Deep beneath Hellas Basin, Mars

Sol System

He fired into another oncoming creature. It turned to ash quickly followed by some worm-thing that came out of its body upon its death. Her and his squad had expected Vex in this region. All the projections showed that there would be vex. These were NOT Vex!

He and his squad came down into tunnels that led deep beneath this region of mars. Looking at the walls, it looked drilled. But when they came down, they were swarmed. Thin skeleton-like creatures numbering hundreds came running at them. They opened fire upon them, emptying clips onto the ground. The second the last of these things were killed, the floor was littered with spent magazines and the odd bullet casing. When he and his squad reported their findings, they were told to go deeper, gather intel and bring back a few alive for them to test.

Not liking the orders, but obeying them, they went deeper down. They lost several to more of the thin creatures, then to another similar group with firearms and swords of all things. They lost three taking down one hulking creature! Deeper and deeper they went until a large interconnecting network of tunnels. They saw the thing that was responsible for the tunnels, their processors unable to comprehend it. And yet, they obeyed orders and opened fire.

For the next several hours they fired upon the swarm of creatures and the thing. When the bullets ran out, several of them went with their fists and punched their way through. Unfortunately, some fell to blades, enemy fire or clawed to death. He along with the last few of his squad remained.

Until he received the order.

It was the Warmind itself. It was watching through their network and realized the severe threat these things posed and had a solution. A solution called Siberian Entropy. This protocol would result in this entire region to be frozen in ice that was below seven-figures. This will result in the creatures contained in this region until the Warmind had the way to properly destroy them. All it needed was for them to remain here and keep them occupied until it deployed.

Which resulted in him fighting hand to hand against a gigantic being. Not like the hulking mass of muscle from before, but something new. This one had horns on its head, skeletal grin, rags hanging on its body and three clawed fingers. His weapon having its ammo depleted long ago already, he used it as a melee weapon. The thing dodged its swings, but sent a bolt of energy sending him flying. The thing hovered over him looking down in interest. "An interesting creation the Warmind made. If I tear you apart, can I revive you?" It grinned down at him, an idea forming in its mind. "Or maybe I can merge you with a subject from my sect?" Before it could do anything else, rumbling filled the cavern. Pressurized liquid ice bathed the entire network of tunnels. Up above, Rasputin had unleashed his Siberian Entropy Protocol, bathing the top portion of the entire region in ice. Said ice was now going down the tunnels. Seeing the frozen field coming, he ran. He ran into the tunnels, and up! He could see daylight up above and ran farther. Unfortunately, this region of the tunnels collapsed and trapped him below.

That was until he woke up and a small drone hovered over him. "Eye…eyes up Gu…Guardian!"

00000

Prometheus-23 eyes opened, he saw himself in the remains of his jumpship, the front portion torn away and covered in lots of rocks. The thing he saw, what he presumes to be the Worm God Xol, had trapped him and the others under tons of martian rock. He shook his head, the remnants of the previous memory still in his mind. He turned and saw his companions, knocked unconscious. He looked to where the Shard of the Traveler was and stopped in his tracks.

The shard had seen better days.

Small cracks and whisps of Darkness were around said shard. The pale light that bathed the shard was now a dull white. He figured that due the proximity of Xol, said Light had dimmed. He could feel the energy still inside of it, and hoped that when they got it to Penny and Anastasia, that it would be enough.

He turned to the rock wall and brought out Pan. "I need you to scan each rock in front of me. See which ones are stable and which are not." "Wh…why?" She stuttered. He replied in the most Titan way. "I'm going to punch ourselves out."

He didn't know how long it took, but he managed to punch their way out. Thanks to Pan scanning each boulder in front of him, he punched the unstable ones, while leaving the stable ones intact. Punching one after another, he managed to make to a wall. Channeling as much Light into his punch, he hit the wall, shattering it and revealing that on the other side was a tunnel leading further up. Moving back to the jumpship, he went and carried each member of the Ace-Ops along with the shard.

The Ace-Ops awakened one after another, some with bruises and recovering Auras, others fitter than the rest. "What the hell was that!" Harriet asked, stretching her arms and legs. "That, was Xol." Prometheus-23 said explaining what he saw before the walls came down. He also explained the flash of memory he had after passing out. How long before he became a Guardian, he was part of several squads of Exos who encountered the Hive during the early days of the Collapse. How Rasputin was responsible for freezing the entire region to contain them.

While most of them were a bit hesitant about going up against the gigantic Worm God given its size, others were more interested in the weaponry of Rasputin. Mostly Clover and Harriet. Both were wondering about what other weaponry beyond this Siberian Entropy Protocol it had alongside the laser towers, Warsat satellites and the Valkyrie. How useful it will be alongside Atlas tech. Their thoughts were interrupted by a broadcast.

"Friend Prometheus, are you there?" Came the voice of Penny.

Prometheus keyed the comms. "We're here Penny. Xol himself decided to intervene and bury us." Quickly explaining what happened. "We got the shard, but it looks a bit banged up."

"That's putting it mildly." Elm said lifting using straps recovered from the jumpship to carry it on her back. She could feel the energy from the shard on her Aura energizing it, but compared to how it was back on Earth, it wasn't much.

"We'll be the judge of it! Right now, you need to head to the facility right now! Hive and Grimm/hive hybrids are tunneling right into the labs necessary in creating the Valkyrie! We'll hold them off as long as we could!" Penny said before the screech of a Hive Shrieker over the comms cut them off.

The Titan turned to his ghost. "How far?" "Triangulating…there we are!" Pan brought up a holographic display showing the tunnel they were in, connecting to other tunnels which went straight to an underground facility. "There! That's the facility right beneath the southwestern portion of the Mindlab."

Prometheus-23 armed his weapons. "We've got a bit of a walk ahead of us. I'll take point!" The Ace-Ops didn't object to that.

00000

Penny flew through the outer regions of the complex, her swords fanning out behind her as she sliced through another Hive Ogre. The section she was in was called the Alton Dynamo; a power facility used to power several sections of the Futurescape along with 20% of Rasputin's neural network. Said network combined with a reactor deeper into the facility was used to generate the prototype Valkyrie Javelins and hopefully, the Javelin needed to destroy Xol and Nokris! According to her internal clock, it has been exactly forty-seven minutes since Xol decided to take out the Jumpship containing the Shard of the Traveler needed to create the Javelin and he has sent numerous Hive to storm the facility. Not just Hive, but Grimm/Hive hybrids of all types. Even some that they have not encountered yet.

She used her blades to skewer three Hive Thralls with the tails of Deathstalkers, lasered a Hive Wizard with the lower portion of a King Taijitsu; complete with serpent head at the end, and used her blades afterwards to block the swing of a Hive Knight with the lower portion of a horse of all things! She wasn't alone in this fight. Rasputin, sensing the seismic disturbances had sent help in the form of Frames. Both standard and a newer version: Heavy. These frames were bulkier, taller built with extra strength and a large energy cannon into its back. Several of the frames carried Suros Assault rifles and opened fire on more Thralls that were crawling through. Two of the heavy frames bent forward, energy cannons pointed at a group of Hive Ogres crawling out. Energy built up and they opened fire, vaporizing them. The energy temporarily depleted, they stood back up and proceeded to slam their fists on the ground, displacing several Hive Acolytes.

Spheres of shadows dropped all around the heavy frames, making them stumble here and there. Penny, recognizing the spheres as the calling card of a Hive Wizard, looked to see where it resided. She was unable to do so when she felt another shadow sphere drop around her. Her flight in the air slowed to a crawl until she finally fell to the ground. She struggled under the weight of the orb, and just as it faded, another fell right on top of her. Through the haze, she saw five Hive Wizards flew past her and through the entrance of the complex she was guarding. She tried to get up, but another shadow sphere dropped on her and the heavy frames. She looked up and saw a sixth Hive Wizard floating over her, surrounded by Hive Thralls with the lower body of Centinels. They crawled towards her, jaws dripping with drool.

That was until a boomerang weapon flew through several of their heads.

The rest turned to follow the projectile weapon and they got fists made of Aura right in their skulls, killing them instantly. The Hive Wizard screeched and got a small flaming hammer to the face, its body turning to ashes. The sphere of shadows dissipated and as her vision cleared, she saw Prometheus-23 and the Ace-Ops coming out of the tunnel and to her aid.

The Titan helped her up to her feet, while Marrow and Clover gazed at the heavy frames. One admiring the craftsmanship, the other of weaponry. "These are really impressive robots." "Indeed, think Rasputin might be interested in making more for Atlas?" "Let's focus on the now, Clover." Prometheus-23 said. "We've got the shard, what do we need to do now?" "I'll take you right to the facility itself." She turned to the two hulking heavy frames. "Guard this doorway from all Hive and Grimm/Hive hybrids." She ordered the frames. The two beeped signaling acknowledging her orders and went to face the tunnel and whatever enemies may come through.

"You sure those things can handle whatever Hive come through?" Elm asked lugging the shard on her back. "We've managed to hold them back for a while, save for the five Hive Wizards that snuck past." Penny said as she led them through several corridors. "We saw that. Any idea where they would head to?" Prometheus-23 asked as they ran. "The main core area. It's where we need to merge the shard with the schematic of the Javelin." Penny said recalling everything Anastasia told her of the facility. "And where's Anastasia?" Marrow asked. "On the other side of the facility. She'll meet up with us when she's able to."

Down several corridors, they found themselves in the main core area of the Alton Dynamo. The second they stepped through the doors; they were met with a sight.

Spread all across the room, the five Hive Wizards floated above the ground chanting. As they chanted, green sigils appeared around them, green flames emerged before each of them, going towards another Hive Wizard. As it traveled the line bent, turned and twisted forming other sigils. Once the sigils formed, Hive Knights followed by Acolytes manifested. The chanting grated at the humans, Titan's and synthetic human's ears. Prometheus-23 analyzed and saw what they were planning, recognizing the sigils from his teachings from Eris Morn. Quickly, he explained to the others. "Those sigils are Summoning ones. Once the main central one is done, something big will come through. We need to kill each Wizard before the flaming sigils reach each one!"

"Consider it done!" Harriet said as she activated her Speed Semblance and ran to one of the Hive Wizards. The other Ace-Ops save for Elm ran to the other Wizards. Penny stayed with Elm as the Titan ran to the final one. On their way, they fought against the Acolytes and Knights. These Knights had bone shields to go with their swords. Clover hooked a shield and sent it flying as it kicked his Knight in the jaws, shattering it in ice and chitin. Marrow used his weapon to slice through his. Harriet punched and kicked hers. Vine used his Aura Vines and slapped his opponents. And Prometheus-23 shoulder charged through his and delivered the final blow to his Hive Wizard with his IKELOS Shotgun. By sheer luck, they managed to kill all of the Wizards just as the flames were mere inches from finishing the gigantic sigil in the center of the room. Who knows what might have gotten through it if it was finished.

They stood in front of the gigantic core that dominated the room. "So, this is the core used to create the Valkyries?" Prometheus-23 asked. "Yep. We just need Anastasia here and we can begin." "Why not just shove this shard into the Core and have it make the damn thing?" Harriet asked, dusting of chitin off her hands. "Oh no. We need Anastasia's clearance, follow exact instructions, interacting with quantum data on a subatomic level…" Penny explained, only to be cut off by Harriet. "In other words, nerd stuff, right?" Penny decided not to reply went on the comms to check on Anastasia. "Anastasia, we are at the core and awaiting you. What's your ETA?"

00000

Anastasia took several breaths as her Gunslinger super wore off, having killed fifteen knights in a row. The Hive had been coming from this direction along with their Grimm hybrids nonstop. Roars in the distance as more Hive were coming. She heard Penny on the comms and had her ghost Jinju patch her through.

"Penny, I'm going to be bit occupied for a while." She said bringing up a tablet and punching some stuff down. On the screen was the image of Penny Polendina with the highest of clearances in all the Braytech facilities. "I'm giving you the highest clearance in the facility. The same one as mine. As far as Rasputin is concerned, you and I have access to everything. Use it to make the Valkyrie. I'll hold them off as long as I can." She then turned off the comms, raised her IKELOS Handcannon and pointed it at a bunch of Thralls with glowing scorpion tails.

00000

Overhearing the broadcast alongside Penny, Prometheus-23 and the Ace-Ops decided to keep an eye out for any Hive that might interrupt the creation process. At her instruction, Elm reached the core and placed the shard on a pedestal right next to a console. Elm placed a hand on Penny's shoulder. "You got this." She spoke. Penny took several breaths before placing her fingers on the console. On one of her fingers, a small USB prong popped up. One of the many things integrated into her robotic body, it allowed her to integrate with any machine system within reason. She hoped that with the clearance Anastasia gave her, the system would allow her through. Taking another deep breath, she slid her finger in. her eyes widened as her mind went straight into the system.

She found herself in a vast sea of red data. Zeros and ones along with other numbers flew past her through the neural system. She looked down at herself and she saw herself, but entirely green. Whenever she integrated with a machine, her digital self would always take on her physical appearance and accessories, but in green or shades of green.

"WARNING: UNIDENTIFIED USER DETECTED!"

The voice came from everywhere around her. She ducked as several bits of code swarmed around her, coalescing into bots and malware detection. These types took the form of drones, like the surveillance robots in Mantle and Atlas. They scanned her and a blue bit of code shown on her hip.

"USER IDENTIFIED. HIGHEST CLEARANCE DETECTED! WELCOME TO THE BRAYTECH FUTURESCAPE: ALTON DYNAMO FACILITY. PLEASE STATE DESTINATION."

The malware ones flew off to parts unknown leaving the bots behind to guide her.

"Requesting to reach Alton Dynamo Core Systems to create Valkyrie Javelin." She said to the bots before her.

The landscape zoomed past as she and the bots flew by to her destination. She found herself in another region of this digital landscape. A digital representation of the Alton Dynamo core in the real world. She could see the data needed to forge the Javelin and on the digital representation of the pedestal was the Light!

In the real world, she couldn't perceive it, but felt its energy. Here, she could see it and feel it!

It was silvery liquid, ever changing, forever in motion in the shape of the shard they took from the EDZ. Just as she approached it, she could feel the presence of something immense behind her. She whipped around and saw the silhouette of a great leviathan, a single red eye looking at her. It just starred at her as it continued to move before wandering off deeper into the neural network. She had the distinct feeling that this was the digital representation of the Warmind Rasputin.

She turned back and with a hand, grasped into the silvery liquid that was the Traveler's Light. She suddenly had visions of vast vistas of worlds long ago. Worlds that the traveler visited long ago. A world of light purple with seas of Ether. A vast connection of worlds where a cephalopod race had a vast empire. An ocean planet surrounded by many moons. And more and more. She saw energy of Solar, Void and Arc energy in a swirling vortex. Plants grew on dead worlds, oxygen manifested in places where its impossible for it to be! So many wonderful things she saw when she grasped the liquid Light it almost made her giddy. She could feel all of this even in digital form. She wondered if this was what everyone felt when the sun touched their skin, feeling the air through their hair, lips against another's lips. All this she felt, along with something else.

She saw a triangle obscuring one world, creating destruction in its wake. The world twisting and turning in ways not possible until it was riddled with geometric patterns that left it in a form that was abstract. And then the triangle ships parted and a figure came forward, silhouetted in smoke.

She shook her head of the visions and returned to the task at hand. She grabbed the silvery liquid and then the data necessary for creating the Valkyrie Javelin. Taking both in hand, she pressed her hands together and started to mold them in the form she desired. Imagining the long shaft of the javelin, the sharp point at the tip and the balance as well. She didn't know how long it took for her to forge it, but it was done. Before her was the Valkyrie javelin needed to sever the connection between Xol and Nokris to their Ascendant Realms.

"JAVELIN COMPLETED. PLEASE RETRIEVE IT AT PLATE AT THIS LOCATION."

Penny was given a map to where the javelin would be available, which wasn't too far from where they are now. Seeing herself out of the neural network, she said goodbye to Rasputin. "Thank you!" Before she vanished, she got a reply. "You're welcome."

She opened her eyes and saw Prometheus-23 give the final killing blow to a Hive Ogre. Despite the Ogre dwarfing the Titan, the latter managed to bring an Arc Infused fist and punched it into atoms. She looked and saw the Ace-Ops finishing off a bunch of Hive stragglers. "How long was I out?" She asked after stepping away from the console. "About…ten minutes…" Elm said taking several breaths. "While you were out, a bunch of Hive came right through the doors. We've managed to kill them off via bottle-necking them, but then a bunch of Knights with Boarbatusk armor and tusks came crashing through. Then the Brother Gods-damned Ogre came through. If it wasn't for Prometheus, we wouldn't be having this conversation." She looked down at her scroll and turned to the rest. "My Aura's in the yellow, how about everyone?"

"Yellow." "Half-way through green." "Yellow." "Yellow." Said Harriet, Clover, Marrow and Vine in that order. The Ace-Ops have been fighting nonstop, only having a few short breaks here and there. Prometheus-23 recognized how tired they were and offered for them to sit-out the upcoming fight. Only to be shot down by them.

"After everything that we've been through the last few days, do you really think that we won't be by your side at the eleventh hour?" Elm asked. Sure, they were tired with fighting against the Hive and they might have to see the Military's psychologist on staff after witnessing the Grimm hybrids. But they were the top dogs of the Atlas Specialists, they've been trained to fight nonstop against Grimm, terrorists and recently vex and Cabal. Come what may, they'll be there with their allies.

Prometheus-23 smiled admirably and turned to Penny. "You managed to forge the Valkyrie?" He gestured to the shard, now dim of Light before vanishing. He had a feeling that the shard was returning to the Traveler itself. "Oh yes. It will be available at closest Valkyrie plate not too far from here."

Following close behind, Penny led the Ace-Ops and the Titan through the doors and down a tubed tunnel. Through the windows, they saw the Mindlab stretched before them.

Suddenly, their way was blocked by the giant scaly body of something long that crashed through the wall. They stopped in their tracks, but due to structural damage, the floor beneath them fell away and they tumbled down to the base of the complex. A large platform that was used to stabilize the tunnel they were in. Prometheus-23 and Penny managed to land safely, but the Ace-Ops took a bit of a tumble that resulted in their Aura taking the hit. They did manage to get back on their feet as a gigantic shadow eclipsed them. Their eyes or in the case of Penny and Prometheus-23, their optics widened at the sight. The ace-Ops have seen some hideous gigantic Grimm, what they saw dwarfed them all. And the Titan had seen the gigantic Oryx himself along with a few gigantic Vex Minds. This was easily top ten on his list.

Before them was a scaly serpentine worm, spikes coming out of the body along its length. Segmented chitin along its entire body, green fire erupting from gaps here and there. At the very head were six barbed mandibles, surrounding what could be described as either a mouth or an eye. Or both. It looked down at them and growled. This was Xol Will of the thousands; Worm God to the Hive. Appearing in a flash of flames was his herald; the disavowed son of Oryx, Nokris. The spitting image of his father save for the body of a Hive Wizard. In his three-clawed hands was a long pole-like weapon with a blade at the end, bathed in a combination of black and red flames. The herald of Xol smiled upon his enemies, before pointing his weapon down at them and firing a jet of magma right at them!

A/N: See you tomorrow!