Why not?
Ra looked to Eisheth and decided he was done with the pleasantries of modesty. The loading ramp lowered and fwoosh went the slapping wave of Light-jizz, the Traveler's specialty. That thick white sludge encompassed the Drifter, his arms wide open to receive the gift. Ra was already hard at the thought of fucking another man into a genderless mess, but the eagerness at which the Drifter welcomed it all was simply mesmerising.
Like the wax of a candle, a melting form stood proud in liquid love and shame. Eris barely jolted herself awake, cradling the bedsheet to her body as the Drifter licked his face clean, shivering. Ra approached her, and grabbed her, dragging the rogue into his ship. With but a thought the ramp was closed back up the crowd of new lights rushing to the cum-puddle were blown back by the air of the Wanderwing.
"Luna," he barked to Eiseth, eyeing the Drifter.
"W-Woah," the Drifter moaned, shivering in the titan's strong arms. "That's a rush… E-Eris, you got a blast of this?"
"More than."
Ra's hand cleared the Drifter's face of jizz, shuddering as he witnessed the morph again. Her features softened; the rogue's tell-tale gaunt cheeks remained as her facial hair just disappeared. The Drifter laughed as she disrobed herself, tearing open her chestplate and letting slip her gauntlets, assessing her new features herself.
"My god," she uttered, "look at that… M-My chest is so hot, brother… I…"
"...You're soft, Drifter," Ra purred, laying his dredged hand upon the gal's chest. "And those things… Hah…"
He was drooling at the sight, Eris was transfixed. Speechless they both were at the pair of jiggling tits swelling from the Drifter's bust, fat and beautiful things peaked with puffy pink nipples. Ra's mouth descended as the rat squeaked, now at the full mercy of her titan dom. It wasn't long before Eris did away with the sheet covering her body, sending a look to the cockpit's viewport before spreading her legs.
"H-How long do we have-"
"-Time doesn't matter," Ra growled as he pulled and popped the breast from his mouth, slavering. "Rest, or don't, we'll be prepared for what lies on the moon. But now-"
"-Just breed me, brother," The Drifter begged, begged with her new ragged, raspy voice. Ra yearned to hear it scream his name in ecstasy as he obeyed that command, that firmamental imperative.
He laid her upon the floor and tore her leggings apart, snapping his eyes to the ghosts. Eisheth had lowered her shell's lid at Ra, begging him, and Ra relented, ordering her to mount her frame. In a flash she transmatted into the body of it and threw herself at Eris, forming a light-tongue to kiss her. Shocked, Eris yelped into the embrace but relaxed against the faux-flesh form, white eyes shut tight.
"Brya," Ra offered a perch on his shoulder, and the ghost gingerly accepted it, saying not a word. "Watch. Maybe Eris will want to see a recording of this…"
A harsh blush tinged the Drifter's cheeks as she went to undress further, but Ra stopped her. He laid his digits upon her belly and circled low, channelling dregs of Light into his fingertips to rouse her. She eyed his proud-standing cock, tilting her head as it dribbled with glowing pre. Her hands went to his arm, stroking it as she felt the tension build in her core, staring down at her loins.
"Feels like… I-I'm missin' something..."
Her cock had receded, and Ra was disappointed at himself for not fucking her ass into submission before it. But he relented, leaning down to kiss the newly christened cunt, diving his tongue deep into her. Instantly the Drifter's hands snapped to Ra's head to keep him in place, thighs clamping tight at the severe misunderstanding of her own sensitivity.
"Ah, fuuuck~!"
She kept Ra there until all the heat had left her body, her pussy, humping his face and swirling in the sheer pleasure of womanhood. Her eyes were half-lidded and drunk with a lusty yearning, legs slowly opening again to allow the titan a breath. Ra rose, and and smirked, leaping upwards to a deep, deep squat.
"Hup!"
The Drifter's limp body was lifted by his hands again, and Ra brought their heads together, covetous and close, breathing her in. Gently he prodded his prick against her pussy, sheathing quick in an unimaginable hunger.
"I need to feel you cum against me again," he said.
The Drifter couldn't speak, strength wilting as that Light-lubed length lunged inside her, bottoming out instantly. She came, she was sure of it, spilling everything her body had against the breeder's mighty embrace. Ra felt her with every fucking thrust, roaring with madness as those blinding nuts quaked, erupting inside the Drifter.
Eris and Eisheth ceased their embrace as they witnessed the Drifter's impregnation. With her new eyes Eris could see a future of sisterly love as they'd raise their babes together, basking in an eternal, heavenly glow of release. She saw endless shared kisses, more felching than she ever thought possible, and a glossy-eyed gaze to one another as they'd be fucked into insanity by Ra.
She shed a tear for the sheer desire of that future, letting Eisheth rest against her chest as the Drifter fell limp in Ra's hands. More cum bubbled from the rat's new cunt, seeping into the floors and ruining them anew, a messy testament to the Traveler's gift.
Ra kissed her. Germaine. Wu Ming. Eli. Whatever name she held she was his for eternity, protected by his love. But despite the fresh-bred glow to her body Ra still felt a need to provide for her, and transmatted a bowl in his hand, pulling from the Drifter.
She cried at the sensation, tears streaming from her eyes as she smiled, shaking her head at the sensory overload. Ra was gentle with her, but knelt, positioning his cock into that bowl and firing a last load of liquid love into it. It filled quick, glowing brighter than anything in that ship, and Ra motioned the rogue to rise.
"Easy," he crooned. "You look hungry."
"H-H-Heh… Always am…"
He presented the bowl to her, and she took it without hesitation, delicately grasping it with both hands and slurping that paracausal nut eagerly. Brya shrieked at the sight and Eris joined her, as jealous as Eisheth was. Eager, shaming eyes on the Drifter's prime act of submission had energised Ra like nothing else, and he sighed.
"Call me papa from now on," he boomed. "I'll make sure you never, ever go hungry again. A name or none at all, you are mine."
They could hear her gulping. Gulping down the glorious globs of glowing goo, gorging herself until she was full. For once, the Drifter looked sated, that eternal hunger of hers gone and replaced with a fully, soft belly.
It wasn't long before sleep took them, Ra cradling the Drifter in his arms as she panted, satisfied.
(...)
Eris sat, cross-legged, on that filthy bedroll. The Guardian and the Drifter were passed out, slumped on the floor of the Wanderwing, up to their waists in glowing liquid Light. Despite the funk in the air, and the approach towards one of the most dangerous places in the system, Eris found herself at peace.
She was no longer lonely. She was no longer afraid. And she was loved.
The two bodies and their ghosts were to thank for that. She stroked Brya as she laid in her lap, idly coordinating the correspondence between her and her Queen. The messages were faster with Brya back, and Eris was reminded of how sorely she missed her companion's comments.
"So now, Mara's a…"
"...Friend," Eris answered, thinking. "When I crawled out of the tunnels of Luna, looking as I did, missing you, the Tower's residents thought me an agent of Darkness. Ikora knew, trusted me, but the Lights did not."
Eris ceased writing for that moment, curious as to how her words would affect Mara's pursuit of Ra. Cayde was quick, apparently, spooking Petra with some childish jab within a day of her resurrection, and that had lined the Young Wolf in the Queen's sights. Comments, questions and queries flew between the regent and rapscallion regarding Cayde's body and voice, and Eris could only inform on what Ra had told her.
"Queen Mara Sov," Eris sighed, cupping Brya in her hand and looking at her closely, inspecting her for any lingering damage or scuff, "welcomed me, as she had welcomed us before. She saw past the chitin I wore, the sickness in my eyes, and the limp in my walk. She used me, first, as the Vanguard and Ikora used me - a path into understanding their enemy."
"E-Eris," Brya's shell-lid lowered, "I'm so sorry…"
"...I had found refuge," Eris assured her, smiling, "where Ikora kept me hidden, caged, Mara Sov gave me the means to accomplish my goals and paid me in kind. Soon my utility turned to companionship, and my companionship, to trust. And the Queen does not trust easily."
"...Hm…" Brya hummed, thinking on her memories of the Awoken Queen. "You know what? Time does weird things to us all. Even with her being what, how old? But…"
"...What is it?"
"What about him?" she asked, looking over to the sleeping form of Ra. "Only a friend? Or are you going to stick to being owned by him?"
Eris' smile widened, brightened. "As a fireteam of six, three, even one, Ra was capable of felling Oryx, Crota, and their lineage. Where I had to hunt for help previously, Ra came to me, and stayed. When the Hive leadership on Luna was scattered, he stood by my side."
The memories of that sea of chaos reminded her just how much he was there for her. Her rock, against those waves.
"When I could not retrieve you," her voice hitched, and she blinked away a tear, "he did. He expected no reward, no thanks, he… Ra saw someone in need of his help, and acted."
"And he did that… Five more times," Brya chuckled, double-checking.
Eris broke into a quiet giggle, nodding. "The remainder of our ghosts, even Guren… I now see his efforts as love, one of his… Methods of displaying it."
Brya waited, expectantly, rolling in Eris' palm.
"What is it, Brya?"
"You didn't answer the whole question, Eris."
A blush hit her cheeks, and that smile turned coy. "I suppose you'll have to find out."
She then finished her message.
My Queen,
I make no attempts to understand Ra's gift in its entirety. I know that it can resurrect Ghosts. I know that even before he restored Brya to life, I could feel and shape the Light in his presence, as if she was there again. It is a beacon, one that the Hive will flock to, one that will incinerate them.
I do not know if it can restore the complete memory of Uldren Sov to Crow - even if we were to somehow reverse Savathun's machinations. You did not ask this, but I know the question is upon your lips. The memory of your brother lives on through him, and he has made peace with it. Whether peace awaits you is dependent on how you approach that memory.
Concern is rife in the Vanguard over the source of the gift. Unencrypted channels talk of Ahamkara, Worms, the Nine, Savathun herself, all but its true source. Many speak as if Ra brought Cayde back to life as he did with Sagira, and Brya, but Ra himself denies this.
Perhaps Cayde was a test. Perhaps the Traveler needed one more piece to play before she deployed Ra. Or perhaps simply, it was to indulge herself. With him, he carries the mask of the Speaker, and has communed with the Traveler directly. To Luna, he brings with him Wei Ning's own launcher, Eriana's arm, and the vessel of my friend, Omar. As well, a bow - one strong enough to pierce any hide.
Crow is Crow, my Queen. Uldren lives only as a memory. But if Ra can guide even Sjur Eido back from her death? I do not know for certain.
Eris and Brya sat back as they awaited the response from Mara Sov, basking in Ra's glow. The ship's autopilot alerted them with a gentle ping - slipping out of a massive thrust boost - and soon Luna came into sight, just minutes from landing. A quiet buzz sounded from Eris' communicator.
I thank you, Eris.
I have seen the limits of both the Light and Darkness, or so I thought. Ra breaks these - caring not of the consequences. Caution him, as you do, for I wish to see you both before me soon. While his influence remains a concern, my Techeuns will find methods of mitigating it.
The Witness encroaches, but it was pushed back once before. Between you and Ra, I see no obstacle on the Moon which could halt this same push. Though I share the questions and doubts of the Light - there is no miracle without a price. Remain sceptical. And if not, remain questioning, curious.
Bring him to me - not to the Dreaming City - when you two are done.
"Rude!" Brya bit, "question me? I'm… I'm back! Ra-"
"-This comes from experience, I can assure you," Eris calmed her ghost, with a sigh. "She… She links the thought of Riven, her Ahamkara, in that warning."
"Mara Sov owned an Ahamkara!?"
"It was slain," Eris quieted Brya, "yet it survives. Ra's clan assembled and slew it; only for it to abuse the power of their wish into a curse. It remains anchored, half-Taken and half-dead, in the Dreaming City."
"How… None of the records I could access-"
"-Hidden reports, and words stolen from the clan's mouth," Eris answered. "It speaks to them when they enter Mara's sanctum in the Sea of Screams, taunts them. I suspect that Mara wishes to engage us beyond its borders before Ra could approach it, before Riven can-"
"-Influence him," Brya gasped, "or steal his Light, use it for another wish…"
"...Thus, we caution."
Brya looked saddened at the thought, coming to terms with just how she was brought back. Eris stroked her again, and held her close to her chest.
"You were reforged in Light," she assured her. "I have been near the influence of those foul drakes and the rot of the Hive for long enough to know when I see Light from Dark. You are my friend, Brya, and there is no power in this reality that will part us again."
Brya turned her shell upwards, and looked Eris in the eye. "You're right... Let's do some good out there."
(...)
The City - him and the clan had returned from some raid - cheers and smiles were all about. The time was high noon - sun over the Traveler. Working off their jitters, dregs of adrenaline left in their systems, he and the clan did as they usually did after a long mission. They helped.
Little miracles, big moves, or simply extra hands helping build shelters - it had to be done. Even after their confrontation with Riven, and the woes that set upon the system with it, they helped, still, cleaning the aftermath of battles long gone.
He could feel eyes upon him. Ra looked around, smiling as his team ribbed him, teased him, joked and laughed as they built a house together, but stopped short. He began to see threads - green and blue things that fought - no - danced together in the commingling shape of the Earth. Darkness? Perhaps just a hint, a shaving upon this radiant sphere they dwelled upon.
He looked up. The Traveler was open. Spilling forth an eternity of Light, blinding at first, but tempered by that threading. There were no walls. No concrete monoliths, no cradle of spears - or had the cradle grown? He heard laughter. Looked around, saw nature mixing brilliantly with dashes of technology.
He saw Humans. Exos. Awoken. But others, too. Eliksni. Cabal, and all the races under their banner. Hive, uncorrupted - a forsook form free of the Worm. Dancers, in the clouds. All linked by wisps of red, a blended mix of love and Light. And in turning his head back to his team, he saw their states of dress - bellies full and glowing, radiant with joy.
Was this temptation?
Was he supposed to look upon this perfect future and yearn? If so, then it had failed. He was without scars in that form - without weight and presence. This did not foster desire in his heart, no, it gave fuel to the flame of drive. There was little he could do in this dreamworld, and so, he awoke.
And in waking, he heard them whisper.
Invert.
T H E
sphere.
"Ra," Eisheth whispered, jostling him gently. "We're here."
"Five minutes from landing," Brya added, hiding behind Eris as she eyed Drifter's ghost. "Looks like the Hive are kicking up a storm out there…"
Ra eyed the sleeping form of the rogue Lightbearer, resting against his chest. Even in sleep she smiled, a rusty old grin that echoed their previous night. She awoke with a blink, straightening herself up and batting her cum-stained lashes at him. The Drifter sat up a little, and ground her pussy against Ra's thigh, stroking his quivering cock.
"Five minutes should be all I need," she laughed, "after all, a girl's gotta eat."
"Then have your fill," Ra offered, "and jump ship back to the Tower when you have the chance."
"I'm not leaving you," Eris swore. "I am by your side until the Moon is cleansed."
"Mmph~!" The Drifter moaned, letting slip Ra's prick with a wet pop, "the coward's way out is tempting… But I think I'll stay. Intuition tells me a mighty morsel could still be waiting in that there Pyramid - and you'll provide plenty of distraction for me to plunder…"
Before she could dive back into that delicious pre dripping from his tip, Ra took grip of the Drifter's cheeks and eyed her, losing himself in her feminised features.
"You'll save yourself as best you can," he said, gaze softening. "And if not, then be quick."
She wasn't used to it - having someone to look out for her. The Drifter looked to him and Eris, and shook her head, that smile creeping back into her lips. Morose though it was, there was hope in her, a genuine one that Ra adored.
"You got my word, little Titan boy… I'll just have to make sure your ghost is sharp enough to burst that big head of yours. For now…"
Ra stood, bringing the Drifter up to a kneeling position, letting her bounce her ass against the lapping pools of cum on the Wanderwing's floor. It inspired that familiar primal urge; one he thought would've been tempered by Brya and Sagira's resurrection.
But no - as the Drifter's deft lips wrapped 'round his rumbling rod, the Traveler's imperative came through so clearly now. Breed the Light. The more he shared, the stronger it grew. They simply had to share it fast enough to gain the upper hand.
"Good girl," he growled, bucking his hips as his balls began to churn - tensing his taint to hold back a building release. "I'm never letting you go, Drifter. The second that belly's not full, I'll come running."
"Mmmph~, or," she popped the cock out again, breathing hotly against the wetted skin, "you'll run cummin'... Papa. Either way's good for me."
Simply laying back in the glow of the sight, Eris fingered herself, Brya resting on her chest. Every part of her that wasn't sore instead flared with strength, heat, as she gobbled the sight before her with glee. She had to sober soon, she knew this, but a moment of indulgence was well-earned.
Ra took grip of the Drifter's head, hands gently massaging her scalp as she closed her eyes and fucked her own face with his meat. She went faster, and faster, gagging and opening her lips around that intrusion as Ra's prick flared with radiance. He pressed her head down, nose flat upon his groin, and came, firing loads deep, deep into her stomach - letting stretch her abdomen all over again.
"By the Light you can fit so much," Ra roared, "so much fucking cum~! Take it all, devour it Drifter - let that taste be ingrained!"
She gagged, and pushed back as Ra's hands let go of her, breathing harshly as that saliva-stained fuckstick slid from her throat. It fired one, two more shots of marking Light against her face as it dared to droop limp, hanging at Ra's knees. In the seconds it took her to recover, to steady against her thighs and revel in Ra's headpats, she laughed.
"That thing's gonna save us," the Drifter laughed. "A lustful god and a… Juicy cock of Light… Hah~..."
"We," Eris interjected, moaning as her fingers dug deeper, mushed the spongy flesh of her cunt harder, "we… Will save all we can."
Ra brought his cock to rest against the Drifter's face, groaning with sheer pleasure as he marked her, dripped her own spit against her. He felt the Wanderwing rest against the Lunar soil, and sighed, summoning the will for battle.
"Let's go then," he motioned them to rise, laying a kiss upon the Guardians and ghosts alike, "armour up, if you'd like."
The grey dust settled quickly among the backdrop of blackened, weighted skies. Eisheth summoned Ra's armour back onto him, and provided what sets she could for Eris and the Drifter, scanning the environment around her. The campsite was bare, but the Cryptoglyph resting upon the Lectern of Enchantment was pointed, angrily pulsing at the Scarlet Keep.
The Hive swarmed it. Thousands, up to a million of them were upon its surface, crawling over the other to climb inside, to build upon it.
"Strange," Eris noted, stepping out of the ship, holding close the remnants of the rest of her fireteam's ghosts. "Calus sapped the power of the Nightmares from the Pyramid, but a vestige remains - the Cryptoglyph carries a warning, a… A message."
Eisheth gasped. "The other Ra."
"Oh, that old chestnut," the Drifter huffed, loosely fitting a set of gensym plate over her head. "Refresh my memory - back when Moondust resurfaced, when you two breached the Pyramid the first time - that didn't reek of the big bad to you? What's the name-"
"-The Witness," Ra nodded. "I think It was them, what we first met in the Pyramid. They took Ei and I to the Black Garden, spoke with us, championed their 'salvation'... And we refused them."
Drifter's ever-present smirk dropped at the revelation. "You looked a copy of yourself in the eye and said 'no' to 'em? And now, oh, what did I overhear from Cayde…"
"...That another Ra waits in the Pyramid," Eisheth shivered. "Same armour, s-same power, but…"
"...I've cleansed it," Eris said, motioning to the Cryptoglyph, ushering the group together, "it speaks through the Nightmares, what little is left of them."
The scream of a witch died in the hollow throat of the device. When it began whistling, crackling out some horrible tone, a vocal impression laid over it, as if shaping a voicebox in Eris' very hand.
"Hierophant," she spoke, a rugged tone befitting a dark Titan, "I see you."
An eye. A cold, piercing green gaze from the peak of the Keep, thundered its way into Ra's skull. He clutched his head, and braced for the mental impact of the message, the Cryptoglyph screaming now.
"The Deep knows of the Sky's curse, Hierophant. It has seen the game, and has played accordingly. Wield your blade against mine. Dream your open dreams. Whore your mind, your body. It matters not."
Suddenly, a metallic crack shifted the crust of the moon, Hive shaking from the Keep and falling to their deaths, to be torn apart and cannibalised by their siblings. A waft of emerald mists rose from the lightning-rippled wrong in the bowels of Luna, and Ra felt his heart drop. In their ears rang a bell, a death knell.
"Know Hathor, champion of Xivu Arath, and witness the death of Sol."
Ra snapped into action, forcing her out of his mind. "Evacuate the moon - Vanguard forces and the Eliksni remnants. Send whatever alert you can from here and get ready for an exodus - we'll need to cleave through the Hive and reach the Pyramid now!"
"What of the Keep?" Eris asked.
Elsie Bray flashed before his eyes in that moment, her story containing their answer.
"We crash into it," he said, "prevent them from doing whatever it is they're planning."
"Cool your jets, hotshot," warned the Drifter, "ain't no way you're coming back from a swarm that dense - you'll need something to soften it up first!"
"The only thing that's got that much firepower would be the Cabal," Eisheth suggested, "but the Vanguard-"
"-Hail Zavala, and do what you can to get Caiatl's fleet here. If Zavala won't listen-"
"-Hail Saladin," Eisheth nodded. "Getting him up on comms now!"
"Th-The others," Brya stammered, buzzing quickly around the camp. "E-Eris-"
"-They are with me. Ra…"
"...Bring them out," he said, holding his hands up to erect a ward. With a fizz-wobble-crack, a mighty bubble popped into existence, encapsulating a huge area 'round Eris' camp.
All three guardians marvelled at the size of it - the shimmering glow of the bubble visible even from the Keep's gaze. Ra helped Eris sort through the fragments, Eisheth and Brya busily assembling their fellow ghosts into their recognisable shapes. Eisheth prepared them both, and forwarded that pure essence into Ra's lips, letting him kiss the ghosts back to life.
"Come back to us," he whispered, fighting the assault on his mind, the eye in his brain. "Come… No!"
"Ra, R-Ra, what is it?" Eisheth asked.
"Something," the Drifter mumbled, "is… Eating the Light. There ain't no spillage here - can't even put a whisper back into the ghosts…"
"Damn it!" cursed Eris, "the Tower… Should've brought them back at the Tower…"
"No," Brya bumped Eris on the head, "no, don't think like that - we are not going to fail again. This just changes up the plan a little, right?"
"It does," Ra huffed, leaping forward, buzzing Eris on her communicator. "Keep the ghosts safe. Meet me once a path is cleared, and get everyone out of here. Drifter - I want you to do what you can to disrupt the connection to the Black Garden - the last thing we need-"
"-Is the momma of all Vex rearing her head while both sides are weak," she nodded. "I'm gonna need double my shots as pay for this, though."
"I'll feed you well," Ra laughed.
"Ra," Eris uttered, with a shudder, "I…"
"...I love you all."
And like that, he was gone in a flash. Arcing with pure white lightning, Ra's body gave up its physical form for that flash-second, and remade itself in Light. The leeching forces of the moon could feast upon him, but he sought to break their teeth - to choke their throats with his radiance.
He eyed an Ogre, a giant standing tall amongst its brothers, and struck clean through it. Exploding in a rainbow of bolts that zipped, zapped and zoomed to the growing Hive armies, their forces were instantly fractured. There was no telling how quickly reinforcements would come, so he fought, even if only to gain Hathor's attention.
"Come now," he roared, lighting his fists, "come to me, enemies of the Light, feed upon me!"
Thousands died to him. Those that spread hatred, felt nothing but the urge to kill, those that the Light could not, would not touch. Witches, wizards, knights and acolytes fell to him and could not stem the tide of Light, nor its chaotic spread. When the footsoldiers melted and their worms shrivelled into dead ash, out came the shriekers.
When they screamed their sickly song at the sun, he scorched them back. Hammers formed in Ra's hands as he bellowed with effort, lobbing them at the air-turrets. He saw the corpses of his fellow Guardians, new and old, and cursed their demise, throwing his gaze up to the all-hating eye on the Keep.
This was not war. This was no fair engagement, and it never had been. Too long had the Dark festered unchecked, like a gnawing cancer upon the Solar system. Xivu Arath, like her siblings, would dare to feed upon a drive for war, for battle. She would seek to inspire Earth to war against the moon, so she could birth herself from a cut in existence!
"Do you see me?" He asked the eye, finding a clarity of love in that battlefield, among the Hive now giving him a wide berth. "Because I see you!"
The Vanguard, the Cabal, and House Light could wage a war. One man could not.
"Bring me your Ogres, I know you've been birthing them for this moment," he yelled. "Crota could not hold this moon. Savathun could not steal it. What makes you think Xivu Arath and the remnants of this sorry Swarm could?"
The eye did not answer. It grew angry. Fury pricked at its corners and scoured dark blood through to its pupil, forming into a titanic shrieker. Before it could fire its volley - before it could press against him and melt the Light away from him, Ra conjured a shield. It was made of thought, a mixture of Stasis crystals and Void wards; complete with a hole.
He readied his weapon, and closed his eyes.
"Omar."
"I see it," said a voice. One he hadn't heard before - but had seen the writing of.
"Shoot true. Shoot through."
"Oh, I will," Omar chuckled. "Just make sure your aim's good."
The Light coalesced every single round of ammunition in the gun into one bullet. Tendrils of it lashed outwards and inwards and spiralled infinitely into a kinetic spring of gargantuan proportions. Ra had felt the kick of many weapons in his life, but none had obliterated his shoulder quite like this.
The Xenophage consumed the eye, with one shot. Upon contact, it flared into a wondrous flurry of Light, ricocheting and shattering the top structure of the Keep, shaking more of the climbing Hive off. He didn't feel it upon landing, but Ra sensed a cloud lift from the weight of the Luna, with Xivu Arath's sentry destroyed.
His shield took no damage - and so, he broke it, with a roar. Hundreds of pieces of it flew and struck their targets, impaling escaping Hive soldiers and letting some of the Guardians around him rise.
"Run," he warned them, "the moon is mine and mine alone to capture!"
Eyes darting around for a fleeing worm or two, Ra hunted the Hive and sprinted towards a sickly little hole in the ground. It was a tunnel leading somewhere deep into the heart of their breeding grounds - likely connected to their temples, too. Eisheth flashed to his side, and took note of the destruction around her.
"Ra, Eris has issued an evacuation, b-but there's still teams trapped in the tunnels!"
"Then focus with me," he asked her, bringing his head to her shell and kissing her, "I've got a plan."
Think, he did. Stop and wait among the hatred that dared taint his heart, staring to the starry sky. Ra closed his eyes and thought of the bred Light he'd sewed. He drew upon it - that tangential force that lingered and locked across the breadth of the solar system - and channelled it.
He breathed in - one single, lung-scratching breath, and roared into the tunnel. With the shroud lifted, his Light unfettered, Ra screamed fire into the Hive tunnels beneath the moon. It began with a white-hot stream of plasma, shooting faster than anything Eisheth had ever seen, and spread.
The witches beneath, remnants of the Deathsingers, attempted to scream back. But flame consumed them. Ogres stood firm against it for what time they could, until they too, turned to coal. Knights rallied their thrall charges into walls, forming emergency stops, but none could withstand the full might of the sun.
The scream echoed across the Ocean of Storms, billowing out from every whistling hole of the Hive's tunnels. It erupted into a chorus of victory, passing over the trapped Guardians beneath, burning even the hardiest of Hive commanders to a crisp. The Light bred even down there, lingering as a permanent purification of those perilous passages.
The Hidden Swarm was decimated.
"C-Cabal reinforcements are… C-Coming soon…" Eisheth whispered, leaning on Ra for support. He collapsed to his knees - lips burnt black, throat filled with smoke, and smiled.
"Ei," he wheezed, breathing deep as he felt the Light tickle life back into his throat, "we've… Still… Got our mission."
She held herself upon him a little longer, struggling to hover, and fell. Ra followed suit; Light drained from his body, using the remaining dregs of his strength to cup Ei tight to him. Under that black sky, on that grey dirt, he felt the moon sing to him. Fear wriggled through his body, eclipsed quickly by relief, and then, darkness.