Destiny, Episode XIII: Shrines of Oryx

Previous Episode: Side Episode VI, Discord
Next Episode: Episode XIV, Chamber of Night

The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 033

            At first glance, it can be hard to determine why so many people disliked the Cryptarch known as Master Rahool. The Awoken was diligent, working his shift without complaint daily, and he loved his tasks and the secrets that came with them. Digging through the remnants of what once was, exchanging engrams of information for weapons and armor from the Tower’s stockpile, and all the while trying to piece together the truth of the Golden Age and the Collapse was what got Rahool up every morning. By any right, he ought to have been as personable as Holliday or anyone else on the Tower. All it took for Lisset and the others to remember why he had such a reputation was for them to walk up to the Cryptarch, and suddenly it all came rushing back to them: he was condescending as hell.

            Rahool looked up from his tablet and smiled thinly from underneath the hood he inexplicably wore at all hours, in all weather. “Ah, you must be the ‘help’ that Ikora mentioned.” He said, before looking back down at his tablet. “Show of hands, how many of you are familiar with Osiris’ theories on the Hive hierarchy?” There was an awkward pause as the Guardians looked at each other, but it was swiftly broken as Rahool sighed heavily, not even bothering to look up from his device to see if anyone had raise their hand. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” He muttered disdainfully, tsking. “Osiris was a Warlock, a member of the Vanguard. Before his expulsion from the Tower, he came up with several theories about the Hive, the most relevant being that Crota is not the ruler of the Hive.”

            “He isn’t?” Lisset asked, aghast. Rahool looked up from his tablet to give the Hunter a chastising glance. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment under the man’s withering stare.

            “According to Osiris, he is not.” The Cryptarch slowly answered. “Osiris believed that Crota was a ‘Prince,’ and out of respect to his theory we refer to Crota as such. As powerful as Crota was, He is not their King.”

            “Then, who is?” Koga probed. Rahool looked at the Warlock, examining him as if he was a new engram placed on his desk. Koga must have been found wanting, because this question was received by a toothy smile.

            “Ah, now that is the question.” The Cryptarch replied. “If you were to ask Osiris, he would say ‘Oryx.’”

            There is a power to some names that reach across space and time. It was that power that made ice touch the three Guardians’ veins for a split second at the mere mention of the word. Rahool seemed unfazed, because he continued without much concern.

            “We still lack confirmation of this ‘Hive King’, mad ranting by Toland aside.” Rahool said. “With you Guardians back on Luna, now is as good a time as any to start investigating old theories that we’ve had little chance to explore previously.”

            “So what it is you want us to do?” Basilisk asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. The man was a soldier, and he had very little time for the kind of unwarranted arrogance that the Cryptarch exhumed from every breath. Rahool sighed as he looked at the Titan, unimpressed.

            “You Titans, always so quick to get to the killing.” Rahool tut tutted. “Your mission is quite simple. We have sent you the location where Osiris believed a Shrine to Oryx exists. According to him, a Shrine was both a communications system of some form and a religious structure, so destroying it - if it is indeed real - would be a blow to the Hive war effort.” Lisset nodded, eager to get on with it herself. The sooner she could slink away from the man, the better.

            “Search the Hellmouth, destroy the Shrine, get out.” She interrupted. “Simple enough. Let’s get going.” Rahool sputtered something, but by then the three Paladins had turned and were calling their ships. They were all thinking something along the lines of “good riddance” as their ships hurried towards the stratosphere, and the distant Moon beyond.

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            “So, who the hell is Osiris, anyways?” Basilisk asked, his hands powering up his ship for the jump to NLS space.

            “Like the Cryptarch said, Osiris was a member of the Vanguard a long time ago, before Madam Ikora took the position.” Koga answered, doing the same in his Arcadia. “I do not know much about what happened between him and the Speaker, but there was a falling out. A lot of what Osiris was saying was upsetting some people, and encouraging rebellion in others. All I know is that he was one of the most intelligent scholars in the history of the City, and he made many theories about why our enemies are the way they are.”

            “How many of his theories turned out correct?” Lisset jumped into the conversation, her Galliot taking the tail position of the three Guardian ships.

            “If we happen to find the Shrine of Oryx, I believe it might be the first.” Kita replied. “Field research was somewhat difficult back in his time.”

            “Understandable.” Basilisk noted, mulling things over. He cleared his mind of the question before continuing, trying to mentally prepare for the task ahead. “Okay, Paladins, listen up. The coordinates the Cryptarchs gave us place this thing fairly deep into the Hellmouth. Rather than hoofing it from Archer’s Line, I’m going to try a new LZ located much closer to the objective.”

            “Where’s the new site?” Lisset asked, frowning. Dropping down even closer to hostile contact was always something that bothered her. Having the time to scout out a route and get a feel of the situation was something she had long been used to during her time as a Corsair. Anything else always made her wary that she would walk unwittingly into a trap.

            “Do you remember where we fought the first Prince?” Basilisk responded. “It’s right around there, a quick jog to that auxiliary entrance we used to find and destroy the Sword.”

            “Should we be worried about a Hive ambush at the drop site?” Koga probed. Basilisk simply shrugged - not like anyone other than his Ghost could see him.

            “I’ve had Boudica read patrol reports about the new LZ, and so far it seems surprisingly quiet. I guess we might have done a bit more damage than we thought the last time we were here.” The Titan replied. He sighed, and rested his hands on the throttle and stick, his feet tapping against the rudders as he let nervous energy flow through him. “Alright, Guardians, jump on my mark.” The three jumpships pulsed with power as their NLS drives charged, and with a flash of light they were off, tunneling through space-time as they sped towards Luna.

            It was a trip that lasted only a few seconds, their ships snapping back from their NLS bubble like they were a rubber band let free. It was a sickening pull of acceleration that caused the nose of the ship to dip forward, and made their pilots feel their stomachs hit their ribs. The three ships formed a line, with Basilisk’s angular fighter taking the lead. Together, they dipped towards the surface of the Moon, their navigation computer taking the lead as they got closer and closer to the ground. Through his canopy window, Basilisk could see Archer’s Line and the Anchor of Light flash below him as his jumpship dipped low to drop off its pilot. The world flashed blue for a second, and when the Exo’s ocular sensors came back to life, he was looking through his helmet, his boots kicking up Lunar dust.

            Once all of the Paladins were on the ground, Basilisk readied his pulse rifle and waved his hand like it was a knife in the direction of the entrance to the Hellmouth they had passed through not so long ago. “Okay, let’s get this done.” He muttered over comms, gripping his rifle tight as he started to descend down a rise and towards the Hive fortress’ awaiting defenders.

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            The Acolytes defending the entrance to the Hellmouth fared about as well as their brothers-in-arms did the last time the Paladins were here. The Guardians had little intent to dally, and with their objective far deeper into the fortress than ever before, they were moving fast and hard in order to get the mission done before the full might of the Hive could be leveled against them. Between Basilisk’s pulse rifle, Lisset’s scout rifle, and Koga’s ever-reliable hand cannon, there wasn’t much chance for the defenders.

            Once inside, the first Knights rushed to plug the breach. Their chitin armor was still as sturdy as always, and as round after round burrowed into the stuff to no effect, the Guardians retaliated by turning to their grenades. Basilisk’s flashbang blinded the warriors as well as usual, making the ordinance his favorite over the other choices he had, while Lisset had swapped her straight fragmentation grenade for something new. As she threw the device at a Knight’s chestplate, the thing burst into several pieces that hovered and spun before flashing and diving towards the Hive soldier. Several miniature explosions erupted across its armor, and with a groan the Knight keeled over, its body turning to ash and leaving the chitin behind. Koga had a new trick himself, a grenade that released a homing ball of void energy at anything unfortunate enough to have been close to the flash of the bomb. A wounded Knight, its armor damaged from the Warlock’s barrage of cannon rounds, was disintegrated into burning purple light at the hands of the Warlock’s new weapon.

            “So far, so good.” Lisset muttered to herself. The entrance room was clear, and the Guardians took advantage of the pause to reload their weapons and ready for the next burst of contacts that were undoubtedly waiting for them ahead.

            “I wouldn’t speak so soon.” Dal replied, vaguely concerned. “I’m picking up Fallen activity, and a lot of it. Something has them worked up. I’ll stay on it.” Lisset nodded, and looked to Basilisk. The Titan pumped his shotgun and started to move to the doorway.

            “Keep your eyes open.” He said. “I don’t know what the Fallen are doing, but I don’t want to walk into it blind.” The others tailed behind the Exo as he began to walk down the stairs, their motion trackers filled with red as the Hive prepared for the Guardians. As the Paladins exited the stairway and entered the first hallway leading to the chamber where the Sword had been located, the Hive greeted them immediately with a wave of shredder fire. “Cover!” Basilisk barked as he rushed behind a large rock, his shield flashing as stray fire splayed against it like a stain. Koga peeked out from the bit of debris he was crouched behind to look at the defending forces.

            “There are a lot of them!” He shouted, firing his hand cannon blindly at the garrison.

            “We know!” Lisset shouted back, her scout rifle cracking against her shoulder as she snapped the trigger as fast as she could pull it. Suddenly, a bolt of arc energy smashed into the defending Hive, exploding violently and sending shards of rubble flying. “What the hell?” The Hunter yelled, surprised. She snapped her head to the left to see a skiff hovering outside the room, hanging above the yawning pit below.

            “The Fallen!” Dal shouted into comms, just a moment too late to warn anyone. “They’re invading the Hellmouth!” Disembarkation hooks lowered from the underside of the Skiff, and from it dropped a dozen Fallen, all of them wearing the green rags of House Exiles. A Captain waved his arms dramatically and pointed in the direction of the startled and disorientated Hive before opening fire with his scattergun. Dregs and Vandals surged forward at the Acolytes and the Wizard watching over them, hungry to kill.

            “What are they doing here?” Koga asked, surprised.

            “I don’t know, and I don’t really care.” Basilisk growled, readying himself to advance. “Clear the room, worry about their motive later!” The Titan jumped over his cover and rushed forward, weapon at the ready. The first victim was a poor Dreg who hadn’t noticed that the Guardians were even in the room. With its attention directed entirely towards the Hive, it simply couldn’t see the charging Guardian coming up behind it. Basilisk didn’t even bother shooting it, and simply plowed into the much lighter alien like a power armor-wearing freight train, killing or incapacitating the alien almost instantly. The Vandal behind it was wise enough to notice what was happening, but as it was turning to open fire at the Titan, Basilisk simply pulled his fist back and let it slam into the thing’s chest, his hand arcing with energy. The Vandal burned away into a blue afterimage, disintegrated by the arc.

            Lisset followed behind, letting her scout rifle do the talking. She switched from target to target, her scout rifle punching against her with every pull of the trigger. Everything in her sights went down with a single shot, with the lone exception of the Captain. As her rounds impacted against the Fallen leader’s shields, the alien teleported away in order to get out of the line of fire. The Wizard that the Captain had been fighting had no such capability, and Lisset focused her attention on the sorcerer. It screamed in protest as bullets began to splay against its ritual shield, and produced a cloud of murky black as it tried to find something to hide behind.

            Koga did not rush into the low ground that made up most of the hallway, choosing instead to go up on a slight rise to the right. An Acolyte stood there, trying valiantly to stem the tide, but all it got was a force wave to the face for its trouble. Looking down at the situation, Koga let his hand cannon go to work, the heavy revolver kicking hard as he tried to clear up any remaining Fallen on the left flank of the fireteam. When that was done, he dropped down from the rise and joined the others in pushing the routing forces back. The Wizard ran out of places to hide not long after that, its body burning away as a final shot from Basilisk’s shotgun put it down, and the Captain simply couldn’t teleport away forever. When the motion tracker was finally clear of contacts, the Skiff wisely decided to retreat and leave the Guardians to their little victory.

            “Okay, everyone good?” Basilisk asked, slotting new shells into his shotgun. The others nodded, adrenaline still coursing through them. “Boudica, any idea why the Exiles are doing this?”

            “Unknown.” The Ghost replied. “It could be a play for land, prestige, or artifacts. This strikes me as a move out of desperation rather than strategy, however. With Guardians and Hive now both pressing them, they simply had to make a play or be annihilated.”

            “I’m surprised they didn’t just try to find a new home.” Lisset noted. “There’s plenty of places in the system where a House could make its home.” She shrugged uselessly. “It doesn’t really matter, though. Let’s just hurry on through - the Hive are going to be on high alert.”

            She wasn’t wrong. Hive forces came spilling out of every corridor as the Guardians moved through the hallway and into the room where they had destroyed the Sword. The Fallen were waiting for them, now aware of the presence of the Paladins, but they were few in number. Shanks and Vandals were no real threat, and the three Guardians pushed through them as if they weren’t there. The great door that had been sealed before was now open, perhaps by the Hive, perhaps by the Fallen, but either way it no longer impeded progress. The fireteam pushed through it, heading deeper into the Hellmouth. It led them through a cavernous, twisting hallway, lit only by the strange Hive lamps that dotted the fortress and whatever corrupted havens they made for themselves on the Earth.

            As the Guardians approached the end of the tunnel, Boudica suddenly spoke up. “I’m intercepting Fallen communications. If my translation is correct, there is a Baron in the chamber ahead.”

            “Sounds like a target of opportunity to me.” Basilisk noted. “Thanks for the heads-up, Boudica.” His Ghost beeped a pleasant reply, happy to be recognized for her efforts. “Alright, let’s nab this guy, then keep on moving.” The others moved behind the Titan as he stepped into the new room, a far more ornately designed structure complete with a massive chain in the center of the room stretching from ceiling to floor. In the corner of the chamber was an odd device, clearly Fallen, and around it stood several Vandals, and an ornately armored Fallen. As soon as the Paladins entered, the pack of aliens turned and opened fire, but the elite one tapped on its wrist before a flash of energy surrounded it, turning the Fallen invisible.

            “The Baron just cloaked.” Koga noted. “Keep an eye out for him.” He didn’t need to say it twice, as the Guardians dropped down and began firing at the Vandals that had been escorting the high-ranking Fallen warrior. They didn’t last long, not in the face of a fireteam’s worth of firepower, but the Baron refused to come out, stalking them somewhere. Quietly, the Warlock cursed the Moon’s lack of atmosphere - his trick from the Cosmodrome, learned from hard-fought experience, would not work here.

            “He’ll make his move soon, watch out.” Basilisk muttered, his shotgun at the ready. As soon as he said it, two fizzling arc blades swung at the Exo’s head. He ducked just in time, the reflection of the weapons shining in his eyes at the last minute the only warning he had. Shouting curses, the Titan rolled away clumsily, his armor smacking into the floor soundlessly in the vacuum. The others opened fire at the offending blades, and some of the rounds hit the shields, but the Baron ducked away again.

            “This one is clever.” Lisset hissed, her jaw clenched. She gripped her own shotgun tightly, having switched to it when she entered the room. It did the job of hunting the Baron far better than a scout rifle would have in the same circumstances, although she’d have taken her Vestian over them both any day of the week. Koga held onto his hand cannon over his fusion rifle, preferring the stopping power of a magnum slug over the long charge of his energy weapon. Had this fight been on a planet with an atmosphere, Lisset was sure that the Baron would be laughing at them in that booming, roaring voice that Captains and above all had, thick from years of ether feeding. Here, though, all she could do was trust on her eyes, and doing that had nearly gotten Basilisk killed.

            The Baron attacked again, this time going for Koga. The Warlock dodged out of the way, but not by much, his shield taking the brunt of the hit as one of the sabers hit home. “Damn!” The Warlock yelled, spinning to fire blind at his assailant, but the Baron was already gone. He was getting sick and tired of this, and a plan formed in his mind to finish it once and for all. “When the Baron goes for us next, get clear.” He said, energy beginning to form in his palm. Waste of Light or not, the Baron would not survive his next attack.

            True to form, the Fallen made another attack, this time attacking Lisset. It was a predictable play, and it was exactly the kind of move that Koga had been waiting for. As the Hunter rolled out of the way, she bounded back, while Basilisk simply jumped up and let his Light float him back from the fight, leaving the Baron and Koga an arm’s length away. The Warlock closed his eyes, and thrust his hand forward, carrying the nova bomb with it. With almost no room to travel, the bomb exploded at point blank range right against the Baron’s shields, but they were no match for such raw elemental power. The Baron disintegrated into purple light, consumed by the Void, but Koga had been too close to the explosion to get away unscathed himself. The blast threw him back, slamming him against a wall. Groaning, Koga fell to the ground.

            “Koga!” Lisset shouted, rushing to her teammate’s side. The Warlock coughed into his helmet, splayed out on the ground as his mind reeled. “Are you alright?”

            “I’m okay.” He managed, struggling to get back to his feet. Producing the bomb had taken a lot out of him, but being smashed against a wall had taken out the rest. “Just give me a few to catch my breath.” Basilisk clenched his jaw - they didn’t really have the time to stop, but he knew better than to press the Warlock further. Instead, he patted Koga and the shoulder and flashed him a thumbs up.

            “Great work, Koga.” The Titan said. “Boudica, let the Tower know that that’s one Baron down.”

            “Sending the report now.” The Ghost replied. “I think that ought to make Cayde’s day.”

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            It took a few minutes for Koga to get back up to fighting strength, his stamina rushing back about as fast as his Light was. When he was ready, the Paladins continued on, the harsh reminder of the capabilities of a smart user of cloak now reinforced in their minds. They moved through another dark cavern, which opened up to reveal a massive cave that seemed to be as deep as it was wide. The Guardians carefully followed the path the Hive made for themselves, crossing over a rickety-looking bridge slowly. A low, massive roar echoed from somewhere else in the Hellmouth, the portent of unknown horrors waiting some depth below. The Guardians stopped in their tracks as the groan began to slowly fade away.

            “I don’t even want to know what they’re keeping down there.” Kita muttered.

            “I don’t think we’ll have a choice.” Dal replied, sourly. Once the sound was gone, the Paladins continued again, entering yet another dark pathway. The inconsistency was beginning to bother Lisset - some hallways were ornate, complete with tiled floors and buttressed ceilings, but others were nothing other than glorified rat-ways, crudely carved out of the rock. The Hellmouth was old, centuries old, and no one really had any idea exactly when its construction began. Was it still being built? Or did the Hive simply not care? It was hard to say, and it wasn’t like the Hive were about to start answering questions.

            When the tunnels opened up again, the Guardians found themselves standing in rather familiar territory. “The Circle of Bones?” Basilisk remarked, confused. “I would have thought this led straight to the Shrine.”

            “This might be some kind of nexus for this section of the Hellmouth.” Koga noted, rubbing the chin of his helmet. “I suggest continuing to follow the objective marker.” There were no complaints, so the Guardians continued on again. No Fallen awaited them on this level of the Fortress, just Hive, but they weren’t much match to the oncoming Guardians. With their attention focused on the sudden Fallen offensive, the Hive in this section of the base were stretched thin and low on manpower - easy killing. Thrall rushed at them in small groups of three or four, but they were easily gunned down by Basilisk’s steady pulse rifle fire. A Wizard and a Knight made up the greatest of the Hive’s defenders in the Circle, but even they were little match.

The Guardians pressed on, heading now through another cave passageway. The chamber on the other side was rather familiar to them as well. “And this is the Hall of Wisdom.” Koga said, frowning. The names weren’t theirs, of course, but supplied by the Cryptarchs. It felt strange using them, granting titles to arcane locations such as these. Either way, the labyrinthine Hellmouth was starting to become more understandable by the second. “I believe we are nearly finished searching.” There was more Hive waiting for them in the massive chamber as well, but again their attention was directed elsewhere. Namely, at the packs of Fallen now also combing the Hall.

“Clear them out!” Basilisk barked, before letting his pulse rifle do the talking. Waves of Thrall rushed packs of Dregs, while Vandals and Acolytes exchanged shots from across the room. A Knight was locked into a shooting match with a Captain, the Knight’s burning black defensive wall absorbing shot after shot from the Captain’s shrapnel launcher. Somewhere behind it all, a Wizard cackled as it managed the Hive’s defense. Throwing the Guardians into the mix only added another layer of chaos to the rapidly growing firefight. They rushed down into the midst of the fighting, their weapons blazing, pinpricks of light in the oppressive darkness of the Hive fortress’ underbelly. It didn’t take long for their arrival to get a rise, and soon both shredder fire and line rifle shots began splaying against the Guardians’ shields.

“Keep your heads down.” Lisset said over comms, moving swiftly from rock to rock. A few Dregs tried desperately to hold her back, but they stood no chance against her and her blade.

“Easier said than done.” Basilisk replied, ducking as a boomer shot exploded behind him. It had been a wild shot by some distant Knight, but it had landed close enough to remind the Titan not to underestimate the thing’s capabilities. “Please tell me we’ve almost made it.”

“Just a little bit further.” Koga answered, his fusion rifle flashing death in his hands. From where he stood, he could see a new section of the Hall that he hadn’t explored before, a multi-tiered rise leading up to a large, ominous round tunnel leading forward. The brass machinery and architecture was a surprise, very different from everything else in the Hellmouth. This was something special, the Warlock noted silently. “Follow me!” Koga shouted, before taking the lead. The others followed, doing their best to cover their comrade. The Warlock lacked the armor that Basilisk and Lisset wore, meaning that it was a bit of a challenge to keep the man alive as the bulk of the Hive defenses in the chamber were suddenly turned on him. It was nothing that a few strategically placed grenades couldn’t fix, however, and suddenly the Guardians were through, leaving bodies and extremely disorientated survivors behind.

The tunnel was lined with strange, snake-like pipes that wormed in and out of the walls. Koga didn’t know what flowed through them, but a part of him didn’t particularly want to know, either. This was a machine built with evil purpose in mind, that was all he knew. The Guardians paced through it slowly, cautiously, expecting an ambush, but none came. Just silent walking under the dim flashing light of some strobe meant to convey some alarm only truly decipherable to the Hive. When they made it out the other side, they were granted to an intimidating vista. Behind a wall, lying in wait before them, was a massive sphere being poked and prodded at by glowing machinery that looked nothing like anything else Koga had ever seen before. It looked like it had been built by something entirely different from the rest of the Hellmouth, some special architect, and there was a soft hum of awful power. “I think we just found the Shrine.”

“The Cryptarch will be happy to hear that.” Lisset noted dryly. “Anyone got any ideas how to destroy it?”

“I’m sure that high explosives will take it down.” Basilisk replied, practical as always. “We’ve got a job to do, Paladins: let’s wrap this up.” As the three rounded the corner, following the pathway, they were surprised to see a group of Dregs facing their way, almost as surprised as the Dregs were to see them. There was an awkward pause as both parties realized what had just happened, followed by everyone opening fire. Needless to say, the Dregs got the raw end of the deal, their armor hardly rated for the kind of ordinance the Guardians were packing. That wasn’t the end of the battle for the hallway, though, as more Fallen began to arrive on the scene, as well as Hive behind them.

“I guess we just bumped into a scouting party.” Lisset queried as she snapped off a shot at a fleeing Vandal. “Do you think they were looking for the Shrine, like us?”

“Let us hope not.” Koga responded. “Nothing good could come of the Fallen securing Hive arcana.” Regardless of why the Fallen were here, they were dying in droves between the Guardians and the Hive behind them. The Acolytes and Knights leading the defense were Hallowed, their armor marked in arcane symbols. Basilisk grimaced as best as an Exo could as he opened up on them - their weapons still had difficulty punching through the tough armor, and with more and more elite units being fielded by their enemies, their weapons were becoming more and more ineffective once again. They wouldn’t be scheduled for an upgrade for some time to come, however - rank had its privilege, after all, and the Paladins were still very, very new.

Despite how intimidating the Hallowed were, they were still mortal. Once enough bullets were pumped into them, they still crumbled down in a heap of chitin and dust. However, they didn’t go down without a fight. The ground rumbled with an unearthly moan as an Ogre joined the fight alongside its comrades, the tortured beast firing purple bolts of void energy out of its mutated eyes at the invading Guardians.

“Ogre!” Koga shouted, ducking for cover as the warbeast’s opening volley splashed into his shield of Light. The Warlock swapped to his light machine gun, and let the heavy weapon do the talking. It kicked against his shoulder hard, but the effect was plain to see, the rounds of the Xerxes-C punching through the molted and branded flesh of the gigantic abomination like it was made of tin foil. It was a rocket from Basilisk’s Breaker rocket launcher that put the thing down, the explosion shaking the ground and making every Guardian’s armor vibrate in sympathy with the floor. When the smoke dissipated, the Ogre wasn’t much more than a fine grey paste, blown to shreds by the direct hit. Basilisk chuckled under his breath despite himself - there was something cathartic behind putting your problems on the other side of a rocket launcher’s sights.

With the Ogre dead, what was left of the Hive’s defenders weren’t difficult to mop up. It didn’t take long until the Paladins were the only things still moving in the hall. “Everyone alright?” Basilisk called over comms.

“I’m holding up.” Lisset replied, cheerfully enough.

“I am unharmed.” Koga answered. “We should press on to the Shrine before more Hive come.”

“I’m sure they’re already waiting for us.” Basilisk muttered. “Let’s get this done, team.” The others trailed behind the Titan as they moved through one more doorway, and into a long cylindrical tunnel. Screeches from up ahead warned of a Thrall ambush, and sure enough two dozens of the fast-moving warriors of the Darkness surged from the other side of the room, their claws burning blue with deadly purpose. The Guardians didn’t bother to use their grenades, holding still and opening fire into the oncoming horde. With no place to go, no place to hide, the Thrall died like animals, gunned down as they still vainly attempted to scratch at their hated enemy. As soon as the last screech trailed off into silence, the fireteam reloaded, and braced themselves for the room ahead. The Shrine of Oryx awaited them.

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            The chamber that held the Shrine of Oryx was as alien to the Guardians as it was to the rest of the Hive architecture. It was massive, a circular arena with pipes and tubes all stretching from the ceiling and the floor to the Shrine itself. The device took up the center of the room, and Lisset felt her stomach twist as probes poked and prodded at the large sphere that made up its core. The thing hummed with some dark, internal energy, and the sound was beginning to bore into her skull. Lying in prostration on the floor before the Shrine were several Acolytes, all Hallowed, but by the time they had gotten to their feet to meet the Guardians, they were walking into a wall of bullets. Armor or no, three Guardians’ worth of firepower was more than enough to burn away the Hive servants, leaving the Paladins alone with the infernal machine.

            “There is an access underneath the Shrine.” Dal said suddenly. “Let me out there - I can look for a weakness.” Lisset nodded, and cautiously moved forward, shotgun in hand. The small nook underneath the sphere was deserted, a pylon reaching from the floor to the low ceiling. As soon as she got close, her helmet’s vision began to grow fuzzier, as if static was beginning to trail across her eyes. She took a hesitant step back, unwilling to proceed further.

            “I’m having issues with my optics.” She noted. “I think the pylon is emitting some form of radiation.” There was a pause as Dal swept the area with his sensors.

            “It’s nothing I can pick up.” The Ghost admitted. “My shell can probably handle it. Let me out here.” The Hunter opened her palm, and her Ghost flashed into reality above it. Dal turned around to face the mysterious pylon, then flitted over to it like some strange bird. He began to fire his energy pulse at the thing, probing it like he had the World’s Grave.

            “It’s tethered to a power far beyond the edge of the system.” Dal said after a moment of work. “If I can break that link, we might be set.”

            “Let’s just hope he doesn’t get pulled into some trans-dimensional vortex.” Kita joked lightly. Koga shrugged – given their enemy, he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. There was a loud roar from somewhere in the Hellmouth, somewhere close.

            “Get set up, Paladins!” Basilisk shouted, moving behind some low cover. “We’re about to have company!” Almost as soon as the Titan said it, the team’s motion trackers filled with red. A great door against the wall opened to reveal a massive Knight, over ten feet tall, glowing green with an arcane internal power. It held a boomer to match its size, and it hurled insults in its tongue at the Guardians before it. At its feet were dozens of Acolytes, ready to follow the champion of the Hive to battle.

            “What the hell is that?” Lisset shouted, lobbing a grenade at the massive alien. Micro-explosions burst like flowers across the thing’s chest, but it didn’t even make a dent in the massive Knight’s green chitin breastplate.

            “That would be an Eye of Oryx.” Kita replied, just a bit too calm as his Guardian jumped backwards to avoid the thing’s first barrage of boomer fire. “Osiris believed that great Knights defended each Shrine.”

            “Would have been real nice to know about that earlier!” Basilisk growled, swapping to his rocket launcher. The ordinance shot out of the barrel like a burning arrow, and exploded dramatically against the Eye’s torso, but again there was little effect. Cracks had appeared in the Knight’s armor, weaknesses to exploit, but the massive warrior fought on as if nothing had happened. It stomped towards the Guardians like something out of a bad horror movie, unfazed by the bullets plinking against it. The Acolytes, in the meantime, were proving to be quite irritating, but far from dangerous. Every time the Guardians had to fall back lest they be crushed underfoot by the Eye, they fired a few deadly potshots at the Acolytes supporting the massive Knight. It didn’t take long until it became a stand-up fight between the Paladins and the Eye of Oryx alone.

            The Guardians had abandoned the use of their primary or secondary weapons at this point, their lack of penetration making them useless. It was heavy ordinance or nothing, and all of them could feel their bones shake with every pull of the trigger. Under such withering fire, even the greatest of the Darkness’ champions couldn’t stand forever, and with a world-shaking moan it collapsed to the ground, burning away until its ashes were floating in the vacuum of the Moon.

            “Holy hell, that was intense.” Basilisk panted, slapping his last rocket into the launcher. “I didn’t realize the Hive grew them that big.”

            “It must have been a special case.” Lisset replied, sighing in relief. She let her machine gun fall from her hands, only to have it transmatted away helpfully by her Ghost, who had floated back to her. “Oh, Dal, you’re finished?”

            “I am.” The Ghost replied. “Aim for the sphere – you can destabilize the whole thing if you fire at it.”

           

            “I have it.” Koga called, focusing power into his hand. A nova bomb lanced out from his palms to the massive sphere, exploding violently against the strange metal. From inside the ball, a strange orange light began to shine brighter and bright before suddenly flashing. The alloys bent inwards, being almost pulled inside by some intensely strong internal gravity, before the entire thing collapsed on itself. With a blinding flash, it imploded. When the light faded, nothing sat in the housing that had once contained the sphere, and the prodding probes sat tapping into nothing, useless.

            “What just happened?” Basilisk asked, confused. “I’ve never seen something blow up like that before.”

            “That’s because it didn’t ‘blow up’.” Dal replied. “I severed the connection between Luna and the rest of the Hive. The Shrine was communicating with someone, their god, or King. Whichever it is, it’s still out there.”

            “And we’ll be waiting for it when it gets here.” Lisset muttered, folding her arms against her chestplate. “I think we’re done here, Bas.” The Titan blinked at her in surprise, and nodded.

            “Uh, yeah, we’re ready to go. Call your ships, Paladins.” The Exo ordered. He paced over to the Hunter and tapped her on the shoulder. “What did you call me?”

            “Bas.” Lisset replied. “I figured you could use a nickname. Do you not like it?” Basilisk shook his head, smiling as best as an Exo could under his heavy helmet.

           

            “No, no, it’s fine.” He said, flashing her a thumbs-up. “Let’s get out of here.”

As the Guardians transmatted away, they left the empty Shrine of Oryx behind, still humming with the remnants of the power that used to course through it like a conduit. Somewhere, some place very far away from Earth and Luna and the City fighting for both, something realized that a tether had been cut. It began to whisper across the stars, its words travelling slowly across the vast and empty heavens. It whispered to Crota.