The Weapons of the First Shadow ring hot as the Guardians unleashed the entirety of their arsenal on the Ravenous Forgotten coming in. Bullets tore apart flesh and obliterated Ravenous hides, and yet it did not deter the Forgotten beasts. Despite the onslaught of incoming munitions, the beasts charged on anyway, an insatiable hunger driving them.
Seeing that their foes were not slowing down, Wolf called upon his light and conjured the Shadow Shot bow. With just enough space above him, the Hunter leapt head and shoulder above his Primus Umbra Brothers and let the Shadow shot fly downrange. His void light struck one of the Ravenous down, from its corpse manifested a Void Anchor that latched out and tethered hundreds of the Forgotten beasts.
Hades holstered his cannons. "I'm gonna bring the punch through!" He exclaimed as he moved from his position and began to hum with void light.
"On you!" Ryan acknowledged; he and the other Shadows followed behind the Warlock.
Hades' body began to hum of the stars, it tore itself apart then reassembled in a flash of Violent, Violet light. In Nova Warp, the Warlock forged ahead. He conjured the destructive force of the void between his palms and then expelled the energy, blasting a wave of destructive force at the anchored Ravenous, annihilating them on the atomic scale.
The 'void', much like Solar and Arc, is a manifestation of Light energy. Associated with Gravity and Space-time, it is perhaps the most destructive of the light-aligned elements. Though all Guardians can wield a manner of void, The Titans and the Hunters' understanding pales in comparison to the Warlock's. Voidwalkers command void as an extension of themselves. They contort space time and expel destruction on an atomic scale, so much so that they tend to be feared among general lightbearers. Hades of the First Shadow was no different in this aspect.
Like a living, sentient Nova Bomb, the Warlock brought utter ruin to the Ravenous crowd, subverting the laws of physics, popping in and out of reality at will, far removed from the other Shadows so as not to harm them. Whatever his explosions missed, they had no trouble cleaning up. Unfortunately, Hades' destructive force would soon prove to be more than even the Dreadnaught's walls could handle.
The walls of the Dreadnaught began to creak and crack. Compromised by the Warlock's assault, they began to buckle and shed apart in the wake of the Voidwalker's destruction.
"The Walls, they're coming down!" Ace called out just as the Walls around them caved in and then, with it, the floor. The crevice fell away and so too did the Guardians and the Ravenous.
Primus Umbra plummeted into the depths below. Shade swapped his greaves to Lion Ramparts and let their rockets slow his descent as he caught Wolf, and then Ryan while also dodging falling debris.
Inversely, instead of holding himself up, Ace snatched Pyro out of the air "What are you-?" Was all the Hunter managed before the Titan crackled with Arc light.
"Death from above!" Ace exclaimed.
"Wait, no, no, no, wait!" The Hunter screamed as he suddenly and forcefully crashed down towards the ground, carried down by the Titan's Ballistic slam.
In the air, Hades caught a Ravenous by the head. It snarled and snapped at him as he placed it between his palms, gathered void energy between them and then erupted it, decimating the thing, head first. With the Ravenous destroyed, the Warlock looked down below and watched Shade descend and land himself, Wolf and Ryan on the ground floor.
"Another Happy Landing" Ryan remarked sarcastically.
Shade looked around, trying to get a hold on where they were. "Shadows, on us! He called out. Ace and Pyro, the only two separated from the group, began to move back to his position. That's when he turned to Ryan. "Can we get a Ward?" He asked. fell back to his position. "Ryan, can we get a bubble?"
Ryan charged his void light, "Coming up!" The Titan obliged.
Ryan let the light tear outward from his body, casting Ward of Dawn and forming a dome of Violet light in the depths of the Dreadnaught.
As Pyro and Ace rejoined the others, entering Ryan's Ward. "The Hell are we?"
"I think we're beneath the Breach." Ace replied, debris falling around them and slamming into the Titan's Ward. "Hades must've knocked a load bearing column or something.
"Where is Hades anyway?"
The five looked around for Hades, first looking on the ground and finding nothing as Debris rained down. "There, topside." Shade's Ghost, Saber, said into the Guardians' comms. On her cue, they looked up and watched as the Warlock, still irradiated with Nova Warp, continued to blast apart the Ravenous as they dropped into the pit. At first glance, it merely looked like he was trying to blast the ground out beneath the Forgotten's feet. But, as he fought on, it became more apparent that his goal was much larger than any of the Ravenous.
The Warlock's Void Eruptions were damaging the outer edge of the 'ceiling' above them. That he was seemingly killing so many Ravenous was a happy accident. His real goal seemed to lie elsewhere.
"What is that man doing?" Pyro asked. "Is he trying to bring the ceiling down on us?"
Ace inspected his work. It was adjacent, - 30 degrees north of where they were previously, definitely off a few hundred feet. Then it hit him. "He's not trying to bring the ceiling down on us, he's trying to take the ground out from under them."
Ace's hunch was soon confirmed. Right as soon as he'd said that, the Warlock dashed backwards, pulled the remaining void light from his person and launched a gigantic Novabomb skyward, which struck the ceiling above them. That was the last push he'd needed, as the ceiling to the pit began to split open and Bentri, Meltrok; the entire Skyburner Legion's Ship, it all came crashing down in spectacular fashion.
"Holy Shit!" Pyro exclaimed as the massive Cabal ship now suddenly came falling down on them.
The Shadows readied themselves to move, but they would not be given the chance to as Hades suddenly blinked over the Ward they were in. He held in the air a moment, straining himself as he called upon more void. With a second through, the Warlock cast another Nova Bomb, this time flinging a variant with three munitions that flew up and shattered the inclimg ship, destroying it, shattering it into millions of manageable pieces that would fall and bounce of of Ryan's Ward, harmlessly.
Hades dropped from the air and blinked back down into the bubble. He dropped to his hands and knees, exhausted.
"You crazy Son of a Bitch." Ryan said as he bent down and helped him to his feet. "The hell was all that?!"
"I'm sorry…" Hades said, strained. "I should have warned you what I was doing."
Pieces of the ship and ceiling rained down on and around the Ward of Dawn. among the ruins, Meltrok and Ventri of the Forgotten landed hard in the Dreadnaught's depths. Rendsora, the Forgotten General, was not among them.
"So, why'd you do it?" Shade asked Hades. "Did you know this was here?"
"I felt it on the way here." Hades replied. "Ascendant Hive Energy…Darkness. I thought it was the court earlier, but no. It's this pit."
"And what's so special about a Pit?" Ryan asked.
"Look around, see for yourselves."
The others looked around the pit, to their surprise, and slight horror, they hadn't just fallen on 'nothing'. Instead, malignant Growths painted the walls and grounds, and along those growths, Hive Worms wriggled their bodies in distress.
"Are those….worms?!" Pyro asked, mortified.
"Not just any worms, these are Oryx's progeny."
Ryan examined the larva. Some of the worms had begun to form vestigial growths. Nubs and stubs were picking off of their body. "How the hell is that even possible?" Ryan asked anyone who'd answer him. "The King is dead, who's still making kids?"
"We challenged the Court of Oryx with all the light we had back then." Hades began. "The Worms, the adolescent Hive Larvae, they all just ate it right up. All that light shone bright with no remorse, a subconscious desire to subvert the Taken King and all he stood for, at any cost…why, we must've fed them enough to last a lifetime."
"Ok, but how are Worms and the Darkness going to help us?" Shade asked, a hint of contempt in his voice.
Before Hades could answer, he and the other Shadows were soon happened upon by a great, dark shadow. The Guardians barely evaded in time as Rendsora, Bahren Seth's General, came down in fury, Axe-sword in hand.
"Cunning!" The Heneral roared. "But stupid!"
The Titan's moved to counter the General's attack. Ryan combined his Axes and cast Burning Maul, while Ace cranked Fist of Havoc and charged into the Forgotten's sword hand, halting his next strike and making an opening for his fellow Shadows. Shade would move to capitalize on the Titan's move. The Exo burst into a frenzy of Arc light and charged off after Rendsora, Roar of Thunder in hand. Rendsora shifted his weight and sent Ace tumbling. Then, he reached out and snatched Shade right out of the air! The Titan struggled and struggled in the General's grasp, but Rendsora was far too powerful.
"Shade!" Hades cried out. He flew up to the General, drawing Zephyr in hand, intent on lopping the General's hand clean off, only to be spotted several ways off by Ventri of the Forgotten.
"Lightbearer…" The Architect hissed from Meltrok's back as they lined up a shot, only for their careful aim to be thrown off as Meltrok suddenly dropped to the ground in distress.
Hades made a pass at Rendsora, the General swept his blade back and knocked the Warlock back to the ground. The other Shadows moved in opposition to the Warlock's fall, rushing at the general with their light and weapons at hand. "Come on!" The General roared.
Hades lifted himself up and began to gather void light in hand, when he noticed Ventri and Meltrok in the distance. "Meltrok, Son of Bahren." The Architect began with genuine concern. "What ails you?"
The Forgotten Ogre's skin started to go pale as it lay on the floor, struggling. Rendsora turned his gaze back to the Ogre 'prince', his fit of concern being enough to take him out of the fight for but a moment, but that's all Ryan needed to rush in, swap his Axe Super for a Bladed Sentinel Shield and bash the General's leg in, forcing him to drop to a knee and release Shade. The Striker took to the air and channeled a ballistic slam which sent him flying into Rendsora's chest, who in turn went flying into one of the pit Walls; Hades sat back and observed everything, an idea forming in his head that would make even give the likes of the Witch Queen pause. With an idea born, the Warlock moved off after his friend.
Shade landed Landed on one knee, then drew his Roar of Thunder. Hades joined him once more, to finish their conversation. "There's no Darkness in these Forgotten, Hades explained, unprompted."
"And?" Shade asked. He had figured that one out himself and hoped the Warlock had something more to offer.
"And, that Ogre thing gets its power from absorbing those around him. It's simulating them and adorning their power to its own skin. But now there is no other Forgotten. Just it, the thing on it's back, and pure Dark residue down here. Mind you, the Darkness is enough to make resurrections difficult, but not so potent that it would outright block our light, and yet 'Meltrok' can't handle it."
"The Vex..." Shade realized. "The Vex can't simulate Light or Dark!"
Hades nodded, now the Titan was beginning to see the bigger picture. "If it takes on too much of what its body cannot process, it will die."
"So that's the plan, overload them with Darkness?"
"You have a better one?" Hades asked.
"No. Actually, that's genius!"
Rendsora broke free of the wall with a mighty yell. He first set his sight on the Guardians, but then shifted back towards Meltrok; clearly the King's Ogre son was something of a priority.
Rendsora saw Ryan and Ace as they came in for another strike. He raised his blade to deflect shots from Wolf and Pyro, who'd been getting to better ground, and then dashed backwards towards Meltrok and Ventri.
"General!" Ventri cried out. "I don't know what's wrong with-"
"Be silent, or I will silence you!" Rendsora growled.
The larger, more powerful Forgotten Warrior reached down towards the Ogre's mouth and allowed the Ogre to bite his hand and drain his Radiolaria infused blood. The General's blood entered the son of Bahren Seth and acted like a blood transfusion, his Vex-Cells moving through and purging the Forgotten Prince of his ailments.
The color returned to Meltrok's skin. The great Ogre raised itself up, climbing back to it's feet before giving a mighty roar that shook the pit they were all in. With the King's Son back at 100%, Ventri wriggled their way up the Ogre's hide and leveled their Rifle, taking aim at the Guardians, taking aim at Ace specifically, before firing.
Ace braced himself, only for Ryan to dash over and put himself in between the shot and his fellow Titan. Shield raised, he blocked the shot, denying Ventri a kill. That's when Meltrok's eye-stalk began to charge with energy. A moment passed before the great beast let loose a massive beam of energy out of it's face that struck Ryan's shield so hard that Ace had to step in and help him hold it up, lest their only defense go down.
"The Ogre's our priority…" Hades declares as he kneels down and looks at the floor of the pit. Slimy, black liquid coated the floor in waves. Beneath the waves were worm Larvae wriggling and squirming in the wake of their disturbed habitat.
The Warlock reaches down and finds the biggest, fattest worm he can and lifts it from the dark ooze. The thing was about the size of one of the City's cats; it wriggled in his hands, secreting some disgusting oil out of its body and all over the Warlock's armor. The Warlock groaned at the feeling, and thanked the Traveler that his gear was air-tight.
"This is vile…" Ronin said in their shared conscious space.
As Ace and Ryan fought off the ogre, Pyro and Wolf dropped down behind Hades and Shade, the former was preparing his Solar light. "So, what's the plan?" He asked.
Holding the Thick, slimy worm, Hades confidently replied. "I'm gonna force feed that thing one of these worms." He said, disgusting Shade, Wolf and Pyro all at once. "The Darkness it feeds on should be enough to overload the Ogre's nervous system."
"I don't love this plan." Shade said. "But, if you think it'll work…" The Titan hesitated, then refocused his gaze back on Hades. "We'll clear you a way."
Hades nodded. "We're beating this thing. Whatever it takes."
Shade nodded back. "Alright, let's do this thing." He said to the others. "Assault the Ogre! First Shadow, Last Sight!"
The Guardians rushed off after Meltrok. The Ogre took its gaze off of the Titans and swept a beam of pure temporal energy at the guardians, who scattered, narrowly dodging the beast's attack.
Atop Meltrok's hide, fighting the Ogre's sudden movements, Ventri took shots at the Guardians, aiming at Shade and then Ryan, letting their rifle loose and forcing the Guardians to disperse. Ryan ends up falling back, only to fall into Rendsora, who swings his Axe Sword down on him. Ryan swiftly dodges and moves to slash at Rendsora's Thighs. The General sidesteps and kicks him back toward Meltrok, who lifts his fist up to smash down on Ryan. Wolf, nimble as he is however, leaps up, Shadowshot bow in hand, and fires another Void Anchor out, which latches onto a wall and then the Ogre's hand, halting it's attack and tethering it with a line of pure gravimetric force.
"RAHH!" The Limbs adorning the Ogre's arms flail, kick and swing as he pulls with all his might, tearing part of the wall off and swinging it around the pit, putting it on a path directly at Hades. Hades braces for the impact, but Ace gets in his way and punches the tethered bit of wall so hard, it crumbles. He turns to Hades.
"Why don't you dodge?!"
"I'm holding a little bundle of Ascendant Hive darkness. My light's being smothered, I can't even blink!"
Rendsora moves in and swings his sword at Hades, Shade leaps in and blocks it with Roar of Thunder, leaving Rendsora open enough for Ryan to rush in and bash him back with a Shield bash. Shade turns to the others, twirling his Sword in elegant fashion. "We'll hold the Knight off, you kill that Ogre!"
Hades and Ace nod and move back to face off with the Ogre while Shade and Ryan charge to fight Rendsora. Meltrok, and Ventri fight on, pre-occupied by the hunters, unable to even touch them due to their agility. Wolf light's the Ogre up with his Semi-auto Scout Rifle, the weapon's smart scope tracks the Ogre's joints as weak points, hitting them in quick succession, which only serves at pissing the thing off.
Meltrok throws a punch at Wolf, Wolf dodges backward, giving Pyro ample time to cast Gold Gun and dump 6 quick shots off at the Ogre's face. Meltrok swings at Pyro, only for Ace to get in the way and meet Meltrok's fist with his own, which simultaneously charges his Gauntlets. Enraged, Meltrok charges its central eye beam and burns it, letting it loose at the Guardians and Rendsora, while Ventri shoots from his back, clipping Hades' shoulder.
Hades ignored his now burning shoulder, tucked the wriggling worm under arm, drew Gearshifter with his free hand and trained the piece on the mutated Acolyte before pulling the cannon's hair trigger.
BAM
The Shot rings out, it connects with Ventri's head and knocks him off of the Ogre. "Argh!" The Acolyte quickly scuttled back to his feet in time to watch Ace rush past him for the Ogre. With a full powered Gauntlet, he pulled his fist back and prepared a strike of devastating proportions. Meltrok trained his beam on the Titan, fully intent on taking the Titan's life, but Ace had other Ideas. The Striker threw a punch forward at Meltrok's beam! The kinetic blast stored in his gauntlets launched out into the air, splitting the Ogre's Temporal Beam apart and striking him dead in the eye, momentarily blinding him.
"RAAHHAHAHHH!" The Ogre screamed out in genuine pain. It staggered about, stunned, hurt and confused. It was vulnerable; and there wasn't going to be a greater opportunity."
"Hades, go!" Ace shouted out to the Warlock.
Hades rushed off toward the Ogre, his gifted cannon in hand. He aims and shoots it into Meltrok's kneecap, bringing the beast down on one knee and within jumping distance.
Rendsora, still fighting with Shade and Ryan, caught a glimpse of this. It soon became apparent what the Guardians were trying to do. Shade Threw himself at Rendsora, but Rendsora grabbed him and threw him into the air, putting him right over Meltrok.
"No!" Rendsora cried out, desperate but too far away to stop the Guardians.
Hades leapt up into the air at the Ogre, Worm in hand and jammed it into the Ogre's mouth. The second the thing left his hand, he felt his light's affinity return to him. The Voidwalker blinked away, teleporting several meters back as Meltrok bit down hard on the Worm, his flesh once again going pale, his muscle mass withering and fading as he lost all his strength. Still, the Ogre would not die right away - that part was up to Shade.
Shade, who was still in the air on account of his Lion Rampart Exotic boots, angled himself right over the Ogre, who writhed as his strength left him. Rendsora threw his Sword-Axe at the Titan, only for Ryan to leap up and intercept it, knocking it out of the air with his shield and giving Shade the time he needed to charge his Arc light, which coursed through his entire body before reaching his sword.
Rendsora looked on in a panic. "Dont!" He pleaded. But the Guardians didn't care.
Shade, now crackling with arc energy, responded, "The longer we fight you, the more I realize you aren't capable of comprehending what we Guardians can do. Allow me to show you!" Shade explodes in Arc Energy as he comes diving down at subsonic speeds with his sword pointed down, leading the charge. His arc light illuminates the entire pit in bright blue light as he comes down.
"Take a good long look, Forgotten! This is what a Guardian is capable of!"
Shade comes crashing down in a spectacular display of arc light, Ace puts up a wall and Ryan puts up another titan Bubble, the Guardians take refuge in whatever protection is closest to them as Shade's Arc lightning scorches the pit, burning debris, Ravenous bodies, and Meltrok to cinders. Ventri tries to climb out of the pit, only to be charred and electrocuted to death too, their dead body comes falling and crumpling up on the ground.
Shade lands in the aftermath, sword dug into the Ashen corpse of the now very much Dead Forgotten Prince, his body knelt down on the Ogre's charred back. Shade rises, pulling his sword out and twirling it in hand. He looks Rendsora dead in the eye, "You're next..." He promises, a spiteful rage overtaking him.
End of Chapter 10
