Braytech Futurescape, Mars
"As his father did long ago, Nokris performed the ritual to summon the Worm Gods before him. And like his father, he succeeded. Unfortunately, three of the Worm Gods rejected him. Yul the Honest Worm was the first to turn away. Quickly followed by Ur the Ever Hungry, then Eir the Keeper of Order. Then only Worm God that remained was Xol the Will of Thousands. For Xol saw himself in Nokris. Xol knew that it was only a matter of time before the other Worm gods decided to feast upon one another, for Xol was the weakest amongst them. And so, bargains were struck. The first was the secret of necromancy. To raise himself or those under his command back from the dead. The second bargain that was struck was a bond between the Worm God and Nokris. Nokris gave a piece of himself to Xol and Xol gave a piece of itself to his new herald. As long as one remains alive, neither can truly die."
Anastasia Bray finished her additional translations of the tablet to the rest of the group. After their trip to the Aries Munitions facility Prometheus-23, Clover, Vine and Elm met back up with Anastasia, Penny, Harriet and Marrow to go over their findings. While the former group found weapons schematics and other interesting files, the latter group had some fun of their own. Anastasia was going over more translations on the Hive tablet, the synthetic human and the remaining two members of the Ace-Ops dealt with Red Legion Psions trying to merge their minds with Rasputin's data centers to become Psion Flayers.
For Psions, the only way to become Flayers is either being born as one, which was extremely rare, or through the process of merging their psionic minds to any energy copatable with said mind. The data centers of Rasputin fulfilling said role.
Luckily, they were stopped by the three with Harriet having her mind nearly overwhelmed by one trying to mess with her mind. Suffice to say, Harriet now has a hatred for them.
Afterwards, the three groups met back up with one another to share what they found.
"So your saying that not only does Nokris have necromantic abilities to resurrect his troops and potentially himself, but as long as his patron still live, he can't die? Same thing for the damn worm!?" Harriet said quite upset.
"Afraid so." Anastasia said. Harriet got up and started cursing up a storm as she paced around. Penny was learning some new words as she did so. "Moving on, can you tell us about what we found?" Clover asked hoping to change the subject.
"I've gone over the symbol you showed me, cross referenced with all the files I've accumulated from my travels. All I've got is a name: Black Armory."
"Black Armory? Sounds like a weapons cache." Marrow said looking over the holographic symbol of the now named Black Armory. "Anything else?" "Just this. That's it." She said as she brought up another hologram which said: FILES DELETED. "I even went over the files with Rasputin. While he can confirm the existence of said cache, all files have been deleted nearly 300 years ago. All that remains was the name. He remembers keeping said files on hand, but the memory was gone."
"300 years ago? Some other Guardian with a connection to Rasputin?" "Perhaps. If what we found was any indication, there's a high chance the Cabal got the same intel we got." Clover sighed in relief. While the knowledge of said weapons cache might have been a boon for them, it being lost to both themselves and the Red Legion remnants was a good scenario he can live with.
A beeping sound from the display got all of their attention followed by a mechanical voice speaking in Russian. An indication of files being uploaded to the holographic display sounded before the voice vanished.
"Looks like Rasputin has contributed to us." Penny said with a smile. She tapped on the display and several files came up. One of them was an image of a javelin that saved their lives previously. "Is that the Valkyrie Javlin?" Prometheus-23 said, having witnessed Penny using it to kill off one of Nokris Grimm/Hive hybrids.
"It is indeed." Anastasia said going through the files. "This looks like the plans on a better improved version of the original with one exception." "And what's that?"
"To kill Hive Gods."
That brought Harriet out of her swear-fest and she came back to the group and paid utmost attention.
"From these files, it doesn't kill Hive Gods in the traditional sense, like it does to normal Hive, but instead it severs the connection between the Hive God and its Ascendant Realm temporarily, making it mortal."
All of the Ace-Ops and Penny memorized their knowledge on this particular subject. When a Hive being has killed a large number of individuals, hundreds of thousands to millions in their form of Sword Logic, it becomes Ascendant, creating what is called an Ascendant Realm for itself, becoming immortal. Even if the body is destroyed completely, what the Hive have as a soul is then sent to their Ascendant Realm to wait things out till their bodies reconstitute itself, allowing to walk the real world again to continue the Sword Logic.
And with a Worm God, it would apply as well.
If this newer improved version of the Valkyrie Javelin works as intended, said Worm God and by extension, its bonded will become mortal, giving them a huge advantage against them. And if it does, this could change everything with the Guardians fight against the rest of the Hive sect. Thanks to numerous mission briefs and training, there were still two major Hive Gods along with the other three Worm Gods. With the Valkyrie, their days would be numbered.
And the Titan and Hunter of their group knew it as well.
"How long?" Vine asked thinking up strategies.
"According to the simulations attached, at minimum, two hours. Then the bond between them and their Ascendant Realm will be re-established."
Clover ran it through his head. Two hours of making a Worm God mortal and by extension, Nokris will give them an edge. He already came up with a plan.
"So all we have to do is use this new Javelin on both Nokris and Xol, making them both mortal then kill them at the same time. Thus rendering their bargain null and void."
"So with both of them dead at the same time, neither can be resurrected." Penny finished catching on.
"Please tell us this is easy to manufacture?" Prometheus-23 said with surprising giddiness. This surprised the rest of the group due to him being more rational and less, emotional. Prometheus sighed thinking his time with Summer Rose was rubbing off on him. He coughed into his hand and reverted to his usual emotional self.
Anastasia Bray looked over the files. "Looks like we have all the materials with the exception of…oh."
"Oh? What?" Harriet asked.
Anastasia looked over the files again and confirmed her findings. "Everything except for one element. Light."
Marrow sighed in relief. "Well, that's good, just need you and Prometheus-23 to charge it up and were ready to kill us a God. Wow, is this what it feels to be a Guardian?"
"Yes." Prometheus-23 confirmed, having felt the same way after killing Oryx along with his teammates long ago.
"The amount of Light were talking about is the equivalent of thousands of Guardians charging this with Light for a hundred years nonstop. Time we don't have. Rasputin ran numbers and found one that can give us more than enough: a shard from the Traveler itself."
00000
"So in order for us to kill an evil Hive God and his Worm, gods it sounds dirty when I say it out-loud, we need a fragment of the large space-god orb that hovers over the Last City?" Harriet said over the shoulder of Prometheus-23 flying the patched-up jumpship on Earth. Not only did Rasputin provide the instructions for the weapon, but gave them a general idea of where to find the best samples to use. And by samples, he meant the actual chunk. Meaning they will have to find the right one, transport it back to Mars to power up the Valkyrie.
"I think Zavala and a bunch of people might get a bit upset about us harvesting the traveler." Marrow shouted from the back where he and the other Ace-Ops sat or stood. Penny and Anastasia stayed behind in the Futurescape to ready the machines needed to forge this particular Valkyrie.
"They certainly will. That's why were getting our piece in the European Dead Zone. There's a whole section of the region where a large chunk of the Traveler is back during th Collapse." Prometheus-23 said.
"Will it be enough?" Vine asked.
"One shard was enough to restore the Light of hundreds of Guardians during the Red War. A chunk should be enough for our purposes. Luckily, I've got us a guide to help us reach our destination."
Flying over the region they finally made to the European Dead Zone or EDZ. This region was endless forests, Cabal Red Legion holdouts, Fallen camps, derelict buildings and roads, and the gigantic chunk of the Traveler dominating everything.
"Any reason why we can't fly directly to the chunk of your Traveler?" Vine asked.
"The energies still surrounding said chunk is highly unstable and reacts unpredictably with Transmats. We tried it with one Guardian Titan, and it messed up his brain so badly, he now wears armor that makes him look like a giant banana and all he says is 'banana slamma!'." Prometheus-23 replied putting that thought down. Maneuvering his ship, they reached the closest place that they can get to the piece of the Traveler they need. A region called the Sludge.
As the name suggests, this entire region was damp, cold and wet, and that was just the buildings alone. With the rest of said region, nature especially, it was ten times worse! All of the Ace-Ops were sweating with the humidity, with Harriets small tuft of hair frizzy, Marrows tail way too bushy and the others sweating.
"So, where's our guide?" Marrow asked, his answer coming to him when large footfalls sounded from the forest nearby and a gigantic T-Rex came out of the forest, swallowing the last chunk of Cabal it had as a snack. The gigantic reptile looked at the shocked group before it lowered down so they could see the rider.
A small female in a white jacket, wearing black shorts and boots. White, pink and brown hair tied up in a pony-tail. She looked down at them with pink and brown eyes that shifted every so often.
Prometheus-23 waved up at her. "Hi Neo!"
00000
Turns out their guide was the former thief in crime that worked alongside the now incarcerated Roman Torchwick; Neopolitian. After the Vex Invasion of Remnant, she turned over a new leaf and became an Agent of the vanguard, a prestigious organization that goes behind enemy line doing surveillance, acquisition and taking out potential threats before they became a problem. And thanks to her Semblance, she thrived. After the red War, she tamed the T-Rex, which was a story for another time, and claimed the EDZ as her region. After hearing about their objective, she agreed to be their guide to the region. Thus, Neo sat on the front of her T-Rex, with Marrow and Elm sitting behind her, while the others walked beside them.
"This is the best thing that has happened on a mission!" Marrow said out loud as they continued their walk deeper into the forest. "What? Seriously?! Was riding on top of a extinct creature on the way to a fragment of a space God, to combat a necromantic alien and his Worm deity on your BINGO card or something?" Harriet asked from below, ducking as the dinosaurs tail swept over her.
"…No."
"As much as we all enjoy making fun of marrow, might I suggest we keep our eyes open. This region is becoming more sinister." Prometheus-23 said arming himself with Sweet Business. He walked past a puddle of blackness and stars. "We've got Taken."
The members of the Ace-Ops gripped their weapons tight as they watched around them. The Taken were beings from the other factions that have been sent to another realm, forced face to face with the Darkness itself and came back different. Stripped of their very selves, they become puppets to be controlled. Didn't matter if they were cabal, Fallen, Vex or even the Hive; all united to serve their puppet master. The last puppet master was the Taken King himself, Oryx. However, Summer Rose, her teammates and other Guardians initiated a Raid Operation to kill the Hive God himself, leaving the Taken without a master. But during the Red War, evidence suggested that they were no longer directionless, but under the control of another.
They kept their eyes open as they continued walking through the forest. The greenery shifted from vibrant life to dead husks. Trees went from full to brittle and even the grass seemed dull and lifeless. Hell, even the sky around them shifted from blue sky to twilight.
Several minutes of walking through the dead forest and they reached their destination. They found a shard of the Traveler that served their purpose.
The shard itself was as tall as the Titan himself, stuck in the ground it pointed straight up before becoming crested at the top. To some of the Ace-Ops, it looked like a very large finger nail. Prometheus-23 left the group and approached it. With each step, he could feel the energies within the shard, resonating with his Light. The Ace-Ops, not being paracausal like the Guardians, could feel the energies washing over them. Some could feel their Auras already low from their battles against the Hive and their Grimm hybrid variations begin to recharge. Even Neo's T-Rex's scales became healthier looking. Prometheus-23 brought out his Ghost, Pan to prepare to transmat it to the jumpship.
Unfortunately, that is when everything went pear-shapped.
A dome of taken energy encircled the Shard, scorching th Titan's front armor and sent him flying back to the group.
Elm jumped off the T-Rex and helped the Titan up. When she touched his shoulder, she brought her hand back in a yelp feeling the heat, her Aura flashing.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Said a husky voice coming from all around them. The Ace-Ops brought their weapons up and scanned around them. The T-Rex growled seeing something fly in the shadows of the trees. Another bolt of Taken energy was sent at them, but the dinosaur moved over them to take the blast. It roared in pain as it took the bolt, Neo shattered into glass, signaling to all that she used her Illusion Semblance to dodge it. She reappeared near the ace-Ops as she readied her umbrella-blade weapon, Hush in one hand while in the other, her machinegun, Super Good Advice.
That something appeared towards their right and they got a good look at it.
It was a Grimm of the Manticore variety.
A Taken Grimm.
The Grimm itself spread its wings and to their shock, spoke.
"Did you really think your actions, killing my creations wouldn't go unnoticed?"
Prometheus-23 got up from his feet and faced their new threat. "Nokris, I presume."
The Taken Grimm grinned an almost human expression and dipped its head in acknowledgement. "Indeed, I am. And its so good to see you again."
That brought the Titan up short. "Again?"
"Indeed." It began to pace before them, still looking right at them. It speaking and acting human, even if its being somehow controlled by the son of a Hive God and Herald to a Worm God, still unsettled the Ace-Ops. "You and I met long ago, during what you all called, the Collapse. You and so many of you Exos combated my forces, even face off against me. If it wasn't for that deep freeze created by your Warmind, sealing us deep beneath Mars surface, you would have lost. Once a soldier, a puppet of humans, now look at you! A Guardian of the Traveler and the killer of my own father, brother and sisters."
As he spoke and paced, Prometheus-23 got brief glimpses of his words, more memories coming back. Trying to help the Titan, it was Clover that stepped up, gesturing to the trapped Shard
"What's this then? I was under the impression that your late father was the only one who knew how to Take! How can you do this? Controlling a Gimm, Taking it!"
It turned to him; its eyes locked on him as its body twitched in the Taken way. "The lucky one! The leader of one without emotions, a runner, a replacement, and a strong one." Nokris through the taken said to each of the other Ace-Ops. Directing its gaze to Vine, Harriet, Marrow and Elm in turn. "Did you really think that Akka the Worm of Secrets was the only one amongst the Worm Gods who knew how to Take? All of them know how, its just that Akka did it better. After slaying him, my father took that knowledge as his right! After he was slain by the White Rose, they were directionless. This one, was already Taken by another before being highjacked by almighty Xol. Seeing you all through the eyes of my creations, my followers was enlightening and beneficial. You showed me some flaws in the design and I've improved upon them. But now, its time for you all to fall. You, the descendant of Bray, the puppet and the Warmind as well. Time to you to face the Voice of Nokris and the champions of Xol!"
The now named Voice of Nokris spread its wings wide and roared. Taken blights formed all around them along with rifts which spawned numerous Taken. Taken Hobgoblins readied to snipe them, while Taken Psions split to multiply. Taken Knights belched fire around them. And three gigantic forms appeared.
They were large taken. In life, they were well known names amongst their kind. A Valus of the Cabal, a baroness of the Fallen House of Wolves, and a Hive warrior of Crota's sect. Valus Ta'aurc, Drevis and Urzok.
Now Champions of Xol!
See Ya next time!