The Ravenous Forgotten and The 6 Guardians rush for each other at full speed, both sides moving with full intention on destroying the other.
Shade is tip of the spear; he cranks his fist, building up arc energy and scorching the very ground before launching off, Sword first, in a blaze of arc destruction. He roars on, casting Thundercrash and using his sword, The Roar of Thunder, to steer the super. Its arc Energy mixes with his, creating a frightening concoction of raw power and elegant demise. His Sword meet's Forgotten flesh as his entire body tears through scores of the monsters before crashing down into the ground. He'd wiped a good number of them out, but there were still so many more.
The Forgotten forces were many; there was no end in sight to them. So the Titan had attacked first to establish a forward front on the battlefield. Hades caught wind of the idea and moved to the Hunters. He took hold of them and blinked, teleporting them out of the thick of it and landing in an area just off the side of the beach head, beside an old transmat zone during the Taken War.
"The Titans'll take the brunt of it." He said, taking his hands off the Hunters. "We'll keep them covered from here!" The Warlock said as he raised his gifted Hand Cannon and popped off two quick rounds into the Ravenous swarm; the Hunters didn't question him. Bow and Scout rifle drawn, they put shots out down range from a raised ground, covering the Titans as they held a front.
The Devastation Shade called forth had worked for but a moment as the Ravenous were right back on the Titans. But that didn't bother them, they didn't even think about it as they engaged the horde of enemies with lethal efficiency. The three Titans fought in harmony, covering each other's weaknesses, and playing off of each other's strengths to great effect.
Ryan danced in and out of combat, spinning and dodging, using his momentum to lop Ravenous heads off, holding the mid-range down. Anything out of his reach, Shade would shatter with the swing of his sword. What did not fall from his blade would be annihilated in the following wave of Arc energy. The Roar of Thunder lived up to its name, every arc blast wrought the wrath of Shade, destroying enemies with complete disregard for precision. For what use was accuracy when everything around you is an enemy? While Shade kept the range game clear, he was somewhat vulnerable to close range. The Roar of Thunder was a heavy blade and required both hands to be wielded, that's where Ace had him covered.
A couple Ravenous charged up to him, Ace stepped in their path, clocking one in the face so hard it's skull shattered and brain splattered across the ground. Three more attacked from another angle, one went down to an arrow shot from Pyro's Virulence. The others didn't even bother to see where the arrow flew from as they rushed back in on Shade again. Ace punched one in the back. It swung back around, Ace dodged and punched its head off. He dashed to the other, grabbed it and lifted it up, suplexing it and slamming him down, cracking its spine. He moved off to another target, expecting it to go down. Instead, it got back up, spine sticking out of its abdomen, and charged at Ace, fangs bared, body flopping all over the place. Ace just barely caught notice before it lunged at him, only for Shade to put himself in its path.
The Striker Titan allowed the beast to clamp its horrid jaws down on his gauntlets. Fortunately for him, he was wearing ACD/0 Feedback Fences. The Warmind tech ejected a jolting arc blast, busting the things jaw right open and leaving it open for Ace to dash right back in and slam the Ravenous right through its chest, sending it flying back. With 5 punches charged, Ace's own Exotic Gauntlets were fully loaded. Shade and Ryan cleared the way and Ace threw a punch at the Forgotten force, the raw energy stored in the gauntlets shot out and sent a line of annihilation down at the Forgotten, obliterating everything in its path.
Ventri, still atop Meltrok, got behind the Massive Ogre's back and braced while Meltrok held up its arms to block. The limbs on his arms cracked into place, bracing as well. The wave of energy slammed into Meltrok. The ship behind him, the ground, the air, the very atmosphere of the ship cracked under the pressure, but Meltrok stood tall. He put his arms down and looked back, glaring at the Guardians. Ventri scuttled to Meltrok's neck to look upon the Guardians too. They were making a mess of their fellow Forgotten. The Lightbearers were powerful, powerful enough to pose a threat, and they needed to die.
Ventri loaded his rifle and aimed it at Shade. He charged the rifle to shoot, only to have his arm shot into pieces. "GAHGH!" Ventri screamed in pain as his arm. He looked off to his left to see Hades holding the smoking gun, smiling under his helmet. "RAHH!" Ventri screamed out in rage, connecting the rifle to the stub where his arm once was. Transforming his cells, allowing for a battery and magazine to merge with his biology.
"I think you pissed him off." Pyro smirked as he drew his bow and let another arrow fly. The Forgotten attacking the Titans were near mindless, but it seems that the one that called itself Ventri wasn't. Pyro thought it was good for them to know who we are and what we're about.
Hades reloaded the Hand cannon and aimed it again. "And there's more where that came from." He promised, aiming the Gearshifter at Ventri and holding the trigger. At full charge he let go of the trigger, letting high caliber shot fly.
Meltrok put its arm up to defend Ventri, then aimed its face at the Guardians off in the distance, charging up purple energy before unleashing a massive energy beam in retaliation. Hades, Wolf and Pyro dodged out of the way.
"Wolf, let's get a tether going!" Hades suggested and Wolf obliged.
Wolf leapt into the air, void energy charged up in his hand and formed into a bow. He pulled the thread of the bow back and let an arrow fly out into the ground before Meltrok. The shot latched out at Meltrok, cutting his beams off, and tethered him and the rest of the Ravenous horde.
"Good shot!" Hades congratulated the hunter, to which Wolf smiled, as they opened a lane for the Titans.
With a swath of enemies tethered, it was Ace's turn to cast a super. He cranked his Fist of Havoc and went to town, punching and slugging ravenous, turning their deaths into Orbs of light for his brothers, while still charging his gauntlets. Every five punches, he'd send out a massive wave of energy, now infused with his arc light. Through his damage, and Wolf's tether, the Titans were making ground. They were now upon Meltrok who just cleared himself of the Shadowshot's Void Anchor.
Meltrok swung at the Titans, they dodged easily. Ace dashed forward, shoulder charging his leg and knocking the Massive Ogre-Cyclops hybrid to its knees. Meltrok made another grab, this time at Shade. Ryan dashed forward, leapt into the air and stabbed it, pinning his arm down, leaving Meltrok's head open for an attack. Ventri saw this and went to fire at Shade once more, when Ace grabbed his legs and pulled him to the ground, then kicked him away. Shade moved to Slit the Ogre's throat, he swung upward and made contact: a quick, clean cut…
…Or rather, it was supposed to be…
A flash of Emerald light, and the sound of massive footsteps suddenly riffed the air. Shade's lunge was blocked by a sudden massive Axe Sword, held by a Knight in armor blackened by the countless battles it'd seen. Its wearer was Rendsora: General to the Forgotten. He swung down, meeting Shade's strike, completely overwhelming him and slamming Shade into the ground.
Ace and Ryan moved to attack the new challenger, only to suddenly be impaled by a shard of reality and flung back down the beachhead. It was Mahren-Seth, the wizard who stole Cletus. She held an arm behind her back and controlled reality with the next.
Shade, still pinned to the floor, his own sword cut through his armor and deep into Shade's body. "Gah!" was all he could get out, the Forgotten General crushing his chest. He looked into the General's face, Rendsora's visor was deployed; red flames poured out of its openings.
The General turned to Ventri, disappointment painted on his face. "You must command the King's son better, Architect." Rendsora's condescending tone sent a shiver down Ventri's spine.
"My apologies, General." Ventri spit out, he truly was sorry. He wasn't a fighter by design, nor a warrior by heart. He did not pair well with Meltrok's power and Rendsora knew that, so he could not fault him.
"My, you've certainly made a mess of things." Mahren Seth hovered her way to Rendsora's side. "Weren't you female the last time I saw you?" She asked Ventri. "Did you think changing your Sex would grant you more strength?"
Ventri held their head down in shame. The circumstances of their creation had left Ventri with the ability to change their physiology at will, shifting between sexes was something they did quite often.
"I would have killed you if you let my nephew die." Mahren Seth told the Architect.
Hades and the Hunters could see Mahren from their area, they fired everything they had at her and she called together pieces of reality, manifesting in the air like glass, blocking the Guardian's shots, much to Hades' anger. She could see the Warlock and felt both delight and anger as her eye was still healing from their last encounter.
The Forgotten Confidant waved to Hades in a surprisingly human gesture. Hades scowled beneath his helm. "You're gonna die on this ship!" He told her. "We're here to make sure of that!"
Mahren laughed at the gesture. "Get in line." She teased.
At the arrival of Rendsora and Mahren, more Forgotten began flooding into the room, this time focusing on Hades and The Hunters too, attacking all the Guardians from all angles.
Rendsora looked at the confidant. "I count 6. So that's how many must fall."
"You know your targets; I'll leave you to it." She waved them off. "I've got more pressing matters to attend to. Have your fun, perhaps this act will grant you the King's favor"
Rendsora frowned at that comment. He was about to say something, when he felt his blade move. He looked down to see Shade had removed the sword from his chest, and was fighting to lift Rendsora's axe blade, his gaze fixed on Mahren. "You…took Cletus!" He struggled out.
She looked down at the Guardian, knowing full well what he was talking about. "Your dim-witted ball of light?" She questioned. "I crushed him in my hand immediately after I left the Nexus."
Shade exploded in arc lightning, rage and anger fueling him, but Rendsora drove the blade down harder, impaling Shade fully and cutting off his Lightning. He lifted him up into the air for Mahren to taunt once more. "I would worry about yourself, little light." Mahren flicked the air and sent Shade's lifeless body flying back. Ryan caught it. Saber appeared in the air and Ryan lent some of his light to ehr to revive his fellow titan quicker.
"Thank you." Shade said, getting back on his feet.
Mahren tore open another portal. She was about to step through it when Rendsora grabbed her arm, halting her. She looked at him, shocked and disgusted. How dare he halt her? Who does he think he is?!
Rendsora looks Mahren in the face. "What are they talking about?" He asks.
Mahren snatched her hand from him, scowling. She didn't give the General an answer as he turned and left through the portal, leaving Rendsora, Ventri and Meltrok to deal with her mess.
Ventri looked back at Rendsora. "What has she done?" He asked him.
Rendsora ignored him and turned back to the Guardians. "Focus on the task at hand." He ordered.
Rendsora placed his hand on Meltrok's head, force feeding him temporal energy, engorging the oversized abomination even further. He then pointed to the Ravenous, forcing them to evolve, the skin on their backs ripped open and spread into wings, allowing them to swarm into the air. The Guardians fought hard to put them down, but more Ravenous were entering the fight than they could kill, it was getting overwhelming.
"This is getting bad, we need to fall back!" Pyro suggested to all on comms.
Shade took his suggestion and refused. "Absolutely not, we can take them!"
Hades didn't say anything, but he was starting to doubt that. With his left hand, he reached into his holster and drew his Old fashioned and dual wielded Hand Cannons, firing on the now airborne Ravenous. The Guardians all fought on holding nothing back, but Rendsora had made their lives significantly more difficult.
The Forgotten General pointed at Hades and the Hunters and Meltrok obliged. The abomination of an Ogre took aim and fired again, this time the beam it fired was much larger and blood red. The Guardians barely got away as their staging area was obliterated, they fell back to the ground and Ravenous were on them immediately.
They clawed and gnawed at them, threatening to destroy them. With no choices, Hades called forth solar light and summoned a Blade of Dawn. Engulfed in flames, the Warlock cast Daybreak. He rose into the air and rained death and fire on the field, clearing up enough space for the others to get free.
"Pyro's right!" He finally decided. "Fall back to the Trenchway!"
While Hades kept the horde busy, the Guardians fell back to the crack in the ship they entered from, Ryan cast his Sentinel shield and blocked, keeping the ravenous at bay. "Hades! Path is clear!" He shouted.
Hades flew right over, landing behind Ryan's shield, then switching his light to arc and building it in his right hand. He aimed through Ryan's shield and let his power explode, casting Chaos Reach, annihilating a portion of the Ravenous. He fired until the beam went out, and yet still the Ravenous charged.
The Shadows withdrew, falling back through the trench way and reaching the Court of Oryx once more. Once clear, Shade aimed his sword and swung, unleashing arc and destroying the exit to the Trenchway and blocking their path with rubble. The first skirmish of the Forgotten War was over, and the Shadows of Primus Umbra had lost it.
They held up in a brief moment of levity, but the Ravenous wouldn't even allow them that. The Forgotten amalgamations clawed at the entrance. They Scratched and tore; it went up the walls and was beginning to surround them.
Ace put his hand on a wall and could feel their bodies rumbling on the other side. rumblings. "God bless, they're in the damn walls!"
"We need to find another way around, we can't go through all of them again." Pyro suggested.
Hades reloaded his hand cannons, then stowed them back, drawing his sword Zephyr in their stead. "Agreed." He nodded before moving on. "Come on, this way!"
The Shadows followed Hades off to another area. Forced to tactically retreat, they knew the war wasn't over, they'd come back to attack again.
Back on the beach head, Rendsora was not pleased. "Hunt them to the last! On the King's life, we extinguish their light here and now!" He raised his axe sword into the air as the Ravenous tore themselves into the walls of the Dreadnaught, the hunt for Primus Umbra was on…
End of Chapter 8