S1-52
The World's Grave
3:41 PM
02/16/3179
Approaching Earth's moon
Music
none
While preparing for the mission, City Hawk 723 was joined by Jack Cooper, who wanted to help out.
"{There's got to be a way to find out what the Hive are planning. That Ghost you recovered found a library in their fortress called the 'World's Grave'. It's said to hold everything they know of Earth. If you can get us down there, we'll steal all we can.}"
"Who's 'we'? You and the other Ghosts?" Michael asked.
"{Yes.}"
"Oh. Alright then."
"Things might get a lot better now that we're finding our Titans." Jack said.
"Yeah, and it'll be even better than that if we can find them all." Samus added.
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
Archer's Line
Music
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Phaaze
"{The World's Grave is deep in their fortress, but according to the Ghost we found, there's an ancient Knight who protects it. I can lead us to him, but you'll have to face him to find the Grave.}"
As Samus and Jack got their Sparrows and Mark-18 got his Pike, Michael hopped into Jeeves's cockpit. "[Welcome back, Pilot. I've kept the seat warm for you.]" The Fireteam headed off back to the Temple of Crota, encountering quite a few Fallen on the way.
"{I just received word that a Guardian found one of the Titans.}" Michael stopped, causing Samus, Jack, and Mark-18 to do the same as he disembarked.
"What's going on, Michael?" Mark-18 asked.
"What do you mean, Ghost? Which Titan is it?"
"{The Guardian reported that the Titan's chassis number is BT-7274.}"
"BT!"
"That'd be Jack's Titan." Michael stated.
"{I just sent the message. He's on his way, but not in very good condition.}"
Within the minute, another carrier jumped in, releasing a severely damaged Titan. "[Hello, Jack.]"
"Nice to see ya, big guy!"
"[It is good to see you too, Pilot.]"
With BT-7274 back in the field, the Fireteam suddenly ran into a problem. "[Looks like our objective is past here.]" Jeeves reported.
"[I would accompany you, but unfortunately my chassis will not fit through the door.]"
Jack turned back to his Titan. "Oh lucky you."
"[I detect sarcasm.]"
"I mean, you're lucky you can't fit through the door so you don't have to face whatever kind of demon spawn is down there." Jack stated.
"You're actually pretty close in calling the Hive that. Seriously." Michael added.
With Jeeves and BT-7274, who was now semi-repaired by Jack's Ghost, staying out on the surface to secure the area, Michael and the rest of City Hawk 723 went through a destroyed dome structure, ending up near another entrance to the Hive fortress. "{The Hive really tore into the moon. Filling it with all sorts of chambers and catacombs.}"
"[Team, be careful. I am reading an incalculable amount of hostiles within the Hive fortress.]"
"You got it, Jeeves." Confirmed Samus.
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
Hall of Wisdom
Music
Destiny - Temple of Crota
"{It's a whole necropolis down here.}" Mark-18's Ghost said.
Within the chamber were a lot of Acolytes, and Michael went in to take them out. With Arc Light building up, Michael lunged into the air and slammed into the ground, dissolving the Acolytes in a maelstrom of Arc Light.
"OK! First, you use the Golden Gun, and now you use the Fist of Havoc?!"
"Fist of Havoc?"
"You wanted to change the name of the Titan Guardian discipline to Golem, didn't you?"
"Yeah?"
"The Fist of Havoc is the Striker Golem Super."
"Huh. That's interesting."
Jack moved on ahead. "Let's not dawdle on this, guys. We have a Knight to kill."
"Protocol 2."
Mark-18 was confused by Michael's term usage. "Huh?"
"Uphold the Mission." Samus stated.
Before they could advance, the Fireteam had to deal with a Wizard. It was Samus's turn to use a Super. The Golden Gun. Three shots and the Wizard was dead.
Up ahead was a Knight, a few Thralls and Acolytes, another Wizard, and some strange object suspended in the air. Suddenly, the object opened, revealing an orb of pure dark energy.
SCANNING...
NEW ENTRIES
1: Shrieker
Michael shot down the Wizard and dealt with the Knight before Mark-18 gave the Shrieker his welcoming to oblivion with a Nova Bomb. Within moments, the area was secured relatively easy. "{The Knight is near, and it's powerful. But this Knight holds the key to finding the Grave. We'll have to kill him.}" Michael's Ghost was beginning to sound worried.
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
Circle of Bones
(!) Darkness Zone (!)
"Guh... What the heck?" Jack doubled over, feeling moderately nauseous. "Michael, what just happened?"
"Darkness Zone, Jack." The chamber was filled with Hive, and Tomb Ships were coming out of dark warp holes. "Clear them out!"
Michael let loose with his Spitfire LMG, Samus pelted with her R-97 Compact SMG, Mark-18 destroyed with his Continental, and Jack opened fire with his V-47 Flatline, all killing off the Hive in the area. They then proceeded to a cage-like structure, where the Hive Knight was located, with a Wizard and a few Acolytes to back it up.
SCANNING...
NEW ENTRIES
1: Kranox, the Graven
Mark-18 killed the Wizard with the Continental and Michael took down the Acolytes with his Satchel Charges, with their main target being taken down by Jack.
Jack [Archer] Kranox, the Graven (The Hidden Swarm)
The Knight then dropped a strange item upon death, which Michael's Ghost picked up.
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
Circle of Bones
"{This is the key to the Grave. I know where we're headed.}"
"OK, I just felt like some sort of weight was lifted."
"Jack, that Knight was surrounded in a Darkness Zone. When you killed it, the Darkness Zone faded away." Michael stated, having read about Darkness Zones in the Warlock library.
"{I've marked your helmet's HUD with the path.}" The team went ahead, with Michael leading the way.
Two more Wizards showed up to try and kill them, but they were killed instead as Jack unleashed a Nova Bomb.
A Ghost with a familiar blue shell appeared in a burst of energy. "{This should lead us right to the Grave.}" The team stopped in their tracks, with Jack backing up a bit. "{The World's Grave. Not ours.}"
"Could you not scare us like that, Ghost?"
"{Sorry.}"
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
The World's Grave
(!) Darkness Zone (!)
"I'm guessing... Darkness Zone again?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, Darkness Zone. Let's keep moving." Michael ordered. "Jeeves, BT, report."
"[We're handling ourselves well out here, but I can't pinpoint where exactly you are down there. Your signal is just going all over the place.]"
"[Jeeves is correct, Pilots. It would appear that your locator signals are undergoing a severe malfunction and are fluctuating throughout a 17.92754 mile radius of our location.]"
"I'm thinking the Hive are to blame here."
"[That is a reasonable assumption, Mark-18.]" BT-7274 transmitted.
The team then entered a sort of cave, encountering a group of Thralls, which Mark-18 cleared out with an Axion Bolt. They continued on, coming across a staircase with a Knight and a few Acolytes up top.
Michael jumped into the air, Void Light surging through him as he let out a war cry, destroying the Hive in his wake with a Nova Bomb. "Seriously. You're basically all three Guardian disciplines in one!"
"I'm starting to get an idea on how that is... I'll tell you about it once we're back at the Tower."
Heading into the next chamber, the Fireteam encountered more Knights, Wizards, and Acolytes. "{That's it. There it is!}"
"That's the World's Grave! Clear them out!" Michael ordered.
"EMBRACE THE VOID! WELCOME TO OBLIVION!" Mark-18 launched a Nova Bomb at a spot near the large pillar-like structure in the room, destroying the Hive around it.
"Deploy your Ghosts!" Everyone let out their Ghosts, allowing them to start emptying out the World's Grave.
Music
Destiny - The World's Grave
"{When we break in, they're going to come after us, make sure you're ready.}" Said Jack's Ghost.
Michael reloaded his Spitfire LMG. "Ready."
Samus slid a new magazine into her R-97 Compact SMG. "Ready."
Mark-18 put a new magazine in his Teacup Tempest sidearm before reloading his empty Khvostov 7G-0X assault rifle. "Ready."
Jack made sure his V-47 Flatline was at full capacity. "Ready."
Thralls started coming out of the water pool nearby, with a strange new kind of Thrall that glowed an eerie blue, had a constant creepy sound emanating from it, walked slower, and had its arms wrapped around it.
SCANNING...
NEW ENTRIES
1: Cursed Thrall
Upon Jack killing a Cursed Thrall, it exploded, revealing what they are. "They're like Ticks! Keep your distance!" With the Thralls wiped out, Acolytes and Knights came out of the surrounding passages, attacking the Fireteam, with a Wizard eventually joining the fray.
"{There is so much. They've broken the Bekenstein limit.}"
As they fought, more Thralls and Cursed Thralls rose out of the water, with more Acolytes, Knights, and Wizards coming.
After so much fighting, it seemed as if they were fighting the last of the Hive that was coming after them. Two Knights and an Acolyte were left as Samus used the Golden Gun to finish them off.
Earth's moon - Ocean of Storms
The World's Grave
Music
none
"Alright, I think they're all gone." Michael said, reloading his Spitfire LMG just in case.
"{OK, we've got it all. There is unbelievable stuff in here. The Hive have seen thousands of worlds taken by the Darkness, and they've been seeding Earth for centuries, waiting for their gods to return. I'll warn the City. Let's get out of here.}"
"[Your locator signals are now stationary.]"
"[BT's right. You're not just glitching all over the place anymore.]"
4:28 PM
02/16/3179
Planet Earth - The last City
Tower Plaza
Music
Destiny - The Tower
"OK, we're back at the Tower. Can you tell me how you're attuned to all three Guardian disciplines?"
"I want Zavala, Ikora, Cayde, and the Speaker to hear this."
"{You head down to the Vanguard. I'll go get the Speaker.}" Michael's Ghost then floated off to the Speaker's study as Michael, Samus, Mark-18, and Jack went down to where Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde were.
"Ahh. Good to see you back safe and sound. Is there anything you'd like to share?"
"Yeah, there is, Zavala. Let's just wait a moment, OK?" Michael patiently replied.
In a matter of seconds, another individual joined in. The Speaker. "Guardian, your Ghost says you have something of importance to share with us. Is this true?"
"Yeah. Lately, I've been showing signs of all three Guardian disciplines, even using their Supers." Michael started.
"He used the Golden Gun on a mission in the Cosmodrome, and the Fist of Havoc and Nova Bomb in that Hive fortress on the moon." Mark-18 added.
"This is not normal." Ikora stated.
"Wait a sec... Michael is basically a Warlock, a Hunter, AND a Golem?!" Cayde-6 exclaimed.
"Yeah, I am. I've got an idea as to how that is."
"Tell us." Zavala demanded.
"OK. Before I died centuries ago, I had this strange entity bonded with me at a spiritual level. It left a coded message in one of my Titans; PYR hull-8638, a Scorch-class Titan. We managed to decrypt this message, learning that this entity was known as the 'Eye of the Traveler'. Do any of you know anything about it?"
"Can you show us?" Ikora asked.
"Not really. It kinda has a mind of its own. I can try though."
After a while, a blue glow began to emanate from Michael's right eye. "Oh my. In all my years of studying the Traveler, I have never witnessed such a phenomenon." The Speaker was in awe.
"The message said I was chosen by it."
"Think you could show us the message?" Cayde-6 asked.
"Looks like Jeeves overheard your conversation from outside and sent the message to my helmet." He sat his helmet down on the table, setting it to display a holographic projection of the message.
Michael W Johnson
you have been chosen by my Light
chosen by the Eye of the Traveler
Years from now
you will be reborn in Light
and bring life back to all that is good and pure of heart
"That's the message."
"Michael W Johnson, the Traveler has chosen you. You are destined for great things, and you will not be alone." The Speaker stated.
"So, what is the Eye of the Traveler?" Ikora asked.
"I'm not exactly su-"
"{The Eye of the Traveler is an extension of the Traveler's will. If my Guardian has been chosen by it, it may very well be a sign that the Traveler will be restored.}"
"Well, that is... something." Zavala said.
Michael turned back to the scholar. "I hope this wasn't a waste of your time, Speaker."
"It was not. Our hope is much stronger now."
"So, if you've got that glowing eye, can you hear what the Traveler is thinking?" Cayde-6 asked.
"Really, Cayde?"
"Just thought I'd ask."
"No, I don't hear the Traveler's thoughts. I hope that quenches your curiosity."
Well, that all just happened.
Michael's revealed the Eye of the Traveler to the Vanguard and the Speaker. Plus, BT's back again.
See you next time on the next mission.