Destiny, Episode XI: The World's Grave

Previous Episode: Episode X, Ocean of Storms
Next Episode: Side Episode V, Beckenstein

The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 027

            The Paladins had returned to the Tower quietly, settling into their apartment and letting the adrenaline of battle flow out of their system. None of them had ever seen a dead Guardian in the flesh before. They had collected dead Ghosts, way back when their biggest concern was activating some ancient relay in the Cosmodrome, but they had seen no bodies. They certainly hadn’t heard the final words of a Ghost before.

            Dal took it the hardest, but that was no real surprise to Lisset. He didn’t talk at all for two days, just floating silently in her room as he thought lonely thoughts. Lisset had tried to coax him into speaking, breaking the ice, but the Ghost maintained his silence. It was a quiet relief for the Hunter when he wished her a good morning the day before the order from the Vanguard came down.

            Ikora waited for them in the Hall of the Guardians, her mind wrapped in some new challenge. She stood at her place at the great desk, her eyes closed and her brow furrowed in thought. The moment Koga took his first pace down the stairs, she cleared her throat and spoke. “How was your rest, Guardians?” She asked, turning slowly to face them. Koga had almost gotten used to her ability to sense their presence, somehow, but it still unnerved him that, despite the din of the Tower in mid-day, she could clearly pick out a single pair of footsteps.

            “We appreciated the chance to reflect on our last mission, Madam Ikora.” The Warlock started, walking towards his mentor. It was a rare day for Basilisk not to be leading the pack, but the Titan deferred to his human comrade when matters involved the venerable Vanguard member. “I trust we have a new task?” The elder Warlock nodded before raising an eyebrow.

            “Have you ever heard of the World’s Grave?” She asked, a hint of a smile on her face. Koga didn’t answer, nor did his comrades-he could swear the name was vaguely familiar, something mentioned in the Warlock halls in hushed voices, but its meaning was as mysterious to him as it could get. “According to what intelligence we have gathered, it is a Hive data storage device located inside the Hellmouth. It holds information on everything from their equipment and battle doctrine to their culture and religion. With the City preparing for another war with the Hive, it has been decided that attempting to breach the World’s Grave and recovering this digital library is worth the risk.” She folded her arms against her chest, the smile gone. “I’m choosing you for this.”

            “What do we have to do?” Basilisk asked, always the first to get to the nuts and bolts of the job.

            “Fight through the Hive defenses, reach the World’s Grave, and have a Ghost download the data.” Ikora answered, simply. “Once you return, we can begin work on a storage facility of our own capable of housing it all so the Cryptarchy can archive it.”

            “I hope that doesn’t mean working with Rahool.” Lisset muttered under her breath. The old Awoken scientist had a reputation for giving front-line Guardians a hard time, and Lisset had never been someone who could deal with antagonism for very long before dropping to their level. Ikora coughed, a poor attempt to cover up a laugh.

            “No, no, I will deal with the Cryptarch himself.” She replied, smiling behind the crook of her arm as she covered her mouth. Ikora sighed, and let her hands fall back to her side. “With that, I leave you to your mission. May your Light guide you.”

            “And you as well, Madam Ikora.” Koga said, bowing respectfully. With their adieus made, the trio turned and made for the hangar. The time had come for them to return to Luna, and the steady surge of adrenaline that began to pump through their veins, organic or synthetic, only made the pits forming in their stomach deepen and grow, much like the yawning green abyss that was the Hellmouth.

<><><><><><><> 

            Landing back on the Moon was simpler than Basilisk had expected. Neither the Hive nor the Fallen had even attempted to interdict the three Guardian ships as they slowed for a landing. As soon as their pilots were “safely” on the ground, a term the Titan found bitterly ironic, the jumpships darted up and away from the satellite.

            They were back at Archer’s Line, where they had landed only a few days prior. The Titan looked to his right to see a flag hanging motionless, marked with the emblem of the City. There was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to face Lisset and Koga standing behind him. “So, what’s the plan?” Lisset asked, folding her arms over her scout rifle. Boudica fielded that question for him, as was her prerogative.

            “Unfortunately, we’re acting on very little intelligence for this one. Much of the Hellmouth is unmapped, and the existence of the World’s Grave was only recently uncovered.” The Ghost answered, her voice echoing in all of the Paladins’ helmets. “It isn’t all bad news, however. For lack of a better word for it, a ‘service entrance’ was discovered in this area a few solar days ago. It leads into the lower levels of the Hellmouth, right where the Hidden believe the World’s Grave to be.”

            “The Hidden?” Lisset repeated, confused.

“They are Madam Ikora’s personal infiltrators and spies.” Koga answered. “Almost everything about them is secret, but they have provided invaluable information.” He grimaced underneath his robes. “At least, that is what is rumored in the Warlock Halls.” The Warlock awkwardly cleared his throat before continuing, a noise that would have raised his Ghost’s eyebrows if he had any. “Do we know what this data store looks like?”

            “No, but I have been assured by the Vanguard that, quote, ‘you’ll know it when you see it.’” Boudica did her best to impersonate a lazy drawl, and it wasn’t hard to guess from that who had given her the “advice.” Lisset’s eye briefly twitched. “If it’s like anything else the Hive have, it will be glowing with arcane energy.”

            “And defended tooth and nail.” Basilisk added, grimacing as best as an Exo could. “I suppose we’re going in blind on this one again.” He tapped his pulse rifle, his mind running. “Ghosts, can you try to record our journey so we can try to make a map of it? If we’re coming back here, I don’t want to get lost in some Hive labyrinth.”

            “Already have.” Kita replied, cheerfully enough. “Every corner we explore further is one less hiding hole for the Hive to use against us in the future.”

            “I’d curb that enthusiasm.” Dal muttered. There was very little chance of his mood improving as long as they were on Luna, meaning that he’d be fairly insufferable for the next few minutes until they could return to the Tower. It wasn’t that Lisset couldn’t blame him for it, but she still couldn’t help but feel that he could tone it down a notch or three. “They will be waiting for us.”

            “Let’s not keep them waiting, then.” Basilisk said, hefting his rifle. “Lisset, go ahead and take point-the fewer surprises, the better.” The Hunter nodded, and bounded past her comrade, her footsteps kicking up the lunar dust. Koga looked down at the prints she left as she moved, regarding them silently. There was something tragic about all of this, he thought to himself. So long ago, man had come to the Moon as explorers, as pathfinders. Now, they returned as warriors. Both times, they had left tracks in the landscape that would never fade; a legacy in the shape of a boot.

<><><><><><><> 

            Archer’s Line was suspiciously quiet. The Fallen didn’t bother hiding, like they had the first time the Paladins had explored the Golden Age facility. They were out, and out in force, as evidenced by a Pike patrolling in the low crater valley and snipers positioned on the top of tertiary buildings near the complex itself. What was suspicious about all of it was that no one was shooting at them. The Guardians walked straight forward, their weapons at the ready in case of a firefight, but the members of the House of Exiles merely watched. It was an odd sensation, and Lisset couldn’t parse out why.

            “What are they doing?” She hissed over and over to herself. “Why are they just watching us?” Perhaps it was something primal, or perhaps it was because she had always been the one watching in another life, but the Hunter hated the sensation of being stalked. It made her skin crawl up and down, and her spine felt like someone had jabbed a knife made out of ice in and out a hundred times.

            “Sizing us up?” Dal queried, cautious. “No, no, maybe not. They know how many of us there are by now.” The mystery had to go unanswered as the Guardians climbed a small rise and up to an area of the facility that they hadn’t traversed yet. A large domed structure lay before them, with a glass and steel ceiling to observe the stars through. The walls had been torn open like cardboard, and Lisset could see another opening into a section beyond.

            “This must be the way.” She said into comms, pacing cautiously forward. Her motion tracker was still reading flat, but she wasn’t quite sure if she could trust it in this scenario. There had been more than a few times where a hidden Vandal had fooled it. As she paced the hard steel floor, swinging her rifle about, all she could see were ancient machines long deactivated and the corpses of the station’s former crew, all with broken visors and all with skulls grinning from their shattered helms.

            “Stay sharp.” Basilisk muttered, pacing right behind her. The Titan had his shotgun at the ready, aimed at every dark corner he could spy. Still, they went through unmolested, the shadows breaking in the brilliant light of the distant Sun. It was then that the ground began to slope dramatically downwards, heading into a valley that culminated at yet another Hive doorway, though this one was far smaller than the Temple of Crota. More encouragingly, it was already open.

            It was not, however, undefended. Two Knights slowly patrolled before the entrance, their armor colored darker than the ones the Guardians had encountered on Earth, and far more ornately designed. They didn’t seem to notice the arrival of the Paladins, and that suited Lisset just fine. She ducked behind a rocky outcropping, her knee pressing into the dust. “Dal, what are those down there?” She asked in a whisper. Normally, she would have found it asinine to try to keep her voice hushed on a satellite without sound, but the Hive had ignored that rule already. It was better safe than sorry. “They look different.”

            “They’re Hallowed.” Her Ghost quickly explained. “They have lived longer, and have killed more, than your average Hive foot-soldier. Not the type to mess around with.”

            “Like Reavers?” Koga asked, taking a knee beside his comrade.

            “Not quite, but the comparison works for now.” Dal replied. “I advise aiming for the eyes.” It was redundant advice, but advice all the same. Basilisk peeked out from the cover the team was hiding behind, his pulse rifle now in hand in favor of his shotgun, and down at the elite Hive. His eyes narrowed as an opportunity came to mind. He leaned back in and drew two dots in the dust with his free hand.

            “These guys like stacking up.” He started. “I can soften them up with a flashbang, and open it up for more concentrated fire. If we can take one of them down fast, the other shouldn’t be much harder to deal with.” The others nodded, and their leader readied a grenade. The explosive vibrated softly into his hand as Basilisk gauged the distance between him and his targets. He waited until the two Hallowed Knights paced next to each other before lobbing it right at them.

            The Knights were nobody’s fool, and they saw the projectile coming as soon as it came into view. For a split second, Basilisk was worried that they would dodge out of the way, completely ruining the element of surprise, and he was half right. The one closest to the door did an impressive looking roll, smoothly freeing himself from the blast radius as he raised his arms to shield his eyes from the coming blinding light. His ally, however, stepped forward and extended his arms in a “come-at-me” pose. He roared impossibly into the vacuum, challenging the grenade to do what it could. Basilisk was so fascinated by the display that he nearly forgot to duck his head behind cover before the flashbang went off.

            “Detonated!” Boudica chimed into the Titan’s headset. He leaned back around cover and leveled his pulse rifle against his shoulder before pulling the trigger. The weapon punched hard against his shoulder, but he was used to the kick by now. At the edges of his vision, when the fire of his weapon’s muzzle didn’t dazzle him, he could see Lisset working the stunned Knight over with her scout rifle while Koga simply blasted away chunks of its armor with every shot from his powerful hand cannon. The thing roared, defiant and confused, but it was suddenly silenced when one final burst from Basilisk’s rifle turned his target into ash.

            The other Hallowed Knight fired his Boomer at the Guardians, enraged and chanting something in his arcane tongue. This one didn’t play the game his dead comrade did, and slid in behind the cover of the doorway, poking out only to fire his heavy weapon in the direction of the Paladins. “Does anyone have a good shot?” Basilisk shouted into his helmet, frustrated.

            “I have him!” Koga replied, and leapt forward. Energy focused in the palm of his hand, and a moment later it lanced away from the jumping Warlock towards the hiding Knight. If the servant of the Hive had anything to say about it, Basilisk couldn’t hear it. It disintegrated in the face of the purple explosion, burned away by the Light in the blink of an eye. Koga floated back to the ground, panting as he caught his breath.

            “Good job.” Lisset said, running down the valley to him. Koga smiled under his helmet, and gave an appreciatory nod. “Do you need a minute to recover?”

            “I don’t think we have time for that.” Basilisk interrupted, pacing carefully down the hill. “That Knight probably called for back-up. The sooner we get moving, the better.” He looked at Koga, checking to see if he was okay. “Do you think you can fight?” He asked, concerned.

            “I can fight.” The Warlock replied, confident. He reloaded his hand cannon deliberately, before spinning the cylinder back into place. Basilisk punched Koga lightly into his shoulder before brushing past him, shotgun in hand. His team followed silently behind him, passing through the threshold and into the Hellmouth.

<><><><><><><> 

            The Hive fortress was as unsettling as architecture could get. The design was obviously identical to what they had seen at the Temple, and the glowing green crystals that lit up the darkest corners of the fortress were reminiscent of the Hive’s aggressive reshaping of the Cosmodrome. It was an ill portent of what would become of Earth should the Guardians fail, Koga quietly realized.

            Their path became a winding decline, a path that surrounded a tall spire that slowly snaked down to the bottom of a pit-like room. Lights reflected off of impossible water, something that shouldn’t have existed in the vacuum environment of the Moon. Far more concerning in his mind were the large white objects hanging against the walls, calcified and softly shuffling on their own accord. If the Warlock had to guess, they were cocoons, but he was not about to mess with one to find out for sure. The Warlock kept his eyes on every one he passed as he continued going deeper and deeper.

            “The Hive really tore into the Moon.” Kita remarked, fascinated as ever. “They filled it with all sorts of chambers and catacombs.” The latter term struck Koga as being far more accurate. The Hellmouth reminded him more of some gothic mausoleum than it did any conventional fortress. It was hard for him not to wonder what that made Hive.

            When they finally reached the bottom, the Guardians took some small measure of relief to be leaving the access chamber behind. However, as they passed through a small threshold, an entirely new chamber opened up before them. It was a massive grey-blue cavernous space, adorned with Hive lights that glowed soft white and gold, and with great buttresses that yawned up to the ceiling high above. “It’s a whole necropolis in here.” Dal muttered.

            For a city of the dead, their welcome was quite warm. A Boomer shot shrieked as it arced towards the Guardians. “Scatter!” Basilisk shouted, and quickly moved as the projectile exploded where the Paladins had been standing. Several Acolytes taunted them from a large bridge below them, separated from their overlook by a seemingly endlessly deep chasm. Somewhere behind its allies cackled a Wizard, energy crackling in its hands as it waited for an opportunity to strike. “Start pushing!” The Titan shouted over comms, firing his pulse rifle in the direction of the attacking aliens.

            Lisset was not one to stand there and take it, and the only visible direct access to the bridge from where she stood was several meters to her left, heading down and around to one of the connecting portions of the bridge. That entire path would expose her, and by extension her team, to plenty of incoming fire while they carefully made their way over. The Hunter gritted her teeth, and decided to approach it as a Guardian would. Taking a step back, she darted forward and jumped at the last possible second. The sickening pull of gravity dragged her stomach down into a pit, and just as she began to fall down she channeled her Light beneath her and “bounced.” Lisset landed on the other side, rolling with the impact, before popping back up to her feet and began to fire her scout rifle at a poor Acolyte who had been standing near where she arrived. The thing, dumbstruck, didn’t even react as her rifle put the beast down.

            “What the hell are you doing?” Basilisk yelled, surprised.

            “Do you have any better ideas?” Lisset countered, moving behind a tall rock to avoid incoming fire. Basilisk muttered something rather derogatory under his breath before jumping as well, Koga not far behind him.

With all of the Guardians now on the bridge proper, the Hive quickly began to scramble backwards, retreating towards better cover in what looked like some form of nexus further ahead. Beyond it was a large doorway that glowed softly green, spilling out some strange green gas. “Anyone want to guess where the World’s Grave is?” Basilisk muttered, gripping his pulse rifle as he fired a burst at the Wizard seconds before it disappeared behind a column. The Titan squinted as he stared at a strange object hovering in front of the massive archway. Grey, angular, and absolutely motionless, it seemed to be almost some kind of furniture for the space-the perfect reason not to trust it.

That reason was actualized the moment Lisset pushed forward for a piece of cover closer to the fleeing necromancer. With a sound like bones cracking, the levitating thing split in half at the horizontal centerline to reveal a large glowing purple mass of energy that shrieked in defiance of the vacuum. With a sound like a bang, projectiles began to lance out from the thing and arc towards the Hunter. Lisset made it to cover just before the shotgun-like blast hit, chipping away rock and worn bone strewn across the floor.

“What the hell is that?” She yelled, ducking lower behind cover as the Hive turret fired again. Basilisk could see from where he was standing the Hunter’s cover begin to slowly evaporate as the thing fired over and over again. It would not take very long before she was completely exposed to the turret’s withering fire.

“Take it down!” The Titan barked, and fired his pulse rifle. The Wizard, thankfully, did not take advantage of this situation to float out and begin suppressing the Guardians, but that was small comfort, as the turret seemed to absorb all the shots being poured into it. Suddenly, there was another loud crack, and the thing exploded violently. Before anyone could feel relieved, small orbs of purple energy began to flit about randomly, slowly moving towards Lisset. They jittered as they moved, as if they weren’t completely real, but at this point they were all too experienced with the Hive to ignore the threat, or the hissing noise they made as they approached.

Lisset bounded back towards her comrades, leaving what was left of her cover as the turret’s death mechanism slowly moved towards her. Koga fired a hand cannon round at it, but the bullet disintegrated upon contact with the energy. The Guardians backpedaled, trying to outrange the strange new threat, but that was when the Wizard made its move. The thing appeared from where it had been hiding underneath the bridge and popped up behind them, cackling in the tongue of the Hive.

“Scatter!” Basilisk ordered, and violently shoved his Warlock companion out of the way as bolts of arc energy slammed into the ground where he had been standing. Lisset fired her scout rifle desperately at the Wizard, but its shield absorbed the incoming fire like it was nothing. As the purple death orbs grew closer and closer, the Titan’s mind began to race as he faced the possibility that someone was about to go down. He wasn’t sure that they could be raised back, not here in the heart of the Hive fortress.

And then the orbs shattered, exploding uselessly just short of its target. Basilisk gave a whoop, relieved, before turning his attention on the Wizard. The gliding Hive monster realized how bad its situation had become, because it attempted to flee underneath the bridge like it had earlier, but this time there were no distractions to screen its escape. Round after round was poured into it until its ritual shield failed, and then gunfire ignited it like it had been doused in kerosene.

The Paladins panted as they caught their breath, the skirmish over. They still had a little further to go, but how close they had brushed with death was hard for them to ignore. As always, it was Basilisk who was the first to recover. “We’ve got to keep moving.” He said, trying to sound as confident as he could. “The World’s Grave must be close by.” There was no guarantee of that, and all of them knew it, but it would have to be inspiration enough. The Guardians pressed on, deeper into the Hive fortress, as they passed up through the gateway and into the green mist.

<><><><><><><> 

            The doorway had taken them through several spilling corridors, not all of them undefended, when the space suddenly opened into a large, circular area. A large pit lay before them, stretching up and down seemingly forever. Several Hive milled about, either unaware or uninterested in the fact that the Guardians had been killing their comrades by the drove for the past few minutes. Kita suddenly piped up. “I’m detecting a very powerful Knight nearby.” He started, sounding only vaguely concerned. “From what Madam Ikora’s data says, he matches the description of a Knight that is tasked with defending the Grave. Killing him might help us access the facility.”

            “Can we bypass it?” Lisset asked, frowning. She didn’t want to pick any more fights than she had to, especially with ammunition slowly beginning to dwindle. Their Ghosts had done a commendable job turning what available matter they could into extra munitions, but the deeper they dove into the Hellmouth, the less they would be able to convert.

            “I do not think we should.” Koga answered. “As far as we know, the Hive could have locked off the Grave, and this Knight may have the key. I say we take it down and see what we cannot secure from its body.” Basilisk slowly nodded.

            “Alright, then, if we push hard and fast, we should be able to deal with this thing.” He slowly said. The Titan began to walk forward, down onto the floor below, and towards a marker that Kita had pushed to all of their HUDs. There was an earsplitting screech, and suddenly the space above the pit tore asunder. A Hive Tombship slowly spliced through, its black t-shape hull floating ominously towards the adjacent causeway leading to where the Knight was located. The Hive already present down there immediately began to open fire at the Titan, something he met with due precision, but Basilisk had to jump out of the way when the Tombship’s heavy turrets let loose two bolts of burning purple plasma at him. The ordinance exploded uselessly against the floor, guided incorrectly towards their target, and with another sound like fingernails on chalkboard the Tombship cut back away. Below where it had been was another squad of Hive reinforcements, armed and angry.

            Despite their numbers, the Hive were little match to the increasingly annoyed Guardians. Lisset channeled her Light into her knife, and the Hunter dashed forward to close with her prey. Her Bladedance cut through one servant of the Darkness after the other, no resistance ever meeting her steel as she made an ashen swath through the Hive line. When the trance ended, she ducked behind a rock to recover, but at that point it was mainly a formality. Very few of the Hive were left, and the remainder were easily cleaned up by Basilisk and Koga’s supporting fire.

            The area appeared clear, but the Knight’s marker on the HUD remained. It pointed behind some high steel portcullis, in some small circular space designed for an unknown purpose. For a moment, Koga was worried that the Paladins would have to track down some arcane mechanism to open it, until he saw a small gap between the gate and a wall that one could easily pass through. It was only then he realized that the “gate” was completely immobile, instead some strange artistic design rather than a functional defense. “Through here.” He pointed, pacing towards the gap.

            Inside the space was a great black-colored chain stretching up through the ceiling and down through the floor. What purpose it accomplished, Koga did not know, but the sheer size and bulk of the thing was intimidating in of itself. As if it sensed their approach, a large door slowly slid open, only for a large Knight with red-colored armor to pace out, accompanied by several Acolytes. The massive Hive warrior roared a challenge to the Guardians who had entered its domain, before firing the Boomer in its hand to begin the clash.

            The Paladins scattered, firing at the Knight’s allies as they moved. The Acolytes, as they often were, were outmatched in every way they could, and died quickly under the withering gunfire. The Knight did not seem to even notice their fall, shouting and growling in some kind of berserker fury. Koga blasted at its heavy armor with his hand cannon, but the best he could do was break off chunks of its heavy chitin plate.

            The Knight seemed to ignore the incoming fire entirely, still firing its Boomer at its targets in a battle frenzy. It was the mistake that cost it its existence. Even the toughest armor would not survive constant incoming fire, and as piece after piece broke away, finally rounds began to hit home on whatever existed underneath. With a groan, the Knight collapsed into dust, leaving behind his weapon and a strange green orb. Lisset collected it, raising it to her eyes to examine the object. It was absolutely flawless, and glowing faintly with energy.

            “We lucked out.” Dal said suddenly. “This is the key to the World’s Grave, complete with data on its exact location.”

            “Good work, everyone.” Basilisk said, reloading his weapon. “It’s just a little bit further now. Keep pushing on.”  There was little complaint from his comrades as they began to move towards a new objective marker leading them deeper yet into the Hellmouth. Despite how tired everyone felt, there was a new vigor in their bones: the end was in sight, and they were beginning to understand how things operated inside the Hive fortress. The next time they came here, they would no longer be fumbling around in the labyrinth. They would be conquerors, and the Hive their prey.

<><><><><><><> 

            The Hive did their best to keep the Paladins away, but there were few surprises left in their arsenal to hold them back. The architecture of their spaces were familiar now, and they had a direction leading them forward. When they finally reached the final door, the Guardians could feel fatigue begin to creep back up on them. They had been underneath the surface of Luna for a long time now, though Basilisk wasn’t about to check his chronometer to find out how long. Regardless of it being an hour or fifteen minutes, the end to their mission lay just behind one last ornate Hive door.

            “I’ve got this.” Dal said before popping out into reality. His Guardian shielded him as he interacted with the almost organic-looking surface. The key they had collected from the red Knight apparated into existence next to Dal, and was guided carefully by the Ghost into a small hole against the doorway that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere seconds after he had begun his work. The orb slotted in perfectly, and there was a soft groaning noise as the door gave way. Beyond it was a small chamber, with the Guardians entering at high ground. Past a low valley that had the strange impossible water that Koga had seen earlier was another high section, though not nearly as elevated as where he was standing now, ringed partially by great brass constructs and surrounded by softly glowing blue lights. In the center, surrounded by Hive prostrated in worship or ceremony, was a great golden construction that reached to the ceiling.

            “There it is!” Kita exclaimed, ecstatic. “That’s the World’s Grave!” It was all the confirmation Koga needed. Retrieving a grenade, he lobbed the Void energy bomb into the center of the kneeling Hive servants. It exploded and ate away at the aliens before they had a chance to respond, leaving only a single Knight to stagger to his feet before Basilisk put him down.

            “Let me access this.” Dal requested. “I have more experience with Hive systems, I should be able to get what we need faster.” Lisset nodded, and bounded across the valley-like middle of the room to reach the World’s Grave itself. Her Ghost apparated into existence, and began to probe the massive Hive computer immediately. Suddenly, a loud moan echoed through the chamber-something knew of what they were doing.

            “I’m detecting Hive reinforcements at the edge of sensor range scrambling to intercept us.” Boudica noted. “They should be here in just a few seconds.” Basilisk took a knee behind some low pillar, and Koga did the same behind a rock nearby. Lisset took the other column and readied her rifle for the coming horde.

            They didn’t need to wait long, though the direction of the assault wasn’t what the Guardians were expecting. Although they had seen the Hive climb through the black tar-like liquid back in the Temple of Crota, to see Thrall clamber out of what looked almost exactly like water now caught them off guard. “What the hell?” Basilisk shouted, throwing a grenade in the direction of the sudden threat. “Where’d they come from?”

            “Underwater?” Koga proposed, unsure. The Titan just shook his head as he gunned down the Thrall before they could free themselves from the surface.

            “There’s no way.” He dismissed, clenching his jaw. Another wave crawled out from under the calm surface, shrieking and shouting as they moved forward. From the doorway the Paladins had crossed through only moments before, a Knight and two Acolytes paced through, firing purple Shredder shots at the Guardians. The two sides exchanged fire to little effect, the only real casualties being the Thrall attempting to overwhelm the fireteam. Even when strange, slow-moving Thrall appeared, a soft screeching coming from their glowing skulls as they paced forward, they were gunned down mercilessly, although Lisset admitted to some surprise when the special Thrall exploded violently when killed.

            “There’s so much here!” Dal announced to no one in particular, still scanning the Grave. “They’ve broken the Beckenstein limit!”

            “That shouldn’t be possible.” Kita noted, sounding unusually concerned for how chipper he normally was. “Uh, Dal, do you want one of us to sub in, or-“

            “No, I’m fine.” Dal cut him off. “I’m almost done, just a few more seconds.” Kita didn’t say anything, or at least anything the Guardians could hear. Koga pushed the concerns of his Ghost to the back of his mind as a large Knight decorated in engraved armor rushed out of the doorway with a massive sword in hand.

            “Hallowed Knight!” Koga shouted, swapping out to his fusion rifle. The Nox Cantor was an improvement over his original weapon, though it channeled Void energy rather than Arc. At range, it suffered from the same problems that all fusion rifles had, with projectiles spreading out too far to do any real damage. With the Knight closing to use its ritual sword, however, that wouldn’t be an issue. The Warlock waited patiently, letting the rifle charge as the beast approached.

           

            Koga wasn’t the only one swapping to a tool better meant for close range. Both Lisset and Basilisk had their shotguns at the ready, and began to open fire as the Knight approached. The heavy armor the beast wore took the damage surprisingly well, but as with all things Hive, it began to chip and wear away in the face of the onslaught. The Knight rushed forward, dropping down into the center of the room and running up the stairs leading to the platform the Guardians were defending. As it raised its sword, ready to bring it down on whoever was closest, Koga let go of the trigger. The fusion rifle kicked into his shoulder hard as it unleashed the stored up energy, all of which impacted into the thing’s chest. It didn’t have time to shout before it disintegrated entirely, consumed by the chaotic energy of the Void.

            With that, the room became deathly quiet. All eyes were still fixed dead ahead to see if more Hive would appear, but none came. Dal floated back to Lisset’s side before popping back inside her armor. “Ok, I’ve gotten it all.” He started, piping in over comms. “The World’s Grave is a record of thousands of worlds they’ve taken for the Darkness, and Earth is next.” Lisset blinked, shocked.

            “Thousands?” She repeated, slowly. “That’s impossible.”

            “I guarantee that it’s not.” Her Ghost replied, his voice low. “They’ve been waiting for their gods to return, and that wait is about to end.” Basilisk stood, lowering his rifle.

            “Call your ships, Paladins.” He barked, glancing around one last time at the perimeter. “Boudica, let Ikora know we’re coming. I think she’ll want to know about all of this.”