Chapter 14
Earth's Moon
Ocean of Storms
"Nearby, there's a clearing you can land on." Vance said as he was seated in the cabin on the ship, looking upward. Diana was piloting the ship, spotting the area he was talking about, near and old accelerator. Everyone else in the cabin with Vance looked at each other nervously.
"Isn't he blind?" Carmen whispered to Tobias.
"Indeed, but I'm not deaf." Vance answered her, sending a chill down her spine.
"But how'd you know where to land then?" Carmen asked him directly now.
"Losing my sight made me work on my sensory abilities. You could say my vision now is better than its ever been." Vance replied as he looked toward Carmen, giving her a soft smile. The ship shuddered slightly as it touched down on the surface of the Moon, causing the Guardians within the ship to rise from their seats now that they had arrived at their destination.
Zavala had left them back in the Reef, heading back to the City in order to meet with the Consensus. Undaunted would be responsible for escorting Vance to the shrines within the Moon.
"So what are we looking for?" Niko asked.
"The Hive have created a network of tunnels and catacombs throughout the Moon. Osiris had mapped out these tunnels before he left, so I can guide us to the shrines we're looking for. The closest entrance to the tunnels is nearby." Vance explained as their helmets closed up around their heads to provide them with oxygen since the Moon lacked an atmosphere.
"So this Oryx, guy-thing, whatever. What's he like?" Carmen asked nervously as they stood around the hatch, watching as it descended to the ground, creating a ramp for them.
"He's the most fearsome being I've ever known. Everything the Guardians have fought or beaten, doesn't even begin to compare to him. Crota by comparison, only possesses a fraction of the strength Oryx has." Vance explained as they traveled down to the surface of the Moon, looking around at the barren landscape. "That's why we need to know how much time you all have to prepare."
"But didn't you say I tried to fight him by myself?" Tobias asked. Vance gave him a nod. "Wow, was I stupid or something?"
"Not at all Tobias. In fact, that was probably you're greatest strength." Vance pointed out as they called out their Sparrows, Vance climbing onto the back of Tobias'.
"Being stupid was my greatest strength?" Tobias asked with a frown.
"No not that. You're willingness to fight no matter the circumstances. It was why you were heralded as a hero." Vance explained as he pointed a small observatory across the clearing from where they had landed.
Tobias perked up at bit at this. He knew there had to be a reason why he felt like he was drawn to Undaunted. They were just like him!
"You never turned from a fight, or passed at the opportunity to help someone." Vance went on as they raced up a hill, entering the observatory that had been thoroughly trashed by the Fallen. On the opposite side of this small building was a hole in the structure which took them out into a ravine. And at the bottom they could see the entrance to the tunnels, guarded by a pair of Hive Knights.
Niko pulled out his sniper and made quick work of the Knights down below, allowing the group to travel down the entrance with no resistance. Everyone was silent as they approached the cave, not even Niko had something to say.
"So uh, Vance. How well did you know me?" Tobias asked curiously as he walked alongside the blind Warlock.
"Ah, that's right, you don't remember. We were followers of Osiris, or rather, I was. You were his partner when I first became his Disciple. I didn't really have an opportunity to get to know you personally. I saw you in passing many times, heading out to take care of tasks for Osiris. Until finally you received your mission to kill Oryx who was present in the Moon. We thought you fell in that battle, but it's clear now that you escaped somehow, so we're grateful for that." Vance explained. "You were gone for a very long time. Osiris waited patiently for your return, but eventually he was banished from the Last City, after the Battle of Twilight Gap I believe. And of course, that is when you came back."
"Did I say what happened in the Moon?"
"No, you're only concern was a transmission that Osiris had left us. It was lead to the same shrines we're heading to right now. What happened down here we still don't know, but you vanished a second time after coming down to these shrines." Vance explained. "So you really don't remember anything that took place beneath the surface of the Moon?"
"Not at all." Tobias said as they traveled down a pathway, heading deeper into the Moon. "All I know is that I was fighting. It's the only definite answer I can give, well anyone."
"Well for all we know, there might be something down here that might jog you're memory. And if not, I'll do everything in more power after this mission to help you regain your memory." Vance declared as the cave they had been moving through opened up into a large area that had clearly been built up and decorated by the Hive. It was empty and uninhabited though.
"It's like a necropolis down here." Carmen's Ghost noted softly.
"For such an aggressive race, the Hive are capable of much more than just destruction." Vance noted as they all observed the structures that protruded from the floor and walls.
"Don't you think it's kind of weird that none of the Hive are present here?" Diana's Ghost asked them as they continued through the area.
"It's very likely that the Hive are gathering around the Seeders within the Moon to protect their spawn. If Oryx really is coming, then they must be preparing their forces to invade Earth." Vance explained as they, hearing some screeches echo through the tunnels.
"It's so creepy down here." Carmen said with a shiver. "How long are we going to be down here?"
"We'll work quickly little Hunter." Vance said, getting a huff from Carmen as they arrived at the room Vance had been searching for. But there were dozens, if not a hundred of these bony gray that were hunched over the floor, quietly checking their surroundings.
"Thrall." Diana said softly as she eyed the creatures.
"Are we going to fight those things?" Tobias asked as he glanced at his teammates. In response, there was a single gunshot followed by one of the Thrall exploding into pieces. Tobias glanced over his shoulder to see Niko with his hand cannon raised.
"We're not going to fight them. We're going to destroy them!" Niko proclaimed as all of the Thrall reacted at once. They rose up from the floor, looking for the source of the sudden disturbance. A few of them gave a screech before they all came charging at the Guardians who drew their weapons, beginning to shoot them down.
Tobias was, unimpressed by the Thrall. Even though they were an opponent he had never faced and knew nothing about, he slaughtered them just like his teammates despite their overwhelming numbers. The Thrall could see their allies getting shot down by the Guardians, but they continued to charge to their own doom. Tobias could only think of them as expendable soldiers that could only move in concentrated numbers if they were going to be effective.
"Well that was kind of lame." Tobias noted as they lowered their weapons, having rid the room of all of the Thrall.
"Don't get cocky now. Those things are the weakest things the Hive have the offer. They're like the guys that shine your boots for you on the street." Carmen said to him, getting a laugh from Niko.
"Over there, that's the entrance to the shrines." Vance called out as he motioned to the far side of the room where they could see that surroundings changed. Unlike the room that was cave like, the tunnel they were approaching had various pipes traveling through it that had been built by the Hive. What they were for, none of them knew.
Entering the tunnel, they continued in silence, their weapons ready for all of the possibilities. But things remained quiet as they pressed forward.
"Hey Vance, is there anything else you can tell me about myself?" Tobias asked as he walked alongside Vance again.
"Is there anything in particular that you'd like to know?" Vance asked him.
"Uh, like who was Osiris first off?"
The other members of Undaunted perked up at this question since most of them knew next to nothing about the man. Vance looked up in thought, recalling what he could about him.
"Osiris, was a powerful man. You might not know it, but he was the Vanguard Commander at one point. He was very skilled on the battlefield, and considered to be one of the strongest Guardians out there." Vance explained.
"But wasn't he exiled? Did he do all that before he was thrown out of the City?" Carmen asked as they all listened on now.
"Yes, he was quite famous before he was exiled." Vance answered.
"What did he do to get exiled though?" Niko inquired, causing Diana to clear her throat as she took the lead.
"I can answer that. Osiris was a Warlock, and like any Warlock, he wanted to understand our enemies. He wanted to know why they were here, what they wanted to accomplish, so on and so forth. But what started as just a bit of curiosity became a sincere interest in the Darkness. He began to study the Hive and the Vex, to the point where the Speaker declared that he was misusing his position of Vanguard Commander to further his studies and sway other Guardians to begin looking into the Darkness." Diana explained, leaving her teammates surprised with this information. "He was exiled as a result."
"That's crazy man." Carmen said softly.
"I had no idea he was nut job." Niko added, receiving a soft elbow to his side from Diana.
"He was not a nut job. He had some honest questions, questions that the Vanguard didn't want answers to. It's not his fault they threw him out because of it." Diana said defensively, surprising Vance.
"Well I didn't think there were any more of Osiris' supporters still working for the Vanguard." Vance noted.
"Oh no, I'm not one of his supporters. But as a fellow Warlock I can understand why Osiris took those actions." Diana replied before Vance, who was leading the group, came to a stop.
"That's enough talking for now. We've got company up ahead. A lot of company." Vance said as he took note of the activity that they had come close to now.
Arriving at the end of the tunnel they had been moving through, it opened up into an enormous room with a deep, lava filled gorge that surrounded an island at the center of the room.
"The shrines are there, in the middle." Vance pointed out as they all ventured out into the open, motioning toward the island that awaited them. But as they stepped out, they discovered just how many foes were waiting for them.
Hundreds of Thrall, Acolytes and Knights filled the area, blocking off their only route to get to the heart of the shrine.
"Let's slaughter em'!" Niko shouted as he drew his tanto, charging off in the Hive forces. Everyone but Tobias followed him in, engaging the Hive with their various abilities.
But Tobias remained at the entrance to the room, frozen as he stared at the scene before him. This felt…familiar.
Blinking several times as his helmet zoomed on one of the Acolytes; Tobias couldn't deny that this creature looked familiar.
But why?
Earth
Last City
Tower
It wasn't often that the Hall of Guardians was closed off from all the Guardians, but such an occasion had taken place when Zavala returned to the Tower from the Reef. The Vanguard Commander had called for the highest authority in the Tower to gather in the Hall of Guardians for a meeting of the utmost importance.
The Vanguard Mentors had gathered, along with factions leaders such as such as Lakshmi-2, Arach Jalaal and Executor Hideo. And some of the strongest Guardians in the Tower had also joined them as well, including the likes of Shaxx and Lord Saladin. By the expression on Zavala's face, all of them could only assume the worst. Well, everyone except Cayde.
"Well there's a pretty face I haven't seen in a while." Cayde said as he eyed Lakshmi, shooting her a grin.
"You're terrible at reading the mood." She replied as she turned away from him, focusing on Zavala.
"I was just trying to get everyone to relax a bit beautiful." Cayde said, but Lakshmi only shook her head at him. "So what are waiting for Zavala?"
"Ikora's guest. But I suppose we can begin without her." Zavala noted as he took his spot at the back of the room, standing on the area that was slightly elevated in front of the windows. "Our newest threat is on its way, a threat that has been described as far greater than anything we faced before."
"And what threat could that be?" Hideo questioned in a deadpan.
"Crota's father, Oryx."
This statement from Zavala gained a gasp of surprise from the faction representatives that were present. They may not of have been on the battlefield facing Crota, but they had heard all of the stories. The death of thousands of Guardians on the surface of the Moon. But they had never even considered the possibilities of Crota having…family. Beings that could rival, or even surpass him in strength.
"Who's you source?" Saladin asked, breaking the silence that had set in.
"Prince Uldren of the Reef." Zavala stated.
"The Awoken?" Hideo exclaimed, clearly startled by this news. "What reason do we have to trust, or even believe them?"
"They've rejected any and all of our attempts to create an alliance with them in the past." Lakshmi added, getting a nod of agreement from Hideo.
"Don't forget, the Awoken are responsible for the key we used to enter the Black Garden." Ikora pointed out, recalling when Diana had shared that news her.
"That, is only because the Vex threatened them as well." Hideo retorted.
"And once again, our enemies are mutual." Zavala said. "The Queen herself suggested and alliance."
Hideo and Lakshmi became quiet at this. Even though the Vex had posed a threat to everyone in the system, the Awoken chose only to act as guides to help the Guardians find the Black Garden. But if they were willing to form an alliance with the Vanguard, Oryx must have been on a completely different level.
"This threat…is real." Hideo noted as he folded his arms in front his chest.
"Very real." A new voice stated, causing everyone to turn around to look at the entrance to the room. Standing there was a woman dressed in black, a green sphere floating above her hands which she had cupped together.
"Eris." Zavala said in a whisper as she joined the group.
"When you mentioned the Hive in that transmission you sent, I thought it would be worthwhile to contact Eris. She does possess and extensive knowledge of the Hive." Ikora explained.
"Do you know why Oryx is coming here?" Hideo asked Eris.
"You all should be aware of that. The Guardians killed his son, and have now invited him to bring his wrath upon us." She replied, looking down at the sphere she held. "It fell silent after Crota was felled, but now it speaks again as Oryx approaches."
"What do you mean?" Zavala asked her.
"It's a channel. A link into the Hive pantheon." Eris replied. "It's warning me, us, that Oryx is coming to destroy what remains of the Light. His personal army is already present in the system."
"So what can we do to stop him?" Hideo asked as he looked around the room. "Kill of his armies until he stands alone?"
"Whatever you kill, Oryx will replace." Eris stated. "His power is immeasurable. Confronting him directly is a death wish."
"No…no, that can't be possible. There must be a way to defeat him." Hideo said, almost nervously. "There may have been losses through all of the battles, but the Guardians have always prevailed."
"Not this time. Not with our current circumstances." Eris replied. "The Guardians alone won't defeat this foe. Our only means of defeating Oryx rests above the City."
"The Traveler?" Shaxx said, receiving a nod from her.
"But how is the Traveler the solution?" Zavala asked as well.
Eris remained silent though, recalling the years that she had spent traveling throughout the tunnels within the Earth's Moon that had been built by the Hive. She had seen many dark things down there, ranging from Hive ritual sites to their breeding grounds. But her most significant discover was and information hub, the World's Grave. Held in it was a vast amount of knowledge that had been compiled by the Hive, which included a report of the only thing that ever stood against Oryx.
"The World's Grave, a Hive library of sorts, held a record where the Traveler became a super weapon to oppose Oryx." Eris explained.
"That's preposterous." Hideo exclaimed.
"The Traveler hasn't moved an inch in our recorded history. It's no weapon." Lakshmi stated. If the Traveler was some sort of weapon, she was positive that she would be able to tell.
"Fools, the existence of mankind couldn't hold a candle to the history of the Hive or the Traveler." Eris began, but Ikora raised a hand to interrupt her.
"Let's suppose the Traveler was a weapon, at a point before it came to Earth. How would be we be able to use it?" Ikora asked Eris.
"That's impossible. During their last encounter, Oryx made it a point to ensure that the Traveler wouldn't be able to harm him again. He struck the Traveler with his blade and broke off a shard of it which is now being kept by the Hive. They've been draining the Traveler of its Light since to keep it from ever regaining its strength." Eris explained, much to the group's dismay.
Ikora looked down in thought for a moment, sorting through what she had learned about Tobias and the Traveler in the last two weeks. The Traveler had previously been the Vessel of the Light, being forced to give up this role to Tobias during the Collapse. So of what benefit would be to drain the Traveler if Tobias was the one who currently holding the Light? There was still something else she needed to know, but she didn't where she would find the answer to these new questions.
"So basically, we're screwed." Cayde said, getting narrow stare from the others that were present.
"This is our darkest hour. How can you be so relaxed about this Cayde?" Hideo asked the Hunter who only shrugged in response.
"Well I mean you heard what Eris said, there's still a bit of hope." Cayde pointed out. "If we can get that shard and get the Traveler up and running, we can take out big baddie here with one shot."
"Eris, can you guide us to the shard of the Traveler?" Ikora inquired, but Eris only looked down at the sphere she held.
"It may already be too late."
Earth's Moon
Shrines of Oryx
"This is the center of the shrine!" Vance declared as the group pressed out of a tight tunnel, gunning down the dozens of Thrall and Acolytes that were attacking them.
"Ugh!" Niko grunted as he was blasted by the energy blasts from the Hive Boomers that were stationed farther into the shrine.
"We need to get rid of those Boomers!" Diana called out.
"I'm already on it!" Niko replied as he switched to his sniper rifle, taking aim at the nearest Boomer. With three shots he took out each of the Boomers. But in response to this, several doorways at the back of the shrine opened up, releasing another horde of Acolytes and Thrall who rushed the Guardians.
"Shoot em' down!" Carmen hollered as she raised her hand cannon, knocking out Thrall after Thrall with just one shot.
"It doesn't feel like we're making any progress." Diana pointed out. They had killed off well over a hundred soldiers of the Hive since entering the heart of the shrine, but their forces were still hounding them as they tried to push further in.
"This is one of the most sacred grounds of the Hive, so I imagine their forces must be densely packed into here." Vance explained before pointing to the structure at the center of the shrine, or rather the tunnel at the base of it. "I need to get in there. Hold them off for me."
"You got it!" Diana said as she took the lead, jumping into the air to hurl a Nova Bomb at the surrounding Hive, clearing a pathway for Vance to make his way into the tunnel.
"I need some help, there are two other entrances that need to be covered." Vance pointed out as he traveled down the tunnel to the small spire that awaited him at the bottom.
"Carmen, let's go down there!" Diana said, calling for the small Hunter to follow her as they pursued Vance.
"We'll keep their attention up here!" Niko called out as he and Tobias took their places by the entrance to the tunnel the others had used, firing upon the Hive with everything they had.
Reaching the bottom of the shrine where Vance was located, Carmen and Diana immediately had to jump in and kill off the Hive that was attacking him.
"Thank you." Vance said as he looked toward the spire.
"Don't worry, you just do you mumbo jumbo stuff and we'll keep them busy!" Carmen said as she summoned her Golden Gun. Pushing into one of the other two tunnels the Hive were entering from, she fired just one shot, catching a Thrall which was knocked backward into the forces behind it. The Thrall then burst into flames, claiming the lives of Hive soldiers that were pushing in, clearing away a fair portion of them as Carmen assumed full control of the tunnel.
Diana bombarded the Hive with Vortex grenades, using that to hold them back as she steadily picked the off until she had firm control of her tunnel as well.
"You're covered Vance, do what you have to do." Diana called out to the old Warlock who gave her a nod.
Examining the spire once again, Vance took no note of the eerie glow it possessed as he placed his hands onto it. Lowering his head, he began to whisper a few words to himself before he looked upward with a gasp.
Vance was torn from his body and launched into space at a speed he couldn't even comprehend. Before he could even take a breath though, he came to a stop in front of a massive Hive fleet. The Hive Tombships that many Guardians feared were minuscule in comparison the warships, and even those couldn't compare to the massive ship at the center of the fleet. It was miles long.
The Dreadnaught.
Looking around, Vance searched the cosmos for anything that he could recognize. Something that tell him how close Oryx was to Earth. But the landmark he found made his stomach drop. A red planet. Mars.
'Oryx is this close already?! How did he get past the Asteroid Belt without the Awoken noticing?' He asked himself, but he didn't have any time to give it some real thought. There was obviously a more pressing matter.
Oryx was close…too close. It might have been too late for the Guardians already.
Vance felt a stifling grip around his body suddenly that began to drag him closer to the Dreadnaught. The ship grew larger and larger until Vance could see that he was being pulled to a balcony on the side of the spacecraft. And resting on the balcony was Oryx.
"The Light, will die!" Oryx roared at Vance, sending out a shockwave that blasted him back to the shrines within the Moon. Returning to his physical body, Vance drew a sharp breath as he fell to his bottom. Placing his hands on his chest to see if he had really made it back, Vance looked around. He could still feel Oryx's presence.
"Vance? Are you okay?" Diana asked as she rushed down to the Warlock who had fallen over.
"Hey, what's going on?" Niko asked as the Hive surrounding them seized their attacks, choosing to kneel down in front of the Guardians.
"Oh no." Vance said as a chill ran up his spine. The room had become stone cold.
Diana shrieked.
"What the hell was that?!" Carmen screamed as she came running down into the room beneath the shrine. And she was shocked to see Diana slump to the floor with a large hole in her torso. "Oh crap, the hell is that?!"
"What's going on Carmen?!" Tobias asked her.
Down beneath the shrine, Carmen stared at a monotone creation with a single glowing eye at the center of its head. It wielded a large cleaver, just like a Hive Knight, and it strongly resembled one as well. But it was clearly different from the ones they had fought on the Moon during the course of this mission.
Vance reacted while Carmen stood frozen, using his pulse rifle to fire a burst into the body of this Knight, staggering it for a moment. This brief moment allowed Carmen to regain her senses as she raised her hand cannon and put a trio of bullets into the head of the Knight, causing it to waver out of existence with a shriek.
"Are you guys okay?" Tobias asked again.
"Diana's down. This black and white thing came out of nowhere and took her out." Carmen replied as she approached Diana's body which had begun to fade away, revealing her Ghost. The small drone quickly flew into Carmen, housing itself within her for the time being.
"We have to get out of here, Oryx has already reached the inner planets of our system." Vance declared.
"I'm with you. Ghost, give us a transmat!" Carmen called out, but the room shook violently for a moment.
"Damn, what are those?!" Niko exclaimed. All of the Hive that had stopped attacking them had suddenly become black and white as they now went on the offensive once again.
"We're in trouble now!" Tobias shouted.
"Ghost, we need the transmat!" Carmen reminded her partner.
"That's a negative. There's too much interference down here. You'll have to get to the surface, or at least out of these shrines!" Her Ghost replied as she and Vance raced up the tunnel to rejoin Tobias and Niko. Upon reaching the entrance to the tunnel, they discovered that Niko and Tobias had already engaged these monotone creatures. Tobias grunted as he raised his scout rifle, using it to block the cleaver of a Knight.
"Rah!" Tobias shouted as he raised his leg and kicked the Knight in the torso, sending it stumbling backward. He then pounced at the Knight, slamming his palm into its chest which released a pulsating blast, obliterating it in an instant.
"Damn, these things are crazy!" Niko yelled as he spun away from a Thrall while taking out his tanto to cut it down mid spin.
"Come on, we need to get out of here!" Vance repeated for them as he motioned to the entryway they had used to get into the shrines. These creatures were overwhelming them, fleeing was obvious choice. But the room became heavy as these new creatures that resembled the Hive stopped attacking them. They all looked up, causing the Guardians look up at well. In front of the sphere at the center of the shrine, wisps of gray and black began to appear, forming a face. A face that Tobias knew.
"YOU!" Tobias roared in response.
"At last, vengeance will be mine!" A monstrous voice boomed, causing the room to shake once again. The trio of eyes on this face twinkled and flashed, blinding everyone momentarily. When their vision returned, the Guardians found themselves looking at a new enemy that had replaced the face that floated above them. It was black silhouette, with its wings spread wide and a long cleaver in one hand.
None of them had a moment to react as Vance was attacked. The Echo of Oryx slammed its cleaver down onto him, crushing the Warlock. There was a moment of silence as Carmen no rested on her side right beside its weapon, staring with wide eyes at where Vance had previously been standing. As the Echo lifted its cleaver though, Niko and Tobias sprayed it with bullets, forcing it to back away from Carmen.
"Hey, are you with us?" Carmen asked Vance who lay motionless.
"Get his Ghost, and then we're getting the heck outta here!" Tobias said as he and Niko continued to fire at the Echo, but it now raised its cleaver to block their assault.
"I'm…sorry to say this, but I, no longer have a Ghost." Vance said weakly to Carmen as he looked toward her.
"No, you can't be serious." Carmen said to him. Vance shook his head slowly.
"This is, it for me." He continued. "You must hurry…Oryx will be here soon."
Vance had lifted his head just enough to look at her, but now it dropped down to the floor limply as he stared straight up at the ceiling. All his strength, his life force, was gone.
"Carmen!" Tobias screamed as the Echo hovered above her, raising its cleaver to kill her. Hunching over to activate Arc Blade, Tobias summoned all of the strength he could muster to spring at the Echo. He had to intercept this attack or Carmen would be lost as well. Drawing his blade from his belt, Tobias quickly realized he was moving faster than even he had planned on, now possessing ample time to attack the Echo rather than just intercept its attack.
Slamming his blade into the body of the Echo, Tobias pushed with his all his might, throwing the Echo across the room. But in the few moments he had come into contact with it, he felt a sudden drain on all of his energy.
His Arc Blade vanished as he returned to his usual form, dropping to the ground with a hard thud.
"Tobias, what happened?" Niko asked him as he dashed at Tobias, shooting down a pair of Thrall with his hand cannon.
"That thing…just drained my Light." Tobias replied as Niko helped him to his feet, putting one of Tobias' arms over his shoulder to support him. Tobias barely had the strength to fight on his own feet right now.
"Oh, we're in deep doo-doo now! Carmen, we're out!" Niko shouted as he jumped toward the exit with Tobias, calling for their only remaining teammate to follow them.
Diana floated aimlessly through the starry heavens, not a soul in sight. She was completely alone.
Blinking slowly, Diana moved her heard a bit as she tried to recall what had just taken place. She had sensed and dark presence as she approached Vance, but before she could react she found a massive cleaver piercing through her stomach. Her body had gone numb after this, and everything became black right after as she hit the ground. There was nothing she could've done.
"I…died." Diana said to herself as her urgency returned. Her Ghost provided her with a visual of what was taking place with her teammates. She could see Carmen and Niko sprinting through the tunnels of the Moon, holding up Tobias together on their shoulders although the vast difference in height between them made this look very awkward.
With a small smirk on her face, Diana knew that her teammates had saved her Ghost. She could always count on them. They were always there, not just for her, but for each other.
But suddenly the Awoken Queen appeared in front of her, pushing aside the visual of her fireteam.
"I've lifted you banishment from the Reef, and I've arranged for you to return to your position among the Royal Guard." Mara Sov stated as Petra now stood beside her, each of them extending a hand toward her.
"I suggested that you be reinstated into the Royal Guard." Petra added, giving Diana soft smile. "Return to us Diana."
The two of them became silhouettes that grew very tall, beginning to loom over her.
Was this what she wanted? To return to her home? To the place where she grew up?
Within the silhouettes of Mara and Petra, Diana could see her family and close friends from the Reef appear. Her mother and father. Aunts and uncles. Grandparents. Even her fiancé.
Wait a moment…
Why was she seeing all of this? None of these people were even alive. They wouldn't be there waiting for her if she returned to the Reef.
Most of these faces faded away, save for a few. Some of her old friends and comrades, none of which had even tried to contact her after her banishment. They weren't true friends, or even people that she could rely upon.
Diana shook her head as she reached out and waved her hands through the shadow of Mara and Petra, causing them to waver away. Hidden behind them was the same visual she had of her fireteam as they ran through the Moon. And above them were dozens more. Not just images like what she had seen of her former life in the Reef, but these were actual memories that were playing for her to see that moment in time.
She could see the first time she had met Briggs-6 and Niko in the Hall of Guardians. She could see when she was training under Ikora Rey, trying to learn everything she could from the Warlock Vanguard. She saw when she, Niko and Briggs had destroyed the Heart of the Black Garden and returned to the Tower as heroes. There was the time she had been given the opportunity to duel with Shaxx one on one in the Crucible. She could see herself, Niko and Briggs walking through the Tower plaza with fireteam Salamander following them from a distance.
And this was just the beginning. There were numerous instances of her battling alongside many different Guardians, back to back, shoulder to shoulder.
This was her life now.
She had real allies, friends…a family. People that would never turn of her, or leave her to bite the dust. Brothers and sisters in arms.
The Reef held nothing for her now. She had no reason to return.
She had a home!
She was a Guardian!
The star filled cosmos around her vanished into a blinding white light, leaving her in an empty plain.
"What's going on?" Diana asked out loud.
In front of her, another picture began to form. She could see…a man. And he was hanging in the air, all of his limbs placed in shackles and stretched out in all directions. As the image grew, she recognized the clothing this man was wearing. One of her teammates wore those same robes now.
"Tobias?"
His surroundings were too hazy for her to make out. There was just a lot of yellow behind him. Was that the sun? No, it wasn't nearly bright enough.
Was this…a vision?
Diana shot up from the bunk she had been resting on, gasping for air as she looked around frantically. She was in the cabin of Niko's jumpship, surrounded by her teammates. Carmen was right beside her along with Niko, while Tobias was seated across from her.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Niko greeted her with a grin.
"Hmm, what's happening?" She asked, placing a hand on her stomach in search of the wound she had received earlier. But it was completely gone now, as if she had never been skewered.
"Those things in the Moon, I still haven't been able to identify them, but they're dangerous." Diana's Ghost said, getting a nod of agreement from the group.
"We we're kicking ass at the beginning, but they turned the tables on us like it was nothing." Carmen commented.
"I was just going easy on them." Niko replied as he waved off the thought their enemies being strong. Diana rolled her eyes at him in response.
"Oh, we're you saying, 'we're in deep doo-doo now!'" Carmen said as she imitated Niko's voice, mocking him. Diana stifled a laugh as Niko looked away from his fellow Hunter, choosing to ignore her now.
"Hey Tobias, you've been quiet." Niko noted.
"Don't go changing the subject!" Carmen hollered at Niko, but she then noticed that both Niko and Diana seemed to be concerned with Tobias who had indeed been silent since they had gotten onto Niko's ship.
"Are you okay?" Diana asked him. Tobias looked up at them, putting his hands together in front his face as he took a deep breath.
"I remember." He stated, immediately getting everyone's full attention. Even their Ghosts took shape, waiting to see what Tobias had to share.
"What did you remember?" Diana asked him as they all leaned forward.
"I remember…Oryx. From the Collapse, when I was still just a human. It was just like Prince Uldren said, Oryx came down to Earth and started slaughtering people everywhere. City after city fell as he searched for the Traveler." Tobias explained as he held his head. There were still some hazy areas, but he could clearly remember news reports that tracked Oryx's campaign to the Traveler. "It's not clear…, but I remember those shrines too. I was there before, in fact, Osiris sent me there to destroy those shrines, but I was attacked by Oryx."
Tobias had to take a few deep breaths as he recalled being in Oryx's suffocating grasp. "I will extinguish your Light!"
"We have to stop Oryx…or he'll kill every last one of us." Tobias stated.
"Vance already said he's made it to the inner planets." Niko pointed out.
"So what's the plan then?" Diana asked, causing her Ghost to jump in to the conversation now.
"We've already relayed what we've learned to the Vanguard. They're holding a meeting with the Consensus as we speak to determine our next course of action." Her Ghost explained.
Earth
Last City
Consensus Hall
The large gathering place was filled to the brim with concerned citizens, authority figures members from every faction in the Last City. When the Vanguard had called for this emergency meeting, everyone gathered quickly. The last time one of these had been arranged for was just before the Battle of Twilight Gap broke out.
"Sources have revealed to us that a new threat has arrived in our system." The Speaker announced from the small balcony he stood on, releasing this information for those present to catch up on the situation. "A threat far greater than anything we have faced in the past. It has already been determined that the odds of us succeeding in a direction confrontation of this foe is close to zero, so the Vanguard has been working on an alternate means to combat this new enemy."
"Eris has revealed that the Traveler is capable of becoming, so ort of weapon that we can use." Ikora stated as she stood up from her seat.
"The Traveler…a weapon?" Whispers raced around the crowd at this. They had never heard of such of thing. The most the Traveler had ever done was float above them. But the Speaker raised a hand to silence the crowd.
"This is true. During the Collapse, I witnessed it myself." The Speaker revealed. "But the Traveler made many sacrifices to protect us. It is no longer capable of doing anything of that caliber again."
"Eris said that as well. But she said that the reason for this is because the Hive has been draining the Traveler of its Light using a shard they had been broken off of it." Ikora explained. "We were going to organize an effort to retrieve this shard, but a fireteam on the Moon has just confirmed that Oryx is very close to Earth already."
"We don't have a time table for how long that mission would take. We have yet to locate the shard as well, so it's been decided that we don't want to risk remaining on Earth if we failed to find the shard in time." Zavala added, getting nod from the Speaker.
"So what are you suggesting?" The Speaker asked, causing Arach Jalaal to rise from his seat.
"We're going to run." He stated. "Our top priority is to preserve mankind, and the Traveler."
The Speaker gave him a nod of agreement.
"But where are we going to go?" The Speaker inquired. He was already aware of the plan that had been set in place by the Vanguard, but this was to inform the public of what was going to take place as well.
"To the Reef." Arach explained a map of their solar system was projected for the whole audience to se. "The Awoken have agreed to house the inhabitants of the Last City there to give the Guardians more time to retrieve the shard of the Traveler."
"I see." The Speaker noted as he studied the map.
"So the grand plan is to sacrifice the Earth, our home?!" Someone in the audience cried out. The unrest spread like wildfire as everyone began to voice their opinions on this. Once again the Speaker was forced to silence everyone, allowing Arach Jalaal to speak to them.
"We do not have choice at this point. With Oryx approaching, we have two options. We can leave now, and give ourselves a chance to beat him later on. Or we can try to stand our ground right now, and get annihilated in the process." Arach declared. "That is why we've concluded that evacuating the City is the best course of action. The entire Dead Orbit fleet is already returning to Earth to take the entire population of the Last City. No one will be left behind!"
"I see you've been planning well." The Speaker noted. "But, do any of know if the Traveler if capable of leaving with the fleet?"
Everyone seemed to freeze at this. If they couldn't move the Traveler, then all was lost already.
"Can it move?"
"I've never seen it do anything before."
"What are we going to do?"
"Relax." The Speaker said, silencing the whispers. "I have spent a great deal of time studying the Traveler. And I've learned of a way to, pilot it, so to speak."
There was a sigh of relief through the audience at this new information. The fight for survival was still on!
But Ikora gave the man in white a narrow glance as her suspicions about him continued to pile up. The Traveler had never moved in the recorded history of the Last City. Yet the Speaker knew of a way to pilot it. How was this possible?
There was definitely something odd about him…
A/N
Alright, now things are really getting heated with Oryx approaching. I'm sure some of you are wondering why Oryx has already made it to the Inner Planets so I'll explain this as briefly as I can. To my understanding in the TTK canon, the Queen sacrificed herself at the Battle of Saturn to stop Oryx from entering the Inner Planets which bought us some extra time to get what we, the Guardians, need from Earth before boarding the Dreadnaught. But since I don't have a full understanding of this, I decided to just drop it and follow my own route, so Oryx has a free ticket to Earth.
Also I just want to add that Oryx is here earlier than in the Destiny canon. Crota being killed is the reason why he came to our system in game, but there's another reason that I've added in my fic which will be explained in the next few chapters.
As always, thanks for your support everyone!