To do the Impossible
I have fought monsters in the darkness, seeking to devour my Light, nanotech viruses, expansionist empires, seeking to steal the Travelers Light and even Time itself, but even in my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined that the Traveler itself would send me on a mission. Or return to me the memories I lost. This...is going to get strange.
So last night, in the depths of my sleep deprived mind after rediscovering my love of Destiny, I realized that the Traveler and Darkness have rather a lot in common with the Warrior and Thinker. After that, this idea came to me and I couldn't resist. I probably won't continue with it, but still, I really want to see what the reaction to it is. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
I shivered as the cold, winter wind blew through the trees, kicking up eddies of snow and making the skeletal branches rattle. I hated this place at the best of times, but in the middle of winter, it was even worse. It was all I could do not to pull out my gun at every creak of wood or thump of snow as it slipped off the branches.
"Heh, I wonder how all those fanboys back at the City would react to see the legendary Corvius Dis acting so jumpy over some trees and snow?" said the little light floating at my side.
"Shut up Lux," I muttered, "Now could you please tell me why we're back here? As much as I'm grateful that the Shard could restore my Light, this place gives me the creeps."
Lux sighed, his shell fluttering.
"I can't tell you because I don't know myself," he said, "All I know is that I received a message telling us to come out here to receive an important mission."
"From who?" I asked as I clambered over a fallen trunk, "Zavala wouldn't leave the Wall if he was kicked over the edge and last I heard, Ikora was on Mercury with Osiris. All the other usual suspects are accounted for, either back at the Tower or in their usual haunts."
"I don't know Guardian," said Lux, "The message was unsigned and I couldn't trace it."
I paused.
"So we're out here to meet someone we don't know?" I asked, "Thats...rather unlike you Lux."
Lux's shell flared in his version of a blush.
"Oh, like you wouldn't have come anyway," he snarked, "Besides, something about the message was...familiar. Like I knew who sent it and that they mean no harm."
"Is that so?" I mused, "Interesting…"
Lux sighed.
"Oh Traveler, I know that tone," he muttered, "Your planning something dangerous again, aren't you?"
I smirked under my helmet.
"Now where would you get that idea?" I asked.
"Lets see, there was the Black Garden, battling Crota, hunting down Skolas, fighting Oryx on his own Dreadnaught…"
"Alright, you've made your point," I grumbled, "Still, regardless of my habit of jumping into situations with both feet, it'd still be nice to…"
I trailed off as I finally reached the clearing where the Shard of the Traveler rested. To my immense surprise, I wasn't the first to arrive. Someone was stood at the base of the white piece of metal that, with the Travelers reawakening, shone brightly enough that the snow around it looked washed out. However, it was the person that attracted my attention the most.
He had his back to me, but it wasn't hard to recognize his white robes and black hood, despite the impossibility of it. I scowled and pulled out my gun, aiming it at the strangers back.
"You've got some nerve, dragging me out here and dressing like that," I hissed.
The white figure tilted his head slightly and looked over his shoulder, revealing the familiar mask of the deceased Speaker. He didn't seem particularly bothered to have a handgun as powerful as the Ace of Spades aimed squarely at the back of his head by someone with a reputation of being as good a shot as any Hunter, despite being a Warlock.
"Put that away Guardian," he said, turning to face me fully, "It will do you no good here."
I twitched. Even his voice was the same as the Speakers.
"Who are you?" I growled, not shifting my aim.
The faux Speaker sighed and gestured with his fingers. I yelped as my gun was wrenched out of my grip, nearly pulling me off my feet at the same time. He caught the gun by the barrel, looked it over and then tucked it into his robe.
"There, perhaps now we can have a more civilized conversation," he said.
I swallowed, momentarily considering pulling out Hard-Light, but quickly dismissed the idea. He could likely disarm me of that just as easily and I didn't even consider the idea of trying to use my powers against him.
"Who are you?" I asked again.
He tilted his head slightly in a way I recognized meant that the man behind the mask was smiling.
"I am the Speaker," he said.
"Bullshit, the Speakers dead," I said.
The Speaker sighed and turned back to the Shard behind him.
"Yes, that body did die," he said, "A shame. I had become rather attached to it. However, it wasn't the first and it certainly won't be the last. I very much doubt that this one will be either."
I glanced at Lux, who seemed as confused as me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
The Speaker was silent for a moment, before he turned back to me and removed his mask. I nearly swallowed my tongue as I saw what was underneath. He looked Human, but his hair, skin and eyes were pure white and shining with the same light as the Traveler.
"I am known as the Voice of the Traveler," he said, "However, none but Osiris and Saint-14 knew that that title is in fact literal. I am the Avatar of the being known as the Traveler."
"I...but you were active while the Traveler was dormant!" I protested.
The Speaker smiled thinly.
"Yes, because this body contains a fragment of my total self. In fact, even that is a tiny fragment of my true self," he said, pointing at the orb visible above the horizon, "While the Traveler was dorment, this fragment of me remained active, albeit with access to only a tiny fragment of my full power, barely more than the pieces that grant the Guardians their powers. Now I am restored after my battle with the Darkness, my Shards regenerated and powered and I can begin my work once again."
He sighed.
"Unfortunately, even with the Darkness driven back for now and the invaders on the retreat, another, much greater threat lies on the horizon."
I stiffened.
"What threat?" I asked.
The Speaker turned back to me, a look of pity on his face.
"A threat that you must, once again, face alone," he said, "And one that you already know."
I frowned.
"I...what do you mean I know it?" I asked.
The Speaker, looked surprised for a moment, then a little embarrassed.
"Ah, of course, I sealed those memories," he said, "One moment."
"Memories?" I asked, but before I could ask more, the Speaker reached out and tapped me on the forehead.
I had experienced a lot of pain in my time as a Guardian. I had resisted the take power of Oryx, SHIVA, the Vex attempting to wipe me from existence and had died more times than I cared to remember, to the point that pain was akin to an old friend. However, I had never before had someone reach into my mind and unlock a seal I never even knew was there. True, the memories I gained were barely 30 years, compared with the two centuries I had spent as a Guardian, but even so, it still hurt.
It certainly didn't help that the memories were of a person who was...underwhelming at best, certainly very different from the person I was now, but two pieces of information caught my attention. One was of a game called Destiny that looked suspiciously like everything I had gone through since Lux woke me up in the Cosmodrome, and the other…
My head snapped up to stared at the Speaker, who had a look of mild amusement on his face.
"Your an Entity?!" I spluttered.
"Indeed," he said, "But you don't need to worry. The Warrior and Thinker are very different from me. Indeed, virtually every single one of my Kin have a different way of going about their goals. We all started consuming planets, but others eventually came to the conclusion that such actions were reckless, wasteful and dangerous. Many of us lost our lives due to underestimating the race they fed upon. As a result, different philosophies formed. Some of us became symbiotic with a single race, others discarded most of their Shards to become Mortal and others fell in with the more...metaphysical beings that exist in the depths of reality."
He sighed.
"I was once a part of a pair, but we separated after I came to the conclusion that what we were doing was wrong. I grew sick of simple destruction and wanted to actually build something to last, to see a civilization flourish under our guidance, rather than fall. My partner did NOT take my change of heart well. Hell, it tried to kill me."
My eyes widened again as I put two and two together.
"The Darkness," I breathed.
"Indeed," said the Speaker with a rueful smile, "Many of my kind consider us to be above the three dimensional races, but the truth is, we're just as capable of all of their traits as they are. We love, we hate, we feel pride, hope and fear."
"So basically, we're caught in a lovers quarrel?" I asked dryly.
The Speaker shrugged helplessly.
"When your powerful enough to accidentally planets, small fights are big problems for those smaller than you," he said, "I did not wish to cause so much devastation to the races I helped and I've tried repeatedly to reconcile with the Darkness, but it always was stubborn."
"You could have stopped it," I said.
The Speaker nodded.
"I could," he said, "But ask consider this. For an Entity duo, they are...everything to each other. Mate is to smaller word for the connection. We are lovers, siblings, parents, best friends, two halves of a whole. The Darkness was always unstable, a fact I was willfully ignorant of, and my desire to change our ways was enough to send it over the edge. Despite that however, I never could bring myself to harm it, no matter how many times it attempted to kill me."
"Until you came here," I said, "What changed?"
The Speaker smiled.
"You did," he said, "The Human race."
I blinked.
"Are we really that special?" I asked, "I know thats kinda a thing, but I always assumed its just because we don't have anything to compare it with."
The Speaker laughed.
"Special? No, your not really any different than any other race," he said, "In fact, your among the weakest, most idiotic and immature races I've ever seen and I consider it a genuine miracle that you haven't wiped yourselves out 100 times over by this point."
By the time he was done, I was surprised I didn't end up on my hands and knees under the weight of the insults.
"However, despite everything, you are capable of kindness unlike any other race in any Universe I have ever visited and your will to survive is second to none. I admit, when the Darkness arrived, I was set to leave, to keep on running, but the Humans rallied, despite knowing that they stood no chance. Unlike so many other races, who cowered under the protection of my Light, your ancestors took up weapons and fought. Even when it became obvious that they couldn't win, they refused to give up. That is why I decided to stay and fight. That is why I created the Ghosts, to create those who could actually stand and fight against the Darkness and win. And you did."
He turned back to me.
"I brought you here for this moment, knowing that you would become a powerful Guardian in your own right, but I never once imagined that you would also do so much. I knew that there was a high chance of the events playing out as they did, but I failed to foresee that the one responsable would be you."
I frowned.
"Brought me here?" I asked.
Then, my restored memories helpfully provided me with a memory of my own death at the hands of a lunatic with a knife and making a deal with a glowing figure.
"Oh…"
The Speaker smiled tightly.
"I chose you because you were in the right place at the right time...ah, figuratively speaking of course."
"Alright, so what do you need me to do?" I asked.
"You can probably guess," said the Speaker, "I need you to travel across the Dimensional Gap and help destroy the Warrior. Its to far for my Light to reach alone without him simply blocking it, but its still close enough that when...if he finishes his cycle, it will also badly damage this Earth. It won't be destroyed, but I'm not yet strong enough to completely stop it. If that happens, the City will be weakened enough that the Invaders will be able to overwhelm the Guardians."
I stared at him for a moment, then sighed.
"Sure, go save the world," I muttered, "Not like I've not done it and the impossible before. How hard can killing a Godlike being be compared with something that can literally control time?"
"I don't intend to send you as you are," said the Speaker, "I'll unlocked Lux's powers so that he can now generate ammunition from just about anything and you'll still have access to your Vault. Plus, your powers as a Guardian makes you stronger than just about every Host on Earth Bet, with the possible exception of the Triumvirate. Plus, the Warrior lacks the ability to block a Ghosts power, so you won't have to worry about dying."
"That'll be a nice change I suppose," I muttered.
Beside me, Lux sighed.
"Guardian, can we please stop this charade?" he said, "We both know your going, so stop acting so put out and accept the mission!"
I stared at my Ghost for a moment, then snorted and grinned.
"Aww, you know me to well Lux," I said, "Alright Speaker, I'm bored anyway. Doing the impossible sounds like it could be fun. Again."
The Speaker smiled and bowed slightly.
"My thanks Guardian," he said, "I suggest you say any goodbyes you have. You won't be able to return for a while."
I nodded and looked at Lux.
"Patch me through to Ikora," I said.
"Understood," said the Ghost and opened up like a flower.
"Guardian? Do you need something?" said the voice of my mentor and friend.
"Sorry to interrupt you Teacher, but something's come up," I said, "I've received a new mission and it'll take me outside of communications for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone either, so I need someone to let everyone know I'm still kicking."
There was a moments silence.
"Your doing something dangerous again, aren't you?" said Ikora in a long suffering voice.
I grinned.
"We're Guardians, danger is an old friend," I said.
Ikora snorted and I could hear Osiris and Sagira laughing in the background.
"I suppose you have a point there," she said, "Very well, I shall inform the Vanguard of your location. Best of luck to you Guardian."
"Thank you Ikora," I said, "I'll see you soon."
"Make sure that I do."
With that, the Vanguard disconnected and I turned back to the Speaker, just in time to see my ship come floating down into the clearing.
"You'll need transport," he said.
"Fair enough," I said, "Before I go, is there anything I should know about my powers interacting with the Warriors?"
"Your Light will protect you from Master powers and keep you hidden from Precogs," said the Speaker, "Other than that, rely on your training and trust in your Light. You are a Guardian, impossible has no meaning for you."
I grinned.
"I was bored anyway," I said, "Alright Lux, lets go save the multiverse!"
"Oh lovely, just what I always wanted," grumbled Lux as I jogged over to my ship.
"Ah, before you go Guardian…"
I turned back to the Speaker, who was holding out Ace of Spades.
"You won't get very far without this."
I smiled and took the gun.
In the space between the Moon and Earth, the Void of space momentarily distorted, before a glowing rift appeared just long enough to allow a small, one man ship through, snapping shut the moment the tail lights were clear.
"Its...so quiet," said Lux as my hands flew over the controls to keep us from slamming into the moon.
"Well what do you expect?" I asked, "The Humanity of this Earth are trapped on the planet."
"I know, but still," said Lux, "I didn't expect it to be this quiet. Even the long abandoned sites have some traffic to and from their systems and the Invaders chatter is always there and...huh, I guess you're right. I should have expected it to be quieter here."
I smirked.
"Now that we've cleared that up, how about you connect to the internet and find us somewhere to make a splash," I said.
Lux rolled his eye and muttered something rude under his breath. I smirked as I activate the stealth system I'd nicked from a Fallen ship and glided down towards the planet.
"Well, theres a lot of chatter about an 'Endbringer' attack," said Lux, nearly making me hit a satellite.
"Which one and where?" I asked.
"Um, the Simurgh and Canberra," said Lux.
"Huh, nearly Canon then," I muttered, "Thats a shame...eh, lets go shoot an angel in the face."
"Wait, what?"
I grinned as I flipped the ship around and dove towards the planet.
Canberra was a mess. Just like every attack, the Simurgh was using something new to harry the defenders while she built her doomsday device. This time it was a horde of spindly, dead looking creatures that, while easy to put down, were deceptively strong and more than capable of rendering an unsuspecting victim to pieces with sheer numbers and razor sharp claws. Or, in the case of the odd glowing ones, explode in a blast powerful enough to pulp any non-Brute caught in the blast.
They were also very good at sniffing out any hiding civilians, forcing the Heroes to put guards at the Endbringer shelters after they dug their way through solid concrete and steel to get at the people inside the first one they found.
Miss Militia gritted her teeth as she reformed her heavy machine gun to reload it and opened up again on the horde of monstrosities bearing down on her. There seemed to be no end to them, no matter how many were killed and they didn't seem to care that they were losing so many of their kin either. Hell, they didn't even trip on the bodies because they dissolve into dust the moment they hit the ground! Just what hole did that feathered bitch pull these things from?!
She ignored her armband as it continued to rattle of people who were down, mainly because the last time she stopped to listen she nearly lost an arm, and kept on shooting. However, the sheer numbers of her enemy's meant that they were getting closer, simply because they had plenty to soak up her bullets and keep on coming.
Then her gun clicked empty.
"Aww shi…"
"YEEEEEHHHHAAAWWWWWW!"
Miss Militia nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice echoing down her communicator. Without thinking, her head snapped up, just as a loud sonic boom shook the area and a streak of pale blue dropped from the clouds and angled towards the Simurgh. For the first time ever, an expression other than serene calmness crossed the Endbringers face as the small craft unleashed twin beams of dark purple energy from under its wings and struck it full in the face. In that moment, the world got to witness the unflappable twister of minds looking completely and utterly shocked. Right up until the lances composed of a mix of superheated plasma and Void energy burned two channels through her head until her bullshit physiology became too hard to penetrate.
The Endbringer stumbled, fragments of her halo of rubble rocketing out in an attempt to destroy the newcomer. However, quite unlike the normally flawless accuracy of the powerful Precog, the fragments went wide, missing everything and even taking out some of her own minions. The little ship didn't slow, blasting the Simurgh a couple more times and firing a rocket into the middle of her creation that exploded into a small sun that reduced a good chunk of it to molten plasma, which did a number on the rest before its creator managed to fling it away with her telekinesis.
The ship spun out of the way of the burning blob and fired another blast of purple energy, before something dropped out of the bottom and the craft rocketed straight back up into the clouds.
Of course, Miss Militia had not seen much of this because she was still being attacked by the Endbringers minions and couldn't really afford to be distracted. Unfortunately, her slight distraction caused by the sudden arrival of the ship had resulted in the horde getting far closer than she would have liked, forcing her to switch to an automatic shotgun to keep them at bay.
That is until a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, vaporizing those closest, burning the skin of those further out and knocking most of the horde, plus Miss Militia, of their feet from the impact.
The dust cloud from the impact slowly cleared, blue sparks of energy leaping from the ground and around the cloud as a figure slowly straightened from the three point landing. He was tall and clad in black robes with gleaming metal decorating the front and collar, a black and gold helmet that seemed to be mostly glass and full of swirling mist and a pair of claw-like gauntlets. He held a large handcannon in both hands, one normal enough with a spade icon painted on the barral and the other gold, bladed and looking like something a Tinker would come up with. Slung across his back was an assault rifle that also looked rather like Tinkertech.
All three weapons were enough to make her power sit up and take notice, especially when, after a quick look around and a brief emote of surprise, he went on the offencive. Bullets with enough power to pulp flesh and bone and bolts of what looked like pieces of the sun flew, each one scoring a headshot that dropped a monster and caused them to explode, taking more out with every pull of the trigger. The horrific damage didn't seem to phase the monsters however, in fact, his presence only seemed to enrage them as they dove in with horrifying shrieks of rage. He didn't seem bothered though, instead throwing a ball of lightning into the middle of them that blasted even more into steaming chunks. In the same motion, he holsted his guns and drew the rifle on his back, opening up with a barrage of purple energy beams that bounced with every hit and killed at least three of the monsters before dissipating.
Miss Militia shook of her shock at the sudden and dramatic arrival and reformed her machine gun, mowing down the monsters that tried to hit the newcomer from behind. He took a moment to glance her way, nod and then went back to massacring the monsters with an air of someone who had done it so many times before he'd got bored.
Eventually, the flow of corpse creatures slowed and petered out, especially once the newcomer started throwing around lighting and pulled an SMG out of...somewhere that never seemed to run out of ammo and shredded the monsters, and Miss Militia was able to relax a little and approach the newcomer.
"Thanks for the assist," she said.
"Not a problem," he said, "Ah, at risk of sounding like an idiot, these things aren't common around here, right?"
Miss Militia scowled.
"No, the Simurgh brought them through some kind of portal," she said.
"Shes right Guardian," said a voice as a small ball of light appeared next to the man, "I'm detecting some kind of portal connected to a Hive nesting ground. Somehow, its bringing Thralls through, while not permitting any other Morphs."
"So nothing bigger than cannon fodder?" asked Guardian, "Thats a relief. Still, I don't like the idea of leaving something like that open for longer than necessary."
"The portal requires large amounts of energy to remain open," said the ball of light, "If we disrupt the energy, it should close."
"So, break the generator?"
"Or chase of the oversized statue."
Guardian grinned.
"Alright then, since I'm all charged up, lets see how she handles my Stormtrance."
He let out a yell and Miss Militia stumbled back as a bolt of lightning hit him from nowhere, lighting him up like a christmas tree and lifting him a few feet of the ground. The lighting surged around him, gathering in his hands, before he cupped them and released a massive beam of lightning that hit the Simurgh full in the face and plowed straight through her crystalline flesh with impressive ease normally only seen in some of Eidolons more esoteric powers.
The Simurgh recoiled from the attack, arcs of electricity jumping off her body as the excess power surged through her and grounded in the creation that created the portal to the Hive nesting ground, causing it to overload and explode, taking the portal and the Endbringers doomsday device with it. That proved to be to much for the Endbringer and she took of straight up fast enough to leave behind a sonic boom that shattered what windows remained intact in the city and burst the eardrums of most of the defending Capes.
"Think that did it?" asked Guardian.
"More than likely," said the light, "In fact, it might have been overkill."
"Eh, theres no such thing."
The ball of light muttered something about reckless Guardians and disappeared as Guardian turned to Miss Militia.
"So, any chance you could introduce me to your leaders?" he asked.
Welp...that didn't go as planned. Somehow, Corvius ended up being a tad more...Hunter than I was expecting. Hes still very much a Warlock though.
Obviously, being unlimited by gameplay limitations, Corvius can use as many Exotics as he wants and can be much more liberal with shaping his Light. He'll still mostly use the standard forms like grenades and increasing his punches with an element, but expect some other uses of it.
Speaking of which, due the Traveler being an Entity, it technically makes him a Parahuman. Technically. He has a connection with a Shard, but his is through his Ghost, which is basically a very very small and weak version of Zions avatar. His powers are also far less limited due to the fact the Guardians are meant to, well guard, not act as test subjects, which means that they technically have access to all of the power within the Shard their linked to.
In reality though, Guardians are limited to how much their bodies can withstand when channeling the limitless power of the Light. Theres also the issue that the Traveler lacks the huge amount of data Zion and Eden have due to it not using the races it hitched onto as lab rats, so lacks the ability to fuck with reality to quite the same degree. This essentially means that Corvius has more raw power than any Cape short of Eidolon (mostly because of the sheer amount of bullshit hes capable of), but lacks the subtleties of Worm powers.
If your wondering, his gear is the Eye of Another World, Claws of Ahamkara, Starfire Protocol and Transversive Steps, simply because they look cool. Its not like the stats and abilities actually matter after all. The weapons used were Ace of Spades, Sunshot, Hard Light and the Huckleberry, which has become my favourite weapon in the game since it lets me mow down hordes of Thralls without having to reload.
I probably need to say some more stuff to make things make sense, but its currently rather late and I highly doubt I'll do much more of this. Don't forget to leave a review!