close… but not too close.

The awoken ship escorted them into a hangar which held the void of space at bay with an energy field of some kind. Whisper transmatted out of the ship, careful to keep her hands away from her weapons. The hangar itself held a few other ships like the two she'd seen outside, with a handful of awoken working near them. At her appearance, they quickly scattered, leaving her alone with their frames.

Huh. Even their frames are different. Unlike the frames of the City, these seemed older. Like salvaged wreckage from long-ago eras. Their bodies were golden-covered, with significant amounts of armor all in a deep purple. And where the frames of the City could almost be mistaken for exos, with their quirks of personality and behavior, there was no mistaking these for anything but cold, hard machinery devoid of life.

She tried to keep her focus on the hangar and its contents, but her eyes kept getting pulled back to the incredible view outside the hangar.

That changed abruptly as three awoken marched forward deliberately. "Hand over your weapons. And don't try to hide anything—you will be searched. And when we find hidden weapons on you, the consequences will be extreme."

Whisper looked back and forth between the two awoken, sizing them up. They were not what she expected. To start, all three were women. Between these, the pilot, and whoever this queen was, the awoken seemed to be overwhelming female. In fact, the only male awoken she knew of for sure was Commander Zavala. Next, in stark contrast to the ramshackle, barely holding together appearance of the Reef, these guards were immaculate. They wore sleek black armor designed for maximum flexibility over grey bodysuits that extended up their necks and merged into a helmet design she'd never seen before, covering their entire face and head, save for a thin line around their nose. Even their eyes were concealed.

Over their armor were two larger shoulder plates and crisscrossed belts holding equipment. At their waists were something like a titan's mark, a blue half-skirt that wrapped around their right leg and bore a dark purple banner with a golden fringe and a large golden sigil that looked like a spiked ring around a design of five triangles alternating between pointing down and up. They stood with confident precision and stared right back. Without seeing much of their face, it was hard to gauge their reaction.

Their only visible weapons were in twin holsters at their side, one carrying a lethal-looking knife, and the other sidearm that would be at home in the point-blank range of the twisted confines of the Reef.

Whisper handed over her weapons cautiously. She was in their home, uninvited, so it made sense, but a little corner of her mind was gratefully they couldn't take away the Light. Especially when they blindfolded her. Blabber, for his part, was securely transmatted away in safety, beyond their reach.

She tried to keep track of where they were going as she was frog marched forward, but it was difficult, especially when the PA system came to life with the voice of a male awoken. So there are men here after all.

"Ahem, it has come to my attention that a guardian has arrived. This is a public service announcement for arriving guardians. Please note that the Tower Cryptography operates under many false beliefs. By the Queen's mercy, the Reef Cryptography will educate you on the true nature of encryption, so you do not weary us with your plebian demands. In ancient times, Earthlings thought there were three states of matter. We now know there to be four: solid, liquid, gas and engram. Of these, the engram is the purest state of matter. The role of the Cryptarchy is to encrypt and safeguard civilization's informational infrastructure, not to decrypt anything and everything for any lowdown scavenger who happens upon an engram. That is all."

Well, that was bizarre. But, she realized, it may have been effective. Listening carefully to his words, she'd lost track of which direction they had turned last. Was that deliberate? She didn't have long to consider, as her blindfold was pulled off and she found herself in what seemed to be an antechamber of some sort. A whole contingent of what must be the royal guard searched her once again. She looked irritated when they found nothing. "Tell your machine to show itself." After a moment of hesitation, Blabber emerged from hiding. "Speak only when asked to. Prince Uldren speaks for Queen Mara Sov. Do not address her unless she asks you too."

Whisper nodded solemnly, and after one final glare of warning, their leader jerked her head in grudgingly permission.

A heavy airlock cycled open, followed by a second, and she found herself on a narrow catwalk lined with glowing yellow lights leading towards a round platform. The floor bore a design of circles crossed in half, as if to show two halves of a greater whole. More yellow lights hung from the ceiling, but they were muted enough that they served more to cast shadows then spread illumination. The room itself was quite large and tinged with a purple glow as more forcefields protected them from the cold of deep space. Tangles of wires and haphazard metal beams of ruined starships gave the scene a harsh, even menacing appearance softened only slightly by large hanging banners of red.

They approached the central platform, where steps were covered in red carpet fringed in with gold thread. At the top of the steps stood an awoken man wearing heavy body armor but without a helmet, revealing a grim face and black hair combed to the side. He stood confidently, weight shifted slightly, and hands clasped on his belt buckle. Above him hung a spikey golden object made to look like a crown hovering overhead, which cast the chair wrapped banners behind him in total shadow.

That must be Prince Uldren. The prince spoke softly, his words dripping in barely restrained disdain. "So, these are the trespassers demanding an audience?

We didn't mean to trespass, Blabber said placatingly.

"The Queen herself judges who may or may not enter the realm," snapped Uldren. "Me," he continued in a tone that was sarcastically reasonable as he slowly descended the steps, "I see no reason she should be available for whatever washes up at the Reef. But here we are." He stood menacingly close, yellow eyes glowing as they bored into hers in challenge while his pale blue skin rippled in that strange ghostly way of the awoken in the dim light.

This was not going well. Time to get to the point. "We've come to ask for help."

Before Uldren could reply, two armored Fallen vandals wielding arc spears clambered over the back of the throne.

Fallen! Warned Blabber, and Whisper reacted. She took a half-step back and snatched the sidearm from the guard to her left. She got it half-way up to firing position when Uldren darted forward with startling speed and held a razor-edged knife to her throat. Whisper froze. She had no idea if there was anything actually vital in that part of her body, but she wasn't about to find out, not when it meant having to go throw the prince of the awoken to do it. That would hardly be the best way to start up diplomatic relations.

Which said nothing of the click of the safeties on the weapons of the other two guards behind her.

Whisper and Uldren stared at each other, her white eyes matching his yellow. How far we've come from the human beings we once were.

In the tense standoff of Guardian, awoken, and Fallen emerged a voice from the shadowed throne. It was intriguing, that voice, filled with an almost seductive sense of sensuous other. Whimsically curious, aloof from the threat of the violence all around. "It is afraid of the Fallen. It does not understand these ones are mine."

Behind Uldren the Queen of the awoken, Mara Sov, rose from her throne. She was intoxicating, strange, other enough to make you want to look away, but alluring enough to draw you back in. She stood tall and lithe, eyes glowing with blue mystery in a delicate, beautiful face framed by artfully draped locks of pure white hair cut in an a-line bob, the longest tips at the base of her throat. She wore black vest that looked suspiciously like light body armor over a dark purple body suit with close-fitting black pants that seemed to merge into boots with low, practical heels. She oozed mystery and danger in equal measure.

Mara Sov settled herself back down on her throne, and her two pet Vandals lowered their arc spears. The awoken she's disarmed angrily grabbed her weapon back, ashamed, and Uldren slowly lowered his curved blade.

"Apologies, your grace," he said flatly, turning to give his Queen a gesture of submission somewhere between a bow and curtsy.

The Queen looked at Whisper in silence for a moment, then gave the slightest inclination of her head, an invitation to speak.

Okay, let's try this again. She managed to restrain herself from taking a nervous breath of air, then spoke once more. "I am a guardian from Earth. We met an Exo, erm, a person like me, on Venus. She told us to seek out the Black Garden."

Uldren turned back to her sharply. Touch a nerve, did we?

"That slippery one. What do you want with the Black Garden?"

"We were told that it is the greatest threat to us all, potentially the birthplace of the machines known as the Vex. We seek to destroy the Darkness at its heart. It will help the Traveler."

"Oh, you want to turn it into a battleground." Uldren shook his head despairingly. "How… unimaginative."

"Do you want to help the Traveler?" asked Whisper curiously.

"The others sing the song of Light and Dark. We have transcended such unimaginative limitations."

"Look, do you know where it is, or don't you?"

"Everyone knows where it is," the prince shot back. "The hard part is getting in."

Whisper forced herself to remain patient at his obvious baiting and made herself continue in a reasonable tone. "Can you help us?"

"And why" said Uldren, taking a step closer, "would we," he continued with another step, everything about him threatening violence, "do that?" He ended right in her face.

The airy voice of the Queen cut through the tension like a knife. "The Queen requests counsel with her brother."

Uldren stared at them a moment longer, quivering with rage, before he suppressed all emotion and turned to walk up to the queen and kneel at her feet. Whisper watched, both curious and disturbed at the sudden whiplash of his emotions. Why is he so emotionally invested in the Black Garden?

Brother and sister spoke quietly in the shadowed throne, their eyes glowing in the dark, with Uldren casting the occasional glance over his shoulder at Whisper and Blabber. While the Queen kept her voice too low even for Whisper's sensors to hear, Uldren's slowly increased in volume to where she could pick it out.

"Yes, that's good. That's good…" He rose to his feet and turned to place a foot up on the edge of the raised platform jauntily, again holding his belt and speaking more cheerfully. The sudden shift in tone wasn't reassuring. "Why not? We'll make you a key! How's that? All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord..."

Blabber twitched anxiously. A Gate Lord… Uh, we…

Whisper cut him off before he could get them into more trouble and deflected the request. "Why do you want a Vex head?"

"Oh, we don't," said Uldren with the air of explaining something to a child. With jarring abruptness, he turned harsh once again. "And I doubt we'll get one, either. But," he continued, now with a studied weariness, as he turned once more to stand by the Queen, "it's your only hope of getting into the Black Garden."

Time to get out of here. "We will return."

"Or die on Venus," retorted Uldren whimsically. "Either way."

Behind him, the Queen twitched her head in silent dismissal, and Whisper turned and walked away, flanked by her guards once more.

The trip back to the ship was a quiet one, once Whisper glared Blabber's first attempt at conversation into silence. She didn't want any awoken listening in, not after seeing their leadership. Whatever they were, they would need to be treated with utmost caution. As the started the liftoff procedures in the Regulus Class 99 jumpship, she could just barely make out the sound of the awoken leader tearing into the guard she'd disarmed with a blistering tirade.

If nothing else, the awoken had given her a lot to think about.

Lore Referenced:

Destiny 1 Grimoire:

Ghost Fragment: Hunter

Legend: The Black Garden

Shores of Time

Rasputin

Vestian Dynasty

Awoken

The Reef

The Ruling House

The WANTED grimoire entries reporting back to the Vestian Outpost located at Amytis 5560

Vestian Outpost, Queen's Bay

Reef Frames

Master Ives, Cryptarch

Awoken

Other:

Talk to Eris Morn (Quest Step in The Taken King, describing Pujari and the Garden growing in two directions))