Once we got back to the Tower, there were a lot of reports and debriefing to go through, seeing as how our recovery mission turned out to be a search and rescue mission. With the recovery of information from Philberta about the Hive, the Vanguard was busy preparing another mission for me to go on.
According to the information that Philberta provided to them, there seemed to be a place where all the Hive's information on Earth was kept. Like a library. According to her, it was called 'The World's Grave'. It was going to be another dangerous mission, but I was up to it. At least, that's how I felt at first.
Stepping on solid ground again on the Moon, I was beginning to feel a bit more hesitant, but regardless I pressed on. "The World's Grave is deep in their fortress. But according to Philberta, 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." Ghost said.
"Knight's a knight, Ghost. Besides, it seems like I saved my own knight just now, so I'm sure I can learn a thing or two from taking them down. Where to, buddy?"
Ghost put a marker on my HUD and I got on my sparrow. Although I've gotten a bit used to driving this thing, it was still a little uncomfortable throughout the entire drive.
There was Fallen on the way. I wasn't skilled enough to shoot them while driving my sparrow, so I quickly made my way through them, finding myself at the entrance of the temple.
I readied my scout rifle and proceeded into the temple. The green light made my eyes sore, and the entire place made me feel ominous. I didn't like it.
"The Hive really tore into the Moon. Filled it with all sorts of chambers and catacombs." Ghost said.
"Ain't too pretty, I'll admit. Just how long ago did the Hive come here, Ghost?" I asked as I descended into the fortress, taking out a few Hive along the way.
"It's been centuries, Hana. We made first contact with them at the Battle of Burning Lake. We barely won there, and the Vanguard led an operation to take back the Moon shortly after…"
Ghost's voice became somber, and I could already tell it wasn't going to end well. "The Consensus and the Vanguard authorized the strike, and we sent Guardians by the hundreds… Needless to say, the Hive responded with their own offensive and it was a decisive victory for them. The losses were immense." It seemed that the Hive had something in common with the Fallen. Just sending so many Guardians to their final death for something that was our birthright.
"After that, the Moon was considered a forbidden sector, letting only the most experienced Guardians even set up beacon locations here."
"Wait wait wait. If it's a forbidden zone for only the 'most experienced' Guardians, what the hell am I doing up here?" I asked in a hurry.
"Well, because of the seeders we found on Earth, it forced the Vanguard's hand and we're not getting ready to open the Moon to further Guardian activity. You're the first." Ghost said with a proud voice.
"Aww, so I'm a guinea pig." I said in a similar tone.
"Not exactly, but regardless, we've got a job to do." Ghost said, keeping us on track. "It's a whole necropolis down here. Keep a sharp eye out, Hana."
"Got it."
There was more Hive along the way as we entered a blue lit chamber. It seemed that they didn't have much in terms of leadership down here, but there was a Knight and what appeared to be a large husk floating in midair.
"Be careful, Hana! That's a Shrieker!" Ghost said as I took out an Acolyte.
"Oh. Oh lord…" I do remember my dad cursing these things out occasionally, when he played, calling them 'chingaderas' which made me giggle every time. Facing one now, I can see why he had an irritation for them.
The Shrieker barraged my cover with void attacks, never seeming to ever let up. "Pinche chingadera!" I yelled out. I switched from cover to cover, trying to get a good angle on the Shrieker. Once I finally got my shot, I let loose with my scout rifle, blowing it up as it fell.
"That was just awful…" I said.
"It's about to get worse, Hana. The Knight is near, and it's powerful…" I gave a deadpanned stare before I continued on. "But this Knight holds the key to finding the Grave. We'll have to kill him."
"Don't worry, Ghost. I plan on doing just that." Entering the chamber, I saw the Knight.
"Kranox, the Graven?" I asked mentally.
Ghost replied in a hushed voice. "That's what the Hive have been calling him since we got here. Sorry, I forgot to say that I was translating what they were saying into our language so you can better-"
"Thank you, Ghost, but not really pertinent to the situation right now." I said in reply.
Readying my rocket launcher, I aimed it right at Kranox, getting ready to fight after the explosion went off. With the loud explosion of the rocket, I jumped over my cover and charged at Kranox.
Only to find his husk already dissipating from where he was on bended knee. "What the heck? Ghost, you said he was powerful, right?" I said, seeing the confirmation of the key on my HUD.
"Well, yes I did… But Hana, you do realize you've gotten far better at using your light, right?" Ghost said as he popped up to look at me.
"I mean, I guess so… But not really. I mean, I still pass out when using my Golden Gun."
"That's true, but you didn't pass out nearly as fast as the last time. Along with that, you've been sharpening your focus with your light with every enemy you fight. That focus is directly translated into your own firepower, whether it be your guns or your light."
I looked down and inspected my scout rifle. Of course, it fired the same bullets it has been firing since I got it, but I must admit, they did seem to hit harder and harder as I continued to press on.
Smiling, I readied my scout rifle, concluding that Ghost's explanation was the in-world explanation. In all honesty, I'm sure it was because I was leveling up along the way. "We got the key, right?" I asked.
"Yes we did, Hana. I know where we're headed." Ghost said in his know-it-all voice.
He set up another marker deeper into the temple. As we continued on, I fought more and more Hive, taking them down with a combination of gunplay, grenades, and knives. It seemed more and more that I was indeed getting the hang of using my light.
I looked towards my left as I was reloading and saw a giant pit carved from the lunar surface. Cringing, I continued on and thought to myself that I never want to experience falling into that thing.
"This should lead us right to the Grave." Ghost said.
"The World's Grave, right? Not ours?" I said with a little quip.
Ghost giggled. "Of course, Hana."
It was just a little quip, but I had to get used to knowing that death is a real possibility in this world. And I didn't want to hang on the fact that it can happen multiple times.
Killing more Hive along the way, I found myself crawling into smaller tunnels until finally, we found what appeared to be a console where the Hive were paying respects or something. "There it is!" Ghost said.
I took out the Hive quickly, using my shotgun to gun down the Knight there. Once the coast was clear, Ghost came out and began his hack. "When I break in, they're going to come after us. Make sure you're ready."
I took a deep breath and readied myself to protect Ghost. "Got it, buddy."
And they came in droves. Thrall, Acolytes, Knights, and Wizards all came flooding in to try and stop us from collecting their data.
I did my best, making sure to take my time and marking my targets as they came in. My scout rifle was able to take out the smaller targets like Thrall and Acolytes while my shotgun was used to kill the Knights and the Wizards.
"There is so much. They've broken the Bekenstein limit!" Ghost said.
I got curious about it. "Bekenstein limit? What the heck is that?" I asked.
"Well, the Bekenstein limit is where-" Ghost was cut off as a stray bullet nearly hit him. "Uh, lets talk about this after I get everything, alright?" Ghost said.
"Right. Sorry!" I said, taking out the Acolyte that tried to hit my Ghost.
There weren't that many waves of Hive left to go through. Some Cursed Thralls came out from the black water that was in the room, but with precise shots to the head, they simply exploded far from me.
A final Knight made a charge at me, but as I pumped my entire shotgun into him, I heard Ghost finally whisp back towards me.
"Okay, I've got it all. There is unbelievable stuff in here." Ghost said. "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."
"Great… More gods?" I asked, slumping down to take a break.
"I'll warn the city. Let's get out of here." Ghost said.
"On that, I can agree."
With that, Ghost transmatted us out of there, taking us back to the city.
Once we touched down on the Tower plaza, I took off my helmet and stretched out, feeling a bit more relaxed back on Earth. "It feels good to be-"
My back was instantaneously crushed by the hug of a Titan. The same Titan who's voice was about to perforate my eardrums. "LADY VALIENTE! IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" Rockwell's hug and voice was honestly a warm welcome, but my body was beginning to disagree.
"G-good to see you too, Rockwell… B-but can you please let me go? I think you're gonna break my back!"
Rockwell set me down and gave a haughty laugh. "I'm sorry about that, Lady Valiente, but I couldn't contain my excitement when I heard you were coming back from your mission! How did it go?"
"It went pretty well, I'd say. We managed to get into the library and find out everything that the Hive were planning. Ghost should have already sent all the information to the Vanguard, so now we're just waiting for our next mission." I said, taking in a deep breath.
"I see. Well, I am sure that you are more than up to the task of taking on the Hive on their home turf, Lady Valiente!" Rockwell said. "Wouldn't you agree, Lady Philberta?"
Philberta popped up next to Rockwell and nodded in agreement with her Guardian. "Absolutely, Sir Rockwell! No one in the tower is as courageous as Lady Valiente!"
Their praises and words made me blush. I thanked them and went on to the Vanguard to give a full report of the mission, but I was stopped by Rahool. He waved me over and I approached him.
"Rahool? Is everything okay?" I asked.
Rahool nodded and waved over to an engram. "I hear that you went to the moon and entered the Temple of Crota. That is very headstrong of you, hunter."
"Well, I had to go to The World's Grave to see what the Hive were planning." I replied.
Rahool nodded and spoke in a very clear and concise manner. "The Hive have a weapon. The Sword of Crota. It is a weapon so dark that it drains any light it touches."
His words carried weight to them. I listened to him intently as he continued. "Now, Crota sleeps. But the sword does not… The Warlocks believe the sword is in a chamber guarded by the Swarm Princes. If you face them and steal the sword, we can see that it is never wielded again."
Seeing Rahool's eyes, I know what my next mission is going to be. "Ghost, do you have the information on where we can find the Swarm Princes?" I asked.
Ghost nodded. "All set. Whenever you're ready to go, we can face them."
Nodding in agreement, I thanked Rahool for the information and went over to Banshee to get ready for the expedition back to the Moon…
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! Sorry for the short delay on the chapter. Personal life was catching up and couldn't finish the chapter until just now. A like, follow, and review would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!