Aboard the Dreadnaught, the Shadows of Primus Umbra took a moment to collect themselves. They looked back, out unto the destruction caused by Oryx's superweapon and felt intense dread. They'd made it past the weapon and boarded the ship, much like the Guardians who pioneered the ship's infiltration all those years ago, but it once again came at the cost of so many lives. The Awoken out in the debris field, somehow brought back through time only to be killed again…they could have been spared. Saved. They didn't have to die like that again. They'd already made their sacrifice, what right did these Forgotten have to make them undertake it a second time? Despite the Shadow's genuine empathy for the now lost Awoken, there wasn't a thing they could do for them now.
"Look." Shade pointed back at the Concordat Warship they'd commandeered. It sat idle, weapons platforms still facing the Dreadnaught; there was damage all throughout the Hull but it still stood. "They've stopped firing on the ship."
"Why?" Wolf asked.
"Why do you think?" Ryan stepped in to answer him. "They know we're onboard."
The group suddenly went very quiet. The sounds of the vast, moon-sized ship began to fill the air. Some unforeseen power hummed throughout the ship in rhythmic pattern, almost as if it were breathing. The guardians of the First Shadow could sense it; they were not welcome aboard this ship, no light was. Still that would not completely deter them, they still had a job to do and a friend to save.
"Well, we should get a move on." Pyro suggested, drawing his bow off of his back. "If they really do know we're here, then this spot isn't going to work if we get into a fight."
"He's right," Hades added. " Let's see if we can't find our way around."
The Shadows moved off and ventured deeper into the impact crater they were using as ingress, trying to find some actual solid ground to stand on. The Warlock of the group particularly found it interesting that, despite still technically being in Space, the Fortress-Ship was still able to produce sound. In fact, it had an atmosphere all its own, which of course included breathable air.
"Yeah, this place is still as creepy as ever." Shade remarked as they climbed further into the crater.
Hades checked pieces of wall for an entry point into the ship proper. "Don't be so down, Shade. You always said you wanted to go back to the Dreadnaught, we're living the dream."
"Yeah, but not like this." The Titan murmured to himself, still loud enough for Hades to hear.
"What were you expecting?" Pyro asked. "A welcome party?"
"I reckon this is a welcome party, as far as the Hive are concerned. Ace said as he checked the chitin for an entry point, running his hand across the center of the hull until he found a depression in the hull wall. "I think I found something."
Hades blinked over to him and checked for himself, he put his hand, and the wall pushed in with him, it seemed promising enough. "Ryan, we're in need of your expertise."
"Axe time? Ok!" Ryan drew his Axes, then cast burning Maul. Shade's gift formed a double bladed axe over the head of his Constructed hammer before the Titan leapt over to Ace and Hades.
Ace pointed at the access point before he and Hades got out of the way for Ryan, who reeled his Burning Axe back. The axe blades spun in unison and burned with Ryan's light as he held the pose for a second before slamming it into the hull and annihilating the wall, offering proper entry into the ship.
The Titan recalled his solar light and allowed the others passage. One by one they dropped into the ship. They entered a large chamber in the ship, just past the Trenchway. Off in the distance, a dormant Ascendant portal stood. The Area that garnered it was almost instantly recognizable to Hades and Shade as the Court of Oryx.
"Wow, it's been a while." Shade remarked. "Think anyone will answer if I place some runes?"
Hades got to his feet. "Doubtful." He dusted his armor off. "We killed the King's entire Court. Best answer you'll probably get is a bunch of Thralls. "
"Not that we want to invite more of a fight than necessary." Ryan said, still holding his flaming axe. "How are we even gonna find them here?"
Hades, Shade and the others looked around. The place really hadn't changed much since they'd left it all those years ago - then again, what was a few years to a ship that was hundreds of Thousands of years old?
Hades pondered for a moment, truthfully, they could cover more ground if they split up and searched the ship. But that was as much a gamble as it is a benefactor. Mahren Seth could tear reality asunder and fling its pieces like they were toys. And now there were others like her in command of the Dreadnaught. One of them was powerful enough to tear a long dead swath of friends and foes from their death and bring them back to moments before they died just to deter the Strike team of 6 from engaging. They had the names of some seemingly key players in this 'Forgotten War', but they didn't know their full extent. It could be that they were all as powerful as Seth was. And to split up with enemies like that running around? That would practically end the Strike before it could begin.
"We stick together and keep moving." Hades ordered. "Let's make way for The Breach. A Cabal ship crashed here long ago and Cabal are quite persistent. If the Forgotten have been here long, they'll have intel on them we can use. They may even know where to find them."
Wolf, who was scanning the area for hostiles with his scout rifle, stopped to interject. "You mean assuming it still has enough power to work?"
Hades lifted his finger and a spark of arc energy jolted out. "We'll make it work."
Shade stepped in, drawing his sword. "Pyro, Wolf, you're scouting. Ryan, you cover the rear. We move together." None objected to the Command.
Primus Umbra moved in line and pushed toward the Cabal Breach. Their path would take them closer to the Court of Oryx, where Guardians would present offerings and in turn be met with the honor of challenging Oryx's lieutenants. As the group passed the Court, Shade glanced at it, reminiscing of the time period in which he had been risen.
The war with the Taken King was his first Year Risen. During that event, he'd go on to Meet Hades, who was only a 2nd Year Risen himself. The Taken War was utterly catastrophic for Sol, especially for those beyond the City's Walls. Even to this day, the effects of Oryx's mere presence on the System was felt. For others, the Taken War was something of a catastrophe. But, for Shade, it was the best time of his life.
As Shade reminisced of the past, Hades wrinkled his nose in contempt. The Court stunk of Ascended Hive energy, even so long after it's been used. He could recall calling upon the legendary Gjallarhorn here. Despite it being technically outdated by that point, the Exotic Rocket Launcher from the Minds at Crux/Lomar still lit the way forward for Kinderguardians who'd fought alongside the Warlock. One had even called him a hero for wielding it. Where they saw Heroism, Hades simply used a means to an end.
The Gjallarhorn, which takes its name from Norse Mythology meaning "yelling horn", was built from the armor and light of fallen guardians who died in defense of the City at Twilight Gap. It was the only weapon truly capable of erasing darkness from this world and in the court it worked like a charm. Here and now, however, there was no Gjallarhorn.
The crushing weight of dark energy was all around him, and because he was a warlock and his paracausal senses were so acutely tuned, he could feel it all. Typically, this wouldn't have bothered him more but, ever since he gazed into the Tank in the Drifter's quarters, he'd grown to truly fear the dark.
Ikora always said, 'our dreams are not always dreams, they've visions of what to come.' So, he wondered: 'just what was coming? Was what he saw in the darkness a mere nightmare, or was it a premonition?' His question would go unanswered today, but not unnoticed. Ronin could feel the doubt and uncertainty within his Guardian, but he said nothing. It was not time to. Not yet.
Wolf, Pyro, Ace and Ryan would move on their own wavelength. They'd all sought revenge for Cletus (Ryan especially) and were willing to do their duty. The Titans kept their will resolute. To think off mission might lead to someone in their charge getting hurt, and that was something they could not afford so deep in enemy territory. Wolf and Pyro were of a different mindset.
While Pyro merely wanted to be done with this as quickly as possible, Wolf, being the youngest, found uncertainty aboard the Dreadnaught. He wasn't as bold as the others, certainly not one to speak up or confront an issue. 'What if we die here? What if we aren't strong enough? What if I'm not enough?!'All burned across his mind. Though his body told a different story. He was stiff as he held the one-of-a-kind Exotic Scout Rifle, his body showed little emotion as it climbed over Hive remains. How could it? To show weakness against foes as strong as these would surely mean death, and he didn't want any of his friends to die.
The group moved off, finally making it out of the Court and into a series of passageways. They were not long, but they were winding. Eventually, Wolf and Pyro would lead the Guardians out of the passageways and into a clearing. There, the 6 of them laid eyes on a series of downed struts and buttresses, torn apart by a Cabal ship long since offline. This was the Breach, where the Cabal made their entrance - and their Stand - against Oryx.
"We're here…" Pyro noted, Bow reeled back. Something was wrong.
Dead Cabal littered the area. If that was the end of it, there'd be no problem. But, they weren't just dead. Their bodies were mutilated, torn into and ripped apart. In one area, chunks of Cabal and an unidentifiable mass of meat and flesh painted the ground in blood, guts and oil.
"What the hell happened here?" Ace asked.
Ryan walked through, accidentally kicking something…meaty. He looked down at what he'd struck and found a severed arm, the Red Legion symbol stamped on it. "They're not just Skyburners. There are Red Legion in here too."
Hades rose up into the air to get a better view of the area. The Cabal Bodies spread out through the entirety of the Breach,
"The Skyburners fought to their end." He said to himself, a hint of grief in his voice. "They fought until the Red Legion would no longer send back up. To the last Cabal." Hades knew what the Red Legion had done. He'd traveled to and fought in plenty of settlements beyond the Tower when the Red Legion had taken the City and the Guardian's light. Then, he and the others were a part of the force to take back the City. He knew what terrible brutality The Cabal were capable of and yet…he felt remorse for them.
"Remorse? For them?" Ronin was astonished and yet, somewhat conflictingly, unsurprised.
"Does that make me a bad commander?" Hades asked the Ghost. "To feel remorse for the enemy?"
Ronin was puzzled. But he understood Hades' dilemma. He would not try to console him, instead he'd tell him the truth. "It makes you a good person." He said. "And it's hard for a good person to take command."
Hades looked down on the destruction and grieved for the dead. Be they Cabal, Hive or whatever else littered the floor. All this pain, death and destruction…and for what? "What are we even doing?" He asked himself. His question directed generally. He was talking about Guardians, Cabal, Hive and even the Forgotten as a whole. This was senseless. Hades looked down to his friends, they were scanning the room. They were why he was here, his motivation, he would protect them above all else and get their Ghost friend back.
Hades continued to scan the room with his eyes, finding Wolf motioning at him, trying to get his attention. "Down here!" The Hunter shouted. "There are consoles for their ship, we can see about that scanner!"
"Good eye!" Hades meant that. He floated down to meet back up with the Hunter, the other Guardians moved to converge on their position as Hades and Wolf moved into the smashed hull of the ship, and to the console.
Wolf tried to activate it but, as predicted, there was no power. So, Hades built up some arc energy and touched the console, streaming his arc light into it, activating the console and the entire rest of the ship, much to the delight of the Hunter. However, with the ship's power back online, so too came the alarms. They blared as loud as possible, as far as possible, seemingly stretching across the entire Dreadnaught. Hades immediately cut the Arc stream, killing the power and the sirens. Everything went quiet.
"Did you think they heard us?" Wolf whispered.
Wolf's question was instantly answered. A massive, blood curdling, bone chilling, cry ripped across the Fortress ship. Then, suddenly, it stopped, only to be followed by scores of smaller, more disturbing roars and bellows. Then, the Cabal ship began to rock and rustle, something was coming at them, something big.
"I think they heard us!" Hades said, grabbing Wolf and blinking them both back to the other shadows just as the back of the Cabal ship suddenly tore open.
Chunks of the ship went flying across the Cabal-made staging area. Sheet metal and circuits, wires and armaments went flying outward. Hades, Wolf and Pyro braced for impact while Shade, Ryan and Ace stepped forward. Shade swung the Roar of Thunder, casting a wave of Arc Light from it's tempered blade that annihilated incoming debris. Ryan called forth his flaming axe and spin the blades in place, charging up a fire Hurricane and letting it loose, incinerating more debris while Ace put up his 'Play Well With Others' Exotic Gauntlets to use and gauntlets and went to work, boxing, and slugging debris out of the way, calling out his punches with each and every punch.
"One, two, three four" Ace counted on each simulated exhale of breath. He reeled back his fifth punch, charged to the brim with kinetic energy, and then threw a powerful punch that expelled the pent up energy in a massive wave that destroyed every piece of debris sent ripping at them. Ace's attack was so strong it displaced Ryan's Solar Fire and Shade's Arc energy. The titan cracked the ground and cleared the smoke away with little more than the raw force of his attack. Unfortunately, they'd all soon wish he hadn't.
There, standing out of a now gaping hole In the back of the Cabal ship was the Biggest Ogre any of them had ever seen. It had wires and tubes pumping radiolaria into its body from a massive series of tanks on its back. Its arms had Vex and Hive limbs jutting out of it, some of which twitched with its every move. It's head, torn asunder and mutilated, had Vex Horns torn from the body of several cyclopses, an elongated neck that was still pink, fleshy and oozing a mix of radiolaria and blood. Where a typical Ogre eye would normally sit, a collection of Vex Eyes stared at the Shadows. And, horrifyingly, it wasn't alone.
Something began to crawl off of its back, a spindly thing crawled on 8 limbs. It sat up, four vex limbs connected to the Ogre while 4 hive limbs held what looked like a Vex Line Rifle in hand. It's head, some sort of twisted acolyte skull, spoke.
"Uhgghh-Ggguuardians!" It gurgled at them, festering a hatred as it got back to a normal speaking tongue, spitting up Radiolaria and Bile.
"God Bless, that's disgusting." Ace groaned, his arms dropping to his sides in anguish.
The Thing crawled down and hung under the Ogre's neck. "This is Meltrok, Son of Bahren Seth. I am Ventri, the Architect. You are not welcome in the King's presence…" The amalgamation of Vex and Hive said to the Shadows.
Meltrok roared out that same blood curdling roar, ripping the walls of the Dreadnaught apart. Soon behind them, a legion of beings tore themselves from the Cabal ship, and charged at the Guardians. Stature wise, they were somewhere between knights and Ogre In mass. The things moved towards the Guardians with a voracious Hunger; some still had Cabal in their mouths. With the speed of Thrall, they were Ravenous, relentless, endlessly hungry.
Ace, Shade and Ryan already in the front, braced for attack. Wolf Readied his scout. Pyro, his bow. Hades moved his hand toward his holster, reaching for his Old fashioned at first, then stopping. Instead, he moved over to his new Gearshifter Hand Cannon and drew that instead. He spun the mag, changing the fire rate to match the speed of the Ravenous.
"First Shadow, Last Sight!" He shouted with his chest, the saying was music to the Rest of the clan's ears.
On Hades' order, Primus Umbra charged against the incoming Forgotten, heading right into the fray. The first skirmish of the Forgotten War was finally underway!
End of Chapter 7