God, there were SO many titles I found so unhappy to name this piece. Destiny: Darkest War was another one so instead I just chose Tale of An Exo to cop-out. Whoever comes up with the names for all the names for the Destiny expansions should get a raise. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.
City Lost
When Enzo woke up the next day, he went straight to the tower. Some of the kids in the city ran around him along his way, they were always the most enthusiastic to meet a Guardian. He passed by a few bars on his way, many filled with the occasional Titan or Hunter. Life in the city wasn't all that bad, from his brief times here, the residents were as happy as the last surviving humans on Earth could be.
Enzo pushed aside the children, their constant interrogation was maddening. When he entered the tower base, he was met in surprise by a rather quiet (actually normal) Eris Morn.
"Eris? We never expected you to be down here in the city."Ghost said in surprise.
"Ah, Enzo, I had heard of your arrival."She nodded.
"So, what brings you down here?"Enzo asked as he started the elevator up to the West Tower entrance.
Eris looked the same as she did 10 years ago. Her brown armor and 3 green veiled eyes still her most prominent features.
"Yes well….Cayde had convinced me that there was great pleasure in…alcohol, he was not wrong."Eris said with some hesitation.
Enzo looked at her surprise, Eris was always the most serious & foreboding Guardian he had ever met, even more so than her.
"I'm glad you loosened up a little Eris, being doom and gloom 24/7 isn't healthy for anyone."
"I'll keep that in mind Enzo. What about you? A decade out in the field and now you are going back?"Eris asked.
"Ikora asked me to do some scouting the other day; I'm always up for a little field work."
"So eager to do work…"Eris commented.
"No rest for a Guardian."Enzo said.
"Indeed Enzo, indeed."The elevator came to a stop, as the doors opened; it was The Speaker who greeted them.
"Ah, Enzo, welcome home, I'm sorry I didn't come by and greet you on your return. Eris."He greeted Enzo and then turned to Eris with…some lack of enthusiasm he had shown him.
"Speaker."Eris greeted and curtly left the two.
Enzo was not ignorant, something happened between the two, however little the two spoke to each other whatever happened must have put the last nail into the coffin. Eris made her way to her usual spot in the Vanguard hall while Enzo and walked and talked.
"Anything I need to know?"Enzo asked, referring to Eris.
"Ignore her Guardian; Eris had always been acting as if everyone was against her."
The Speaker and Enzo walked together to his study, there were far more parchments than he remembered.
"So, what did you need?"Enzo asked, looking at one of the parchments.
"I hear you are going on a mission for Ikora, yes?"
"Correct."Enzo put the illegible parchment down.
"Good, good. I would like to ask a favor, if you aren't busy during your scouting."The Speaker turned back towards Enzo.
"I could make time, what is it?"
"I was supposed to receive a note from one our outside settlements, it was 'of upmost urgency' as they put it. Yet I have had no contact with them for the past week. Would you kindly check up on them, I fear that the Fallen have befallen them…or worse."
"I'll be sure to make a stop there, send the coordinates to the Aspect and I'll be sure to check up on them."
"Thank you Guardian, I only hope that the settlement is well."
Enzo nodded and headed towards the Vanguard hall to meet with Ikora. When he got there, he noticed the lack of a certain Titan Vanguard.
"Where's Zavala?"Enzo asked as he approached.
"He's at the outer wall, routine check-up. That aside, thank you for agreeing to this. Many of our younger guardians are too preoccupied in the crucible to go out."
"Is this mission important?"Enzo asked.
"No, at least I hope so. We've had some questionable reports as of late, and we'd just like them clarified."Ikora said.
"The Speaker asked me to check up on a settlement outside of the city, he said they had an important message for him and they never came."
"I see, well you may attend to that after your report comes in, I'm afraid that the settlement must wait."
"What's so important that a message to The Speaker himself must come second?"Enzo asked; what was Ikora keeping from him?
"I cannot say Enzo, now please, be on your way & make haste."
Enzo frowned as much as he could and left. He pulled out his ghost and left for the Aspect of Glass.
Old Africa, Earth
When he landed on the continent, he was met with…well no one. He jogged a few more feet, nothing was in sight.
"How far are we off from Ikora's coordinates?"Enzo asked.
"About 300 meters, keep going straight."Ghost directed him.
Enzo pulled out his trusted Last Word, the gun had proved to be a hunter's weapon, one fit for him. He kept on moving, the hot dry-lands of Old Africa were never the greatest climate to fight in, but he's been in worse.
Pushing ahead, Enzo reached the coordinates, and finally realized why Ikora needed him to scout the region.
Hive….everywhere, Ogre's, Thralls, Acolytes, and every other Hive imaginable. There were legions upon legions of them, all idling within a small plateau underneath him.
"That's a lot of Hive."Ghost said.
"Yeah, I don't think The Last Word will be a good gun for this engagement."Enzo muttered; he had to take out a new gun.
Mida-Multi Tool seemed to be a good scout rifle for this occasion, and with the hundreds of Thralls, having his radar on while aiming could be his saving grace. He summoned it from his ghost and pulled out his Devils Dawn sniper rifle, Hive Thralls aren't the easiest to headshot, but a well placed few could clear out plenty with his firefly perk on.
Enzo, however, held on pulling the trigger, he hasn't seen this many Hive in one place since….ever! Not even Crota and Oryx (combined) held this many Hive in their throne rooms. Who could have possibly brought together such an army? There were few Hive leaders he had in mind that could possibly bring these Hive together…unless…
"We're about to have company Enzo."Ghost said.
Enzo looked back up, or rather down, at the Hive legions. Walking through the middle was a huge figure, it looked like a Knight but was clearly above that. It held a Hive sword in its left hand and had something that resembled a cape hanging around its shoulders. Every Hive around it knelt, even the Ogre's, Enzo had a pit in his stomach…it couldn't be…
"Enzo, we should probably leave."Ghost said, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Enzo was…well…he had gone cold (or the equivalent of it for an Exo), he plead to the Traveler that this wasn't who he thought it was.
"Enzo, we have to go…Enzo."Ghost started again, now urging his Guardian to listen to him.
Enzo laid still, his body was stuck; he couldn't move…fear had grasped him. The figure below him made a roar of triumph, whatever it spoke, spoke of glory and death and nothing else. With one final roar of triumph it promised and to start…
"-hat's better."It spoke...it knew of the spy, it basked in its futile attempts.
"Do you hear me? KING SLAYER!"The figure turned towards the hill Enzo laid on.
Enzo stood, his body betrayed him, and his mind could do little but watch the Goddess pick him out so easily.
"My promise starts here, feed your worms! Grow and conquer! Now start with the light-bearer who killed your KING!"The great figure pointed its mighty sword towards Enzo as the Hive screamed in agreement and lunged for his light.
"ENZO!"Enzo jolted, his body now controlled by his mind.
"I need my sparrow!"Enzo said.
Beneath him, his sparrow Arecibo Answer materialized, he needed to leave. As soon as both feet and hands met their match he boosted away without concern, his worst fears had finally materialized.
"Where is the closest location Aspect of Glass can get near for us to transmat into it!?"Enzo asked.
"Lemme see, 3 miles straight! I'm reading incoming Tomb Ships, and it seems they've figured out land speeders too!"Enzo turned around.
Like Ghost said, three Tomb Ships appeared from their dark holes and from their bottoms seeded the new Hive speeders. They looked like Tomb Ships, angled and sharp, but upside down and like a Golden Age chopper. On the front were two cannons that shot void energy right at him. All this while made out of the same chitin all Hive materials seemed to be made of…he hoped.
"Great."Enzo muttered.
"They seem to be gaining on us."Ghost mentioned.
"Ghost, can you send the Aspect to put down SRL gates in front of us?"Enzo asked.
"Sure but why would-oh…sending it in now. I've done the pleasure of pushing our sparrow and the gates past recommended speeds. Just fair warning, this might blow up in our face…literally."Ghost said as he dematerialized.
Aspect of Glass sped by, avoiding the Tomb Ships fire and transmatting SRL gates in his path to the exfil. As he reached the first gate, Arecibo Answer sped up faster than it had in years. The last time he had participated in SRL was during The Dawning all those years back. Behind him, Tomb Ships and their land counterparts continued to fire at him. There were no signs that their leader followed with him, Enzo couldn't have told himself if that was a good thing or not. The Hive goddess was about to bring hell on The Last City, he had to get there first.
Arecibo twisted and turned from the oncoming fire, it was hard to do that when Hive ships fired void energy that was hard to literally hold.
"Hold on for just a little longer, Aspect is only 300 feet away!"Ghost yelled at him.
True to his words, the Aspect of Glass held its hangar bay doors open as Enzo raced for his life. Enzo looked behind him, the Hive were on him. He pushed the sparrow as hard as it could; he needed to get to the vanguard.
"Just a little longer!"Ghost said.
Enzo grasped the handlebars with all he had, and then came the unfortunate. The sparrow was breaking, pieces started going left and right, it couldn't handle much more.
"Now!"Ghost yelled as the Aspect was in reach.
Enzo jumped off of Arecibo Answer and into the hangar doors of the aspect of Glass.
"Get us out of here!"Enzo demanded.
"Getting us to orbit now!"Ghost said.
Enzo ran to the cockpit and sat down as the ship zoomed off into Earth's orbit. Soon the dry desert was replaced with the black void of space. Enzo leaned back into his chair, he had work to do.
"We have to get back to the tower."Enzo said.
"But what about the Speakers-"
"This is Enzo-10 reporting in to Tower control, over."He aired.
Nothing.
Enzo frowned, no one answered.
"This is Enzo-10 reporting in, I repeat, this is Enzo-10 reporting in."Still nothing.
"Is there anyone on that can get me to Ikora?"Silence again.
"Son of a-"
"This is Tower Control, we hear you Enzo-10."The voice behind the communication sounded...off.
"Finally, Tower Control can I get a dire-"
"Enzo-10 we have an urgent matter, all Guardians are to report back to the Tower this instant."Enzo listened to the voice harder; it felt blurry listening to it.
He looked at his ghost next to him, "I have yet to receive a callback from The Speaker."
"We must be the first."Enzo said.
"Alright, we're on our way!"Ghost replied to Tower Control.
"Back to the tower we go."Enzo accelerated his ship back to The Last City.
"Don't we usually side track ourselves before we do the big thing?"Ghost asked.
"Last City takes importance over a message Ghost."
"Everything takes importance over a message."Ghost said.
Enzo didn't have time to get a message for the Speaker; he had to warn the city.
The Last City
"Something isn't right here."Ghost said as the two entered into the city.
There were no airships, no bustling crowds in the streets beneath the tower, and most importantly, it was quiet.
"Keep the Aspect in the air; we'll go down there ourselves."Enzo said as he stood up and exited the ship through transmat.
As Enzo landed in the tower, no one was there…it was empty.
"Where is everyone?"Ghost asked rhetorically.
"Your guess is as good as mine."Enzo said.
With no signs of other guardians, Enzo pulled out Mida; if he needed to prepare for a fight…he was ready.
"Any signs of life?"Enzo asked Ghost.
"Scanning…no."Ghost said.
"What life would dare live in our presence?"A chilling voice emanated around him.
Enzo pulled up his Mida Multi-Tool scanning the area for who spoke.
"Ghost, where did-?"He was cut off as the origin of the voice revealed itself.
The shadows around him amassed together, to form his greatest fear.
"Crota was commendable, so weak willed, but Oryx…you killed the king."The Hive goddess floated above him, outstandingly amused by his accomplishments.
"The Taken King, a Hive god so powerful…and yet you invaded his throne and slew him like you did his son, how ironic."
"Savathun."Enzo acknowledge the goddess, the mother morph.
"So you do know of me. Here I was beginning to believe that the great King never told of their sisters."Savathun cackled.
Savathun looked like a Wizard (or in this case a Witch), her appearance only confirmed his imaginations.
"What do you want?"Enzo asked, keeping his aim on her.
"Oryx demanded vengeance for his son; I will not make the same mistake. Call this…message."She aimed her arm at Enzo.
"Let me guess, your message came from your Worm Gods?"Enzo asked.
"I know what you mean to do, Light-Bearer. You mean to stall, you mistaken me for that brute Xivu Arath. No, I am trickery incarnate, none can out do me."
"You play with your food too much, Savathun."A growl came from behind Enzo.
He turned; towering above him was the Knight morph, Xivu Arath, holding her great sword.
"Do not disturb me, sister."Savathun growled back.
Hive started to fall in around him, thralls and acolytes on both sides, while Xivu Arath gathered the knights and Savathun garnered the wizards. Enzo was stuck in the middle, the goddesses bickered back and forth yet the underlings held their eyes upon him. Enzo was responsible for killing some few million Hive over his tenure as guardian. Now here he was, trapped and surrounded without Eris Morn to teleport him out.
"Enough!"Xivu Arath shouted.
The knight morph approached Enzo, her sword working as a cane (not that the goddess needed it) until she stood face to face with him.
"Your tale ends here, Light-Bearer, you will end like all those before you. Savathun, end him."
"With pleasure, dearest sister."The witch prepared to obliterate Enzo.
"Before you do, answer me two things, what did you do to everyone?"Enzo asked Xivu Arath.
"Killed them, of course, your compatriot's lie dead in their hall and soon you shall too."Enzo winced, were they all dead?
"How did you get here, an army this size couldn't have snuck into the city?"
"You many enemies Light-Bearer, it was only a matter of finding which one to persuade. The Concordat was much easier to persuade than the silly Eliksni."Enzo had stalled long enough; it was time to get out of here.
"Now!"Enzo yelled.
Enzo summoned his golden gun. His light blinded the knight morph, Savathun on the other hand screamed with delight.
"You fight a futile fight Light-Bearer, now die!"Savathun prepared her spell, but it wasn't quick enough.
Enzo fired two bullets at the crowd of Hive and aimed his last shot at the vaults. The same vaults carrying hundreds of weapons that have been collected over the years…all filled with bullets, which (thanks to Ghost) had opened up for him. The shot exploded the surrounding area, void, arc, and solar energy sprouted from the three towers burning all near it to a crisp. Unfortunately Enzo was also caught in the blast; the explosion took up the entire courtyard.
"NO!"The Xivu Arath roared with rage as Enzo had slipped from her grasp.
Enzo himself fell. The blast blew him off the courtyard down the side of the tower, his armor was in ruins, Mida was broken and he had no control over his body.
"No no no no no no."Ghost repeated as he tried to transmat the both of them to the Aspect.
Ghost felt the darkness around them, if they hit the ground…there was no coming back.
"Come on!"He tried once again, without success.
A flash of light shined behind Enzo, and before Ghost could fully see what it was…they were gone. The city held no more guardians, yet one had cleverly escaped from the hands of the two Hive goddesses.
"You let him slip away!"Xivu Arath accused Savathun, growling with rage.
"If I remember correctly, you were the one who conversed with the Light-Bearer; you were responsible for letting him get away. You will be the one to tell the Worms of his escape."Savathun said.
"Not alone I won't, now come; Yul will need to hear about this."
"As you wish, dearest sister."Savathun and Xivu Arath disappeared, both heading towards their gods.
Book of Sorrows Verse 5, Chapter 9
"If I am defeated I know it will be because my understanding of the universe was incomplete. I failed to anticipate some strategy, some nemesis. (Perhaps Taox if she still lives.). So I will prepare a book, which is a map to a weapon. And my vanquisher will read that book, seeking the weapon, and they will come to understand me, where I have been and where I was going. And when they will take up my weapon, and they will use it, they will use that weapon, which is all that I am. And armed thus with my past, and my future, and my present (which is a weapon, a weapon that takes whatever is available, a weapon bound to malice), they will mantle me, Oryx, the Taken King. They will become me, and I will become them, each of us defeating the other, correcting the other, alloying ourselves into one omnipotent philosophy. Thus I will live forever. I'll make sure."
-Oryx, the Taken King