Hey how's it going everyone, I'm M12R0R, and welcome back to yet another installment of Brightest in the Dark! I want to thank you all for the continued support of this story. I absolutely been lovely the feed back for this story. I love the speculations and praise, it means the world to me. We continue to climb in both Followers and Favorites, its truly great. As for some comments and questions you've all been leaving.
WritersMind: I loved reading the information and questions you raised. Yes, I know that a Vex using Void light is illegal and illogical and impossible, but to you and all who are speculating...all will be revealed in time. Mwahahah-*coughs*. But continue to speculate, i love reading the ideas.
Without further delay, onto the next chapter!
With the light of the moon reflecting off the surface of the Traveler and it's shattered pieces, Hawthorne's perch was well lite as the members of the Vanguard gathered. The last to arrive was Zavala, with two additional Guardians in tow behind him. The one to his right was tall, a Warlock with a leathery robe acquired from the Exodus Black. His gauntlets and boots originated from the Lost Pacific Arcology He was human, a man with warm olive skin, which contrast his eyes, a light blue that if one looked closely enough they would spark as though they were about to surge with Arc energy. He keeps his hair virtually nonexistent, having a fully shaved head, which Cayde would say has an appearance of a bowling ball. As for the other to Zavala's left, was a shorter figure, a Hunter with a tattered black cloak, the symbol of Dead Orbit on her shoulder and cape. Unlike her counterpart, she was Awoken, like Zavala, but with a strange black Mohawk, one the started at the center and curved around her head and flowed out the back right of her head. Her eyes were a glowing orange, with the power of the Sun in her stare. Her skin was a duller blue then Zavala's and her lips had a touch of purple added in. While most of her outfit consisted of attire from Dead Orbit, she had a glossy monochrome Road Complex aa1 chestpiece. Though her color scheme was similar to this, the purple Gemini Jester pants gave her a small splash of vibrancy. As the three ascended the final steps, the caught the attention of Cayde, Ikora, and Hawthorne, who were all patiently waiting for there arrival. Their formation broke apart, the Awoken Hunter found herself settling into the corner, leaning against the wall. The Warlock walked over to the railing where Cayde-6 was leaning back, flipping his knife in his hand. The Warlock waved his hand subtly, and caused Cayde's knife to start to float up, out of the obnoxious Exo's reach. Zavala stood tall in the center of the terrace.
"We're all here, good. Now we can begin." Zavala started to speak. "I know that each and every one of you are aware of the disappearances we've been undergoing on with Guardians on IO, more specifically, in one Vex stronghold. This stronghold, that we nicknamed "The Gateway to Tartarus", is where we've lost contact with numerous of our own, including our champion of the Red War. It started with him, then we attempted a rescue with Mishal, then she was lost. After that, we lost an additional six, each of them Guardians investigating on Venus for their own reasons."
"Well do we know if they came across this "Gateway". Guardians get killed off for being careless all the time, nothing new." The Hunter in the corner spoke up, flipping her hair away from her eyes. Zavala glanced back at her, unappreciative of her carelessness on the matter.
"I would think that you would be a little more concerned with a member your own Fireteam, Addilyn, especially when he's the reason we are all standing in the first place." Ikora glared down the Awoken Hunter, striking down her attitude. Addilyn looked away with an irritated expression.
"Anyways..." as Zavala continued to present all the information they knew, Cayde leaned over towards the Warlock.
"So, what's the deal with "It's not a phase, Mom!" over there?" He kept his focus on Zavala, but he was still acknowledging the Vanguard leader.
"She's been really upset since he disappeared, she's just putting on a brave face..."
"..."brave" is an interesting choice..."
"...but I know deep down she's really hurting. I tried talking to her, she just pushes me out."
"Does she need a talking from her Vanguard? I don't mean to brag, but I know a thing or two about the ladies."
"You, Cayde. You only know how to kick the hornets' nest."
"Stratus, is there something you or Cayde would like to add?" The two's conversation ceased, they looked to see that Commander Zavala was staring directly at them.
"As a matter of fact, Commander I believe I do. While yes, what you were explaining was indeed correct, that the Vex in this stronghold are a force to be reckoned with, I don't believe that what we are facing here is a usual case. Cirrus." Stratus looked to his side, and his Ghost appeared. Its shell, containing what looked like a star map, extended outward. It displayed a series of different frequencies.
"So I know that these series of squiggly lines don't make a lot of sense. But these are Vex frequencies. The top one represents the frequencies of the Vex who originated at this stronghold. This frequency appears 999/1000 that we recorded when they arrived. All the Vex use it. The second, is the one. This is the frequency that appeared several times before the second disappearance. But after this appeared, all of the original frequency slowly began disappearing."
"So this frequency represents a different Vex?" Ikora asked her student.
"Yes. But what worries me is what this entails. To me, this shows that there was some sort of hostile takeover."
"You mean that there is a conflict inside the Vex collective." Commander Zavala was intrigued.
"I'm saying that there is something that is trying to override the Vex network, it's trying to take control. This thing is possibly one singular Mind. And it has the power to just...erase...other Vex, not even Atheon, Brakion, Argos, even Panoptes, none of these could even wish to accomplish this. I've spoken to Asher and consulted Osiris on the matter. With the combination of their research and simulations they concluded that there is only one possibility. And we aren't gonna like it." Everyone on the terrace focused on the Warlock. He looked around, and then up to the Traveler. Even though he was hiding it, he wished that he never kicked the hornets' nest, as he couldn't escape an overwhelming feeling of dread.
In the days following the events of that night, the name of "Ruby Rose" was one that spread all throughout the city of Vale. Like Headmaster Ozpin pointed out, the story was censored heavily, any possible mention of Thorne or a murderous robot from another dimension was discarded. She was sort of famous, becoming a household name for several days.
After that night happened, Ruby returned to her sister as quickly as possible. Yang was visibly upset. She initially welcomed her safely home with a warm hug, happy she was okay. But, her attitude soon shifted, and it wasn't long before she entered a in-depth discussion on staying safe.
"I can't believe you went after that guy! Do you know how stupid that was! Honestly, Ruby, your lucky you got away intact!" Yang was pacing back and forth in front of the sofa in their home's living room. Ruby was seated on said sofa, watching her sister as she ranted.
"Aren't you always telling me to try to be more like you? To be more outgoing and to take more risks."
"That doesn't mean that you go out and chase after serial killers! I mean going out and making new friends or something like that." Ruby could see that she was only making her sister angrier
"Whatcha what! How was I supposed to know this?!"Ruby threw her hands up into the air.
Yang walked over and sat on the chair adjacent to the sofa, the one that came as a set. She let out a sigh, in an attempt calm herself. Ruby saw this and felt bad, she looked down to her hands and began to twirl her thumbs.
"I'm sorry, Yang. I didn't mean to make you worry. You were right, I was lucky." Yang looked over to her sister.
"Look sis, I'm just trying to look out for you. Most of the time it's just you and me, Dad and Uncle Qrow are always away, we're all we have left." Ruby looked up, there eyes meeting each other. She could see the sincerity and actual worry that Yang was filled with. "Honestly I don't know what I would do without you."
"Yang..." Ruby felt her throat tightening with emotion. "...when you saved me from that Ursa, you told me that you've always got my back. And as a sister, I know that I haven't returned you that favor. We're family, and family should always be there for each other. But..." Ruby felt her eyes welling. Yang looked at her sister.
"Ruby, its okay, you just being my sister is your way of returning that favor."
"...it's not that...you've always been honest with me, always told me the truth. And..." She looked up and had the tears start to glide against her cheek. "...tonight was my wake up call...I need to be honest with my sister. Something I haven't been in 10 years." Yang, looked to her, slightly puzzled.
"What do you mean, Rubes." Ruby drew in breath.
"Since Mom died, that toy that I found in the woods, which wasn't actually a toy but a sentient flying robot from another dimension that has been my best friend and taught me all these things about its world including that it's been searching for its Guardian, which is a resurrected person who together help defend their universe from evil." The room grew quiet as Yang absorbed all that her sister just spouted out. The seconds felt like hours passing. Suddenly, the sound of intense laughter erupted from Yang. Ruby was straight faced, completely expecting an angry or unpleasant reaction.
Yang's laughter quieted as she wiped tears of joy away from her eyes.
"Okay, okay, I get it, we were getting really deep there for a minute. Good to see that you were just kidding about that whole lying thing."
"I still have dirt inside my lense from the time you threw me in the mud." A male voice from behind Yang caused her to leap out of her chair. Her bracelets extended down and formed into gauntlets, her weapon Ember Celica. Yang punched forward, causing a shotgun blast to fire out, blasting through the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Yang looked around for the intruder, her eyes shifting from the soft lilac to the glowing red rage. But she saw no one. "Even though I knew she would do that it still scared me to...wait do Ghosts actually die?" Yang looked down to see Ruby's "toy", now hovering slightly off the ground with its center illuminated, like an eye staring back at her. Disbelief grew on her face as this once stagnant object flew gracefully between her feet and up to Ruby's shoulder. Yang turned around, looking at Thorne then back to her sister.
"Ruby...what is that?"
"Heh. Yang, I would like you to meet Thorne...officially. Thorne, officially meet my sister, Yang." Ruby gestured back and forth with her hands as she introduced the two. Yang was understandably still in slight shock.
"Thorne?" Yang asked confused.
"Every rose as one" Thorne happily glanced over to Ruby.
"So, what are you?" She was unsure with speaking directly to the little floating robot. Thorne flew up and a little closer to the blonde brawler.
"I'm a Ghost, well technically I'm Ruby's Ghost. Well, technically technically I'm my Guardian's Ghost...but he's dead." Thorne bluntly stated, Failsafe's way of speaking coming to mind as a comparison in his memory. Yang looked past Thorne to Ruby.
"Why did you keep this from me, what did you think I couldn't be trusted, your own sister?" Some frustration was quite clear in her voice.
"Yang...I know that I shouldn't have kept it from you. I was just afraid that you'd wanna take him away from me. He was always there for me..."
"I was always there for you!" Yang lashed out, feeling betrayed.
"Can I say something." Thorne softly spoke up.
"NO!" Yang shouted at the Ghost.
"Don't yell at him!" Ruby let out in a sudden outburst, Yang and Thorne were taken back, as Ruby has never really reacted with such volume. "I never said that you weren't Yang, it's just different with Thorne. He's always linked to me, he can stop me feeling bad about something before I can even think about, he's a part of me."
"Ru-" Thorne was about to speak again, but Ruby wasn't quite finished with her outburst.
"And I don't care if you don't like it, Yang! He's my best friend and he's not goi-"
"Enough!" Thorne was now the one yelling. Ruby stopped her ranting, and both her and Yang's attentions were fixated upon this Ghost. "Just enough..." His voice simmered down to an almost hushed whisper, nonetheless, they still looked at him. "This is all my fault." Thorne's view shifted to Ruby's sister. "Yang, don't get mad at your sister. I should have stayed truth to my instincts. Everything that happened last night, I'm the one to blame. And not just that, I'm the one that told her not to tell you about me, I made her lie." Thorne turned and met Ruby's eyes. "So, Yang is in the right to yell at me. As your sister, she is allowed to be worried for you, you could have been killed because of my carelessness. I'm just a defective Ghost. You should have left me in the woods where you found me." He shook his shell back and forth, ridding himself of the negativity. "So you two, kiss and makeup. Ruby, apologize for your outburst, she's justified in her anger. And Yang, I'm sorry, for causing all this mess, for the past decade of lies, last night, everything." Thorne then disappeared before they could readdress him. The sisters are left looking at each other, unsure of what to do next.
The night was soon about to end, there was dew that coated the outside of the house, none of this bothered Thorne, as he was always suspended off the ground. He was floating just off the roof of the family's home. He sat awaiting the light of the sun to break the plane of the horizon. He was wondering what the girls were doing. He had been away from them for several hours. He didn't know what happened after he left. He hoped for them to make up, but them breaking out into an all out brawl was just as likely. It wasn't until a bang on the edge of the roof gave him some form of an answer. He glanced over, noticing the noise was the rings of a ladder banging against the tiles that covered the surface of the roof. He heard steps being taken. He waited for Ruby's head to poke out, but was surprised to see a flowing mane of gold, as bright as a sun, rear up from the edge. Yang gained her footing atop the angled surface. She had switched from her usual look and into an orange t shirt and short black shorts. Thorne glanced over to her, and then back away, afraid of what she may say. He had a thousand thoughts going through his head at once as she approached. She took a seat next to him. Her knees up with her arms resting atop them.
"Is she going the yell at me like before? Will she tell me just to get out? Or is she just going to crush me. I mean she can see the crack in my shell, will she start there or-"
"I want to start out by apologizing to you." Thorne felt complete surprise, he now looked to Yang, complete attention on her. "Ruby told me about your past, and what you've gone through. I get it, not wanting to risk losing someone else you care about."
She glanced down to the little light. "You've been here the whole time. You know that we basically had to raise ourselves. I don't care that you and Ruby didn't tell our dad and uncle, I was only upset because you didn't tell me. I had to go through everything she did, and I was stuck handling it all on my own. I appreciate what you've done for my sister, but I don't see why I needed to be out of the loop." Thorne looked down at the tile of the roof, his eye blinked, as he considered what she said.
"Your right. I was connected to Ruby's emotions for so long, I was blinded towards everyone else's." He rose a little higher to her level, and hovered over to directly in front of her. "I'm sorry for the lying, and that I wasn't smart enough to notice Yang. I can't give you recompense for the pain you went through over the years, but, if you'd let me, I want to try to make it up to you. That means, when it's just us three, I won't hide, I'll talk to you, and I'll be there for anything you need. You just say the word."
"Does that mean we can throw you around again?" Yang's somber attitude shifted, a mischievous smile grew on her face. Thorne's shell lowered over his lense.
"Don't push it." She snickered to herself a bit. Thorne even laughed to himself as he glanced back behind him, the sun starting to break the horizon in the distance. He turned back to the other sun directly in front of him. "So, I think we should try this again. I'm Thorne."
"Yang."
"Well Yang, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Well Thorne, it's good to finally get to meet you, my sister's just told me a lot about you."
"And I about you." The ladder once again began to squeak. "Speaking of which, there she is." Ruby's reddish hair breached over the edge of the roof. She, like her sister, was also dressed in her pajamas.
"Everything okay up here?" She just barely looked over the roofline to see if any carnage had unfolded.
Thorne and Yang both glanced over to her, then back at each other.
"Just making new friends." Yang said with a smile, Ruby's eyes lit up with joy as she came over to the two and hugged her sister, happy to see that the issue had been resolved. She sat down beside her, Thorne flew around and took up a spot between them.
The three watched as the sun slowly began to rise into the sky.
"This is so symbolic." Thorne started, with peace in his voice. "We finally got everything out in the open, everyone is happy, we're all friends, and we're all going to Beacon soon." Ruby facepalmed as Yang's face began to light up, not with anger, but rather joy.
"YOU GOT INTO BEACON!" She dove over and tackle in sister in a massive hug, almost squeezing the life out of her.
Several days after their meeting, the Vanguard came to an agreement on what needed to be done. Stratus' information was greatly concerning, he concluded that something, Vex or not, was overtaking the Collective. While this could be seen as a good thing, eliminating the Collective, something that powerful needed to be stopped before it could gain a foothold. So, to do this, the Vanguard sought to assemble a fireteam, of a similar size to the one sent to the Leviathan and the Hive realms. This team consisted of two of each of the Guardian classes. Two Titans, two Hunters, and two Warlocks. Both of these Titans were Strikers as they would prove useful if they became overrun by the enemy. One of the Hunters was a Nightstalker, chosen for their remarkable tracking skill, one that might prove useful if clues to where the lost Guardians were. The other Warlock was a Voidwalker, for their sheer destructive capabilities against stronger opponents. As for the remaining Hunter and Warlock, they were none other then the ones who were apart of the Vanguard meeting, Addilyn and Stratus. Stratus was involved for his research and knowledge on the area and the Gateway. Aside from this, his training in the way of the Stormcaller would prove to be quite useful against the mechanical Vex. As for Addilyn, she refused to not be apart of it, while the Vanguard were hesitant, her cleverness and skill made her a formidable Gunslinger. The fireteam was coming out of transit from the Last City. The six jumpships exited from their Warp and in the distant was Jupiter's moon, IO. As they approached, Stratus radioed into the Vanguard, as he was the designated fireteam leader for this mission.
"Vanguard, this is Guardian ship 3399, we are in approach to IO and preparing to enter its atmosphere." Stratus switched on his communications with his teammates. "Be advised, fireteam, we will be touching down at the transmat zone in the Lost Oasis. From there we will travel on foot into this stronghold. For all we know this could be another entry point into the Pyramidion, so expect resistance from both the Vex and possibly the Taken." As the members of the fireteam radioed in, the squadron of ships entered down into the sky, they passed over top the Pyramidion, and began to descend closer to the rocky surface. *Prepare for transmat. Addilyn, I need you to mak sure t-"
"LOOK OUT!" One of the Titans shouted over the team's radio. Stratus shot his head forward, and was met by the sight of a massive black object appearing spontaneously in front of him.
"Everyone, evasive maneuvers!" Addilyn called out over the radio. Stratus pulled up, as well as the Nightstalker. The other all banked to the left and right. Stratus steadied his ship, and looked back to see what could have possibly appeared so quickly and was that large.
"Tombships?" The Voidwalker questioned with trouble in his tone.
"The Hive." Addilyn growled.
"What the hell are they doing on IO?" The Nightstalker, who pulled up with Stratus, complained.
"Team fall back, LZ is too hot right now. Let's land and replan at the Rupture's transmat instead." Stratus called out. The group did as he said, the Guardian's regrouped just north of the Pyramidion. From there, the team mounted there Sparrows, and descended through the narrow passageway towards the Lost Oasis. Upon arrival, they counted a minimum of five Tombships that were hovering above the ground all across the open area. The Guardians dismounted their Sparrows and continued forth on foot. They kept to the shallow ditches, in order to stay out of sight of the Hive. While they pressed on, Addilyn contacted the Vanguard.
"You all mind telling me what the Hive are doing here." She spoke with little to no respect towards the Vanguard.
"Family reunion?" Cayde, as usual, joked and made little of the situation.
"The Hive do directly cooperate with the Taken. Perhaps the one who has claim the Taken crown for themselves is gathering an army here on IO. Be vigilant, fireteam." Ikora warned the Guardians as the can to the end of their cover. They clung to the shadows, Stratus stopped his team just before they left them. Across the open terrain was a towering rock wall. At its base was their destination, the entrance into the subterranean Vex stronghold, it was the Gateway to Tartarus.
"We make a run for the entrance on three. One, two, thr-" A deafening shriek invaded the squad's ears. From above them, a concussive crash followed by the falling body of a Taken Captain. The Taken leapt back to its feet, completely unaware of the six Guardians, and released another shriek. It was focus up towards the perch it came from. Addilyn raised her scout rifle, ready to drop this twisted shadow, but Straus placed his hand atop it, wanting her to hold off a moment. Sure enough, a series of heavy footsteps followed by some of the ground falling atop the Guardians. A booming roar matched the Taken Captain's cry. This Captain aimed its Shrapnel Launcher up, firing its solar rounds at the unknown assailant. A massive dark form crashed down into the ditch. This form stood tall, bone-like faintly purple armor covered it. In its hand a massive battle axe of the same material of its body. Without hesitation, this being raised its axe and brought it down swiftly, cleaving the Taken in two. It's cry echoed out, as its body collapsed in on itself. The fireteam stood almost awestruck, their mouths agape beneath their helmets by the viscousness of this attack. They still refused to move, studying what was transpiring in front of them. This figure turned back up towards the ground it leapt down from, but this confirmed something for the fireteam. This being's shining lime green eye determined to them that this being was a Hive Knight . It raised its axe and pointed forward in the direction the Guardians were headed. It roared out, and the sound of at least a hundred other Hive beings returned its call. It was oblivious to the fireteam still, as it trudged foward. Their Ghosts scanned this Hive Knight, trying to get some form of information on it.
Dogron, Retainer of the King
"Retainer of the King? Does that mean Oryx?" Zavala finally entered into the call. Stratus thought about it for a moment, and from the Knight's name to purple coloration associated with the Blood of Oryx sect of the Hive, it was entirely possible.
"But Oryx controlled the Taken, so why in the world are his goons attacking his other goons." Cayde was becoming invested in the mission now, curious of what was happening.
"Unless the Hive that served his court don't agree with the Taken's new master." Ikora pondered.
"So it's not only the Vex experiencing rebellion within their ranks." Zavala added in as the Vanguard continued to try to deduce what was happening on this moon. Stratus peeked out, and watched as a swarm of Thralls clambered over one another, pouring through the opening of the Gateway.
"Now we have the Hive entering into the Gateway. What should we do, Vanguard?"
"Press forward, Guardians. The Hive should be a substantial distraction while you investigate, and make sure you mop up anything left alive."
"Understood, Commander, Cirrus will be sending you footage once we enter through. Fireteam leader Stratus, out." Stratus looked back at the line of Guardians behind him, then back to where the Hive were, and saw as the Hive Knight Dogron was the last of his horde to enter. "Alright team, follow Addilyn's hellead, and watch the signals. Let's move." Stratus rolled out from the cover. He leapt up, using his Burst Glide to soar across the open area. Behind him the other Guardians followed suit. He landed several feet in front of the opening, watching to make sure the Tombships hadn't taken any notice. Luckily, it seemed the ships were focus firing down on stray Taken patrols.
He waited for the last member of his fireteam to enter the Gateway, and he followed behind, taking up the rear and watching their backsides. Addilyn was on point, having the best observational skill.
As the team descended into the depths of the rock through this underground passageway, the walls began to slowly convert. What was once ancient and beautiful layering of sedimentary rock was progressively becoming a cold machinery connected to the Vex Collective. The sickening scent of rot and decay filled the air, this was due to the mass of extraterrestrial insectoid zombies that just swarmed their way in. This Vex stronghold was extremely simplistic, only have this massive passage as the only mean of exit and entry. For what felt like miles, the team trekked forward. Eventually, the passage began to widen. Addilyn held a fist up, and the team halted their movements. The sound of deafening howls, weapons firing off, and weapons clashing against one another. The Gunslinger Hunter pressed her back to the wall and slowly scooted forward. She leaned her head into the opening. From what see saw, it matched the description of the footage from the lost Dawnblade's Ghost. The cluster of rocks near the entryway, and in the back against the wall was the ancient Warp Gate that was shown. But there were somethings off. Unlike when the Dawnblade visited, the walls adjacent to the back had now converted into machines, with deep ledges which traveled back seemingly endlessly as it was cloaked in an dark abyss. The floor, which was littered in the remains of Vex of all timelines, was now clean of their carcasses, but now promptly replaced with the bloody and severed pieces differing Hive. And finally, the Vex Gate, which at the time was deactivated, was now glowing white with the chronological energy of a Vex conflux.
"Looks like what took care of the Vex is now devastating Oryx's best. This is a bloodbath." Addilyn relayed the scene to her team, as Stratus' Ghost hovered above her head, showing the Vanguard what she was talking about. The sounds of the Hive's weapons' was gone, their cries silenced, but all that remained was the sound of blades clashing, but from where could not be pinpointed, the echoing of the cavern was too intense. Addilyn, wanted to be able to see what was happening, took it upon herself. She ran from her corner, the Titan behind her tried to grab her, but she was too quick.
"Dammit, Addilyn." The Hunter jumped up, climbing to the ledge that led into the darkness. She slowly crept around, making it so the massive stone outcrop was no longer blocking her vision. From her perch. She saw more of the dismembered Hive Acolytes and Thralls, there bodies littering the stone floor. These bodies congregated more as they came closer to the room's center. But they were lacking in one spot, forming a ring amidst the sea of their fresh corpses. In this ring, what appeared as two figures were clashing. The one, the larger of the two, was Dogron, Retainer of the King. The other was unknown, but by its proportions and glowing red optic, it was presumably Vex. The Vex was circling around the Knight, as if it was toying with it. Though it looked like a Vex, this being didn't move like one. It had a humanistic demeanor to it, one that was rather unsettling to say the least. Addilyn looked back to the entrance, seeing her fireteam looking at her, Stratus having a meltdown with her reckless uncooperativeness. She gestured with her hand, signaling for someone to come. Stratus took a step, but she quickly dismissed him, then his Ghost began to fly forward. She gave a thumbs-up as the Ghost hovered at her side, seeing the two being in the center of the cavern, giving the Vanguard a look at what she saw. She continued to watch.
"Your king once considered the Vex to be a worthy adversary. But the years took there toll. Your master is gone, and here you are, the last of your kind, a relic of a recent forgotten order. Much like I was, but here I am, now the last of my kind on this moon..."
"Is that Vex...talking?" Cayde said through the comms.
"...we do have a difference, Dogron. You cling to your past. You were so eager to see your king again that you blindly led the last of your brood here, where you believe he sent out some sort of signal. It's funny how simplistic your communications are, I could even replicate him so effortlessly."
"This has to be the Vex that wiped out this Collective. And now it's going after the Hive? What's going on here?" You could feel the worry resonating in Zavala's voice.
"Now then, Retainer of the King, show the Rogue Mind what an Ascendant Hive is made of. Display what your Sword Logic has to offer."
Dogron roared forth, his war cry causing the rock above to fracture and fall. The Knight swung its axe forward, scraping the ground, launching shrapnel of stone at the Vex. Cronus used its massive lumbering arm to deflect most of the projectiles. This gave Dogron a chance to lunge forward. It grabbed the Mind by its weapon arm and lifted it high, in a single motion, it swung down, slamming its body into the rock. The Vex seemed undeterred by this, not even reacting to the impact. It raised its massive battle axe high, bringing it down with immense force. Cronus, seeing this coming, rolled its body backwards, raising its legs into the air. It's clamp like cybernetic feet caught the edge of the weapon, keeping it from striking it down. The Knight roared out once again, trying to apply as much force as possible to strike its foe down. Cronus strained its body, trying to find a solution out, then it got an idea. It pointed its right arm at the Hive Knight, and began to fire molten rounds into the Hive's chest. Dogron reeled back in pain slightly, giving Cronus just enough of an opening. The Vex's body started to digitize, disappearing from reality. The Hive's axe continued forward, crashing into the ground and rippling the surface. As it cratered the remains of its fallen brood went flying into the air. An arm of a Thrall flew over the rocky outcrop, and slapped one of the Strikers across the head. Addilyn smirked slightly, and continued to watch as the Knight searcher around for the Vex. She was completely unaware that from the shadows behind her shifted, and a pair of red glowing eyes started to intensify, this along with a series of accents, illuminated a bone white skull that was staring at her from behind.
Dogron's rage grew the longer Cronus hid from it. From above, it failed to notice that a Vex platform started to materialize itself, with Cronus standing atop it. It leaned over the ledge of its floating platform. Some Radiolaria began to drip down from its mouth, splashing onto the helmet of the Knight. It didn't notice this, and gave Cronus a prime opportunity. The Vex let itself fall from its platform, it came down with great speed. It pointed its right arm forward, and when it got in range of Dogron, it plummeted its Roman Scissor into the crease of its armor, where the neck was exposed so it could move its neck around. The weapon sliced into the rough skin, and hooked itself in. Cronus drove its legs into the back of the Knight, who by now was doing everything it could to rid itself of this annoyance. Cronus' clamp like feet dig into the small of its enemy's back it threw its body back, slamming Cronus into a wall. The scissor slid out of Dogron's flesh, giving the power to move its arm back to it. It switched its battle axe to its left hand. It held out its hand. A Shredder, a Hive Solar crossbow, was born of an infested flame in its hand. It aimed this crossbow back behind its head, resting it on its shoulder, and fired. Cronus released its grip on its feet, and leaned away as a quad spray of four Solar soared into the ceiling above. Rocks began to fall all around them. Cronus glanced up towards the rocks as both it and Dogron were pelted by the boulder barrage. It leapt off, retreating towards the Warp Gate in the back of the cavern.
As this was happening, the rest of the fireteam made their way to behind the rocky outcrop, Stratus poked his head around, he saw Dogron shake off the rain of rocks, keeping its gaze locked onto the Vex monstrosity. He then looked back to Addilyn, not suspecting what he saw.
"Addilyn, behind you!" He shouted out through the comms. She turned around just as the wolf-like monster lunged from the shadows at her. She stuck her hand out, catching the beast by its neck. The creature snapped its jaws wildly at her, trying its best to take a chuck out of her face. Stratus instinctively reached for his sidearm, Dead Man Walking, aiming it up at the creature attacking his teammate. The Nightstalker, however, Placed a hand on the Stormcaller's weapon. It made Stratus think back to minutes ago when he stopped Addilyn from shooting prematurely. It took him a moment to consider, but the Void Hunter was right. If he fired his weapon, it would alert the two enemies fighting each other, and possibly risk the two turning their attention on the six Guardians. He just hoped that she was skilled enough to take care of this, without drawing to much attention towards it. He reholstered his sidearm, and looked back towards the battle occurring amidst the Hive corpses. Addilyn tried to reach for her Hunter knife, but the wolf monster slammed its massive front paw into her forearm, pinning it to the machine wall beneath her. All she had left was her left arm, which was preoccupied keeping the creature away. Her mask's visor was illuminated by the glow from its eyes. Saliva trickled down onto through its bony, razor pointed fangs. She looked for another solution. She glanced down to its hind legs, which were noticeably smaller and weaker then its front arms. She decided that this was her solution. She pulled her left leg up and twisted it around, placing it onto the other side of its left hind leg. She slammed her legs together, creating a lock around the leg. She twisted as hard as she could, until the leg snapped at its knee. The monster cried out, falling flat on top of her. Its paw shifted off of her arm, and she pulled it up. She grabbed hold of its skull with the other hand. The force she held it with kept its teeth locked together. She strained herself, but finally managed to muster enough strength to quickly twist her arms around, snapping the neck of the strange creature. It fell to the ground limply besides her, its menacing crimson glow dissipating from the sockets of its eyes, leaving an empty shell of whatever this creature was. Addilyn laid on her back for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Meanwhile, Stratus' Ghost, Cirrus, appeared besides the dead abyssal beast. The Vanguard could see everything through the Ghost as it started to scan the wolf.
"What. Is. That?" Ikora, for the first time in a while, was completely dumbfounded. And just like the Warlock's Vanguard, Cirrus could not identify this creature as well, the only thing that it was getting from its scans was an overwhelming sense of malice and dread, it had never felt something so absolute.
Cronus took a moment to fiddle with its right arm, making what appeared like adjustments to its amalgamated appendage. It had looked as though it had forgotten about the presence of the Retainer. Dogron took its Shredder and charged it, aiming for the Vex's head. The Rogue Mind still ignored the Knight. Dogron held its axe still in its left hand, gripping it near the head of the weapon. Cronus looked upon its foe with a strange ironic expression of pity. It laughed to itself, as twisted as ever. Cronus reared it's right arm backwards, smoke began to escape from the exhaust vents. Dogron began to charge forward towards the Vex, firing off its Shredder to damage it anyway it could before it could get in range with its axe. The vents began to spew fire from it, quickly condensing down to a controlled flame. Dogron's Shredder dissipated, expelling into a puff of the infested flame once more. It took hold of its axe with both hand, raising it high above its head. Cronus released its grip on the rock surface, and spontaneously shot forward, its arm carrying the rest of its body as it shot. Dogron threw its axe down, trying to hit the Vex, but it missed by a wide margin with Cronus soaring past it. It twisted its body around, landing horizontally on the rocky outcrop. The Vex once again charged its arm, but this time not at the Knight. It flew upward, at about a forty five degree angle, landing on one of the rocky ledges, wasting no time, it began to spray down a barrage of molten metal from its mini gun barrels. The Hive Knight raised its arm up, trying to prevent the shots from hitting it in the eye. The molten metal collided with its body, it then quickly solidifying on the surface of its bony armor. It took its axe and drew it back, then throwing it with all its might. The weapon somersaulted in the air, gaining some momentum as it traveled. The Vex turned around hopping off the ledge at the last moment. The axe collided with the stone, causing a massive hunk to collapse down. The Vex used its feet to keep itself on the wall, running against it, it aimed its arm downward, constantly spraying the Retainer of the King. Dogron summoned its Wall of Darkness, blocking the incoming fire from the Vex's gun. Cronus continued to run along the wall, trying to get around the Knight's ultimate defense. Dogron kept this shield up and turned its body to keep the molten metal from hitting it. Cronus kept firing, up until it stopped above the Warp Gate. It hung there for a moment, it's arm began to spew fire again, ready to shoot itself forward at the Knight. Dogron decided It was going to take a chance. It lowered its Wall of Darkness, and tried to move behind the Massive rocky outcrop. But it could not move. It looked down to see that it's feet, and they were completely encased in a layer of now solidified brass-like metal. It struggled to release itself, but to no avail. It resummoned it's axe, desperately trying to break loose. It looked up to Cronus, who was itching to attack. Dogron threw up its Wall of Darkness once more, knowing fully well that it could defend from an attack with this shield. Cronus released its hold, and used its arm to instantly fire off like a bullet. Dogron readied for the impact, but it never came. Cronus flew above the Knight, past it and towards the front of the cavern. It stuck its scissor out, clipping the outcrop, it dug into the rock, its momentum carrying it soaring around the stone spire. It cleaved into it, but released once it circled around. It flew forward again at Dogron, this time from its exposed back. The Retainer never saw it coming.
Cronus caught itself in the ground just meters in front of the Knight. It stood still for a moment, recalibrating after the attack. Dogron was motionless as well, it's wall fell, vanishing like the Shredder. The Knight stood motionless for a moment, until gravity caused it to fall to its knees, the movement also made its head fall back, dangling as half of its neck was sliced clean through at the base. Cronus turned back towards the dying Knight, it's eye glimmering with glee at its accomplishment as Radiolaria once again started to drip from its maw.
"Thank you for all you've done, Dogron. Your helping me to achieve my goals. Well..." On Cronus' middle back, what appeared as a decorative inclusion in it, caught the attention of the Guardians, who looked both impressed and terrified. The piece in question appeared similar to a rounded off portion of a cone, from its center, was an extended, needle like structure. It resembled the top portion of a syringe. This part of its body began to shake rapidly, like something beneath it was attempting escape. Unexpectedly, this syringe cone erupted from its back, exposing a long and tendril-like tail. This was similar to that of the Vex Harpies, but was a cluster of these tentacle appendages, all stuck together by its base and the tip of the tail. It illuminated like the Harpies as well, giving off a constant and humming violet shine. This tail curved upwards behind its back in a large arch, much like that of a scorpion's stinger. This tail seemed like it had a mind of its own, fixated on the open wound of Dogron while Cronus slowly hobbled over, crouching down like an ape. Once in range, this tail came down, piercing into the opened wound, it forced its way through the flesh of the Hive, its body displaying some of the tail's glow through the skin. The Knight gasped slightly, but could do little as it dug its way down. "...part of you is."
This horrified the Guardians, who all were getting extremely nervous. Addilyn couldn't watch this monstrosity live on anymore, she drew out her sniper rifle, The Long Walk, aiming to severe this tail before it could claim whatever it was searching for in the Hive's body. Without alerting her fireteam, she fired a round. Before she could even tell if she hit it, Cronus' scissor, moved in the path of her round.
"I was wondering when you would make your presence known, Guardians." As Cronus spoke, seemingly something from within Dogron was pulled from its body as a large massive could be seen traveling from the body and up through the entirety of its tail. Once completed, it shot its eye up at Addilyn glaring into her soul. "Tell me, Gunslinger, did you like my pet. It's well trained, It even knows how to play dead." She didn't know what it meant as it spoke, but a moment of thought later, she spun around, only to be met by the jaws of the wolf beast she thought she killed. It wrapped its teeth around her neck, and her body fell limp. The other Guardians watched in horror as this creature stood over her body, it's next snapped back into its normal position, its leg fixed itself, and its eyes began iradiate with a crimson light once again, but this time a rather disturbing artificial glow. "As for the rest of you, don't worry, there is plenty for everyone." Cronus held its left arm outward, as it did, dozens of pairs of the same glow as this creature's eye sparked to life, filling the ledges to the brim with an ominous blood colored light.